Do Not Forget! - Kirk Franklin and Friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15x4nllJjpg

Let us not forget and keep praying for those who need help.

[VIDEO] Penn on the Gift of a Bible - How much do you have to hate someone?

This is not new.  As a matter of fact the first time I saw it was on a facebook friends link the other day.  

My respect for Penn has jumped with some very simple, and outside our world perspective on the subject of our faith.

If only we could be so bold.

What do you think?

Lost and Bored – Need New Goals

I have been feeling a since of being lost of late.  I just hit another goal of mine, to get Bricklethumb, my dwarf hunter, to level 80.  This makes my 4th 80 in WotLK, which according to some would label me hardcore.  I am not so sure I am hard core, but I do like to push myself in all areas of my life to see how well I can do.  It is part of the “gamer DNA” that is in me.

I have been splitting some of my time between WoW and Lord of the Rings Online right now.  While I seek a new place to serve, resumes out, making follow ups, and finding it hard to find employment as a 40 year old geek who has been in ministry for over 20 years, I have had to much time on my hands.  So Instead of the joy and fun I have always had in my chosen form of entertainment, much more stimulating that TV, IMHO, I now face a wall I, and others, have or are facing.

What to do now?

As  I logged on WoW last night discussion started in guild chat on what to do.  This is where some frustration sets in.  We often spend way to much time just trying to decide what to do.  Added to this issue is that two of us have multiple toons to help the guild out.  I have a tank, healer, and two DPS.  Iss, a good friend, has a healer, tank and DPS.  We both do not mind playing whichever character is needed, but sometimes to put our personal goals on hold to help out. . But that is what we like to do.  On top of this, we have 1 to 2 to many for a five man group. So someone has to sit out.  Normally you would think that people would whine and complain about this, but our guild is different.  We fight over who will sit out to make sure someone else has a go at it.  *smile*  I love that in them, even though it prolongs getting things done.

So I finally bit the bullet and made a list of people who where going to go do an instance that 2 people needed for quests.  I jumped on Vent where Iss and I got a chance to talk before and after the instance.  He made a very good observation after asking me a pointed question.

“So, your getting bored with the game too?”

The answer is yes and no, and the funny thing is we have both gone through this before.  When I started playing WoW I got to a point where things became boring.  I was not in a guild that raided and I had pretty much done all I could do alone or even in the small guild we had.  So when I heard about Lord of the Rings Online I jumped at it.  We left wow, headed to LotRO and formed Redeemed, our kinship on the Gladden server.

While there we met a player who joined our Kinship named Issichar, or Iss.  Iss was from WoW and bored and came to LotRO.  Iss was the kind of guy that was helpful and giving, a perfect fit for our group.  Several others either came with us from WoW or met and joined us while there.  But after a few months we started to hit the “So, your getting bored with the game too?” wall.  Most of us headed back to wow.  New content helped, and then the promise of WotLK. 

But, I ramble.  So lets bring things back to point.  I am not the only one feeling a since of loss, or boredom.  We are waiting for our guild to catch up, and desperately need some new people if we are ever going to hit up 10 man, let alone ever want to see 25 man content.  In the mean time what do we do?

The observation that hit me between the eyes was when Iss said that with ADD/ADHD he needs goals, once those goals are hit its sort of . . hit and miss. . .roam around. . get bored.  BINGO!  He hit it on the head.  My first character to 80 was Paravel, my healer.  Soloed her the 10 levels as resto, was fun.  Valimonde, my tank, leveled with Tanya’s mage, so we would get levels when we could.  I rolled Digory, my Death Knight and while not working on Val, got him to 80.  Then Val and Tatiaana (Tanya’s mage) hit 80.  Some gearing up . . all goals. . .pvp for Dig.  Then bored. 

Ok, no problem, let me level Brick.  Pushed him from 73 to 80 in 2 days.  Hit goal. . and . . . and . . . .

/run LotRO  - work on new character  - not many people around
/run WotLK – sit at character sheet and stair at what character to play.  Log one in. . .do daily. . get bored . .

/sigh

So . . . what is one to do?  How does and can this affect other areas of our life?  If we lose our goals, or hit them, what next? 

Let me know what you think?  Are you bored?  How do you overcome it?  Game, Life, Church, Family, whatever.

Twitter? Huh? New Way to Swing!

We truly live in a very connected and wired age.  With this age of communication ease has crept up some interesting and fantastic tools that help plug people into one another’s busy lives.  Gone are the days of “small town” Mayberry, where on any given evening you could walk around and talk with your neighbors as they swung on a large comfy swing on the front porch.  Today our lives are so busy that once we get home from work we rush to the fridge, get dinner started, make sure the kids are getting homework done and getting ready to rest and relax for the night, that is if you do not have extracurricular activities, preparation for the next day at work or what not. 

Our world has changed.  People are not as open to company just dropping by as they once did (This affects church and ministry life drastically, but ill save that for another post.)  At the beginning of this age you could feel a vacuum as people started to pull away from others, but then something deep inside of us longs to be connected.  But we don't have time. . We are busy.  I should take an hour or two out of my night to go over and see so and so, but then it turns into a 4 hour ordeal, then we get to bed late, and wake the next morning more tired that before.  Ever happen to you?  So what do we do to connect?

I am so glad you asked.  *smile*  About a year and a half ago I learned of something called Twitter.  At first it seemed silly.  It was explained to me that you simply put in up to 140 characters of what your doing, and people who follow you can read it. 

