Know The Way Broadly

Know the way Broadly

2011-07-15T11:42:00.001-07:00

"Once You know the way broadly, you can see it in all things." - Miyamoto Musashi, famous Japanese swordsman

As I get older, I know what I love to do and I spend more time doing it. I discover things that I am good at and I love trying to be great at them. Sometimes though, I get excited about a few too many things and I have to pare down my focus so I don't end up being mediocre at everything and excellent at nothing. That kind of self control is still new to me but and it's still hard to do. So, the quote means that once you become excellentat one thing you know how to apply the discipline that it takes to excel to all kinds of other things. There is no substitute for hard work and talent is never enough.

Duke

2009-08-18T14:18:00.001-07:00

Barf

2009-08-14T20:51:00.001-07:00

Ideas that spread, win.

2009-03-28T21:52:00.001-07:00

difficulty

2009-03-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

We shouldn't forget how hard it is to be a pastor and make hard decisions while maintain the Vision.

Mark Beeson: The Economic Downturn and Granger Community Church from Granger Community on Vimeo.

Whip that Mac into shape! (part 1)

2009-02-21T10:57:00.000-08:00

So it's no secret that lots of people are making the switch to The world's most advanced OS on the world's coolest hardware. Several of my friends have made the switch so this series of posts is for you guys. I am going to tell you some things that will make the transition easier and make you more productive. So here goes.

Tip #1

If you have a mobile Mac (macbook, or Macbook Pro) order a mighty mouse. The touchpad is a great for mobile situations but Apple built in bluetooth for a reason. A real mouse is easier, faster and more ergonomically sound. If $50 for a mighty mouse makes you cringe, go to walmart and get one of these. The Logitech V220 is controlled by a little usb stick but you can remove it and leave it sitting on your desk at work. Best of all, it's $19.99. That's what I do and I don't really use the touchpad at all anymore unless I am on the move. If you take this tip, be sure to go into the mouse control panel in system prefs and enable the secondary button. Everybody needs a right click.

.Tip #2

Use Spaces. It's built in to OS X. Spaces Allows you to have multiple workspaces to keep things separated. Apple describes Spaces here. Imagine in your office you have 4 seperate desks. On one you keep all communications organized like mail, your calendar, to do list, etc.. On another you have all of your graphic design programs and tools. Another has all of your writing tools and and authoring programs. On the fourth you keep your web browser and that game of spider solitaire. I use my fourth space to contain all the programs that could potentially distract me during the day. If I go there I have to make a conscious decision to be distracted.

Tip #3

Use Expose to control spaces and more. Expose and Spaces share a control panel. You use expose to set the actions that control the features of spaces and more. You can set key combos to trigger spaces and to thumbnail all of your open windows for quickly finding an open program. In addition to key triggers, you can set expose to activate features when you move the mouse to any of the four corners of your screen, known as hot corners. It's worth taking the time to explore.

Tip #4

Use Spotlight. It constantly maintains an index of everything on your Mac. You type in the first few letters of a file, contact or any other object and spotlight finds it for you with it's lightning fast indexing mechanism. Spotlight is the little magnifying glass in the upper right corner of your screen.

Tip #5 (advanced)

Download and use Quicksilver. It is a launcher/indexing mechanism for your mac. Where Spotlight stops, Quicksilver picks it back up and runs with it. Whenever you launch it builds and updates an index of everything on your mac. This includes programs, files, folders, contacts, emails and everything else. This function basically does what Spotlight does except that you can build custom key triggers to basically perform any function. It's very difficult to describe what it really does as it's functionality is so vast. Quicksilver definitely requires a learning curve and requires some initial setup time. It's totally worth it though. It will make you faster and more productive. Learn more here.

Tip #6

Ditch Safari. Get Firefox 3. IMHO Apple has severely dropped the ball when it comes to Safari on the mac. For regular tabbed browsing with extensible functionality through FF extensions (these add additional functionality to FF's base code) Firefox is clearly superior. Look at it like this, Mozilla's main product is Firefox. To Apple, Safari is an afterthought. Trust me here. I've tried and tried to like Safari in order to appease the fanboy inside of me. No dice. It's awful.

So I will post more tips on Monday. I may just keep posting them until I run out. If you like these or use them leave comments. Any questions? I will try to answer them.

Duke

Mr. A-Z

2009-02-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

Simplicity.

Goodbye.

2009-01-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, Amanda and I came to plant Horizon Pointe Church with our friends The Griffiths. We have learned so much here and have really felt affirmed in God's call on our lives to advance the Gospel as the primary function of our days on Earth. We have made some great friends and many have taken us in like family.

It makes us very sad but we believe God is now calling us to move to the next part of His plan for us. We don't know what that is yet but we felt very strongly that He wanted us to take the first step of resigning here at Horizon. Thanks so much to those who have supported us here and we will miss you very much.

Duke

My Friends

2008-12-19T07:32:00.001-08:00

The Remix Band from Relevant Student Ministry came up to Dayton last Sunday to lead worship with me and to help cast a vision of where we want to go to our folks up here at our new church plant. They were really fantastic and it was fun to see everyone!

Most importantly, if you know any of these students (Aaron, Clark, Nate, Seth, Lauren, Claire) please tell them that they are doing a great job becoming lead worshipers. I am incredibly proud of the musicians and people that they are becoming and I pray for them to continue to engage in a passionate pursuit of God. Plus I just love hanging out with them.

We are Family

2008-12-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

My family visited this weekend. Now that we live in the great white north, they come up here about once a month to see us. Since we are all trying to stay out of the restaurants these days we always hit the grocery store when they get to town. I like to cook for everyone. So we were in the grocery store and I realized something. My family is loud, boisterous, sometimes obnoxious, sometimes anxious, weird, moody, funny, and smart. I realized this when I heard my dad's name being paged over the intercom system because he was off admiring the cheeses while we tried to check out. My family does everything a little over the top. Since I turned 31 Sunday I was reflecting on how I fit in to all this. The fact is that all off those qualities I mentioned are things that I am. In other words, we all fit in perfectly together. We are all totally comfortable together and prefer being together. I think that is a pretty spectacular thing to have this time of year.

Goodbye Facebook. We hardly knew ye.

2008-12-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

So, you know how most of us were all about Myspace 2 years ago? And then everyone found out how great it was and starting learning HTML and "designing" their pages? And then your grandma found out about it and she started sending you invitations to join her blue hair brigade group? Yeah, you stopped using myspace shortly after, right? Yes, glorious myspace fell out of favor with many who felt it just wasn't cool anymore because everyone's doing it.

I don't want to rehash The Tipping Point (which everyone knows about also). But basically once the early adopters left Myspace, the rest of us weren't far behind. And now everyone has a facebook. Many of you have asked me why Amanda doesn't have a Facebook account. She feels like she put a lot of energy into connecting on Myspace and everyone moved on. She actually asked me the following question. "Can't I just skip Facebook and wait for the next one?" HA! She nailed it.

Recently it came to light that viruses and other malware were propagating on Facebook. So now you need security software for your computer and security software for social networking. The Facebook crew has made it known that they envision Facebook's development environment to be the next big platform. However Facebook isn't crawled by Google's indexing. Walled Gardens are so 2007. (See Verizon)

So get ready, and remember I said it. Facebook is on it's way out. How do I know? My Mom sent me a message on Facebook today. Now it's only a matter of time until Grandma figures out where we are at.

The robots are coming.

2008-12-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

Robots are being developed by the US military that can make the decision to engage in battle according to Geneva Convention rules of engagement. While I am excited about laying back and diving into my favorite book while my car drives me safely to my destination, I am not looking forward to fighting this guy.

The End Is Near (maybe) part 2

2008-11-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

I want to continue to talk about current events. If this seems like a political post and that is a turn off to you, I would encourage you to keep reading past the first couple paragraphs. The politics is only to establish a couple of basic facts that the rest is predicated upon. I suspect that the stuff I am thinking and reading about is important stuff to wrestle with and I think that it is a common line of thought that many people around me are beginning to think about as well.

It has become clear that life is changing in America. Here is just a little of the mounting evidence that this is true. A respected Russian analyst has predicted that America would dissolve into six separate nations. It was the lead story on The Drudge Report this morning. The dollar is being debased by the printing of money and this fact is entering the public consciousness after being ignored for years. From among five of America's largest and oldest banks, three have failed and two others teeter on the edge. Our car industry in America is racing toward extinction. Do these facts scare you? That is ok. I think everyone is feeling that way to some degree.

So what is the answer to all of this? I think it's time for the Church in America to start a serious discussion about what this all means and how things are going to be in the future. Believe it or not, I think that this unique time in America's history presents a wonderful opportunity for Christians in America to reach hurting people all around us. I am not talking about an opportunity to evangelize or convert large groups of people. What I am talking about is a unique chance to engage in radical acts of love towards those around us that are going to struggle in the coming years with what is happening and will continue to happen. More on that later. First I would like to tell you five things that I believe each of us, as Christ followers, must do in order to be effective in this tumultuous time. If we are affected by the coming turmoil to the point of ineffectiveness I think we will miss this opportunity. So here are the five things I think we have to do followed by an explanation of each.

1. Work hard to reduce your family's personal debt
....Those of us that carry large amounts of personal debt stand little chance of being able to financially help those around us find shelter in the storm. A large part of our problems as a nation stem from our unwillingness to live within our means and this national delusion is just an offshoot of our personal culture of instant gratification. It is time for this mode of thinking to end. Financially helping those around us to survive and feed themselves and their families will depend on us being able to take care of our families and have enough left over to be generous. So, stop worshipping at the alter of the FICO god.

2. Begin to prepare for a less comfortable lifestyle
....Being a geek, I love gadgets. I am a Mac enthusiast and I really want an iPhone. I say this to tell you that I don't think I am holier than thou in this regard. But this obsession whith toys and giant houses and sleek fast cars and all of the entanglements that go along with those things will have no place in the coming world. I have grown uncomfortable with the monstrosity that Christmas has become in America and I think some of you know exactly what I mean. Life is about to get a lot less comfortable and cushy in America so better to prepare for that now by trying to find the off switch on our want-o-meter. I want to reiterate that on this point I am no master. I see things I want to buy every day and I still really want an iPhone. This is a cultural trait that is going to take time to overcome due to the fact that it has been with us for generations. But the time is coming when we won't have a choice. Here is a good place to start.

3. Begin to prepare for a different way of doing church
....As a worship leader I naturally gravitate towards a bigger and more impressive production on Sunday morning. I want brighter lights, crisper microphones, and speakers that are so loud they make your guts rattle. I want electric guitars that are beefy through classic Fender tube amps. I want a classic Maple drumkit isolated in a $1500 drum room with hot mics and a good mix. I want..... well, you get the point. Don't get me wrong, I love doing church this way and I think it has been very effective for a lot of people. Grace Community Church is an example of a church that is great at production. Being involved with them shaped my faith and revived in me a sense of purpose through a passionate pursuit of God. But they are an extraordinary success story that is very, very rare. Furthermore they embody both the attractional and missional mode nicely as evidenced by Operation Serve. This is very difficult for most churches to pull off. As new churches are planted in the coming years in America, I just don't think people are going to have the money to financially support the attractional mode of church. Attractional means we make the services and ministries great and cutting edge and we hope the people come to us to hear the gospel. Let me be clear, it may be a while before we are forced to adopt a new mode of reaching people. I am not able to see the future for sure. But the landscape in America is a mission field and we are going to have to start treating it that way. Christians are all part of the priesthood and we are going to have to start living by Jesus's mandate to go forth and multiply. No more can we let ourselves sit in the pews and vegetate for thirty years while countless mission opportunities pass us by in our very neighborhoods. We just don't have time for that.

4. Thank God for the opportunity that the Church is being given in America
....None of us like change and we, myself included, fight tooth and nail to preserve the status quo. But during massive cultural and political change and upheaval often come the great and defining chances to truly grow and emulate the NT church. Persecution and marginalization was the standard in the years following Jesus's death and resurrection. But this was also the time when the baby Church went from 12 roughnecks to 20 million Christ followers in just under 300 years. The same thing happened to the Church in China in the 2 decades following the Communist cultural revolution. All the Church's mature leaders were either killed, imprisoned or exiled. All missionaries were forced to leave the Chinese borders. And yet, the Church grew and flourished in an unprecedented way. The DNA that the Holy Spirit provides was there in those young new believers. It just needed a chance to replicate and multiply. It takes high pressure to make a diamond. These opportunities don't come along often. I believe we are about to experience such an opportunity in America. With Thanksgiving approaching I am going to be thankful that God is in control and he will provide for us what we need to take advantage of the work He is doing and will continue through the coming and uncertain years.

5. Don't be anxious about tomorrow
....Philippians 4:6 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." So don't worry about what you see on Fox News or hear about the times. I see this verse as a loving God giving us permission to stop worrying. He says to be prepared and to continue to work hard but don't worry. What a gift to us! What if Amanda came home to me and said, "Duke, they are making cuts at my workplace and I might be laid off. I am very worried that we might lose our income." And what if I said to her "I give you permission to stop worrying." Do you think she would? Probably not. But in this case The God of the Universe, Creator and Maker of all that you see, has given you permission to stop worrying. If he can create the Milky Way and place it in the middle of a universe so big that we can't comprehend, he can probably handle the economy of one tiny planet. Don't you think so?

Well, I have been thinking about these things for a while and I just wanted to let you guys into my thoughts for a moment. I don't have answers to most of life's questions. But I love you guys and pray for you continuously.

Love,
Duke

The End is Near. (maybe)

2008-11-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

So I found this today. http://www.mondex.com/ I found it when I was reading about verichip. Why was I reading about verichip you ask? Well, actually I have been hearing from many people in my social circle that they fear that the end is near. More on that in a moment.

Mondex is a subsidiary of Mastercard (verified by a whois search on the mondex domain) whose goal is to move the functionality of a credit card to a microchip that can be scanned and act as a form of financial transaction. For instance, say I want a sweet delicious Jones Cream Soda and a bag of Willy Wonka's new Giant Chewy Nerds. Instead of swiping my Mastercard, I have a card in my wallet with a tiny chip on it. The cashier has a scanner and reads the card inside my wallet and voila. Speedy convenient transaction. However, I got to thinking, if I lose my wallet anyone could use my microchip to make purchases. Hmm, if only there was a way to secure the chip on my person somewhere so I could not accidently leave it in the back of a cab. So you can see where I am going.

Verichip works like this. A small chip is implanted under your skin and stores a sixteen digit number. When scanned by a special scanner, it broadcasts it's number. The store or hospital that does the scanning then queries any number of relational databases holding info like medical records or bank account numbers. The transaction is completed based on the info that is returned from the query. This is very interesting and a little creepy, but does it mean that the end is near?

I've always been curious if Christians in America actually understand what Revelation says will happen in the end times or if we have taken the mythology of the Left Behind book series and substituted it for the fact that none of us really understand Revelation. We can't predict with any degree of certainty what will happen. I am pretty sure that is what many of us have done and I have to say that it is a bit disturbing. I have heard figures that say roughly 30% of American Christians believe the end will come in their lifetimes. I have to wonder, is it that they think it will come or that they want it to?

So, if the end comes now, what will happen to all the people we know that haven't come to know Jesus? I say let's all just calm down a little and know that for now we still have at least a little time to talk to our friends about Jesus and to enjoy our giant chewy nerds.

church planting: It's the community stupid! (part 1)

2008-11-12T11:35:00.001-08:00

Since Amanda and I have moved to Ohio to help the Griffiths plant this church I have been reading and thinking a lot about what makes churches tick. I am primarily interested in what makes churches healthy and what makes people keep coming back. In all the reading I have done of late, I keep coming back to one thought. To borrow a phrase from The Ragin' Cajun, It's the community, stupid.

In churches all over America life revolves around a one hour event on Sunday morning. The band is great or they really like the preacher, either way they leave the church building "just feeling better". Don't get me wrong here. I am a worship pastor, so I love Sunday morning. I mean, I really dig Sunday morning. However, as a church (I mean Horizon Pointe), we are missing something vital and necessary. It's not that we have done anything wrong, it's that we have to take small steps.

In the Spring of '09 we will begin to have community groups. If you have never been a part of one, it is a small group of people within the church that gather at someone's home during the week. Many groups eat meals together, do a bible study or just talk. Lots of churches do groups in lots of different ways.

There is one thing that a community groups ministry adds to a church that I believe cannot be gotten in any other way. That thing is social capital. For those unfamiliar with the concept, here is a crash course.

So what have we learned? There are two types of social capital, bridging and bonding. Bridging forms weak ties between large amounts of people. Bonding forms strong, intimate ties between small amounts of people. Facebook and other online social networks increase the amount of social capital in our lives by making us aware of weak bonds that were hidden to us in the real world. This is considered bridging social capital. How does that compare with what community groups do for the church in the social capital area?

First of all, the social capital gained by a church actively offering community groups is a bonding social capital as opposed to a bridging social capital.Community groups strengthen a small number of people's ties to one another and bonds them in a way that a Sunday worship gathering could never do. Granovetter's paradox tells us that this type of capital can be harmful to the overall community and could fragment us into a bunch of inward facing cliques like families tend to be.

But the great thing about the church is that we do gather corporately once or twice a week which tends to strengthen weak ties between various members of the smaller groups. A member of group A might know a member of group B. Then he or she might introduce that person to a member of group C Therefore all three groups gain the value of bridging social capital in addition to the bonding within each group.

Building a small group culture within a local church will give Horizon Pointe two halves of the greater whole that is social capital. It will add a value that is currently missing from our community due to our young age as a body of seekers and believers. It will accelerate the growth of those that feel ready to participate.

The changing of my political stripes (part 3)

2008-11-03T13:49:00.001-08:00

So after this post and this one, you may have figured out that I am not voting tomorow. It turns out that Derek Webb has explined my decision for me. He says it better than I can in the new issue of Patrol Magazine. Read it here and enjoy.

The changing of my political stripes (part 2)

2008-10-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

In part 1 of this post I told you how my view on politics is being shaped by my faith. I continue that train of thought here in part 2.

I think it is very telling that at the time of Jesus's birth the Jews were largely being dominated by one of the most oppressive, land-hungry regimes in history. The Roman Empire gobbled up nations like I eat jelly beans. In the century just before Christ's birth one in every four people on Earth lived under Roman law. The Roman ruling class exercised it's incredible power and tyranny over every aspect of life in the Empire. The government exercised monetary policy and regulation of currency in such a way as to guarantee the succession of those that would continue the legacy that they deemed appropriate or flattering to themselves. Clandestine groups of public officials performed bloody coup de'tats in order to grab power for themselves. Suddenly God chose to place his son in the middle of this. He could have been born at any time in history but He chose Ancient Rome.

Fast forward two thousand years. In America we live under a government that grows larger by the day. It asserts it's influence globally in order to increase the wealth and power of those who pull the strings of our "elected" officials. Candidates for public office are either approved or disapproved by the power structure based on their ability to continue to deliver the status quo. All the while they promise change because change is what the American people say they want. However there will be no change. We continue to live far beyond our means amassing a ten trillion dollar national debt. Much of this goes to support the policy of global intervention that requires us to have American troops in 130 countries globally. This has remained the same through liberal and conservative presidents and congresses. Kingdoms come and kingdoms go and all remains the same. I mention these things only to draw a parallel between our current situation and that of Ancient Rome because it comes to bear on my point.

So what did Jesus have to say about the politics of his day? Did he rail against this oppressive government? No. Did he assert his right to speak his mind on the Roman occupation as a member of God's chosen nation? Not really. Did he seek to inspire others to throw off the shackles of the Roman bondage and yearn to breathe free? Nope. When asked He even stated that His people should pay their taxes.

Jesus chose instead to focus his righteous anger on a religious establishment that used their power to place religious rules on the people that they could never live up to while they pretended to be living up to these rules themselves. Their cups were clean on the outside but filthy on the inside and they chose to deceive the people about this common experience in the human condition.

Jesus did offer a message of freedom but it had nothing to do with political revolution. It had to do with a revolution that took place inside the heart. The new law said that none of our sacrifices were sufficient. Furthermore if His message of fully attainable freedom had been dependent on the people's ability to overthrow a despotic government it would not have been a universal offer to all people throughout all future history.

What does this have to do with how we should represent ourselves politically? I have heard people say over and over something like, "If (insert candidate name here) gets elected we will be a communist nation overnight". Or "If (insert candidate name here) gets elected we are going to get pulled into another unjust war".

If we believe that one candidate or another getting elected can either increase or diminish the amount of freedom we experience, then we are certainly finding our freedom in the wrong place. The freedom that we are offered through God's atoning sacrifice of His son is found not in temporal circumstances but in the eternal disintegration of the chains that bind our hearts. That kind of freedom is unaffected by elections. As for me, that's the freedom I want.

The changing of my political spots (part 1)

2008-10-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

I recently read the book UnChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons from The Barna Group. The book makes many interesting points about how outsiders view Christians. One of the things they found is that about 38% of all those who were not regular churchgoers had negative impressions of Christians, and especially evangelical Christians, associating it with conservative political activism, hypocrisy, anti-homosexuality, and judgmentalism. I for one agree. By and large we have lost our way. Furthermore, if some of us have lost our way, I think we all have. Now I am not saying that all of us are all of those things. But all of us are definitely some of those things.
I would like to focus on one aspect of this statistic that has become very personally convicting to me. I am a very politically passionate person. I have long considered myself conservative and have voted Republican since I have been of age. I have listened to many, many hours of talk radio by hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. I recently stopped listening to these people. I have begun to find their tone harsh and their message divisive. It is unfortunately no better on the other side of the aisle. Hosts such as Randi Rhodes and Al Franken are just as shrill and hateful.
I have lost my passion for American politics. I have been praying about this alot lately. I have asked God to give me wisdom and to help me arrive at some conclusions about what my attitude toward politics should be. I am not going to tell you that I have recieved some divine revelation but a couple of thoughts have begun to emerge from my questioning. In my following two posts I'll let you in on what I've been thinking. I want to explore what Jesus's attitude and actions were toward the politics of His days on Earth. I also want to look at how our faith should shape not only our church lives, work lives and family lives but also our political views and what we say about them to others.

Free Music Revolution

2008-10-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

In the future music will be free. Don't believe me? Check out the evidence. Worship leader Phil Wickham is giving out his new album for free in exchange for giving him your email address. Derek Webb is hawking his newest album The Ringing Bell on a new site called noisetrade.com. The deal? Either pay what you want, or recommend the music to five friends. Welcome to the free music revolution.

Yoke? Like an egg?

2008-10-17T13:48:00.001-07:00

I would like to address something I have been thinking about since Horizon Pointe began. I think in churches sometimes leaders tend to pick up this air of.... aboveness (is that a word?) It's not necesarily because they do anything wrong, it's just the way we set things up in our perceptions of those who have something to teach us. Let's just get one thing out there so we can all agree. Church leaders are just as fragile, just as anxious and have all the same fears and insecurities that everyone else has. We are just getting our feet underneath us and we are learning to step out of the boat and try walking as Jesus walks. We sink beneath the waves most of the time. Even with all our failing it is a much better way to walk. We want you guys to try it with us and we are very excited when many of you seem to be doing just that. If it seems difficult at first, it is. But in the end it is a much easier way to live. Easier you say? Let me demonstrate. I am going to use an illustration that Rob Bell makes.

Jesus told us "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

In Jesus' time a yoke was a particular rabbi's interpretation of Old Testament Scripture. In other words it was a set of rules one had to live by to live in accordance with the teachings of that particular rabbi. Jesus came along and said Hey guys, all these rabbi's have been asking you to live by a set of rules that you can't possibly live up to. Come and follow me. Because of what I will do the burden of living under my yoke will be something you can find peace in. I need peace. Do you?

My imaginary band

2008-10-17T13:12:00.001-07:00

So for those of you wondering how things are going I thought I would download a bit. Horizon Pointe is going great. We have people coming to church who haven't been to church in a long time or in some cases ever. I love that. I know that God loves the broken. I am certainly feeling that way of late and I know that it is a common condition at Horizon Pointe. One thing I have been really struggling with lately is this. We don't have a band yet so I lead with an acoustic guitar. I am aware that it isn't about me, but I think God is trying to use this time to teach me. If all the lights and nice sound system and top notch musicians and all the other stuff is gone, do I still praise Him in the same way? Is it about the rush of being on stage and rocking out? Or is it about being ok with His timing and His way of doing things? Is it ok to just bring a simple song that expresses how we feel towards the One who made us? This time has begun to expose things in my heart that I am not all that fine with. Strange how seeing ourselves as we really are can be so uncomfortable and yet so liberating. I waver between knowing this new truth and forgetting that I know it. I pray that I would remember for an hour every Sunday morning.

IKEA!!! Arrogant Swedes.

2008-08-17T10:33:00.001-07:00

A Family! (Maybe)

2008-07-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Amanda and I have been trying to adopt a baby. We recieved word a few days ago that we have cleared a major hurdle. Jayda's biological mother has let those involved with the case know that she wants to move ahead with the adoption. We are very excited that it looks like Jayda will be with us very soon.We believe that God has done a great thing in this young woman's heart. We also believe that God has heard the prayers of the many people that have been praying for us and for Jayda. We wanted to share this news with our church family at Horizon Pointe and our extended church family at Grace community. We love you guys and are so thankful to God that He has a plan and doesn't allow us to plan these events ourselves. We certainly could not have planned this course of events. We ask that you would continue to pray that legal stuff would be taken care of and that God would prepare us to be a loving family to Jayda!

Duke, Amanda and Jayda

My friend Daniel

2008-05-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

Check out my friend Daniel Doss.

Friendfeed

2008-05-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ah, the true power of RSS. Try http://friendfeed.com

Barbaric.

2007-07-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_mother

new trail

2007-04-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

My first wikitrail

2007-04-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

ebay

2007-01-28T22:20:00.000-08:00

Told you ebay sucks.

Uh oh....

2007-01-15T22:57:00.000-08:00

When Peggy Noonan starts packing her parachute and preparing to jump from President Bush's flight into the History books, I think that is a good indicator that his legacy is in real trouble. I'd say she is a legacy barometer. I think his only hope for a favorable public opinion poll is the 20/20 vision that only hindsight can provide. Deep wounds take many years to heal and sometimes they just never do. I am really trying to maintain my original feeling that He is a good man in troubled times but it is getting harder. I think we had better prepare ourselves for a world in which America is a something that kids are taught was a failed experiment in democracy. Whether or not that is true I don't know, but it scares me to think that like New York could become Constantinople in our lifetimes. Great civilizations all end eventually. It is a fact that cannot be avoided. We can only hope that the robots will be kind to us. (just kidding, sort of)

I'm back.

2007-01-04T22:23:00.000-08:00

At the urging of a friend I have begun posting to this blog again. Hold on kids, it could get a little dark. I think my first post will be a re-post. This is from Pat Buchanan's website. This guy is to the New World Order what Paul Revere was to the redcoats. And remember he is no loon. He made a serious run at the presidency. Enjoy.

A Chronological History of the New World Order

Fear.

2006-09-22T00:06:00.000-07:00

Grace is doing a series on fear. Our small group was asked to compile a list of common fears and I wrote down every one I could think of. Here is my list for your consumption. Note: I do not fear all of these things. Some are things I think others might fear and some are my own fears. Maybe some of them are yours.

death (self and loved ones), drowning, failure, injury to self and
family, not being good enough, being late, being alone, making
mistakes, house burning, pets dying, growing old, going crazy, going
hungry, going to hell, developing a drug problem, family member
developing a drug problem, car wrecks, global warming, saying the
wrong thing, playing the wrong notes, disappointing your loved ones,
disappointing yourself, being fake, being real, not knowing the
answer, always having to know the answer, not meeting
responsibilities, having too much responsibilty, getting fired,
becoming bitter, robots taking over the earth and enslaving mankind,
meeting people, missing your big chance, nuclear war, terrorist
attacks, natural disasters, getting divorced, being made fun of, being
average, being misunderstood, getting cancer, getting diabetes, losing
a limb, going blind, going deaf, not having any friends, being in a
plane crash, getting kidnapped, being robbed at gunpoint, being
burglarized, losing your keys or wallet, giving up control, losing at
raquetball forever, not fulfilling your dreams, having to care for
your parents, getting lost, getting left behind, not being able to
have kids, being paralyzed .......

wow, I think that's about it.

Duke

Dianetics Baby!

2006-09-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

Maybe Tom Cruise is right! Check this out to decide for yourself. And this is the real story.

My new Job.

2006-09-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

So, I have a lot of web surfing time on my hands due to my brand new jobbie-job. That's right J-O-B. Job.
I am a sleep laboratory technician. I like to call it my laboratory. Pronounced la-bor-ah-tory. My new job consists of hooking a bunch of monitoring equipment up to people's heads and bodies and then watching them sleep for eight hours. There are all kinds of awkward moments. It's great fun. People just seem very vulnerable when they are in their pajamas and are being forced to sleep in a strange bed. I know what they are thinking because I have had several sleep studies.

"I wish I had worn more makeup."
"I don't think I will be able to sleep with only two pillows"
"I wonder if they will hear me farting in my sleep"
"I don't want this dude to hear me snore like a freight train."
"I hope I don't have one of those dreams."
"I hope I don't wake up smelling like a rat crapped in my mouth."
"I have had to piss for three hours but I can't remember the sleep tech's name to come in here and unhook me from all this stuff. Oh well I guess I'll just go. Ahhhhhh that's better."

I have only worked two half nights so far, but I will get my first full night this Friday. 9PM tp 6AM. I will let you know if anyone farts alot during their sleep. I will lol. That means laugh out loud for those of you new to the internets.

Later,
Duke

Amazing Art

2006-01-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

This guy is amazing. Be sure to look at the whole series of photos. Remember these are chalk drawings!

Floating Dog in Airplane - Google Video

2006-01-10T01:14:00.000-08:00

Floating Dog in Airplane - Google Video

The internet is awesome.

2006-01-04T00:36:00.000-08:00

The internet is awesome. Smart people rock.

Update on Amanda's appalling behavior

2006-01-03T01:43:00.000-08:00

Sooooo, it seems that the law of blogging paradoxes has occurred. A while back I told you about my wife, Amanda's, appalling behavior. Well, since then it seems she has begun reading my blog. She has chastised me several times for torturing her while she sleeps on the couch even though "that's totally in the past" wink, wink. The result is that now whenever she is sleeping on the couch and I make even the slightest noise, the beast comes out full force and usually she says something like "Is this it? Huh? Is this how you torture me? Do you hate me or something? Why oh why for the love of God can't you let me sleep in peace?"...... Sheesh Amanda, all I did was clear my throat several times while listening to OZzy Osbourne's Crazy Train. I just don't know why she has to make a federal case out of it.

Zapruder Stabilized.

2006-01-03T01:21:00.000-08:00

This is a link to a digitized copy of The Zapruder Film. It's in Quicktime and it takes a while to load so just be patient. WARNING: Very Graphic.

Too much free time?

2006-01-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

Couple spends 28.5 years repainting baseball, now 119" circumference: Wow. How exciting.

"

Did you know?

2005-12-31T04:54:00.000-08:00

Thalidomide (as in "children of thalidomide") was banned for its initial intended use as sedative. However, it has been found to be effective for other indications such as for leprosy. It is now marketed by Celgene as Thalomid with standard warnings for pregnant women to avoid taking it.

So who did start the fire?

2005-12-31T04:40:00.000-08:00

I didn't start it did you? Billy Joel is soopa-cool.

Listen to music. MY MUSIC!!!!

2005-12-28T02:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the shouting and exclamatizing my words. I just wanted you to know that I posted an mp3 of my song "The Yellow Bus Incident" in my Blogger profile. You can listen to it there, or you can go to my myspace profile where you can download it FOR FREE along with three of my other songs that are available on my full-length album "Home Again". You can buy the record here.

Ipod troubles.

2005-12-28T02:49:00.000-08:00

So, my dad gave me his ipod because he got a new one. I had it about two weeks and it stopped working. Tried to revive it, no dice. It is out of warranty by about 3 weeks. I had lost hope but I found this and I am going to try to fix it. Wish me luck.

It's hard growing up.

2005-12-28T01:38:00.000-08:00

It's hard growing up. Some people never make it. Some get to a certain point and then just stop. They get stuck at seventeen or more commonly at twenty-one. I went to eat at Chili's tonight with Amanda and a couple of our friends and there were four guys that I semi-knew from high school. I shook hands with a couple of them and it was all smiles. Then I sat down and Amanda asked me who they were and why the were looking at me and laughing. I told her it was obviously because they were making fun of me. She asked why they would do that. I didn't really know and I didn't really care. But then I started thinking about why they might do that. One of them was a musician that is sort of "Clarksfamous". If I told you who it was you'd know who I was talking about (if you are from here). So because Amanda was visibly upset by it, I told her that they were making fun of me because they thought I was a joke. Probably because of the way I acted in high school or because they think the music I play is not good or because I play mostly in Clarksville still. Haha, really funny right? Actually the way they were acting is the way I treated people when I was seventeen. I really regret it too. If I could have a list of all the people that I hurt by my behavior back then I would call and apologize to each one of them. Mostly because I have grown up and I realize that it is better to be friends with all of those you come in contact with rather than ostracize certain people. Which was what I meant by people getting stuck at seventeen. I didn't get stuck but those guys did. I am pretty sure that in fifteen years those guys will be acting the same way they are now. And they'll never be aware of other people's feelings. You know it's funny, a couple of those guys are my "friends" on myspace and I bet it doesn't even occur to them that they are hypocrites. But aren't we all?

Another senseless dog death

2005-12-27T20:24:00.000-08:00

R.I.P., Sam

More on Firefox.

2005-12-27T20:13:00.000-08:00

Okay. If you haven't switched to Mozilla Firefox you are using an inferior product. Just try it. Here are some links that will show you how cool it is. Everybody's doing it. And if everybody's doing it then everybody's doing it. And by the way, Matt, I know you are ignoring me about this so I am including a link to a greasemonkey script that allows you to preview your gmail conversations by right clicking them. And I know you love Gmail. Hint:
1.Install Firefox 1.5 here
2. Install Greasemonkey (a firefox extension) here
3. install gmail preview greasemonkey script here

Also here is a useful page explaining Greasemonkey and it's potential
Here is a wide array of user-authored Greasemonkey scripts catalogued by tags del.icio.us style
And Here is a page with a wide array of addons and extensions for firefox

Heed! Pants Neigh!

Internet Explorer is soooo last year.

2005-12-23T01:54:00.000-08:00

Excellent advice here. I suggest using Mozilla Firefox. It's the shnizzle as the kids say.

Disturbing.

2005-12-21T03:10:00.000-08:00

I don't even know what to say about this.

The Human harmo-beatbox.

2005-12-21T02:13:00.000-08:00

This guy is awesome.

Unicorns! Yay!

2005-12-20T00:35:00.000-08:00

For all you unicorn lovers.

In case you can't decide what to get me for Christmas.

2005-12-16T23:17:00.000-08:00

These would definitely make you my new best friend. Only $14.99!

In memory of Ralph

2005-12-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

"Ralph T. Hound"
1994-2005

Our Afghan Hound, Ralph died today. Yeah I know it sucks and it's not very funny at all, but I thought I would memorialize him with a post on the internet so he would be around forever. This isn't really a picture of him, but it looks just like him. And now, I would like for everyone to hum Taps for Ralph. Go ahead, wherever you are just stop and hum. I think Ralph would have liked it. I will know if you didn't hum.

I could use some feedback

2005-12-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

I have noticed almost no one is leaving comments here on my blog. I would like for you guys to let me know if it is because the format is not user friendly or if it is because you must have a blogger account to comment. Let me know your reason for not commenting so I can make my site better. Thanks!

Tiger Woods spells 666?

2005-12-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

My good friend Craig Petersen has brought to my attention that Tiger Woods could possibly be the antichrist. I have some doubts but he has fulfilled 17 out of 59 prophesies concerning the beast's rise to power. And he may have the ability to "unite people of all tribes" (Craig's words). Now you are using that noodle Craig.

Crazy people sure do make cool art.

2005-12-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

As seen here in the paintings of Louis Wain. This article shows examples of his art as he succumbed to schizophrenia.

Revised Possible Antichrist list By- Duke

2005-12-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

1. Google
2. Prince Charles
3. Tivo
4. Gene Hackman

Stay tuned. This list could change.

New images from The Hubble Telescope

2005-12-03T22:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/bestof/

CD sales are down

2005-11-27T23:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, so sales of my new CD "Home Again" have dropped to virtually nil, so I thought I would post about it and tell you that you can listen to and purchase it at http://www.dukeboles.com If you have already bought one then my usefulness for you has run it's course. Away from me..... Seriously, get out of my sight........ Okay, well at least bring me something to drink, perhaps a nice pellegrino with a twist of lime.

Amanda's appalling behavior

2005-11-27T22:25:00.000-08:00

Sometimes Amanda falls asleep on the couch while I watch TV and surf the net. I like to turn the volume up a bit, clear my throat several times and get the dog a little riled up. Whenever I do this, the sweetest girl in the world turns into a grade A anus. Groggy? Yes. Not really aware of what she is saying? Yes. But wow folks, you would be amazed if I videotaped her and the mean things she says in those moments. I mean sure, I provoke her, but she isn't really awake and she doesn't ever remember. And hey, if I get a good chuckle, well that is what matters right? The thing is I can only get away with it about once or twice per night. If I push it too hard or too often, she wakes up too much and storms off to bed and then the party is over. This is terrible right? Well, maybe I'll grow up one day.

Google: our print scan program has no hidden AI agenda

2005-11-18T00:08:00.000-08:00

Google: our print scan program has no hidden AI agenda: "Xeni Jardin: Snip from Andrew Donoghue's ZDNet article today:

Google has been quizzed about rumours that its current quest to digitise books may be about more than simply making literature available online, but the search giant is being non-committal on the subject.

At a conference on Tuesday, organised by The Economist, Jeff Levick, Google's director of vertical markets, was questioned about comments concerning artificial intelligence made by historian George Dyson following a recent visit to the Googleplex. During his visit Dyson claimed that one Google staff member working on book digitisation told him that some of the material was destined for a non-human audience.

''We are not scanning all those books to be read by people,' explained one of my hosts after my talk. 'We are scanning them to be read by an AI,'' Dyson wrote in a posting on Edge.org following a visit to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of John von Neumann's proposal for a digital computer. Link to 'Google side-steps AI rumours'.

Previously: George Dyson's Google visit -- 'Turing's Cathedral'"

two posts ago

2005-11-16T20:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, I was just kidding about the antichrist being a robot. Everybody knows the antichrist is either Prince Charles or Gene Hackman.

cookin tonight....

2005-11-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

Playing with a good band is like crack... once you get some, you just want more and more. I love those guys I play with. It's like they make me better each time I play with them.

This really scares the crap out of me.

2005-11-14T23:49:00.000-08:00

This article on Turing's cathedral is extremely technical and dry, but if you can make it to the end with a very basic understanding of what Mr. Dyson is saying it will scare the crap out of you too. If you can't understand it, then email it to the smartest person you know and have them explain it to you. All I am saying is this. If you believe in the bible and Revelation, the antichrist that everyone is watching for might not be a human being, it might be an Non-biological entity represented by an artificial intelligence. (Wow! Does that sound paranoid or what?) Just read the article.

Fantastic Web Design

2005-11-14T22:26:00.000-08:00

If you guys don't know what a great web designer my friend Mat Monday is, just check out http://www.dukeboles.com or http://www.midsouthhonda.com Pure Talent.

Normal. Indeed.

2005-11-14T18:34:00.000-08:00

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.
Ellen Goodman
American journalist (1941 - )"

Saw Keller Williams tonight

2005-11-12T04:32:00.000-08:00

I saw Keller Williams play tonight. It turned out to be at City Hall instead of War Memorial Aud. All I can say is ehhh... It was not all that great. Good versions of Shakedown Street and I want a new drug. Kellers guitar skills have improved in the year and a half since I last saw him, but the loop jams were endless and self indulgent. I am a huge fan of Keller's but I really am not that impressed with where Keller has gone with his act. He seems to have forgotten that a great artist plays songs the audience loves. Keller has stated in the past that he plays to entertain himself and not so much for the audience. I think he may have forgotten who pays the bills. This said, I still love Keller and will go see him again when he comes back through.

job opening

2005-11-08T23:54:00.000-08:00

I am looking to hire someone to be my personal assistant. Job description: get me what ever my little heart desires any hour, day or night. Pay: $17 per week. benefits: I will tell you jokes and sing you songs any time you want.

Keller Williams Show Friday Night

2005-11-07T22:13:00.000-08:00

At War Memorial Auditorium no less! If you have never heard Keller Williams go to this site as fast as you can. Click on the music link and download a free show!

In Knoxville

2005-11-03T01:46:00.000-08:00

I am in Knoxville right now trying to book a few shows. I heard that I could make really great money here as The Human Jukebox. Alas, I fear that it isn't true. After tonight's inquiries, it seems as if Knoxville is exactly the same as Clarksville. Musician's quicksand. Every town has the same five bars. I will know more tomorow after I play at Buffalo Wildwings. I am not kidding, I am really playing at a place called Buffalo Wildwings. Oh, the humanity.

On a serious note

2005-11-02T00:21:00.000-08:00

If you are a parent with a child that can use the internet and express themselves PLEASE READ THIS!
The Net is still the Wild West and if you don't protect your kids no one is going to.

I am so funny. I just peed my cargo shorts.

2005-10-19T00:08:00.000-07:00

Want to find out how to use photoshop to convince the world that your friend todd is a championship hog wrangler? Just create a webpage like this one using a google image and cut your friend's head out of another pic and then paste it onto the guy between the pigs. Then post a comment with the link on your buddy's myspace. Hilarity ensues. Ha!

Thunderbolt Johnson's Myspace (watch the mayhem in real time!)

The Human Jukebox i.e. Duke Boles Myspace (will Thunderbolt retaliate?)

I love Limbaugh

2005-10-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

He really has an understanding of who my party is.

How Bob Iger Saved Network TV

2005-10-15T01:51:00.000-07:00

How Bob Iger Saved Network TV: "Mark Cuban is one smart dude"

I love Lawrence Lessig

2005-10-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

laryngitis

2005-10-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

So I lost my voice approximately two weeks ago and it is still not back. So I will keep a running list in this post of things people have told me to try.

1. Drink lemon Juice
2. drink pickle juice (eeewww.)
3. dink hot tea
4. eat aspoonful of vaseline
5. drink water
6. drink throat coat tea
7. entertainer's secret (scam)
8. no talking (impossible)

smoot

2005-10-11T03:10:00.000-07:00

I am one smoot tall.

why I am excited about the web

2005-10-09T22:53:00.000-07:00

here is a great article by weirdo genius tech guru Tim O'reilly that will tell you why I can't stop thinking about getting back to my internet connection

I am truly disgusted

2005-10-08T01:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know what's worse, that someone has for sale on ebay a freshly cut human pony tail, or that it comes with a dvd of the cutting.

intro to RSS

2005-10-08T00:58:00.000-07:00

If you don't know about RSS, you should read this and then use this.

cool article in Leaf chronicle

2005-10-08T00:28:00.000-07:00

This is a piece written by a very talented writer at our local paper The Leaf Chronicle regarding moi'.

WEB2.0 or NOT?

2005-10-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

WEB2.0 or NOT?: "By rael From the makers of Supr.c.ilio.us comes a fabulous HOT or NOT-alike for bringing the wisdom of crowds to determining the Web 2.0-ness of sites and services.... "