Archive for February, 2006

Help My Friend w/ “Team In Training”

I just got an e-mail from a friend of mine here in the Indianapolis area. He’s currently training to run in a marathon and is participating in a “Team-in-Training” program to help benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I am training to participate in a marathon (yeah, 26.2 miles!) as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I’m doing this in honor of all the families and individuals who are battling cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

You may make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society’s mission. If you want, include the name of someone I will be running in honor of and I’ll be sure to write their name on my race jersey.

I hope you’ll visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

So, if you’re a runner (or not) and would like to help support his cause, be sure and check out his site and make a donation online.

Don Knotts Dead at 81

Just read the headline, Don Knotts died Friday at the age of 81. Probably most famous for his role of the bumbling deputy, Barney Fife, on the “Andy Griffith Show”, or his role as Mr. Roper on “Three’s Company”. What a great humorist and person. You will be missed.

Does Evil Exist?

Did God create everything that exists? Does evil exist? Did God create evil?

A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. “Did God create everything that exists?”

A student bravely replied, “Yes he did!”

“God created everything?” The professor asked.

“Yes sir, he certainly did,” the student replied.

The professor answered, “If God created everything; then God created evil. And, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil.”

The student became quiet and did not answer the professor’s hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, “May I ask you a question, professor?”

“Of course”, replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, “Professor,does cold exist?”

“What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?”

The other students snickered at the young man’s question.

The young man replied, “In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F)is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We
have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.”

The student continued, “Professor, does darkness exist?”

The professor responded, “Of course it does.”

The student replied, “Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton’s prism to break white light into man colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”

Finally the young man asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?

Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course, as I have already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.

To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”

The professor sat down.

The young man’s name — Albert Einstein [Editor's Note: Because it's doubtful that's actually a fact, but the story is still good!]

[Not sure about the validity of that, but definitely a good argument! May I be nearly as intelligent the next time my faith is challenged.]

12-year Drum Solo

Tony Royster, Jr is a drumming prodigy. At 12-years of age, I’d say he’s definitely got the skills.

Check-out this video of his solo on Google Video

Click to watch: Drum solo

Seth Godin’s SPAM Solution

Seth Godin shares some great insight on a potential solution to fighting SPAM. I can’t say there’s anything I disagree with in his theory. I believe it would really work.

Read for yourself and come to your own conclusion.

Seth Godin: More on stamps