26 posts tagged “thursday”
Our Daily Bread Devotional: Serve Or Die
Biblical Passage: Mark 10:35-45 (New Living Translation)
You hear this all the time, "If God is a loving God, why does he allow suffering in the world?" Straightforward question and here is the straightforward answer: God has given HUMANS, yes, You and I, domain over the world. It's amazing how we forget things like this. We want to do want we want, live anyway we want to live but when trouble hits the world or our little part of world we want God to wipe the slate clean.
God has blessed us all with a very solid blueprint on how to handle things in the world...the Holy Bible. I have to be honest, whenever I have wholeheartedly obeyed God I can not say He has ever forsaken me. But I have to keep telling myself when I live God's way I am on his time table, not my own. I may get upset with him wondering why doesn't He move in my life when I want Him to but I am old enough now to know that many times I get myself in certain situations that has caused me grief. I was the one that went right when God told me and has taught me to go right. When you get real and honest with yourself it humbles you and you begin not to play the "blame game" so much which many Christians and non-Christians do now.
I'm I say that all Christians have this "oh whoa is me" attitude? Of course not. But we have to get to a put that we as Followers of Christ can not disobey God and assume that we can treat Him as our own Genie in the bottle and wipe our mistakes away. He can do that but what would he have learned from our mistakes? There is the other scenario...there are things that popped up in our lives that we have no control over and it will bring us heartache and at the time it hurts like heck and we have every right to asked God why. Job asked God why, Many prophets in the Bible as God why. In the book of Psalms King David asked God why time and time again but what I have learned to ask God now is not "why" but "what can I learn from this situation." Now that I have learned that very important key it stops me from being a victim to becoming a conqueror.
We must come to the realization that God has put us in charge of the world. It is not God that fail people, we fail people but every day we have the power to correct this mistake when we wake up each morning.
Be Blessed, Be Safe,
& Have a Wonderful Thursday
Christian podcast to check out for today...
Conclusion of: Dealing With Detractors- Paul E. Sheppard
net@night 73: WeadWiteWeb- Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte
I want to give wordpress a chance, I really do but they are some things that Blogger has wordpress does not. It may seem trivial but to me it means the world and the same that goes with Blogger. With Blogger you can change the color of your written content but you can't (or I don't see it) on Wordpress. You can use the strikethrough line in Wordpress but not in Blogger. Wordpress is for a person who is a "power user" when it comes to blogging...I am not that person and that is why I have stuck with Blogger for a while.
I was about about to switch to wordpress but then I found out how to change my template and I stayed put...yet again. This time I may move again because of one "small" thing...I can't add emotions to my post on Blogger. I found (oh so I thought) different scripts so I can begin putting emotions in my post on Blogger. I tried it and maybe I didn't install it correctly. Maybe I will try it this weekend when I have more time. To be honest I'm happy with Blogger. I know you "power users" think Blogger is for wussies...well call me "mr. wuss". I see the pros like Todd Kelley, Fave, Anewlis, Nikki and others fix up their blogs and they are on point. Me, I just wanna post. If I learn a trick or two...sweet. ^_^ But for the most point, I just want it to work.
I'm pretty sure I can learn how to use the "strikethrough" line for Blogger down the road but why Blogger does not have the "smileys" code imbedded in there is kind of funky. I sometimes copy/paste the Yahoo emotions in my post and it's not really a big deal but what if someone wants to leave a comment and use a emotion in their response.
Last night after the 2nd gig I got home around 9:30pm or so and that was pretty good. I waited until the Mrs. got home before I got comfy. Once she got home there was no excuse for me not to go to bed but I stayed up until close to midnight...that's not good for so many reasons.
I need to get into the habit of once I get home from work, I need to hop in the shower then head to bed because next month school will start and I need to really get my head in the game in reference to school and I need no distractions. I have already noted to myself that my internet usage will come to a crawl doing the week. I can go right to sleep with the radio on (I mostly listen to BOTT Radio Network...I like to go to bed with something positive, I can't understand how people can watch the news [except the Weather Channel...love that channel especially with cool jazz music they play from time to time] with all that negativity going in their brain. As long as it's talk radio I'm cool, but if the television is on, that's no good to me.
Even though I have seen a program a ga-zillion times but I still try to watch it. I know I shouldn't but I do it ALL the time. I know I have to tighten this up because I can not have this bad habit because last cluster it was the act of God that I receive a good grade and this year I am NOT going to bring those bad habits because I will have no room to spare. My geek sis Jen gave me a great idea that I should record as many podcasts and released them gradually through the months I am busy [that is why she is my sister from another mother ^-~].
Last night at the second job a couple of things happened to me, one situation that I need improvement on and one situation I found humorous. When cleaning restrooms and since I have been cleaning off and on for over 15 years I have come to realize some people in corporate America is just nasty. What really gets under my goat is that when I'm cleaning the women's restroom...and I have the door propped open (which means "I am cleaning in hear") women still try and come in (and it's not that there are not other restrooms in the building...I'm the the 2nd floor...they can go one floor down and use the restroom) that get's under my skin. What makes it worse is when they try and pretend that they are sorry or use excuses not just take the elevator just ONE floor down and go to that restroom. Two women came in the restroom yesterday and told me I didn't have to leave because they were just going to "freshing up"...I still left. 1. These are women and I am a man, 2. these are women and I am a Black man (I don't have time to be catching a case for nonsense). I am asking God to help me with my attitude when it comes to this because hey, that's going to happen from time to time.
The other funny incident that happen last night was is that cupcakes were left from a meeting so I took one and placed it into the frige where I clean the office. Later in the day I went back in to begin cleaning and one of the employees for the company came in to do some late night work. As I a saw him walk away I noticed something in his hand that looked like a "cup cake". I went to the refrigerator to look and low and behold it was the cup cake I put in the frige...HE TOOK IT! ^_^ ^_^ All I could do was laugh. I guess that was God's way of telling I really didn't need the cup cake after all and to be hones from the looks of him, he really did not need the cup cake (but he has the corner office so I guess he's the head guy). Whatchagonnado?
Overall last night as always was a great night for me because I did not listen to my iPod until close to leaving...that was my alone time with talking and listening to my Heavenly Father. Some nights it's good to hear your own thoughts. Tonight I will try and do better when I get home...get home/hop in the shower/check my music blog/check plurk and twitter/head to bed.
Keep my lifted up in prayer. ^_~
The
last 24-48 hours has been a buzz in reference to Scott McClellan's book
and to be honest I want to bust out laughing about the reaction from
the White House. As Chris Matthews says, the main words that are used
are, "puzzled", "not the Scott we knew" and the funnest thing I have
heard in the past 24 hours has been, "If he felt this way, why didn't
he[Scott] speak up?" I can tell you why, he would have been fired?>>>more
Right Place>>>more
devotion from rbc ministries
Have you ever read a Biblical passage and every verse that you are acquired to read speaks to you? I mean ever verse is like it REALLy spoke to you? Reading the acquired reading for this morning (Proverbs 16:1 thru 9) did that for me. We are supposed to make plans, we are suppose to prepare for our future but sometimes things do not map out the way they that they should and we sometimes get bent out of shape...okay I get bent out of shape at times but in the end isn't it funny how they work themselves out many times. Now I not talking about just going through life and having a "what will be, will be" attitude, that's not good. I'm talking about sometimes how we may have planned something one day and got their a day early but you end up meeting someone you haven't seen in years and have a chance to catch up on old times. Or you may have left out of the house 5 minutes late thinking you are going to be miss out on the best opportunity of a lifetime only to find out if you may have left out on time you could have been in accident once you past a section of a road you normally travel.
For me today is a time to begin getting out of my own way. It's really cool how you can come across so many messages that tell you that it's time to take a different approach to situations. Last night before going to bed I finally had a chance to listen to brother in podcasting show (Clarence of "DoYouKnowClarence?") and he hit the nail on the head or as my queen says it, "You hit the nail on the head with the hammer."(I love it how she says the whole thing out like that, it's so cute). From what I took from Clarence's show is that we have to real with ourselves, we have to see ourselves for what we truly are and where we are at that moment so we can finally realize how our Heavenly Father sees us and for me when you do that you can begin focusing on how to improve yourself. I too have had those conversations with myself that I'm being interviewed by Tavis Smiley or Terry Gross, having my face on CNN chatting it up with Anderson Cooper or talking to Keith Olbermann but sometimes we live in that world and not take care of what we need to do in the present.
These 9 verses from Proverbs speaks volumes to my heart today. It tells me yes map out what you need to do for that day but don't get upset if it doesn't work out the way that you planned. We may say with our mouths and may be sincere when it comes to doing some things but God knows what in our heart what we are really seeking. The verses says to me, before my feet hit the floor thank God that he has given me another day to see to bring glory to him. Don't envy boastful people because in the end God knows what is best for them so keep living the way you need to live.
I have to really begin reading a chapter a day from Proverbs because just think if I truly read a chapter a day and followed out what the almighty says how far ahead I would be in this game called life? If just 9 verses from just one chapter woke me up spiritually like this just think what the rest of the book can do for me?
Be Blessed, Be Safe,
& Have a Wonderful Thursday
two great messages to get you started today...
What
started out as what I thought was going to be easy turned out to be a
much tougher but fun project. The cool thing about being diverse in
music is that you have huge selection of music to choose from but the
worst thing about being diverse in music is, well...the huge selection
of music to choose from.
Valentine's Day has always been special to me because I was that geek that always believed in true love(and man o' man I had my heart crushed so many times, but hey that's in the past). When it came to music for me it didn't matter if music genre was r&b, rock, country, pop...if the lyrics had deep meaning and the music arrangement was cool, I had to have it. Fast forward some years where I began listening to jazz, new age, ambient for me that was icing on the cake.
The selection I have chosen comes from different genres but for me they speak one language...love, good times, hope, romance. I hope these tracks move you the way they have moved me over the years and as always...
Be Blessed, Be Safe,
& Have a Wonderful 
Valentine's Day.
~DarrenKeith
{Dedicated 2 my Queen...you make me smile just thinking of you.}
xoxo
*don't forget to check out the other great netcasts that are posting today...
tgrundy
fave & eve
Fresh
KB
ejflavors
dj diva
GeekyCyberMom
anewlis
ToddKelley
anji bee
luvsels
idadi
macedonia
grantlove
nikki
calinative
click to play{right click to download}
01. Lost in Love-Air Supply
02. So Into You-Tamia
03. Life in the Trees-Michael Manring
04. Sharing the Night Together-Dr. Hook
05. I Call Your Name-Switch
06. Hey!-Nicolay
07. Walking Through Walls-Philip Aaberg
08. Nights Are Forever Without You-England Dan & John Ford Coley
09. Every Little Thing I Do-Soul for Real
10. Safe Harbor-Richard Souther
11. Violet-Seal
12. I Can't Tell You Why-The Eagles
13. Road to Hanna-Shadowfax
14. Dreaming of You-Selena
As always the man with the plan...ejflavors{http://ejflavors.com} for allowing me to tag along with him on this netcasting adventure.
Big Shout Out to Big La{toddkelley.net} for being so cool about letting me check out the tune, "Hey"...head to iTunes or Amazon to get the mix LP, City Lights Vol. 1.5 by Nicolay{Amazon.com}
Big thanx to tgrundy for thinking I had what it took to be in this group of wonderful netcasters
To the wonderful ladies of netcasting...
dj diva
anewlis
anji bee
Idadi
eve
Suni
HoneySoul
Butta
geekcybermom
luvsels
Amber Mac
anyone I forgot to give a "ShoutOut while doing my blogroll on my netcast I am truly sorry...so many to thank and so little time to do it.
As always...you beautiful/intelligent ladies make this netcast community a cozy home to kick back, relax and just ponder, "Can life get any better?" ^_~
I
met this brother in podcasting last year and I have been boppin' my
head to his beats from that day on. It's one thing to love music but to
have an ear for beats: when to blend them, when to let them fade out,
how long to let it flow...I do not care what anyone says, to me that is
a gift.
Todd Kelley is a guy that every time I hear a new mix from him he give me hope that true hip-hop is not dead. I have to be honest, I gave up on dj mixing for a very long time and it was not that I met this gifted cat through Fave that I realize that it's not dead...you just have to look for great things. Some things you have to dig for and when you find them you share it with the world and this Big La is a that gold mine vein I tap into time and time again. What really hooked me on Todd is when he created the flow for T.J. Brown's "The Chance of Rain". When hearing that cut only thing I could do was shake my head in delight and say to myself, "Where the heck has this dude been...better yet...why haven't you come across this guy sooner?"
One of my favorite mixes by Todd Kelley
{to download right click...click here to download other mixes}
Macedonia is a guy again I heard from Fave's netcast and I have to admit I am great gratitude for Macedonia and BSOTS. I tell people time and time again (and showing my age) that being a 70s kid we had the best of both worlds. I came up in an age where the Walkman first appeared, when video games first became popular and in the late 70s and early 80s hip-hop first caught my ear. For me that is when you had true djs digging through crates of music mixing beats together that could stretch out for hours on end you did not what the party to end. This is what Macedonia brings to the set. Again I say you have to have a gift for this and this cat does. I know you have to practice at your craft to get better but to me some men and women either you have it or you don't. I truly love music but mixing beats is not my gift...my gift is sharing it with the masses because in todays world of homogenized music BSOTS is a breath of fresh air. I'm a Jazz/New Age/Bluegrass kinda fellow but you can never forget where you began. I was blessed to be exposed to different genres of music but I always pay attention to the people in the background rather than focus on the singer my focus has been the musicians or DJs because without the beats (especially now days) many singers will not have a ghost of chance making it.
A great mix from Macedoni
{right click to download...click here for other mixes}
I thank dudes like Todd, Macedonia, Fave for having me rethink my view on hip-hop and R&B because for me I thought true innovation was long dead in those genres.
Catching up with an ol' online friend
Last night was a great night for me. I had a chance to catch up with an ol' Vox buddy of mine, Lauren. She has been mad busy these days with school and working for Vox. She hasn't had time to post to Vox the way she used to and with the weather she hasn't had time to take photographs. We both chatted about how we enjoy taking pictures with natural lights, I told her how I have curved my blogs and how one blog spun from my main blog in reference to me losing a friend that I had chatted with via IM for over a year. We talked about how her family and boyfriend is doing, how she is really digging working for Vox, how I have began recording more music netcast and how I am in school again. I have missed her and it was cool that she took time out to chat with me because Lauren has helped me in many ways when it comes to photography and even though we have never met face to face how we have become really cool.
For me catching up with Lauren reminded me the reason why I joined the blog social network. I miss Lauren but I understand she is doing her own thing and it's awesome. So many of us when joining Vox have moved on doing our own thing but we have manage to keep in touch with one another. Jennifer {Jen} has graduated from college and is in the "real world" as she puts it. Haven't heard from Virtunate in a while, Bonita{in Pink} has become a blessed mother with her wonderful child and it has been others that I have to reach out to because as one friend puts it, "you may be busy but you are not that busy" and that's true. Many other people I have met online back in 2006 and we have stayed in touch despite job changes, job losses, job gains and that is a true blessing and that is where I truly dig Lauren for this. For Lauren to make times makes me realize how she cherish friendships. I have had to do some major thinking toward a couple of people offline and I have come to the conclusion that true they may be busy "they are not that busy" not to try and meet me have way and I have had to let them go. If we talk again, praise God, if not, it happens.
I remember coming up as a only child that many times I was lonely and I would go out of my way to be with people "just because" but when it came to me it was not the same...they only came around when they were in need. I had to come to love myself and realize that if a person could not meet me half way it's not worth having that "friendship". I think it really hit me last year because I keep in contact with people online more than I do offline. It's only one person offline that I keep in contact with and she meets me halfway as well and for me that says a lot and I will do my best to keep in contact with her as well. Thank you Lauren for keeping that line of communication open and I will keep it open for you as well.
Getting Rid of An Addiction
I have a confession to make, I'm an addict...an addict of constantly checking my blogs to see if someone has commented on my Utterz page, my vox blog. I thought I kicked the this but I see I have to put a stop to this and I'm realizing I do not have to join everything. Some people are a fit for somethings and others are not and I think Utterz may not be my fit for now. I think I will stop uttering except for posting my music netcast. Here is what I have to do...
when I post something on my blogs, I do not need to check it "upteen" times to see if someone has left a comment
this is what I have to do because I find myself wasting too much time with that issue. When you post something DarrenKeith...post it and move on.
I think another thing that will help me utilize Google Reader more and the reason I say this is because I subscribe to the blogs, sites I want to read and go back once or twice a day and check on my blogs.
I have found out that I need to write me a schedule on what I need to do each day. I also find myself now really becoming tired of television and drawn more to listening to audio more and more. At this time I am on a "iPod" diet for 7 days where I'm listening to my podcasts where I have downloaded and I have quite a few of them but never really listened to them because I was allowing television take that away from me. Now, if I was in corporate America I would be upset that I can't listen to my podcast and now that I have time I have not taken advantage of this so as of yesterday I have began to take that step toward listening to them because I have to feed my mind and spirit "healthy" food so to speak. The first day went well and the today is going well. When it comes to television for me now for the time being will be watching HGTV, The Travel Channel, NGTV...something with substance.
I didn't realize I had so many podcast from oneplace.com, NPR, American public Media, PRI, music podcast...this can keep me going for days and I'm getting educated at the same time.
This is going to be a long journey for me but I am finding it a pretty cool journey so I can't complain.
crosspost from mylifeonthisearth
Doing Good>>>more
from RBC Ministries
I read this devotion, I read the passage and the life application notes in my Bible and I have to admit, not only staying positive but not speaking out is one of the hardest things to do especially when you have been accused of something false. You see it all the time played out in the public when one person has been accused of something and how one person goes either to the media and tries to clear their name. I am not going to lie that's a hard pill to swallow when you know you are innocent but that is what our Lord and Saviour tells us to do.
I don't think I have ever had to face something like the person in this devotion and I know I have never had to go through what Jesus Christ went through but I am realizing that it's best to remain quiet when someone tries to smear your reputation. I'm learning that so much energy gets waisted when trying to prove your point especially in this day and time. I have learned that no matter how you try and bury the truth it finds it way to the surface. Does this still means you do not suffer through that time? You will suffer because since we live in a fallen world sometimes we suffer for during the right thing.
When you strive to do it God's way it may cost you some friends along the way because your path may be different from the path you was once on and sometimes friends, family members may not like the path you are on but in Matthew 10 Jesus is clear in explaining the cost when following him and the road is not an easy road but to me it's worth the trials because in the end I know where I am going to end up when it's all said and done.
Be Blessed, Be Safe,
and Have a Wonderful Thursday
Thursday Tech Story Picks:
- The Second Coming of Apple TV
- Fair Use Vs. Free Speech in the Internet Age: The Lane Hartwell Problem
- Japan's largest mobile operator confirms Apple talks
Thursday Audio Picks
Christian:Romans 12:12-13:1
(Thru the Bible)
Finding Sexual Fulfillment in Marriage (Part 2)
(HomeWord w/Jim Burns)
A gossip betrays a confidence;
so avoid a man who talks too much.
~Proverbs 20:19
Technology:
net@nite 41: w00t
(Amber MacArthur)
MacBreak Weekly 70: Happy Life Day
(Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, Chris Breen, Merlin Mann, and Scott Bourne)
Reborn Identity>>>more
devotion from rbc ministries
When first reading this devotion to be honest I had a hard time really getting into it, really understanding it because some devotions and bible reading fall on you like a ton of bricks, it speaks right to your heart, and then there are some passages you read and you go, "huh?" But God is so awesome as always. Then it hit me...we don't always read God's Word for just a "good feeling" all over, we read, study, meditate on God's word for peace and even as I write this I'm getting a deeper revelation.
To know Jesus Christ and to know what He came on earth for is to give of peace within. His sacrifice for us is for us not to wonder, "who am I?" and "why am I here?" I enjoy science, I always have coming up. I have so many interest coming up some I have forgotten about and something will trigger it and make me remember like space. As a kid, I wanted to become an astronaut (as must little boys growing up). Time travel I was fascinated by as a kid(H.G. Wells The Time Machine with Rod Taylor is still one of my favorite movies). I remember how me and my friend Walter use to pretend to have built a time machine or built a mini submarine like Captain Nemo to see different lands.
Maybe the reason why I also thought of those things was many times I felt alone, didn't know where I was going to end up when I die, what was my purpose for being on this earth(sad huh...this young in age and already thinking of these things...I was a deep thinker as a child) and even though I was saved as a child I did wonder about heaven...I read some of the Bible about how the streets would be paved with Gold and walls of pearls. But mainly I thought about why am I here on earth.
Fast forward to today, I getting to know Christ Jesus more and more and to know His love for me I'm learning more and more each day why I am here. Sure he has placed in me some desires but I am learning His desires for my life and I'm finding when I do this...turn everything over to Him how many doors are opening for me. Some roads are a little bumpy for the most part He is making a way for me. I know now that when I do reach my vocation desire I will not feel empty and feel like I have wasted my time because studying His word, listening to Christ Jesus, he has filled that void in my life where now once I begin college again and fulfill my dream I will not say to myself, "Is this all there is to life?"
It's funny now, I don't think about what goes on in space anymore, not saying I'm still not in awe of looking up at the heavens on a clear night seeing the beautiful stars in the sky, I just think about if there is other intelligence out there on other planets(although I still enjoy astronomy) anymore because knowing Christ now I know what matters must...trusting in Him and knowing when I die where I'm going to end up is good enough for me....
**although,
I'm really curious about the garden of Eden, Noah's Ark, and King
Solomon's Kingdom...like I said, I've always been a deep thinker. 
Be Blessed,
Be Safe, &
Have a Wonderful Thursday.
from Christian Embassy Church
Salvation
"Lord, I pray that my children would obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory."
2 Timothy 2:10
messages from oneplace.com:
tech news for Thursday:
- Mac sales growth up over 100 percent in January, says firm
- Dell's new focus: Don't look back
- Symantec: Out of the Box, Vista Prone to Legacy Threats
podcast for Thursday:
image: allposters.com
