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Full Moon Fever

Its a full moon, and I think I have full moon fever!  Or maybe its just that spring is in the air ( and the Mountaineers are in the Final Four!!! ( did I mention that already?).  But whatever it is it I am pumped and ready to tackle the days ahead.

Its Monday in the week leading up to Easter.  Today was the day Jesus cleared out the temple and cursed a unproductive fig tree.  Some may think that he was a little crazy for doing that, and it seems a little odd, however this was a symbolic action tied directly to his acceptance in Jerusalem.  Anyway what is even more interesting is what he says when his followers stand in amazement of the withered tree. ( I mean really, when is the last time you saw someone tell a tree to wither and poof, it withers away?)

21Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:21-22 (New International Version)

Right, he says if you have faith and don’t doubt you can tell the mountain to jump into the sea?  Ok,talk about full moon fever.  He also says if you believe it will happen and if you forgive it will be forgiven.  This is a challenging set of statements all the way around.  I often wonder what it takes to have a faith that has no doubt.  I really wonder what that person looks like.  Do you think that we might find that person a little odd – someone with full moon fever?  I dunno, but I really wish I could be that type of person.  And I think that you get there one day at a time.

This was the second time Jesus told his followers about the power of a small amount of faith.  In Matthew 17, he tells them that all you need is faith like a itty bitty little mustand seed and nothing will be impossible for you.   So today I will think about how much he loves us and the events of the coming weekend and mustard seeds, and moving mountains and becoming a mountaineer, and catching full moon fever!  What do you think?

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Rocks Will Cry Out

I am especially stoked today!  Enough that I am posting a special Sunday edition of the DailyBuffet.  Yes, The Mountaineers did make it to the Final Four last night, and that is part of my jubilation today.  But today is special for another reason, and even if the ‘Eers had suffered defeat last night, I would still be excited today.  Today is the week before the Passover, and the day that is traditionally called “Palm Sunday“.  Whats the big deal you may ask?  Well this is the day that Jesus enter Jerusalem on a donkey, while the people of Jerusalem covered the road with Palm leaves and clothing – which signified the coming of a king.  This started the week which will end with the death and resurrection of the Christ – the Messiah – the Savior.

And right in the middle of all of this Jesus is told to have the people stop, and he says

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

The rocks will cry out that he is Lord! Wow, that’s one of my favorite verses and a big motivator to me.  So I post this today in an attempt to cry out louder then the stones – the Messiah has come. And on a day similar to this one many years ago, he entered the city of Jerusalem declaring his Kingship.

Enjoy the day and think about that “Triumphant Entry”!

Luke 19:28-44 (New International Version)

The Triumphal Entry

28After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

32Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

35They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

41As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

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100th Post

Wow!  What an awesome day!  First its a great day to be a Mountaineer with the basketball team going to the Sweet Sixteen.  That’s the only redeeming quality of my March Madness Bracket!

But even better – this is the 100th Post of the Daily Buffet!  That’s worthy of a celebration!  I know that writing and posting all this nonsense has helped me tremendously.  Its my hope that it as also been of some positive benefit to everyone who uses their time to read it.

That sort of makes me want to sing along with Miriam:

Exodus 15

The Song of Moses and Miriam

1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD :
“I will sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
he has hurled into the sea.

2 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

3 The LORD is a warrior;
the LORD is his name.

Acknowledge where you strength comes from this day and this weekend, and remember that we are just one week away from the Passover and Easter – and anniversary of the coming of our Savior.

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Year of Giving

I stumbled upon this earlier this week while browsing around the web with my mouse hand, while my headphone ear diligently listened to a conference call.

Unemployed D.C. man giving money away to strangers to help foster kindness

I was immediately blown away, and inspired at the same time!  This guy had lost his job, yet he is out giving $10 away a day – to complete strangers.  He also has been blogging about his encounters here.   This blog is definitely worth a gander as he retells of his encounters each day. Its confusing.  its a little mind boggling.  He should be saving everything he has correct?  Unfortunately, that’s the way we usually look at things like this.  But really imagine if we all took approaches like this.   I have taught many classes on this concept from Luke:

Luke 6:38 (New International Version)

38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

But this at times is a hard concept to implement.  Yes, Ray its not all about money ( sorry that’s a little inside joke to my friend Ray), its about giving and trusting.  I am impressed with Reed Sandridge.  I am inspired by him and I hope to learn from him.

Today, give.  Give because it helps others.  (and as I blogged about two weeks ago, that’s good and catchy!)  Give knowing that it will come back to you in ways that you will never ever expect.

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Happy Ada Lovelace Day

Its Ada Lovelace Day!!!  The day that girl geeks treasure!

Who, many of you ask, is Ada Lovelace?  Well, Ada Lovelace is the world’s first computer programmer.  Yes, that’s right.  She wrote software for Mr Charles Babbage’s analytical engine way back in the 1840’s!  That’s right again – the 1840’s.  It was really even more then that, she really developed software development!  Talk about bootstrapping!  Learn more about this incredible piece of geekistry here or here.

So all geeks of the world, I being one of them, raise their handheld devices today in honor of Lady Lovelace!

Also, there is a group called findingAda.com, that is rallying around this day to recognize women in science and technology.  So, I thought I could give a quick shout out, in honor of Lady Lovelace, to several of the great women who I develop software with everyday including a fellow daily buffeter – Lisa Ignaszak!  Thanks Lisa for all the great work that you do!  I will raise my sweet tea up to you today!  (Make sure baby-j takes you out to lunch! )

So today, don’t be bound by things that don’t bind.

27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:27-29 (New International Version)

Use the talents that you have been given, and make a difference in the world – one day at a time!

4There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. 5There are different ways to serve the same Lord, 6and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do.

7The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (Contemporary English Version)

And to finish up a little bit of Ada to celebrate the day:

with Ada.Text_IO;

procedure Hello is
begin
  Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line("Happy Ada Lovelace Day!");
end Hello;