Cup A Joe

WORLD-CLASS, INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH MISERY.

   A moron can look at our world and tell that something is horribly wrong with it. And the reason I know that a moron can do this, is because I can.

Some of John 3(NIV)

 

   Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Teacher, we know you have come from God. For no one could perform the miracles you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

 

 The Bible says that all of us have sinned and fall short of the bar that God has set for entrance into Heaven (yes, even you). Can you believe that? Think of some of the truly wonderful people you know. Without Jesus, they aren't good enough to make it.

 I remember sitting in a small boat, fishing in a farm pond with a friend. I thought he was crazy but I liked to fish so I was prepared to listen to him babble about this so called "Born Again" experience he had had. He said he had asked God to forgive him of his sin and God had changed him and that he was now going to live the rest of his life showing gratitude to Jesus for what he had done. He seemed to think that was the only possible response to a gift so great as complete forgiveness. He even told me that God was now speaking to me through him.

 Hmmmm..See?  Crazy. WHATEVERRR DUDE. Could we fish? Will have to admit the conversation stuck with me a little bit in that I, at least and for the first time, knew what was meant by "Born Again" and that this was kinda what these fruitcake Christians seemed so fired up and happy about.

  In previous post, I've told you about my life and how screwed up it was. I hope I haven't led you to believe that I blame my circumstances for all the misbehaving I did. I don't..anymore. I eventually realized that every sin I ever committed came down to a decision I made. It is not involuntary to lift a joint. It is not involuntary to take too many sips. It is not involuntary to take her home. It is not involuntary to lose your temper. You have to give in to an impulse. I am not big on the whole addiction is a disease crap you've been fed.

  You've been fed crap? ..that's disgusting.

  So I got married..to the best friend of the wife of the guy in the boat...actually. And I was a selfish, nasty, mess of a human being and so was she...actually. Completely unprepared for the give and take of a partnership like a marriage..actually. Some of you knew both of us well back then and would have to agree..actually. A quick piece of advice, even though it is quite common, the next time you hear of someone who is in a bad marriage or you hear of a marriage crumbling, don't just ..you know.."Ohh, I feel so bad for them". Or kinda blow it off. Go find someplace real quick where you can lift those folks up in prayer.. because I promise you there is some world-class misery going on. Where one or both are thinking of ..not living or leaving or hurting the other..WORLD CLASS, INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH MISERY.

  Anyway, in the midst of all this misery..in the midst of wanting to end this marriage..in the midst of another major failure in my life..and unbeknownst to me.. the WIND WAS BLOWING MY WAY. Something began to change in me. You would think that as things got worse, I would continue to play the blame game or continue to have the blind spot toward my part in all this but I began to see that there was one thing in common with every single problem that I had ever had in life...one common denominator...ME.

  There was a guy at work. Been there for years. He was a humble, happy fellow but that didn't stop us from picking on him pretty regular about his obvious faith. But he could take it. He was one who could smile you down until you felt silly for attacking him. Smile you down you know..as opposed to stare you down. Ridiculously upbeat and friendly..didn't seem real and people would test it... It was real. He had a wife at home in a wheel chair and he had to do everything ..and I mean everything for her everyday and yet he was as happy and upbeat a fellow as I knew yet he would tell me I was an unforgiven sinner headed for hell in a skinny second. Oh yeah? SHUT UP!!

  I began to notice him and speak with him about spiritual things when my situation at home was at it's worst. He would never let the conversation get to far without me understanding I needed to repent and be forgiven my debt. Lovingly but very direct. He knew that like most "Christians", I could fool myself and just try to add Church and Christ to my life to make it better. But Jesus will not be an addition to your life, he is your life.... or nothing. No, he let me know that I had a debt way to large for me to pay to my Creator and in fact, nothing else much mattered until that was taken care of. Honestly, he scared me a little but that kind of fear is worth more than gold, baby.

  We are getting too long. I'll finish up what eventually happened in my next post and it won't be long before I post it. I promise. Maybe tomorrow. I have been pretty intense in my writings lately BUT after this next post I am going to lighten way up for a while. One thing we are going to do; Me and my pal Anthony Goodroe are starting a book club and are asking whoever wants to join us for that to let us know. Our first book will be THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS BY C. S. LEWIS.    But more on that in the next few days.

