Just a thought

Well... It's been a while

2008-05-05T09:23:00.002-05:00

Life is CRAZY! <- I feel like the old guy on the bowflex commercial who got in shape and is living his "dream" in a rock band now that his is in his 40's.

It has been a really long time since I blogged. It's amazing how life can take over your life. Let's see what has been going on over the last year:

1. Daughter #1, the princess, is engaged and will be getting married in June

2. Daughter #2, the drama queen, is graduating from High School and will be going to college in the fall.

3. Son #1, the not-headed boy, is 16 and driving my truck around and has a girlfriend.

Other than that all is quiet.

Revolution, my band continues to gain popularity and fans. We played twice this past weekend before some pretty nice crowds. I anticipate that our ministry will continue to grow. Check us out at:

http://myspace.com/rev42

Hugs & Kisses,

-jeffe-

Global Warming Is Not a Crisis

2007-03-12T14:36:00.000-05:00

Global Warming Is Not a Crisis

OPINION By PHILIP STOTT

March 9, 2007 — - From the Babylon of Gilgamesh to the post-Eden of Noah, every age has viewed climate change cataclysmically, as retribution for human greed and sinfulness.
In the 1970s, the fear was "global cooling." The Christian Science Monitor then declaimed, "Warning: Earth's climate is changing faster than even experts expect," while The New York Times announced, "A major cooling of the climate is widely considered inevitable." Sound familiar? Global warming represents the latest doom-laden "crisis," one demanding sacrifice to Gaia for our wicked fossil-fuel-driven ways.

But neither history nor science bolsters such an apocalyptic faith.

History and Science

Extreme weather events are ever present, and there is no evidence of systematic increases. Outside the tropics, variability should decrease in a warmer world. If this is a "crisis," then the world is in permanent "crisis," but will be less prone to "crisis" with warming.
Sea levels have been rising since the end of the last ice age, most rapidly about 12,000 years ago. In recent centuries, the average rate has been relatively uniform. The rate was higher during the first half of the 20th century than during the second. At around a couple of millimeters per year, it is a residual of much larger positive and negative changes locally. The risk from global warming is less than that from other factors (primarily geological).
The impact on agriculture is equivocal. India warmed during the second half of the 20th century, yet agricultural output increased markedly. The impact on disease is dubious. Infectious diseases, like malaria, are not so much a matter of temperature as of poverty and public health. Malaria remains endemic in Siberia, and was once so in Michigan and Europe.

Exposure to cold is generally more dangerous.

So, does the claim that humans are the primary cause of recent warming imply "crisis"? The impact on temperature per unit CO2 goes down, not up, with increasing CO2. The role of human-induced greenhouse gases does not relate directly to emission rate, nor even to CO2 levels, but rather to the radiative (or greenhouse) impact. Doubling CO2 is a convenient benchmark. It is claimed, on the basis of computer models, that this should lead to 1.1 - 6.4 C warming.

Philip Stott is an Emeritus Professor from the University of London, UK. For the last 18 years he was the editor of the Journal of Biogeography. For more information about the debate series, go to www.iq2us.org

What is rarely noted is that we are already three-quarters of the way into this in terms of radiative forcing, but we have only witnessed a 0.6 (+/-0.2) C rise, and there is no reason to suppose that all of this is due to humans.

Indeed the system requires no external driver to fluctuate by a fraction of a degree because of ocean disequilibrium with the atmosphere. There are also alternative drivers relating to cosmic rays, the sun, water vapor and clouds. Moreover, it is worth remembering that modelers even find it difficult to account for the medieval warm period.

The Real Crisis

Our so-called "crisis" is thus neither a product of current observations nor of projections.
But does it matter if global warming is a "crisis" or not? Aren't we threatened by a serious temperature rise? Shouldn't we act anyway, because we are stewards of the environment?
Herein lies the moral danger behind global warming hysteria. Each day, 20,000 people in the world die of waterborne diseases. Half a billion people go hungry. A child is orphaned by AIDS every seven seconds. This does not have to happen. We allow it while fretting about "saving the planet." What is wrong with us that we downplay this human misery before our eyes and focus on events that will probably not happen even a hundred years hence? We know that the greatest cause of environmental degradation is poverty; on this, we can and must act.
The global warming "crisis" is misguided. In hubristically seeking to "control" climate, we foolishly abandon age-old adaptations to inexorable change. There is no way we can predictably manage this most complex of coupled, nonlinear chaotic systems. The inconvenient truth is that "doing something" (emitting gases) at the margins and "not doing something" (not emitting gases) are equally unpredictable.

