The Stuff I Think About

Lights, Camera, Action...

2012-01-21T22:24:00.008-06:00

As a full time information technology professional, there seems to be little time to pursue life long passions like filmmaking. However, in the past few years technological advances have brought what was once out of my financial reach a little closer to home.

With a growing interest in my own children for the creation of modern media, I have found that blending my passion with theirs has created a vehicle for experimenting with film production once again. Here are a few of our recent endeavors...

Are You Paid An Unfair Wage?

2011-06-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

Do you feel that you are paid unfairly for the job you are doing? Does someone else make more money for the same type of work? Are you concerned about the so called "golden parachutes" of corporate executives?

Next time these thoughts come to mind, consider the following parable...

"For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen." Matthew 20:1-16

Picketing Theology

2011-04-13T21:00:00.004-05:00

I recently saw a photograph posted on Facebook of a picketing sign which read, "Obama is not a brown-skinned anti-war socialist who gives away free health care. + You're thinking of Jesus. +"

Four people had indicated that they liked the sign and another individual had posted a favorable comment which read, "THAT is fabulous!"

With six people expressing favor for the sign (I'm including the person who originally posted the photo in the count), not seeing the obvious errors in the message, I was compelled to respond, "Jesus was neither anti-war (see Revelation) nor socialist (see Mosaic Law)."

A seventh supporter of the misguided picketing sign replied, "Words in red Dan. Jesus did not write either of those books." Another wrote, "Perhaps. However, the first person accounts of the Jesus described in the bible portray him as a person who more closely resembles a tolerant, peaceful, loving person who wanted people to care for each other (John 15:12)."

I replied, "Since Jesus is a member of the triune God, and since all Scripture is God breathed (inspired), in order to have a comprehensive picture of God's very nature, you must take the whole counsel of God into account (Genesis through Revelation). God the Son has the same nature as God the Father."

Their Response

"I am compelled to point out that your are stating an opinion rather than a fact in saying that what we know as the bible is the inspired word of the Christian god. But that is an argument for another day. What perplexes me is that you seem to be saying that since Jesus and the god of the Old Testament are the same person than we must assume that Jesus while kind and loving at times was also angry, vindictive, misogynistic and genocidal. And that is what we should aspire to?"

My Response

"...if a member of your family had a horrific crime done to them (i.e. murder, rape, etc.), and at the trial the judge passed the appropriate sentence on the perpetrator, would you categorize the judge as "angry, vindictive, misogynistic and genocidal"?

God, the Creator, has provided us with His law as well as the penalty for violating the law. He has stated the penalty for violating the law is death. As king, lawgiver and judge, He alone retains the right to pass sentence on the lawbreaker whenever He chooses.

We, as humans, are all lawbreakers. As a result, we are guilty and it is just a matter of time before our day in court. God as a just judge will pass sentence as dictated by the law. The good news is that God, having love and compassion for mankind, provided a way to escape the judgment required by the law in that He placed the death penalty on His own Son. In doing so, the penalty for violating the law was satisfied (the fine paid) by Jesus so that men and women could go free. We have a choice. To appropriate Jesus payment for our guilt or to reject the offer.

One more thing... my purpose in responding to this post was to point out that the person who made the sign in the photograph, does not have an accurate understanding of the nature of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible.

Regardless of one's religious beliefs, the Bible is regarded as the primary source of information for understanding the tenants of Christianity, including the very nature of the God and Jesus Christ. If we were to be discussing any other historical figure, we would expect this same level of academic rigor be applied to published statements, articles, books, etc.

My explanations above are intended to clarify the misinformation published by the individual in the photograph."

Their Response

"Dan: I think you are making a Straw Man argument. Let me ask you a question: is mass murder justified if it is done in the name of god? There are numerous accounts of mass extermination of human life in the bible which are exalted by Christians as examples of god's judgment on mankind for lack of belief while also serving as an example of his love for his followers. Do you really think that the children in Jericho were guilty of horrific crimes?"

My Response

Although I am getting way off my intended purpose of correcting the assumptions contained in the photograph, let me attempt to address your valid questions, and let me say, thanks for giving me the opportunity to do so.

First, let's look at the assumptions contained in your previous post:

"...judgment for the lack of belief..."

Never in the Bible is judgment passed for a lack of belief...not in the past, present or future. Judgment is passed because of the violation of law.

"...example of his love for his followers."

In the history of the United States, Congress has declared war and Presidents have sent our military into battle many times. We do not look at the war on Nazi Germany and criticize the United States for not demonstrating love. In fact, one might argue that the United States was demonstrating love for not only the Jewish people, but the many countries of Europe which were ravaged by the Germans at that time. War does not indicate an absence of love. Likewise one might conclude that a just judge that passes sentence on a criminal is demonstrating love for the victim.

"...mass murder justified..."

War and murder are two very different things. Governments and nations rightfully bear the sword (have the ability to declare war) to defend itself, to defend the weak or the execute justice. Was dropping the bomb on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor justified? Were the children of Japan guilty? Of course they were not, yet they were the casualties of the war of their fathers."

More to Come...

Search Your Feelings

2011-04-09T15:10:00.003-05:00

An old school buddy recently wrote me, "Nobody has ever died and come back from the dead 3 days later. It is a myth, a fable, a legend- deep down you kow this. I know there is hope for you, you can become enlightened. Search your feelings my old friend."

My Response

Deep down I know the resurection to be true, and this is evidence of the work of Almighty God in the very core of my being. He has birthed this conviction in me and nothing can separate it from me. I cannot explain the reason for this confidence.

"Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." - Genesis 15

It is not blindly that I believe, for I have pondered many things in my 39 years. And the more I learn, the less I know. The universe is too vast, the complexities too precise, the mysteries too profound for there not to be a God.

Mankind probably knows less than 1% (and that's probably extremely generous) of everything there is to know in the universe. This is why the Psalmist wrote "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God." Someone would have to have comprehensive knowledge to make a categorical statement like this.

I am enlightened. The glorious light of Truth has illuminated my heart and mind to the point of unwavering commitment.

George Lucas will eventually come to know that the "Force" has a name...his name is Yaweh, Jehovah, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Alpha and Omega, the Bright and Morning Star, Elohim, the Great I Am.

Abraham knows Him, Moses knows Him, King David knows Him, I know him, and you, my friend, can know Him too.

The Education Model

2011-01-22T08:00:00.008-06:00

At the university I attended in the early 90's, I had a phychology professor that talked about the "Medical Model" in America. One of the concepts he was attempting to convey was that most Americans, when one of their family members gets a sniffle, immediately run to the doctor and follow whatever advice the doctor prescribes.

I've come to realize that we have an "Education Model" in our culture too. Children are taught that in order to be successful, they must attend a four year college or university and should highly consider going on to graduate school to get a Masters or Doctorate degree. Campaigns like "Knowledge is Power" and "The More You Know" help solidify this message in the minds of the American youth.

My personal observation is that most college graduates are not prepared for the workforce and exit their institution of higher learning with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and an ego to match. Other managers I work with have told me that the workers they are getting right out of school are demanding large salaries, demanding promotions after 6 months and yet are unwilling to actually work.

I'll return and expound more on this later, but for the moment, check out this article and video by the National Inflation Association.

Article: College Bubble Set to Burst in 2011
Video: College Conspiracy

Order of the Polar Star

2010-12-24T19:00:00.000-06:00

While researching my Swedish heritage, I decided to learn a little about Sweden's royal family. His majesty, Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, ascended to the throne on September 15, 1973. As I read about the king and his family, of particular interest were the orders which the king had received. Royal recognition from not only Sweden but other countries have been bestowed on King Carl, and as King of Sweden, he has the authority to honor others with these royal awards.

For example, the Order of the Polar Star is an "order of chilvary" and serves as a reward for "civic merits, for devotion to duty, for science, literary, learned and useful works and for new and beneficial institutions" and can be granted to either Swedish or foreign honorees.

In the United States, the highest award that can be bestowed by the President of the United States is the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Imagine receiving an invitation from a monarch to visit his palace. Imagine learning that he intends to honor you with the highest honor he can bestow.

As I pondered these thoughts one evening while driving home, the Lord reminded me that he intends to distribute awards as well. Among the higest awards are the Crown of Righteousness, the Incorruptible Crown, the Crown of Life, the Crown of Rejoicing and the Crown of Glory. The Bible teaches that there are other rewards that will be issued as well.

In Sweden, crowns are reserved for royalty. For example, King Carl's eldest daugher Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, is next in line to ascend the throne. In June of 2010, Princess Victoria married her personal trainer, Daniel Westling. Upon marriage, Daniel went from being an average Swedish citizen to a member of the royal family.

I was not born into the royal Swedish family, nor do I anticipate marrying or being adopted into it.

But, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have been adopted into the royal family of God. Romans 8 teaches that if you possess the "Spirit of Christ" then you are "children of God", and if children, then "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ..." Revelation 21 states, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." And again, Revelation 22:12 reads, "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."

God made a point to inform us of His reward system. In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul exhorts us to "...run, that ye may obtain."

I don't know about you, but I can think of no greater honor than to be the recipient of God's rewards. Run, that you may obtain.

Strategic Planning for Life

2010-10-15T14:13:00.002-05:00

The vast majority of people live their lives without specific direction. The daily rat race pulls them along from one thing to another and before they know it, they're retiring from their careers having lived their entire life, having never achieved anything significant, wondering what legacy they are going to leave for those around them. How can you avoid this pitfall?

The answer is planning. "Plan the work and work the plan" is a fairly simple concept, yet very few know how to achieve this. It has been called a number of things, but we'll call it "strategic planning" for the sake of this article.

In any organization (i.e. company, church, family, government, etc.) it is imperative that the members of the organization be in alignment with the leadership. It is also imperative that these goals and objectives be successfully communicated by the leadership to the membership. If these goals and objectives have been effectively communicated, the division managers within the company had better ensure that their division's work (projects and operational activities) are aligned with those directives or their division will cease to be funded or the manager fired.

In all of the organizations listed above, God has established clear goals and objectives for each. They each have specific, unique purpose and jurisdiction, and it is incumbent on each individual to ensure that they are in alignment with these God given "policies and procedures." Whenever we recognize a lack of alignment, it is the responsibility of each individual to assess the alignment gap and create a strategy for getting back under the established guidelines.

While there are many methodologies for strategic planning, you can boil them down to four simple questions:

Where do I want to be?
Where am I now?
How am I going to get there?
How am I going to know when I've arrived?

Most people, when discussing changes they need to make in their lives spend quite a bit of time thinking and talking about them, but rarely do they turn those desires into "actionable" steps which result in the success of getting from point A (where I am now) to point B (where I want to be).

To illustrate how you can use these questions to lay out an actionable plan for yourself, here are sample responses to the strategic planning questions. The answers below are hypothetical and should be replaced with the answers that are on your heart and mind. Remember to answer the questions by providing statements of alignment. In the case below, referring to scriptural mandates within the responses provides the necessary alignment to Biblical directives.

Where do I want to be?

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 says I should "Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Within one year's time, I want to have a vibrant prayer life where I talk to the Lord about everything, no matter how small.

Where am I now?

My prayer life is often limited to giving thanks at meal times, but I often forget to take issues at work to the Lord. I often become frustrated or upset when things aren't going my way, rather than believing that Jesus Christ is in control of all things. Hebrews 2:8 says, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his [Jesus] feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him."

How am I going to get there?

