Wherein Facebook, family, friends, and providence pave the way…
On October 2, 2010, after 87 years of a sometimes difficult and often blessed life my father passed away.
During the months before his death, and after, I was in frequent contact with my mom and we were trying to figure out how I could raise the money to take a trip to New Mexico. Several times my mom encouraged me not to come yet (because I could only come once if I could raise the funds), and then my father passed. At the time of his passing, literally the weekend I learned about it, our minivan broke down on the highway.
Back in 2007 and for part of both 2006 and 2008 I was unemployed and we had a zero-income
Wherein I get to announce news that hasn't officially been announced only because somebody else beat me to it and, well, it's no longer news, now tell you what I've been itching to say for the past [undisclosed amount of time] because the news has been embargoed till now. Whew!
Update 10/28/2008: This post has been updated with information from the October 28 Muskegon Chronicle news story. See below …
Update 11/07/08: ChristianityToday.com interviewed Zondervan CEO, Moe Girkins, on the recent acquisition of the Bible Gateway and Gospel.com. See: "Why Zondervan Bought BibleGateway.com: CEO Moe Girkins wants to take the site beyond just verses. iTunes-style commentaries, anyone?" (Interview by Jeremy Weber)
Ever since Gospel Communications announced the closure of their Internet division and Web-hosting ministry (as I noted
Wherein I lament the passing of one of the Christian Web's greatest and most popular Websites.
One year ago I interviewed for a job at Gospel Communications. There was an opening for a training specialist and I happily made it through the various rounds of interviews and reference checks. In the end, I was invited to Muskegon to visit the offices of GospelCom in order to give a trial-run 15-minute presentation to Brian Atkinson and his team of intrepid Web wonks. There were two other applicants before me, also giving presentations, showing their mad training skills. I didn't get the job.
At first I was both disappointed and pleased. I did a fair enough job with my presentation that I was invited (and paid!) to give a followup, expanded presentation at last year's
Wherein I reflect on gay marriage and just a wee little bit upon marriage itself. Please note, I really have no business writing this stuff. But I just don't have the sense…
Okay, so during my one-hour drive home from work a couple days ago, I was listening to public radio and heard a story about a woman who was undergoing a divorce from her spouse — another woman. (Turns out it's as hard to get a legal gay divorce as it is to get a gay marriage in some states. That's why the story…)
Partway through her narrative, this lady described how, after the wedding, she and her lover stopped at a homey little restaurant for dinner, mentioning that they had just gotten married. A few minutes later the server delighted them when he arrived with compliments from the chef and
A few days ago, a friend from an Assemblies of God-oriented discussion group raised an interesting topic. Since I haven't posted much here for a while, I thought I'd share my thoughts and joyfully invite your comments.
The Good Pagan
Carissa wrote:
« I think, and this is a lay person's humble opinion, that a person can live a good moral life without knowing Christ as Savior. »
Amen, Carissa!
It's a sad myth among us Christians that people can only act "good" by knowing Jesus when, in fact, Christianity is proof of the fact that good behavior is possible while not helpful at gaining eternal salvation. When the rich young ruler came to Jesus, he was not condemned by Jesus for bad behavior. The young man, in fact, kept all the commands since childhood. He said as much and Jesus, knowing
Wherein I describe my first day on the job after a harrowing 14-month unemployment ordeal.
So, there hasn't been much news on this blog lately, mostly because I've been busy, I've been distracted, and I've been unemployed. Somehow, not having a job makes me less productive in my blogging alter-life. Go figure.
Here's the news: I've been hired!
I didn't want to spend a lot of time talking about interviews and possibilities and potentialities, getting hopes up, and boring you with my uneven work possibilities. But after leaving Tennessee just before Christmas, I contacted Zondervan for a new open position I'd found on their website: Senior Editorial Manager. I expressed my interest.
Then I moved. Jennifer and the kids and I packed up and moved to Muskegon to live with my father-in-law while we sorted things out, worked on selling the house, and licked
So, it's been a wee little while since I last posted. Some of you have contacted me via email to find out what's happening and to be sure everything's okay. I appreciate that -- I really do.
So I was sitting here tonight with pretty much nothing to do except wait for the Super Bowl to begin and I thought I'd take the time to post a brief update via my little four-year-old PDA.