  Before the second half of my testimony and before I lighten up a bit, there is one thing that I did want to make clear. I know these last 6-10 posts (and even some of the videos) have been very intense. I must admit to you that, even though I know I can't, I have been trying to crush you. Not physically but emotionally broken. But in that way you're crushed when you find out some horrifying news or the way you feel when you realize you have done something horribly wrong. I very much want to be an agent that is part of you feeling the hole in your chest and the debt paid, potentially for you. I also feel that, as in Chapter 3 of John above, the wind is blowing your way if God has you sitting in that chair your are sitting in and reading this blog about what He has done. But he won't force anything on you.

  As for being intense and trying to crush you, can you handle a little more? Isn't it time to quit playing with this man?

Running with the Devil and Danny Zuko

 In my last written post, I told you about how my dad was a strong deterant to my experimentation with drugs as a youngster. If only he had been as tough with my experimentation with Fried Chicken. Well nobody's perfect.

 But wait!! I said I was perfect in my last post. That definitely is going to take some 'sssssplainin'.

But first lets get this Van Halen/John Travolta stuff out of the way.

 

  Now I've promised a serious post on Homosexuality in the near future but I can tell you about something that is GAY right now..and that is my infatuation with the movie GREASE. I have family and friends that I quote this movie with, back and forth. Seriously, despite the fact that I haven't seen this movie in 20 years, you can throw any line in that movie at me and I will quote the next line back to you instantaniously:

"Stranded at the drive-in; Branded a fool.

What will they say? Monday at school."

 

  Now those are lyrics from the song Danny Zuko (John Travolta) sang after Sandy (Olivia Newton John) had left him in anger at the Drive-in Movie. Now I know all this, including the lyrics, off the top of my head. Now this is hard for me to admit 'cause some of you are macho men. You ...hunt and fish and...pick up heavy...stuff...and burp the alphabet. But...I didn't have to go back and look up these lines and that is just......

GAY! Some of you know EXACTLY what I am talking about.

 This is one of the two movies that made John Travolta famous, the other being "Saturday Night Fever". God blessed him with an extra-ordinarily pleasant and likable face and demeanor..with the intention that he might glorify God with those talents and gifts and I have always liked him. I'll get back to him but let's talk about Van Halen and Brown M & M's... and an angry God:

  I have a gift or a curse. Or maybe I'm just retaaahhded. But I can't just read something that interests me and then, after reading, move on to the rest of my day. A few examples; I am currently reading a biography about a fellow named Jonathan Edwards who spoke a very famous sermon called "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" that scared the poo out of an entire nation (ours). I've read the sermon several times over the years but I can't just move on when I read it; I go there and sit on one of the old, wooden pews. It's hot and the ladies are fanning themselves in the beginning. I listen to him preach and as he gets further into the sermon, I look around at all the fearful and serious faces. The ladies have put down their fans.  I see that he wasn't a loud, fiery preacher. He just speaks to them. I hear him and towards the end I hear fearful crying and moaning of people who are afraid to take another step without getting right with their Creator. They are feeling the enormous weight of their sin. They've all been blessed with a moment of truth and clarity, an incredible gift.

  When I return from this particular trip, I am usually quite shaken. I guess I just have a vivid imagination. I'm a fool but I ain't crazy, baby.... Was this too heavy for you; too deep? Then let's swim down to the shallow end.

  Rock groups, famous ones, usually have a contract with each arena that they play in called a "Rider". It is pretty much just a set of instructions for what the Group needs to have at their disposal, in order to give a great show; from food, to lighting, to backstage furniture, to whatever. Obviously, there have been many strange requests made but probably the most famous is Van Halen's request to have a bowl of M & M's BUT the brown ones must be picked out. Absolutely no brown M & M's allowed, baby!! What arrogant, megalomaniac rock stars, right?! Wrong. Van Halen's rider was filled with page after page of legitimate requests that they really needed to happen to help them put on a great show. So many requests that when they rolled into town, they didn't have time to check and see that the rider was paid attention too and that all the requests were honored. So as kind of a quick quality check, they included the thing about the M & M's so that as soon as they arrived, their manager could just go and check to see if any brown ones were in the bowl. If there were, then he knew that the arena management folks probably hadn't read the rider and that there probably were going to be other things that were not done correctly that might cause a problem during the show. So yes, they were arrogant, megalomaniac rock stars but this was brilliant. Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

(Voice inside my Head)-So Joe, this is supposed to be an example of how your imagination takes you to the event that you are thinking about. What's up, dork? You wanta' get to it?

