If there’s something I struggle with more than anything else as a Christian it’s caring about others. Actually, let’s just call it what it is: I struggle with the sin of pride. Apparently I don’t completely understand Paul when he writes in Philippians 2:3-4:
“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
My pastor has taught on this repeatedly, especially in the area of leadership, but it’s still something that I know goes on in my heart that I need redemption from–that is, caring about others and finding them interesting (and would add “above myself”). In a blog post I read today, Mark Altrogge quotes Piper on this subject and it really encouraged my heart:
In Finally Alive, John Piper’s great recent book about the new birth, he says, ‘Be encouraged that simply finding people interesting and caring about them is a beautiful pathway into their heart. Evangelism gets a bad reputation when we are not really interested in people and don’t seem to care about them.’
Got away for the weekend with Bethany and some friends from church and we went camping in the Sequoia National Forest. I didn’t really take many photos as I wanted to enjoy just being with my wife and friends, but it’s impossible to be in God’s beautiful creation and not want to capture it’s beauty. Instead of showing you the normal colors I decided a sepia set would be fun. Don’t waste your summer…get outside.
It’s my birthday today. I don’t expect you to get me a gift, but I do have a gift for you. On my 5th birthday in kindergarten my mom brought “grab bags” for everyone in my class–it was a huge hit. So continuing the “tradition” here’s a grab bag of the 10 best things about the wonderful year I was born: 1984.
No. 1
Apple releases it’s famous “1984” commercial during the 3rd quarter of the Super Bowl which was also the debut of the first Apple Macintosh…now known as “The Mac.”
No. 2
The 1984 Olympics were held in Los Angeles! I was born only 20 minutes from the coliseum where the opening ceremony was held (pictured above, courtesy of fbpa.wayne). It was the second time that the Olympic games were held in the LA Coliseum, the first being held in 1932. USA won the most medals (174) and the most gold medals (83). U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
No. 3
Film making history was made in 1984 with the release of Ghostbusters. The words “Who you gonna call” and the theme song with it’s insistent “du na na–na na na na na na” are forever etched on our brains. I mean, what could be more entertaining than a plot that reads: “Three unemployed parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.” It was 2nd at the box office that year just above Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom and right beneath Beverly Hills Cop…oh the eighties were a confusing time.
No. 4
“Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk.” Yeah, that’s right…untethered. 1984 would actually turn out to be a great year for NASA as they were successful in not one, not two, not three, not four, but five Space Shuttle launches that year! Both the Challenger and Discovery Space Shuttle’s were launched multiple times for various missions, and the first Canadian went to space aboard the Challenger…way to go Canada.
No. 5
Transformers! These “robots in disguise” became a boy’s best friend and I can remember playing with them as a kid. That same year an animated series was created which would ultimately lead to your present day Transformers films (one of which comes out next week). And you thought it was something Stephen Spielberg came up with…yikes.
No. 6
The king of pop released his hit song “Thriller” as a single in 1984 and it is still regarded as one of his signature songs. The music video is a lengthy 14 minutes and is listed as one of the greatest music videos ever made. If you’ve never seen it, then I highly suggest you take a 15 minute break and check it out. And for good measure, this is enjoyable as well. In other news, earlier in 1984 Michael Jackson was badly burned during the filming of a Pepsi commercial….so weird.
No. 7
One hidden gem of 1984 comes from the U.S. Supreme Court when it ruled that
“Personal use of the machines to record broadcast television programs for later viewing constituted fair use.” [via Wikipedia]
Essentially, the television industry tried to sue Sony over a new recording technology it was developing (which would eventually become VHS) because they were worried about people recording TV shows and therefore violating copyright. But after much consideration the Court decided that it was not copyright infringement but “fair use” if someone wanted to record a show for later viewing. Neither Sony nor you or I could be held liable if we recorded TV with their new technology. Not sure how that affects you? Well, if you own a DVR or a TiVo then you’re enjoying the benefits of that Court ruling each and every day. So record all the shows you want because this ruling still stands!
No. 8
While testing his microphone for a radio broadcast, President Ronald Reagan made is famous “announcement” (jokingly) that the U.S. would be outlawing Russia and that “bombing would begin in 5 minutes.” See the above video to hear the audio.
No. 9
One of the better (if not one of the best) sitcoms that Hollywood has produced is The Cosby Show. Based on the stand-up Comedy of Billy Cosby, this show is a shining star for television in the 1980’s. The lovable Huxtable family is still a favorite for many and is attributed to basically reviving the the sitcom genre during it’s eight season reign. My wife and I own the first 3 seasons on DVD and always enjoying watching this family with their quirkiness and kind spirits.
No. 10
No, the show Jeopardy! didn’t begin in 1984, but your favorite TV trivia game show host first began working on Jeopardy! That’s right, Alex Trebek began his career hosting Jeopardy! in 1984 and that’s a position he still holds today. The only thing that appears to have changed for him since the eighties is he’s lost the mustache, but other than that he’s still the same trivia man we all know and love…. though SNL has taken a few cracks at him over the years.
I have to remind myself constantly that the world doesn’t revolve around me…though I sure like to think it does. But only by God’s grace can I slay the dragon in my heart that the Bible calls pride.
There’s a good piece from Newsweek that I think we all should read called “Generation Me” which basically discusses the fact that we’re just all about ourselves these days. Here’s a snippet of a key sentence and a link from the article (the whole article is only 6 paragraphs–quick, easy read):
“…as Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell point out in their excellent book “The Narcissism Epidemic,” released last week, we’ve built up the confidence of our kids, but in that process, we’ve created a generation of hot-house flowers puffed with a disproportionate sense of self-worth (the definition of narcissism) and without the resiliency skills they need when Mommy and Daddy can’t fix something.”
