Actually, I’m doing quite well, if you look at whether or not I’m in the black or the red, but my savings potential is way out of whack. I’ve got a nicely padded emergency fund, but that’s really about it.

Now how is this really a habit? Hah, well, that’s the fun part: actually sticking to the thing.

I’ll be thinking of a creative way to show my progress without actually publishing my financial stats. Hopefully, I can avoid publishing my account number, credit card scans, salary, cornea recognition algorithms, et cetera.

We’ll even try to make it cute.

Got a planner. I plan on using it to plan.

I don’t know what else to write tonight, so I’ll just leave it with some links:

• Hah. So this girl was ordered to a sentence where she gets a weekly mugshots. Treats them like glamor photos. Brilliant.
• Conan’s Beard.
• NPR’s 50 albums of the year. Really because I want to listen to them when I’m not tired. Tomorrow.

Goodnight.

And I’m still scouting out for one of my habits. Anyone know of a good planner? Well…I guess that’s a little broad. I’ve been looking around the stores, and I can only find planners that are either pink or have a poor layout. Come on, Mead…I’ll be using this thing for the next year.

I’m planning a bigger update/outline on Thursday, which is my only day off this week. And that’s that.

I’ve left yet another blog to fend for itself. It just sits here, waiting for words. I’d like to start blogging again, but it seems tough to develop new habits.

I could use some new habits…several, actually. I’d like to keep a budget, start bringing my lunch to work, be a more organized person, exercise daily, keep a schedule, and read the bible regularly. But these things are a little far-out for me. Habits and I have never gotten along.

We’ll have to have a little chat.

Have you ever heard that all it takes to form a new habit is 21 days? I think it’s a rumor, but it’s worth a shot. Actually, the entire idea is probably baseless, but what the heck, there’s only one way to find out, right?

So this is my aim: Every week, on Sunday, I’ll be taking up at least one habit, and often two, and focus on each for three weeks before moving to the next set. This will continue for as long as I have time to spare for new habitual activities. One of these will be to stick to schedules of growing detail, but until then, I’ll try to hit my habits around 8ish each evening.

My first will be blogging.

Allllrighty. Here’s what ya gotta get:

• 8 0z tub o’ Blueberry Cream Cheese
• A package of Oreos
• Some melting chocolate
• Fresh Blueberries (or dried, if you just don’t care.)

And here’s what ya gotta get done:

1. PULVERIZE the Oreos.  Mash ‘em up by hand. Run over them with your automobile. Drop them from a 20-story building, followed by a bowling ball. Boom! Pulverized. Put it in a bowl.
2. DROP in the cream cheese. Ker-PLOP! If it makes that noise, you’re doing it right.
3. MIX IT UP. You can take forever with a spoon, or you can just dig your hands into the bowl. Yes, they’ll get messy, but they’ll be  messy with a tasty truffley-goodness.
4. PING PONG. Roll them up to about the size of a ping pong ball, which is, in fact, the new standard in cooking.
5. I’M SHRRIIIIINKIIIING….MELTIIIIING. Throw the melting chocolate in the microwave. You press buttons, it lights up, it starts spinning slowly, and suddenly the chocolate is melted! It’s a miracle.
6. DIP.
7. MAKE THEM WEAR LITTLE BLUEBERRY HATS. Press them in just a tad. Their heads are still soft.
8. DEEP FREEZE. Shouldn’t take long. By this point, you should have a steady stream of drool, and probably are satisfying your craving by licking the rest of the dipping chocolate. Stop that. That’s not good for you.
9. GIVE THEM TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS. Just kidding. Hide them away forever. In your freezer. They’ll never look there.

Another TBN article. It seems like beating a dead horse, but really? TBN is more like a zombie horse that claims it’s mentioned somewhere in Revelation, and it will bless you for a love gift of $250.

Church membership has been a recent topic around the blogging circuit. Strong statements have been made about it, by Rick Warren and others. Jonathan Leeman writes a great post that helps the rest of us catch up.

If you spend any time with the skeptical crowd, and ask them their views on religion, the word “fundamentalist” often gets thrown around. The definition is worn out, and almost has a new one, but this article takes it back to the roots of the term. The author goes so far as to label its modern usage as “paranoia”.

A Berlin poker tournament gets robbed. It’s caught live on TV.

Microsoft has been developing a new tablet device. And boy, does it look good. As in, Apple may need to step up their game or desert that market entirely.

There are some Christians who’ve gotten really frustrated over the fact that, when they remade, “We Are The World”, they didn’t invite Willie Nelson back with his God-related line.  I haven’t met them.

However, I have met several who feel offended when Christianity isn’t acknowledged.

Russell Moore writes a convicting post about this recent episode.

“Well, yes, I am outraged. Willie Nelson should have been invited to participate. He’s still every bit as talented as he was in 1985, and if Nick Jonas can be invited, then certainly Willie should’ve been too.

Oh wait.

That’s not what these folks are outraged about. They’re afraid this is indicative of the secularization of American pop culture, and that there should be a Christian backlash.

But wait, again.

God didn’t turn stones into bread. 

It was Satan, not God, who suggested our Lord Jesus turn rocks into bread (Matt. 4:3-4). God sends bread down from heaven (Exod. 16), a Manna he ultimately gives to us in the body of Jesus (Jn. 6), signified in the communion meal (1 Cor. 11).”

]]> http://driftwoodsoul.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/are-we-the-world/feed/ 0 0toee http://driftwoodsoul.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/22/ http://driftwoodsoul.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/22/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:46:17 +0000 James Maddux http://driftwoodsoul.wordpress.com/?p=22 Continue reading →]]> So this is what I’m looking at right now.

Ephesians 4:11-13

¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

I wrote down several ideas that centered around this verse, and just thought I’d share it.  Our ministry is to prepare people for works of service.