For your eyes only

Voddie on CNN

2008-09-10T15:25:00.001-05:00

What do you think?

vlog 1

2008-08-30T09:12:00.001-05:00

Sarah's Blog

2008-08-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

I know, I haven't posted in a long time but there's good reason...new baby, new job, and busier life. I will start to post more with accountability from my wife (plus I cannot be outdone in blogging by her...) Her new site is

http://sarahgonzalez.blogspot.com/

check it out, post wonderful comments, and look for a rivalry in blogging coming soon...

Wall-E

2008-06-30T07:26:00.001-05:00

Such a great movie...a masterpiece in its own right. One of the best animated movies I've seen and that darn Wall-E is just so cute...not to mention Apple references abound.

Good Reading

2008-06-25T08:36:00.003-05:00

Read this book for the past couple of weeks and finished it yesterday. I recommend it to anyone who has an open mind about politics, economy, and our place as Christians in this place we call America. It rocked my world and will probably rock yours as well. If any of you have read it, let me know your thoughts.

Next on the list, started last night...

gymnastics

2008-05-19T07:44:00.001-05:00

I think that my daughter may be a gymnast...she does flips and turns and somersaults and i think triple-axles in sarah's belly.

weird...

California Legalizes Gay Marriage

2008-05-16T07:19:00.001-05:00

So there was a very important law overturned yesterday in California...now it is legal for gay couples to get married...before I post what I think about the matter, let me hear what you think?

oh the irony

2008-05-08T22:19:00.002-05:00

America

2008-05-06T07:05:00.001-05:00

My Friend Posted this:

"I received this email via a forward from my dad. It is concerning illegal immigration and financial aid benefits for immigrants wanting to study in an American university. I wanted to share the e-mail as well as my reply with the Scroggles community!

[More:]

This is a subject close to my heart. Do you know that
we have adult students at the school where I teach who are not US citizens and
who get the PELL grant, which is a federal grant (no pay back required) plus
other federal grants to go to school?

One student from the Dominican Republic told me that she didn't want me to find a job for her after she finished my program, because she was getting housing from our housing department and she was getting a PELL grant which paid for her total tuition and books, plus money leftover. She was looking into WAIT which gives students a CREDIT CARD for gas to come to school, and into CARIBE which is a special program (check it out - I did) for immigrants and it pays for child care and all sorts of needs while they go to school or training. The one student I just mentioned told me she was not going to be a US Citizen because she plans to return to the Dominican Republic someday and that she 'loves HER country.'

I asked her if she felt guilty taking what the US is giving her and then not even bothering to become a citizen and she told me that it doesn't bother her, because that is what the money is there for!

I asked the CARIBE administration about their program and if you ARE a US Citizen, you don't qualify for their program. And all the while, I am working a full day, my son-in-law works more than 60 hours a week, and everyone in my family works and pays for our education.

Something is wrong here. I am sorry but after hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Spanish - enough is enough. Nowhere did they sing it in Italian, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German or any other language because of immigration. It was written by Francis Scott Key and should be sung word for word the way it was written. The news broadcasts even gave the translation –not even close. Sorry if this offends anyone but this is MY COUNTRY.

IF THIS IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAK UP -- please pass this along. I am not against immigration --just come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; have a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past -- and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

PART OF THE PROBLEM, Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for
fear of offending someone -- YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM! It is Time for America to Speak up If you agree --pass this along, if you don't agree --delete it!

I am absolutely NOT afraid to pass this on. Something needs to be done about this we have waited too long already. This would NEVER have happened in the sixties we have allowed politicians way too much leverage.

Here is his response:

i'm not afraid to offend anyone: this is just idiocy. america is not my country. i belong to a greater kingdom than this. the head of my kingdom came and gave his life for me. he gave a hand to the poor, degenerate and broken hearted, and he told me to do the same.

conservative America has taught us to be jerk-offs that don't care anything about anyone else. We only care about making things convenient for ourselves. think for a second if you lived in a country where you were poor and were always going to be poor. but what if you had a way out. an opportunity to make a better life for yourself. would you not take it, if for no other reason than for the well being of your family? i know plenty of immigrants who are more than likely on financial aid for college...and most of them are far more thankful and work a great deal
harder than my white, middle-class, native, english speaking friends. we are such bastards to think that we deserve better opportunities because of the fact we, by mere chance, ended up being born in the U.S.

i also used to get mad when encountering someone who doesn't speak english here in america. in texas it isn't uncommon to encounter it every day several times a day. however, ask yourself this: if you traveled to a country to try to provide a better life for your family and your loved ones and you couldn't communicate with any of the native citizens would you not be scared out of your damn mind? i don't know that i could do it. it would take some absolute huge balls to be able to persevere through such a hard transition. and do you know what would make it harder? arrogant people who think they didn't have a right to be there.

i agree that it may be a bit cheap that she doesn't want a job to help offset some expenses, but that is the benefits of scholarships and grants. financial aid allows us students more time to spend on academics. She shouldn't however be forced to give up her identity...and that's what you're asking her to do if you're calling for her to be a u.s. citizen."

