An Introduction to...

Most of my good friends know I am a big fan of Ted Dekker. Ted is a sometimes controversial, but always thought-provoking, author of Christian fiction. If you have any interest at all in fiction books, I really encourage you to pick up one of his books and give him a try. He is not paying me to say this and I don't win any sort of contest for posting his name on my blog. He is just someone I wanted to introduce you to. You can find out more about him by watching the following interview.

Topix.net

I have been "hired" as news editor for the Tyler news page at www.topix.net. Check it out if you have some free time.

Huckabee Getting Endorsements

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of the biggest U.S. trade unions made an unusual dual endorsement in the 2008 White House race on Thursday, backing Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mike Huckabee for their parties' presidential nominations.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which has about 720,000 active and retired members, backed a candidate from each party for the first time after a recent survey found about one-third of union members voted Republican and two-thirds Democratic.

"The dual endorsement is intended to involve all IAM members in the upcoming election," said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger.

The endorsement was made at the union's national conference in Orlando, Florida. Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, was the only Republican to address the labor group.

Huckabee has lagged behind the top Republican 2008 contenders in national polls and fund raising but received a boost earlier this month with a surprise second-place finish in the Iowa straw poll.

"Mike Huckabee was the only Republican candidate with the guts to meet with our members and the only one willing to figure out where and how we might work together," Buffenbarger said in a statement.

The Importance of Maps

Just when you thought you had seen it all...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082601278.html?hpid=sec-religion

Parenting Skills 101

Jill and my parenting skills have been attacked over the past two weeks over a variety of things from kissing, to "allowing" my oldest to have a "boyfriend," to allowing her to watch, of all things, wait for it ....... "High School Musical." (Have I used enough quotes?) Unfortunately, the people attacking us won't come and speak with us directly about their concerns, but do feel comfortable talking to others about it thinking we won't hear about it later. Don't worry -- they don't read this blog so I am not using this time to respond or "attack back."

But, in response :), I would like to point out to parents of other kids that do read this that it is normal for preschool kids to have "boyfriends" and "girlfriends." It is normal for them to kiss because (hopefully) they see kissing at home. I am glad that my kids know I love their mother. I am not ashamed to give my wife a kiss in front of my kids (we are just talking about a peck kiss). If I am a bad parent for that, I don't want to be a good parent (that sounds like a country song I should write). Anyways, I have done some researching and found this on a child psychology website:

Preschool "boyfriends" and "girlfriends." Some parents of preschoolers are alarmed when they hear their kids talk about a boyfriend or girlfriend. If your youngster says this, remember that kids don't attach the same meanings to the word that adults do. Most experts agree that it's best to react to this kind of news in a neutral way — don't encourage the behavior, but don't express concern either.

Just something to think about for the weekend.

Changes

I have made the changes necessary to my account here so I won't be deleting this page after all and starting over. The bottom line is that some people were looking at the page that I did not want looking at the page (i.e. certain people that pay me to do certain things) after searching for me on Google. So, I have taken my full name off, my location is gone, and all references to my occupation are gone.

At least watch the first 2 minutes...

Public Notice

This blog will be deleted soon. Just letting you know. A new one will take its place under a different name that will be shared with friends.

Baby laughing at the Wii

I could have come up with so many creative titles for this post, but I refrained.

Told you he was still alive...

This is one of the most impressive camera tricks I have ever seen. I am sure by now you all have seen it, but I wanted to save it here for future enjoyment.

Cool Beta Website

I ran across a really cool website today -- www.biblemap.org. It is still in beta, but worked just fine with no bugs for me. You select a Bible passage and anytime the passage references a locations, the satellite map (provided by google) takes you right there. Check it out sometime -- it is highly addictive.

From the website:

BibleMap.org is developed by the duo at He Lives Ministries (HeLives.com). The motivation for developing the site was simple. Create a free Bible atlas which harnesses Google maps. We hope this site will be a blessing to you and possibly help make the living book of the Bible more alive in your life.

Evolution of AT&T

You may have already seen this, but I laugh everytime I watch it.

