New website about Jesus Christ

The LDS church (of which I am a member) has recently put out a new website focusing on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. I commend the establishment and promotion of this new venture. All too often the focus of church becomes about administrative matters or famous Mormons (like Mitt Romney) or crazy people who call themselves Mormons but are not (Texas-cult polygamist pedophiles) and less on the true nature of the religion which is fundamentally-based on faith in Jesus Christ.

Please visit at your leisure and enjoy the reading. God bless.

http://jesuschrist.lds.org

my wife Nicole has tagged me...

to complete this tag you must:
1. pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages)
2. turn to page 123
3. find the 5th sentence
4. post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. tag 5 people

I TAG CHRIS, HEIDI, AND SCOTT....DOES ANYONE ELSE READ THIS BLOG????


Before I begin, I must say that like my wife I read multiple books at the same time, so I will also be listing a few from my current reading selection.

COMICS:
“Anyone want to talk about how they feel about things since this Daredevil has declared himself this so-called Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen?"

from "Daredevil" Volume 5 by Brian Michael Bendis from Marvel Comics.

FICTION:
"Everything was taken out of all the closets, and the shelves were line with fresh clean newspaper."

from "The Fortunate Pilgrim" by Mario Puzo (most famously known for penning The Godfather story).

GENERAL STUDY:
"Lavoisier's idea had to be modified, however, when the English chemist Sir Humphrey Davey (1778-1829) showed in 1810 that muriatic acid (now called hydrochloric acid) contains only hydrogen and chlorine but no oxygen."

from "Chemistry-Second Edition" by John McMurry and Robert C. Fay both from Cornell University.

SPIRITUAL:
"But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all."

from New Testament, Luke 17:29.

Internet Television...I love technology.

For those of you who do not already know, a little over a year ago my wife and I decided that we had wasted enough time staring aimlessly into our television. I had a 57" Hitachi High Definition widescreen television and figured it would be a tragedy of Biblical proportions to let such awesomeness go to waste. We had to upgrade to the local cable Hi-Def package and included TIVO in the deal. No more would I be forced to watch whatever was currently on at the time. TIVO had been born to simplify my life and shorten my time spent watching brain-numbing television.

My television ban lasted a few months until someone mentioned that the major networks were starting to put old episodes online for free. Not for the $1.99 download from iTunes...oh no. FREE...so, how could I resist. I come before you now to expound my knowledge on the subject. My wife and I recently bought a Mac (and we love it!) and it serves as our entertainment center. We watch movies, we watch television shows, we surf the internet, and we post blogs that no one reads...

My analytical male brain now refuses to let me purchase a television and subscribe to cable when I get an all-in-one package from my Mac and internet subscription. Why pay an additional $40-50 per month, when the major network shows are nearly all online for FREE anyways? Granted, the basic cable channels have yet to follow the trend but trust me...they will follow suit.

Currently the internet offers over 100 televisions series for fans to watch via streaming or download options. For those who would like to test the waters, I will list below the wonderful sites:
www.abc.com
www.nbc.com
www.cbs.com
www.fox.com

And for those who think that is too many sites, msn.com has compiled them all into one listing for you:
http://tv.msn.com/tv/full-episodes

Enjoy the madness!

Living Without Regret and Becoming Who I Want To Be

This song makes me want to be a better person NOW. (I like this version better than Reznik’s - it is so powerful).




I don’t know what it is about us as human beings that compels us to believe that we won’t fall into the same mistakes as others before us. The one constant lesson of history is that it will repeat. As a parent now, I understand the parental urge to provide my children with more than I was given. I don’t simply refer to monetary provisions in that statement. My parents made tons of mistakes but they raised 4 sons who are free, independent thinkers. I understand the cliche parental statement that we want our children to be better than we are/were. We want them to learn from our mistakes and move forward. We hope that their starting point will be much further ahead than ours in order to help them get to our level and much further past in a more rapid timeframe than we did. I don’t want to look back at the end of my life and have tremendous regret. I don’t want to get to the end and realize that my priorities were out of line.

I believe that everyone can find something in life that motivates them to be better. The sad reality that occurs is history repeats itself. We as human beings have a natural tendency to do what feels good now and not worry about tomorrow. We become focused on today at the expense of tomorrow. I encourage all who read this to examine their lives and find out what that "thing" is. If there isn’t a thing and you realize that there may be apathetic tendencies in your life...my advice is this. Sit down and make a two lists. I guarantee this will help bring perspective into your life and may just help you find a "thing" or even an additional "thing" if you already have some.

List 1: Make a list of everyone who has positively influenced your life and why. This may take weeks...literally, that’s not a joke. Take time to ponder back and see who has made an impact in your life. When you are done with your list, it will create a sense of gratitude for the things these people did, most of whom probably have no idea the impact that their actions had in your life. Another thought to ponder, are you on anyone else’s list? I guarantee you are.

List 2: Make a list of of everything that you’d like to do before you die. This list can include anything you want: Get a master’s degree or a doctorate, visit every state in the US, sky dive, write a book, etc. If you aren’t single, make a married list too. Anyone who is married knows that while it is important to maintain who you are as an individual, nurturing you relationship is vital to a healthy marriage. Make a family list if you have kids. What do you want to do as a family together? AND THEN DO THEM!!

2008 Presidential Elections - Which candidate suits you best?

Being in sales I talk with alot of people and the presidential race seems to be at the forefront. What I have been noticing, however, is that many people I converse with don't know why they are supporting specific candidates over others.

I came across this website during my presidential candidate research and (so far) it is the best comparitive site I have seen. You can compare side by side two candidates at a time. Also, if you click on the biography links, it has video feeds regarding many of the issues at hand. Feel free to visit and then post a comment on your top choice (or choices).

You may be surprised to know that as a Mormon Republican, Mitt Romney isn't my automatic choice for the 2008 hanging chad contest. Actually, John McCain is my front runner. After the disappointing showing in Iowa, to see him win New Hampshire tonight has my veins feeling juiced like Roger Clemens...with Vitamin B, of course...

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/compare-candidates/index.html

2008 Presidential Debates...Here's what I look forward to.

TRIUMPH THE INSULT COMIC DOG will hopefully make the rounds again. Sometimes it just seems easier for a guy with a dog puppet to ask the questions and make the comments so many of us are thinking of.

Here is what you may (or may not) have missed from Triumph's 2004 tour of the Presidential Debate between Bush and Kerry.