Hey guys. It’s been too long. Ever so often, something catches my attention to the point that I can’t hold it in. Last night I went to see the new movie called The Invention of Lying. It was quite humorous, as well as PG-13. I’m giving you the rating because I want anyone who can to see it and I want to give that warning. It definitely has its vulgarities and some language, but I’m not telling you to see it because I think you will laugh out loud. Brace yourself. I want you to see this movies because it is a blatant attack on religion. While it will sell itself as a romantic comedy, writer and director Ricky Gervais (The Office) obviously had an objective as well. To brief you without hopefully giving away too much information, it is a world where there is no gene in the human brain for lying. The main character somehow learns how to lie and therefore tries to make the world go his way. However, when he has to comfort his dying mother, he makes up a wild fantasy for an afterlife so that she won’t worry about death. But soon the rumor spread about this afterlife. So our protagonist makes up ten rules that were given to him by the “man in the sky”(sound familiar?). In these rules it was stated that the man in the sky was in fact responsible for all the bad things and good things that happened to us. Also, the man in the sky only permitted us to commit two bad actions toward someone else. Three bad things and you’re going to the bad place, not the good place. I think he wanted to show how easy it is to make up the God we believe in. Now it is our first reaction to fight back now that we’ve been pushed into the corner. We (myself included) want to stand up and say: That is NOT what Jesus came to die for! But let’s talk through this. He wanted to show how simple-minded our belief is, that our God is not so complicated. Let us consider who our god is. Sure, instinctively we will say God the Father, the creator of the universe; Yahweh. But do we possibly worship a list of morals, a list of all the dos and don’ts. The promise of an afterlife allows us the chance to look down on those who are not pursuing it as visibly as some of us are. A bit later in the movie there is a man preaching on a sidewalk saying: If the man in the sky allows you two wrong actions, then do two wrong things and you will still go to the good place with the man in the sky. Someone please convince me that they don’t get these ideas from us! Hearing that and knowing Christians are responsible for that point of view existing makes me want to fall on my knees screaming to God begging please don’t send me to hell! If it doesn’t do the same for any other Christian, that person really ought to examine him/herself. I do think the writer was generalizing on all religions, but he is British and also lives in America. So I’m guessing his thoughts on religion came from Christians. His perspective did not seem very scholarly, which means he gets these ideas from us, not the bible! We have got to know that Jesus never intended for his followers to never be part of a religion, but a worldwide community of people who love each other and love God. That part of the Christian belief was found nowhere in the movie. Do you know why? Because we don’t show it! Hopefully by the number of exclamation marks so far, you will know how disappointed I am in the church (and yes, I am a part of it as well). I really don’t like bashing the church most of the time, but this movie was a wake up call and a well deserved slap in the face from a lot of people who I have hurt in the name of Jesus. That’s why I want you to see this movie. We need to wake up. We need to know what the world thinks of us. If you are reading this and you are not a religious person, please know one thing: I AM SORRY FOR HOW MUCH HURT THE CHURCH HAS BROUGHT TO THE WORLD. We were never meant to regulate our lives based on a quota of wrong actions, but the love of our loving savior. Let’s get it together church.

I believe that God has placed ministry on my heart. It is my short term goal to be in a ministry position within the next five years. I think many people who have this goal go to seminary or a Christian college to get a degree. I am in the process of getting a creative writing degree with a minor in religious studies at the University of Central Arkansas. This is not religion as in Christianity. This is religion usually from a philospher’s point of view. Most philosopher’s will tell the religious individual that he/she is out of their mind. This is a lot of fun. I do not want my faith to go unquestioned or unchallenged, and I don’t think God wants that either. So I sit down a few times every week and listen to what some intellectual person has to say about something he/she has never experienced. I usually don’t speak up. I’m a firm believer that arguing gets Christianity nowhere, so I just soak it in. Sometimes it hurts, but I know I’m growing. Plus, these people are the sheep, not the bible students at Harding (nothing against Christian schools). I’ve heard students and teachers alike say things like “The church only raises money to survive”, and “God could create us only to do the right thing without compromising free will.” Of course I don’t agree with these things, but I think Jesus would get along just fine with these people. I don’t think that Jesus or the apostles ever argued with an atheistic philosopher (I could be wrong), so I guess I’ll have to learn how to deal with philosophers from philosophers. I’m praying for patience and wisdom. The only thing about about praying for either of these is that God makes you earn it. If I want wisdom, I’d better be ready to open up some books. And if I want patience, God is going to put more skeptics in my face than I will ever want. But I think it will be worth it. And I am exited about it. God is on the move and I get to be a part of it, so I will gladly accept the opposition.

