I got up at 7 something this morning again. Two weeks in a row. What happened to my day off? 🙂
It will be fun to sing with my sister this morning. Looking forward to meeting Gil Contreras as well. He’s a bit of a legend. My bro-in-law calls him the Billy Graham of Mexico. He’s 85 yrs old and probably has lots of great stories to tell.
But, I am also looking forward to not doing this next Sunday. 🙂
We just arrived at our stop for the night. Didn’t quite make it from Mechanicsville, VA to Bristol, VA to Cincinnati, OH. We are staying at a hotel in Lexington, KY. We’re tired.
Precisely at midnight, we heard a very strange, loud noise coming from the back of our van. We could NOT figure it out. AND, it was starting to smell hot… so we stopped. All the kids woke up… grrr…
I got out and figured out it was the rear wiper motor that had been stuck for weeks, finally kicked on and was overheating! We almost had a fire in our van. Nice.
All is well. We’re here.
And I learned today that “You haven’t lived until you’ve sampled a landfill.”
Thanks, Heent. 🙂
In many conversations I have with friends who would benefit from having a Mac but just don’t know it yet, one of the main counterpoints offered is that Macs are just much more expensive. This is just not true. Yes, the bottom line is greater, but that’s because you’re getting MORE. 🙂 So, for fun, I decided to configure a Dell system and an iMac with the same (or nearly the same) specs… just to see which would be cheaper. I figured it would at least be close, but that the Dell would maybe still win.
I WAS WRONG.
Apple 20″ iMac (with AppleCare) = $1968
Dell XPS400 with 20″ monitor and 3yr service comparable to AppleCare) = $2199
THE APPLE was CHEAPER!!!
You guys… not only are you getting better hardware, better software, and better customer service… IT’S CHEAPER!!! AND, it runs Windows, AND they’re not hard to use!!! (I have spent two days trying to get my friend’s Dell to connect to two different wireless (and ethernet) routers! TWO DAYS! My Mac connects instantly, with ZERO configuration.
For the list of specs/options that I selected for both machines, click the links here:
Dell | iMac
I really think that no Windows user would be dissapointed with their purchase of a Mac. Especially the iMac. It’s definitely the absolute best value of any platform. (At least that I am aware of.)
If you’re interested, I recommend:
Purchasing a NEW iMac (17″ or 20″)
Or, save a couple hundred dollars on a refurb 17″ Intel iMac. (only $1099)
You seriously can’t go wrong.
This public service announcement brought to you by BWD-Graphics: Apple Authorized Business Agent AA071715 🙂
We were part of a program this morning that was fairly unique. Jen and I were set up with microphones and folding card table chairs at the very back of a stage, hidden by a thick black curtain. We had no visual cues as to when to begin our musical portion of the program. Only a voice through the house sound system told us when to begin. It was really quite interesting. 🙂
It worked out fairly well, actually. The theme of the program was “worship”, and specifically how it is not just the music we sing together on Sunday mornings. It was good, visually creative, and definitely an interesting experience.
Afterwards, in a casual conversation with a few people around that same stage, one person asked me if I “was able to worship” in that setting. The question was sincere. I think she meant, was I able to have a personal, emotional connection with God. That is one of the goals of such a program – to evoke some feeling of having “worshipped”. In that sense, it was a valid question. But, it felt like the question missed the whole point of the program that they had just put together. 🙂 We were just saying not 15 minutes prior that worship is not a feeling during a song service, but a life lived in response to God’s awesomeness.
So, my response was, “Uh… yes?” 🙂 I meant, “Yes, I guess so, since all of life is worship – like we just said – so.. then by default, so was that moment in that place.” All were a bit confused, and something else distracted us from that conversation, so we just moved on.
But I didn’t. I kept thinking about the question. How it seemed like it revealed that nothing that was just said during the service even registered at all.
Later on tonight, we were singing for VBS. Our musical portion was at the end of the night’s program. As we were being introduced, the speaker (the same one who put the service together for the morning) said something like, “So, let’s use this worship time to really focus on God.” Some other things were mentioned that revealed that we still really think that the act of singing together to God is in some way a higher form of “worship”.
