Sin? It's covered.

A couple questions came to mind this weekend while I was sitting in church listening to the sermon. These are questions most of us who are Christians may know, but if you don't know "church speak" you may not know the answers.

What's the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian? One thing. The Christian believes that Christ is God(Savior) and that without Christ he/she is destined for eternity apart from God. The non-Christian does not believe Christ is the Savior and God.

Christians believe they are "saved" by Christ. Does this mean we, I say we because I am a Christian by definition above, have somehow lost our humanity and are now perfect? Yes...OK...No and No :-), and far from it. My heart is inherently sinful by nature of being human. Sin is something I was born into because of the first sin by Adam (Eve's fault). I am born under that same curse from long ago. Because of that I also do certain things that are sinful, or sin. So, there is sin the noun (a curse), and sin the verb (a real time action like I punched that guy in the face because he looked at me funny). Both are real sin, and I have never punched a guy in the face because he looked at me funny.

So, God (Jesus) came to Earth, lived a sinless life, and was killed on the cross as a perfect and blameless sacrifice for the sins of ALL mankind. I now have been covered and my sins are forgiven. I now have Heaven to look forward to.

I believe Heaven will look like this, but way better. My job in Heaven will be to play Golf.

We Love Coffee.

Coffee Economy.

Coffee plant. Coffea aribica.

Coffee beans. Roasted.

Coffee Beans No No.

Do you drink it? Probably.

Why do we drink it? Caffeine. Here's what caffeine looks like.

Caffeine is a bitter white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a psychoactive stimulant drug and...(click here to read more about this drug)

Mmmm...I can't wait 'til my next cup.

Alcoholic in Christ.

A voice beats me, it's impossible to think.
A fall's on its way, I've become bigger, starting to sink.
Only darkness is offering its help, its ringing.
I look into nothing waiting for something. Nothing.

Passionate about what comes, I long for goodness and favor.
My sin arrives again and again like the sun rises to the day.
Darkness befriends in disquise, guilt takes me further, none the wise.
The battle not prepared for grows, tempting forever, Satan knows.

The tree is there but fatigue hinders my desire.
I ache for Christ like a child for love, it consumes like fire.
A touch that warms my within, like soothing water on my skin.
I turn towards it, He's there again. He's always been.

I can't lose sight or free the night while seized by my own will.
Failure to stand so strong, Holy Spirit be with me on and on.
Shadowed light below the Cross, it falls upon without loss.
I remember now, in God's embrace, He beat death and my sin erased.

I am free.

>>Written by me (JQ) in dedication to the alcoholics in my family, and in His family, who are covered in Christ.

Ugly Beauty.

Bogie, our Ugly Beauty dog, with Riley.

Licker. Stinky Breath.

Barking mad outside our paw streaked back door.

Napping with a blankie stuffed in his mouth. Stinky blankie.

Ugly Beauty.

Deep breath...4 weeks without LOST.

There, I said it. Saying "4 weeks without LOST" was as hard as The Fonz trying to say "I'm Sorruuu, Sorraaa, Sorry." It's an ETERNITY! Sure, I know it's just not "new" episodes but it might as well be off the air.

I suspect I may watch the reruns...and probably eat more than I should...and probably start biting my nails...and probably twirl my hair (if i had any)...and probably start drinking alone...and probably NOT be productive at all...for 4 weeks.

Pain, anguish, heartache, pizza are the only words that come to mind...

What are you going to do to cope? Maybe I'll do what you do.

Got 5 Billion Dollars?

What can you buy with 5 billion dollars? Here's a few things...

2,512,562,814 – 2 Liter bottles of Diet Pepsi @ $1.99ea from local convenient store.

1,388,888,888 – Gallons of gas @ $3.60ea in Portland, Oregon.

25,125,628 - iPod Nano’s @ $199ea from Best Buy.

58,823 - Kidneys @ $85,000ea on the black-market in India.

16,072 - Lamborghini Mercielagos @ $311,100 from Lamborghini.

18 - 777 Passenger Airliners @ $279,000,000ea from Boeing.

5 – Gallons of gas in 2009 @ $1 billion/per gallon in Portland, Oregon.

1 – Satellite Radio station @ $5 billion dollars from XM radio.

Do you Hulu?

It's obvious that the internet has changed since it's full consumerization in the 1990's. In my opinion the major change that has allowed super growth of the internet is the speed at which consumers are able to download content. Can you imagine trying to download YouTube videos on a 56K dialup connection? I mean people are still doing it but to really grasp everything the Internet offers, and enjoy it, you need a high speed Internet connection. I now live on a 3000K connection and I could never go back to a slower connection...spoiled for sure. All this high speed shtuff has laid the foundation for websites like Hulu.com. Downloadable video content blew up with YouTube, and now Hulu.com is trying to do the same with premium video content. It's just plain cool, and FREE.

What is Hulu.com? Hulu offers U.S. consumers a vast selection of premium video content, on demand, free and ad-supported: full episodes of TV shows, both current and classic, full-length movies, thousands of clips, and much more.


Now I can watch that Tom Brokaw Report I missed and my favorite Make Me A Supermodel episode...you know the one, anytime I want, for free. And it doesn't stop with TV, I can watch movies for free too.

Here's more nuts and bolts of Hulu.com, it's the "web's most comprehensive selection from more than 50 content providers including FOX, NBC, MGM, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, and more to deliver premium programming across all genres and formats, television shows, feature films, and clips." (That's straight from Hulu's site)

Check it out.

Oh...one thing I found that I don't like about Hulu. No LOST...yeah, that's a problem, but I can get those from ABC.com.

† Screwtape's Easter.

† Screwtape is the name of a Senior Demon from the fictional book The Screwtape Letters written by C.S. Lewis. "What if we found a long lost letter from old Screwtape instructing his nephew (Wormwood) on the horrors of the Ressurection?" was the question Bob Silver asked when he wrote this letter in the same fashion as C.S. Lewis wrote his book. It's well worth the read.

You can take our wives...

What’s your favorite movie speech or monologue of all time? Which one gives you chills everytime you hear it or see it. For me it’s this:

Braveheart Freedom Speech by William Wallace.

"I am William Wallace. And I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny! You have come to fight as free men. And free man you are! What will you do without freedom? Will you fight?"

"Two thousand against ten?" - the veteran shouted. "No! We will run - and live!"

"Yes!" Wallace shouted back. "Fight and you may die. Run and you will live at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!"



The running joke with my buddies is taking the last line of this famous speech and changing it to “…they may take our wives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”

In all seriousness, this speech reminds me of one that Jesus would give us. He sees his army getting scared, doubting, and then he busts out his loving freedom speech to remind us that if we fight this battle we will be free because we are free in Him, always. And we will fight.

I have heard a form of the question so many times that starts “And dying in your bed many years from now...”, and when I hear that I know what my answer is, no matter how that question ends; I don’t even have to think about it.

I know what I want my legacy to be. Do you?

Shhh...play number 7.

Are your kids Hannah Montana fans? If they’re like my kids they must be. As we drive down the road we have to put in the HM CD and I hear the constant requests to play “number 1”, “number 7”, “number 9”, etc. Naturally, or unnaturally, over time I start to develop MY favorite HM songs. When they’re blurting our requests I’m thinking “Say this number or that number”, and as soon as I hear the one I want, I go to that one. Funny? Crazy? Weird? All the above. Nobody is more perplexed by this than me. Dude, I am old, and I am a dude. I listen to Kutless, Skillet, and occasionally some Metallica to keep it real. Hannah Montana?

My wife laughs and jokes about this. We were at Blockbuster Video a few months back, we split up looking for our favorite movie genres so we could regroup and try to convince each other of which movies to get. At the regroup my wife shows me three different movies and then pulls out this comment, “OH…and I picked this out for you.” I was like cool, the wife is thinkin’ about MY tastes. Then she hands me the Hannah Montana movie case. VERY FUNNY! We gut laughed for a bit before I said, “Let’s get it.” J/K! We did not get it.


I am not the only “dad” to do this. I know this first hand. My friend Eric, with 4 kids, and I work together and were on a lunch/errand trip around town recently. With the radio on we cruise around talking and ranting like most guys do. We pull up to a stop light, stop, and we both catch ourselves humming a HM song on the radio. I said, “You too huh?” He was like “Yeah”, forlorn and depressed. “It’s OK dude, it’s OK” I said with love and sincere compassion. We chuckled for a sec and then cleared our throats, stuck our chests out, and quickly changed the subject. The light turned green, we burned the tires like guys do, got to cruising speed as fast as possible, and put the whole conversation behind us.

I say oh well, what can you do? I love my kids and I want them to hear kid music. It just happens to be kinda catchy. FYI…I have NO Hannah Montana songs on my iPhone playlists…seriously…just Miley Cyrus. J

Familiar Face.

Do you recognize this friendly face?

It's Kerby from Coffee Bar in Scappoose (best coffee in Scappoose). For the past 5+ years she has been the constant through 3 different owners. She knows your drink and has it going before you order it (if you visit regularly). She does a great job managing the awesome staff there too, always welcoming and friendly.

If you visit CB regularly, give her a big high five and let her know she's awesome!

Today is my B-day.

I am 36.

Here are 4 famous people with my birthday, March 19. Obviously not the same year. Can you tell me who they are?

The last one may be obscure, unless you are "radio" Dave. (hint hint)