My thirteen Heroes In My Life

Thirteen Things about Joe Norman (First, let me stress that these are people in my life and of coarse Jesus is my ultimate hero. 1…. My Mom and Dad are together here because they are equal in their influence on me. They taught me more by the way they lived and live their lives. They have also always believed in me. They knew I had unusual talent in Music and did all they could to help me develop my skills. They also believe in me in all areas I pursue and are proud of me. I am more proud of them and feel truly blessed to have such great Christian parents. Did they make mistakes? Don't we all? 2 . My sister, Carol. She has taught me so much and always been there for me. Of all my siblings...other than my twin, Jim, she is the most loving and closest to me. 3 . My brothers Tim and Jim especially and John too.(Once again all together due to equal influence on me. I will always share a bond with my twin, Jim. He has such a good heart. My oldest brother, Tex, was influential in my youth. I wish he were still a part of my life...but sadly, he is not anymore. I pray for him often. 4 . My foster brother Tom. I have learned many life lessons from him as well. 5 . My dear brother in Christ, Kevin Farley. He is such a fine example of a true friend and Christian. 6 . A woman named Natalie that I met online. She has been one of the truest friends in this difficult season of my life and I have learned so much from her. She is also my sister in Christ. 7 . Pat Smithson is another brother in Christ of whom I have learned so much. 8 . Both of my grandmothers taught me so much as well. They were truly the most loving and tender hearted women...and faithful Christians to the end. I learned much about benevolence from them. Pansy Crawford and Louise Norman. My grandmother Crawford was probably my biggest fan. She always wanted to hear me play the piano and would sit and listen for hours. She also loved to hear me sing. I carry her with me to this day. 9 . My uncle Charles Crawford was an inspriation to me all my life. He had a period in his life when he was unfaithful to God. Yet, when his first child, Charlotte, was born with a hole in her heart...and died at the age of three, He and his wife turned to God and were faithful again. My uncle was dramatically changed for the better. He lived his life in total servanthood to Christ every day. Yes, he had faults, but he did so much good and always tried to help anyone in need. Many times his good deeds were not known to anyone. He never bragged about what he did to help anyone. He said he knew Charlotte was with God and he wanted to be there with her when he died. My uncle died of cancer from asbestos...(he was surounded by it when he was a boiler tech on an aircraft carrier in the Korean War)in 1996. He was only in his 60's. I know he is with his child and God now. 10 . My voice teacher Lise Uhl...because she believes in me and encouraged me to press on and get my degree in Music Ed. 11 . My new friend Marvin. He is a preacher for the church of Christ and has MS. He can no longer get out of his house and has run an online preaching ministry for over three years. He refuses to let his disabilities keep him from spreading the Good News. 12 . My piano teacher in Waco. Dr. Pitts. She only has three fingers on one hand and two fingers on the other hand...only one foot with no toes(some of her fingers started out as toes)...and one leg only goes to the knee. She has prosthetics. In spite of this, she has a PHD in Music and teaches piano and voice. She is always happy and full of life...always positive and encouraging.(like Polyanna) 13 . My first piano teacher, Mrs Carolyn Jones Campbell. She always believed in me. She had much more confidence in my musical talent and ability than I ever did. She pushed me to be the best I could be. I was not always trying my best, but I loved her for all she did to help me and all I learned from her. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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What I have Learned

I have learned that I still have much more living to do and divorce is not the end of the world. I have learned that I need to have a better self image and like who I am. If I don't like who I am, I need to change those things that cause me not to like myself. I have a much deeper understanding of who I am deep in my core and I need to build on that. I remember thinking about something I was told the great artist and sculptor Michelangelo said. Someone asked him how he sculpted such amazing statues. He said that he looks at the stone and removes everything that is not a part of the statue...releasing the image that was hidden inside the stone. I am not sure if he said that in those exact words or even if he said that at all; but when I look at who I want to be and who I am now, I am striving to remove all those things I see in me that are not a part of who I am or who I want to become.

Obviously, because I am a Christian, I want most to be like Jesus. The term Christian actually means "Christ-like". I am a perfectionist in many areas of my life and that is good and bad. I am also way too concerned about what others think about me and whether or not they like me. I have made strides in changing that. I am sure that there are other things that need to be changed, but most of all, I learned that we are all a work in progress and no one other than Jesus will ever be perfect in this life. I want the best for my son and most of all, I want him to live his whole life as a faithful servant of Our Lord and Savior. I also strive to reach out to those I come in contact with and help them find their way to Heaven as well.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 that the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to eternal life and few will find it. It is sobering to understand that very few will be saved. The road map is the New Testament. The most amazing thing happens when people study God's Word and strive to live by the principles they find there. People become better husbands, better wives, better children...and they produce a better community. The Lord's way is truly the best way to live. Why not give it a try?

Thirteen things that are important to me

Thirteen Things that are important to Joe Norman 1…. My Christian relationship with my Lord and Master 2 . Spreading the Gospel and helping to save the lost in this world. 3 . My family (includes parents, siblings, kids, and yes, even my ex-wife) 4 . Music 5 . My friends 6 . Finishing my education 7 . Obtaining a job that I love to go to and am passionate about. 8 . Understanding myself better and learning to love myself so that I can properly love others. 9 . Helping anyone I see in need...if I am able to help 10 . My freedoms that I have and this country that allows me to have such freedom 11 . The environment is important to me, but I am not a tree hugger. I do not think this world is fragile. Yet we do need to be responsible caretakers. 12 . All the arts are important to me because they are good over all and help us to enjoy this life and the beauty of it. 13 . Fighting injustice where ever I find it...protecting and defending those who are weaker and unable to defend themselves. (maybe that is why I like Super Heroes so much...especially Superman!) Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. bonafide bunkum 2. purple giraffe

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Is God's Grace conditional?

I have heard it said many times that God's love is unconditional and so is His grace. Some seem to think that because we cannot earn our salvation, there is nothing required of us at all to "be saved". Although we know God's love is unconditional...John 3:16 comes to mind...it should be obvious that His grace IS conditional.

Why do I believe this? To the honest person looking for the truth of God's Word, that is what the New Testament teaches. Before I get into the scripture, please think about something. Jesus compared the christian "relationship" with God to marriage. He did that for a reason. We all understand what a marriage ceremony is all about and that it shows our intention to live in a sanctified relationship for the rest of our lives. God has always wanted a close and faithful relationship with mankind. Just as a marriage is conditional both in the requirement of a ceremony, and in a lifelong commitment...the same is true of a Christian relationship. The fact that conditions are required does not mean we are earning our salvation and don't need Jesus. The ONLY way that a person can EARN salvation is by living a sinless life. We all know that this is not possible. The conditions are required because faith is more than just belief...it is believing something so strongly that it causes one to act on that belief.

Please consider James 2:19 to the end of the chapter. Especially in verse 19, James says that even the demons believe there is a God and tremble. Many who claim that we are saved by grace only or faith only think that the entire book of James is not refering to the faith that justifies, but the faith that sanctifies. As if there were more than one kind of faith. But anyone who reads Ephesians 4:5 knows that there is only one faith. That faith is what justifies and sanctifies and is what James explains as needing works. Works and faith are intertwined.

The word sactify mearly means "set apart" and this is what the Greek expresses as well. All Christians are "set apart" from the rest of the world by making that commitment to God. We die to our old selves and live a new life for God desiring to be Christ-like (which is what christian means.

Water baptism that final step in our spiritual wedding ceremony and after baptism we are to remain faithful to our Jesus. Just as the woman takes the name of her husband to show who she belongs to, we take the name of Christ and are known as christians. We belong to Jesus. 1 Peter 3:21 shows us that water baptism saves us and it is the anti-type to the way Noah was saved through water. Anyone who will let the Bible interpret itself will come to the conclusion that water baptism is "for" the remission of sins and not because of.

After Paul(then known as Saul) was confronted by Jesus on his way to Damascus, he was instructed to go into the city and wait until a prophet of Jesus came to him to tell him what he MUST do. Paul waited there for three days. He was still blind and he fasted and prayed for those three days. When Anonias came to Paul, he healed Paul's eyes and then said, What are you waiting for? Arise and be baptised and wash away your sins. (ACTS 22:12-16) My question is...if Paul had fasted and prayed for three days, what sins did he have to wash away in baptism?

Now those who profess faith only also think that the baptism that saves is baptism of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit baptism was never a teaching God commanded anyone to do. God did it himself(Acts 2:15-18)and it was for specific purposes. To fulfill prophecy(Joel 2:28-29)and to show God's approval. (Acts 10:44-48) Holy Spirit baptism was visable and is only found in Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 10. It means to receive miraculous gifts. The reason Cornelius and his family received the Holy Spirit baptism was to show that God accepts non-jews to be christians as well. If this "sign" had not occurred, the jewish converts would have denied any gentile the right to be baptized christians. The purpose of Holy Spirit baptism on the Apostles in Acts 2 was to show that these men were God's prophets. We know it was only the 12 apostles because the comment recorded in Acts 2 says...are not all these men Gallalians? All the Apostles were from Gallalie. The 120 that some think were included were not all from Gallalie.

Also, in Acts 10:34-35, Peter says that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, he who fears God and works rightiousness is accepted by Him. It should be more than clear that there is only one baptism that saves.(Eph.4:5)Water baptism is that one baptism and the faith that saves does have conditions. These conditions, though technically, they are "works", they cannot possibly earn the gift of God...salvation. It is necessary to be in a right relationship with God to be saved and stay saved. I do hope that if you have never understood how one becomes "saved", this has helped you. God wants all to be saved and that is why Christ has not reurned yet. But we also know that the gate to eternal life is narrow and the path is difficult... few will find it.(Matt.7:13-14)

What it takes to sing Opera

Just to let people know who might not be aware, I want to share what it takes to sing Opera. An opera singer must be able to sing over an orchestra and chorus without a microphone and be heard. Most operas are anywhere from 2-3 hours long. Everything in an opera is sung. There is no spoken dialogue at all. So the training that an opera singer gets, teaches him/her to be able to sing very loud and for as long as needed without straining the voice at all.

How is this possible? The most important technique to master is proper breath control. You might have heard people say, "Use your diaphram". Well that is actually not correct. The proper way to support the voice is by using your entire midsection and creating air pressure...not in the upper chest and the neck should be completely relaxed. An opera singer is trained to expand his ribs by working the costal muscles. These muscles are in between the ribs. Also, when you take in the air, the back of your mouth should feel like it does when you yawn. The amazing thing about once you begin to master this technique is that you can take in an enormous amount of air in an instant and it is silent. No one will hear the breathing in. I was told to expand the costal muscles at the same time I open my mouth and not to suck the air in. If I just create the space for the air and open my airway, the air will instantly come in.

It is not easy to do, but when you do it right, it is a strange feeling at first. The next thing you learn to do is to release the air properly while you sing. Your entire midsection should be working very hard at maintaining this expansion even when the air is leaving. This keeps the air pressure more constant. Then all you need to learn (lol...as if) is how to form good consistant vowel sounds and not to let consonents squeeze off the air and sound. The air will utilize your sinus passages to some degree, but you want to avoid a strong nasal sound. The sound that comes out might seem too bright or almost sharp to your ears, but to anyone listening, it does not sound sharp. The sound should feel like it is in the front of your mouth, just behind the lips. Another interesting thing is that you learn to make different vowel sounds without moving the jaw much if at all. The jaw should be dropped most all the time and even the lips are not used much. There are many more aspects to singing opera, but this should give anyone who is unfamiliar a better idea of what is involved and I hope it will help you to have a better appreciation and respect for opera singers.

One last thing I wanted to mention. When I sing, I am using most of the muscles in my body and usually I am very emotionally tied to the expression of the music as well. There is also much concentration involved in trying to use all these techniques correctly and still be expressive. So by the time I am done singing in a recital or a choir concert, or opera...I am just completely exhausted and drained emotionally, physically, and mentally. It takes all I am to perform and I love it so very much.

Thirteen favorite Bible Characters (other than Jesus)

Thirteen Things about Joe Norman 1…. David (he was a man after God's own heart) 2 . Solomon (the Wisest man to ever live) 3 . Samson (strongest man who ever lived) 4 . Moses (Reluctant leader) 5 . Joseph (dreamer and amazing provider) 6 . Noah (faithful and determined to obey God) 7 . Elijah (greatest prophet in the OT) 8 . Peter (zealous in faith) 9 . Stephen (died trying to save) 10 . Paul (Apostle to the non-jews) 11 . John (the disciple who Jesus loved) 12 . Timothy (faithful at a young age) 13 . John the Baptist (leading the way for Christ) These are just thirteen of my favorites and there are deeper reasons why they are my favorites, but it would take too long to write all that. I have many more favorites but these are the thirteen that came to my mind first. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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When to date again?

I have just been wondering when I will be ready to date again. I do not think I am ready yet, but I am wondering how long it will take for me to be ready and will I know when I am ready? I have been told that on average, it takes half as long as your marriage was to recover from the divorce. I was technically married for eleven years, so based on that, I will not fully recover from my divorce until at least 5 1/2 yrs have passed. It has been one year and two months at this point since the divorce was final. I may not be ready to move on and try again right now, but I do not think it will take me four more years before I will be ready....(at least I hope not). I really do not want to rush into anything and make the serious commitment to a woman that is not right for me either. Can you tell I am confused? I thought I lived in the state of Texas, but apparently, I live in the state of Confusion.

churches of one race

I am still looking for a new church home here in Nacogdoches, TX and this morning I visited a small church of Christ that happened to be an all black congregation. I was not aware of that until after I arrived for class. But I decided to attend anyway and see how I liked it. I had never been a part of an all black worship service and was interested in what it would be like.

