lifepoint bike ride

To offset the donuts we have on Sunday mornings, we decided to have a bike ride around Coronado. The weather was beautiful!

jim cramer on the colbert report

the awakening of cnn

company dives into lending poo

Long ago I signed up for Google Alerts, a news aggregating service that Google provides. You create profile of keywords and Google spiders newspapers and other news sources for those keywords. It then sends you an email with a brief synopsis and a link to the full story.

One of the profiles I created is for my day job at Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct. Today I got an alert that read, "Company Dives into Lending Pool." It took me to the New Orleans Business News website. Here is a screen shot of the story:


To read my comments in yellow, click the picture to view a larger image. The URL is quite funny (at least I think so). It reads, "company_dives_into_lending_poo.html."

Here's the orginal story.

chivalry

Chivalry lives in San Diego! Of all places, I saw it first-hand on the trolley last Friday night.

It was about 5:30 and the train was filled up. At the City College stop, an older lady got on board and began to grab a handle, having resigned herself to standing up. Two different guys and one gal actually got up and offered her their seat. I felt like giving them a thumbs up.

It’s a sad fact that we’re not surprised much any more by bad behavior. What people do find surprising are the little acts of kindness and courtesy that get extended to them unexpectantly.

Acts 10:38 describes Jesus as someone who “went around doing good.”

May God's people be known as a church community of people who go around doing good. Plus, it’s fun surprising people.

say it ain't so, joe

Just finished watching the vice presidential debate. Two thoughts: 1. Wow! Governor Palin came off as normal, authentic, likeable, and knowledgeable. 2. There will be a clip on YouTube within a few hours of Senator Biden saying, "Bush's, Bush's, Bush's" where every time he said "Bush's" it sounded like bushes, with the last syllable a squeaky higher pitch than the first one.

video you'll only find on youtube

What can we expect from the upcoming vice-presidential debate? This is courtesy of Hot Air.

on the record

I'm watching "On the Record" and Newt Gingrich is the guest. They're talking about when the government bailed out AIG, the troubled insurance company. The only private sector person in the room was the current chairman of Goldman Sachs. Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, is the former chairman of Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs has about a 20 million dollar investment in AIG. No other investors were brought into the discussions.

This "bail out" conversation gets more interesting by the minute.

follow the money

Congress rejected the hastily prepared bail-out bill and the market lost nearly 7 percent of its value. Many people believe that the runaway sub-prime housing bubble has caused the current crisis. Behind that would be those two siblings, Fannie and Freddie. And to whom has Freddie and Fannie given loads of money to in Congress?

Find out.

it would mean no more chunky monkey for me

This just in from Vermont:

VERMONT -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

Here's the actual letter from PETA to Ben and Jerry's:

September 23, 2008

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Cofounders
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc.

Dear Mr. Cohen and Mr. Greenfield,

On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters, I'd like to bring your attention to an innovative new idea from Switzerland that would bring a unique twist to Ben and Jerry's.

Storchen restaurant is set to unveil a menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent breast milk procured from human donors who are paid in exchange for their milk. If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers-and cows-would reap the benefits.Using cow's milk for your ice cream is a hazard to your customer's health.

Dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies, constipation, obesity, and prostate and ovarian cancer. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow's milk to children, saying it may play a role in anemia, allergies, and juvenile diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease-America's number one cause of death.

Animals will also benefit from the switch to breast milk. Like all mammals, cows only produce milk during and after pregnancy, so to be able to constantly milk them, cows are forcefully impregnated every nine months. After several years of living in filthy conditions and being forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would naturally, their exhausted bodies are turned into hamburgers or ground up for soup.And of course, the veal industry could not survive without the dairy industry.

Because male calves can't produce milk, dairy farmers take them from their mothers immediately after birth and sell them to veal farms, where they endure 14 to 17 weeks of torment chained inside a crate so small that they can't even turn around.

The breast is best! Won't you give cows and their babies a break and our health a boost by switching from cow's milk to breast milk in Ben and Jerry's ice cream?

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President

Source

upcoming lifepoint events

All of our San Diego friends are invited to the following LifePoint events. Please note: a few of these actually involve something called "exercise."

LifePoint Bike Ride around Coronado.
Volunteering at the San Diego Food Bank

For more details, visit the LifePoint Church website.

joe biden and the history of television

Katie Couric was interviewing Joe Biden about the recent financial upheavals and this is what he had to say:

“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed. He said, ‘look, here’s what happened.’”

A few quick observations:

1. Franklin Roosevelt wasn't the President when the stock market crashed in 1929 -- Herbert Hoover was. FDR wasn't elected until 1932.
   
2. Even if FDR had been President in 1929, he couldn't have gone on television and said anything about the stock market crash. NBC didn't begin regular broadcasts until 1939.

And what did Katie Couric say to such an obviously wrong statement? Nothing.

See the video.

feeding the soul

Every day you provide your bodies with good to keep them from failing. In the same way your good works should be the daily nourishment of your hearts. Your bodies are fed with food and your spirits with good works. You aren’t to deny your soul, which is going to live forever, what you grant to your body, which is going to die.

St. Gregory the Great

bail-outs and more

Amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable. These were just a few of the words that crossed my mind during the past two weeks as I’ve watched the financial news unfold. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware of the high profile bail-outs that have occurred recently. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG ...

Experts estimate the eventual cost to be between 500 billion and 1 trillion dollars. Just for the fun of it, I thought I would type out what one trillion dollars looks like:

$1,000,000,000,000

Maybe this will help you understand one trillion dollars. It comes from the internet, so it must be true:

If you had gone into business on the day Jesus was born, and your business lost a million dollars a day, day in and day out, 365 days a year, it would have taken you until October 2737 to lose a trillion dollars.

Or another way of looking at it ...

If you counted non-stop without eating or sleeping it would take approximately 23 days to count to a million. To count to a billion literally would take a lifetime: 95 years. Counting to a trillion, assuming we get started right away and don’t waste any time, would take about 2,000 centuries -- 200,000 years.

Any way you look at it, that’s a big bail-out. An amazing, incredible, unbelievable bail-out.

I’ve had people ask me over the past few days, “Are you scared of what might happen?” My answer has been the same: “No.” And I’m not being disingenuous. I’m really not scared.

Jesus made a promise to me (and to all others who follow him) a long time ago and it hasn’t failed yet. The promise? “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). The “other things” he was referring to were the basic necessities of life.

The reason I find comfort in what Jesus promises is because of what Jesus has already delivered -- an amazing, incredible, unbelievable bail-out. Not in financial terms, but in terms of spiritual wholeness, health, and purpose. When you’ve been bailed out like, what is there to be afraid of?

blast to the past

Just found this link to vintage toys. It's amazing what people will do with too much free time.

http://www.timewarptoys.com/toptoys.htm

unlikely endorsements

John McCain Has Some Odd Fans:
His Jailers at the 'Hanoi Hilton'

They Play Down Torture and Wish Him Well;
Museum Visitors Want to See His Cell

By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV
September 13, 2008; Page A1

HANOI -- As a U.S. Navy pilot, John McCain flew 23 bombing sorties over Vietnam before he was shot down and incarcerated in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prison camp. The courage he displayed behind bars gave him the aura of a war hero, and it is still powering his electoral appeal.

Yet now, even the jailers who once tortured Sen. McCain are lining up to offer effusive -- if somewhat embarrassing -- endorsements for his presidential candidacy.

"If I had a vote in the U.S., I would choose McCain," beams retired Col. Tran Trong Duyet, the camp's former commander. "I want him in the White House."

This unlikely sentiment is widely shared in this fast-growing country of 85 million. "The majority of the people in Vietnam know Sen. McCain and feel comfortable about him," says Duong Trung Quoc, a member of Vietnam's National Assembly and secretary-general of the Association of Vietnamese Historians. "Nobody here knows about Obama."

The fascination with Sen. McCain's presidential bid shows what has and hasn't changed in Vietnam in the more than three decades since Hanoi's Communist regime won its "American War." Converts since then to a gospel of free-market economics, Vietnam's rulers today see America not as a foe but as an increasingly valuable partner with shared geopolitical interests, such as counterbalancing a rising China next-door. "Vietnam needs a strong America, not a weak America," says Mr. Quoc.

Sen. McCain, as a leading advocate of normalizing U.S.-Vietnamese relations after the war, was instrumental in this rapprochement. Hanoi nowadays has an actual Hanoi Hilton hotel within a few blocks of the former prison, as well as Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises and a cowboy-theme nightclub decorated with Confederate banners.

Tran Trong Duyet

Yet, despite such economic liberalization, Vietnam still remains a repressive authoritarian state whose regime draws its legitimacy from defeating the U.S. Its official narrative of the war makes no mention of excesses committed by the Communist North. And, when it comes to the treatment meted out here to Sen. McCain and other American POWs, the "Hanoi Hilton" is still presented as something resembling a vacation resort that its guests were almost reluctant to leave.

Most of that French-built prison complex, known as Hoa Lo in Vietnamese, was demolished in 1993 to make room for an office tower. One surviving wing, however, has been preserved as a museum dedicated mostly to Vietnamese revolutionary leaders who had been jailed at Hoa Lo by French colonialists.

More Museum Space

Over the past several months, as Sen. McCain edged closer to the presidential nomination, the museum adjusted its exhibition. The section dedicated to him and other downed American pilots, incarcerated here between 1964 and 1973, now occupies two full rooms, up from just half a room last year, says Hoa Lo's deputy director Nguyen Thi Hien.

"The visitors who come here now focus on the American pilots," she says. "They all want to see where John McCain's room was." (Sen. McCain's cell happens to be in the demolished part, and no longer exists.) Accompanied by a soundtrack of air raids, Hoa Lo's exhibit makes no mention of the systematic beatings and torture that are so prominent in the accounts of Sen. McCain, who spent five and a half years in the camp, and of his fellow POWs.

Instead, propaganda photographs show smiling, well-coiffed American inmates having cookies and tea. "There's plenty of fruit in this tropical land. It is as if one is being in California, somewhere on the West Coast," says one poster depicting POWs playing basketball and guitar. Another, purportedly painted by American POWs, contains this misspelled appeal: "Lets' fight so the Yanks quit, and the puppets topple. Foreward!"

One photograph shows Sen. McCain -- who complained of being denied critical care for his broken limbs -- being examined by a Vietnamese doctor. A large display case exhibits what is billed as his flight suit -- strangely intact, even though Sen. McCain was severely injured after ejecting from his Skyhawk dive bomber, and was bayoneted and beaten immediately after his capture in Hanoi's Truc Bach Lake in October 1967.

A Prize Catch

A crumbling concrete monument on the lake's edge, next to fancy new restaurants, still marks the spot. While not "Hanoi Hilton's" most senior POW in rank, Sen. McCain was considered by his captors as a prize catch because his father served as head of the U.S. Navy Pacific Command. Because of this particular status, Sen. McCain refused Vietnamese offers to release him from the "Hanoi Hilton" out of turn.

"He came from a very prestigious family and he acted like a prince," recalls the camp's former commander, Mr. Duyet, who is now regularly made available for interviews by the Vietnamese government. McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds declined to comment for this article.

On a recent afternoon, the 75-year-old Mr. Duyet extracted a folder with faded black-and-white photographs and waxed lyrical about how "my friend John McCain" once taught him English and how the two frequently discussed "girls."

Speaking in a leafy garden where he keeps caged birds, Mr. Duyet also insisted that "prisoners liked me because I was good to them and treated them nicely." Sen. McCain had a starkly different recollection of Mr. Duyet. In an interview with the magazine U.S. News shortly after his release in 1973, Sen. McCain described Mr. Duyet -- nicknamed "Slopehead" by the American POWs -- as "a particularly idiotic individual" and "the bad guy" with a penchant for sadism.

Making a Movie

Ms. Hien, the Hoa Lo museum's director, says that the abuse of Sen. McCain and other American prisoners is not shown in the exhibit because no such thing occurred here. "What we display is based on historical evidence, and the evidence is that the POWs were all treated in a humanitarian way," she says. Because of growing interest in the issue, Hoa Lo plans to further expand the American POW section. She says she is also preparing a short documentary film for visitors.

