It states that babies only five days old already mimic inflections related to their mother’s native tongue when they cry. This is a big finding, because when I was studying language development in college just two years ago, I was taught that the more sounds a baby heard in their first year of life the more advanced their language skills would be, but that as long as they were adopted before they started speaking they could learn any language without their accent being affected. However, it appears that babies just five days old already have a native language! The link for the video is below (sorry, I could not embed it yet).
I have huge assignment due this weekend that I need to work on, and since my wife is writing the blog tomorrow, I thought I would just throw out a recommendation if anyone is looking for a good read. I am a big fan of Craig Gross, founder of www.XXXchurch.com (downloadable accountability software and anti-porn site). Make sure you type it in correctly though! Anyways, Craig and his friend Jason Harper have written a book called “Jesus Love You…. This I Know”. This is a must read; it speaks to the heart of the issue of hating the sin but loving the sinner. Unfortunately, society and churches have made it “hate the sin and hate the sinner”. This book is one of the best I have seen that speaks on these issues.
About The Book:
“The constant noise of contemporary life makes it easy to miss the most profound message the world has ever known: Jesus loves you. Innovative teachers Craig Gross and Jason Harper will separate the religious from the real as they show how this simple truth is worth our undivided attention. The authors weave Jesus’ narrative with their own stories of serving among the “least of these” in this inspiring summons to world-changing faith. Join them as they encounter shut-ins, drunks, inmates, porn stars, and others while striving to follow Christ in their daily lives.”
Check it out here: http://www.jesuslovesyou.net
It is my hope that everyone will at least give it a glance. There are audio samples on their website. Thanks for letting me throw out a referral.
Good Morning! It is a beautiful Wednesday morning in downtown Seattle. We are midway through the week, and I am still digesting last night’s choice of television programs. In case you didn’t get a chance to watch the boob tube last night, here’s what you missed (at least if you watch the shows I watch). NCIS – They caught the guy they were chasing, Sons of Anarchy – they got in fights, and the new remake of the show “V” – Aliens arrived announcing peace and, just like the lead in the old “V”, found out they were lying. Now that we’re all caught up on the television world we can move forward.
A little bit of history for you all, seven years ago I went to a private university in California called Simpson. While there, I met by best friend Mike England. We became friends through working as dishwashers in the college cafeteria, playing intramural sports, and through our passion/vision for youth ministry. Fast forward to the present; Mike, like myself, has been involved in youth ministry since he was 20. He is now currently the Youth/Small Groups Pastor at a cozy little church in Graham, WA. (Very close to where I live.) He has two daughters (Annabelle & London), and a rambunctious son (Matthew), and to complete the wild bunch is his caring, loving wife Joslyn. Mike met his wife on eHarmony a couple years ago (which is the reason I tried it and found Shannon, my wife, there as well.)
On July 2, Joslyn gave birth to their daughter London Danielle England. If you saw how beautiful she is you would not chuckle at the name. It fits. Upon arrival she weighed 6lbs 1 oz; and sadly to say, since then she has not gained much weight still hovering in the 6-8 lbs range. It will be close to four months today since her birth, and because of unknown reasons, London cannot gain weight. She has been in and out of the hospital since the day of her birth and has been hooked up to machines while being at home. At first they thought it was reflux, and then they thought something might be wrong with her colon, but truthfully they don’t have an accurate idea of what is wrong. All they do know is that she is not gaining weight. For the past months Joslyn and Mike have been commuting back and forth to the hospital for surgeries and test, often times with one of them staying the night. I wanted to give some background to their story before sharing Joslyn’s thoughts. I asked Mike, and he said he didn’t mind if I shared with you something his wife wrote in their family blog. Maybe her story and their faith might inspire you and look at your situation with a new perspective.
Words of Joslyn England and video of Baby London:
There are days I feel like crawling in the fetal position and hiding under the covers wishing that the poor circumstances regarding family/ministry would all be different after waking up from a deep sleep.
Yes, it’s true days are tough and life is crazy but because of the situation our family has been in we have not stopped being obedient to God’s call in our lives.
