The Good Life

The New Site – joshuacentanni.com

Joshua — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:10:40 +0000

Check it out! The Good Life has moved… if you want to stay up to date with all of the new action make sure to jump on over to joshuacentanni.com. See ya there!

Housekeeping

Joshua — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:48:37 +0000

Alrighty, there hasn’t been much postage recently because I’m in the process of setting up a new blog at a new url. I’ll let you know when everything is ready and set up…

Note to those who read the blog via RSS: I don’t think this post will be viewable in a feedreader as I messed up the feed that I had going in an attempt to transfer my feed over to the new domain.

Desiring God Posts On Prayer

Joshua — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:18:07 +0000

The Desiring God blog has put up four helpful posts on prayer and the new year over the past few days, here they are:

Update: Another post on prayer from the DG blog – A List of Everything they Prayed for in the New Testament.

The Atheist – Disqualified As A Representative of Science

Joshua — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:50:45 +0000

“When a man (or woman) professes atheism, he immediately disqualifies himself to speak as a representative of science because his premise is a violation of the fundamental rule of science–”nothing created everything.””

- Ray Comfort

Merry Christmas!

Joshua — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 04:41:49 +0000

I hope you, dear reader, are able to have an enjoyable time with your family during this Christmas season… and that through this time of rest and relaxation your affections for Jesus Christ will be kindled afresh.

Merry Christmas!

shai linne on Mixx Masters Lounge

Joshua — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 01:57:26 +0000

This is pretty hot… from rapper shai linne.

A Throne Of Lies

Joshua — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:00:13 +0000

If you have yet to get into the Christmas season, this should help.

A Photostory of My Childhood Jobs

Joshua — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:05:40 +0000

When I was a child, times were hard, money was sparse, and I had lots of bills to pay. Those factors combined to create the “perfect storm.” Because I needed money I worked many different jobs, just tryin’ to make ends meet. Below are a few of my favorite times of employment.

The first was fencing, and while I enjoyed it, it was awful dangerous. That combined with low pay caused me to leave.

Just when I decided I couldn’t make a life time career out of fencing I heard that Barry had retired and the Lions were looking for a replacement. So I played running back for Detroit for a season.

Though I led the NFC in rushing yards and touchdowns, I just didn’t find the personal satisfaction in football that I had when fencing. Noting that Deon Sanders and Bo Jackson played two sports, I figured I would try that out as well. After working out a good contract, I finally signed with the Mets.

Realizing I only had a few years left of being in my prime, I left sports to pursue a life long dream of mine… putting the muscles I had built up over the years to good use, I became a strong man in a traveling circus.

After lifting many cars in the circus, I began to have a growing interest in how they were put together. This led to a temporary position at an auto repair shop where I worked on cars, bikes, and trikes.

Again feeling discontented, I sought out a position with more personal interaction (I was tired of staring at the bottom of automobiles – they weren’t as complex as I had originally thought they were). Since I had acquired my pilots license while playing for the Lions, I thought commanding a small aircraft would be a pleasurable pursuit. I took a job as a chauffeur for a family residing in Ohio. Much to my surprise, I ended up driving my little sisters around in their private jet.

This was a good choice though, since to this day it is still my main occupation.

Last Day of the Last Semester

Joshua — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:54:45 +0000

Today is the last day of my last semester of junior college. I just finished up my last final (it was in science)!

Woo hoo, free at last… well, at least until January, then it is back to the old grind stone – except instead of being at a junior college, I’ll be at an un-junior college… a senior college? :)

22weeks

Joshua — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:04:19 +0000

The Synopsis:

A young woman is locked in the bathroom of an abortion clinic after her aborted baby was born alive.

A film about decisions, their effects and the echos they leave behind. Based on the shocking World Net Daily article by Ron Strom, on victim’s testimonies, and real 911 calls about one of the most controversial subjects of our time, “22weeks” achieves to confront both sides of the spectrum and their perspective to the on going question: “what would you do?”

HT: Z

A Photostory Of My Childhood Interaction With Animals

Joshua — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:37:25 +0000

As a child I enjoyed interacting with animals in many different ways, this is an attempt to chronicle some of those interactions through photographs.

I would frequently tame bears.

I liked riding horses…

a lot.

I loved dogs…

so much so that I wanted to be one.

I enjoyed riding camels.

And to top it all off, I had a strange affection for large rats.

A Defining Pursuit

Joshua — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:09:06 +0000

By pursuing worthless things one becomes worthless (Jeremiah 2:5). By pursuing false things one becomes false (2 Kings 17:15).

What one pursues defines what one will become.

There Are No Detailed Darwinian Accounts For Evolution

Joshua — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:37:52 +0000

“There are no detailed Darwinian accounts for the evolution of any fundamental biochemical or cellular system, only a variety of wishful speculations. It is remarkable that Darwinism is accepted as a satisfactory explanation for such a vast subject—evolution—with so little rigorous examination of how well its basic theses work in illuminating specific instances of biological adaptation or diversity.”

- Molecular biologist James Shapiro, “In the Details…What?” National Review, 19 September 1996, pp. 62–65.

HT: Comfort

C.S. Lewis On Giving

Joshua — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:16:25 +0000

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusement, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say it is too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our commitment to giving excludes them.”

- C.S. Lewis

HT: JT

Jesus Makes Heaven Heaven

Joshua — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:44:41 +0000

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

Acts 7:55 tells us that Jesus is the unending pleasure at God’s right hand. The greatest source of joy in heaven is Jesus.

Successful Blogging

Joshua — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:45:56 +0000

Why I Appreciate My Pastor – In 22 Words

Joshua — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:20:34 +0000

This post is an attempt to win my pastor a pair of tickets to the 2009 DG pastors conference (click on this link to find out how to do the same for your pastor).

He has faithfully pastored a congregation of ten people for over ten years, succeeding in a difficult position where many would’ve failed.

2 Things I Am Thankful For During This Thanksgiving Season

Joshua — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:56:22 +0000

1. An indoor commode.

2. The stack of double-ply next to it.

Godliness Is Costly

Joshua — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:07:03 +0000

This is all I have left after buying my ESV Study Bible (seriously!).

Stirring or Squelching My Affections for the Savior

Joshua — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:45:03 +0000

Inspired by Matt Chandler’s post on things that either inspire or rob him of his affections for Christ, I venture to give you my own list of things that either stir and squelch my affections for Christ.

While there are many different things that feed my desire for Christ (like hanging around with other believers), I find that these three things seem to be the most effective:

Reading the Bible. I know this is a no-brainer; but spending quality time in the Bible allows me to see Christ more clearly and love Him more intensely.
Listening to Sermons. While listening to the Bible being preached is helpful in general, I find that men like Leonard Ravenhill, John Piper and Paul Washer preach passionately about Jesus, and many times their passion is contagious.
Walking. There is something about being physically active outside that awakens me to God’s greatness.

And, conversely there are two main things that effectively subdue my love for Christ:

Watching T.V. Passively watching television programs stimulates passivity in the pursuit of spiritual progress.
Being on the Computer. Seventy percent of the time I spend in front of a computer is used on trivial unimportant things. For me, the computer is like a black hole for time. More time spent on the computer means less time spent in the Bible.

So what about you? What are some of the things that ignite your passion for Christ? What causes your passion for Christ to dwindle?