This one is kind of fun. Comments?
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Question of the day
I'm in the Real Estate industry so I'm interested in the buying interests of people. Here in Oklahoma, and in Owasso in particular, the housing industry is very strong. So here's the question for today.
If you found a great home that you fell in love with - either an existing property or new - would you buy it if you weren't intentionally looking for another home?
Second part of the question: What is the deciding factor that compels you to move, buy or sell a house?
Bob
Sunday, January 28, 2007
The Blind Date
This commercial aired during one of the Superbowls. It's hilarious. The moral of this story? We'll, I think you'll figure it out!
Friday, January 26, 2007
What Have You Done so Far in Life?
Got these facts from an article by Ellen Goodman in today's Tulsa World.
I'm a Boomer in my mid 40's...
When Mozart was my age he'd been dead 10 years.
Albert Einstein published the theory of relativity at age 36.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence at 33.
Teddy Roosevelt was the youngest president of the US at age 42.
So the question for each of us today is what have we done in life that will make a difference?
Doesn't matter what your age is, anyone can do something to make the world a better place.
Why not begin today?
B
I'm a Boomer in my mid 40's...
When Mozart was my age he'd been dead 10 years.
Albert Einstein published the theory of relativity at age 36.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence at 33.
Teddy Roosevelt was the youngest president of the US at age 42.
So the question for each of us today is what have we done in life that will make a difference?
Doesn't matter what your age is, anyone can do something to make the world a better place.
Why not begin today?
B
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Parable of the Hair
There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she did and she had a wonderful day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?" So she did and she had a grand day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that
she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a great day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head. "YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"
Attitude is everything.
Be kinder than necessary...
everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly and leave the rest to God
B
Friday, January 19, 2007
Ice scraper
This is a European commercial for coffee or something like that. I'm posting it up for everyone dealing with the ice storm. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Wanna Go to the Superbowl?
Hey, the Superbowl is right around the corner! Here's a tidbit of info about the big game you might find interesting.Ever wondered who all those people are in the stands at the Superbowl?
Answer: The lucky, the connected, and the wealthy few. Dolphin Stadium has a stated capacity of 70,000 fans for this game. The National Football League controls the tickets and metes them out accordingly: 17.5 percent of the tickets go to each of the two teams playing in the game; 5 percent go to the Dolphins; 34.8 percent are distributed to the other 29 NFL teams; and the league keeps 25 percent to distribute as it sees fit to its friends and partners (usually the same). The NFL holds a random drawing each year for the right to buy an unspecified number of tickets to the following year’s game. The drawing is just about the only chance the Average Joe has to buy a ticket at face value (about $700). Three months before this year’s kickoff, the scalpers at tickco.com were getting anywhere from $2,600 for a nosebleed end zone seat to $6,000 for a spot between the 20 yard lines down near the field.
BONUS FACT That $2,600 for a lousy seat is about half as much as the NFL drops on each of the 150 champions’ rings the NFL gives the games’ winning teams, and a mere 3 percent of the shares it pays to the champs.
This info was taken from the Southwest Airlines in flight magazine. For the full story and other stuff you never knew about the Superbowl, click here.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Stranded in Illinois!
AAAARRRGH!I'm stuck in Illinois due to the ice storm in Oklahoma right now. I missed my flight out due to being late, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway because I would have been stuck in Memphis.
I'm booked on Southwest to fly out tomorrow...so we'll see what happens. I could end up stuck in Kansas City next.
So why am I in Illinois? I came up here to speak to a group of 4-5th graders at a Mid-Winter retreat. I spoke also with the leaders of the church where the event was being held.
While I've had fun, I'm not enjoying the getting home part!
I'll see where I end up tomorrow.
B
Monday, January 8, 2007
Here's an Interesting Blog
I came across this blog while randomly searching for new blogs to read.
You wanna do a free background check on someone?
Just go to this blog: http://undercoverdetective.com/BackgroundCheck.htm
B
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Sunday's Secret
This one cracks me up. It's for all the ladies out there who've been done wrong by their guy. Enjoy!
B
PS - Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read what she wrote.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Friday, January 5, 2007
Random Interesting Things...
The Rose Bowl was played in Durham, North Carolina, in 1942 because organizers feared California could be the next target following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was the only time the game has ever been played outside of Pasadena, California!Living on earth is expensive, but you get an annual free trip around the sun.
It it's good, reasonably priced and necessary, they're sure to stop making it.
For your health: Chewing sugarless gum can give you diarrhea.
And the question of the day? What is the world's flattest continent? Take a guess and I'll give you the answer...soon!
B
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Sunday's Secret
I think this postcard reflects what too many people feel.It's sad what we've become, isn't it?
B
PS - Click on the postcard to enlarge it
Monday, January 1, 2007
Our Visit to Church Number Three
Visit Date: 
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Church number three was a medium sized Baptist church here in Owasso. It was one of the many Baptist churches we have here (along with the other 40+ churches in the community). We visited this church with some friends who know the Pastor personally as a friend.
We arrived just as the service was about to begin and found some seats, ironically right in front of some folks we know well, so that was pretty cool. The service was of a traditional flavor with a piano and organ being the predominate instruments although they had a small orchestra on stage too. I never did actually hear the orchestra, but they were there. The theme of the service was about closing out the old year and looking ahead to the new year. The songs were hymns with two 1970's-1980's choruses. I like hymns, but I also like more modern worship too, so the fact that there were no songs beyond the choruses left me feeling a bit removed from what I prefer. I realize this is a personal preference and lots of people have lots of opinions about worship, so keep that in mind. Also, they announced that their new worship guy will be moving to town soon, so the guy who was leading worship wasn't their worship minister. For a fill in guy, I thought he did a good job.
What I didn't Like:
The service was lots of stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down. I was wore out.
Didn't do communion.
There were a lot of people who went on and off the stage during the service for no apparent reason. Too much movement. It was distracting. One guy came into the sanctuary, visited with someone in the audience, walked up the stairs onto the stage in the middle of everything and then sat down in one of the wing backed chairs and listened intently to the sermon. Towards the end of the sermon he left to help with what appeared to be invitation time, but then he never did anything like praying with people.
They had all the members stand up and all the visitors stay seated. Then the members came to greet us. Yuck. Hated that big time.
The invitation was at least 10 minutes long. This particular church uses the come and kneel at the altar kind of invitation. I was surprised at how many people did that. Whole families, a mom and her kids, a grandmother and a granddaughter and others. They go up front and kneel down and pray alone or with a man or woman who is up front to pray with them. They pray as long as they want so that determines how long the invitation goes on. I was wondering why the invitation time kept going on and on then some people whom I could not see got up from praying and went back and sat down. There was a clear invitation to respond and come down front, but it made me feel like I would not do so unless I was a person in crisis or someone who had talked to the preacher at length before knowing I would go down front. Isn't that funny? When I worked on a church staff, it was nothing to me to think it perfectly normal and natural for people to just come down front at invitation time. I now see how much bigger of a deal it is to many people.
What I Liked:
The church was friendly. They had people at the doors who were kind, but not pushy. The congregation was friendly as well, although nobody talked to us after church except for the people we knew.
The sermon was really good. Very Bible based and focused. The preacher spoke to all ages. He preached the announcements (which means talking about an upcoming event and tying it into what you're preaching about). He challenged the congregation, gave some good take home points, used humor and didn't go too long.
They had the kids in the service which I found out later was a holiday scheduling thing. I wondered at first if they were always in the service or not. The preacher acknowledged the children and teens speaking to them directly several times. I thought that showed good pastoral wisdom and congregational care.
The auditorium. Flat floor. Comfy, easy to move chairs. Stage wasn't too high. I could see easily. It was nicely decorated for Christmas. About 3/4 of the way up the wall you look at when seated I counted 10 electrical outlets. It always impresses me when churches or individuals think ahead and put small details like electrical outlets in places where they will be used that are out of the ordinary. I don't understand why more people don't do this. Think about it. Had they not put those outlets up there, there would have been TEN extension cords running up the wall from the lighted garland they had running across the front. Smart thinking! I also liked their open, exposed rafters. They give you a barn kind of a feel without making you feel like it's a barn. This is hard to explain, so suffice it to say the open ceiling was designed nicely. The negative to this is that their foyer is small and underwhelming.
All in all it was a nice church to visit. The preacher comes across as a pastor to his people and I appreciated that.
The OOPSIE of the day? I'm convinced there are technology demons that plague every church. Towards the end of the service the projector went into "turn me off?" mode showing the message on the screen.
Oh one more thing. This particular church has a big screen TV mounted up high on the back wall of the auditorium (the wall the singers look at). I kid you not. It's one of those older model large, bulky big screen TVs. It's like 10-15 feet off the floor on a ledge. They use it as a monitor for the singers. When I saw it I thought, "Oh my gosh, you are kidding!" The thing looks like a bright idea gone bad. It gives the appearance of not being safe at all. When you look back there and see that thing you think to yourself, "I believe that's a big screen TV up there on that wall." It's the funniest looking thing I've seen in a church in a long time.
So that was church number three. Next week we'll go back to our church to hear the state of the church address. It's always an interesting message. After that we're off to at least three more churches we plan to visit.
Happy New Year!
B
Sunday, December 31, 2006Church number three was a medium sized Baptist church here in Owasso. It was one of the many Baptist churches we have here (along with the other 40+ churches in the community). We visited this church with some friends who know the Pastor personally as a friend.
We arrived just as the service was about to begin and found some seats, ironically right in front of some folks we know well, so that was pretty cool. The service was of a traditional flavor with a piano and organ being the predominate instruments although they had a small orchestra on stage too. I never did actually hear the orchestra, but they were there. The theme of the service was about closing out the old year and looking ahead to the new year. The songs were hymns with two 1970's-1980's choruses. I like hymns, but I also like more modern worship too, so the fact that there were no songs beyond the choruses left me feeling a bit removed from what I prefer. I realize this is a personal preference and lots of people have lots of opinions about worship, so keep that in mind. Also, they announced that their new worship guy will be moving to town soon, so the guy who was leading worship wasn't their worship minister. For a fill in guy, I thought he did a good job.
What I didn't Like:
The service was lots of stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down. I was wore out.
Didn't do communion.
There were a lot of people who went on and off the stage during the service for no apparent reason. Too much movement. It was distracting. One guy came into the sanctuary, visited with someone in the audience, walked up the stairs onto the stage in the middle of everything and then sat down in one of the wing backed chairs and listened intently to the sermon. Towards the end of the sermon he left to help with what appeared to be invitation time, but then he never did anything like praying with people.
They had all the members stand up and all the visitors stay seated. Then the members came to greet us. Yuck. Hated that big time.
The invitation was at least 10 minutes long. This particular church uses the come and kneel at the altar kind of invitation. I was surprised at how many people did that. Whole families, a mom and her kids, a grandmother and a granddaughter and others. They go up front and kneel down and pray alone or with a man or woman who is up front to pray with them. They pray as long as they want so that determines how long the invitation goes on. I was wondering why the invitation time kept going on and on then some people whom I could not see got up from praying and went back and sat down. There was a clear invitation to respond and come down front, but it made me feel like I would not do so unless I was a person in crisis or someone who had talked to the preacher at length before knowing I would go down front. Isn't that funny? When I worked on a church staff, it was nothing to me to think it perfectly normal and natural for people to just come down front at invitation time. I now see how much bigger of a deal it is to many people.
What I Liked:
The church was friendly. They had people at the doors who were kind, but not pushy. The congregation was friendly as well, although nobody talked to us after church except for the people we knew.
The sermon was really good. Very Bible based and focused. The preacher spoke to all ages. He preached the announcements (which means talking about an upcoming event and tying it into what you're preaching about). He challenged the congregation, gave some good take home points, used humor and didn't go too long.
They had the kids in the service which I found out later was a holiday scheduling thing. I wondered at first if they were always in the service or not. The preacher acknowledged the children and teens speaking to them directly several times. I thought that showed good pastoral wisdom and congregational care.
The auditorium. Flat floor. Comfy, easy to move chairs. Stage wasn't too high. I could see easily. It was nicely decorated for Christmas. About 3/4 of the way up the wall you look at when seated I counted 10 electrical outlets. It always impresses me when churches or individuals think ahead and put small details like electrical outlets in places where they will be used that are out of the ordinary. I don't understand why more people don't do this. Think about it. Had they not put those outlets up there, there would have been TEN extension cords running up the wall from the lighted garland they had running across the front. Smart thinking! I also liked their open, exposed rafters. They give you a barn kind of a feel without making you feel like it's a barn. This is hard to explain, so suffice it to say the open ceiling was designed nicely. The negative to this is that their foyer is small and underwhelming.
All in all it was a nice church to visit. The preacher comes across as a pastor to his people and I appreciated that.
The OOPSIE of the day? I'm convinced there are technology demons that plague every church. Towards the end of the service the projector went into "turn me off?" mode showing the message on the screen.
Oh one more thing. This particular church has a big screen TV mounted up high on the back wall of the auditorium (the wall the singers look at). I kid you not. It's one of those older model large, bulky big screen TVs. It's like 10-15 feet off the floor on a ledge. They use it as a monitor for the singers. When I saw it I thought, "Oh my gosh, you are kidding!" The thing looks like a bright idea gone bad. It gives the appearance of not being safe at all. When you look back there and see that thing you think to yourself, "I believe that's a big screen TV up there on that wall." It's the funniest looking thing I've seen in a church in a long time.
So that was church number three. Next week we'll go back to our church to hear the state of the church address. It's always an interesting message. After that we're off to at least three more churches we plan to visit.
Happy New Year!
B
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