Vampire Dogs

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This pic is priceless! [via NiT & John Dwyer]

Tags: halloween, halloween pictures, vampire dog, vampire, funny, humorous, pets

It's not that easy being green

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Green. The image this word now conjures, at least to me, is no longer one of color, but of conviction. It is a word that now refers to an environmentally friendly means of producing energy. During the previous year or so, the global warming phenomenon and other environmental issues have recently become of greater and greater cause for concern in my own values, and I'm glad to see them do so to the greater public as well.

However, it unfortunately seems that "being green" is the new capitalistic fad. Everywhere you look  headlines like "Wal-Mart building two experimental green stores" come a dime a dozen. My question is what's the motivation? Is it a ploy by resource devouring corporations to pretend that they care about the environment in an attempt to boost sales? Is it a genuine shift in values, like I myself have experienced? Even if it is the former, or something closely related, does the end justify the means? I don't know.

The question of motive has been in the forefront of my mind over the past three years. It first began as my wife, myself, and a few others set out to follow a vision and dream that God was birthing in us about what the Church could be. Having no other vehicle to assimilate such a vision into, we used the only one we had, a local church. It took about a year and a half for us to discover that the vision God was stirring in us pertained to the Church globally--i.e. everyone, everywhere--but we learned a valuable lesson in motive nonetheless.

As we set out to "plant a church" (again, before we realized the faulty perspective), we began to get involved in our community, organize events to give aid to those around us, and other seemingly noble actions. However, the real and underlying value wasn't simply to help, aid, and be involved, but to get people to come to "our church." I'll never forget when we all recognized this leading to a serious heart to heart. For us, we decided that such an end did not justify this ulterior motive. We continued such events for a while, but not in publicity of "our church", but because we truly cared.

Anyway, those days have past, the life of Christ in me now takes me down another trail on my spiritual journey, and this post has gotten much longer than normal, but what say you? Does the desired end of "being green" justify any misplaced motive or means to achieve it??

Tags: green, environmentalism, spirituality, church

Save the Internet! Moyers on Net Neutrality

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Last night the Bill Moyers produced, "the Net at Risk" prime time documentary hopefully helped to raise public awareness of just how serious of a risk we are of losing our internet. If you're not quite sure what the issue at hand really is, then you should go to SaveTheInternet.com and read up a little bit on it. Until then, Net Neutrality is about persuading Congress to NOT pass a bill proposed by Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska that would allow the big ISP, cable, and telephone companies to act as "gatekeepers" or "toll booths" of the information super-highway.

If they were able to do so, they would not only continue to gouge their customers for internet/tv/telephone service, but they would also levy "tolls" on users of the internet, controlling who's information got to your screen through the express lanes or by creeping down the shoulder. What does that mean? That means that big corporations who can afford to pay the toll will be the content that reaches you--not by your choice, but by the gatekeepers'. This means that never again will a blog, "un-approved content" (via the gatekeepers' perspective), small business, forum results, and countless other types of content top, or even be present, on the list of your Google search results...that is if Google, in fact, happened to have been the highest paying search engine, maybe it would have been Yahoo, Ask, or some other engine.

One estimate given on last night's special said that 60% of the content on the internet comes from individuals. That turns the statistics of traditional media on it's head. Typically, whether it be TV, newspaper/magazine, or radio, 95-99% of the content is controlled by corporations. Will you let the telecom companies and Congress do that to the internet in the upcoming lame-duck session? Will you let them take away your blog, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr pics, YouTube videos, and all you other favorite web sites? Take action! Save the Internet!

Here are some ways to get involved: sign the petition, host a banner, blog about it, add SaveTheInternet as a MySpace friend, contact your senator. and tell your friends about Net Neutrality. Also be sure to go to SaveTheInternet.com and MoveOn.org for more info and ways to get involved.

Tags: net neutrality, network neutrality, save the internet, lame-duck, ted stevens, bill moyer, the net at risk, pbs

Stand for the Family/Anti-Gay Rally Roundup

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So here's the roundup from the folks who covered the "rally" last night at Two Rivers Baptist Church:

Kat Coble at NiT has a roundup of her own.

The Tennessean did an article with a comment feature at the bottom.

The Refugee Baptist has a clever post on the event, complete with a rather humourous spoofed photo.

Good ole' Sharon Cobb wonders how TRBC gets to keep it's tax exempt status.

