Covet Class

For Wed. Nights this quarter one of the classes has been covering the Ten Commandments. Each week we have had a different teacher share his insight on a particular commandment. I ended the class by looking at the tenth commandment, "Do not Covet."

So, first, here is my usual link to the materials I used in class.

• Teacher Notes (my actual thoughts, etc...)
• The PowerPoint
• The Handout

I think it was a good class. I hope that I really challenged people to reassess and to make lifestyles changes. I didn't want to get just caught up in the normal "covet" discussions like "Is it OK if my neighbor buys a new lawn mower that I like, so I go buy the same one?" I'm not here to be your heart's arbiter and judge. I wanted to be deeper and more intense than that. I think the class was intense...but....then I'm prejudiced.

After class I was asked, "How do you come up with this stuff?" First, all glory has to go to God because He has given me the skills and tools necessary. I am just a vessel. When I work on a class I often don't know "where" it comes from other than to say it truly is God speaking through me. It is His message. Now, that doesn't mean I don't have to do some work. I think it is through that work that God is given the opportunity. So, to answer this question, here is the process I generally use to prepare (or over-prepare my wife would say) for a class:

Depending on the topic, we start at least 6 weeks out from when I am going to be teaching. If it is a hard or broad topic, it may start way before that. In this particular instance, I begin studying for this class at the beginning of Sept.

6 Weeks out or greater

Step 1: Choose the Topic

Step 2: (this step takes the most time): Really study the topic. I use various methods to try and find out what the Bible says about the passage and the topic. For this class I did the following studies:

• A Word Study¹ of the Hebrew words for Covet (Download here and here)²
• A Devotional Study on Exodus 20:17 (Download here)
• A Thematic Study on Covetousness (Download here) ³

5 Weeks out

Create my outline including my introduction and conclusions. Of course, I don't really do outlines. I write my essay because I want to say things specific ways.

4 Weeks out

Prepare my handouts and other materials I may need for a class.

3 Weeks out

Prepare my PowerPoint and other visual materials that I may be using as teaching aides.

2 Weeks out

Marinade. I continue to review my notes from my studies. I refine my essay, handouts and visual aides. I may talk to some people about my ideas. I spend a lot of time just stewing on the material.

1 Week out

Practice. I run over the PowerPoint and usually "teach" the class two or three times to empty air. I make any last minute modifications.

Week 0 - Teach It

All in all, I really do spend about an hour in preparation for every minute I will be teaching. Anyway, I hope you find it useful.

Notes

1. I didn't do a class on "How to do a Word Study" because of the time constraints. If you are interested in that one, then I suggest you buy the book that all the material for that class came from.

2. Those are two separate documents. The first is the completed "Word Study" form. The second is a chart of all of the verses that is used in the first one. I did the form in MS Word and the chart in Excel. There is a place in the form where it says "See OT_Verses" chart...then go to the chart.

3. This is LONG. It's 31 pages, but contains the text of almost every verse in the Bible that deals with the words covet, coveted, coveting, covetous, envy, envied, envious, envying, greed, greedy, etc...

Kids doing Memory Work

Mihaela has successfully learned the Beatitudes. We did two takes because in the first one, she got really quiet at the end.

Take 1

Take 2

Noah knows his Old Testament books up to Nahum, but was more interested in playing on the computer than recording. Therefore, we only get the Pentateuch.

Noah must follow the Sadducee philosophy and only thinks the Pentateuch is important.

Lannom wanted in on the fun too. We are working on his Old Testament books. Not bad for a 2 and half year old.

Lannom loves the story of Joshua and Jericho.

I just fix computers

A conversation with Mihaela (age 5) . Her kindergarten class has had some parents come and speak to them about their occupations..

I arrive home. Mihaela jumps up and is very excited.

Mihaela: Daddy, Daddy, can I tell you something?

Me: Sure.

Mihaela: Will you come to my class and talk about email and computers?

Me: I'm not sure that would be exciting.

Mihaela: What exactly do you do again?

Me: I'm a computer programmer.

Mihaela (with all seriousness possible): hmmm...they won't understand that. Just tell them you fix computers.

