HARMLESS THOUGHTS

...which could only mean a MORE awesome Creator! [HT: Dan Bereens ]

Just found the Docker's Store Man-Ifesto through Randy Alcorn's blog . Check it out: Dockers Store Online - Live Khaki

"What you are speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you are saying." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson I saw this quote the other day, and there were so many different images that popped into my mind. Faces of different people I know, politicians that I read about or hear about on the radio, etc. But then I began to wonder about myself. Does my life speak in such a way that it mirrors my words and my speeches? When I preach? When I lecture a student? When I talk with my kids? Is there a strong enough correlation between life and speech that the message is amplified or muted?

I just wanted to say that I would like to have this book. I am not necessarily asking for this for Christmas or anything... I'm just saying... Interesting Book! I saw it at the book store the other day, and flipped through the pages. I am just glad that there wasn't a book like this when I was in school. I would have been in so much trouble! Maybe I shouldn't advertise this. The first time I get hit by a spitball fired from a trebuchet ...

My sister just sent this to me. I thought it was great, so I wanted to pass it along. 1789 General Thanksgiving Proclamation by George Washington

I don't know about other teachers, but I don't like to curve my test grades. I especially don't like to curve the grades when there are still a handful of students who did well. Even more so I don't like to curve test grades when every question on the test came from the homework... and I told them that they were coming from the homework! If I just automatically curve a set of poor test grades, that is teaching them that you can't really ever fail, and if you do, it won't be that bad. I know that we live in an age of bailouts and other economic assistance when you fail, but that still doesn't mean that it will always happen. And even if it does... Is that really what you want? Do you want to be bailed out when the reason for your failure is you? I know that the answer to that question is, more and more, becoming a resounding, "yes!" Our classrooms are filled with people who would genuinely take a passing grade even though they know they don...

Just started a new book called The Pharisees' Guide to Total Holiness by William L. Coleman.  I found the book on a book shelf in the closet at church.  I was clearing the shelf off to take into my office for all of my books.  This is one book that came with me into the office. I have never heard of this author, so I hesitate recommending this book, but so far it has been pretty good.  I just finished chapter 5 and I am plowing ahead into chapter 6. It is keeping my attention (which means something for a guy with such extreme ADD).  It isn't a perfect book: there have been a couple of things that I don't quite agree with how they were phrased, but overall I think this guy is onto something.  It might be a tad bit outdated, but it really does offer a good synopsis of who these Pharisees were and what they were all about.

I have been preaching through the Sermon on the Mount at church.  It has been a great experience so far, and I have learned bucket loads of great gospel truth.  The big blaring truth is that God is infinite in His wisdom. I just watched a short video that really falls in line with that I have been seeing as I study.  It is worth a watch: [ht: 4tunate ] By the way, I haven't read Crazy Love yet, but it is on my list. If you've read it, let me know what you think.

Another reason to like Google.

Chrome OS? I would describe this, but I think this video does a much better job of that... And if I tried to describe it, I would most likely be quoting bits of the video, and then my message would feel very disjointed because I wasn't quoting the whole video, and then you might be confused and not want to watch the video.  In fact, if I type any more than what I have already typed, you won't even bother to watch the video, because most of you (and me) don't read blogs that are more that 140 characters, thanks to Twitter. Anyway, here is a video. I feel giddy.

My youngest is having SURGERY... TOMORROW! Ok.  I'm calm. BUT HE'S HAVING SURGERY! No really.  I am calm, but I am realizing that this is going to be an agonizing event.  It is a relatively simple surgery.  He has a gastric hernia... a small place where the muscles along his stomach wall never joined.  This is something that he was born with, and we thought he was going to grow out of it.  He didn't, and this last year it started to increase in size.  A doctor and a second opinion later and now he is having surgery. I am always seeking to place my sons in God's hands: Relinquishing my rights over them and their futures and entrusting them to God.  I know that God always has control, but in the spirit of Hannah (Samuel's Mother) I want to give them to God's service as Has entrusted them with me.  These children are His. As much as I know that... It doesn't always feel that way. Right now he feels like mine and I am not looking forward to...