...and finally, News 2 has got your video and commentary, courtsey of faith and ethics video journalist, Jamey Tucker.

Tags: ammendment #1, tennessee, stand for the family, james dobson, two rivers baptist church, gay, anti-gay, protest, jerry sutton, southern baptist, constitution

Stand for the Family or Anti-Gay Rally?

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This evening Two Rivers Baptist Church here in Nashville, TN will hold a "Stand for the Family Rally" featuring Dr. James Dobson. This rally is to persuade Tennesseans to vote in favor of the proposed amendment #1 to our constitution that reads:

"The historical institution and legal contract solemnizing the relationship of one man and one woman shall be the only legally recognized marital contract in this state. Any policy or law or judicial interpretation, purporting to define marriage as anything other than the historical institution and legal contract between one man and one woman, is contrary to the public policy of this state and shall be void and unenforceable in Tennessee.

If another state or foreign jurisdiction issues a license for persons to marry and if such marriage is prohibited in this state by the provisions of this section, then the marriage shall be void and unenforceable in this state."

Egalia at Tennessee Guerilla Women, among many others, is calling this event an "anti-gay rally" and a "hate rally". Others have organized a peaceful protest of the event. On the protest event site, there is a phrase that states, "This is meant to be a loving event. There will be no anger represented here. We will mostly remain silent unless spoken to. We want to send a positive message, not propagate the negative ones surrounding us already." I really respect such a stance and it stands in stark contrast to the statement on Two Rivers' web site that reads, "Get equipped to fight for the critical issues that will protect the family!"

Having grown up in a conservative southern baptist church, I've been programmed to automatically take a stand against gay marriages. However, I've begun to realize over the past year or so that there is no Love shown through such...well...bigotry. I say that, lumping myself into that category for the majority of my life, and not to point fingers at others in condemnation.

I don't understand why churches stereotypically (and yes, this is a hasty generalization) pick one or two issues to deem "extra dirty" and proceed to relentlessly protest and stand against those things. I mean to say that I think more damage is done to each other, our country, society, and the world by lying then by gay marriage (and I'm not even sure that gay marriage even has a negative impact on society at all, by the way), but I don't see anyone banning together to take a stand against that. Why? Because everyone lies. There would be no choice but to point the finger at ourselves if we were to take a stand against such a thing as common as lying, and that, my friends, is too personal. No, we as a culture would rather use the ten foot plank in our own eye as a tool to beat the festering splinter deeper into someone else's, rather than helping each other, in love, come to a better grasp on the Love of Christ within us.

So for me, I choose to Love--regardless of differences. Yes, I fail to act in such Love on a daily basis, but its my choice to strive for those short comings to become less and less frequent. The only thing that will change people, and hence, the world, is for the Love of Christ to live through us...and for the record, protest, fighting, hate, and the like, are not conducive to that reality.

Tags: two rivers baptist church, james dobson, family, gay marriage, love, hate

Preserve Yourself in the Yahoo Time Capsule Laser

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I just learned via my CNN Science & Space RSS feed that Yahoo is making The Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan a giant launching station for a digital time capsule to be carried into outer space via laser beam. You can venture over to the Yahoo time capsule site to contribute images and such to the capsule and/or view live web cast of the event that will take place October 25-27, from 7:00-9:00 PM U.S. Central Time. (I'm not really sure how this "live" feed can go on for three days for only two hours each day, but perhaps Yahoo is just not being very clear...or I'm too dense to understand them.)

Tags: Yahoo, Yahoo Time Capsule, Pyramid of the Sun, Teoithuacan, Aztecs, Mexico

Collision of Worlds

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For those of you who aren't familiar with my & Shaunna's way of life, let me give you a brief glimpse. We have a fairly strict way of eating in that we eat five to seven smaller meals per day with breakfast, lunch, and dinner being controlled and balanced portions. For example, we wouldn't have two carbs and no starch, i.e. we'd never have rice and potatoes with our grilled tilapia. Instead, it would be something like rice, salad (or vegetables), and grilled tilapia.

Anyway, we eat this way every day with the exception of Saturday, which as many of you know, is the much anticipated "free day" of every week. On Saturdays we eat whatever and whenever we want as to not allow our cravings for sweets and junk food to overwhelm us and lead to a two month binge, which therein would lead to about forty pounds each. It was for this reason that I found myself in the realm from where all evil spawns (also known as Wal-Mart) last night at about 11:15 to fetch an ice-cream cookie sandwich thingy, Kit-Kats, and a Twix.

