Rob Bell on faith, suffering, and Christians - Articles of Faith - Boston.com

Rob Bell on faith, suffering, and Christians - Articles of Faith - Boston.com

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ArkansasVarsity.com - Ark. player ends game with noble gesture

Not a bad story

ArkansasVarsity.com - Ark. player ends game with noble gesture

The man who hated hunger - The Boston Globe

The man who hated hunger - The Boston Globe

Norman Borlaug

I never heard of this person until this article.

He sounds amazingly smart and committed to humanity and his faith.

The sight of Americans suffering from hunger “left an indelible imprint on me,’’ he later said, and instilled in him a smoldering “hatred against hunger and misery and human poverty.’’

But Borlaug had seen too much of hunger ever to be cowed by such censure. The complaints of his well-fed Western detractors would vanish, he said, were they to spend just one month among the world’s poorest and hungriest people. Man may not live by bread alone, but he must surely die without it. Because Norman Borlaug lived, hundreds of millions of human beings were spared that terrible fate.

Love Your Political Enemies: A Response to Jimmy Carter’s Comments on Racism - Valerie Elverton Dixon - God’s Politics Blog

Love Your Political Enemies: A Response to Jimmy Carter’s Comments on Racism - Valerie Elverton Dixon - God’s Politics Blog

My favorite part is this

Christianity is a hard religion to live. We do not tell people this when we open the doors to the church and invite them into salvation. It is easy to talk the talk of being saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost. But it is difficult to walk the walk, to turn the other cheek, to walk the extra mile, to give up coat and cloak, to pray God’s blessing upon people whose actions are hateful. It is difficult to pray that God will walk with them and demonstrate God’s love and presence in their lives. I cannot do this in my own power. I can only do this through the power of God’s own Holy Spirit.

Grace and Peace!!

How Many Uninsured?

The exact number of Americans who lack health insurance has been in dispute. But debates about this miss the bigger point that, even for many who have insurance, the system doesn’t work. Steve Doocy of Fox & Friends makes this mistake:

Currently, 90 percent of all Americans have got some sort of health-care coverage, which means they are effectively blowing up the system for 5 percent. [1]

Never mind Doocy's fuzzy math. (100 - 90 = 5?) Even if it were true that 90 percent of Americans had "some sort of health-care coverage," that wouldn't mean that their insurance was adequate, affordable, or good enough quality to keep them in good health.

Tell Steve Doocy to check his math and check the facts—Americans don't have the health coverage they need.

Here's Amy's story, which shows why having "some sort of coverage" leaves many people feeling trapped and needing to fight for the coverage they've paid so much money for:

As a person with an "uninsurable" chronic illness (multiple sclerosis), I am very invested in how the health-care system impacts on my life. I live in fear that someday I will lose my very good—and very expensive—coverage and become unable to pay for my very good—and very, very expensive—medication. I currently pay a $4000 deductible to receive medication which costs $4000 a month.

I feel fortunate to be able to pay what I have to in order to be able to get this treatment. It means that I can continue to work full time and continue to pay taxes rather than being on disability and being a burden to other taxpayers.

Right now I am poised to have a successful private practice. I hope to provide quality mental health services to children (an underserved population). However, I am unable to leave my current job because I cannot buy insurance and I cannot go without health-care coverage.

I become very frustrated when I hear some of the arguments against health-care reform, such as, "I don't want government in my business." In the meantime, your insurance company is very much in your business, and not always with your best interest in mind.

My insurance company refused to pay for my prescribed medication because I had not filled out a survey which basically asked if I had any other insurance (I do not). This particular refusal to pay went on for several months, was rectified, and then started again in the new fiscal year.

As a mental health provider, I have also done battle on the other side, working many extra hours to get insurance to pay me for services the client is entitled to under their policy.

I know that, for me, the current system is fraught with fear and headaches. Why does this expensive, elitist, and discriminatory system garner such loyalty? Please look into facts, versus rumors, and overcome fear of change. Take it from the uninsurable. Reform needs to happen.