Here are the highlights: We are all nicely settled into my father-in-law's home. I have a nice little private space in the basement where I can pay bills and work at a desk. (This is important because since I lost my job back in 2006 we've gotten behind in some bills. We haven't totally caught up yet, but my recent two month's of full-time employment really helped.) I've spent several thousand dollars in the past keeping creditors happy
First off, I apologize for not spending much time in this space over the past couple of months.
If you've followed my blog activities (and inactivity!), you know that on October 22, I accepted a position as marketing and media director at one of the Assemblies of God's 100 largest churches. I was thrilled not only to have a job but to be in a position that required top-notch creativity and performance from many areas of my skill site — and many areas I was eager to acquire new skills in.
As marketing and media director I designed several promotional and in-house printed pieces, I wrote press releases, I worked with vendors, I approved and gave guidance for the video and broadcast editing (though not much of that because
Wherein my wife and I describe a day without meds, without sleep, and concluding with a horse tranquilizer. For AJ, that is.,
Intro
So my son has a pretty severe case of ADHD. And lest you nay-sayers pooh-pooh that notion, let me say that even when merely undermedicated both his pediatrician and psychiatrist remark that his is one of the more extreme cases of hyperactivity they've ever seen. Yet when properly medicated with methamphetamine salts he's calm, collected, and controlled. (Mostly.) When completely off his meds? He's a a wildcat on crank. But once in a while, even under meds, AJ will space out for a few seconds and lose time, lose his thread of thought, and just stare off into space. When he resumes he carries on with whatever catches his attention first. The docs thought,
Wherein I opine on the culture war between Christianity and those of homosexual persuasion, and their supporters.
So, breaking news, San Fransisco is a gay-friendly town. Oh, more breaking news: Chrisitanity is anathema to a sinful lifestyle. And it's an easy target for sinners.
So the 24th annual hedonistic fetish event, San Fransisco's Folsom Street Fair (wiki definition), created a poster playing off da Vinci's "Last Supper." Instead of tableware, there are sex toys. Instead of Jesus and his disciples, there was "Sister Roma" and " "half-naked homosexual sadomasochists" (WND). And, of course, there were sponsor logos.
The fair is scheduled for September 30, three days from now.
Predictably, the Christian community at-large has recoiled in disgust and lashed back with angry diatribes and calls for apologies. The poster, itself, has been labeled an "unprovoked attack against Christ and His
As previously noted, this is my week for presenting at GospelCom's meetup: "The Internet Ministry Conference."
I successfully captured audio for today's presentation: "Relationship Blogging." So as soon as I can get my audio editor software working, I'll upload it as an mp3 file, and I will also upload a flash version of the powerpoint file for your enjoyment as well.
I don't think there was any video of this presentation, so I'll spare you that!
Stay tuned for details.
Tomorrow I'll be giving my "Integrity on the Internet" presentation. The presentation has been updated from my earlier 1998 version. Hopefully It'll go well!
More later. But, meanwhile, for all who were interested in the books I mentioned, see:
I recently received an email note from a friend. She wrote:
"I am curious if anyone knows of some Christian articles dealing with internet flirting or cyber sex … I just can't seem to find anything that I can relate to or identify with, and I know that there must be some other folks who have encountered the same thing."
Not just a guy thing …
Indeed, there are a number of articles online dealing with this issue. Reviewing them reveals something interesting, if not downright scary. Pornography usage and cybersex traditionally have been viewed as a "male problem," because men are thought to be more easily excited by what they see. But now women are at risk too.
Hey, I thought I'd give you, my faithful readers, a chance to let your voice be heard.
Give me a call at my voicemail number:
(630) 524-2255 (You get three minutes, unless you call back for more.)
Leave me a message on, say … anything! I'll review the messages, delete any that are inappropriate, and the rest? Well, I'll feature them right here on this blog.
So, here are some suggested topics for you to opine on:
What do you think about the recent resignation of Rev. Thomas Trask as the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God? This is the first time in our history a sitting Superintendent has resigned before his term was complete.
