Web Gem…

My friend James is starting a new business…So I wanted to give him some help with the power of the world wide web.

Maybe not, but it’s a good picture!

One Prayer…

Today we are going to be shooting and editing our One Prayer message for the series starting June.  We are pretty excited about being a part of this!  Please pray for Darrin, our Lead Pastor.  His message is called “Make Us Free”, it is about what it means to live from the tree of life, not the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  It is a powerful truth that has become the foundation of our truth.

Pray that everything goes smoothly and God’s anointing is all around us!

Awesome…

Can there be anything cooler? A fully functional R2-D2 CD/DVD Player with Projector!! That is right. This beauty even comes with a Millennium Falcon remote control! This is an absolute must!

Check it out here!

Fairness…

Have you ever been in a situation where someone made a poor decision and it was going to affect you?  It was one of those times where you just knew it was going to explode and you were going to get hit by the shrapnel.  Everything inside of you wants to see them “get what is coming to them”.  You want justice to be dished out.

It may be because you are seeing someone make a choice that you would like to have made, but knew it wasn’t the right decision.  You want to see people punished for poor choices.  It may be because you are trying to continually make the right choice and you don’t want to see people rewarded for their bad decisions.  We have all been there.

But do we really want God to be fair?  Do we really want justice across the board?  As hard as it is to remember, we must remember that God shows each of us Mercy.  He is gracious.  I do believe that God is just, but I also believe that He is sovereign.  God knows how to handle people and decisions far better than I do.

I know the poor choices I make.  I know how I think at times its not a serious of an infraction because it seems to not affect anyone.  But I also know that I want God to respond with mercy to me.  I guess that is what is great about God.  He is consistent.  He shows mercy and grace to all of us.  It really is undeserved favor!

Matthew 7 gives us this reminder…”Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For in the way you judge, you will be judged and by your standard of measure, it will be measure to you.” 

Iron Man

My friend Matt and I went to the late showing on opening day of Iron Man.  It was fantastic.  Well, Most of it was.  The storyline is great, strays quite a bit from the comic book, but if you didn’t know that, you would love it.  Robert Downey Jr. did a great job.  Apparently drenching yourself in cocaine seems to improve your craft.  I am kidding…I gest.

The downside however, was the ending.  In case, you haven’t seen it I will save my comments.  But I wish they had done things a little different.  Overall, well worth seeing it in the theatre.  The technology, the special effect, and some well-timed humor made it a very good see.  Go grab that other tech loving friend of yours and make a date of it!

Spring Cleaning…

Amy and I just spent all day doing some spring cleaning around the house.  We went through every nook and cranny of the house…dusting and wiping…vacumming and scrubbing.  But the feeling you have when it is all finished and you can smell the hard work…priceless!

There is something about getting things in order that gets me going.  I have to admit…I need to do some spring cleaning in my life a few times each year.  Things become old habit, my devotional life and prayer time becomes a little dusty…I need to take a few moments and clean house.

How about you?  Today is a great day to start.

Statastic…

Every once in a great while I check out the stats on this blog. I have the sitemeter counter on the bottom right, but I normally do not scroll down that far. I happened to do so today and was shocked at how many visits we have had to the site.

In only ten months we have over 13, 500 visits to the site and over 31,000 pages viewed! So I wanted to say thanks to all of you who continue to come back and check out what is going on in our world.

I have met some pretty cool people here and can’t wait to see what the future holds!

I have received quite a few emails lately asking how you setup a subscription to this blog. First let me say, thanks! I am excited to hear that there are people even reading my ranting! Secondly, it is really easy and there are many options so I will describe to you the way I do it.

• I use a program called Bloglines. It is really simple and may be the easiest way for you to set up a Subscription if you do not have a RSS reader.
  • Go to www.bloglines.com and create an account.
  • On the left side there is a tab called Feeds. Click it.
  • Select the Add link and it will prompt you to enter in a feed url or website.
  • Enter the feed for this website: www.skylergoodman.com/wp-rss.php
  • It will give you some other options once it’s verified and voila!

• If you are using an Apple computer you have some other options, or if your computer is equipped with an RSS reader. Simply click the orange RSS Icon and it will ask you what option you would like to use to subscribe. I subscribe with a Bookmarks Folder. It automatically updates the folder for me and stores it in my bookmarks.

You could also click here for a lot of RSS Reader options.
I hope this is helpful for you! Thanks for continuing to come back each day to check for updates!

