Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Matthew 24:23-25

Many Christian ministers today triumphantly proclaim doctrines about healing, sickness and the Christian that imply physical healing is an absolute guarantee in this life for anyone who places faith in Christ, especially, when faith is placed in what Christ accomplished on the cross. They teach that "healing is in the atonement"– that in the same way believing in Christ's sacrificial death immediately removes the guilt of sin by providing the means through which God forgives … [Link]

Calling all bloggers!

If you'd be willing to review Wild Goose Chase, email ccagney@randomhouse.com. You'll not only receive a free copy for yourself. My publisher is throwing in a giveaway copy as well. Please include your name, address, and a link to your blog.

So here's the math: 1 Blog Review = 2 Books.

It’s as simple as reviewing the book on your blog on or before the day the book releases, August 19. A limited number of books are available!

Chase the Goose! [Link]

That might be what some quarters of the left might be doing at the GOP convention, but it's the one that Moses talked to that got me thinking this weekend.

Our church is in the middle of VBS, and Eileen's teaching the second graders this week; since it's a night-time thing and I teach Monday through Thursday nights, I'm out of the loop other than to help set up her room with the cheesy Polynesian decor for the Outrigger Island (the Southern Baptist's official 2008 VBS) theme.

Anyways, she was working on the Monday lesson from Exodus 3, Moses and the burning bush. Let's review; here's the NIV take-

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of …

[Link]

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I am in the middle of moving, packing things up (including my computer), and just returning from a great 9 day vacation visiting family. I have to be out of my house by next week, so there will be no posting for a couple weeks as I get packed and then try to get settled. Hope to get back here soon. [Link]

This is today's afternoon update on the crash that killed Christopher Laurie in Riverside, California this morning. You may leave condolences at the site above or on the personal website of Pastor Greg Laurie.

[Link]

Finding Him Words like journey and process have come to mean much more to me recently than at any other time in my life. As a recovering fast food junkie, one trying to recover my health and live to see my grandchildren, I am coming to learn that there is value to those things that take longer to cook, than someone shoving a bag out of the window and saying, "Here's your food!" I suppose that we all at some point have experience fast food Christianity, you know, living in God's 10 items or less line, walking through the prayer line hoping that at the laying on of someone's hand all of your problems will end, the devil will once and for all be … [Link]

Stephen writes… Genesis, for all of its problems and provocations, says something about animals that is really unbelievable. Genesis says that animals were domesticated first before they became wild. The details of the text can be debated, of course, and many Christians do not take Genesis literally anyway, so the depiction of animals is easily read as a fable. But even as a fable, what do we do with the fact that Genesis gets the biological story exactly backwards? How can we possibly take Genesis seriously if its narrative structure is so wrongheaded?

I want to argue that Genesis actually gives us the clue to the secret history of the origin and fate of all animals. Animals were meant to be (in the language of …

[Link]

Seems there was a guy in Knoxville who was asking God for a “Real Experience” while in church. Long story short:  He fell.  He got hurt.  He is suing. True story.  Read it here. [Link]

Thursday and Friday we will be ministering to youth in Pattison Texas at New Life Beginnings Church with Pastor Brad Morgan. With all the obstacles we have faced this week, I know God is going to move mightily.

Saturday and Sunday we will hold revival meetings in Pattison. All our friends in the Katy/Houston area are welcome to join us! For more information call Pastor Brad Morgan at 281-802-8094.

Technorati Tags: revival, revival update, revival in Texas Holy Spirit outpouring

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Well, the summer is officially here, or at least in England anyway, though with our odd weather we cannot guarentee what we will experiecne over the next few weeks! But it is a good time to think ahead to next year and think about what events you are planning to attend. I will share a few of my personal picks. There are also a number of other Newfrontiers conference in different countries, why not explore their website and look for the country nearest you.

If you are looking for more or your tastes don't follow mine, Tim Challies also has a list of conferences. There are a some conferences still to come this year, but I have also listed some 2009 events.

