Recently, my good friend Alan Knox wrote a very creative post about Starbucks that I would like to recommend. It’s called “A Cup o’ Joe or a Cup with Joe“. I highly suggest that you all read it. Enjoy the comment thread after it, too.

I don’t want to give too much away, but just know that you should read it, even if you don’t drink coffee (you’ll understand, hopefully). Be forewarned, though: It might be a little convicting.

Until next time,

steve

Until today…

Apparently, there is a “social bookmarking” site called stumbleupon.com which enables people to browse to blogs and websites that fit their interests. If I understand it correctly (I’m not even sure I know how all this works), someone sees something that they like, and they “stumble it”, meaning that they list that page on stumbleupon.com. Then, others who are interested in similar topics can click a button in their browser and surf from site to site viewing content that is related to those topics.

So, apparently someone really liked my post “You Might Be Misrepresenting God”. And they decided to “stumble it”. I saw a bump the other day to 171 page loads — quite a bit for me in recent months as I haven’t been writing much and haven’t really stirred too many pots.

But today, the traffic started again, and as of the writing of this post there have been 2,387 page loads today. I’m not really big on stats like I used to be, but I can’t help feeling a little funny about the fact that so many people are looking at this blog all of a sudden. Maybe I should have quit writing when I said I was losing my voice!!

So, the burning question is: who stumbled me?? I’m not sure yet whether to thank you or to permanently ban you from my blog…hehe! Just kidding.

Until next time,

steve

First of all, I am very late in mentioning this, but several weeks ago, Christy and I (along with our son) had the great pleasure of having dinner with Brandon and Heather, long-time readers and commenters and blogging buddies. They decided to vacation up here in the Boone area, and we were able to meet them for dinner one evening. What a joy!

Even though Brandon and Heather haven’t been as active in the blogosphere for several months as they used to be, we still had lots to talk about. Our dinner together ended up being about 3 1/2 hours together, only cut short because the restaurant was closing! Thanks for a great visit, both of you, and I hope we can do it again!

My quest to meet each of my readers personally continues…

Additionally, I am still waiting to have an interview scheduled at Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA. They had hoped to interview late this month, but it’s already the 24th and I still don’t have an interview date. They have assured me that they want to interview me, but I’m not sure how much longer the process will take. So, for the time being, there are no real plans to move.

I had mentioned a while ago on this blog that Christy and I were going through the process of getting licensed for foster/adoptive care. We have a separate blog that talks about that: Love Each Child. If you would like to see some recent exciting events in our lives, please go there and read this post by me, and this one by Christy. (Those of you who read Christy’s blog have already seen these links.)

Needless to say, life around here is very exciting, even though we know very little of what tomorrow will bring! But I do know this: Our God is a very good god, and we feel so very blessed to be able to be His children. While many things in our future remain to be seen, we are very much at peace with the fact that God is orchestrating things that go beyond our dreams and imaginations. And we feel very blessed already.

One more little update: Several months ago, I asked for assistance in writing an article for a publication. Thank you very much to those of you who answered my request and gave suggestions. I used many of those suggestions. I am pleased to announce that within a couple of weeks, the Fall issue of the wonderful quarterly publication The Old Schoolhouse will be carrying the resulting article in their special Christmas section.

I’m very honored to be published in this magazine, one which has very quickly become perhaps the leading publication for the homeschool community. With a publication run of about 33,000 I am pleased to know that my first published article will be helping many people celebrate Christmas this year by bringing new meaning to some well-known songs.

I guess that about wraps up this personal update. Thanks for sticking around, even with the lack of regular posting here! I appreciate every one of my readers and commenters.

Until next time,

steve

In the last week, I’ve started submitting some signs to the blog, and have enjoyed getting into that.  I thought that some of my readers might enjoy reading some truly awful church sign slogans, so I figured I’d share the link with you.

Need a laugh?  Go check out Crummy Church Signs.  And hopefully someday, I’ll actually get back to writing substantive material on this blog!

Until next time,

steve

I’m really laughing hard over this. And I thought that, even though it has nothing to do with theology, Scripture, or church, my regular readers would get a kick out of it, too.

This is not a prank or anything, so don’t feel like you’re getting set up for something. It’s completely legit, and shows that someone at Google has a great sense of humor! Just follow these steps:

• Go to Google.
• Click on “Maps”
• Click on “Get Directions”
• In the “Start Address” box, type in “New York”
• In the “End Address” box, type in “Oslo” (as in, Norway)
• Click “Get Directions”
• Now, scroll down until you find step #23…..

All seriousness aside, here are the questions that David has passed on. He called it “Five(ish) Things I’d Like to Know About You” and you’ll see very soon why he said “Five(ish)”:

0) What’s your name and website URL? (optional, of course)

Hi, my name is Steve Sensenig, and I’m addicted to blogging. (Hi, Steve!) My website URL is…well, which one would you like? Let’s see, this blog is http://www.theologicalmusingsblog.com. My music site is http://www.worshipkeys.com. My homeschool blog (very infrequently updated) is http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pianosteve. I have a xanga that I hardly ever update, too, but which is reserved usually for much lighter things. That’s http://www.xanga.com/pianosteve. Happy now?

1) What’s the most fun work you’ve ever done, and why? (two sentences max)

Hmmmm, I would say probably the current work I do accompanying music students at Appalachian State University. Hey, I get paid to play music. What could be more fun?

2) A. Name one thing you did in the past that you no longer do but wish you did? (one sentence max)
B. Name one thing you’ve always wanted to do but keep putting it off? (one sentence max)

A. Atkins diet. I lost about 40 pounds on it in about a year and a half. That was in 2003. Since then, I’ve gradually found 30 of the ones I lost. OK, so that was more than one sentence. Even my writing apparently needs to go on a diet!
B. Getting my pilot’s license.

3) A. What two things would you most like to learn or be better at, and why? (two sentences max)
B. If you could take a class/workshop/apprentice from anyone in the world living or dead, who would it be and what would you hope to learn? (two more sentences, max)

A. Golf, because it’s so much fun but I stink at it; and playing jazz, because it’s so much fun but I…well, maybe I’m not so bad, but I could be a lot better!
B. At the risk of just sounding like I am trying to impress you with my spiritual maturity (which I’m not, because I still have a ways to go), I would love to have been one of the disciples of Jesus when He lived here on the earth. What would I hope to learn? Answers to a lot of the questions I ask on this blog!

4) A. What three words might your best friends or family use to describe you?
B. Now list two more words you wish described you…

A. funny, sensitive, gentle
B. film composer (One of my dreams is to compose the music for a motion picture someday)
5) What are your top three passions? (can be current or past, work, hobbies, or causes– three sentences max)

My top three passions are: 1. Loving Jesus Christ and seeking more of Him in my life, 2. My lovely wife and our family, and 3. Music

6) Write–and answer–one more question that YOU would ask someone (with answer in three sentences max)

I’m really at a loss on this one. It would greatly depend on the person I was asking, so I think I’ll have to pass on this one. Sorry, David!

[Bonus: What is one question you wish people would ask themselves?]

Are the things that I’m doing in my life moving me closer to Jesus Christ?

——————————————————————

Now, as these things go, I’m supposed to tag others with this. So, if you are interested in doing this, answer in a post on your own blog (if you have one), or in the comments below (if you don’t have a blog, or don’t wish to turn your own blog into a personal, warm and fuzzy, “Here’s where I am……..):

• Gordon Cloud
• Tony Sisk
• Alan Knox
• ded
• Phil Wyman
• Raborn Johnson (just to get you blogging again!)

Until next time,

steve

Currently, we are in the book of Leviticus. (As an aside before I get to the point of the post, I will just say that my continual reaction throughout Leviticus is: “I am very glad that Jesus came!” My wife and I say that to each other frequently.) We chose to use The Message for our reading. Our purpose is not to do in-depth study, so we chose The Message for its readability.

Sometimes, The Message has some very interesting wording, and is not always as readable as I would have expected. But today’s reading included Leviticus 8, and as I read aloud, I stopped right in the middle of a sentence laughing at the incorrect grammar of a particular sentence. I’ll paste some of it here for you, and see who can be the first to identify what I was laughing at:

From the basket of unraised bread that was in the the presence of God he took one loaf of the unraised bread made with oil and one wafer. He placed these on the fat portions and the right thigh. He put all this in the hands of Aaron and his sons who waved them before God as a Wave-Offering. Then Moses took it all back from their hands and burned them on the Altar on top of the Whole-Burnt-Offering. These were the Ordination-Offerings, a pleasing fragrance to God, a gift to God.

So, who sees the grammatical error in there? I’ll reveal the answer later if no one gets it!

Until next time,

steve