The freaks come out at night (refrence to an old 80's jam)

This is a NASA image of planet earth, taken at the same time of night. It's very interesting to look at. Here are some of my personal observations: When you think of India you don't really think of it being so industrialized, but you can make out the countries shape very well in the picture. Looking at this picture we can now once again call Africa the "Dark Continent" and still be politically correct. The Nile river is lite up like a single strand of those icicle lights hanging off of your house at Christmas time. I thought South America was more developled than it is. If you look just east of India about an inch you can see Bangkok, it looks like the North Star in an empty sky. How do those people in Japan sleep at night with their whole country lite up like that? Can you find the Trans-syberian railway?

I would guess the deeper the concentration of the lights, the more wealth you can find in that country. This map is a great indication of the world's "haves" and "have nots".

Known the world over. . .not so much.

This is not a map of where I have been, but a map of where I am going.


create your own visited country map

I'm going to all the white sposts! There are a ton of places in the caribbean I have been too, they are just real small red dots.

Song REDO #1

Blame Megachurch

(To the tune "Blame Canada!" from South Park)

Church has changed,
Our kids are getting worse
They won't obey their parents,
Or learn their Bible verse!

Should we blame DaVinci, or J.K. Rowlings?

Or should we blame the lack of homeschooling? No!

Blame Megachurch! Blame Megachurch!
With their multi-purpose building
And their WWJD bling,
Blame Megachurch!
Blame Megachurch!
We’ve no use for light and salt,

It's Megachurch’s fault!

No more blame for my own sin,

Conviction is out, seeker friendly is in!

I told the pastor we could feed the poor one day,

But he just smiled and gave me decaf latte.

Well, Blame Megachurch! Blame Megachurch!
It seems the sermons are so stale
Since they’re coming from email
Blame Megachurch!
Blame Megachurch!

They're not even a real denomination anyway.

My son quit school and got his GED,

Now he’s on their staff as head of theology!

Should we blame Joel Osteen? Or blame the Veggie Tales?

Or Sandi Patty’s growing record sales? Heck no!

Blame Megachurch! Blame Megachurch!
Blame Megachurch! Blame Megachurch!

With all that Saddleback Hullabaloo

And that bum Bill Hybels too

Blame Megachurch! Shame on Megachurch!

The vision is wide
But it’s not deep
The wolves will come
And eat their sheep
They put their Bibles on the shelves
There’s no excuse, they’ll have to blame themselves!

I want to go on record by saying I did not recreate this one. You can find it and some other funny stuff at www.sundayschooldropouts.com.

Be the change.

Well known author Tony Campolo once said, "As an American society, including those of us in the church, we raise our children so that; they get good grades, get into a good university, so they can get a good job, make a good wage and buy good stuff."

Very little in our culture is done to encourage our children, especially those in high school, to be world changers.

Several times this week I was reminded that out of the hundreds of students I have met over the past fifteen years while in ministry there have been a handful that I have motivated to, as Gandhi put it, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I don't say that with pride, but with pure humility. There are many moments in my career that it has been very difficult to see any change in the hearts of my students. For some reason however, God choose this week to hit me over the head with a hammer several times in an attempt to remind me that I have caused many a ripple of change through my life's work.

It's nearly impossible to escape from who God has created you to be. Life works best when you stop fighting that fact.

Do life different!