New Blog is now open for business

This is the final post from this URL. Direct your attention to http://www.andydarnell.com

 

40 days of water

No Mountain Dew. No Coke. No Sprite. No Sweet Tea. No Milk. No Dr. Pepper.

40 days of water.

I’m starting tomorrow. Will you join me?

 

Tithe Rap

Yet another fine use of social networking found me Trace Kuhn. He’s using John’s new Simpl3 wordpress theme which will be coming to my blog soon.

Look at this gem of a video that Trace posted. It is from 12 Stone Church.  (just happens to be on the other side of the county I live in)

I love meeting people like me that are fellow servants of the faith. Ain’t Technology Grand.

Creative Video about Tithing.

[HT: Trace Kuhn via John Saddington's Twitter]

Did you see this John? I “Hat-tipped” for you

 

My Minefield

Google “History of Minesweeper” will yield 617,000 results. The game that we’ve probably all spent way too much time on has its own wikipedia entry, it has you tube videos, remakes, and thousands of pages dedicated to its existence.

I had a couple times this week where I made comments that I felt like I was left out in the middle of a minefield minus the sweeper. I felt like I was having to tiptoe around to keep things from blowing up around me. We all have days like this.

Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall. - Psalm 55:22

In Hebrew, Cast means to Throw or Hurl away from yourself. When I fish (read that again, When) I cast my bait out in the water and typically start reeling it back in. I can’t do that with God. I am not to take it back from God. Once I give it over to Him, I should trust Him with it. He will do what is best.

Cares = Worries, burdens, but also refers to our positives. Our talents, our emotions, joy. He wants it all.

He will sustain. Three short words that carry a lot of meaning. God will abide with us, remain with us, Guide, Feed, Nourish…sounds good to me.

With Him by my side, I don’t need a minesweeper. He will lead me safely and without fall.

 

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Internet

So Tuesday night there was some wicked wind outside our house in Norcross. I can only assume that this led to a tree going down somewhere which resulted in our house losing all power.

Luckily the girls were already in bed. Gina and I stumbled around with our phones to find some flash lights. What did people do before the glow of backlit phone screens?

We took care of a few things that needed to be done, found two flashlights and got ready for bed. As I sat in bed, I slowly browsed my Tmobile network Blackberry curve to Georgia Power’s website. I was able to login and “Report a Power Outage.” I knew that it was likely already reported and a known issue, but I also knew that Georgia Power had this option online, so I wanted to give it a whirl.

Success. In a few minutes I had reported my outage. Georgia Power’s website told me that they knew about it, and had in fact already dispatched a crew with X as the crew leader. They even told me that it was estimated that power would be up by 1:43am. They even go further to tell me that they will call me when the power is back on if I need that security. I figure that I’ll wake up about the same time anyway with or without power. Opt out.

Cool. I go to sleep. Around 12:30 the power comes on, lights that we thought were turned off came on and woke us Gina up.

The next day I find out that our linksys wireless access point is not working. Somehow in the shuffle it decided to reset itself and left us with no internet. Now most folks would have all that important information easy to find… you know login info and passwords. I like to live on the edge and I knew that my filing system was not going to yield this information.

I get home from work and proceed to call ATT. “Jim” (who really didn’t sound like a Jim, but who’s keeping real track) helped me with all the information that I need. He kindly reset my password and helped in everyway to make sure that our lack of internet crisis was resolved.

Here are two great examples of customer service that I have experienced in the last 48 hours from two companies that deal with hundreds, thousands, even millions of customers. I felt important. I felt special.

Here’s the God angle.  His service is perfect. Never Fails. He also wants us to give this type of service.  How’s your service these days? Not your Worship Service, your “Service.” Are you being servants as Jesus exampled? Showing concern and care for all those who come in search for assistance and help. How easy do you make it for those who need assistance to seek out that with they are seeking?

I’m a failure at this too often. Gotta remember that.

 

Theology with Tabitha

So tonight was one of “those” moments as a parent where I had to step aside for a moment and be in Awe at God. I picked up Tabitha after AWANA and we were headed towards the truck. I parked on the side of the church and we exited out the side door which leads to a small “alley like” sidewalk towards the parking lot.

There were no lights on immediately outside the building. Because of a high wall,  for about 30-40 feet, it was very dark with the only light coming from the stars and overflow from the parking lot lights.  My 6 foot 5 frame could see where we were going, but Tabitha was literally in the dark.I had her hand in mine ever since we left the classroom, but now she gripped it a little harder.

She said, “Daddy, I can’t see.”

“Don’t worry, I can see perfectly” was my reply.

Of course the light bulbs in my head start going off and make me think of my Father who is in heaven and sees all and knows all and leads from dark to light.

Through my experiences as a father, there are so many times that I relate to how God sees me as His child. It is in those moments that I gain more insight with my relationship with Him than I do hearing a sermon or reading His Word.

 

Zero Bars and No Service

In general, I am very happy with my T-Mobile plan. My Blackberry Curve is reliable and I’m not sure what I would do without it at this point. At 706 N.Peachtree Street, Norcross, Georgia however I get nothing.

• Not in the Parking Lot
• Not in the Sanctuary
• Not in the education rooms
• Not in the fellowship hall
• Not in the Gymnasium Family Life Center
• Not on the Baseball Multipurpose field
• Not in the Student’s Upper Room

Occasionally, If I am up in the catwalk above the sanctuary, I’ll get one bar, but as soon as I try to make a call it will surely drop me.

The strange thing is that calls from others to me will get through.  All of a sudden my phone will be happy and will start vibrating or ringing. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to finish the conversation and then for a brief moment, I will temporarily have service. At least until I move from the place I am standing.

However, when I have zero bars, I have no phone, no email, no internet, no twitter, no facebook. All I have are the games apps that are installed and require no cell service.

I’m sure that I am like you. I’ve been in a “dead-cell” zone before with respects to God. I find myself in a place where there are no bars. I feel like everywhere I go, I am holding my phone up in the air – waiting for the connection to return, but no matter what I do, I just feel out of touch. Out of reach.

God often is the one that breaks through and reestablishes the lost connection that I am experiencing. All of a sudden, my heart will start to vibrate and my mind will hear that ringtone that lets me know that God is on the other end of the line. He calls to me and reassures me that He never lost connection with me, it was I that drifted to the “dead-cell” zone.

I recently read a John Piper quote about scripture memorization.

“I spend this much time on Bible memory because I believe in the power of the indwelling Word of God to solve a thousand problems before they happen, and to heal a thousand wounds after they happen, and to kill a thousand sins in the moment of temptation, and to sweeten a thousand days with the “drippings of the honeycomb.” I am jealous for you, my readers, that you would “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16). This is the path to solid joy and all the service of love that it sustains. Christ will be seen as the fortune He is when we treasure His Word more than money, and when the joy it wakens overflows with sacrificial love.

 That struck a nerve with me. I love to read my Bible, but I do not have a plan in place for personal scripture memorization. My daugther can recall dozens and dozens of verses with no problem. I wish that I could funnel scripture into my brain like she does. I have a few chosen verses that I fall on when in need, but I know that there are many more that I should know and be able to recall on notice.

What verses do you have memorized? Do you have a method of doing it? Please comment and help everyone out.

 

My 25 Random Things

First off I did not think that I would do this.  I have been “tagged” by a bunch of my facebook friends to do this, and I am finally giving in. However, I chose to put it on my blog. Content is content, and I’d rather have it over here. I guess I’ll copy it over there, so that I can continue the tagging fun.

Rules:
Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

1. I am madly in love with my best friend. Gina and I met in middle school, dated in high school, and married after college. I can not imagine my life without her.
2. I would do anything for my family. I hate it when I am away from them.
3. While some may label me a workaholic, I see God’s design in my life. I have been fearfully and wonderfully made. I believe I was created to serve Him.
4. I am a reality show junkie. Gina and I watch a lot of reality TV. Yes, I could probably use that time to do more productive tasks. I am normally working during this tv watching time. 
5. I love it when I come home from work and my daughters run to the door to greet me. 
6. I have SED. I’ve had it my whole life. It does not affect my daily activities.  I am often made fun of because of this disorder, but I don’t let it bother me. I am willing to accept the fact that I will continue to have SED my whole life. Again, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 
7. I am a big time NASA nerd. You will often find me reading up on current events that are happening in Space. I wish that I could go to space one day. I am such a geek in this that I enjoy reading transcripts of space flight. Did you know that NASA has transcripts of the Apollo missions online. You can read the conversation between the astronauts and ground control!
8. I have sung a cappella for two US Presidents. Once in B Natural for Bush Sr, once in One Voice for Jimmy Carter.
9. I have had glasses since the 2nd grade. I am near blind without them.
10. I have snow skied once. In Sweden. I did not enjoy it.  See number 9. My glasses kept fogging up, we eventually tried to ski without them. That was a horrible idea.
11. I’ve been married for 10 and 1/2 years. Our first house was in Sugar Hill, Georgia. We lived there for almost 6 years before moving back to Norcross.
12. I normally do not have to travel further than 5 miles from my house for anything. I work about 1 1/2 miles from home. All food options are within a 5 mile distance. Even my church is less than 5 miles away.
13. I have been a member at 4 churches in my lifetime. North Peachtree Baptist, Buford First Baptist, North Metro Baptist, and now Norcross Baptist Church.
14. I play no instruments, but am wanting to learn acoustic guitar. I am hoping that Nathan Lee is taking on students.
15. I once got in trouble for hitting my brother, Chad with a whip-cream pie.
16. I was accepted to Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, but ended up staying home and attending Dekalb College, and Georgia State University because of financial reasons.
17. I have never had a drink of alcohol. No desire to in the future. Ditto on the smoking
18. I thought WebVan was going to change grocery shopping as we know it. I wish it were back.
19. I own half of a Play Station 2. Unfortunately, I don’t have custody of it at this time.
20. I own four cats. They live downstairs. Clover, Lucky, Hermione, and Hagrid. They will out live me.
21. Our current house was not for sale, when we made an offer on it. One of the perks of having a quality realtor.
22. I enjoy a slurpee or icee on occasion – Frozen Mountain Dew…epic.
23. We homeschool. 
24. I am constantly cracked up by my children. They are too smart for me.
25. I’m Free. I have been Forgiven.

 

Did you Know?

I’ve seen this video in many places recently. Chris saw it on the Founder’s Blog and  posted it. Josh stole it. Today, I saw that Rick posted it. My facebook and twitter friends have been talking about it.  It actually is an older video that was originally shown to 150 of Sony BMG International executives at a gathering in Rome on May 4, 2008. The “Point” of the video is that Sony BMG wants to improve consumer music experience in “exponential times” and also illustrates the demand for change. 

The first time I saw it was on December 2. One of my programmers, Mark sent it to me. We had been working to resolve a very difficult issue on a project. The issue came from one of our clients and I was having a hard time staying composed and calm. Mark sent me this email.

Andy
Not sure if you’ve seen this or not… I’m not even sure how accurate it is… I am sure, though, that this brief video explains why people like you and I are getting frustrated….

If you’ve got the time, it’ll be worth vegging out for a few seconds

BTW: I’ve scanned it for viruses..

Mark

My initial thought was how depressing it was. But after thinking about it, Mark was right. I was getting frustrated because when you collaborate with other people, and you’re not all on the same page, it can seem like tug-of-war. Each side has their own ideas of how the project is to be handled. Each side is at a different location in the learning process, and slowing down to educate each other often leads to miscommunication and poor collaboration.

I’m in a technical job. Everyday I see things that are changing. I am in a constant state of education to stay atop of technologies and trends within the web industry. Social media is developing so fast that if don’t keep up with it, you will be at a constant disadvantage trying to catch up with competition.

So it was about the time of watching this video that I really began to explore how web technology is changing ministry. I was quickly connected with a world of exciting guys and gals who are pushing the edge of ministry online.

• “The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8
• “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

Yes, God has not changed, but the world we live in is still lost too. With all the noise that is broadcast in this world, God is enlisting those of us to share our story with others. We each have unique stories of how God reached us through the noise and craze of this world.

How are you sharing it?

 

Through the Bible in a Year – January 28th

I’m using this plan as I read the Bible this year. Today. Wow. 

First I get to read Exodus 16-18. Israelites grumble and complain about being hungry –> God gives food in the form of Manna. They grumble and complain about being thirsty –> God gives water from a rock. The Israelites go to battle Amalek. When Moses has his hand up, they dominate, when it is down, Amalek dominates. Look at this.

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

Then I get to jump from the Old Testiment over to the New Testiment in Matthew 19:16-30.  The passage has a rich young man talking to Jesus about how to have eternal life. The answers that Jesus give is well worth the read. This passage ends with Jesus saying “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” and then “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

I’m not blogging much about this tonight. I have some notes that I may come back to on this days reading. I just want to point out that today was a lot of meat. This day’s reading would make it real easy to just camp here and think about how big God is and what he has instore for me.  

What are you reading?