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This video was captured at the Catalyst 2009 Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, last week. Jimmy Wambua, now an MBI student, shares his story and meets the man who sponsored him through Compassion International when he was a small child living in a Kenyan slum. Very powerful. HT to Bryan Allain, who was there, and posted this on his blog.
It is a bit long, but Jimmy shares at 3:45 so if you don't watch it all, please watch from there. You won't be sorry!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Exercising by Osmosis
Today was "Casual Friday" at the workplace, which means that we not only get to wear jeans and tennis shoes, but those who want to can chip in on a community lunch, and we all gather together on the big porch out back to eat and enjoy spending some time together.
After a nice meal of sub sandwiches and chips, and just before the brownie Sunday dessert was placed on the serving table, the ladies at my table began to talk—as invariably a group of women will do—about weight-loss and working out. So I shared my story.
So there's this thing that I do ... not every weekend, but it happens more than I would care to admit. I get up on Saturday mornings and putz around the house, checking my email and Facebook accounts to see what I have missed, and then often I will go in and turn on the TV and flip through the channels as I wake up for the day. That doesn't sound so bad, but the interesting part is ... I always seem to land on one of those infomercials for the latest workout program, which I will sit in my recliner and watch for a good 30 minutes—with no thought about how useless it is! I mean truly, it is like I think that if I sit and watch someone else work out, I can be proud that I started my day with "a workout" ... sure, not mine maybe, but it's a workout! Right?!
After the laughter died down, one of my coworkers confessed that she has done the same thing! She said when she lived in Ethiopia a few years ago, she would actually go and put in a video of Jane Fonda, and then proceed to do other things around the house. Why would she do that you ask? "Because," she said, "I liked to hear Jane tell me 'well done' at the end of the video!" Hilarious!
I don't know which confession is more pathetic, but I have to admit that it made me feel good that I am not the only one who does such things. What about you? Do you ever exercise by osmosis?
Hmmm ... tomorrow is Saturday again, what will I do? ;D
After a nice meal of sub sandwiches and chips, and just before the brownie Sunday dessert was placed on the serving table, the ladies at my table began to talk—as invariably a group of women will do—about weight-loss and working out. So I shared my story.
So there's this thing that I do ... not every weekend, but it happens more than I would care to admit. I get up on Saturday mornings and putz around the house, checking my email and Facebook accounts to see what I have missed, and then often I will go in and turn on the TV and flip through the channels as I wake up for the day. That doesn't sound so bad, but the interesting part is ... I always seem to land on one of those infomercials for the latest workout program, which I will sit in my recliner and watch for a good 30 minutes—with no thought about how useless it is! I mean truly, it is like I think that if I sit and watch someone else work out, I can be proud that I started my day with "a workout" ... sure, not mine maybe, but it's a workout! Right?!
After the laughter died down, one of my coworkers confessed that she has done the same thing! She said when she lived in Ethiopia a few years ago, she would actually go and put in a video of Jane Fonda, and then proceed to do other things around the house. Why would she do that you ask? "Because," she said, "I liked to hear Jane tell me 'well done' at the end of the video!" Hilarious!
I don't know which confession is more pathetic, but I have to admit that it made me feel good that I am not the only one who does such things. What about you? Do you ever exercise by osmosis?
Hmmm ... tomorrow is Saturday again, what will I do? ;D
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wordless Wednesday
This song always reminds me of Mizoram, India ...
Find out more about this "child prodigy," Sungha Jung
Find out more about this "child prodigy," Sungha Jung
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Is Legislation the Answer?
I read an article today by a guy who almost got ran over by a driver who was texting while driving. Many states are now implementing laws against this, but as I read his story it seemed to beg the question: Do we really need lawmakers to tell us that this kind of thing is dangerous?
Just to be perfectly clear I am not saying that this is a bad law to adopt. My point is that any thinking person knows this is very risky—to allow yourself this kind of frivolous distraction while driving is asking for trouble. (Confession: I have done this too, knowing that it was a really stupid thing to do!) So, if we are "educated" and "common sensible" enough to know this, why do so many people still do it??
I see it everyday on my way to and from work. I'm beside of or just behind someone, traveling at around 70 miles per hour, and all of the sudden they begin to share my lane, or they brake because they realize that all of the sudden they are "on top of" the person in front of them. We've all seen it. You can tell when you pass them—they aren't looking at the road when you pass them ... they glance up and then back down, looking down for much longer than is advisable. They are distracted and they pose a huge threat to the safety of everyone traveling within a mile of them—atleast! You know that on the Interstate cars can pile up quickly. So is the answer to add another law to the books?