Climate change is a norm, not an exception. It is both an opportunity and a challenge. The real crises for 4 billion people in the world remain poverty, dirty water and the lack of a modern energy supply. By contrast, global warming represents an ecochondria of the pampered rich.
Philip Stott is an Emeritus Professor from the University of London, UK. For the last 18 years he was the editor of the Journal of Biogeography. For more information about the debate series, go to www.iq2us.org

We can no longer afford to cling to the anti-human doctrines of outdated environmentalist thinking. The "crisis" is the global warming political agenda, not climate change.
Philip Stott is an Emeritus Professor from the University of London, UK. For the last 18 years he was the editor of the Journal of Biogeography. For more information about the debate series, go to www.iq2us.org

Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

The bass is sold!

2007-02-04T09:55:00.000-06:00

Well who would have thunk it? My Tobias bass sold in 27 seconds. That is definately a new record for me. I am sorry to see it go but the tone of the new Warwick Thumb 6 string bolt-on is undeniable!

Blessings!

My Bass is for sale

2007-01-26T09:34:00.000-06:00

Why is youth worship important

2007-01-10T08:41:00.000-06:00

Why do you suppose it is that some people believe that Youth Worship of God is somehow less fervant or meaningful than "Adult Worship"? Additionally, why do we seem to have a habit in this culture of "hiring" someone to take care of our youth and then disengaging from them and their Worship of God.

To me this seems like something far more than silly. If we truely want to have meaningful relationship with our youth then there is no better place than to start with meaningful joint relationship with GOD!

After having reached out to the Youth Pastor at our local church, I can see God's hand moving on a set of action oriented activities that will enhance the integration of Youth into adult Worship leadership as well as provide for adult Worship leaders to become integrated and involved in the youth worship experience.

Kirt says that he has a: "Dangereous Conversation" for Wednesday. It will be interesting to see if it is the same conversation I had with Eddie last month. If it is you know that God's hand is moving.

Getting ready for Christmas

2006-12-24T16:20:00.000-06:00

The four weeks before Christmas is a very special time. It is a time of waiting and getting ready, You may ask, What are we waiting and getting ready for? We are waiting and getting ready for Jesus to be born. There is much preparation in our homes before Christmas.

Let's think about the first Christmas:

The night that Jesus was born; Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem to register their names for a census. They had to travel from where they lived in Nazareth to the town of Bethlehem. Mary knew that Jesus would be born soon and she and Joseph had been waiting and getting ready for the birth of Jesus. When they arrived in Bethlehem, they stopped at an inn to rent a room for the night. They had traveled for three days, and Mary was very tired, but when they stopped at the inn, the inn keeper told them that there was no room for them. All the rooms were full, so he told them they could stay in the stable (in this case a cave), and that night baby Jesus was born. Mary had brought strips of cloth with her and she used them to wrap the baby Jesus and then placed Him in the manager. A manager was a feeding trough for the animals. Wasn't that a strange bed for a baby who would grow up to be a Savior for all who would accept Him?

Remember the role of the shepherds? They were in the field nearby the night Jesus was born. They were watching their sheep so they wouldn't wander off or get attacked by wolves or other wild animals. The shepherds knew that something was going to happen, that possibly a Savior would be born for all the people who would believe in Him. They didn't know, however, exactly when this would happen. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds in the field and told them that, indeed, a Savior had been born and He is Christ the Lord. The angel told them where to go to find the baby, Jesus. The shepherds were over-joyed, and very excited, so they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manager.

Who were these wise men, or as they were called, the Magi that we hear about in this great story? They were the learned "scientists" of their age and were greatly revered for their knowledge of the earth and how things worked. Being religious men in their own right, they had been looking for the baby Jesus for a long, long time. They did not find Him until much later, and they brought gifts for the baby Jesus. They had been traveling and following a star in the east, looking for the baby possibly as long as three years.

We are just recently coming to the understanding that Advent is a time of waiting and getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birth. There is much to do in the four weeks before Christmas. Some of us bake cookies, and some of us make Christmas decorations. Then there's buying gifts and wrapping them.

What are we doing when we prepare all of these things? We are getting ready to celebrate a birthday that happened over 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ's birthday. Sometimes we become so busy with all the preparations that we forget why we're doing this. Let's not forget this Christmas that Jesus is the reason we are celebrating Christmas. We should have love in our hearts because Jesus loved us very much, and He still does today. Joy is also something we should have at Christmas and throughout the year. The shepherds were over-joyed at Jesus' birth, as well as the Magi, who had traveled a long way to see the baby Jesus. Mary and Joseph were full of joy because God had given them a son, who would be a Savior to all who would accept Him.

