Pure Grace

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election

2008-10-21T14:35:00-08:00

Blogging I have no idea who came up with this top 10 list, but I think it’s something to reflect upon!
Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

and God approves this message!

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Faith and Debt

2008-10-13T16:27:00-08:00

Blogging Credit is the buzzword of the past 3 weeks. We’ve been hearing about the credit markets being frozen. What if we lived with no credit and could only spend what we earned? I wonder what this crisis would look like under those circumstances. Credit had become very easy to get, buy a coat sign up for a instant credit card and get an immediate 10% off. Credit is sold as same as cash, with 12 months interest free financing. Even churches and non-profits fell into the credit trap. The meltdown over the past weeks reminded me of a Dave Ramsey riff (clip attached to this post!) on his radio show about a church going into debt on faith that God would see them through. The Dave Ramsey Show Podcast 08072008 1st hour
It’s really easy to rationalize our purchases especially when credit is/was so freely available. It’s also really easy to believe that faith in God will ease the debt payments. I often wonder how this makes God feel? I wonder if God is tired of hearing calls for bailouts. He did after all, create choice and a brain for each of us to make responsible financial decisions.

A great place to start eliminating debt from your life, grab yourself a copy of:

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Camera bag conundrum

2008-10-07T16:24:00-08:00

Technology How do you find the perfect camera bag? There are roller bags, Camera/Computer combos, Backpacks, over the shoulder knapsack types and all have advantages. Here’s the trouble nobody wants to carry a big heavy bag with them while their out and about shooting. For me I want a bag that I can easily travel with, something that allows me to get through the airport and to my destination so I can shoot. I want a bag that will allow me to carry at least one body, a 70-200mm lens, a 24-70mm, a small fixed lens and a flash. Some pro’s will probably want a bag that fits two bodies, but one is enough for me… I just found a bag that fits my needs. its the Crumpler 6 million dollar bag.

It’s a great deep bag with lots of room, and will fit a 200mm lens, what I really like about this bag is that it will fit inside my roller board suitcase. So I can plunk the whole bag camera and all inside my suitcase that I roll on the plane. This is very convenient for travel, because when I’m all settled I just grab the bag and go. It has a nice shoulder pad and feels pretty good over the shoulder. If I was going on a long hike I would probably not carry this bag, I would probably add a vest that for an extra lens or two and memory cards etc.. All and all I’m really satisfied with this bag.

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Cash is King, and credit is foolish

2008-10-06T15:02:00-08:00

I used to think Dave Ramsey was a way out of touch… Credit cards are same as cash, our purchases are protected. Why shouldn’t we use them same as cash? Well I have seen the light, credit is bad in all forms. Especially in light the past weeks financial crisis. A little credit goes a long ways. If you can get a little credit eventually you can get alot of credit. Imagine where our current financial picture would look like if Subprime mortgages didn’t exist. A simple credit card with a limit of $2000 leads to a good FICO score and a $250,000 subprime loan!
I remember hearing just a few months ago, real estate is really hot, it’s not a bad idea to use your homes equity to buy up real estate for investment purposes. Or hearing from a church that we have an opportunity to take on additional debt “in faith” to finance a building purchase, and in a few short years we’ll be able to sell it for a profit. Easy credit creates an environment for extreme risk. I don’t believe that God’s plan involves extreme risk, Dave Ramsey has a great article on what the bible says about Debt here’s a couple texts from that article; Proverbs 22:7 states that “The rich rule over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.” And Proverbs 21:20 “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.” The silver lining in this economic meltdown is that Cash is King, if you have Cash you will still be able to survive and thrive.

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Is it the Content or the Vision?

2008-09-08T17:02:01-08:00

Ideas Lately, I’ve been thinking about how organizations are able to grow wildly and others are dying a very slow death, regardless of the economy. Tony Morgan made a post about an older couple finding Christ at their satellite campus in South Carolina. Their content is definitely created for a younger demographic, but the message reached them.