A 9/11 Prayer: Leonard Cohen’s ‘Democracy’ - Ryan Rodrick Beiler - God’s Politics Blog

A 9/11 Prayer: Leonard Cohen’s ‘Democracy’ - Ryan Rodrick Beiler - God’s Politics Blog

A very inspirational Song. Listen carefully to the words or better yet read them.

Doctor has common-sense fixes to healthcare crisis -- latimes.com

Doctor has common-sense fixes to healthcare crisis -- latimes.com

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Watch the video first then read the article.

This final statement got me, "I've even had breast cancer survivors in here today," Collins said, telling me that despite the risk of recurrence, the women hadn't been able to manage regular checkups."

We should all be ashamed.

Looking for common ground in Glenn Beck country -- latimes.com

Looking for common ground in Glenn Beck country -- latimes.com

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This article is very funny from the person who brought us the Soloist

President Obama's Words of Wisdom at ASU

President Obama's quote as reported from ASU Commencement Address

"Building a body of work is all about . . . the daily labor, the many individual acts, the choices large and small that add up over time, over a lifetime, to a lasting legacy. That's what you want on your tombstone. It's about not being satisfied with the latest achievement, the latest gold star -- because the one thing I know about a body of work is that it's never finished."


Prepared Text of Speech:

In all seriousness, I come here not to dispute the suggestion that I haven't yet achieved enough in my life. I come to embrace it; to heartily concur; to affirm that one's title, even a title like President, says very little about how well one's life has been led - and that no matter how much you've done, or how successful you've been, there's always more to do, more to learn, more to achieve.

But here's the thing, graduates: it works the other way around too. Acts of sacrifice and decency without regard to what's in it for you - those also create ripple effects - ones that lift up families and communities; that spread opportunity and boost our economy; that reach folks in the forgotten corners of the world who, in committed young people like you, see the true face of America: our strength, our goodness, the enduring power of our ideals.

What a great way to look at life?

I can't wait to share with my children this important point.

Rick Reilly Does it Again

Check this article out:

Life of Reilly
No ticket, no problem. Some lucky D-backs fans got a free pass.
by Rick Reilly

Kaylea Hunt
The Diamondbacks honored Eric Robles (second from left) with season tickets.

The following column appears in the April 20 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Here's a scoop for you. The Diamondbacks are flagrantly violating MLB rules. They're a pro team, and yet they're giving out full-ride scholarships. Been doing it for two years now!

Not to their players. To their fans.

It's an idea D-backs CEO Derrick Hall came up with at one game when a season-ticket holder who'd lost everything, even her car, introduced herself. She told him a fan in her section had bought her two season tickets for the rest of the year, even picked her up every game and took her home. And Hall thought, "Why don't we do this for our fans?" So he asked fans to send in applications for scholarships. Soon, his e-mail in-box was swamped.

My 13-year-old nephew is a huge fan. He is a really good kid but gets bullied for his need of dental work and lack of "designer" clothes. Baseball is his outlet. No one can see him underneath that catcher mask. His family has always struggled, and recently his father got laid off. He'd love to go to a game. -- Michelle

Michelle's nephew, who preferred not to be named, didn't get a ticket to just a single game. He's going to all 81, along with his parents, brother and sister.

Arizona put 18 families on scholarship.

"He went crazy," says his dad, an unemployed electrician. "He kept yelling, 'Are you kidding me!?!' And he put the letter from the D-backs up on his wall. He's such a good kid."

Next question: Anybody know a big­hearted orthodontist?

I'm a single mom of two amazing little boys. For the past two years [we've] been struggling to pick up the pieces after my [husband and I split abruptly]. We lost our house, our car and had to sell mostly everything we owned. I do not make enough to make ends meet, and my ex-husband is behind in child support by $20,000. [Editor's note: Daniel Lombardi's wages are now being used to pay down that debt.] I would really love to take my boys to the games and give them some enjoyment. -- Tami Lombardi

Derrick Hall called to tell Ms. Lombardi that she was getting not only three season tickets but free parking, $400 in food vouchers and spots for her boys in a Diamondbacks players' clinic. Will that do?

