Quote of the Week

"I wish I made this stuff up, but I’m not pulling a James Frey, honest."


link

I'd like to thank the academy. . .

I finally won a book over at IBW.com i'm not really sure what i did win--- we'll find out when it gets here.


thanks to Jon for the link to that website

New blog added to the feed list

Found this Guy the other day through a few link hops. He has a great post for Entrepreneurs and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps or 'bootstrapping' for short


EDIT: linking to this guy doesn't indicate approval or aggreement of all of the statements found within the contents of his web pages

Google pays ME!

I recently signed up with google to do some advertising on my site (yea, i sold out ;-) ) after three days, i've already earned a whopping $0.56. So if you think my kids are cute and want them to go to college, you should click on some ads ;-)

Please note that the resultant advertisers on this site are not selected or reviewed for their content, Google chooses the ads that they find the most relevant. Thanks!

Emergent, Mega and other Buzzwords

I was having an interesting discussion with my Dad the other day, we were talking around the different philosophies that are beginning to surface in the Christian Community. Recalling an exerpt he had read from Bill Hybels, My dad made an interesting point about the direction of the church as a whole God is definetly doing some amazing things and the labels placed on those things is eternally inconsequencial. We are all in this together to the ultimate end of winning souls. We all have our sphere of influence, and work where God calls us to be ---whether you do that by ministering to the less fortunate of society, or you reach out to the rich, famous and powerful; we are all able to demonstrate God's love to others.

The finger-pointing about who is doing what right and where churches should put their money has become a focal point, and we should focus more on where God is moving the church as a whole, and pay attention to how he wants US to be his ambassadors.

the Evangelical Presbyterian Church sums it up excellently in their motto:

In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, in all things charity.

Great Post

Check out Perry Noble's Latest Post. Really good breakdown of James 1:19. James is one of my Favorite books of the Bible. It packs so much good teaching into just a few chapters--

"we will not stand for business as usual"

Ford is going to be making some cuts. Bill made sure to note how well FORD is doing accross the globe, but FORD is still not doing well enough here in North America. Citing increased competition, material cost and a drop in interest for large SUV's and Trucks. Ford's North american market share has continued to drop (down 1% from last year).

"If you build it, they will buy it -- that's business as usual and that's wrong" -- Bill Ford

Ford is planning to cut a few plants, including the wixom plant by 2012.


it will be very interesting to see how this affects the area.

Economic Impact - ETA 10:30am

At around 10:30 Ford will announce layoffs/cutbacks. Some are speculating that we will see the closing of the wixom plant, somethign that would be devestating for the city. We'll just have to wait and see what really happens.

as a metro detroit citizen, a place where the economy lives and dies by the auto industry, this makes me nervous. So for now i say-- BUY AMERICAN ;-) for my city's economy sake.

two! (part one?)

Well, the kids have had their first of a few parties celebrating their TWO years on this planet. Looking back at how the past year has gone for us, I am so thankful for God's had in our life.

Praise God for MY KIDS! they're awesome and i wouldnt trade them for anything.



on a more practical note, my wife, really spearheaded the prep for the party last night and is already thinking about the upcoming on this saturday. She consistantly amazes me with her energy level, despite chasing two 2yr olds around all week (plus an extra little guy three days a week). SHE IS THE BEST!

How do we become Successful?

Dave Ferguson has an interesting post referencing an article by Warren Bennis who outlines four questions to help in finding success:

I used to think I wanted to be a university president. And for seven godforsaken years I did just that. The problem was that I wanted to be a university president but I didn't want to do a university president. In retrospect, I realized, there was an unbridgeable chasm between my aspirations and what actually gave me satisfaction and happiness. Based on that experience, I developed a four-question test aimed at anyone seeking "success." You have to answer with complete honesty, which means you have to have a fair amount of self-knowledge.

Do you know the difference between what you want and what you're good at?

Do you know what drives you and what gives you satisfaction? (Clearly, in my own case, I didn't.)

Do you know what your values and priorities are, what your organization's values and priorities are, and can you identify the differences between the two?

