Men's Fraternity Week 18

Men’s Fraternity
Week #18 Control

I. Deep Idol of Control

1. Idol of Control is when I am unwilling to let go of my agenda and let God do His work.
2. When we are feeling powerless or circumstances are overwhelming the enemy proposes the lie that, “we must do something (be in control) or we will be hurt.”
   
   • When I am feeling powerless I no longer turn to God, instead my new idol of control is what I live by to protect myself from feeling powerless.

II. Manifestations of the Control Idol

1. Manifests itself in fear and anxiety.
   
   • Fear and anxiety surface when you might lose influence over something you want, and uncertainty about someone or something.
   
   Matthew 16:22-23
   Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, ‘Far be it from you Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ Jesus said to Peter, ‘Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on the things of man.’
   
   Luke 12:25-26
   Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do a small thing as that why are you anxious about the rest.
   
   
   • Fear shows itself in many ways:
   • I am irritated
   • I am unsatisfied
   • I am restless
   • I am unhappy
   
   
2. Manifests itself in workaholism.
   
   • Having “work” under control gives the illusion and mirage of security.
   
   Matthew 16:26
   What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?
   
   
3. Manifests itself in anger.
   
   • When I cannot control a situation and begin to feel as if I am losing control the result is anger.
   • Look behind anger and you will find fear. Look behind fear and you will find control.
   
   Ecclesiastes 7:9
   Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.
   
   Proverbs 14:29
   Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
   
   [Important to remember: Sometimes God removes our control to protect us.]

III. Replace Idol of Control Through Relinquishment

1. Greatest stumbling block in growing in our relationship with God is that we no longer can be in control.
2. Definition of Relinquishment: to surrender a possession or right.
3. Jesus is the great example of relinquishing His right to the Father.
   
   John 5:30
   I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
   
   Luke 22:42
   Father if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless not my will, but yours be done.
   
   If Jesus our Savior exchanged His will for God’s will, then why would we entertain ideas that our self-will is something we are master over?
   
   
4. Relinquishing is a trust issue.


Do we trust God enough to let go of our heart and life - of our self-will and let God have his way in our life?


• Letting go is rarely easy or desirable. It is like a wrestling match – a match of the will, God’s will VS my will.
• If relinquishing is a trust issue, then when an issue of relinquishing arises, the true colors of our heart’s devotion to Him will emerge.


5. Being a follower of Christ is not willing to relinquish my sin only, but my whole way of looking at things.
   
   Galatians 2:20
   I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
   
   
   • ”…it is no longer I who live…” – means, my life is no longer identified as mine – I give up my rights.
   • When we relinquish our will to God, we settle with the truth of His sovereignty and live in peace allowing the outcome of our circumstances to be in the hands of our loving Father.

Discussion:

1. Several manifestations emerge from the deep idol of control: fear, workaholism, and anger. Discuss any of these manifestations that can be a temptation for you.

2. How should the concept of relinquishing (surrender of rights) change our approach towards our Control Idol in our lives?

3. Read Jeremiah 17:5-8. Discuss how this passage relates to what we have seen today.

Men's Fraternity Week 14

Men’s Fraternity
Week #14 Empty Promises

Pastor Brian often begins our sessions with short videos. Sometimes they tie in with that week’s message and sometimes they’re just for fun, like this one. This one is for those of us who have had a bad morning:



Review
Idols can be divided into two categories:

• Surface idols.
• Deep idols.

Deep idols are:

• Control – pursuit of security or power.
• Significance – desiring approval or recognition. [If you feel devastated when you don’t receive approval or recognition then this may have become an idol for you.]
• Comfort – driven to ease or consumption. [Seeking comfort in food, etc…]

Jeremiah 2:13
For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

John 4:13-14
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water I will give him will never be thirsty again.

To be an Authentic Man is a repenting man, a man identifying the broken cisterns so he can pursue the Life of Christ.

Biblical examples of Men struggling with Lure of Idolatry.

1. Adam

Genesis 3:5-6
For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Foundational lie to idolatry:
When we can go around God and away from God rather than TO God to meet our deepest needs.

Control - ”your eyes will be opened”
Significance - ”you will be like God”
Comfort - ”good for food…delight to the eyes”
Like all idols, this idol (the fruit) over-promised and did not deliver.

2. Solomon

[I have read through the book of Ecclesiastes a few times but confess that I never fully grasped what it was all about. Pastor Brian helped put it in perspective, however, when he said that it is basically King Solomon’s labwork; experimenting with various means of pleasing himself or giving meaning to his life, and drawing conclusions on the results.]

PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE THROUGH SELF HELP

Ecclesiastes 1:13
I applied my heart to seek and search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.

Acquire control of his life through knowledge and trusting in what he has learned.

Conclusion
Ecclesiastes 1:17
And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but striving after wind.

Knowledge too over-promised and under-delivered for Solomon.

PURSUIT OF PLEASURE

Ecclesiastes 2:1
I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.”

Pursuit of comfort through pleasure. Believe that escaping life and responsibility and giving ourselves to parties and leisure is the life.

Conclusion
Ecclesiastes 2:2
I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”

When something good becomes a god, the pleasure it brings dies in the process.

PURSUIT OF ALCOHOL AND STIMULANTS

Ecclesiastes 2:3
I searched with all my heart how to cheer my body with wine…

Turned to comfort of escape through alcohol.

This is fueled by a man who wants escape and immediate gratification, temporary relief, or a buffer between him and the stress of everyday.

PURSUITS OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND POSSESSIONS

Ecclesiastes 2:4-8
I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.

Looking to his accomplishments was going to give him a sense of significance.

Conclusion
Ecclesiastes 6:2
a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.

PURSUIT OF SEX

1 Kings 11:3
He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.

The god of sex offers a counterfeit joy that becomes elusive through time, ever harder to please, ever closer to emptiness.

The god of pleasure is the master of bait and switch, luring us in with images and promises that become the chains and shackles of our mental imprisonment.

PURSUIT OF WORK

Ecclesiastes 2:18
I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,

If you seek significance and control from work, it will not _________. [Brian didn’t fill in this blank for us but I think it should be “deliver” or something like that.]

Paul

Pursuit of Righteousness
I can control my life or find significance in:

• Being good
• Being moral
• Fulfilling the duties of the church

Philippians 3:4-7
though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Questions for discussion:
1. We have looked at some key characters in the Bible that had some battles with idols in their lives that left them empty What are some of the empty promises you have discovered in life?

2. Share with your group what would be your top idol we discussed today that leaves you empty, but you find yourself wanting to go back or going back?

3. Read Matthew 6:19-21 and discuss what Jesus was saying here in relation to our struggles with the deep idols we have discussed today.

4. Discuss this quote “Idols are defeated not by being removed but by being replaced.”

Men's Fraternity Week 12

Men’s Fraternity
Week #12 Heart

Pastor Brian began our session today with a funny video about a classic old Christmas song:



Reminder of the Four Pillars of Manhood:

• Reject passivity.
• Accept responsibility.
• Lead courageously.
• Wait for the greater reward. God’s reward.

Remember that men who live out the four pillars of manhood are difference-makers!

1. Understanding the Heart Wound:

• God created mankind without sin and Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world.
• Once Adam and Eve sinned, everything changed.

Genesis 3:6-13
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I heard the sound of you in te garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done? The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

[Adam did not reject passivity and he did not accept responsibility. His first reaction was to hide from God, but God sought him out to reconcile.]

• The punishment for sin is both spiritual and physical death.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Understanding this alienation from God can help us understand why so often our reality doesn’t measure up to our hopes and dreams.
• There is a longing in each one of us to be reconciled to God for all of eternity.
• The longing is present even if we deny it.

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

• The effects of sin are seen in all of creation.