"It was so awesome," she gushes. "We never miss a game on TV. Now we get to go!"

Even better: Her ex is a huge D-backs fan. Choke on it, dude.

All told, the D-backs put 18 families on scholarship -- 41 season tickets worth nearly $100,000 -- and every one of their stories would make your knees give. There was the daughter whose softball-playing mom broke her leg sliding into second, couldn't work and is now losing her house. There was Beth Godfrey, who was fighting leukemia. She won tickets but died soon afterward. Now those tickets are being donated in her name to charity.

One mom nominated her firefighter son, Breezy Morago, who broke his leg playing football, then rebroke it when a Jeep hit him while he was riding his bike, then burned it fighting a fire. Oh, and he lost everything when his own house burned. He gets a pair of tickets. Maybe he'll be safe at the ballpark.

My favorite, though, might be this one:

I couldn't raise my three children without my young brother. He drives my son to all of his baseball games, picks up my sick kids, takes them to movies, helps with homework, always lends a hand. What 20-year-old single guy does this and is still a full-time student and holds down two jobs? My brother Eric! Ever since he was little, he has had season tickets on his Christmas list. Year after year it goes unanswered. This year I ask you to consider my sweet brother Eric, the Greatest Uncle. -- Carol Stuart

Like nearly every winner, the Greatest Uncle, Eric Robles, didn't know what his sister had done. When he found out he won, "It was five minutes before it hit me: I have season tickets!" Robles says.

And in a what-should-I-Twitter-about-myself-now? world, why would a young guy be so selfless? "Well, I know what it's like when your parents divorce. It can be hard. Moving. Splitting up from their dad. I wanted to make sure nothing happened to the kids."

He spends most days three feet off the ground now. In fact, on the season schedule, he has circled in red the games he's going to.

A co-worker was looking at it and finally said, "Eric, every game is circled."

Exactly.

Hey, pro, don't want to be a role model? It's not your choice.

I took this from the web, but it should be required reading for every professional athlete prior to their first game!!!

by Rick Reilly

Courtesy Christopher Hamlet

Jake meets John Elway.

This is a story I want to tell ALL athletes who think that what they do, how they act, the little kindnesses they give or withhold from fans don't matter.

It'll take only a minute.

My wife, Cynthia, was adopted. At 36, she found half her biological family on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana. Turns out she had four half brothers, one named Lil Bob, who was as big as a tree.

Lil Bob, a bar owner, could pick a man up with one hand and throw him out the front door. He was gregarious and funny and always seemed to have his son, Jake, hanging onto one of his huge legs. Unfortunately, he was also a full-blown alcoholic. Many were the days that started and ended with a quart of Jack Daniel's, although you could never tell.

In size and in heart, Lil Bob was one of Montana's biggest Broncos fans. His hero was John Elway. He joked that he wanted to be buried in an Elway jersey, with pallbearers in Elway jerseys, and an Elway football in his huge hand. His one regret was dropping out of school in eighth grade, ending his football career. His one dream was to take Jake to a Broncos game. Sometimes on the reservation, the dreams come small.

Last March, Lil Bob's liver failed. One awful hospital day, Jake, now 13, walked up to the bed, took his dad's head in his hands, put his mouth to his forehead and told him he couldn't go yet. Told him he needed him to stay and take him to a Broncos game. Stay and watch him grow up and play for the Broncos.

Lil Bob's death, a few days later, seemed to send Jake into that shapeless, black sinkhole where boys go when their best friend is gone for reasons they can't understand. "I tried to talk to him, but he was closed to it," says Jake's mom, Lona Burns. "He started doing bad in school. Kids picked on him. Every day I fought him just to go. His grades dropped. He didn't even care about going to football practice, didn't want to play."

Thirteen-year-olds don't meet gods.

Worse yet, since the day Lil Bob died, Jake hadn't cried.

And then, this past October, one of Lil Bob's best friends — a restaurant owner named Christopher Hamlet — decided to make good on an unfulfilled dream: He bought two plane tickets, packed up Jake and flew to Denver. Jake was finally going to a Broncos game.

As locals, Cynthia and I took them to lunch at one of Elway's restaurants so Jake could see all the jerseys and photos. The kid was so excited he hardly ate. And that was before a certain Hall of Fame QB walked in, all keg-chested and pigeon-toed. Immediately, Jake turned into an ice sculpture.

We introduced them, and it took a few seconds before Jake could even stick out his hand. Apparently, 13-year-olds are not used to meeting gods.

Elway took the time to sign Jake's football and pose for a picture. He even made us all go outside, where the light was better. Then, as we said goodbye — Jake's feet floating a foot off the ground — Elway turned and said, out of nowhere, "Hey, why don't you guys come by the box today?"

And the next thing Jake knew, he was in John Elway's luxury box at the game, asking him any question he wanted, all with a grin that threatened to split his happy head in half.

Then Elway said, "Comin' to dinner?"

And suddenly Jake was having his lettuce wedge cut for him by the legend, who tousled the kid's cowlick. Like a dad might.

Halfway through the night, a guy came out of the bathroom and said, "Are you guys with that kid? Because he's in there talking to his mom on the phone, crying. Is he OK?"

Yes, Jake would be OK.

"Jake came back a changed boy," his mom says. He started climbing out of that hole. He started making A's again. Started loving football again. He told his mom, "When I make it to the NFL, I'm going to buy you a big house in Denver so you can come to my games."

And I ask myself: Why did Elway do all that? Maybe because his late father, Jack, was his best friend, too? Maybe because his own son, Jack, went away to college last fall? Or maybe because that's how he is. In my 26 years of knowing Elway, I've never seen him turn down an autograph request, a picture request, a "Can I just tell you something?" request.

A lot of athletes don't want the burden that comes with being a role model. But what I want to tell them is: You don't get to choose. You don't get to tell 13-year-old boys with holes in their hearts who can help them heal.

I know it's a hassle, but it matters. Because you never know when you might just lead a kid out to where the light is better.

Love the column, hate the column, got a better idea? Go here.
Want more Life of Reilly? Then check out the archive.
Be sure to check out Rick's latest project "Go Fish."

A Football Game Gives Hope-

The best five minutes you can spend.

Are You a Good Leader?

A must read Businessweek article on what being a leader means:

The five fundamental principles of ethics:
Do No Harm,
Make Things Better,
Respect Others,
Be Fair , and
Be Loving."

I would probably reorder, but the principles are sound.

The Outline is this:

By Bruce Weinstein, PhD

1. WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GANDER IS GOOD FOR THE GOOSE.

2. KNOW YOUR PRODUCT.

3. WINNING (AT ALL COSTS) IS FOR LOSERS.

4. TELL THE TRUTH.

5. PREVENT HARM.

6. DON'T EXPLOIT.

7. DON'T MAKE PROMISES YOU CAN'T KEEP.…..

8. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR MISTAKES.

9. PEOPLE, NOT PROFITS.

10. BE KIND, NOT KING.

Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D. is the corporate consultant and public speaker known as The Ethics Guy. He has appeared on "The Today Show," "Good Morning America," "Anderson Cooper 360," "American Morning," and many other national television shows. His column, "The Ethics Guy," appears every other week on businessweek.com/managing/.

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Rob Bell- Grace and Peace

Two great sermons to end his series on Philippians:

The first goes into great detail about the Divine Accountant understanding of God and how it really is the trinitarian relationship we need to have in all our relationships. VERY VERY POWERFUL

The second sermon goes through the entire series as only Rob can. Beautiful, poetic.
GRACE AND PEACE

Two Churches Battle it out..See the Signs! (Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?)

