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

Forward this catch

Welcome to a number of old friends who just heard about the Fischtank! Though the Catch comes free each day, we do rely on the financial support of those of you who can take part. Find out how you can keep the Tank full and help this online community grow by clicking here.

Copyright © 2007 by John Fischer

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

To subscribe go to www.fischtank.com.

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:

Powerful message on Poverty

NBA Playoffs are now a Farce

As a devote Suns fan I watch in amazement as they came to life just in time to beat the Spurs on their home court in a game they had to have. What happened to Steve Nash was inexcusable and should have resulted in a playoff suspension for the player and a 1 or 2 game one for the coach.

Instead the league all but ends the Suns chances of winning a championship. Based on a rule that gives them the leeway to make adjustments if necessary. Is it fair that the Suns worked all year for home court advantage and it is taken away by a cheap shot and a bad rule.

The final straw was this statement by the NBA, "It's not a matter of fairness," said Stu Jackson, the league's enforcement czar. "It's a matter of correctness." What he meant to say was the dirty play of the Spurs will continue until such time as Tim Duncan retires or we find another team more compelling.

If there is any justice, Tim Duncan will foul out in the first quarter!!!

Rob Bell's Mother Day Message

Rob Bell was at it again. His ending is pure genius. He spoke of a great theologian who wrote something about Mary that he played for those assembled at Mars Hill. For those who were not there I post here the poem from the great theologian Bruce Springsteen.

Devils & Dust 2005		Jesus was an only son As he walked up Calvary Hill His mother Mary walking beside him In the path where his blood spilled Jesus was an only son In the hills of Nazareth As he lay reading the Psalms of David At his mother's feet A mother prays, "Sleep tight, my child, sleep well For I'll be at your side That no shadow, no darkness, no tolling bell, Shall pierce your dreams this night." In the garden at Gethsemane He prayed for the life he'd never live, He beseeched his Heavenly Father to remove The cup of death from his lips Now there's a loss that can never be replaced, A destination that can never be reached, A light you'll never find in another's face, A sea whose distance cannot be breached Well Jesus kissed his mother's hands Whispered, "Mother, still your tears, For remember the soul of the universe Willed a world and it appeared."
		Copyright © Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP)

I have listened to this sermon and I actually got chills down my spine when Rob talked about the failures in Rwanda in the late 80's. I had always assumed and blamed the people and the government.

I am amazed and somewhat frightened by his contention that the problem was that the entire Gospel was not taught to the 80 % Christian population.

When you hear Rob talk about it you definitely see his point. We took the easy way out. We told people that they could just be Christians by believing in Jesus and they would go to Heaven. We forgot to do the hard work by showing them what it meant to be Christian. To Love one another and the sanctity of human life.

We need to remember this Case Study, and press to teach the whole Gospel not just the Evacuation theology that all will go to Heaven, and that is what you should work towards.

The Power of Parishioners

A great example of how the Church reaches out to help those in need. Rick Warren's final thoughts can be summed up as lets just get it done!!!

The Power of Parishioners

Virginia Tech Comments

I thought these were very good discussion about the tragedy.

Sorrow that makes us better not bitter
Virginia Tech-What can we do?
When Violence Kills itself
The Silence of a murderers motherr

My prayers go out to the families of the victims and the family of the perpetrator.

Rob Bell Again

I found this tidbit in an article on Rob Bell Titled : Congregations tap power of their people


In January, Bell closed his conference with a dramatic display of a crowd's power to make a difference. He revealed that he had designed the no-frills conference to spend very little of the nearly $200,000 raised in registration fees.

After paying expenses for the meeting, Bell said, Mars Hill was donating the remaining $155,000 to programs to help poor people in Grand Rapids, bring clean water to schools in Rwanda and to expand a project providing small loans so poor people can start businesses in Burundi.

Bell told the conference: "Because you came here and paid a fee that you didn't think twice about paying, thousands of families will move out of poverty in Burundi next year."