What do you think?

Why

2008-04-22T06:24:00.003-05:00

do other Christian's make the rest of us look like idiots?

Small Church's Obama Sign Causes Big Controversy

+Angelo

Where The Light Is

2008-04-14T14:01:00.002-05:00

Super excited about the new John Mayer DVD coming out this summer...

Mario Paint

2008-04-10T10:37:00.002-05:00

So awesome...

Look at some more on You Tube...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Star Wars Vs. LOTR: And The Winner Is...

2008-04-09T07:08:00.002-05:00

There's only one "Return" and it's not "of the King," it's "of the Jedi."

+Angelo

Blogged with the Flock Browser

idle time

2008-04-08T17:28:00.001-05:00

So lately I've had some time to do stuff and I haven't. Since school let out, I've been trying to get a job subbing in Alief so I can earn a little extra coin...they haven't called me back. So I've been here at home hanging out with friends, doing nothing, during the day while Sarah is at work dealing with 3rd graders. So starting this week (tomorrow) I will being a series of projects around the house. First thing is to clean up the garage and research some shelving options for it...we would like to park our cars in there =). I will post some before and after pics to show you how I'm doing...here's to some good man-work.

+Angelo

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Star Wars Rocks

2008-04-07T08:20:00.002-05:00

Came across this on Digg...I'm a geek...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

it's been a while

2008-04-02T15:07:00.009-05:00

like over a month. a lot has happened in that time. i've done a disciple now, which was great, and i also found out what my baby is going to be...a girl! we are having a baby girl named hayden. and yes, i got the idea from claire bennett, but that's another story altogether. we are very excited...here are some pics of the nursery...

so the writers strike is finally over! (as you can see, it really has been a while, huh? barely mentioning this) so what are you favorite shows that are coming back? here are mine in no particular order...

the office (April 10!!!)
heroes (not till fall)
24 (not till 2009, sadface)
entourage (don't know when)
grey's anatomy (april 24!!)
every CSI
every law and order
how i met your mother (last week)
two and a half men (last week)
house (april 28)
scrubs (april 10)

as you can tell, sarah and i are avid tv watchers...we didn't use to be, and it's really funny cause now we don't have cable. when we did have cable, we didn't really watch tv...now that we only have 6 channels, it makes it a lot easier to decide what to watch. anyway, not much else is going on..i'm finally officially graduated! i walked at the end of february and it was glorious. anyway, sarah and i have been playing rock band like mad lately...sarah is playing drums on medium now..i think she's ready for hard, but she doesn't. life is going swell, thanks and praise be to God.

also, if you have some time, mosey on over to www.transformradio.com and check us out. we will have music playing during the day and live shows at 2pm CST on tuesdays and thursdays. we talk about all kinds of things so listen in, you might just learn something =) i'm going to start blogging more (i know, i know, you think i'm making empty promises, but you'll see...yule c, my not blogging is like a given, like x=1, but i'm gonna prove you all wrong)

+Angelo

"Go...your son lives."

2008-02-06T16:48:00.000-06:00

As I'm getting Bible study ready for tonight, I glean over this passage and am reminded about faith. I'm teaching from John 4:43-54 tonight. We have been going through the Gospel of John for a few months now and it has been fantastic. John's Gospel has so much to offer all people, regardless of spiritual maturity. Anyway, we are talking about the healing of the royal official's son tonight. This guy comes to Jesus asking him to heal his son. He know what he's been doing, he's heard of the signs and wonders of this hometown boy (they are in Galilee) and knew that he could help. When he asks Jesus to come back with him, pleads and begs him (vs. 49) Jesus simply responds, "Go, your son lives."

I wonder the look on this guys face. You're asking Jesus to come back with you to heal your son, and he tells you that he lives. He then takes Jesus at his word and goes home to see his son. There was no way of knowing that his son was going to be okay, he had to trust this guy Jesus who he had never met before from just his words.

And...he does.

And on his way back, his bondservants come to him telling him that his son is better and is alive. And when he asks him when his conditions improved, when do you think they said? Of course, right when Jesus spoke these words. There is a whole other discussion on the power of Christ to speak and make things live, but we will save that for another time.