Two Churches Battle it out..See the Signs! (Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?) funny blog link

A Butler Well Served by This Election

Please read through this entire article. Real Life Real People to whom the election of Barack Obama means so much!!



My prayers are with Gene Allen today.

Articulate Reason to Believe in Obama

Brain McLaren has written a brilliant analysis of why he is voting for Barack Obama. I believe in the same narrative interpretation of why Obama is a better solution or America

Randy Pausch, Known for his "Last Lecture," Dies

I saw this on Friday, and I felt very sad. I am in the middle of finishing his book, and I can only say what a very insightful man he was. The world was better off for Professor Pausch being here!!!

The Final Injustice

Bush to leave a record budget deficit of $482 billion

Why I Support Barack Obama

I have been asked by a lot of people recently why I support Barack Obama, and I honestly struggled for a reason. The same way I struggled to explain why I believed in Bill Clinton. I read both their books and there were a lot of ideas in both. To many ideas to explain in two or three sentences.

I cam across this web site today that I will point people to going forward. This is why I believe and Support Barack Obama

Court Overturns Gay-Marriage Ban

I have to admit I am a big proponent of pictures telling a thousand words, so take a look at the sign and the couple. I can't imagine their overwhelming joy

Grace & Peace!

Microsoft Joins One Laptop per Child

Finally a reason to like Microsoft

Rob Bell Answers Critics

Please see above above for anyone wondering what Mars Hill is about. The whole sermon was 50 minutes long, but it is no longer available on line

Catch of the Day Bill Buckner Edition

Catch of the Day

Confessing is easier than forgiving
by John Fischer

Someone turned me on to some old news today, at least old to some. Apparently the Boston Red Sox began their home opener a few weeks ago by having Bill Buckner through out the first ball. Yes, that would be the same Bill Buckner who became the goat of the 1986 World Series that the Red Sox lost to the Mets. It usually takes a whole team to blow a lead, but because Buckner made the last error -- the one that allowed the winning run to come home for the Mets in the ninth inning of game 6 -- he got the brunt of it for the last 22 years.

I know enough about Bill Buckner to know that his life didn't grind to a halt after that. He settled in somewhere in Idaho with his family where he is a successful businessman who coaches his son's little league team and teaches Sunday school class in the local Baptist Church. When you've had a career as he has, you learn to take the low points along with the high ones. Life is like that. Every infielder that has ever played the game has had numerous balls roll under his glove and die in the outfield. It happens to the best of them, and Bill Buckner was one of the best. His career stats rival a number of Hall of Fame players, but Buckner will never see the Hall of Fame. And he's okay with that.

I know this because I have heard from someone who is a fellow Christian and goes to Buckner's church -- the same friend who passed on my article about him, "Thank You, Bill Buckner!" (http://www.fischtank.com/ft/articlesdetail.cfm?articleid=5) and collected an autographed baseball for me in return. He says that Buckner has made peace with his 22-season baseball career, and only hopes that the grilling he took from the media and the city of Boston hasn't discouraged some kid from trying for fear he might screw up. I understand that. Was that error the low point in his life? Not even close. That would be when his dad died when Billy was only 14.

So what was that 4-minute standing ovation the Boston fans gave him a few weeks ago all about? I really don't think it was for him. It was for them. With over 20 years and now two world championships between them to ease the pain of that lost Series, the city was ready to acknowledge how silly the whole thing had been. So what's the bottom line on all this? Confessing is easier than forgiving. Bill Buckner has been just fine for the last 22 years. Poor Boston is only now beginning to heal.

Forward this catch

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Copyright © 2008 by John Fischer

If you would like to comment on this "Catch of the Day" go to www.fischtank.com/ft/inthetank.cfm.

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Olivebranch Interfaith Peace Witness 03/07/08

Olivebranch Interfaith Peace Witness 03/07/08

Please watch

Giving the Poor a Means to Work

Giving the Poor a Means to Work

A great article and idea!

A Very Good Reminder for me


At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."