The potential for this kind of religious reorganization is vast, he said.

"Let's aim this movement of people somewhere," he urged. "Let's focus the power of this thing like a laser beam and make a real difference in the world."

On Easter Sunday Mars Hill raised $250,000 for those same causes.

This is the type of Christianity I can feel proud of!!

Matthew 28-Rob Bell Style

I can't wait for each Monday to come ,so I can download the sermons from Mars Hill. What awaited me this week was more than I could have imagined.

Everything I had been thinking for the past 15 years came across through the speakers. Being a Christian isn't about following the rules. You make disciples by being Christlike not by making a sound argument.

My Favorite was Rob's point about we are already telling people about God, we just don't know it.

His great question was, What are you telling people about Jesus in your everyday life?

Great Book- The Only Road North

For anyone who has ever wonder what a calling from God is, and what to do when he changes the "Plan" this book is amazing.

A hard story about the loss of a brother and the mos unexpected time. A courageous young man who asks the tough questions, and comes out the other side as a modern day Job.

Does anybody hear/see the lost

Check out this video. It's worth it!

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Easter Message

Rob Bell's Easter Message is wonderful. He concentrates on the power of the resurrection. And for his critics, Yes he does believe, maybe more than anyone.

The "Influencers"

Who do you think are the two most influential Christian spiritual leaders today (in North America)?

1. Rick Warren xx
2. Joel Osteen x
3. T.D. Jakes
4. Joyce Meyers x
5. Jim Wallis xx

6. Bill Hybels x

7. Rob Bell x

Who do you think are the two most influential emerging Christian spiritual leaders today (in North America)?

1. Brian McLaren xxx
2. Rob Bell xxxx
3. Todd Hunter
4. Tony Jones x

Which two Christian spiritual leaders (in North America) do you think are most worthy of being influential?

1. Eugene Peterson xx
2. Ched Myers
3. Rich Nathan
4. Diana Butler Bass
5. Jim Wallis xx
6. Brian McLaren xx
7. Rob Bell xx
8. Richard Foster x

9. Obery Hendricks x

Which two churchy or theological blogs do you think are the most influential?

1. The Jesus Creed xxxx
2. Real Live Preacher x
3. Tall Skinny Kiwi xx
4. Jollyblogger
5. God’s Politics x
6. Beliefnet.com x

Which two churchy or theological blogs have influenced you the most?

1. Reclaiming the Mission
2. Leaving Munster x
3. Internet Monk x
4. The Kinglings Muse
5. Jesus Creed xxx
6. Dylan’s Lectionary Blog x
7. Conversation at the Edge
8. The God Hungry x
9. The Radical Pastor xx

Which two North American church communities do you believe are the most influential?

1. Willow Creek xxxx
2. Saddleback xxxx
3. Lifechurch.tv
4. Vineyard Columbus, Ohio x

5. Mars Hill-Grand Rapids x

Which two self-described emerging/missional (North American) communities do you believe are the most influential?

1. Solomon’s Porch xxxx
2. Mars Hill (take your pick) xxxx
3. Imago Dei, Portland
4. Vintage (Santa Cruz) x

5. Cedar Ridge Community Church x

Which two North American church communities do you think are most worthy of being influential?

1. Church of the Savior (Washington, D.C.) x
2. A Catholic Worker house…take your pick
3. Oscar Romero Catholic Worker, Oklahoma City
4. Koinonia, Georgia
5. Apostles Church, Seattle WA
6. Vintage Faith
7. St. Sabina (Chicago, IL) x
8. Mars Hill, MI xxx
9. the simple way, Philadelphia PA
10. Irving Bible Church x

11. Cedar Ridge Community Church

Mutombo uses NBA stardom to build off-court legacy

A great article on a true humanitarian

Dikembe Mutombo will in July open his Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center, named after his late mother, in Kinshasha, the capital of his African homeland. The facility is the culmination of a monumental, decade-long investment of Mutombo's time, energy and $15 million of his own money.