Nike+ & iPod Nano

I have began training to run a marathon and recently purchased an iPod Nano and Nike+ running kit. I must say, after just one run I am quite impressed. The system tracks your pace, time, calories burned (if you input your weight in the settings), and distance. Also, you can set a “boost” song to get you pumped when you little a little extra motivation during the run.

Here is my run from last night:

 

Nike+ Run from 8/14/2008

Above is just a picture of an interactive experience that can help you find out of lot about your runs. For instance, the little dots show you key points where you checked your pace or were updated on your progress… while the big dots are places I requested a “boost” with my power song. 

Needless to say, I’m pretty happy with the Nano and with Nike+. Time will tell whether their durability comes into play, but so far I’m loving it. Oh, and I also got these headphones which are great for running. 

 

I know my time would not have been that good without knowing my pace and being able to adjust and conserve energy. If you love running but don’t want to have to use Nike+ shoes, amazon.com has an adapter that will hook in on any shoe. Also, if you don’t like music while running, Nike offers a sport band, but having the audio feedback I feel is quite beneficial. I would not want to have to look down at a little LED screen while running on the road by traffic. 

Do yourself a favor and get the Nano with Nike+.

Review: Blue Like Jazz

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller

*****
Donald Miller’s witty, thoughtful transparency of often private dealings is much appreciated. Things you’ve felt but never had the guts to admit he comes out and states.

It’s thought provoking. I thought it was a great read. Definitely not the style of teaching you would read from a BJU text-book, but that’s okay. He is down to earth, practical and transparent about the viewpoints he has had about God and life (right or wrong), admitting where he has been wrong and judgmental at times and admitting an ongoing search for balance as his main goal is really just to love Jesus now.

He is criticized for being to “culturally relevant,” but I really like his honesty and desire to reach everyone. While I don’t agree with all his standards or defenses, I do agree with most of his thinking. It’s not a theological DEEP book, but it is simply profound. Made me think. Made me think about how judgmental and selfish and callused I, and the church as a whole (not to generalize, but it is fairly true), have been. All I can say is even though it is controversial and you probably won’t agree with things he is saying, it was a good read.

Funny. Encouraging. Relatable. It’s helped me as I strive to love and like Jesus more each day. One thought I haven’t been able to get over recently is that Jesus not only loves us as his creation, but he genuinely LIKES us and wants us as a pal and friend. Wow! I’m so glad Jesus is awesome like that.

Remember, it’s called, Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality. It’s not supposed to be a theology book or a doctrines book. It’s his (Donald Miller’s) story. His thoughts.

I have been recommending this book to everyone. It’s not deep. It’s refreshing.

Brief Review: The Lotus & The Cross

The Lotus & The Cross: Jesus Talks With Buddha by Ravi Zacharias

***
The logic of the book is great (for the most part: I thought Buddha could have stated a strong rebuttal / comparison to his laws and OT Levitical law), however the creative voice is somewhat boring. I felt like the same person was talking most of the time. It was informative and thought-provoking though. Definitely not a waste of a read, just hard to get through at first. Very clear presentation of the gospel.

Engage Giving!!

It was good seeing some of you at Engage the other night. I got an update email about the giving from the other night so I thought I’d post the exciting news:

—–

GREAT JOB!
In the Lovevolution series, we put a huge challenge before the Engage community. We decided to try to raise $3,000 to help 3 churches in Peru rent temporary facilities for their Compassion International projects. These churches are rebuilding from a 7.9 Richter Scale earthquake last summer.

Once again, you stepped up HUGE! We raised a total of $4,258.08 through Monday night, and more money has come in via PayPal this week. So not only are we going to provide facilities for 650 children to learn about God, go to school, and eat healthy meals for six months — we’re also going to be able to go above and beyond to minister in other needy areas of Peru.

And that’s not all. Engage attenders have sponsored 18 children through Compassion over the last three weeks. This completely changes the future of 18 kids. They now have hope. They now have the chance to get an education. They now know that someone cares for them and wants to see them succeed.

The Engage team is so proud of how you have responded to this giving challenge in Peru. Once again, our community of 300 people in Greenville has proved that we care about our world, and once again we have taken the Lovevolution full circle by bringing God’s love to others. We want to make sure you know how thankful we are to be a part of a message and a movement that shows God’s love in such powerful ways.

As we celebrate this giving challenge, we want to leave you with one more. If you haven’t yet sponsored a child through Compassion, consider doing so. You can pick up a packet at Engage or go on-line here to find out more.

Thanks again for being a part of the Lovevolution and bringing it full circle to Peru!

The Engage team

For the latest info, visit www.EngageGod.org.

—–

Heidi, keep us posted on little Thomas!!

At Calvary - The Remix

For years I’ve laid in vanity and pride up in my heart,
Only You who died for me can tear it, rip it far apart.
I understand You did this for me & all the earth.
The Mercy that You’ve shown, the grace sets me free!