Yes, there was much joy that first Christmas.

Let us continue to have joy, not only at Christmas, but throughout the year. Jesus came that we might have eternal life, What joy! Now we can have peace in our hearts throughout the year because we know that Jesus lives, and He is right here with us. He can live in each of our hearts. All we need to do is ask Him to come into our hearts. Let's pray to God, on Christmas Day, and thank Him for sending Jesus.

May each of you have a truly Blessed and joyous Christmas.

The Gift of Time

2006-12-11T22:18:00.000-06:00

Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.

What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course! Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.

It carries over no balance.
It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.

There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!

The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who has failed a grade.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE DAY, ask a daily wage laborer who has kids to feed.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who has missed the train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who has avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! Treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to have your time . . .

And remember time waits for no one . . .

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow a mystery.
Today is a gift.

That's why it's called the "present"!

Situational Ethics

2006-09-26T12:56:00.000-05:00

Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary? Who may live on Your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart. - Psalm 15:1-2

"I cannot believe they are not going to honor my bonus agreement," said the executive who was about to take another position in a new city. Her understanding of her present work agreement called for a bonus at the end of the year. Management saw the situation differently. "It's not right. I am entitled to that bonus," she complained.

It was time to leave. The company had given her a laptop to use. However, when she left, she decided that because the company was not going to pay her the bonus she was entitled to, she would simply keep the laptop as compensation due her. "And they would never miss it," she reasoned. She was now in the employment of the new company. As each day passed, she grew uneasier about her decision. She could not get it off her mind. Finally, she concluded that the Holy Spirit was telling her this decision was wrong and that she needed to call her former boss to confess her action. She called him and confessed what she had done and why she had done it. Her boss accepted her confession and forgave her. Strangely enough, he allowed her to keep the laptop computer.

Truth never changes. It is absolute. When we make decisions based on other actions that are taken, we move into making decisions based on the situation, not truth and righteousness. The executive may indeed have been wronged, but she had to address the wrong in the appropriate way. Trying to compensate for the wrong by doing something that violates another scriptural principle is called situational ethics. If the employer had never wronged the executive, do you think she would have felt justified in taking the computer? Probably not. When you isolate the two situations, you see that one action was taken in response to the other action.

Have you had any experiences in which you have used situational ethics? The Lord desires His people to have a higher standard, even at the cost of being wronged. Ask the Lord to reveal any business practices that may indicate situational ethics. You might be surprised what will happen when you do the right thing.

God is not Human!

2006-09-17T21:09:00.000-05:00

Secular humanism has attempted to humanize God, deify man and minimize sin; these views have begun to insidiously infiltrate the church.

First of all, there is the attempt to humanize God. It has been said that in the beginning God made man in His image, and ever since the Fall man has tried to return the favor. Sinful man tries to re-make God into his image rather than being conformed to the image of Christ. This is the underlying problem of Romans chapter one. When they “knew God” they refused to “glorify him as God.” Their downward spiral accelerated as they “changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man” (Romans 1:23). This is the terrible sin of humanizing God.

Furthermore, in much of the preaching today God is humanized by stripping Him of his unappealing attributes. Many sermons today avoid those aspects of God’s perfect character that either bring guilt to imperfect people, or deal with principles of God's kingdom that we as humans find unappealing or not in line with what "we" think about his kingdom. The most popular of these Godly concepts that the Christian likes to rationalize or humanize include: devine selection, election, foreknowledge and pre-destination. In humainizing these concepts, God is reduced to a passive, non-threatening deity.

Secondly, there is the matter of deifying man. Humanizing God naturally paves the way for the second sin of deifying man. After exchanging the glory of God for the image of man, the object of worship is no longer God, but man himself. Romans 1:25 states, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.”

Humanism has begun to dominate the cultural values of our society and has virtually turned the Christian world upside down – a reversal of Acts 17:6. This indicates the weakness of Christianity in our world. How should we as Christians react and try to change this?

Finally, there is the matter of minimizing sin. When man has a lowered vision of God and a heightened vision of himself, sin does not appear exceedingly sinful. Therefore, men are prone to see their failures as nothing worse than poor judgment at best and a character flaw at worst.

Churches are not meant to be primarily social clubs or entertainment centers, but soul-saving stations where sin is portrayed as creating an impenetrable barrier between God and man. God alone removed the barrier caused by sin, and its removal was costly, requiring the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ, upon the cross. God takes sin seriously. Therefore, those who preach must not be guilty of spiritual malpractice.

