Christmas At Olivet United Presbyterian Church!

Christmas Eve Services @ The Olivet United Presbyterian Church

Family Service

5:30 pm - lots of excitement and fun for children and adults of all ages as we hear the story of Jesus birth

Candlelight Service

7:00 pm - Join us for this inspirational and dramatic service of worship.

Joy to the World, the Lord is Come

Glory to God in the highest

and on earth peace

Luke 2:14

Celebrate Christ's Birth with us this year

Olivet United Presbyterian Church

1151 Northampton St.

(Corner of 12th & Northampton Sts.)

Easton, PA 18042

610-258-7990

www.olivetupc.org

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Why Obama Shouldn't Have Received The Nobel Peace Prize

By the title of this blog post, you might be thinking I'm just a disgruntled republican who is bitter over Barack Obama being elected president.  Well, you are wrong because I consider myself an independent and i disagree with different issues on each sides of the aisle.  Okay, now that we got all that cleared up, let's move on.

Let's put all of our political views aside for now.  Someone tell me one thing President Obama has done to warrant a Nobel Peace Prize?  Was is all the bailouts and careless spending?  Perhaps it was the deployment of more troops into aphganistan?  If that were the case then Bush should have gotten a Nobel Peace Prize a long time ago!

I think by awarding the president with this high honor without doing anything to warrant it, devalues the prize itself.  That makes about as much sense as handing an Olympic Gold Medal to a fat slob on the street and implying that he's just as good or better an athlete than Michael Phelps!  How insulting to Michael Phelps who diligently trained and worked hard to get to where he is now.

I apologize to all of those in the past who won and truly deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.  It has now been reduced to just a nice gesture for someone we happen to like.

Please Stop The Facebook Vs. Twitter Debate

When will the Facebook Vs. Twitter debate end? It is very annoying how some people act as if they are in competition with each other. Maybe they are? I don't know, but for me there is a place for both of them side by side.

Facebook is geared towards keeping in touch with friends and family and is better organized for keeping track of ongoing conversations with them. While it is possible to keep in touch with friends and family on Twitter (I tend to do this), it is not really geared toward that.

Because my readers are most likely a mix of age ranges, some of you either haven't used a CB radio or might not even know what it is. A CB radio is still common among truck drivers to communicate back and forth with one another, whether it be for traffic updates, accidents, directions, or just to shoot the breeze and whatever. Each person who talks on the radio has a handle which is equivalent to what we call a screen name or user id today.

Twitter is a lot like a CB radio to me, only much much better! The reason why a lot of people don't know exactly what to do with Twitter is because it almost requires a purpose. When you start to post updates on Twitter, you are essentially broadcasting to the entire world what you are doing, or whatever you are talking about. For this reason, bloggers, websites, news corporations, companies, musicians, etc., tend to adapt very well on Twitter because they have a goal in mind. The goal is to share updates as quick as possible and to make it as easily accessible as possible. Twitter does this very well.

Of course there is a gray area because you can do either one on either service despite each service being geared toward different avenues. For example, you could market your website, company, band, etc. on Facebook just as you could on Twitter. In the same sense, you could keep in touch with friends and communicate with one another, not in the same way, but just as you can on Facebook.

I know I was just comparing the two above, but I don't think its necessary to choose one over the other. Both have their place in our technological tool set and I don't think either one of them will be going away any time soon.

If You Knew You Were Going To Die...

I was inspired to write this entry because of a co-worker who recently passed on. It was a shock to everyone, at least to everyone I talked with about him. I'm not sure exactly how old he was but he was somewhere in the age range of 45-50.

While I was at work the one day, I thought to myself, if only he knew that by the end of 2009 he would no longer be here. This is something for all of us to consider. Just think of all the little things we worry about in life. We worry about things for years to come, thinks that may not even come to pass!

For quite a while now, I've been working for a very unstable company, at least on my end of the bargain. I'm always being laid off and called back, and many people are in fear of the place eventually shutting its doors for good. I'm sure its something that crossed the mind of the fellow co-worker we recently lost. But guess what, it no longer matters, does it?

I write this blog mainly for myself I guess, because I have no idea if anyone even reads this. Okay, not true, a buddy of mine told me the other day he read an entry on here, so I have at least one reader! But either way, I am asking myself the same question I'm asking you. If you knew you were going to die in a year from now, what changes would you make in your life? You see, it's so easy for us to get too comfortable, live as though we were going to live forever. Then something like this happens; a tragedy, lost loved one, and so on and then we are brought back to reality.

