One of the Irish musicians gave Bono guitar lessons when he was 10. Fun talking with him after the show. Guess the lessons turned out okay.about 3 hours agofrom web
Totally enjoyed an evening of Irish music and dance. They got me up on stage to dance. Ahhh.... Clem passed so it was up to me. :-)about 3 hours agofrom web
Amelia was sooooo cute this morning. Nana has her practice the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23[show]<div class="esv"><h2>Psalm 23 <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.esvapi.org/assets/play.swf?myUrl=hw%2F19023001-19023006" width="40" height="12" class="audio"><param name="movie" value="http://www.esvapi.org/assets/play.swf?myUrl=hw%2F19023001-19023006" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></h2>
<div class="esv-text"><h3 id="p19023001.01-1">The <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> Is My Shepherd</h3>
<h4 class="psalm-title" id="p19023001.06-1">A Psalm of David.</h4>
<div class="block-indent">
<p class="line-group" id="p19023001.10-1"><span class="chapter-num" id="v19023001-1">23:1 </span>The <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> is my shepherd; I shall not want.<br />
<span class="indent"></span><span class="verse-num" id="v19023002-1">2 </span>He makes me lie down in green pastures.<br />
He leads me beside still waters.<span class="footnote"> <a href="#f1" id="b1" title="Hebrew 'beside waters of rest'">[1]</a></span><br />
<span class="indent"></span><span class="verse-num" id="v19023003-1">3 </span>He restores my soul.<br />
He leads me in paths of righteousness<span class="footnote"> <a href="#f2" id="b2" title="Or 'in right paths'">[2]</a></span><br />
<span class="indent"></span>for his name's sake.</p>
<p class="line-group" id="p19023004.01-1"><span class="verse-num" id="v19023004-1">4 </span>Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,<span class="footnote"> <a href="#f3" id="b3" title="Or 'the valley of deep darkness'">[3]</a></span><br />
<span class="indent"></span>I will fear no evil,<br />
for you are with me;<br />
<span class="indent"></span>your rod and your staff,<br />
<span class="indent"></span>they comfort me.</p>
<p class="line-group" id="p19023005.01-1"><span class="verse-num" id="v19023005-1">5 </span>You prepare a table before me<br />
<span class="indent"></span>in the presence of my enemies;<br />
you anoint my head with oil;<br />
<span class="indent"></span>my cup overflows.<br />
<span class="verse-num" id="v19023006-1">6 </span>Surely<span class="footnote"> <a href="#f4" id="b4" title="Or 'Only'">[4]</a></span> goodness and mercy<span class="footnote"> <a href="#f5" id="b5" title="Or 'steadfast love'">[5]</a></span> shall follow me<br />
<span class="indent"></span>all the days of my life,<br />
and I shall dwell<span class="footnote"> <a href="#f6" id="b6" title="Or 'shall return to dwell'">[6]</a></span> in the house of the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span><br />
<span class="indent"></span>forever.<span class="footnote"> <a href="#f7" id="b7" title="Hebrew 'for length of days'">[7]</a></span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="footnotes">
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<p><span class="footnote"><a href="#b1" id="f1">[1]</a></span> <span class="footnote-ref">23:2</span> Hebrew <em>beside waters of rest</em>
<br />
<span class="footnote"><a href="#b2" id="f2">[2]</a></span> <span class="footnote-ref">23:3</span> Or <em>in right paths</em>
<br />
<span class="footnote"><a href="#b3" id="f3">[3]</a></span> <span class="footnote-ref">23:4</span> Or <em>the valley of deep darkness</em>
<br />
<span class="footnote"><a href="#b4" id="f4">[4]</a></span> <span class="footnote-ref">23:6</span> Or <em>Only</em>
<br />
<span class="footnote"><a href="#b5" id="f5">[5]</a></span> <span class="footnote-ref">23:6</span> Or <em>steadfast love</em>
<br />
<span class="footnote"><a href="#b6" id="f6">[6]</a></span> <span class="footnote-ref">23:6</span> Or <em>shall return to dwell</em>
<br />
<span class="footnote"><a href="#b7" id="f7">[7]</a></span> <span class="footnote-ref">23:6</span> Hebrew <em>for length of days</em>
</p>
</div>
</div> each night as she puts Amelia to bed. This morning Amelia was putting her doll to sleep. She was reciting the Lord’s Prayer to her doll.
This past week a great opportunity has come to Grace Church. I (but really we) have been asked to oversee and help plant a church in Charlotte.
Tommy Zukoski is the lead pastor/planter. He’s been building relationships, taking a church planter’s class, went through a church planter’s assessment, and getting to know his community. He’s determined and patient to do what it takes to make an impact for Christ.
We’ll be serving Tommy and helping him be a success, by God’s grace. He’s fundraising, and we’re putting together a strategic plan for launching. I look forward to seeing what God will do through Synergy Church in Charlotte.
Three minor girls were rescued early morning yesterday at the Pune train station. Freedom Firm operatives, acting on information from IJM in Kolkata, mobilized Pune police officers to rescue the girls and arrest the four traffickers as they left the train station. A brothel owner seen awaiting these girls at the train station went away empty handed but was arrested later.
This is our third rescue in four weeks.
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A link to a newspaper article about the rescues is below.
