The Gate Website

I can't believe the reduction in price and the increase in capability in the technology world in the last couple of years. I was looking for a very basic, low cost website for The Gate (the McKendree College Baptist Collegiate Ministry) and came across Ipower. For no set up fee and only $7.95 per month we were able to set up a scalable website with E-mail capability. It doesn't include anything fancy, and there isn't a whole lot there so far, but we will add capability as my students get more involved in building the website. I know there must be some other good deals out there, but this one I couldn't pass on.

Another Conference

Hello from Manhattan, Kansas. I am attending the Army's Integrated Training Area Management Conference this week on the campus of Kansas State University. (I can't get the website to work, so I hope they are just doing maintenance on it)

The Army does a good job understanding the environmental implications of owning large areas of land. Some are native grasslands, some are forests, others desert, but they all have conservation programs in place that ensure they will be as undisturbed as possible. The ITAM program helps the Army manage these training areas. The Army's ITAM program uses our electronic mapping software extensively and have been good customers.

I am enjoying the conference for a couple of reasons.

First, I have an opportunity to meet lots of great people who I develop relationships with as as customers. ESRI places a large emphasis on relationships rather than purely as sales opportunities.

Second, I am completingt my PhD dissertation on John Steinbeck's book The Grapes of Wrath and I enjoy any chance to enjoy the culture of the great plains.

And third, as a diehard Nebraska Cornhusker fan, I have always wanted to come and visit KSU's campus. For the last 15 years or so the Cornhuskers and the Wildcats have had a good rivalry. I have had a chance to see the campus up close, and eventhough I got a $50 parking ticket, it has been a wonderful experience.

I'll be home tomorrow evening and back to work in the office on Thursday, but for today life in The Little Apple of Manhattan, Kansas has been good.

The Phantom Father's Day

For Father's Day we went lawst night to see The Phantom of the Opera at The Fabulous Fox Theater in St Louis.

We have seen Phantom 5 different times and I believe this was the best one yet. The Phantom was played by John Cudia, who has a one of the strongest voices I have heard. Christine was played by Marie Danvers, and Jim Weitzer was Raul. They were all fantastic and the visual effects were incredible. I still like Michael Crawford as The Phantom the best, but this cast worked very well together and put in a very strong performance. I can't imagine a role that is more physically demanding that playing The Phantom.

The Fox Theater is the perfect venue to see The Phantom. We have seen The Phantom 3 times in Los Angeles at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and now twice at the Fox (No one can keep up with my Dad's wife Sharon who has seen The Phantom over 75 times, mostly with Michael Crawford in the lead part). It is hard to find a playhouse with as much character and appeal as the Fox. The auditorium is very unique and contains carvings and statues with an Indian/Asian theme wherever you look. The lobby has large columns and lots of carved figurines also.

It was a great gift and a very good day.

Lance Marcum Signs With The Cardinals!

In my earlier post I mentioned Lance Marcum, one of our collegiate ministry interns from McKendree College, was hoping to get drafted in the Major League Baseball draft at the beginning of June. It didn't happen and I was pretty surprised. But, the Lord had more in store for Lance than he could ever imagine. Last week Lance was offered a free agent contract with the St Louis Cardinals ( a dream come true) and Lance has reported to their State College, Pennsylvania minor league ball club. Lance used this opportunity to share his faith in the artlicle located here. Link. What a great young Man. The Cardinals organization won't know what hit them and Lance will have the opportunity to affect the lives of a huge number of people. The Lord is really using Lance and Lance isn't afraid to give Him the credit.

Thanks Stacy for the tip!

Bowing My Knee

I am attending the Air Force GeoBase Compass Conference in Denver this week. The Compass Conference is a conference about the Air Force's capability to use electronic mapping capability. As I arrived at the Denver Airport I noticed a family of three getting off the airport tram and heading up the escalator. They had a daughter who looked about 3 years old who tried 4 times to walk up the down escalator. Every time the parents would tell her that if she would just go to the correct escalator she would be able to get to the second floor. It didn't matter, every time she would turn and go up the down escalator. This continued until she got so tired that she had to give in and go up the correct side.

So many times in life I feel like I do the same thing to God. I am running as fast as I can, but not making any progress. God is there telling me, "If you just follow the path I have set before you you will make progress". But it never happens until I get so tired of living for myself that I have no choice but to follow God. Kind of reminds me of Romans 14:11,

For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to Me, and every tongue will give praise to God.

I can either choose to bow now out of respect for the Lord, or I will be forced to bow later.

If The Bible Had Been Created By Dogs

The Wittenburg Door bills itself as "The World's Pretty Much Only Religious Satire Magazine". I have been a subscriber for years and as I was plowing through the current May/June 2006 issue I found the following article and thought it was clever. On page 21 the article "If the Bible Had Been Written By Dogs" states,

In the beginning, the People created the grass and the birds and the squirrels. And the World was without Dinner, and Treats; and the People left, so it was time to sleep.

And the People came back, and said "Let there be Dinner": and there was dinner.

