Those Dumb Disciples

This is one of my favorites parts of the Bible.

Mark 8:14-21

But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’Don’t you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”
“Twelve,” they said.
“And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
“Seven,” they said.
“Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.


Those Disciples can be so entertaining sometimes. I can just picture Jesus sighing and rolling his eyes, wondering what He did to deserve this bunch.

RIAA finally gives up.....

When you retard fair use with pointless DRM and then sue anonymous children for illegally downloading music while ignoring those of the execs at the top of the music industry, well, you're asking for a public relations nightmare. Now, with more than 35,000 lawsuits to its credit, the RIAA says it will finally end the legal assault against consumers that began back in 2003. The Recording Industry Association of America will instead, focus its anti-piracy efforts with ISPs. Under the new plan, the RIAA will contact ISPs when illegal uploading is detected. The ISP will then contact the customer with a notice that would ultimately be followed by a reduction or cessation of service.

Vacation Days

Despite earning the least amount of annual vacation days, Americans will leave an average of 3 days unused.

Church Evangelism during Xmas

This week, we received two pieces of mail from two different churches. Both were churches that we visited during our 2007 Church Field Trip Tour. Both pieces of mail are quite different. I'll let you weigh in on the obvious differences.


Solara Church - We received the typical full-color mailer announcing their Special Christmas Services on Dec. 20th and 21st. Nothing special, really. Just a simple invitation to join them for their Christmas services.



New City Church - We received a letter from Pastor Tullian letting us know that their congregation is in dire need of funds as these economic times have not been kind to the church budget. Currently, they are running more than 25% short on their budget on a weekly basis. They don't have a building, so this shortage is due mostly to their staffing costs.

Pastor Tullian says that during the Great Depression, Christians gave 24.2% of their income to the church, while today Christians give about 3.4% to the church. He says that a church of 600 people (with no building) ought to be able to finish the year with a surplus rather than a deficit. He says that most Christians are no different than their worldly counterparts - spending more than they make.

I'd go so far as to say that most Christians probably learned that lesson from their church - spending more than they bring in, and hoping for a year-end miracle. (This isn't the first time I've heard a December financial plea from a church - aiming for those "year-end gifts" that always seem to come - for tax purposes of course.)

Unfortunately, I've also seen churches/ministries "spend-out" at this time of year, so that their budget won't get reduced by a financial board in the new year. Either way, its a bit disheartening.

We don't receive regular pieces of mail from either of these two churches. I just thought it was interesting that these two churches would reach out to us - more than a year later - in such vastly different ways.

Names for my son

We've got a few months to give our son a name. What a weird concept - giving someone their name. It just doesn't feel right. It seems that the child should have a name, not be given it. I'm not sure what to do. I'm hoping God will just tell us in a dream, or something, what our son's name is.

Names we've come up with, so far, for our son:

Greyson
Graham
Grantham
Lincoln
Liam
Leopold
Roman
Ryder
Wyatt
Kingston


We like names that start with G's and L's. We like names that don't fall into the pop culture of names - this goes for just about every overused Biblical name. You know, the Johns, Matthews, and Marks.

Bailout

Black Friday: In the midst of the current Economic Toilet Bowl

Sawgrass Mills, the gargantuan shopping mall that sits across the street from our neighborhood, is opening it's doors at midnight on Thanksgiving this year. An obvious attempt to overcome the doom and gloom of the retail market of late.

My wife actually likes the sound of this idea though. She has never participated in Black Friday's madness, primarily because she is not about to wake up at 5:00 am for anything. But shopping at midnight is definitely a possibility. We'll see how it goes. Being awake is one thing, but avoiding crushing crowds of shoppers is also a concern.

At Concord Mills in Charlotte, N.C., last year there were crowds approaching 20,000 people waiting outside the mall at 11:15 p.m. for the midnight opening.

Chinese Democracy

Dr. Pepper said it before and is saying it again: Chinese Democracy means free soda for everybody.

The soft-drink maker said in March it would give a free Dr. Pepper to every living soul in America if Axl Rose finally stopped remixing and put out the fabled Guns N' Roses project sometime in 2008.

Now it's official: The soda comes Sunday, Nov. 23, at 12:01 a.m. (presumably Eastern Standard Time). Coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr. Pepper's Web site, DrPepper.com. They'll be honored until Feb. 28.

"We never thought this day would come," Dr. Pepper VP of Marketing Tony Jacobs said in a statement. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr. Pepper's on us."

My favorite seasonal pop: Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash

Fall/Winter:

Pumpkin Pie, Carmel Apples, Candy Corns, Turkey and Stuffing, Cheeseballs with Crackers, Dark Beer, and ......

Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash. I love it.

Legal Drinking Age Throughout the World

No Minimum
Armenia
China
Fiji
Nigeria
Poland
Portugal
Thailand
Vietnam



Age 16
Austria
Belgium
France
Germany
Greece
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Spain
Turkey
Switzerland


Age 18
Argentina
Barbados
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Chile
Czech Republic
Indonesia
Jamaica
Israel
Latvia
Luxembourg
Mexico
Mongolia
Philippines
Russia
South Africa
United Kingdom
Uruguay
Australia
Bahamas
Brazil
Canada
Colombia
Denmark
Finland
Hungary
Ireland
Jamaica
Lithuania
Malaysia
Moldova
New Zealand
Peru
Puerto Rico


Age 19
South Korea



Age 20
Japan
Iceland



Age 21
United States



(ht: Pilgrims Pub)