Marriage Amendment in Iowa

As Christians, we have a duty to stand for what is right. God created marriage as the oldest institution in history and sanctified it. As Christians, we must stand to protect it with all our vigor. Iowa has a renegade judge that has thrown out the will of the majority, as expressed by our state legislative acts, by saying our marriage laws defining a marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The judge "overthrew" this law and gave same-sex people a chance to acquire "marriage licences." Polk County has appealed this to the State Supreme Court, but do not look for the courts to solve this issue. We must fight this in the legislature and get an Iowa Marriage Amendment. To take action and learn more, go to http://letusvoteiowa.com.

If you are not willing to take action on this issue this year, or at least learn more, you are not ready to fight the good fight of faith. Pray, and then act.

Tough Love vs. Spanking

It seems that these days most Americans think it is improper to spank children, so over the years I tried other methods to control my kids when they had one of 'those moments.' One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride and talk. They usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together. This worked so well for my children that I now use the method on my grandchildren. I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my grandson, in case you would like to use the technique. Sincerely,A Friend

(Disclaimer: I don't do this with my kids.)

Casting Crowns' Slow Fade

My next sermon will be about the Casting Crowns song, "Slow Fade". The general theme of that song is that when we let the devil successfully tempt us once, especially with a sin that is "addicting," we allow the devil to have a foothold in our life and over time our faith, resolve, and discipline erode, and then we are gone - lost. We are not lost in one day, but one day can doom us. The song is very powerful. My points for the sermon will likely be:
1. By the way we act, we deceive ourselves.
2. By the way we talk, we don't believe we are falling.
3. By the way we lead, we don't care if others fall.
4. By the way we live, we think we will not fall.

This will be an emotional message, as temptation affects us all.

Did you know that it is reported that nearly half of men leading in the church suffer from some level of sexual impurity related to pornography. While I don't suffer this (nor do I enjoy it very much), becuase I have been pure so far, Satan knows this is a possible temptation.

Pray for this message.

This will have a theme

Please be patient while I gear up this new blog and will soon have content toward my main goals:
1. Preparing to take on Satan and his forces
2. Preparing to fight for God with wisdom of truth
3. Standing firm in the face of temptation

I really do hope to have good downloads, studies, and thought-proving questions and perhaps devotions from relevant site.

Pray for me.

Sim Names

I am a huge Sim City fan and play Sim City 4 when I can, thanks to my wife who purchased the game. Please give me some tasteful ideas for my next few cities' names. I hope to upload some city files and tips for fans in the coming months.

Neck'car 2008 here soon with Daytona 500 approaching

I know all ya'll are bummed out that Mark Martin did not win the Daytona 500 last year, losing on the last lap by less than 0.08 second to Kevin Harvick. But in three weeks he gets his chance again, only this year he drives the #8, which everyone south of Interstate 80 knows is the car formerly driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior is now part of the elite Hendrick Motorsports. Since Mark is only driving a partial schedule this year, he won't win his first championship. I'll handicap my projections for Nascar this year. Since the top twelve make the "Chase" format for a playoff, here is my projections (victories in parenthesis)

Winner: Jimmie Johnson (7)
2. Jeff Gordon (4)
3. Matt Kenseth (4)
4. Denny Hamlin (3)
5. Carl Edwards (3)
6. Kevin Harvick (2)
7. Tony Stewart (3)
8. Kurt Busch (2)
9. Clint Bowyer (1)
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2)
11. Martin Truex Jr. (1)
12. Jeff Burton (1)

Close and may upset: Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya, and Greg Biffle

Memorial Service for the Unborn

Today my family and I attended the county's annual memorial service to remember the over 30 million unborn babies that have been slaughtered since 1973, when the US Supreme Court "legalized" abortion on demand on January 22. The annual service includes poems, short sermons and speaches, and music in a funeral format. Our county has some strong supporters of the cause, but we are too few it seems. Many just don't come up to stand. About 30 attended today's ceremony, and four people gave messages, including our evangelist at our church. If Christians are unwilling to stand for "the least of these", how do we expect to stand before our loving God and profess Him boldly.

Ways you can stand:
1. By all means, learn the issues and vote.
2. Write letters to the editor.
3. Donate and volunteer, if possible, to the causes that support life, like the National Right to Life PAC.
4. Join a local group concerned with the issue.
5. Pray, and again I say, pray (for good politicians, good judges, and women who are struggling with the pregancies)
6. Help people where you can. In the words of Casting Crowns, my favorite band, "love them like Jesus."

Not Just a Kiss

The lyrics from the old song are wrong--a kiss is definitely more than just a kiss.

Here are a few facts about smooching:

1. A one minute kiss burns 26 calories. (feel the burn, the burn, the burn)

2. Our brains have special neurons that help us find our mate's mouth in the dark. :)

3. A passionate kiss quickens your heart rate to 100 beats per minute.

4. Kissing reduces tooth decay because the extra saliva generated by a lip-lock cleans your teeth.

5. Nine out of ten couples in happy relationships kiss before bed.

Sounds yummy to me.

Marriage Partnership, Summer 2006, Page 9

Grants 101

As a professional grantwriter, I am much like a meteorologist (weatherman). I can be wrong half the time and still keep my job. Writing grants is hard work, especially if you are not a particularly gifted writer. However, it can be learned BY ANYONE. No degree is required. A lot of patience is...and some clever thinking. Here are some hints when considering a grant:
1. Gather good information upfront about your project or program. Information should include cost estimates; details about your purpose, goals, and past acheivements; who you serve and will serve.
2. Gather information about your organization. Examples include a budget of the organization, organizational documents, mission statement, list of the organizations leadership, and brief history.
3. Provide information about results you expect and how it will improve things for the organization and those you serve. Include details about need.
4. Have another person without significant knowledge of the project review it for clarity (does it make sense) and grammar.
5. Review your grant, especially the narrative, for completeness.
6. If you have a grantwriter do much of it, review it anyway. Do not assume they know your organization or project.
7. Learn the "buzzwords" of the organization. If their rules say, "fund projects in the areas of arts and culture", and you ask for housing funds, you ain't gettin' any. Research websites, call others that have written grants, view past grant lists, and call reps of the company, foundation, or agency.
8. Don't wait for the last minute, especially if you must mail it a long ways or do it online, because you must assume you will have computer problems. Trust me.
9. Don't pay big money for lists of foundations and grant sources. They can be helpful but spending big money is often not necessary.
10. Note the "matching" requirement or other rules about how the money must be used. One thing I run into at my job is the people that think they can get grants for everything (entire project cost). I tell them, "If you are not willing to put some of your own money into a project or program, why should you expect them to do so?" Plan ahead of time what amount of funds you can put into the effort before you apply for other funds.

If you want more grant info, make a comment, so I know you are interested, and I'll keep adding more tips, links, etc.

Fractured Republican Party

Will the fractured Republican Party move forward and come together behind a strong candidate? It is hard to tell, but I hope that over time, we can touch on key issues affecting politics in Iowa and the U.S.
Today in Des Moines, a group of people came together to call on the Iowa Legislature, which is Democratically controlled, to provide an opportunity for Iowans to vote on "gay marriage". Please pray for this and for the freedom we have a Christians to worship our God without the politicians persecuting us.

Goin' Pro

Mark and Alexis snowboarding....gnarly, dude.

Ice storm

We had an ice storm in December. one month later, we are still picking branches out of our yard. We had about 2 tons of branches hit the ground. I have spent 6 hours to date cleaning my yard and have went through one set of tree trimmers. Check out the piles in the front yard. We have about 200 pounds of small pieces of firewood for next summer and beyond. See this tree. It looks like an F2 tornado hit it.

This is my blog

Greetings, the wide world. I hope you're ready for this invasion. We're going to talk here about fighting the good fight of faith, from a favorite verse of mine, 1 Timothy 6:12. I hope that we can have a debate over the future of the Lord's church. THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL. Consider this site a weapon to go on the offensive. But we'll share more lighthearted stuff too.
Love, JR