Monthly Archives: June 2006

Blog

Way too much traffic, anyone want to support me?

3 Comments

So I’ve experienced quite a bit of traffic on this site in the last week or so.
And for anyone hosting their blog on their own space they know that is a problem as far as price goes. It hopefully won’t be much but I think the amount of traffic I’ve gotten and will get this month will cost me about $10. I know it’s not much, but it’s a bit of money for a website that isn’t making me anything.

So, I decided to post a little “Support Me” section on the sidebar. These are all links to free downloads which I would HIGHLY recommend you try out. Picasa is a great picture organizing software, Firefox is the only browser you should be using and Google Pack is a bunch of the most useful free software you can find in one tidy package.

At the very least if you haven’t downloaded these pieces of software at least do so from my site so I can gather a little referral commission to pay for the extra bandwidth this month.

I’d appreciate it.

Blog

Threads: Mission

3 Comments

MISSION: John 17:18

-sacrifice.choice.destiny
-to change/impact the world
-connecting people to the living God
-real time, being real, living for others
-being Jesus among people, serving people
-allowing God to work through us, uniquely
-being out/visible
-movement
-our story

In the book of John, Jesus prays this: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” Many point to the last word’s of Jesus recorded in Matthew as the central point for what “Mission” is all about, but I think this might be a better place to start. Jesus says “As…” God has sent him, in other words, “In the same way.” This is a clear indicator that we should be looking at the way Jesus lived in the world and shape our lives to live in a similar way.
And Jesus makes it clear that we are a continuation of what he was doing, we are part of that story. I like some of the words they choose to describe this mission mindset: Sacrifice, Choice, Serving, visible, Movement, being real.

Blog

Money makes the world go around…

2 Comments

(I had to watch that darn movie three times in a row in high school English)

Whether this statement is true or not, money plays a vital role in our society and interactions. Recently, I’ve been reminded of money’s role in a variety of ways.

Credit Cards- I posted a while back inquiring and pondering whether credit cards where really worth having around. I’ve found them beneficial in that I’ve received a couple hundred dollars in cash rebates and I’ve only paid a couple dollars in fees (due to my negligence). But, those cards just add another facet of concern that I don’t really want to have at the moment.

Student Loans- These things are scary. You’d be amazed how much money these banks will throw at you. We got more then we thought we’d need for school this semester and they sent us a check for the extra. Fortunately I was smart enough to send it back (and then some). Are loans for education worth it? Isn’t it still debt?

Purchasing a house- It sounds cool when I talk about it with our friends, but then I also think about the commitment and responsibility involved. This is some serious stuff we are talking about. Your talking quite a bit of cashflow here. But some say it’s better then renting, others say not.

Beggars- I’m not sure that beggar is the best term, but that’s what they are doing is begging for money. What do you do when your asked for a dollar?

Blog

Threads (It’s a “Mosaic” thing)

1 Comment

My wife and I have been hanging around these folks from the Mosaic Community on Sundays since we’ve been in Nashville. Mostly, we’ve just been chillin’ with some cool people and talking about things that interest us (and listen to others talk about things too). Oh, and Mindy sings a bit.

A little bit ago they did a series of talks about “Threads.” This is how they introduced it:

threads: the values from the ancient scriptures that are at the core of God’s story and at the core of who Mosaic desires to be as a community of Jesus followers.
these are the essentials that are woven into all we are and all we are becoming ? both as individuals and as a whole. They shape us as followers of Jesus, defining our role in the movement of God. This is who we are. These are non-negotiables that we hold to, that we strive for. They become the rhythms that we live by.
Mission. Love. Design. Relevance. Surrender.

I found the piece of paper that listed out the different threads and gave some verses concerning each thread. I figure I’d try and take one each day this week and just sort of think outloud about each of them. So, you’ve got the intro, now enjoy the individual posts…

Blog

I am not the Person I want to Become

2 Comments

Do you ever go through a day and look back at the end of it and wish you had done things differently? And not even so much wish you had done things differently, but wished you had reacted and lived more like you desire to then you actually did?

