One of the teaching pastors (Geoff Surratt) at Seacoast Church was pictured on the cover of a recent issue of WORLD Magazine. I follow Geoff and other pastors on Twitter and saw a note from him alerting us twits of some reactions to his picture being on the cover of WORLD.
Before I go any further I would like to say that Geoff and I are not very close and this response should not be taken as me coming to his defense even though it will probably sound like it when I am done. I have not always agreed with everything Geoff has said and done, but then again I do not agree with everything I have said and done either. Geoff and his wife have been a blessing to our family in so many ways. Geoff and Sherry have been a huge support to the GrowingKids parenting ministry and have served as class leaders for Secoast. Seeing a teaching pastor working along side of you in ministering for families in a church as large as Seacoast is inspiring. Geoff’s wife Sherry (also a pastor at Seacoast) was at the hospital with our family the morning Caden was born. Do you know how many babies are born each year at Seacaost? I don’t either, but I don’t think there are enough pastors to go around to all the births. Okay, we all knew that Caden was going to face some fairly unique medical challenges when he was born and the Surratts recognized the need to be there that day. Geoff and Sherry have joined the rest of Seacoast in loving our family through some really tough times in recent years and I am very thankful for that.
Now as for this picture on the cover WORLD Magazine, Geoff doesn’t need anyone to defend him because his response on his own blog does a great job of answering his lameness. I heard about the magazine cover story about a month ago while serving breakfast at a local homeless shelter with some fellow Secoasters. I have been serving breakfast at this shelter monthly for about two years straight. This kind of service is a very small example of the fruits coming out of Seacoast as a result of the leadership of folks like Geoff Surratt. The pastors at Seacoast challenge members to serve and love people where they are at. So while Geoff may look lame to some, the results of how God is using him and the rest of Seacoast is showing up in our community and in our families. I think the picture of Geoff on the cover of the magazine is a fairly accurate representation of who he really is based on my personal interactions with him. In my (not always) humble opinion, you can not pretend to be something you are not if you are going to stand up in front of people and try to help them grow in their relationships with Jesus Christ. In addition to being Biblically accurate, you have to be real, and you have to be believable. Seacoast pastors are all of these and they don’t all dress as lame as Pastor Geoff.
Today is my birthday. This is the second year in a row that I have spent my birthday away from Mrs. Ozz and my boys. Last year I attended the GFI National Conference in Chicago on my 40th. The flight home was canceled and I spent a night in a very nice full service Marriott compliments of AirTran Airlines. I was able to share that evening with the Youngs since they were booked on the same flight home from Chicago last year.
This year I am in Washington D.C. due to work and I am fortunate enough to land a couple of nights in the J.W. Marriott at 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue. Yes that is just a couple of blocks from the White House and it is a great hotel. The front desk left a bucket of beer in my room today with a bowl of nuts and a Birthday card. That was a nice gesture, but I just wish they had left a bucket of Coke Classic.
I was on my way to D.C. last night when I ran into an old co-worker and friend. He is working for a three letter agency in D.C. like me and is staying a few blocks away in a different hotel. He asked me what I was doing for dinner tonight and asked if I would be interested in joining him a some others for dinner. I love food and had no idea they would actually choose a a Tex-Mex restaurant. One of the men that I met during dinner was named Reuben. He and I started taking about our families and really hit it off. We soon realized how great of priority we both put on serving Jesus Christ. I shared some stories and he shared some. Then he shared a story about his daughter. If you are a fan of the TV show called “America’s Got Talent” then you probably know about Reuben’s daughter Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn Maher is one of the youngest contestants to advance to Las Vegas on America’s Got Talent.
A conversation with my five year old son led us to praying as a result of nearly every siren we hear now. The conversation several months ago went something like this:
Riley: Daddy! Daddy! I see an ambulance. (lights were flashing and sirens were blaring)
Me: Yes, I see it too.
Riley: Where is he going Daddy?
Me: Well Riley, the ambulance is probably going to help someone who is hurt or sick.
Riley: Daddy, should we pray for them?
How in the world can you answer any other way than to say yes to a question like that from a five year-old? Our prayers are not long and are certainly not very specific. We simply say something like:
“Lord, you know the circumstances that have caused this ambulance to be called. We pray that the person who this ambulance has been called to serve will be made comfortable. We pray that if they are sick that you make them well and if they are hurt we pray that you heal their wounds. In Jesus name, Amen.”
I shared this story with a friend a few weeks ago while having dinner in Washington, DC. A fire truck went screaming past the restaurant and I immediately thought of Riley and what he would say. I actually got a smile on my face that caught my friend’s attention. I told him what I was thinking and why. My friend couldn’t wait to share the story with his wife. He also made note that kids don’t get a heart to respond to things with prayer this way by chance. My friend was right. My wife and I do attempt to teach our children to be “others” oriented, but we have plenty of room for improvement when it comes to training and setting a good example.
