I'm BACK!... Probably....

As most comic book fans already know, WWII-era superhero Captain America was frozen in the Arctic ocean for several decades, before making a return to the Marvel universe.

My blog posts are known to be sporadic, but it wasn't until recently that I realized my last post to this blog was in December 2014, nearly FIVE years ago! How the time flies! We are all still healthy, I am enjoying the same software development job, and we live in the same happy home. Among the biggest changes have been my son and I getting involved in local theater, Kylen graduating high school and starting his second year at Liberty University (majoring in Christian Counseling), my dad's retirement, and my mom's passing (after battling MS for more than 25 years). All the while, I've been splitting my time between work and family, periodically spending large amounts of time on websites, Windows applications, and theater-related activities.

Our family car has several JesusIsWonderful.com decals on its windows, but it wasn't until our family came to visit, that I was informed that the domain was no longer working! Turns out Yahoo had suspended it, because they had been unable to verify my contact information. They had an outdated e-mail account associated with the domain, but they didn't even try my Yahoo e-mail! And what really took the cake was that they had no problem continuing to charge me for the use of the domain! Really, Yahoo???

Admittedly, blogging has always taken a back seat, and I have to be realistic that it will probably continue to do so. Farrah finally caved a few years ago and got a Facebook account, followed later by our son, and then by me. And with all the other social media sites out there, I wonder if anyone is even blogging anymore.

Nevertheless, I think Blogger is much better suited to my style, than Facebook (which I hardly ever visit, anyway), and I have some exciting plans for the domain. But until then, I will continue to post here (and on my other blogs), at least once in a while.

Biblical Financial Principles

Close relatives are currently in a serious financial crisis, and that has prompted a lot of thought and prayer regarding how to respond. It’s made me think long and hard about the financial principles that my wife and I strive to live by. I thought some of you may find it interesting (maybe even beneficial), if I actually wrote them down.

The man’s primary fiscal responsibility is to provide for his immediate family. This often requires working conscientiously, utilizing the talents and opportunities the Lord has provided him. Refusing to work or misappropriating his income is not only a disservice to his own family, but will likely make his entire household dependent on others. As Christians and members of society at-large, it is our duty to strive to be self-sufficient, not just for our own benefit, but also so that we may have the means to help those in genuine need.

Avoid getting into debt as much as possible, and if you do end up in debt, pay it off as quickly as possible. Credit cards are great in an emergency or if you pay off your balance each month, but relying on borrowing to make ends meet is a recipe for disaster (just take a look at our government!). Nevertheless, it’s virtually impossible in our present culture for you to own your own home, or even a car, without getting a loan. Do you really need these things, or can you rent and get around on a bike or the bus? Well, that depends on your situation; let genuine need be your guide, not "keeping up with the Joneses." This also applies to borrowing money or things from individuals. Even if they insist on not having it back, strive to return the item or repay them at the earliest opportunity. It not only expresses your thankfulness, but is also a testimony of your genuine Christian faith. To intentionally take advantage of others’ generosity is the same as stealing.

Make good spending decisions. Did you know that your money is not your own? As with everything else in this life, your income was provided to you by the Lord. Yes, you may be the one working the 40-hour-a-week job, but it was He who provided you with the skills and opportunity to even have that job in the first place. As such, you should be responsible with what you’ve been given, and use it wisely.

Do not lend to those in need, but instead give, without expecting anything in return. Lending money or possessions that you are not really ready to part with can engender bitterness and may put you in the position of having to borrow yourself. There is a saying about lending to the Lord, but that’s not entirely right, since it’s all His anyway! But when you give, don’t do it blindly. As with your spending, set priorities and use your judgment when deciding who to give to and how much. Hold those you give money to accountable for what they choose to do with that money. This is very hard to do, but if done in love and with mutual consent, it will bless both giver and recipient, as well as help ensure that the Lord’s money is put to proper use. Yes, this even applies to "tithes" at church. Hold the pastoral staff accountable for how they appropriate donated money and goods, and don’t forget that there may be weeks when there are others in your life who may need the money more than your church.

Are there any that I missed or that you disagree with? I would love to hear from you..., and I covet your prayers for the Lord's guidance through the current situation.

* Disney's Scrooge McDuck (best known from the Duck Tales TV show) loves to take swims in his giant safe, which is filled with treasure and coins. Hopefully he reads this blog....

