Thanks, FailBlog!

Rock on…. This is really well done.  Cute, simple and to the point.  …wow…

John 3:16 ”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

I saw this tonight while watching the Bronco versus Patriots Post Season game.

I’m sure this had nothing to do with Tim Tebow

see more epicfails

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A Dream

This morning I awoke from an abstract dream that was merely a fictitious apparition of a deep sleep, a dream that strayed from one random moment to another. There was no particular perplexity in the dream, yet when I surfaced from the fog that is produced in such deep sleep, I still lingered on how to resolve the issue. I was trying to resolve a conflict that wasn’t reality and didn’t need resolution.

There are these moments in time, where you feel that you have awaken from a dream into a cathartic construct of thought. I get them from time to time and always embrace them. They are generally revelations about myself and even when I may not like what the mirror of reality may hold, I still appreciate the opportunity to see what can be changed, what must be changed to develop into  one that Christ would have come to save.  I know that I can’t “earn” His gift, otherwise it wouldn’t be a gift, but I can life a life that is responsive to that gift.

Revelation

This morning I had one such moment of revelation. I like resolving issues. I’ve been given a gift to find particular weaknesses in organizations, tools, applications and sometimes even people. The problem with this gift is that I don’t often keep it in balance and sway toward the almost narcissistic need to “fix” things. I can become obsessed with problem-solving and work to fight on staying focused on what is important and what is not.

In the maturation process I’ve had to overcome a number of issues, as I’m sure we all do. The more prevailing amoung them is my need to see things fixed. Often times my interrpretation of “fixed” and the interpretation of others is vastly different. For each time that I’ve observed a problem there have been equal times I’ve been wrong and sacrificed personal relationships toward curing a issue, that no one else is interested in resolving.

Resolution

As I write this, I am beginning the first day after Christmas. I, like many, began to reflect on the previous year and start looking toward the next. I’ve been very blessed in the past ten years or so, since developing my faith and following Christ. It has brought a very real change in my life and in my outlook on others, but there is still room to grow.

In the past two days I have had moments of clarity on how I wish to evolve in the upcoming decade. I want very much to be more careful in the words I choose, the time I use them and the problems I need to prevail in resolving. I need to stop taking on the charge of Don Quixote and end the pugilism against windmills.

As we enter into the next year, my prayer for myself, my family and for you is that we’ll learn to focus on things of importance; our God, our family and our relationships. I pray that we all take a moment to pause before speaking, to listen to the soft but constant nudge of the Spirit to speak what is true, relevant, important and to avoid pious.

What are your prayers for the coming year?

I Love Retro!

There is something that resonates in us when we’re able to remember a happy childhood memory.  I remember spending countless hours in front of that Nintendo Entertainment System.  I remember reading all of the Power magazines and talking stories and strategies at the lunch table with my friends at school.  So, when I found NES emulators a few years back, I couldn’t resist!  The best part of emulators is that you don’t need to blow into the cartridges, constantly reset the machine or buy games!  I love that I get to now share this with my daughters  and they seem to love the classics too!

Making It All Work

I have a USB Nintendo controller and I use my iPhone as a second controller.  Getting there was easy, once you know how.  There are a few things you’ll need.

The first is an emulator.   I’ve tried a bunch of them and my favorite is Nestopia.  There is a free and registered version.  Most people will only need the free version.  Nestopia is reliable, works on Macs and Windows machines.  Adding USB controllers and/or the iPhone was super-easy.

You’ll also need games once you’ve installed Nestopia.  Games are called “ROMS” and can be found on a myriad of sites.  www.FreeRoms.com is my favorite place to get game roms.  They have a nifty list of the most popular games and an easy navigation system.

USB Controllers

You can play the games using your keyboard, but I find it to be just a little sluggish.  I took a look around and bought a retro controller that I could connect via USB.  The device of choice for me is from Retrolinc.  You can find it on Amazon for about $10.

It’s just like using the original controller and is pretty solid.  You do need to download a free app to help called Emulator Enhancer.   The instructions to add the device onto a Mac is pretty easy, just do the following:

- Open your Hard Disk.
- Open the Library folder.
- Open the Application Support folder.
- Copy the Emulator Enhancer folder (included with this document) into that folder.
- If you double click on the Emulator Enhancer folder the only file within should be “Emulator Enhancer.bundle”.

Enter the iPhone Controller

After introducing my daughters to the NES emulator it became evident that finding my USB controller was a bit more challenging.  On a whim I decided that it would be cool if my iPhone was able to be a controller.  Here’s a surprise… There’s an app for that!

After a brief search in the app store I found JoyPad Elite. Joypad Elite is fantastic!  It’s currently $11.99 in the App Store, but well worth it.  It comes with some built in games and a ton of “skins”, which are graphic overlays that make the controller look like the original.  The controller can be setup to use with a variety of emulators, such as Super NES, Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64 and Game Boy.

You’ll need to connect your iPhone to the Mac via Bluetooth of Wifi and then install the (free) JoyPad Connect software.  It’s in the Desktop Client section of the JoyPad website.

Tid Bits

I’ve used them exclusively on my Macbook Pro, but I understand that this works on PC’s too.  I can attest that Nestopia and USB controller working on a Windows 7 machine, but I haven’t tried the rest.

If you have questions about the legality of using ROMS and emulators you should research the legality and stipulations of using them, on your own.

I hope you enjoy playing these games as much as I do!  The top of my list is Mike Tyson Punchout, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Brothers and Metroid.

What are your favorite retro games?

I love Star Wars, things from the 80′s (or in this case 1978) and retro commercials.  For all those reasons, I thought I’d love the Star Wars Holiday Special.  Once I did ::deep sigh:: I got a good laugh.

The Star Wars Holiday Special was aired in 1978 and only once.  All other copies are bootleg, or posted on Google Video.  It’s really funny, if you don’t take the Star Wars universe as a Theology.  There are guest spots from the original casts, cartoon excerpt introducing Boba Fett and some good gags.

So, if you’re curiosity is getting the better of you, you can enjoy the two hour special below…

ChristianAudio.com

I love audiobooks!  Like many, I’m really busy and spend a lot of time on the road.  I’m not a big fan of the FM radio that plays the same tired four songs all day and even my satellite radio becomes monotonous at time.  So, from time to time I like plugging in an Audiobook.

Audible.com is a good site, but sometimes pricey.  ChristianAudio.com has a lot of great content and really health “free download” site.  There are a variety of authors, including Timothy Keller, which I just download.

The site is complete with MobileApps, podcasts and a blog.

Give it a try!

H/T to Churchm.ag…

I posted this on Facebook yesterday, I thought I’d share it on here today:

Some of you may not believe this, but I am a guy of deep contemplation and this morning it brought me literally to tears. I read a story of a father’s final conversation with his young son as the son believed he was falling off to sleep, but was actually closing his eyes for the last time. The son said “Good Night, I’ll see you in the morning” just as many of our children do – only this father knew that he wouldn’t see him in the morning…

I began thinking about the various stories I’ve heard of late of mothers killing their own children and some getting away with it. I was considering how easily we destroy life, even before it begins, all in the name of convenience – and how that “convenience” may be seeping into the minds of some even after the child is born.

I can’t imagine life without my daughters. I can’t imagine not having them, I can’t imagine hurting them. My heart goes out to those who have lost children and I pray for peace for you.

While in our rush to carry out the mundane tasks of the day, take a minute to love your child. What would say if you knew the next thing you said to him or her was the last thing that you would say to them, perhaps the last thing they would hear?

Life is unpredictable – one never knows what ones last words may be.