That is faith. Jesus told this guy, "Go home. Trust that my words are powerful enough to heal your son. You won't have any proof of it right now, but just wait and see."

This is an exhortation to let us have faith in our Lord. Jump in. Let us trust Him at His Word. When he speaks, there is Life.

Christ Church Brenham

2008-01-28T07:53:00.001-06:00

I had the opportunity to attend last night's service at Christ Church in Brenham. For those of you who don't know, this is a church plant recently started by Justin Hyde and Casey Cease. Justin is the Pastor while Casey serves as an elder. They meet in a church building Sunday nights at 5pm. More info can be found here.

Last night was a great time of community and worship. It was very laid back and Spirit-filled. As we began to sing (there were only about 12 people there) the Spirit began to show me what authentic community feels like. Don't get me wrong, I love my church in Houston and wouldn't leave there for anything. I enjoy our worship times as well. But there was just something special about Christ Church last night. Those few of us there singing, not just empty lyrics but words that actually mean something, was so very special to me. Then there was the preaching time with Casey bringing a message from John 10. Very well done, honoring the Word with correct teaching that edified us as well as brought many of us to evaluate ourselves. Last was Communion, (the Lord's Supper for you Baptist's) and that was a very good time of reflection and repentance before our God while taking the elements that mean so much more than just symbolism.

Thank you Justin, Casey, and the rest of you for allowing Sarah and I the privilege of worshiping with you and sharing food and community with you yesterday. It meant much more to me that you might think. We hope to come back soon and enjoy life and God with you once again.

+Angelo

Is it just me or...

2008-01-20T16:49:00.000-06:00

does presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee resemble a certain president from season 5 of 24 that was guilty of treason?

What's in a name?

2008-01-15T07:40:00.001-06:00

So we've been to the doc many times since the last baby post, and everything is going great...praise God! We have seen the progression of the growth in the ultrasound, and you can actually see little hands and feet and legs and brains...which is awesome and crazy that you can see brains. =) Anyway, Sarah and I have been talking about baby names. We have gone though many phases...

The Biblical Names Phase - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, David, Zerubabbel, Mechelzidek, Yeshuah, (okay some of those were made up just to be funny, but you get the picture)

Names after famous people - John Mayer Gonzalez, Billy Graham Gonzalez, Denzel Washington Gonzalez, Hayden Panettiere Gonzalez, Hiro Nakamura Gonzalez, Jack Bauer Gonzalez, etc. (I think I'm the only one who went through this phase)

The Names That Make Funny Initials - Frank Alan Gonzalez, Harry Andrew Gonzalez, Hayden Ray Gonzalez (that's for you Heroes fans...yes I'm a nerd).

Trendy Names (that are commonly misspelled to make them different from their classic counterpart) - Kelsea (not to be confused with Kelsey), Maegan (not Megan), Kaela (not Kayla), Ashlee (not Ashley). Usually these use the crazy vowel combinations

The "ayden" names - Hayden, Kaeden, Cayden, Jayden, Aiden, Aeden, Aidin; (More of an offshoot of the Trendy Names, this sub category usually combines the crazy vowel combination with the commonly misspelled to make a plethora of spellings and names)

The "lynn" names - Kaylynn, Ashlynn, Jocelynn, Jaylynn, Katelynn, etc.(Another sub-category of the Trendy Names, it also uses the misspell tactic throwing in a little crazy vowel combo action)

And there we are...we don't have any idea yet if it's a boy or girl (we won't know for another month or so). So here's where you come in...any suggestions?

+Angelo

Breaking New Study Shows...

2008-01-10T08:20:00.000-06:00

New, heh...these quotes are from the article found here...a more complete article is found on LifeWay's site here

"A new survey of U.S. adults who don't go to church, even on holidays, finds 72% say "God, a higher or supreme being, actually exists." But just as many (72%) also say the church is "full of hypocrites."

Indeed, 44% agree with the statement "Christians get on my nerves."

"Is there a workshop for churches in being less annoying, less hypocritical?" asks Arthur Farnsley, administrator for the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and a fellow at Goff's center."

Me:
A lot of the time, Christians get on my nerves too. I was watching the Early Show yesterday and they had the founder of the Christian website "Godtube." He said it is the Christian answer to You Tube. The tagline for the site is, "Broadcast Him." The lady kept asking him why they just can't use You Tube to talk about faith and Christianity. He didn't have an answer. She asked him if it would make more sense to actually put things like this on You Tube instead of God Tube because it would reach a broader audience and isn't the point of Christianity to evangelize and spread the word? He responded, "Well, I've had many emails from people saying they appreciate us making this site because now they have somewhere to talk about the Gospel and don't have to worry about questionable material."