Suffering Loss

 Before anyone panics (does anybody even read my blog anymore?), no this is not our house, nor have any loved ones passed on. The Lord has been very merciful to us. But I do feel like I just lost two weekends (and change) of my life, and it made me think of 1 Cor. 3:11-15, and I thought I should (finally) blog about it. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.  I've heard some use these scriptures to argue that everyone goes to Heaven, after spending some time in Purgatory, or something like that. I don't think that's it at all. Leading into this, Paul is talking about missionary work, and the wood, hay, and stubble are teachings or doctrines that missionaries add to the basics of the Gospel. I take that and extend it a little further, into other aspects of our lives. Unquestionably, The Great Commission applies to us all. After all, everything on this earth has an end, except for our own souls. What other lasting work can there be, beside leading a precious lost lamb to Jesus. He is the Good, nay, the Best Shepherd. Next to that, everything else we do is wood, hay, and stubble. But what about working to provide for our families? Is that stubble, too? Well, I would argue that being my family's sole bread winner enables us to raise and educate our son (in the nurture of the Lord) and blesses us with a financial abundance that we can pass on to others. My computer skills, though gained through a world largely made of wood, hay, and stubble, have been put to good use at our homeschooling co-op. Ultimately, as Brother Paul points out, God's fire will be the true test. And on that day, everything I've ever worked on that has not furthered His Kingdom will burn. I will surely regret seeing it go, as many have before me. But that Final Judgment seems so far away, that I'm not really concerned... until I see something I spent time, money, and energy on burn up right before my eyes. Case in point... Several years ago, my lovely wife and I made a little video, starring our son, in which he did everything backwards. We filmed him getting out of bed, eating, playing, and helping me garden, and then we used a video editing tool called Pinnacle to reverse all the footage. It was a real hit in her co-op class of 7-to-9-year-olds. No, that's not what I've watched burn. Please read on... A couple weeks ago, she asked if we could do a sequel, for another co-op class. "Sure!" I said. "It'll be even better than the original!" We planned all the scenes and then spent the better part of a weekend shooting. Then, I pulled a near-all-nighter with Adobe Premiere Elements 8, cutting footage, reversing it, slowing it down, and speeding it up. It was fun, and it gave me an excuse to get serious with this editing software, for the first time. I spent most Saturday finishing up the video portion and adding some funny songs for the soundtrack. Things played well in the editor's preview window, so, on Sunday, I decided to try rendering: no sound! "Must be the audio settings," I naively thought. I tried changing those, but to no avail. "Ah," sez I, "it says I should use AVI if I want to keep editing it in Premiere." That seemed to work, except now part of one of the songs would cut out at some random point and I would hear nothing until the start of the next song. HOW FRUSTRATING!!! No problem if the sound is natively part of the video, but playback of music brought in separately was majorly flakey. I fussed and mussed with it, until I finally produced a DVD-R. We sat down together around 7:00PM to watch it. The sound was fine, but to our horror, the bulk of the video was nauseatingly stuttery! It seemed like every frame was the result of two overlapped consecutive frames. It was nowhere near the quality of the older movie, which was filmed under similar light conditions and with the same camera! Oddly enough, the few parts in the movie that I left running forward looked just fine. There was something about the footage that was reversed and saved to AVI that Premiere could not handle. 7:00PM the night before Farrah's class, and I did not have a video I could present. Do I cut my losses and just have her show the old one, or do I resurrect our old computer that had Pinnacle on it and try doing the reversing on that? Never mind that (1) I already had to set up and tear down that computer once that day, for a different reason, and (2) I had had to re-install Pinnacle a few months ago, and the version on the disk had some major bugs that I no longer had the patches for. I decided, instead, to try a different approach using Premiere. Big mistake. Here's the burn... It was midnight by the time that I could see the fruits of my labors. Not only did I not fix the stutter, but the sound cut out about a minute into the video. AAAAAAUUUURRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! Farrah ended up showing the kids the original video, with the only new content being a couple cool logos I made months ago, and I ended up feeling like I just wasted several days of my life. There is nothing salvageable from the new video, as nearly all my work was done on the suspect reverse footage, that did not exhibit stutter until it was saved to AVI or burned onto DVD. All I can do now is vent and hope that I've learned something valuable from the experience. Yes, yes I did: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt. 6:19-21).
But seriously, I got to ask you, dear reader, do you know of a decent video editing software for Windows that won't make me rip my hair out???