August 2008
Newday - Older children … [Link]

I spent two hours signing a 1000 more bookplates for bookschristian.com last night. Let's just say that my signature looked more and more like a doctor's prescription! By the end it was virtually unrecognizable :)

Bookschristian is offering an autographed copy of Wild Goose Chase to the first 1000 pre-orders. [Link]

It's one thing to speak - it's another thing entirely to listen. Sometimes that can be hard, I know it can for me. But I believe I'm getting better.

When I struggle with listening, it's not that I am speaking too much (although most of us simply talk too much. James 1:19 states, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.") but that my mind is focused on a lot of various and different things.

We can always become more proficient at listening.

You might say, "I think I'm a good listener." But there is a big difference between hearing and listening.

We hear - but are we listening?

Many times I've heard Debbie or my kids, or someone at church say something - … [Link]

I'm steppin' away from the rat race for a few days for some renewal and recreation with the family, so thunder will fall silent for a while. Steppin' away from the race means I won't be able to catch the Brickyard 400; so, do me a favor, in my absence, and root for my man Jeff Gordon (de facto six time series champ), to win his fifth at Indy. In the meantime, check some of the sites on the sidebars, or one or two from the list below.

Tim Enloe Kansas Bob The Pizza Man Intellectuelle Sista Cala Nancy
Enjoy the reads, and the blessings of God. [Link]

This devotional was emailed to me today from Charisma +On-line:   Hour of Harvest

Today’s message is from John Arnott.

The scriptures clearly teach that a massive harvest will indeed come in supernaturally during the end times.

Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2, NIV). Jesus is saying here that the harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. The saints of God, the born-again church, are the ones called as harvesters, and we are to pray that God will raise us up.

Some do not hold in faith the expectation for this harvest. They are expecting things to get worse and worse. They …

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Really praying for wisdom today! I announced our protege program a few weeks ago. We got lots of inquires and applications. And we're meeting today to try to decide who we invite to come. We're only taking 3-4 proteges this first time around so it's going to be an agonizing decision because we have some amazing applicants. Feels like "final cuts" in football. [Link]

Yesterday and today the family spent time at Busch Gardens and Adventure Island. A good time was had by all who went.

Parks are not my thing anymore ~ and thankfully my kids are all old enough now to not care if I go or not. :-) (Bad part of that is…they are growing up! Fast!) Anyway, I had a quiet day just cleaning up around the house a bit and resting, which has been sorely needed in my life more than anything. I need to get a little stricter about my days off, upcoming, if possible because I can see that my body/mind needs them more than ever. And that means days off where I don't necessarily go anywhere or do anything, but just a …

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One of our major initiatives next year is going on ten missions trips as a church! We'll cast the vision this weekend as we launch our next series based on Acts 1:8.

I honestly believe that God will bless us in proportion to how much we give to missions! Praying we get a bigger and bigger heart for missions! And this little phrase keeps echoing in my spirit: grow more so we can give more! [Link]

I started twittering a little over a month ago. Absolutely love it. Until today! I discovered that about 300 followers mysteriously disappeared. It was like a twitter rapture!

I love the twitter concept. 140 characters. Little life updates. It's become my "mini-blog". But seems like their are some gaps in the technology. I'm no geek, but even I back up my information. The old save button!

If you want to follow or re-follow here's a link. [Link]

by Derek Gitsham

Then Jesus turned and saw them following
and saith unto them, what seek ye? They
said unto him, Rabbi (which is to say being
interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
He saith unto them, “Come and see.” John 1:38-39

Jesus turning around and seeing his disciples
following surprised them by asking them what
they were seeking. Impulsively they responded,
“Where do you live?” It was a strange response
but they did not know what to say, as they were
not expecting that question from Jesus.

The Lord’s response is beautiful. It is totally
uncomplicated, void of anything intellectual,
come and see. It is possibly the most simple of
responses that they could have heard from Jesus.
They were not put off, they were not rebuked for
being silly, just told to “come and see.”

