General

Hannah and Hope had awards day this past Friday and then on Saturday, Hope walked the graduation line -- for kindergarten. She even gave a nice commencement address in her cap and gown (no kidding).

The techno demons reared their ugly heads today at LifePoint. We had no projection/multimedia whatsoever. None. Zippo. For whatever reason, we couldn't get any ouptut from the laptop to show up on our screens. This was the first time in nine months this happened. This was also the second week for using a new HP laptop with souped-up video capabilities. Last week it worked fine -- just as normal. Today ... nothing! We rebooted, unplugged, replugged, twisted the plug ... nothing! All the settings for dual monitors, extended desktops, etc., were set the way they should have been ... nothing! Windows recognized two monitors were connected ... nothing! MediaShout recognized two monitors were connected ... nothing!There were times I was wishing it was an Etch-a-Sketch so I could pick it up and shake it above my head. Come to think of it, I still might.

I'm not sure who came up with the phrase "pet peeve" to describe things that really annoy you. And if what I'm about to share applies to you, then you need help!Twice in the recent past have I gone into a restaurant's restroom only to find that previous "occupant" failed to flush. What type of person goes into a restroom and leaves a parting gift for the next person? I would expect this if I were visiting my elementary-age daughters at their school -- it's the type of thing an eight-year-old boy would do. On encountering my first "gift," not only did the previous person refuse to flush, it also appeared he was never trained to aim. Perhaps we need to leave a few Cheerios in our public restrooms and consider it a civic duty.

I've found a new online diversion that's actually semi-productive. It's called "Monk Email" and it's hosted by careerbuilder.com. You can dress up your own monkey, type in a message, and it converts the text to audio. Then enter a buddy's email address and you have just created a world of fun.Here's the link: http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/

In yesterday's message, I talked about how churches in the modern area began sterilizing their environments in an effort to create a non-threatening atmosphere for non-believers. This was in response to the Baby Boomer generation leaving church en masse and then beginning to return in the 1980's and 1990's.Innovative church leaders began eliminating church-speak, that highly specialized form of church language only known to insiders. They began writing music that was actually enjoyable and somewhat resembled what a person could hear on the radio. Pastors began wearing normal clothes. Church services became programmed and produced.The result was that a few of the churches began attracting and keeping large numbers of Boomers. New models for church planting were created.One of the casualties, however, was that many of these worship environments didn't convey much of a sense of worship. They were designed to look like theaters and religious symbols and icons were…