The reality is we can die at any given moment. It could happen from a hidden health issue that you or I may not know about, or we could be involved in a tragic accident. That quickly and easily it can happen.

I'll tell you what I'd change in my life right off the bat. I'd change how I handle and treat the relationships in my life. I'd take them more seriously, and every weekend would be booked up, spending time with my friends and family. It's so easy to take people for granted, but its something we have to try harder not to do.

So if you're reading this post, would you mind sharing with me and everyone else what you would change in your life if you knew you'd be gone this time next year. Thanks for reading.

The Handicapped Are People Too!

Now before anybody jumps to conclusions, please read this post in its entirety. I realize that this is a sensitive topic and can easily be taken the wrong way.

Do you ever find yourself feeling awkward or somewhat uneasy around handicap people? Let me try to explain a little better. Okay the other day I was in a doctor's office, in the waiting room. A lady walks in with the cane and she's not getting around so great. Now, not to pick on her or anything, but she was on the hefty side and I remember thinking to myself, please don't fall down, please don't fall down. She didn't fall down and I'm thankful for it!

Now obviously, if the lady fell down, I would have helped her get up. But there would have been a moment of awkwardness for me. I think the awkwardness some of us get some times around handicap people roots from our childhood when parents and school teachers tell us to treat them just like anybody else. I'm not saying that's wrong by any means, but I think by emphasizing that and drilling that into our minds, it almost has the opposite effect on us.

For example, I remember as a young kid and teenager growing up, I would rarely, if at all, look someone in the eyes who was in a wheelchair. It was almost like I was so afraid of being accused of "staring" that I didn't look at them at all! You remember when your parents told you it isn't right to stare? Well that's what happens when you take that lesson too far in the other direction. You completely ignore the person altogether!

Now when I pass by someone in a wheelchair, I make a point to make eye contact and treat them as a human being, as they should be treated of course. Maybe by doing so I make them feel a little more "normal" and possibly let them forget for a second about their wheelchair.

It's a tough thing to talk with kids about. The best thing to do is teach by example, and possibly bring your children around disabled people, and show them that there is no reason to be afraid. That they are just like anyone else aside from their physical condition.

Bar Whores And Toilet Seats

A couple things first, No, I wasn't just at the bar either today or the other night. And second, I warned you about never knowing what you may wind up reading in this blog!

Today I feel like writing about bar whores. Why? Who knows? Probably because I thought about having some beers later, which made me think about bars, and which made me think about how I can't stand bar whores!

Many guys like bar whores for obvious reasons. I don't want to get too explicit here being that I don't know all the ages of the readers of my blog. But those who are old enough for this post can figure out why many guys like bar whores. Okay, let's move on.

First of all, I find bar whores to be utterly disgusting. This having nothing to do with their looks. Some times they are pretty, and some times so so, and at times butt ugly. But that's not the point at all. It has nothing to do with their looks. Their "behavior" disgusts me as I'll explain in the following paragraphs.

Okay, how do you feel about public toilets? I don't know about you, but I hate having to a poop in a public toilet because I don't like to sit my backside and genitals down where hundreds and thousands of others have sat their backside and genitals. Now even though catching diseases from a toilet seat has supposedly been proven a myth, I'm not so quick to buy it and therefore I lay down tons of toilet paper.

Now you're probably wondering why in the hell I'm talking about public toilet seats and pooping. You're probably sitting there thinking, why the hell is this bozo talking about pooping in public?! What does this have to do with bar whores?! If you were thinking that, that's understandable. Now I'll tie the two together.

You see, bar whores are a lot like public toilet seats. Hundreds, possibly thousands of men have done their "business" with these bar whores and now you're about to "sit" your backside and genitals on this "toilet". Wow kinda gross no?

Now you might be wondering, what should I do if its an emergency, you know, like when you have to poop in an emergency? That's a great question. For starters, you could lay down tons of toilet paper but something tells me she won't be too fond of this and will probably think you're a nut job.... Okay, okay, enough goofing around now. You can't compare an emergency poop to this!

So I guess the moral of the story is (if there is a moral to this story), if you are grossed out about public toilet seats, why on earth would you not be grossed out about bar whores???!!!

Does Anyone Really Know What love Is Anymore?