Yes, we have a sick infant that has issues uncertain that are changing our family dynamic daily but God continues to take care of her and us, drawing us closer to Him by relying on Him when all human effort has been exhausted.
Yes, we do cry, get angry, become frustrated, even borderline depressed but we remember that God is sovereign and has a plan regardless.
Yes, ministry does take a back seat as students sit in my living room listening to their Pastor ramble through scripture while I’m mentally/emotionally somewhere else but what they do get is the opportunity to experience being a part of my family through the good and the bad.
We call this life and what’s amazing is how God has worked in and through our family in this last year, despite wanting to be in the fetal position.
Thoughts and comments? Please continue praying for baby London. (I will ask her father to post a comment on here for an update later.)
Good Morning! I have finished my Frosted Flakes and, thanks to yesterday’s blog, I chose to wash the flakes down with a cool bottle of water rather than with my morning can of Diet Pepsi. See, I believe I need to take my own advice, so for that reason upon completion of this week, I will be warding off the subtle temptation of soda until my birthday (February 17). Wish me luck! Now, let’s move on to something new. I know I am a bit behind the times on today’s topic, seeing that it was posted in October, but I had to comment.
At the end of October there was a list released. This list contains songs that were played as a form of torture at Guantanamo Bay. This sounds comical and makes me think of a cartoon I saw in which hell was depicted as John Denver singing over and over. (No offense to the “Country Boy”.) Some of the music that was said to be most effective includes: Freddie Mercury’s Queen “We are the Champions”, Don McLean’s “American Pie”; AC/DC/ Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” (Which is painful to hear even those who were born in the USA), and topping the list is Barney’s “I Love You”.
That’s right, you got it; our safe family friendly kids’ TV show was used to torture inmates to the point where they would attempt to kill themselves. How many hours of Barney would that take? Is this wrong? Personally I think I would prefer the torture by music rather than the physical torture. I am sure they received both, but I think the music would help me sleep.
Today I ask you, if you could add to this list (list is below) what song or band would you add that could be used as torture? Do not make this a political thing, I don’t really like politics hence the reason I never write about them. I find it humorous that our pop icons are on the list, such as Brittany Spears, James Taylor, and others. Do you think they look at the terrorists and typecast and say “He probably will like Brittany, let’s give him some Garth Brooks”. I think I would typecast people. Let’s hear some answers. What music/song would you add to this list that could beused as torture?
Agency names 35 artists, songs used on U.S. military terror suspects:
A Freedom of Information Act request filed on Thursday names 35
musicians or songs that it said were used against detainees at U.S. military
detention centers, including the one at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The National Security Archive — the Washington-based independent
research institute that filed the request — said the documents it is seeking
“contain explicit references to the following bands or songs”:
(The songs are guesses by me.)
– AC/DC — Aerosmith
– Barney theme song (By Bob Singleton) — The Bee Gees ( Staying alive)
– Britney Spears — Bruce Springsteen (Born in the USA)
– Christina Aguilera — David Gray (Babylon)
– Deicide (expletive your god) — Don McLean (American Pie)
– Dope — Dr. Dre
– Drowning Pool (bodies) — Eminem
– Hed P.E. — James Taylor
– Limp Bizkit (nookie) — Marilyn Manson
– Matchbox Twenty — Meatloaf
– Meow mix jingle — Metallica (enter Sandman)
– Neil Diamond — Nine Inch Nails — Pink — Prince
– Queen (We are the champions) — Rage against the Machine (killing in the name of)
– Red Hot Chili Peppers — Redman
– Saliva — Sesame street theme music (By Christopher Cerf)
– Stanley Brothers — The Star Spangled Banner
– Tupac Shakur
Welcome back from the devil’s holiday. Just kidding, I didn’t write Friday’s blog; my wife did, and I agree with her. I love Halloween and I think churches should embrace Halloween with parties, haunted houses, corn mazes, etc. Halloween provides a great opportunity for community outreach. On Friday, my wife and I volunteered at a church Halloween party at which underprivileged families were served a meal and the children (including those in high school) were given an opportunity to go trick-or-treating and play games in a safe environment. For more about what I think, read my comments on Friday’s blog.