Insurance and Health Care is NOT Medical Care

Words mean something. I know in our postmodern age we don't like to recognize the fact that words have definite meanings, but ignoring it doesn't change the reality. As our Democratically controlled congress works to pass a "universal health care" plan I think it is important for us to be sure we first know what it is we actually want and then secondly know what we are getting.

We Americans want to ensure that no person is ever denied medical care because of his inability to pay. This is a moral and worthy goal, after all, we are "our brother's keeper" and we must "love our neighbor as ourselves."

The legislation is being touted by those who look out and see that so many people lack health insurance. The problem, though, is that insurance is not medical care. Insurance should be be a way to pay for unexpected costs. We have been using health insurance, though, in a more hybrid way. We use it to pay for the unexpected costs and the expected, routine costs.

I carry car insurance in case my car unexpectedly gets damaged. My car insurance does NOT cover routine maintenance like oil changes, tire rotations, or fried O2 sensors. I carry home-owners insurance is case a fire or weather unexpectedly causes me to lose my house. My home insurance does not cover routine maintenance to the house such as termite control, replacing batteries in the smoke detectors, etc... Insurance helps me to mitigate the risk of financial loss due to unexpected (and rare) occurrences.

Using health insurance for wellness visits, annual exams, and even (I'm going to get stoned with this one) childbirth labor and delivery costs (usually childbirth is expected - obviously if there is an emergency during that process, then it would be defined as the unexpected cost and be covered by insurance) has helped increase the entire cost of the medical care industry. Because people are not paying directly out of pocket for those routine costs, they don't shop around for the best price and they are more likely to consume the service (i.e., demand for the service increase, but supply stays the same...so prices rise), so the costs of medical care rise.

Another thing that is important it to note is that medical care is NOT health care. Medical care is what doctors can do for you, such as lab tests, surgery, and medications . Health care is what you can do for yourself, such as diet, exercise and lifestyle. Herein lies a truth that the media and the government will not tell you when they compare the "American health care system" to "CountryXYZ health care system". Americans tend to be more obese, consume more drugs and engage in other risky lifestyle choices. So,they do tend to have less "health care."

However, countries with better health care DO NOT have more or better medical care. Compare medical care to those same countries, and America comes out a leader every time. America has four times as many MRI machines per capita than Britain or Canada. There are more than twice as many CT scanners per capita in the United States as in Canada and more than four times as many per capita as in Britain.

The "problem" is that all of this high-tech, advanced equipment and procedures cost money, a lot of money. And therein is trade-off. Selfish, spoiled Americans want the best treatment and equipment money can buy, but they want someone else to pay the cost. So, they whine and complain about the "cost of health care."

The legislation that is being proposed is a reaction from politicians to whining and complaining from the American people. People are upset about our current system of care. What is it that people are most upset about? Well, the cost of medical care and the fact that there are uninsured people out there.

So, the real issue Americans have is not necessarily with the quality or quantity of the medical care, it is with the personal, direct, out-of-pocket cost. They want the best care in the world, but they don't want to invest in good lifestyles or pay for it themselves.

So, we will trade-off an abundance of good, available medical care for an illusion of security so that we can keep our wide screen TVs, our cell phones, our expensive cars, our boats, and the other toys of our luxurious lifestyles. There are dangerous things in this bill and we can't just listen to the media and the politicians. For example, it is now being reveled that it will be illegal to have private medical insurance.

Oh sure, they say that you can still have private insurance. But the text appears to be only allow people who are already insured to keep that insurance. Nobody else would ever be allowed to get a new policy.

Who gets to make the decisions about what medical care you receive? Right now its you and your doctor and your insurance company. If you want to pay with cash, it can be you and your doctor. The most an insurance company can do is say, "We won't pay for that procedure." but they can't prevent you from paying for it. The government can.

Sure, doctors make mistakes. Insurance companies screw up and take advantage of people. Universal health care will not fix these mistakes. People are people and they will make mistakes. But, you can always sue them. When the bureaucrat makes a mistake, can you sue the government? What are the chances of you winning when you have to go before a judge (a government employee) to testify against the government?

