So did you watch Tiger Woods’ press conference on Friday?  By now anyone who cares has seen it, I suppose.  A difficult situation for anyone to be in and though it is of his own making, that doesn’t make it any less hard for him to go through it.  To stand before the judging eyes of the world and admit one’s faults has to be the most embarrassing situation a person can experience.  Though only God knows his heart, Tiger’s words seemed sincere. 

Of course, Tiger had a much more difficult “press conference” to go through; the one he had to have with his wife, Elin, when she first learned of his infidelity.   This was assuredly much more difficult.  To have to confess to her, the person to whom he is the closest in the world, and to see the look of pain on her face, knowing that he was the cause of that pain. And Elin’s pain is deep, strong, and real. You see, pain is directly proportional to intimacy.   

All of this got me thinking about God and his relationship with us.  God did not need us but he created us to have another outlet for his joy, happiness and intimacy.  I believe God enjoyed his relationship with Adam.  They walked and talked in the cool of the evening, Adam receiving love, joy and instruction from the Author of life.  Someone estimated that it would have taken Adam about 100 years to name all the animals and God was with him the whole time enjoying his child’s growth and creativity. They had the closest relationship any two beings have ever had. 

In one act of defiance it all ended.  How Adam, now stained by sin, must have felt to have to face God after his fall. The Bible tells us that God’s eyes are like flames of fire.  The holiness of God must have been a fearful thing to face, but that was not the worst part of it.  God had to send Adam and Eve out of the garden as judgment, but that was not the worst part of it.  Sin had now entered the world, but hat was not the worst part of it either. 

No, the worst part was God‘s broken heart.  Please don’t think me sacrilegious at this idea of a broken-hearted God.  Look at God’s reaction a bit later. More sin by humans brings these feelings from God, And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:6. God grieves!  We know how great God’s love is; what must the grief of God be like?  The  depth of intimacy of His relationship with Adam would have been the cause of a powerful grief. 

Thankfully, the God who loves that much is also a forgiving God.   His plan to redeem mankind kicked in, and we can have a restored relationship with Him.  God loves each of us with the same depth of feeling that he had for Adam.  He desires to restore everyone who is far from Him.  I want to work to bring the joy of relationship to those who don’t know Him yet. It’s not quite Eden but it will be soon.

What can we say about this unusual amount snow? Global warming in reverse? Judgment from the Lord? Entering into an ice age? The end of the world? Maybe one or all or none of those reasons but these are the reasons we hear the most. How about some positives? Families get to spend time with their children. I just have to stop a moment and say that this has to be a great thing. However, I have heard many news reports of frustrated parents who are inconvienced by their children being home for a week and a half. What then do you do about the summer time? Just asking. But seriously enjoy your kids because before you know it they'll be grown up, off to college, and will be starting families of their own. Another great reason for this snow is that the drought in the midwest is officially over. So you know what that means? Prices in produce will start to decline because there will be an abundant harvest. And the most important reason, I think, is that there is a renewed sense of hospitality in coming together to help our neighbor. People who have never worked together before are building new relationships, stepping outside of themselves, and going beyond the call as Jesus did to help those in need. So let's go forth and embrace the snow not as our circumstance but as an opportunity to stop and take a look at good things we have. 

I'm sitting here thinking of a topic to blog on. Mainly because I see Toni has crept up behind me challenging my status as the most frequent CTV blogger. The NBA just had its annual All-Star game and through out the weekend there were festivities and entertaining contests going on. Many times when athletes win awards they always want to, "Thank God" first. Some of these are sincere while others are just speaking as a drone giving us a bottled answer. Many times I have heard people say they are sick and tired of hearing athletes bring god into their sport and accuse the kurt warners and tim tebows of verbally choking us with their faith. Lets twist this debate around a little bit and ask this question, why don't we as Christians get irritated with celebrities or athletes that give us the canned "I wanna thank God" speech for cheapening the expression to the rest of us that honestly and sincerly want to use the public platform to thank and glorify christ. and that is where I am leaving this. I want to hear your thoughts and reactions.

Just wanted to keep all of you informed about the state of Israel. It's so important for us who know the word of God to keep one eye on America and one eye on Israel. I love the philosophy of Billy Graham to keep "a Bible in one hand and the newspaper in another." Though we live in a world filled with bad news we have immediate access to good news at all times. So keep your Bible close to your remote or computer!

The following is a report from Joel Rosenberg, a dear friend of Cornerstone TeleVision

NETANYAHU SAYS EZEKIEL 37 HAS COME TRUE By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., February 1, 2010) -- Thanks for your prayers. I just got home late last night from a month-long teaching tour around the world for The Joshua Fund. It's good to be home, but upon landing I learned that Ahmadinejad is threatening to unleash a "harsh blow" to the Judeo-Christian world on February 11th. No one's sure what he means exactly, but the U.S. is moving new naval forces and Patriot missile batteries into the Gulf region, just in case.