Be Careful Little Eyes...

Happy New Year, dear Readers! This is by far the longest time that I've been away (only three posts on this blog in 2011), but I hope to be a bit more active in 2012. This is my primary ministry, after all. Before I get to the meat of this post, a few updates....

We've been very blessed this past year with health, great friendships, continuing work, good finances, a nice vacation, and achievements for all of us. I'll probably touch on some of these things in the coming months, but needless to say, blogging has not been among them much. For better or worse, I've let blogging slip below my radar, and I hope that I can improve on that this year, without sacrificing my other responsibilities.

So what's up with Halloween? Wasn't that like almost three months ago? I always do a Halloween post on this or one of my other blogs, mainly to showcase our pumpkin carving. So what if I'm a little behind? ;)

Our theme this time was the kids' song, "Be Careful Little Eyes". I totally did not have that song in mind when I felt inspired to carve a fancy eye on my pumpkin. Farrah immediately thought of the song and suggested she do the feet and Kylen do the hands.

Here is kylen working on his masterpiece. Farrah got a mixer-like attachment to my power drill, which worked very well at scraping out the pumpkin's insides.

Here I am, hard at work on my pumpkin. This was also the first year I successfully employed a Dremel tool to do the fine scraping work. I bought it last year, but did not have time to figure it out. Worked like a charm this time around!

Here is the final result. For several years now, we've been using an old set of C9 Christmas bulbs instead of candles. It keeps the pumpkins fresh longer and even allows us to use different colors. For examples of our past work, click on the "Halloween" tag in the tag cloud to the right.

Then, of course, there is the dressing up! Farrah wanted to be an elf archer (think: female version of Legolas, from "Lord of the Rings"), but we didn't feel like taking the trouble of attaching her pointy ears. Maybe next time. :) We went to Cabela's to pick out a bow, which was the perfect excuse to get one that would also suit Kylen. He loved his first experience with archery, and we spent hours in our unfinished basement, putting holes in stuff.

While looking for costumes at a local shop (boy, could I blog about the spiritual meaning behind the inappropriate costumes that permeate costume shops!), we saw the Street Fighter karate costume. Since that's my favorite game of all time, it was a no-brainer.

Kylen just wanted to be a black ninja (don't ask me why that's totally different from the white ninja costume he wore last year). We had fun fighting each other and laughing at Farrah trying to look threatening with her bow. CUTE thing!

Much of my time this year has been occupied with working on various utility programs. One such example is the sound player I wrote just for Halloween. Why couldn't I just use Windows Media Player, you ask? Because that would have been way too easy, of course! I placed speakers in our pumpkins, just outside our front door, and connected them to my laptop, so I could play the kids' song. I also had our web cam pointed at our front walk, so I could see when kids were coming up the steps and play some nifty little sayings having to do with eyes, hands, and feet.

Yes, I am a geek!

It was fun dressing up to greet the trick-or-treaters, but when things started dying down, we decided to take off the sweaty costumes. No sooner did we get our everyday duds back on, that Farrah's sister, whom we hadn't seen in a year, stopped by with her husband, kids, and LARGE neighbor family. It was fun seeing her two little boys in their Spiderman costumes; they've grown so much!

Finally, as a perfect finish to our evening, our dear friends, the McD's surprised us, wearing full chimney sweep duds (a la Bert from 1964's Mary Poppins). They sang a nice little tune and then joined us inside for fellowship and real-sugar Cokes, bottled in Mexico.

So what's the spiritual takeaway? Does there have to be one? When posting about Satan worshippers' favorite day, there better be one! As I've posted years ago, we completely avoid the scary elements and choose instead to use the day as an opportunity to dress up in fun costumes and try to focus the attention to Christ, instead. You can do this wherever you go, as long as you do not partake of the unclean thing. We are called to be in the world, but not of the world. It's the only way to effectively witness.

