Less than 24 to 24...

T minus 20 hours till another day starts for Jack...

Colts won! Saints Won! can the Bears make it a tri-fecta tommorrow?

Gonna be a long day in front of the TV after church for sure.

The way we approach the world

When did we decide that the world should come to us (the church) for answers? All we have to do is put up a shiny building, have a cool kids program and sit bak and wait for the people to flock to us. I am more and more convinced that we need to be invasive in our world. We also need to find new ways to reach out. I am seeing more and more how important our use of the web and its tools will be in the coming years. USC has just released a report that tells us that 43% of internet users who are part of online "communities" feel as strongly about their online community as their real world community. This says alot about us as a culture. Apart from that it tells me that if we are going to do what we are called to do we need to find a way to become part of this world and the lives of those who are there in order to have an impact on them. The who, how, where, whens of it are very unclear to me but I am sure that we need to be in the middle of it.

Joy and Disappointment

only 2 more EMT classes to go!! Then practicals and the state exam. There is joy in that. Can't wait to get this done so that more time and energy can be diverted to other important projects. With that short of time I found out that 2 members of my class will not be able to finish it and are ineligable to take the final. How disappointing :( I got to thinking about how this applys to life. When the finish is in sight how often we never finish. Those half done projects in the garage, half read books, and those commitments we made but never followed through on. We so often take the low road. I'm thankful that Jesus didn't do that. Where would we be if He had? Carrying things through to the end, even when they are painful is important. I'm ending this day with a little better understanding of what I need to be and do. Funny how much we can learn if we just pay attention to the world around us.

Game of the Week

This weeks game is actually a link to one of my favorite game sites. Tons of things to choose from depending on what you like.

POGO.COM

Vision

It's amazing the things that you didn't realize you couldn't see until your vison gets better. Slowly a vison for discipleship is coming from the fog for CRMC. It's also good to feel a personal sense of direction coming to light. Still so many things that I want to see happen and be involved with. The key is wisdom and discernment to know what to be involved with and to what extent. The calendar seems to be full for the year already. Baseball, General Conference, my boys going into Jr High; time flies. I am more and more convinced that God would have us use some new approaches to reaching people and helping other along in their discpleship journey. With the internet, blogs, video, wireless networks and the like, we need to be in place to take advantage for the Kingdom. Seems like a bit of rambling, but it all comes back to the need to have clear vision... for this I pray.

Book #1 - "Bleachers" by John Grisham

I became a fan of Grisham several years ago when I was looking for something different than my usual fare. I have to date read most of his books and am sure I would enjot those that I have yet to read. He is a master of the "page turner" and this book is no different. Ringing in at just over 200 pages in PB it is a quick read as well. In typical Grisham fashion he makes the characters and the story fit into life so well you might think that they are people that you know.
There are many facets to his book but I would have to say that the theme is the past. We all have one. What are our memories and beliefs of the past? To make the quickest summary of this I would say that the past is not to be forgotten, but we cannot let it control us or weigh us down. We must move forward to the future, using our past experiences to teach us and help us make better choices than we have previously. Although there is no direct spiritual application in this book there are lessons that the characters learn and live that we all can apply in our own lives and spiritual walks. Definaletly a quality read, especially for a sports fan or just someone who has had that one person in theor life that placed a great influence on them.

Game of the Week -- Bejeweled

Thursday is here and it's time for the game of the week. This week is a popular one but still one of my all time favorties.

BEJEWELED

Books

In a previous post I noted that I had a goal of reading at least 30 books in 2007. As you can see from my sidebar I have got a few going. I think that I have 4 books actually in process right now. My wife can't see how I can have more than one book going just like I don;t see how she has multiple craft projects at the same time. I believe that I also have at least 5 others awaiting a start. If I can keep at it 30 might be too low to set the bar. I don;t however want to just read for the sake of saying that I read. That's why some of the books take a lot longer and I have to put them down and then pick them back up. The "Why Men Hate Church" book is like that for sure. Anywhoo, part of my self-discipline in reading these books will be that I must post a review/ highlights of each book that I cover. I look forward to doing this because it will not only make me better process the books as I read them but I will also have the archive of these posts to return to for reviewing. If all goes well possibly review #1 tomorrow.

I Love Technology

That's what Napoleon Dynamite says anyway. That said along with this blog and some other things going on I'm really trying to get better. I'm becoming more and more convinced that in the near and far future this will be a major way of communication and forwarding the Kingdom. Hey today Ive learned how to properly post links and put my reading list on the sidebar of my blog. Hopefully this site will continue to improve.

A few random thoughts...

Thought that I would start the new year by tapping out a few random things that have gone throught my head in the past 24 hours or so...

• just typed "24" -- t-minus 2 weeks until the new season!
• you never realize how inconsistent you are until you try to be consistent
• New Year's party at the church was fun
• I've got so many great books I have and need/ want to read -- and still I keep shoppong for more --
• The need to organize some prioities in my time
• 3 more weeks of EMT class
• the calendar for '07 feels like it is already getting full , it's only Jan 2nd
• I can't believe that my boys will be jr highers in the fall
• This is a great week for football. Even without cable I think I can watch 11 games between Monday and Sunday
• I hope ND shows up and wins their bowl
• need to stop typing random thoughts and get to some actual work...