Collideoscope

Posted by: David Bunch

Detestable weeds in my flower garden grow, defying my best efforts to assuage their momentum.
Desirable flowers die despite my pleadings-"Do your best and live. How this garden needs you."
Would curse the ground but it has already been cursed...
Soul soil also cultivates unruly weeds of misery.
Valuable spirit fruit is difficult to grow and impossible to buy.
Well that soiled soul twice cursed was once redeemed.

Posted by: Denelle

I love slate.com. Their articles and bloggers are usually very educated and witty.
Today, while looking around for something interesting to read, I stumbled across a blog entitled "Blogging the Bible." I clicked on the link and found myself reading a blog on the fourth and fifth chapters of Deuteronomy. Intrigued by what the author had to say and wondering what prompted this form of a blog I went in search of an answer. And here is what I found:

Like many lax but well-educated Jews (and Christians), I have long assumed I knew what was in the Bible more or less. I read parts of the Torah as a child in Hebrew school, then attended a rigorous Christian high school where I had to study the Old and New Testaments. Many of the highlights stuck in my head Adam and Eve, Cain vs., Abel, Jacob vs. Esau, Jonah vs. whale, 40 days and nights, 10 plagues and Commandments, 12 tribes and apostles, Red Sea walked under, Galilee Sea walked on, bush into fire, rock into water, water into wine. And, of course, I absorbed other bits of Bible everywhere from stories I heard in churches and synagogues, movies and TV shows, tidbits my parents and teachers told me. All this left me with a general sense that I knew the Good Book well enough, and that it was a font of crackling stories, Jewish heroes, and moral lessons.

So, the tale of Dinah unsettled me, to say the least. If this story was
strutting cheerfully through the back half of Genesis, what else had I forgotten or never learned? I decided I would, for the first time as an adult, read the Bible. And I would blog about it as I went along.

And so began the journey of David Plotz to read and blog his way through the Bible.

And This Applies to Me How?

I have to admit that I admire what he's doing.

Having grown up in church I often feel exactly the same David says he did. Of course I "know" things about the Bible. I even spent eight years memorizing large portions of it for Bible Quizzing. And yet, there are times when feel as if perhaps I don't know that much at all. I'll come across a story that I don't remember and I'm shocked by it's content. How is it possible to have truly been immersed in a religious culture all of my life and to still be so ignorant?

It is interesting that the passage of scripture that started Plotz on this journey (the story of Dinah - Genesis 34) is the same one that my siblings and I discussed in fascination just a year or so ago as we wondered why it is that as a religion we teach so strictly against lying, violence, revenge, etc . . . and yet the Bible is chocked full of examples of God-fearing, religious men who do exactly those things to accomplish their goals, often in the name of religion.

Plotz is currently entrenched in Deuteronomy - having already covered Genesis through Numbers - and his entries are entertaining, revealing and surprisingrelevantent as he strives to tie Biblical principals and instructions to today's world. His latest entry even discusses how Moses continually drives home the fact that the Jews are unfailingly monotheistic.

Now that I've discovered this blog I intend to continue following David's journey through the Bible. Maybe along the way I can even learn some more myself.

Posted by: David Bunch

Kevin Frank has brought the Gospel to the comic pages.

The strip, called "Heaven's Love Thrift Shop", made its debut in 15 American newspapers this month, with quotations from Scripture and characters talking about their faith. Though other comics occasionally address religious themes, mainstream newspapers and syndicates have largely avoided strips that make religion so central.

Kevin Frank, the strip's author, said his goal was "very simplistic, to remind people that there is a God and God loves them." To this end, he said, he planned to avoid "hot-button political issues, because even among people of faith those are divisive."

While I applaud Mr. Frank for boldly proclaiming the Gospel and getting the mass media to publish him, I really don't think I want simple. It seems to me that a more creative, intellectual, even non-overt method would be more likely to get noticed. I'm afraid too many non-believers will simply dismiss this cartoon strip as Christian propaganda.

I'm thinking of something more along the lines of a cutesy Calvin and Hobbes philosophy discourse, but with a God discovery at the conclusion...

Posted by: David Bunch

Thanks to Executive Editor Kent Curry for the book recommendation. Sounds like it has all of the elements of greatness: spirituality, poetry, intellectual stimulation, soul nourishment.

My book news today is not quite as heady and spiritual as Kent's, but promises to be fun nonetheless.

Peter Pan is on his way back! Here is The New York Times review of the first authorized sequel to J. M. Barrie's well renowned novel.

“Peter Pan in Scarlet” takes place in 1926, more than 20 years after Barrie’s play was first produced on the London stage. The Lost Boys are the Old Boys, and they and Wendy Darling have grown up. Wendy is a wife and mother, something of an artistic dilettante who writes poetry. Nana, the nursemaid dog, is dead, though one of her descendants lives. Meanwhile the group is troubled by strange dreams that have been leaking out of Neverland.

Come to think of it, I have never read Peter Pan. I've seen the cartoon of course, but never read the book. With the sequel's imminent release, I'm thinking a quick read through of the original followed by the sequel would be great reading for the fall and over the holidays.

Posted by: kdc

"...When I say my prayers, of course,
there is much to remember; when I begin to pray,
far more to forget..."
-Scott Cairns, Memento

I am steadily devouring Scott Cairns' Compass of Affection: Poems New and Selected. I hope to post a full review at ninetyandnine.com on Monday, but thought you should be alerted that - in case you thought it stopped being written about 300 years ago - quality Christian poetry is still being written today.

SOME BACKGROUND
I first came across Scott Cairns when I stumbled onto an interesting symposium on "Christianity and Poetry" about 3 years ago. He was clearly the senior member of the panel that the others defferred to, yet I had heard of none of them.

This past April I attended Calvin College's "Festival of Faith and Writing" and attended a session that Cairns shared with a Muslim poet, where he displayed an enviable depth. (See third bulletpoint.)

Now Paraclete Press has just released a high quality hardcover equal to the power of his poetry.


"...(desire) has led you here, where you adopt
the drape of love's body and find your own."
-Scott Cairns, Disciplinary Treatise: Grace

VERSATILE BLESSING
If you are the least inclined toward accessible, biblical verse, are looking for a supplement to your daily devotion, or want to get your favorite reader a nice gift, I recommend you give this title a careful examination. It's just liable to sharpen your faith and soothe your mind in the same perceptive sentence.

-Contributing Editor Kent d Curry

Posted by: David Bunch

Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.

The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.

The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.
Matthew 13:18-23

I like the way The Message version of this parable reads because it challenges me. You see, every time I have read this passage or heard it taught in the past, I have prided myself in being the "good soil". No stinking birds are going to steal the seed from me. No hot noonday sun is going to char the soil of my life into no seed planting potential. But The Message makes it clear that if in fact I am the good soil, that only means that I have a huge responsibility.

The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.

What?! So simply propping my feet up with my hands behind my head while waiting for seed to grow in what I happen to think is good soil in my life is not going to suffice? It is expected that the good soil is the person who hears, believes AND produces a harvest?

This convicts me to my core because it is the essence of Christ's message and therefore the crux of the Gospel. I simply cannot ignore the fact that Christ has redeemed me so that I will produce something for His Kingdom. I must produce something for His Kingdom.

To whom much is given, much is required.

Posted by: Denelle

Last week I wrote an entry commenting on New Orleans Mayor Nagin and his comments comparing the rebuilding of his city one year after hurricane Katrina and NYC's handling of the World Trade Center site.

I would first of all like to thank Stephanie (one of our readers who is from the New Orleans area) for taking the time to share her feelings on the same issue with me. While we may not always agree on issues or see eye to eye it is nice to be able to examine an issue from multiple viewpoints. It's that dialogue that helps to bring things into perspective.

Secondly, I would like to say that I in no way intended for that blog to make light of the ravages that Katrina wrought upon the Gulf Coast region. I have many friends and family members that live in the area and I know how much they have suffered.