Now, today as I was perusing Yahoo and looking for an exciting news story to share, I stumbled upon this one:
When I came across this topic, I chugged my Diet Pepsi and decided this was the story I needed to write on. Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mt. Dew, Diet Cherry Pepsi, Diet Coke, Coke Zero – these are the drugs of choice of my wife and me. I’m not kidding; it’s pretty bad. Last night we just finished a two liter from Halloween and we were about to have popcorn. When I realized all of the soda was already gone, I caved and went to the store to grab a few more two liters.
Or how about this? Last year for Lent my wife gave up soda; that’s how much of a crutch it is in our lives. I mean, I always knew that soda was loaded with sugar and calories, but my wife, who will only drink the diet versions, is convinced that it is a healthy substitute. But, an addict is an addict whether the drug is heroin or caffeine. Both, according to this study, can be detrimental to our health. Jabbing a vein of course is a quicker path to death.
You may think it’s a little extreme to compare a heroine addiction to a Diet Pepsi addiction. But I’m doing it on purpose to point out that an addict is an addict. In the dictionary, an addict is described as “a person who has become physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance”. It does not mention the substance has to be drugs, or what we consider “bad stuff”. For Shannon and me, it’s soda and the first step to sobriety is acknowledgement. However, Shannon and I are not ready to give up our fix despite the health risks.
What is that you get your fix on? We all have our things from time to time that monopolize our time; for some it might be Facebook, or ice cream, or alcohol. Mom, I know your diet Pepsi junkie too; it’s time for acknowledgement. What is it that you’re addicted to? Please share your comments and thoughts.
As a Christian, I have always debated over whether or not it is okay, or even right, to celebrate Halloween. My parents raised me to believe that it was okay to participate in the holiday as long as I didn’t dress up as anything evil or scary, or support the dark side of the holiday in any way. Many Christians go much farther, claiming that any participation in the holiday what so ever endorses satanic worship and invites demons into your life.
With Halloween candy by our door and jack-o-lanterns on our porch, I was a little troubled to log onto my computer this morning and see an article stating why Christians shouldn’t celebrate Halloween. I decided to Google the topic, and I found hundreds of thousands of articles supporting this statement. Most stated that traditions such as carving pumpkins stem from pagan worship. However, there seemed to be little consistency concerning these facts. One author even claimed that witches pray over Halloween candy so it is wrong to buy it. (I’m not kidding – here is the article: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/newsletters/spiritled-woman-emagazine/23749-the-danger-of-celebrating-halloween)
As Christians, we can respond to Halloween in one of two ways: stay as far away from anything that even resembles the holiday or engage in healthy, Christian ways to show the love of Christ to our neighbors. The following are ideas to get you started on the latter:
1. Reverse Trick-or-Treating – Instead of waiting for knocks on your door, why not go and knock on your neighbors’ doors and offer them a treat? We suggest a gift basket of sorts with items that are either tasty or useful or both.
2. Serve Warm Beverages – Chances are, no matter where you live, Halloween night is bound to be at least a little chilly. Offering warm apple cider or hot chocolate to children and/or their chaperone adults is a simple way to show you care.
3. Offer to Help Take Down Decorations – Decorations, no matter how few, are a pain to take down. Serving your neighbors by offering to help them take down those decorations would speak volumes. We suggest a note placed in your reverse trick-or-treat basket to get the word out.
4. Give Away Pumpkins – Are there families in your area struggling to make ends meet? Spread some joy by delivering a few pumpkins.
5. Collect and Dispose of Pumpkins – While everyone loves to carve pumpkins, nobody really likes to deal with them after the fact. With just an hour or two, you can collect all of the unwanted pumpkins in your neighborhood and take care of disposing them. Not sure how to dispose of pumpkins? A quick Google search should help. Personally, we like the idea of blowing them up!
