When are Republicans going to learn?

This is the kind of garbage that gives Republicans a bad name. When are we going to learn? I'm glad to see that most of the leadership is coming out against Chip Saltsman.

Transformation

For the last couple of days I have been thinking about transformation and what has God done in my life. I love listening to testimonials where someone has had a radical change because of accepting Jesus into their lives. For instance, someone who has battled with an anger problem suddenly becomes peaceful. Or someone who has had a drinking problem can now rely on Jesus instead of alcohol. However, I have never experienced a change like that.

I accepted Christ into my life at an early age, six years old, so it is difficult to tell people how he has changed me. I can point to certain areas in my life where I know God has helped me, but nothing that I would say was a radical transformation. But hopefully that is about to change.

The title of last nights service at Bayside was "The Gift of God's Love: 3 Ways to Experience a Transformed Life." The main points were:

• Grasp God's love
  
• Surrender to God's love
• Live in the hope of God's love

Sounds pretty easy. But all of these points spoke directly to me and to areas I have struggled with. Hopefully in the coming year I can learn to apply these points and experience God's love to the fullest and have a transformed life.

Jack London SHP

Stopped at Jack London State Historic Park today in Glen Ellen and visited Jack London's grave site. All my life I have driven past this place but I have never stopped until yesterday. It was a little cold but overall a beautiful day to visit one of my favorite writers. The grave site lies on top of a knoll overlooking the spectacular Valley of the Moon. When London died, his wife put his ashes under a stone from the ruins of the burned out Wolf House.

I'm Back!

I have decided to start blogging again. In the past I have worried about what I was going to write, which led me to write nothing. From now on I'm going to write whatever I feel like. It's my blog and I can do anything I want! For those of you who may read this, I say thank you and I hope you enjoy what's to come.

Book Reviews

It seems that nobody is reading my blog and I have begun to wonder if I should continue writing posts. Is it because it is not interesting or because nobody knows about it? Please comment on anything that I post and feel free to suggest ways of making my blog better.

Although I haven't posted any book reviews recently I have been reading. Here's a quick summary of the last few books that I have read:

The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning: This book is all about the grace of God. No matter what we do (good or bad) God will always love us. This is a book that I will read over and over. It is filled with many life changing insights. Manning is going to be a speaker at the Thrive conference at Bayside and I look forward to hearing him speak.

Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France by Floyd Landis and Loren Mooney: Floyd Landis won the 2006 Tour de France and then lost the title after a urine sample came back testing positive for high levels of testosterone. This book is suppose to show how the lab's incompetence screwed up the test. The 2006 Tour was the first that I watched on TV from the start to the finish. I was a fan of Landis and cheered for him during his amazing comeback in Stage 17. Because of his scandal I didn't follow any of the 2007 racing season. The thing that struck me most about this book was how far Landis had turned from his Mennonite upbringing. This book is nothing more than part of the PR campaign that Landis has surrounded himself with to fight his disqualification.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin: This book is this year's selection for One Book Sacramento. I highly recommend it to everyone. Later this year the Sacramento Public Library will have programs centered around this book. Both authors have agreed to make an appearance. This book is the story of how after a failed attempt at climbing K2, Mortenson made a promise to a village that helped nurse him back to health. He promised that as soon as he could he would come back and build them a school. This promise has turned into his life mission of building schools throughout the Pakistan/Afghanistan region. What I liked most about this book is how he saw a need and sought out how to fulfill it. If you want to know more about how you can help click here.

Thrive 2008

Last night was the volunteer training dessert for Thrive 2008 at Bayside. Bishop Sherwood Carthen spoke to the group of volunteers to let them know how valuable they are to making this conference a success. Here are a few of his points:

• It takes all of us to make it happen.


• The value of a team's success is greater than an individuals success.


• On the importance of a good attitude: "Don't expect me to come in and make it better after you went and ruined their day."


• Fun has to be a priority


• If we don't have joy we won't have fun.


• Diversity has to be intentional, not accidental.


• Personal sacrifice is encouraged.

After last night I'm encouraged and look forward to volunteering for this conference. I expect God to do amazing things next week. If you aren't going I highly recommend you sign up now.

Here is the promo for Thrive 2008:

National Library Workers Day

Today is National Library Workers Day. It is part of National Library Week and according to the ALA-APA website, "NLWD is a day for library staff, users, administrators and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers." If you are a library worker, how were you recognized today?