What's the point?

I got into a conversation recently about prayer (this pertains to the God of the Bible because of my belief that He is the only living God, thus the only one that can hear us pray) and how in this world it is supposed to work! This has been something that has confused me for a long time. So, I'm opening this up for input after putting out my stance.

1 - Does He answer prayer?

2 - If so, how should we expect to see His answer?

3 - Should we bring Him everything from the big to the little?

4 - Should we seek God for His over arching will for our life?

First, I think God wants us to pray. I think it's clear from Jesus' interaction while on earth and the things He said, that God both wants us to pray and wants to listen our prayers.

I think He is infinately capable enough to handle anything we can throw at Him so "Yes" to Q3. In fact, as it relates to Q4 I think the "little" things are more important to bring to Him because that's the everyday stuff. That's where we live and move. For example, "God, we need a new car but aren't sure how we'll afford it." (I've seen that one answered multiple times in my life and my friends.) Or "God, I need to know how to deal with little Jimmy's problems with math." Or reading, english, hitting, stealing, etc. It's at this level that we can sense that God loves us privately or personally.

Feel free to add more questions.

Couple More

A Good Visit Anyway

I'm back from Minnesota. It's sad that I had to go because of a death, but it's a true blessing that we were all able to be together for it.

Not So Wimpy

Day two in Minnesota. It is was about twenty degrees today, but my body still thought running was a good idea. I gave it a shot and it felt very good (I couldn't feel my fingers, so I don't know if they agreed or not). Thank you, Candi, for instilling strong running desires in me.

I'll get some pictures up, when I can, of the family.

There's no snow here yet.

Outta town

I'm in Minnesota because my grandmother went Home Monday morning. It's not the best reason to come here, but it is definately good to be together as a family.

Now I know that last minute plane tickets are never the most direct route.

Thanksgiving (to who?)

We went to the Thanksgiving Eve gathering at Christ Community Church tonight. The Pastor, speaking on thankfulness and ungratefulness said this (actually, it's paraphrased because I'm adding some words and thoughts):

Coveting (greed, and lust for anything) looks forward. Thankfulness and gratefulness look back.

Here's another quote that deals with the same idea from another person:

"Remembering" is the fence or boundary that keeps us from ungratefulness toward and disobedience to God.

Chapter 8 of Deuteronomy is entirely about remembering, being grateful, and what happens when we stop both of those. I'm pretty sure we, as a country, have stopped remembering where we came from, forgotten God, and determined to credit ourselves for our wealth and position in the world.

I say this as a member of the country and confess my materialism and greed, also. Thank God that He is a God of second chances. I pray that we, as a country, will ask God for a second chance and then take that second chance to obey Him and give credit where credit is due.

Oh no! There on to me...

Aaaaah, the Age Old Question

I got this at work the other day. Enjoy!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because gosh-darnit, he's a maverick!

BARACK OBAMA : The chicken crossed the road because it was time for change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road

HILLARY CLINTON : When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH : We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY : Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL : Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: ... inappropriate...

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY : Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross,and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON : Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL : The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE : That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN : To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART : No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS : Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY : To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS : Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish it's lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE : It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES : I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN : Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS : Did I miss one?

Mountain Out of a Mole Hill

It started out as a little drywall repair after getting our shower remodeled a few weeks ago...

Now this -

This one will take some electrical, plumbing, drywall, and framing. Should be fun. I'll keep you posted.

Won of the grates!

This is perhaps the best website out there. The creator is a genius.

Zombo com

the princess and the king

Nori and I went on a date yesterday morning. It was hiking and out to her favorite restaurant. We got out the door around 9am, jump on the iron horse and started up to Ventana Canyon. God reminded me, with 1 mile of gas left in the tank, that I forgot to fill up. There was a gas station 3/4 of a mile down the road. He's awesome! but I digress.

The weather is perfect for a hike right now. As it was her special time, I told her I would let her pick how far we would hike - as long as it was as least four miles. She picked 30 minutes out and 30 minutes back. As it had already been 40 minutes when I asked her, we settled on another 5 minutes and then turn around. Besides, how could we wait much longer for...

THE HOMETOWN BUFFET!

Once again the HB delivered on good times. The food was par for the course, but I was with my princess... what more could I ask for?

I had no idea Nori could eat that much corn-off-the-cob.

Vanilla ice cream over warm, fudge brownies is really good.

"You don't make sense to me, so you must not be real," said the Ant to the Elephant

This was emailed to me today.

This is really fascinating - it's rather dazzling to see it presented this way.

I certainly thought this was enlightening. Beyond our sun, there's a big universe.

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky. It is more than 1000 light years away.

How big are you?

…

The next pic is a Hubble telescope ultra-deep field, infrared view of countless ‘entire’ galaxies, billion of light-years away.

The last is a close-up of one of the darkest regions of the other photo. Humbling, isn't it?

And yet, someone knows how many hairs are on your head, and not even a single sparrow dies apart from His will (Mt. 10:29-31)!

So, now how big are you? And how big are the things that upset you today?

And how big is your God?! Keep life in perspective and remember who is in control. (Job 38).

Nobody Tosses a Dwarf!

Last weekend we spent some time with my Aunt and Uncle. Most of the day was spent at the Scottish Highland festival and games. There were tons of competitions - dancing, throwing a bag, bagpiping, throwing a rock, singing, throwing a ball and chain, throwing a tree trunk, throwing a pole with a metal ball on the end of it. I will say this for the Scottish, their culture clearly values big, burly men. You have to be one to be successful at any of those things... except the dancing.

The kids also got to participate in kids versions of all the big, burly people games. There were about 25 kids in the contest and Nori got second, Bubba got first. This was the first time Bubba has beaten Nori at any sports events. Clearly, Bubba is a big, burly man.

The last thing we took in was some live Celtic bands. We ended up seeing a rockin' band called the Killdares. I didn't know there was such a thing as electric bagpipes - there are.

Here are some pictures that my Uncle took.

Quote of the Day

I heard an audio clip today of Barrack Obama discussing the solution to our countries financial problems in which he was as honest as I've heard him yet. He said we have to explore the concept of "Economic Redistribution."

I wonder if that was an original idea of his or if it's been used in other countries, at other times, and if so, how did it turn out? Plus, why hasn't our poor, underdeveloped country thought of using it before?

(I've been told that I'm really bad with sarcasm, so I'll just tell you that the entire second paragraph was sarcastic. Non-sarcastic - I wonder if people listen to AND think about what Sen. Obama says...)

Copy Cat

To all who know me, I think it's clear who I will vote for. However, the FPF posted his reasons today and I'll post the link to it right here.. no, no - here because I think he did it so accurately, briefly, and completely.

Follow the race

I'm following the election pretty closely. As the days pass, I see more and more that Sen. Obama is trying to sneak his way into the White House. Of course, he won't come out and say, "I will make this country better by increasing the size and power of the government through socialist tactics," but that's what his plan is.

It appears, according to the polls, that this election is over. However, a closer look shows that Obama holds 75 to 100 electoral votes by less than 5% margin. McCain also has some states in the same range but it's only 15 to 25 votes. Plus, there are some states (about 25 votes worth) that are a toss-up.

I don't think the country will implode or turn to civil war or anything if Obama is our next president. It's just that McCain hasn't forgotten the government is for the people and not the other way around.

A Proud Heritage

My mom is a genealogy buff. She has researched and discovered some amazing things about out family history. One of the neat things she shed more light on was a great-great-great (or so) grandfather named Daniel Sickles.


He first gained national attention when in 1859 he shot and killed his young wife's lover, Francis Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key. During the ensuing trial, in which he was represented by Edwin M. Stanton (who would become Lincoln's Secretary of War), he for the first time in U.S. jurisprudence pleaded the "unwritten law" (self defense of one's wife as his own property) and was acquitted. He subsequently enraged both critics and fans by publicly forgiving his unfaithful spouse.