So uncomplicated does the Lord intend our … [Link]

I want to continue talking about interpretive issues that we face when attempting to study the bible. Today, let's look at a passage found in Galatians chapter 6 as an example.

Gal 6:1-5
1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5 For every man shall bear his own burden. (KJV)

There is so much that could be … [Link]

My absence from the blog for the last few days was totally the result of being busy with other things and also, well, not having all that much to say (who woulda thunk it!). Back soon, though, so keep checking back, you hordes of eager In the Clearing readers! [Link]

Improving the Scenery
When I drive up to my house, I take note of the property next door. The landscaping is nicely done, the fence in good repair - in all, very attractive. On the other side of my house, it is a different story. The lawn is neglected, the edges are not trimmed, and a pile of discarded lawn furniture is dumped behind the house. What a contrast. These two little pieces of suburbia got me to thinking about my life. Do I live in a way that improves the scenery for those who notice when they pass by? Another way to ask that is, "do I live nobly?" That word, nobly, means to live gallantly, magnificently, and splendidly. Those noble by inheritance were … [Link]

Improving the Scenery
When I drive up to my house, I take note of the property next door. The landscaping is nicely done, the fence in good repair - in all, very attractive. On the other side of my house, it is a different story. The lawn is neglected, the edges are not trimmed, and a pile of discarded lawn furniture is dumped behind the house. What a contrast. These two little pieces of suburbia got me to thinking about my life. Do I live in a way that improves the scenery for those who notice when they pass by? Another way to ask that is, "do I live nobly?" That word, nobly, means to live gallantly, magnificently, and splendidly. Those noble by inheritance were … [Link]

Dave Walker has clearly been working hard as cartoonist in residence at the Lambeth conference. In this cartoon (part of his Lambeth series) he seems to have uncovered and portrayed Archbishop Rowan’s secret strategy for getting the bishops to talk to one another.

UPDATE: Ruth Gledhill confirms the story with real pictures of bishops queuing, not for dinner but for a bus.

But there have been no new cartoons since this one which was Monday’s. I hope that Dave hasn’t been so distracted by his legal issues that he has been unable to do any new drawing. He has at least managed to post direct from his mobile phone a picture of bishops marching in London this morning, with Rowan in the front row and the …

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What was the purpose of Jesus Christ? In Acts 2:22-24, the Apostle Peter offers a succinct answer to this question in his sermon to the Jewish crowd at Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost: Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. There … [Link]

This Sunday I plan to deal with the companion issues of finding God's direction and living in personal peace.

So much discussion centers around outward peace rather than inward. I believe the latter produces the former, not the other way around.

This video highlights the effects of personal peace through Christ in a very troubled part of the world, an Arab leading Jews in worshipping Jesus in Israel. [Link]

UPDATAE
Scott has made available an article which expands on this talk and includes other lists of characteristics that leaders have cited as being important in a church planter.



Thanks to the kind permission of Acts 29, I am able to share with you a number of videos of their recent DWELL Conference in London. I begin with one that is especially important for those of you who have come back from the conference excited, wondering what God may have in store for you. You can download the mp3 — or thanks to Google video (which has no time limits for its videos) you can watch the entire talk online below. My notes of this engaging and helpful talk by Scott Thomas follow.

You can ask yourself 20 … [Link]

Our neighbors had a 17-year-old dog, Hickory. I say had because while they were on vacation and the dog was being cared for at home by others, Hickory wandered off and has not been seen since.

It’s common for sick and dying animals to wander away. They separate themselves from their normal world and find a quiet place elsewhere to lay down and die. We all suspect that’s just what Hickory did.

While it’s a sad thing to lose a beloved pet that way, it’s even more heartrending when a person wanders off to die. When people wander away, it’s not usually to due to a terminal illness or decrepitude. Instead, they wander off to die emotionally or spiritually.

I’m sure if God gave me eyes …

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Karen writes… I grew up on a gentleman’s farm in rural Maine, the daughter of the daughter of folks who lived—literally—off the land. My father being a white collar businessman, we raised animals for food and companionship by choice rather than necessity. But we executed that choice knowledgably, responsibly, and—I think—biblically.

