Carolina found Waldo

On Fathers Day, we were eating with my parents at one of those yuppie downtown bistro places for lunch...I think it was called "Sky Blue"...and this guy walked in looking at first like Bob Dylan, but when he put on his regular glasses, Carolina leaned over and told me excitedly, "I just found Waldo!"

...and this afternoon I stopped by all the festivities and got a closer look.

I saw a new Camaro

Right now is a very busy time in Tennessee with the Bonnaroo music festival, as well as the CMA awards happening. Today, when I dropped off Carolina down town I got to see the new Camaro model. Yes, it's a tiny yellow dot in the picture, but I still saw it, and it looked awesome. Maybe this will help get GM back on track a little.

Have you tried the Bible?

I thought this was an interesting clip. I have not read the guy's book, but through his study, he has reached some conclusions that I reached a long time ago. Namely, the Bible is a fascinating book. People who say it's a big boring tome full of rules and genealogies couldn't have possibly read most of it.

As I understand it, this guy decided to read the entire Bible just to see what he was missing out on. His conclusion is that he was missing out on a lot! He tells the story of the beginning of his quest here in the video.

Will you help Spring Meadows Academy?

My friend Dale Jenkins has undertaken some ambitious efforts in helping to plant a congregation in Spring Hill, TN, just south of Nashville in a rapidly growing area. The congregation has been exploding with growth. Part of the original vision for the church was that it would also be connected to a new school that they would also found.

Dale is looking for 2000 people to give $10 so that they can afford playground equipment for the new school, which is scheduled to begin this September.

I am going to help, and I want to encourage you to do the same.

Thanks for your consideration,
Mark
---------------------------
Here is his e-mail:

I'll keep this as brief as possible. I have an idea today and want to see if it can "go viral" but I desperately want your help. YOU are the key to this working. We are needing to buy playground equipment for our our day school that will open in September.

I am looking for 2000 people who will each give $10 to this effort. It's just $10, you can do that. And just as important I need you to help me find those 2000 people. So could you/would you do two very quick things:

1. Send me an email letting me know you will send $10. I don't know who you will get this from after I send it out, so send the email to dale(a t)edge.net (Note: I edited the e-mail so he won't get spammed...please interpret it) - send the money to:

Spring Meadows Academy

2985 Duplex Road

Spring Hill, TN 37174

2. Whether or not you send the $10....PLEASE, PLEASE, forward this on to 25 other people. You know I don't forward a bunch of stuff, but this project is worth the effort. Regardless of who you got it from if you will do that I think we could find 2000 people who would send $10 in less than 24 hours. Let's see if we can. Let's see how far this will go.

Thank you.

In His Care,

Dale Jenkins

Good Pictures For Power Point

To any of you who are regularly looking for high quality pictures to use for presentations, I want to encourage you to take a look at Wikimedia's Picture of the Day. You can subscribe to it with any feed reader, such as Google Reader, and they have a wide variety of pictures that could come in handy. They are available in high resolution, so they work well for cropping down to whatever parts you want to use.

I think many preachers make the error in using power point of making it be about the words on the screen. They will put the full text of their sermon on the slides, so that the preaching itself becomes almost unnecessary.

The point of using a visual aid is for it to be visual. Minimize words, and maximize the use of powerful images, such as the ones found here.

Proof that I am a genius

A Hebrew Lesson From Dr. Spock

I have seen at least two videos where Leonard Nimoy has surprised me. Interesting fellow.

One is this explanation of his inspiration for the Vulcan salute.



The other is music video about the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. I wish I knew how this came about; it's accurate, yet very weird.

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus

I can hardly believe it, but I think this is actually a real movie. A movie so stupid, and so ridiculous, that I feel compelled to watch it.

I give you... Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus.

Can I brag about my dad?

My dad is a very humble, selfless guy. I've never met a person who is less materialistic than him, nor have I met someone who is any more genuine than him. He has always put his faith and our family first. My sister and I are much better people for it. I've see him turn down promotions so that he wouldn't have to spend less time with his family. I grew up not missing a single worship service, except for illnesses. I have many memories of walking into my parents' bedroom, finding my dad lying on his bed, reading his Bible. It really does matter what your kids see you do.

He's been working in human resources for about 30 years now, and for the last year, he received the great honor of being elected President of TPMA (Tennessee Personnel Management Association), which is a large group of his peers. And now, they've elected him to be president for a second year (which has never been done before...it is always a new person each year). They recently presented him with a plaque, and gave him a standing ovation for the job he has done over the last year.

I'm sharing two pictures with you. The first is my dad with the mayor of Knoxville, Bill Haslam, whom he had just introduced at a convention there a few weeks ago. The second is my dad receiving his plaque.

Good parents and grandparents are worth more than anything money can buy. I've been richly blessed with family and good role models, who have impacted me profoundly.

I'm very happy for him that his hard work and integrity has been recognized by his peers. He deserves any appreciation that he receives.