The Baseball Season Begins (Sort Of)

The Oakland A's and Boston Red Sox opened the 2008 baseball season in Japan. Each team one a game to split the series.

Cesar Chavez Book Drive

Got this from the Sacramento Bee:

The seventh annual Cesar E. Chavez Children's Book Drive begins Monday and runs through May 5. The drive is co-sponsored by the California Highway Patrol, Department of Housing and Community Development, Department of Financial Institutions and the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency...New and gently used children's books, in all languages, can be dropped off at the CHP's headquarters, 2555 First Ave. Books will be distributed to schools, shelters and other charitable organizations.

More Library News

Another article about the Sacramento Public Library appeared in the Sacramento Bee. Unfortunately it continues the saga of the Hagginwood scandal. Today is there is also a library board meeting where they will discuss a raise for the library director. It will be interesting to see what happens and the following public outcry.

The sad part about all this is that due to the financial crunch there is talk about possible layoffs. It would be very sad to see a low level employee loose their job because of budget reasons.

Bad Press for the Library

This was front page news in today's Sacramento Bee:

Arrest warrants charging grand theft and bribery have been issued in connection with an overbilling scandal at the Sacramento Public Library, The Bee has learned.
Sources say the arrest warrants were issued Tuesday and target three people -- two of them former library officials and the third, the wife of one of them.
District Attorney Jan Scully's office would not comment Tuesday, but an announcement on the case is expected to be made Wednesday.

One Book Sacramento

Got this from the Sacramento Public Library site:

Three Cups of Tea Chosen for One Book Sacramento Community Read

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote . . . One School at a Time is the book selected for the Sacramento Public Library’s fourth-annual One Book Sacramento: Connecting Our Communities. Throughout October, community members will be encouraged to attend local library book club discussions, writers’ workshops, programs featuring local authors, and other interesting events whose themes are based on the book.

The War on Terror

This week was the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq. To coincide with this I read Nick Solly Megoran's book, "The War on Terror: How should Christians respond?" The book can be summed up with Jesus' command in the Sermon on the Mount to "love our enemies." This isn't a suggestion from Jesus, it is a command. It is just as applicable today as when he said it 2,000 years ago.

Some points that I really liked in the book were

• War is a product of sin


• We have a dual citizenship (heavenly & earthly)


• Be peacemakers (not just peace lovers)

Each chapter of the book is meant to be read with a corresponding selection of scripture. Although the book is informative it is set up to be more a spiritual study guide.

So how are Christians to respond to the war on terror? By glorifying God and using this time as an opportunity to share the good news of Christ.

The Great Awakening

I just finished reading "The Great Awakening" by Jim Wallis. In his book he believes that we are on the verge of a Great Awakening leading to dramatic changes in the fight for social injustice. I found this book to be enlightening and challenging. I constantly found myself examining my personal and political beliefs. I really liked his statement that "faith should be both personal and public, and never just private." According to him the reason we should battle injustice here on earth is:

1. God hates injustice


2. The kingdom of God is a new order


3. The church is an alternative community


4. The kingdom of God transforms the world by addressing the specifics of injustice


5. The church is the conscience of the state, holding it accountable for upholding justice and restraining its violence

In his book he lists 7 commitments we should make:

1. Fighting Poverty


2. Environment


3. Equality and Diversity


4. Life and Dignity


5. Family and Community


6. Nonviolent Realism


7. Integrity and Accountability

After reading this book my view of the world has drastically changed. As Christians we are called to act out Jesus' love in our community and our world.

El Dorado County Bookmobile Closing

El Dorado County is closing down their bookmobile in efforts to bridge a $14.8 million budget shortfall. Here is a link to the Sacbee article.

A Day With A Few Of My Favorite People

Spent today with Tina, Christian, and Aubree. Christian had his last game of the basketball season in Meadow Vista. Unfortunately they lost, but the important thing was that they played hard.

Later I took Christian to his baseball practice. It was fun to see how much he has improved over the years. This year he was one of eight, 10 yr. olds to be drafted into the majors. He has a lot to learn but seems to be handling it well.

We just rapped up the evening watching the movie Ice Age. I always enjoy spending the day with my favorite people. It is what makes life worth living. God has really blessed me with.

Haircut

Received my first haircut from Sandy. I was a little nervous going into it because she is just learning how to cut hair. But she did a wonderful job and I plan on getting all my haircuts from her now on.

Read Acroos America

On Monday the NEA's Read Across America kicked off. This program is to get young people to start reading and it provides educators and parents many wonderful ideas on how to encourage their little ones to read. I had the honor of reading 2 books at my niece's school. Aubree is in first grade and all of her classmates got to come to school dressed in their pajamas. I had a wonderful time and was blessed to be a part of Aubree's life.

ARCO Arena

Christian and his basketball team got to play at ARCO Arena on Sunday. Later that evening we sat in the nosebleed seats and watched the Kings come from behind and beat the Miami Heat.

Sat. @ Bayside

We went to the 6:15 service at Bayside on Saturday night. Jeff led the worship and it was pretty awesome as usual. Pastor Ray finished up the series on marriage. He gave 6 ways to build unity and intimacy into a marriage

1. Appreciation & Affection
2. Spend Time Together
3. Good Communication
4. Commitment to Work Through Tough Times
5. Willingness to Pursue a Lifestyle of Integrity
6. Solid Spiritual Foundation

I think that if you really work on building a solid spiritual foundation and living your life for Jesus then the others will naturally fall into place.