Today's Recommended Reading List

Compelling articles I found valuable today:  
Donald Miller - Ten Characteristics of a Disciple
I love the notion that you don't have to wait until you become the exact right person to be a disciple. Note to self: get moving.  

Randy Elrod - Why Creatives Are Fleeing Their Day Jobs In A Search For Meaning
A connection between desire, making progress and creativity?? Wow, that works for me. I'd prefer that he had used examples other than celebrities to illustrate those who have shifted toward a search for real meaning, because celebrities are definitely not my role models. But the point is still taken. Convicting challenge here. Favorite quote: "Let’s not simply SURVIVE, let’s LIVE."

Michael Hyatt - Five Consequences of a Life Out of Balance
Been there, unfortunately. Far too many of these consequences are familiar. Great list. I challenge the absolute truth of this statement, but won't throw the baby out with the bathwater: "The number of hours you work has almost zero correlation with your effectiveness." Favorite quote: "You can’t afford a divorce. The cost is incalculable."

Jon Acuff, Stuff Christians Like: Running into famous Christians. (AKA, the "Michael W. Smith Incident.")
Jon Acuff is funny. I'm so curious to know how much time he spent writing this post... Wonder if it is really as easy as he makes it look. Favorite quote: "In a few minutes he’s going to start laughing so loud that the pilot is probably going to need to make an announcement asking him to quiet down."

CIO Article By Meridith Levinson - How to Network: More Tips for Shy People
I was offered a revelation a few years ago, the notion that being an introvert might not be a character flaw or evidence of brain damage. What a concept. I have had people who meet me for the first time, and say to me in that first meeting: "you are pretty quiet today." Really? Compared to what? From the article and associated book.... "listening is as important as talking when it comes to networking, and introverts tend to be better listeners than the extroverts who run at the mouth" 2 Favorite quotes: "Real networking is about creating meaningful, mutually beneficial connections, one person at a time." and "Introverts go deep. They like deeper connections and they think [in order] to talk, whereas extroverts talk to think,"

Photo Copyright © 2010, Jon McDermott
Location: Laurel, OR

Missing 7 year old boy in the Portland area

Please familiarize yourself with Kryon's photo, and spread the word. Let's pray for his safe return.

More info on the ChildSeek Network website.

Verizon Wireless Call Quality

It seems that each time I get a new cellphone, it has new non-call features and functions (camera, music player, full keyboard, web browsing, etc.). Despite the 'advancements', the newer phone is usually worse than the phone I previously had in terms of making a clear phone call! This is making me crazy.

In an ongoing effort to resolve my poor cellphone call quality, I came across these instructions from Verizon Wireless. They recommend performing these steps 'every few weeks'.

Updating Preferred Roaming List(PRL)
Verizon Wireless is constantly advancing its roaming technology to provide you with superior roaming capabilities. By updating your PRL every few weeks, you can be sure you have access to our enhancements. As a result you may experience:

* Longer battery life
* Fewer dropped or blocked calls
* Clear, crisp connections in more areas across the United States
* Ability to connect to the digital network in more parts of the country

Instructions for updating your PRL:
1. Power on your phone within any Verizon Wireless digital service area.
2. Dial *228 and then press SEND (this call is airtime free).
3. When prompted, press option 2 to update your phone's roaming capabilities (the update may take up to 2 minutes).
4. Once completed, a confirmation message will appear to inform you that your phone has been re-programmed with the new PRL.

These steps copied directly from the Verizon Wireless Website, posted here in case this is useful to you also.




Photo 1 courtesy of K!T, used under the Creative Commons License.

Seth Gogin's Latest Free eBook

Seth Godin recently published a new, free eBook called "What Matters Now". It is an interesting and thought provoking collection of thoughts from 70+ authors and 'big thinkers'. Because it is a collection of many different viewpoints, it is easy to consume a little at a time. Check it out.

Integrity by Dr. Henry Cloud - Part 1

This book is deep water. I expected a discussion on how honest and forthright behavior contributes to success in life and business. I'm getting so much more. Here are a couple of example quotes:

"When you empathize, you feel for the other person, but still know that its not your experience. In that way, you can be a bridge to a new and different experience from the one that they are having… such as hope."

"True listening and understanding occurs only when this happens... The other person understands that you understand. And that only happens when your character is connecting enough to get you out of your own experience, and into the experience of the other. To do that requires a makeup that is not detached, or self-focused."

Dr. Henry Cloud in Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality

My new project

It needs a little work, yes. But it will be so cool when it's finished! I'm thinking that I'll need an extra thick coat of paint on those floorboards, or maybe it would be better as a Flintstones car, where you can put your feet on the street to stop and go!










