gclubs181.com is a SCAM

OK, so I should have known that gclubs181.com was too good to be true, but I got scammed. This is my attempt to let everyone know that gclubs181.com, gclubs18.com, gclubs 181, gclubs 18, or any other name it may go by, is a SCAM. I hope that a google search will bring up this post. DO NOT order anything from this site - I promise you will regret it! The clubs are fake.

Who won?

I get to spend every Sunday afternoon with my three-month-old son, Micah. Hailey meets for a couple hours with some high school girls from church to talk about their lives, the Bible, things that they are going through, and everything else that girls talk about when they are together (you girls know what I'm talking about, you guys don't have the slightest idea). While many fathers believe that taking care of their children is the responsibility of their wives, I pride myself in being a helpful dad. Thus, spending a Sunday afternoon with my son is an enjoyable experience for me (especially when I get to nap at the same time he does :)

Today, it took much longer than usual to get Micah to go down for a nap. I began the attempt at 1:30 - here is how the next 50 minutes went:

1:30-1:40: Micah spits out binky, Joseph puts it back in. Micah smiles, makes a few noises, and spits out binky as if to say "you're a sucker, dad, try again."

1:40-1:50: Micah finally settles down and starts to fall asleep

1:50: I lay Micah down in his crib after finally falling asleep and rush to the bathroom to relieve myself - something I have been waiting an agonizing 20 minutes to do. While in the bathroom, Micah spits out his binky and begins squealing (happily) louder than I've ever heard him before.

1:55: I walk into the room and the second I get to the side of Micah's crib, he lets out the hugest pooo known to mankind and looks up at me with a huge grin, once again seeming to say "you're a sucker dad, try again."

2:00: I get Micah out of his crib, change his nasty diaper, and begin the process all over again.

2:00-2:10: See comments on 1:30-1:40

2:10: Micah is beginning to get tired. Oh, but wait, he spits up on my neck and begins squealing again..."you're a sucker dad, try again."

2:15-2:20: Micah is finally getting tired (once again) and finally passes out on my shoulder with his face in my neck (yes, the same side that he spit up on...yummy).

2:20: I lay Micah down at his crib, sound asleep and look at him thinking, "you're a sucker, Micah - I WIN!"

I don't really know if he won, or if I won. And in reality, being a parent is not much about winning or losing (though that mentality does often make it more fun for a dad), but more about learning what works and what doesn't work. And sometimes the things that work best don't even work when peeing, pooping, and spitting up are involved. At least through the whole process Micah was never once unhappy. I'm grateful to have such a happy son!

Time for a nap or some reading...I feel like a winner!

Am I, or is Micah?

What should I do?

For those of us who believe in God but do not have Him completely figured out (that should be everyone!), it is often difficult to know what God wants us to do. Does He want me to take this job, or that one? Does He want me to live here, or there? Does He want me to do this, or that? Does He even care?

I don't mean that last question in the sense of whether God cares about us or not, but rather in the sense of whether God cares about the specific decisions we make in our lives. Decisions such as where we work, where we call home, what church we go to, or any of the multitude of decisions we make on a daily basis. If God has determined a plan for each life, how do we know whether our life is going according to plan? Do we just assume that whatever we are doing has been willed by God? I don't think so, because how then do you explain sinful or immoral behavior?

While I do not consider myself a theologian, at least in the sense of the word commonly attributed to studied professors, authors, etc., I can only conclude that God has a plan for our lives and it is up to us to find out what that plan is. I think that is why God gave us the Holy Spirit, other people to speak into our lives, and the ability to learn from the Bible. Does that mean we'll have every answer to life's questions? If so, I am doing something wrong. If we had the answer to every one of life's questions, there would be no need for a God at all.

Understanding Babies

I have become convinced over the last few weeks, or the last 7.5 weeks to be exact, that it is nearly impossible for any adult to truly understand babies. Is he crying because he's hungry? Is he crying because he's tired? Is he crying because he has a dirty diaper? Who knows! The truth is, once you think you have your baby figured out - he changes.

My son, Micah, went 3 or 4 nights in a row only waking up once in the middle of the night. How nice it was to get 3-4 hours of constant sleep twice in the same night! Exactly when I thought he had developed a habit of waking up only once per night, he changed (surprise!). The last two nights have been exhausting (more for my wife than for me). He wakes up wanting to nurse every 2-3 hours, and then sleeps like a cat during the day.

