nrcave.blogspot.com

i made a new blogspot for my new email address (nrcave@gmail.com) and it is:

nrcave.blogspot.com

i might start posting there

thanks for caring

N

THE SHACK

theshackbook.com

You should really read this book

No matter what you believe, it is a good read.  It really gives a unique perspective of the Trinity and it makes God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit much more real to me.  It is a very thought provoking read.  It shows an interesting way to approach grief and bad things that occur in life.  I love the fact that it shows Jesus as someone who isn't crazy about religion, in fact doesn't like religion at all, and shows Him as someone who is all about relationships and love.  It's really good stuff!  Checkcheckcheckitout!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

to write love on her arms

I have known about this organization for a while, so I thought I should share it with you.

It is called To Write Love On Her Arms, and here is it's mission statement/vision/story:

MISSION STATEMENT:

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.  TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

VISION:

The vision is that we actually believe these things…

You were created to love and be loved.  You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you're part of a bigger story.  You need to know that your life matters.

We live in a difficult world, a broken world.  My friend Byron is very smart - he says that life is hard for most people most of the time.  We believe that everyone can relate to pain, that all of us live with questions, and all of us get stuck in moments.  You need to know that you're not alone in the places you feel stuck. 

We all wake to the human condition.  We wake to mystery and beauty but also to tragedy and loss.  Millions of people live with problems of pain.  Millions of homes are filled with questions – moments and seasons and cycles that come as thieves and aim to stay.  We know that pain is very real.  It is our privilege to suggest that hope is real, and that help is real. 

You need to know that rescue is possible, that freedom is possible, that God is still in the business of redemption.  We're seeing it happen.  We're seeing lives change as people get the help they need.  People sitting across from a counselor for the first time.  People stepping into treatment.  In desperate moments, people calling a suicide hotline.  We know that the first step to recovery is the hardest to take.  We want to say here that it's worth it, that your life is worth fighting for, that it's possible to change. 

Beyond treatment, we believe that community is essential, that people need other people, that we were never meant to do life alone. 

The vision is that community and hope and help would replace secrets and silence.  

The vision is people putting down guns and blades and bottles. 

The vision is that we can reduce the suicide rate in America and around the world.

The vision is that we would learn what it means to love our friends, and that we would love ourselves enough to get the help we need.

The vision is better endings.  The vision is the restoration of broken families and broken relationships.  The vision is people finding life, finding freedom, finding love.  The vision is graduation, a Super Bowl, a wedding, a child, a sunrise.  The vision is people becoming incredible parents, people breaking cycles, making change.  

The vision is the possibility that your best days are ahead.  

The vision is the possibility that we're more loved than we'll ever know.  

The vision is hope, and hope is real.

You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story.

BEGIN:

This began as an attempt to tell a story and a way to help a friend in Spring 2006.  The story and the life it represented were both things of contrast – pain and hope, addiction and sobriety, regret and the possibility of freedom.  The story’s title “To Write Love on Her Arms” was also a goal, believing that a better life was possible.  We started selling t-shirts as a way to pay for our friend’s treatment, and we made a MySpace page to give the whole thing a home. Our friends in Switchfoot and Anberlin were among the first to wear these shirts.  In the days that followed, we learned quickly that the story we were telling represented people everywhere.  We began to hear from people in need of help, and others asking what they could do to help their friends. We heard from people who had lost loved ones to suicide.  Many said that these were questions they had never asked and parts of their story that they had never shared. Others were honest in a different way, confessing these were issues they knew little or nothing about.  It seemed we had stumbled upon a bigger story, and a conversation that needed to be had. 

Over the last two and a half years, we’ve responded to 80,000 messages from people in 40 different countries. We’ve had the opportunity to bring this conversation, and a message of hope and help, to concerts, universities, festivals and churches.  We’ve learned that these are not American issues, not white issues or “emo” issues.  These are issues of humanity, problems of pain that affect millions of people around the world. 

We’ve learned that two out of three people who struggle with depression never seek help, and that untreated depression is the leading cause of suicide.  In America alone, it’s estimated that 19 million people live with depression, and suicide is the third-leading cause of death among those 18-24 years old.

The good news is that depression is very treatable, that a very real hope exists in the face of these issues.  We’ve met people who are getting the help they need, sitting across from a counselor for the first time, stepping into treatment, or reaching out to a suicide hotline in a desperate moment.

