Go Ben

God Bless America and God Bless Ben Stein.

Reflection

A milestone has been reached. We get so few as adults, so it is nice when they happen. Paradox, the church Ruth and I have dedicated our time and money to, has reached its first birthday. It was a success, not only in numbers but we as a church had accomplished some of what we sought to do. So with the celebration still fresh on my mind I took the opportunity to reflect upon where my family and I were, not only spiritually, but emotionally, and relationally as well.

This past year has been a blessing, I am not going to ignore the hard times, we have had plenty. But our relationship, between Ruth and I, has grown stronger. We have have grown closer to God, and Kirsten is starting to learn who God is. My personal journey has me looking more deeply at this God/man we call Jesus. I am studying not only Jesus and his teachings but the culture in which he chose to live in. In my opinion, we can not know what Jesus is truly saying at times if we do not know who he was speaking to. I grew up in a church where I was told what to believe, and that it was ok to just come on Sundays and Wednesdays, get lectured to and go home with warm fuzzy feelings. I was also told that if I ran into hard times it was because I did something wrong and God was punishing me. What a crock of bull. Jesus told his disciples, including you and me, to follow him, but where did Christ go? To the cross. To his death. What makes us think that if we follow him we will not face the same. Every disciple met some grisly end. When Jesus predicted Peter's death he didn't want to accept it. As with most churches, that is too much, God is asking too much. I do my time. I witness. I sing in the choir. I read my Bible. Is that not enough. No. That is not what Jesus has called for us.

There is a movement, it has been around for a very long time, and not to many people walk it. Some call it the "Barbarian Way," others, "The Third Way." I call it simply "Jesus' Way." My trials exist cause I choose to walk this path. No more will I or my family sit in a pew and thank God for our "Fire Insurance" and go home feeling everything is good. To call myself a Christian yet not do what Jesus taught or said to do. Nor will you ever see me judge someone for their lifestyle or choices. We are here to serve, to love God, to love people. To walk the narrow path, the road less traveled.

God is moving and I am following as closely as I possibly can.

KOTOR MMO?

A couple of years ago BioWare announced that they were entering the MMORPG(Massive Multi-player On-Line Role Playing Game) industry. Of course this made Blizzard, (of World of Warcraft fame), and Turbine, (of DnD online fame), a little nervous. BioWare, in my opinion, has developed the best RPGs in recent years. With, Neverwinter Nights, Balders Gate, and Knights of the Old Republic, to name a few. After the announcement everything went quiet, until recently. BioWare just opened an office in Austin Texas for their new MMO department, and they are keeping tight lipped on the goings on there.

BioWare has the rights to DnD's most famous campaign world, Forgotten Realms, and the rights to Starwars. Lucas Arts has been rumored to be looking for someone else to produce an online game with the license. Could this mean a Knights of the Old Republic MMO? G4 TV's show XPlay just broadcasted last night that KOTOR is more likely than DnD's Forgotten Realms. I'd be fine with either, but I would drop WoW in a heart beat if it were to be a KOTOR MMO.

Moving?

We are moving. We should be out of our apartment by the end of the month. The landlords here are in the process of doing tear-outs and remodeling. Of course that means rent will be going up. Now, if I thought that the drafty windows, unlockable security doors, and the hot water that does not get hot were worth the higher rent I might consider staying, but the biggest reason we are moving is the fact that the neighborhood sucks. It is unsafe, and no place for a 7 year old to go play. Which means my daughter is cooped up inside all day. For those of you who don't know, someone was murdered right outside our back door about a month after we moved in.

Anyway, after a lot of thinking and discussing, we decided to move in with Ruth's brother for a little while. Probably for the next school year, after that we are not sure. In the mean time all your prayers are welcome and needed, and of course help with the move would be appreciated as well.

The Wiggles

I was watching the Wiggles the other day with my daughter and got to thinking. Try to imagine Captian Feathersword in the place of Captain Jack in the Pirates of the Caribbean.

For those of you who do not know who Captian Feathersword is, you are in for a treat. Watch this and see why I am still laughing today.

Ticket Tax?

Yep, our wonderful Governor is proposing a luxury tax on tickets. That would include, but not limited too, movies, sporting events, and concerts. Why? Well it is one of the few things this government has not taxed yet. They tax our work, now they want to tax our play. Who thought that this was a good idea? We have to save money to even be able to go out once a week, and that is without a tax. Thought games were expensive before, just wait. I can not say I am surprised. I fully expected this woman to pull some cockamamie bullshit out of her ass. but this... Not like DeVos would have been better, you did not know where that man stood.

Anyway, if you are as pissed as me try this website.

Happy Birthday

Independence Day, the birth of our great nation. When I think of this day I think back to all the sacrifices that were made, in history to present day, that has made this country great. We have the oldest government in the world, and possibly one of the greatest documents ever written, The Constitution. This, what we are, was no accident, and I am proud to be an American.

Happy Birthday America.