True North Finances Weekly Finance Numbers and Random Thoughts

Daylight Savings Time

Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour this Saturday evening.

Those of you without small children, enjoy your extra hour of sleep!

Love Dare

I wrote about the movie Fireproof in a previous post. Something interesting about the movie is that it spawned a book. The father in the movie challenges his son to take The Love Dare.  It is a book that spans 40 days of dares to help you with your marriage. During early screening of the movie, people started asking if this was a real book and where they could get a copy. So, the creators of the movie wrote the book. Check it out. I dare you.

Each day’s own evil is sufficient

Matthew 6
6:31 “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ 6:32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 6:33 But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. 6:34 Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.

God loves McCain and Obama

A car cut me off on I-40 while driving into work this morning. As their car settled in front of me, a presidential bumper sticker caught my eye. My first thought is "it figures" when I knew whom they support for president. Why do I do that?

The pursuit of money

After yesterday's message Certain Truths For Uncertain Times, I thought I would read the context of the verses Jon referenced (1 Timothy 6:17-19). Earlier in the letter, Paul talks about the pursuit of money.

Probably?

The British Humanist Society has raised enough money to begin a bus advertisement campaign with the ad slogan "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Read full CNSNews article.

Acts of Random Kindness (ARK)

In case you did not see the movie Evan Almighty, the modern day Noah's ARK was what the movie referred to as Acts of Random Kindness.

When was the last time you did something unexpected for your loved one?

Why we do what we do

Sunday, after we finished packing the truck for the 83rd time, we took some time to pray as a group. I think we wanted to remind ourselves why we do what we do.

Love, Honor, Cherish

Do you remember your wedding vows? In all honesty, I can't tell you exactly what the pastor said that day. They were traditional vows and I can remember the big words, probably because I have heard them at dozens of other weddings. Let me ask you this question.

When was the last time you stopped to think about your wedding vows?

Are you comfortable inviting your friends to TNC?

I went to a church a few years ago that I thought was so great that I invited unchurched friends, neighbors and co-workers to try it out. A few of them came and a couple actually stayed.

Are you comfortable inviting your unchurched friends, neighbors and co-workers to True North Church? That is a fair question with valuable answers.

If the answer is yes, great! Invite them!

If the answer is no, why? We want to be as inviting as possible for people who desperately need Jesus. Let us know what we could do differently to change your answer to yes.

Would you guess this much?

I read something on Tuesday that really disturbed me. You can read the full CNS News article but here is the summary.

Prior to abortions becoming legal in 1972, virtually all babies with Down Syndrome (DS) were born. With the advancements of genetic testing that can pre-natally diagnose babies with DS, a high percentage of those  babies are now terminated.

What percentage would you guess? 40 percent? 50 percent? Try 90 percent.

That is right, 90 percent of babies pre-natally diagnosed with Down Syndrome are terminated. That is genocide.

God forgive us.

Fireproof

Me and Wendy went to see Fireproof this weekend. The movie is about a couple's struggle with their marriage. All of the symptoms that lead to trouble are covered. Lack of communication, disrespect, fighting, nitpicking, selfishness, laziness and pornography are some of the themes touched.

Blast from the past

In case you were not with True North in the planning stages, you had an opportunity the last few days to see the website from November of 2006. Why? Good question. Our host pointed the web address back to the old server from two years ago. Not sure how to explain that one.

I was out of town this weekend, so imagine my surprise Sunday afternoon when I checked my email and found them all dated from 2006. It was like from the Twilight Zone. Anyway, everything is back to normal and I got to read an old email that told me everything that was wrong with our web site. Oh, those were good times.

Cambodian couple saw home in half to avoid messy divorce

Speaking of marriage, apparently, the divorce laws in Cambodia are expensive and complicated. So much so that a couple married for 40 years has split their house in half as well as their land in order to avoid divorce.

Wasn't there a Brady Bunch episode where the boys put a line down the middle of their room? Maybe it was Gilligan and the Skipper's hut. I don't remember. I do remember that it didn't work the way they hoped it would. Something tells me that this won't work either.

What do you think?

The wedding

Jon mentioned last Sunday, among other things, that a wedding had taken place between chapters 2 and 4 of Song of Songs. Here is the verse to confirm the wedding.

Song of Songs 3:11
Come and look, sisters in Jerusalem.
Oh, sisters of Zion, don't miss this!
My King-Lover,
dressed and garlanded for his wedding,
his heart full, bursting with joy!

Sounds like a great wedding! All the friends are invited. It is the event of the year. The bride and groom are dressed up. The groom's heart is bursting with joy!

I encourage you to think back to your wedding day. I did. Take some time to remember how great is was. How you felt about your spouse that day. Share those thoughts with your spouse. You will probably make their day.

When did birthdays stop counting? Or, good friends.

Weird title but hopefully you will get the meaning of it after reading this post.

I remember birthdays when I was young. It seemed special that day, like everything that you did was near perfect. My wife and I shared a birthday recently. That's right, we have the same birthday. She is a year younger and a whole lot prettier. How did we celebrate?

Rock on

You make the faith visible

3 John 1:5 (The Message)
Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible.

Show your faith by being gracious to others.  Help, pray, compliment, encourage, remember, keep your promises.  Sometimes actions are small to you but giant in others eyes.

kiDZ End of Summer Science Blowout

I helped out at the kiDZ End of Summer Science Blowout a couple Sundays ago. Also, I had the honor of dumping the Mentos into the Diet Coke and then running away as fast as I could. (Yes, I can still run) The kids had a awesome time!

Here is the official update and pictures.

Noah’s Ark Replica

I got an email yesterday with pictures and a story of a replica Noah's Ark in Schagen, Netherlands. As you can see in the picture it is quite large but only 1/2 the length and 1/3 the width of the original.

Read the Fox News Article for more information.

Or, try this site for more pictures.