Romans 8:22-23
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we walk eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

• One day Jesus will make all things new.

Revelation 21:4
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

• Until that time we have to live between what is and what will be. [but we are not called to simply wait]

1 Corinthians 16:13
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

2. The Journey from Here to Eternity

• We will all struggle with sin.

Romans 7:18-19
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

• The eseence of the heart wound is our total inability to do anything good before God apart from a right relationship with Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:10-12
”None is righteous, no, not one; ¹¹ no one understands; no one seeks for God. ¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

• One reason it is difficult for us to understand this truth is that we are not as evil as we could be. [without our own set of man-made laws, mankind would live to its fullest evil capacity.

Wayne Grudem writes: “The constraints of civil laws, the expectations of family and society, and the conviction of human conscience all provide restraining influences on the sinful tendencies in our hearts…But in spide of the ability to do good in many senses of the word, our inherited corruption, our tendency to sin…means that as far as God is concerned we are not able to do anything that pleases Him.”

• God has already provided the only solution for our sinful heart condition.

Romans 5:6
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

• Faith in Jesus doesn’t mean we all of a sudden become sinless. We are forgiven but not perfect.

Sanctification defined: Sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.

3. Practical Help as we Grow to be More Like Jesus Christ

• We need to recognize and feel our feelings.
• We must tell the truth about our hearts to those who are trustworthy.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man

• Give the truth of your heart to God.

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Group Questions:
1. How has the brokenness of the world touched your life? What does God’s promise to redeem the world mean to you?

2. Why do you think it’s difficult for men to be transparent with one another? Discuss how transparency is difficult for you personally.

3. The end of this session suggested three ways for you to connect to your heart. How good are you in living out these three areas?

• Recognize and feel your feelings,
• Tell the truth about your heart to those who are trustworthy
• Giving the truth of your heart to God

Journal - One Week Later

So it’s been a week already since the big crash. It was a long week in some regards, but in others it seemed to go by pretty quick because there was a lot going on.

Last Wednesday, the day after the wreck, the calls began with the lady’s insurance company and with the insurance adjuster. I have to admit they moved pretty fast on it. I exchanged several phone calls with both of them for a couple of days and then it was pretty much settled. They valued my truck at about $3400, which was pretty close to the book value that I had looked up on the internet so I had no complaints there.

2014 Ford Escape

No no no, this isn’t my new car, it’s actually the rental I got. I picked up this 2014 Ford Escape from Enterprise on Saturday. I probably could have gotten it way back on Tuesday or Wednesday but since we still have our other car I wasn’t in that much of a hurry. Actually we didn’t need the rental at all but I thought we may as well since the insurance company was picking up the tab. When we first went into the rental place I figured they would just give me a little compact or something but when the guy took us outside to show us what we had to choose from I was pretty impressed. It was either this or a Chevy Impala. I picked the Escape because it’s closer to a truck than the Impala and also because it’s such a pretty color of blue.

Lots of Buttons!

So anyway I got to drive this around for a few days. The interior was pretty amazing and also a little intimidating. I think it has more buttons on it than my computer has. There are buttons all over the steering wheel and all over the central panel and it also has two view screens where you can look at various information. Kind of distracting actually. I drove this around for a few days and then we took it back on Tuesday. It was a nice car and all but not something I would buy for myself.

Anyway, I got my final call from the insurance adjuster on Tuesday morning and he told me that he had my check. I had to work at 2pm yesterday so he agreed to meet me at Walmart at 1:30. At the appointed time I handed over the title to my truck and he handed me the check and that was that.

So now it’s time to begin car shopping. I had pretty much decided right away that I wanted another Ford Explorer. I started looking around online and discovered that there are actually quite a few Explorers for sale in this area. Of course, the trick will be finding a decent one that I can get for $3400. It almost certainly will not be a newer one. My old one was a ’99 and if I can get another ’99 that will be fine with me. I am hoping to get a four wheel drive this time, since my old one was not. Now that we live in snow country it would be nice to have that. I don’t think that will be a problem since every one I’ve seen online has four wheel drive. Actually I’m starting to wonder how I ended up with one that was not 4WD since it seems like they all have it.

So anyway, that’s where we are right now. I don’t have to work today so we’re going to Kearney to begin the search. There’s a little used car lot I found online that has 2 Explorers so we’re going to begin there. Wish us luck! Better yet, don’t leave it to luck, pray for us!

Ecclesiastes 3:11 It is beautiful how God has done everything at the right time. He has put a sense of eternity in people’s minds. Yet, mortals still can’t grasp what God is doing from the beginning to the end of time. ESV

Journal - Preparing for Summer

Well summer is very nearly upon us. In fact, we’ve already had one day at or near 100 degrees and a couple of other days that were very warm as well so you might say that summer is already here. With the change of seasons it seems like there are always plenty of projects to do around the house. This week I had Tuesday and Thursday off so those were my days to get some of those projects done.

On Tuesday I did a little more work in the garden. Last week we got tomatoes and peppers and strawberries in. We had already decided not to have a large pumpkin patch like we did last year, but I still wanted at least a few. So I got out the rake and cleared the winter leavings from another section of the garden. Then I got out the shovel and dug the soil in a plot about 6 by 8 feet or so. In there I planted six mounds of pumpkins. Actually I’m not sure if pumpkins are supposed to be in mounds but it seemed like the right thing to do. I put 3 or 4 seeds in each mound, the seeds having come from some of the pumpkins we had last year. We actually still have 3 of our good sized pumpkins from last year sitting around the house. I don’t think they’ll last much longer; they’re all getting soft spots on them now. Anyway, the pumpkins are in and hopefully they’ll come up again.

Thursday I had several items on my to-do list. I took the humidifier apart and cleaned it up and set it aside to dry. Then I gave the kitchen window a thorough cleaning. Our house is moldy and during the winter, where the moisture condenses on the window frames and glass, the mold grows. During the winter we wipe it down from time to time but don’t really give it a thorough cleaning. I had already done one of the kitchen windows a couple of weeks ago so today I got the other one.

After that I went outside to see if the mower would start this year. Last year it was very hard to start every time we used it, and even after it started we would have to nurse it along for a few minutes before it finally decided it was ready to work. I had been thinking about it earlier this week and thought the carb was probably pretty dirty and that’s what was causing it to run so poorly. I wanted to pull the carb off and clean it up but after watching a couple of videos online showing how to do that I decided it was probably not something I should mess with. Instead I just pulled off the cowling and the fuel tank and cleaned as much of the gunk out from under there as I could. There was quite a lot of gunk that has probably been building for years. Also the mice like to nest up under the cowling so I cleaned all of that out. I sprayed some carb cleaner around the carb and the throttle, drained out the last few drips of last year’s gas and put everything back together. After filling up with fresh gas and topping off the oil I gave the rope a few experimental tugs. It didn’t sound like it was trying to fire at all but after 10 or 12 pulls it started up. That was much easier than last year and more importantly it stayed running without having to be nursed. All in all maybe the cleaning did it some good but I guess time will tell.

So while Joni was doing a little mowing I came back in found that the humidifier was dry so I put that back together and took it downstairs for the summer. Then I sat down at the computer to do some typing.

I still have a couple more windows that I would like to clean up today and I also thought I might try making some potato salad today, something I’ve never made before. And that’s everything I had on my to-do list. It’s only noon now so that’s not too bad. I’ll still have to relax this afternoon which is good because I have a full shift at work tomorrow.

Today is Brad and Cindy’s 27’s anniversary! Happy Anniversary guys!

