I’ve uploaded a mockup of the new theme I will be using on my website in September. I’ve been testing it and it loads a lot quicker than this one. It also retains the sidebar many of you loved so dearly.
It will also feature an integrated photo gallery and video reel as well, so you don’t have to open any new windows. Everything will be tightly integrated onto one site.
Here’s a preview of the “Recycled Canvas” theme:
Hopefully it’s a good change for everyone.
I saw A#%$& for all of three minutes last night.
We had to exchange items that were ours, that we had left at each other’s places — I had a box full of CDs at her place and I had a sweatshirt of hers at mine.
Didn’t hardly say anything, so it was rather uneventful.
Only thing is that she still won’t give the promise ring back. I thought it’s common practice, that when the girl breaks off the relationship, she is supposed to give back the ring? Wouldn’t it only be the proper thing to do, as a promise ring in our case symbolized my intent to marry her at the time — and obviously that promise is no longer?
To her it’s not. In fact she told me the other day she keeps it in a jewelry box.
My question to her has always been, why does she feel such a strong need to keep a token of a relationship that she herself broke off. Especially if she’s keeping it out of sight, out of mind in a jewelry box.
I don’t know why it bothers me so bad…it just does.
Some of you may remember me saying that when I was over in Iraq, I had met members of the Iraqi national soccer team. It was during a ceremony for a sports faciity opening in Baghdad, and we had all sorts of press type folks there — Reuters, CNN, MSNBC, etc.
Got to talk to them for a while and it was pretty cool to hear them relate stories, albeit through a translator, of how they came so close to winning the bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. Some of the players related stories of how when Uday Hussein was the Iraqi Olympic committee chairman, he tortured players if they did not win — since Uday is no longer on this earth, they play for a national pride that many feel is still missing in Iraq.
Fast forward to today, and the nation of Iraq is celebrating its first ever Asian Cup title. They beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 last night, and I’m sure it sparked massive celebrations, of which included people firing all sorts of weaponry into the air. (We had to deal with that a few times and take cover during soccer celebrations — hey, at least we knew the soccer team was doing well).
This is a really good thing for all the good people in Iraq. Most of the people over there need a diversion from the daily life they face in a war-torn country and this helps some of them out in a big way. Not to mention, it also gives Iraq an automatic berth in the FIFA Confederations Cup, so fans have more to look forward to.
Let’s hope the soccer victory over there is a prelude to some more good news in that region. It’s finally good to hear something positive, from a non–military perspective, come out of Iraq.
This is an open letter to any professing Christian who reads this blog.
I begin with Ephesians 6:11-12, out of the Amplified Bible:
Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
I’ve struggled with this thought myself but today I came to a realization that I haven’t had in a few years.
The Christian life is not simply a life where we live blessed day by day, grow in God’s Word, fellowship with others and keep in communication with God and other Christians.
There is a dark aspect to it, one that is very real and quite frankly one that many people, many churches, many friends of mine shy away from.
It’s called spiritual warfare.
Simply put, we’re in a daily fight against the devil. Not just a fight where we pray to God and continue to hope that things in our lives get better when we are attacked by evil thoughts and actions, but a fight in which we must exercise spiritual authority given to us by God, by Jesus and the Holy Spirit — and psychologically, verbally and spiritually rebuke the devil in the name of Jesus.
Every day there is evil all around us. Sure, there’s a lot of good, but there’s evil. It can be found in the poorest, most destitute neighborhoods of America. It can be found in the actions of someone when they do something against God’s Word. It can also be found, oddly enough, sitting next to you at church on Sunday morning.
Friends, the Bible says that Satan is real but God is greater. Any time you deal with thoughts and actions that are not of God, it is part of a greater spiritual battle of Satan warring against God.
Do I sound crazy?
Let me put it this way. There is a litmus test to all that is Godly, and Paul describes it accurately in Philippians 4:8.
For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].
Even better, let’s take a look at the differentiation between what the Word describes as evil and good (from Galatians 5):
Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency,
Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies),
Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [[f]that can bring a charge].
The list from evil acts ranges as something as simple as anger to something as huge as idolatry, sorcery and so forth.
Maybe, just maybe, for those of us Christians that struggle all too often with our imperfections, with thoughts, deeds, actions that meet the criteria listed above as being of the flesh, it’s time to stop praying to God for help because He’s already given it to you.
Take authority over the devil. This is what the Word says again in James 4:7, the Message translation:
So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper.
Two parts there. Submit, and let God work His will. That must be done before anything else. That’s your empowerment to do the second part, which is yell a loud no to the devil…doesn’t have to be physically loud of course but verbally command Satan to loosen his grip on you! You’re a child of God and you don’t have to take anything Satan throws your way. Live in Jesus’ word and the newness of life He provides through his Son, Jesus Christ.