Though I tended then (and still do today) toward a romantic and sentimental affection for all of the animals we raised, I also knew the facts of life. I knew that Billy, the kid goat which came with the mother goat we purchased for milking would eventually reach our dinner table. I knew that the little baby chicks we brought home as eggs would wind up in our freezer–even Peeper, the little rooster I …

[Link]

One of the most impactful books I've read in a while is Jon Gordon's The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work. It's impactful because it offers practical tips on how you can shake yourself and your team free from the negativity that grips you. Try… [Link]

The story of how the SPCK bookshops were taken over by St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust, recently in the news, prompts me to this purely historical study of who this St Stephen the Great might be. I remembered only one thing, that he is not the biblical Stephen, the first Christian martyr. I thought I had remembered another fact, that he was a Serb like Radovan Karadzic, but it turns out that my memory was faulty.

It was hard to find good information about this St Stephen. I did manage to find the following transcription of Mark Brewer’s words from a video, but only courtesy of a Google cache as this is from one of the posts by Dave Walker whose deletion Mark Brewer seems …

[Link]

Bobby Jindal has written himself out of the VP race. That's probably for the best, since he's at least a cycle too early to be on the ticket. He'll be a favorite for the 2016 presidential nomination if he puts in two solid terms as governor and might be a decent choice in 2012 if we have to oust President Obama. One year as governor isn't quite enough to put him on the ticket, although I'll be surprised if we avoid seeing him on a ticket in the next dozen years.

Tim Pawlenty is getting some good press, but I'm not sure if he's the best pick for McCain. Obama fits Minnesota a bit too well and Pawlenty might not be enough to turn on …

[Link]

I was asking my publisher this week when Wild Goose Chase would go to press. I thought it'd be another week. Just got eight cases of books today! What a nice surprise!

Pretty sweet to hold the bad boy in my hand. A little surreal actually. You write and write and write. Then you wait and wait and wait. It's sort of like holding your baby for the first time. Not nearly as special or scary, of course. But it's the only way I can describe the feeling.

Wild Goose Chase will officially be released August 19. But you can pre-order now. Bookschristian is offering an autographed copy to the first 1000 orders.

www.chasethegoose.com [Link]

We recently sat at the dining room table eating eggs, biscuits and gravy for dinner. I encouraged Jeremiah to eat his scrambled eggs because, “eggs make you smart.” I often say this to him because eggs are in fact, good for brain function. [Or at least that's what scientists say lately.]

Jeremiah reluctantly took another bite then said,

“How can eggs make you smart? It’s not like they tell you something you don’t know.”

Copyright © 2008 GentleWhisper.com - By Amy Maxwell. [Link]

While I am always busy, it seems like lately that there has been an explosion of busyness and things to do. This week has presented some real challenges. There are conflicts to be dealt with (between church family members), offenses to overcome (between church family members)and problems to be solved.

As of this week, I am now the pastor of Stone Church.

I don't mind being busy, in fact I thrive on it, I feel I work best when the wheels are turning and every thing is in motion and things are moving forward.

However, after all of these years, I know I can't let my busyness keep me from meaningful conversations with God.

In data collected from over 20,000 Christians in 139 countries (though mostly in America) and … [Link]

It just dawned on me. Can't believe I almost forgot.

Eight years ago today I should have died. I went in for emergency surgery on my ruptured intestines. I was actually on a respirator for two day. So 07.23 is my second birthday.

It was the worst day and best day of my life. I have such a raw appreciation for life. One of the maxims in my next book, Wild Goose Chase, is live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Nothing like a near-death experience to change the way you live life.

Counting my blessings today!

Good to be alive! [Link]

A Pastor’s Kid Defined, originally uploaded by lofitribe. The above snapshot was snapped right after our Sunday morning service, at our spot in Lancaster City. [Link]

C.S. Lewis must be turning in his grave. His estate seems to have been taken over by the Telmarines, King Miraz and his people who in the novel and film “Prince Caspian” had taken over Narnia by force and banished all the little people and talking animals.