The day was April 1st. I am on my way to have lunch with a friend from work when I see an elderly man (very elderly) walking practically on the road. Cars are having to drive around him. He is pushing a cart with a walker in it and several smaller things. He clearly needs help. And so the classic question enters my mind: “What would Jesus do?” Now, this is a silly question to begin with, but most of you probably agree with me so I’ll continue with the story. Having argued with myself for a good two or three seconds, I did what we Pharisees do best, I drove by him. As soon as I did, it was like the Holy Spirit punched me in the stomach in that loving way only He can. So I quickly turned into a gas station parking lot, and turned around. I pulled into a very small parking lot where he was walking by and stopped, got out and asked him if I could offer him a ride anywhere. He spoke unclearly and I asked him to repeat himself and he told me he was on his way to the senior citizens center and his daughter was going to pick him up. He then proceeded to point his finger over my shoulder as I turned around and and realized I was in the parking lot of the senior citizens center. He thanked me for the offer and began to make his way inside. I told him to have a blessed day.

So I ask you, faithful readers, does this count as good intentions (which I think God is less than impressed with most of the time) or a good deed? It’s been killing me.

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the lest of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” -Matthew 25:40

I am now convinced more than ever that God has a sense of humor. Happy April Fools Day.

My friends, I am in great need of prayers. I am not sick. This is not a desparate cry for help. I have the oppurtunity to affect and minister to thirty or so teenagers this summer. I will be taking the youth intern job at my church in Conway. This is a dream come true and more so a prayer answered. For the longest time I prayed that God would send me to a Christian college of my choice so that I could get a bible degree and go on to become a minister. After much prayer I finally realized that God doesn’t always care so much for my plans. So after more prayer I knew He wanted me in Conway working with the campus ministry at UCC. I will not be earning a bible degree. Instead, it will be creative writing (it’s the only major that won’t force me to want to kill myself). This will not likely open doors to careers that I would love or that would make me rich, but I’m willing to put that part in God’s hands. This upcoming summer along with my summer at Camp Wyldewood will put some experience under my belt. I believe that’s all that God has required of me so far, along with passing classes (which I have done very reluctantly). I trust Him to take care of me. And I know He trusts me if He’s going to give me a group of teens looking up to me. I won’t be perfect. That’s why it’s a learning experience for me and the kids. But I’ll have plenty of figures to look upto myself. Also, be praying for the other intern. Her name is Caitlin Martin. I’ve met her once but I can’t tell you much. I’m really looking forward to every minute of it. God is blessing me more than I would have expected by now. He’s also using me in ways I haven’t expected either. He’s a nice guy. I will certainly appreciate your prayers. Have a good one.

Hey guys, it’s been a while. I apologize to those of you who enjoyed our moments together here, especially you John. You seemed particularly bothered by my blog abcense. But here I am, and here I go.

Things are good. I am still at UCA. My major will soon be creative writing with a minor in religion. Religion at UCA is nothing at all like a bible program at a Christian university. I usually feel like a single Christian in the middle of twenty or so atheists, agnostics, or whatever they prefer to call themselves. It’s all apathy in my opinion. But I enjoy it deeply. I think I can learn just as much from them as I can from a Bible professor. If I am to become a minister of some sort, I will be reaching out to non-believers as much as teaching Christians. Plus, this past weekend has helped me realize that a classroom full of non-believers is as much a mission field as I’m ever going to see.

