This is the way to digitize books, re-Captcha

This is simply amazing to think about how smart Luis is inventing re-Captcha to digitize books.

A Prayer about Stuff and Contentment

A great prayer and post by Pastor Scotty Smith.

Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. Prov. 23:4–5

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 1 Tim 6:6-8

Loving Father, we continue to live in a difficult economic season. Some of us who thought we’d be retired in a couple of years are now thinking it’s ten, if ever. Some of us have lost jobs, even homes. Some of us are selling stuff and downsizing out of necessity, not choice. Continue Reading

Evolution of Music

This is quite interesting.

What Does It Feel Like to Orbit the Earth?

What Does It Feel Like to Orbit the Earth?

A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, El Salvador, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Lake Titicaca, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earths ionosphere (thin yellow line), a satellite (55sec) and the stars of our galaxy.

Children and Secondhand Stress

Here is an excellent post by one of my favorite current writers/pastors, Kevin DeYoung on the potentially sinful impact of parents stress on their children.

If I had to name a besetting sin right now it would be impatience, especially with my kids. I don’t think this is a constant problem, but it is recurring. I love my kids dearly and play with them and do special things with them and try to teach them the Bible and discipline them when they disobey. But I can also be impatient. And that’s a sin. I needlessly exasperate them at times. And that’s a sin too.  

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The Doctrine of Propitiation by R.W. Glenn

This is an excellent video explaining the very important doctrine of propitiation. This and more very good resources can be found at R.W. Glenn's website.

Kids & Technology: The Developmental Health Debate

Another good article for parents related to the technology challenges.

How much screen time is appropriate for children? Should young kids be exposed to tech for any extended periods of time? The developmental debate has raged for decades, only to be reignited by the latest waves of iPads and social media.

Dr. Larry Rosen’s experience as a research psychologist and computer educator has allowed him to witness both the positive and negative effects of technology use on young minds. Rosen is a professor of psychology and author of Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn. In the end, he sees innovations like social media as developmental pluses for what he calls the “iGeneration.”

“Social networking is really helping them with who they are, their identity in the world,” Rosen says of preteens and teens who engage with their peers via social platforms like Facebook.

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5 Lessons for Parenting in the Digital Age

This is some very good direction that parents can use.

“Dad, can I use your phone to play games?” asked my son recently as we drove through the southwest on a beautiful summer day. I was taken by his question. On one hand, it was a lovely day, and I had been greatly enjoying our conversation. On the other, why not let him play a game if he wants? I check my email continuously — why shouldn’t he also be able to play games continuously?

My son’s question is one that millions of parents are asked each day, whether about a phone, computer, Wii or Xbox. The essential plea is the same: “Mom or dad, can I please direct my attention to a screen?”

Parents of older children face similar challenges — for instance, whether it’s acceptable for their teen to text at the dinner table, or whether it’s tolerable for a teen to peer at his laptop when someone is trying to address him. Essentially, we wonder, just how much technology should be allowed in our lives and those of our kids?

1. Know
2. Technology no longer has boundaries
3. when to cut it off
4. The difference between preference and addiction
5. Focus on technology that truly connects us to our kids
6. Model the balance

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50 Rules for Dads of Daughters

This is really good direction and will make one really think. Considering how awful daughters are thought of and treated in many cultures, here it is a wonderful blessing to raise a daughter.

1. Love her mom. Treat her mother with respect, honor, and a big heaping spoonful of public displays of affection. When she grows up, the odds are good she’ll fall in love with and marry someone who treats her much like you treated her mother. Good or bad, that’s just the way it is. I’d prefer good.

2. Always be there. Quality time doesn’t happen without quantity time. Hang out together for no other reason than just to be in each other’s presence. Be genuinely interested in the things that interest her. She needs her dad to be involved in her life at every stage. Don’t just sit idly by while she add years to her… add life to her years.

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G.O.S.P.E.L.

This is an excellent gospel presentation.

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

Open Letter to Steven Furtick (1 of 2)

Part one of Frank Turk's open letter to Steven Furtick. Part two should be interesting to say the least.
I really like the contract and comparison of Furtick's video with Propaganda's G.O.S.P.E.L. video.

9/11 Ten Years Later

I hope and pray the people of the USA will always remember the attack on civilians on our own soil by radical Islamic terrorists. These are the same type of people who have been killing Israeli civilians for decades, including their Olympic athletes in 1972. 

May God above have mercy on the USA, but the way we live and have such a lack of respect for good versus evil we certainly don't deserve it.

G