Please welcome Tyler Mark Scheer 8 lbs 9oz 21 inches of handsome ruggedness. Born at 2:26 PM July 16th. God is so good. What could be greater than a spectacular picture of a nebulae taken from the hubble telescope? How about a picture of a miraculous new life taken from a cell phone. Oh yeah! The little one is Tyler, the big smiley one is his dad, Brian Scheer.
Watercooler Wednesday. Today is the day. Sometime today the doctor will induce my daughter to begin the process of giving birth to Tyler Scheer. I can't show you a picture yet. He's not here yet.
The picture to the left IS NOT him. But I can tell you that Tyler looks a little like God. He was made in the image of perfect love. What originality, what creativity, what art, what love.
Picture taken from the Hubble Telescope. Clouds accompanying the birth of a star! M16
The world waits for you little one. May God bring you safely to us.
I love the old “creature features.” —especially the vampire ones. They portrayed a subtle message of hope that is missing in many of the dark, graphic films of today. Okay, back off! I don’t believe there are such things as vampires. Even if there were, they wouldn’t be a threat to any person of average intelligence. Just Follow a few simple rules.
Ken’s common sense rules for avoiding vampires:
1. Avoid people who hiss!
2. Don’t go near the place where vampires live, especially at night. In these corny movies, some idiot always decided to go vampire hunting at night. “Let’s grab a pitch fork, light a torch and go when it gets dark.” Hellooo! No wonder there’s such violence! If someone wakes me up in the middle of the night.....I’d bite em!!!
3. Eat lots of Italian food. For some reason, vampires hate garlic. Me, I love garlic. My breath is so bad I don’t even dream about vampires. So if you intend to go hunting for the “batman” avoid brushing your teeth for several days.
4. Keep your windows shut
5. Don’t talk to anyone who doesn’t have a reflection.
6. Spend a lot of time in Alaska during the season where daylight lasts twenty-four hours.
7. Don’t hang around virgins. Vampires always seem to have an unhealthy interest in virgins. If you’re a virgin or know a virgin, consider moving to Alaska.
8. Don't ever say to anyone, "Bite me!"
9. Never go anywhere without a cross.
There’s the clincher. In the old vampire movies there’s an undeniable power associated with the cross. One person could hold off a horde of vampires simply by lifting up the cross. The flesh of the vampire would burn when it came in contact with the cross. Evil could not conquer in the presence of the cross.
There are no vampires, but every day we all face hissing demons that go for our jugular. Our first reaction is to grab the torches and storm the castle chanting, “I’ll never do that again . . . I’ll never talk to my kids like that again . . . I’ll never give in to that temptation again . . . I’m going to be different.”
Some of the rules for avoiding vampires would surely apply. But the greatest safety, the greatest effectiveness in fighting your personal vampires comes from the shadow of the cross. Political clout, legalistic rules, behavior modification and sin management will eventually fail. What happened on the cross took the sting from the most hideous of monsters of all—death itself.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
If you like this you might want to check out my book "Lighten Up."
Welcome to "Watercooler Wednesday," inspired by my friend Randy Elrod.
I have been friends with Josh Blay since he was 13 years old. He is now 26. Recently I saw a transformation in his life. He discovered the artist dwelling within his soul. He always knew it was there but only saw it flourish when it was encouraged to develop and grow by the talented mentors and professors at O'More School of Design. Omore invited the artist in Josh to come out and play. As a result Josh creates unique and beautiful pieces of art that I am proud to display in my home. The other result is a new sense of inspiration and direction to Josh's life.
There is an artist in all of us. No one less talented than The Creator Himself placed the artist there. Some are painters, some are lovers of people some are wizards with words or numbers. No matter what the artistic bent, the artist wants to come out and play. Thanks to O'More for purposely looking for the artist in young lives. Thanks to God for placing it there. Here's a portrait of Salvador Dali Josh made from old pieces of leather.
Dan Marlow, head of our Dynamic Communications division posted this YouTube video on his DCW blog. How many of you have had to sit through presentations like this? All of us! That's why we laugh. Hopefully we also learn. Check out our Dynamic Communicators Workshops.
Preston Fowler
Both redemption and freedom are costly privileges. We must never forget the cost of liberty or abuse the privilege. The east coast boasts the stature of liberty. We should erect another on our west shore called the statue of responsibility.
