The place I find myself in...

Realizing that standing on the edge of need is the safest place for my relationship with God. Having an empty bucket and giving God all it holds, even the potential it has to hold. Not because he needs it but because he can use it.

Recently I found myself at the end of my rope. Financially, life was going as poorly as it has ever gone. The Lord in his graciousness provided miraculously. Humbled as even the source was something that was outside my comfort zone. We stand now with needs remaining but just enough to keep us dependent upon him.

We owe it all to him.

"To love Jesus Christ and individual freedom; that is what it means to be a Christian Libertarian."

Just read a blog post http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34361 from a guy named Vox Day. The title of this post is a quote of his that I thought was a great way to sum it all up.

James, Libertarianism may be the answer to your Arnold S. woes.

Another great quote from the post is this: "I suspect the problem many Christians and conservative Republicans have with making the leap to Libertarianism is that they still see a connection between the concepts of legality and morality. But there is no inherent relationship between the two; indeed, it is becoming increasingly obvious that it is not possible to honor both in many aspects of American life."

responding to a call to action...

Today in church we were shown a video. While I do not deny its accuracy, I believe it is designed to scare Christians into fearing Islam or being anti-Islam. It goes over a number of statistics related to the growth of Islam in the world but mostly it focuses on North America and Europe. The video ends with the chilling words, "this is a call to action." It never defines what is meant by "action" and it never discusses Christian Evangelism. It seems to predict a woeful future where we no longer have religious liberty or a place where the "Jihad" of Islam will destroy our culture.

I would propose that in actuality we are witnessing God's intervention in the world. In the book of Genesis we read of the Tower of Babel. Mankind was commanded repeatedly to fill the earth, be fruitful and multiply. God intervenes when mankind disobeys.

Likewise, Christians are commanded to "Go make disciples of all nations" we have followed this poorly. I believe in response to this the Muslims are coming to us. The living God, not Allah is sending them from darkness to light.

This is a call to action! Prepare yourself to share the gospel with the world of Islam as it encroaches on our comfortable complacency.

Thoughts from the diary of a desperate man...

I am rereading this daily devotional called "Thoughts from the diary of a desperate man" by Walter Henrichsen. You can actually read the text of this devotional online at the National Coalition of Men's Ministries website. Today's text reads:

Disobedience And Rebellion

"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king." 1 Samuel 15:23

Samuel charged King Saul with the crime of rebellion, and as a result took his kingdom from him. Saul, when given the task of annihilating the Amalekites, decided to save the best for sacrificing later. Nathan charged King David with the crime of murder and adultery without David losing either his kingdom or his life. Although the crime of David seems more serious than that of Saul, the difference lay in their attitude.

When Nathan confronted David, he said, "I sinned." David did not seek to excuse himself; he immediately confessed. Saul on the other hand argued with Samuel, seeking to excuse himself by blaming the people. David was disobedient. Saul was rebellious. If you liken God's Law to a fence, when David broke the fence he freely admitted that he was wrong. When Saul broke the fence, he wanted to argue with God over the validity of the fence. "It was a bad command, an unreasonable expectation. You should have allowed me to modify it in light of my current circumstances." God will not tolerate the attitude of Saul.

Because all are sinners, you find yourself frequently having to confess your wrongs. But that is different from ignoring God's commands or refusing to recognize their authority over your life. When you find yourself moving in the direction of rebellion, quickly repent. It is not a safe place to be.

Devotional © Copyright by Walter A Henrichsen.

The part that talks about "the attitude of Saul" is powerful. I think it is so easy for our generation to go here. Seems like we are surrounded with arguments that basically say "the culture is different now, God did not mean that for me."

I wonder how much of our "culture" is sinful?

Thoughts?

Facing the Giants

Andrea and I finally got around to watching the film, "Facing the Giants."

I really liked this clip from the movie.

Tim Glenn Music

Hey y'all a friend of mine has some music out there that is pretty good. Andrew, you especially will like it I think.

His site is http://www.timglennmusic.com

Here is a widget of one of his songs for your enjoyment:

Found a great new tool

Seeqpod.com is a great tool for searching for music and video that you want to hear.


Here you can see an example playlist I setup for some great Jeremy Riddle tunes.

Mombasa Expedition - Car Top Tent

Lately I have been looking into the various car top tents that are available online. I am slightly obsessed with the idea of minimalistic comfortable camping equipment.

Mombasa Expedition Series:

This is the tent that seems to be very common/available on the web. Mombasa outdoors is a company that specializes in mosquito net protection. they seem to have pretty much one model of tent that has gone through various numbers of upgrades over the past few years. It is available from a number of online retailers-here are some highlights:

• Best price: http://www.trdparts4u.com/PD-RTT-9007.aspx with shipping in the 48 states <1000.00 USD
• Best pictures and descriptive website: http://www.cartopcamper.com/index.htm  this guy is really into this but charges 1135.00 USD including shipping.
• Official Mombasa website: http://www.car-top-tent.com/

This tent seems to be an entry level offering but all of the reviews give it very positive marks.

There are videos on YouTube posted by the CarTopCamper guy. the video has corny music and starts out with slides but a little ways in you get to see the operation of a Mombasa Expedition Series Tent RTT9007.

Technorati Tags: tent,car,price

Finished Andrea’s Desk

Last week Andrea let me spend the money we would have spent on a new desk for her office space on a new Ryobi table saw and a belt/disc sander as well as some wood to build a desk.

The problem is that if you go to a furniture store you can spend well over 250$ and end up with a particle board desk that you still have to put together. I have a dresser that my great-grandfather built that is still being used day-in-day-out. It is a family heirloom at the same time as it is practical. The real thing is just so much better than something from an assembly line.

	Particle Board Desk	Handmade Desk
Desk Materials	250.00 (kit made by Sauder)	70.00 (Home Depot)
Tools	0	230.00
Effort to Construct	1-1.5 hours	10 hours
Intrinsic value	Goodwill Fodder	Priceless
Actual Value	Goodwill Fodder	300.00-350.00

I spent a little over a hundred per tool and then 70$ on the wood. Nice thing is is we have the tools now for future projects.

Andrea had never experienced the hobby called wood-burning. I grew up doing it. We decided to dig my old wood-burning iron out of the toolbox and use it to add some interesting embellishments to the desk. I got started doing the wood-burning but she took over and ended up doing most of it. She is quite good at it.

I have not done a lot of woodworking for about a decade but the skills do come back. I am hoping to build many other things in the future. I’d like to build a Teardrop camper and some bunk beds for our kids.

Here you can see the finished product. We are pretty proud of it, we finished it up just in time for the 7-year anniversary of the day I asked Andrea out, which incidentally is our 6.5 year wedding anniversary.

In this first photo you can see the desk finished with her computer setup on it and everything. We are going to setup a cork board on the wall behind it for her to organize coupons notes etc.

Asher 4 Months

The Greatest Social Networking Site in the World!

http://ourcompassion.org This is it. A social networking site that is actually promoting a cause. Releasing children from poverty.

Ten Shekels and A Shirt

I have been reflecting alot lately on the message called "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" by Paris Reidhead. If you have never heard this message take the time and listen.

The message was originally preached in the 1950s but it is applicable today.