A few highlights from the past few days:

* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week traveled to to Poland to commemorate the 65th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz. Speaking on the actual site of the Nazi death camp, the Prime Minister warned the world of new genocidal threats against the Jewish people and the importance of acting early enough to prevent such threats from coming to pass. In a stunning and remarkable moment, Netanyahu also declared to the people of Europe and the world that the prophecies of Ezekiel 37 have been fulfilled. The Holocaust, he said, represented the "dry bones" and "graves" of the Jewish people, and out of that horror the State of Israel was resurrected, just as the Lord said would happen through the Hebrew Prophet Ezekiel. Rarely has any world leader given a major address on an international stage declaring End Times prophecies from the Bible have come true. But that is exactly what Netanyahu did. [Details and the full speech on the weblog.]

Check out Joel's website for more information

So we've gotten Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and in my family... Frankies B-Day out of the way it's time to look ahead to the next holiday. Valentines Day. Sure it's the lovey dovey blah blah... but I want to talk about the superficial fun stuff. Awesome Valentines Day cards! I bought some sweet ones the other day, not only is Buzz and Woody wishing my Valentine the most awesome Valentines Day from infinity and beyond but it came with FREE Toy Story pencils! Exciting I know. The cards have special holders to hold the pencils making them awkwardly irresistible. So what I would like to hear back from you guys is what were your most awesome Valentines Day Cards that you gave and/or recieved while growing up? Were they Ninja Turtles or Michael Jordan? Sorry my perspective is strictly from a males point of view. I don't know what an awesome girly Valentines Day card is. Maybe you can help me out there ladies. Lets hear it peeps

Resolutions can put unrealistic demands on us in our everyday life. So here are my simple suggestions that can help you accomplish a fresh start to the new year while becoming a better you!

1. Have a moment of silence with God in the morning.Sure it takes discipline and a bit of hard work to get up early and open your Bible and try to make sense of it, but don't look at your time with God as just that. Look at it as a time to relax, get refreshed and get connected to the one who Created you. The rest of your day will fall into place.

2. Pray for someone different everyday. Speaking from experience it's easy to focus our prayer time on ourselves. Make it a point to pray for someone special in your life today. Write their name on your calendar or put a reminder in your phone and pray for them throughout the day. Remember God's word says to pray without ceasing!

3. Do something better than you already do. For instance I am making it a point this year to be better with budgeting our finances. I find it more manageable to work harder at something you already do then try to fit an unattainable resolution into my already hectic schedule. Maybe your something better is reading the Bible more, learning how to cook a certain meal, or planting a new flower in your garden.

4. Go out of your way to be nice to people. In today's society our sights are often turned inward but this year let's try to have an outward look on life. You never know what kind of day the cashier at the grocery store was having or the waitress at your favorite restaurant. 

5. Give thanks at all times. Chances are if you have internet access and are reading this blog then you are blessed to own a computer. Times are tough but God is our provider and he never fails us in our deepest times of need. We are truly blessed.

Let me know how you do! Happy New Year!

new years resolution. what is yours this year and will you maintain it longer than 3 months? I would challange yours to be unique. not to lose weight or watch less tv (actually watch more and more Cornerstone TV, thats ok). make it unique to you. Since this is MY blog and you want to hop into MY crazy mind, MY opinion is that i feel the more personal your resolution is to yourself the more you are incline to remember it and better yourself. Don't make a half hearted bland blanket resolution that you always hear others doing. Make 2010 a year of improvement in your life. my resolution this year is to find a better balance between my fun and personal life paired against my work and career. The last couple years i've concentrated so much on my career that I couldnt oppose one calling me a work-a-holic. so this year im using all my vacation and personal days, going out more with friends, and working less hours late into the night. Don't get that confused with me "going through the motions" in the office. I will still give it 100% but as it says in Ecclesiastes there is a season for all things. A season for work and a season for play. I'm going to enjoy the playing season. I'm looking forward to seeing how this will improve my life. One thing I do know is that I never want to feel I've arrived. I enjoy the climb to becoming the best that I can be

I was in the mall the other day, with many Christmas purchases in hand making my rounds through my favorite stores. As the cashier was handing me my change at one of the last stops she replied "happy holidays" as to which I replied "thank you--you too!" Instantly I was rebuked by the person behind me in line who shouted "Merry Christmas!!!" to the cashier and told me to not put up with that "happy holidays" stuff because there is only one holiday that we are getting ready for and that is Christmas. I said nothing in response to this because I was actually more offened by the outspokenness of the women behind me saying "Merry Christmas" than I was by the friendly "happy holidays" greeting from the cashier who was "just doing her job." Don't get me wrong, I prefer it when people say "Merry Christmas" because I know they get a sense of what it is all about, but I also understand that not everyone really knows the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it. So was it wrong of me to "put up with that happy holidays stuff" from the cashier? I don't know, but what I do know is what Jesus would do in this situation. He would not demand a personal birthday acknowledgement, he would show love to the cashier regardless of her holiday comment and so I need to do the same. I hope that when you're leaving the register this week that you will express to the cashier the same love Jesus gives us each day regardless of their comment.

Merry Christmas y'all!!!!!!!!!!

 I love this movie!