It is not fair or right to draw comparisons between 9/11 and Katrina anymore than it is to do so between Katrina and the 2004 Tsunami (despite what Spike Lee may think). Different circumstances, different levels of devastation, different levels of warning and/or preparedness.

And someone in a position like Mr. Nagin's should know this.

I stand by my belief that Mayor Nagin overstepped his bounds when he started making jabs at New York. That kind of behavior is petty and mean-spirited and he should know better. Not to mention, his office demands a certain level of dignity that should inspire him to be above such behavior. Instead it comes across as trying to dodge a question and divert attention elsewhere so that he does not have to take responsibility for his own actions (or lack thereof).

I know we have a large number of readers who were affected by Katrina. As always, I would love to hear from more of you on this subject.

Posted by: Denelle

Are you ready?

**sorry, Blogger is having technical difficulties today.

Posted by: Denelle

Really, how did he ever manage to become, let alone stay, Mayor of New Orleans. He has his foot in his mouth so much of the time I'm amazed that he can even get it out long enough to make comments like his most this most recent one - a jab at New York City and the World Trade Center site.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin took a swipe at New York's development of the World Trade Center site on a TV news show.

Nagin claimed that much of the debris in the devastated Ninth Ward of New Orleans had been removed from public property.

When a "60 Minutes" correspondent pointed out flood-damaged cars on the streets, Nagin shot back, "You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later. So let's be fair."

Ummm yeah, because what happened here in New York five years ago and a predicted hurricane are so the same thing. Maybe it's because junked out cars sitting around in the streets are the same thing as the thousands and thousands of tiny little pieces of the human remains of the nearly 3,000 people who died on September 11th that are still being recovered from Ground Zero.

I don't think so.

Mr. Nagin, before you start making comments about NYC and how things are handled here perhaps you should actually take the time to clean up your city and make it inhabitable again. It seems to me that it would be a much better use of your time than blaming than trying to compare apples and oranges.

See, we may have a big hole in the ground but the rest of our city is functioning just fine. You obviously can't say the same.

Posted by: David Bunch

My niece gives me regular updates on how many of her friends have her in their top eight. Yea, some even have her in the top two. Some of the really good ones have her as number one. You have to realize, this positioning fluctuates daily. There is an outright competition to see who can land-and remain-in a popular pal's myspace top eight.

A single guy here at work was talking to a single gal from another floor of the building. Things were going great until he replaced her top eight position on his myspace page with another girl. She retaliated by deleting him from her friends list altogether, and now no longer acknowledges his existence. And they are thirtysomethings!

My wife reports that a local radio station morning show consisting of two males and one female host had a particularly heated show the other morning because the female spent the morning bemoaning the fact that she had been removed from the two guys' top eight. Callers were livid with the two nefarious men, and recommended that the lady remove them from her friends list altogether. These are adults!

So what is up with this myspace top eight rage? I mean come on, is it really that big of a deal? Should people really care whose top eight they are on (or off)?

This cultural phenomenon amazes me. First, I don't care if I'm on your top eight or not. Really. When I wake up in the mornings that is the last thing on my mind. Second, even in making that last statement this phenomenon is an indicator that despite all of the walls we construct, the masks we don, and the facades we hide behind, we all want to be accepted.

That includes me and my claim to top eight ambivalence.

Posted by: Denelle

Ever since the beginning of time mankind has tried to discover what makes some people so athletically gifted. The Ancient Greeks explained it away with tales of men like Achilles who (besides having good genes - aka part "god") were protected/gifted with other skills because of circumstance (in his case, being dipped in the River Styx).

Obviously Achilles is only a myth. However, from the ancient Olympians of old and warriors like Alexander, to more modern stories of men like Jesse Owens and Babe Ruth, one has to wonder if there is something that indeed sets them apart.

Advancing scientific techniques have given us a way to try and solve these mysteries. Eighty-five years ago, psychologists at Columbia University put Babe Ruth through a series of tests trying to determine what made him great.

And now science has turned their eyes to Albert Pujols.

Earlier this year Washington University scientists put Pujols through a series of tests similar to those that the Great Bambino underwent in 1921.


In fact, in some cases Pujols scored so high that the test makers couldn't even quantify his score.

GQ magazine will feature an article and some of the test results in its September issue.

Boy I'm sure glad he plays for the Cardinals and not say . . . the Astros.

Posted by: Denelle

It would seem that Bradley and I share a brain. Earlier this week we both referred to 90&9 as the "mothership". Unfortunately, this brain must not function all that well sometimes because it's taken me three days to realize it.

In case you haven't had the chance, check out these great photos of Bootcamp that have been added to the cover article on 90&9 this week. It sounds and looks like this was an amazing event.

Posted by: David Bunch

Fall is approaching. My favorite time of the year.

Every year about this time I reminisce fondly about the Fall of 98. It was a very good fall. My brother and I were both in college and were both dating the girls that are now our wives. And being the mature, romantic gentlemen that we were and are, we spent most of the fall playing.....Madden Football 98!

Oh yeah. Instead of studying for finals and being romantic.

And my brother, being the tech sort, knew how to manipulate the computer game to win. Every time. Literally, I went 1-105 that season.

A typical game went like this:

Steve (my brother) would choose the weakest team in the lineup that year. I would choose the best team in the lineup. After the first quarter in which my offense threw 4 interceptions, fumbled twice, punted once, and I cashed in my now-broken-from-being-thrown-in-anger gravis pad, I would call time out and go get a bowl of pretzels.

Quarter two would start with Steve making yet another great defensive play and scoring. I would then start to throw pretzels and yell about how stupid the game was and how I never wanted to play again.

Half time. I refill the pretzel bowl and pick up the remnants of last quarter's pretzel projectiles.

The second half mirrors the first half with broken game controllers and slung pretzels. Another stunning defeat for the strongest team in the league.

And yet today, I emailed Steve and asked him if we could play Madden again this fall, just for old time's sake.

And to my surprise, while waiting for his response, I then realized that Madden 2007 was released today.

It's going to be a great fall.

Posted by: David Bunch

In keeping with this week’s Top Ten Lists at 90&9, not to be outdone by co-bloggers, and in tribute to that ever incessant Collideoscope topic, here’s my contribution:

Top 10 Things To Love About Your iPod

10. You can use it to drown out the in-laws’ voices during those long family vacations.

9. If the music du jour at Starbucks isn’t doing it for you, no problem.

8. If the music du jour anywhere isn’t doing it for you, no problem.

7. What other cool tech gadget can be acquired simply by convincing your spouse that it will ensure your every success in that exercise routine that he/she has been bugging you about?

6. Addressing another person at high voice decibels is not considered rude if you do it with your ear buds inserted.

5. Addressing another person not at all is not considered rude if you do it with your ear buds inserted.

4. You can easily become “one of the crowd” for about $120 bucks. Forget that lavish clothing budget.

3. With your iPod playing, your propensity to talk to yourself can be dismissed as “just singing along”.

2. You can compose brilliant haikus about its grandeur.

1. You can relish in explaining to your parents that “It’s kinda like a Walkman but…”

Posted by: Denelle

1. Above all, it truly is a magical world.

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

In sticking with the "Top Ten" theme that the mothership is running this week, here are my "Top Ten Reasons You Know It's a Monday."

1. The alarm clock goes off and it's not the regular "bom, bom, bom" sound, but an evil "aahahahaha" laugh.

2. You get up to take the dog out and he's in the corner with a look that says, "It wasn't me that peed on the floor, Daddy, I promise! It must've been Mommy."

3. You fill up a big bowl with your favorite cereal and then realize there's no milk. You then wonder what Frosted Flakes would taste like covered in orange juice.

4. It's already 97 degrees at 8 AM and when you start your vehicle, your A/C decides to call in sick.

5. The traffic guy on the radio recommends staying home unless you have a helicopter.

6. You realize you forgot to put the trash out as the garbage truck runs you off the road.

7. a) You decide to call in sick, but then realize you have an important presentation at 10 AM.

7. b) You have an important presentation at 10 AM and you forgot what it is you're presenting.

8. There's a sign on the coffee pot in the break room that claims there is no regular coffee, only decaf.

9. You remember your presentation is along the lines of "why I should keep my job" but your PowerPoint slide show (which is all of two slides long) is on a network drive and the network is down until "around 10:05".

10. Your boss cancels your presentation and asks if you would mind moving your desk to the basement.

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

Thanks to the Boot Campers and NALC'ers for providing us with many insights to each event! Now, we'll try to get back to your regularly scheduled bloggers.

As many of you know (or have inferred from the title), Lee Ann over at Duct Tape, Dixie, And Me is a big fan of duct tape. So big, in fact, that she has created a Duct Tape Art Contest. Check out this post for the official rules and the unbelievably valuable prizes! Let me forewarn you, though, that I am planning on entering and taking first place, so don't go into the contest expecting to be crowned champion.

Posted by: Denelle

I've been trying to lay low the past few days and let our guest bloggers (thanks ArmyBrat and Liz) have the spotlight so they can bring you moment by moment posts.

But there is entirely too much going on in the world right now for me to just stay quiet.

JonBenet Ramsey

In a surprise twist that couldn't have been better written in a mystery thriller police announced yesterday that they were arresting American John Mark Karr in Thailand for the 1996 death of JonBenet Ramsey. The six year old's murder was the subject of constant media attention in the months following her death and even during the following years as the case grew colder. What I find most strange about this situation is that Karr has admitted that he was with JonBenet when she died and answered reporters question of whether he was an innocent man with a "no." However, he has not come right out and confessed to the murder and it leaves me wondering if perhaps there wasn't a second person involved. Moreover, Karr doesn't have any direct link to the Ramsey's, didn't live in Boulder, and shouldn't have had knowledge of the Ramsey's home (police have said that based on where the girl's body was found the killer was probably familiar with the floorplan of the house).

I'm always one for a good conspiracy theory but I simply think that there are still gaping holes in this case and in John Mark Karr's story. Perhaps over the next few days things will start to add up. But for now I'm still a skeptic.

Jill Carroll

I'm not even sure that people immediately recognize her name. However, once you make the connection it's hard to forget that this woman spent over 80 days as a hostage in Iraq. Jill has now composed a series of articles and interviews recounting her ordeal for the Christian Science Monitor (the paper she was working for when she was kidnapped). It is difficult to comprehend her treatment with what I think most of us immediately think of with kidnapping. Not that she wasn't terrified or that the situation could have changed at any moment. This is an excellent series and well worth reading/downloading. It is updated on a daily basis (I believe) continuing over the next week.

Other Stuff . . .

I wanted to talk about the tentative Cease Fire in Lebanon and the terror plots that were averted last week but that would make this post ridiculously long. So I'll save those for later.

As always feel free to share your thoughts on these subjects by replying below or emailing me.

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

What can I say? Soul Winners Boot Camp was the most incredible Apostolic experience of my entire life – aside from receiving the Holy Ghost for my self. From all that I heard announced, a total of 186 people were baptized in Jesus’ Name and 205 received the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in tongues! I can not stop thinking about soul winning! (If this is the first blog you are reading, please scroll down. The blogs pop up in the order they were written. Thanks.)

Everyone was given an opportunity to testify via video tape from a back room after the conference. I took my opportunity; I hope that I effectively communicated my gratitude to Bro. Matt Maddix, his staff, and all the boot campers. Thank you for showing me that every dream and vision is possible with God. You have given me restoration, confidence, and energy by providing the right atmosphere.

And there is one last group of people that I have to thank for the tremendous blessing they were in my personal life. If you read all of my blogs you will note a couple of times that I mentioned someone prayed for me, encouraged me, or helped me in some way, etc. On Sunday night my mind was completely blown away when I realized the truth. There were eight people that touched my life in a real way – and amazingly, they were all from the same church! The entire Hendricks family, along with Sis. Linda and Dena, Samantha, and every other person in their group showed me what being a soul winner was all about. It is about Love. Thank-you Covenant Apostolic Church of Cincinnati, OH! You have won my soul by showing me real love. You have given me the strength to come back and work the mission field with our church, Azusa Now. I love you all.

As for the Boot Camp Party, you will hear the awesome testimonies when you buy the entire set of Boot Camp DVDs at http://www.myhouseofprayer.com/. You can also sign up for Soul Winners Monthly where you will receive information and encouragement every month. I guarantee your life will be changed as God uses you to reach the lost. I highly recommend attending a Soul Winners Boot Camp; what you will receive is greater than any price you may pay to attend.

IN YOUR FACE DEVIL!

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

I didn’t make it to bed until 5:00am after Y’Bor City. What an incredible book of Acts experience. Sunday morning we had to be at the buses at 9:00am so that we could head over to the neighborhood for to set up.

I honestly did not want to be there. Many other boot campers must have felt the same way because when I came down only one of the 18 busses was full and ready to go... Regardless, I boarded the second bus in line. My physical body was feeling so drained I wasn’t sure if I’d make it. I drank a cold Starbucks Frappuccino and hoped it would kick in quickly. On the bus I pulled out my journal and began to write about Y’Bor City. Although I was tired, my mind was wide awake as I thought about the night before. I could barely sleep last night I was so excited, and my mind was full of plans for a testimony of the wonderful works of God. If I had the opportunity I would jump at the chance to testify at tonight’s service.

We arrived at the neighborhood and I found a seat on a bench in the shade. It was only 9:30 and I was dripping sweat. I didn’t have a problem with that of course, but I was mainly concerned with getting sunburned. Redheads and sun are a no-go. I decided to use the time and continue writing. After a while a woman sat down beside me. She looked kind of sick. She told me she was the fiancé of one of the bus drivers and that she had been coming to all of the events. We chatted for a while before she headed back to the bus to cool down.

As I wrote pretty much everyone else was busy setting up for the Party. A few people came over and asked why those of us sitting down weren’t helping out, but I did not explain, nor did I feel guilty – I was too exhausted to care.

Families began to flood the field. Chairs had been set up under a tent for the service portion of the party. The music was playing just loud enough. “Looking For You”, by Kirk Franklin, was one of the first songs to play. It is one of my favorites and it made me happy to hear it. Not long after that I saw something big and yellow out of the corner of my eye. Oh goodnes... It was the biggest snake I’ve ever seen in my life! And then there was a kid holding a smaller but still scary snake! My goodness I hope no one thinks we are snake-handlers! I had the hebegebes for a while after that.

I moved to the tent as the children’s service started. Kid’s had already won many prizes – bikes, toys, money, etc. Visitors had started lining up for free food and drinks. But now it was time for the real prize! I don’t know the name of the man who preached the children’s sermon, but he did an incredible job! I loved how he talked about baptizing a cucumber... After it is baptized the cucumber takes on a new name and identity as a pickle.

I also loved the helmet of salvation illustration. He brought up two volunteer children. Around one of their heads he wrapped some strong sticky tape. He put a helmet on the other kid’s head. He explained that without God the things that we see and hear get stuck in our minds. The sticky tape supported a toy gun, an old, empty, cigarette package, and some garbage. He then showed how those same items bounced off of the helmet. When we wear the helmet of salvation all the bad stuff bounces right off of us.

Then came the alter call. Many children and parents gathered around the platform and sought for the Holy Ghost. I headed to the front to pray with the children. Kids Prayer has a very special place in my heart. It is awesome to be there when the kids receive the Holy Ghost and are baptized in Jesus’ Name!

At the Super Kids Block Party, 49 were baptized in Jesus' Name and 35 recieved the Holy Ghost!

I myself was baptized in Jesus’ Name at age seven, and received the Holy Ghost at age eight. My life has not been perfect or easy, but I have been incredibly blessed of the Lord. For more information on Kids Prayer Ministry, visit www.kidsprayer.com

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

In case you were wondering, Y'Bor City in Tampa is similar to Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It is a popular area full of bars, clubs, and lost souls.

Around 2:00am 900 orange shirted boot campers arrived at Y’Bor City. As I exited my bus, a loud shout began... “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” We were loud and bold. Soon someone else started in with: “Ain’t No Party Like the Holy Ghost Party ‘Cause the Holy Ghost Party Don’t Stop!” Everyone joined.

We shouted as we walked the streets of Y’Bor. People started coming out of restaurants and bars to see what was going on. Some encouraged us smiling, clapping, and shaking our hands. Most had astonished expressions. What we were doing was unbelievable, powerful, and defiantly out of the ordinary. I of course pulled out my video camera and filmed those lucky onlookers as well as our large party. Within five minutes, I filmed the first woman I saw receiving the Holy Ghost. She was slain in the Spirit. A friend or possibly a relative of hers joined our crowd in clapping and worshipping God for the touch the woman had received. I feel Holy Ghost chills just writing about it.

As we walked and worshipped, not all of our responses were positive. Two young girls in heals pushed through our crowd. One stomped as she angrily cried out – “This isn’t fair. They shouldn’t be here!” An angry man complained that his friend was loosing business because of our crowd. We were causing quiet a stir after all. Later I saw something that broke my heart. It was a wide eyed man looking all around at the crowd. There was a prostitute on his arm pulling him into a dark ally. I could tell the man wanted to know what was going on. The woman looked possessed. Her eyes were solely on the man; she was doing everything she could to pull him away. Finally she did.

At exactly 2:38am all of us in orange shirts plus some who had joined from the streets kneeled down on the bricked sidewalks and began to intercede for the city. A few minutes later we resumed our victory march. Again we began to shout. A bar opened it’s doors and began to play “I’ll Fly Away”. I passed by many Holy Ghost filled soul winners as they spoke with hungry men and women about the power of God.

I saw a group of tough-looking Hispanic men standing near an inside corner of a store. Leaned against the corner was a big Hispanic man in a white undershirt. A thin Apostolic Hispanic in an orange shirt stood in front of the man speaking to him about the Lord. The lost man had a quiet look on his face as he listened. Large tears rolled down his face as a peace washed over him. As long as I live I will never forget the look on that man’s face. His eyes, windows to the soul, were wide open and ready to receive the same healing rain I had received a little more than an hour earlier.

We kept going. I shut off my camera so that I could freely participate in worship. I looked to my left and saw a line of young men standing beside their motorcycles. They were quiet as they watched us pass. I looked at their faces as I kept walking. I made eye contact with one of the men – he was near my age. He was standing perfectly still, like a solider in complete control standing in attention. I doubled back until I stood by his side. I pointed to him and said “You” as if I had just found what I was looking for. I doubled back until I stood by his side. “God wants you”, I said. He turned his head and looked at me. His head nodded very slightly and quickly. He showed no emotion. I could tell he was holding it in – maybe because of his friends. “Can I pray for you?” I asked? “No – I’m okay,” he answered. “No your not – there is something more for you.” He again gave a quick nod and resumed control. He held a Life Center Card in his hand. “Go to that church”, I said.

I had no choice but to leave him. My heart ached as it twisted inside with a burden for the man. I wept and prayed for him. He is my brother – I can feel it. Maybe it was my experience growing up surrounded by soldiers. His countenance was too familiar. He reminded me all too well of some of my personal ARMY friends. So tough, but so willing to give all they have for what they believe in. He just needs to know that he really believes. When he knows he will give his all. I don’t know his name, but I will continue to pray for him until I see him again.

I reached what looked to be a center square. A large set of steps was before me – full of boot campers. I took the side ramp up and around until I reached the top. I didn’t realize where I was until I saw Bro. Matt Maddix right in front of me. I hurriedly stepped back towards the right hand side. I pulled out my camera. Bro. Matt Maddix was on the soldiers of a large boot camper. He was holding a megaphone preaching to the crowd. Then we all started to sing. “This is How We Over Come”, “Awesome God”, and “Jesus I’ll Never Forget What You’ve Done For Me” were among the songs we sung.

I saw a big man in a white shirt come out of a dark building right in front of us. He was upstairs on the balcony. I put my camera on him. I must admit I had a fear that this man would put out a gun and shoot Bro. Maddix. I kept thinking about MLK -- what we were doing was big and making an impact. I began to pray protection around the incredible Man of God. Thankfully the man in the white shirt went back inside and did not come back out.

I turned my attention back to the middle of the top of the steps. A young man from the street had just come up. He threw his hands in the air as Bro. Maddix prayed for him to receive the Holy Ghost. Not long after the young man held the megaphone. “I’ve spent years of my life and studied hard to learn two new languages, but I’ve never spoke in tongues until tonight!” (If I’ve got everything straight, this was the young man came back to the hotel with us and was baptized in Jesus’ Name).

We stayed, wept, and prayed for about two hours. There were police there blocking off the streets. Again everyone hit their knees. The Lord led me to pray for a boot camper. The young man obviously had a calling on his life that was being reconfirmed to him.

What I have just shared are the events that most readily stuck out in my mind about our trip to Y’Bor City. There was a recorded 15 to recieve the Holy Ghost and 1 to be baptized in Jesus' Name because of this event. There is no possible way to tell every work of God that occurred that night. What we had just done through the Holy Ghost was recorded in the book of Acts that will someday be read in Heaven.

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

I walked into a packed conference room. WOW! Over 900 people in orange shirts were worshiping like crazy all over the place! I found a seat on the left hand side in the middle. I pulled out my camera, stood on my chair and got some awesome footage of Throne-Room worship!

I sat down next to a lady who looked a little familiar... Hey, she was the same lady that handed me a water earlier this afternoon! She introduced herself as Linda and asked me some questions about myself. When she found out my dad was a home missions pastor she immediately began to speak words of life to me; knowing no details she spoke directly into my situation. I wept under the power of the Holy Ghost. This is what I’ve been praying for. She put her arms around me and began to pray with me. I told her some specific needs I had and she prayed. I did not hear one thing that was said at the Tag-In. The Love of God was louder than the music, shouting, microphones, and everything else. I was aware of no one but God and Linda.

Slowly the weight of everything I had brought with me began to lift off of my shoulders. A peace came over me, but there was still pain in my heart – I told her so. “That pain”, she said, “will leave tonight when you replace it with rejoicing in the joy of the Lord.” Though it still hurt, I can’t remember the last time I felt so much peace in my heart.

1:30 AM It was time to head to the busses. I was on number 15. A girl from Linda’s church was assigned the same number. Linda introduced us and I planned on meeting up with Linda and her group once we arrived at Y’Bor City. I was ready to see what God was about to do.

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

Finally I was safely back to my room. To be honest I was feeling more than just overheated and tired when I got there. I mentioned in an earlier blog about being a part of a home missions church. What I did not mention was that my father is the pastor and our entire family has been engaged in major spiritual and physical battles. The burden and brokenness had followed me to BootCamp. I knew I had come for a personal touch and healing from God. I had to have it – if not I would never survive going back home. The first two days of BootCamp had been awesome, but as my physical body tired, the weakness of my emotions and spirit became obvious to me. The high of Friday was matched with its low on Saturday.

I was battling feelings of loneliness, rejection, and depression. I didn’t understand how I could be feeling so low while surrounded by such miracles! Yesterday was incredible – why the spiritual attack today? The weight was too much for me. I thought the yoke was suppossed to be easy and the burden light – why am I dreading going back? “God please send me someone who will make me feel a part of this – someone to make me feel loved.” I cried and prayed myself to sleep.

I woke up after a three hour nap – physically energized, but still broken. “Jesus, please put someone in my path. I can not go home like this. I want to be 100% a part of what is going on here. Please God, please help me.” My roommates came back. They told me about the awesome BBQ food and passing out backpacks to the homeless. Their testimonies were great, but I was still struggling inside. They prayed for God to bless me. I prayed with all the faith I had that God would deliver me.

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

Boot campers marched to the Party in the Park for a time of giving, singing, and preaching. It didn’t take long for Apostolics to start talking to the homeless, praying them through to the Holy Ghost, and baptizing them in Jesus’ Name. There was a recorded 63 baptized in Jesus' Name and 88 that recieved the Holy Ghost at the Party in the Park! Amazing! Overcomers!

I stayed at the park for a little over an hour. A smiling lady handed me a water. "That was nice of her", I thought. Unfortunately I was feeling sick from the heat and a lack of sleep, so I decided to find someone to walk me back to the hotel. Of course I couldn’t find anyone so I walked as fast as I could until I caught up with the first orange-shirted guy headed back. His name was Luke and thankfully he said he didn’t mind if I walked with him.

Posted by: David Bunch

Note to Collidescope readers: never follow Dave's book collecting advice.

When I blogged the month of April at A Month in My Life, I had this to say about snapping up the book written by Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan, in which it is alleged she committed gross plagiarism.

There was a 100,000 copy first printing of her book. As the publisher is going to issue a new edition omitting the questionable passages, and as there is a movie deal in the works, my advice is to try to snatch up one of those 100,000. Maybe one day they will be considered collectors items.

Rounding out this saga over the weekend, author Paul Collins posted two links at his Weekend Stubble blog showing the change in the ebay prices of this book (posted under "The Plagiarism Remainder Table"). One link shows the former "buy now" price in which someone who owned the book must have agreed with me and asked $200 for the book. The second link shows the current going price of a whopping $.99.

Better luck to me next time.

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

The Back to School Bash was unbelievable. I was told that 1,600 visitors joined us at the park. God's hand orchestrated every thing that happened – all the way down to the teen who won the laptop! I personally had a great time during the whole event. The music was awesome – thanks to Down To Earth. The people were friendly and every person I talked to had a smile on their face... Well everyone except the kids who had to dunk their heads in soured milk during Freak Factor. I felt sick just watching them!

Towards the end of the Bash the preacher got up and lead people to Jesus Christ and receiving the Holy Ghost. Immediately people all over the park began to lift their hands and voices as they received the gift of the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in tongues. The power of God was strong and everyone was aware of His Presence. I walked through the crowds with my digital video recorder – I couldn’t stop crying and interceding as I filmed hungry souls finding their Savior.

One boy in particular stood out to me. He must have been around 18 or 19 years old. He had on glasses and trendy clothes. When I saw him he was lying on the ground with his hands raised up in the air and he was speaking in tongues as the Spirit of God gave the utterance. The anointing upon him was so powerful, I stopped recording and bowed on my knees praising God.

I was later told that a recorded 73 people were baptized in Jesus’ Name that night, and 67 received the Holy Ghost! Praise God!

The following was taken from my journal. I wrote just before leaving the park.

“I can not find the words to express what I am feeling. At the moment I am writing in my journal sitting under a tree beside a fountain that is full of Apostolic young people baptizing and praying with lost souls. Many people have been cleansed of their sins tonight – and it is still happening. They are receiving the Holy Ghost all over the park.

“My heart is torn in two. Every experience I have had with God (aside from receiving the Holy Ghost and being baptized in Jesus’ Name for myself) pales compared to this. I will never be the same. I see how much life is not about me. I am awakened to the fact that I have no comprehension of the Power of God. I am humbled in the presence of these prayers.

“People came tonight for something to do. They came to win a prize and eat free food while enjoying great music, but THIS – THIS is what tonight was about. These are the people that were hungry for something more; something they didn’t even know exists.

“What I am seeing right now is the most Apostolic experience I have ever had. Through prayer, God has allowed culture and spirituality to mix for the right atmosphere of loving comfort and God-fearing conviction. Humanity is invisible here. God is everything.”

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

Just prior to the Back to School Bash Bro. Hendricks met with bootcampers to teach on effective communication while praying people through to the Holy Ghost. I took some notes... here is what I've got.

1. Have Fun
2. Meet as many people as possible
3. Breakdown the walls so you can communicate
4. Build a Connection

During the alter call, put yourself in the place of a sinner. People beside you don't know how to pray. Let them hear you repent. Open your eyes and ears; if they arn't repenting help them. The preacher will also be leading in repentance. Then rejoice after God has forgiven you of your sins - be excited! We are also going to lead in baptism. Tell your person about when you were baptized. Ask them 'Wouldn't you like to leave here tonight knowing your sins arn't held against you?' You need to get a commitment from therm.

The preacher will again start talking about the Holy Ghost, and you will show everyone you have it! Talk to your person about how awesome recieving the Holy Ghost is. We are going to raise our hands and people all over the park are going to recieve the Holy Ghost for the frist time. When the person beside you starts speaking in tounges encourage them and then hold up both of your hands in a thumbs up -- there will be so many hands raised we won't be able to tell you apart with out the signal. We will send out someone wiht a piece of paper and a pen to take down their information.

Don't let anyone that recieves the Holy Ghost or gets baptized leave without getting their name and contact information. If you're next to someone who wants to recieve the Holy Ghost lay your hands on their had. Use the authority of the Holy Ghost that is in you. If they want to be baptized climb into the fountain with them and baptize them. There will be too many baptisms for a handful of ministers to do all the baptizing.

Posted by: Boot Camper

Yesterday (Friday) was so increadible but also jam packed, which explains why I'm just getting to blogging right now. The morning sessions with Bro. Maddix were full of practical applications and he talked about the 7 attitudes for soulwinning. After the sessions, everyone that was under 25 was able to go to the high schools and pass out invitations for the Back to School Bash. The rest of us were encouraged to take the time to walk around the area and pass out cards and make connections.
We went to eat with our pastors and some friends and I must confess that I took a nap afterwards. Later that afternoon we blitzed the neighborhood and headed to the park in a massive group. I'll upload some pictures as soon as I can because it was AMAZING to see such a huge group of people walking down the street. Boot Camp's Back to School Bash had over $10,000 in prizes and that, plus the free pizza, drew a large crowd. The teens could register to win an ipod, xbox, money, or a Mac book. Down to Earth did a great job keeping the crowd pumped up with songs from Switchfood like "Dare you to Move" and "Meant to Live". Ryan Johns then led us in DC Talk's "Jesus Freak".
At the offset of the concert, they mentioned that Jesus loved everyone but after that, not one word was mentioned about church, religion or Pentecost. The teens participated in Freak Factor where they ate worms, pickled pigs feet and cow testicles. Disgusting! Throughout the entire bash they were giving away money and prizes.
Around 9:30, Bro. Shelly Hendricks came to the stage and led the crowd in a prayer of forgiveness and then we all started praying with people for the Holy Ghost. It was one of the most awesome moments of my life to see Apostolic teens baptizing other teens in a fountain one after the other. Pastor Maddix had told us that there weren't enough people to baptize everyone and we had the power in us to do it. Around midnight, over 60 people had received the Holy Ghost and I believe over 70 were baptized.
We all met together at midnight and testified of God's power. Even though I was exhausted, none of us wanted to leaved the Spirit we were feeling. I need to rest though because Saturday, we're not getting back to the hotel until 4am.

Posted by: Boot Camper

Yesterday (Friday) was so increadible but also jam packed, which explains why I'm just getting to blogging right now. The morning sessions with Bro. Maddix were full of practical applications and he talked about the 7 attitudes for soulwinning. After the sessions, everyone that was under 25 was able to go to the high schools and pass out invitations for the Back to School Bash. The rest of us were encouraged to take the time to walk around the area and pass out cards and make connections.
We went to eat with our pastors and some friends and I must confess that I took a nap afterwards. Later that afternoon we blitzed the neighborhood and headed to the park in a massive group. I'll upload some pictures as soon as I can because it was AMAZING to see such a huge group of people walking down the street. Boot Camp's Back to School Bash had over $10,000 in prizes and that, plus the free pizza, drew a large crowd. The teens could register to win an ipod, xbox, money, or a Mac book. Down to Earth did a great job keeping the crowd pumped up with songs from Switchfood like "Dare you to Move" and "Meant to Live". Ryan Johns then led us in DC Talk's "Jesus Freak".
At the offset of the concert, they mentioned that Jesus loved everyone but after that, not one word was mentioned about church, religion or Pentecost. The teens participated in Freak Factor where they ate worms, pickled pigs feet and cow testicles. Disgusting! Throughout the entire bash they were giving away money and prizes.
Around 9:30, Bro. Shelly Hendricks came to the stage and led the crowd in a prayer of forgiveness and then we all started praying with people for the Holy Ghost. It was one of the most awesome moments of my life to see Apostolic teens baptizing other teens in a fountain one after the other. Pastor Maddix had told us that there weren't enough people to baptize everyone and we had the power in us to do it. Around midnight, over 60 people had received the Holy Ghost and I believe over 70 were baptized.
We all met together at midnight and testified of God's power. Even though I was exhausted, none of us wanted to leaved the Spirit we were feeling. I need to rest though because Saturday, we're not getting back to the hotel until 4am.

Posted by: Boot Camper

Finally! I'm blogging for the very first time and I realize that I'm completely computer illiterate. I'm so sorry Kent for bothering you and I'm sure this would be simple as pie for anyone that uses the computer for anything other than Microsoft Word or email. I guess I should introduce myself so, drum roll please.... My name is Sharenda Barlar and I live in beautiful Chicagoland with my husband, Jonathan and daughter, Claire. WE ARE AT SOULWINNERS BOOTCAMP!!! We brought 17 from our church and I must say that Boot Camp is everything I expected it to be and more.Yesterday was a LOOONG day mainly because of the terrorist precautions. We got the notice about the liquids in our carry-ons so we had no problems checking in. We were patting ourselves on the back about our good fortune and uneventful travels until we arrived to our gate and sat there for 2 hours. We finally arrived in beautiful St. Pete 3 hours late and had our first "boot camp" experience. A yellow unairconditioned yellow school bus picked us up and remember, we're in Florida. Trust me, we were just glad to be here. We made it to service on time and it was packed!Let me just take a moment to say how proud I am of our youth group. My husband and I showed our youth group the Boot Camp dvds in February and we decided then to make plans to attend this year. We started teaching Bible Studies and challenged all of our youth to teach a Bible Study and to raise money to go to Florida. We've been doing fundraisers and teens have been teaching Bible Studies left and right. Several have taught more than 5 since March! Anyway, we came expecting God to do a mighty work and it was so exciting to see over 900 people here last night with the same expectation.Bro. Haney, our great superintendent, built everyone's faith during his sermon. Bro. Matt Maddix is doing something so out of the box that some have been known to criticize his techniques, but it was encouraging to hear Bishop Haney get behind him and his efforts. Last night was not a "traditional" Pentecostal service and that was so refreshing. The music was fresh and young, and the band was fantastic. After Bro. Haney spoke, we sang some more and Bro. Anthony Mangun spoke and brought us to our knees. While Bro. Haney's message built our faith, Bro. Mangun spoke of our passion and finding our purpose in life. It was so increadible to see so many people on their faces seeking God's will for their life.Unlike some other UPC events where the halls are full of people catching up with each other, the sessions here are packed! I'm not criticizing the hall wanderers because I've been known to do that too, but everyone came to Boot Camp with a desire to see results. Also, there are no politics, preliminaries, or announcements which is so refreshing.At 10 pm we were served Subway and chips and let me say that the Boot Camp staff has been MOST accomodating and they really model true servanthood. As can be expected, there were a few registration kinks but they have thought of just about everything.At midnight we met to prep for the following day. I'm so excited to minister to homeless and see how Pastor Maddix's team pulls off a Back to School bash. They're expecting 5000 students at the bash tomorrow. Right now though, I've got to get some sleep!

Posted by: Liz

More to come later, but this right here? We couldn't have hoped for a better ending to Friday night.


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Meet Norma. Norma's daughter Missy and her family have attended our church faithfully for the last three years. Norma had never been to a Pentecostal service before she came to this conference with our ladies group.

Norma will never be the same!

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

400 Boot Campers were bused to various schools around St. Pete today in order to invite High Schoolers to the Back to School Bash at South Staub Park.

I sat in my seat on bus #5 anticipating the outreach. On the way to our school, Boot Campers were asked to testifiy of the Power of God in their lives. Several spoke of their deliverence and how much they've grown in God. Some were addicted to Cocaine and other drugs and now they are preaching the Gospel. The testimonies were full of life, power, and annointing. Many others, like myself, spoke on boldness. Some of the comments made were: "Don't let the devil hold you back." "Look at me, I was always too shy to stand up and speak to others, but when the Holy Ghost calls, it is worth every sacrifice to obey." "Opposite of fear is love." "Don't be afraid to pray for someone or baptise them tonight." "I especially want to encourage the girls. You can do something for God. You are a voice. We are all custom made. God made you to be you for a specific purpose.Your ministry will fit you as if it is a custom made suit." "In your face devil."

We also sang and prayed over the cards that we were about to pass out. The Holy Ghost moved in the bus and imparted boldness to everyone. Finally, it was time. School was out and we had permission to stand on the sidewalks in front of the school and pass out invitations. "We are having a Back to School Bash tonight. We will be giving away laptops, IPODS, cash, and food. We have a live band, and you will have a chance to be a part of Freek Factor and win prizes. We will see you there tonight."

There were many positive responses. "Yeah, I heard about this on TV! I'll take some cards and pass them out at the mall." " I'll be there; I'm going to win me a laptop." " Yeah, I'll eat a worm for an IPOD." "Hey, What's with this? How did you get the money to do all this?"

To answer that question, "We are with the Life Center. Hundreds of churches and individuals from around the country donated the funds for this event." You can be a part of reaching the lost in this aggressive movement. Simply log on to www.myhouseofprayer.com for more information.

Toward the end of our outreach, the devil showed up in the form of irrate security guards. " We told you to stay on the sidewalk, you cut through the school and are holding up my traffic! I've got to protect these kids. Stand back!"

In reality we did not cut through the campus. About 5 guys from our bus ran the perimeter of the school property in order to reach students leaving from the back of the school. Some students had carried cards back inside and had begun to pass them out to their friends. Regardless of the truth, and out of respect for the security guards, we backed up and headed to the bus. Our misson was complete; our bus alone had reached several hundred people.

Hundreds are expected to show up at tonight's Back to School Bash. Modern, Rock, and Contempary Christian music will be performed by Down To Earth, a youthful apostolic band. Freak Factor will draw the nerve out of many, and possibly the food from some onlookers. More than all of this, the Power of God will deliver, Baptisms in Jesus name will take place, and many will be filled with the Holy Ghost. Lost souls will find a stable way of living tonight. Generations will be effected.

Before all of this can happen, Boot Campers will meet in the conference room for the Tag-In. Bro. Shelly Hendricks will be coaching us on how to effectively pray with the lost and lead them to an upper room experience.

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

I must admit, I skipped session 1 to walk across the street to Publix for some food. I hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon and I was quite famished. Although my food may have been lacking, my exersise was not (but it's Boot Camp what do you expect?)

The Hilton's 3 elevators are consistantly full. Many times they are filled beyond the weight limit. It can take over 10 minutes to get an elevator. Yesterday, instead of waiting patiently to get a ride down to the lobby, I headed to the stairwell in my wedged shoes. Tens floors down I ended up in the hotel kitchen smiling at the cook. "Can I please cut through. I promise it won't happen again." He seemed amused and had mercy. I found my way through the maze of dining rooms back to the lobby. I was just happy to make it to the ground floor.

Last night I again became tired of waiting and found a new set of stairs. I have never seen so many eager Pentecostals waiting in line to climb up a set of stairs. At first sight of the crowd I thought there was another elevator. Needless to say, going up 10 flights of stairs still in my wedged shoes is not a breeze. I was smoked when I made it to the top, but no one said Boot Camp would be easy.

After my escapade to the grocery store I finally made it down to the last session. Matt Maddix taught on the 7 attitudes of a Soul Winner. This is a "must buy" sermon.

Three Attitude Killers:
1.Bitterness
2.Being Offended
3.Unforgiveness

How to Defeat Your Enemy:
1.Positive Attitude
a. prayer
b. hanging out with positive people
2.Attitude of Purity
3.Attitude of Excellence
4.Attitude of Kindness
5.Attitude of Giving
6.Attitude of Aggressivness
7.Attitude of Faith

You've got to buy this sermon!

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

9am - 9:45am Session One M. Maddix
10am -1045am Session Two M. Maddix
11am-12am Questions and Answers M Maddix
1pm School Evanelism Blitz/Lunch
6:30pm Boot Camp Tag In S. Hendrix
7pm Back to School Bash set up
8pm Back to School Bash begins
1am Boot Campers return to the hotel

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

Posted by: Liz

My roommates and I stayed up until 6am this morning solving the problems of the world with powdered doughnuts. Finally we crashed, and about 10:00 there is a knock on the door "You girls got to change rooms now, there's a VIP scheduled to be in your room."

Literally, we moved everything across the hall in about 5 minutes. The room is still a suite, but what an awakening.

What's that scripture about not setting yourself at the high place at a feast lest you be asked to step down so a higher person can take your place?

Pardon me while I go brush my teeth now...

Posted by: David Bunch

A frequent topic here at Collidescope is the ever ubiquitous iPod. Some day I want to write either an essay or an extended blog on how I see the iPod as the metaphor for our cultural idiosyncrasies, but for today I want to bring you two news items regarding iPods.

Terrorism Threat Halts iPod Use
Amidst all of the concern for security and ensuing travel woes today, there's this quote from one weary passenger.

Hannah Pillinger, 24, seemed less concerned by the announcement. "Eight hours without an iPod, that's the most inconvenient thing," she said.

Hmmm.....safely arriving at my destination worries me not.

iPod Blue Jeans
The tech blogs are chattering about Levi's jeans teaming up with Apple computer to bring us the Redwire DLX Jean.

The small pocket has a clickwheel to control the iPod. A long red ribbon attached to the inside of a pocket, seems to work as a bungi chord to prevent accidental iPod drops to the floor, and that retractable earphone piece is way too bulky to work for me.

I can see it now...the jeans hit the market, become the trend, and then we have another terror alert.

"We are asking all passengers wearing the DLX jeans to please remove them and plan to be without them for the remainder of the flight."

Just a security precaution, of course.

Posted by: Liz

My friend Chris and I followed Sis Cobb around like groupies trying to get a picture with her. She was so kind to oblige.

Dr Bro Hughes's message was so valuable at a time when more families are dysfunctional than not. He reached a place in my heart I did not realize was there. How can I best say this? As a minister's wife, it becomes easier to put aside my issues and help others, but there comes a time when my walls need to come down and find that safe place at the feet of Jesus. I came away from that session challenged to be intimate with God.

Sis Hopkins - let me tell you. She knows how to make it plain. She challenged us to talk about the standards of holiness that we hold dear as separation to Christ without being self-righteous to those that we must deal with in the world. The most life-applicable statement that she made was "Is what we stand to lose worth a pair of scissors and a vial of hair dye?"

I don't want to live my life seeing how close can I get to the edge of the world and still make it to heaven and sit on the platform.

I ask you today, is what we stand to lose worth (insert current straddling the fence issue here)?

Shoo, gurls, I got to stop 'fo I step on some open-toed shoes. Blog out.

Posted by: Liz

Without regurgitating the evening service, it was an incredible start to this conference. The focused prayer flowed right into the worship service. I know it's all about the Lord, but the highlight was Jacksonville Anointing Hands of Praise. The red gloves were a great change, and the team sincerely worshipped while they signed/expressed/mimed (take your pick).

Sis Wendell's message was so heartfelt and encouraging. How strengthening to hear her memories and examples of a life of faith, knowing that God has chosen us to live in this time of the return of Jesus Christ.

The girls are pretty excited about the blog thing goin' on here, so everytime something funny happens, they're all "Hey, put that on the blog"

So, say hello to a few other shoes.

Posted by: Liz

Hi! I’m Liz, otherwise known as “The Shoe” who comments on Duct Tape, Dixie, and Me, and A Month In My Life. I’m 20 something none of your business, married to the greatest preacher I know, and we are PAR-TAY-ING at NALC 2006.

Knowing that I will be carrying all of my luggage by myself since this is a Ladies Conference, therefore my husband is at home, I packed pretty light. Well, light for me. I schemed and planned my outfits around 4 total pairs of shoes, remembering that 2 years ago, we walked. And walked. Everywhere. Usually I’m the “beauty over comfort” shoe type of person, but at conferences like this, that’s just impractical. Besides, escalators and pointy heeled shoes don’t mesh with an affirmed klutz.

NALC 2004 was such a great time, we started planning to go to this year’s conference several months ago. We brainstormed ways to make it easier and more comfortable for everyone. We’re trying to avoid the restaurant scene as much as possible. Our rooms have refrigerators, and we brought a microwave. Here's some pictures of our sweet suites, and they’re supposed to be rather close to the convention center. After your eyes glaze over with jealousy, please visit the altar to repent.















The schedule looks promising. Plenty of time allowed before service for the preliminaries, so we can enter into the presence of the Lord without interruption. I still plan to be there for the prelims so I can get a great seat.

I hope you’ll enjoy seeing NALC through my eyes, and trust that next time – you won’t be reading about it, you’ll be there.

Posted by: HelpSaveSam

I'm headed down to St. Petersburg, FL and SoulWinners Boot Camp! August 10-13 we will be ministering to over 15,000 people, giving away over $15,000 worth of gifts to teens and children, and feeding over 9,000 people! How does Matt Maddix and his team make this all happen? I can't wait to find out...

Posted by: Denelle

Just wanted to give all of the readers of Collideoscope a heads-up to the fact that we may have a few guest bloggers this week blogging for us live from the Soul Winner's Boot Camp and the North American Ladies Conference. So check back often to see what exciting news they have to report.

Posted by: David Bunch

I'm back. It was a great if not a whirlwind trip. My family and I went to Southern Indiana to introduce my 6 month old son to my grandparents (his great grandparents). We had a great time and it was very worthwhile.

Interesting Sports Note
In Louisiana, if you stop at any store within our borders there is LSU Tiger memorabilia for your perusal and purchase. Naturally, I thought that this was the case everywhere. Wrong. Being an Indiana Hoosier basketball fan, I thought it would be nice to treat myself to a coffee mug or ball cap while I was in the area. The area meaning 20 MINUTEs from the IU campus. Literally, I found one piece of IU basketball memorabilia and it was a paper weight tucked away in the back of a gift shop at an Amish restaurant. And I thought they took their basketball seriously up there.

Interesting Blog Note
This week here at Collidescope we will have live guest bloggers from The Soul Winning Boot Camp and the North American Ladies Conference. Check back often to see what's going on and to hear more from your regular hosts!

Godspeed to all.

