Do you believe in the End Times?
So I went to this
Fusion conference for people in their 20's and 30's Sat and it was awesome. My main goal was to see Caedmon's Call and the conference was secondary. It ended up that I learned quite a bit and it was a refresher as well. Dr. Richard Pratt said that most of us Christians really do not believe in eschatology, the end times, b/c if we do then we live our lives accordingly. We'd live our lives as if there's an urgent need to reach out to others. Instead, we live like everyone else, go to our jobs, take care of our families, have fun on the weekends, etc. Not that these things are bad in of themselves but if they are the only things we live for, then the question is do we really believe what we believe and that Christ is coming back in our life time?
Speakers @ Fusion reminded me that we should live radically lives to change the world. That our actions can make a difference, an eternal difference, and that the Great Commission is not for those who are "called" but for all believers.
The GC is like someone's last words before death so those words are not merely for the special apostles or disciples but for all believers. We are called to go to our neighbors, the help the poor, the take care of the fatherless, etc. and no matter where we live, we will have all these people around us.
More on this later.
Ports & the UAE
The latest big news is the UAE buying up the six major ports in the US...so I was watching Letterman and here's what he said:
Letting the UAE buying our ports is like
Having Courtney Love keeping an eye on the medicine cabinet.
Letting Britney Spears carpooling your kids.
Asking Kirstie Alley guarding the buffet line.
For those who didn't get the jokes, Love has been arrested a few times for drug use, Spears was caught for driving w/ her toddler sitting in her lap, and Alley has just let herself eat whatever she wants.
CCM - Contemporary Christian Music
Here's an interesting
article from a blog on CCM. This is one of the reasons why I am not a big fan of CCM. I do enjoy a few artists, mainly worship music & Jars of Clay, but that's about it.
Well, off to Copper Mountain, CO tomorrow for snowboarding. Can't wait!
Curling, Half Pipe, Gold & Silver
I was eating dinner and flipping channels to find an Olympic sport to watch and the only event on was curling. I watched the US Men's Mon night and sorta got into it. The US Women team was competing against the Japan team Tue night. It became more interesting as I know more about it now besides the fact that there were two very cute gals on each team. The more thrilling events were the half pipe and downhill skiing. The US Women won gold and silver in the half pipe (snowboarding). Riders are better than skiers. Congrats!
Too Much Fun on a Fri Night
So tonight was one of those nights that I did three things in a row. After work, I drove to watch a high school basketball game. A cool high school kid that I "mentor" if you will is the star player. He's an awesome kid. Unfortunately, they lost by 5 points and he was really down on himself. I felt really bad for him but it was one of those things you just gotta stand by the guy and let him know you are there.
The second was to a missionary dinner and gathering. One guy spoke about heading to a central Asia nation and another decided to head over to Spain. The first was like in his 30's while the second in his 50's and neither spoke their country's language. They will be in intensive language school. It was awesome to see God sending people from various age groups to two totally contrasting places. Spain is well off but people are closed spiritually while the other country are poor but open to the Gospel. Nevertheless, God's word will not return void.
Last, I met up w/ a good buddy @ Fun World for go cart racing. Holy cow, it's one of the funnest things I've done in awhile! There are four tracks, the green & blue tracks are for rookies, aka little kids. The yellow is the longest and has three levels while the red is the fastest but only one level. There were four of us and we ramped into each other so many times that we were warned half dozen of times and they stopped our engines one time b/c we crashed into each other so badly...and yeah, I spent $30 in 1.5 hours but it was well worth it. My justification was that it was for my bud's Bday.
As for Sat, it'll be all work. Waking up @ 6AM, get a chainsaw and ladder, and help a friend cut down a 20 ft palm tree. After that, heading over to Eatonville to help build a house. This is a joint effort w/ several churches in the area. It'll be a day when I feel really macho using chainsaws, tools, hammers, and walking on top of roofs.
One that's like John the Baptist
This is a friend that now lives in the mountains of the Rockies. I have to admit that the shirt is one of a kind as there were only 10 made in the entire world. Finally, JM, you are a wild man just like the one who came from the wilderness, eating locusts and wild honey. This pic also reminds me of Ziggy Marley, I dunno, you tell me, John or Ziggy?
I Like Big Bibles
Check out this funny video
I Like Big Bibles
Happy Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4704 begins on Jan. 29, 2006. This year is the year of the dog.
It is celebrated internationally, including in Chinatowns, Chinese New Year is the most important holiday of the Chinese people, and many East Asians such as Mongolians, Koreans and Vietnamese who have holidays which fall on the same day.
Around the New Year, Chinese people greet each other with: "Congratulations and be prosperous"and "Happy New Year" .
Traditionally, red packets are passed out during the Chinese New Year's celebrations, from married couples to unmarried people. Chinese New Year is celebrated with firecrackers, dragon dances and lion dances. Typically the game of mahjong is played.
At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits.