(Me)- Chillax, Voice inside my Head. I'm getting there. And how 'bout a little respect. I own you ya' know. If I am a dork, what are you? Are you stupid or something?

(Voice inside my Head)- Am I stupid or something? Did you not just hear yourself? WE ARE THE SAME PERSON, DUDE!! That is about the same level of moronosity as swapping Yo' Momma jokes with your children or with your siblings. Your cutting yourself, poopy pants!

(Me)- Shut up.

(Voice inside my Head)- NO YOU SHUT UP!!

 

 So the event that I have attended, in my mind's eye, is that moment when David Lee Roth discovers a brown M & M:

David Lee: What the!?! That's a brown M & M. THAT IS A BROWN M& M!!! Eddie. EDWARD VAN HALEN!! Get over here and take a look at this.

Eddie Van Halen: Come on Dave, gimme a break. What is it? Oh (shoot) !! Is that a...that is a brown M& M in your hand!? Unbelievable!! All we ask is that there are no BROWN M & M's AND WE CAN'T EVEN GET THAT!! THAT'S IT!! We are not going on tonight.

  And so it is reported up and then back down the chain of command; a full investigation is launched and it turns out that...I was the one responsible for picking out the brown M & M's.

  And then quickly, my visit to the bathroom floor of John Travolta's Beach House in the Bahamas. As you know, John's son Jett, who by all accounts was the absolute apple of John's eye, died a few weeks ago while the family was on vacation in the Bahamas.

 

  Look at them there. Those are two beautiful creatures God has made. Each very special in unique ways. John..you know but the son had health problems but what a beautiful, unique and greatly loved young man he was... Look at that face.

 He had a seizure in the bathroom and his heart stopped. The reports say that it was John who tried to revive him until the paramedics came...And I can't even imagine and I shouldn't imagine but I do imagine. When I am there amid the emotional pandemonium I am conscious that right here..right now..the rubber is hitting the road. In some ways, all of life is about the day you die and here is a beautiful son dying in a loving father's arms. I am there and wondering is there anything I can do and I am looking at John as he finally gives up and leans back, holding his son. At that moment..in that clear, completely real moment, I wonder...who did he cry out to..in anger, or begging for mercy or help...who?

  And I wonder the same thing about you.

   I guess I used all the examples to show you that I tend to mentally visit moments and places I read about or know about that mean alot to me..and you reading Cup A Joe really means alot to me. There are over 60 of you now and on some of the more Christ centered and tougher posts, I have thought of you and tried to watch and understand your reactions to some of the things you read. I see you there with your laptop in your lap or at the kitchen table or at the PC in the kid's room or in the extra room or on your desk at work and I watch to see if the message is hitting you where I want it too. If it is having any affect. Some I know it is 'cause I always get E-mails after the tough ones.. but what about you?

  So I have a favor to ask you. I am trying to write a very difficult post about my salvation experience. The next time you see an e-mail from me, telling you about another posts or if you see a message on Facebook telling you that I am finished writing the next post, before you click and start reading, do this for me:

  Pray for yourself. Pray that God would take away the things that are a barrier to you understanding exactly what I am trying to say to you..about Him and what He does and what He is offering. There is no way for a Human Being to understand what has truly happened on his behalf without Divine intervention. Do me a favor and pray for a Divine parting of the sea of crap that you don't yet realize is there that makes the Gospel unclear to you.

Thanks,

Joe

More Vids...Nothing More

Should look at this first one in full screen. Mash the four little arrows forming a square to the immediate left of the word "VIMEO". Then hit play and hold on to your Depends.

Following are two videos done by a Church..A good Church..A Church I like. But a warning, they are a little raw. PG-13'ish I'd say. They are the Satan from some the earlier videos giving his views on sex. What do ya' think? Should the Church be talking so freely about this stuff?

And some more Brian Regan. Some of you seemed to really enjoy him last time.

I Love Dorks

  I can't seem to write anything too deep during the week so tonight I am just going to throw a few quotes and maybe some videos and a photo or two at you. I have to tell you that I have received as much feedback on the last several " Drug" posts as I have in a long time. Alot of you really liked the Rob Bell video, too. Sounds like a few of you have some forgiving to do. Hop to it, baby!!

  I told you a few posts back I was starting to read, "Love: The More Excellent Way" by one of my favorite pastors, Chuck Smith. This is Chuck:

 

  Here is a great quote from the book:

"You have never experienced anything that can equal the love of Christ. His love exceeds anything that you can know on a human level. There is no vocabulary, no words that can adequately describe the stupendous things God has for those who love Him, who are drawn by His love to Himself. But to know that you have to taste."

  That's true folks. I've been married. I've had children. I once got a bonus check for $34,000.00. Those were all good days. But nothing compares. Nothing is close.

  Here is a quote from Ozzie Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest). His actual first name is Oswald but he actual reminds me of Ozzie Osborne, the self proclaimed, "Prince of Darkness". How's that, you say? Well, Ozzie once bit the head off of a dove and spit it at some record executives. Oswald Chambers occasionally bites my spiritual head off and spits it back at me. He's harsh and he hurts my feelings sometimes but in a good way, baby:

"The only way we can be of use to God is to let Him take us through the nooks and crannies of our own characters. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We do not know envy when we see it, or laziness, or pride. Jesus reveals to us all that this body has been harbouring before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look in with courage? We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves, it is the last conceit to go. The only One Who understands us is God."

  Shut Up, OZZIE!! SHUT UP!! La la la. La la la. I can't hear you. I can't hear you!

  Here's a few Jack Handey Quotes for you:

"One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said. "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down, he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late."

"Instead of studying for finals, what about just going to the Bahamas and catching some rays? Maybe you'll flunk, but you might have flunked anyway; that's my point."

 Now here's a strange photo I found on the web and a sign that says how I feel about all of you:

See the smile?

 

 And finally this video from Brian Regan, the funniest man on Planet Earth:

 

 

Pass the Doritos, Calvin.

  I am broken. I am messed up. I've made so many huge mistakes in my life and done so many bad things and still make a lot of mistakes. I am mean and lazy and jealous and all my righteous acts are like filthy rags.

  But I am perfect and full of joy.

 So to get back to the drug users, past, present and future, in our life..I have made the observation in previous posts that I don't believe I know anyone who has begun using drugs early in life and let it eventually control them, who didn't come from a broken home. That's including Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr.:

 

  Aka, Snoop Dogg.

 I beg to differ Mr. Dogg, sir. From my own personal experience, I believe people would also want to eat Doritos... Only then could we chizzle.

  I said people who come from broken home situations have a ragged, raw hole in their hearts or they have a huge, painful scar that doesn't ever even begin to heal. Say it however the heck you want to. But this unit I was talking about, the family unit, leaves alot of collateral damage when it explodes. And when that safe Cocoon is gone then the devil begins to try to destroy you and he is soooo much smarter than you, and soooo invisible to you. And has soooooooo made you believe he doesn't exist. Hey Human, you're not that smart. Look what he did to Big(brain) Al:

Phat Albert

  The man and wife have become one flesh and that is not just sexual deal. But as a quick aside, Christ followers have the best sex and it is not even close. Hooda thunk it?! Notice I didn't say Christians. I don't really know what that is any more....

 FOCUS!

  Anyhoo...One flesh can't be torn apart without injury..and blood... and suffering... and lives forever altered..and opportunities and potential lost forever...and spiritual holes in hearts.. and scars.

 And people with spiritual eyes can see it.....Uhhhhh did you notice you have a big hole in your chest?

 WHAT!! What are you talking about!!? I'm fine. A mere flesh wound.

 Seriously, dude. I can see right through you.

  So from here it's easy. I know people who to this day, their mind is twisted and scarred and smashed up because mommy or daddy left 20, 30, 40, or even 50 years ago. Making the invisible pain go away ain't easy, baby. People do all kinds of things to excess to fill the hole (or to medicate the scar). Drugs, sex, sleep, alcohol addiction, overwork, even pursuit of hyper success. Whatever dudes. None of it works but whatever it may be, it can fool you... 'til it's too late. Several of these were my means of escape but I didn't realize I had a hole until somebody told me and I began to have spiritual eyes and I could see it and it was an awful thing to see. But I eventually understood the hole had a shape and was a perfect fit...for Jesus. And now I am telling you...

  my love.

  So what else have I promised you..something about Van Halen and brown M & M's, uuuuhhhh ......uhhhh...OH YEAH! Something about John Travolta's son Jett. I also promised to talk about Homosexuality, my dads fight against my drugs and I promised to tell you about when Jesus changed me...

  But I lied about all of it!!! Ha ha ha!!...

  Did I mention my past struggles with lying?

  Just kidding. Don't call me a liar. I can just go back and remove the places where I promised it and it will be like it never happened. You have to remember, this is Cup-A-Joe land, and I am the Mayor.

  No, actually I have found a video that says it all better than I have in this series of posts but real quickly:

  My dad grew up with very bad, life altering alcohol addiction in his home so any kind of mind altering addiction scared the poo poo out of him. It was probably the thing, as a parent, that he was the most passionate about when I was growing up. And seeing how I began to get involved with some dope smokers at a very young age, he was presented with the opportunity to put that passion to work. He caught me several times and even made sure of the product that he found before confronting me (by consulting professionals and having the substance tested). He showed his emotion(not anger) to me once when he caught me that affected me forever and he wasn't afraid to talk to other parents when he found out who I had smoked with. That got me into some trouble of course as I began to get second hand threats that so and so and his buddies were going to kick my butt because I was a nark. Rough. Nervewracking and the result was, I couldn't get high without being completely and utterly paranoid and the high was never good. Some of you past tokers know exactly what I mean. Instead of a cop, my dad was behind every tree or in every car. I never took a drag without thinking of him and knowing I was wrong. So, three cheers for my brave, patient dad. Seriously. As most of you know, I am a party animal at heart. Without his stand, who knows.

   HEY YOU!!! Be a parent like that. Make a stand..a painful stand. IT WILL BE WORTH IT!!

  I have decided to make my views on Homosexuality a seperate post because I have alot of thoughts that I have developed on it over the years and also my testimony will be another post. I think they both deserve their very on write-up, don't you?

  Anyhoodles, the lady in this video goes to our church and she says it all about drugs and the God shaped hole and in only one minute. I could have saved you alot of time.

 

NewSpring Baptism 06.29.08 02 from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Psalm 34:8  Taste and see that the LORD is good;
       blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

 

 

 

Last post in the "Drugs" series is coming...

  ...but in the mean time, this is good stuff. And all you have to do is hit play twice. By the way, what did you think of the Rob Bell video below. I have already gotten alot of good feedback but what did YOU think?

 

Just Press Play

I am not a huge Rob Bell fan. I am not clear on his Theology but he puts out a good video from time to time. Just press play and be sure you watch 'til the very end.

Would really love your thoughts on that video. But you can go change your underwear first if you like.

Following is my favorite song these days. Wondering what thoughts cross your mind as you listen to it and read the words:

 

I will try to have the conclusion to the "Drugs" series by Sunday night. It is getting very difficult to write during the week.

Lastly, Newspring in Anderson, the church Cheryl and I attend, is opening another Satellite Campus in Columbia. Quite a few of our readers are Columbia-ites and you might be interested. So...

there 'ya go.

Cup A Joe with the Kung Fu Grip.

  

  You often hear the phrase..."God has a wonderful plan for your life."

  I guess that is true but I've grown not to like it because of where I see the emphasis. It's on your life. I prefer.."God has a plan, you should adjust your life to it." The focus must always be on God or you will never KNOW anything of truth. Remember the Henry Blackaby quote, from an earlier post:

Truth is a Person, not a concept.  Jesus said He was the Truth.  That means that you can never know the truth of your circumstances unless you have first heard from Jesus.  The disciples thought they were perishing in the storm.  They were fishermen who knew the sea and knew what their condition was.  They had allowed their circumstances to convince them that the "truth" was their imminent death.  But they were wrong. Truth was asleep in the back of their boat!  When Jesus spoke, the disciples saw the real truth of their situation.  There was absolute calm.  Often we are like the disciples.  When a new and frightening situation comes upon us we, too, panic and say, "Lord save me.  I'm perishing!" God will remind us of His provision, saying, "I can handle this situation, too.

   Drugs..I have never known a lifelong drug abuser or someone who has let drugs dominate them for a long time that didn't come from a broken or at least extremely dysfunctional home. Now some have and there are some that have struggled like that who come from good, two parent households. But none that I have known personally. I could've gone this route myself if it weren't for my dad. Here's why I think it happens so often this way.

 As a kid, as you were playing in your sandbox or in your bedroom playing with your Barbies or your G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip, you didn't have a care in the world. All was well and all you knew was you had a mommy and a daddy who loved you and each other and who existed for you and to protect you. You didn't give it alot of thought although from time to time your little body was overwhelmed with your sense of love for either parent. You were, unknowingly perhaps, growing, basking, trusting and developing in the womb of that protective environment. This is how God wants you to be with Him now and we will get to that later but for now, just read and decide for yourself. This is Jesus talking, dudes:

Matthew 18:2-4- He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Mark 10:13-16- People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

  Blindly trusting, selfishly loving, totally dependent. That was you back then..when you were a child. And those were your feelings for your folks. This was/is God's plan for the human race and you didn't know there was any other way. For a little kid, their parents are more who God is than God Himself. They are never wrong, always there and all powerful. They just believe you..trust you.It is God's design and it's a good one. At this point there's no hole in your heart. At least not that you are aware of.

  Now for a child of 12 or younger, at least in most cases, divorce is a shock and it is not just because suddenly you are seeing one parent alot less. But it is a new world where everything you thought to be true..... ain't. By a long shot. It's a huge deal, whether you are conscious of it or not, the first time the true nature of this world slaps you in the face. The glue that held it all together is love and now you have no choice but to question that. Someone who you thought would be around forever left YOU. Chose something; happiness, another woman, whatever..over YOU. That's not possible!! Heck, the reason Dad or Mom left might have been a good one but that doesn't matter to a kid.

 Anyhoo, poopy pants; call it what you want but a good name for it is the family unit. You've heard it called that before. Well it ain't a unit anymore. It's been ripped apart and the tear is right around your chest. Whether you feel it or not, you are now the proud owner of a big old, stinkin', honkin' hole right smack dab in the middle of your heart. OUCHIE POOPOO!!! And you will and do fill it with something whether you understand that or not. For many, including me, it went alot further than that. For me, I came to the conclusion, that whoever was in charge of the Cosmos, couldn't possibly care much for me. And frankly, because the guy in charge allowed this to happen, I didn't really give a rip about Him or His rules and lived accordingly. I hated Him. And you. And me. But I didn't realize that at the time and another thing I didn't realize...... I was wrong about the King of the Cosmos.

  But that is for the next post. We will still talk about Homosexuality (briefly) and how it ties in to all this. I will explain how my dad's consistant and relentless stand against drugs kept me off them. It will be funny at times, emotional at times and I will also tell you how my dad not being afraid to get involved almost got my butt kicked by some of the guys I was hanging with... on several occasions (no names of course).

  And then I will tell you my testimony, briefly. In other words; I will tell you what, when, who and how it all changed and it might be the most important thing you've ever heard. Not because of me but because of HIM.

For my Polish friends: Water + Cold = Ice.

Heeeeyy. I'M Polish, MISTER!!!

I have a confession to make.

There are alot of drugs in my life. 

 No, no, no. I'm not smoking any doooooobies. Although I used to smoke the doooooobies when I was a young man. I wasn't a pothead. I maybe smoked pot 75-100 times in my life and never did any other recreational drugs (unless you count Nyguil). Any self-respecting pot head who is concerned about his pothead status will tell you that they probably smoke 75-100 times A MONTH!! I used to wonder why I smoked the wacky tobacky when I knew it was wrong. That is until I came across the following quote that explains why I smoked better than I could explain. Now I am paraphrasing here but you should be able to understand, after reading this quote, why I smoked the doooooooooooobies:

"Ha ha   ha ha ha ha ha ha   ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha   ha ha ha ha ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha ha ha    ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha   ha ha ha ha ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha ha  ha ha  ha ha ha ha ha      ha ha ha ha ha ha ha  ha ha ha h a ha ha ha ha ha ha   ha ha ha ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!"-Anonymous (seriously, he didn't know his name)

 

   But what I mean is, lately, Cheryl and I have come into contact with alot of people who are in various stages of drug addiction. Now Cheryl is a drug and alcohol abuse counselor so she's involved with drug and alcohol abusers all the time. But that's not what I am talking about here, poopy pants. I'm talking about people who are or who have become close friends of ours who are struggling, have struggled or someone dear to them is struggling with drugs. And I mean serious drugs like coke, crack, or methamphetamine. They call Meth. "Ice". They didn't have that one so much when I was growing up. I thought ice was what I put in my sweet tea. I thought ice was the thing that Poland didn't have anymore of because the lady with the recipe died.

  Anyway, all of a sudden we find ourselves knee deep in people struggling in this area and I am very happy about it. I pray and hope we will be allowed to help someone or at least point someone in the right direction. Things like this seem to happen from time to time. There is a theme or similarity about folks that God brings or allows into your life for a season. For example, in the following series of posts, I discussed how women can have a vital and rewarding relationship with Christ despite their cowardly husbands not leading in this most important of areas:

  Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful

  Love Stinks....Yeah, Yeah

  Blizzard of Oz

   It just seemed that Cheryl and I suddenly looked up one day and noticed that many people that we were close too had marriages that were in deep trouble for a variety of reasons. So I wrote that series of posts prescribing the only true remedy... because Cheryl and I would know.

  So now, here we are with so many addiction issues in our lives so I am going to write a few posts concerning the God shaped hole in every man's heart (I hate cliches but there it is) that so many people fill with drugs among other things. I am going to discuss the common theme about every life long drug abuser that I have known. Also going to talk a little about Homosexuality but probably not in the same way you've heard other Christ followers talk. Compared to most laypersons, I have known quite a few homosexuals personally. And by layperson, I mean Southern, Bible-believing redneck. Gonna explore that a little. Also gonna discuss the death of John Travolta's son, Jett and also why Van Halen didn't allow Brown M & M's backstage at their concerts. It's always bothered me. So obviously and as usual, it is going to get a little weird up in here the next few days. Until then, enjoy this:

Watch out for that Truck, Dawg!!

  

   I said at the end of the last post that I had a "Theory of Who Cares!!" as far as all the ideas and conjecture about the "Last Days" of Planet Earth. Alot of Christian folks really spend alot of time wondering and worrying and hoping and studying about Christ's return. So somewhat sarcastically, my theory is called "Who Cares" and I think you'll like my explanation of it because I have solved the great question for you and you never have to worry again about whether we are in the last days or not. Are you ready?

 

  Every single person that reads this blog (that means you), except for maybe 2-3 or you, is within 50 years....and most alot fewer...of being face to face with Jesus Christ (hope he's glad to see you). Or maybe face to knee cap. And I DO CARE a great deal about that because he will see everything about you at once and I DO CARE because for many the visit will be very brief. But for others the visit will be forever. 

 

  What I am saying is that we are ALL in our "Last Days" so, in some ways, WHO CARES about all this Nostradamus, Mayan calender, 2012, end of the world BOVINE SCATOLOGY (REMEMBER Y2K?) Or even the Christian nut jobs who see Jesus' imminent return in every election or newspaper article. WHO CARES!! Here's all we need to know. One way or the other, we ARE going to meet him. Are you ready? I mean on his terms? Do you have this attitude?

 

Matthew 13:44 (NIV) "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field

 

 

  Following is a 5 minute YouTube video of Penn Jillette, of the famous Comedy team  Penn & Teller.  He is as famous for his being a somewhat aggressive Atheist  as he is for being a comedian. Never the less, whether he meant it this way or not, this is a great sermon. Especially the last 2-1/2 minutes. I'd say he probably states, in a round-a-bout way, why I continue to write Cup A Joe. Here is a little help for understanding the video:

 

Proselytize- To induce someone to convert to one's faith.

 

Watch out for that truck, dawg. Fo' shizzle.