Sunday Summary

Today was my first Sunday back at college. I love Sunday's and today
has been no exception. I got to go to the morning worship service here
on the campus of Bob Jones University and was truly blessed. Even
though I miss my home church an awful lot, it is amazing to see how
God can use His word to speak in any circumstance.
I wanted to blog today on what the message was about in church. The
speaker, Dr. Stephen Jones, opened his message with a startling
illustration. The story goes like this:
In a busy metro in the heart of Washington D.C. one morning, a lone
musician pulled out his violin from its case and began to play. As he
did, thousands of people passed by. Few paid the man very close
attention, and even fewer stopped to drop him a dollar or two. The
violinist played several pieces by Bach for a few hours that morning.
Sporadically, people would stop for a few moments to listen and then
pass by on their way to their destination. Children craned their necks
to watch and listen to the violin as parents urged them to keep pace
so as not to be late. As he made his way home at the end of the
morning, the musician packed up his violin and collected the $32.00
that had been dropped into his open suitcase. Never to return to that
metro.
What has not been told to you is the name of this violinist. This
musician happened to be the world-renowned violinist, Joshua Bell. A
few nights earlier in Boston, Mr. Bell had performed in a musical
venue before thousands of people. An average seat in the concert hall
that night cost about $100. That day in the metro, Joshua played on
the same 3.5 million dollar violin he had played on the week before.
This little event was a part of a sociology study to help determine
the answer to this question: If put in a common place and context,
will incredible beauty be recognized?
Dr. Stephen used this illustration to emphasize the fact that most
Christians do the same thing! The text for the message was Psalm 23.
The very first verse of this passage says, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I
shall not want." What an incredible verse! The LORD (God's personal
name) is MY shepherd! How AMAZING! But so often, we just skim right
over Psalm 23 as common knowledge and don't take time to revel in the
beauty of our God's design. From the passage we can see that his
children are free from FEAR, free from NEED, and free from and END of
his fellowship. The message's focus on this truth gave me a fresh
appreciation for the personal care that my God provides for me. I hope
it has done the same for you!!

Scott Buhr

CTR

Wow. Today was my last day at work for the summer. I can hardly believe it. This finishes of my 4th summer at Classic Tent Rentals and Party Supplies.

This post is a tribute to my work place. CTR has been the inspiration for previous posts and will remain the source of many good memories. Here are a few highlights:

BIG BUTLER FAIR

Customer: Are you a professional tent builder?{creepy note: this girl has been staring at my sledge hammer skills for the past few minutes}

Scott: Umm.... Yes....

Customer: (with eyes as big as dinner plates) Really? Where do you set them up?

Scott: Umm. . All over.. . . Umm. . . .

Customer: ALL OVER BUTLER!?!?!?! (Butler is a small city outside of pittsburgh---population 182,902)

Scott:Ummm. . . no. . ha ha . .. uh all over Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania. . . . .

Customer in awe: Oh. .. Woooow . . neat. . . ..

The girl promptly turned and left. As she walked away, I could not help but notice her shirt which read "Butler Bunn Bunch"------The local BUNNY RABBIT CLUB. My guess is that this girl never left the fairgrounds. . . . . .

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HIGHLAND PARK BRIDGE

Many vehicles have be driven by the employees of Classic Tent Rentals. Box trucks, vans, pickups, SUVs, and forklifts are all a part of the Classic Tent Experience. One truck, however, will remain as legend in the memories of CTR Staff. I am, of course, speaking of the Yellow Truck. My favorite memory of this truck happened last summer. Two trucks had been sent to the same job and were following each other to the job site. The yellow truck was leading with the new white box truck right behind. The yellow truck has a bad reputation of running out of fuel (this could be because of the broken fuel gage and inaccurate dipstick). Well this particular day only helped Old Yellow live up to its reputation. Sure enough, right as we were crossing the Highland Park Bridge( one of the busier bridges of the Steel City), Old Yellow came to a complete stop right at the end of the bridge with the white directly behind. So what do you do? Wait for someone to bring diesel? Of course not! There are cars filled with busy people the whole length of the bridge! Our only option unfolded this way: I got out of the trick I was in, walked to the middle of the road, and held up both hands to stop two lanes of traffic on the Highland Park Bridge. While I directed traffic, the WHITE TRUCK RAMMED THE YELLOW TRICK DOWN THE BRIDGE. Zoom out of the situation for a second and take a birds eye view. One 18 year old guy stopping traffic on the HP bridge while behind him a large box truck is being pushed by another truck. To make a long story short, we ended up getting the Yellow pushed right up to a diesel fuel tank. . .. . .. that was out of order.

I would go on, but i am beginning to feel the snowball effect and will soon be blogging crazy stories all night.

So to Classic Tent, I tip my hat and say, "Thanks for the good times!"

I don't think this post communicates clearly everything

I wanted to say, but it was something that was on my mind

and just had to come out in a blog.

This evening I went to the restaurant Chili's with a bunch of friends. We had lots of fun and great fellowship. This post is not about what happened at Chili's, but rather about our waitress.

Our waitress was probably in her early forties with dark hair and black-rimmed glasses. Nothing unusual. She was very good at her job and was one of the better waitresses I have had, but you could tell something was just not right. At the end of the meal, I walked over to her to give her a tip and thank her for her service (I most always give tips in person because it is far more personal and effective at connecting with the person). I asked the lady if she went to church anywhere and come to find out she was a Jehovah's Witness. I was able to tell her about my church and invite her to the grand opening of our new building in September. Again, nothing unusual here just a friendly invitation. I found out later that this woman's husband of 25 years had just recently passed away. I cannot even imagine the pain she must be going through. She was obviously still recovering from the initial shock of it all as well she should be.

This post is not about the waitress at Chili's. I bring her up to point out a thought I had as I was leaving the restaurant. --Can you imagine going through the death of your spouse without knowing Christ?-- Many of you reading this are friends or family and know Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Some of you do not. For those of you who do, you know what I mean. having known Christ for many years now, I just can't imagine going through any hard time without Him. I am absolutely nothing without my Saviour. In fact, Scripture tells me that even my righteous works are as filthy rags without Christ. If I was not a Christian, and did not know Christ as my Saviour I would be completely hopeless in time of trouble.

Suicides are common every day all across this country. I used to not understand why anyone would want to kill themselves. But you know what? Those people have grasped a truth that many Americans have not. Without Christ, WE HAVE NO REASON TO LIVE! **(now do not get worried, I am not nor have been contemplating suicide)** I simply want to point out, that wealth, careers, friends, fame, and even family are nothing to live for. They are all temporal and can be taken away suddenly. Christ is the only reason we have to live. He shed His blood on the cross not just to save us from eternal death, but to give us a purpose and identity in life.

So what is the conclusion? The conclusion is that if you do not have a relationship with Christ, you need to get one. If you do know Jesus then maybe you needed this reminder of what He is to you. Are you living for Him? Are you telling others about Him? I think I am like a lot of people and need to grow a lot in this area. Praise the Lord though that I have a Savior who can take me every step of the way.

Art

I just finished writing a paper for my History class on the accomplishments of art during the Renaissance. BORING! or so I thought.

I have always had a mild appreciation for art mainly because I am soooooo horrible at it. I know, I know what you are thinking right now. . . "Me either, I can't even draw stick figures". EVERYONE says that. Even if they can draw, paint, sculpt, and wood burn like a master. I have never heard someone say to me after telling them that I am terrible at art, "O that's too bad because I am an excellent artist." NEVER!

All that aside, after writing this paper my appreciation for art has increased dramatically, especially for sculptures. The picture included with this post is that of Michaelangelo's Pieta. Just look at Mary's robe. It looks just like fabric would be draped. Can you imagine hewing that out of solid marble. Marble is HARD. I know because when I was two years old I tested the hardness of the marble floor in our house by diving face-first at it from 10 feet in the air(just thought I should throw that in there to verify my authority on the subject of marble hardness).

What I like best about this work is the way Christ is sculpted. Although it is hard to see in this picture, Christ's body has been fashioned in such a way to give the idea that the body is still alive. A closer look would reveal the veins of Christ to appear as if blood is flowing through them. This symbolism is so cool to me! I would never have thought to do that. . . . .. and that is why I am not Michaelangelo and never will be.