I woke up early this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. My mind was running. Same thing happened the night before. Ahhh… When I get going too fast internally I find that it shows up in different ways. That’s one. I kick it in gear all day, and I have a hard time slowing down when I get home. I don’t sleep as well.
Steve Sjogren mentioned to me once the phrase the “speed of soul” – I love it. Our bodies can run at a pace faster than our souls. We have the ability to produce adrenalin and kick it up a notch when it’s necessary. Living at that pace, day after day, isn’t healthy. It’s also not productive in the long-run.
Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz wrote the book, The Power of Full Engagement. The authors help professional athletes train. Many athletes actually over train. They don’t allow their body sufficient time to recover and gain full strength. By training so hard without rest, they are actually losing efficiency and effectiveness. They can maximize their output by getting into a healthy rhythm of stress (workout) and rest.
So here’s to the SPEED OF SOUL – living with a healthy rhythm of work, rest, family, and fun. Three things that help me.
1. Starting the day with a big drink of God – reading His Word and prayer stills the heart, refreshes the soul, and feeds the spirit.
2. Take some breaks during the day – allow yourself to experience a valley between peaks of work. Don’t schedule meetings back to back (I’m speaking to myself now).
3. Unplug at least an hour or two before bed. Read, relax, and put the laptop down. Don’t put it on twitter that you’re relaxing.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psa 46:10[show]<div class="esv"><h2>Psalm 46:10 <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.esvapi.org/assets/play.swf?myUrl=hw%2F19046010" width="40" height="12" class="audio"><param name="movie" value="http://www.esvapi.org/assets/play.swf?myUrl=hw%2F19046010" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></h2>
<div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent">
<p class="line-group" id="p19046010.01-1"><span class="verse-num" id="v19046010-1">10 </span>“Be still, and know that I am God.<br />
<span class="indent"></span>I will be exalted among the nations,<br />
<span class="indent"></span>I will be exalted in the earth!” (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p>
</div>
</div>
</div> )
Leadership is influence. Your influence with people is all about your connection with them. Sometimes we overwhelm ourselves and think we need a deep long discussion to talk with people. Actually a quick “ping” (check in) is a powerful tool to stay connected.
A computer guru at Grace Church, Ray Hooker, sent me the following thoughts on “pinging” people. Pretty cool application.
Ray:
I thought I would give you an extended explanation of “ping” and some
interesting analogies for human “pinging”.
The developers of the Internet knew that it would be important to be
able to test the ability to connect between two points in the
Internet. So they developed a special format to send a small bit of
data between two points to verify connectivity. They called this bit
of data an ICMP packet. They also built into the software that talks
across the network the feature that it will automatically return an
ICMP packet if it receives one. It is automatic. They developed a
simple program name “ping” which will send an ICMP packet to whereever
you specify give you messages about what happens. In windows the
results are fairly technical though the original ping would simply say
“xyz is alive”. Sometimes people disable this feature for security
reasons, so that they can essentially hide their presence to some
degree.
One interesting analogy is that most people respond when you touch
base with them. It is built by God into the human to respond since we
desire relationship. Of course there are some people who try to shut
that down and hide, but not most people.
Grace Church is partnering with charity: water to raise funds for the one billion people on the planet who do not have access to clean safe drinking water.
Twestival is a global meeting of the Twitter community on Feb. 12 in 185+ cities around the world to raise support for those without clean water.
Check out the video below as found of charity: water Scott Harrison shares the vision.
If you’re concerned about what movies your kids watch (and the ones you watch too) and wish you had a way to know what was coming without ruining the movie, then voila… Plugged In.
Plugged In reviews all the latest movies in the theaters – as well as you can search their pretty extensive movie database. They give a brief overview of the movie and then look at the following: positive elements, spiritual content, sexual content, violent content, crude or profane language, drug and alcohol content, other negative elements, and conclusion.
They give a pretty balanced overview while sniffing out all the negative elements. You can easily determine what is appropriate for your standards.
I love movies. Nonetheless, we shouldn’t mindlessly drink in all that Hollywood puts out. Paul said in Philippians, ” whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Enjoy the movies. Love the Scriptures. Drink in God.
I just had the privilege of going to the ACTS 29 church planter’s bootcamp” in Raleigh. The highlight was hearing Mark Driscoll teach on the history of church planting movements. The Bible talks about the sons of Issachar who understood the times that they were in. Mark has a good understanding of God is doing while He’s doing it. The perspective can help avoid some of the pitfalls others have fallen into.
Mark pastors Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. His passionate commitment to truth and his relevance to culture are very refreshing.
Here’s a recent interview (about a week ago) with Mark by Nightline.
Ken Rockwell is my favorite resource for learning about photography. He has a website loaded with great information, articles, and reviews for cameras and lenses.
You want to learn a ton about photography in 20 minutes, just read the following two articles:
This is an incredibly insightful and honest article. Jesus said that you’ll know a tree by its fruit. There is undeniable good fruit that is produced as people walk in the example left by Jesus: meeting practical needs (fighting for social justice) and meeting spiritual needs (preaching the gospel – that salvation is from and through Jesus Christ).
each night as she puts Amelia to bed. This morning Amelia was putting her doll to sleep. She was reciting the Lord’s Prayer to her doll.