Rally for the Road

When you come to a fork in the road, take it. – Yogi Berra

You are cordially invited to the C&C  Road Rally Saturday afternoon, 1:30pm at the church.  After the festivities we will be enjoying refreshment and advanced fellowship opportunities.  This is a cabbage free event, so there are no excuses for your lack of participation.  Please RSVP with the Ashcrafts or the Rowes via email, telephone, or FB.

The Power of Blue

Swallow your pride, you will not die, it’s not poison – Bob Dylan

John came across an interesting article today, and it has the utmost of importance.  In summary, blue M&M’s save lives.  The help in repairing broken bodies,  broken lives, and broken dreams.  Research has now shown that blue M&M’s will stop a chemical that kills healthy spinal cord cells surrounding a damaged area, an event that has been shown to more damage than the original injury.  You can link to the article here.

I know, I know, I am asking myself the same questions.  Could Michael have been back on his feet sooner this summer after sustaining his back injury if he would just break down the walls and injest blue M&M’s?  Is another injury inevitable?  Will he be able to recover from the next one at all?  Should he start on a strict diet of blue M&M’s with every meal?  Would it not be Christian charity for all of us to give him our blue?  Does he regret the rejection of our gift last fall?  For his families sake, let us all pray that he will be able to overcome this barrier to live a long and productive life.

Michael’s Favorite Website

Michael in his basement

Real Life Example

In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it. – Robert Heinlein

One thing that you hear frequently in group is the importance of setting goals, whether they be spiritual or secular.  Every December and June you know that you will be challenged as to where you stand at that moment in relation to where you stood six months ago.  Have you moved forward?  Backward?  Some of you pay attention and take it to heart, while others roll their eyes and shut down, waiting for the clock to reach 8:15.  I came across this real life example last week of someone that took goal setting seriously, and where she ended up.  I thought I would put it out for all of us to read.  If you have any questions, please direct them to John, he was just telling me on Sunday how much he loves to read and talk about this stuff.

Constructive Dating

After a number of years dating, we decided we were good partners. – Melinda Gates

 

As promised, here are the constructive dating points that we discussed a couple of weeks ago.  If you were not there, Rob will be happy to give you a recap.

 

1.  Remember your relational responsibilities.

2.  Seek a deeper friendship first.

3.  Watch, Wait, & Pray

4.  Define the relationships purpose.

5.  Honor parents.

6.  Test & build the relationship in real-life settings.

7. Reserve passion for marriage.

(Dating Goodbye, Harris, p203)

 

Interesting Read

Laziness grows on people; it begins in cobwebs and ends in iron chains – Sir Thomas Buxton

This is an interesting article in Forbes that I came across this weekend that adds some perspective to taking care of the “little things” and how they add up later.  Click here to be taken to the page.  I know you guys have been missing the talks on money, and I promise there will be more to come, hopefully this will get you by.

Defective Dating

Computer dating is fine, if you’re a computer. – Rita Mae Brown

As promised here are Seven Pitfalls of Defective Dating in print.  It has been fun talking with many of you over the last couple of weeks on this topic, and I am glad that you have been continuing to think about these things enough to take issue with some of them with me.  I know there is no perfect relationship, but I do think you will be much better off if you can avoid the pitfalls listed below.

1.  Dating leads to intimacy, but not necessarily to commitment.

2.  Dating tends to skip the ‘friendship’ stage of a relationship.

3.  Dating often mistakes a physical relationship for love.

4.  Dating often isolates a couple from other vital relationships.

5.  Dating distracts young adults from their primary responsibility of preparing for the future.

6.  Dating can cause discontentment with God’s gift of singleness.

7.  Dating creates an artificial environment for evaluating another persons character.
(Dating Goodbye, Harris, p 32)

Please take some time this week to examine any relationships that you are in or want to be in against the list above.  If you take issue with any of these points or would like to explore them further, we can talk after the game.

We talked about most of these again a couple of nights ago as we talked about seven principals for optimal dating.  We will save that for a later post, and I am sure you will all be in suspense.

Hockey Night in Clarkston

A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. – Wayne Gretzky

                                         Game 7.  The drama.  The passion.  The intensity.  All will be in display Friday night as the Wings and Penguins vie for hockey supremacy.  We will be getting together at the Rowe abode at 7:30 for pregame festivities.  Please bring $5 for food and a 2-liter of the beverage of your choice.  (Pepsi is encouraged.)  Please make an effort to let the Wednesday night skippers know what is going on, and let Angie know ASAP of  you RSVP.

Things that make you go hmmmm…

A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students -John Ciardi

Like you, I was in the room a couple of Wednesday’s ago when Michael told the story of his law college. He spoke passionately of how he did not want a degree from this new college, that it was not HIS college, he only recognized the original. He told us of the letter that he wrote to the university telling them in no uncertain terms that he was disgusted that they would even offer their worthless paper to him and that in essence “they were dead to him”
So, yesterday I am out and about, and this is what I see.

So I think to myself, could this be? Have we been deceived? A couple of points:

1. It is a grey Aspen. Michael drives a grey Aspen.
2. It has a Michigan license plate. Michael lives in Michigan.
3. The liciense plate has a ‘B’ in it. Michael’s plate has a B.
4. Michael loves Thai food. It was parked outside a Thai restaurant.
5. It was lunchtime. Michael likes to eat lunch.

I quickly snuck this picture and got out of there as fast as possible before, potentially, I could be spotted and beaten.  Please be diligent and join my efforts to uncover this wacky mystery.

The Beginning

When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends. – Japanese Proverb

I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend and you are looking forward to the week relaxed and refreshed.  I also hope that you spent some time thinking over the things that were talked about last Wednesday.  If you were not there, ask one of your mates about the lesson.  Talk with them about and get their take.  Then go out think about it, and create your own.  As we get this summer started, I wanted to share a story, one about our friend George.

George was thankful for the relationships that God had provided for him.  They were unlike anything he had experienced before.  He was so full of joy that he never missed an opportunity to participate in any activity that put him in contact with those that brought him that joy.  George loved his C&C Bible study, and he particularly loved going out with the gang afterward.  He loved the cabin trips, mission trips, the different retreats, and the opportunities to serve.  For the first time he felt alive and connected.

George started having trouble when one of his friends got married and another transferred out of state.  A new leader joined their group.  He didn’t like his small group.  His Sunday School attendance started to fade.  He thought church was like going to someone else’s family reunion.  He could not make it out of bed for the morning service.

“George didn’t realize it , but fellowship, acceptance, respect, and position in the body of Christ had replaced his dependence on communication with Christ.  The church had become his spiritual social club, and when the club began to break up, he lost his motivation to continue.  For George, the grace of friendship replaced Christ as the thing that gave him identity, purpose, and hope.  The gospel had been reduced to a network of fulfilling Christian relationships”
(How People Change, Tripp, p10)

I think by now you understand the point of the story.  As we start out the summer we know we are going to have alot of fun together, (like Cedar Point) be pointedly challenged (like Wednesday night), and experience our changing lives with one another.  Make it a point this year to add to the group with the proper reasons, purpose to grow this summer in Christ, and make a point to get to know everyone, ‘below the surface.’  We will have the opportunity soon to welcome seven new faces, let’s show them what it is like to move up to the ‘next level.’

Don’t be a George.