The Reverend Garibaldi McFlurry: ‘I am the Light of the World’ - A Sermon preached (in various forms) in Dollingstown, Magheralin and Dromore on 14th May 2006. John 8:12
Array He went to his regular dr for, like, a checkup yesterday, and the dr checked him out, and said, You belong in the hospital now!, because he’s so unhealthy, is now down to 102 lbs (he used to be 150 !), he does nothing but sleep all the time, doesn’t eat more than a couple bites of food at a time, then goes back to the couch and goes back to sleep. But I called bro on his cell today, and he said that honestly, he thinks Dad walked out the door of his house for the last time yesterday…he’s going to a nursing home next, as far as what his dr thinks.
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The whole thing was recorded using an old Roland VS-880 recorder (including the built-in COSM guitar effects for all of the guitar parts) and an old Korg 01/WFD synth for drums and bass (all from scratch, no arpeggiators or drum loops used). Incidentally, my music entity (Mauve Music Co) is fondly named after that Mauve Charvel, my first real upscale guitar that was given to me as a graduation present from my Mom, Dad, and my Gma June.
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So now when I see him laying it on thick with other people and acting all…the way he acts…I just want to go pull the curtain back and reveal him for the gigantic fake that he is.He is:- Classist- Eliteist- Sexist - On MANY occasions, he’d refer to us as the girls, obviously forgetting that we were RUNNING HIS FREAKIN’ BUSINESS for him…I kid you not, once he asked me how to make the numbers stop swirling around his computer screen… - Misogynistic - see sexist, classist, eliteist… - He was in the Marines and boasts about it frequently…but neglects to tell you that it was ROTC and he didn’t do much more than go to the officers club…and correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought Marines needed to know how to swim…at least a little bit? I’ve talked to her about Tic - in fact she’s known for a long time that Tic and I worked together because I GAVE HIM HER NUMBER back when I thought he was a decent human being. She knows how I feel, she understands, she knows that I realize that I’m being a little bit immature, and she knows that I know that she can’t discourage him. And he’s not one to leave - I guarantee you when he was at his ivy league college playing sports, he sure didn’t play much but you can bet he was the first one there every day and the last one to leave every night and he did the best job that any bench warmer could ever do. HR 123 (60%)Mile 1 - 11:56, avg HR 138 (68%) (I had to take my jacket off and then had iPod issues so there was some walking)Mile 2 - 11:05, avg. HR 149 (74%)To Finish - same distance as warmup: 3:15, avg HR 155 (80%)Warmdown walkingTotal time: 40:88, avg. This week’s Song of the Week is up - dedicated to my friend Scott who has all kinds of positive stuff going on…Keep it up dude - your momentum is contagious!!!Stay dry…we’re drowning in the puddles up here in the northeast…and thanks for reading my little (ok, not so little) hissy fit…
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Today, the Senate approved a measure to build a 370 mile barrier along the Mexican border:(AP) WASHINGTON The Senate voted to build 370 miles of triple-layered fencing along the Mexican border Wednesday and clashed over citizenship for millions of men and women who live in the United States illegally.
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CAMPO is the regionalauthority that gave approval for the Phase II Toll Plan.The campaign hammered Mayor Dwight Thompson for his toll road votes in 2004 and 2005.Sal Costello, founder of Austin Toll Party said, We are ecstatic that weve removed the Vice Chair of CAMPO, Dwight Thompson, who voted to toll roads weve already paid for. Last year, Jimmy Vaughn played a benefit concert for the Austin Toll Party called Tunes not Tolls.Richard Reeves of the Austin Toll Party, said, Before the toll party stepped into the race, our Westlake Hills tracking poll showed Mark Urdahl losing with 40% of the vote to Thompsons 60%. By the end of election night Mark Urdahl won 55% of the total vote to Dwight Thompsons 45%.Costello gives a lot of credit to Austin Toll Party members and a wide spectrum of coalition partners from the Libertarian, Democrat, Republican and Independent parties who all oppose the Austin Toll Plan.”I actually had an Austin City Council candidate, Wes Benedict, take time out of his campaign to work with us the day before his election! Austin Toll Party is not opposed to all toll roads, only the ones that privatize and toll public highways.Even though the first Phase II Toll Road vote took place in 2004, the first toller vs.