Over the last few weeks I've noticed the amount of search engine queries landing on this site have shot heavenward for Carlton Pearson. The searchers have typed:
As far as I can tell, Carlton Pearson's "badness" quotient has gotten no worse than when I wrote my semi-definitive exploration of his doctrine of inclusion back in early 2006: "Carlton D. Pearson: The Charismatic Bishop of Heresy." I've read that
The Rev. E. Thomas Trask, General Superintendent of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, has announced his resignation. I will prepare a report with more details soon. Really. I will.
Well, really, I'm more tortured, than artistic. And it may be argued that the artistic is more artifice than artful. But I try, nonetheless.
Folks who don't know me well (meaning just about everybody) don't realize I have this creative half that doesn't wield its powers in the company of friends and coworkers until long after we meet. In fact, not knowing myself as well as I ought, even I remained largely unaware of this need to create until the beast was unleashed during my final year of high school. My more "public" facing personna tends to be bookish, I suppose — and there's a good reason for that: I'm rarely without a book. Even in good company.
I try not to post too many things close together, but I was too excited about this to let it slide without posting.
No, I didn't get a job.
Tonight I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. At first I thought it was a reflection off the rim of my eye-wear. Then I thought, Wait, is that a spider dangling in mid-air? So I looked, and I saw what I at first thought was the hugest arachnid I'd ever seen clutching the wall of my house.
But, no, after I stopped screaming hysterically (at least, in my head), I looked more closely, adjusted my spectacles, and realized I was seeing a beautiful dragonfly.
I gently encouraged the little critter up on my finger and, cupping my hands
For the second time in my short life as a blogger, I've been meme-tagged by an evil blogging compatriot hoping to provoke me into playing a silly blog-tagging game, generating more content, and generally surrendering to mass hysteria.
Okay. I'm in! But only because I'm a sucker for attention. And because, like the "One Book Meme," this question interests me, and I like it.
By the way, I was tagged by Carl Thomas over at the Revival Blog who, believe it or not, actually got a touch snarky with me in his post. This is a bit like playing touch football, only instead of being touched, or tagged, or merely pushed, you get a wedgie:
Rich — If he completes it, (remember that "imminent" post on Ted Haggard
Back in May of 2006, while in the employ of Christianity Today International, I was asked to do a little something for my boss, Kevin Miller, a CTI vice president and leader of the Resources division.
Kevin's a great guy, a good friend, and an excellent manager — a true joy to work with. When his 20th anniversary at CTI came due, we wanted to do something to poke a little fun at him while still honoring him for his 20 years of service.
CTI took a huge risk asking me to put anytng together, knowing my style of humor (many waited with bated breath and crossed fingers, dreading the final result, and eagerly looking forward to the entertaining train-wreck it was sure to be). Who's great
The light of the Church on Earth is a bit dimmer today, but the chorus in Heaven is that much more joyful.
Statement by the President Regarding the Death of Ruth Bell Graham Contact: White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 202-456-2580
WASHINGTON, June 14 /Standard Newswire/ -- the following is a statement by the President regarding the death of Ruth Bell Graham:
Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of Ruth Bell Graham, a remarkable woman of faith whose life was defined by her belief in a personal, loving, and gracious God. She was an encouraging friend, accomplished poet, and devoted mother of five and grandmother of 19.
Ruth's marriage to her husband Billy was a true and loving
From international to household warfare, roadway to classroom outrage, and mortal to financial loss, such stories reveal our fallen, human propensity to sin.
The cause of these impulsive, sinful outbursts is no secret: When we want what we cannot get, we lash out.
Last week saw a milestone pass in our house: AJ enjoyed his very first last day of his very first year of schooling. He has now officially "graduated" kindergarten.
Never having parented before, and having no memories of Kindergarten myself (I never went, scofflaw that I am), I didn't realize there was actually liturgy for Kindergarten graduation. Maybe this is something we only do here in the Midwest. Or maybe it happens all over the world and I've been clueless for 39 years. Probably the latter.
I think milestones are important to celebrate — even if there's no real par-tay and spiked beverages involved. I mean, we really don't do these things well in
On October 2, 2010, after 87 years of a sometimes difficult and often blessed life my father passed away.
For the second time in my short life as a blogger, I've been meme-tagged by an evil blogging compatriot hoping to provoke me into playing a silly blog-tagging game, generating more content, and generally surrendering to mass hysteria.
Every day, headlines assault us with troubling news. These recent titles from a local news website are just a small sampling:
