Aaarrgghhh !! I've been tagged! If you want to know something deep and dark about me though, you'll have to wait. My wife just reminded me that tonight is Trash Night, so I have to go for now ...
But if you want to know why Bobby sent you here (for those who clicked to this site from little sorrel's blog), read the other posts I have here so far ... and keep watching for my answers to this tagging.
Thanks for playing with us ... and if you would like to be in on these fun and games, leave me a comment with a link to YOUR blogsite and I'll tag you when I'm done.
Gotta run for now. Tagged by Bobby and my wife on the same night! What a wonderful day!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Champions
In this day and age, many people hail heroes whose armor is tarnished with scandals of personal misbehavior. Some of those heroes seek redemption through acts of generosity and service to others. While this is admirable, there is truly only one way to redemption that really matters: Jesus Christ.
If you would choose a hero, a champion whose banner you will wave in glory, honoring their name, choose wisely. Moses was a great and mighty prophet and man of God, but he would not choose to be the object of your adoration. Neither would Elijah, Daniel, Samson, David, nor even any one of the apostles. All of them would point to the one named above all other names, whose power and glory is forever established in the Heavens.
Even here in Chicago, on such a day as this, I ask you to celebrate NOT "da BEARS", nor even the Saints (though they DO have a better name) ...
Today I say, as always, Celebrate Jesus!
But don't get me wrong ... I am still pretty happy, as such things go, that our BEARS won.
The thing is, though, that win or lose, they are not the source of my hope and my faith. My life does not hinge on their temporary success ... and certainly not on whether they ultimately may win or fail in the "big game."
As Paul said it so eloquently,
" So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2nd Corinthians 4:18
If you would choose a hero, a champion whose banner you will wave in glory, honoring their name, choose wisely. Moses was a great and mighty prophet and man of God, but he would not choose to be the object of your adoration. Neither would Elijah, Daniel, Samson, David, nor even any one of the apostles. All of them would point to the one named above all other names, whose power and glory is forever established in the Heavens.
Even here in Chicago, on such a day as this, I ask you to celebrate NOT "da BEARS", nor even the Saints (though they DO have a better name) ...
Today I say, as always, Celebrate Jesus!
But don't get me wrong ... I am still pretty happy, as such things go, that our BEARS won.
The thing is, though, that win or lose, they are not the source of my hope and my faith. My life does not hinge on their temporary success ... and certainly not on whether they ultimately may win or fail in the "big game."
As Paul said it so eloquently,
" So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2nd Corinthians 4:18
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Security
How secure are you? Or, at least, how secure do you feel? Sometimes I wonder if we're too secure. It has been over two weeks since I posted my first blog. You know why? Because I forgot my sign-in details. How amazingly silly is that?
You would have thought a relatively intelligent, fairly savvy, not totally stupid person would have thought about writing such things down. Even someone like me could remember this stuff, right? Maybe not. My brain is getting too crowded with this stuff.
A few years back I started getting a new message whenever I had to choose a password at a new site: the password strength checker. What a clever tool! Now I can type and re-type my passwords until they are so strong and secure nobody would ever be able to break them. Sadly, almost, I found out how true that was. And so began an odyssey over the years, a dance of sorts, between my ADD tendencies and these wonderful password strength checkers.
It is a challenge, is it not, to your very soul to see how strong you can make these passwords? I aklmost feel as if I would be inviting the beasts who want to decipher my passwords in, if I were to settle for less than an amazingly strong rating. And so I have gotten very good at picking tough passwords over the years. And then I got to the point where I wasn't going to use sites that required them, because it was just too humiliating to not be able to sign in to the new email address I gave my friends and family so I would actually read what they sent. And I would have ...
Now, almost from habit, I create newer, simpler, more difficult than ever to decipher, ultra-strong, herculean passwords ... almost without even trying. And I immediately forget them. But over the years I remembered how often I would forget them, so I began writing them down in places I do not forget. I was really proud of myself when I found that I could even password-protect the file I kept them in on a private piece of non-wi-fi electronics I have for such things.
But this time I forgot to write my password down. I had promised myself that this would be a thing of the past. And it has been, for what seems a long time to me. (I won't say how long ... duh!) But now I'm beginning to wonder if I have become too secure. So secure I must resort, at the promptings of others, to asking the servers to reset my wonderfully ultra-strong passwords.
At times like these I begin to doubt my sanity and the sanity of a world where you have to secure even the thoughts you want to share with strangers. And these are the times I am glad, almost giddy with overwhelming joy, that I don't have to count on a password that has to stay hidden for my salvation from this insanity. This password is freely accessible to anyone who wants to use it. It is a name. Jesus.
Forget all the other passwords and security gizmos and memory tricks. Just whispering His name is enough to make me feel really and truly secure. Jesus. Yeshua. Iesou.
Okay ... so now I am back to blogging. And I have a new password for this thing. And it isn't "Jesus", okay. So I'll be back soon, and I won't forget this time ... because I wrote it down ... someplace secure.
You would have thought a relatively intelligent, fairly savvy, not totally stupid person would have thought about writing such things down. Even someone like me could remember this stuff, right? Maybe not. My brain is getting too crowded with this stuff.
A few years back I started getting a new message whenever I had to choose a password at a new site: the password strength checker. What a clever tool! Now I can type and re-type my passwords until they are so strong and secure nobody would ever be able to break them. Sadly, almost, I found out how true that was. And so began an odyssey over the years, a dance of sorts, between my ADD tendencies and these wonderful password strength checkers.
It is a challenge, is it not, to your very soul to see how strong you can make these passwords? I aklmost feel as if I would be inviting the beasts who want to decipher my passwords in, if I were to settle for less than an amazingly strong rating. And so I have gotten very good at picking tough passwords over the years. And then I got to the point where I wasn't going to use sites that required them, because it was just too humiliating to not be able to sign in to the new email address I gave my friends and family so I would actually read what they sent. And I would have ...
Now, almost from habit, I create newer, simpler, more difficult than ever to decipher, ultra-strong, herculean passwords ... almost without even trying. And I immediately forget them. But over the years I remembered how often I would forget them, so I began writing them down in places I do not forget. I was really proud of myself when I found that I could even password-protect the file I kept them in on a private piece of non-wi-fi electronics I have for such things.
But this time I forgot to write my password down. I had promised myself that this would be a thing of the past. And it has been, for what seems a long time to me. (I won't say how long ... duh!) But now I'm beginning to wonder if I have become too secure. So secure I must resort, at the promptings of others, to asking the servers to reset my wonderfully ultra-strong passwords.
At times like these I begin to doubt my sanity and the sanity of a world where you have to secure even the thoughts you want to share with strangers. And these are the times I am glad, almost giddy with overwhelming joy, that I don't have to count on a password that has to stay hidden for my salvation from this insanity. This password is freely accessible to anyone who wants to use it. It is a name. Jesus.
Forget all the other passwords and security gizmos and memory tricks. Just whispering His name is enough to make me feel really and truly secure. Jesus. Yeshua. Iesou.
Okay ... so now I am back to blogging. And I have a new password for this thing. And it isn't "Jesus", okay. So I'll be back soon, and I won't forget this time ... because I wrote it down ... someplace secure.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
New Beginnings
What do you do when you just aren't sure how to begin a new chapter in your life? I think I have a terrific idea how to handle this. I'm just gonna lay it out there. If you have ever wanted someone to write about something, drop me a comment in the box and I'll respond. I'm not saying that I'll be eloquent or anything, but I will tell you what I think about it and ask you to respond. Maybe the second blog you see here will be your idea in print.
I'm an average kind of man with a much larger than average body. At 6' 7" and over 300 lbs, very few people ever call me little feller or shorty. I've been an athlete and a couch potato and athlete is a lot more fun. Couch potato is easier. So you're going to get a wide variety of viewpoints here, but mostly mine. Sometimes you may hate what I write. I'll do better next time. Sometimes you'll love what I write. I do ... usually.
Politics are not out-of-bounds here, but don't expect me to fit in neat little pigeon holes. That just ain't gonna happen. Religion is more my line, particularly the teachings of the carpenter from a couple thousand years back. Music is another passion, but I'm not real trendy, so help me out once in a while. I watch TV some and rent movies because I just don't like theatre prices and sticky floors. But I'm not cheap and I love giving things to people. Food is another good subject, but it may be hard to get more than a colorful and mouth-watering description here. Still, my better half is a great cook, so send along a recipe if you want.
This year I am focusing on making what I do count in a significant way. If you want depth, we'll dive into the riches of the human soul and divine mysteries. If you want it light and airy, drop by from time to time and you'll find that, too. Mostly I just guarantee one thing: we're going to have some fun around here. Otherwise I'll get bored and stop writing.
The ball is in your court ... hook me up with an idea or a topic. Stop by for a chat. I promise to try to make you glad you did.
I'm an average kind of man with a much larger than average body. At 6' 7" and over 300 lbs, very few people ever call me little feller or shorty. I've been an athlete and a couch potato and athlete is a lot more fun. Couch potato is easier. So you're going to get a wide variety of viewpoints here, but mostly mine. Sometimes you may hate what I write. I'll do better next time. Sometimes you'll love what I write. I do ... usually.
Politics are not out-of-bounds here, but don't expect me to fit in neat little pigeon holes. That just ain't gonna happen. Religion is more my line, particularly the teachings of the carpenter from a couple thousand years back. Music is another passion, but I'm not real trendy, so help me out once in a while. I watch TV some and rent movies because I just don't like theatre prices and sticky floors. But I'm not cheap and I love giving things to people. Food is another good subject, but it may be hard to get more than a colorful and mouth-watering description here. Still, my better half is a great cook, so send along a recipe if you want.
This year I am focusing on making what I do count in a significant way. If you want depth, we'll dive into the riches of the human soul and divine mysteries. If you want it light and airy, drop by from time to time and you'll find that, too. Mostly I just guarantee one thing: we're going to have some fun around here. Otherwise I'll get bored and stop writing.
The ball is in your court ... hook me up with an idea or a topic. Stop by for a chat. I promise to try to make you glad you did.
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