It seems that Americans put alot of faith in education and subsequent laws based on what we know to change people's behavior. Does it really work? If the above scenario weren't enough, we have the examples of education and laws on sex, drugs, cheating, steroids, and alcohol, just to name a few things that we are constantly trying to steer the next generation of kids to stay away from that don't seem to be working. In Africa right now, there is, and has been, a huge push to "educate" people about how HIV and AIDS is transmitted in hopes that they will stop some of the practices that have contributed to rapidly spreading the disease. For example, there are those in South Africa that believe if HIV infected men have sex with virgins they will be cured from the virus. (So you know I am not making this up, here is one example. You can Google search and find many more!)
Education and laws are not bad things. That is not what I am saying, but I think that education and subsequent legislation are not "the" answer. If you have read this blog at all, you won't be surprised that I think, correction—I know, that the only real hope that we have to "do the right thing" is a relationship with Jesus. Granted, even those of us who have one still mess things up, but without an understanding of God's love for us, we are particularly helpless to apply the truth that we already know.
I have heard the saying time and time again, "If they (he, she) only knew better, they would do better!" I suppose that is why we have so many laws. They are supposedly designed to educate people what is right and wrong, and penalize people who do "wrong" so they won't do it again. The problem is ... it doesn't work. Governments make laws and people like you and me figure out how we can "get around them," or more to the point—break them. We are arrogant ... we all think, at least at times, that "it (the accident, the addiction, the STD) won't happen to me."
We don't necessarily need more legislation ... we need Jesus. We need to take responsibility for our actions, confess our sins, apologize, and repent—turn from being "law breakers" to living in a way that honors a holy God, and in a way that honors those with whom we interact. I believe the only way we can do that successfully is to acknowledge Jesus and walk the way that he walked.
Is education a bad thing? NO. Is legislation that is designed to protect us bad? Normally, no. But these things in and of themselves just deal with the symptoms of a sinful heart. Jesus is the only one who can cleanse the heart and give us a clear conscious that allows us to "do the right thing."
Just to be perfectly clear I am not saying that this is a bad law to adopt. My point is that any thinking person knows this is very risky—to allow yourself this kind of frivolous distraction while driving is asking for trouble. (Confession: I have done this too, knowing that it was a really stupid thing to do!) So, if we are "educated" and "common sensible" enough to know this, why do so many people still do it??
I see it everyday on my way to and from work. I'm beside of or just behind someone, traveling at around 70 miles per hour, and all of the sudden they begin to share my lane, or they brake because they realize that all of the sudden they are "on top of" the person in front of them. We've all seen it. You can tell when you pass them—they aren't looking at the road when you pass them ... they glance up and then back down, looking down for much longer than is advisable. They are distracted and they pose a huge threat to the safety of everyone traveling within a mile of them—atleast! You know that on the Interstate cars can pile up quickly. So is the answer to add another law to the books?
It seems that Americans put alot of faith in education and subsequent laws based on what we know to change people's behavior. Does it really work? If the above scenario weren't enough, we have the examples of education and laws on sex, drugs, cheating, steroids, and alcohol, just to name a few things that we are constantly trying to steer the next generation of kids to stay away from that don't seem to be working. In Africa right now, there is, and has been, a huge push to "educate" people about how HIV and AIDS is transmitted in hopes that they will stop some of the practices that have contributed to rapidly spreading the disease. For example, there are those in South Africa that believe if HIV infected men have sex with virgins they will be cured from the virus. (So you know I am not making this up, here is one example. You can Google search and find many more!)
Education and laws are not bad things. That is not what I am saying, but I think that education and subsequent legislation are not "the" answer. If you have read this blog at all, you won't be surprised that I think, correction—I know, that the only real hope that we have to "do the right thing" is a relationship with Jesus. Granted, even those of us who have one still mess things up, but without an understanding of God's love for us, we are particularly helpless to apply the truth that we already know.
I have heard the saying time and time again, "If they (he, she) only knew better, they would do better!" I suppose that is why we have so many laws. They are supposedly designed to educate people what is right and wrong, and penalize people who do "wrong" so they won't do it again. The problem is ... it doesn't work. Governments make laws and people like you and me figure out how we can "get around them," or more to the point—break them. We are arrogant ... we all think, at least at times, that "it (the accident, the addiction, the STD) won't happen to me."
We don't necessarily need more legislation ... we need Jesus. We need to take responsibility for our actions, confess our sins, apologize, and repent—turn from being "law breakers" to living in a way that honors a holy God, and in a way that honors those with whom we interact. I believe the only way we can do that successfully is to acknowledge Jesus and walk the way that he walked.
Is education a bad thing? NO. Is legislation that is designed to protect us bad? Normally, no. But these things in and of themselves just deal with the symptoms of a sinful heart. Jesus is the only one who can cleanse the heart and give us a clear conscious that allows us to "do the right thing."
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