Don't click on the videos if you don't want to watch them! This guy didn't get it. So many don't get it. He actually said that now they are making a site that will be the Christian answer to Facebook. Why does Christianity have to have an "answer" to everything? Don't they realize that this makes us look like jerks? "Your site isn't good enough for us, we gotta make our own." While God Tube makes good for silly videos to make fun of, it's mostly made up of church services that make me laugh, "worship leaders" who are trying to get their name out but just end up looking silly, and random people bashing catholicism and other religions. I don't know, maybe I'm way off here, but something about this just seems wrong.

The article starts out with this line...

"A majority of unchurched Americans are turned off by the institutional church and don’t have a biblical understanding about God and Jesus, yet they believe Jesus makes a positive difference in a person’s life and would enjoy an honest discussion with a friend about spiritual matters."

-This is a "new study." lol, if only they knew how "not new" this was. Here are a few more lines...

"Many unchurched people don’t have a biblical understanding about God and Jesus, the survey found."

-duh

"The negative perception for many people, however, seems to be the church, not Jesus himself, according to the study."

-Christians turn people off to Christianity...hmmm

Check out the article for yourself...feel free to discuss...

Anniversary

2007-12-17T17:22:00.000-06:00

Happy Anniversary to my lovely, beautiful wife!

So...

2007-12-11T21:59:00.001-06:00

Sarah and I are gonna have a baby!

We found out a few weeks ago, but were waiting till we went to the doc to make sure everything was okay with the pregnancy. The doc said everything looked great, so we decided to go ahead and start telling people. Yeah! (that's how i roll)

Oh em gee, things have been crazy since then. I'm laying in bed right now next to my beautiful, sleeping wife. She is so exhausted all the time, not to mention sick all the time as well. I was not prepared how much she would change over the course of like one week. It's very hard, but so worth all the effort of doing things to try and make her happy and comfortable. Err, I sometime mess up though. Sometimes I forget that she's going through all the changes, emotionally and physically, and that I need to give her a break. I'm trying, though.

I picked up the book, "The Expectant Father," and am reading it, knowing very well that I'm gonna have to live through it to understand fully what is going on. Sarah and I have created life! Praise God for the miracle of child-birth! It's really insane and I'm thankful for all of the support and encouragement of our family and friends. So many things are about to change for the better. I can't wait to be a dad. Please pray for Sarah and I as we begin this new chapter in our life. It's unknown territory for us (obviously) and we would love any advice or tips those of you who have been through this could give us.

In the mean time, I will be blogging more regularly (don't hold me to it, but I'm gonna try =/) about the whole process...the joyous times and the frustrating times. I would love for my son or daughter to read this later in life and see how we were preparing for him or her to enter the world. Until then, here's to hoping the writer's strike is over soon and that sarah's nausea is over sooner.

+Angelo

2007-12-06T12:14:00.001-06:00

This is from Mike Haskew's blog, what a sweet idea...just as my friend Joel said, "I bet they failed every class that semester."

2007-10-30T17:46:00.000-05:00

I hurt today...very badly. I was with my mom and she was telling me about her recent trip to our old hometown Abilene, TX. She always goes and visits our family there and no matter what she tries to get in contact with them and share hesed with them...which is a whole 'nother post. But today, she was telling me about how so many of my cousins, mainly the female ones, have just stopped caring about themselves or their family. My aunt, Becca, has many daughters who have either gotten deep into drugs or deep into drunkenness. As she told me about each one, I felt my heart ache. One has had 8 children and doesn't have any with her at all. The fathers have taken some, she has given up some for adoption, and one she just gave to a couple at the hospital she had just met because she didn't want it. Another cousin of mine went to my aunts house, her grandmother, and tried to stay there one night. She was strung out and my aunt told her she couldn't stay. She began to yell and curse at my aunt while holding a crying baby in her hands, and trying to guilt her into letting her stay. Another one of my cousins goes back and forth between letting my aunt (her mom) see her kids (my aunt's grandkids) and using them against her.

I don't tell these stories to gossip, but I tell them because we all have people in our lives that are like this. I just want to tell my cousins that God likes them...He really likes them. I don't say that to sound silly or sarcastic. It is truth...He likes them. It hurts me to know that there are those in my extended family who have not seen or heard the Gospel...or they have seen a distorted picture of it.

As I was sitting there with my mom, I began to tear up because of the hurt I was feeling...how much more does God desire them to desire Him. They have no idea that God likes them.