Oh, there he is now...fussing in his crib. Is he hungry? Does he have a dirty diaper? Only he knows...maybe I should go ask. The joys of parenthood.

What's with the Tithe?

I know my title makes it sound like I am against tithing, and that is not the case at all. I am reading a chronological Bible this year (one reading each day and the readings are done in the order they happened), and so far I am up to date with all the readings. Just the other day I read what I think is the first mention of the tithe in the Bible. In Genesis 14, there is a record of Abraham conquering several kings. Toward the end of the chapter, one king (Melchizedek), praised Abraham and at the end of verse 20, the text reads "Then Abraham gave him a tenth of everything." Is this the first mention of a tithe? If so, it doesn't seem to make much sense with how we think of a tithe today.

Several chapters later Jacob has a dream and God promises Jacob that he will be a blessed nation and that God will be with him always. Jacobs response? He promises God that he will give 10% of everything that is given to him. How does Jacob do this in the time of the Bible?

I know there are many more examples of tithing in the Bible, but these brief accounts have led me to wonder what the purpose of the tithe is, and what it should be. Is the purpose to pay the pastors of churches? If so, it must be much nicer to be a pastor of a megachurch than of a church with 20 members. Is a pastor being rewarded for having a larger congregation? Does that even make sense?

I have many more questions than answers, so maybe I will take some time to look into this matter and write more in the future. At the least, it made me want to know where my tithe is going...

I'm Back

After many long months of working 40+ hours per week and going to graduate school full time, I have decided to give this blogging thing another try. Instead of calling the blog "Reflections on Community Development," I decided to call it "Thoughtful (or Thoughtless) Reflections." I hope that most of my posts will be rather thoughtful, but now that I don't spend every waking hour thinking about graduate school, my thoughts seem to be "thoughtless" (is that even possible?) at times. That being said, my blog posts will not all be related to community development, so I decided to change the title.

I just finished a book called "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne. Claiborne is from East Tennessee. Growing up in the "Bible Belt," he considered himself a traditional, white, middle class, conservative, Christian. After finishing his undergraduate degree in Sociology, he began graduate work in theology. He found himself questioning a lot of things that were going on in the Christian church around America and began to ask himself, "Does anyone really take what Jesus said seriously? Is anyone trying to live like He did?" And so began Claiborne's journey to living as an "ordinary radical." While Claiborne takes almost 400 pages to describe what this means, it seems to be fairly similar to Saint Francis' lifestyle of living among the poor with a hint of crazy protesting.

Anyhow, the book was extremely thought provoking, and while I don't necessarily agree 100% with all his theology and lifestyle choices, I respect him for his passion. It is a very quick read and I would be interested to hear any thoughts you may have on it.

With Privilege Comes Responsibility

DO YOU FEEL PRIVILEGED? Take a minute to think about that before you read on...

Are you really thinking?

Keep thinking...

How many of you have a job that earns more than required to live on? I'm not talking about after you pay your three car payments, boat loan, three annual vacations, and $500 monthly restaurant budget. I mean after you pay for the necessities (food, water, shelter, clothing, basic transportation, health care, etc). Let me remind you that if this is you, then you are among the richest people in the entire world. Do you have a college or university degree? If so, you are among the staggering 2% of the world's population fortunate enough to obtain one. Do you own a car? Join the 12% who can respond "yes" to that question. Do you have access to clean drinking water? Again, you are part of the elite 15%. Do you get on the internet with any regularity? Wow, once again, join the 16% who in the world who do.

Let me ask you again: do you feel privileged? If so, what are you doing with your privileges? If you can't think of at least a few things that you are doing with them to help others, then you are only contributing to the 98% of the world who do not obtain a college degree, the 88% who do not own a car, the 85% who do not have access to clean drinking water, 30% who suffer from malnutrition, 40% who do not have adequate sanitation, and 31% who do not have electricity.

With privilege comes responsibility. How much better would the world be if all of us who live a privileged life would do just a little more to help those who do not? Where can you make a difference? When will you start?


Stats taken from Daniel G. Groody's book titled "Globalization, Spirituality, and Justice"