Hide and Go seek…

Jeremiah 29:13
“ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

My Search for God

Do you remember when you were little and you would play a game of hide and seek? One thing I remember vividly is the way it felt when I was “IT”. I can sum it up in one word: Lonely. I used to dread having to look for people, but I loved the feeling I got when I found the first person. It meant that I was no longer “IT.” The person whom I had found now had my burden and became “IT” on the next round. Is it coming back to you yet?

The Bible records the ultimate game of Hide and Seek. We are lonely, lost and sick of being “IT.” We are desperate for an encounter with God. Just like in the game, if we search for God diligently we will find Him. Except unlike the game, God is not hiding from us. When we find Him he then takes our sin burden and carries it away, In response we repent and turn away from our sins. God gives us every capability to find Him. One way to start is through His Word. It is a reassuring feeling to know that I will never be “IT” again in my relationship to God.

Isaiah 55:6-7
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.”

One Prayer…

I am getting so pumped about this One Prayer series that so many churches are doing this June.  What a fun concept.  To unite churches from all over the country to have the same focus and agenda for four weeks.

It poses a great question…if you had one prayer that you know God would answer for you…what would it be?

Check it out and join in! 

Our growing boy…

It comes to an end…

Well…it is a sad day around the Goodman household.  Amy starts going back to work tomorrow.  She has been able to take the last 8-9 weeks off to raise our boy.  But, our season has ended.  I am sure it is going to be hard for her.  Thankfully, she was able to have her schedule worked out and only work three days of the week.  We are praying they will go fast.  God only knows how much he is better off when his mother is around.

Most expensive paintball gun in the world….

Paintball was originally inspired by Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game, a short story in which a Russian big-game hunter, bored with hunting animals, turns to hunting humans for sport. Since its inception in 1976, the game has exploded in popularity. Each year, over 10 million people play paintball in the US alone. It’s little wonder, then, that companies like WDP and Planet Eclipse seek to outdo each other by making the fanciest and most expensive paintball guns.

WDP Angel G7

Last year, WDP wowed paintball enthusiasts with the Angel G7. Billed as the fastest paintball gun in the world, it was capable of firing thirty-one pellets per second at a muzzle velocity of 300 feet per second. It was also the most expensive paintball gun at the time, priced at just under $1,500. That didn’t keep it from selling, though; WDP sold a thousand of these expensive guns in just one week.

More recently, however, Planet Eclipse unveiled their SL74. Weighing less than two pounds, it may just be the lightest paintball gun in the world. The gun also offers less kick than previous models in the series and even features a mechanism to allow its user to choose between lower pressure and a higher shot count. Of course, it’s the most expensive paintball gun in the world; it’s priced at $1,995.

Eclipse SL74

Simply sweet.

Men’s Retreat…

Things have been crazy the last couple of days as we are gearing up to our Men’s Retreat.  A collection of manly-barbaric men seeking God for the weekend.

It is going to be a blast and we have tons and tons of guys making the trip.  I am looking forward to the late-night poker and pool session the most!

Sweaty hands and chocolate…

I can remember when I had my first crush in Jr. High. Each day I would rush to get ready, I would be the first waiting in line at the bus stop. Rushing my way to the back seat and slamming against the window with an anxious stare out the window. I couldn’t wait to get to school to, to stand at my locker looking in and peeking out at the same time. I would wait for her to walk down the hallway with all her friends. I would try to work myself up to have the courage to say something each time, but as the moment came…heart pounding, hands sweating, I wouldn’t budge. I would go for the next year and half, which is like a 35 year marriage in jr. high, feeling this way. I didn’t tell a soul, no one knew! Despite my gazings and awkward encounters, no one knew.

I have since learned the value of being transparent. In fact, having people that I can share my life with is exactly the thing I need most.  A window lets light shine through and allows us to see what might otherwise be hidden.  That is what transparency is all about - letting the real self be seen.  It’s unwise to share our innermost thoughts indiscriminately, but the greater tragedy would be to never allow that real self to be known.  Especially by the one with whom we share our lives!

Sharing regularly with another person is a deep expression of love and confidence.  Listening regularly to one another as a trustworthy friend is hard to come by, also.  But, transparency provides the only window that allows you to see truly who you really are!

A few boxes of chocolate and many sweaty hands later, I found that.  In my wife, in my friendships, and most of all, with my creator.  Living a honest and transparent life with God is the most liberating sensation of all…to know it’s me and Him, flaws and all.

Wow…pretty cool.

 A Muslim’s Response to Q

By Ben Arment

Muslim Eboo Patel wrote about his experience speaking at Q for Newsweek.

gorgeous photo by abc pastor

I had the opportunity to attend Q last year and it was one of the best experiences for our staff.  We were challenged and really felt as if we came home with a more unified and clarified vision.  It was a great experience that I am sure we will continue do each year.