The Big Picture

The 2008 Summer Olympics are approaching quickly, and China is making preparations.  I thought I would share some of the pictures with you here.

Chinese policemen on segways ready for anything!

Don’t mess with this guy unless you are 100 feet away.  I’m not sure I would want all those tanks on my back!! 

Here’s the rest of the pictures from The Big Picture - Boston.com  There are some great pictures posted daily on their site.  Definitely worth a visit or two.

Now Playing - Generation Unleashed - King Of All

iPhone 3G

I’m watching live on www.macrumorslive.com and crying.  Here are the big announcements from Steve Jobs at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2008.

Apple has learned so much with the first iPhone. They have taken everything they’ve learned and more and created the iPhone 3G. Even thinner, black plastic back, solid metal buttons, same gorgeous display, camera, flush headphone jack, and dramatically improved audio.

How does the iPhone 3G tackle the challenges? 3G = faster data downloads, perfect for Safari and Mail. Comparing download speeds between 3G and EDGE. 3G finished in 21 seconds. EDGE finished in 59 seconds.

2.8X faster. Approaching WiFi speeds (WiFi scored 17 seconds). When compared to other 3G phones (Nokia N95 and Treo 750), the iPhone is 36% faster — and better looking.

GPS support now integrated into the iPhone.

With GPS, the iPhone can do tracking. A pulsating dot is moving across the Google map as a car drives down Lombard street.

Now on to the final blow — affordability. Started at $599 for an 8GB iPhone, now $399. The iPhone 3G 8GB will sell for… $199.  The iPhone 3G 16GB will sell for $299.

The iPhone 3G will be available July 11th in 22 countries. The maximum price around the world is $199 USD.

My birthday is July 13th, and yes I know I have the original iPhone already, but it would still be really nice of you to get me a new iPhone 3g for my birthday!!  I would love you forever.

Now Playing - Hillsong United - One Desire

My Lunch Epiphany

My lunch of champions today was from the Worldwide Leader in Fast Food, McDonalds.   To the right you might recognize the world famous McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger.  A great cheap lunch you can eat on the run.  My choice minus the onions of course.

Just take a look at that masterpiece in the picture.  Perfect combination of meat, cheese, and condiments.  So perfectly stacked one of top of the other, cheese melted between each patty.  How could anyone pass up one of these pieces of art. 

 

If you  could please take a second and look at this other picture to your left of what my Double Cheeseburger looked like as I opened in to enjoy my lunch today.  Do you see any difference?  Honestly, you would think it was from a totally different restaurant.  Condiments everywhere, misshapen and smashed bun barely on top of the meat that isn’t stacked correctly.  How could this be? 

Of course I was slightly upset with my burger.  How could someone advertise something that looks so great, and the give me something that looks like leftovers.  But then, as I consumed my lunch, I began to think about our Christian walk.  Many times, we talk a good talk, advertise how “Holy” we are, and how we are at church any time it’s open, worshipping God at every change, and living the Christian life how God intended it.  But when people see our real actions, and experience our life, they are giving something completely different than what was advertised.

Or maybe, if your a pastor, your ministry is doing this same things.  We advertise that our church has the best members, music, teachers, programs, etc., but when it comes down to it are people looking at what we do with disappointment. 

God called us to give our very best to Him, not just talk like we do.  James 1:22 - 26. Are you performing as advertised or not?  Take a moment and think about it!

Yes I just compared our Christian walk to Double Cheeseburgers.  Get over it.

Now Playing - Charlie Hall - Nothing But The Blood

Random Pictures from Last Week

 

Last week, I walked into K-Mart, which I hate, but they had Pepsi on sale, so we stopped.  Anyway, in the front of the store, I noticed this amazing product and wanted to share it with you.  There are many things I could add to this picture, but I think the name says it all.

   

 

 

 

Also, I came home from work one day last week, and I found this present sitting on our kitchen counter.  My Liz said that she found it already dead in our kitchen.  I’m a little concerned that there might be more like this one!

   

All pictures taken by my iPhone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now Playing - Hillsong United - Revolution

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

We took 20 students to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian last night.  We stopped by for some high class dining at McDonald’s before heading into the show.  The second of the Narnia movies came out this past Friday, and the theater was not as full as I had expected. 

Check out the trailer below.

I’m not sure how you feel, but I am a movie fanatic, and although I do have the best job in the world, if I had to pick a second one, it would be as a movie reviewer (not a movie critic, because there is enough criticism in the world).  I promise not to give anything away that you wouldn’t want to know.  So here goes.

This movie continues along the same story of the it’s predecessor.  In real time it’s been about a year, but in Narnia time, it’s been 1300 years.  The cinematography was excellent.  It’s of course a must to have the same actors in any sequel, and it’s great to see that happened here.  Prince Caspian was a favorite among the ladies.  I’m secure enough to say that he is a good looking man. 

As was true with the first movie, the first hour seemed to drag on a little bit in my opinion.  Not much action, mostly plot development, which is necessary.  The last half, was great.  The fight scenes were well scripted, and intense.  The final battles give remembrance to a scene from Lord of the Rings.  Special effects we stellar, and worked seamlessly within the movie. 

As a pastor, I have to talk about the great scene that will be future sermon illustrations for talks on faith, perseverance, etc.  One of the final scenes, the one with giant man made out of water, it’s in the preview, was amazing.  It gave me chills.  Seriously.  Keep in mind that I haven’t read any of the books, so I don’t know how the movie compares to storyline of the book series by the same name.

Overall, I would give it 4 stars out of 5.  Definitely a movie I will be adding to my collection when it’s on DVD.

God of This City

This song has been encouraging me over the past month, and I wanted to share it with you.  It’s by Chris Tomlin off of the new Passion CD called God of This City!

Do you believe this?

Persevere

What a funny word huh?  Dictionary.com defines it this way: to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.  We’ve seen many people persevere through things.  A cancer survivor, a prisoner of war, an athlete coming back from a severe injury, etc.  Most of us have had to deal with something in our live that we had do persevere through. 

Job of the Bible had to persevere though so many things that happened to him.  And through that story, and my own perseverance, I have learned many things also.  This past weekend was one of those trials.  Our car broke down in the middle of Columbus on Saturday.  After we finally found a repair shop that was open, he let us have the bad news.  Our transmission needed a new sensor, we needed a new wheel bearing, and a new belt.  All in all, I get to hand over over $1000 in parts and labor.  Just when we were making some great progress financially.

And in times like these it’s easy for us to ask God the question “Why?”  Why me, Why did this happen to me, etc.  But as we learn through Job’s story, the question “Why?” isn’t the one we should be asking.  Because when we keep asking God why things happen, we lose sight of the most important questions.

What are you trying to teach me through this situation?

How can I prevent this from happening again?

What crisis was avoided because of this?

See in our situation, if our transmission wouldn’t have stopped working, the mechanic told us that more than likely our wheel bearing would have snapped off as we were driving 70 MPH down the highway on our way home.  Thank God for our broken transmission.  Whether we learn it through Job’s story, or our own stories, the question “Why?” isn’t the most important question to be answered.  But the most important thing we can learn is that no matter how bad things get here, we can still be filled with JOY knowing that our eternity is secure in Jesus Christ.

James 1:2 - 4 - Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

Now Playing - Sanctus Real - Whatever You’re Doing