During the next two month, I am going to research every place in scripture that speaks about prayer, document my findings, and share it with my accountability partner.
After researching, I am going to keep a daily prayer journal which I will keep beside my bed. Each night I will make an entry of the things I have brought before the Lord that day and any answers that He had given.
Once a month, I will bring the prayer journal to my accountability partner and demonstrate that I am following up on my commitment.

How will I know when I've arrived?

At the end of one year, I will be able to measure the results by looking back through the journal and identifying those items in which the Lord provided an answer, and those on which I am still seeking the Lord's guidance. Since there are 365 days in a year, I will count the number of days which I recorded an entry and divide by 365. If I only have 200 entries, then 200 divided by 365 is 54.7%. My goal is to achieve an 80% score or better.

If you have any questions or comments, or are having trouble turning your answers into actionable steps, feel free to contact me.

Tide Promotes Lying

2010-10-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight, while looking at video clips about the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners on Yahoo.com, I was presented with an advertisement for Tide laundry detergent with Acti-Lift.

The commercial begins with a young teen asking her mother if she had borrowed the daughter's green shirt. Cut to a montage of the mother enjoying a girl's night out wearing the green blouse and ends with the mother spilling food on the blouse. Cut back to the mother who turns to her daughter and lies, "That's not really my style, Honey." The mother then rushes up stairs to her bedroom and retrieves the shirt from her own hamper and washes the shirt in Tide with Acti-Lift. Later, the daughter passes by wearing the blouse and mom exclaims, "Hey, you found it!" Daughter..."Yeah, it must have been hiding in my closet." Mom breathes a sigh of relief knowing that she had been successful in the cover up.

Watch the commercial

I don't know about you, but I'm trying to teach my children that it is wrong to use someone else's property without their permission, that it's wrong to lie and wrong to cover up a lie. Tide's commercial is teaching the exact opposite.

While not all advertisements are this blatant, most utilize some form of deception and exaggeration to market their products to consumers.

I implore all companies and advertising agencies to return to truth and endorse right behavior. You have a platform that speaks to millions. Use that platform for good.

John 8:42-44 reads, "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

Revelation 21:8 states, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

Extra! Kungsbacka Article

2010-07-29T07:00:00.005-05:00

Daniel från Florida på jakt efter sina rötter

Anders Peter Johansson från Hanhals gick till sjöss 1859 och hamnade i USA. Nu har hans sonsons sonson Daniel Johnson spårat sin förfader och kommit för att hälsa på sina släktingar.

Det har varit väldigt känslosamt. Fast det bara är några dagar sedan jag träffade mina släktingar så känns det som om vi känt varandra hela livet, säger Daniel Johnson.

När Extra träffar släktforskaren från Florida har han just ätit frukost på Hilmersgårdens Bed and breakfast och ska ge sig ut på dagens expedition. Schemat är späckat under veckan i Sverige.

Nio generationer

Hittills har jag lyckats forska nio generationer bakåt på min pappas sida, och i de bakre leden bodde nästan alla i Hanhals och Gressela. Många släktingar bor fortfarande kvar här, en del av dem visste inte ens att de var släkt med varandra förrän jag berättade det, säger Daniel Johnson.

Intresset för släktforskning är relativt nyväckt och Daniel Johnson började inte på allvar förrän i höstas. Men tack vare en utförligberättelse som hans farfars faster skrivit fick det hela en flygande start. I berättelsen beskriver fastern sina föräldrars liv och sin pappas barndom i Halland.

Han föddes 1845 och hette Anders Peter Johansson. Som 14-åring gick han till sjöss och när han slog sig ner i USA efter 15 år ändrade han namnet till Andrew Peter Johnson. Men han kallades oftast A.P, säger Daniel Johnson.

Med hjälp av släktforskarbaser på internet och Landsarkivet i Lund lyckades han spåra upp sin farfars farfars hemort och även leta fram levande släktingar. Till exempel bröderna Hans, Sten-Åke och Roger Herbertsson.

Deras farfarsfar Johan Emil var bror till A.P. När Roger Herbertsson och hans dotter Ida mötte mig på Landvetter hade både Roger och jag gåshud. Det kändes otroligt, säger Daniel Johnson.

Vill tillbaka

Idag, torsdag, går planet hem till Florida igen. Men Daniel Johnson hoppas komma tillbaka.

Min pappa, min fru och mina barn vill gärna följa med nästa gång. Dessutom hoppas jag att några av våra svenska släktingar vill komma och hälsa på oss i USA.

Det Sverige som förfadern A.P. lämnade var fattigt och överbefolkat. Men hans ättling är imponerad.

Människorna är fantastiska. Och precis som A.P, beskrev så växer det vackra blommor överallt, både i trädgårdarna och längs vägarna.

Gustaf Görfelt
0300-68 18 60

My First Trip to Sweden (Day 6)

2010-07-28T00:50:00.005-05:00

Morning came early and Sten-Åke, his son Jonas, and his brother Hans Herbertsson (who everyone calls “Hesse”) came to pick me up at Hilmersgården. Hesse drove me to the Hanhals boat docks in his work truck where we were met by Chico (the other newspaper reporter). Chico had brought several copies of his newspaper article for me to keep. As we were boarding Sten-Åke’s boat, Chico took some final pictures.

We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather and it wasn’t long before we were heading out to sea. While we were cruising along, Hesse gave me a sandwich that he had prepared for breakfast along with some coffee, of course.

On the ride out, Jonas and I got to know each other a little bit. Jonas is a database administrator for a small technology company in Göteborg. Jonas and I speak the same language…technology!

It took about an hour to get to the place in the North Sea where the Herbertsson’s wanted to fish. Once the hooks were baited, we dropped the lines in the water. I let my hook down about 9 meters and it was only a few seconds before I had hooked my first mackerel. Not long after, Hesse caught a fish shortly after.

Somewhere in the middle of our fishing trip the lack of sleep from the past several days caught up with me. With the warm sun shining on me, I suddenly got very sleepy, sat down and took a very brief nap as we were going to the next fishing spot.

But, as the sea would have it, we labored most of the day and only caught 5 fish. I learned that the number 5 in Swedish is pronounced “fem” and the word fish is pronounced “fisk”. So, when we got back to shore, I went around telling everyone that we had caught “fem fisk”, much to everyone’s delight.

We returned the boat to a small dock in Åsa near Sten-Åke’s house. After unloading the boat, we spent a few minutes touring Sten-Åke’s house. He has solar water heating panels and his home’s heating unit is geo-thermal. The system sends fluid down a long pipe in the ground and uses the earth’s constant temperature to partially heat his house in the winter. It seems that the heating systems in Sweden are much more efficient than those we have in the United States.

We left Sten-Åke’s house and drove to Hesse’s house back in Hanhals where Hesse began smoking the fish we had caught. While we were waiting, we looked at two beat up cars that Hesse used to race in demolition derbys. I also met one of Jonas’ young daughters and we jumped on the trampoline together. Not long after, we were all enjoying a fantastic meal of freshly smoked mackerel, potatoes and salad.

After dinner, we shared stories over ice cream and coffee. One particular story about a tree and a stick of C4 has us laughing. Sten-Åke commented on how nice it was to have me visit.

Hesse drove me back to Hilmersgården.

Earlier in the week, Ann-Helen had asked me to stop by her place to see if her other daughter, Helena, had made it back from vacation. So, I got in my car and drove to Ann-Helen’s house. No one was home. So, I drove next door to Astrid’s house to see if she knew if they were coming back soon. I had forgotten that Astrid didn’t speak English, but she quickly went and got her daughter Mariann (Ann-Helen’s sister), to translate.

I learned from Mariann that Helena had returned and was having dinner over at Mariann’s daughter Anna’s house. I asked directions and Mariann decided to lead the way in her car because the directions were a little complicated. When we arrived, everyone had just finishing desert. Charlotta was there and I was able to meet two more cousins: Helena and her family, and Mariann’s daughter Anna and her family.