Cul-de-Sac of Power

Merry Christmas, everyone!  As has been my Christmas blogging tradition, I'd like to share something from my life.  A few blocks from our house is a lane with about 12 houses, which ends in a cul-de-sac.  Every December, all the houses but one go out of their way to decorate for Christmas.  There is even a Jewish family that gets into the spirit.  The picture above is a full-on view of what we like to call, "The Cul-de-Sac of Power!"  I'm sure the local power company just LOVES these guys!  ;)

It's become a family tradition for us to drive down their street at least once a year and take in the sight of this free light display.  Yeah, so it's the commercialization of Christmas, taken to a high degree, but it's also a testament to the closeness that these neighbors probably share.  Our cul-de-sac decorates, too, but not to this degree.

I wish you all the very best of Christmases and a New Year filled with the joy and peace that only our Savior can give!  Merry Christmas, everyone!

Waiting to See My Father

Yesterday marked 25 years since my mom and I came to the US.

I was born in communist Romania, where the oppressive dictatorship prevented people from even leaving the country (unless, of course, you were a member of the Communist Party). My dad was determined to get us out, so that I would grow up in freedom. After many attempts at getting his research papers accepted at conferences in the West, he finally succeeded in leaving. I was really close to him, and it was indescribably hard to watch him walk down the airport terminal... and I thought he was leaving for only TWO WEEKS!!! The government had spies everywhere, and in order to ensure that I wouldn't say anything to anyone, my parents didn't tell me that my dad was not planning to return.

Romania had signed a Family Reunification agreement with the West, that if a family became separated, they were to make every effort to allow them to leave, so they could be reunited, sort of like a rubber band. But it wasn't until 18 months later that my mom finally got through all the roadblocks and red tape, and we were allowed to leave.

The picture above was taken shortly before we left Romania. I think it's very interesting how happy and excited I looked, while my mom seemed to be light-years away. Maybe she was thinking about all that she would be leaving behind, including her mom, aunt, and brother. All I knew was that I would get to see my dad again; it probably didn't much occur (or matter) to me that I may never see my other family again.

I've got to tell you that the moment that I saw Dad for the first time, at JFK International, was one of the happiest and memorable moments in my entire life. I was so happy to see him, that all those months that we were apart didn't even matter anymore.

The next few months were filled with the excitement of living in a new place, discovering new things ("You mean I can wear regular clothes at school?!?!") and learning a whole new language.

The Bible describes another tyrant who tricked humanity into the oppression of sin. We were unable to escape by ourselves. Our Heavenly Father, however, had a plan to get us out, which is why He came to die on the cross. But while He was still with His disciples, He told them, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2b-3).

So now we wait. Paul says that the whole of creation groans, yearning for His return. Those of us who are His children will rejoice to see Jesus again, to take us to that new land of freedom, and all the time that we spent waiting will cease to matter. Oh, what a glorious day that will be!

It's-a Mario Party 10! Wahoo!

You might be wondering why I was away from blogging for so long. If you're a regular visitor, you might remember that I go on hiatus every January (December, too), due to the enormous time and effort that it takes to plan our son's birthday parties. Here is what we did last year.

Well, since Kylen loves video games so much, and Mario in particular, we thought it would be great fun to have a Mario-themed party. We bought LOTS of Nintendo paraphanalia, decorated the walls of our unfinished basement to look like the classic Super Mario Brothers games, and I even created a PC program, to keep track of the kids' scores, during the party games. Here are some pictures, to give you an idea of what it was like. Enjoy!

What do you get when you cross a computer nerd with a video game character? You got it! That's me, as Luigi, Mario's skittish taller brother. I'm sitting in a corner of our basement, operating the scorekeeping program I wrote. A projector displayed the status on a handmade screen.

Here is what much of our basement looked like. The walls were decorated with rolls of plastic tablecovers and computer printouts of Nintendo characters. Hey, when the images you find on the internet are 2000x3000, even a full-size print on an inkjet looks professional!

The Chain Chomp on the left side of your screen is a 3-foot Big-Uns ball, covered with two yard trash bags. The teeth and eyes were cut out of printer sticker sheets. I also recorded some dog barks on a CD and hid the player behind the Chomp, for added realism.

In the back, you can see a Sandbag, which is, in fact, a real punching bag that we've had for years, covered in a large sheet of white craft foam.

This picture really does NOT do the cake enough justice. Although we joked that we had made it, our co-op's lead organizer made it for us. Isn't she talented??? She has her own cake-decorating business, so if you live in the Inland Northwest, we HIGHLY recommend her!

