I'm Going Green...
100% Electric
0 to 60 in under 4 seconds
135 MPG equivalent
220 miles per charge
less than 2 cents per mile
All that for around 100,000!
100% Electric
0 to 60 in under 4 seconds
135 MPG equivalent
220 miles per charge
less than 2 cents per mile
All that for around 100,000!
Prayer for all the victims and the students of Union University
While keeping everyone affected by the recent violent storms in your hearts and prayers, here are two letters from Union University's Greg Thornbury and David Dockery to read. The college in Jackson, TN was hit hard, approximately $50 million in damages but by God's grace there were no fatalities even though there were 1,200 people on campus that night. Within their words are a story of the strength and faith the students there have and have exhibited over the past few days.....
Dear Friends:
To everyone who has thought of us, remembered us in prayer, or beseeched God on our behalf to spare the the lives of about 1,200 who were physically on campus last night, I want to thank you from the depths of my heart.
If you have been following the Union story through national news media outlets, you know that our campus sustained somewhere in the range of $50 million worth of damage yesterday. To get a sense of what we're going through, please do me the favor and take the time to check out the following slideshow.
More information can be found at uuemergency.blogspot.com & at uu.edu.
I arrived on campus with President Dockery as the tornado hit the ground last evening. One minute later, we felt transported into a scene from the London Blitzkrieg. Streams of students with bloody faces and limbs streamed past us as we walked toward the mountain of rubble that was once Watters Commons. 9 boys were trapped beneath the rubble. All of them made it out, by the grace of God. I spent least evening until 4 a.m. in the Trauma unit in my role as Campus Pastor as one by one they were brought in, and we prayed for mercy for them and their families.
All will, according to their doctors, and the Lord willing, recover normally.
Last night we had 86 injuries, 51 hospitalizations, and 7 in ICU. At the end of this evening we only have 3 still in the hospital.
The media coverage of the Union story has been amazing. Today, Good Morning America, CNN, Foxnews, MSNBC, and etc. have been interviewing David Dockery and our students today. These folks in the media have walked away saying that something is indeed very different about this university and these young people. I have been overwhelmed by their faithfulness and boldness.
Please do continue to pray for us.
Yours,
Greg
* * *
Dear parents and friends of Union University:
At 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening, the Union University campus was devastated by serious tornadic activity, resulting in extensive damage to the facilities. Following a nearly five-hour emergency effort, all students — including the 13 who were trapped in the fallen rubble — were rescued. Fifty-one students were taken to the hospital, nine of whom suffered serious injury. By God’s providence, no lives were lost. Seventeen buildings received some kind of damage.
Approximately 40 percent of the dorms were destroyed, and another 40 percent were severely damaged. Additional damage has been observed in other academic and administrative buildings. The damage from this storm exceeds the impact of the 2002 tornado by 15-fold. Classes will not begin again before Feb. 18. We encourage all Union friends to stay in touch with us through the Union Web site at http://www.uu.edu.
We currently are working on a five-fold strategy:
1. Today is a day of assessment.
2. Initial efforts to help students return to their homes or to a safe place also have started today and will continue throughout the week.
3. A major clean-up project will start on Thursday.
4. An intermediate strategy to help us begin classes on Feb. 18 is underway.
5. Plans to regroup and rebuild the campus will help focus us for the future.
The rebuilding efforts will be lengthy and extensive. At this time, we want to thank everyone who has given help, provided service and offered ongoing prayer on behalf of Union University. We thank God for His providential care. With the help of God, we will move forward together. Finally, I want to offer highest commendations for our students and the Student Life Team, who have handled this challenge in amazing ways.
For your friendship, your support and your ongoing prayers for Union, we are most grateful.
Faithfully,
David S. Dockery
President
Union University
2/7/08 - Life Journal - Extinguish the Flame
Leviticus 6:12,13
The word that popped out at me was CONTINUALLY! The Israelites were in a never ending cycle of sin, offering, sin, offering, sin, offering...... The battle was constant and all they had was the hope of a future Savior to rescue them from this struggle.
But then that Savior came and they rejected him. What? Huh? After thousands of years of prayer, waiting, prophecy and hope the time arrives and God gives His Son to them and they're like, nope, don't believe it, can't be. But thank God that was His plan. The rejected stone became the cornerstone. His grace was passed on to the Gentiles and is the reason I'm sitting here typing this. It's the reason I can be assured of my future with Him. It's the reason I don't have a fire constantly burning to cleanse my sin. His blood washed me once and for all.