I was amazed at how welcome everyone there made me feel. Everyone was introducing themselves to me and thanking me for visiting. In fact, I was the only male there in Bible class at first...the men who were to teach the class were running late. The ladies asked me to lead them in a song. I asked them to choose the song and they picked one. After I led the song, they asked if I would lead them in a prayer, so I did.

By the time I finished the prayer, the men showed up and led one more song and started the Bible Study. The study was really good and many members had good comments to add to the study. I also made comments and they were pleased with my willingness to participate and liked my comments.

Before the worship service started, more people showed up. In total, I think there was about fifty people there. I was asked to go into a room with all the men that were going to help with the worship service and I did. When I got back there, they asked if I would like to lead the first prayer after two hymns and a scripture reading. I was happy to help. The majority of the songs were hymns I knew, but they put a spiritual touch to all the hymns....I really liked it and nothing was too extravagant and no one drew attention to themselves.
The man who preached had just placed his membership last week and apparently was a former preacher. He filled in for the regular preacher who was a guest speaker at another church out of town. The sermon was really great and the message was true to God's Word. I really appreciated the message. When service was over, everyone again wanted to thank me for visiting and for helping where needed. They encouraged me to come back any time.
I have visited many congregations throughout the years and can honestly say that I have never felt more welcome as a visitor than I did at this small, African American church. If all local churches were as good at making visitors feel welcome, they would grow by leaps and bounds. I learned a lesson myself about how I should meet and greet visitors.
Now this experience really got me thinking though. Segregation is not enforced by the governments anymore and yet, we have local churches that are either all white, all black, or all hispanic. This should not be. Now I know that it is just human nature to gravitate toward those who are like us. We feel more comfortable when we are around people that look, talk, and act similar to us. But we are all Christians and should not separate based on race. I am not sure if it is possible to get people together and mixed racially, but I long for that. One great thing about Heaven is that we will all be the same...we'll have spiritual bodies and there will be no race, culture, or language difference anymore. I have been a part of some congregations that were well balanced with different races...even asian. Those churches were much better to me because we all really were a family in spite of our differences. I pray that people will work toward mixing up better and not separating based on the color of our skin, culture, and language.

Here is a pic of my new pet fish. His name is Mr. Limpet. I thought that would be my little way of honoring the late Don Knotts...one of the most gifted commedic actors America ever had. He looks much brighter blue in real life than in this pic. His fins are royal blue. I think he likes his new home already.

Thriteen of Joe's favorite comedy movies

This is by no means a complete list, nor is it in any particular order. I hope you like my list. Happy TT everyone!

Thirteen Things about Joe Norman 1…. The Sure Thing 2 . Duck Soup (Marx Brothers) 3 . O Brother Where Art Thou 4 . Raising Arizona 5 . All the Road Show movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope (I cheated and added a bunch in one spot. 6 . Better Off Dead 7 . Princess Bride 8 . Young Frankenstein 9 . Gross Point Blank 10 . The Lemon Drop Kid (Bob Hope) 11 . All the Lt. Cluessou movies staring Peter Sellers (Sorry...I cheated again. this is so hard.) 12 . Down With Love 13 . Prince of Theives (sorry...techincally not intended to be a comedy, but it is.) I'll add another to make up for that. "The gods Must Be Crazy" oh...and Monty Python's " The Holy Grail"...I'll stop. Maybe in a future TT I will share more. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Lonliness

I have been feeling very lonely these days. I am sure that the main reason is not having any friends locally to spend time with. It is not easy to move to a new place where you don't know anyone and try to make friends. Time needs to be invested. But so many people have moments at least when they feel lonely. I know that many adult singles struggle off and on with these feelings. Sometimes we are aware that we are not really ready to be in a romantic relationship and especially not marriage, but that feeling is still there. I believe that the reason we all feel that way at times is because God designed us to be social beings and we thrive on interaction with others and we need to feel loved and wanted by others. If a child gets all the necessities of life except no affection or interaction with a human, they do not do well mentally, physically, or emotionally. I know that as long as I do what I can to meet new people and socialize, eventually I will make friends. As far as meeting the woman I will one day marry, I think that usually happens when we are not looking for it and usually when we are ready emotionally and mentally(at least I hope). What do you think?