I have a message as well to those who are riding the fence, or worse yet involved with Christianity as well as other religions and ideologies at the same time — wicca, the occult, etc.
You are in massive spiritual danger. For your own good, forsake your false religions, false pretenses and turn over to Jesus. Jesus said in His Word that you cannot drink from the cup of Christ and the cup of demons as well. No one can serve two masters! You’ll end up loving one more than the other. What better time than right now to accept Jesus into your life and ask him to forgive your sins and be 100% of everything you need in life.
Jesus didn’t come into this world to judge anyone. He came to offer salvation from sins, love, peace, joy and a right way of living.
Satan offers the exact opposite and it is a dog fight day by day to get him to leave us alone, and not take anything he tries to spiritually feed us.
Let’s all wake up, and I pray in the name of Jesus we all open our spiritual eyes, dig deeper in our spiritual walks with Christ and exercise our God-given power to resist Satan along the way.
Four people are dead after two news helicopters following a car chase in Phoenix collided today. Here’s the story.
Three videos for you today. The first one is disturbing as it is footage from one of the choppers that crashed.
The second one here is of the NBC affiliate whose chopper was not involved. Listen to the terror and emotion in the reporter’s voice as he tries to stay composed.
The Drudge Report has more links and more video for anyone who wants to watch.
This has to be one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen, especially on live TV. It made me sad when I heard the reporter in the video above say “…these may be friends of ours.”
And finally, the third video from Fox News Channel…the microphone from the Fox chopper picks up the pilot’s call for help. Unbelievable, and you can only imagine the terror and the shock the guy was experiencing.
I’ve come up with a few points to touch on about the move to Springfield. I’ve taken the past few days to plan and strategize. I’ve got a better plan for the upcoming move than the George W. Bush administration does a plan for Iraq. (Which isn’t saying much so I should have probably come up with a better comparison.)
BEDTIME!!!
I forgot to tell the tale of how I joined in a basketball game the other night — a game in which I felt like a visitor in my own nation.
A group of Latinos were playing basketball at the park right next door to my apartment, and since it was four-on-four it was taking up the entire court. Of course this kinda pissed me off since I came down to shoot, but they invited me into their game and all was well.
Too well, in fact — no one except me stood taller than about 5′5″, and no one possessed an inherent ability to shoot or pass the ball. Much less speak much English. I had one young man serve as my interpreter for the duration of the game.
We played by normal streetball rules and my team ended up blasting the other team out of the park, 21-6. I think I had about 18 or 19 points, and they were ALL inside the paint. I didn’t take one outside shot all night.
Honestly, everytime I got double-teamed in the lane I felt like a bunch of Ewoks were climbing onto my back. That’s how tall I was compared to those guys.
Now watch, I’ll go play a game tomorrow against people who can really play and it’ll bring me back down to earth. I haven’t been able to play against the KPTV folks in forever, so tomorrow should be fun.
Here’s a clip from the NBC show “The Office” in which Sales takes on the Warehouse guys. Hilarity ensues.
I’m feverishly working on a new mixtape that I’ll be releasing to the public within the next week or two. I don’t know what it’s going to be called yet but it’s gonna have ten great tracks…from a remake of Toto’s “Africa” to a Roger Sanchez house classic, it’s gonna be awesome.
That’s about it for now. I’m in the middle of four days off and there’s nothing to do.
For everyone’s information, my site stats reported an enormous jump in the number of users who viewed it this weekend. Normally I get 50 unique visitors and 300 page views on Saturday, the slowest day of the week on my site. Because of my announcement of the impending move to Missouri and people checking it out, I had 340 unique visitors and 3,200 page views. Absolutely unreal.
Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement and understanding that I need to do what the Lord has told me. This next month is going to be a good month…a time of transition, focusing on the future, and also prepping for State Convention (yes, I’m still going to SC).
Thanks also to those who showed up to my birthday dinner in Hillsboro. We had eleven people. That’s a decent sized crowd, not too big, not too small. Everyone who came was from within a 45-mile radius as well, so it wasn’t too much of a drive. Thanks to those who took time out to make it.
Ever seen the GI Joe Public Service Announcements, remixed? The guy who made them, Eric Fensler, must have been smoking rocks when he made these (by the look of his site, he must be drugged all the time).
First I announced it to everyone tonight at my birthday dinner. Now I’m going to share it with you. I’ve typed up a document explaining what I’m doing and why, so please read on and feel free to comment if necessary.
What Everyone's Saying
lele
Rachel M, Jason, Doyle, Nina Perozzo
John Stevens, Jason, Chris
Jason
Jim, Sybil
Adam Jiletté, Sybil, Mireya Browning, Carmela, Adam Jiletté