Having measured the differences between what you want and what you're able to do, between what drives you and what satisfies you, and between your values and those of your organization -- are you able to overcome those differences?

Personal Privacy Concerns

Cingular wireless has filed a lawsuit against the owners of www.locatecell.com. Locate cell is one of the many provides available that will obtain phone records for you at a price. They go about this in one of three ways:

• "Pretexting," or acting like an account holder, often using a Social Security number or other information;

• Illegally accessing a person's online account;

• Paying a company insider to give out information.

What's especially interesting from this article is that there are not SPECIFIC laws that protect this type of information. Cingular is hoping that the current privacy laws will cover it.


It will be interesting to see what happens

Bleary Eyed

Well over the years i have gone from a definite evening person to a somewhat morning person. I think they major transition came with forced early rising for work. I still would like to get stuff done at night, but i either (a) fall asleep on the couch at 9:30 or (b) get working on something and burn through all of the time (let's be honest (a) is a more likely situation ;-) ) The Idea Sandbox has a good re-hash of Time's article on the breakdown of morning/evening people's daily energy cycle.

Originally got this link from "beautiful somewhere...traveling through life with a learner's permit "

CMS Poll on Blogging Pastors

CMS posted a question to it's readers regarding pastors and blogging. Essentially this question could be interperated to examine the power structure in the church. In my opinion it is important to have a board of elders to support your pastor, but ultimately the pastor should be the one to carry the mission and follow the vision. If we truely believe this, than we should have no problem promoting the opinions of our pastor --- if that becomes an issue, it is merely an indication of a larger problem in the church.

What's Your Story?

My wife and I met through a church plant in the farmington area. One of the major components of every service was a video testimonial of sorts. Our lead pastor would video tape a person describing where they are in life and where they have been. Some stories depicted healing, others depicted second chances, etc. The common theme throughout the process was that everyone had a story.

This weekend, Nicole and I spent a good chunk of time in the basement going through boxes of things from the move. A few things occurred to me. One, we have WAY too much stuff. and TWO Perspective changes everything. It was very interesting for me to go through picture albums from when my wife was younger, and hear her descibe the scenes of things from previous life chapters.

We have also resolved to try and tackle our major pile of saved items every so often, so as to not end up with unmanageable piles containing 40 years of memories.

We've also started Memory boxes for both of the kids, saving little things from special occasions throughout their lives. Hopefully they will have a fun time looking back on where they've been in 20 or 30 years.

Our stories give us perspective on our current situation (for better or worse). It also gives us the ability to relate to others in their situations, which may open doors for God to work through us. Sharing our stories with others may also help those around us who are going through similar situations.

The bible is FILLED with passages telling us to proclaim God's good news, how much more effective is it for our finite minds to see and converse with people who have been through the same things we have?









what's your story?

Side-by-Side XP and VISTA

If you're a big dork like me, you are waiting to see what microsoft is going to do on this new O.S. Here's a nice side by side comparison of XP and Beta buld 5270


http://www.bentuser.com/article.aspx?ID=332&page=1

Pour Me another Cup!

CNN has a great article on the benefits of coffee drinking....


i was getting a little thirsty ;-)

Search Engine Optimization

A Great Post on SEO for churches ----

The Bible-- As told by Nude Models

Nuremberg Germany, home of the youth group of the Lutheran congregation of Katzwang.

As most youth groups do, these students were attempting to decide a way to raise money for 'a new coat of paint' on the youth center. One suggested idea was that the group release calanders with depictions of scenes from the bible---- with a 'modern' (modern in the sence that it means 'without clothing') twist.

MORE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4494938.stm (NOTE there is a screenshot of the front cover -- but i don't beleive anything controversial is showing)

Webber, Party of Four

A milestone in our family has been reached. On January 11th, 2005 Matthew Peter and Kayla Nicole came to live with us as a 'preadopt placement' I just wanted to take this opportunity to say YAY GOD for all he's done for us and ESPECIALLY for the two greatest kids anyone could wish for.

Lessons from Second City-

Jonathan Herron has a great series of posts on relating what he learned on how to make improv work with great christian leadership