Father thank you for Your grace you continuously pour out on me. And for Your Son, who came to be my substitute, for He knew I could never meet Your righteousness, no matter how many bulls I laid before Him.
Joe gets back to his roots...
2/6/08 - Life Journal - A Constant Diet of Worship!!!
Leviticus 3:16,17
Looks like the Jewish people have something here. I know the New Testament puts an end to the dietary restrictions of Leviticus (it's was comes out not what goes in) but this one I should look into.
Everything we do for God is worship. Everything we give to God is worship. Now, I haven't figured out anything to motivate me to get into and stay in shape. I know it's horrible. You'd figure staying alive for my family would do the trick but for me and a million others it doesn't. I don't know why. Selfishness? Maybe giving my health over to Him would work. Imagine being so incredibly thankful for the gift of life He has given me I actually use my health and exercise as a form of worship? Bring my bad diet to the altar. Bring my lack of self control to the altar. Bring my laziness to the altar. And burn, baby, burn. The next step? Get on that treadmill with the iPod cranked and go to town, running in worship, sweating out thanksgiving...Good idea?
Father I abuse the earthly body you've given me. Let me praise you by honoring your temple.
Got this funny pic by email...
BE DRENCHED
Awesome stuff from In the Quiet:
"Experiencing the present purely is being empty and hollow; you catch grace as a man fills his cup under a waterfall. " Annie Dillard
I read this quote and I am just struck with a vision of a waterfall and me in it...smack dab in the middle of it with my cup extended trying to fill it and of course you can't. The force of the water is so overwhelming, the force of Your Grace the same.Trying to take just a cup of grace, just a cup of water from the falls ...and being drenched in the trying. There is no taking a little grace, in the trying your hand is drenched, your wrist, your arm, your body, your hair and face and neck...the power of the falls is overwhelming. The power of Your Grace....staggering.I am drenched but the cup is empty, nothing to take away. Nothing to take away, I have to stay smack dab in the middle of the fall, in the middle of your GRACE. Maybe if I do and become so drenched w/love and grace....I won't be able to stop giving it to others???So as I am feeling SAD today step into the falls...BE DRENCHED...So as I am feeling DOWN tomorrow step into the falls...BE DRENCHED...So as I am feeling angry or joyous or jealous or content the next or the next day...step into the falls...BE DRENCHED....
Book MEME
It's the attack of the killer MEME's............!!!!
Sean hit me up with this one:
Book meme:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people. (Again, join in if you'd like.........no pressure)
Since I'm at work the only book I have within reach is my ESV Pocket Bible so here we go............
And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land - the men who brought up a bad report of the land - died by plague before the Lord. Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly.
(Numbers 14:36-39)
Wow, have I obeyed God today??????
MEME about ME
Steve Forcum tagged me for a MEME.
Basic rules are to list 6 quirky facts about yourself
Link back to the person that tagged you
Tag 6 more people and link to their blogs (and post a comment on their blog letting them know about the MEME)
I'll leave the last part up to anyone that reads this. Join in if you feel like it, why leave it to only 6?
Here we go:
1. I'm a huge "BIG HAIR" 80's metal fan.
2. G-Strings on a guitar fear me.
3. I eat spaghetti with pickles and a glass of milk.
4. My wife loved me enough to marry me even though her name is now Sheri Carey.
5. My 20-year reunion is in June, I'm overweight and I don't care (because I'll have my hot wife with me)
6. I have an orange cichlid named Tebow but we think he's a she.
Well, I guess you now know all there is to know about Drummer Chris............!
2/5/08 - Life Journal - Part Time God
Exodus 40:36,37
I think God is getting sick of his little kids disobeying, unable to think for themselves and all together making a mess of everything. After giving instructions for tabernacle down to the minute details and placing competent people in the lead of it's construction He then decided to "reside" with them and guide them every step of the way. "OK, listen up, when the cloud goes up, move, when it doesn't, don't. Do you guys think you can handle that?"
Reading this I was wishing I had such simple guidelines to follow, then it hit me. I do, I just haven't been using them. I have His word, sure it takes time to dig into it, but am I going to get any help wasting time watching TV? I have prayer, sure I don't think I know how to do it correctly and I can't be sure when He's trying to speak to me, but again, I have to get away from my daily distractions and seriously spend time with Him. He isn't going to accept being my spare time God, called upon only if I have the time. Him and His word should be my priority, everthing can have the leftovers...
