Kyle’s Random

When Keri and I were married, over 10 years ago, we made the decision not to own a television. Since then, we’ve considered it a couple of times, but each time we’ve decided to continue on without a TV.   (We do however watch a movie on DVD every few months, and we’ve now watched through all the seasons of LOST online together.)

Sometimes, people ask me why we don’t own a TV. Occasionally, I have a moderately good answer to that question, but today Keri sent me John Piper’s written response to that question.  Here’s an excerpt that I thought was especially good.  First, he discusses the sexuality of television media, and then he says this:

“But leave sex aside (as if that were possible for fifteen minutes on TV). It’s the unremitting triviality that makes television so deadly. What we desperately need is help to enlarge our capacities to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ. Television takes us almost constantly in the opposite direction, lowering, shrinking, and deadening our capacities for worshiping Christ.”

Wow, that’s good stuff!  What do I allow my mind to be exposed to that helps me focus on Christ?  What do I allow to deaden my capacity?

I’d highly recommend you read the whole thing.  It’s a very humble and insightful response.

I put this together just for fun.  Is this anywhere near accurate?

PS -  I built this graph online using the Google Chart API.

A few pics from our great trip to Lubbock, TX, to see my brother, Phil, get married.

PS - My wife is very selective about what she lets me put online.  So, when it comes to the kids, you only get profiles and backs of their heads 

Two years ago, a couple of my bro-in-laws and I took a hike to the top of Long’s Peak in Colorado.  It was the sort of hike where, while you’re hiking, you keep expecting to see dead bodies down below.  Without a doubt, it’s the most challenging hike I’ve ever been on, and I took a few photos on the trail.

I posted this up a couple of years ago, but today a friend of mine reminded me about the trip.  Definitely worth five minutes to look through the pics (there, you can click the photos to advance them).

You may not realize this, but Home Depot puts on an awesome free kid’s clinic each month nationwide.  This month was our first time to go, and the experience was great.  They provide a kit, let you use their tools, and give the kids a Home-Depot-style apron.  When you complete the project, the kids get a pin and a snack.

Whoever thought this up is brilliant!  Not only does it foster incredible good will from me to Home Depot, but it also builds that into my kids as well.

I’ve heard that Lowe’s does it too, but I haven’t been yet.

PS - Thanks, Marti, for the tip.

I know I’m a dork, but I was really looking forward to this OS update yesterday.  Apple added some really nice additional features to the operating system of the iPhone.

Today has been a day of breaking things.  To start things off, I broke my new bike this morning.  I was trying to haul both my kids in their bike trailer up a steep hill, and I bent a bunch of teeth on first gear.

Then this afternoon, I came a little too close to the back porch steps with my riding mower, and I tore them apart.

A few minutes later, just before I finished mowing, the belt broke on my mower.

And here’s a photo of the repaired steps, just in case my land lord happens to be reading this. 

If you’re on Facebook, and you haven’t yet picked out your custom url/username, now is the time to do it.  I just got mine, and below are the screen shots.

I was hoping to get a url for the Faith Promise FB Group and new Faith Promise FB Page as well, but you have to have 1,000 members, and we’re still a bit short of that.  Fortunately, they’ll open that up in a couple of weeks, so I’ll grab that then.

Spurred on by a Craig’s List listing for a mountain bike and kid trailer, my daughter and I made a trip out to Cosby, TN, today.  She got to ride in the front seat for the first time, and we got an outstanding deal on the purchase ($100 total - Thanks, Kathy, for telling us about this!).

In addition to traveling on the newly-opened I-40, the trip into the mountains was gorgeous.  Hard to capture on a iPhone camera while driving, but here’s a snapshot of our trip.

By the way, the bike and trailer work great, and I’m whipped!

Things on the Internet Campus have been going great, and I’m very super-happy to report that starting this weekend we’re adding an additional service.  That means that you can now connect up with Faith Promise Church each Sunday at 10 am or 11:45 am (Eastern Time).

In addition to that, there’s some fantastic top secret stuff going on for the iCampus that I really hope will come together in the next few weeks.