Several years ago I heard about Solid Rock Church in Ohio.  I did not learn of them because they were doing

Solid Rock Church, Touchdown Church, King of Kings

great in their community (I’m sure they are), rather I learned of them because they have a HUGE statue of Jesus that some people call the King of Kings or the Touchdown Jesus.  Sadly, a few days ago the statue was hit by lightening and burned to its metal core.  In teh video above and several youtube comments people are saying this is a clear sign that Jesus is about to come back.
What do you think?  Is the burning of a statue a sign of Jesus’ return or something else?

I grew up catholic and was never comfortable with the images of Jesus, something about the scripture/10 commandment that says…’have no graven images’.

I’d love your feedback and thoughts….

What was interesting to me is the Church’s website did not even mention the Touchdown Jesus/King of Kings being struck by lightening.

³¹Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³²Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. – Ephesians  4:31 and 32

This weekend my friend talked about going to a landfill, it made me remember the time I went to a Landfill.  I was getting rid of my old carpet because I was placing down hardwood floors in our town home.  So I placed all of the old carpet in my Saturn and made my way to the PG County Landfill.  I gave them my driver’s license and they let me in. I was not able to go to the Landfill (darn), I had to drop the trash off at a bin.  I really wanted to see what the landfill looked liked.

Since, I did not get to see the landfill; I decided to look it up.  Here is there information I found:

A Landfill is a carefully built depression (hole) in the ground (or built on top of the ground, resembling a football stadium) into which wastes (trash) are put inside of it. The goal of all landfills is to avoid any hydraulic [water-related] connection between the wastes and the surrounding environment, particularly groundwater. Basically, a landfill is a bathtub in the ground; a double-lined landfill is one bathtub inside another. Landfills can leak two ways: out the bottom or over the top.  Dirt or gravel are usually placed over the top to limit runoff.

In all most landfills they place one or more layers of clay or a synthetic flexible membrane (or a combination of these) on the bottom of the landfill to prevent leaking. The liner effectively creates a bathtub in the ground. If the bottom liner fails, wastes will migrate directly into the environment. There are three types of liners: clay, plastic, and composite.  On the top of the landfill, they place a cover or cap.  It works as an umbrella to keep water out.  It will generally consist of several sloped layers: clay or membrane liner (to prevent rain from intruding), overlain by a very permeable layer of sandy or gravelly soil (to promote rain runoff), overlain by topsoil in which vegetation can root (to stabilize the underlying layers of the cover). If the cover (cap) is not maintained, rain will enter the landfill resulting in buildup of trash to the point where the bathtub overflows its sides and wastes enter the environment.  This is why a lot of people do not want landfills near their neighborhoods

I believe all of us are kinda like landfills.  We have trash (hurt, pain, anger, disappoints, etc…).  We try to provide barriers at the top and bottom to maintain and keep this trash inside and contained.  Despite our best efforts, we have leakage.  At times it can be through the bottom (past hurts, disappointments or wrongs) or through the top (explosions about recent hurts, disappointments or wrongs).  So, we need to be prepared on how to “deal” with life when our landfill leaks.  We know that it will.  I want you to think about your landfill.  Do you think that your landfill may be leaking from the top or the bottom?  What things do you do to limit the negative affects of your landfill leaking?  In real life, when a landfill leaks, it is a serious problem to all that live within a radius of the landfill.  Is your “landfill” affecting others for the positive or negative?

Questions: On a scale of 1 (being the lowest) to 5 (being the highest), how would you describe your landfill (emotional stability), explain?  Which way does your landfill usually leak (from the top or bottom)? When your landfill leaks, does it affect the people around you, explain?

Well I’m glad you are still reading and the title did not make you turn away.  I know it sounds like an oxymoron…but let me explain.

I have a friend, Sandra(name was changed), and to be honest Sandra has had a hard life that has

what are we supposed to be praying for

caused her to develop multiple personalities.  Around me she seems like the sweetest most loving person.  But to others  she is cold, mean, and hard core (or tries to be).  Sandra’s life has taken her to some ugly places…places you usually only see in movies.  At a young age she got involved in sex, was a runaway and eventually was introduced to drugs.

Then one day…everything changed.  She got up and walked away from the sex and the drugs, went to church and back to school.  For 4 years she was doing well…Then one day…it all changed AGAIN.

Now Sandra has lost her job, is a habitual drug abuser again, prostituting herself with multiple men and women, has her drivers license revoked, lying to the authorities and has 13 charges again her (several of those criminal).  Her family has washed their hands of her because she has used and abused them.  In court a few days ago a judge said ‘I don’t understand why you are not locked away’.  Watching her life right now is like watching a plane crash.  No joke…I remember watching the planes crash into the Towers on Sept 11^th and remember feeling helpless as I watched…that’s what this is like.

I’ve tried to help, I’ve prayed, I’ve cried.  As her pastor I’ve counseled her with the Word.  At times I was loving, blunt, and everything in between.  I’ve taken the Horse to the water and said “with this water you will never thirst”.   She told me flat…I don’t want to drink.

Hearing that a judge said…’I don’t understand why you are not locked away yet’ rang like a bell to me.  Maybe all the prayers for her deliverance were going unanswered.  We all wanted to see her situation get better.  We never want IT to get worse…but sometimes IT has to get worse for God to reach them.

God says..’My ways are not your ways’.  And so maybe my prayer was wrong…its not a prayer of deliverance…but a prayer for HIS will to be done.  Even if His will lands her in jail, even if His will leaves her paralyzed, even if His will leaves her battered and bruised or even dead.

In our lives we need to pray for His will to be done.  That does not mean we can’t ask for our desires, but it does mean when we ask, we have to acknowledge that we only want what lines up with His will.