I'm sure we've all witnessed a friend, or someone we know, if not ourselves, in a relationship that became serious overnight, or so it seemed. As I witness people around me throwing the "L" word around and the phrase "I Love you" as if it were just any other word or phrase, I begin to wonder if anyone really knows what love is anymore.

Then you have the people who jump in and out of relationships more often than they change their underwear, and yet continue to throw around the "L" word. How can this be? As I get older, and time moves on, I become more skeptical on whether I ever really want to pursue a serious relationship again. Can you really blame me?

If I were to give any advice at all in this entry, I'd say to never judge anyone for being scared of the "L" word, at least in the beginning. For crying out loud, at least they have RESPECT for the word! It's a word we should be a little scared of when getting into a relationship. It's a serious step and once you cross that step you can't just take it back. It's there, and if you try to take it back once you cross that line you are risking either confusing the person or hurting them or both. So be careful when you decide to say those words.

Maybe I'm out of touch or obsolete when it comes to relationships anymore but it just seems like everyone is in a hurry. Why? What ever happened to just getting to know someone? What ever happened to just having good conversation over a cup of coffee or soda? Call me old fashioned if you want, but I think most of these younger generations have completely omitted the "getting to know each other" phase of relationships and dub it as "old-fashioned". That's absurd! Don't you think you should get to know someone well before you start cramming your tongue down their throat?! Do you see where I'm coming from?

Well, so far I've pointed out the symptoms of our problem, but I haven't gotten to the root. First, I want to state that I think there is more than one root to this problem but I am going to name a couple that I think play a big part. The bottom line is, we are a "fast food" society, as I like to put it. We like everything fast and now. We don't like to wait for anything. So is it surprising that we also don't like to or want to wait for love? So because we are impatient, we race out and try to find someone and make something out of nothing only to be disappointed in the end.

Another root I believe is the fact that everyone simply wants love; to be loved and to love. But love can be hard to grasp because you can't see it and at times you can't even feel it. Yes, that's right, love isn't ALWAYS an emotion or feeling. So what does one do in desperation when they really want to FEEL love? They rush into the physical part of the relationship, skipping past the true aspects of a relationship.

Let me just clear a few things up here before I close. I'm not a doctor or an expert on this subject. These are just my opinions on why many people act as they do in and toward relationships. Please share any thoughts you may have on the matter or please clear up any questions I have if you have the answers to them. Thank you!

Subway System Proposal For The Lehigh Valley

Okay, before you write me off as crazy and call in the white jackets, first let me explain. The government, society, you name it are all looking for ways to cut down on fuel consumption and traffic in general. But how will they do it? Is there a plan? One thing I know for sure is the Lehigh Valley's public transportation system is, well, pathetic.

Why should I have to leave two hours earlier in order to get to an appointment on time at the other end of the Lehigh Valley? That's nonsense! One bus on every hour just doesn't cut it if we're trying to "woo" people into using public transportation over their own vehicles.

So what do we do? We could have more buses, sure, that's definitely a logical solution. But the fastest most reliable way to move about a large scale is by subway train. Imagine for a second the diameter of the Lehigh Valley from Easton to Allentown and just the surrounding areas of each city. You'd roughly have anywhere from 30 - 40 miles. That's about the diameter of New York City, so the idea of subway lines running that far is not at all far-fetched.

By this mode of transportation we would be greatly cutting out much traffic. If by any chance you think I'm overreacting, then perhaps you've never driven on 25th st. in Easton during the day. Many times it is bumper to bumper traffic and backed up and will most likely continue to get worse in years to come due to the expansion and growth of the Lehigh Valley.

Okay, reader, now let me hear your thoughts on this. There are a lot of people reading this who may not have experienced the subways in New York or elsewhere and aren't sure how they work. So if anyone has any questions regarding that, please don't be afraid to ask. If you are familiar with it, let me know what you think about this proposal for this area.

No matter if we agree on this proposal or not, one thing for sure is, we need a more reliable, convenient mode of public transportation.

My Goal And Vision

There's no telling what you may wind up reading in this blog. My thoughts tend to get scrambled up and I go from one topic to the next. However, I do have one goal in mind for sure. Since I'm not one who necessarily enjoys listening to himself talk, I'll always encourage reader/guest comments. I don't care if you agree or disagree, let me know what you're thinking. This is Your Voice Now...let's do this people!