Over at Challies.com , you can always find Free Stuff Fridays... At least you can on Fridays... A couple of weeks ago I decided to start dropping my name in the hat to see if I could win something.   This last time I won a year's subscription of Table Talk. Tim Challies describes Table Talk: Tabletalk is a tool that helps you grow in your knowledge of God and in your love for His Son and His people. Each month is packed with more than 60 pages of focused, practical Bible study and insightful commentary by today’s top Christian thinkers. Over the years, Tabletalk has been recognized for its excellence through several awards. Today, people all over the world read Tabletalk on a daily basis. The magazine is regularly found in seminary libraries and churches throughout the country. Many credit Tabletalk with helping them maintain a solid life of study and prayer. Here is a sample issue. I used the Church's address when I filled out the form, so our church is now getting a ...

I saw this comic in the teacher's lounge. Even though I don't think that this at all represents all parents... I do believe that this accurately depicts the situation. I would write more about this, but I have to start preparing for my day!

I just heard about a Twitter Scam.  I guess it comes via e-mail and sends you to a site that looks like Twitter ... but it isn't.  You are asked to sign in, so when you do, this site obtains your username and password! I took a screen shot of what it looks like. (Notice the URL.) (click the image to see larger version) If you didn't know this already, this is an example of phishing.  Here is a video on phishing from the site called Common Craft : (It is worth a watch!) This is another reason why I am glad that I use Google Chrome .  When I tried to go to the site so I could get the screen shot, Chrome stopped me.  This is what i saw: I learned about this particular scam through Free Technology for Teachers .

(This week's challenge:   Well Groomed ) Don't ask which one is well groomed!

20 years ago, this Halloween, I went on a date with a beautiful girl.  If that girl's name wasn't Charity, I could get into trouble for this post... but it is, and I can honestly say that I love her more today than I have at any other time. It just continues to grow and develop in ways I couldn't have imagined. I was driving home a couple of months ago and I was listening to the song, Hey there Delilah , thinking about my wife.  I don't know why.  My wife wasn't in New York... I wasn't a thousand miles away... And I most definitely couldn't pay the bills with my guitar!  But there was just something about it that reminded me of her. Maybe it was when he said, "Times Square never shined as bright as you." or "I'd walk to you if I had no other way." (the 1000 miles in mind) I think it is those little things.  They remind me of her in small ways.  From the greatest epic love story to those little crushes, they have all become focu...

In our Adult Sunday School Class we are going through R.A. Torrey's book on prayer.  It has been OK, but not my favorite old book.  The concept of prayer, and our discussions on prayer have been really good though.  I have thought more about my prayer life in the last few months than I have at any other time in my life.  I have been convicted at my lack of prayer and motivated to question what it is that I am really praying for. For example, when I pray for the church, and I pray that God will bring visitors:  The reality is that I am praying for some change within myself and those around me.  I am praying that God will make me the sort of person who is sharing the truth of the Gospel... unashamedly.  Just like when Jesus encourages his disciples to pray for workers in the harvest, and then turns around and sends those same disciples out to work (Matthew 9:35-10:10).  Even though God can use a phone book to bring people to church (which happened...

From the Chicago Tribune : Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate have spent the spring, summer and fall grappling with how to fix the health care system. They're still trying to craft a bill they can sell to Americans -- or even explain in plain English. And the Republicans? Well, as the minority party, they're mainly on the sidelines. They've become the party of "no," sniping at every Democratic health care reform idea without promoting any of their own. Right? Not entirely. Over the summer and fall, Republicans in the House and Senate have introduced six -- yes, six -- health care reform proposals. You didn't hear? Well, those plans didn't produce much of a ripple because Democrats dominate the Congress. ( Read the Rest ) Six Health Care Reform Proposals from the Republican party. I haven't heard about any of them! Have you? It is amazing to me how one sided the media is! Jim DeMint's blog has the same article .

Logic and Mathematics Metaphysical truths Ethical beliefs Aesthetic judgments Science itself [HT: 22 Words ]

I have a Google Voice Number. Wow, I feel like I am at a Google-holics anonymous meeting! It is true though.  I love Google stuff:   Gmail , Calendar , Documents , Reader , Wave , Search , Blogger , Voice , and Google Apps !  (There are actually more, but I don't want to lose you right away. Google Voice just made it possible to have all of your voice mail from your cell phone go to the Google Voice Voice mail.  Now I will get all of my voice mails in one place!  I would bore you with the details, but instead I will steer you to this little movie: So, there you go.  Now when you call me... no matter which number you call you will be getting your voice transcribed! [HT: Google Blog ]

Here is the next house that we are looking at. View Larger Map That last one just wasn't going to work.  There were too many unworkable variables involved with the last one. I was almost ready to make an offer, but I just didn't feel right about it. This new one actually has more square footage than the last one.  I has a two car garage.  It is a lower price, but a nicer neighborhood.  We made an offer on Friday, so now I am simply waiting to hear what the owners are going to do.