Have you seen the bureaucracy you will have to navigate if you have a problem should the House of Rep pass the current "health care" plan? Its a nightmare. And you thought dealing with government workers down at the DMV was bad.

In all that mess, who will be making the choices of what care you get? If we have learned one thing it is that the "party of choice" doesn't really want you to make your decisions. They want to tell you what to eat, what to drink, which doctor to see, which treatments you can take, what you can smoke and not smoke, which drugs you may take, which schools you must send your kids to. As long as you choose what they deem as wise, you have freedom to choose. Do you really think they are going to let you have choice when it comes to your medical care?

To be honest, I feel a bit despondent about the who issue. I feel powerless. I did my part and voted and lost. This is what people think they want. I just hate that I have to suffer because of their poor choices. With a solid majority in the House, a filibuster-proof Senate, and rhetoric-filled, substantive-less President, we will have "Universal Health care."

Just remember, when it came time for the Good Samaritan to "love his neighbor as himself" he lovingly and voluntarily reached into his own pocketbook and paid for the medical care of the beaten Jew. He didn't use the power of his vote to force someone else to pay for it. Its not charity if it is comes from taxes. He was his "brother's keeper."

Are we rich?

After picking up Lannom's medicine at Adam's Drug in Millbrook, we drove by the now vacant Food World building on our way to Wal-Mart. The following conversation took place between me and Mihaela, my 5 year old.

Mihaela: Why did they close the Food World?

Daddy: Because the company went bankrupt.

Mihaela: What's bankrupt?

Daddy: That's when you don't have any more money left.

Mihaela: Wal-mart has money.

Daddy: Wal-mart has LOTS of money.

Mihaela: When you have lots of money your are rich, right?

Daddy: Yes.

Mihaela: Are we rich?

Daddy: God has blessed us beyond anything we can imagine.

Mihaela: So, we're not rich.


I laughed and laughed. No pulling anything over her.

Sermon Slides: Respect (plus 1 extra)

Don did a series on Character Traits. One week he spoke about Respect. So, here are some scripture slides I created to go with that theme.

Romans 12:10

Photo by Penny Mathews found on Stock.xchng

1 Peter 2:17

Philippians 2:3

Here is one that I did for our baby day that I haven't posted yet.

Psalm 22:30

As always, click on the thumbnail to get a full-size copy.

Crashes lead to use of Chrome

I have uninstalled FireFox from my computer for a while. My laptop has been crashing with erratic and random errors. According to the response from Microsoft when I submit the error report, it is a device driver problem. So, I contacted DELL who had me run all thier diagnostics from the utility portion of the hard drive. That diagnostic came back clean, so they say it is a software problem and recommend reinstalling the OS and all apps.

I do not want to reinstall the OS and all my apps becuase of a) the time it takes and b) the cusomizations I have done and c) its a brand new computer with a fresh install of everything.

Things I've done:

1) Ran memtest86 the complete test several times. All RAM comes back clean.

2) Ran Microsoft's Memory testing application, the complete test. Comes back succesful.

3) I've scanned for viruses, malware, and spyware using 3 different applications. None found. (no suprise since I am very keen on ensuring that I don't get that stuff).

4) Run two registry cleaners to ensure that there are no registry problems.

5) I have scan disked and defragged several times

I've noticed that it crashes the most when FireFox, Photoshop and Media Shout are all open. But there is no correlation there because it has crashed when none of those are open too. Anyway, it didn't start crashing until after I loaded FireFox. Earlier, I uninstalled and reinstalled FireFox. Now, I have completely uninstalled FireFox, deleted all its directories, and cleared the registry of all things FireFox and have switched to Chrome. We'll see if that helps.

If you're interested. Here is a log of all the crashes. Maybe you can see something that I am missing.

Also, fwiw...I use a program called Super(c) from eRightSoft to convert media. It works like a charm on my old computer. Everytime I use it on the one that is crashing, I get an error message that reads:

Runtime Error!

Program c:\progra~1\eright~1\SUPER\spk\1strRun.exe

This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information.

