Do you know those motivational posters with the nice picture and a word like "determination" and a sentence expressing a motivational thought?
Despair, Inc. sells a very similar product. Demotivational posters. A cynical and sarcastic treatment of corporate office art.
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Sunday, October 12, 2003
What I Should've Said
A couple of times, when working in PA I had a couple of opportunities to share my faith with people I worked with. I fumbled and stammered and I can't even remember what I said on one of those occasions, but this is probably closer to what I should've said:
The core of what I believe is this. We are born with a rebellious, "me first" attitude that separates us from our Creator God. We have inherited what is called a sin nature. We cannot be perfectly good, and to be honest, we rarely want to be good. Even some of our "good deeds" are done with prideful and dishonest motivations.
This "sin nature" that we have is the exact opposite of who God is. The core of our being is at odds with His very nature. Our rebellious spirit is rebelling against Him. How can we hope for Heaven and a relationship with the very person who we're rebelling against?
But he loves us. Even in our fallen, rebellious state he loves us. But as I've said there's a fundamental barrier that separates us from Him. We've committed crimes against Him and we have to be punished. We deserve separation from Him, and a lot of us want it that way. But that's where Jesus came in. God loved us so much that He sent his only son, a part of Him, to live with us and to be us. He lived a perfect life and yet he was executed by crucifixion. He died the death of a criminal in our place. He took the sins of the whole world, every wrong thing ever done, everything that is opposite of who He is, He upon himself and died in them. He paid the penalty for our sin. He was dead so He was put a tomb, laid to rest. Everyone who knew Him and loved Him on earth was distraught. Their friend and their spiritual leader was dead. Even though he had predicted his own death, they weren't ready for it. But a few days later, on the day we celebrate as Easter, He rose from the dead. He had conquered both sin and death for us. He made a way for us to be with God. He said: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes through the father except by me." He is the only way to Heaven. He is the only way to a relationship with our Creator. God gave us a way to escape our fate.
It says in the Bible, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved"
This Salvation is a gift. We can't earn our salvation. The problem isn't so much with the bad things we do, it's with the reason we've done bad things: the fallen nature of our hearts. We can't be good enough to get into heaven. We can, however, "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ" and the Bible says, we "will be saved."
---- This last part is from www.romansroad.com I wanted you to see the actual behind what I am saying---
The ROMANS ROAD is a pathway you can walk.
It is a group of bible verses from the book of Romans in the New Testament.
If you walk down this road you will end up understanding how to be saved.
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We all have sin in our hearts. We all were born with sin. We were born under the power of sin's control.
Admit that you are a sinner.
Romans 6:23a
"...The wages of sin is death..."
Sin has an ending. It results in death. We all face physical death, which is a result of sin.
But a worse death is spiritual death that alienates us from God, and will last for all eternity.
The Bible does plainly teach that there is a place called the Lake of Fire where lost people will be in torment forever.
It is the place where people end up that remain spiritually dead.
Understand that you deserve death for your sin.
Romans 6:23b
"...But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Salvation is a free gift from God to you! We can't earn this gift, but we must reach out and receive it.
Ask God to forgive you and save you.
Romans 5:8
"God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!"
When Jesus died on the cross He paid sin's penalty. He paid the cosmic price for all sin, and when He took all the sins of the world on Himself on the cross, He bought us out of slavery to sin and death! The only condition is that we believe in Him and what He has done for us, understanding that we are now joined with Him, and that He is our life.
Because He loved us and gave Himself for us!
Give your life to God... His love poured out in Jesus on the cross is your only hope to have forgiveness and change. His love bought you out of being a slave to sin. His love is what saves you. Not religion, or church membership.
God loves you! And reaches you right where you are.
Romans 10:13
"Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved!"
Call out to God in the name of Jesus!
Romans 10:9,10
"...If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
If you know that God is knocking on your heart door,
ask Him to come into your heart.
Jesus said,
Revelation 3:20a
"Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him..."
