One week into Lent and I am 7lbs lighter.Yeah, it's kind of like throwing a deck chair off of the Titanic but it's a start.The giving up of fast food during Lent means that I won't be taking advantage of McDonald's Leap Day special of buy a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder with cheese and get a second one for just 29 cents. Other than that I've just been snacking less and trying to eat less. I've still managed to include cookies, donuts, chips and other junk foods; just not too much of them. I'm even cutting back on the diet soda and drinking more water,...
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Monday, 27 February 2012
Helping Kids to Help Kids
Posted on 19:53 by Unknown
Today I want to write about a volunteer driven foundation that raises money to fund research to help kids with cancer. You can read about St. Baldrick's Foundation here.In the numbers for the 2011 fundraising campaign, it show that there were 40,060 male shavees. Most of them were young boys. Four of them were my nephews. For the past few years oldest brother Drew and triplets Ty, Ben and Zach (along with their dad, Mike) have had their heads shaved to raise money to support kids that have cancer. You can help them reach their goal of $1500 by...
Friday, 24 February 2012
Not a Political Post
Posted on 18:08 by Unknown
The title of this post is my disclaimer. So before you read the post and want to leave a comment that rants on and on about your opposition to a creative article that has Satan addressing a couple of prominent Republicans reminding them of his methods and madness; understand that the points that I want to focus on are the points the we, as Christians, should be focusing on.It's a long article, but you need to read it before you continue reading here. Go ahead. I'll wait.I know that I might be asking for a lot here, but I'm going to ask you...
A Push for a Global Holiday
Posted on 02:09 by Unknown
Next Wednesday is February 29th! Leap Day -- a date that only comes around once every four* years!I was thinking that this should be a Global Holiday! No school. No work. No wars. Nothing.Just a day to be with friends and family. We can change the name to Earth Day and move it to coincide with one of the equinoxes so that it isn't in anybody's winter and we all have a fair chance at mild weather.It would make it so that our extra day could be ... well, an extra day!So, what would you do with an extra day?I know that next week I'll be working on...
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Citizen by Birth; Citizen by Choice
Posted on 08:30 by Unknown
According to my younger sister, 50 years ago today my mother became a United States citizen.I remember a few years ago when the spouse of a co-worker became a US citizen. I really thought that it was such a cool thing to choose to be a citizen of the US of A.It seems that it has become popular to trash the United States and her ideals. I'm not talking about other countries trashing her; I'm talking about citizens of the US trashing her. I'm talking about celebrities that are so puffed up with their opinions that they think it matters to the rest...
Monday, 20 February 2012
"Candidate for a Pullet Surprise"
Posted on 12:36 by Unknown
I ran across this poem as I was cleaning out "my room" over the weekend. I figure that it probably came from one of our writers' meetings, but there was no title or author attached to it. A quick Google search gave me the title, the names of the authors and a little background.As an added bonus, I was able to copy and paste the poem rather than typing it out from the copy that I have.Candidate for a Pullet Surpriseby Mark Eckman and Jerrold H. ZarI have a spelling checker,It came with my PC.It plane lee marks four my revueMiss steaks aye can knot...
Saturday, 18 February 2012
Spring Training! What I Like About Baseball
Posted on 20:40 by Unknown
It's been a very mild winter in the Ozarks and this is the weekend that the baseball world has been waiting for since the St. Louis Cardinals won the 2011 World Series last fall. Spring training camps are open and it's time for baseball to begin once again!This afternoon I looked out the window and saw a small boy with a ball and bat. I watch for a moment as he placed the bat on his shoulder, tossed the ball one handed into the air and swung the bat ... and missed. He picked up the ball, set himself for another swing and this time he connected....
Friday, 17 February 2012
Testimony: Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Posted on 06:42 by Unknown
How much do our actions affect our testimony? If what we do is inconsistent with what we say, which are others more likely to believe--our actions or our words?Back in the day (long before the existence of Buffalo Wild Wings), Hooters was really the only place to get decent hot wings. In keeping with their 'sex sells' theme, when you wanted them without the breading (I always did) you ordered them 'naked' (the wings, not the person ordering). I used to stop there on my way to work whenever I had a mid shift. I would call in the order for 50 wings,...