The original post had a YouTube video, but Farrah reminded me that some parents are really sensitive about how visible they are on the internet, so I took it down. If you were at the party and would like to see the video, please e-mail me.

Book Review: The Princess and the Kiss

My cute and wonderful wife loves to change the decor in our living room every month or two. As part of that, she puts out collections of books and magazines, related to that particular theme. Last weekend was the big Valentine's Day push. Our house is now exquisitely arrayed in reds, pinks, and purples (very manly, I know!). On a lampstand sit several love-themed picture books, including this one: The Princess and the Kiss, by Jennie Bishop. What it lacks in action, it makes up for with a strong Biblical view of courtship and a heartwarming story that brings tears to our eyes, every time we read it together.

In the story, a baby girl is born to a King and Queen. God entrusts the new parents with a most precious gift: their daughter's First Kiss. As she grows, they dilligently guard their daughter's treasure, until she is old enough to be entrusted with it. Suitors then come, asking for her hand in marriage, and the story tells the tale of how she finds the only one to whom she will trust with her most treasured possession.

It's simple, but sweet, and appropriate for any age. It reads like a fairy tale and manages to teach a moral without sounding preachy. Our son loves to hear it each year, and I think it's a great opportunity for us to impart our views of dating, on to our son (even though we did not follow those protocols ourselves).

Now, for some background...

Although our son is not yet a teenager, it's never too early to develop a Biblical model of dating, for your children. Dating and relationships are difficult topics for parents to discuss, and Farrah and I want to avoid the mistakes that we feel our respective parents made when raising us. So, a couple years ago, we attended a talk on courtship, given by a pastor in our area, and our eyes were opened.

The Bible has lots of examples (good and bad) of how men and women got together (Adam and Eve, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel and Leah, Sampson and his women, David and his women, Solomon and his women, etc...), but there is no single recipe for how God specifically wants his people to handle courtship.

While parents implement it to varying degrees, courtship is somewhere between the sterility of arranged marriages and the emotionally clouded, modern dating model. The basic idea is that the parents are responsible for their children's purity, and need to guide the process by which their children select a spouse.

Some of the guidelines include:

• A minimum age for courtship (possibly old enough to marry)
• Boy asks parents' permission first
• Boy and girl do not "go out", but get to know each other only as part of family activities
• Boy and girl study the Bible together with the families
• Affectionate behavior, including the first kiss, reserved for marriage

This may sound strict and maybe unrealistic, but it represents the moral high ground that our children and society so desperately need. Divorce rates are at an all-time high. Teen and out-of-wedlock pregnancies are rising. Domestic and same-sex "partnerships" are getting footholds as acceptable "lifestyles". If we are to salvage what's left of the traditional family and Biblical marriage as its cornerstone, we must make the effort to pass on those values to our children.

Just Jump In, Already!

"He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap" (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

We took a mini-vacation for our anniversary, to a relatively new hotel only 20 minutes from our house. The highlight was spending a total of 5 hours in the pool. Much of the time, we were the only ones there! As part of that, we decided to have my wife take pictures of Kylen and me doing cool jumps into the water. We spent quite a bit of time trying to capture the perfect pose, or the perfect splash, or....

I cannot tell you how many times we tried getting a shot of Kylen and me jumping in together, at just the right time. We had a really hard time synchonizing the camera with the jump, especially when taking into account the camera's own shutter delay. My arms got so tired, climbing out of the pool so many times! But we wanted it to turn out a certain way and our stubborness pushed us to do quite a bit of extra work. We never did get a satisfactory shot.

The experience reminded me of times in my life when I wanted to get into something new, but didn't, because I wanted to do it a certain way or kept waiting for just the right time to do it. My current dream of launching my own software business is just that way!

How many times have you over-analyzed or over-planned something, and eventually either lost the nerve, interest, inspiration, or opportunity to do it?

So quit analyzing and just jump in, already!

By the way, the shot above was the first one Farrah took of me, and we loved it!

Don't Forget the REAL Reason...

A couple days ago, our sweet, 9-year-old intellectual asked something akin to, "When did Christmas get hijacked by commercialization?" (my words, but I think it expresses the original gist of it). I told him I don't really know, but the above comic strip drives the point home....

We normally shy away from jokes that involve God or religion, because they are almost always irreverent of our Lord and Savior. However, in yesterday's Foxtrot (actually first printed 11 years ago; link only available for a couple weeks), the last two panels are a warning to us to keep CHRIST in Christmas, especially for the sake of our children. Presents are fun and all that, but if we make a bigger deal out of them than of the celebration of our Savior's birth, we do a serious disservice to our kids.

Another aspect is all the stress and running around that this time of year brings. At a time that's supposed to celebrate the arrival of "peace on earth and goodwill to men," isn't it ironic that we spend much of it stressed out about getting that perfect gift (while it's still on sale!!!) and trying to cram as much family time as possible, in as short a timespan as possible? Time with family and presents are great, but Satan is probably giddy with joy that those things distract from our Heavenly Father, who has given us the greatest Gift of all.

A song currently playing on Air1 asks how God's heart could not have broken on the day of Jesus' birth. For though the world celebrated the birth of a Savior, God was probably thinking of that coming day of the cross....

Some random thoughts. :) Merry Christmas, everyone! May God give you a renewed appreciation and admiration of His wonderful plan of salvation, for a world that deserves far worse. Let us spend another year celebrating Jesus' birth and gift, personifying to those around us the star that led the magi to the Savior! See you in 2010!

Faith Like Potatoes?

OK, so maybe this post has nothing to do with the recent movie... but it has EVERYTHING to do with those oddly shaped tubers that taste so good mashed, baked, or cut into strips and fried.

This post is part of a series on my childhood experiences. As I reminisce (is 34 considered old enough to reminisce???) about growing up, I start to see so many Biblical lessons, that we could all stand to learn.

Take my friend Wes, who learned not only that it's a stupid idea to impulsively throw a rock at a classic car, but also that God's forgiveness (and sometimes that of grumpy neighbors) knows no bounds. Well, his story reminded me of the time I threw potatoes at a little old lady....

Betcha' didn't think me capable of such mischief. Intrigued? Well, read on, then! Don't just sit there gawking!

I spent my first decade (if you count from conception) in a 4th-floor apartment, in Bucharest, Romania. Yes, we occasionally got out, but that's where we lived. The rear of the apartment had a balcony with a tall, cement guard-rail. You can see a little bit of it in the picture above, which features my dad and me, several years before the incident in question. The balcony did not overlook a street, but rather a park-like area, bordered by other nondescript block-apartment buildings like ours.

When I was about 8, an older friend came over and proceeded to get bored. We went out to the balcony, and he noticed a sack of potatoes in the corner. I don't know if my friend did this often, but he showed me how much fun it was to throw a potato at a passerby and promptly duck behind the guard-rail. Now, I really knew better, but it seemed fun AND safe (at least for ME!), so I did it, too. For some reason, it did not occur to me what might've happened if a potato, hurtling through the air from 4 stories up, were to clonk a person in the head, face, or other sensitive areas. It also did not occur to me what would happen to MY sensitive areas, if my strict mom were to interrogate me on why some potatoes were missing! We had our laughs and giggles, he eventually went home, and no one was any the wiser, except, of course, for the handful of poor passersby, who got pelted by our starch bombs.

Some time later, when I was at home, with nothing better to do, it got into my head to play "potato". Betcha' didn't know I was the original Mr. Potato Head! Well, along came this little old lady, carrying some grocery bags from the store. I took aim and let one fly. It hit her bag and took her entirely by surprise. I was ducking behind my wall, but I could hear her yelling, up toward the building. She said something to the effect of, "Shame on you! Your parents should have raised you better!"

Growing up, I was a very obedient kid, who could not stand being scolded. But this was worse. This lady, whom I didn't even know, was passing judgment on my own parents, whom I loved and respected very much. They DID raise me (mostly) right; it was my own decision, and mine alone, that brought them dishonor.

That same connection binds our own words and actions to our Savior's perceived image. As children of God, we are commissioned not only to live according to the faith that we have in Him, but also to make the Way attractive, so that those we come in contact with may desire the same salvation that He bought for everyone. But if through our words and actions, we misrepresent Jesus Christ, we push people away from Him. How can we claim to love our neighbor, if we push him away from the One who loves him the most?

Needless to say, her words cut me to the core, and I put down the potato forever (at least, as a WMD). And my bottom was very thankful that my mom never found out about this incident (and even if she did read blogs, I think the statute of limitation expired long ago). But remember that Jesus is watching your every move, as are those around you, who are inwardly yearning to be reconciled unto God.