Is Jesus knocking on your heart's door?
Believe in Him. Ask Him to come in to your heart by faith, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Open the bible to the gospel of John and read what God says about Jesus, about you, and about being born again. God will help you. He loves you.
You need to look for a local church where God's word is preached. The Bible says that we are to desire God's word like a newborn baby desires mother's milk.
Aren't you hungry to know the truth?
Water baptism is one of the ways you first show that you have been joined to Jesus. The symbolism is this: When you go down in the water you show that You have been crucified and buried with Him, And when you come up out of the water you show that
you have been raised to walk with Him in newness of life. (See Romans chapter 6)
You have been born again. (See John chapter 3) Your body has become God's temple. Your heart is where He lives. Forgiveness is yours in Jesus. And you belong to Him. You were sin's slave. But now...You are a child of GOD!
John 1:12
"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name!"
A couple of times, when working in PA I had a couple of opportunities to share my faith with people I worked with. I fumbled and stammered and I can't even remember what I said on one of those occasions, but this is probably closer to what I should've said:
The core of what I believe is this. We are born with a rebellious, "me first" attitude that separates us from our Creator God. We have inherited what is called a sin nature. We cannot be perfectly good, and to be honest, we rarely want to be good. Even some of our "good deeds" are done with prideful and dishonest motivations.
This "sin nature" that we have is the exact opposite of who God is. The core of our being is at odds with His very nature. Our rebellious spirit is rebelling against Him. How can we hope for Heaven and a relationship with the very person who we're rebelling against?
But he loves us. Even in our fallen, rebellious state he loves us. But as I've said there's a fundamental barrier that separates us from Him. We've committed crimes against Him and we have to be punished. We deserve separation from Him, and a lot of us want it that way. But that's where Jesus came in. God loved us so much that He sent his only son, a part of Him, to live with us and to be us. He lived a perfect life and yet he was executed by crucifixion. He died the death of a criminal in our place. He took the sins of the whole world, every wrong thing ever done, everything that is opposite of who He is, He upon himself and died in them. He paid the penalty for our sin. He was dead so He was put a tomb, laid to rest. Everyone who knew Him and loved Him on earth was distraught. Their friend and their spiritual leader was dead. Even though he had predicted his own death, they weren't ready for it. But a few days later, on the day we celebrate as Easter, He rose from the dead. He had conquered both sin and death for us. He made a way for us to be with God. He said: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes through the father except by me." He is the only way to Heaven. He is the only way to a relationship with our Creator. God gave us a way to escape our fate.
It says in the Bible, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved"
This Salvation is a gift. We can't earn our salvation. The problem isn't so much with the bad things we do, it's with the reason we've done bad things: the fallen nature of our hearts. We can't be good enough to get into heaven. We can, however, "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ" and the Bible says, we "will be saved."
---- This last part is from www.romansroad.com I wanted you to see the actual behind what I am saying---
The ROMANS ROAD is a pathway you can walk.
It is a group of bible verses from the book of Romans in the New Testament.
If you walk down this road you will end up understanding how to be saved.
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We all have sin in our hearts. We all were born with sin. We were born under the power of sin's control.
Admit that you are a sinner.
Romans 6:23a
"...The wages of sin is death..."
Sin has an ending. It results in death. We all face physical death, which is a result of sin.
But a worse death is spiritual death that alienates us from God, and will last for all eternity.
The Bible does plainly teach that there is a place called the Lake of Fire where lost people will be in torment forever.
It is the place where people end up that remain spiritually dead.
Understand that you deserve death for your sin.
Romans 6:23b
"...But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Salvation is a free gift from God to you! We can't earn this gift, but we must reach out and receive it.
Ask God to forgive you and save you.
Romans 5:8
"God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!"
When Jesus died on the cross He paid sin's penalty. He paid the cosmic price for all sin, and when He took all the sins of the world on Himself on the cross, He bought us out of slavery to sin and death! The only condition is that we believe in Him and what He has done for us, understanding that we are now joined with Him, and that He is our life.
