Doogie pranced around yelping when we returned; I guess he missed us. So our five-day vacation in the Smoky Mountains has come to a close. One of my fondest memories is just sitting out on the back porch, looking out over the trees, drinking coffee in the early morning hours. Two dogs visited us day-by-day, crawling up onto the deck and playing with us as the sun set. Mom and Dad went to Gatlinburg last night, so Amanda and I sat out on the back porch and just talked for about an hour; nothing more enjoyable than that! She's a great little girl (it is quite the bummer that a sickness captured her for half the vacation).

Flipping through channels last night, I decided to watch T.B.N. to see if I could find something interesting (I'm not a huge fan of the channel, but I'm not here to throw feces at it). Well, find something interesting I did. One of the guests on one of the shows was a weight-lifter wearing one of those Lord's Gym t-shirts showing Jesus carrying the cross up Calvary. He seems like a good man, very passionate and zealous, though one thing he said got me riled up: in talking about the da Vinci code, he said that all the Christians who went to see it were not true Christians. My blood pumped at his words, but when he continued on, "Why are so-called Christians going to see The Da Vinci Code? Because they have doubts. They're fake Christians!" And the crowd went wild. I just had to turn off the television. Since when did having doubts negate one's presence in the kingdom of God? I'll be honest: sometimes I doubt. I don't doubt in the resurrection or God's love for me, but sometimes I doubt in the smaller things. Does this make me someone who doesn't know God? I don't think so. This doubt doesn't drive me to abandon God, for all the doubts in the world cannot compare to the fact that I have met God, I have experienced God, I have come into contact with God. You can tell me Someone doesn't exist, but when I've met Him, I'm not going to believe you. Doubt can gnaw at me all it wants, but I've met Him, and that's enough.

So, yeah. There it is. I promised some Erwin McManus quotes, that will come sometime this week (Part Two of Ecclesiastes will be up next Sunday, I think). Good night.