Thr3e Movie Trailer

My good friend Robert has been posting some movie trailers of some big spring and summer movie releases over on his blog, so I thought I would join him by posting a new trailer from the producers of X-Men for the movie, Thr3e. Considering the movie is based on the book by me and Rob's favorite author, I am a little suprised the trailer hasn't made it to his blog, yet. So, to pick up his slack, I have come out of blogging retirement and present for your viewing pleasure, Thr3e:

This is DQ Country

I am sitting here at my local Dairy Queen enjoying some chicken fingers, free WiFi, and watching Fox News.  I am also using a new blog writer program, Windows Live Writer (beta).  It is a really cool blogging program now available for download at

http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!...

It is completely WYSIWYG.  You can manipulate things much easier than using the Blogger software.  Give it a try.  It's free.

People watching here is picking up as the dinner hour approaches.  A guy just went to the bathroom with a book.  That is just wrong.  And gross.

By the way, for those of you that like Christian fiction, sign up at www.readted.com for $10 off Ted Dekker's newest book and a free gift.  If you use my reference number (FG9FT9), I get free stuff too.  If you are not familar with Ted, he is one of the best, if not the best, Christian fiction writer around. 

Nothing else much going on today at the DQ.  If something good happens, I will update. 

Interesting Graphic of the Day

ETA 2.22.2007

Testing 1 2 3

This is a test of a new feature I am trying out.  Ignore the post.

Blogged with Flock

Church Discipline

I recently read an article about a Dallas appeals case that made me really think about the role of the church in the "discipline" of its members. How should a church respond (if at all) if one of its members is arrested for DWI? For murder? For shoplifting? How should the church respond (if at all) to infidelity or divorce amongst its members? Where does a church's "right" to confront sin end and an individual's right to privacy begin? Some churches take a "hands-off" approach while others, like Watermark Church in North Dallas, become actively involved. Some of you may know the story, but for those who don't, I will summarize:

All members of Watermark Church are made to sign a document (a loosely based contract I would guess though I was not able to find the document online) stating that they will (and this is a direct quote) "submit themselves to the care and correction of the Board of Elders." The church has adopted what they call the Matthew 18 process based upon the pretty well-known passage found in Matthew 18:

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. ... If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you. ... If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church."

You should be able to tell by now that this will likely get nasty.

Husband and Wife sign on the dotted line and join Watermark Church. Wife finds out that Husband is cheating and seeing another woman who is not a church member of Watermark (but is an employee at another Dallas church). The Wife and some friends confronted Husband. Husband admitted to the affair and said he would stop. The End? Not quite.

Husband did not stop seeing the other woman. Wife finds out and goes to the church to inform them of the situation in accordance with Matthew 18 and the church guidelines. The church has a regularly scheduled evening church meeting where the wife asks the congregation for prayer for her marriage. The pastor informs the church that Husband and Wife are having marital problems, but does not divulge the specific issue. Sounds ok so far, right? Hang on for one more paragraph.

Church then sends letters to 14 of Husband and Wife's friends calling a meeting to discuss the infidelity. The letter specifically details the "charges" for lack of a better word. 7 of the 14 are church members -- the other 7 are not. Husband did not show up at the meeting, which apparently did not make the church very happy.

Chruch sends letter to Husband stating that it is going to send a letter to the woman he was seeing, letters to the 14 friends stating that Husband refused to attend any meeting, and letters to the Christian organization that Husband was a board member of.

Pastor then calls woman directly and tells her to tell her boss, the pastor of another church, or else the church would call the pastor directly "even as we would want and expect others to contact us if one of our employees or members was engaging in activities damaging to the reputation of Christ."

The Husband and woman sued asking the courts to block the church from contacting anyone else, especially the woman's employer.

The church itself, aside from this whole issue, looks like a great place to attend (www.watermark.org). It appears that they have a growing thriving church with a bunch of activities and programs, including a program for kids with disabilities. The church website has their version of the story, their response, and their Matthew 18 process. Their website is light years ahead of most churchs (you can download their sermons to your iPod, for example).

Keeping the whole church/state lawsuit junk out of the discussion, what do you think about this? Did the church go too far? Did they do the right thing? Should they have done something different? Discuss.

Happy Father's Day

In recognition of Father's Day, who is your favorite TV dad? As you can see from the picture, I would have to vote for Cliff Huxtable (followed closely by Phillip Drummond from Diff'rent Strokes).

Your turn.