And the Dinner was good: And it divided the sleeping-time from the eating-time.

And People called the Dinner "Food", and the sleeping-time they called Night-Night.

And the eating and the sleeping were the first Day.

And the People said, "Let there be a fence in the midst of the World, and let it divide the Outside from the Go Home". And the People divided the grass which was inside the Outside from the grass and vehicles and squirrels and birds which were outside the Outside: And it was so. And the People called the Outside "Home", and set within it a Get In Here, with all the power and righteousness and Food and Night-Night.

And the People said, "Let the Outside bring forth squirrels, and rabbits, and interesting little bugs": and it was so. And the People blessed them saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the Yard, but do not enter the Get In Here, even though ye be dead and flat and matted.

And the eating and the sleeping and the chasing were the second Day.

And thus it was and would be for all eternity.

Lance Marcum Named an NAIA All-American

I'm pretty excited that one of my collegiate ministry interns has been named an NAIA All-American Baseball Player. Here's a link to the article. Link. Great job Lance! Lance has been called into the ministry and is a fantastic witness to those he plays with. It couldn't have happened to a better young man. I'll be waiting to hear some good news on Major League Baseball draft day.

All Points Blog Quote Of The Week

It's nice to see that the founder of the company I work for made the "Quote of the Week" in the All Points Blog.

The Quote of the week is from Jack Dangermond, President and Founder of ESRI. The quote was made in his Crafton Hills College graduation address:

"It's embarrassing for a dumb guy like me to be so successful. But how I got there was so bloody simple."

"Be interested people. I don't care whether you're interesting or not. But be interested."

A Whirlwind Weekend

I had a weekend like Adam Feldman's week. Link.

On Friday my brother Steve and his wife Tracy came into town in their motorhome all the way from Las Vegas. I've only seen Stgeve and Tracy once in the last 5 years and they have never been to our house since we moved to St Louis 11 years ago. It was great to have them here, but unfortunately at the end of the kids school year it is incredibly busy. Here's what our schedule looked like:

Thursday 8:00pm
Collegiate Ministry Internship meeting

Friday 5:30pm
Steve and Tracy arrive from Nevada

Friday 6:00pm
Yearly Middle School Chorus Performance

Saturday 10:20am
Bethany competed in the Illinois State Vocal competition (She received a 1st!)

Saturday 2:00pm
Bethany performed at the FBC O'Fallon Children's Choir Performance of Promise U

Sunday 8:30/9:45/11:00am
Matthew played the French Horn in FBC O'Fallon's Church Orchestra for all 3 services

Sunday 1:00 Steve and Tracy pulled out of town to head back to Nevada

I tried my hardest to explain to Steve and Tracy that they just happened to hit us on a bad weekend, but then again most weekends are a little crazy here. It is hard to appreciate life when you are so busy.

I was very happy though because for the first time since my Mom past away 26 years ago my brother was in church. And he was there two times in less than 18 hours. Praise God! I'm sure they had a long quiet drive to Kansas yesterday. Lots of time to think. A great opportunity to plant seeds.

One of my favorite passages is Isaiah 55:9-11:

9 "For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

11 so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it [to do]."

God's Word will accomplish His purpose! Amen

The Ups and Downs of Collegiate Ministry

Last night I had my final meeting of the year with the ministry leadership interns of our collegiate ministry at McKendree College. It is always a sad time for me. Most of my interns are Seniors in college, and although I know we have helped to equip them to take the baton and run the good race, it is difficult to see them go. It gets me thinking about collegiate ministry in general and how difficult it is. Here's a few random thoughts on collegiate ministry:

1. It is like trying to put together a collegiate sports team. Every year the group has a different dynamic. The Seniors from the prior year are gone and replaced by Freshmen straight from High School. Stealing a line from Forest Gump, collegiate ministry is like a box of chocolates....

2. We go full speed from the end of August through the beginning of May. There is no let up during the school year, and with minimal staff it is always challenging to get everything done. Planning is difficult; when we have time to plan (during the summer months) all the students are gone. When we have our students (during the school year) it is too late and we are too busy to do strategic planning. It seems like we are always playing catch up. It does make for a very fluid ministry where we are able to do a lot of experimenting on-the-fly. I just have to trust that the Holy Spirit will lead us where He wants us to go.

3. There always seems to be a mad sprint to the end. The Seniors realize that they only have a limited time left in college and want to make as big of an impact on campus as possible before they move on. I commend them for this, but sometimes we settle for a short-term impact rather than aim for the long-term results. It is hard to get Seniors interested in strategic, long-term, thinking when their time on campus is coming to an end.

4. I am very impressed with today's college students. They are much bolder in their faith than I was in college, they want to make a significant impact on their campus and those around them, and they have so much energy. It also seems like they don't have to study nearly as hard as I did when I was ini college. I think that is my problem, not theirs. I have always been very dense when it came to having concepts sink in. A quick 2 x 4 to the head has worked much better on me than persuasive language.

I'll post more later, but for now those are the few unconnected thoughts running around in my hed.