Mark 10:6-9 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ESV

Ecclesiastes 3:22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him? ESV

Do It For HIM

This morning I was sitting at the computer, posting a book review over at Audiobook Heaven and checking my email. For about three weeks now, I’ve been exchanging emails with someone at Simon & Schuster to see if they would send me some audiobooks that I could review. The message I got this morning made it pretty clear that the answer was going to be no. They didn’t actually say no, but just keep putting me off, which is a lot worse than a flat rejection I can tell you.
I signed off the computer feeling a little bummed about that, and all the while this nagging little suspicion was gnawing away at the back of my mind. You know that feeling you get sometimes, like something isn’t quite right, or you’ve forgotten to do something? I’ve had it for a couple of days now. Well, over the last couple of years, I’ve noticed that sometimes that feeling means I really did forget something, but sometimes it means that God is trying to get through to me, and I haven’t been paying attention.
I went into the bedroom to listen to my current audiobook, but before I put my headphones on I just sat for a minute and asked God, “Are you trying to tell me something?” I sat quietly for a few minutes and nothing much really came to mind, so I put my headphones on and listened for a while.
A couple of hours later, I got back on the computer, and I had an email from another publishing company, Galaxy Press, whom I’ve never heard of, asking if I would like to review some of their books. Galaxy Press is putting some of L Ron Hubbard’s older works on audio, and that’s what they want to send me so I can review them.
Now, was all that just a coincidence? I’ve already mentioned that I don’t believe in coincidence. Rather, I think maybe God wanted a little acknowledgement. He has been very generous to me lately, arranging for me to get free audiobooks from Susan Dunman, Blackstone Audio, Last Word Audio and possibly from Hachette, although I haven’t got those yet. Maybe God just wanted to make sure I wasn’t forgetting who the architect is here, before blessing me even further.
In a way, I guess you could say that writing audiobook reviews has kind of become my job, even though I don’t get paid for it. I don’t get any money, that is. As Uncle Butch pointed out to me recently, I get paid in audiobooks. Call it what you will, this is where God has led me, just as He leads each of us to one task or another. The mistake I have always made in the past, and perhaps the mistake I’ve been making lately, is not allowing God into a particular area of my life, especially my job. Maybe that’s why I’ve never been very successful at any of the many jobs I’ve had. I have thanked God for blessing me with audiobooks, but maybe sometimes He wants a little more. Thanking God silently in our prayers is good, vital even, but how much better to tell the whole world how He has blessed us?
During one of his sermons a while back, Pastor Mike told us about a woman he met at a restaurant. The woman was an employee, charged with wiping down tables and preparing them for the next guest, a job many people might look down upon. As she cleared the table beside Mike, they struck up a conversation and she said, “I’m just doing this for the Lord.” Another Pastor we had back in Dallas once said that if you don’t take care of what you have, you shouldn’t expect God to bless you with something better, or something more. He was talking about material possessions, but I think that applies to our jobs as well. If you constantly grumble and complain about your job, God may not be so willing to give you a better one.
The biblical reference that jumps to mind here is the parable of the talents, which I’m sure many of you are familiar with. I won’t type out the whole thing here, but you can read it in Matthew 25, verses 14 to 30, or in Luke 19, verses 12 to 28.
It’s as simple as this: if we want success in every facet of our lives, home life, work life, church life, social life, etcetera, then we need to allow God in all those areas. It doesn’t matter if you’re the pastor of a church, or a school teacher, or a farmer, or a janitor, or an audiobook reviewer, be cheerful and productive with what God has given you. You may not think your job is very important, but He gave it to you for a reason, and if you let Him rule that part of your life, there’s just no telling what He might send your way next.

Matthew 25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ NIV

Ecclesiastes 2:24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God. NIV

Journal - Football Season

It came, it finally came! For nine months I’ve waited for football season to begin, and it’s finally here. The college football season officially opened last Thursday, but Saturday, September 4 marked the season opener for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Anticipation was particularly high this year because the pre-season polls showed Nebraska in the top ten for the first time in 9 years. Nebraska’s opponent for the season opener was the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky University.

There were two major questions facing the Huskers this year. First, would there be any improvement to last year’s impotent offense. I think the answer to that is a great big yes! In a surprising move, coach Bo Pelini started freshman quarterback, Taylor Martinez. Is Martinez any good? You betcha. Taylor rushed for more than 100 yards, including three touchdown runs. He seemed pretty solid throwing the ball too, completing a good percentage of his passes. Some of Martinez’s success should be credited to the offensive line which protected him well, also an improvement over last year. Last year’s backup quarterback, Cody Green, saw a fair amount of game-time, but last year’s starter, Zack Lee, didn’t come in until just 6 minutes were left in the game. Nebraska’s two main running backs, Roy Hellu, and Rex Burkhead, both had good success running the ball. Overall, I would say the offense looks very promising.

The second question facing the Huskers was: would the defense be as dominant as they were last year without superstar Ndamukong Suh (pronounced endomican sue), who was drafted by the Detroit Lions earlier this year. I’m still undecided on that one. The defense didn’t dominate Western Kentucky as much as I thought they would, giving up 10 points, and very nearly giving up another touchdown. That would have been another score for WKU, but the runner fumbled the ball just before he crossed the goal line, and Nebraska recovered. I felt it was a shaky start for the defense, but it’s only the first game of the season, and they have plenty of time to work out the bugs before they start facing ranked opponents.

The final score was: Nebraska 49, Western Kentucky 10. This week’s updated polls show Nebraska moving from number eight, up to number six. There will definitely be some things for the team to work on this week, but it was a good start to the football season.

Next week’s opponent is the Idaho Vandals. The reports I’ve read show Idaho to be a stronger opponent than WKU, but Nebraska is still a 28 point favorite. Game time is Saturday, September 11, at 11:30 am CST. See you there!

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Joshua 1:7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

Journal - Scary Computer

This computer is really starting to scare me. Today I was typing up a book review. I got it all done and when I tried to save it, all kinds of error messages popped up. The general gist of the messages was that there was a disk error and the document couldn’t be saved. We’ve had lots of little problems with the computer but never a disk error, that's scary.

I wasn’t worried about my document because I have gotten in the habit of saving very frequently when I am typing. Microsoft Word and my screen reader do not get along with each other very well and Word is always crashing. So I knew I hadn’t lost much, except that when I tried to pull up the document again, it was completely gone. Well, whenMicrosoft Word crashes, it usually creates a temporary backup file of whatever you were working on. I found the temp file and it had almost everything I had typed. My document was saved, but I believe the computer is on its last legs. So I am really scrambling to get all of our personal files uploaded to Windows Skydrive. I’m making pretty good progress with that.

In other news, my new cane came on Saturday. Not bad, I ordered it Tuesday night and got it Saturday afternoon. Last time, I ordered the longest cane they had, 63 inches, and I ordered the same this time, but my new one is about an inch longer. Go figure. I took it for a test drive to church yesterday and it runs like a champ.

I mentioned a while back that one of the links in the band of my talking watch broke and I was holding it together with tape. A couple of weeks ago, another one broke so I put more tape on it. This evening, I finally decided to try replacing the band. I took the band from an old watch I had. Try doing that with your eyes closed sometime and see how easy it is. I got the first pin in pretty easy, but I think I just got lucky. I was having a lot of trouble with the second pin so Joni did that one for me. Now my watch is as good as new again.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Journal - April Wrap-up

Well, April is gone already, along with the first quarter of the year. Where does the time go? I spent the last half of April working hard on my blog and trying to figure out all that affiliate stuff, but there actually were some other things going on. So it's time to catch up.

On the Monday before last, that was the 19th I think, Joni had a minor car accident. She hit a bad spot in the gravel road not far from the house and ended up in the ditch. It was a pretty big ditch though, and the impact was hard enough to set off the airbags. She and Adam both got whacked in the face pretty good. No serious injuries, praise God.