Vietnam's oft-repeated official line, to be reflected in the documentary, is that American prisoners at the "Hanoi Hilton" actually enjoyed higher living standards than their captors. "The American body is different from the Vietnamese body -- the American diet is different, and so the American prisoners were receiving much bigger portions than our ordinary citizens," says Luu Dinh Mien, an official with the Vietnam War Veterans Association who served as a propaganda officer and interrogator in the camp. (Sen. McCain recalled that, on many days, the only food he received was pumpkin soup and soggy bread.)

Among a handful of interviewed former Hoa Lo personnel, only retired Col. Pham Cong Khoi, who served as a cell guard responsible for Sen. McCain, offered a reluctant admission that the "Hanoi Hilton" was not quite the paradise it's made out to be.

"I personally did not beat anyone," he said when asked about Sen. McCain's accounts of frequent thrashings. "But it is very normal that something like this happens in prison, when you question someone and they don't want to answer you." Minutes later, Mr. Khoi returned to toeing the party line. "We saved McCain's life and treated him well," he insisted with a broad smile. "And in return we think McCain will do something good for Vietnam."

national journal's most liberal senator ratings

http://www.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/sen/lib.htm

For someone who criticizes his opponent for voting with the President "90% of the time," it's interesting that Obama has voted with his own party 100% of the time. At least McCain has broken with his party 10% of the time. If someone promises to "reach across the aisle" but never has ...

junior padre day at petco park

Today was "field day" for the junior Padres, which meant all the kids were free to roam on the outfield grass and sit in the dugouts. I took Hope with me and we played catch out in right field, near the same spot that Brian Giles normally roams. Here's a few pix I snapped for your enjoyment.

greg gutfield on sarah palin

Who Hates Sarah Palin?

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

By Greg Gutfeld

According to many in the media, we truly have discovered someone worse than Hitler — and it's Sarah Palin.

Head to any left-wing blog or even CNN for that matter and you'll find the zaniest of conspiracies -- froth that even a dude with rabies would find unseemly.

So how can one person create so much bile among folks who claim to be the most tolerant in the universe? I mean, liberals are the good people: They're open-minded, caring and of course, fair.

But somehow, a Republican lady in her 40s is exempt from this treatment. Perhaps, she truly is the devil in a dress, a ghoul that eats children and pollutes the planet and possibly beats Barack Obama, the patron saint of every customer buying wheat germ in bulk at GNC.

But I know the real reason why every single elitist media type is terrified of her. They've never met her. And by "her," I don't mean Sarah Palin. I mean "her", an actual normal woman with a bunch of kids, an average husband and no desire to watch "The L Word."

She's scary to these folks the way Wal-Mart is scary to them: Both are alien to someone who blogs about their chakras. They won't go there, because they've never been there.

To them, hating Sarah Palin is a symptom of larger bigotry against the rest of us, the normal. If they saw her at a party, they would wonder how she got in. She's the anti-Obama, the anti-New York Times, the anti-everything that Tim Robbins loves, which is why I love her — and you should too.

And if you disagree with me, then you sir are worse than Hitler.

Greg Gutfeld hosts "Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld" weekdays at 3 a.m. ET. Send your comments to: redeye@foxnews.com

Source

new meaning to bi-vocational

Many of you know that I am a bi-vocational pastor. That's a fancy way of saying that I work two jobs -- one as a pastor at LifePoint and the other as ecommerce manager at Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct.

While perusing Google News, I noticed another route to being bi-vocational. This is from USA Today.

Priest charged with selling coke from campus rectory

A Catholic priest was charged this week with selling cocaine from his office and residence at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, local news organizations report.

The Rev. Christopher Layden, 33, was arrested Wednesday after police found "about 3 grams of powder cocaine and items of drug paraphernalia" while executing a search warrant on the campus, according to The Pantagraph.

Layden pleaded not guilty to three charges, the paper says.

The News-Gazette reports an informant told police that he has used cocaine with the priest "40 to 50 times" since 2007. "First Assistant State's Attorney Steve Ziegler said in court Thursday that the UI police monitored a cocaine purchase by the informant from Layden on Sept. 4," the paper says.

Here's the campus police department's blotter entry about this case.

The Peoria Diocese says in a statement to the local ABC affiliate that it was "shocked and saddened" to learn of the priest's arrest. He has been suspended pending the outcome of the case, the statement says.

---

Side Note: The University of Illinois is only a short drive down Interstate 74 from Peoria.

old co-workers and friends on tv

During the Olympics, I'm watching a commercial for 24 Hour Fitness and one of the guys is a friend of mine from Opportunity Camp. A week or so later - while watching PBS with the girls - he's on another commercial. Bobby Brindley hosts our nightly talent show at camp and is a genuinely funny and nice guy. Of course, he "officially" goes by Bob, but we still call him Bobby.

So ... today I'm watching the early morning news (around 6:15 or so) and who do I see on a local Jerome's furniture commercial? One of my former co-workers from Blue Haven. Here's the link to see his commercial. He's the last of the "fake" sales people in the commercial.

even cafepress is doing it

As many of you know, I have a cafepress store that sells a few designs of mine. I'm a big cafepress store but this is disappointing ... It was a "Featured Product" of all things!

sarah palin and her daughter

I've been following the media frenzy over the fact that John McCain's newly minted running mate has a 17-year-old daughter who is pregnant. The news came to light because of a liberal blog that spread the rumor that Palin's infant son actually belonged to her 17-year-old daughter. This nasty rumor forced the Palins to set the record straight, which included sharing the news about her pregnant daughter.

What is amazing is how much air time and print space is getting devoted to this story. It seems rather ironic -- and a bit hypocritical -- that the press would pursue this story when we were told that a politician's sex life didn't matter when that politician was named Bill Clinton. And we're not even talking about the candidate herself but her 17-year-old daughter!

At first blush, it appears to be two things: 1) it appears to be the liberal press saying, "Gotcha" to a conservative candidate. 2) it appears way out of line and I think most Americans will feel the same way ... ask the candidate hard questions but leave the kids out of it.

Why would anyone want to gloat over the fact that a young girl has gotten pregnant? According to the liberal mindset, we should be celebrating the fact that the younger Palin has expressed her individuality -- I thought that was the reasoning behind why most liberals do not support parental notification when it comes to abortion. A 17-year-old should be old enough to know what to do with her body.

Of course, the real issue is not the 17-year-old but Governor Palin. Her nomination must have scared the beejeebies out of some people based upon how quickly things turned nasty.

Could it be that those on the left understand that Sarah Palin will reasonate with average, ordinary voters in states where Obama-Biden do not?

more book updates

I've been plowing through books like crazy. So, here's an update on what I've been reading.

Many a River by Elmer Kelton. It's about two boys orphaned in West Texas when their parents are killed by Comanches.

Scottsboro: A Novel by Ellen Feldman. The Scottsboro Boys, as they were called, were nine black teens accused of gang-raping two white women on the Southern Railroad freight run to Memphis on March 25, 1931. Feldman tells their tale through Alice Whittier, a fictional, left-leaning white journalist for a socialist newspaper in New York.

Screwball by David Ferrell. I really enjoyed this one. It's about baseball and a serial killer. 'Nuff said.

winter safety covers for your pool

If you are looking for a safety cover, you are looking for the best way to protect your pool. Safety covers not only protect your pool, but they provide an extra line of defense for your children and pets. They provide a convenient way to keep your pool clean through the winter months, making it easier (and quicker) to enjoy your pool the next year.

We recently spent some time revamping our selection of winter safety covers at Blue Haven Pools. You can view our standard, in-stock covers or try our custom design option.

i'm telecommuting today

In light of the fact that I'm telecommuting today, I thought I would share this great Dilbert cartoon on the evolution of telecommuting. View it here.

more trolley observations

Our parking situation changed at work and instead of parking downtown I’ve been riding the trolley to work. Now that I’ve been a trolley rider for the past three weeks, I thought I would share a few of my observations with you.

When riding the trolley, you need to add a few minutes to any schedule to allow for red lights and other delays.

San Diego is much more diverse than most people realize.

It’s not unusual for people to mumble to themselves. And I’m not only talking about other passengers.

People check their phones just to have something to do.

Having a current library card is a life-saver.

Mom was right when she told you to wash your hands.

All joking aside, there are real benefits to letting someone else drive you to work. I’ve read more books in the last three weeks than I had in the previous three months. Even more impressive (at least to me), they have all been works of fiction. With 30 minutes to an hour each way, that’s a good bit of book reading each day.

I do feel less stressed when arriving at work. No more worrying about knuckleheads who weave in and out of traffic. No more traffic jams on Interstate 8. Of course, the trade-off is not knowing what urban adventure will await you each time you board the train.

Riding the trolley to work takes me through parts of San Diego that I haven’t been through in years, if ever. I’ve shared seats with all sorts of people, some of whom have been at varying levels of drunkenness. It’s been a reminder that not everybody is just like me ... lives like me ... or dresses like me.

It’s also reminded me, however, that people who are look (and maybe smell) different are still just people. They get up and go to work just like other people do. Their thoughts drift to their children, the shopping list, the day’s activities. If the trolley is delayed, their schedules get adjusted, just like mine.

Maybe all Christ-followers should have a two-week trolley assignment. Two weeks of experiencing a different slice of life. Two weeks of new perspectives. Better yet, make it a month and buy a pass.

spam gets creative

An email just landed in my spam box with this subject line: "McCain Chooses Paris Hilton as VP."

elvis and the king of kings

You may not have known this, but last week was “Elvis Week.” If you didn’t know, don’t worry -- no presents are exchanged.

It’s a little known fact that people often send me emails detailing their most recent “Elvis sighting.” Here are just a few places Elvis has been recently sighted ...

• Eating at Dunkin’ Donuts in Paducah, Kentucky.
• Selling RV’s in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
• Face painting at the Tremont Turkey Festival in Tremont, Illinois.
• Working as an undercover Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas.

OK, maybe people don’t actually send me Elvis sighting emails but there really is a Tremont Turkey Festival in Tremont, Illinois.

People have become more fascinated with Elvis since he died than when he was alive. I remember watching an “Is Elvis Alive?” TV special in the early 1990’s, hosted by Bill Bixby.
The entire show was devoted to showing both sides of the argument.

Conspiracy theorists would have loved it. For example, it was alledged that Elvis’ middle name was misspelled on the original grave marker. Obviously he wasn’t dead!

The best part of the show was the end: they displayed two 1-900 numbers for people to call in and vote. One to vote “No, he’s dead” and the other to vote “Yes, he’s alive.” I could understand that someone who was convinced Elvis was still alive would spend money to say so. But I couldn’t understand people who thought he was dead -- why waste the money?

It’s unfortunate that we often see Elvis portrayed today as a caricature of his last years. The lamb chop sideburns, sparkling outfits. Elvis impersonators jump out of airplanes and perform weddings, often doing both at the same time.

Before he got caught up in fame, drugs, and his sparkling outfits, Elvis recorded some of the best versions of Gospel music you’ll ever find. That was before he became the King, when he was just plain-old Elvis.

Today is the day we celebrate a different king, the King of Kings. No lamb chops or sequin suits. They share a few conspiracy theories about how they died and if they are alive. And one King is alive ... which one do you think it is?

a love-hate relationship with the trolley

My love-hate relationship with the Trolley system continues. Tonight the girls have a softball game so I decided to drive into Old Town, park, and ride the Trolley into downtown from there. That would allow me a short ride back to Old Town after work where I could pick up the car and drive south to the game. Of course, that is based on the presupposition that there would be AVAILABLE parking at Old Town! After ten minutes of circling the lot, I gave up and figured most of those cars were from people going to work and few would be leaving. That meant I had to drive to the next closest trolley stop that has public parking -- back in Fashion Valley. Back on the freeway, up another highway. Then ... wait ... wait ... for about 20 minutes until the next trolley arrived. It took me back to Old Town (where this whole adventure had started) where I had to get off and wait for a transfer trolley to downtown. Unbelievable! Part of why I'm writing this is so I can remember where I parked when I leave work tonight ... and I'm not kidding!

what i've been reading

Since I surprised several of you with my recent post about my reading books, I thought I'd share with you what I've been reading. Click at your own risk -- you might actually end up reading one of them.

After Long Silence (This is a non-fiction account of how one family dealt with their Holocaust experiences).

Memorial Day (fiction)

Act of Treason (fiction)

Step On a Crack (fiction)

i'm a trolley rider

We shuffled up our transportation plan at Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct and I'm now an official trolley rider. The trolley in San Diego was built originally as a tourist attraction and not so much for commuters. Having lived in the Bay Area for five years, the trolley system is far behind BART -- Bay Area Rapid Transit. But ... it does save me money on gas and allows me time to read.

Since becoming a trolley rider, I've read two books by Vince Flynn. Yes, they are fiction. Maybe this trolley business is changing me ...

wedding in saint louis

My niece, Sarah, got married last weekend in St. Louis. The girls traveled by train and I flew in on Thursday. As the circle of life goes, Sarah was the flower girl in our wedding some 18 years ago this December. She was a young girl, three or four years old, and decided to empty the flower petals into a makeshift basket she had made by pulling up her dress. But that was then. This is now ...

I'm surrounded ...

I'm at the Padres game and I'm surrounded by Mormon missionaries ... At least there won't be a drunk guy within five feet.

the earth just moved

All I can say is "Whoa!" Sitting here at my desk at 11:42 on this beautiful Tuesday morning I felt my desk (and floor!) sway back and forth. It must have been an earthquake of some sort. Of course, it's comforting to know we work in a 100-year-old building!

Revision at 11:45 ...

According to the Union-Tribune website, it was a 5.8 on the Richter scale and located just north of San Diego.

I read a book last night

Every now and then I get in a reading mood. This past Sunday I picked up a paperback copy of "Night" by Elie Wiesel. I faintly remember reading it while in high school and had seen a hardback copy of it at Barnes and Noble recently. That being said, when I saw it for 99 cents at a thrift store (and in good shape), I gladly plunked down some loose change to buy it. Three hours later, after a grande coffee at Starbucks, I finished it and went home.

"Night" is Wiesel's recollection of being sent to a German concentration camp during World War II. It's a short but powerful read. The particular edition I had purchased also contained a copy of his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. One line in the speech jumped out at me and forced me to re-read it several times:

"Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately."

If you haven't read it before, I'd recommend you do so. If it's been a while, read it again.

leaving on the train

Tonya and the girls left on Wednesday on a train bound for Texarkana. We drove up to Union Station in Los Angeles and the girls boarded an Amtrak train. Here are a few pictures I snapped ...

random thoughts on prayer

Since I'm starting a new teaching series on prayer at LifePoint, I’d like to share a few reflections on prayer in general. These are drawn from quotes I have found meaningful as it relates to prayer.

---

“Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.”

That quote is from Phillips Brooks, a Boston pastor in the late 1800s. During his life he championed the cause of ending slavery and gave one of the most moving eulogies of President Abraham Lincoln the Sunday after his death*. He lived through difficult times and knew the temptation to pray for an easier path. But there is also an expectancy in his words -- pray for powers equal to your task and you’ll receive them.

---

“The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.” - C. S. Lewis

My first thought: easier said than done! But what we do in those first few moments of the day really do set the tone for the rest of the day.

---

“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” - Samuel Chadwick

Chadwick once burned seven year’s worth of sermons because he felt he had been relying too much on self and not enough on God.

---

* The sermon on Lincoln is part of the "Making of America," a really cool portal that is a collection of historical works.

custom spa covers

We just released a new custom product builder at Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct. It allows you to design a custom spa cover online. Of course, you need to be able to measure your existing spa ... we haven't figured out how to do that for you ... yet.

podcasts updated

I just pushed up another batch of podcasts for all of my twelve faithful listeners.

baseball's all-star game

In a few days, major league baseball will have its annual All-Star game. This particular game is significant (as far as baseball fans are concerned) because it will be the last All-Star game played at Yankee Stadium. Long considered baseball’s hallowed ground, Yankee Stadium will be torn down and a new stadium will be built for the Yankees.

A piece of American history will be lost. No longer will fans be able to refer to the Yankees ballpark as “the house that Ruth built.” Instead, they’ll have to point to a parking deck across the street and say, “That’s where it used to be.”

Gone will be the spot where Lou Gehrig stood after being diagnosed with ALS disease and said, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”

Gone, too, will be the mound where Don Larson pitched the only perfect game in World Series history.

Converted to condos will be the grass where Notre Dame once played Army in a college football game. The game during which Knute Rockne delivered his “Win one for the Gipper” speech.

For people outside of the baseball family, those sorts of things seem trivial. After all, it is just game. Let me say it again -- it is just a game. But for people who love the sport, it’s a part of our national identity.

Perhaps that’s why I like the following quote from Leo Durocher. Known as one of baseball’s old-school managers, Durocher was often blunt and straight-forward. The fact that he managed the Cubs for a few years also endears him to me.

Durocher once commented on the similarities between baseball and church: “Baseball is like church. Many attend. Few understand.”

As both a baseball fan and a pastor, that hurts. It hurts because it’s often true. It’s one thing to sit through nine innings and not know what’s going on. After all, it is just a game.

But it’s unfortunate that some churches don’t make much of an effort to be understandable for newcomers (and old-timers, too). Because church isn’t a game -- it’s about life.

May God help us to help others understand what that life is all about.

I originally wrote this for our newsletter at LifePoint Church.

do it yourself lasik

A friend of mine referred me to this site today. It's too bad I didn't find it before I had a professional surgeon do my lasik surgery. I could have done it at home in the kitchen.

Lasik at Home

When you go there, make sure you click on the tab that says "Four Easy Steps."

it's true ... i'm really doing it

fourth of july

The Fourth of July has always been a special holiday for me. My childhood memories are of going to Fondulac Park in East Peoria, establishing a beachhead with the family, and then racing around the park for hours with friends.

Later, when I was able to drive myself around, I started going across the river to the fireworks in Peoria. The Peoria fireworks had live music and grilled bratwursts -- it was big-time compared to running around Fondulac Park.

Tonya and I have carried on the tradition with our girls. When the girls were little, we went to Old Navy and bought these matching gray t-shirts that had a flag emblazoned on the front. We put Hope in her stroller and went to the 4th of July parade in Concord, a town just east of San Francisco. I kept that t-shirt until it was almost see-through ... something I didn’t wish to inflict on any passerby.

This past Friday, we took the girls to the fireworks show at Lake Murray. We walked down from the house to the lake with a few friends. Along one of the walking trails we set up camp, which consisted of a few chairs and a blanket. In the background we could hear a local band playing cover songs from the 1980s. Closing my eyes, I could almost smell the bratwursts grilling alongside the Illinois river.

The 4th of July reminds us of our story as Americans. It celebrates the birth of a great experiment -- the experiment that mixed liberty, freedom, justice, and democracy.
Has the experiment been conducted flawlessly? The obvious answer is no. Our story contains less-than-noble chapters: slavery, segregation, the Japanese internment, political scandals, moral failures. We have people who fall through the cracks and those who help push them through.

But that’s not our entire story. The American story contains many more chapters of personal sacrifice, creativity, entrepreneurship, benevolence, and individuals who simply did the right thing.

On Independence Day, we remember and celebrate our freedoms. Freedoms that are often used in ways our founding fathers never might have imagined but for which they gave their lives. As did thousands of men and women from subsequent generations, including today’s.

For whatever reason, God has made you a part of this story. What will history have to say about the chapter you are writing?

a picture with no glasses

Since I'm not all that photogenic, I tend not to go around snapping pictures of myself. But now that I have a new iMac at work with the built-in camera, I really had no excuse. So for those of you who have been wondering what the post-Lasik Ken Hensley looks like, here it is:

expert author

Finally someone recognizes true talent. According to ezinearticles.com, I'm an "expert author." You can see for yourself. It didn't involve bribery or extortion ... it didn't involve a whole lot other than uploading some articles. But hey, that's what expert authors do ...

Summer Vacation Tips

With the rising cost of gasoline and airfare, I thought I might brainstorm a few ways you could “vacation at home” this summer.

1. You could pull weeds and tell yourself you’re on a "jungle safari."

2. Throw your garden hose on the roof and enjoy a personal waterfall. If you move it around every few minutes, you’ll also water your grass.

3. Ladies, have your husband bring breakfast in bed and pretend it is room service. OK, that one may be a stretch.

Let me encourage you to make LifePoint a part of your summer activities. The need to stay connected to God never goes on vacation. In fact, summer is a great time to get involved, lend a hand, or spend time hanging out with fellow LifePointers.

a blogging moment

I'm working on free wi-fi at an "It's a Grind" coffee shop in Poway. We're in between tournament games and I'm squeezing in work on tomorrow's sermon. The three employees behind the counter seem totally bored -- no one's talking to anyone and it's oddly quiet for a coffee shop. Just a moment ago I glanced over and saw all three of them with cell phones in hand, checking messages or texting or something.

lifepoint band - the video

the lifepoint band

For those of you curious about what the wild and crazy LifePoint worship band looks like, close your eyes because here's a few pictures ...

we've been toilet papered

Is it proper English to say you've been "toilet papered?" Although I'm not sure about the grammar, I am sure about what happened to our yard. It seems that the Navajo softball all-stars have an annual tradition of toilet papering each other's yards. It's a rite of initiation reserved for squealing 10 year-olds who are up WAY past their bedtimes.

I had fallen asleep on the living room floor when I heard a loud thud on the door. It was a roll of toilet paper -- probably thrown by one of the pitchers. Below are a few snapshots of the damage :-)

Redneck Pool Heater

In the due course of doing "competitive" research for Blue Haven, I came across this site called "Redneck Pool Heater." Warning: it contains pictures of real rednecks. You have read it to believe it.

blue haven memorial day sale

Note: Here comes a shameless plug.

Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct is offering 10% off everything in our store through May 31st. This is in honor of Memorial Day and is our way of saluting the American spirit. Simply use the promotional code "MEMORIAL2008" during checkout to receive your discount.

My personal pick is the Ensolite Floating Lounge Chair.

bagpipes rock!

Just over a year ago I started fooling around with a few t-shirt designs and posted them on a CafePress store. Little did I know that people from around the country would start buying them. My best selling t-shirt looks like this:



You can view the t-shirt at my store.

follow-up to my toilet saga

FYI: I was able to conquer my faulty toilet once I purchased a bigger crescent wrench from Home Depot. I even purchased a dimmer switch and hooked our living room chandelier up to it. I was in the groove ...

lessons i've learned from my toilet

The toilet in our second bathroom decided to quit working yesterday. Actually, it was working but it had developed a leak inside the tank that caused it to fill up REALLY slow. So, in my earnest but misguided own way, I decided to check it out. Fast forward to shoving a towel under the hose and spending nearly an hour on my back looking up with a mixture of futility and despair burned on my face.

Here are a few lessons my toilet taught me:

1. Know the limits of your own ability.
2. Never twist something that wasn't designed to be twisted.
3. The right tools will make the job go much smoother.
4. Never try to fix what isn't completely broken until your in-laws leave.

sdsu drug bust

Within the past week, local law enforcement agents along with agents from the DEA busted a major drug ring at SDSU that resulted in the arrest of over 100 people. The most scary part of it was the connection to a Mexican drug cartel. Several fraternities were implicated and one of the students was majoring in Homeland Security.

Most amazing has been the reaction of some of the faculty. Many resented the fact that the university asked for law enforcement to get involved. This in spite of the fact that the investigation began because an SDSU student had overdosed and died. Also in spite of the fact that Mexican drug cartels don't take getting stiffed too lightly and are known for exacting deadly revenge. And did I mention that the number of Americans falling victim to armed robbery in Baja is at an all-time high?

Here's a story that appeared in the Daily Aztec.

the lifepoint story

Not sure what exactly this means but just today I was asked by two different people to tell the LifePoint story. It was nice to dust off the story and tell again how God created something out of nothing. Makes one wonder ...

softball

Navajo softball is winding down. This past weekend was the beginning of tournament play and the weatherman decided to serve up nearly 100 degree temperatures! It was so hot that my sunflower seeds starting popping in the shell, just like popcorn.

On a related note, Hannah was selected for the 10 and Under All-Stars. It means another three months of softball, almost daily practices, and tournaments around San Diego. She was so excited, I nearly cried!

advo / red plum

I'm just about finished designing a marketing piece for Blue Haven that will be used with ADVO (now Red Plum). ADVO is the one that puts together all the mail stuffings -- grocery ads, etc. This is the "big sheet" which simply means, it's big. We'll be doing two saturation drops.

help others find lifepoint on google

Did you know you can help improve our chances of being found when someone searches on Google for “San Diego church” or something similar? There are several ways you can help:

Link to us. If you have a website or blog, consider putting a link to www.lifepointcommunity.com and use “LifePoint Christian Church San Diego” as the text of the link (the official term is “anchor text”).

Write a review. Go to Google and search for -- LifePoint Church San Diego. If you see a search result that shows a map to our building, click on the link that says “More Information.” On the next page you’ll see a tab that says, “Reviews.” Click that and follow the steps to writing a review. Google uses local reviews as one of its ranking factors.

three c's

I spent several days this past week interviewing potential candidates for two job openings at Blue Haven.

Task number one was to sift through the mountain of resumes we received. After going through the first dozen or so, I half-expected to receive at least one or two from a Rear Admiral or nuclear physicist. And this was my stack of resumes for an entry-level position. Maybe next time I’ll thin out the competition if I put “No Ph.D. required.”

Then came the interviews. I’m probably one of the rare birds who actually likes interviews. I enjoy the give and take, as well as watching how people respond to questions they might not have expected.

When I’m interviewing potential employees, I’m looking for three specific things. The list I’m about to share didn’t originate with me. I first heard this explained by Bill Hybels at a pastor’s conference in Seattle. It made such good sense, that I decided to adopt it as my own approach to selecting leaders -- or hiring people.

Character. Does the person I’m thinking about selecting seem to have good character? Is this a person I could trust? Will they be a person of integrity?

Chemistry. How would I feel about sharing an office with this person for eight or more hours a day? Is there a sense that we would enjoy working together? Do I think they would drive me crazy!

Competence. Do they have the skills to do the job? Do they have an aptitude for learning new things?

They are listed in the exact order of importance. If a person has competent skills but lacks character, I’ll take a pass. If a person has character and is definitely competent, is there enough chemistry to where we could work well together? Generally speaking, competence can be gained through training and coaching; character is not so easily learned at a conference.

What is true in hiring new employees, is also true in selecting ministry leaders or when looking for a husband or wife. Too often people compromise by choosing competence or chemistry over character.

But when you have all three ingredients in good measure ... watch out! You have the makings of a true blessing.

pool slide tips

One of my many opportunities at Blue Haven is to write the content for our email newsletters. Most of the time I wax eloquent about chlorine or some other glamorous topic. But we recently began a push on S.R. Smith swimming pool slides and have stepped up our marketing efforts. So, we dedicated our last email blast to pool slide. To help lighten things up, I offered the following pool slide tips:

Tip #1: Never go down the slide without your toupee securely fastened.

Tip #2: It’s not wise to carry the family cat on your lap. You might enjoy it, but the cat won’t.

Tip #3: All slides are more fun when there’s bluegrass music in the background.

new churches

If you’ve been around LifePoint for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard us refer to other new church efforts that are underway here in San Diego. As a relatively new church ourself, we believe in helping out other new churches as we can.

CityWalk Church began downtown in the spring of 2007. CityWalk’s lead pastor, Steve Denney, has spoken several times here at LifePoint. Back around Christmas time, we had Matthew Blake from CityWalk lead our worship. Steve and his group are tackling a tough job -- starting a new church in urban environment that is both diverse and expensive.

Wave Christian Church started in Chula Vista back in September. Jim Osbourne, who had been our bass player on Sunday mornings, felt the call to start a new church in his hometown. Wave is up and running and reaching people in the Southbay for Jesus.

These are just two examples that LifePoint is personally connected to through our relationships.
These are by no means the only two new church efforts underway. We praise God for all efforts -- by new churches and older existing churches -- to reach our community with the message of Jesus.

This is where church and business are different. Unlike in business where one company views other companies in the same industry as competitors, there is no competition between churches. Well, let me rephrase that -- there should be no competition between churches.

Unfortunately, even church people sometimes view other churches as competition.

Even if every sanctuary in San Diego was filled to capacity this morning, there would not be enough seats available to accomodate San Diego’s population. In other words, we don’t have enough churches to accomodate even half of our population.

We are only in competition if we are competing for people who are already in the habit of going to church. If we are true to our mission of reaching people outside of Jesus and the church, then our “market” is nearly untapped.

That’s why I choose to celebrate any effort to reach new people for Jesus. I can rejoice in knowing that church is a team effort -- and the team is larger than just one church.

the difference a day makes

What a difference a day can make! On opening night at Petco Park, there were over 44,000 fans in attendance and only a few drunk people within five feet of our seats. Several years ago, Tonya and I developed what we call the “5 Foot Rule.” The 5 foot rule simply states that no matter where you sit at a baseball game, you will be within five feet of a drunk person. And with the recent price increases at Petco, getting drunk at a Padres game can be an expensive endeavor.

But that was Monday. Tuesday night was a different story. Twenty-four thousand “fans” somehow disappeared between Monday and Tuesday’s games. While on opening night you had to squeeze and tuck your way down the row to get to the aisle, on Tuesday night we had the entire section to ourselves. It still costed as much to get drunk as the night before, but there were definitely fewer drunks in the crowd.

That’s the difference a day can make. Trends change and what is popular today is out of style tomorrow. There is more buzz to be generated by talking about attending opening night than the second game of a four-game homestand.

Our fickle nature extends beyond baseball to media and relationships. The turnover of self-help titles at Barnes and Nobles used to be measured in years; now it’s measured in months, if not weeks. That’s how quickly trends come and go. If you were to sample best-sellers from the last ten years, you would find a myriad of approaches to fixing your finances, getting healthy, or finding love. A number of “principles” from one year would even contradict “principles” from another year.

One reason I’m drawn to Christianity is because it is a faith rooted in history, not the changing winds of pop culture. Within Christianity there is a thread of orthodoxy that runs longer than a thirty second sound bite or a New York Times best-seller. The way of Jesus has been faithfully followed by pilgrim, prince, and pauper alike for more than 2,000 years.

Modern churches find themselves in an awkward spot. As our culture races from trend to trend, from celebrity to celebrity, there is a temptation to shun anything ancient or historical. No one -- or church -- wants to appear dusty and out-of-touch.