As I reflected on this dinner with my friend I realized how this great little story about my son wanting to pray for strangers can open the door for sharing the gospel. Most people want to know where Riley learned to think like this. That curiosity provides a golden opportunity to give credit where credit is due and share God’s truth from the Bible. We share God’s principles in our home on a daily basis.
The following video is of our visit with Aunt Robin and Uncle Mac on our way to see Grandma and Grandpa over the Memorial Day weekend. Riley and Caden both got to drive Mac’s truck through the pasture.
The beginning of the video is basically a slide show of still pictures. The last part of the video is of Riley and Caden driving the truck.
We recently went through the task of rearranging car seats for our kids. Riley is moving into a booster and Josiah has out grown the infant car seat (carrier). We have a fairly nice Britax that we got when Riley was less than a year old. It is in good condition and has never been in a vehicle when an accident occurred. The seat is nearly six yeas old and I was wondering whether or not the seat is still usable despite its appearance. I have heard that car seats expire. Is this a true statement?
I probably would not have even given this a thought but rather let common sense dictate whether or not to replace a car seat. But, sometime last spring we had a fire rescue team at our church one Sunday afternoon doing inspections on the installation of our car seats for anyone who wanted to participate. Ours were all installed and being used correctly, but the technician did give me a little feedback that I found interesting. One of the things he told me was that Riley’s Britax seat was expired. “DO WHAT?,” was my reply. This guy proceeds to tell me that car seats expire after five years. Don’t get me wrong. I get the concept. These things are made of mostly plastic and plastics can become weak when it gets pushed and pulled on enough. The belts can become weak when they get enough acidic spit up, juices, and other foreign substances on them over the years. All that said, you would think that the manufacture would have this plastered all over the boxes that these things come in. After all, that would equate to a fresh sell ever five years. Anyway, I heard what the guy said and went on about my business since this just did not seem to make sense to me. How can you you pick a number and say that in X number of years a car seat will expire? In my opinion you can’t.
Here’s the thing about those expirations. There is currently no federal law requiring that child safety seats have an expiration date. I have also found no state laws referring specifically to expiration dates. If you find that a seat has an expiration on it, you are not likely to get put into jail for using it past its expiration date, but you should certainly contact the manufacture to make sure you understand why they put that date on the seat. A report from AAA says that you are required by most state laws to “use seats in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.”
Yes, some seats have expiration dates on them? Why? The explanations vary. Maybe the seat nmaufactures are trying to ride the wave of fear created by the technicians who tell us that the seats to expire. Many “convertible” car seats are sold touting that they can be used for 5-35 lbs rear facing and from 20-50 lbs forward facing. Those seats would need to be replaced before one child outgrew them if they were to expire in five or six years. For instance, the average boy will reach 20 lbs between 8-9 months of age based on the CDC Clinical Growth Charts that most of our pediatricians use. That same average boy will reach 50 lbs at about 7 years of age. That means that the average male child would be required to get a new seat before reaching the maximum allowed weight for most convertible seats simply due to an expiration.
The bottom line is that opinions rather than facts seem to be driving the five or six year expiration dates. The expiration age varies depending on who you talk to. Some Child Passenger Safety Technicians claim to have been taught that seats expire after five or six years depending on who trained them. One organization that offers certification classes for these technicians says, “Make sure the safety seat is less than 10 years old (preferably less than five), the expiration date stamped on the plastic has not passed, and it has never been used in a crash.” Reference
Have you come to the conclusion that Obama’s former pastor had some really bad days in the pulpit? It seems that Obama may have picked a less than stellar spiritual adviser on his first go around. Let’s hope that he does not turn to Oprah as his second choice.
I have received a couple of emails on regarding Oprah’s spiritual activities in recent weeks. The following video does a pretty good job of summing up my concerns over what I have been researching. Oprah Winfrey has an XM radio spot called “Oprah and Friends” that features teachings based on the books by two of these friends of Oprah that are mentioned in the following video. This video contains footage of Oprah speaking against Jesus being the only way to God even though Jesus told us himself in John 14:6, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
I cannot validate the numbers quoted at the beginning of the video and I have no knowledge of the book promoted at the end of the video.