One Way Festival this Weekend!

2006-07-20T08:34:00.000-05:00

It's all happening July 20-23, 2006 in Smithville, Missouri!! One Way will be the first Christian festival of this magnitude to be held in the Heartland region. Families from everywhere will travel and join together for a music and camping experience like no other.

The One Way Festival is more than a music festival. it is truly the best of both worlds - a camping retreat and music festival all in one! On July 20th, individuals and groups attending the event will be able to set up their tents and take a first look at their new home for the next 4 days. Smithville Lake is a perfect home away from home. It has over 1,500 acres of land, next to a 7,200 acre lake. Smithville Lake is known for its beauty and recreational activities, and it's located almost exactly in the middle of the USA...just 15 minutes north of Kansas City!

The One Way Festival's mission is to facilitate interdenominational worship through music and fellowship. Events include performances by top Christian artists, inspirational guest speakers, promising regional bands, 4 days of camping, games and fun for the whole family! In addition to over 50 of the hottest national and regional acts, One Way Festival offers a variety of special events for youth pastors, volunteers, teenagers, parents and children. Add all these features together and you have an "EVENT" that is not only fun and exciting, but life-changing!

The goal of The One Way Festival is to provide a family-oriented venue for worship and fellowship that will elevate to the highest places in Heaven. We are excited to see the changes that God will bring to the small, interior, personal places, and then watch as He moves into the exterior, much larger, community space. We believe that over time, and with persistence, we can see this desire of God's heart fulfilled. His desire is to know you more! As our large community assembles, come ready to challenge the limitations of your present circumstances and abilities.

The Kansas City Prophets concern me!

2006-07-02T23:49:00.000-05:00

Well,

The subject of the KC Prophets came up in our small group study tonight. Our church like many have been touched on its periphery by some of this groups teachings. The now concerning factor is that we are in the midst of a Pastoral change and we need to discern God's will for our little fellowship in the absence of a Senior Pastor.

My question is: "Why is this religious whirlwind as well as others centered around Kansas City?"

Think about it for a second: Unitarians, RLDS, Kansas City Prophets -> Kansas City Fellowship -> Vineyard -> Metro Christian Fellowship, IHOP, the link to the Toronto Blessing, the link to 24 - 7 prayer movement?

Why is this all going on here in the middle of the good old USA? Well, I am not sure but we all certainly need to be aware.

So, some of you might not have a clue what I am talking about at this point. I would encourage you to simply download and read this report about the "Kansas City Fellowship", see if you recognize any of the teachings and discern for yourself in the light of Gods word what is true.

http://www.intotruth.org/kcp/Abberent%20Practises.pdf

After taking a read and doing your own research on the KCP, KCF its leaders and founders ask yourself this question: "If the KCF teachings are true and consist with biblical teaching then why haven't all Christian denominations around the world adopted these practices?"

Getting things started

2006-06-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

I currently serve as a Chief Technologist in HP’s Communications, Media and Entertainment field sales organization. I am responsible for leading transformational approaches to creating new business opportunities and solving both network and IT problems for Sprint, Embarq, Nextel International, Time Warner, Charter, Cox, Comcast, Advanced Newhouse and Bell Mobility.

Prior to HP, I served as a core member of the Telecom practice at Compaq for 5 years. As a Senior Principal Solution Architect, I developed client relationships and led joint Compaq/client teams to solve significant problems, led transformations and initiated business building initiatives for Sprint including the implementation of Network transformation through the JCS2000 industry standard software switch project.

Prior to Compaq, I had a 5 year career with Tandem Computers. I last served as the Technical Team Leader responsible for Tandem’s quality of solution deliver to Sprint from 1993 to 1998. I designed and directed the implementation of the MCP (Merged Call Processor), the Telecom industries first Mediation Platform, resulting in recovery of $72M dollars in lost revenue per year in the Sprint Long Distance Network.

In the early 80’s, I served as the Field Service Engineer in a 800 customer geography for Digital Equipment, I was instrumental in developing the customer base for Digital generating the need for a new sales office in Springfield Missouri. It was at this time that I transitioned from service to field sales support and opened the Digital Equipment sales office in Springfield.

I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and received a certificate of Engineering from Control Data Institute and graduated from Hartford University with a BS in Computer Science. I currently reside in Lees Summit, Missouri with my family.

For the past 9 years, I have studied the Martial arts and hold a 3^rd Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo and Gumdo.

Outside of my career I am currently working to enhance the educational programs of the Lee’s Summit area school systems by serving on the Board of Directors for Summit Technologies music program.