Money, money, money

My day started rather well this morning.

I arrived at work to find that I've won a lottery in Thailand. My winnings are 740,000 Thailand dollars, which is over 550,000 US dollars if I did my math right. Not a bad return considering I've never been to Thailand or entered any lotteries.

I then found out that David K. Modu, from the diamond-rich district of Sierra Leone, wants me to have 3.75 million US dollars from his late father's fortune.

I'm doing pretty well. That's almost 5 million dollars for just opening my email today.

I reckon the only thing that could make my day better is if these email scams were the real thing.

Can you hear it?

After all the nasty things I've done to my ears in my lifetime, I didn't expect that it'd work for me.

I was just reading about this CBS News story. It tells us that kids are now using a ring tone that adults can't hear. Apparently the tone is too high pitched for us oldies.

The strange thing is, I am in my younger 30's, and I can hear it. I don't hear it when I watch the TV report that includes the sound but I certainly do when I just listen to the sample audio clip they provide.

What about you? Click here to find out if you can hear it and let me know in the comments below.

Jesus Band-aids

I wonder if my local Target store here in Grapevine has these?
I seriously doubt it.

Do angels yawn?

Every once in a while I have these offbeat thoughts.

I had a thought a few months ago, but yesterday was the first time I verbalized it to a good friend: I wonder if some of us live such safe lives that our guardian angels are yawning?

I wonder if our guardian angels get bored. I wonder if they are just waiting for us to step out in faith and do something that lets them spread their wings and fly!

All I know is this: I don't want to be guilty of causing angels to yawn!

30 Seconds To Mars

I love it when I discover new music that I had never heard of before. I took a trip over to the Virgin Records Megastore last night before my volleyball game, and stumbled across the 30 Seconds To Mars album "A Beautiful Lie".

I gave it a listen, and quickly became enthralled by just about every song. It's got a definite modern rock groove to it, with a little U2, a little The Cure, and a little Depeche Mode vibe thrown in for good measure. Imagine my shock when after purchasing it and reading the liner notes, I discovered that the lead singer is the actor Jared Leto. Despite that (usually bands fronted by actors stink) it's a very good album which I heartily recommend. I think maybe Mr. Leto is not an actor, but a darn good musician who dabbles in acting every once in a while.

Most sung worship songs

Ever wonder if other churches are singing the same stuff we are singing? Here is a list of the 25 Most Sung Worship Songs In America. Before you click, remember these are all "worship songs". Now, try to guess the top 3. One hint: none of them are by David Crowder!?!

The quest for the Holy Grail

By jove… it explains everything… right here!

Going the extra mile

There’s few things more demoralizing than when you go the extra mile for someone, really put in a lot of effort to help them, and then discover second hand that they are still unappreciative and unhappy with you. There’s times I’d like nothing more than to spend my days locked up in my office with my laptop computer and my Ipod and not have to deal with people.

Working with people is a risk - some will not appreciate you though you put in a huge effort on their behalf, while others will overflow with gratitude for something small that I wouldn’t even usually consider important or special. The trick is to not give up on the former group, and to draw strength and encouragement from the latter, while all the time remembering there’s a higher calling involved too.

Spamglish

Why is it the blog spammers never seem to be able to speak English? Here’s a few recent examples :

*I’m love this great website. Many thanks guy
*i try to find something at google.com and take it on your site…thanks
*Best site I see. Thanks. Hello there! Just want to say that I find your site enough interesting for me. Usefull information and all is good arranged. Thank you for your work. I will visit your site more ofter from now and I bookmarked it.
*Nice site. Thank to work…
*Great job guys… Thank for you work…
*Hallo I absolutely adore your site. You have beautiful graphics I have ever seen.

Well if nothing else at least they’re encouraging and courteous. Wouldn’t do them any harm to learn a little grammar though. Having said that I must confess in college, when reading some chapters on English grammar - they put me to sleep - so maybe that’s what happened to the spammers - they fell asleep during English!

Superman as Jesus??

I for one can’t wait for the upcoming release of Superman Returns. Superman has always been the ultimate superhero, even though some of the later movies from the 80s didn’t do justice to the legend (Superman IV anyone?). From the previews, the new movie looks like it’s going to be awesome - a much more worthy successor to the original Superman : The Movie, even to the extent that it features the voice of Marlon Brando as Superman’s Father, as well as the wonderful score from John Williams.

But this CNN article explores yet another aspect of the Superman legend, which apparently is given free reign in the new movie - Superman as a Christological figure. These themes have always been latent in Superman stories of the past, (even though the original creators drew more from the character of Moses) but in Superman Returns are made even more explicit. With a growing awareness of the vast American Christian market, studios are ever looking for new ways to appeal to them. Fortunately though, they aren’t marketing Superman in this way.
Interesting article to read which makes me even more keen to see this movie when it comes out.

Here's the link to the article: Superman

New Franklin

This is the new Franklin/Covey planner I purchased yesterday, along with the new Leadership calendar fills to help keep myself better organized. I've missed a couple birthday parties and committments I had made recently (sorry Jeff and Melissa!) and I can't have that happening.

I kept a Franklin planner years ago, and it really helped me stay on track with a lot of things by forcing me to write them down. I think that gets me to commit it to my memory a little better than just simply using a PDA (plus if you drop a Franklin on the concrete, it doesn't break like a PDA does!!).

So now my bag/backpack is weighing a little more (with my journal, Bible, IPod, digital camera, and now this), but in the end, it'll keep me a little more organized, which will keep me a lot less stressed, and that's a good thing.

Do you have a box on your head?

Matthew 9:10-13Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them.

When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus' followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?

Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."