Then he told the following story :

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning , Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

How ever, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second bas e, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay"

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, " the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world".

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!


We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the "natural order of things." So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

Barack Obama Iowa Caucus Victory Speech

Barack Obama Iowa Caucus Victory Speech



GREAT SPEECH

HOPE is Alive!!

Additional video that tells the story of his life. Very Inspirational

A New Perspective on Leadership:How About Leading With Love?

A great summary article on an interesting concept that a business leader who is loving can be very successful. sounds good to me as I subscribe to the theory that love always wins.

Randy Pausch's

I haven't even watched the lecture yet, and i already have tears running down my eyes. This man sounds like the kind of person I hope to become.

I first heard about this when was reading a technology article that talked about his wonderful speech.

Little did I know what kind of impact Dr. Randy Pausch was having worldwide

Read the article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119084081673940375.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Watch the video here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=362421849901825950&hl=en

ABC News Story on it: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/TenWays/story?id=3680950&page=1

Love Conquers All

I came across this while surfing today. It is from a book by Jim Palmer titled "Wide Open Spaces"

My favorite is: Christian living is an overflow of God's love in me. What a great way to go through life think that way.

Jim Palmer says it this way, "...how love altered my understanding of God and my relationship with him and others."



Before: God is synonymous with religion.
Now: God is synonymous with love.

Before: Christianity is a belief system.
Now: Christianity is a school of love carried out in apprenticeship to Christ.

Before: God hates sin because it disgusts him.

Now: God’s motive for hating sin is love. Sin causes hurt and suffering for me and others.

Before: I primarily experience God through religious rituals and acts of obedience.
Now: When I am experiencing love, I am experiencing God.

Before: Christian living is trying harder to be more and do more.
Now: Christian living is an overflow of God’s love in me.

Before: My source of love is outside myself and I’m dependent on others to supply it.
Now: My source of love is within me and while I enjoy the love of others, I’m not dependent on it and can freely love others without the expectation of receiving love in return.

Before: I am created in God’s image, which means I have the capacity to make rational choices and exercise my free will.
Now: I am created in the image of perfect love, which means love is the core of my identity and I can choose love.

Before: The main thing is getting people to adopt my beliefs about God.
Now: Loving people creates desire within them to know God.

Before: Somewhere out there is God’s purpose for my life and I must find it.
Now: At every moment, God’s purpose for me is to be love.

Before: Being “in love” is some temporary euphoric guy-meets-girl experience.
Now: Being “in love” is walking in the conscious awareness of and dependent on God’s love in me and as me.

Before: Tough love is withholding love from others as a means of disapproval or attempt to bring change.
Now: Tough love is loving others without condition, regardless of the result.

Before: The most powerful force on earth is hate.
Now: The most powerful force on earth is love.

$100 Laptop Goes into Mass Production

The One Laptop per Child group says the first XO laptops for use in schools will be manufactured by Quanta in October

This sounds like a great cause. The laptop will be able to run on, "Laptop batteries can be recharged using a rip cord, a crank, a pedal, a car battery, or solar panels - in fact, anything that can produce between 10 and 20 volts of electricity, Jensen said."

Hopefully this will enable children in developing nations a chance

From their vision statement, "Our goal: To provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves."

To give you an idea of the potential: OLPC said it has received orders for three million machines but refused to say which countries are involved.

May God bless their efforts!!!

Water find 'may end Darfur war'

I pray that the article above is true, and that it can end the conflict. Water will be in the future the source of many conflicts similar if not worse than oil.

Wonderful Christian sentiment

Below is well stated plan for all Christians to follow if we are to be the light of the world!!

Catch of the Day

Help we all could use
by John Fischer

Yesterday's Catch about how depression, despair and struggles with sin are just as likely to happen after we become Christians as before struck a nerve. One reader mentioned how a minister suggested that her mother was dying because she didn't have enough faith to defeat the power of Satan. Another was told their son was born mentally challenged due to their sin. A number mentioned condemnation they had received from other Christians over struggles with depression. A single mom was being so hard on herself because her life wasn't measuring up to the standard of the Christians around her that she was considering taking her life when she read yesterday's Catch and it brought her hope. Over and over again, the issue of guilt came up. It's enough to make you cry.

