Too much death

No, nobody really close to me, but a couple of friends who are close to me have lost loved ones recently. Two in the last couple of weeks. Also someone in my extended family on my mom's side. Seems like Satan is just having a grand ol' time. I don't know why it's really bugging me now more than ever but I just want Jesus to come back and end it all right now.

Come on, God. Bring the hammer down! Smoke 'em! Show 'em who's boss! How can you be so patient!?!?

Yeah, sometimes I feel like God is too patient. But His ways are higher than our's, aren't they? I'm reminded of the last part of the letter Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, where he encourages them not to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.

Gotta keep on keepin' on.

The End of the Ride for Six Flags?

Thanks to my Facebook friend Thomas for sharing this link.

Most of these firms have limited cash for a rainy day, and a lot of debt, with large interest payments due over the next year. In ordinary times, it might not be so hard to refinance loans, or get new ones, to help keep the cash flowing. But in an acute credit crunch it's a different story, and at companies where sales are down and going lower, skittish lenders may refuse to grant any more credit. It's a terrible time to be cash-poor.

Some names that really caught my attention: Krispy Kreme, Trump Entertainment Resorts Holdings (you're fired!), Chrysler (oh yeah, big surprise there) and Six Flags. The one that really troubles me though is Sbarro. How are we going to live without mall pizza?! Come on people, let's get out there and buy more mall pizza!

Life Lessons from Little Miss Sunshine

I'm a big fan of sarcasm. Sarcasm makes people sound smart and witty. I also appreciate how much disillusionment can occur using pithy and simple observations.

Anyway, I was watching a movie today, Little Miss Sunshine, and this line stuck out:

Sarcasm is the refuge of losers. Sarcasm is losers trying to bring winners down to their level.

I know, the movie was making a point with that quote. Of course, there is a lot that can be learned from losing things in life. A sarcastic comment is an expression of truth, which is healthy. Sarcasm also makes people laugh, which is healthy too.

So, if laughing and the expression of truth are healthy things, why is sarcasm so bad?

I'm glad you asked.

Someone whose teaching I respect very much wrote about why sarcasm isn't always a good thing: anti-sarcasm one and anti-sarcasm two. In short, sarcasm gets old after a while because it identifies problems without identifying solutions. So I've been trying to be less sarcastic about things. Unfortunately, if you know me, you know that it hasn't really been working out too well.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:16-19 (NIV)

What is it exactly that you do here?

Show of hands. Who here is as glad as I am that our president knows his job description?

You need to read this

I got to this story via Jeff's blog, who got it via Kamp Krusty. Good stuff. Have a kleenex handy before reading.