If i try to convert a file, this dialog box begins popping up every two or three seconds. It will pop-up a new dialog box faster than I can shut them down.

I have already uninstalled Super and re-downloaded it and reinstalled it to no avail. I unistalled it again. I did contact thier support, but never recieved a reply (which doesn't surprise me since its a free program).

My gut says the two issues are related.

Toto's "Africa" like you've never heard before...

This is an incredible piece of work. The Perpetuum Jazzile choir does an acapella version, complete with sound effects that will knock you socks off...

I'd hate to be the sound guy, though...that's a lot of microphones to keep up with. I do like the mic stands...

Destined to repeat it...

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." - Cicero, 55 BC

No more floods

Torrential rainstorms have been sweeping across southern Alabama. Its been raining for days. As we stood by the back window watching the deluge of water rise in our backyard, Mihaela (age 5) quips: "Didn't God say there would never be any more floods?"

Thus, the questioning of God's power and authority begins...

Ravi Zacharias Quote from Yesterday

This quote has been going through my mind since yesterday. Ravi is talking about Hosea and shared a story of how his brother had an arranged marriage. Ravi asked his brother about how that would work and his brother said that Love is about the will.

Ravi replies with: "Marriage without emotion is a drudgery; without the will, marriage is a mockery. You need both."

I think this is a big problem for so many marriages. People forget that True Love is a combination of both feeling and a single-minded determination. I still get goosebumps and tingly about Erin. There are also times where I have to ignore my natural inclinations and react in understanding and servitude because that is what is best for our marriage.

There are no scratches

Every Saturday morning I make pancakes with the kids. Mihaela is an expert egg-cracker and beater. Anyway, this morning I opened up the fridge and we were out of Bisquick. I mentioned it to the kids and Mihaela asked "How are we going to make pancakes?" I told her we would just have to make them from scratch.

We pulled out the old Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book found the recipe and went at it. When I served the first batch, Mihaela said, "These don't look like pancakes." I replied, "Yes they do. They are round and tan on both sides. They look just like our regular pancakes."

She said, "But you said these would have scratches. There are not scratches."

Is that Heaven?

While helping my mother-in-law prepare her house to sale, Erin found an old video of some commercials that her father had done 15 or so years ago for a church he was preaching at. Erin's father passed away about 15 months ago, so she wanted to watch the video to hear his voice and remember him.

In the commercial, Gary is spoofing a popular, local car commercial. So, he jumps out in front of the church wearing a crown and in a loud, car commercial voice, talks about the "deals" one gets at his church. Its very funny. If I had a Dazzler I would digitize and upload it.

Anyway, Erin plays the video and Mihaela sees it and yells in her childish excitement, "PAPA!!!" She then turns to me and asks with wonderment, "Is that heaven? Is that his crown?"

Needless to say, we teared up...

My no good, very bad Sunday

The alarm blared through the sweet nothingness of sleep. I awoke and immediately took in the ambient sounds of drizzling rain peppered with distant beats of thunder. To most people this is not the kind of day one jumps out of bed. Rather, it looked like the kind of day to curl up in front of a warm fire with endless cups of coffee and good novels. However, its Sunday. I have a job to do. A job I love doing. Managing the tech portion of Sunday worship awaits. I jump out of bed and get ready.

It is a typical Sunday morning getting 3 children ready for church. Actually, its a little better than typical. There are no arguments about clothing choices. For the most part the children respond to directions with a sense of urgency, accomplishing their morning tasks of eating breakfast, getting dressed, teeth brushed, hair done, etc... The rain never ceases. Claps of thunder send Lannom (age 2) to my arms as he laughs and says its "scawy."

We make it out to the car in the rain and get to church. Getting kids, computer, bags, and Bibles loaded up in the rain is not pleasant, but manageable. We get to church. The first ones there, as normal. I love being the only one in the church on Sunday mornings. Its relaxing. Its peaceful.

The whole family has jobs to do to get ready for the sound check and video check. We each do our tasks, setting out microphones, turning on equipment, powering up monitors and projectors. Its a finely tuned dance. All is going according to plan.

