A Reminder To Enjoy Your Freedom

I came across this article in Wired Magazine today. It reveals just how precious a thing "freedom of speech" is. See for yourself...

The Calling

I believe that I have gotten it all wrong as a leader. Somewhere along the line I bought into the lie that convinced me it was my responsibility to originate, initiate, demonstrate, administrate, facilitate, moderate, aggregate, affiliate, congregate, concatenate, conglomerate, integrate, populate, proliferate, propagate, abdicate, quantitate, agitate, infiltrate, dictate, dominate, subjugate, instigate, ordinate, articulate, educate, reiterate, debate, restate, postulate and alleviate. When all along what God has simply called me to do is inspire. more... WHY? Because inspired people live life to its fullest. They see with high definition clarity while encircled by thick fog. They can smell a rose while standing in a trash heap. They hear the still small voice while gridlocked in a traffic jam. They taste honey in the bitterness of circumstance. They touch the hearts of those around them, even when those hearts are sealed behind an impenetrable vault. They seize opportunities with courage, resolve and a holy naivete that doesn't allow them to "know better". Inspired people inspire others to life... Who have I inspired today?

Anybody Want to Orbit the Earth?

Anyone who has been trying to come up with something to do with friends or spouses has entered the "I don't know, what do you want do?" black hole of indecision. Well, it may not be too long before we can disengage from that psychosis with the following declaration of freedom: "want to orbit the earth"?

Article By Brian McLaren Questions Church Renewal Motives

I found this article by Brian McLaren today entitled Bless This House? I found it to be very insightful as many are seeking to "improve church" to make it more relevant, impacting and meaningful. You can read the article in its entirety here.

Free Custom Backgrounds

I don't know about you, but I am always looking for new background images to use in presentations and stuff. Sometimes I end up not finding much and get inspired to create my own. So I thought I would pass them on to you...and of course, they are free. I put some recent ones online today, but I will be digging some older ones out of my archives and posting them in the near future. The images will be updated regularly so check back often to see what I have added. Click Here To Check Them Out

Trying To Find Music That Is Similar To Your Favorite Band?

I came across this site while browsing digg.com. The site tracks its user's preferences in music. If you enter a band you like, the site returns the top 100 artists that other users who like your band also listen to. Not every match will fit your taste, but you have a good chance of coming across an artist you may not have known about. Check it out: www.last.fm UPDATE: 11.04.05 I just got the latest issue of Wired Magazine and they had a section about websites that help you find music that is similar to what you already like...what a coinincidence (copy cats...I know they were reading my blog!). Anyway, check these sites out as well (some are free and some require a subscription): Pandora, MusicStrands, SoundFlavor.

Welcome to Gradient Thought

I am sitting at home. It is November 1st, 2005 and the chill of fall in Northern California has begun to settle in. I am trying to figure out what would be a really exciting reason (not to mention a good one) for starting 'Gradient Thought' (which, by the way will from now on be referred to by the initials 'gT'...just so you know). It isn't my first attemp at a blog. Previous attempts have come up short, simply because I was too busy to make updating them a top priority. I also tend to talk to much (even when my talking takes the form of writing). So I am working on saying what needs to be said in fewer words. Read Full Article Here is what you can expect to see at gT: Articles & Thoughts - the essence of a blog in the first place is to be an online journal. As I continue in my journey with God, those things that I discover which would be of benefit to others will be posted here. Over time, if you hang around, you will begin to see how these pieces fit together. Resources - Most of the good resources I know about have been shared with me by friends. So I am returning the favor to all of you. Cool Stuff - When I have a few moments of spare time I like to hunt around the web and find new and fun things (websites, gadgets, whatever...). I'll post links and reviews of the cool stuff I find. Feel free to let me know if you find something worthy of my 'Cool Stuff' links. Thanks for checking gT out. Be sure to sign up to get my daily feed sent to your favorite news reader. Follow the links under the 'gT Updates & Feeds' in the right sidebar.