Day 20 - A four part story

click on the comic to see it bigger

I think they should just rename the four gospels, "'Jesus' the Quadrilogy!"

I'll be the first to admit when I have to use a throw-away joke for the comic.  However, I am glad to say that I did finish my in-depth study of the book of Matthew today.  There are 28 chapters in Matthew, and it took me roughly 20 days to read and take detailed notes on each of them.  Although I have been meeting my goal of reading three or four chapters a day in the bible, the fact that not every day is a good day to sit down and dedicate an hour or more to writing notes has kept me from adventuring into the book of Mark.  My "meantime" reading has been in Acts.

Something that was really interesting to me in my recent reading is how Jesus prays to God the Father three times in the garden of Gethsemane.  Earlier in Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples and followers that we should live righteously, and when we want something, we should persistantly ask God for it, and He will give us what we need.  Jesus definitely practiced what he preached.  In Gethsemane, Jesus prays three times that if it is possible, there would be another way for him to save and redeem the world--other than a painful trial and brutal death on a cross.  I know I often pray to God that the consequences of my wrongdoings would be different.  In this case, however, Christ was not being punished for his own wrongdoings--he was perfect--but taking the punishment for the sins of the world.  I really believe Jesus was completely human, and totally scared of what was about to happen.  But when God told him that this was a burden he had to bear, he did not complain or resist.  He did what God asked.

That's the kind of man I want to be--someone who does not resist when things get hard, and when God chooses to correct me through consequence.

I finally got my car inspected today, and after the whole ordeal with bad titles, expensive repairs, and a new inspections--my car is finally 100% road ready.  It feels goooood!  To celebrate, my car insurance sent me a bill for the next two months of coverage.  Needless to say, I cashed in my spare change jar today at the CoinStar in Hannford.  Things are getting tight, so it's good that tomorrow is my first day back at Michaels.  I'm gonna need a steady paycheck again to keep myself mobile.

Before the car could be properly inspected, I had to drive it about 30 miles at 55 mph or more.  This was so that the engine's sensors would reset and realize I didn't have a problem with my EVAP system anymore.  It was really nice out today, and I enjoyed some time in the car listening to As Cities Burn and seeing how my Sentra handles on the highways.   I'm not happy with how cold the weather has been lately, but it's still the kind of weather where the insides of your car get warmed up by the sun.  I can understand how people are getting sick with all this cold-air to warm-car temperature switching.  It's like jumping into the jacuzzi after being in the pool.  Anyway, to gain the needed milage, I drove from my house to the Taconic Parkway, and then I-84 to the exit before the Newburgh-Beacon bridge, and then back.

Otherwise, today was pretty slow.  I spent most of my day at home online, promoting The Comeback Tour's last show--which is in less than two weeks.  I think it's probably necessary for me to post this SWEET flyer for the concert on my blog, since I've posted it everywhere else:

I hope that everyone can make it out!