This is the final post from this URL. Direct your attention to http://www.andydarnell.com
February 24, 2009
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?
February 8, 2009
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
February 6, 2009
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.
February 5, 2009
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Internet
Posted by Andy under church, TransparencyLeave a Comment
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.
February 4, 2009
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.
February 1, 2009
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.