The first problem crops up when Erin attempts to test the Media Shout script. The script runs, but there is something wrong with the display. It will flash the graphic for about 1/2 a second and then go black until the next cue is fired.

Meanwhile, I have started Media Shout on my laptop because I need to move my announcement script from my computer to the worship laptop and integrate it with the worship script. Problem two arises. When Media Shout starts on my laptop, it immediately begins running the announcement script, on my Primary (and only) display. It takes over my whole screen. I can stop the show, but I can't get to the script or the GUI to tell Media Shout that I want to run in Single Screen mode. See, I had last worked on the announcement script when I had 3 displays running. I had put the management GUI on screen three (to my left). Now, I was at church where I didn't have 3 screens, nor did I have my hardware to make 3 screens. Media Shout was running from screen 3...that I didn't have access to.

I attempted several things to force my computer to ignore the multiple displays to no avail. However, I couldn't focus on that problem. I had to fix the worship laptop. So, I went over and got that working. Not sure what it was, but a reboot and ensuring snug cables solved the problem.

Back to my laptop. After 40 minutes, several reboots, several End Tasks, and monkeying around in the Display Properties, and the ViBook software, I was finally able to force Media Shout to my main (and only Display). I quickly threw some scripture slides into the script and packed it and transferred it. I usually do all this Saturday, but I had been too busy. I can guarantee you that the packed script will be on my USB drive before Sunday morning from here on out.

As all this is going on, the preacher's notes for service arrive via email. Service starts in one hour and the notes are just coming in. Also, one of the other staff members approaches us and wants us to add a picture of the preacher on his wedding day because they want to rib him about turning 40. Also, the video that will be shown during the sermon has just arrived and needs to be incorporated into the script and sound checked. So, with less than one hour to service starting, we have a lot of work to do. While all this is going on, we have two people being trained for working the Tech Team. Erin is attempting to teach Andy how to do all this. He suddenly looks like he is considering "un-volunteering."

Anyway, as the announcement slides roll, I see the one about turning your cellphones down. I remember that I haven't turned mine to vibrate and pull it out of my pocket. I notice I have a little message icon. I check my text messages and it appears that at 1:59 AM, I had received a text notification that my database server at work was down. Nothing I can do about it right now. I have to get the stuff for church done.

As service starts and everything is running smoothly, I establish my VPN to work and attempt to start troubleshooting my crashed server. For some reason, I can't remote desktop to any of my machines. My computer is ignoring my LMHOST and HOST files and returning strange external IP address whenever I try to connect via a host name. I try to connect via IP addresses. I can finally get into some machines, but not the database machine. It appears as if I am going to have to go in to the office. Looks like I will be foregoing my nap today.

After church, I help Erin get the kids home. We feed them. We put them down to rest. I drive 30 minutes in the rain to go to work. The database server is completely locked up. I can't even log on via the console. I then spend 3 hours working on that problem. A failed hard drive in the mirror had caused the crash. After getting the machine back up and verifing the integrity of the data, I went home.

No more problems the rest of the day.

How to destroy a Republic

You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

Dr. Adrian Pierce Rogers (September 12, 1931 - November 15, 2005) of Love Worth Finding Ministries, Pastor Emeritus of Bellevue Baptist Church.

Hey, Obama Supporters. Don't forget this:

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.

~ Thomas Jefferson

Fools, Fools, Everywhere there are Fools

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.

~ Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

Churchill Does it Again

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
~ Winston Churchill

Government Responsibility

As a parent who has been changing diapers for 5 years now, this one really hits home:

"The government is like a baby’s alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other."
~ Ronald Reagan

The Greatest American Writer

No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
~ Mark Twain (1866)

There is no distinctly native American criminal class… save Congress.
~ Mark Twain

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.
~ Mark Twain

More Ancient Wisdom

OK...so 250 years isn't that big of deal. What about a quote from around 430 B.C.:

"Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you!"
~ Pericles (430 B.C.)

Government doesn't change

IN 1764 (Yes...that's around 250 years ago), Voltaire said:

"In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other."