Life is hard enough as it is, to not add the pressure of being good Christians to the burdens on so many backs. And what makes this even more tragic is that the added pressure is coming from the only true source of hope anyone has -- those who are ambassadors of the grace of God. When those who represent the unconditional love of God start laying down conditions for acceptance, love and understanding, where are the rest of us going to go? We need to come alongside each other and help -- no questions asked -- not run our spiritual Geiger counters up and down everybody's faith.

Imagine you are a single mom with three kids to drop off at school before going to your first day at a new job. On a slippery, rain-soaked street, you go into a slide and skid into an accident that all but totals your car. Compounding the problem is the fact that it isn't your car -- you borrowed it from a friend because yours needed to be fixed and you didn't have the money yet to fix it. So in fear and trembling you call the owner of the car to let him know what happened, and all he wants to know are the answers to three questions: 1) Are you okay? 2) Are the kids okay? 3) Do you have enough money for a cab? Yes, yes, and yes, you say. Good, he says, then get on your way, lady. You have an important day ahead of you and you can't let this stop you. Leave the car, I'll send for a tow truck. Now be off, and God be with you.

What happened there? 1) No judgment. 2) Help. A lessening of the load, not another burden. 3) Encouragement with dignity. Now that's the kind of help we could all use!

And Karen offers this final word: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior." Habakkuk 3:17-18

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Copyright © 2007 by John Fischer

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You don't know what you've got

Wednesday, May, 30, 2007

by John Fischer How fast the mind works, especially when it imagines the worst. Any parent knows this. My wife still counts heads every time a siren goes off. And it doesn't seem to matter how old your kids are. It still happens. Our 28-year-old son is currently living in a room we built into the garage. Even though it is separate from the main part of the house, we see him a lot because our office and an extra bathroom are also there. Plus, he loves us and checks in often. One morning last week when I went over to use the shower, I noticed the lights on and his bed made. That wasn't too unusual in that he sometimes sleeps over with friends, but then he usually gives us a courtesy call. What really got me going, however, was the fact that his wallet, keys and cell phone were all in his room, and his car was parked outside where it usually is. The only thing I could figure was that he was out jogging. And then it hit me. Why was everything so neat and in order in his room? Why didn't he come over and say good night last night like he usually does? Why did his room look like he never slept there? What if he hadn't? That would open up the plausibility that he could have gone jogging the night before and never come back. As soon as that thought entered my brain, I was a goner. A rush of what-ifs and their accompanying emotions flooded my head. The amazing thing was how powerless I was to stop this. It was like trying to shut off a faucet stuck in the "on" position with a broken valve. I could pray, but I couldn't stop the emotions. I immediately had him in the hospital or the morgue with no ID. Fifteen seconds later I was planning the funeral and wondering how to get my daughter back from Colorado. She'd be too distraught to drive. And it's amazing when this happens to you, how real it is. It seems like its really happening and the feelings seem like real emotions. All I know is that when I heard his voice talking on his cell phone later, while I was in the shower, a wave of relief came over me, and the hug I greeted him with later took him a little by surprise. I had been right to suspect a jog, and thank goodness it was a morning one. Joni Mitchell sang, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." To which I would add, you don't know what you've got until you think it's gone. You've heard this before, I'm sure, but we can never hear it too often. Hug the people you love today extra hard, and tell them you are glad they are alive. Every moment we have with someone is precious. Lord, wake us up to the value of our moments together. Copyright  2007 by John Fischer

I posted this in it entirety, because it says so much about our Love for those close to us. If we can extend that lover further and further each day what a wonderful world this could be.

Brian McLaren on Love and the Kingdom

Please check out this short talk from Brian McLaren on the power of Love and Jesus' message regarding love: