Relax....

Ok, I've been posting on some serious subjects lately. I'm actually a fun loving guy, just have had a lot on my mind. Anyway, I thought that I share some jokes today. The picture is one of my favorites from Sarah's kindergarten graduation. Hard to believe that she's in the 6th grade now. I wish I could say that it was a well thought out planned shot, but it really was a snapshot.

Anyway, we've had some good family time together this week working on Chris' leaf collection project for school. When he and I were riding to collect some leaves, we started trading jokes, I thought I'd share some of the best ones

How many Irishmen does it take to change a lightbulb?
20, one to hold the bulb, 19 to drink until the room spins

How many Vanderbilt football players does it take to change a flat tire?
2, one to mix the drinks, one to call his daddy

How many UT football players does it take to change a flat tire?
1, but he gets 3 hours credit

and....my personal favorite...

How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb?
Just one, but the lightbulb has to want to change

The search for truth....

I signed on this evening to look something up. I didn't really mean to post anything, but I stumbled on a video that addresses one of my long-standing beliefs and I just wanted to post something about it. Here's the topic, is science anti-God or the Church anti-science?

My opinion? we are both searching for the same thing, truth. And, secondly, if we are all searching for truth honestly.....won't we arrive at the same, or close to the same conclusion?

I stumbled on this video by the History channel concerning the development of the Grand Canyon. For years, we've been taught the standard erosion model of the formation of the canyon over 'millions and millions of years'.
This scientist realized that this erosion model doesn't provide an adequate explanation. There must have been something else at work....maybe a flood.

He doesn't provide the Biblical explanation of the source of the flood (of course), but isn't it interesting that a flood is the next best guess for the formation of the canyon? Will scientists continually climb the mountain of knowledge and when they reach the pinnacle find their answers agreeing perfectly with the Bible? If the Bible is what it claims to be (and I believe it is).....they will.

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Update: I found this article from the creaton science museum that provides a theory about the creation of the Grand Canyon from a Biblical point of view.

The Leap of Faith

We have officially entered the teen years. I remember listening to a series that James Dobson did called "Bringing Up Boys". He said something to the affect that the teenage years were like sending your kids into a tunnel, you just hope that you send them in there straight, because there are very few adjustments that you can make once they are in there.

I find that to be very true. See, I don't remember Chris asking me if he could jump off of the cliff, I just remember being in the boat and helplessly watching as he hurled himself off. I guess I better get used to it.

In church Sunday we were talking about faith, what is faith? Is faith in God different from belief in God? I think so....to me, belief in God is a purely mental excercise, something like "OK, there is a God". Faith in God is a life changing experience. In my current way of thinking, faith is taking a risk, hurling yourself off of the cliff (as it were) because God promises that he'll take care of you.

The story that I most think about relating to Faith is when Jesus walked on the water to the disciples and Peter went out to meet him (Matt 14:22-33). We really don't know what the other disciples were thinking. Did they still think it was a ghost? did they believe it was Jesus? I don't know. Peter, however, showed faith. One of the very interesting things about this passage is Peter says "Lord, if it is you....". Does that mean he really wasn't sure? If it were me, I'm going to be real sure its Jesus out there before I get out of the boat.

Peter walks on the water for a short time but begins to sink. He calls out to Jesus who reaches down and lifts him out of the water. Jesus then says "You of little faith". Was Jesus scolding him at this point? I grew up with thinking that Jesus was unhappy with Peter. If Peter messed up, What about the others?

Several years ago, I watched a reenactment of this scene in a film. At the point when Jesus was saying "You of little faith" he was hugging Peter and laughing. It really made me realize that I would love to have seen Jesus intereact with people, his mannerisms, his body language. Body language can say so much more than the words. Seeing that movie changed my whole perspective on what Jesus was saying. I think his point was "See what you can do with just a little bit of faith? Increase it and you will move mountains."

So, here we go hurling ourselves into the teen years. I just hope that I got them in there straight...

Wilson County Longhorns

Longhorn Pitcher
Originally uploaded by DonnieHall

This is one of my favorite pictures from the summer Travel baseball season. I've uploaded some of the best pictures. Click on the photo to see the rest.

A few odds and ends....

I saw a news story today that the movie company Lionsgate (who made the movie Dirty Dancing) were suing a collection of about 15 companies that had marketed products using the movie's climactic line.

What was the climactic line in Dirty Dancing you ask? It was that riveting moment in the movie where Patrick Swayze says "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" Ok, I didn't get it, but anyway, they thought enough of that Shakesperean prose to trademark it.

Being the entrepreneur, I'm thinking, who knew that you could trademark a sentence? I'm gonna trademark a few myself and start a whole new revenue stream. Here's what I'm thinking:

"Not tonight, Honey"
"I've got a headache"
"Can't we just cuddle?"

I'm gonna make a fortune.
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A few days ago, I talked about buying a truck and a new water heater in the same weekend. I have some updates on the truck. I've learned quite a bit about the onboard diagnostic systems in vehicles these days. Evidently, these systems go through their diagnostics checks about every 100 miles. They evidently also keep up with how long it has been since their last diagnostic cycle.

The reason that I know this is that when we took the truck for its first emissions test, the result came back as "Not Ready" meaning that the emissions testing computer couldn't get a good reading from the onboard diagnostic computer.

The operator gave us a pamphlet that said that all we needed to do was drive the vehicle a while and bring it back. My first thought was "Don't I need the emissions test before I can drive it?" but a temporary tag came to the rescue.

After we got the temporary tag, I took the truck to Charlie's Tires in Lebanon (high recommendation for Brian Patterson and his folks there). We got a new set of tires and a new serpentine belt. The truck finally went through its diagnostic cycle while it was there, because when I got it back, the Check Engine light was on.

Charlies' Tire doesn't have the diagnostic computer set up to find out what was wrong, but they recommended D&R Automotive (also in Lebanon, also a very high recommendation for these folks, you'll see why in a minute)

I call and set up an appointment with D&R (they evidently stay booked up for about 3 days in advance). Buster tells me that it costs $60 to hook up the diagnostic computer. It's pretty high, but, I've got to have it done.

That afternoon, I talk to them and they tell me that the only thing that they can find wrong was a bad gas cap. A gas cap is going to about $10 plus $60 for the diagnostic check, I'm on the hook for about $70 right? If it gets me past the emissions test, I'm good with it. When I go to pick up the truck, they only charged me for the gas cap, no charge for the diagnostic check. Unbelievable. I love living in a small town.

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One last note....I've been self-employed for about 7 years. Its hard to look back and think that it has been that long. Anyway, that is not going to be true for much longer. I have accepted a position with a company named Digital Dog. This company has been doing large scale web site deployments for the past 13 years.

They are located in Cummins Station, which, by the way, has got to be the coolest office building in Nashville to work. I have accepted a Project Manager position with them. I'm excited, I believe that it is a great opportunity.

My company, Cedar City Group, LLC will still operate, I have several clients that I will continue to do work for after hours. But, for the first time in a very very long time, I'll be getting a salary.
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That's it for tonight...I gotta get to bed.

Will bring tears to your eyes...

My dear friend Amy Grant (not her, the other one) posted a paraphrase of the 23rd Psalm written from God's point of view. Very moving Check it out here.

A geek finds God?

You may have to bear with me on this one. But this is something that has been on my mind for a while and I just wanted to say it.

Many times scientistics and pseudo-scientists want proof that there is a God. It is my opinion that if someone is skeptical about the existence of God, then they will also be skeptical about any 'proof' that you might provide. Typically, anything religious (the Bible in particular) will be rejected as proof because it is deemed biased. In Romans, Paul tells us to look at creation, you can find God there.

Roman 1:20
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

A year or so ago, I was reading some articles in Wikipedia (everybody does that right?) and stumbled on an article about a mathematical equation that, should make any skeptic take pause. This equation is referred to as Euler's Identity after the famous mathematician Leonhard Euler.

Here's the equation:



This equation relates the 5 most important mathematical constants into one simple beautiful relationship.

e is the base of natural logarithm's (also called Euler's number). It is a non-terminating, non-repeating decimal number 2.71828 18284 59045 23536...

i is an imaginary number defined as the square root of -1.

pi (the greek symbol in the equation) is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. It is another non-terminating, non-repeating decimal 3.14159 26535 89793 23846...

This relationship amazes me because of the complexity of the numbers involved and the simplicity and beauty of the relationship. It is really beyond my knowledge and ability to explain much about this equation or its significance, you can find more information about it here.

God is speaking all around us, even in mathematics. All we have to do is listen.

A fitting tribute....

On the way in to work this morning the sports talk radio show that I listen to was all a-flitter about Michael Vick who is the Atlanta Falcons quarterback. He has agreed to plead guilty to some charges related to being involved in a dog fighting ring.

Someone called in and said that a friend that worked at an animal shelter reported that they had received 150 Michael Vick jerseys to be used as rags to clean up after the animals.

Pretty fitting I think...

Let me tell you about my weekend....

For some time, I've been looking for a pickup truck. As my son Chris approaches driving age, I figured we probably needed a third vehicle. I wasn't looking for anything real nice, but I did want a vehicle with a manual transmission. I want to be sure that my kids can drive a stick shift.

Kathy found a classified ad in the paper for a 1998 Chevy 1500 with 40,000 miles. I shook my head and said, "they mean 140,000 miles right". I called and it was true, 40,000 miles.

Every time we had found a truck that we were interested in, it was gone before we could look at it, so I moved on this one pretty quick. I drove it last Friday night, we agreed on the price and planned to pick it up the next day.

As Kathy and I were leaving to get the truck, we walked through our garage only to find about 1/2" of water standing in it. Our water heater had ruptured and we had a mess to clean up (and a water heater to buy in addition to the pickup).

To make a long story short, we got the truck, we got the water heater and after 5 cold showers, my house is back in order and everything's good.

Consider the lillies.....

Ever since I was a child, I've been taught that God is the one ultimately taking care of us. From the time I was small, I was told the story of a time when my parents were struggling newlyweds. My oldest brother Randy, was just a baby, he had to have several eye surgeries as an infant which stretched my parent's meager income to its limits.

They had $5 to their name, they had milk for Randy and some bologna, but that was it. The $5 had to be used for gas so that my dad could get to work. As he was leaving, my mom stood at the back porch watching him drive away. As she was standing there, she thought about how great it would be to have some bread to go with the bologna. For some reason, she looked up and to her left, and saw an unopened loaf of bread resting on the overhang of the porch.

She immediately grabbed it, ran inside and cried.

Later on, they found out that a family up the street was going out of town and had just purchased the loaf of bread. Since it would have been stale before they got back, they put it where my parents could find it.

This story has been with me since I was a small child. There have been many times since when I've looked back at what seemed to be a collection of unrelated events that came together to create a beautiful outcome. For me, that's where we see God, specifically the Holy Spirit at work....

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Bully!

When I was starting my business, John Blackwell the real estate tycoon ;-) quoted this to me word for word. Ever since then, I've been in love with this quote from Theodore Roosevelt

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Bully!

You just don't have the ability....

As I start this, I must first admit that I grew up believing a lie. Whether someone told me outright or it was my own misunderstanding, I'm not sure. Nevertheless, it was a misconception that has only recently been uncovered. I'll probably struggle with it for the rest of my life, but at least I understand it now and can fight it. So what's the lie?

You can be good enough to go to heaven

I know that I am not the only one that believes this, I've seen it demonstrated by others in many many ways.

The first time someone really challenged me on this thought was a sermon that I heard by Paul Wingfield. Paul and I actually went to high school together never mind how many years ago. Recently, he spoke at my church as we were supporting his efforts to build a church in Monument, CO. Anyway, he told the story of his younger days when he dreamed of being a receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. He talked of how hard he worked, and studied and learned. At the end of his high school football career though, there were no college recruiters waiting to talk to him, much less pro scouts for the Dallas Cowboys. He had the desire, he put in the effort, but in the final analysis, he didn't have the ability to be a professional receiver.

The spiritual application was, if you are frustrated with your ability to be 'good' you must understand,it's not a lack of desire, and it's probably not a lack of effort. However, in the final analysis, we really don't have the ability.

This was a jarring thought, completely outside my understanding of what the Christian life was all about. I couldn't really accept it immediately, but it's been in the back of my mind for years.

Recently, a good friend sent a link to this video http://youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA of a skit performed at Winterfest. The first time I watched it, I watched it alone and by the end, I was balling my eyes out. So, I watch it again with Kathy (my wife), again, I'm crying at the end. All in all, I've shown it to about 6 people now, and everytime I watch it, or tell people about it, I break down.

Why does it affect me so much? Well, when I think about it. It's my story.

The point where I break down when I watch the video above is the point where the character is fighting to get back to Jesus. As hard as she tries, the things of this world keep holding her back. She just doesn't have the ability to throw them off. The key to success, I now believe, is to let go of our egos, turn it over to him and admit that we don't have the ability.....

See you later vs. Goodbye

Ok, so my lofty goals of regularly blogging didn't pan out, sorry. Anyway, I'm going to try again.

I had a very touching experience a few weeks back that I thought I would share. I recently completed a contract with the city of Nashville. While there, I had made good friends with a lot of folks, but I had worked closely with and become good friends with Trent Arwine and Terrence Riche.

Trent and I had talked on many occasions about spiritual matters and had become pretty close. We all knew for several weeks that my contract was ending and that the time was drawing near. On my last day, one of Trent's closest friends lost his battle with cancer. The friend lived out of state, so Trent stayed home preparing to travel.

We spoke that day via Google Talk and he was pretty upset that he wasn't there for my last day. I told him well, "This is see you later, not goodbye". It was just one of those things I said without really thinking too much about it.

Trent, being a very spiritual guy, immediately made the connection with his friend that passed. He told me later that it changed his whole view of the funeral, it didn't seem as final as it would have without that thought. We should all remember that this life is not all there is. We are all so bound by the concept of time, that we think that the relationships that we have here is all that there is. One day we will see that the time we spend here in this life is a mere drop in the ocean.

I don't remember where I heard it, but someone said that the only thing that you can take from this life to the next is relationships. A sobering thought....