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Testing the Waters
Posted on 09:55 by Unknown
In July, a group of people from Hopedale will be traveling to Nicaragua to build homes for 20 families. These are not the kind of homes that you and I are used to living in; they are really just cinder block shelters. In addition to these small "homes," Hopedale missionaries will be bringing shoes, clothes, school supplies, household goods and hygiene items. They will also be sharing the gospel in Bible studies.It is an awesome way for us to share the love of God by meeting their needs as well as by sharing the Word.Each person that is...
Monday, 13 February 2012
Set Apart for Service
Posted on 22:18 by Unknown
Last Sunday, our evening service was a very special kind of service. As a church (a local community of believers) we ordained two men as deacons and installed three previously ordained men into deacon service at Hopedale. While I welcome the installation of the older men, I am especially excited about the ordination of our two new deacons.Hopedale continues to grow and to reach out to young families and I really believe that adding these two guys will help young families to better identify with our fellowship and to see how there is a place of...
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Whitney Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012)
Posted on 19:26 by Unknown
January 27, 1991Just ten days earlier, US military forces entered into Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm was underway. News accounts of the Gulf War were steady and Super Bowl XXV was a welcome break from the constant reports.Whitney Houston had agreed to sing the National Anthem almost a year prior the date of the big game and at a time when nobody could have expected that we would be at war in the Middle East. In an era that superstars "perform" the National Anthem and often do more to bring attention to themselves and their personal styles than...
Friday, 10 February 2012
Christian Right. Christian Left. And Whatever happened to just following Jesus?
Posted on 00:29 by Unknown
Once again Christianity makes its way into the news in the form of politics and social agendas and misses the mark as far as sharing the Salvation story and lifting up the name of Jesus.The past week has seen the Komen/Planned Parenthood debacle (find your own link, there are plenty of them), the controversial birth control mandate for employers (the ruling is more than a decade old) that includes religious groups that oppose some/many/all forms of medical contraception, and the continuing Presidential primary race that says we have to place a...
Monday, 6 February 2012
For My Magician Friends (both of you!)
Posted on 07:17 by Unknown
Last Saturday night I did a first time "Card to impossible location" effect. It was for an Upwards Basketball Celebration, so naturally the selected and signed card ended up inside of a basketball that had to be cut open. I think that the handling went well, but I am certain that I will make some modifications as I continue to use this or similar effects. (However, I've not yet had any real feed back from an audience member.)I'm interested to know what methods are the favorites of other magicians for this effect. Leave your comments here on Out...
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Facebook Postings
Posted on 21:28 by Unknown
During his sermon this morning, Pastor Terry was talking about "authentic Christians."(I'll pause to mention that I think that Pastor Terry is an exceptional preacher and you can listen to his sermon here. The service starts at about the 7 min mark. I don't believe that the messages are archived, so you need to listen to it this week.)Towards the end of his message, he made a reference to Facebook and how confusing our testimony may be--posting scripture verses on one occasion and posting (or linking to) offensive blogs, pics or statuses on another.Naturally,...
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Saturday AM
Posted on 08:07 by Unknown
Just a quick post before really getting into the day...I'm looking forward to tonight's Upwards Basketball season ending celebration at South Haven Baptist Church. This is a little bit challenging as the time allotted to me is pretty short. With only a short amount of time, the challenge is to have a good opening effect, a killer closing effect and something in between. Also, since I generally provide an evangelistic message of some kind--well, you can see the problem.For tonight I'll just go with an opening effect, a message from the opener, and...
Thursday, 2 February 2012
President Obama's Address at the National Prayer Breakfast
Posted on 22:40 by Unknown
This is a long post -- but I didn't write it. I read it.And I would like for you to read it, too.Over the past few years, much has been said of our President's faith. Much of it has been unflattering and critical and much of that has come from those that profess to be Christians.Regardless of your opinion of the President's religious beliefs; regardless of your religious beliefs (or lack of them if that applies); please take the time to read this speech. It took the President twenty minutes to say it. It should take you less time to read it. I...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