Posted by: Denelle

(and 10 points for the first person who can identify the band that sang that song)

Believe it or not, I started to put together this blog around 10 am this morning. However, I obviously got side tracked along the way. I'd like to say it was because I was really busy doing really important legal stuff at work. But it wasn't. I'm simply easily distracted and the internet can prove very distracting.

Is Breaking News Always a Good Thing?

Reuters has retracted photos published over the weekend that exaggerated the results of an Israeli missile strike on Beirut. After several bloggers commented that the pictures looked as if they had been altered the news agency launched an investigation and reached the same conclusion. The freelance photographer who took the pictures maintains that he did not intentionally alter them.

All of this comes on the heels of blogger speculation earlier last week that Lebanese/Arab photographers were staging photos to make the Israeli aggression appear worse than it really is. Those claims surround pictures of dead children (taken by the same photographer) in the village of Qana in southern Lebanon.

Which leads me to ask, if credible new agencies don't have the time to check out a story's source or to verify the validity of photos or video before releasing that information to the public, is the demand for immediate news coverage getting out of hand? I'd rather wait 10 hours for correct information than to have a story 30 minutes after the even that is full of fallacy. But maybe that's just me.

A First Time For Everything

It suddenly dawned on me this morning that we've yet to discuss the controversy currently swirling around the Tour de France and its winner (or maybe not) - Floyd Landis.

I'll be the first to admit that I was a bit surprised to hear that an American cyclist (and one that I'd never heard of) had won this year's race. But I'm no great fan of cycling and so I just sort of shrugged and forgot about it. But almost immediately the doping allegations started being thrown at Landis and sure enough his blood tests came back positive. Landis maintained that he was innocent and that his body simply produced higher levels of testosterone than most men. So a second sample was tested, all the while Landis was maintaining his innocence.

Well, the second set of results came in on Saturday and they too tested positive for a synthetic (meaning it ain't your body producing it Floyd) testosterone. Landis has since been dumped by his cycling team and all but officially stripped of the Tour de France yellow jersey. Yet, he still maintains he has done nothing wrong.

And I really want to believe him. After all, at this point what does he have to gain by lying? His career is over, his reputation is in shreds, nobody really believes that he didn't do drugs, so why keep lying about it? He'd probably come out better if he said that yes, he'd used a performance enhancer. But I live in America, land of the "I did not inhale" defense, where our national pastime is baseball and their motto is "I've never used steroids no matter what my drug tests, trainer, fellow teammates, unnaturally large arms, and unbelievably high batting records say," a land where athletes will testify under oath before a senate committee that they've never used drugs and then get busted for it just months later (and yes I'm looking at you Rafael Palmeiro).

So, I'm sorry Floyd but I have to assume (until you can prove otherwise) that you did in fact use some form of drugs to help you win and that you got caught and your first instinct was to deny it and now you don't know how to dig yourself out of that hole. My suggestion . . . start with a very sincere and humble apology and a confession of what you did. Then you'll just be a cheat instead of a cheat and a liar.

And Finally

Because what day is complete without a little entertainment news, I bring to you the latest in the drama of the McCartney/Mills divorce. British tabloids are reporting that over the weekend when Mills arrived to pick up their daughter from McCartney's London residence she was met at the door and told she wasn't welcome in the house and she would have to meet Paul in St. Regent's park to pick up the little girl. When Mills returned to the house after picking up her daughter she found that the locks on the gate had been changed and so she promptly called a locksmith to change them back (mind you, she doesn't live there) but McCartney's security people stopped the locksmith and sent Mills on her way. On Friday, the NYPost reported that McCartney had fired seven people from his New York office because they were closely connected to Mills and he is attempting to sever all ties with her. He has even gone so far as to pull out of a performance for her pet charity Adopt-a-Minefield.

Poor Paul.

I guarantee he never expected this when he married Heather. After all, he'd been so happy for so long with Linda. He probably never realized that the world was full of such crazy and greedy women. I can guarantee that next time he'll listen to his children before he pops the question again (and I guarantee there will be a prenup). In the meantime, hang on, this has all the markings of an ugly and long divorce battle.

Posted by: Denelle

A quick FYI: 90&9 will be blogging live from "The Commune-ity" (formerly NAYWC) in Kansas City today and tomorrow. Check out their live reports over at the Month in My Life blog.

Advice for the Day

Never ever take a vacation day on a Thursday so that you have to return to work on Friday. It's awful.

I did have a wonderful time yesterday though.

My mom, sister and I went to Philidelphia to visit Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. They were flying out of Philly and we figured it would be fun to squeeze those sites in and since they're free it was an even better deal. It was rather amazing to stand in the same rooms where so much of the United States' history was made. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Philly-Cheesesteak that I had at Jim's on 4th and South. I think they should open a Brooklyn location, while I couldn't eat 12 1/2 in one sitting (like the kid who holds the record) I'm sure I'd be able to keep them in business.

The Weekend Ahead

I have nothing planned for this weekend. In fact, I hope to do as little as possible. Maybe watch some Saturday morning cartoons, make breakfast, take a nap . . . obviously nothing of great importance. Hey, the don't call them the lazy days of summer for nothing.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Posted by: Bradley McDonald

I've always been enamored with photography, especially photographs of nature and rural life. That's why this article on NPR's site caught my attention.

William Chritsenberry is an artist who grew up in Alabama and now lives and teaches in Washington DC. About 40 years ago, he returned to Alabama to take pictures of structures strung out over the countryside, to aid in his painting career. He had no idea the pictures he took with a small camera that had no focusing device would make such an impact.

"I'd go into that landscape, what I call the landscape of my childhood, and make these snapshots. Never did I dream that years later, the world of fine-art photography would see something in these," Christenberry says.

Christenberry still makes the trip to Alabama every year to photograph the same places, although his camera has gotten a little more advanced. Some of these pictures remind me of the countryside around my parents' childhood homes, in small-town Louisiana.


"What I really feel very strongly about, and I hope reflects in all aspects of my work, is the human touch, the humanness of things, the positive and sometimes the negative and sometimes the sad," Christenberry says.



Do a google image search on William Christenberry for more images.

Posted by: kdc

Okay, some spellings may be wrong, but the information isn't!

Intermediate Champ: Atlantic I

Experienced Division

Undefeated Winner: (Toledo) OH I
2nd - Western II (Manticca, CA)
3rd - (Kokomo) Indiana I
4th - (Buford) GA I

High Scorer - Lindsay Patriso (OH I)
Runner Up - Richard Smith (GA I)

Coach of the Year - Cheryl Jean (Salem, IL)

Quizzer of the Year - Danny Barbara (Western II)
Runners Up: 1st - Richard Smith (GA I); 2nd - Chaela Jean (IL); 3rd - Lindsay Patriso (OH I); 4th - Alecia Stevens (MICH)

Congratulations to you all!

Posted by: kdc

Okay, a bit late but Round 1 results look like this:

Undefeated - Toledo, OH 1

Western 2
Indiana 1 (Kokomo)
Ohio 2 (Cinci)
Georgia 1

Yes, we don't know where Western & GA are from. Sorry.

We also heard the Devotions ranged from an optimistic "Very good" to "Excellent."

The finals are Wednesday afternoon.

90&9 Note: Sadly, Alicia's 2 teams are out at this point.

Posted by: Denelle

I know that it has been unbearably hot across most of the U.S. for about two weeks now. Here in NY things are steadily getting worse and I just hope and pray that I don't loose power. My A/C is the only thing that keeps me sane when the heat index makes it feel like it's 115.

This weekend we did the whirlwind tour of NY again, although I managed to do things I hadn't done yet, namely the ferry cruise to the Statue of Liberty. It was a great ride. Unfortunately, it was 100 degrees and that somewhat limits the amount of enjoyment in anything. There is a fountain/water feature near the ferry area in Battery Park that a lot of the kids (and a few adults) were enjoying and all I could think about was how much I wished this was me.



Oh to be a kid again. Doesn't he look like he's having the best time?