The damage to the truck was minor too. We took it to Brad’s house in Axtell the following Thursday for him to look at. He's a mechanic. He discovered that the radiator was cracked and had to be replaced. Also the front parking lamp assemblies were broken. I called the salvage yard for the parts and Brad did the work the following Tuesday. I think I’m off by a week, I know he didn’t work on it this last Tuesday. The accident must have been on the 12th.

Anyway, the day we went to the junk yard to pick up the parts, we took our aluminum cans that we’ve been saving ever since we moved here last April. We had 84 pounds, 42 dollars worth. I gave Adam twenty since he did all the crushing, and we spent the rest at Subway after Brad finished the work. We ended up going to Walmart after he was done so I could get a tire looked at. It was almost flat when we got to Brad’s, but it turned out to be fine. Since we had the car in anyway, I had them rotate the tires and change the oil, and we went to Subway while they were working on it. They have a Subway in Walmart so that worked out well.

What else? Last Saturday, the 24th, Brenna had a violin recital at a church in Kearney. We rode up with Mom since she wanted to go too. Brenna is becoming quite the violinist! It was a long program, there were about 25 students and each played a solo, but I enjoyed hearing her play. I hope she’ll stick with the violin. Music can add so much to life.

It has occurred to me that April is full of anniversaries. Let me see:
April 5, Dad’s birthday. He would have been 65 this year.
April 8, Brenna’s birthday. She became a teenager!
April 14, the 98th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.
April 18, eighteen months since I quit smoking. A year and a half ties my record, let’s see if I can beat it this time.
April 20, the 11th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings.
April 26, a double anniversary! One year since we moved to Nebraska, and it would have been Astri’s 6th birthday.

So I think that’s it for April. One month closer to football season!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Journal - Critical Mass

Well, I haven’t written anything for a while, as you can see. I’m starting to get a little bored with the whole blogging thing. That's how I am, I find something new that interests me and I put a lot of time and effort into it for a while, but I always end up getting bored with it eventually. That’s one reason why I always found it so difficult to settle down with one job for very long.

This time it has been kind of weird. I’m bored with the blogs, but I don’t want to be bored with them. I want to keep doing it because it was really fun for a while. Bonus points to anyone who can explain that. So anyway, instead of just giving up on the blogs altogether, I decided to try and shake things up a little bit.

What I decided to do is come up with a new name for my audio book review blog, “Reviews From The Deep.” But that was too easy, so instead of just renaming it, I decided to create a whole new blog with the new name so it would have a new URL and everything. And that’s just what I did. My new audio book blog is called “Critical Mass Media, Audio Book Meltdown.” Since it was an all new blog, I wanted to put some different gadgets on it and do a few different things with it. So far, it has proven to be very challenging, which is a good thing because that will keep me interested for a while.

The first step was creating the blog. A simple enough task, unless you happen to be blind. To create a new blog, you have to complete a verification. It’s a little box with some letters and numbers in it and you have to type out what you see there. It’s called a CAPCHA I think, although I don’t know where that name comes from. Maybe Ro will tell us. They do that so you can prove that you are a human being and ot some auto-spammer. They have a little thing you can click on if you’re blind so you can hear the numbers instead of seeing them, but they never work. Until now, that is. When I got to the CAPCHA, I clicked the listen link and I could actually hear the numbers and type them out as it played. It really worked! I was very pleased about that and was off to a good start on my new blog.

The next step was to export all of the book reviews from my old blog, and then import them to the new one. That step was pretty easy, there are links to click on to export and import. Basically it’s just saving a file to my computer’s hard drive, and then opening it back up from the new blog. No problem there, all of my book reviews showed up with the comments still attached and everything.

Now I wanted to put some fancy gadgets on my new blog, namely a counter, and a drop-down list box for the labels. These are not standard gadgets that are available through blogger, but can be added by adding some raw html code. I ran into some trouble there. I spent about five hours working on those two things and got absolutely nowhere. That’s pretty frustrating because things like that used to be pretty easy for me. Not to worry, I’ll keep working on it.

