Houston - World Cup 2018

Sign the petition to bring the World Cup to Houston in 2018 or 2022. It would be wonderful.

Living Water International

I've signed up for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. We'll see how it goes. I've also signed up on their Run For a Reason Charities. My charity of choice is Living Water International. Please help, by donating a few dollars (HERE). Remember, click, HERE, HERE or HERE to donate. It's a great cause, providing clean water. Blessings, Byron

PS: Yea, I kind of got stuck on the word HERE!

Creating a goal

Back in October of 2007, my good friend Tom and I headed off to Guatemala to "help" drill a water well. It was a great experience. Here's a few photos. A couple of "action" photos and a group photo.


Me and the local crew. These guys were learning to drill wells so they could help themselves.

Here I'm getting "baptized" in water from the new well.

This is the local crew removing the drill stem. That's a messy job. Drilling mud gets all over you.

I've always liked the Living Water organization and believe greatly in their work. So, I've decided to "kill two birds with one stone". The first bird is to help raise awareness and support for Living Water, the second bird, is to provide motivation to continue with my early morning runs. That means . . . I've joined up with Team Living Water International to run in the January 2010 Houston Half Marathon. Yep, I'm going half way. Soon I'll be hitting you up for some doe. Lots and lots of doe and we ain't baking cakes. Blessings, Byron

Wet kitty

The problem with having a white kitty is . . . you can see the left overs after they've "done their business". Also, they stink.

Testing, testing, testing, one, two, three . . . can anyone hear me?

I needed a blog entry to test if my blog feed/facebook setup is working. So, I'll tell you about my broken house. Don't feel too bad for us. I broke it on purpose. Now we are in the middle of trying to put it back together. The remodeling process sucks. We've gutted the master bath to move some walls so we can have a bigger and better shower. You know, the couple that baths together, stays together. Hopefully, we will have the master bath completed by the end of this week. I hope, I hope, I hope . . .

New Kitty

Well, we've done it again. Taken in a stray kitten. My boss, Tom, found the little guy wondering around our office. We did a search to see if we could find the litter and return him to his family, but we were unsuccessful. The owner's wife, Ellen, got a bottle and kitty milk and took care of the guy at the office. But, since the wife and I have experience, and we had fun taking care of the other little kitties, we decided to give it a try with this little guy. Here's his picture.

Scary looking, no?

Why aren't Christian books and Bibles FREE?

I've always wondered why Christian authors publish for profit books. Here's the copy right for a book about sustainable energy that I recently purchased.

This is a free book

I didn’t write this book to make money. I wrote it because sustainable energy is important. If you would like to have the book for free for your own use, please help yourself: it’s on the internet at www.withouthotair.com.

This is a free book in a second sense: you are free to use all the material in this book, except for the cartoons and the photos with a named photographer, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence. (The cartoons and photos are excepted because the authors have generally given me permission only to include their work, not to share it under a Creative Commons license.) You are especially welcome to use my materials for educational purposes. My website includes separate high-quality files for each of the figures in the book.

Here is a man that is passionate about his "cause" and is anxious to get his message out, so much so that he will give you the fruit of his hard work and encourages you to use it in your own materials. I guess sustainable energy is so much more important than a person's relationship to God.

The first couple of sentences tell the tale. David JC MacKay is more like Jesus than most of our popular Christian authors. BTW, I purchased David's book and I would continue to purchase Free Christian books. It's just that they should also be free. Free to read, print, use, etc.

Save Paste

I've always enjoyed Paste magazine. The really cool thing is the CD sampler that comes with each issue. I've discovered some really great new groups. My automobile's CD changer is filled with Paste CDs. I think you will also enjoy this mag. So, follow the link to SAVE PASTE, and if you don't have a subscription, get one, and if you can, please donate some money to help keep Paste alive.



Blessings,
Byron

What a ride

So, I've done the MS150 again. My sixth ride is history, but I think it was the hardest one I've done. That's what happens when you don't train properly. I will never, never, never, ever do another MS150 without proper training. Just too unpleasant.

Since the first day was canceled, (see above) I figured no problem, I'll do the challenge ride and go through Buescher State Park. I've always gone through the park. I would feel as though I'd wimped out if I didn't go through the park. It about broke me. Thankfully, the rest of the ride, even into a stiff wind, was much easier and I was able to finish.


Maybe, because of how exhausted I was, or because I actually tried to get others to contribute, I found this to be one of the most meaningful MS150 rides that I've done. I was very touched by the many suffers of MS that came out to cheer us on. One sign brought me to tears. It was a young lady holding up a sign that said "Thank you 4 saving my life one pedal at a time." I thought, it isn't my pedal strokes, it's the people that give money. It's my friends at work and my family, not me.

In Luke chapter 16, Jesus tells a strange parable. It's called the "Parable of the Shrewd Manager". I think it should be called the "Parable of the Crooked Manager". Jesus tells how this guy was wasting and even stealing money from his employer. When the crooked manager learns that he's about to be fired, he goes to his employer's debtors and cut's their debts. And how does Jesus sum up this parable? He doesn't say, "steal from the rich and give to the poor", which is kind of what the crooked manager did, no, in verse nine, he sums up the lesson with: "Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends." NLT. Use your money to benefit others. With that in mind, I'd like to say thank you to the many, many benefactors that gave their money to help others.

Total miles: 73.86 (total training miles were only 70.16)
Total Riding Time: 6:13:06 (don't my butt know it)
Avg Speed: 11.7 (slow and steady wins the race)
Max Speed: 41.2 (I LOVE going fast on the downhills)

MS150 (update)

I've been going on long bike rides these past two weekends to get ready for the MS150 next week end. Last week I went out to Bellville and rode 30 miles. Today I went to Bellville and road 40 miles. I go to Bellville, because it's hilly and hilly is the best training. My legs are beat. I'm not ready, but I'll do it anyway, unless it's raining. Nothing like pain for a good cause.

Mom called, she wanted to give to the MS150, but I didn't explain how to give, so she couldn't. See my previous post. So, if you want to give to the MS Society (tax deduction!) Please click on the link below.

CLICK HERE, or HERE and you will be taken to the MS Society's web site where you can make a secure credit card contribution. Or you can click on their logo below.

Killed some Fish this weekend

My good friends Tom, Jim, and I went fish killing this weekend. We went up to the woods of east Texas and fished on the Sabine river. We were guided by Simon, part of River Ridge, and he did a great job. We didn't get as many as we wanted (75), but we got enough (27). It was fun to have someone else do the baiting, netting, and cleaning of the fish. And many thanks to my boss, Kurt, for funding this good time.

An atheist says, "I truly believe Africa needs God"

This is a really good article. Very insightful. Matthew Parris is someone who knows Africa. He grew up there and has extensively traveled throughout the continent. He doesn't explain why he is "Now a confirmed atheist", but he doesn't let that get in the way of truly seeing the good that comes from Christian conversion.

Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.

And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.

Here's the article by Matthew Parris at Times Online.

Manna Bags

Well, we did it again. My Sunday School class made Manna Bags. They are bigger and better than last years. But, what is a Manna Bag? Well, it comes from the Old Testament story in Exodus chapter 16. Manna was the bread like substance that God provided to the Jews as they crossed the desert on their way to the promise land. It was a daily miracle of God for the sustenance of the people. Our Manna Bags are kind of like that. They are a day's worth of sustenance that we give to the beggars/homeless on the street corners.

This year our Manna Bags have: an Oatmeal Raisin bar, bag of salted peanuts, cooked salami sticks, a bag of cheez-it, fruit snack, cheddar cheese crackers, lolly pop, can of mixed fruit with a plastic spoon, bottle of water, antibacterial soft wipe, travel size tooth paste and tooth brush, stamped envelope with a sheet of paper (so they can write a letter), pen, a Gideons New Testament, and a gospel tract. All of this is stuffed into a gallon size zip lock bag. Here's a picture. Click on the picture for a larger version.

Helping the Homeless

I came upon this web site today, www.PimpThisBum.com. It was from a story in the Houston Chronicle. I'm very interested in seeing how it all works out. Take a look. Best of luck to Tim.

MS 150: Houston to Austin, Please Give.

The Houston to Austin MS 150 bike ride is the best ride. I'm signed up to ride again this year. I'm hoping that you might join in my fund raising efforts and "support" me. Here's a link to Byron's MS 150 page.

Be Like Jesus

The following is copied (with permission) from SmuloSpace. I love the way John sees Jesus. Not as our churchified Jesus, but a wild, radical, revolutionary.

1. Get baptized by the craziest guy in town.

2. Say and do things that are guaranteed to make religious people want to kill you. Repeat again, and again, and again, and again, and again and don't stop unless forced.

3. Do amazing things for people and ask them to not tell anyone.

4. Hang out with the most despised, marginalized, looked down upon, and shunned people you can find.

5. When possible, forgive and restore people, even if they betrayed you.

6. Live in a way that provokes gossip.

7. Win the most grace competition.

8. Keep the party going.

9. Serve people (note: nose plugs may be required).

10. If you're sad cry.

11. Empower people to do the extraordinary.

12. Act like a rock star in a hotel temple.

13. Radically simplify theology.

14.Break human-made religious laws. Repeat consistently.

15.Prioritize the most important over the important.

16. Let women with questionable backgrounds pay your bills.

Happy Birthday Brenton

Hey, happy, happy 26th.
Love ya,
Dad

Update on my children.

Here's a little video update that Ben & Anisha did for their church in England.

Albert says . . .

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

Albert Einstein, "Science, Philosophy and Religion: a Symposium", 1941

Signs of a fine establishment

This is the sign on the front door of a little Mexican restaurant that Brenda and I ate at. We were on the east side of Houston and were having trouble finding a place to eat. This place was busy, so we thought we'd give it a try. The sign should have been ample warning NOT to eat hear. We both agree, this place had the WORST food we had eaten in a long, long, long, long, long, long, time. So, when the place of business says they are going to kill you . . . maybe you don't want to eat there.

Catching up . . .

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

Happy Birthday Brenda

Happy Birthday Rachael

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday to me

Congratulations President Obama.