I was slightly amused, but also so puzzled. How do we get to the point of elevating some activities in our lives to being more spiritual, or more “worship”? There must be something to it. There are accounts in Matthew where Jesus was “worshipped”. After he walked on the water out to the boat his friends were in, it says they worshipped him. So there must be some meaning to that verb. But overall, it seems that what we see in Scripture is a more general sense of a life given to God is “worship” to him. It’s not about an emotional connection via a song lyric. (It can be, but it’s certainly not limited to that.)
I really have no conclusion from all of this, it’s just been mildly fascinating to jump back into this setting. We have been removed from it for quite some time, so to see up close again the culture that has become somewhat distant to us has been … interesting. I will likely have more interesting observations as the week progresses.
Please do not be offended by any of my observations. You’re welcome to comment here. I do not mean any disrespect to any one individual, nor do I harbor any feelings of ill will or arrogant superiority. I am befuddled by what we have decided makes up a “relationship with God”, and perhaps even more so since I have not been around the church culture for a while. I am definitely open to suggestion and anyone’s thoughts, so, if you feel the inkling, please comment and enlighten me. Or, if you concur, please verbalize that as well. (Or, type-a-lize it… as it were.)
I love to challenge ideas that no one else challenges. I think it helps me figure out the core of things… and what we have added on just because that’s the way we’ve always done it. 🙂 I like to get to the core.
I am after all an Apple guy… 🙂
We just finished a 12-hour drive from our house to the home of our friends in Mechanicsville, VA. I’m tired, but wanted to share something I observed on the 500 plus mile trek across many states.
We saw many people today. At our various stops. That was fun. Some were friendly, others kept their polite distance. That’s what I was doing as well, as a good little American. Personal space and privacy are paramount, or so we think. I happened to see a table full of multi-ethnic children of all ages, and one “mom” looking lady. There were seven kids, and her. I was intrigued, so I thought about going up to ask what their story was, what brought them together. I was stopped however as my cultural limiter reminded me that to do so would be to presumptuously invade their personal space. I don’t like to presume, so… I did nothing.
As I considered my choice, I thought about how we tend to treat everyone around us as the background, the backdrop of our lives. Perhaps this is just me. But it seems that we are taught to, and happy to, allow other people to have their private space. Not to intrude. But, how will we ever get to share each others burdens, each others cool stories? How can we share life if we never even interact?
I hope to remedy this. I hope to look at people the way Jesus does. The way he did when he walked around Israel. Each person has a story, and supreme, unique significance. Just because he made us. Instead of blending into the background, I want to engage the world God has placed me in… even if my culture would have me do otherwise.
So strangers, beware! I’m about to interact!
Found this while cleaning out an old folder on my virtual desktop here. It’s part of some notes I had written to myself from a weekend retreat.
“peace does not exist until you don’t care what other people think about you.”
Basic Web Design & Graphics is now an official Authorized Apple Business Agent (AABA). My official Agent ID is AA071715. I am now officially Your Apple Solutions Provider. 🙂
If you need anything Apple (MacBook, iPod, iMac, iLife, .Mac, etc…) I am now even more equipped to hook you up with the right stuff for you! And, at no additional charge… it may even be cheaper than going direct through Apple! Nice!
This is so fun! I am loving it!!!
Just wanted to celebrate. More to come… stay tuned…
Well, it’s here! This afternoon there was a package on my porch from the printer. It was the proof for my book! Yippee!!!
I OKed the proof and should have a few boxes of this book shipped to my house by the second week of July or so!!! Nice!!! I am very much looking forward to that.
More details to follow. Stay tuned to the blog page over the next couple weeks. I’ll be adding a bookstore where you can purchase any of my books (there are three now!) and even get eBook versions! (Those are cheaper… the church book might even be free?)
So… stay tuned… 🙂
OH.. click the cover above for the revised, finished version of the full cover. Thanks to Marie for catching a typo! 🙂
As I sat down to play my one game of Tecmo Super Bowl last night, I thought… “It’s time for FOOTBALL!!!!!” We’re getting really close. Training camps start next month. The season is really about to begin. The Stanley Cup has been won. The NBA champion has been decided. We’ve got a little excitement in the form of the world’s football… but that’s just not enough.
BRING ON THE REAL FOOTBALL!!!!!!!
Yeeeehaaa!!!!!!
(I’ll be posting an early pre-season prognostication on the ol’ Buffalo Bills Review… very soon…)
In the past day or so, I have:
Night!