Also, I ran into another problem. About the time I created my new blog, something that I use a lot quit working. To create links in a blog post, I use the keyboard shortcut "ctrl-shift-a." Suddenly that stopped working and I get some funny warning message when I try it. I think that some security setting in Internet Explorer has changed, but I haven't found out which one yet. I put a message in the help forum about it but haven’t gotten a reply yet. I'm going to do some research on that as soon as I'm done posting this. Anyway, that's why I couldn't provide a link to “Critical Mass Media” here. No big deal, the blog isn’t ready to be looked at yet anyway.

So those are the things I need to figure out. After that, the next step will be monetizing the new blog. Monetizing is a fancy name for using your blog to make money. Since I’m writing audio book reviews, I want to link them to websites that actually sell the books and get a percentage of the sale in return. That's called an affiliate partnership and both Audible.com and Amazon.com have affiliate programs. I'll have to figure out how that whole thing works, that's kind of new to me.

So that’s what I’ve been doing for the last several days. So far so good, my interest in blogs has been rekindled. For now, at least. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Ecclesiastes 1:3-9 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

Journal - March Madness

If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll know that I have recently become very interested in basketball. This is all because of what the women's team at UNL has done this year. As I have mentioned before, they are the first basketball team from Nebraska, men or women, to advance to the sweet sixteen round of the playoffs.

I decided it would be interesting to create a bracket of the sixteen teams and track their progress through the rest of the playoff schedule. Of course, there are plenty of brackets available online, for download and printing, but those don’t do me much good. The brackets just don't make any sense if you can't see the lines. What I decided to do was create my own bracket in a spreadsheet.

I actually had a hard time finding out who the sixteen teams were, however, and which ones were playing each other. The brackets that are available online would, of course, have all that information, but like I said, my screen reader doesn’t interpret them very well. I was finally able to piece my bracket together by reading various news articles about the basketball playoffs. I have learned more about basketball in the last two days than in my previous 39 years. Here are the sixteen teams:

In the Kansas City Region:
Oklahoma versus Notre Dame.
Nebraska versus Kentucky.

In the Dayton Region:
Connecticut versus Iowa State.
Florida State versus Mississippi State.

In the Memphis Region:
Tennessee versus Baylor.
Duke versus San Diego State.

In the Sacramento Region:
Xavier versus Gonzaga.
Stanford versus Georgia.

You may be asking yourself, “Who or what in the heck is Gonzaga?” I asked myself that very same question so I looked it up. Gonzaga is a private Catholic University in Spokane, Washington. So there, you learned something today.

The last time I talked basketball I said that all sixteen teams were coming together in Kansas City for the final tournament, but I found out that was wrong. As shown above, there are four different cities, each hosting four teams. I guess they do that so they can get through the games more quickly, or maybe so more fans have a chance to watch a game. Each region will end up with one winner, and I’m assuming those Final Four teams will come together somewhere. Actually, I think I read that the finals will be in San Antonio.

At the time I am posting this, the Memphis Region and the Sacramento Region have already played their first round of games, but I’m not telling you who won yet. The Lady Huskers play Kentucky tonight. Incidentally, I read that this is also Kentucky’s first trip to the Sweet Sixteen. Too bad one of them has to go home after this. Hope it’s Kentucky, though. Connecticut, or Uconn as they are called, are the big favorite in the playoffs. They are the returning champions and have won their last 74 games, which is basically every game for the last two years. I don’t like the thought of the Huskers playing against them, but I don’t think the two will meet unless they both make it to the championship game. Okay, that’s not entirely true. I would kind of like to see that matchup. But we can't look too far ahead, first they have to get past Kentucky.

I know most of my readers are not basketball fans, I'm not either come to think of it, but this is what’s going on in my life right now, so I wanted to make a complete record of it.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.