“Who is Disney to say, ‘No,’ because we’re paying them,” Kreuger said. “I really want Disney to see the stress they caused. All my life I wanted to have a big quince, and MTV has the big shows and all the drama, and I wanted that too.
I sent in, like, two videos — I was trying really hard, and they liked me,” Krueger continued. “It gets me so mad that they’re not going to do this MTV thing.”
I mentioned over a year ago about how the Library of Congress (LOC) was putting some of their photo collection online via Flickr and that it was probably one of the coolest things the U.S. government had done in a while. Well I went exploring some more today and found that they haven’t stopped with Flickr. As of today, I found official LOC operated sites on Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube–not to mention their ridiculously cool blog. Below are some screen shots and links of a few notable items I found from our friends in Washington. Funny thing–I always thought librarians were supposed to be mean and “shhhh” you all the time, but it seems like the LOC is doing quite the opposite:
The Library of Congress Blog
The Library of Congress blog is updated quite regularly with news about current collections at the LOC as well as fun tidbits and insights about history. One post I came across was a link to a 55 minute Stevie Wonder concert that was held at the Library back in February. The full concert footage is available exclusively at their blog. That’s just one reason to make sure to add their blog to your RSS feed reader.
The LOC on Flickr
This was the LOC’s first major break-in to social media and it’s definitely been a good one. Starting with some 3,000 images they have now doubled that figure in about a year and the photos just keep getting better and better. Their photo sets make it easy to browse different parts of the collection and one of my favorites is the set “1930s-40s in Color” which has some great shots of the riveters, state fairs, and I even saw a blimp in there. Go see the world of the past at the LOC’s Flickr page.
The LOC on YouTube
If Flickr is where the LOC hosts their still frames, then YouTube is now their place for moving pictures. Easily one of the greatest things about the LOC’s new YouTube page is the 42 videos they have of The Edison Company’s early films. Some of the videos are a little strange, but the fact that we now have digital footage of video taken in the 1880’s kind of blows my mind.
I spent some time today browsing The Official White House Photostream on Flickr and I must say, there’s some legit stuff in there. The white house photographer for most (maybe all) the images is a guy by the name of Pete Souza and his work is simply fantastic.
If you get a chance be sure and check out all the photos The White House is posting on Flickr and when you’re ready for more awesomness, take a glance at Pete Souza’s portfolio site–the “Wrigley Field” images are fabulous.
I know it’s been over a week, but I had a few photos from Easter I thought I’d share.
Here’s us in our Easter outfits. Bethany thought it would be fun if I wore a suit, so I Twittered about it and went for it!
Adam (our brother) on the other hand was having struggles with is Easter attire
We went over to a friend’s house and enjoyed a meal together. This is Mike cutting the bestest Easter turkey. I’m not sure if turkey is a traditional Easter food, but it was enjoyable!
Just another shot of the turkey… for good measure.
Turkey + Golf on TV = Snooze Fest for the Fellas
While the guys slept I enjoyed a Coke… nothing special here, but I was only guy not sleeping so I had to do something.
Finally (and I try and save the best for last), a shot of the wives cleaning up! They’re so nice…
HEAR: Three Qualities God is Looking For in His Servants
A few weeks back we had a missionary to Uganda as a guest preacher at our church while our pastor was gone. He preached a phenomenal sermon on the “three qualities God is looking for in His servants” out of Isaiah 66, and you would do well to give it a listen. I guarantee it will convict your heart and you will appreciate this pastor’s passion for God’s word and God’s people. Click this link to begin listening or to download the mp3 file (right-click and select “Save As…” to download the file to your computer).
John Mayer enters the video at about a minute in, so go ahead and fast forward.
DO: Read Last Week’s Cover Story From Newsweek
Last weeks cover story titled “The End of Christian America” which seeks to reveal the latest findings that the number of claiming Christians had dropped some 10% in the past 15 years. Thankfully, they interviewed who I believe to be one of the best-thinking, conservative theologians, Dr. Albert Mohler. Here’s a quick snippet from the article:
“The moral teachings of Christianity have exerted an incalculable influence on Western civilization,” Mohler says. “As those moral teachings fade into cultural memory, a secularized morality takes their place. Once Christianity is abandoned by a significant portion of the population, the moral landscape necessarily changes. For the better part of the 20th century, the nations of Western Europe led the way in the abandonment of Christian commitments. Christian moral reflexes and moral principles gave way to the loosening grip of a Christian memory. Now even that Christian memory is absent from the lives of millions.”
The fortune you see above is from my lunch today. Normally I just crack my cookie in half, eat one side and then the other and toss the fortune. Sure, I’ll read it and maybe add a silly ending, but for the most part they’re just little silly sayings that come with a sweet cookie crust. I notice sometimes in the lunch room at work that the fortune cookie is such a big deal to people–people always want “good fortune” I guess? But my fortune today seemed to remind me of something quite greater than good fortune, or even “good tidings”–it reminded me of the Gospel.
I know this weekend we will celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but I can’t help but think about his birth. I know I’m told I’m only supposed to think about that around December 25th, but unless He’s born, He won’t die, and if He doesn’t die then He doesn’t rise again 3 days later, and if He doesn’t rise, well, the Bible says I’m the most to be pitied. As I think about his birth, I’m drawn to the passage in Luke 2, where a messenger brings a message that is truly good tidings:
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