But perhaps what lies at the heart of our culture’s fascination with trends is a desire to find significance and meaning. If so, then who better than the church to offer a real answer ... rooted in 2,000 years of history.

paying taxes

April 15 ... a distant memory at last! The mere mention of the date is enough to make certain people panic. These are usually the same people that are seen on the news driving up to the post office at 11:58 PM to beat the deadline. Of course, now that we have electronic filing, some of those people are now clicking the submit buttom in their pajamas rather than driving out to the post office.

If the Internet shuts down around midnight on April 15, we’ll know it’s because of all the last-minute electronic filers.

April 15 doesn’t strike that much fear in me. In fact, I don’t get all that bothered by the thought of paying taxes. That’s not to say I enjoy how our tax dollars are often misspent -- but I’ll save that rant for the blog.

I realized a number of years ago that what I enjoyed in terms of roads, bridges, emergency services, etc., far outweighed whatever I paid in tax dollars. There are parks I can enjoy, trails I can walk, all available without paying admission. Taxes build roads, fund schools, and provide a quality of life that is the envy of many people throughout the world.

Jesus was once questioned about paying taxes. During his day, Israel was occupied by the Roman army and the Jews were forced to pay taxes to Rome. Many Jews resented paying taxes to a foreign government.

Jesus asked to see one of the coins that was used as currency. “Who’s picture is on it,” he asked. The answer was obvious because it was a portrait of Caesar. Then Jesus added, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s.”

I don’t begrudge paying taxes any more than I begrudge giving money to the church. Both are a part of my responsibility of being a mature Christ-follower. The difference between paying taxes and giving to the church is this: the IRS will come after you if you don’t pay or pay enough.

God, on the other hand, will not ask for an audit. He won’t garnish your wages or charge a penalty for being late. But the Bible is clear about one thing: God blesses those who give cheerfully and generously to further the work of the Kingdom. Many otherwise mature believers often miss out on God’s full blessing by not becoming consistent givers.

As a pastor, let encourage you to do two things: pay your taxes and make giving to the church a regular habit. You will make the IRS happy and more importantly, you’ll enjoy God’s blessing in a new way!

don't be such a baby

Did you ever have someone say to you, “Don’t be such a baby”? Nine out of ten times they weren’t telling you to stop being so cute and cuddly and irresistible.

It’s more likely they were expressing a frustration that you weren’t acting your age. Hopefully, for most of us, these sort of comments ceased around the time we entered middle school -- or high school for those of you who needed a bit more time.

It’s perfectly acceptable for a nine-month old infant to act like a baby. We expect them to drool a little, spit up, and make stinkies at the most inappropriate times. That’s just what babies do; it’s some sort of inalienable right God has given them.

In the same respect, the Bible refers to those who are new to the faith as “infants in Christ” (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-4). As the apostle Paul writes, he gave them milk to drink because they weren’t ready for solid food.

Though every life begins as infant, the goal is not to stay one forever. What is true physically is also true spiritually. When an unbeliever comes to trust in Jesus, they experience the beauty of being “born again.” Though they may be twenty-five or sixty-five years-old, they are “infants in Christ.”

Thus begins the spiritual process of moving from milk to solid food.

Today’s passage describes the danger in remaining a spiritual infant. As we mature in Christ, we will “no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14).

Those who remain indefinitely on spiritual milk become susceptible to people who peddle candy bars as health food. Sweet to eat and nicely packaged, spiritual candy bars provide a short-term buzz but lack the right stuff to build a healthy life.

The goal of the Spirit-filled life is growth and maturity. It is the life-long process of learning to crawl, then walk, and eventually being able to run. Fortunately for us, the Bible provides a road map.

You can decide today to stop being a baby. You can take the first step, as wobbly as it might be, towards growing up and becoming like Jesus.

supporting the troops

The USO has a long history of proving free entertainment for troops placed around the world. It's important that we support those that support our men and women in uniform.

Support the USO.
Show US troops America still cares.
Give what you can today.

me and da mayor

Today was my volunteer shift working the snack bar at Navajo softball. All the parents on the different teams take turns working two hour shifts to help the league raise money. I was fortunate that my buddy Matt had volunteered for the same two hour shift -- nothing makes moving corn dogs and slushies go any faster than having a friend to pass the time with.


Well, much to our surprise, who comes walking up but the mayor of San Diego -- Jerry Sanders. The mayor shook a few hands and then took a spot inside the snack bar working alongside me. Since he was wearing a long sleeve white dress shirt, I tried to steer the kids away from the chili dogs but it was too much to try and divert them from the slushies. Fortunately, my dexterity didn't fail me and the mayor's shirt survived unscathed.

The mayor even kicked in a few bucks to buy slushies and corn dogs for the kids.

dowhatsright dot org

My friend and fellow San Diego church planter, Steve Denney, is about to launch a movement. Steve has been working to establish a healthy, thriving Christian community in San Diego's bustling downtown area. CityWalk is not your typical church -- it's attempting to engage people in an authentic (dare I say, holistic) kind of way.

Steve is big on connecting our Christian faith to everyday life. He recently started a new blog called "DoWhatsRight." It's about how Christ-followers should simply do what's right in regards to people, faith, and the environment.

To learn more, visit the DoWhatsRight blog.

seasons tickets to the padres

As a Christmas present, the girls and Tonya gave me a small season ticket package to the San Diego Padres. I was able to go online and pick from several of the twenty game packages. Of course, I had to check when the Cubs were coming and picked the package that gave me the most Cub games. You can take the boy out of Illinois but you can't take Illinois out of the boy ...

So far I've already been to two games -- both against the Astros. Since I only have two seats per game, we're not able to take the entire family but it's good for having one-on-one time with the girls. And they even understand foul balls, so I don't have to spend time explaining them!

turbo twisting into your pool

We have a pool slide at our house. It's kind of old-school but it gets the job done but putting you in the water instead of on the concrete. At Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct we don't sell old-school pool slides ... we sell the thrill rides! I recently updated several of our product listings (mainly from a company called S.R. Smith) and added a few videos. Here's a link to the Turbo Twister Pool Slide, not your grandpa's pool slide.

anyone up for a trip to mars

As most of you know, I believe in almost all things Google. This little gem appeared just today ...

http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html