With the passing of Michael Jackson, I thought that we’d never have any good new ever again. I was wrong.

Apparently, they’re making a feature length film based on MacGruber, the Saturday Night Live sketch mocking MacGuyver. Yes, I know the finished product will probably be bad (like most SNL movies), but good news is good news.

I’m currently out of ideas. 

We’re remodeling the place we have our youth coffee house/ drop-in-center called "The Mud Hut." It’s one of the oldest buildings in town and we’re currently at a stand still. 

After tearing up the carpets, we found that underneath was old wood flooring – which is good. But the wood floor is caked with a combination of glue and the backing of the old carpet – which is bad.

After trying to dry out the old glue for a month (and using a dehumidifier), it’s still tacky and smeary.  This means we can’t sand it up or scrape it. Solvents soak into the wood and make it hard if we want to refinish the wood.

We’ve had wood flooring refinishers come out and they don’t want to even attempt to scrape it and refinish it. Wood flooring or laminate won’t work because the building is old and the floors aren’t level. We’ve had industrial carpeting people come out and they quoted us in $4,500 – which is no good either.

Any handy people with good ideas out there?

What’s an alternative flooring (for 1600 sq feet) that’s easy to apply and won’t cost a bundle?

"Last night we received some good news from Terri McFaddin-Solomon who is good friends with Sandra Crouch. Three weeks ago Sandra and Andre’ spent some time with their close friend, Michael Jackson. Michael asked Andre` to play, "It Won’t Be Long And We’ll Be Leaving Here." Michael then prayed with Sandra and Andre and accepted Christ into his heart. Now he’s singing in the heavenly choir.! Our hearts rejoice!"

- from Facebook

Why, oh, why do we need to make up these stories to give us comfort in someone’s passing? Maybe it makes us feel good? Maybe we don’t want to think of the alternative to an afterlife in heaven. I don’t know.

I do know that every time someone famous dies, you see these stories begin to surface.

Is Michael Jackson in heaven? I have no idea. But that question has no bearing over my walk with Christ today. It’s a distraction. It’s something we won’t be able to answer on this side of life. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, does it?

And I’d love to burst another bubble. 

You know the story about Charles Darwin’s deathbed conversion to the faith? It’s not true. It’s an urban legend. Again, silly "warm-fuzzy" faith propaganda. 

The sad fact is many people die and they don’t know Jesus. That much we know.

When someone dies and doesn’t know Christ – this should serve as  a stark reminder that we, as Christians, are called to reach out to the lost. So let the dead be dead and don’t take comfort in silly, trite stories. Let’s focus on life and the people around us that need to know that life giving love of Jesus.  

Evidently everyone has their own personal Bible. It’s not just enough to be the "Bible", it has to be super-sized with a message/agenda. 

There’s a Bible for every seasons, now, like greeting cards. 

For example: The American Patriots" Bible. 

"This Bible is designed for the decent, hardworking core of America, the ordinary man or woman who loves this nation and believes it springs from godly roots," says Richard G. Lee, a Southern Baptist pastor from Georgia.

I just glad that if we, as Christians, feel the need for a different version of the Bible, we have publishers out there to fulfill our needs. It just seemed silly for us to have, you know, the "Holy Bible" Bible version. That was just ridiculous. 

Thank God we have options!

John MacArthur has his version. So does Joel Osteen. And here’s my personal favorite:

Happy 4th of July! Have fun. Be safe. Make sure you have 10 fingers and 10 toes Sunday morning!

We had this challenge thrown down during our latest road trip to Idaho. We, as a van full of adults, failed miserably.  Maybe you’ll have more luck. 

We came to the conclusion that it’s impossible to count the number of times that John Mayer says the word, "Say" in in song Say. Well, maybe not impossible, but pretty darn hard. 

So are you up for the impossible Mayer Challenge?

Listen to the song and count how many times he says "Say". 

Try your luck, it’s not as easy as it seems…