I just received my invitation to preview Google Wave . I jumped on it... like I do with most Google stuff... but now I don't know what to do.  I clicked everything that I can click and moved everything I could move... but I wasn't all that excited.  I think that wave is geared toward the "community" experience.  So... If you would like an invitation to Google Wave , let me know.  I have 18 invites remaining.  I don't think they send you something right away, but according to them, "Google Wave is more fun when you have others to wave with..." Leave your e-mail in the comments or e-mail me . If you are already using Google Wave , wave me something or add me to your contacts!

Every Saturday I start thinking to myself... "What have I gotten myself into?" Then I get to Sunday morning and I really start thinking that, but saying... "Well, I am here, and Lord... If something good is going to come of this... It is going to have to be YOU." I have that mental awareness of my need to depend fully on God, but the recognition of my own shortcomings, which will sometimes increase my dependence on God, will at other times bring doubt. After the service today, I was left wondering... I sat down at the computer to start browsing some of my favorite blogs through Google Reader . The very first one I ran across was Challies.com who had just done a post titled " A Minister's Strength ". In that post he quoted a prayer from The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions , which you may know, if you frequent this blog, is one of my favorite books. The prayer which he quoted is one that I hadn't noticed bef...

First Baptist Christian School Class of 1990  |  Promote Your Page Too

Yesterday's sermon came from Matthew 5:17-20. I have been impressed so much with the truth of the Gospel as I have gone through the Sermon on the Mount and this week hasn't been any different.  I did feel that this week's could have been a little controversial, but I haven't heard any negative reports yet. If you would like to take a listen, you can find the audio of all of the Sermon on the Mount sermons by clicking here .  Feel free to give me your thoughts or opinions in the comments section. If you would like to subscribe to all of the sermons from Edgewood, then visit this blog: http://audio.edgewood-danville.org .

Just because I found out that you could embed street views... View Larger Map

Here is the house that we are looking at: View Larger Map We are still doing a little research before we make an offer, but we are leaning in this direction. I am going to find out about the power bills today, and we are doing a little background research on the neighborhood. It is a really cool house. There is one full bath and two half baths, three bedrooms, living room, dining room, sun room, attached garage, plus... the basement is basically like a one bedroom apartment, complete with kitchen... Then there is a finished attic with a spiral staircase in one of the bedrooms going up to the top. It is also a quirky, odd house. My wife, of course, loves it. I just struggle with the other stuff: What direction is the neighborhood going? Is it going to be a money pit? Can my wife take a walk and feel safe? etc. Here is the listing .

What are they expecting to hear today?

I have been preaching through the Sermon on the Mount at Church .  It has been really good so far... not necessarily the preaching... but what it is doing in me.  I have been learning so much about the truth of the Gospel that is wrapped up in every little spot of the Sermon on the Mount. Every time I study the next passage I feel like another little light bulb has been turned on in this big room.  It is similar to the experience of turning lights on in a gym.  Especially one of those old gymnasiums where the lights come on a little at a time.  As each one flickers into its own brilliance, the features of the room become more clear. I just saw this quote over at the blog titled Tolle Lege (which is one of my favorite blogs to read and you should really add it to your list of must reads). The quote is by D.A. Carson, it says, "The more I read these three chapters– Matthew 5,6, and 7– the more I am both drawn to them and shamed by them. Their brilliant l...

Another Danville favorite!

Some positives points were presented...

If you use Google Reader, or some other sort of feed reader, you can now get the Edgewood Sermon Audio as a feed.  Just go and subscribe to this blog: http://audio.edgewood-danville.org

Just recently, I made the switch to the ESV.  I think that I did a post on it a few weeks ago, but I wanted to mention some more about it.  For those of you who don't already know, the ESV is the English Standard Version of the Bible. If you are a reader of this blog and you fall into the KJV Only camp... I hate to disappoint, but I am most definitely not in that camp.  In fact, I don't really even visit that camp anymore and I may have even moved myself to the KJV Hardly Ever camp. I don't mean any offense to the King James Translators.  I really admire what they did and would uphold their translation philosophy.  I would even go as far as to say that by switching to the ESV I am more in line with what the King James translators were trying to do than those people who cling to the King James Version. From the ESV website I am borrowing this quote which really summarizes what I am trying to say, way better than I am saying it: "The true heirs of the King...