link
But this morning, let’s turn again to hear what Jesus says about himself.In our reading this morning, Jesus says ‘I am the light of the world. Just as the man born blind was released from his darkness to be able to see, so we can be released from our darkness, and live in the light of the gospel, the light of Jesus.In order for us to understand just what this means, and to see how it applies to us, we’re going to go on a quick tour of John’s Gospel, looking at his use of light. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it’ And yet, as he shone brightly, the darkness ‘has not understood it.’When we move to chapter three, we find that Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, and he tells him a startling thing: ‘This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light, because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. And it almost seems preferable to keep the curtains closed, to sit in darkness, rather than have the bright light shining in.‘Men loved darkness instead of light.’ One of the things that happened, then, was that four huge lamps were lit in the temple courts, which provided light for the whole of Jerusalem.This action recalled the ‘pillar of fire’ But the promise of the prophets was that the Messiah would not just be a light for Israel, as we read in Isaiah: ‘I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth’ So we find that Jesus is indeed the light of the world, not just of Israel.It’s the light that we need, in order to see and to walk. That certainly taught me a lesson about needing lights to see where we were going, and I haven’t tried that walk again in the evening!We needed a light for the journey, to see where we were going, to pick out the road. When we follow Jesus, when we come to believe in him, he brings the light of life.Earlier we noted the connection of darkness with sin, and with sin comes death. But when Jesus, the light of the world comes, he promises the light of life. (Gen 1:2) until God called light into being, so the new creation involves the banishing of spiritual darkness by the light which shines in the Word’ taking them from the darkness of Egypt (where one of the ten plagues had been darkness), to the light of life in their own land. In the same way, Jesus, the light of the world, has shone into the darkness, bringing salvation to those who will see his light and trust in him. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light’ The light of the world shines in glory forever, being the only light we need.But what about the meantime? Just as Jesus was the light of the world, so he sends us also to be light of the world, as we witness in our workplaces, and homes, and schools to him.Jesus said: ‘I am the light of the world. Come to Jesus, and you will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
link
Array He went to his regular dr for, like, a checkup yesterday, and the dr checked him out, and said, You belong in the hospital now!, because he’s so unhealthy, is now down to 102 lbs (he used to be 150 !), he does nothing but sleep all the time, doesn’t eat more than a couple bites of food at a time, then goes back to the couch and goes back to sleep. But I called bro on his cell today, and he said that honestly, he thinks Dad walked out the door of his house for the last time yesterday…he’s going to a nursing home next, as far as what his dr thinks.
link
The whole thing was recorded using an old Roland VS-880 recorder (including the built-in COSM guitar effects for all of the guitar parts) and an old Korg 01/WFD synth for drums and bass (all from scratch, no arpeggiators or drum loops used). Incidentally, my music entity (Mauve Music Co) is fondly named after that Mauve Charvel, my first real upscale guitar that was given to me as a graduation present from my Mom, Dad, and my Gma June.
link
So now when I see him laying it on thick with other people and acting all…the way he acts…I just want to go pull the curtain back and reveal him for the gigantic fake that he is.He is:- Classist- Eliteist- Sexist - On MANY occasions, he’d refer to us as the girls, obviously forgetting that we were RUNNING HIS FREAKIN’ BUSINESS for him…I kid you not, once he asked me how to make the numbers stop swirling around his computer screen… - Misogynistic - see sexist, classist, eliteist… - He was in the Marines and boasts about it frequently…but neglects to tell you that it was ROTC and he didn’t do much more than go to the officers club…and correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought Marines needed to know how to swim…at least a little bit? I’ve talked to her about Tic - in fact she’s known for a long time that Tic and I worked together because I GAVE HIM HER NUMBER back when I thought he was a decent human being. She knows how I feel, she understands, she knows that I realize that I’m being a little bit immature, and she knows that I know that she can’t discourage him. And he’s not one to leave - I guarantee you when he was at his ivy league college playing sports, he sure didn’t play much but you can bet he was the first one there every day and the last one to leave every night and he did the best job that any bench warmer could ever do. HR 123 (60%)Mile 1 - 11:56, avg HR 138 (68%) (I had to take my jacket off and then had iPod issues so there was some walking)Mile 2 - 11:05, avg. HR 149 (74%)To Finish - same distance as warmup: 3:15, avg HR 155 (80%)Warmdown walkingTotal time: 40:88, avg. This week’s Song of the Week is up - dedicated to my friend Scott who has all kinds of positive stuff going on…Keep it up dude - your momentum is contagious!!!Stay dry…we’re drowning in the puddles up here in the northeast…and thanks for reading my little (ok, not so little) hissy fit…
link
Today, the Senate approved a measure to build a 370 mile barrier along the Mexican border:(AP) WASHINGTON The Senate voted to build 370 miles of triple-layered fencing along the Mexican border Wednesday and clashed over citizenship for millions of men and women who live in the United States illegally.