Now, as for the weekend I’ve had, I feel immensly blessed and enlightened. The theme of this year’s Tulsa workshop was “Evangalistic Revolution.” I won’t say it’s been a revolution for me because I’ve got to live it out first, but it was awesome. There were several speakers that I enjoyed listening to such as Craig Hicks, Jeff Walling, Josh Ross, Terry Rush, and of course my great friend John Dobbs. My favorite by far though was Patrick Mead. I did not get a chance to hear him last year, but his series this year was extremely inspiring. He is a servant of God and of men, plus his accent is hilarious. He gave several testimonies of inviting “outsiders” to God, not church. He attacked the church today for what we’re not doing, and it made me uncomfortable; not because he was incorrect, but because I felt like he was talking to me. And for any skeptics, he had every right to speak about what evangelism is and what it is not. I won’t get into the specifics of every sermon I heard, but every speaker I mentioned was fantastic and blessed my heart.

Now I just have to be able to live without constantly being inspired or enlightened. But I am exited about putting some thoughts into action. Please be praying for the UCC Student Ministies, that we can become more evangelical and learn what we need to and then some. As for me, I’ll be back here again. I won’t promise that this will be a constant thing, but I will try. John, I hope your happy.

Since I was a child, my family and I have never had a solid Christmas tradition. When I was much younger, we would open presents on Christmas eve night or Christmas morning, but over the years even that much has not remained for the most part. In recent years, we’ve done gifts whenever and then concentrate spending Christmas itself with extended family. There’s nothing wrong with any of that. I do know what Christmas is really about. I just have a hard time getting pumped up about everything that, in my life at least, Christmas has come to be about or encompass. I hope I’m not wrong for thinking like this. This year we exchanged gifts almost a week before Christmas day because it was the only time we would be able to spend with my sister and her husband and son. So when I woke up Christmas morning and got ready to head for my parents house for lunch, all of these thoughts were going through my head. I didn’t know what the day would hold since all of the “rituals” were over. I got to the house and mom had prepared tacos and quesadillas. It was honestly one of the most perfect meals I’ve had in a long, long time. After lunch was over, I was informed of intentions to play my all-time favorite card game: rummy. To those of you who have never heard of this game (most seem to have not), you’re missing out. This is a game that I learned to play at my grandma’s house when I was a boy. When my grandma passed away, the card game seemed to pass away with her. I never realized how much I missed it until I played it again. It was like a friend had been revived from the dead. We played a game and then went to Morrilton to visit my grandparents for a little while and on the way back to the house I insisted that we play again. Not once did we discuss the meaning of what day it was, and I know it’s okay because I saw my family get a little closer together. I have no doubt that God was pleased with the Puckett family on that day. It was a rich fellowship that I will likely never forget. 2008 was one of (if not the) best Chistmas(‘) I’ve experienced. As perfect of a day as it was, it could have only been better if Lauren, Danny, and Alex were there. I thank God for Christmas.

The Dark Knight. I’m sorry if it seems like I’d rather blog about a comic book movie than something real… like myself. But this movie is without a doubt blog-worthy. This movie had a lot of hype to live up to. It also had a reputation to live up to. Batman Begins was the first movie of this series. I gave it five out of four stars. No, that is not a typo. However, director Christopher Nolan would not let this film disappoint. Christian Bale came back as the Batman who is beginning to fear that Batman’s purpose in Gotham is being misunderstood and not appreciated. Heath Ledger’s Joker is truly scary. As bad as this may sound, seeing this movie made me better understand his death. He played the Joker so well, I really believe Ledger went insane. I’ll warn you, Joker can be hard to watch at parts of the film. We are also introduced to Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart. Dent will later become the villain known as Two-Face, who is also difficult to look at. Harvey Dent is Gotham’s crusading district attorney who goes rogue after a tragedy and terrible scarring. Whether this movie tried or not, there are several Christian themes in this movie. The most noticeable is Batman taking credit for crimes he didn’t commit so that Gotham wouldn’t lose faith in their hero DA. Batman earlier wanted to give in and quit so that blood of victims of the Joker would no longer be on his hands, but ultimately that he will be whatever Gotham needs him to be. Even if that means he has to be hated for their faith to grow. I give The Dark Knight five out of four stars. I give Jesus seven.

There I was. 1:25pm. Tuesday, May 6th, 2008. My good friend and fellow detective Jeff Woods and I went to the local movie theater to see Iron Man to be greeted by a dark, unoccupied lobby. The first thing I noticed was a letter a few feet from the door on the floor. I ignored it, thinking it was of no importance. The next thing I noticed was the empty cashier desk. After a few moments of waiting on someone to come help us, we made our way forward to the concession stand and waited on someone to notice that we were their. Then, we walked over to a room where Iron Man was showing at 1:00pm… or so we thought. (Hopefully, when you just finished that last sentence, some sort of creepy music went off in your head.) We entered the room to find it empty, with no movie. There was only some music playing. So we went across the way to the other Iron Man showing at 1:30… or so we thought. (Hopefully the creepy music repeated itself.) Same story. And so begins the investigation. Jeff and I did some snooping around. Here’s the facts.

• There was a letter on the floor dated 5-1-08 from some kind of insurance company out of Massachusetts.
• One register was open showing the most recent transaction which was an 8:00pm showing the night before.
• There was a small printer calculator that showed what looked like all the transactions processed the previous evening. This report was printed at 5:31am that very morning of 5-6-08.
• No concessions were turned on. Popcorn, slushies, candy bar was locked, and all registers were turned off.

• We encountered three persons. One gave no reason for suspicion. One came in wondering about camera footage because his tires has been slit there a few nights prior. Speculation has yet to yield results. Last person was an Army recruiter who’s badge said “Wins”. He pronounced it weird, like “weens”. However, the card he gave us has the name “Wheeler”. Speculation has yet to yield results.

This is all we got. My fellow detective and I are still working on it. It’s obvious that someone was supposed to be there. We have yet to come to a rational outcome. The big question is who goes to a movie theater at 5:30 in the morning to print out a finance report. Somebody needs to get a life. Being a fake detective is actually a lot of fun. Try it.

This is a call to arms. All of you who are skilled in the arts of prayer, pay attention. This week is perhaps the hardest time of the year for college students – finals week! We the college nation need all the help we can get. We would prefer that that God would teach us about world history or business statistics or calculus in our sleep, but we’ll settle for prayers of peace or comfort. And after this week, we’re off into the sunset only to find that right over the hill awaits August and more finals. When will it end? But really, so many college students, myself included, need prayers for this most troublesome week. Have a nice day.

I’ve heard Dusty talk about things called “breath prayers” before. He talked about it again at the Tulsa Workshop this year and it just got me thinking. How much can my spiritual life improve if I’m consciously breathing the Holy Spirit? When Dusty talked about it he mentioned his own and then the one his daughter, Emma, prays – Jesus, make me brave. I thought that surely if a fifth grader can do it, I can too. The only problem was thinking of one. This process took a while until a bible study the college group had when we talked about Philip and the eunuch. Philip was apparently so open to the Holy Spirit that he dropped whatever he was doing to travel to a eunuch that God had been working on. The scripture says that once Philip found him, he ran to him. The word “ran” really stuck out as we tend to separate spiritual acts from physical ones. The eunuch asks Philip about the scriptures of the prophet Isaiah and Philip continues to “tell the good news about Jesus”. Ask yourself if you are as eager as Philip was. Philip is almost never considered as a bible hero, but he portrays something that is lost. My friend, Michael White, has been on my heart since high school. Yet, my apathy towards him outweighs the eagerness. He’s a tough case, but maybe that’s because of my lack of eagerness. There are so many areas that can correspond with eagerness and it is my prayer to conquer those. Jesus, make me eager.