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chrispoor
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Name: Chris
Country: United States
State: Kentucky
Gender: Male
Interests: Lots and lots of things, most of them rather unusual. Old Volvos. History, Theology, Tolkien, Lovecraft, and others. Jesus and his view of life. Irish music. Redheads. Firefly, Chinese movies, Kurosawa, Wargames.
Expertise: Loving my wife (ask her). Um, medicine, Tolkien, some other stuff, too.
Occupation: Medical
Industry: Medical
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
8/26/2003
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| Some new shots of the 1800
Interior. Dad did the dash in Walnut veneer, all of the Instruments were rebuilt, and I am in the process of making new knobs for the dash switches. The shift knob is made of pipe-grade briar, which I made with the help of Scott Thile, who makes exceptional pipes (the smoking kind, not the wailing kind).
Side view. The spooky silhouette in the tinted window is Valentino, my dog. If I am anywhere near the car he MUST be inside. He loves to ride, even if the seats are not very easy for him to sit in.
Standard beauty shot. Love the wheels! I found them at a local junkyard, and had them machined lightly to fit over the hubs and used spacers to get clearance on the body. Definitely the single best cosmetic addition to this car, and the compliments skyrocketed after I added them.
More photos in the photo section if you are interested.
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| How Good are you?
My friend Tina was baptised last night. Many of you already know her story, as over the last year Bridget and I have helped her in various ways. In brief, she came to the ED about a year ago and I heard a clear call from God to tell her how much He loved her. What followed was a long process of healing that is still going on. Last night was simply one more step on the road to life. Six months ago, when Bridget and I talked to her about following Jesus, her honest answer was, "I'm not ready for that," and I appreciated her honesty. Many people in our life think that Tina is taking advantage of us, playing us for fools and taking everything we will give her.
Well, that may be true. Don't think that we haven't thought about that possibility on several occasions. Helping Tina has been encouraging, frustrating, humorous and maddening at times. But I have never felt that God was not interested in her, and that He wanted us to withdraw from her life.
Here is another thought: if we are being played for fools, we are fools for God. If we are being taken advantage of, it is an imitation of Christ, who has let us all take advantage of Him, of His suffering, of all He had to give for us. And we take advantage of Him so much that we don't even think of it anymore. How better to show His love than to love as He did, without thought for ourselves?
Understand, we are not a blank check. We were for awhile, when Grace was what she needed most. Later, it became clear that Truth was the major need, and the relationship was tested, as we told her things she did not want to hear, and worked to help her to be more self-sufficient. Still ongoing, but I see progress. Grace and Truth have spoken to her, and she has heard the voice of Jesus at last. She was baptised. In her words, "I don't want to be alone anymore."
Afterwards, members of our small group gathered around and prayed for her. My father, who was baptised only a few years ago, refused to participate, fearful that we were endorsing all of the sin in her lifestyle, which has still not changed. It gives me pause as I consider it; how much of our sin are we responsible to clean up before Jesus can help us? I believe the answer is 'none', as I believe that in our own strength, we are powerless to defeat sin. And baptism is not a magical incantation that suddenly makes us into a completely different person. We are adopted into a better family; we have a new identity. Baptism is a birth, an awakening, a union of the finite with the infinite, and the infinite is very patient. The change is immediate, but the effects are bound to time, and our God is gentle and tenderhearted. The change in Tina over the last year has been tremendous; she has gone from separated from God to willing to submit to His lordship. The clean up has begun. Her problems have not gone away, but she is not alone anymore. How much farther does she need to go? How much farther am I, on that scale?
But it is easier to judge, to look at those hard-to-hide sins in her life and think that they are worse in God's sight than my easy-to-hide sins, and so I can feel a little better about myself, a little more secure in my own righteousness, and a little better than her.
Which breaks God's heart more, which offends Him more, the prostitute who weeps tears of remorse and washes His feet, or the pharisee who proudly hurls the first stone? Some of us have sins of the flesh, and all can see them, other sins lie deep in our hearts, and only show in our resentment of God's grace to others, and contempt for how He chooses to heal them.
Praise You Father, for Your grace and love that is greater than ALL of my sin.