He is further known for an extremely controversial move as a Major General, commander of the 3rd Army Corps, during the battle of Gettysburg in which he failed to obey orders (or so the accusation states). In the end, his actions were pivotal is defeating the Confederate army at Gettysburg.


However, on the evening of July 2, 1863, while riding horseback during the second day of fighting at Gettysburg, General Sickles had his right leg shattered by a solid 12 pound cannonball. He quieted his horse, dismounted, and was removed to a sheltered area where his leg was amputated just above the knee by Surgeon Thomas Sim, U.S. Volunteers.



A short time later, the Army Medical Museum received the amputated leg in a box bearing a visiting card which read: "With the compliments of Major General D.E.S." For many years on the anniversary of the amputation, Gen Sickles would visit the Museum to view his leg.
It is now housed in the National Museum of Health and Medicine on the Walter Reid Army Medical Center campus.


Later in life he was appointed as the US minister to Spain and was later re-elected to Congress. While in Congress he sponsored the Sickles Bill, which Federalized the Gettysburg battlefield. The bill was approved in 1895 and Gettysburg National Military Park became the property of the American people. The aging general visited Gettysburg several times and was keenly interested in the park's development. Despite the controversy of his tactical decisions on the second day of the battle, General Sickles was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the service he rendered in rallying and inspiring the troops at Gettysburg.

Weird Science

Wyatt working on his remedy.

A couple of mean faces

It's been a while

Well, it has been a while since my last blog. A lot has been happening, but a blog hiatus was needed. I thought I would put this on here, though. It's interesting to say the least.

Personally, from what I've seen, Sen. Obama is a very good speaker, but I would say he's like a toilet that's only cleaned on the outside; he appears shiny but don't look inside. I believe that Sen. Obama is dishonest and tells half-truths. This would be another example if true. I could be wrong and I'll admit it if this ever actually gets addressed.

Anyway, I got this in an email and so I researched it. As I said, I doubt anything will come of it but, if true, it will be a shame that it gets ignored. I attached a bunch of links for the websites that I found as additional resources to substantiate this guy's authenticity.

This is what I got in the email which has the YouTube video I was sent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyspCRmJv7w&eurl=http://www.obamacrimes.com/

These are other links I found. Obviously, many of them have to be taken with a grain of salt.
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/1078071/Philip-Berg-vs-Barack-Hussein-Obama-Citizenship-Lawsuit

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2066207/posts

http://www.obamacrimes.com/index.php/component/content/article/1-main/1-philip-j-berg-esq-files-federal-lawsuit-requesting-obama-be-removed-as-a-candidate-as-he-does-not-meet-the-qualifications-for-president

This one gives a running history on the law suit since being filed and the Obama campaigns' reaction.
http://citizenwells.wordpress.com/philip-j-berg-lawsuit/

http://barrysoetoro.us/

This is to the report on Fox News.
http://www.myfoxtoledo.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7638284&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Like I said, it seems credible - I mean to say it's not a scam or fake. We'll see what happens...

A day of rest

Last weekend we went up to Mt. Bigelow. Four of our friends were already there and were staying until Sunday. We only went up early Saturday and left around 8pm that night. It was gorgeous up there. The temperature was perfect, there was just enough wind to refresh the face, and, of course, the time with friends was great! Two other couples (+ kids) showed up mid-day. There were 26 of us in all and it was a great time.

Rock-star Donnie and me










Mrs. FPF and my bride










Wyatt and his fiance (first argument)










Bubba critiquing lunch

What's your ultimate satisfaction?

I was flipping through a Tucson magazine today from the beginning of the summer. In honor of Father's Day, they had an article on the top dad's in Tucson. The three that were featured consisted of two CEO's and a prominent restaurant owner.

As I browsed through each of the bios, thinking I am way behind if this is what it takes to be a good dad, I read a featured quote from each of the dynamic daddy's. The last one caught me off-guard. He said that being a father was the ultimate experience and the ultimate satisfaction.

That really hit home with me. I've tried to find ultimate satisfaction in a lot of things. To name a few, video games, friends, girlfriends back in high school, fun activities, my marriage, collecting things, taking in all the movies, spin je...., er, I mean, and being a father. And just like all of you, the desire for more or something deeper continued. Whether we're a millionaire CEO or a 7-11 night clerk, we all seek satisfaction of something we can't quite put our finger on.

Jesus said to a woman who was also trying hard to fill that need that he had the answer. In the Bible's book of John chaper 4 verse 13 Jesus told the woman that everyone who tries to quench their need with things in this world will thirst or desire for more. But whoever drinks the water that Jesus has will never thirst.

I, for one, have experienced finding complete satisfaction in Jesus. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it.

Decisions, decisions

Last Sunday night I went to Hellboy 2 with my father-in-law. It was a pretty good movie. I enjoyed the first one and this one pretty much lived up to my expectations. Good fight scenes. An unlikely hero who wants to be accepted by the human world but struggles with his "horns" and "red skin."


One constant theme in the movie was that "the right thing to do" isn't "the cool thing to do." Hellboy or Red, as he is nicknamed, is a loose-cannon that gets the job done, but allows the public to see him too often. Red is just one in a government funded team of paranormal heroes. Jeffrey Tambor plays the impotent leader of the team, who is unable to control Red. Consequently, the writers introduced another character intended to keep Red in line, who eventually succumbs to doing the "necessary" way rather than the right way.


I think part of Satan's scheme is to lead us into the same rebellion he chose - I'll do it my way. That seems to be a cry in our society. In the kids movie, The Emperor's New Grove, one of the characters, Kronk, is struggling with making the correct choice. Immediately his good and bad angels appear on his shoulders. The bad angel states his case as to why Kronk should listen to him - "He [good angel] wants to lead you down the path of righteousness. I'm going to lead you down the path that rocks!" Note the implied comparison.


While the world raises its voice to convince us of its philosophy, we have to remember the TRUTH. Can God's ways be trusted regardless of circumstances? Is God a liar? Or are His ways always right? God says His ways are high above our ways (Is 55).

Psalm 119:5-10 urges us to trust God's smarts! It says "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to [God's] word."

I think the only question left to ask is "Are we willing to follow Him long enough for God to be proven right?" I for one need to remember that Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 says that there is a way that seems right to a man, but in reality its end is the way of death. I have often started my wrong choice thinking I was completely right and that taking the path of integrity would have been bad, but give life a little time and...

Graduate or Grace

I had an interesting discussion recently over how much education is required/necessary for someone to teach God's word or to be a lead pastor. I don't have experience doing either. Here are the two sides of the discussion.

One side of the discussion says that everyone that God used to write the bible had extensive training. Plus, someone that is continuing their education (through college courses) must commit an abundant amount of time to those courses. As such, one cannot be a pastor or teacher effectively while taking college courses because the community that they are leading will be short changed. On a side note, this side says there's no one with motivation enough to study God's word independently to the extent necessary to teach sound doctrine; thus, official training is required.

The other side says that it's the same Holy Spirit that revealed the word to first century Christians. Consequently, anyone that is gifted by God for this work should have the support of the church to use that gift. The claim from above that there is no one with motivation enough to learn independently is refuted as hypothetical and not real life. This side also claims that the bible is inexhaustible in its wisdom and teachings. Therefore, only a strong foundation of basic, essential doctrine is necessary for one to begin teaching. Which doctrines those are is another subject.

So which do you believe to be true? Must teachers of God's word be professionally trained (i.e. bachelor's, master's, or doctorate's degree) or can they get by with the Holy Spirit's teaching? Perhaps a little of both...

Check out the poll on the right.

No one ever "finds" time - it must be made.

The last few weeks have been a little weird for me. I took a break from school until next spring. I also have very little additional duties at work. So with the little that I have to do, I have learned a few interesting things about myself.


1. Despite my best efforts, I am still a workaholic. I am completely uncomfortable not having "too much on my plate." This is especially true with my job.


2. If I don't have things I have to get done, I am extremely tempted to do things that have absolutely no meaning in them (TV, games, blogging - ha!).


3. Any lack of deep relationship with my family and friends isn't caused by being too busy. It's caused by being relationally challenged. I actually have a very hard time putting down work or activities just to look another in the eyes, talk about life and each other, and being known by another.


4. When I slow and calm myself down enough to relate with others I realize my "business" has made me too busy to know myself. One can't share what one doesn't know.

Thank God for His grace both to reveal my weaknesses and to allow His power to change me.

Forever and just a moment ago

Mrs. Pipes and I celebrated our 9th year of marriage on Thursday. We took the morning (because I had to work later) to drive up the beautiful Summerhaven on the iron horse to enjoy some fresh, fresh air and stone oven pizza. It was a great time together.

We got caught in the rain for the second time coming down the mountain. That's just another highlight that we have no pictures for.

You load 14 tons and what do ya get?

These are belated pictures are of the yard work last week. Special thanks to everyone appearing below, Changing Times Travis (who came on a very busy day and weekend, put in at least two hours of hard labor at the Sickels minimum security prison), and Don (who lent the use of shovels and a good wheel burrow). You'll have to come over for dinner if you want to see the yard (mostly) finished.

The one of Dean and me is the ceremonial last shovel full.

Thank you, Nori, for taking the pictures.

Thank you, Candi, for encouraging me to not quit.

Thank you, God, for healing us all up and giving us great rest for recovery..

God's in it all

I've had a good 2nd week of "vacation". We are putting rock in our backyard, which until this point has been dirt and weeds. The plan was to get some dirt to fill the holes, remove all the weeds, get the sprinkler system set just the way we want it and get the rock on Thursday morning.

I've been amazed at how God has been there every step of the way to help me finish this. The first two days I worked mostly alone. The weather was hot but cloudy almost all day so I could keep working.

On Wednesday Candi put school on hold to help and Candi's dad, Dean, who arrived Wednesday morning, helped, too. The McKee's are a hard workin' family. The bad part is that it rained hard for half the day. The cool part is that God, knowing that it was going to rain, turned it into 3 vs. the yard.

The Wednesday rain seemed to be a problem at first. I had to postpone the rock delivery, in fear that they would tear the whole yard up with wet ground. In reality, though, I wasn't ready for it yet anyway. I pushed the delivery off until tomorrow and was able to get everything else from the to-do list done.

Once again, my time table wasn't in accordance with God's, but as always, His worked better! And He's involved in the little things.

Day 6

Well, I fell behind on the last day of vacation and couldn't post the days events. Actually, it's because I was driving from 7pm until 3 am.

So this is how that day went. We left my cousins late, around 9:30 or 10, after an unusual dead battery experience. I'm glad God took care of us there. I would have hated for it to be the alternator or something worse.

Then we drove to Bible John's abode in Burbank. After surveying his pad and seeing some of the work he does in the Hollywood business we headed out for some fresh air. Our first stop was to eat. But our second stop was IKEA. This was our first time there. I had heard a ton about it from our friends but never felt the desire to go in. John said the place is cursed - no one enters without buying something (actually, he said one cannot enter without buying a lot more than one actually came for). I have to say that IKEA was one of the vacation highlights... I'll leave it at that.

Our next stop was a railroad engine museum. We expected Wyatt to really like it, but in reality that was an understatement. He loved it. There's pictures below.

Finally, we went to Griffith Park, which actually has a lot of things in it, but we played at the playground.

Overall the day was awesome. Any time I get to spend with John is good time. The weather was beautiful. The kids had an great time.

In closing, Nori and Christian made me so proud. They had somewhat of an allowance on our vacation and they had both saved most of it. Nori decided to buy Wyatt a $10 Thomas the Train toy and Bubba asked out of the blue if he could buy Wyatt ice cream at the park. I'm cheesing now just thinking about how proud I am that they would consider others so much.