According to this news report, a little person, a child rather than a dwarf, and his father had perfectly legally acquired, by purchase, the domain name narnia.mobi, for use by the boy on his mobile phone. But “C.S. Lewis (Pte) Ltd.”, which owns the rights to Lewis’ work, objected to this as a breach of trademark. Now the purchasers have been stripped of narnia.mobi by force, by the “World Intellectual Property Organization”, which, according to the reports, failed even …

[Link]

A few days ago, our paper had a comic strip with the hear-no-evil, see-no-evil and speak-no-evil monkeys flanked by a fourth simian typing away on a laptop-"No one said anything about blogging."

One of the interesting things about blogging is that you'll write things about people that you wouldn't say to their face if they were in the room. In many cases, that's a safe assumption, especially for a small-fry blogger; if I were eviscerating a Paul Krugman essay, what's the chance that big-shot NYT writer will have my missives show up on his radar.

Conversely, I haven't done any punning that I know of on my pastor, David Head, and his last name. For one, he’s a fellow blogger and will link through when I …

[Link]

A server crash last night foiled my attempt at a post and the aftermath of that crash consumed what time I had dedicated to writing the post today, so a new post will have to wait.

In the meanwhile, I know you’re dying to check out something radical. While it may not be as theologically deep as a Cerulean Sanctum post, this will still blow you away. It did me. Make sure you check out the video.

Dictionary.comWikipediaGoogleGoogle imagesThe Free DictionaryWictionaryGoogle defineJoin exampleWordNetUrban Dictionaryrhymezone.comMerriam-Webs~ <>0 dwgifvzjourm

a2a_linkname="Hey Dan, Where’s the Post?"; a2a_linkurl="http://ceruleansa~ a2a_show_title=1;

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Hey Dan, Where’s the Post?

No tag for this post.

Related posts:

• No related posts.

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I’ve been intrigued lately with some things I’ve been reading about technical writing and technical writers. As far as I understand the job, you could almost think of it as a writing equivalent of “magician.”

A good technical writer has the ability to organize, categorize, and simplify jobs and equipment so those of us who barely know there’s a difference between CAT5 and CAT6 can understand and select the equipment we need. (I THINK those are two designations for some sort of computer network cabling — see, I told you I barely know the difference.)

In a braver, more desperate moment I once applied for a job as a technical writer. I’m pretty good at understanding and explaining complex tasks in simple terms. I’m a pretty …

[Link]

I grew up on a gentleman’s farm in rural Maine, the daughter of the daughter of folks who lived—literally—off the land. My father being a white collar businessman, we raised animals for food and companionship by choice rather than necessity. But we executed that choice knowledgably, responsibly, and—I think—biblically.

Though I tended then (and still do today) toward a romantic and sentimental affection for all of the animals we raised, I also knew the facts of life. I knew that Billy, the kid goat which came with the mother goat we purchased for milking would eventually reach our dinner table. I knew that the little baby chicks we brought home as eggs would wind up in our freezer–even Peeper, the little rooster I hatched myself …

[Link]

The majority of the MP3s from Together On A Mission are now available direct from the Newfrontiers Resources page, or from the following summary posts I wrote during the week.

Session Summaries

• TOAM08 - Stephen Van Rhyn - Prevailing Under Pressure (Daniel)
• TOAM08 - Mark Driscoll: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in Luke and Acts
• TOAM08 - Terry Virgo on Stephen (Acts 6-7)
• TOAM08 - David Stroud on 1 Samuel 14
• TOAM08 - Apostles and Prophets Together on a Mission
• TOAM08 - Mark Driscoll on the Missional Church
• TOAM08 - Mark Driscoll's Perspective On Newfrontiers
• TOAM08 - David Devenish - A Call to the Nations (Jeremiah 1)
• TOAM08 - Keith Hazell - Prophets and Prophets Together: A Fuller …

[Link]

Last week at the Creative Funding Forum, we had the opportunity to hear about a lot of innovative ways to build capital and raise resources for funding ministry, church plants, and compassion initiatives.