Leave It or Clean It?

This post has been edited from its original version

Sorry I've been absent for a while, dear friends! I've been really busy with yardwork and trying to launch a new business venture, while still working full-time at my current job. More on that later....

We found out this week that someone in our family has announced that he's gay. It wasn't much of a surprise, but what was especially hard to take was the way that he did it. Since his birthday was in June, he made his birthday party a "coming out" party and even attended a "pride" parade. He was raised in a very religious home and most of the relatives are still very religious, so let's just say it didn't sit well with most of the family.

It is certainly sad to see anyone struggle with sin, but it's even sadder when one has surrendered to it and, in this case, convinced himself that homosexuality is a socially and morally acceptable "lifestyle". But what is even worse is promoting it and encouraging others to accept it and maybe even try it themselves. This is what really, REALLY irks me about the "gay rights movement". Not only do they seek acceptance, but they want to shove it down everyone's throats. (Some accuse evangelicals of the same thing, but that's a topic for another post.)

I've been thinking how we should act around him. He lives far away and we only see him once or twice a year, but the question is a valid one. He already knows where we stand, so beating him over the head with scripture and exhorting him to repent is probably out of the question. On the one hand, we are to show everyone love, so that we can be a positive influence on them. But on the other hand, we are to "put away from among yourselves that wicked person" (1 Cor. 5:13b), who has turned from the faith, so that he will not be a bad influence to those around us, especially our children and those weak in the faith.

In my daily reading this week, I came across a great quote from Jesus: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold" (Mattew 24:12). This is a very poignant scripture, for the gay community and their allies push their agenda under the guise of love. They say that they want the right to express their love for each other, "marry" the one they love, and receive love from the rest of us who disagree with them. But sin is sin, no matter how many people refuse to accept that fact, and sin will drive love out of people and replace it with lust. I know this to be true, from my own experience.

I was watching a Christian speaker on video recently, and he made a great point. He said that if he were Satan, he would focus all his energy on undermining families. And that's exactly what this world is doing. Marriage has become meaningless and even to be avoided. Relationships have been trivialized. Sex had become the ultimate goal of dating. The entertainment and news industry bombards us with unwholesome material. Sin, in all its forms, is what ultimately destroys families. The question is, how should the family deal with sin among its members? And this extends to the broader question of how should the Church deal with sin among its members? These are certainly questions worth exploring in future posts.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my rambles. I don't usually express my views so strongly, but I truly felt I needed to get this off my chest.

I Played Against John Stockton... AND BEAT HIM!

For those of you who don't know who he is, John Stockton is one of the greatest basketball players to ever grace the hardwood. Probably the best player the Gonzaga Bulldogs ever had, Stockton was drafted by the Utah Jazz NBA team, in 1984. Spending his entire pro career there, he amassed an impressive list of accomplishments. He was voted one of the NBA's all-time best 50 players, led the league in assists, was an All-Star most of his career, and alongside "The Mailman" Karl Malone, led the Jazz to consecutive trips to the NBA finals (both times barely losing to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls). He retired several years ago, and although we live close to his hometown, I lost track of what he's been up to.

Well, last night, I took my son to Laser Quest, while my wife attended a choir concert (totally not my thing, and although I offered to endure it, she said she would have a better time by herself... who am I to argue???). In case you don't know what Laser Quest is either, they're a chain of establishments where you play laser tag. You play in this maze-like arena, equipped with a laser gun and sensors. As you tag other players (and get tagged yourself), the computer keeps track of everyone's scores. At the end, you get to see how well you did. It's great exercise and way less painful than paintball.

Anyway, so we played one game, and as we got in line for the second, I spotted him. John Stockton himself was there, with his wife and kids. I suspect it was their first visit. I don't do well talking to strangers, much less famous strangers, so I was content to just glance over at him once in a while, and not ask for a picture, autograph, or say anything stupid, like "Wow, you're one of my favorite players!"

When it was over, I paid attention to see what his callsign was, and although I was disappointed that we apparently never tagged each other, we were both in the top half of the scores, with me edging him out by a few points. I guess I'll have to be content that even though I did not have the guts to chat with him, I can claim that I was able to best him at something... although if it was a one-on-one game of hoops, he would have mopped the floor with me!