My wife just introduced me to this new song by Steven Curtis Chapman. I thought it was wonderful and wanted to share it with you. (...and I thought that "wonderful" was just the right word to describe it.) Here are some of Steven Curtis Chapman's thoughts about this song.

Sam is having an awesome game!

Every year at many different schools they have a time of prayer at the flagpole. This has become a national thing. Here is the website to read more about it . I went to add this event onto my Google Calendar, and I typed in "See You At The Pole". I then went in to add the website, when I noticed that Google had automatically added a Where category because I had typed the word "at". Notice the map that they put on there because it was "... at the pole". I wonder if they pray around the pole in Poland?

If you were a fly on the wall in my classroom yesterday, this is what you would have heard: Me: "So, what happened to (student's name)?" Student 1: "Oh, he dropped out." Me: "Oh really, how do you know that, did he tell you?" Student 2: "No. I saw him in the office filling out his paper work." Me: "Paperwork?" *intrigued look on my face* "You mean there is paperwork for dropping out? I thought it was just 'dropping out.'" Student 2: "No. There is this paperwork you need to fill out... your parents just sign it and you can drop out. You have to be 17." Me: "Hmmm. Did not know that." Student 2: "Oh yeah. I am planning on dropping out as soon as I turn 17. I am going to be emancipated and then drop out." silence Me: "So, how many of you are planning on dropping out?" More than half of the hands go up. Student 1: (Who didn't have their hand raised.) "Well, at lea...

At church I am preaching through the Sermon on the Mount. (For you North Hills people: I know that it was just a few years ago that North Hills preached through the Sermon on the Mount, but honestly, I don't remember any of the specifics. I am not stealing any sermons... at least not purposefully. If anything slips into something that I am saying, it really isn't intentional. ) Anyway, I am trying to write a blog post about my preaching, but there is so much that I could say that I am not sure where to start. I just typed and deleted more than a few sentences trying to figure out how to start. I suppose that what I am wanting to say is that I am loving what I am doing, and I am learning so much while I am doing it. I don't know if anyone else is getting anything out of these sermons, but it is totally worth it for me. If anyone is interested, here is a link to the Sermon Audio . (Yes, I am just geeky enough to put my own sermon audio up online!)

I am a Pastor. I am not exactly sure what I want to blog about this, but I felt that I needed to mention it. So, I am mentioning it. Edgewood Baptist Church unanimously voted me in as the Pastor. I had applied to be the interim Pastor as they were looking for someone permanent, but immediately before the vote someone made a motion to simply vote me in as the permanent Pastor. Someone else seconded it, and before I knew it, I was the Pastor. It is a small church that isn't currently in a position to hire someone full-time, so they really needed a person to come in and work another job and do this on the side. I saw the need and wanted to fill it if I could. The truth is that I have been wanting to be the Pastor of Edgewood since 1992... and now I am. Since I started, my hope has been simple - That I would be God's mouthpiece. Like John the Baptist I am saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease!" I am hoping that my sermons will be full of Jesus and empty of...

Time magazine (at least the online version) did an article about the top 10 ideas that are changing the world . Residing at number 3 is The New Calvinism . Here is the first paragraph: If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard "The Old Rugged Cross," a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of "Shine, Jesus, Shine." And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are...well, hark the David Crowder Band: "I am full of earth/ You are heaven's worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity." Read the rest here . [ht: Desiring God Blog ]

I am afraid to use the office, that would make it official!

Now I know I'm home!

"Lord of all pots and pans and things... Make me a saint by getting meals And washing up the plates! ~Brother Lawrence

“When the apostles preached, they could assume even in their Pagan hearers a real consciousness of deserving the Divine anger. The Pagan mysteries existed to allay this consciousness, and the Epicurean philosophy claimed to deliver men from the fear of eternal punishment. It was against this background that the Gospel appeared as good news. It brought good news of possible healing to men who knew that they were mortally ill. But all this has changed. Christianity now has to preach the diagnosis– in itself very bad news– before it can win a hearing for the cure.” –C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: HarperCollins, 1940/1996), 48. [HT: Tolle Lege ]

I remember when I switched from my King James Version Bible to my New International Version Study Bible. It was probably one of the most influential decisions that I have ever made. There is a quote in the front of the NIV Bible that comes from the book of Nehemiah. It says, "The Levites... instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read... Then all the people went away... to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them." ~Nehemiah 8:7-8,12 I love that quote because it states so well my thoughts on what transpired for me when I first read from the NIV Bible. Because of its impact, I have loved my NIV Bible, but I had been pondering for quite some time switching to the ESV (English Standard Version). I had heard some good things about that translation and had rea...