The cost of Health Care

A local radio commercial is promoting itself with a Limo ride to lunch for you and 10 co-workers. They end with something akin to "and you thought there was no such thing as a free lunch." Every time I hear it I yell at the radio, THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH. THERE IS ONLY FREE TO YOU!

Somebody is paying for it.


If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free!
~ P.J. O’Rourke

Morality of Socialism

Slavery is morally wrong. This is is an absolute truth that both conservatives and liberals can agree on. Even those who don't believe in absolute truth would say that there is never any circumstance where slavery would be ethical.

What is slavery? Well, slavery is what happens when a person (the slave) is forced to work for another individual (the master) and the benefits of that work are given to the master. Generally, the master is part of a social group that makes up the majority of the population while the slaves are comprised of a group of people that make up the minority of the population. Traditionally, those groups have been delimited over either racial (ethnic slavery) or gender lines (all the woman are slaves).

I contend that socialism is a form of slavery. The mantra, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" merely changes the lines that distinguish the master from the slave. In this case it is "economic slavery." The majority (those with needs, the poor) use the political force of a democracy to compel the minority (the "rich", those with abilities) to give the majority the benefits of the labor of those with abilities.

In this kind of socialistic framework, the poor (the masters, the majority) vote in leaders who pass laws that allow for the government to legally deprive the rich (the slaves, the minority) of their income (the benefit of their labors). That income is then given to the poor either directly in cash payments (welfare, tax credits, etc...) or indirectly by providing services to the poor (Section 8 housing, Medicare, "Universal" health care, etc...).

Sure, the majority (those with needs) do not see themselves as slave owners. They would be appalled to think they are on the same moral plateau as 19th century plantation owner. Therefore, they build reasonable sounding arguments to defend their "rights." What's funny is that so did the 19th century plantation owners. They had lots of good sounding arguments that made them feel like they what they were doing was just, moral, and even benefited the slave.

Now, one of the defining traits of a great society is its view of the downtrodden. You can judge a civilization's morality based on how it cares for those who are in need. So, I do believe that those who are able to help others have a moral obligation to give to those who are in need. I just think that it has to be voluntary. A society that enslaves one group of people to take care of the those in need is just as immoral as a society who ignores the needs. You can't use an immoral tactic (slavery) to address an immorality (not taking care of those who need help) and still be moral.

So, the current course of our nation is one that legally allows the majority of the people to benefit from the work of a few. One hundred and fifty years ago our nation defined itself as a society that would not tolerate slavery. Today, we need to remember that.

The Gipper's WIt

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

~ Ronald Reagan (1986)

What would Jesus do on Spring Break?

A few weeks ago Erin came home and all excited said, 'You have to hear this new group I just discovered.' She proceeded to play "Amazing Grace" by El Divo really loudly. She was excited and passionate. I didn't share her enthusiasm. Yeah, it was good, but she interrupted what I was doing (bathing the kids) and I didn't want to hear the songs right then. We got into a little tiff about it when I asked her to turn it down and she became offended. However, as she has continued to play the music in the background over the past few weeks, I have begun to appreciate it and really like it.

I think that all Christians need to read this account of an evangelical, spring-break, mission trip that is completely ineffective. I've been uncomfortable with this style of "Evangelism" for many years, but have been unable to put a rational argument behind that feeling. Its a little long, but take the time and then come back here.

I think the same principles as my story with the El Divo music are true with Christians who "evangelize" in this nature. They are are excited and passionate; but they are interrupting people's lives. So, instead of being open to appreciate what may be a good message, people are put off. What is more effective is a long-term, quiet exposure to a person making a good will effort at living out a Christian life.

Christians need to remember that Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth." Salt is good in little doses. These people are dumping a whole shaker into the pot and ruining the meal.

He said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." Light does not pursue, it attracts (as any moth will tell you). A Christian who wants to make an evangelical impact in the world needs to just live a quiet, unassuming, service-filled life.

Finally, Jesus said, "When I am lifted, I will DRAW all men to me." Notice, once again, the idea is that people will be attracted to the message of Christ.

I think we made a wrong turn in our ideas of evangelism. We have misconstrued the Great Commission and have idolized Paul's methodology over Jesus'.