Photo Copyright © 2009, Jon McDermott
Location: Central Point, OR

2009 CMBC Car Show

On Saturday Aug 8 CMBC hosted our 2nd annual car show. Our goals were to have a great show, provide an opportunity to connect and reach out to the community, and collect food donations for the CMBC food pantry. The show exceeded my expectations. We had over 70 cars, and a good mix of church member cars and cars from outside the church body. We met a lot of great people from the community. We collected several shopping carts full of donated food. We had great music led by Larry Haggin and his band, and a great BBQ lunch that was organized and cooked by Jay and his volunteers. The weather forecast was for rain on Saturday, but God had a better plan (he always does). The weather was absolutely perfect, warm and bright, with filtered sunlight behind the clouds. Kudos to the car show committee (Ron C, Tom, Ian, and Dave Mc) for lots of great planning. Thanks also to several others who volunteered their time to ensuring a successful event (Jay, Larry, Curt, Mazie, Dave M, Miles, Jerry, Tim, Liz, Melissa, Kari, Ted, Robin, Ron, Chuck, Greg, others I missed?)

Following are my pictures from the event. There are 2 albums. One for the casual viewer, who wants to get a quick flavor for the event. The other is for the serious car lover, many more pictures of the cars.

• Abbreviated Car Show Photo Album (57 photos)

• Full Car Show Photo Album (128 photos)

Harry Marsh also has a great photo album of the event, available below:

• Harry Marsh’s DLight Photography Car Show Album

2009 Luau

Our 4th annual Luau was last weekend, it was a good time. It was the tail end of our Oregon heat wave, so it was a hot day, nearly 100 I think. We had lots of umbrellas, a mist system, and tons of cold bottled water on hand. Robin did a great job with the food again this year, we had BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, meatballs, fruit salad, cole slaw, potato salad, ‘Orange stuff’ (a recipe from Louisiana), and more. We had huge help from John & Barby Ellerbrook again this year, they helped prepare the yard, decorated, cooked, served, and helped clean up and tear down. Melody, Kelsey and Jared came over to help also, they washed all the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen while we ‘caught our breath’ and relaxed at the end of the evening. What a great gift to us. Our neighbors Fran and Wendy pitched in on the tear-down the next day, and it went pretty quickly.

Fran amazed us with his juggling, Kennedy told a few jokes, and there was a rousing game of ‘name that tune’ as the sun went down. (Jon survived a couple of disputes over the rules) Special thanks to Chuck who gave me the hat off of his head!

Thanks to all who braved the heat to join us. It was great to spend some relaxing time together and good to see some new acquaintances being made.

Pictures from the 2009 Luau:
Gallery View

Slideshow View

Twitter

It took me a while to warm up to Twitter. Like many people, I worry about the temptation to use it as daily nutrition to feed the appetite of narcissism. I was absolutely stunned by the power of these paragraphs, written by John Piper in his blog post titled "Why and How I Am Tweeting".

Now what about Twitter? I find Twitter to be a kind of taunt: "Okay, truth-lover, see what you can do with 140 characters! You say your mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things! Well, this is one of those ‘all things.’ Can you magnify Christ with this thimble-full of letters?"
To which I respond:

The sovereign Lord of the earth and sky
Puts camels through a needle’s eye.
And if his wisdom see it mete,
He will put worlds inside a tweet.

So I am not inclined to tweet that at 10AM the cat pulled the curtains down. But it might remind me that the Lion of Judah will roll up the heavens like a garment, and blow out the sun like a candle, because he just turned the light on. That tweet might distract someone from pornography and make them look up.


Photo Copyright © 2009, Jon McDermott
Location: Newberg, OR

More 2008/2009 Blazer season memories

I remember this play distinctly from this past season. Ryan and I watched this game at Ruby Tuesday's that night, because we didn't have tickets, and the game wasn't on broadcast TV. I like these clips because they give multiple angles of the same play. Some things to watch for in this video... Watch the amazing and under-appreciated no-look pass from Sergio to Rudy that gets the whole thing going. Also watch Rudy's eyes when he sees the inbound pass after just completing the 3 pointer. Good stuff.

(Hint, click the tiny red play button at the bottom left of the video frame above)

Choose to be in touch...

Randy Alcorn posted this on his Facebook page today. Brilliant. I can't add anything to it...


My heart and character won’t change until my daily habits change. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Col. 3:16 Holy habits such as meditation, prayer, and church should be determined commitments. Our choices show what we value most. TV, internet, or God’s Word? A fruit of the Spirit is self-control. We already know what the world thinks—do we need to hear more? Choose to be in touch with the mind of God.


Photo Copyright © 2009, Jon McDermott
Location: Lopez Island, WA

Lyrics - Part 2

This is the 2nd installment in my argument that contemporary Christian music, like hymns, can contain some serious theology. This one is from the song "So Long Self" by MercyMe (Coming Up To Breathe Album).