The Pharisees thought they knew how Jesus should behave; who Jesus should be seen with or who He should eat with. And it just dawned on me, they thought they had a copyright on God and knew how Jesus and His followers should behave and who they should be seen with.Nope, Jesus didn't like hanging out with the Pharisees. Pharisees are boring. Can you imagine having to eat with them? With their glassy, self-righteous stares. Sitting there, looking down their noses... with those little boxes* on their heads ( I did a Google search for 'Pharisees little boxes they wore on their heads' and I found the following:

"This word from the Greek signifies a preservative. These phylacteries were little boxes, or rolls of parchments, wherein were written certain words of the law. These boxes or rolls, containing their four leaves of parchment on which their texts were written, they wore upon their foreheads, and upon their wrist of their left arm...").

Who would want to spend time with these people? Much less, eternity. Jesus knew who to come for... the lost, the broken, the interesting.

Jesus would much rather hang around an authentic sinner than a fake saint, any day.

So Far...

25 years ago today, I asked Jesus to come into my heart. It doesn't seem that long ago. I can still remember it. I knelt under a tree and prayed. Our denomination called it 'getting saved'.

After that, I wanted to tell everybody about Jesus.

I remember getting on an airplane and being afraid that if I didn't tell the person sitting next to me about Jesus, they would go to Hell and their blood would be on my hands. So, I kept trying to figure out a way to ask, "If you were to die today, would you go to Heaven? I finally asked. It felt awkward. She was a nun.

Fast forward 25 years.

This past Memorial Day, I went to a cookout at a friends house. I ended up talking to a few people on the back porch (which is my favorite spot). Somehow, the conversation got around to God. I don't know how that always happens. Guess it's because there's nothing more interesting. It's the never-ending discussion.

If I recall correctly, these new friends consisted of a former Mormon missionary, a United Pentecostal, a Catholic or two, various and sundry other creeds... and George.

George was raised in a home that was 'agnostic'. At his house, religion didn't figure in. "But," he said, "I believe there is something after this life."

That caught my ear.

"Why do you believe that?" I asked.

He sputtered to a stop. He had continued onto another part of his story and didn't know what I was talking about.

"Believe what?" he asked.

"You said you believe there is something after this life. Why do you believe that?"
He said he didn't know.

Everybody started talking and telling what they believed and why.
Why do we believe there's something beyond this life?
What causes us to even consider it?
How could we long for something we've never known?

I crave Blue Bell ice cream. Sometimes, I even 'long' for it. You see, I've tasted Blue Bell ice cream. I know what Blue Bell ice cream tastes like. I'm going to have some after lunch.

Why do I believe there's something beyond this life?
God.

My DNA remembers God.
He made a very good first impression.

I believe our DNA echoes with the memory of His goodness. His breath is still in us (Genesis 2:7). We are His broken image (Genesis 1:27).

I used to have a dog when I was a kid. To my knowledge, he never remembered God. And he longed for nothing but to be scratched and thrown a treat. There wasn't anything in him that thought there was something after this life.

At least, he'd never spoken to me about it.

When it was my turn to tell why I believe there's something after this life, I told my friends that I came from God, got lost and Jesus has come to take me home.

But, a funny thing happened. As I was beginning to tell my story, I felt a lump rising in my throat and tears starting to burn in my eyes.

My voice was shaky. "It's because of Jesus," I said. "He started it. He loved me first. And He proved it by dying for my sins and rising from the dead. I believe that more than I believe I'm sitting here."

We all come from the same God. We may not agree about where the 'longing' comes from but there's no denying it. Well, I am beginning to find that my 'longing' is satisfied by the love of Jesus. Getting to know Him is like finding breadcrumbs along the path giving you a little taste of what's waiting at the house.

Addictive Art

Finding this at 1:30 in the morning is not a good thing. One word: ADDICTING.

Try your hand at being the next Jackson Pollock, the famous abstract expressionist painter from the early-mid 1900's.

Go ahead....try it! It's cool.

Here's the Link

Re-vamping

It used be every couple years. Then it was once a year. Now, it comes about every 6 months. What? The need to re-think and re-vamp my life. And I'm feeling it again!

I'm sitting at DFW airport in Dallas waiting for a meeting, but my thoughts are regarding something a successful business friend of mine told me last week. He had gone to a conference that he was really pumped about and they told him that significance came as a result of success and success came as a result of stability. In other words, there are certain things in your life that must be stable; and that stability brings success; and that success can be leveraged for significance.

Now, there is a lot about that with which I disagree. But I do believe that I need to stabilize certain core values and disciplines before I can expect God to continue to allow my influence to grow. And that is what is bringing on this need to re-vamp my life. It's not an overhaul - cause I do hear hear from God; I do run and exercise regularly; I do keep my committments to church; I do intentionally spend time with each of my family members...but it's not stable. It's not as consistent as I want it to be.

So, I'm thinking about revamping my life so that I journal everyday; so that I workout and play volleyball every week (see previous post); so that I spend a little more time with my best friends and family; I'm close, but not there yet!

I'm sore

I joined a summer volleball league at Fellowship Church last week. We had our first scrimmage game last week, and I'm still a little sore.

Next game is Thursday at 7:30pm

Last new cell phone...I swear

Ok, last week my Nokia 6103 phone started "peeling" after only having it 5 days, and the earpiece audio was so low, I had to make sure my ears were clean to be able to hear anything at all.

I went with my gut instinct and got the Samsung T-319. The sales clerk at T-Mobile tried to get me to go with another more expensive model, but something inside told me not to. I'm glad I went with my gut feeling. The phone earpiece volume is the best I've ever heard, and the phone reminds me of a Samsung I used to have 5 or so years ago. Very easy to use, and works like it's supposed to.