At first I was like.. “uhm. . so?”  I mean who wants to know when someone had a really yummy peanut butter sandwich?  So I put it aside for a few months until some issues in my ministry and life fell apart to such a stage that I withdrew into a deep cave.  It was at this time, the time I needed people and connections, that I blew the dust off of this platform and started to learn of its power to connect people together on so many layers and levels.  It was not simply about eating lunch.

Twitter has grown into an organic thing with people posting whatever they want, within the 140 character limit.  As of this writing I follow 138 people, and have 110 people following me.  This is amazing.  As someone who wants to know what others think and feel I can . . eavesdrop on a public conversation they chose to share.  I have been able to learn some amazing things about some of the people I have known for years or even days.  Things they reveal are non threatening, yet give us a picture of who they are. 

Not only can I see what they post, but I can in turn respond to them in a quasi IM.  By responding to them with an @ symbol I can direct a message to them that others that follow me and them can see.  Connection!

Now when I post something I have 110 people that will read it when it comes across their feed.  They too can then respond to me.  I will typically share small tidbits about my gaming, struggles, blog posts, ideas, questions and more.

Twitter has opened our world that is busy, bored, and alone into something that even in our hectic schedules gives us the ability to connect on a level not done before.  The ways to use it are endless.  And to be honest, the best way to get your head wrapped around it is to just do it. 

Head over to http://twitter.com and set up an account.  Then follow some users.  You can follow me by going to http://twitter.com/manorton Once you are following people just sit back and watch, learn and interact.

Come join me and others on the new swing on the new front porch, doing the same thing we did 50 years ago;  Sharing small bits of our lives with others.

Thank You

As a young boy I would play games in the back yard with my brother and childhood friends.  One of our favorite games to play was war.  My mother was never to thrilled with us playing this game, but we did it anyway.  With scenes right from a John Wayne movie in our head we would storm the beach, with assorted objects serving as our cover.

Later on in my life I became an avid gamer, as most of you know by now *smile*.  I have to admit my favorite genera of games where war based games.  I spent many years in clan's that played Day of Defeat, Battle Field 1942 and other mod's of these games that allowed us to experience what others went through without putting ourselves in harms way.

Some would make the mistake of thinking people who like to play or simulate war campaigns as twisted or sick.  Lovers of war.  But on the contrary.  I am a huge history buff, firmly believing in the old adage that if we do not learn from history we will relive it over and over and over. 

After my grandfather passed away in 2002 I discovered a lot about his part in World War II.  As I was preparing his service I spent time going through his belongings, looking for more clues to use when speaking about him.  My grandmother gave me a box that contained some documents and papers from his service.  Patches, nick knacks, all completely trivial or useless to someone else, but to me . . . it was gold.  It gave me a chance to appreciate my grandfather that much more.  Why?

Because my grandfather was one of the millions of men and women over the past two centuries who put themselves in harms way to secure the rights that we all take for granted. 

I want to take this time today to thank my grandfather, George Delano Hall and all the other men and women past and present who stand to protect us and our way of life, a salute.

Thank you . . .

Related

Big Bear Butt: For All Who Serve This Country, Thank You
Big Red Kitty: Happy Veterans Day

Paravel Communications is Up.

Well, after several months of trying to get bearing after resigning at First Baptist I have begun to take to heart the comments my friends have been telling me for years.  I have been developing web sites for guilds, churches, personal use for a long time.  Every time I finish a job someone would comment how they liked it, or how cool something was on it.  Soon the conversation would turn to "You should do this for a living."

Well, it is now time to see if they are right.  My deepest desire is to help others use the internet to reach out to the masses.  Weather it is a church or ministry, a local company, or someones private blog, they deserve to have a great web presence.

All I ask of my readers and friends is you pray for us as we try to get the company off the ground.  If you know of someone or you are in need of a custom site, give me a call.  *smile*

http://paravelcomm.com

I am Becoming a Beliver

If you would have asked me a year ago about all the hub bub over social networking I would have more than likely told you it was hype, or a fad, or just a flash in the pan.  I absolutely HATE Myspace, and this facebook thing was new and cumbersome.  Not to mention all the "what am I doing now" apps and services.

But then. . .I tried a couple.  First twitter, then Jaiku, then Pownce then. . . well you get the picture.  I started to use them for a short time but then as with most things I think are fads. . they sort of left the back of my mind. . Sort of like that Franklin Daily Planner I used to think was cool. . .for a week.

BUT. . .here I sit out of work. No longer pastor at FBLO.  I know I have gifts and talents.  I know I can do some cool things.  After all, I would not try if it where not cool. . But I have never found a way to get someone, at the right time, who was willing to pay me to do these cool things.  Podcasts, web sites, custom graphics, network design and installations, you name it. . .  But then something strange happen, after a very long and hard, and ill be the first to admit it, a rather depress filled two weeks.  My buddy Scott Bridwell sends me a Gtalk message at midnight the other night saying.

"Hey Mike, guess what?

What?

I lost my job yesterday."

Heart sank to my stomach for Scott and Becky.  I know the hard road he has had to walk.  We started talking about a lot of things.  Not to put you to sleep Ill get to the point. .He asked me if I was LinkedIN. I'm like, am I what?  I had heard in passing about the site but payed no attention to it.  We talked over an hour about social networks.  So that night after he logged I went to LinkedIN and set up a profile.  Sent invites to all the people in my Google address book and crawled into bed at 2 AM depressed and not sure what the morning would offer.

Today however, after filling in the information, after brushing off my twitter and posting to it the sample mundane parts of my day, and after getting "plugged" back into the tech world I am already seeing results.  Friends I made a year ago and friends from high school have contacted me.  It has really shocked me in a way, but a good way.

So tonight, as I go to bed, as I think about tomorrow, I can say that I'm feeling pretty good.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm sure its not a train. *smile*