stick online

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Mon, 28 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

CPT John R. Brainard, TF GRIFFIN
K.I.A. 28 May 2012, Kabul, Afghanistan

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:09:00 +0000

“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” -J. R. R. Tolkien

A lot of great quotes coming out of the woodwork at TheTruthAboutGuns.com today.

Go Spurs!

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:25:00 +0000

Also, I love Tim Duncan.

Wants and Needs

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:24:00 +0000

What's the difference between wanting something and needing something?

Mark 12:44 is the best example I can find from the Bible. It's Jesus' conclusion about the poor widow who put two meager coins into the offering box. He says that she has given more than all the wealthy with their lavish gifts,

"for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on."

All she had to live on - so if we are alive, if we have sufficient nutrition, protection from the elements, and medical care, we have all that we need. By extension, the things we do to gain food, water, clothing, shelter, and medicine are also necessary; if I had a stash of those things that would last the rest of my life, work wouldn't be necessary, so transportation to get to work wouldn't be necessary, and communications for talking to people I work with wouldn't be necessary....

That's all easy enough. The differences of opinion, then, arise when we start to set goals beyond living. Thriving, to use the cliché. For that reason, The Simple Dollar recommends that you study your spending through use of a budget, and make the cuts that make sense to you. I guarantee that every person you ask will have a different idea of what that means, because we all have different goals. Remember that scene from The Italian Job? A car, a stereo, a house in Spain with a room full of shoes. Set goals that you truly desire achieve and are truly attainable in your life - there's plenty of other advice out there on how to pick - and classify anything that doesn't move you toward those goals as unnecessary. If your goal is to drive a new car, do it, but be sure that it's really your goal.

Here's the thing, though: each and every moment, realize and remember that living is the only thing that truly is a need. And there is only one way to real life - Christ (John 14:6, John 17:3). Once you have the abundant life (John 10:10), living in this world isn't even necessary. "To live is Christ, and to die is gain," writes Paul (Philippians 1:21), and he meant it. Paul gave up the good life he lived as a Pharisee among Pharisees, and decided to thrive in Christ instead. Peter understood as well - when Jesus gave a hard teaching and asked his disciples if they would leave him because of it, he replied that Christ had the only thing he needed - eternal life (John 6:68).

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:00:00 +0000

CPT Anne M. Montgomery, USMA 2008
R.I.P. 12 December 2011, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington

Give God His Breath Back

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:07:00 +0000

I found this video today and tweeted it already but I had to post it here too. It makes me wonder about my ability to articulate the Gospel and my faith. The best line in the video? I've changed my mind four times today but I think this is it:

Sin brings death. Give God His breath back - you owe Him.

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

Arch Linux Screenshots

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:39:00 +0000

Reposted from the Arch Linux forums, my March 2011 screenshot set:

Clean:

Busy:

FVWM Config
Conky Config
.Xdefaults
.bashrc

FVWM with xcompmgr; background from NASA. Conky, rxvt-unicode, and the usual*.

*It's a new usual. Yes, I've run Fedora for the last eight or so years, but I've just switched to Arch Linux in the last month or so and I love every minute of it.

Strong And Weak Ties

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 08:17:00 +0000

I found an article by Malcolm Gladwell this morning about Twitter, Facebook, and Social Activism. There are a lot of interesting points, but the best one is about the value of strong ties versus weak ones. Weak ties allow us to gain vast amounts of information very quickly - via Twitter, YouTube, or other means. What they do not lead to, Gladwell writes, is "high risk activism."

Is following Christ high risk activism? I think that's a fairly Biblical characterization. Mark 10:29-30 tells us that we will recieve many persecutions as a result of sacrificing our present lives for His glory. Sacrifice and suffering persecution sound like high-risk activities to me. And I'm not just talking about those who are practicing the Gospel in dark places; I'm talking about the difficulty of really living for Christ in the tolerance of the Western world.

In the same "strong ties" vein, I saw a video from the iGNiTe series last week that covered the influence your friends have on you and vice versa.

Though the speaker doesn't come out and say it, I don't think it's your Facebook friends who are making you fat, it's the RL (Real Life) ones. The ones to whom you have strong ties.

So what's the point? The point is that we are not going to become truly Christ-like just by following @jonacuff or watching discipletip videos. Those tools have their places and the internet is a great way to find new ideas, but they're not the most effective ways to change lives. If your twitter account is @howtofollowJesusChristbecauseHeistheonlywaytoheaven, that's great; if your daily life doesn't involve real, person-to-person fellowship and sharing lives, your impact is going to be minimal and probably won't inspire people to the difficult task of taking up their cross daily. Jesus didn't make his disciples through mass communication, even though he spoke to the masses on many occaisions. When He wanted to make disciples, He picked twelve dudes and spent every possible minute with them. Fellowshipping. Teaching. Laboring together. That's our model. Nothing against mass media - it definitely has its uses - but it's not the end-all-be-all.

Evidence

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:48:00 +0000

Seth Godin posted an interesting thought the other day. A lot of the time, it's impossible to persuade people of anything with just a bunch of evidence, no matter how concrete. Godin writes that in marketing, we should try a different tactic:

...Evidence isn't the only marketing tactic that is effective. In fact, it's often not the best tactic. What would change his mind, what would change the mind of many people resistant to evidence is a series of eager testimonials from other tribe members who have changed their minds.

What if we applied that to our Christian witness? Maybe, instead of trying to convince people to follow Christ based on moral arguments, through scientific and historical study, or by statistics, we should just give them our honest, earnest testimony. Guess what? That's exactly what Christ asks of us. In Mark 5:1-20, we find the story of a man whom Jesus freed from a legion of demons...

As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you."

That's the first time Jesus goes to the Decapolis. He's met by a demon-possessed man and a few dudes herding swine. When Jesus goes back to the Decapolis, in Mark 7:31-37, he's met by a crowd who are bringing their sick to Jesus for healing. That's when He feeds the four thousand (Matthew 15:29-38). What a difference one man's "eager testimonial" made!

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 11:00:00 +0000

1LT L. Larkin O'Hern, USMA 2008
W.I.A. 30 December 2010, Kandahar, Afghanistan

Net Neutrality Rider

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 16:54:00 +0000

The following post is an open letter which I submitted to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison after she submitted a bill barring the FCC from protecting net neutrality.

Ma'am,

I'm concerned about a bill you submitted on December 16th, a "rider" that would 'prohibit the FCC from using any appropriated funds to adopt, implement or otherwise litigate any network neutrality based rules, protocols or standards'.

I'm concerned about this bill firstly because I am in the military, and I find it unbelievable that military spending is so often used as a vehicle for other political aims. If military spending bills are to be nothing more than a way of passing less popular legislation, that says a lot about both our legislative system's flaws and about our nation's feelings towards the military - namely, that we are just a budget item.

I'm concerned about this bill secondly because I am a computer enthusiast - I received my B.S. in Computer Science from the Military Academy. I firmly believe net neutrality is essential to free and open use of the internet, which is to say that the internet would not be the amazing communications platform that it is today without the principle of neutrality. At the beginning of the internet, America Online (AOL) tried to create a content network that would retain their customers within that network, so that customers would only use AOL's services. The colossal failure of that company stemmed directly from that effort. Consumers should be able to access whatever they want on the internet; that is, in a nutshell, the beauty of the technology. Allowing providers to restrict users to only that company's content defeats the entire purpose of the internet.

Please rethink your position on net neutrality.

Thank you for your consideration.

Any thoughts?

Oh, and here's why I think net neutrality is a good thing.

Update: Below is Senator Hutchison's response.

Dear Friend:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Federal Communications Commission's actions relating to the openness of the Internet. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

The Internet is a valuable tool that facilitates business, education, and recreation for millions of Americans. In 2009, an estimated 198 million Americans had access to the Internet at home or work. I am committed to ensuring that consumers continue to benefit from the Internet as an open platform for innovation and commerce, supporting growth in content, devices, and applications.

Instrumental to the success of the Internet is the longstanding policy of keeping the Internet as free as possible from burdensome government regulations. Increased investment in upgrading and expanding America’s communications infrastructure, and, in particular, new broadband networks, will ensure that all Americans have access to affordable high-speed Internet. However, in my judgment, intensified regulation of the Internet, such as government-mandated treatment of data, would stifle competition and would decrease the incentive for network operators to invest in critical infrastructure.

The case for additional broadband regulatory authority, or “net neutrality,” has not effectively been made. Broadband investment began to truly flourish when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a decision in 2002 to remove advanced communications technologies from the antiquated common carrier regulatory framework. However, advocates of a larger regulatory footprint have continued to call for a net neutrality regime since 2006, resulting in the 2007 FCC decision to cite Comcast Corporation for a violation of the agency’s open Internet principles. Comcast appealed this decision. On April 6, 2010, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled against the FCC, holding that the authority cited by the Commission was not sufficient to justify the Commission’s actions.

Unfortunately, the FCC chose to respond to this court decision by beginning a new proceeding that would reverse the 2002 decision to treat advanced communications services with a "light touch" regulatory approach. This proceeding could result in the application of monopoly-era phone rules to a vibrant marketplace, which will stifle innovation and investment. Congress is considering approaches to clarify FCC authority over broadband technologies that do not result in the return of out-dated rules.

Should legislation be brought for consideration before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, of which I am the Ranking Member, you may be certain I will keep your views in mind.

I appreciate hearing from you, and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me on any issue that is important to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:03:00 +0000

Found this story about teens becoming "fake Christians" yesterday via Neatorama. I want to add a few comments to two quotes from the article:

No matter their background, Dean says committed Christian teens share four traits: They have a personal story about God they can share, a deep connection to a faith community, a sense of purpose and a sense of hope about their future.

Otherwise known as a testimony (I John 5:11-12), true Christian fellowship (Hebrews 10:24-25), commitment to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31), and hope that comes from a living and faithful Savior (Hebrews 3:6). If you're a parent, are you working towards helping your children grow up with all four of the above? Whether you have children or not, do you have all of them?

Others practice a "gospel of niceness," where faith is simply doing good and not ruffling feathers. The Christian call to take risks, witness and sacrifice for others is muted, she says.

Not ruffling feathers? Not peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34). The call to step out and be a witness to everyone is central to our faith (Acts 1:8). What are we doing to be that witness to those around us? Are we cowering in fear of their reactions? Is that fear making us "fake" Christians?

Monopoly Deal

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:57:00 +0000

Played an interesting card game last Sunday that I thought I'd pass on...

Do you love Monopoly, right up until an hour into the game when things start to get ridiculous and boring at the same time? Yeah, I'm right there with you. Monopoly Deal sounds pretty hokey at first - another Monopoly knockoff? - but it really does bring out the fun of Monopoly's gameplay in a condensed form that lasts all of twenty minutes.

Gameplay consists of each player drawing cards from a central pile and playing them, rummy-style, into their table of properties and cash. Some cards allow a player to demand rent from their opponents; others allow straight-out stealing properties. All the classic Monopoly property groups are included; the goal is to complete three property groups before your opponents do. The game mechanics allow for rapid changes to the players' relative standings, which keeps things interesting. BoardGameGeek lists Monopoly Deal rated at 6.27 stars out of ten, which seems low to me. I think that between the easy learning curve, nostalgic material, and high degree of game movement, it definitely makes for a great family or party game.

Desert

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:32:00 +0000

I do believe; help my unbelief!

I think the sentiment in Mark 9:24 above is profound. It's a plea for hope, when we've started to place limits on God. The exclamation comes from a father who brings his little boy to Jesus and asks, "If You can help him..."

And Jesus said to him, "'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes."

I think Christ is a little bit irritated (Mark 9:23)! Don't you get a little annoyed when people question your abilities - especially about things that you do on a regular basis, as second nature? What is it about us that makes us do the same thing to God? I think sometimes we get a little uppity and ask for things outside His plan, and He says no, but I think sometimes we also get confused and think that things are outside the realm of possibility for Him. We keep our expectations low to prevent disappointment.

Peter did the opposite at one point in his life, and it caused him to weep bitterly (Luke 22:33-34 and Luke 22:55-62). But what happened? Christ was way ahead of the game - he says in Luke 22:31-32,

Simon, Simon, behold: Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when you have turned once again, strengthen your brothers.

Christ prays for us, that our faith may not fail! That's incredibly powerful. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to approach God with confidence. And we may not always get what we ask for, what is it they say about reaching for the stars? So when you're in the desert, and God doesn't appear to be present, or when you find yourself asking God to do something "if He can," stop and cry out...

I do believe; help my unbelief!

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:30:00 +0000

1LT Christopher S. Goeke, USMA 2008
K.I.A. 13 July 2010, Kandahar City, Afghanistan

Happy Fourth Of July

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:00:00 +0000

This came out back in February, but it was so good, I felt it needed another showing.

The Secret Life Of Crabs

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:35:00 +0000

If you've ever wondered what hermit crabs really do at night, here's a video that will explain everything. I produced it, in collaboration with Emma at The Daily Hermit and Miles at PMPA - Speaking Of Precision. Our first video, Night at the Crab Tank, was posted yesterday.

Hungering

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:35:00 +0000

Are you a hungerer for God?

I heard a pastor talk Sunday morning - incidentally, a pastor who was once a Chinese law student and present at Tiananmen Square - and he had some great things to say about how we should pray. His text was Matthew 6:11, which is pretty short, but his message was that we should pray as receivers of all good things from God, as hungerers for God and His grace, and as our brothers' keepers.