Believe it or not but life is not apparently
about me anyways...
But I have met the One who really is worthy
So let me say

So long, self
Well it's been fun, but I have found somebody else
So long self
There's just no room for two
So you are gonna have to move
So long self
Don't take this wrong but you are wrong for me farewell
Oh well, Goodbye, don't cry
So Long Self

I love this phrase: “believe it or not but life is not apparently about me anyways…”. What if I had learned that when I was 20 years old? I also like the quirky way the phrase is put together (for some reason).

Life is not about me anyways. This is on the short list of ‘things I hope I know now, and wish I had known when I was young’.

One reason I love the NBA

How can you not enjoy this 4 minutes of basketball? I could watch this clip over and over....

Lryics - Part 1

I've heard more than one person say that the old hymns contain some serious doctrine if you listen to them closely. I can't and won't argue with this. I have noticed recently, however, that some contemporary Christian music also contains some profound messages, assuming you are willing to listen closely.

Case in point: "Lose My Soul" by tobyMac (portable sounds album). What makes this song even more amazing is that it is what we in the over 45 crowd would call "Rap Music". Normally I can't turn it off quickly enough, but this song has me hooked.

Anyway, back to my point. "Lose My Soul" has some deep water in it, such as:

"Man I wanna tell you all something, Man.
Man I'm not gonna let these material things, get in my way, you all.
I'm trying to get somewhere.
I'm trying to get somewhere,
That's real and pure and true and eternal."

Amen to that. And another example from the same song:

"Lord forgive us when we get consumed by the things of this world,
That fight for our love, and our passion,
As our eyes are open wide and on You.
Grant us the privilege of Your world view,
And may Your kingdom be, what wakes us up, and lays us down."

Grant us the privilege of Your world view. Yes.... please do.

The 10 "Cannots"

The 10 Cannots
By William J. H. Boetcker

• You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

• You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

• You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.

• You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

• You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

• You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

• You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

• You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.

• You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.

• And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

This kind of thinking is conspicuous in its contrast to the popular culture of America today. I long for a day when this philosophy is prevalent in our country again.

You were created...

Dan Miller does it again - another fabulous blog post.

"This is beneath your dignity. You were created to house the fullness of God."

Facebook

When a young person's parents get an account on Facebook, and then ask to become their friend - I wonder if they have a "There goes the neighborhood" experience?













Photo 1 courtesy of zappowband, used under the Creative Commons License.

Did You Lose Your Horse Today?

This story feels particularly relevant this week...

Did You Lose Your Horse Today?

Made it to Astoria!

John and I recently completed a journey that we have talked about for some time now. We made the trip from Portland to Astoria in our boats. I took the Arima, and John rode his Waverunner. 95.19 miles in all, down the Columbia River, starting at the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, and ending at the John Day Park ramp in Astoria. It took us 8 hours in all, including two fuel/rest stops in Kalama and Cathlamet. Ryan took these pictures, and did a great job. Our plan called for about 4-5 hours on the water, but we didn't anticipate the rough water that we encountered for nearly the full length of the trip. Near Cathlamet we ran into some 4+ foot waves, the third picture shows John meeting one of those. Our wives towed the trailers to Astoria, and helped make the trip easy for us. I was surprised by the amount of beautiful scenery along the way.

We particularly liked the Elochoman Slough Marina in Cathlamet, a very picturesque and peaceful place, I'd like to spend some more time there someday.

I used my Lowrance chartplotter extensively on this trip, and had good fun doing so, although I realized just how much I have to learn about it. I also realized for the first time why it would be advantageous to have a displacement hull vessel rather than a planing hull, so that you are in the water, rather than on top of it (where the waves can beat you to death).

It felt great to complete the challenge, we will surely have to do it again someday.








Photos Copyright © 2008, Jon McDermott
Location: Columbia River, OR

Quote for 3-Aug-08

"Live out of your imagination, not your history." Stephen R. Covey








Photo Copyright © 2008, Jon McDermott
Location: Fort Stevens State Park, OR

Zig

I'm a big fan of Zig Ziglar. In case you aren't familiar with Zig Ziglar, he's a motivational speaker and author, and an expert on selling. Zig is an inspiration to listen to, he is a master at capturing and holding an audience.


Zig is 80 years old, and last year took a bad fall down some stairs. He suffered a serious concussion, and had some problems with short term memory loss. In true Zig fashion, however, he has written a new book named "Embrace the Struggle" about the ordeal, and is anxious to get back to work.

To give you an idea of Zig's optimism, while recovering and waiting for the doctors to clear him to go back to work, Zig commented: "You know I'm optimistic. I'd go after Moby Dick in a rowboat, and I'd take the tartar sauce with me".

Godspeed Zig.

Ryan on YouTube

A couple of months ago Ryan and the high school group at church performed a drama to the song 'Everything', which was performed live by the Christian group Issakar.

Ryan and the whole group did a fantastic job, and there weren't many dry eyes in the house at the end of the performance. Now the video of their performance is available on YouTube. Thanks to David Fishback for the great video, and for sharing it.

Y2K at the pump?

I've asked this question at several gas stations over the last several weeks, and mostly have just received a confused look as a response. I've asked every station where I have stopped to refuel whether they have tried to set the gas price at $10.00/gal, just to see if it is possible. Am I the only one who remembers when gas went above $.99 for the first time? The gas stations all had to cut a hole in the metal to the left of the 'price per gallon' numbers in order to add an additional digit to price gas at $1.00 for the first time. Shortly thereafter we started to see digital gas pumps.
Now I am wondering, did the manufacturers of the newer pumps allow for enough digits in the price to support $10.00/gal? It seems on the surface that it should be no problem because of the digital display, but the software/firmware may not be programmed to allow for this number of digits.

I must be the only one on the planet wondering about such things. The 2 common responses I get to this question are:
1. Huh?
2. Oh, I don't think it would ever get that high.

Really?




Photo 1 courtesy of KB35, used under the Creative Commons License.
Photo 2 courtesy of Afroswede, used under the Creative Commons License.

Partial Zero

Does it bother anyone else that our language now includes the phrase "partial zero"? I understand what they are trying to say, but....... really.




Photo courtesy of Marcin Wichary, used under the Creative Commons License.

Quote for 31-May-08

"The more that things change, the more you need to depend upon those things that never change."
Rabbi Daniel Lapin



Photo Copyright © 2007, Jon McDermott
Location: Lake Billy Chinook, OR

Zappos

I read an article today on Harvard Business Publishing blogs about Zappos, the online shoe seller. Actually, Zappos says that they are a service company that happens to sell shoes.

This is the kind of company that I like to think I would create. Some of the company policies that I particularly like:

• Under-promise and over-deliver. They promise 4 day free shipping, but often deliver overnight. (they set up their warehouse near a UPS distribution hub)
• Put the company toll-free phone number on every page of the website. Love it. It sounds trivial, but most companies deliberately bury or exclude their phone number from websites, so that they don't have to talk with customers.
  
• Empower customer service agents on the phone to do what it takes to help customers
• Fanatical focus on customer service.
• Don't just satisfy customers, amaze them
  
• "Bribe" new employees to quit after the 4-week company training and 1 week on the job. The idea is that if they will take the $1000 offer to leave the company, they aren't bought in to the company vision, so you don't want them working there. $1000 is well spent to weed out those who aren't going to help you win.
  

I am inspired by this company. It will be fascinating to see if they can retain the culture as the company grows larger, and to see how they pull that off if successful.

Other Blogs - part 2

Here's part 2 of my list of other blogs you might find interesting:

John Eldredge Walking With God Blog
(John Eldredge is also author of one of my favorite books "Wild at Heart")
http://www.walkingwithgod.net/Blogs.aspx

Chip Ingram Keep Pressin' Ahead
http://chipingram.typepad.com/blog/

Ancestry.com Blog
http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/

The Ancestry Insider
http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/

re:PDX
(Ron Ares is a Portland real estate agent with a good blog)
http://www.repdx.com/

The Housechick Blog
(The Housechick has such a great blog, you will want to buy a house in Tucson)
http://www.mytucsonblog.com/

Bad MLS Photo of the Day
(A daily listing of bad photos in MLS real estate listings)
http://reagentinct.com/blog/

Hillsboro Realtor
http://stonewateratorenco.blogspot.com/

More later

Stephen King Remark

Author Stephen King, pictured at left, was speaking to a group of high school students recently about the importance of reading. He made the following remark:

"The fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don’t, then you’ve got the Army, Iraq, I don’t know, something like that."

Congratulations Stephen King, you win the award for saying the most ignorant thing I've heard said this month.

Photo courtesy of 416style, used under the Creative Commons License.

Quote for 16-May-08

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to go to the forest to gather wood, saw it, and nail the planks together. Instead, teach them the desire for the sea."

Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Photo courtesy of mikebaird, used under the Creative Commons License.

Obama

I was looking through Barack Obama's position on the issues recently to better understand his campaign promises. I was struck by the absence of an issue that I fully expected to find. I re-read the list 3 times to make sure I didn't just overlook it.

Where the heck is the war on terror? His list discusses Iraq and Homeland Security, but I can't find his position on the war on terror. Is the war on terror over? I've been out of town recently, so maybe I missed the news about this.... Did we win it while I was traveling?