My brother pointed me to this list,
http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html
It basically outlines what this guy would do if he was an evil overlord, essentiall how he'd avoid the all-too-common mistakes of past evildoers.
Now if only Bond villains would read it....
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Amazing generosity in Kamloops
So I'm now the Summer Safety Coordinator for the Kamloops Brain Injury Association. It's a pretty sweet job, considering I get to bike around Kamloops for a few hours a day and get paid for it. However, I've found something very surprising: companies actually will give you stuff if you're using it for a good cause.
My job essentially entails enforcing and promoting the Skateboard Rewards Program for the KBIA, where I go to skate parks and the like and give rewards to people wearing helmets. Rewards include anything I receive from local businesses and last year ranged between a 2 for 1 coupon to t-shirts and $25 gift certificates.
This year, I decided that I need to aim high. So I contacted over 60 places, asking if they had anything they might be able to donate. To my surprise, I had 3 responses before I even began phoning all the businesses for follow-up. I've now accumulated t-shirts, DVD's, stickers, keychains, gift certificates, and more, all in the span of 3 days, and what's even more amazing is that I'm not even half way through all the places that sound like they might also donate something.
This brang up a question for me. As the DVBS director at my Church last year, I had a similar role in that I needed to get donations for the program, and I probably approached around 40-50 places asking for what they might be able to donate, with less than 50% success. Now, with the KBIA, I'm getting an incredibly positive reaction. The question I ask (other than what am I going to do with all this stuff) is whether the fact I was acting on behalf of a Church influenced anyone to give or not give. There are probably a few other mitigating factors, such as my increased experience in telephone conversation or in how to approach business for donations, but I believe that it would be incredibly sad if people negated to donate to a Church program just because it was religiously based.
Oh well, I do have to praise God for all the support I'm getting for the program, because if you haven't attempted convincing someone to wear helmets, I never reccommend starting with adolescent skateboarders. I.e. support definately required; in fact, any divine intervention in the area of saving some of these kids' craniums will be most appreciated and required. On the plus side, I'm starting to get a very small understanding of how God feels when He sees people not accepting His son to redeem their sins...
Oh, and remember: brain injury is forever; prevention is the only cure. (and if you're wearing a helmet and see me at a skate park in Kamloops, make sure to get a prize)
My job essentially entails enforcing and promoting the Skateboard Rewards Program for the KBIA, where I go to skate parks and the like and give rewards to people wearing helmets. Rewards include anything I receive from local businesses and last year ranged between a 2 for 1 coupon to t-shirts and $25 gift certificates.
This year, I decided that I need to aim high. So I contacted over 60 places, asking if they had anything they might be able to donate. To my surprise, I had 3 responses before I even began phoning all the businesses for follow-up. I've now accumulated t-shirts, DVD's, stickers, keychains, gift certificates, and more, all in the span of 3 days, and what's even more amazing is that I'm not even half way through all the places that sound like they might also donate something.
This brang up a question for me. As the DVBS director at my Church last year, I had a similar role in that I needed to get donations for the program, and I probably approached around 40-50 places asking for what they might be able to donate, with less than 50% success. Now, with the KBIA, I'm getting an incredibly positive reaction. The question I ask (other than what am I going to do with all this stuff) is whether the fact I was acting on behalf of a Church influenced anyone to give or not give. There are probably a few other mitigating factors, such as my increased experience in telephone conversation or in how to approach business for donations, but I believe that it would be incredibly sad if people negated to donate to a Church program just because it was religiously based.
Oh well, I do have to praise God for all the support I'm getting for the program, because if you haven't attempted convincing someone to wear helmets, I never reccommend starting with adolescent skateboarders. I.e. support definately required; in fact, any divine intervention in the area of saving some of these kids' craniums will be most appreciated and required. On the plus side, I'm starting to get a very small understanding of how God feels when He sees people not accepting His son to redeem their sins...
Oh, and remember: brain injury is forever; prevention is the only cure. (and if you're wearing a helmet and see me at a skate park in Kamloops, make sure to get a prize)
Friday, June 09, 2006
Finding a job, or just finding something
I am currently residing in Kamloops, B.C., where my parents live and I have lived for about 11 years. It's a nice place, potentially relaxing and entertaining in its own unique fashion.
One difficulty does arise for students (like myself) when they are attempting to fit back into Kamloops life: finding a decent job. A job which will pay for at least a portion of one's tuition and living expenses while allowing survival of the Kamloops summer (it's a neo-desert climate... for those who know me, yes, I get quite warm). So far, I have a position at DHL (aka Loomis), sorting packages. Other positions I have held this summer include entry watch at a pulp mill, farmer at an organic farm, and various chore-like activities. Sadly, the DHL job is at nasty times and hence blocks out a few other positions I have applied for, not that I'm overly concerned. You see, I know that whatever happens this summer, God will take care of me as He always has, and so my concern turns more to a question of whether I am seeking work which God would have me do, a question which is not as easy to discern as I may communicate. In my experience, He isn't interested as much in the job as the person doing the job, and how the relationships presented in the employment are fostered and grown.
Understand that, although I have taken 4 years of psychology and have many friends in various locales, relationships are hard. They take a lot of work and trust on both sides to make them strong and lasting. I can listen to people and keep up my side of the deal, but there are only rare times when I accept others doing the same, especially when I know that I will never see those people again. Hence my difficulty with that side of God's interests in my summer employment.
I suppose the reason for all this blathering is just to say that at times God's will and your own may not coincide, whether the reason is the difference in perspective (as one may imagine), or your self-interests. My suggestion is patience (difficult even for the most saintly of us) and a healthy dose of God's point of view (ie. ask yourself What does God want with the world? What does He seem to want with me? What is tearing at God's heart?). No guarentee, but those things have been helpful to me in the past few months of seemingly hopeless job searching, so perhaps they'll be of some small consolation to any who may be struggling with similar troubles.
One difficulty does arise for students (like myself) when they are attempting to fit back into Kamloops life: finding a decent job. A job which will pay for at least a portion of one's tuition and living expenses while allowing survival of the Kamloops summer (it's a neo-desert climate... for those who know me, yes, I get quite warm). So far, I have a position at DHL (aka Loomis), sorting packages. Other positions I have held this summer include entry watch at a pulp mill, farmer at an organic farm, and various chore-like activities. Sadly, the DHL job is at nasty times and hence blocks out a few other positions I have applied for, not that I'm overly concerned. You see, I know that whatever happens this summer, God will take care of me as He always has, and so my concern turns more to a question of whether I am seeking work which God would have me do, a question which is not as easy to discern as I may communicate. In my experience, He isn't interested as much in the job as the person doing the job, and how the relationships presented in the employment are fostered and grown.
Understand that, although I have taken 4 years of psychology and have many friends in various locales, relationships are hard. They take a lot of work and trust on both sides to make them strong and lasting. I can listen to people and keep up my side of the deal, but there are only rare times when I accept others doing the same, especially when I know that I will never see those people again. Hence my difficulty with that side of God's interests in my summer employment.
I suppose the reason for all this blathering is just to say that at times God's will and your own may not coincide, whether the reason is the difference in perspective (as one may imagine), or your self-interests. My suggestion is patience (difficult even for the most saintly of us) and a healthy dose of God's point of view (ie. ask yourself What does God want with the world? What does He seem to want with me? What is tearing at God's heart?). No guarentee, but those things have been helpful to me in the past few months of seemingly hopeless job searching, so perhaps they'll be of some small consolation to any who may be struggling with similar troubles.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
I recently found this awesome website:
http://americanrhetoric.com/
It has all sorts of speeches, some of which are audio and video. It's interesting to examine their effect on you as you read them, and where that effect comes from.
I reccomend checking out the movies section, where you can find some of the better movie speeches with accompanying background music.
http://americanrhetoric.com/
It has all sorts of speeches, some of which are audio and video. It's interesting to examine their effect on you as you read them, and where that effect comes from.
I reccomend checking out the movies section, where you can find some of the better movie speeches with accompanying background music.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
How are you crying out?
3THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD,
MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.'" (Mark 1:3 NASB)
I'll be the first to admit that I am in fact a distinct person, someone who is unlike most others, and I believe that God has made me so for a reason, just as he has made each of us unique. I don't mean to criticize those who follow fashion trends just because they're fashion trends, or those who have not taken the time to evaluate who they truly are and (if Christian or otherwise spiritual), how they fit into God's plan.
If you look throughout the Bible, there are times when masses of people are used for God's glory, and also times where the acts of one or two people create the downfall of entire houses or civilizations. God uses a plethera of ways to influence the world, and while we can understand that His ways are huge and definately beyond our comprehension, at times you have to sit back and marvel at what He does.
John the Baptist... what a distinct and unique person. Never mind the eating locusts, or the camel hair and leather. Think about this: he was crying out in the wilderness. One man. Big place. God's chosen mechanism to usher in the savior of the world, and he chooses someone we would probably lock up and drug up today. Why not use a great mass of people? Maybe a few trumpets, like back in the good ol days of Jericho? You'd certainly get a little more publicity than one person yelling in the middle of nowhere, especially with such an important event as the savior of humanity coming forward.
But God didn't. He gave us one man in the wilderness, a man who ate the pests which destroyed good crops and wore camel hair as clothing (which gives me hope as a person with a non-conformist attire). John was loud and he was effective, even when he was preaching from the pulpit of nowhere to a group of people who couldn't understand the full ramifications of what he was doing.
Now there is no wilderness, nowhere we can go which is desolate enough to require a John the Baptist; or is there? We live in a society where less people have a knowledge about Jesus, and more people think it 'cool' to throw insults at Christians than validly evaluate the faith we have (not that I'm complaining). Let's be that voice in the wilderness, that one faint sound in the middle of a parched desert of spirituality, the slight hope of light and peace in such seas of darkness and confusion. People will look at you strangely, but we have to keep crying out in praise of the only being deserving of it. If you have hesitation, think of it this way: if you do not show Jesus's love to those around you and, if they are ready, show them the hope you have in Jesus, who will? Who will?
'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD,
MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.'" (Mark 1:3 NASB)
I'll be the first to admit that I am in fact a distinct person, someone who is unlike most others, and I believe that God has made me so for a reason, just as he has made each of us unique. I don't mean to criticize those who follow fashion trends just because they're fashion trends, or those who have not taken the time to evaluate who they truly are and (if Christian or otherwise spiritual), how they fit into God's plan.
If you look throughout the Bible, there are times when masses of people are used for God's glory, and also times where the acts of one or two people create the downfall of entire houses or civilizations. God uses a plethera of ways to influence the world, and while we can understand that His ways are huge and definately beyond our comprehension, at times you have to sit back and marvel at what He does.
John the Baptist... what a distinct and unique person. Never mind the eating locusts, or the camel hair and leather. Think about this: he was crying out in the wilderness. One man. Big place. God's chosen mechanism to usher in the savior of the world, and he chooses someone we would probably lock up and drug up today. Why not use a great mass of people? Maybe a few trumpets, like back in the good ol days of Jericho? You'd certainly get a little more publicity than one person yelling in the middle of nowhere, especially with such an important event as the savior of humanity coming forward.
But God didn't. He gave us one man in the wilderness, a man who ate the pests which destroyed good crops and wore camel hair as clothing (which gives me hope as a person with a non-conformist attire). John was loud and he was effective, even when he was preaching from the pulpit of nowhere to a group of people who couldn't understand the full ramifications of what he was doing.
Now there is no wilderness, nowhere we can go which is desolate enough to require a John the Baptist; or is there? We live in a society where less people have a knowledge about Jesus, and more people think it 'cool' to throw insults at Christians than validly evaluate the faith we have (not that I'm complaining). Let's be that voice in the wilderness, that one faint sound in the middle of a parched desert of spirituality, the slight hope of light and peace in such seas of darkness and confusion. People will look at you strangely, but we have to keep crying out in praise of the only being deserving of it. If you have hesitation, think of it this way: if you do not show Jesus's love to those around you and, if they are ready, show them the hope you have in Jesus, who will? Who will?
Saturday, March 11, 2006
One slip-up
I feel very bad about what has gone on in the organization I preside over, and even worse that I didn't do what should have been done to prevent it. I am the president of the Residence Hall Association at SFU, a student government within the university's residences, and we put out a newsletter to the undergrad residences every month which we try to fill with events happening in residence and various entertaining items (or entertaining to the person making it). March's newsletter had some content in it which I would not repeat; safe to say that the glance I had of it after it was printed and reprinted on many hundreds of pages should have made me send it to the recycling bin as it in no way reflected what I want the organization to stand for or to be.
Yet I didn't stop it, and this worries me because it tells me that I can't respect my own values and intuition to follow them when a situation comes up where social pressures tell me to act against my values. It may be over-dramatic, but it reminds me of the quote from Edmund Burke, "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing." For many years, I've tried to be the person who does something in the face of challenged values (of course all the while accepting the assumption, albeit perhaps true, that I am one of those "good men"); and now I have experienced the pain of doing nothing, and to offer some advice, if you feel your values being challenged, do something about it. Whether that is questioning why you value that thing or if it's saying no to the face of a group of people who would have you go against that value, do it. The moment you do nothing, someday it will come back and you will have this feeling in yourself like you have invalidated your own principles...
Well, that's enough self-pity. Please take what advice I have in this case, as the same situation could happen to you, and I pray you would do differently.
Yet I didn't stop it, and this worries me because it tells me that I can't respect my own values and intuition to follow them when a situation comes up where social pressures tell me to act against my values. It may be over-dramatic, but it reminds me of the quote from Edmund Burke, "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing." For many years, I've tried to be the person who does something in the face of challenged values (of course all the while accepting the assumption, albeit perhaps true, that I am one of those "good men"); and now I have experienced the pain of doing nothing, and to offer some advice, if you feel your values being challenged, do something about it. Whether that is questioning why you value that thing or if it's saying no to the face of a group of people who would have you go against that value, do it. The moment you do nothing, someday it will come back and you will have this feeling in yourself like you have invalidated your own principles...
Well, that's enough self-pity. Please take what advice I have in this case, as the same situation could happen to you, and I pray you would do differently.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
On why to be a Christian
I've heard many reasons for people being Christians. My own reason came about because of God's never-ending love for me and his incredible ability to speak to me at just the right time. Other fascinating reasons have to do with drug addictions, logical deductions, or even just one significant person mentioning a church somewhere or a youth group elsewhere.
One thing I would like to tell all to-be Christians and even some people who know the faith but maybe don't have the personal relationship with Christ for one reason or another: do not take it on unless you know it is your decision, that you have examined everything you need to and despite some small doubt some fearful person gave you, you have decided for yourself that Christ is your savior.
Some might ask why I, a professing Christian and as such someone who wants to spread the gospel as much as possible, would want to tell people to question their initiation to faith. The reason for this is that people who come to faith just because it's a social thing to do are not typically in the habit of sticking to the faith when the going gets tough.
Whatever your reason for believing (or not, if that's the case), please ask yourself if it is based in some form of social pressure, because at some point in everyone's faith they are put to the test, and you, not your friends or your parents or your pastor, will have to get through that test, and if your faith is based on anything but Christ and the relationship you have with Him, you will find the test easier to give up on than you could have possibly expected.
One thing I would like to tell all to-be Christians and even some people who know the faith but maybe don't have the personal relationship with Christ for one reason or another: do not take it on unless you know it is your decision, that you have examined everything you need to and despite some small doubt some fearful person gave you, you have decided for yourself that Christ is your savior.
Some might ask why I, a professing Christian and as such someone who wants to spread the gospel as much as possible, would want to tell people to question their initiation to faith. The reason for this is that people who come to faith just because it's a social thing to do are not typically in the habit of sticking to the faith when the going gets tough.
Whatever your reason for believing (or not, if that's the case), please ask yourself if it is based in some form of social pressure, because at some point in everyone's faith they are put to the test, and you, not your friends or your parents or your pastor, will have to get through that test, and if your faith is based on anything but Christ and the relationship you have with Him, you will find the test easier to give up on than you could have possibly expected.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Odd but valid question
I have this odd tendency which seems to be either more prevalent in my life or I'm just becoming more conscious of it, so I ask you this question. Please answer it before you read on:
If you know something is inconstant, is it right to distance yourself from it or not value it as much as something you know is constant?
Ok, since you now have that opinion, I'll tell you my difficulty: I know that some friendships I have will not last. It's not that these relationships will explode at some point, it's more of a slow withering which occurs and which I have observed in many interactions I have with people. After this realization, it seems best to create an emotional distance from those relationships which would only serve to (at worst) hurt both individuals or (at best) be a slight obligatory misuse of time.
The difficulty with all this is that I know the logic of it, but something in me can't accept that this is how a healthy individual should be treating those around her or him. I'm hoping some input from someone will give a bit better light on a problem which has kinda haunted me for a long time.
If you know something is inconstant, is it right to distance yourself from it or not value it as much as something you know is constant?
Ok, since you now have that opinion, I'll tell you my difficulty: I know that some friendships I have will not last. It's not that these relationships will explode at some point, it's more of a slow withering which occurs and which I have observed in many interactions I have with people. After this realization, it seems best to create an emotional distance from those relationships which would only serve to (at worst) hurt both individuals or (at best) be a slight obligatory misuse of time.
The difficulty with all this is that I know the logic of it, but something in me can't accept that this is how a healthy individual should be treating those around her or him. I'm hoping some input from someone will give a bit better light on a problem which has kinda haunted me for a long time.
On being 21
(this is transferred from my MSN space... I was told that one isn't very good, so I came over here)
Hey Anyone,
No idea who's gonna read this; probably no one.
I turned 21 on Saturday. Yes, many people are surprised that I am so young as well as that my birthday was not widely celebrated, but I'd like to speak to one thing which I believe should hit every person at 21: what are you doing? At this point in life the gloves are off, I can now go to the states and drink with the best of them. More importantly, there is a number of people out there who may see 21 as a magical age which now means I am a "man", as though this gender and sex definition did not apply to me beforehand. I suppose that I could have been (and still may be) called a child before my birthday, but what has really changed? Also, what does being a "true man" entail? My mail hasn't been working great in the past little while, so if there's some sort of manual detailing my new responsibilities, I won't get it for a bit... I don't think that it'll arrive anyways. It's silly to assume that all of the sudden I'm a new person; I am who I have always been: an impermanent form of what is to come. As is with many people, there are times when I demonstrate the behavior I would wish to show for my entire life, and other times which I really wish didn't happen. God, knowing exactly what I need, has revealed that I won't always be clumsy with words, not always brutal with feedback, and not always negative in opinion; yet the change always happens slowly, with each increasing increment of self-knowledge and devotion to God.
In the end, being 21 doesn't mean a thing. I am now past two decades of age, and there is more ahead of me than behind me. Being who I am, I am truthfully frightened of what's to come, because I inevitably know what it's going to be.
I only pray that acheiving the great prize of living for 21 years will inspire me to pick up the responsibility I have left slacking, and become the man I know God has it in store for me to be.
Hey Anyone,
No idea who's gonna read this; probably no one.
I turned 21 on Saturday. Yes, many people are surprised that I am so young as well as that my birthday was not widely celebrated, but I'd like to speak to one thing which I believe should hit every person at 21: what are you doing? At this point in life the gloves are off, I can now go to the states and drink with the best of them. More importantly, there is a number of people out there who may see 21 as a magical age which now means I am a "man", as though this gender and sex definition did not apply to me beforehand. I suppose that I could have been (and still may be) called a child before my birthday, but what has really changed? Also, what does being a "true man" entail? My mail hasn't been working great in the past little while, so if there's some sort of manual detailing my new responsibilities, I won't get it for a bit... I don't think that it'll arrive anyways. It's silly to assume that all of the sudden I'm a new person; I am who I have always been: an impermanent form of what is to come. As is with many people, there are times when I demonstrate the behavior I would wish to show for my entire life, and other times which I really wish didn't happen. God, knowing exactly what I need, has revealed that I won't always be clumsy with words, not always brutal with feedback, and not always negative in opinion; yet the change always happens slowly, with each increasing increment of self-knowledge and devotion to God.
In the end, being 21 doesn't mean a thing. I am now past two decades of age, and there is more ahead of me than behind me. Being who I am, I am truthfully frightened of what's to come, because I inevitably know what it's going to be.
I only pray that acheiving the great prize of living for 21 years will inspire me to pick up the responsibility I have left slacking, and become the man I know God has it in store for me to be.
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