They have my picture up on the Georgetown High School Website . The sun was in my eyes, but they really wanted the picture...

Morning reading...

This week's subject: School .

This week I will be preaching at Edgewood Baptist Church. I have been going through the Sermon on the Mount and I am currently studying Matthew 5:7, the next in the line of Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, which states, "Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy." In my studies I always find that I am afforded opportunities during the week to experience, in some way, exactly what I will be teaching. This week has not been any different. I had an opportunity this week to show mercy, but I flopped. Miserably. I am so thankful for a merciful God. I always pray that God will help to understand what I will be talking about, and then He gives me these real-life experiences to do some real learning. I am saying all of that because I want to share a mercy quote with you. This one is from A.W. Tozer in his book "The Knowledge of the Holy" : "When through the blood of the everlasting covenant we children of the shadows reach at l...

I am probably not as good as most teachers when it comes to "getting back into the teaching spirit." I do love to teach... just in-general... I love teaching things. I don't love some of the aspects of being a teacher: Paper work, motivating students, dealing with parents, dealing with discipline in the classroom, grading, more grading, confronting students on poor grades, etc. I don't hate these things, I just don't love them. In fact, I down-right dread some of them. For example, I would love to be able to start the year by saying, "If you want to learn, or if you know that you need to learn this and have become resigned to doing it... then stay here. If you don't want to learn and are going to fight it every step of the way, I wish you weren't here. I would love it if you would change your mind, but if you won't, then I wish you would go." Of course, I can't do this, but I wish I could. I admire those teachers that really get i...

I am currently on my family vacation. Every year my wife's side of the family takes a little vacation. They always get some sort of cabin or vacation home... something big enough for all of us... and we get together for a few days. I usually spend the spare moments of this vacation catching up on my reading. I just finished the book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer. It was a really good book. The first few chapters were the best chapters that I have ever read on the sovereignty of God. At least they were the best that I can remember reading. Maybe I will write an official "review" of this book in a few days. Since I finished that book, I started reading The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink. (Why is it that so many of my favorite authors go by their initials and their last name? C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, J.C. Ryle, A.W. Pink, J.I. Packer, R.A. Torrey, etc. Hey, I should start doing that!) I just read the first chapter and thought that it was pret...

I received an e-mail the other day that referred me to a website where you could nominate your "favorite" teacher. Here is a part of that e-mail: "You can nominate an extraordinary educator by visiting www.expoeducator.com and submitting a brief essay about the teacher you feel deserves a little more recognition. 12 semi-finalists and one-grand prize winner (known as the “EXPO Extraordinary Educator”) will be given a financial break – prizes include cash, free EXPO school supplies and more." I wanted to pass this along to all of my teachery friends, and maybe a few of my former students might feel motivated to nominate me... :)

I absolutely love Google Apps . I used it to create my main Harmless Online page a couple of years ago . It originally started as a tool that I could use with students in a technology class, but it grew from there. It is so easy to use and there are so many different options that come with it that the more I use it, the more I love it. I have often thought that, because of its ease of use and its unique flexibility and stability as a set of web applications, that small businesses and small ministries could really benefit in our increasingly technologically integrated world that we live in. I created a space on my site to try to draw in potential "clients". It isn't like I have advertised myself or tried to get my name out there in any way, and I will be the first to admit that I feel a little goofy even mentioning it. But I mention it now because I have my very first "customer". :) The site that I have developed (with a little help from my sister ) is f...

During the weeks leading up to the closing on my house, I felt like I was getting slammed left and right by different... somewhat significant... expenses. I wasn't too worried about it because I had done some figuring with my realtor and we had estimated that I was going to get about $1400 . I was fine with this amount because the market was down and also because we hadn't owned the house for very long. To walk away with something when I was hearing all sorts of horror stories about people losing thousands... well, my little bit of something didn't sound too bad. Before I even started fixing my house the fuel pump went out on the van. You can read a little about that by clicking here . After the first few trips to Advanced Auto Parts I was starting to feel the pinch. I told myself, "...God, this is your money. I am trying to be a good steward of this money, but it is yours. If you want me to spend it on a fuel pump, that's OK with me." Then I broke a ...