link
CAMPO is the regionalauthority that gave approval for the Phase II Toll Plan.The campaign hammered Mayor Dwight Thompson for his toll road votes in 2004 and 2005.Sal Costello, founder of Austin Toll Party said, We are ecstatic that weve removed the Vice Chair of CAMPO, Dwight Thompson, who voted to toll roads weve already paid for. Last year, Jimmy Vaughn played a benefit concert for the Austin Toll Party called Tunes not Tolls.Richard Reeves of the Austin Toll Party, said, Before the toll party stepped into the race, our Westlake Hills tracking poll showed Mark Urdahl losing with 40% of the vote to Thompsons 60%. By the end of election night Mark Urdahl won 55% of the total vote to Dwight Thompsons 45%.Costello gives a lot of credit to Austin Toll Party members and a wide spectrum of coalition partners from the Libertarian, Democrat, Republican and Independent parties who all oppose the Austin Toll Plan.”I actually had an Austin City Council candidate, Wes Benedict, take time out of his campaign to work with us the day before his election! Austin Toll Party is not opposed to all toll roads, only the ones that privatize and toll public highways.Even though the first Phase II Toll Road vote took place in 2004, the first toller vs.
link
But this morning, let’s turn again to hear what Jesus says about himself.In our reading this morning, Jesus says ‘I am the light of the world. Just as the man born blind was released from his darkness to be able to see, so we can be released from our darkness, and live in the light of the gospel, the light of Jesus.In order for us to understand just what this means, and to see how it applies to us, we’re going to go on a quick tour of John’s Gospel, looking at his use of light. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it’ And yet, as he shone brightly, the darkness ‘has not understood it.’When we move to chapter three, we find that Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, and he tells him a startling thing: ‘This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light, because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. And it almost seems preferable to keep the curtains closed, to sit in darkness, rather than have the bright light shining in.‘Men loved darkness instead of light.’ One of the things that happened, then, was that four huge lamps were lit in the temple courts, which provided light for the whole of Jerusalem.This action recalled the ‘pillar of fire’ But the promise of the prophets was that the Messiah would not just be a light for Israel, as we read in Isaiah: ‘I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth’ So we find that Jesus is indeed the light of the world, not just of Israel.It’s the light that we need, in order to see and to walk. That certainly taught me a lesson about needing lights to see where we were going, and I haven’t tried that walk again in the evening!We needed a light for the journey, to see where we were going, to pick out the road. When we follow Jesus, when we come to believe in him, he brings the light of life.Earlier we noted the connection of darkness with sin, and with sin comes death. But when Jesus, the light of the world comes, he promises the light of life. (Gen 1:2) until God called light into being, so the new creation involves the banishing of spiritual darkness by the light which shines in the Word’ taking them from the darkness of Egypt (where one of the ten plagues had been darkness), to the light of life in their own land. In the same way, Jesus, the light of the world, has shone into the darkness, bringing salvation to those who will see his light and trust in him. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light’ The light of the world shines in glory forever, being the only light we need.But what about the meantime? Just as Jesus was the light of the world, so he sends us also to be light of the world, as we witness in our workplaces, and homes, and schools to him.Jesus said: ‘I am the light of the world. Come to Jesus, and you will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
link