The hope of the cross can not only be viewed on a hill far away. It can be seen by a needy world only when we pay the cost to carry it on our journey of life. Thank you to all who have paid the price for freedom and to the ONE who paid for my redemption. Happy fourth and an ecstatic forever.
Dad yelled, “Hit it,” and I moved the throttle of the boat forward. Instantly my little granddaughter popped out of the water and was skiing. All of us were screaming and jumping up and down and then I remembered I was suppose to be driving the boat. When she decided to quit I slowed the boat to an idle and she was still skiing. Her dad started pulling in the rope and she finally just stepped onto the platform on the back of the boat without ever falling. I wish you could have seen the smile on her face.
What helped my granddaughter learn was a pair of trainer skis that are close to miraculous in helping a new skier and a very patient dad who talked her though her fear. Before the week was over every grandchild down to the three year old water skied.
I promise some unbelievable video of the rest of the gang very soon.
The right tools to help people get an easier start, and patient friends to hand in there until you get the hang of it. Seems like thats a good combination for any situation in life.
Welcome to Randy's Watercooler Wednesday.
The first time I saw He Qi's work it stopped me in my tracks. An old friend had He Qi's "The Nativity" hanging in his home. The color, technique and composition were arresting. I bought a b book of his paintings that included the story of the role of art in his encounter with faith as well as the role of art in his mission. Included here is "The nativity" and my favorite, The Empty Tomb.
His art has opened doors where words have failed
His art has opened the door for life saving words to be heard
Dr. He Qi was a professor at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and a tutor for master candidate students in the Philosophy Department of Nanjing University. He is also a member of the China Art Association and a council member of the Asian Christian Art Association
He has been
committed to the artistic creation of modern Chinese Christian Art since
1983. He hopes to help change the "foreign image" of Christianity
in China by using artistic language, and at the same time, to supplement
Chinese Art the way Buddhist art did in ancient times. In his works, He
Qi has blended together Chinese folk customs and traditional Chinese painting
techniques with the western art of the Middle and Modern Ages, and has
created an artistic style of color-on-paper painting.
Dr. He Qi was the first among Mainland Chinese to earn Ph.D. in the Religious art after Cultural Revolution. He wrote his dissertation while studying at Hamburg Art Institute in Germany, where he was also able to pursue research in medieval art. His work has been well received overseas: He has exhibited in Kyoto, Hong Kong, Geneve, Hamburg, London, St.Paul, San Francisco, Berkeley and madison.,NewHaven,Minneapolis,St.Paul,Madison,Washington,Princeton,Detroit,Tornoto, as well as in mainland China.
Browse He Qi's gallery and enjoy the delight of the Greatest Story on Earth told in this wonderful medium.
Look at the picture to the left. Click the picture for a larger view. Your perception will tell you that square A and square B are different shades. Your perception is wrong! Square A and B are exactly the same shade. I put this picture in photo shop cut out square A and B and laid them side by side. they were the same. Try it.
Our perceptions are not only vulnerable when observing optical illusions The also can be fooled when facing emotionally charged life situations. One reason that absolute truth is so important is because our perceptions are so flawed. When I perceive the world crumbling around me, I must rely on truth to know that it is not so. In a situation where the truth is not apparent it is imperative that I seek to find what that truth is rather than relying on perception.
I was in the middle of my comedy show when a small group of people stood to leave. One of them made a gesture of some kind toward the stage, shouted something and then all of them walked out. What had I said? How could they be so intolerant and rude? I had to work hard to recapture the audience. After the show I discovered that my perception was really a deception. I perceived the people had been offended by something I had said and disrupted my show with their exit. The truth was that a woman had become ill and the family had left together to take her to the hospital. Her husband had shouted an apology as they stood to leave. Only hearing the truth cleared up a wrong perception.
Do you perceive that you are totally alone? You are not.
Do you perceive that all hope is lost? It is not.
Do you think that no one cares? Someone does.
Do you feel that forgiveness is impossible? It is not
Know the truth and the truth will set you free.
It was almost dark. Our friend Josh, who lives with us, reached for the door handle of our home and sensed something was wrong. After backing up at a high rate of speed, Josh took this phone picture of the rare "groove loving door snake," then changed underwear. If my wife had opened the door and the snake had dropped inside....................!!!!!! We'd be changing houses.
Oh, the joys of country living!
