“Everyone’s doing it.” Several churches have apps. Several schools and seminaries have apps. There are even apps that do nothing but entertain my 3-year-old…
We have been looking at creating different apps that would help Texas Baptists find and have information and to be on mission. So, I’d like to ask for your input. What, if any, app you would like to have from your state convention? What should it do? What would be helpful?
LifeTime Fitness has started running ads amidst the music they play throughout the facility. Most of the time, they go unnoticed by me, but this one was a self-promotion about cycling groups and it caught my attention.
The point of the ad and the cycling group is to encourage participation, involvement and personal challenge toward fitness goals. The end of the ad focused on the participant joining and “never having to do anything alone.” Personally, there are times I enjoy being alone or even riding alone – it’s great quiet time.
What really caught my attention though is that they are focusing on people wanting to be a part of something for encouragement and sense of belonging. If we as humans, social beings, are looking so hard for ways to belong and fit in, why isn’t Christianity growing faster? No, seriously, I’m looking for responses, discussion and answers.
I’m to blame for the BP oil spill.
Actually, chances are you share the blame too. While I didn’t do anything to cause the oil spill that is threatening gulf coast shores, estuaries and wildlife I do use oil and oil-based products every day. I drive 20 miles to the nearest DART station then use DART light rail to get to downtown Dallas. I paid for the ride using a credit card and walk to the office on shoes with rubber soles. Then I drink coffee that had to be shipped in on boats and/or trucks and type on a keyboard made of plastic while looking at two different computer monitors. That’s all before 7:15 am.
Let’s face it, the broken rig that is causing the oil to spill into the gulf wouldn’t be there if I, we, the USA, the world, didn’t have an insatiable appetite for oil. Gasoline/fuel is one of the major users of oil that we all know about. However, there are far more oil-based products we use. A random sampling is below.
I’m not calling for a boycott of oil-based products or anything like that, just taking an introspective view on the mess that is happening in the Gulf.
If you read the book Angels & Demons by Dan Brown or saw the movie based on it, this story about smashing protons together may strike you as a bit familiar. I wonder if we’ll have anti-matter soon…
Their claim is that we’ll have the “God particle” within two – three years.
In my opinion, this breakthrough does have some significance in science and energy, but for explaining how the universe was made, meh, it doesn’t really matter to me because I know who did it.
Yes, this kinda grabbed my attention when it came to my inbox through an Ethics Daily subscription.
Here’s the beginning of the article by Sam Davidson:
“Once I realized I would be married to at least five different women in my lifetime, it was a lot easier to get married.
You may think my wife would cringe when reading this statement, but by my count, I’ve already been married to two different women since Lynnette and I tied the knot in 2004. And she’s been married to a handful, too.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’ll always be married to Lynnette. But who Lynnette is will change – and should change – over the course of our life together. This is why, when thinking hard about whether or not she was the one for me, I felt confident knowing she’d be someone who would grow and change as I grew and changed.”
All, the information below is meant for you to consider riding or supporting, but certainly for sharing.
Coming up April 19-24, several of your fellow Texas Baptists (pastors and laypeople) are embarking on a 3-hour tour…well, actually a 6-day, 450-mile bicycle ride to raise money and awareness for fighting hunger. The ride will start at FBC Ballinger and end at The Fellowship of San Antonio and we are making this trip through Waco to visit the Hunger Farm. All the money given goes to our World Hunger Offering.
By the way, I’m writing this as I watch the snow continue to fall…which isn’t putting me in much of a riding mood…
Along this ride, we will highlight several feeding ministries that the World Hunger Offering leaders and the Texas Hunger Initiative leaders are lining up.
Please send this to anyone you know who rides or who cares about feeding hungry people. We are looking for more riders and especially more donors. The best way to share this information is to direct people to www.TexasBaptists.org/BikeOut and have people contact me with questions or to sign up! My e-mail address is rand.jenkins(at)TexasBaptists.org.
Overview of the start/stop locations:
An overview map is located at:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tx/waco/199126376145328490
4/19 – depart FBC Ballinger ride to Zepher, drive back (10 miles) to sleep in Brownwood
4/20 – depart Zephyr, ride to and sleep in Gatesville
4/21 – depart Gatesville ride to Hunger Farm (should arrive mid-afternoon) north of Waco and ride to and sleep in Hewitt
4/22 – depart Hewitt ride to Florence (then drive to hotel near FBC Georgetown)
4/23 – depart FBC Georgetown ride to and sleep in Wimberly
4/24 – depart Wimberly (a little earlier than usual) ride to The Fellowship of San Antonio for ending celebration, eating lunch and raising money/awareness. .
Daily detailed maps:
day 1:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tx/-ballinger/478126512788610262
day 2:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tx/zephyr/843126512972688509
day 3:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tx/waco/581126554968941312
day 4:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tx/belton/421126555115333561
day 5:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tx/bee-cave/173126556837173649
day 6:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tx/san-antonio/801126558093372136
More than 3 million Haitians were left standing in rubble after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the capital city of Haiti Tuesday.
To support Texas Baptist disaster response efforts, visit
www.texasbaptists.org/haitiearthquake and click on give now, or send a check marked for disaster response to the Texas Baptist Mission Foundation at 333 N. Washington, Dallas, TX 75246-1798.Leaving my 3-year-old’s pre-pre-school the other afternoon, he said, “Daddy, don’t forget baby Jesus.”
Ok, I immediately thought, “Man, this school is good and my child is brilliant.” While those may both be true, Evan was being a touch more concrete. That day at school they had made baby Jesus dolls out of tube socks and they were even wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Nonetheless, the phrase, “Don’t forget baby Jesus” is quite applicable and we have left the baby Jesus doll on our counter to remind us.
Ok, I’ve about had it with that phrase.
This time of year, which I love, brings about numerous sappy news stories and radio call-ins. There is a Christian music radio station here in the Metroplex and they play many of these segments where gracious people have stepped in and provided presents.
Inevitably, the person being interviewed utters the phrase, “We just weren’t going to be able to have Christmas.” or “This person made it possible for us to have Christmas.”
I do hope they mean that they weren’t going to have presents. Matter of fact, I’m quite certain that’s what they mean, but it’s not what they are saying.
As we know, Christmas does not depend on receiving gifts under a tree. Christmas does not not happen if you don’t have things to open on the morning of December 25. Nothing anyone can do can stop Christmas. Take note from the great philosopher’s (Dr. Seuss) character the Grinch. He tried, yet the point of that book and movie (the one with Boris Karloff narrating) is that there is more to Christmas than toys.
“Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! without any presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! It CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!”
…apparently doesn’t always stay in Vegas.
Everywhere in the news is information on the “transgressions” (the word he uses in his apology) between Tiger Woods and Jaimee Grubbs, a coctail waitress in Las Vegas.
This type of poor decision and action is not new to the sports world but we typically don’t hear about it as much with golfers, actually until Tiger, the general public didn’t hear much of anything about professional golfers.
Tiger was the first professional athlete to reach $1 billion in earnings this year. He’s got an incredible 1. golf game, 2. brand name. I’m not so sure the first will be too effected by the discussions of his personal life. But I do question if the second will be. And honestly, I think that if he continues to win (as expected) it won’t have a lasting effect on his brand.
I’m all for forgiveness and thankful for God’s grace so I’m not implying repentence and forgiveness. What the root is again here, is that we as a society are continually placing performance over personality. Personality not as in someone is friendly or outgoing. But personality as in the aspects of one’s character that impress others; the essential character of a person.
What personality are we as Texas Baptists showing the world?
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