[HT: Randy Alcorn ]

This came in the weekly update from my previous church down in South Carolina. I am still receiving their weekly e-mails: Mortifying the Flesh with Fullness (from Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer) Though saved, I am daily beset by a sinful flesh that always craves those things that are contrary to the Spirit. These fleshly lusts are vicious enemies, constantly waging war against the good of my soul. Yet they promise me fullness, and their promises are so deliciously sweet that I often find myself giving into them as if they were friends that have my best interests at heart. On the most basic of levels, I desire fullness, and fleshly lusts seduce me by attaching themselves to this basic desire. They exploit the empty spaces in me, and they promise that fullness will be mine if I give in to their demands. When my soul sits empty and is aching for something to fill it, such deceptive promises are extremely difficult to resist. Consequently, the key to mortifying fleshly lusts is to ...

I like audio books. I got started on them when I was driving a truck all over the east coast by myself. Audio books really helped pass the time. I mostly listened to stories, but recently I have listened to a couple of other books. I just got word that Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan was the free audio book download of the month over at Christian Audio . I knew that they had a free download every month because I have downloaded a few of them in the past. Just a few months back I downloaded Fox's Book of Martyrs . I hadn't checked for awhile, but I just noticed on The Rebelution's blog they mentioned that July's free download was this book by Francis Chan. I have heard lots about it, and had read a couple of reviews, so I was excited to see this. Maybe after I listen to it I will give you my thoughts. Or you could just download it yourself and come up with your own thoughts. To get your free audiobook, follow this link and use the...

If only I could respond this way in my classroom... [HT: incompetech ]

This is post number 1003. I guess that passing 1000 is a little bit of an achievement.

Who needs video games?!? I have a fuel system to play with! I had to replace the corroded parts. This just didn't look safe to me. Looks good to me. Now it is time to stick it in the tank. I hope this part goes well!

It's out!

I could summarize the entire day in one sentence: "I spent 2 hours and 15 minutes trying to loosen 2 bolts." Yeah, that about says it all, but here are a few pictures of the first day. I am currently waiting for the dew on the ground to be sufficiently dried up before I go out there. I will try to post some more pictures later. I have a fear of the vehicle falling on me, so I make sure that it is securely jacked up. Taking off the clamp on the big hose where you fill the tank. This is at the beginning of the 2hr.15minute brawl that ensued between me and the tag-team bolts! Say hello to my little friend! Lowering the tank down with a jack. The tank is now lowered, but now I have to disconnect everything from the top of the tank. In case anyone might want to search this out,I will put in a few key words: this fuel pump replacement is for a 1995 Chevy Astro Van .

My first official day that I am not in school. Normally this would result in heading off to work... my other work. In the summer I am a mover. (If you didn't already know this... they you haven't really been reading my blog.) And usually the very first day after school I am headed off to my summer job. This year is different though. This year I have a ton of work to do right away, because I am getting ready to move. It looks like everything is going well on the house selling, so I need to get to work fixing the things that I agreed to fix. I need to replace a glass window pane . I need to put in soffit vents . And there is some electrical work to be done. (I can't do that last one myself. So, here I am, all ready to get to work on this lovely Monday morning, and guess what... Big Red won't start. My wife's parents were here, so they took her to work on their way out of town, but that still leaves me with a big red, big pain! I think that it is the fuel pum...

My view of Mark Driscoll just jumped up about 100 notches. It is his response to a question about stay-at-home dads. [HT: fingertoe.com ]

This picture came from this link ! [HT: Straight Up !]

Today is the last day of school. Yay.

Ok. I saw this a week or so ago, but I was re-visiting it in my mind today, and just had to share it with all of you. The post is titled, Soul-Winning Made Easy . It is from Challies.com , one of my new favorite blogs. It is completely worth a few moments of your time.

This is why I don't normally give students my phone number. When I do, I usually get some weird, random voice mails, like this one.

In just a few days I am going to be computerless . The laptop that I have been using for the last two years belongs to the school. I lugged that thing home every single school day. I have accomplished alot of work on it: tests have been typed, curriculum overviews have been written, grades have been entered, rubrics created, school calendars, teacher web pages, on and on... In my spare time I have done a little blogging, twittering, and have even made my own website . But now it is all coming to an end. The computer must be returned to the school permanently and I must move on. It will be an emotional day for me. Oh sure, I have an old-cracked-screen laptop and I have a couple of outdated computer towers that take 10 minutes to load the operating system, but I am going to miss this particular laptop. It has been good to me. I would love to be able to go out and purchase a replacement, but lets face it... I am a school teacher. If you don't know anything else about school te...