 

STORY: 

To Write Love On Her Arms

Pedro the Lion is loud in the speakers, and the city waits just outside our open windows. She sits and sings, legs crossed in the passenger seat, her pretty voice hiding in the volume. Music is a safe place and Pedro is her favorite. It hits me that she won't see this skyline for several weeks, and we will be without her. I lean forward, knowing this will be written, and I ask what she'd say if her story had an audience. She smiles. "Tell them to look up. Tell them to remember the stars."

I would rather write her a song, because songs don't wait to resolve, and because songs mean so much to her. Stories wait for endings, but songs are brave things bold enough to sing when all they know is darkness. These words, like most words, will be written next to midnight, between hurricane and harbor, as both claim to save her.

Renee is 19. When I meet her, cocaine is fresh in her system. She hasn't slept in 36 hours and she won't for another 24. It is a familiar blur of coke, pot, pills and alcohol. She has agreed to meet us, to listen and to let us pray. We ask Renee to come with us, to leave this broken night. She says she'll go to rehab tomorrow, but she isn't ready now. It is too great a change. We pray and say goodbye and it is hard to leave without her.

She has known such great pain; haunted dreams as a child, the near-constant presence of evil ever since. She has felt the touch of awful naked men, battled depression and addiction, and attempted suicide. Her arms remember razor blades, fifty scars that speak of self-inflicted wounds. Six hours after I meet her, she is feeling trapped, two groups of "friends" offering opposite ideas. Everyone is asleep. The sun is rising. She drinks long from a bottle of liquor, takes a razor blade from the table and locks herself in the bathroom. She cuts herself, using the blade to write "FUCK UP" large across her left forearm.

The nurse at the treatment center finds the wound several hours later. The center has no detox, names her too great a risk, and does not accept her. For the next five days, she is ours to love. We become her hospital and the possibility of healing fills our living room with life. It is unspoken and there are only a few of us, but we will be her church, the body of Christ coming alive to meet her needs, to write love on her arms.

She is full of contrast, more alive and closer to death than anyone I've known, like a Johnny Cash song or some theatre star. She owns attitude and humor beyond her 19 years, and when she tells me her story, she is humble and quiet and kind, shaped by the pain of a hundred lifetimes. I sit privileged but breaking as she shares. Her life has been so dark yet there is some soft hope in her words, and on consecutive evenings, I watch the prettiest girls in the room tell her that she's beautiful. I think it's God reminding her.

I've never walked this road, but I decide that if we're going to run a five-day rehab, it is going to be the coolest in the country. It is going to be rock and roll. We start with the basics; lots of fun, too much Starbucks and way too many cigarettes

Thursday night she is in the balcony for Band Marino, Orlando's finest. They are indie-folk-fabulous, a movement disguised as a circus. She loves them and she smiles when I point out the A&R man from Atlantic Europe, in town from London just to catch this show. 

She is in good seats when the Magic beat the Sonics the next night, screaming like a lifelong fan with every Dwight Howard dunk. On the way home, we stop for more coffee and books, Blue Like Jazz and (Anne Lamott's) Travelling Mercies. 

On Saturday, the Taste of Chaos tour is in town and I'm not even sure we can get in, but doors do open and minutes after parking, we are on stage for Thrice, one of her favorite bands. She stands ten feet from the drummer, smiling constantly. It is a bright moment there in the music, as light and rain collide above the stage. It feels like healing. It is certainly hope. 

Sunday night is church and many gather after the service to pray for Renee, this her last night before entering rehab. Some are strangers but all are friends tonight. The prayers move from broken to bold, all encouraging. We're talking to God but I think as much, we're talking to her, telling her she's loved, saying she does not go alone. One among us knows her best. Ryan sits in the corner strumming an acoustic guitar, singing songs she's inspired. 

After church our house fills with friends, there for a few more moments before goodbye. Everyone has some gift for her, some note or hug or piece of encouragement. She pulls me aside and tells me she would like to give me something. I smile surprised, wondering what it could be. We walk through the crowded living room, to the garage and her stuff. 

She hands me her last razor blade, tells me it is the one she used to cut her arm and her last lines of cocaine five nights before. She's had it with her ever since, shares that tonight will be the hardest night and she shouldn't have it. I hold it carefully, thank her and know instantly that this moment, this gift, will stay with me. It hits me to wonder if this great feeling is what Christ knows when we surrender our broken hearts, when we trade death for life. 

As we arrive at the treatment center, she finishes: "The stars are always there but we miss them in the dirt and clouds. We miss them in the storms. Tell them to remember hope. We have hope." 

I have watched life come back to her, and it has been a privilege. When our time with her began, someone suggested shifts but that is the language of business. Love is something better. I have been challenged and changed, reminded that love is that simple answer to so many of our hardest questions. Don Miller says we're called to hold our hands against the wounds of a broken world, to stop the bleeding. I agree so greatly. 

We often ask God to show up. We pray prayers of rescue. Perhaps God would ask us to be that rescue, to be His body, to move for things that matter. He is not invisible when we come alive. I might be simple but more and more, I believe God works in love, speaks in love, is revealed in our love. I have seen that this week and honestly, it has been simple: Take a broken girl, treat her like a famous princess, give her the best seats in the house. Buy her coffee and cigarettes for the coming down, books and bathroom things for the days ahead. Tell her something true when all she's known are lies. Tell her God loves her. Tell her about forgiveness, the possibility of freedom, tell her she was made to dance in white dresses. All these things are true. 

We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don't get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called home. 

I have learned so much in one week with one brave girl. She is alive now, in the patience and safety of rehab, covered in marks of madness but choosing to believe that God makes things new, that He meant hope and healing in the stars. She would ask you to remember.

http://www.twloha.com/page.php?id=6

http://www.twloha.com/

unchristian

Hi!  I recently read this book and it is amazingly eye-opening to how non-Christians view Christians and Christianity as a whole.  Read this book!  Here is an outline of the book to wet your appetite.

 

unchristian – David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons

• How can we change the perception outsiders (those who are not Christians) have of Christians and Christianity?  How do we go from the current perception to a new perception?

 

Six Broad Themes (how outsiders perceive Christians)

1. Hypocritical – saying one thing, doing another.  Christians pretend to be something unreal.
2. Too Focused on Getting Converts – Outsiders wonder if we genuinely care.  They feel like targets rather than people.  They question our motives when we try to help them “get saved.”
3. Antihomosexual – Outsiders say that Christians are bigoted and show disdain for gays and lesbians. 
4. Sheltered – Christians are thought of as old-fashioned, boring, and out of touch with reality. 
5. Too Political - Christians are overly motivated by a political agenda, and promote and represent politically conservative interests and issues.  Conservative Christians are often thought of as right-wingers.
6. Judgmental – Outsiders think that Christians are quick to judge others.  They say we are not honest about our attitudes and perspectives about other people.  They doubt that we really love people as we say we do.

 

HYPOCRITICAL

Ø      Perception:  Christians say one thing but live something entirely different

Ø      New Perception:  Christians are transparent about their flaws and act first, talk second

Young Christians do things their way:

Percent who believe each is morally acceptable among born again busters (aged 23-41)

• Cohabitation       59%
• Gambling   58%
• Sexual Thoughts or Fantasies about someone  57%
• Sex outside of Marriage              44%
• Using Profanity    37%
• Getting Drunk     35%
• Looking at pictures of nudity of explicit sexual behavior     33%
• Having an abortion      32%
• Having a sexual relationship with someone of the same sex       28%
• Using drugs not prescribed to you  16%
• Allow the “F” word on broadcast television       7%   

 

GET SAVED!

Ø      Perception:  Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others.

Ø      New Perception:  Christians cultivate relationships and environments where others can be deeply transformed by God.

Biblical Worldview – a person who has a biblical worldview experiences, interprets, and responds to reality in light of the Bible’s principles.

        A person with a biblical worldview believes:

1.    That Jesus Christ lived a sinless life

2.    God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and he still rules it today.

3.    Salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned

4.    Satan is real

5.    A Christian has a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people

6.    The Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches

7.    Unchanging moral truth exists and such moral truth is defined by the Bible.

Research shows only 3 percent (1 of 28) of Busters and Mosaics (aged 18-41) embrace these elements.  So, only 3 percent have a biblical worldview.  (SAD!)

 

7 Elements that should define a Christ follower:

1. Worshipping God intimately and passionately
2. Engaging in spiritual friendships with other believers
3. Pursuing faith in the context of family
4. Embracing intentional forms of spiritual growth
5. Serving others
6. Investing time and resources in spiritual pursuits
7. Having faith-based conversations with outsiders

 

ANTIHOMOSEXUAL

Ø      Perception:  Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians.

Ø      New Perception:  Christians show compassion and love to all people, regardless of their lifestyle.

 

Research shows:

• Born again Christians are more likely to disapprove of homosexuality than divorce.
• Most born again Christians have a hard time knowing how they should respond to the lifestyles of homosexuals as well as how to respond to the political efforts of gay and lesbian activists.
• Millions of Americans, including two out of every five churchgoers, say that school boards ought to have the right to fire teachers who are known homosexuals. 
• Many Christians continue to be very skeptical about donating to HIV/AIDS causes, even oversees, despite Christians generosity in many other arenas.

 

Some inaccurate assumptions Christians embrace:

• Homosexuals are incapable of acting morally
• Homosexuals are an organized movement with the purpose of subverting conservative Christianity
• Homosexuality is a simple issue
• It is best to avoid any friendships with homosexuals

 

SHELTERED

Ø      Perception:  Christians are boring, old-fashioned, unintelligent, and out of touch with reality.

Ø      New Perception:  Christians are engaged, informed, and offer sophisticated responses to the issues people face.

• Outsiders think Christianity is out of tune with the real-world choices, challenges, and lifestyles they face.
• Christianity seems like a religion of rules and standards.
• Outsiders think that Christians are living in their own world.
• They think Christians are out of touch with young people.

 

TOO POLITICAL

Ø      Perception:  Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics.

Ø      New Perception:  Christians are characterized by respecting people, thinking biblically, and finding solutions to complex issues.

• Among 16-29 year olds outside of Christianity, when asked to identify well known Christians, here are the top 5 responses:  1. the Pope (16%), 2.  G.W. Bush (13%), 3.  Jesus (9%), 4.  Billy Graham (7%), 5.  Martin Luther King, Jr. (6%).
• Some unchristian behaviors:  Christians rely too heavily on political influence, Christians get enamored with politics, Christians drown out and demonize the voices of others, Christians do not respect leaders whose political viewpoint is different from their own, and Christians are hypocrites when it comes to politics. 

 

JUDGEMENTAL

Ø      Perception:  Christians are prideful and quick to find faults in others.

Ø      New Perception:  Christians show grace by finding the good in others and seeing their potential to be Christ followers.

• Christian churches accept and love people unconditionally, regardless of how people look or what they do.  Percent who strongly agree with the previous statement:  Pastors (76%)  Born-again Christians (47%)  Christian churchgoers (41%)  Outsiders (20%).
• Outsiders suggest the following to Christians for facilitation mutual esteem:  Listen to me, Don’t label me, Don’t be so smart, Put yourself in my place, Be genuine, Be my friend with no other motives.

 

HOW TO CHANGE THE PERSPECTIVE FROM UN TO CHRISTIAN

 

• Respond with the right perspective
• Connect with people – Jesus influenced his disciples through relationships and friendships
• Be creative – we have to find new and creative ways to get outsiders interested.
• Serve people  (check pp. 212-213 in the book for Bible verses that deal with serving others)
• Be compassionate

 

 

 

 

*All of the previous comes pretty much directly from the book, so, I will cite this book now, in order to prevent from getting in trouble.

 

Kinnaman, David, and Gabe Lyons. UnChistian. 1st. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007.

Random and totally opinion-based 2009 NASCAR predictions.

With the season a mere one month away (Daytona 500 02.15.09), I thought I would go ahead and predict the top 30 finishers for the 2009 NASCAR season.  Remember, after 26 races, the top 12 make the chase and settle the championship.

Some random notes before I begin:

>Look for David Ragan (6) to be the most improved driver of the year, winning a few races, and even competing for the championship.

>Johnson will be tough to deny his 4th consecutive championship (shocker!)

>Tony Stewart will be driving for his own team, and look for him to win a few races.

>The races will be more boring than ever, resulting in NASCAR throwing phantom cautions even more than they have in the past.

>Dale JR. will still not win.

Top 30 (and why)

30.  Travis Kvapil - Same story, some good runs but at the end of the day a lot of DNF's

29.  Scott Speed - Welcome to NASCAR.  It will be a learning curve, but if RedBull gives him time, he can be a good stock car racer.