Now, aside from the fact that "hungerer" is, in fact, in the dictionary, it's a neat word for our relationship to God. The pastor this morning said he knew what hunger was, because he remembered a six-day hunger strike, and he remembered many months in a Chinese jail. I know what hunger is, because I remember missing breakfast Sunday morning and then sitting in the Mexican restaurant after church wondering if my poor tummy was going to implode. It's an eternal human condition, a need for basic sustenance that everyone shares (except maybe this guy - I'm not really sure what's going on there). According to the dictionary, that means that we are all hungerers.

And Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35). Hunger for Him is an eternal human condition, just like physical hunger. For some reason, though, we have a dismaying tendency to try and sate our hunger for God with self-esteem, with people, with activities... with Stuff™. It halfway reminds me of the diet pills you see advertised on TV ("Lose 50 pounds in a week, without exercising or feeling hungry! Here's how!"). Our hunger for God is harder to place, I think, because we don't practice it the way we practice hunger. Think about it. From the earliest moments of our lives, there's a cycle. We feel hunger, so we cry, leading mom/dad/legal guardian to put food in our mouths, and we're satisfied. We grow up just a little, and we already understand how it works. Eating becomes a part of our lives. Satisfaction of physical hunger is so easy that we often overdo it!

Hunger for God isn't so easy to practice. First of all, we misidentify it as low self-esteem, as a drive to succeed, as a desire to fit in, as loneliness, and probably as fifty thousand other things too. I bet sometimes we even think it's a desire for physical food - probably explains some of our eating disorders. Newsflash: none of those things satisfy. Wealth does not buy happiness. Glory fades.

Even if we do realize we need God, we have a tendency to fall into a routine. We recite the model prayer of Matthew 6:9-13, we read some long Israelite genealogy, we say the shortest prayer possible over meals, so that we can hurry up and eat. It'd be like trying to subsist on a grain of rice or a single bean every day. Eventually, you'd hate the taste of rice and beans, if you somehow managed to live long enough! There is so much more for us in Christ than that. How about three meals a day - maybe "breakfast" could be a personal quiet time in the morning, followed by a good "lunch" of conversation with a fellow believer (over sandwiches and coffee, perhaps), and "supper" might be meditating on God's word in the evening, or sharing it with your spouse. We can even "snack" throughout the day on Christian music radio stations!

Okay, so I admit that last paragraph got a little out of hand. But the idea is sound. I have a pretty good relationship with food... and I am rarely out of reach of a snack. How much deeper might our relationships with God be if we recognized our need for Him and acted on it like we do our need for food!
I love these lines from the song "This World," by Caedmon's Call:

This world has nothing for me, and this world has everything - All that I could want, and nothing that I need.

Are you a hungerer for God?

Happy Towel Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:00:00 +0000

"Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is."

[Note: Today is a great day! It's Towel Day, of course, but also Geek Pride Day... and Fedora 13 has been released!]

Happy Anniversary!

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Sun, 23 May 2010 13:00:00 +0000

I have waited a whole year to post this; I didn't want to end up like this. Emma, I love you, I love you, I love you. I love you.

I'm A Truck Kinda Guy

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:11:00 +0000

I've got a truck just like the one pictured. It's a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1500HD Crew Cab with a six liter V8 and a sprayed-in bedliner. It's got 110,000 miles on it, a brand new set of Wildcat tires, and a window decal that reads, "Real Men Love Jesus." It's the only vehicle I've ever owned. That truck may as well be my identity.

But I'm going to have to sell it. My wife and I are moving to a large city where it won't be possible for me to park, and with gas prices on the rise, 13 MPG just isn't cutting it. I never thought it would be difficult, but man, that truck just feels right to drive. It's perfect. In the Truck I Trust, you know?

Psalm 20:7 says, "Some boast in Chevrolet and some in Ford, but we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God." It's so true. If you're a gun guy, it says some will boast in Springfield and some in Glock... or if you're a gadget guy, some will boast in Android and some in Apple. The bottom line is, even Chevrolets will get rusted and worn out - even Glocks will jam and fail - yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength (Isaiah 40:30-31).

I think that's the biggest struggle for all of us who aren't worried about being able to eat tomorrow. We trust in the stuff of This World(™), and it rarely lets us down. We trust it sometimes to the point that we get attached to it. Like if God put me in a place where I couldn't wear jeans all the time anymore, I'd feel awkward. Because man, jeans are awesome. They're me. God is awesomer. There's a song by LeCrae called "Don't Waste Your Life" where he mentions Luke 12:15-21. He sums it up as follows:

Forget the money, cars, and toss that ice;
The cost is Christ
And they could never offer me anything on the planet that'll cost that price.

As one of the comments on the YouTube video says, James 5:1-3 tells us exactly what's going to happen to our money, cars, and ice... it's gone. Christ is worth so much more. My possessions don't make me a man. Christ made me, loves me, and gave Himself for me. I can no longer live a life based on the Truck, but I must live by faith in the Son (Galatians 2:20).

No King But Caesar

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:32:00 +0000

The nineteenth chapter of the book of John starts with "Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him," and it ends with, "they laid Jesus there." It's a moving story of the crucifixion of an innocent teacher - remember, the people involved didn't know about the resurrection yet.

In the middle of the chapter, Pilate asks the Jews, "Shall I crucify your King?" (John 19:15). I think their response is chilling.

We have no king but Caesar.

We have no king but Caesar. Something tells me they aren't getting off easy for that one. But that's the state of all of our lives. I have no king but my career. I have no king but my pickup truck. I have no king but my perfect abs. I have no king but my laziness. I have no king but my marriage. I have no king but politics.

Do borderline offensive bumper stickers reflect Christ as your King? Do two people who don't hold each other accountable reflect Christ as their King? Does disdain for less physically fit people reflect Christ as your King? Does spending Saturday in front of the TV with a six pack reflect Christ as your King? Does "investing" in a lift kit and cool looking tires reflect Christ as your King? Does skipping Bible study every other week to get a few more hours in at the office reflect Christ as your King?

Who has authority in your life? Is it your King? Am I handing Christ over to be crucified?

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:28:00 +0000

1LT Salvatore S. Corma, USMA 2008
K.I.A. 29 April 2010, F.O.B. Bullard, Afghanistan

Three Annoyances In Fedora 12

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:10:00 +0000

First, empathy, the new default chat client, does video. But to make it work seamlessly with your friends who use GoogleTalk on Windows, you'll need all the gstreamer plugins. Here's how to get them:

sudo yum install gstreamer-ffmpeg gstreamer-plugins-* -x *devel -x *docs

Second, Google Earth is a pretty sweet program. But to make it run on 64-bit linux, you need some compatibility stuff added in. Here's how to get it working, courtesy of bigjim-network - the command he used on Fedora 11 is modified here for Fedora 12:

sudo yum install glibc.i686 libxml2.i686 freetype.i686 libXrender.i686 libXrandr.i686 mesa-libGL.i686 libcanberra-gtk2.i686 bug-buddy.i686 PackageKit-gtk-module.i686

If you have an nVidia card, you'll want to do the following as well:

sudo yum install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs.i686

And for an ATI card, use this (untested by me):

sudo yum install xorg-x11-drv-catalyst-libs.i686

Update 26 May 2010: I just tried to install it on Fedora 13, and I got the error below:

./googleearth-bin: error while loading shared libraries: ./libminizip.so: cannot restore segment prot after reloc: Permission denied

To fix it, run this command:

sudo chcon -t textrel_shlib_t /opt/google-earth/*.so

Third, if you've got the less awesome startup screen - the plain black screen with a blue bar turning white at the bottom - kernel modesetting will allow you to have the full plymouth graphical boot. Add the proper "vga=XYZ" to the end of your kernel line(s) in /etc/grub.conf. The mode for MacBooks and other screens at 1280x800 resolution is "vga=865".

Small things, but perhaps important ones. If you're not a linux user and you think this post was dumb, here's a picture from the interwebs.

Anything is possible when your dead badgers run linux.

Story of Our Lives

noreply@blogger.com (Stick) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:36:00 +0000

John 13:34-35, probably one of the more often quoted passages of the Bible, centers on the commandment that we love each other as Christ loved us. Pretty straightforward, except Jesus starts it with this bit in John 13:33 about the disciples not being able to follow Him to the cross.

Peter doesn't get it. "Lord, where are you going?" Then, "Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You." (John 13:36-37)

He completely missed the commandment because he had his own agenda. Never mind that it was an agenda that he couldn't hold up (you know that whole "deny Me three times" thing), it wasn't what Christ wanted. Jesus wanted Peter to lay down his life to become an integral part of the nascent church, but He also wanted to lay down His life for Peter, something Peter couldn't follow Him in doing. The command for Peter, and for you and me, is to lay down our lives in love for one another, and to let Christ lay down His life for us. None of us can ever be a perfect sacrifice, as Christ was. We cannot follow Him in atoning for sin and reconciling to God, but we can follow Him in love, and that's all He commands us to do.

Yeah, that's the story of my life. Even when I think I am so focused on God, I'm still missing ninety percent of what he's saying. Ever do that?