So what is your opinion? Is it okay to let your little ones carve pumpkins and go trick-or-treating? How do you feel about churches hosting haunted houses and Halloween parties? Is it simply best to avoid a holiday which has dark ties? Please share your thoughts!
However you choose to spend Halloween tomorrow night, please be safe and have fun! By the way the picture for today’s blog is of the pumpkins Chad and I carved.
Have you ever wondered what happens to your Facebook account when you die? I mean, think about it. In today’s society it is more common to connect with people over the internet than in any other way. As mentioned in the article by Time magazine (link above), “As people spend more time at keyboards, there’s less being stored away in dusty attics for family and friends to hang on to. Letters have become e-mails. Diaries have morphed into blogs. Photo albums have turned virtual. The pieces of our lives that we put online can feel as eternal as the Internet itself, but what happens to our virtual identity after we die?
When internet communication became prevalent, many people feared that traditional keepsakes would be lost. No longer would hand written letters and traditional scrapbooks be treasured. However, others feel that Facebook and Myspace accounts, along with blog sites such as this one, actually make memories available to more people. If this blog were simply a diary, it would only be available in one physical copy. If my photo albums on my Facebook account were made the good old fashioned way, nobody would see my pictures except perhaps close family and friends who visited my house. True, the personal touch of one’s handwriting and creativity is eliminated, but it is replaced with widespread availability to others. In addition, when you preserve your memories virtually, other people have the chance to make comments on your pictures and blogs, which can add deeper insight and help create a richer memory.
So, back to the topic of what happens to your Facebook account when you die. If you want to read the logistics, go to http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091028/us_time/08599193280300. For those of you who actually have other things to do, I’ll break it down quickly. For family and friends who have lost a loved one, that person’s online presence becomes extremely valuable. Not only is it a place to read the thoughts of that person and reminisce over photos, but it becomes a memorial to that person. Grieving friends can write messages to the person and leave them on their profile. The account creates a place for people to come together and share their emotions.
Now, you may be thinking, isn’t it a little weird to write a message to a dead person? Would people really do this? Well, in today’s fast-paced world, not many people have time to go visit a grave, especially if it isn’t close by. Just as people bring flowers to a grave and often leave a message or speak out to the deceased person, the internet now provides the opportunity to do the same thing from the comfort of your own home. I myself have witnessed this several times, as I have had peers or acquaintances who passed. Within hours, messages flooded their Facebook profile about how much they were loved and will be missed.
For the family and friends of the deceased, it can be comforting to see all these messages of love. If the family prefers to keep the profile as a memorial, they can have it officially memorialized by contacting Facebook. This means that the person’s profile will no longer show up in news feed suggestions saying “You should contact this person” or “It is this person’s birthday”, things which could stir up sadness and grief. However, if a family wishes, they can also have the profile removed.
In order to make sure that people don’t contact Facebook saying their friend died as a prank, you do have to provide proof such as a death certificate or obituary before the site will be memorialized or closed, so if you were thinking of bookmarking this page for April Fool’s Day, you may want to change your mind.
What is your opinion on all of this? What would you want for your page, or for your kid’s page? Or do you think this kind of memorial might make it hard for someone to move on?
And on the sixth day, God made the animals and said it was good. Could he have been particularly pointing out the cow? After all, “Mmm mm, beef. Its what’s for dinner!” But not so much in Iceland. What a sad day for them, and how sad that the economy is so bad that not every country can have a small piece of America within it. You may be saying to yourself, “Chad, what are you talking about?” Well, earlier this week it was announced that the McDonald’s in Reykjavik, Iceland is saying goodbye to the “Big Mac” and McDonalds in general. Iceland claims the economic crisis to be the main reason for the cancellation of the Golden Arches. Do not fret, the American and fatty staple known as the “Big Mac” will be here for a long time to raise our cholesterol and produce cellulite thighs. I wonder if the “Big Mac” downsize suddenly put Iceland in the front runners for healthy kids? Because we know our glutton, fat filled, cholesterol driven, arteries clogged, waddle to the bus stop society will not be moving to the top anytime soon. Why are we so fat? When did the game of tag get replaced with a video game tag?
