I’m afraid too many of our Christian colleges have developed an inferiority complex.  Obviously, relatively small Christian colleges cannot compete with giant research institutions in terms of facilities and equipment.  There will probably never be any atom smashers or giant radio telescopes on Christian college campuses.  So What?  Undergraduate education — even in the sciences — does not demand expensive, sophisticated equipment.  Basic laboratory equipment and solid, godly science teachers who demand excellence will give our students the knowledge and skills necessary to get them into medical schools and into graduate programs at the universities.  More and more employers are looking for graduates from liberal arts colleges — graduates who have been well schooled in the world of books, words, ideas, ideals, history, ethics, speech, communication, and creativity.  No expensive equipment is needed here.  For the most part, we already have the most important “equipment” in the form of well-trained, highly motivated, dedicated faculties.  We need to pay them better, encourage them to reach higher in their own scholarship, and expect them to set examples of excellence for our students, while accepting nothing but excellence from them.  In many cases, our faculties, like our students, are not being adequately challenged.

Ken Robinson, in the following video provides a fresh (and often comical) look at education, creativity, and a passion for life.  Check it out.

I have a younger brother who is one of the most athletic and creative people I know.  It is actually quite irritating how quickly he can master musicianship and endeavors of athleticism.  So what seems logical is to allow him to exploit his strengths, gain power, finesse and experience.  But our society requires these dreams to be extracurricular.  Why is it that we require our young ones to learn chemistry (which many of them will never use), calculate complex formulas (that are soon forgotten by 95% of individuals), and then wonder why we are failing to educate this upcoming generation?

Contradictions abound in the realm of education.  We explain that everyone is unique, that everyone has their own strengths.  And yet we require everyone to participate in the same classes, learn the same things, and become the same as everyone around them.

What if, instead of bringing our children up to take all of the most advanced classes in the maths, sciences, and language, we allowed them to gain a basic understanding and then begin to exploit the gifts that are natural within them.  Give the students a foundation, instill within them a desire, but allow their natural gifting to drive them to excellence.  Our children are talented.  Let’s train them to embrace their talents, not destroy them before they even get to explore them.

Divorce, crime, and debt are prevalent in American society, a collection of people who pride themselves in their accomplishments, in being a super-power.  Over the past century our knowledge has doubled, and doubled again.  We can find books on any subject, get a PhD in virtually any subject.  But our homes are broken.  How long can society last on this beach of shifting sand?  Instead of building a foundation, we are racing to see who can build the tallest, most magnificent building.  But the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

And while I don’t dare argue for even a second that knowledge is unimportant, it is wisdom that holds a society, a home together.  Regardless of your opinion on groups like the Amish, it is very difficult to argue that they are not a stable people (no they are not perfect, far from it).  An object of our mockery (be it in fun or in seriousness), the group has one of the most stable foundations I have encountered.  When tragedy strikes, the people know how to respond.  That is wisdom.  No, you will not find the latest Apple gadget, amazing vehicles or scientific theories coming from the Amish.  But when society all around them is coming crashing down, you will see a group that is standing firm.

But that is not to say that it is impossible, or even improbably to attain both wisdom and knowledge.  But if we want our knowledge to be worthwhile, it must be built upon a foundation of wisdom.  Where there is wisdom, there is the power to gain knowledge and understanding.  Anything else is just a chasing of the wind.

The following is an excerpt that I have found especially encouraging and helpful in my training and leading of Autumn-

Understanding the nature of love
You may have strong feelings that prevent you from spanking your child, but it is ignorance to claim that love is your motive. The God who made little children, and therefore knows what is best for them, has provided them parents to employ the rod in training up their children. To refrain from doing so, based on a claim of love, is an indictment against God himself. Your actions declare that either God does not desire what is best for your child, or you know better than He.

Parent, you must recognize the difference between true love and sentiment. Natural human sentiment- often taken to be love- can be harmful if not submitted to wisdom. Love is not sentiment. That is, love is not simply the deep feelings we have in association with those close to us. Such feelings can be, and often are, self-serving.