It’s tough to recognize that we are not static creatures. Too often I think we treat our own lives and the individual days that make up our lives as isolated incidents, within which we are simply who we are. Much like the frog in a pot of water, we are content to simply sit in our environment, oblivious to the water boiling us to our death.

You see, when I eat a piece of chocolate today I do not see it immediately adding pounds of fat to my waistline, slowing my biking speed or causing the onset of cancer. Yet years of those isolated days with pieces of chocolate, extra slices of pizza and ice cream sundaes will result in thirty pounds I never wanted to gain.

It’s the same with nearly all our actions. If today I responded in anger, or unlovingly, to someone I might simply write it off as justified, or just who I am. If I do not seek to be aware that this is not who I want to be, and make an effort to change it, I will wind up twenty years later with fewer friends and much more grouchy then I ever desired to become.

Today is not an isolated event. The choices I make today, the small actions I allow myself will carry into tomorrow. If I desire to be a healthier person, those choices start today. If I am to be a hard worker, I must be a hard worker today. I am not the person I want to become, but if I am diligent I can focus my actions today towards becoming that person.

Blog

That Naughty School might finally be shut down!

1 Comment

If you haven’t heard of that naughty school called The School of The Americas at Fort Benning, GA, you should. SOA has trained and graduated some of the finest Military Dictators and Human Rights abusers this hemisphere has ever seen.
There is plenty information available to learn more at the links provided, but after you learn about the atrocities that SOA is responsible for it’s time for you and I to do something. That opportunity is provided below.

From School of the Americas Watch:

NEXT WEEK, the week of June 5, Congress will vote on an amendment to close
the SOA/ WHINSEC. Rep. McGovern (MA) will introduce an amendment to the
Foreign Operations appropriations bill to cut funding for the SOA/ WHINSEC!

WE EXPECT A CLOSE VOTE and need as many people as possible flooding the
offices of the House of Representatives with calls in support of a YES vote
on the amendment. THIS IS IT! And it’s the people power of our movement that
will get this amendment passed! Visit the Legislative Action Index for more
information: http://www.soaw.org/legislative.

============================================================
–> NATIONAL CALL-IN DAYS TO CLOSE THE SOA/WHINSEC <-- TUESDAY, June 6 and WEDNESDAY, June 7: Call Congress at 202-224-3121 or toll free at 888-355-3588. ============================================================ Please take the time to call the DC office of your Representative through the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll free at 1-888-355-3588. Ask to speak with the foreign affairs legislative assistant. Here is a suggested message for you to convey: "I am calling Congressman/woman ________ to urge him/her to vote YES on the McGovern amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. This amendment is a cut in funding for the School of the Americas/ WHINSEC. New information indicates that WHINSEC has allowed known human rights abusers to instruct and receive training at the school. Argentina and Uruguay are two more countries that have made public announcements they will no longer send students to the school, citing the negative image and history of this institution. Voting YES on this amendment sends a positive human rights message to Latin America and will help to improve the U.S. image abroad. As an elected official in Washington D.C., I hope you will represent me and vote YES on any amendment in the House that would cut funding for the school." SEND AN EMAIL AND FAX TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE: http://www.soaw.org/legislative. (Be sure to click the „Send a Fax‰ box to have the fax sent). ARE YOU IN or NEAR WASHINGTON, DC? On Tuesday, June 6 and Wednesday, June 7, we will be delivering material to Members of Congress and knocking on their doors, asking them to join our movement and vote to close the SOA. Please join us! If you can be with us for some or all of the day on Tuesday or Wednesday, please email Eric at elecompte@soaw.org. FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit the SOA Watch website at http://www.soaw.org and the Legislative Action Index at http://www.soaw.org/legislative

Blog

The Sacredness of babies

Leave a comment

I think we see babies too much and we tend to take them for granted. Next time you see a baby just take a moment to think about that little baby. There is something incredible about babies.
In our intellectual world we tend to look at babies as cute, but certainly not someone who understands. A few years ago I read this book called Wishful Thinking by Frederick Buechner and was touched by his thoughts on infant baptism. Basically, he said that we shouldn’t neglect the fact that a little baby might have a far more intimate relationship with God then any adult with all their intellectual understanding.

Babies are cute and beautiful, but they are much more then that.