Refrain:
I’m free by the grace that You sent my way.
1,000 times freed from sin.
Free to believe, the gift you gave,
That was worked on Calvary

Fear and doubt had clouded me and sin had been my shame,
You touched my chin, lifted my face & said you’ll take the blame
I trembled but I know what’s written in God’s Word
implored me, made me trust you as my Lord & King!

-Refrain-

My life is yours now, use it even though I make mistakes,
You look at me but see Your Son who took my spot, my place.
You wipe tears and lift me up to serve you better still.
The Mercy that You’ve shown, the grace sets me free!

-Refrain-

The love you had created a plan to save my Soul,
Your sovereign grace sent that grace to make me whole,
Amazing love that spans the gap between me & your hand!
I’m humbled by the fact that you chose me as your own!

Refrain:
I’m free by the grace that You sent my way.
1,000 times freed from sin.
Free to believe, the gift you gave,
That was worked on Calvary.

I’m free by the grace that You sent my way.
1,000 times freed from sin.
Free to believe, the gift you gave,
That was worked on Calvary.

Psalm 19 Thoughts

I have always just thought of this verse in light of the beauty of the law as described through the psalmist poetic descriptions (see verse 10 below). However, this time reading it the end particularly stuck out quite nicely in my mind: God’s Word is also beautiful in what it accomplishes through Christ for us. It discerns & declares me innocent! I love the plea of freedom from presumptuous (or unknowingly inappropriate) sins, enabling us victory from sins of our own ignorance. Oh, to be “innocent of great transgression.”

10 - More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

12 - Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13 - Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

Modern Trends in Males & Females

Wrote this in a note on facebook and some buzz got going so I thought I’d blog it too:Boundless Line ( www.boundlessline.org ) is a Christian blog I frequently read that deals a lot with current social & cultural issues, particularly in relation to Christian singles. A couple recent articles by Kay Hymowitz spurned blog entries showing trends in male & female young people:Christian Guys Distinct from “Child-Men”?http://www.boundlessline.org/2008/01/christian-guys.html The Rise of Single Young Femaleshttp://www.boundlessline.org/2008/01/the-rise-of-sin.htmlNow, this raises an interesting question? Blame? Is it the child-man that has caused single young females to postpone relationships & pursue responsible careers (while apparently maintaining avid social lives)? Or is it the ambitious women who have caused men to forego the fight for the relationship and settle in under a lax lifestyle? Maybe it is both or neither? It is sad that the Christian trends seem to align so closely with that of the worlds in these regards (especially for the write-up on males).One of the statements that shook me the most was what Hymowitz stated as masculine:”We can argue endlessly about whether ‘masculinity’ is natural or constructed—whether men are innately promiscuous, restless, and slobby, or socialized to be that way—but there’s no denying the lesson of today’s media marketplace: give young men a choice between serious drama on the one hand, and Victoria’s Secret models, battling cyborgs, exploding toilets, and the NFL on the other, and it’s the models, cyborgs, toilets, and football by a mile. For whatever reason, adolescence appears to be the young man’s default state, proving what anthropologists have discovered in cultures everywhere: it is marriage and children that turn boys into men.”I do think she realizes this is not true masculinity (hence the quotes), but the fact that a strongly principled & even sensitive man is not considered masculine by the vast majority is a problem.I’d be interested in hearing your opinions.Discuss.

Running the World Since Before the World

Years have past and still the same,
We know to offer up our praise.
We’re to raise our hands to say
That You are God from age to age.

Yet It seems we live our lives
For nothing more than clothes and toys.
The choices that we make
Are far from being for the Lord.

We say we hear your Words
When we sit at pulpits reach,
But we hardly bow. We hardly pray.
O Lord just help us change. ‘Cause…

You’ve been running the world since before the world.
You’ve been helping us night & day,
Guiding our hearts since you gave us hearts
To love You all the same. 

Help us love You more.

Psalm 8 (ESV)

I think I’m going to start posting passages from my readings that mean something. Here’s the first from Psalm 8:

How Majestic Is Your Name
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Resolution: 25 + 66 + 24

I’ve never really been into the whole idea of New Year’s resolutions. Other than eating to much over the holidays and the closely associated guilt that that garners, what does a new calendar year have to do with me deciding to be healthy and work out? Am I opposed to the concept entirely? No. In my mind, a new calendar year does make tracking certain goals easier. What are mine?

* 25 Books this year. These will range from classic, self-help, books on religion, writing, and anything else that piques my interest throughout the year. Book one for the new year? Blue Like Jazz.

* The Bible this year. All 66 books. I’ve never attempted to do this and I think it is high time. I found a plan I really like that takes reflection days about every week or two. It also doesn’t trudge straight through but incorporates a little from the OT and either the NT or Psalms each day. I think this will especially help me stick this out come Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy.

* A minimum of 24 blog posts this year. 2 a month seems very doable.Feel free to keep me accountable on any and all of these.

Have a great 2008. Laters.