Great content is definitely necessary but how does that great content reach people? Some may use the term intent, but i’ll use vision. I think it’s clear the churches or organizations(take Fox News as example, or MSNBC for that matter) that have a clearly defined vision are succeeding. Their content is reaching those that need it. i really don’t think that their success is about flashy graphics, music, or presentation. It’s clearly about vision, once the vision is lost the slow march towards death begins. Set the vision and start creating the content!

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Quitting your job

2008-09-03T15:59:00-08:00

Ideas 3 ways to know it’s time to quit your job!

1. You are frustrated with your work environment.
This could be lots of things, many could be out of your control. Things like co-workers dumping on you, maybe the boss dumps on you, no definition of job roles. You get the idea if your job makes you scream when you get home it might be time to move on.
2. Your boss is frustrated with you.
This is a bit touchy because sometimes it’s hard to tell if their frustrated too… But there are signs and we have all seen them. The looks, the deep breathes, the short replies…
3. You have no desire confront either of the two above.
Good communication will usually lead to resolution of both 1 and 2 above. You may still leave your job but it probably won’t be because of frustration. If you aren’t willing to confront the frustrations then quitting might be the best option.

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Stretching your limits

2008-09-02T04:42:00-08:00

Ideas Over on Dan Miller’s 48 Days blog he writes about fighting complacency and provides a list of 6 ways to stretch your limits. This is a list for those that haven’t had life throw the kitchen sink at them. I can relate, I never had to shovel snow in the winter, I never had to have a job in college, I survived with most needs met. This can lead to complacency, I completely understand.

This is a challenging concept because it requires self evaluation and personal goal setting. I know from my experience it’s much easier to look towards others or other things for success. Very few people are successful because of a handout, most dig in their heels and stretch themselves for success! Set a timeline and stretch yourself to meet it....

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God’s promises and the Churches promises

2008-08-27T13:30:00-08:00

Lynell LaMountain on GodBrief today posted a question from his mailbag. A reader wondered “How to know for sure you are saved”?. The basis of his answer is this text:

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).

God through his grace has provided eternal life.
Here’s the trouble I was watching the news the other day and the Catholics are up in arms because many of the Catholic democrats are pro choice and this is against the stance of the church’s teachings. A spokesmen for the church was concerned because there would be many that may to achieve eternal life if they are led down the wrong path by politicians. It’s not just the Catholic church all churches use eternal life as a basis for attending, volunteering and giving. God’s gift of eternal life has no conditions, only the human church has conditions. God’s grace extends to all churched and un-churched.

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Attitudes and Life

2008-08-26T13:31:00-08:00

Ideas Yesterday’s post about Attitudes and Content Creation got me thinking even more about attitudes. Our attitudes affect every aspect of daily experience, it’s not just about work or family, attitudes affect the drive into work, the interaction with the Starbucks barista, etc. I found an article titled Attitude- by Charles Swindoll I’m reposting the article here.

by: Charles Swindoll
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.

I guess the next question is how do we keep our attitudes in check to handle what happens to me 90% of the time?

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Attitude and Content Creation

2008-08-25T21:33:01-08:00

Ideas Over the past month or so I’ve been writing about content creation. I’ve been thinking about attitudes and content creation. Are professional content creators capable of creating content with a sour attitude? Content creation happens everywhere, stay at home mom’s create content by the minute, Lawyers work to find an angle for their clients, Pastors spend an enormous amount of time creating new sermons and leadership programs, school teachers create new lesson plans, and the list goes on.

Life happens and it often gets in the way of creating content, traffic tickets on the way to work, a husband that doesn’t help at home, an employee that doesn’t show up, etc. I argue that attitudes affect the quality of the content created. Professionals often have to deal with life and create content no matter what the circumstances, some are able to adjust their attitude so that it doesn’t affect the quality of content creation, others allow life to affect the content creation process. We have very little control over the curve balls that life throws, but we can control the attitude we bring to the plate. Change your attitude, change the quality of the content.

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