if you can read this, you're literate

Posted by erichapman at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments

i had a moment today.

i was pondering forgiveness again. (it's a common theme with me, really) and i was really wanting to feel something deep. i was feeling moved.

so i took a different point of view. in the middle of a prayer, i called God "Father." and i realized i don't know what it is be be a father. i really don't have many experiences with fathers at all.

so i delved into that... i tried to picture all the images i have of fathers. one of the first things to come to mind was an episode of that 70's show where red (the hard-nosed, stiff upper lip father) and eric (the geeky, star wars fanatic son) go see wrestling in kenosha. (the wwf style wrestling). afterwards, they came home and were wrestling in the living room and ended the match with a hug.

then my mind wondered to charlie (since he's about the only guy i know with a family). i've seen him with his sons, and he's the type of dad i would want if i were a little boy again. i know how happy his sons make him.

then i just had a random flash of a little boy running to me with tears in his eys, upset by something he had done. i knelt down and hugged him and said, "it's ok, Son."

think about how huge that is... "it's ok, Son." how many times does God see us crying and say, "it's ok, Son." to us???

that is how God forgives. he sees us upset. he sees how we've hurt ourselves when we've done something we're not proud of, and how we've really hurt him, but all he does is tell us we're ok.

we're ok b/c all is forgiven.

Posted by erichapman at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

i never thought i'd spend the money to see the same movie twice in one weekend.

but i did.

and i don't regret spending my last dollar until friday on this movie.

after talking to friends i saw it with, i think i enjoyed it the most. yeah, it's a kid's movie. yeah there are things that the book did or could do better. but i was moved.

i think the reason i was moved had a lot to do with my ignorance of the books beforehand, but the knowledge that c.s. lewis basically took the redemption story and made it into the chronicles.

since everyone should know the plot by now... edmund becomes a traitor, and should rightly be sentenced to death. but aslan (he's the lion) gives up his own life in sacrifice. ...only to come back more powerful than he was in life.

and in his sacrifice, he not only saves edmund's, but is able to forgive anyone their sins, regardless of their past.

all is forgiven, and that is what redemption gives us all.

Posted by erichapman at 1:42 AM | Permalink | Comments

this link sums it up. ...almost.

the daily devotional today (actually yesterday, but i just read it today) from John Fischer was about words. about how we don't have just words to go by. "The word became flesh."

but that first link is what i want to rant about mostly... my attention span can't exactly span the grand canyon. in fact, if you talk to me about something i find boring, or if you repeat yourself a lot, i might just nod off.

but this is especially true in prayer. i hear a lot of different people praying every week. and i can't say that i always pay attention.

we're supposed to "close our eyes and bow our heads" when we pray, but i'm sure this was designed for people like me who can't think about one thing for more than 20 seconds.

to make matters worse, though, lots of people think that the more extravagant their prayers, the "better" their prayers become.

not so if you read that first passage. God already knows what's in our hearts. most of the time we just need to say it to Him. and we don't have to make it fancy.

Posted by erichapman at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments

check THIS out!

supposedly there are 75 different bands represented here.

here's an easy one for an example: the rolling stones are there as the huge boulders rolling down the street.

now find 74 more!

Posted by erichapman at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

alright, something's gotta be off here... i took one of those online iq tests on tickle.com (not even linking them b/c they just try to sell you stuff to get your iq test score results).

i took it last week at work (i was bored). since i've never taken an iq test before, or really any other kind of test that measures intelligence since other than placement tests (i never took the act), i had no idea what to expect.

my score... 131. again, i didn't know what that number meant b/c it was just a number. i didn't think it was low, but i had no idea it was high.

i just looked up the curve (a week after i took the test if that shows you how interested i really was in it), and apparently 130 and higher is "very superior." 130 and higher is 2.2% of the population.

i'm not sending my application to mensa just yet... i realize it's just some website and it's probably a far cry form any accredited iq test. and, it is the lower end of "very superior."

i'd feel more uncomfortable about blogging this for the world to see... but i think there's only like three of you that have even read this anyway. so i don't care. i'd hand out my personal info to you anyway.

next blog: my annual income













(not really)

Posted by erichapman at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments

so this is bob ross. man of great talents. a simple, outstanding man. i remember thinking he had the most boring show on PBS (i was into sesame street and polka-dotted-door at the time)

and now i find that i love this show. it's calming. it's relaxing. it's simple entertainment. and it makes me feel good. just plain good.

i have fantasies about Heaven... and one thing i want to accomplish when i get there is to paint with mr. ross. (cuz everyone's good at whatever you want when you make it to Heaven).

happy little trees for everyone!

Posted by erichapman at 1:55 AM | Permalink | Comments

stupid tv. i hate that i watch so much of it. i've wasted countless hours on shows that aren't exactly "value-adding."

but it's good at what it's there for... entertaining.

and lost is pretty entertaining. the writers understand how much more enjoyable a plot can be when the viewer is left in the dark. much like memento.

but i have a problem. i am as lost as the people on the island (maybe more so) b/c i've never seen an episode newer than maybe halfway through THIS season. there were reruns on for a while, but i haven' seen one in a while.

and to make matters worse... the dvr doesn't record shows... it records blocks of time. meaning, it recorded from 7-8 (or whatever time lost is on) and that was it. so, if it runs over, i don't get the run-over.

so if anyone has the last few minutes of this week's lost episode, share it with me. i got to the part where the one girl who killed her dad saw the horse and so did sawyer.

but what happened after??? did that one jamaican guy and the bald dude that looks like gene hackman watch the rest of the film? if so, what was on it??? and did sawyer ever say why he strangled the girl?

i could go on and on. i just need to watch the first season and be only as confused as the rest of the world. or maybe... as LOST as the rest of the world?

Posted by erichapman at 1:32 AM | Permalink | Comments

here are a few things that have been bothering me or i've been thinking about lately. and again, everything's a john fischer devotional.

post-modernism
it's wrong. there's right, and there's wrong, and people shouldn't be allowed to do wrong just b/c "it's who they are." i know killing florida panthers is legal if you're a seminole native american. but is it right?

quote J.F. "When it comes to right and wrong, we could afford to be a little politically incorrect!" it's not getting medieval on someone... just old-fashioned maybe.

Christianity
it's hard. and it's meant to be. people doubt you, there are pop shots being taken at your expense constantly, and it's possible we could die for what we believe. but, it's all worthwhile. and true. people who doubt have no faith. for whatever reason, some claim Jesus, the Bible... it's all made up. but it's not. b/c who makes up this idea?

here's a guy
he comes to earth to save it
is killed by the ones whom he's saving
then tells everyone else to die along with him

right... that's gonna be something i want to fake. as J.F. put it... "whoopee! where do i sign up?"

forgiveness and pride
you gotta swallow your pride and forgive people you don't feel like forgiving. yes... even when they're wrong. and yes... even moreso when they don't think they're wrong.

there's an awesome story here about a KKK leader and a black, female civil rights leader who became friends and fought segregation together until he died.

the last J.F. quote of the day... "Do you have any enemies? Maybe you should find out what you have in common. I’m thinking of someone right now. It seems impossible, I know, but then, after hearing this story, you have to have hope."

powerful stuff. cuz i know there are people in my life that i wouldn't want to be paired up for anything.

and that's what's been on my plate while i haven't been blogging.

there's much more, but i can save that for another day. long blogs get boring.

Posted by erichapman at 12:59 AM | Permalink | Comments