Endeavoring to Perservere: A Good Title for A Blog Entry

Okay.   This is my first entry on the Opine Apparatus for a number of reasons. 

And these are in no particular order.

I had a tough and busy week back after vacation.  I had a sermon to write.  I had to interview two potential new staff members for my church. And I couldn't think of anything worth saying.  Or maybe I just couldn't think.  It was one of the two or a combination of both. 

Anyway.  I am at a Panera Bread in Lake Mary, FL waiting for my a movie to finish.  I have twenty more minutes to wait.  My 15 year-old son and his girlfriend are on a date and they wanted to see the new Shrek movie.  I drove them.  It was too far to drive all the way back home so I came here. My kid told me that he "owed" me for doing this.  I figure he "owes" me for originating his life and putting up with his teenage crap.  This one I did out of love (he and his little girlfriend aren't going to see each other for a month and change) and the opportunity to throw it back in his face if he does something stupid, which is inevitable.  He's a teenager, after all. 

Ah, he's a good kid.  I'm sort of happy to help him out--even though the thought of him making out with a girl while watching Shrek in 3-D makes my stomach hurt.

I suppose I should introduce myself.  My name is Leon Bloder.  I usually blog at Presbymergent Musings and I also do some podcasting and other assorted stuff at my own Website.  Here's my "bio" from my blog:

Leon Bloder is a preacher, a poet, a would-be writer, a husband, a father, a son, a dreamer, a sinner, a former fundamentalist, a pastor, a fellow-traveller and a failed artist. He is talentless, but well-connected. He stumbles after Jesus, but hopes beyond hope that he is stumbling in the right direction. 

I am the pastor of The First Presbyterian Church of Eustis, which is in the scenic, small town of Eustis, Florida, which is roughly 40 miles from Orlando and 40 minutes from anything cool.  I take that back. There is a 5 Guys Burger going in the new Publix shopping plaza right around the corner from my house. This has made my year. 

I have been married for 19 years to my high school sweetheart.  I have a 15 year-old son (aforementioned) and a just turned 6 year-old son and one son that is set to enter the world in August.  My wife and I are 41 and having a baby.  We are insane.  In a good way. 

I've been blogging for a few years now---mostly reflections on sermons that I am writing, book reviews, the occasional movie review, social commentary or just weird rambling.  I review books for Thomas Nelson publishers and Tyndale Publishers.  They give me free books, which I dig. 

I know Paul through his blog and also through his wife, who I graduated high school with many moons ago when I used to be a fundamentalist Christian.  I wasn't a very good fundamentalist Christian though, because I read the Bible and asked questions.  I also hated church. 

Ironically, I became a pastor. 

I still read the Bible and I still ask questions, though. 

By the way.  Read the book on the left.  It explains a lot of things that have made me happy over the years.  

I also don't have anything really nice to say about G.W. Bush.  He got us into a horribly expensive war (Iraq) that has cost way too many of our brave men and women their lives.  And he couldn't pronounce nuclear. 

I also don't care too much for President Obama, but I did like it when he said he wanted to kick someone's ass over the oil spill.  I did vote for him, though, but only because my candidate didn't win the Democratic nomination.  Hey, I still think Hillary would kick WAY more ass than Obama.