Love is not an emotion at all. Love, in the purest sense, is goodwill toward and good doing for your fellow man. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” True love is disinterested. That is, there is no thought of personal gain or of personal loss in the act of loving.

The Pearls, throught great, and articulate argument continue to debunk the theories that our societies have so frequently entitled “Love”. I highly recommend this book, and upon reading it, I believe that you will as well.

I am a huge fan of all of the work that 37 Signals has done in the community.  Half of the apps that I have written are in Rails, I use Basecamp for both my personal and professional projects, and I have purchased and read both Rework and Getting Real. I am a daily reader of the ever-so-popular blog Signal vs. Noise, and have watched many a lectures from DHH. Some might call me a 37 Signals fanboi.

But a fanboi of 37 Signals I am not. Constantly (and consistently) I disagree with the things that come from the mouths of DHH, Jason Fried and Co. I have seen them contradict themselves; they over-simplify (I know, that is the whole point), and I often feel that they speak just to get a reaction. But even when they are wrong, they are right.

Back when I was in Business School I had a teacher, a lawyer by profession, that could take any side in any debate, and without question, whatever it was that she was trying to prove would be made true. Even when she was wrong, she was right, and everyone knew it. The could sell snow to an Eskimo; get them on the lifetime subscription plan.

And that is exactly why 37 Signals is great at what they do. Even when they are wrong, it is their passion, their energy, and their vehement and eloquent vocabulary that convinces the world that they are right. That is why they are the movers and shakers. When they say jump, half of the business world says, “How high?”

The leaders are not always the ones that have the most knowledge, are the greatest thinkers. No, the leaders are the ones who know how to lead. Who push the masses in the best direction that they see fit. Their voice is loud, strong, and unwavering.

So I went out in search of a good system to be able to journal.  I wanted something that would keep me focused, would be simple to use, was secure and was free.  What I found was virtually nothing.  There are variations out there, but nothing that was of much interest to me.  There are some software packages out there, but the problem for me is that I am not always on the same computer, to I would have to sync.  That and I am a minimalist, so I don’t really like to install things on my computer if I don’t have to.

So I set out to write daily in a journal.  But again, that is hard to remember to bring with me wherever I am.  And then I wasn’t able to find the full-text search on it.  I know that I wrote about [insert subject here] last year, but I was having trouble finding it.  So I tossed that out the window.

So what was my solution?  Well, as a programmer, of course it was to create my own application.  It does everything that I need it to (and even if it doesn’t, I can add features, which will keep me focused).  And then I decided to open it up to the world.  I am not sure how much interest there will be for it, but that is ok, because I wrote it to use it myself.  Anyone else making use of it is just an added benefit.

So, I leave you with this- ToJournal.com

“Sunday’s Coming” Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

I found this great quote as a response-

“I’ve learned through experience that if you try to attract the world with the world you will be at best mediocre.

We who are followers of Christ have been uniquely and individually called before the foundation of the world to go beyond what we can imagine possible.”

He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart, and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong, and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath, even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury, and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be shaken.”

Psalm 15

After nearly 20 years of preaching at Trinity Alliance Church, pastor Mark Swanson concludes his service with this wonderful sermon from the end of Matthew.

Today I was doing a bible reading plan over at YouVersion.com and as I was going through the Gospel of Matthew, I came across the following:

So all the generations from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the Christ fourteen generations.

Very interesting.  42 generations from Abraham until Christ.  42 generations to the promise.  Christ is 42.

Well, the church that I work at has moved its offices much closer to my home.  This has been a huge answer to prayer.  It means that I will be able to purchase a road bike (bicycle) and ride to and from work each day.  This will allow my wife, Melissa, to have the car each day, and for me to be able to stay fit and healthy.

Such a small change, but it is great that the Lord hears the cries of His children.

Despite the hardships of having ben a slave for six years, tending to the herds of a Druidic high priest Milchu, Patrick had come to have a supernatural love for Ireland.  It was in Ireland that Patrick had come to know God personally as he walked the woods and mountains alone with the animals.  He had gown up in a Christian home in a British Roman settlement but had never embrace the faith while he lived with his family.  He had been a lax student during that time, something he now greatly regretted and was too independently minded to walk so easily in his family’s faith.  Alone and seemingly forsaken in Ireland, Patrick sought out God and found Him.  Then, through a dream, God led him to escape and eventually return to his family, who welcomed him warmly.  Upon his return to Britain, Patrick resumed his studies with more vigor, intending to join the ministry as his father and grandfather had.