Because He loved us and gave Himself for us!
Give your life to God... His love poured out in Jesus on the cross is your only hope to have forgiveness and change. His love bought you out of being a slave to sin. His love is what saves you. Not religion, or church membership.
God loves you! And reaches you right where you are.
Romans 10:13
"Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved!"
Call out to God in the name of Jesus!
Romans 10:9,10
"...If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
If you know that God is knocking on your heart door,
ask Him to come into your heart.
Jesus said,
Revelation 3:20a
"Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him..."
Is Jesus knocking on your heart's door?
Believe in Him. Ask Him to come in to your heart by faith, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Open the bible to the gospel of John and read what God says about Jesus, about you, and about being born again. God will help you. He loves you.
You need to look for a local church where God's word is preached. The Bible says that we are to desire God's word like a newborn baby desires mother's milk.
Aren't you hungry to know the truth?
Water baptism is one of the ways you first show that you have been joined to Jesus. The symbolism is this: When you go down in the water you show that You have been crucified and buried with Him, And when you come up out of the water you show that
you have been raised to walk with Him in newness of life. (See Romans chapter 6)
You have been born again. (See John chapter 3) Your body has become God's temple. Your heart is where He lives. Forgiveness is yours in Jesus. And you belong to Him. You were sin's slave. But now...You are a child of GOD!
John 1:12
"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name!"
Monday, September 29, 2003
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
I spent most of today at an auction at UVA. Tim Ena and Mike were there too, but I drove separately from them because I had a meeting to go to. I am doing a freelance job for someone in UVA's sports marketing dept. They're trying to raise money for a new basketball arena and I've been hired to help make some 3D animations of the new facilities to help sell suites to potential investors. I need to start working on it. For some reason I don't think it'll take too long, but if I'm wrong it would be better for me to find out now instead of later.
I talked on the phone to Myriam for about 35 minutes tonight.
"Forget about him," I said " you should go out with me."
"I'd love to," she replied, trying, unsuccessfully, to hide her excitement. "I thought you'd never ask."
Okay I didn't say that and so she couldn't reply that way... Not that she WOULD reply that way.
We ate lunch with Matt at a Thai restaurant in Charlottesville. I had... ummm... Pad .. no, I can't remember the name. It was egg noodles with meat and gravy. It was okay, but the noodles were slippery and therefore hard to eat.
Apiradee, if you happen to be reading this, yes this is similar to the email I sent you. I figured I'd just post it here as well. The email came first, I just wanted you to know that. :)
I talked on the phone to Myriam for about 35 minutes tonight.
"Forget about him," I said " you should go out with me."
"I'd love to," she replied, trying, unsuccessfully, to hide her excitement. "I thought you'd never ask."
Okay I didn't say that and so she couldn't reply that way... Not that she WOULD reply that way.
We ate lunch with Matt at a Thai restaurant in Charlottesville. I had... ummm... Pad .. no, I can't remember the name. It was egg noodles with meat and gravy. It was okay, but the noodles were slippery and therefore hard to eat.
Apiradee, if you happen to be reading this, yes this is similar to the email I sent you. I figured I'd just post it here as well. The email came first, I just wanted you to know that. :)
Sunday, September 21, 2003
Well, Hurricane Isabella blew through here the other night. It wasn't very bad where I'm at even though it was projected to go right over us. Other parts of the country weren't so lucky. The power went off here for less than a minute. I have a friend in Charlottesville whose power was out for at least 6 hours. I have a sister in PA (around 5 hours North of here) who was still without power today (Saturday). She lives more out in the country, but still I would've expected them to be more lightly hit than us. We had more rain and they had more wind, I think.
yay, another super interesting glipse into my mind has been typed.
yay, another super interesting glipse into my mind has been typed.
Thursday, September 18, 2003
qwkxinw ri kiawecukkw [ROM07.15] vyr si u wcwb q0br ri vw fiis?
Why do so many anime films/shows have such a strong theme of memory? I watched Cowboy Bebop the Movie tonight. The loss of memory seems to drive one of the characters and knowing what I know about the series Faye is missing memories and Spike is living a second life of sorts, but ultimately can't escape the first one. There's a movie called "A Wind Called Amnesia" or something like that. In that movie everyone on the planet has lost their memory. There's a TV series that's airing on the Cartoon Network name "Big O" in which the whole of civilization has lost its memory. I guess those are all the examples I can think of. It just seems odd that there are several examples of people trying to cope with life without personal history.
Why do so many anime films/shows have such a strong theme of memory? I watched Cowboy Bebop the Movie tonight. The loss of memory seems to drive one of the characters and knowing what I know about the series Faye is missing memories and Spike is living a second life of sorts, but ultimately can't escape the first one. There's a movie called "A Wind Called Amnesia" or something like that. In that movie everyone on the planet has lost their memory. There's a TV series that's airing on the Cartoon Network name "Big O" in which the whole of civilization has lost its memory. I guess those are all the examples I can think of. It just seems odd that there are several examples of people trying to cope with life without personal history.
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Hello again.
Kasey,
You asked me if I have any love interests right now... or if there were any ladies I'm intersested in or something to that effect. I don't think the question was even completely out of your mouth before something happened to interrupt the conversation. Well, the truth is I have no one that I'm absolutely smitten with. There are a few (or more) women that I have an interest in. As far as I know none of them "like" me back. I wish I had a woman I could focus my affections on. I wish I had someone I could think about more than I think about myself. I never quite got the the whole dating thing, at least not on the practical level. I've been rejected enough to know I don't like it so I'm not very inclined to take a chance. I'd like to know if there's any interest from the girl before I try to be more than simple friends. Of course there are other issues to complicate matters as well. What kind of relationship do we have currently? What about distance? Are there other guys who are chasing her? I just don't feel like I know how to play the game.
whatever. shrug.
Kasey,
You asked me if I have any love interests right now... or if there were any ladies I'm intersested in or something to that effect. I don't think the question was even completely out of your mouth before something happened to interrupt the conversation. Well, the truth is I have no one that I'm absolutely smitten with. There are a few (or more) women that I have an interest in. As far as I know none of them "like" me back. I wish I had a woman I could focus my affections on. I wish I had someone I could think about more than I think about myself. I never quite got the the whole dating thing, at least not on the practical level. I've been rejected enough to know I don't like it so I'm not very inclined to take a chance. I'd like to know if there's any interest from the girl before I try to be more than simple friends. Of course there are other issues to complicate matters as well. What kind of relationship do we have currently? What about distance? Are there other guys who are chasing her? I just don't feel like I know how to play the game.
whatever. shrug.
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
My sprained ankle still isn't back to normal yet. I have a job Fri night and Sat all day that will probably require me to be on my feet the whole time. Hopefully it'll be better by then and if not, then I hope I don't make it worse. The last weekend in Sept brings the possibility of working a football game, but that'll require a lot of walking, carrying stuff, etc. Hopefully I'll be all healed up by then.
The DVD for The Gathering (http://www.reelchristian.com) is nearly complete. There's just one little video clip that needs to be replaced and we'll be ready to test. I need to get closed captions working and that may be problematic. The other thing that worries me is how to get it to the duplicators with all the copy protection in tact. I'm hopeful that it'll be done by the end of the week. The sooner the better.
The DVD for Final Exit (same website) is the next little project. The design is done and the menus are mostly done. I still need to pick out the chapters and insert the pictures into the chapter menu. I believe I have everything I need to finish that project too (except the closed captions file). I want to have that done by the end of the month (actually I'd like to have it done by the middle of the month.
I'm waiting on a couple of fairly large checks (anything over $500 is fairly large) to come my way. I did the work and the invoices have been submitted. I need to pay down some debt and I'd like to purchase some computer equipment/software. I don't know what I'll do.
I'm waiting on some paper work to go through for a big graphics job I've been hired to do. I'm hoping to get some of the money up front, although I'm afraid I'll spend it poorly.
If I put nearly all of my income into debt reduction I could possibly have it all paid off by the end of the year. OTOH I could easily spend $4000 on video/computer equipment. That doesn't prepare me for taxes neither.
Oh yeah, I should start thinking about getting a new(er) car and possibly a house.
yippee. Now you know more about my financial situation.
The DVD for The Gathering (http://www.reelchristian.com) is nearly complete. There's just one little video clip that needs to be replaced and we'll be ready to test. I need to get closed captions working and that may be problematic. The other thing that worries me is how to get it to the duplicators with all the copy protection in tact. I'm hopeful that it'll be done by the end of the week. The sooner the better.
The DVD for Final Exit (same website) is the next little project. The design is done and the menus are mostly done. I still need to pick out the chapters and insert the pictures into the chapter menu. I believe I have everything I need to finish that project too (except the closed captions file). I want to have that done by the end of the month (actually I'd like to have it done by the middle of the month.
I'm waiting on a couple of fairly large checks (anything over $500 is fairly large) to come my way. I did the work and the invoices have been submitted. I need to pay down some debt and I'd like to purchase some computer equipment/software. I don't know what I'll do.
I'm waiting on some paper work to go through for a big graphics job I've been hired to do. I'm hoping to get some of the money up front, although I'm afraid I'll spend it poorly.
If I put nearly all of my income into debt reduction I could possibly have it all paid off by the end of the year. OTOH I could easily spend $4000 on video/computer equipment. That doesn't prepare me for taxes neither.
Oh yeah, I should start thinking about getting a new(er) car and possibly a house.
yippee. Now you know more about my financial situation.
Sunday, September 07, 2003
Thursday, September 04, 2003
good evening.
It's been a while since I've written anything here.
My jaw is back to normal... on its own. and my elbow-nerve thing is close enough to normal that it doesn't annoy me. I did go to the doctor and talk to him about it. He checked it out somewhat and told me it was probably bruised. His advice was to take a couple of tablets of Aleve (anti inflamatory) twice a day. I don't know how much it helped but I did it until I ran out of pills. That means I did that for around 13 days.
Last Sunday I went water skiing. I wasn't very successful. It's been said that it takes most people around 5 attempts before they get up. I only attempted it 4 times. I was somewhat surprised I wasn't successful. I expected to do better. I'm out of shape so it was kind of tiring and somehow along the way I hurt my ankle. It doesn't hurt often and the pain is fairly mild. It's been about three days and I can still feel that something isn't right. Also, my ankle is swollen and there is a bruise there now. I don't know if it's some kind of sprain or a chipped bone or something. It doesn't bother me too much. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't go on with trying to water ski. Maybe it'd be worse.
Kara, do you have a boyfriend?
ah well, good night
Dana
It's been a while since I've written anything here.
My jaw is back to normal... on its own. and my elbow-nerve thing is close enough to normal that it doesn't annoy me. I did go to the doctor and talk to him about it. He checked it out somewhat and told me it was probably bruised. His advice was to take a couple of tablets of Aleve (anti inflamatory) twice a day. I don't know how much it helped but I did it until I ran out of pills. That means I did that for around 13 days.
Last Sunday I went water skiing. I wasn't very successful. It's been said that it takes most people around 5 attempts before they get up. I only attempted it 4 times. I was somewhat surprised I wasn't successful. I expected to do better. I'm out of shape so it was kind of tiring and somehow along the way I hurt my ankle. It doesn't hurt often and the pain is fairly mild. It's been about three days and I can still feel that something isn't right. Also, my ankle is swollen and there is a bruise there now. I don't know if it's some kind of sprain or a chipped bone or something. It doesn't bother me too much. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't go on with trying to water ski. Maybe it'd be worse.
Kara, do you have a boyfriend?
ah well, good night
Dana
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