I can't think of one account in the Gospels where we see Jesus running down the street chasing after people who are not interested in His message. We see Him sitting on a hillside or in the temple and people crowding around him...attracted to Him. 21st century Christians need to stop emulating Paul and start emulating Jesus; then they may actually become effective evangelists this way.

Government as Literature

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.

~ Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

The Maturity of Government

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

~ P.J. O'Rourke

Democracy Good?

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.

~ James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Shaw Quote

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

~ George Bernard Shaw

Liddy Quote

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.

~ G. Gordon Liddy

Churchill Quote

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle .

~ Winston Churchill

Lannom's New Friend

Erin relayed a story to me that she was told by Lannom's teacher at mother's morning out.

The boys go to day school 3 days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Monday a new boy joined the two-year old class. Lannom behaved like any two year old and basically ignored the new kid. However, on Wednesday and today as soon as the new boy came to class, Lannom ran over to him, gave him a big hug, grabbed his hand and walked the new kid to a seat next to him.

Lannom's teacher said it was the sweetest thing she has ever seen. She said, "I didn't ask him to do anything like that." She also mentioned that in her 15 years of teaching two-year old children she has never seen something like that.

It seems that Lannom has a friend.

Mark Twain Quote

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself.

~ Mark Twain

John Adams Quote

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.

~ John Adams

The defiance starts

Lannom turns two at the end of this month. However, he has had a rough couple of days with daddy.

Last night while he was in the bathtub he started scooping up water with his measuring cup and pouring it out of the tub. I told him to stop and to keep the water in the tub. He then, scooped up some water, looked right at me, and dumped it out on the floor. He was, of course, instantly disciplined. For the rest of the night he was as obedient as could be.

This evening while at the dinner table he started spitting out his milk. I told him to stop. Once again, he took a big drink of milk, looked right at me, and let it dribble out his mouth. Oh was I mad. He was disciplined. My mother-in-law was over having dinner with us and even she commented that the look of defiance in his eyes as he spit his milk out was clear.

So, it looks like we may be entering the terrible twos a few weeks early. The poor kid though, doesn't know what he is up against. Daddy don't play.

Sadder but Wiser

At close to 36 years old, I am a fuddy-duddy. I value the characteristics of a by-gone era. That is why I love this editorial by Thomas Sowell on the subsidization of homeowners in trouble. The author hits on two "old and trite" notions of that by-gone era:

1. saving for a rainy day
2. sadder but wiser

Good read.

Best quote:

Even in an era of much-ballyhooed "change," the government cannot eliminate sadness. What it can do is transfer that sadness from those who made risky and unwise decisions to the taxpayers who had nothing to do with their decisions

Snowing...in March...in Alabama

It is snowing. Its is March in central Alabama and we have snow. A good snow too. They are nice, fat, fluffy flakes with enough moisture to stick to everything.

Mihaela and Noah are so excited. Mihaela has only seen snow a few times, and I think it has been two or three years since she last did. I don't think Noah has ever seen it before. They are running from the front of the house to the back of the house, amazed that both the front yard and backyard are getting snow.

It is sweet as they discover new items that are covered in snow. "Look daddy, the slide is covered in snow." "OH MY!!! Your grill has snow on it." "The cars have snow all over them." "It is snowing in the Thompson's yard too!!"

Noah grabs Mihaela's hand and drags her to a window..."Look, sister...its all over the trashcan"

Siblings Love/Hate

Noah is being so sweet to Lannom right at this moment. He gave Lannom the toy he was playing with, without being asked for it. Lannom walked over to some books and Noah asked him, "Do you want to read?" Picked-up the book and started "reading" it to his brother. It was touching. It was sweet. There was an ambiance of the purity of love.

However, I know this will end. It won't be more than five minutes and it will turn into a screaming, toy-pulling, crying, whining mess that will require parental oversight. Siblings are funny that way. Love to hate in eight seconds flat.

Nobody can love you quite like family can. Nobody can hurt you quite like family can. The indelible truth is though, no matter what...you are still family.