I whole-heartedly agree with the subject of the email that delivered to me a link to this video. The subject of the email said “Scary video…” I had already been doing some research on Oprah’s recent “spiritual” book endorsements and the XM radio shows that have followed. In particular I have reviewed dozens of the “A Course in Miracles” teachings. I have reviewed them with the intention of making sure that I could not be accused of taking one or two lessons out of the context of the series. This is the chief argument that Obama supporters have used to defend the Reverend Wright’s controversial remarks. I can assure you that it only took one lesson for me to become concerned about the “Course“. I later found a one hour video 1 that takes you through the first fifty lessons from “A Course on Miracles“. I warn you not to view or read this “Course” material unless you are firmly grounded in what the Bible says about Jesus Christ and who you are in Christ. This “Course” is psychotherapy and brain-washing to the highest order. The “about” page for the “Course” states pretty clearly in their own description of the program that this is psychotherapy. Here is a quote from Oprah’s XM radio site regarding “A Course in Miracles“:
“According to Marianne, A Course in Miracles is a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy contained in three books. It is not a religion, but rather a psychological mind-training base on universal spiritual themes. The practical goal of the Course is the attainment of inner peace through the practice of forgiveness…
“A Course in Miracles (often called just “the Course“) is an educational program for retraining the mind that is spiritual, rather than religious, in its perspective. Although it uses Christian terminology, the Course expresses a universal experience, and its underlying ontology is reminiscent of ancient refrains, echoing the world’s most hallowed traditions. …”" 2
The about page goes on to quote the “Course” as it instructs its participants to ignore any leadings to question the teachings. I take this to mean that even if the Holy Spirit prompts you to question this based on your knowledge of the Bible, you should defer to the “Course” anyway.
Some of the ideas the workbook presents you will find hard to believe, and others may seem to be quite startling. This does not matter. You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them. It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true.
Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them, and you need not even welcome them. Some of them you may actively resist. None of this will matter, or decrease their efficacy. But do not allow yourself to make exceptions in applying the ideas the workbook contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more than that is required (Workbook, p. 2).
— Excerpted from A Course in Miracles” 2
Many of the quotes in the YouTube video come directly from the daily mind training offered in the “course”. For instance, Lesson 70 states:
My salvation comes from me. It cannot come from anywhere else.
Then devote a few minutes, with your eyes closed, to reviewing some of the external places where you have looked for salvation in the past—in other people, in possessions, in various situations and events, and in self-concepts that you sought to make real. Recognize that it is not there, and tell yourself:
My salvation cannot come from any of these things. My salvation comes from me and only from me.3
There are some truths in the explanation paragraph in the center of the quote about where salvation does not come from, but the teaching has the participant drill into their own heads by repeating these sayings that salvation comes from within themselves rather than through Jesus Christ.
This stuff is exactly what they say it is, “psychotherapy…psychological mind-training”. While they plainly state that this is not a religion, the teaching has been heavily peppered with Christian terms that make it sound like it may be associated with the Bible. The “Course” even uses terms like “Son of God”, “Salvation”, “God’s will” and frequently references to “God”. The “Course” even goes as far as to capitalize pronouns like “He”and “His” when referring to God. In fact, the “Course” is based on Dr. Helen Schucman’s claim that she was given this information as some sort of prophesy directly from “inner guidance which she had identified as Jesus.” 4 It appears that the content for this “Course” came about much the same way that the teachings of the LDS church came from Joseph Smith. While there are some good sounding Christian like principles in both LDS, the “Course” and many other religions, the core beliefs and more importantly the end results of the sinner do not line up with the Bible.
While Oprah and Marianne Williamson may not want to call this “Course” a religion, they are certainly starting to look and sound like a religion. Let’s just hope that Obama does not convert to this non-religion for his future spiritual guidance.
“…there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly tell their lies about God, turning against even their Master who brought them; but theirs will be a swift and terrible end.” 2 Peter 2:1 TLB
I chose to upgrade this blog to WordPress 2.5 RC1 because I am sunsetting it anyway. I am combining all of our family blogging in with The Land of Ozz. I found this move to be a little less risky than upgrading a production blog that is fairly up to date.
Here are a couple of points that visitors might find useful when looking at WordPress 2.5
This was a standard upgrade using a manual FTP upload
This blog was upgraded directly from WP 2.1 to 2.5
This blog uses the default Kubrick Theme (no updates were made to \wp-content\themes\default during this upgrade)
From left to right: Sherry (aka Mrs. Ozz or Mommy), Josiah, Caden, Hank (aka TheOzz or Daddy) and Riley
I am introducing the family because you will be seeing more of them on The Land of Ozz in the near future. The Land of Ozz will begin some slow changes over the next few weeks. Mrs. Ozz has expressed a desire to begin blogging. We talked and decided that having her join me here on The Land of Ozz is the better solution than creating and maintaining a whole new blog. My posting has been light anyway and the readership has declined as a result. Mrs. Ozz will be blogging on some of the same general topics plus much more. As a result of the “more”, I plan to add sort of a His and Hers blog roll as well as a His and Hers category list. I also hope to offer feed subscriptions by author.
So the “Ozz” in “The Land of Ozz” will begin to take on a new meaning. The blog title moving forward will represent the Ozz family instead of just one Ozz (myself). The blog design will be reflecting some changes too. I more than welcome the feminine touch to the look and feel of this blog. Mrs. Ozz has been reviewing WordPress themes and I expect to make a change to this blog’s design in the next week or two.