Session 5- Scott Bruegman, Red Rocks Church
Fundraising methods:

• 501 (c) 3
• Doing business as…
• Church Planting

Starting a church advice:

1. Have a deep appreciation of your burden
   -If you don't handle it well, you won't get anymore.
   -Have a deep appreciation for the way you spend money
2. Have a clear vision
   -How are you going to measure success?
   -When people give big, you have to say "thank you" big.
   -Never leave money on the table. Double or triple it.
3. Recruit a team you want to work for
4. Give yourself away
   -When you don't know what else to do, give yourself away.

Session 6- …

[Link]

Last week at the Creative Funding Forum, we had the opportunity to hear about a lot of innovative ways to build capital and raise resources for funding ministry, church plants, and compassion initiatives.

Session 1- Joel Hunter, Pastor of Northwood Assembly

• Joel and a group of investors have founded two separate LLC's to buy and lease homes and distribute their revenue into a fund to plant 125 new churches.
• Minds produce money. The lifestyles that people enjoy are only supported by
• their creativity and ability to create revenue streams and manage money.
• People don't want to give a check; they want to change lives.
• People are willing to give to your cause. Let them help you find a solution.

Session 2- Patrick Kucera, President Frontline Ministries

• We are too busy marketing the …

[Link]

Jon over at Stuff Christians Like has started a discussion about prayer… it’s a lighthearted conversation about how we begin and end our prayers the same way every single time. He ends his post by asking for readers to tell if they have a signature sign off.

At first I commented:

I am trying to get up the nerve to end my prayers like this:

“Thanks God, you rock!”

As an Army chaplain candidate leading prayers with fellow future chaplains of other military branches, I have decided to end with: “Hooah, Oorah and Amen!”

I only jokingly commented about how I ’should’ end my prayers. Now that the conversation has continued, I’ve thought about it a bit more. I guess I am rather repetitive in my …

[Link]

We only have one life. (Sorry all you reincarnation people). The truth is we go through life….once. This is your only shot. No second chances in "another life." We need to make our life count for Christ. We need to radically give it all to Christ, and then radically give Christ to others. Here are some questions the Holy Spirit asked me this morning to spur me forward. How would you answer?

1. Who is closer to Christ, or knows Christ because of my life?
2. Do I have a burden and feel a responsibility for lost or those out of fellowship with Christ?
3. Do I use prayer, as an excuse not to interact with people that need Christ? Using the excuse in our mind, "I prayed for …

[Link]

The Worship Community.Com (TWC) is a grass-roots community of worship leaders, artists, singers, musicians, and technicians from all over the world.

TWC was launched in the Spring of 2007 by Fred McKinnon, a worship pastor and small business owner. Fred has been involved in bring worship “online” for years, with the original HighestPraise.Com site that was offering free downloads of original worship music more than decade ago. He continues to blog about worship, ministry, and leadership each week at his site.

TWC launched with public forums for discussions about worship, technology, songs, and planning. A newer version of TWC launched in July 2008 with the new “e-zine” format including articles, how-to, reviews, featured videos, and interactive discussions.

One of the …

[Link]

I’ve only been on facebook for about a month. Loving it by the way! Great way to connect and reconnect. But I must be a creature of habit. I don't like the new facebook design as much as the old facebook design. I went to the new look and then went back to the old look.

Maybe I'm just old school. [Link]

**WARNING**
theology nerd post ahead

Recently, I have been very interested in ecclesiology (theology of the church). I think what draws me there is that it seems (at least to me) to be an intersection of many other branches of theology: Christology, Soteriology (theology of salvation), Pnuematology (theology of the Spirit), Eschatology (theology of the last days) and Anthropology (theology of humanity). I also get to pull in two other loves of my mind, history and future. I love reading and discussing how things were and then try to predict how things will be.