Now, as the oars pulled against the dark waves, Patrick began to see God’s hand in it all.  Shortly after his return to Britain, Patrick had a dream about Ireland in which he heard “the void of the Irish” calling to him: “We be you, holy youth, come and walk among us again.”  Patrick felt this was God’s call to return to Ireland with the Gospel.

Yet he felt unfit for the task, so he journeyed to a monastery in Britain, again leaving his family, and poured himself into being ordained.  Roughly twenty years had passed since then.  At his first opportunity to return, Patrick was passed up by his church elders to be a missionary to Ireland, and another, a man by the name of Palladius, was chosen.  When Palladius was killed a short time later, Patrick was elected to go.

Upon landing, Patrick returned to the village where he had been a slave.  His intent was that his first convert would be the man who had been his master, Milchu.  But when he arrived there, he found Milchu’s home in ashes.  At word of his coming, Milchu had gathered all of his possessions into his home and lit it on fire, killing himself in the flames.  Patrick was horror-struck at the madness of this act and determined to act dramatically to release these people from the fear of false gods that would drive a man to do such a thing.

Patrick spent some time preaching to the locals there and finding out what had happened since his departure and who was in power.  His years as a slave had served him well, as he still spoke their language fluently and with little accent, making it easy to communicate.  In his conversations he learned that the high king of Ireland, King Laeghaire, would be celebrating the Druidic feast of Betine, which coincided with Easter that year, at his courts in Tara.  Patrick headed there immediately, intent on making a statement for the power of God over the idols and occult practices that bound these people.

It was tradition that on the eve of the festival, it would be the high king who lighted the first bonfire of the festival.  Any who defied this would be put to death.  Yet as the king emerged that night to start the festival, Patrick’s bonfire was already glowing brightly for all to see on the hilltop of Slane not far away.  As had Elijah before the prophets of Baal, Patrick had uttered a formal challenge to the Druids and their king.

As Laeghaire gave the order for the perpetrators to be found and killed, his two Druidic high priests offered him a word of caution and prophecy: “O king, live forever.  This fire, which has been lit in defiance to the royal edict, will blaze forever unless it is put out this night on which it has been lit.  The man who lit the fire and the coming kingdom by which it was lit will overcome us all.”  But the king would hear none of it.  He had twenty-seven chariots prepared, and he, his guests, and his court rode to subdue Patrick.

When the chariots arrived, Patrick was summoned before the king.  The king ordered Patrick’s bonfire extinguished, but no matter what his soldiers did, the fire refused to be put out.  Patrick gave a bold testimony for Jesus before them and refused to be silent.  When Laeghaire commanded his soldiers to execute Patrick to quiet him, confusion descended on them, and they attacked on another.  When the two Druid priests then turned their vehemence on Patrick and Jesus’ name, one fell and cracked his head on a rock, while the other somehow fell into the fire and perished.  One version even records that when the king himself pulled his sword to slay Patrick, his arm froze in the air as stiff as a statue and stayed that way until he knelt in surrender to Patrick.  Though it is unclear how many of the details of this encounter are legend and how many actually happened, Patrick’s victory over Laeghaire and his Druids opened the political doors of Ireland to the Gospel.

Patrick thus had a captive and royal audience to be among the first to be converted during his ministry.  Though the king did not become a Christian on this day, his chief bard, his two daughters, and one of his brothers did.  Less than two weeks later they were baptized.  The brother gave Patrick land and a barn that became the first church, and wealth to use to spread Christianity throughout Ireland.  Laeghaire also gave Patrick legal sanction to preach throughout the island.

For the next thirty years Patrick established Christianity throughout Irelend, and though he had other miracles attributed to his ministry, he was not often far from trouble. Ireland was not neatly organized in kingdoms under Laeghaire, so whenever he went into a new area, it was likely that Laeghaire’s sanction would mean very little.  Patrick and his followers were imprisoned on several occasions- Patrick once spent two months in prison wondering if his ministry was over- and he saw many of his converts die, as well as being sentenced to death himself more than once.  Through it all, though, Patrick remained humble and counted only on God’s protection to free him from any situation.  He wrote the following in a chant or prayer, which he titled “The Breastplate” that he taught others to remind them of their purpose and Protector:

Christ shield me today against poison,
against burning, against drowning, against wounding,
so that there may come to me an abundance of reward,
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Having successfully planted churches and established pastors and priests in every district in Ireland, Patrick died around the age of seventy-two on March 17, A.D. 461.

Story from the Jesus Freaks book.

To those who have plenty, help out your family.  Start there.  If you have a family member that needs anything, help them out.  Do everything in your power to help them stand on their own feet.  Once your family is standing strong, begin to reach out further.  Are people in your church hurting?  Help them.  Don’t just give them material possessions, but teach them.  Don’t just teach them, but walk with them.  Don’t just walk with them, but pray for them.  Don’t just pray for them, but provide for them.  Teach them to do the same once they are standing on their own.

Brother, are you one that needs help?  Are you hurting?  Seek out help from your church.  We need to stop acting like everything is fine.  We need to quit being afraid to tell our fellow brothers and sisters the truth.  Seek prayer, seek guidance, seek out work from members in the church.  And when you are standing on your own, the best way to thank those who helped you is to actively seek out those that are in the position that you used to be.  Help them.  Guide them.  Comfort them.  Clothe them.  Feed them.

Check out Matthew 25.  Is your brother hungry?  Feed him.  Is your brother thirsty?  Give him something to drink.  Is your brother naked?  Clothe him.

You know what will happen when God’s people begin to take care of each other?  The world will notice.  Not only will they see the love.  They will actually feel the love.  You will see jobs open up.  You will see the economy thrive.  You will see glory be given to God.  You will see.

So, loving quotes, and also loving programming, I decided to do something about it.  So I created AntiQuotr.  Feel free to take a look around, add a few quotes to the site, and enjoy the insanity!  Let me know if you have any ideas for improvement.

There are times that a developer or designer loses inspiration or motivation.  I have never met anyone in the creative realm who has not lost that passion, at least for a little bit.  Fortunately, in the tech world, there are always new technologies to inspire and drive us toward creating a better product.

Front End / User Interface

1. jQuery is your friend.  There are a ton of resources out there for learning jQuery.  This javascript library makes animation and effects in javascript 100x easier.  And for those of you who worry about loading times, jQuery is pretty light when packed and gzipped.  I have read some books on jQuery, but the best place to get started is just by downloading the library and reading through the docs.
2. When redesigning a website, it is important that you find out what is working and what is not working.  While a bit of change is usually a good thing, presenting a totally new look and feel can cause users to feel uncomfortable with the site.  Heatmap applications will help you do your research before you make changes.  Check this one out.
3. Twitter connects you to peers. While this resource will not guarantee that you will find great designs, it will help to inspire you.  Twitter boasts of connecting to millions of users.  It is super easy to find people that have similar tastes as you, so get to know them and see how they stay focussed.  If you are having a difficult time finding people, start with my feed.
4. Design galleries. There are a ton of different galleries out there.  Browsing galleries submitted by your peers (and usually placed into categories) cannot help but to inspire you.  The galleries that I spend time on are CSS Elite, CSS Drive, and CSS Beauty.
5. Find the impossible. There is nothing that motivates more than being told that “it can’t be done.”  It’s like when parents tell their children to not do something.  That child is now more interested than ever and is going to find a way to make it work.  Want a start?  Try developing rounded, gradiented buttons that work perfectly in every browser.  (No images, no hacks).  There are a ton of issues out there.  Find one and tackle it.