Two people ahead of me in line (that was forever long, even at 11:15) I recognized a fellow I have not seen in several years. We made brief eye contact and then, as I have done so many times before, I pretended that I did not recognize him and proceeded to scrutinize with great detail all of the candy bars and other impulse purchase items that lined the aisle we were in. I noticed as the less than speedy cashier continued to ring up this old acquaintance's items that this fellow obviously recognized who I was as he continued to attempt to catch my eye. I, however, continued to avoid the afore mentioned connection.

Why do I continually do this with people I knew years ago (mostly referring to high school years)? Because I am ashamed and embarrassed of my actions towards them in those days. Back then, I believed that a true "Christian" was a holy person who should not associate with the "sinners" lest they be either a) thought to be one themselves or b) have their kind actions be falsely perceived as validation of this lifestyle of sin (bust mostly for the first reason). Oh I wouldn't have told you this is what I believed back then, but I did. This of course led to my becoming a pious, Bible-thumping, jack ass, silently allocating judgment and condemnation to those who didn't live a "Christian life". This version of myself those years ago is one that I hate, and it is the one that this fellow in line remembers and most likely assumes I am still.

So instead of taking an opportunity to apologize to and love on this guy that I hurt, I pretended I did not know him. This, I'm sure, affirmed to him that I am still the same old jack ass. This is about the third time in a row I have done this. I'm resolving now to not let it happen again.

*An aside: there, in fact, is a much deeper reason that I believed, and hence, acted the way I did those years ago, but that's a LONG story for another day.*

Hermitage-Mt. Juliet Personal Training

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This may come as no surprise to all those who've been telling me I should do this for the past six months, but I'm now a personal trainer. I'll be working out of Grave's Fitness Center on Adams lane in Mt. Juliet, right across the street from Providence Place. If you've never heard of it, come check it out and ask Guy Graves, the owner, if you can get a guided tour and a few days trial run, he'll say yes.

After much deliberation, Shaunna and I decided that this was the best option for me to make some extra money, especially with the holidays approaching, while we get our business with Arbonne off the ground. We're currently District Managers with Arbonne, but as with starting any business, you don't necessarily see a great deal of revenue on the front end. Anyway, physical fitness is something I care a great deal about and having some past experience in training, this felt like the most logical decision. I'm very excited!

So for everyone out there who would like a personal trainer to help you achieve your fitness, strength training, and/or weight loss goals, shoot me an email and we'll talk specifics. There's never a better time than now to get a jump on all that holiday grub that we'll all be consuming starting here in the next month and a half or so.

Tags: Jeffrey Davis, personal training, personal trainer, fitness, weight loss, Guy Graves, Graves Fitness Center, Mt. Juliet, Hermitage

T-Mobile vs. Verizon

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[UPDATE: Hey you people who landed here from Googling "T-Mobile vs. Verizon" or something like it, check out my post regarding my extreme satisfaction with T-Mobile after being a customer for two weeks. I hope it helps.]

Ok, I posted on my wireless phone service provider dilemma about two months ago, but the battle continues still. I've narrowed it down to T-Mobile and Verizon. I would really love some feeback from current or recent T-Mobile and Verizon customers. If you've recently been with one or the other, but aren't anymore, then why did you switch?

I've done extensive reviewing of all the wireless big boys in the area and, again, have narrowed it down to these two carriers in considering coverage, consumer reviews, rate plans, financial value, and phone value. J.D. Power Consumer Reviews put T-Mobile as the carrier of choice in the southeast region of the country. ConsumerSearch.com says that T-Mobile and Verizon come in "neck and neck". However, they go on to say that T-Mobile's phones are compatible for international use, should the need ever arise, and Verizon's are currently not.

So there's the info. Please let me know what yall think.

UPDATE: Well, thanks to a trip to the T-Mobile store in Opry Mills Mall and the feedback from Brittney and the Nashville blogosphere, the wife and I will be T-Mobile's newest customers soon. We found out in the store this afternoon that T-Mobile rolled out some new features earlier today that sealed the deal. They introduced plans with "my Faves" where you can choose any five numbers to call for free, all the time. This is a feature offered by Alltel Wireless (who advertises, but doesn't provide service here in Nashville) that I've wished were made available by a carrier here--wish granted. You can even change one or all of your "Faves" every month, sweet!.

Tags: Verizon, T-Mobile, Nashville, cell phones, wireless providers