28.  Juan Pablo Montoya - New DEI/Ganassi entity won't help this open wheeler.

27.  Reed Sorenson  - New team, same lackluster results for Reed.

26.  Michael Waltrip -  He'll have some decent runs, but at the end of the day he is still Michael Waltrip.

25.  Jamie McMurray -  He will continue to be the low point at camp Roush.

24.  Casey Mears - Don't look for much improvement at RCR for Casey.

23.  Martin Truex, Jr. -  He should've gotten out of DEI when he could have.

22.  AJ Allmendinger - Still don't know which car he is driving, but look for him to have better results that a lot of people think.  

21.  Kasey Kahne -  As each year passes, Kahne becomes just an average driver.

20.  Aric Almirola - Too bad he drives for lowlife DEI.  This dude has talent.

19.  Kurt Busch  -  Penske racing will continue to struggle.

18.  David Reutimann - A good driver, but MWR just doesn't cut it.

17.  Brian Vickers - I'd love to see BV do better, but inconsistency kills him.

16.  Jeff Burton -  This will be a down season for Jeff.

15.  Ryan Newman - He will have some ups and downs driving for Tony this year.

14.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.  -  News flash:  Jr will continue to not win races.  With Martin aboard, he will be the low man at Hendrick this year, missing the chase.

13.  Joey Logano - Rookie mistakes will keep him out of the chase, but he will learn a lot this year, and improve as the season goes on.

12.  Tony Stewart - Smoke will barely beat out his old car for a spot in the chase, but it won't be the season he is looking for. (maybe 2010)

11.  Matt Kenseth -  More of the same from Matt.

10. Kevin Harvick -  Another consistent year but still no wins.

09. Clint Bowyer - Clint will be the go to guy at RCR this year, winning on more than one occasion. 

08. Jeff Gordon - He will still be looking for 5.

07. Greg Biffle - Another good year for the Bif, but not quite worthy of a championship run.

06. Denny Hamlin -  JGR will be back with another good season, but Denny still won't quite live up to Kyle's hype.

05. Kyle Busch - He'll have another great year, winning a lot of races, and contending for a championship.

04.  David Ragan  -  He will surprise people this year, winning a few races, and contending for the title.

03.  Carl Edwards - Carl will get even closer to his first championship, but he might still be a year or two out.

02.  Mark Martin - Welcome to HMS!  This will be a dream season for Mark.  The only thing that will stop him from winning his first championship will be his teammate, but he will come very close.

01.  Jimmie Johnson - You just can't bet against this guy.  At the end of the day, he will just flat out beat you. 

why are farts so funny?

this is a question that i have been pondering for many a year.  can anyone help me with this one?  farts are in fact very funny but i don't know exactly what makes them funny.  my wife claims that farts are only funny to people under the age of 5 but i know that that is not true.  look, i am twenty something and i still find farts to be very, very funny.  

i think it might have something to do with the fact that a noise is coming from the butthole and the butthole is sometimes considered to be a private area and for some reason the discussion of private areas is funny.  

i don't know.  all i know is that nothing is more likely to bring a smile to the face of an individual than that of a nice, juicy fart.  They're just funny, that's all there is to it .

But why?

OBOJKHWW

Well, just the other day, Friday to be exact, Ornenthal James Simpson, better known as OJ, was sentenced to between 9 and 33 years in prison for, not murder but, convictions stemming from a sports memorabilia incident gone bad.

Does this reek of payback or what?  Almost everyone in this country is happy to see this double murderer behind bars, no matter what the reason is.  He had 13+ years of freedom after he was acquitted on murder charges but now he will spend some time (maybe the rest of his life, but doubtful) behind bars.

He is up for parole after 9 years which, if OBOJ behaves himself, he will get.  9 years isn't enough for murder, but it is better than nothing.  He is getting older by the minute and will probably not be healthy enough to kill anyone else when he gets out of prison.  

I'm sure this feels like a long time coming for the families of Nicole and Ron.  I am sure that the fact that the guy who took the lives of their loved ones is finally behind bars is a relief to them.  They have had to suffer watching him playing golf and living it up when he should have been behind bars.  This has to be a small bit of justice to them.

It is none of my business, obviously, what goes on in the lives of the Simpson, Brown, and Goldman families.  But since this has been such a public thing for so many years, I thought I would throw out my 2 sense.

Hey O.J., be careful.  Make sure you don't try to get out of that private cell they have blessed you with.  The next dumb decision you make might just make you someone's you know what.