Back End / Database

1. Learn from mistakes. See I did not say to learn from YOUR mistakes, but to learn from mistakes.  Don’t just be critical of other developers.  We know that they are not as good as you are.  So what.  Learn from what they do wrong.  Learn from what you do wrong.  Be willing to listen to others who may not agree with your style.  It will only improve your skills.
2. Tackle a language. Don’t just learn a language that is similar to a language that you are strong in.  Learn a language that is really going to challenge you.  If you are great at PHP, learn ColdFusion.  If ColdFusion is your forte, learn Ruby (and then pick up the Rails framework).  Learning a new language will make you better at all languages.
3. Open source projects. Not only do open source projects benefit the community as a whole, but open source projects also allow you to become a much better programmer.  You will work with developers from all over the world, getting used to their programming styles.  Take a look at Source Forge for a great start.
4. Open up old projects. This can be scary, but can also prove to be very motivating.  Sometimes I feel like I am not making any progress as a developer.  Then I open up projects that I worked on six months or a year ago.  The second that I open up those files I know that I have come a long way.  You feel terrible about the old projects, but you know that your skills have improved greatly.
5. Write a blog. Blogs benefit the entire community, but a blog, if you make the commitment, will also cause you to really spend time researching and growing as a developer.  Free blogs can be created at WordPress, or you can get in touch with me and I will provide my CMS to you (shameless plug).

Everyone Together Now

1. Take a break. I played tennis all throughout highscool, and one of the things that I noticed time and time again was that I would actually be an improved player when I took a break for a while.  I often played (and pushed myself) for 3-4 hours per day.  I became a pretty decent player, but after time would begin to struggle.  Taking a break allowed my mind to relax and the play to become natural again.  When I came back I was usually  a much stronger player.  Web designers and developers spend way too much time working.  Take a break.  Your projects will thank you for it.
2. Think Big. The biggest names in the development world didn’t just get there because they are good.  Often there are developers that are better than them.  They just thought about being the biggest and the best.  It is not always the skill, but almost always the desire.
3. Word hard. It is really easy to settle for the easy money.  We all know that we can throw together a website in a couple of hours, place some ads, collect e-mails, and make some money.  If money is what you are after, then go for it.  If becoming better at your trade is your goal, then it is going to take hard work.  There is enjoyment and motivation in hard work.
4. Connections, connections, connections. Finding people who will challenge you as a designer or developer is critical to your success.  Get plugged into a user group, read a blog daily (and comment on it), and/or go to conferences.  Adobe is always having conferences, so save up the money and head on over.
5. Envato Network. Envato is behind Nettuts, PSDtuts, and so much more.  With tutorials posted on about every technical topic, quality learning is inevitable.  Reading the tutorials is a good start.  Spend some time and write your own tutorials and make some money ($150 each) while you advance as a designer/developer.

Linkage

Here are some sites/resources that I visit that inspire me each and every time-

1. Ben Nadel. Ben is a ColdFusion guru and a blogging machine.  His expertise is ColdFusion, but he is solid in javascript (and the jQuery library), and has skills in pretty much any language that you can throw at him (and his Regex advice is priceless).
2. Stumble Upon. If you aren’t using Stumble Upon then you are missing out.  Stumble Upon is a plugin for Firefox that connects to a central database and provides you with sites that you are interested in.  (Caution: can be addicting)
3. Six Apart.  These are the guys (and gals) that created Type Pad.  They are really smart and have a lot of great stuff to say.  Most of their blog is about their blogging engine, but just learning about that has helped me grow.
4. 37 Signals.  From the creators of Backpack and Basecamp comes this great blog that gives great business and programming tips.  Can’t live without it.
5. Mark Cuban.  Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.  I hate the team (Go Warriors!), but the ramblings of Mark on his blog are priceless when it comes to growing in the business realm.  He talks about usability, monetization, and so much more.  After all, he did make his fortunes through the internet.

Being from, and in California, I think that it would be a great experience to head to the East Coast.  I was thinking something along the lines of New York, or DC.  But I am not sure.  That seems like a really long trip for only a short time.  But, my wife and I also really like the coast, and I think that she would really like a trip to San Diego.  New Orleans would be nice too.  Not sure where yet.  Not sure when.  But it is coming.

It is just incredible how much we get to enjoy life!  Even if we don’t get to see all of those places in our lifetime, what we have been able to see has been absolutely amazing!