by
Chet
24. June 2011 13:43
Tonight some guys are coming over to watch Gladiator with me in the barn. Got the projector and surround sound hooked up and cranked up already, and will soon be moving the grill out there as well. Can't wait. This whole weekend, in fact, is a bit chock full of "can't wait" moments. And, looking back, it's been full of "can't wait to share" moments, particularly things I've been able to share with my wife.
It got me thinking, what's a gladiator look like today? I checke out WikiPedia's first couple paragraphs, just for something to think about:
A gladiator (Latin: gladiator, "swordsman", from gladius, "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially margin...
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by
Chet
11. November 2010 06:30
As we celebrate Veterans Day today, it's rather easy to look around life and pick out the men and women who I know that have served me and my country through military service. I'm sure I'd miss some of them, but I can certainly name a few, and I thank them.
But what about freedom of the heart? Who has paid THAT price? Certainly, Jesus did. The sacrifice he made for me on the cross completely paid the price for my Salvation, Freedom, and Life. But is that it? Is freedom of the heart like freedom of speech, where once it's paid for I can just walk out the door and exercise it to my heart's content? I don't think so.
I'm thinking today of three other places where the price for freedom must be paid. First is all the men and women who have fought for my freedom without even knowing my name. Missionaries, authors, speakers, and those random people you see on the street who make you think, "what do they have that I don't?" Those people have paid a price to become the people God made them ...
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by
Chet
1. July 2010 09:04
I have a little thing with hugs. With physical contact period. I long for it, yet am uncomfortable around it.Friday, after a very wearing day, I finally had a few minutes alone before bed. I sat down on the kitchen floor, put my head in my hands, and finally just relaxed and let it all out for a couple minutes. I remember saying something like, "I would just love to be hugged, God. Freely, just given a real hug."Sunday morning after church it started. A pair of boys from the youth group, Ethan literally RAN up to me and have me a huge hug. Right after that, another. Later on, a full fledged hug from Tabi.On monday, two girls came out to ride horses. Again, the hugs came as a pair, Tabi and Stevi. I was starting to get the message. These were direct from God, and just what I needed.Then today, after lunch with a group of friends, 3 more. 2 from kids I may not see again for awhile but are now emblazoned on my heart, Stephen and Amber. And another from Tabi. And I felt finally free of s...
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by
Chet
28. May 2010 09:24
FREEDOM ISN'T FREE(I don't know who wrote this)
I watched the flag pass by one day, It fluttered in the breeze. A young Marine saluted it, And then he stood at ease.. I looked at him in uniform So young, so tall, so proud, With hair cut square and eyes alert He'd stand out in any crowd. I thought how many men like him Had fallen through the years. How many died on foreign soil How many mothers' tears? How many pilots' planes shot down? How many died at sea How many foxholes were soldiers' graves? No, freedom isn't free. I heard the sound of Taps one night, When everything was still, I listened to the bugler play And felt a sudden chill. I wondered just how many times That Taps had meant "Amen," When a flag had draped a coffin. Of a brother or a friend. I thought of all the children, Of the mothers and the wives, Of fathers, sons and husbands With interrupted lives. I thought about a graveyard At the bottom of the sea Of unmarked graves in Arlington. No, freedom isn't free.
by
Chet
10. May 2010 13:26
Here is a copy of a speech that I helped a 16 year old at my church develop. It was both fun and rewarding to help her with this and watch it and her develop over time. But it was even more interesting to see how her life suddenly got crazy busy while she was working on a speech about busyness and how we can be prepared for it and handle it. Not avoid it. Be ready for it. Because there are times, and perhaps even entire seasons, of life, where it’s both unavoidable and important to do what we are doing.
She sent me another quote a week or so after the fact from Abe Lincoln: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Good job, Tabi. I'm very proud of you.
Am I too busy to serve the Lord?By Tabi Layton
Some years ago a young man looking for work approached a foreman of a logging crew and asked him for a job. “It depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you take this one down.”
...
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