Father, I apologize, I've let the idols of this world keep me from you then I have the nerve to ask why you're not listening to me.
2/4/08 - Life Journal - Law and Order
Psalm 19:7
Not much really to add to that. This one fragment caught my eye and I realized the truth it contains. His orginal creation was 100% perfect, then we came along. The entire Old Testament is the story of a peoples ups and downs, as they struggle to fulfill the law on their own merit. If it were possible they might have reached that perfect place again.
We all know that is a pipe dream. Not one of us is without sin and lives up to His standards. I don't even have the capability to imagine what a society would look like if we all had a perfect record. What I do know is that we will one day see this place. I know this because He sent His Son to die for our transgression, our inability to comply, and because of His sacrifice we will be perfected before Him when the time comes and we will gain entrance into the garden.
Father, I pray that I don't let my sin and Your forgiveness of it be an excuse not to still strive towards perfection in Your eyes. It's the least I can do.
2/3/08 - Life Journal - "Yes Father, I am here"
Acts 10:1-3
The yeast is rising! Of all the people God could chose to set His plan for the Gentiles into motion He picked this little known centurion in the Roman army. It was his job to contact Peter and bring him to his household. After Peter's recent vision's and the sight of this God-fearing family of gentiles, he knew that the Kingdom of God could never be held to just the Jews. His thought were confirmed when this family was overcome by the Holy Spirit and became the newest members of Jesus' following.
I don't understand God's thinking when it comes to His choosing of messengers but accounts like these give me hope when pondering my purpose. His choice fits His purpose exactly, right time, right place, right circumstances. He has a plan for me, His lowly draftsman, dad, husband, drummer, hack guitarist, fisherman. How can I not be excited as I wait to see what His plan is?
Yes Father, I'm here.
2/2/08 - Life Journal - God is Good, All Good is God
I have no good apart from you."
Psalm 16:2
David's realization here is the basis for understanding our place on earth. We are nothing without Him. Everything good is Him. On the converse, everthing evil is a lack of Him. We are spiritual beings trapped in our carnal bodies. Left to our own devices no good can come of us. Our primitive minds couldn't have come up with our belief systems on our own. It's the Spirit that has put them there. Here's a great quote from the new show Eli Stone. When Eli states that he doesn't believe in God he's confronted with this statement;
God has given me purpose. He's given me a belief system, a moral system, a conscious and love. Without Him we'd be living in chaos. How can I get this across to an unbeliever? How can atheists not see this? Where do they think these feelings and systems come from? Left to our basic instinct, the fight for "numero uno" would destroy these good impulses as we all fought for our own gain.
God give me the wisdom (and patience) to enlighten those that can't see these simple facts. All that is good is You. Bottom line. All we need to know.
Got me a new Git-Fiddle (throwing a little Kentucky slang at you)
Yes, another drummer thinkin' he's a musician. I picked up this Yamaha yesterday as my Christmas present. I played just about everything in the store, in my price range at least, and to my highly trained ear this guitar, the FG700S, sounded the sweetest. Now, a little more drummer humor........after arriving home I brought out my tuner. Everything was going great until I got to the final string. As I was tightening the E, bit by bit, nothing seemed to be happening. So, bit by bit, I tightened it even more. Nothing. Little more, little more.....TWANG, there goes the G-String. Yes, everyone can roll on the floor laughing. I was tightening the wrong string........... =[
2/1/08 - Life Journal - Jesus Take the Wheel
Acts 8:4
The persecution of the church goes into full effect. Saul takes the lead in the unforgiving slaughter of Christ's followers (no they're not called Christians, that comes later). So, did the Jews accomplish what they wanted? Just the opposite. The "scattered" took their message on the road. Christianity started it's world-wide travels. It's ironic to me, not to God, that the first place mentioned was Samaria. Philip arrived in the same place where Jesus had told His disciples about a field ripe for harvest.
I need to keep an eye out for these seemingly dead ends. Is God pointing me in a new direction? Is the next chapter in my life starting? Is there someone else out there that needs me to share my story and the Gospel with them? Whether in my evangelical mission, my career or my family life, I need to prayerfully study whether what first appears to be a dead end is actually God steering me on the path of His plan.
Father, thank you for being with me on my journey. Show me the path You would have me take. Give me the wisdom to see opportunity where there appears to be only obstacles.
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