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| Wii've got Brant!!!This is so cool! I have Brant Hansen, yes, THE Brant Hansen of Kamp Krusty fame, now living and active on my Wii. Here he is:
It may not be obvious, but Brantster's favorite color is pink. Also, he's really not very good at sports. My seven-year-old son, Samuel, has beaten the stuffing out of him at golf. And bowling. And tennis. And baseball. And, of course, boxing. I have gotten in on the fun a bit, but mostly I leave the fun to Sam. Besides, Sam beats the stuffing out of me regularly, too.
You may be asking yourself who that is sneakin' up on ol' Brantster. Well, that's an even bigger surprise:
Yep, that's right. We got the Jesus. Right there on the Wii. Needless to say, He wins every time. I mostly wanted Him on the Wii for the team sports, like baseball and tennis. You get Him on your team, and the win is virtually guaranteed (and I do mean virtually).
And who is that, standing right in front of the Master, in his pink shirt, probably praying for some more athletic ability? Yep, It's Brantster. Way to go, big fella, your humility inspires us all.
Am I gonna lose some of my heavenly crowns over this one?
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| How's this for a vision?
We've had a lot of talk at our church lately about vision. Not the optical kind, the mental kind. As in, "...an image of the future that produces passion." Well, I had a vision about vision the other day, and I'll share it with the few readers of this blog, and ask for your input.
At our meeting Sunday to discuss the church's vision statement, we had about thirty people of various ages and backgrounds. We spent 2-3 hours talking about what we wanted to do in response to what God has done and is doing among us. Anyone could speak, and many did. Many different ideas were expressed, and for the most part were respectfully received and attended to, with good discussion. The elders did little talking, but when they did speak, it was mostly to clarify or ask clarifying questions. Some ideas were better than others. Some ideas were right on (meaning I agreed with them), while others less so (meaning I am not sure). But all were viewed as valid and valuable, even those from relatively new members, and those who tend to ramble. We communicated. We worked hard to listen, to respect, to understand each other, to hear the Holy Spirit speaking through each part of the Body. It was time consuming and a bit messy at times, but in the end it was safe for all. We love God, we love each other, we did our best to embody that love in this meeting, and I think that anyone who was hurt or offended was so in spite of the dominant Spirit of the meeting.
So, how's that for a vision? A community that works in this way to do...whatever. Whatever God leads us to do, whatever He brings to us. No long-range strategy beyond this: we will be a community who loves God, loves people, and works hard to respond to every situation in a way that pleases Christ and builds up the Kingdom of God.
Jesus said that each day has enough trouble of it's own, so we should not worry about tomorrow. Was He being rhetorical here, or did He really, really mean it? Deal with today's troubles. Trust God to chart the course and steer the ship. Your job is to be the Church, to be the people of God in every situation.
Maybe I'm just a passive-aggressive Christian.
What would this look like in the long run? I dunno. Probably messy. Probably a lot like that church that Alice and Becky were describing with such fond affection, that existed here not so long ago, but is asleep now.
Wadd'ya think?
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| My Secret Plan Revealed at Last! Well, I put the finishing touches on my car today, and I am very happy with it. Here are some photos I took today:
I made quite a few modifications, in the end to modernize this beauty. Rebuilt the engine and the brakes, totally renovated the interior with new black leather seats (see the earlier post), Kenwood stereo with four speakers, rebuilt dash and gauges, new headlights, replaced all of the gaskets and seals...quite a job. Done at last.
Oh, I also found a website that makes custom license plates, so I picked out a cool one ;)
And I finally decided that the red paint job just wasn't doing it for me.
Good shot of the nose. No, those aren't merely racing stripes...
I know I was really taking a chance on this design, but I simply could not resist! Think it'll get a few second looks? I tried to make it subtle, but there if you are looking for it. I think that I could have done a better job with the clearcoating and polishing up, but the effect is the same.
One of my favorite things about this car is the tail. One of the last cars designed to look good as it leaves you in the dust...note the actual nature of the 'stripes' yet?
Another tail shot. Sweet. This one is here for me, not you to look at. Move on.
Took this one from a second-floor balcony, just to get the whole impression for ya.
I'll post some nighttime shots later. After all, that's when it'll get the most action...
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