Our culture has become overweight and lazy. We take advice on weight loss from fatter-than-us talk show hosts who just want us to like ourselves. Don’t you think we would like ourselves more if we respected ourselves enough to put down the donuts? Or we can continue to allow our advice to come from sources such as Dr. Phil. In the words of Denis Leary in his comedic approach at this cultural crisis, “Welcome to America; I am not fat, I am not stupid, I am not the problem – you are.” We have been so isolated geographically and financially for so long that we don’t even recognize the truth that stands before us in the mirror. I can’t be overweight because I am not nearly as large as the person sitting next to me. The food I eat can’t be bad for me because the commercial on TV says it’s healthy. I can’t be addicted to these pills because the bottle says I can’t. Responsibility, research, and actual fact based thinking has gone out the window. If it’s on TV it must be real/true/important/news/ factual.
It says a lot about the amount of responsibility that people are willing to take for themselves when there have been actual lawsuits against McDonald’s concerning their food. “My kid is the size of an out of shape NFL offensive linemen and has a full blown Fu-Manchu mustache even though he is only 12 years old. Do I put him on a diet and make him start working out? No! I sue McDonald’s for making fatty chemical filled food that he eats every day. Three times a day, because I am very busy living my selfish extended life and don’t have time to cook him normal food or moderate his free time.” (Denis Leary) Let me make it clear, this is not an “I hate fat people” rant. It’s taking responsibility rather than blaming it on the foods, companies, schools, and other industries like most of America does. Our culture, and I say ours because it’s mine too, wants to blame the media for teen violence, or McDonald’s for our obesity issues, or celebrities for teen pregnancy. We can’t keep blaming everyone except for ourselves. It will take more than the boycotting of Big Macs and Whoppers to help this American crisis. It will actually require some thinking and personal responsibility. For now Iceland’s better off without the Big Mac and the cellulite thighs.
Thoughts?
Excerpts and stories were taken from “Why We Suck” By Dr. Denis Leary
Beep, Beep! My alarm clock reads 4:00 am. My wife, Shannon, tells me to wake up. I climb out of bed, undress, turn on the tub, and sleep in the bath till 4:20. Go back to bed till 4:50. The alarm goes off again. Shoot, I better hustle! Get dressed, kiss my wife, drive to Tacoma, get on Interstate 5, get in the HOV lane, and arrive at work. My alarm on my iPhone goes off – time to pray, and then read my Bible. That’s Monday.
I wish I could say the morning/afternoon differs depending on the day; however that’s not the case. It’s a daily routine; I hate daily routines. I almost joined the military at one point just to get away from routines. I obviously wasn’t thinking, considering the military is full of routines.
The last part of my morning is what I struggle with the most. I need a routine so I will pray and read my Bible. Something’s wrong with that picture in my head. I love Bible study, preaching, teaching, and learning the background and history to the scriptures. I don’t make it a routine because it’s something dreaded that I must force myself to do. On the contrary, I love it – but I just get so busy. The sad truth is that, if I don’t set an alarm, more than likely God will get the leftovers of my day. But shouldn’t he deserve more than that? I mean, how much time in the day do I spend doing so many other things? I struggle with two facts: 1) If I don’t make my quiet time a routine, then He will get the leftovers of my day. 2) However, if everything is a routine, I am afraid it might take the passion out of my worship with Him. I seriously feel torn between the two. 40 million minutes in my life, and I want to spend as much as humanly possible with my Savior, but I want the passion to be there. So tomorrow I will wake up and pray God uses passion to inspire my routine.
Earlier this week a woman found herself held up with a loaded gun. Unlike everyone else she decided to drop to her knees and pray, even though a gun was pointed at her head. Long story short she talked the gunmen down and he even knelt down and prayed with her. Their truly is power in prayer.
This week, the weekend question is: What have you seen the power of prayer do? Please answer with your stories!
![Crying_newborn[1]](http://chadandshannon.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/crying_newborn1.jpg?w=150&h=99 "Crying_newborn[1]")
Today as I was perusing the news online, I found this article:
