Adam and Crissy have a baby!!!!

It's a girl

Her name is Eden Grace


I cannot wait to meet this kid. :P


God bless the Humburgs!!!

A Hitchhiker's Guide to Righteousness

I'm torn.


I was driving home yesterday and and there was a hitchhiker on the highway. A bajillion things pop into my head all at once and don't really feel like pulling over. I am reminded that Jesus said, that what we do to "the least of these" is a service to him.

But look at the world today. For those of you who didn't remember, I grew up in the metro D.C. area. Back home, there wasn't much room for having a heart for strangers. People posed as hitchikers and then proceded to either rape, rob, or murder the victim who pulled over. On one occasion, there was one hitchiker with a few buddies hiding in the ditch, ready to spring.

It seems to be the same with other helping hands too. A guy comes up to you and begs for money to buy formula for his child, instead of giving him the cash, you buy him the formula, and he is no where in sight. "Will work for [booze]" is the lay of the land.

Dysfunctional people and deviants are always on the lookout for unsuspecting good samaritans who are ripe for the picking. Christians especially. Because our church meets in homes, our home phone number is the one listed in the phonebook as The Church Of Christ. We get several calls a year with similar stories of how so and so needs money for gas or food or so on and so forth.

Even those who have the ability to fend for themselves see that there are sapps who are willing to lend "free rides" and take advantage of them. People are getting money from the government and us and yet they have cell phones and satellite TV dishes. What's wrong with this picture

It's like the whole world is out to bite the hand!

Now, there's a 70-80% chance that this hitchiker was an honest man, who would mean no harm, and genuinely needed help. But I've been burned so many times by people who feign helplessness, that it's difficult for me to lend a helping hand anymore.

I didn't end up pulling over for him. I joined the constant stream of passerbys who either
didn't care, or had been burned over themselves.

Is this how a righteous man is to act? How is it that Jesus was always able to give in a way that changed lives, not enabled them in their ways?

I would love to give up my possesions and time if I genuinely believed they would help. How did Jesus do it? Is being taken advantage of a thing that's not supposed to happen to christians?

I can almost hear the devil laughing at us floundering fish. We are called to be selfless, but at what cost? Has the devil twisted every weapon we have?

An idea I had (might be from God)

Every once in a while, I come to a crossroads, and end up questioning one of the two following (and maybe related questions):

A: do I spend my money on things that bring me closer to God?

I take a good look around my room, I see clunker drumset (well loved by previous owner), a guitar, an amp, a shelf of books, a shelf of DVDs, and numerous shelves of action figures that I keep around cuz they're still cool (I'll buy two or three a in a year). I notice that I have enough shirts to fill two drawers, and at least twenty identical socks in different stages of disrepair. I am proud to say that I have six pairs of shoes (flips, dress, boots, chucks, yard shoes, and my squeaker-sneakers: eee-ee-squee-ee). I thank the lord I don't have a television or computer.

About 70% of it, I paid for with my own cash.

Of these items, how many of them see the light of day? How many of these have some kind of spiritual significance that could either bring me, or someone else closer to God? It's certainly not wrong to spend money on things that make our earthly life more fun and easy, but how much is too much?


B: Music + brain = ?

I'm through looking at my room. Lets move downstairs to the computer room. In the computer room, you will find my stereo, and my case of CDs (100+). Most of these I bought used, otherwise I would never afford so much. What can I say? I'm a music lover. Back in the day, I had a certain number of albums, and would only get more on Christmas and Easter (my cash went to other places then). I listened to each tape and CD over and over and over and over again throughout the year. I had these albums memorized. Every lyric, every sound, it was in my head. Each album became a part of me.

Fast forward to now--I buy at least 20 CDs every year, sometimes more. I realized to my horror a few days ago that I don't remember the lyrics like I used to, don't remember the names of songs, it's just getting more and more...iPod-ish (gasp!) The music doesn't have the same meaning, I just buy more and more, and don't take the time to truely absorb and appreciate the music I have. Not only that, but how much of my music is really worth absorbing?



The Point!!!:

I find myself pondering these two issues the other night amidst prayer. I was mostly thinking on the music, but the material things apply as well. My money, and my time are both precious gifts of God. So I did this:

I asked God that from now on, He would be the one in charge of what I spend my cash on, and what music I buy and listen too. Only what will strengthen my relationship with Him, and with others. I ask him to be the one in charge of that, because I honestly don't have a clue anymore about what's good for me and what isn't.

Over time, our communication will hopefully get better (i.e. I will listen more) and my choices will be a closer approximation to his will.

This isn't like a covenent or anything, it's just an idea. The goal being that God will shine through everything. Everything.

I don't expect to be totally successful, but then again, I don't really know how God's gonna move here. He keeps me on my toes.