I have a friend who is struggling with a decision to leave his church and associate himself with another congregation. As he has spoken to me, I have had no words of wisdom for him; for I too have walked his path of pain.

After watching my own two tonight, I feel a deep stirring of thought that in the family of God, brothers and sisters can go from Love to Hate in eight second flat. Nobody can love you quite like your family of God can. Nobody can hurt you quite like your family of God can. But, the indelible truth is though, no matter what...you are still family.

Ten Commandments

This was a really fun series to do. The first challenge, of course, is determining which commandments are the 10 commandments. The lists which are commonly known as the Ten Commandments are given in passages in two books of the Bible: Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 (compare side-by-side at BibleGateway.com).

If you count each "imperative statement," then you will quickly see that there are more than 10 commands. A little research shows that different religious backgrounds have parsed the commandments in different ways. I struggled with whether to follow the Jewish tradition or the Evangelical tradition. In the end, I went with the evangelical.

Commandment 1

Commandment 2

Commandment 3
I was stumped on how to illustrate this one for several weeks. I finally had a brainstorm and was able to find this picture.

Commandment 4

Commandment 5
This is one of my favorite designs. I played with a few things to get this to work.

Commandment 6

Commandment 7
Handling lust in a tasteful way is always difficult.

Commandment 8

Commandment 9
I actually wanted a picture of person taking an oath. But I couldn't find a good high quality (free) graphic to do that.

Commandment 10

Covenants of God

The "religious tradition" of the church I attend is one that promotes the taking of the communion each week. Our church used to have one of the men share a short devotional thought and then pray over the emblems. I enjoy this practice because it gives me a chance to publicly speak/teach in a manner that I don't often get to because I am no longer in full-time ministry. However, a year or so ago, the leadership began requesting that men only pray over the communion and not share a devotional.

Being passive-aggressive I have come up with a round-about way to still share a message. When it is my turn I use my announcement slides and my prayer to share an insight. So, for this one, I wanted to talk about how God's covenants and how communion is a symbol of the covenant relationship we have with God. Each of these slides bring remembrance of God's faithfulness to the people He has made covenants with in the past.

As I prayed, I mentioned each covenant and the fulfillment of that covenant as a testimony to God's faithfulness.

Genesis 3:15

Genesis 9:11

Genesis 12:2

Genesis 22:15-18

Exodus 19:4-6

Psalm 89:3-4

Matthew 26:26-28
I didn't actually use this Matthew 26 one. After I made the slide, I found this one and thought it was much better, both execution and with my theme.

Pre-Election Scriptures

These are series of scripture slides that I did right before the election. All of these scriptures remind us that God is ultimately in control of the affairs of government, not us.

Romans 13:4

Daniel 2:21

Proverbs 21:1

John 19:11

Colossians 2:9,10

I Peter 2:13,14

Scripture Slides Catch Up

Its been awhile since I have uploaded scripture slides. So, we are going to play "catch up" over the next few posts. First, I will put some "miscellaneous" slides here. Then, I will do some other posts for a few series I have completed.

As always, click on the picture to access a larger resolution version. FWIW, I downloaded the Google Photo Screensaver and changed the settings to point to my directory of scripture slides. Now, when my screensaver kicks in, it loops through the scripture slides.

John 1:3,4

Ecclesiastes 7:16-18.jpg
This was from a series that Don did entitled a Balanced Christian Life.

Proverbs 30:8
Another slide dealing with living a life of moderation.

Genesis 1:2
This verse talks about NOT being moderate or balanced, but living your life to an extreme. A nice contrast to the other two.

Who Baptized Jesus?

I absolutely love 4 years old children. They say the funniest things. Conversation snippet from last night:

Mom: So, what did you learn about in Bible class?

Mihaela: Jesus got baptized.

Mom: Oh. Who baptized Jesus?

Mihaela: John McCain

Get Your Old School Photos

Everything is on the Internet...if you know where to look. This website is amazing. They actually have class photos from a ton of schools in the world.

I was able to find most of my photos. They don't seem to have the DoD schools, so none from when I was in Germany.

Anyway, give it whirl...it's amazing the database they've got!