I recently bookmooched Jürgen Moltmann's Man: Christian Anthropology in the Conflicts of the Present (Fortress Press, 1971). Anthropology generally deals with the study of humanity and the relationship between God and humankind. It seeks … [Link]

Our Youth Group made the Lansing State Journal yesterday. Make sure to click on the photo gallery next to the article to see six pictures. [Link]

I have five major agendas right now.

I’m just sayin :O)

1) Learn to both promote/advertise myself better.

2) Learning to turn around work that I DO take in a more timely manner across the board. I do well with most of my projects…but it seems like I always have a couple that are late.

3) Travel more. I have a dream of occasionally editing out of an apartment in Rome, the Cayman Islands, London, Prague. etc.

4) Figure out my faith. I don't have faith in God right now as much as hope in God. I hope He's there. I still love the idea of Him/Christ/The Holy Spirit…but am struggling to experience Him in ways that aren't man made. This place is frustrating, refreshing, real…and scares the crap out …









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"The people who help us grow toward true self offer unconditional love, neither judging us to be deficient nor trying to force us to change but accepting us exactly as we are. And yet this unconditional love does not lead us to rest on our laurels. Instead, it surrounds us with a charged force field that makes us want to grow from the inside out - a force field that is safe enough to take the [Link]

Monday we went to Tarpon Springs with Kim, Dave and Lexi. We ate at Hellas, and then just walked around the shops all day and headed over to Howard Park afterwards to the beach to watch the sunset.

It was really beautiful. They loved it.

Yesterday they were all at Busch Gardens, but I chose not to go being that it's really not my thing and I would have just been a drag, quite honestly. I will never use the pass again and didn't want to spend the money, so I had a quiet day at home by myself…which is extremely needed right now.

As far as my situation I've been going through it actually just got a bit worse. I got a negative report …

[Link]

Intentionally?
“So, what kind of Christian do you want to be?" The question struck me as silly, at first. The more I thought about it, however, the more it made a great deal of sense. Planning is obviously important and valuable and we do it all the time. We plan for retirement, setting aside money, making investments, for the days when we will not be producing income at the same level as we do now. We plan vacations, buy plans for our new deck, plan which road to take to Grandma's house. But many of us make no plans when it comes to spiritual development. "I just let the Spirit lead," we say, excusing ourselves from disciplines of the Spirit that are vitally important!
The Scripture uses … [Link]

We explain what we do not know in terms of what we do. Consider the word horsepower. James Watt coined that term to market steam engines to people who relied on horses as beasts of burden. They understood how powerful horses were, so Watt explained how powerful steam engines were in terms of how much horsepower they were equivalent to. In Acts 2:16-21, the Apostle Peter used what his audience knew (Old Testament prophecy) to explain what they did not know (the disciples’ spiritual experience). Here is what Peter said: No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will … [Link]

In case the title of this post completely mystifys you and you have not heard of this group of Christians, I have written previously about them in “ What is a Reformed Charismatic?”

The phrase “1,000 reformed charismatic churches” has been going around in my head on and off for awhile now. Because several different applications of that number are running through my mind, I thought I’d share each of them with you here.

The first thought I had was simply this: although often considered to be a small minority, the number of reformed charismatics is increasing. I therefore wondered if there are now 1,000 reformed charismatic churches around the world? I suspect there must be. According to my interview with Terry Virgo, Newfrontiers is now nearing 600 … [Link]

This article from the Chicago Sun-Times notes that both presumptive major-party presidential candidates are superstitious and carry "lucky charms."

Do any of you see this compatible with Christianity, which they both profess to be?
Please throw salt over your shoulder before posting a comment.

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The Chase the Goose website is now officially up and running. We are t-minus one month till the book releases.

You can download a free sample chapter. And if you pre-order the book before August 19, you get a free download called 10 Steps to Setting Life Goals. One of the themes of the book is play offense with your life. Setting life goals is a practical application.

Chase the Goose! [Link]