fighting porn

Some may be offended by this...actually, only Jason reads my blog, so, Jason, hope you're not offended.

www.xxxchurch.com is a website devoted to helping people who struggle with pornography. A recent survey taken at a Promise Keepers event showed that 50% of the men there had looked at pornography the week before!

Here are a couple of clips from their site:


Why The Pete the Porno Puppet Campaign?

The sad truth is that with easy access to pornography, children are more susceptible to obtaining it. As adults we have a responsibility to protect children and do whatever we can to make sure pornography does not end up in the hands of kids. XXXchurch's challenge to parents is to really think about what you are doing. Are you helping this problem or are you contributing to it? Do you have pornography in your house? Do you have porn on your computer, in your drawers, or playing on your TV? Do you really think your kids won't find it? XXXchurch is committed to safeguarding minors and are calling upon parents and adults to get rid of your porn stash. Your adult product has become your kid’s problem so say NO to pornography for Pete's sake! PORN PRODUCER “Jimmy D” has filmed, edited, and produced this commercial for free.

30-Second Pete CommercialWindows Media :: Quicktime


May 17, 2004: Pete, JimmyD and the goofballs all on the 700 club.

We did not mention our appearance on the show to many people in fear of them not airing the segment, like TBN did with our “Praise the Lord” appearance. It was a close call, but it finally ran when Pat Robertson was not there. The piece was scheduled to air a few weeks back and there was even promo’s on air for it. Suddenly, Pat Robertson who apparently has direct communication with Jesus himself said that Jesus would not go to a porn show and refused to put the piece on the air. We spoke with the producer and said we did not think Jesus would host the 700 Club and left it at that. A week goes by, and the producer said the piece would run on the next Friday (Pat’s day off). So, all that to say, it was a surprisingly great piece, which even includes Jimmy D. Since most of you probably did not watch, check out the clip below.

700 Club feature on XXXchurchWindows Media

Jason Kidd

"We're going to turn this team around 360 degrees."

Jason Kidd, upon being drafted by the Dallas Mavericks

New addition to the family

I've been a little lazy on blogging. Sorry. Actually, I've wanted to write that Mandy is pregnant, but I knew that we needed to tell friends and family first. And with this being the major news in my life, I didn't see that I could blog about something else first. I guess you see my dilemma!

So...now that most of our friends know this, I can once again freely blog.

I got home last Friday, and Mandy surprised me with this bit of good news. She told me to close my eyes and hold out my hands. She put a pair of baby shoes (aka "booties", which I still think is a funny word). I'm happy to say that I wasn't freaked out. I was happy, and, thankfully, not worried. If anything, I felt weird. That's all I kept saying that day - "this feels weird."

A few days ago, Mandy read the following from about.com. It says it best:

Whether you're bursting to tell or planning to wait to spread the good news, the first few weeks of pregnancy are weird. She's not feeling particularly pregnant or different, you're definitely not feeling anything, and life is plain weird.

Haiti

I just read this. It's from Joel Vestal's blog

i am very moved by the situation in Haiti from Jeanne - Over 1500 dead, 300,000 homeless, 1000 children left orphaned. 25% of Haiti use to be covered with forest, now it is barely 1% - I heard someone commenting about the billions of dollars of damage in Florida and not even mention the loss of life in Haiti to such a drastic degree - what a disgrace -- the poorest nation in the western hemisphere that is so close to our country -- No way to protect themselves or leave Read more here We are collecting a Haiti Relief Fund -- CLICK hERE to DONATE All donations go directly to Haiti!

Prayer...not what it seems

We just returned from our bay area simple church retreat. Mike Steele was with us for the weekend. A lot happened, but I won't get into that right now. This afternoon I had a thought that, the more I think about it, makes a lot of sense to me.

I haven't ever been that excited about my prayer life. I've been drawn to those with a more contemplative prayer life, and I've longed to be one of those people who can sit for a couple of hours with God. I've never been one of those people. I think I figured out one of the reasons why.

I've felt that the goal of prayer was mission, obedience, and guidance. I've believed that when God wants me to do something, He will let me know, and I'll (hopefully) do it. If I'm trying to make a decision about something, I know that He is going to show me. I've always believed this, always had this faith. Therefore, what's the use of prayer? With decision-making, he knows what I'm thinking, what my needs are. Why do I need to keep repeating them? Now, I do believe that there are times when we are to plead with God and not give up (Luke 18). The p0int is that most important thing is a yielded heart.

I realize that with this type of thinking, I let God off the hook, because he does not need to waste extra time with me. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." Efficiency is valued here! Here's the problem, though: What if the goal is not mission, obedience, and guidance?

What if the goal is instead intimacy between a father and his son? This throws efficiency out the door! This changes everything. Now, the purpose of prayer (talking and listening to God) is about building a relationship. The other stuff, though important, is secondary.

Mike Steele said a few times that the physical realm often mirrors the spiritual realm. In the physical, a father and son talk not to get things accomplished, but to build a relationship. That makes sense to me. Why then am I just now getting this? Perhaps it's because I've been deceived. This would explain a lot.