As the sun went down, it occurred to me that this was the last time I would see my relatives on this trip. The flight back to the U.S. was leaving early the next morning. I don’t know how my cousins felt at that moment, but saying goodbye was difficult for me. I didn’t want to leave. I had connected with my Swedish roots for the first time. My ancestors had farmed this very land for hundreds of years, and I had spent the last few days getting to know some beautiful people…family I never knew I had.

I can’t wait to go back!

My First Trip to Sweden (Day 5)

2010-07-27T18:48:00.009-05:00

The night before, Anna and Lena had agreed to meet me at 10 AM at the IKEA store just south of Göteborg, Sweden. As I was eating breakfast at the Hilmersgården, Eva informed me that the reporter from “Extra Kungsbacka” was on his way to interview me. Gustaf Görfelt, a young man from the newspaper, arrived about 9:30 AM with his camera and notepad. As we sat in the dining area, I began to relate my story and Gustaf began taking notes. After the 15 minute interview, we walked outside and I posed for a few pictures before heading off for Göteborg.

I arrived at the IKEA store around 10:15 AM and immediately found Anna and Lena. We walked through the store comparing the prices of things between Sweden and America. Some things were more expensive and some things were less. As we were leaving, I picked up a bag of Swedish Fish.

The three of us got in Anna’s car and began driving north. Lena handed me a tourism brochure which listed many of the places to visit and asked which I would be interested in seeing. After looking through the pages, I determined that the Aeroseum was first on my list.

When we arrived at the Aeroseum, Anna handed me a pass that they had purchased in advance that would get us into nearly every tourist site in Göteborg. They were so thoughtful!
Inside the underground museum, we were able to sit in the cockpit of a retired Saab Viggen jet and climb in the air intake, through the engine housing, and out the back of the aircraft.

After the Aeroseum, the three of us decided to eat at Burger King in downtown Göteborg. The burger was exactly like the American version. Following lunch, we walked down to the water and passed by the immigration building where many of the Swedish immigrants had boarded ships bound for the distant shores of America.

After the Aeroseum, we visited Maritiman which is an impressive floating museum of old ships including retired freighters, a naval destroyer and a submarine. We were able to walk through the vessels on a self-guided tour.

Not far from the Maritiman was the Götheborg, an authentic replica of an East Indian trade route ship that had originally been built in 1738. On September 12, 1745, the ship sank when it hit a submerged rock (known as the Hunnebådan) as she approached the Göteborg harbour. The replica was built using the same methods that were used in the 1700's. The Götheborg is scheduled to sail to New York in 2013.

Next, we took the Paddan Canal Boat Tour. I learned that when Göteborg was being built, the city’s founder hired Dutch engineers to help design the city because it was close to the water. The Dutch engineers designed and built a canal around the city. The Paddan Canal Boat tour is an open-topped boat, guided tour around the city by way of the canal. One interesting moment is when the tour guide asks everyone to get on the floor of the boat and to keep your head down. The boat passes under a bridge that nearly touches the top of the boat. This is called the “cheese slicer” because you are not able to sit in your seat and pass under the bridge.

Since most of our day had been walking the streets of Göteborg, I was needing a some serious energy. Anna and Lena told me that their brother Thomas had decided to join us for dinner. We agreed to meet him at the Hard Rock Café. Since Anna and Lena visit the Hard Rock Café quite often, they are able to get seated more quickly than most guests. Within a few minutes we had a table and I settled for a steak dinner. Our waiter was from Pennsylvania but had lived in Sweden for 4 years. During dinner, I learned that Thomas was in school studying Information Technology security and was planning to become a certified information security professional.

After dinner, Anna and Lena said “goodbye” and Thomas agreed to take me back to my car which was parked in the IKEA parking lot. Thomas drove a sporty, black Honda Civic which made it back to IKEA in no time at all.

It was an amazing day, thanks to my Larsson cousins, and I needed some serious rest. Tomorrow my Herbertsson uncles (Hans and Sten-Åke) are planning to take me fishing in the North Sea.

My First Trip to Sweden (Day 4)

2010-07-26T18:54:00.010-05:00

Monday morning started with photography. Since it had been raining most of Sunday, I wanted to return to the Hanhals church with my camera. I could not have asked for a more beautiful day. After taking pictures of the church and surrounding cemetery, I retraced the route that Roger Herbertsson had taken me on the previous Friday and spent time documenting those locations with my camera.

Before leaving the United States, I had learned from the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) that Swedish parents desiring to teach their children at home were having their rights taken from them by the Swedish government. As a result, I had contacted the national Swedish organization for homeschooling (Rohus). Mrs. Caroline Olsson, a member of the Rohus board, had agreed to meet with me to discuss the current state of homeschooling in Sweden. I wanted to hear about the challenges first hand and understand how home educators in America could help, especially those of Swedish decent. Mrs. Olsson and I met at the café of the Kungsbacka bus and rail station. We had a delightful conversation which I will describe at a later time.

After my meeting with Mrs. Olsson, I drove back to Hilmersgården where I met two new cousins for the first time, Anna and Lena Larsson. Anna and Lena drove me about 30 minutes south to Veddige where I would spend the day with their family. Anna and Lena’s mother (Elvy Helgesson Larsson), their aunt (Alice Helgesson) and their uncle (Ingvar Helgesson) are all descendents of Olof Martin Johansson (Andrew Peter Johansson’s brother).

Both the Larsson and Helgesson families are flower farmers and have large green houses for cultivating the beautiful blossoms that are present everywhere in Sweden.

After a relaxing lunch on the Larsson’s covered patio, Alice Helgesson gave me two CD-ROMs full of old photographs and documents she had so graciously scanned for me. After she had explained each photograph, Alice was interested in seeing how I entered the information online. We logged on to ancestry.com and uploaded some of the pictures that she had given me.

Alice had also provided some old letters that had been sent from the United States, by Anders Frijof Olsson, to the relatives in Sweden. As I typed, Anna verbally translated the old letters from Swedish into English.

Not long after, we all headed over to Invar Helgesson’s house for an amazing dinner of grilled steak and pork along with some tasty side dishes Ingvar's wife Monika had prepared. After dinner, we took a few pictures of Ingvar’s farm and greenhouses. Afterword, I had a chance to talk to Ingvar’s two daughters, Malin and Emma, while enjoying fresh berries, ice cream and coffee.

As the night drew to a close, Anna and Lena drove me back to Hilmersgården so I could get rested for the big day tomorrow…touring Gothenberg.

My First Trip to Sweden (Day 3)

2010-07-25T19:25:00.005-05:00

It was Sunday morning and the family had planned a wonderful day for me. During Saturday’s excursion, Ann-Helen had been encouraging each of the relatives to meet at the Hanhals church on Sunday. The service was scheduled to start at 9:30 AM and I arrived around 9:15 AM.

The day was overcast and there was a light mist of rain falling. Matthias, Linda and their three boys arrived the same time I did and we walked to the entrance together. As I approached the front door, Chico (the newspaper reporter) met me there with camera in hand ready to continue gathering facts and photos for his article. It was scheduled to be in the paper next week.

I walked in, shook the young minister’s hand and took a seat about half way down the aisle, on the right hand side, next to Ann-Helen and her family. Each row had its own door that you had to open to access the pew. As I watched some of the families with small children, I imagined that this door was to keep the children confined to the pew during the service. The pews were made of hard wood.

The service began and I could hear Chico’s camera in the back of the room taking pictures for the newspaper.

The service was in Swedish and I did not understand the words, but the order of service was very similar to what I am accustomed to in the United States. The congregation sang a few songs, an offering was taken, there was special music and the minister gave the sermon.

Once particular song was entitled “"Jesus är Vår Kung" which I realized meant “Jesus is Our King”. I had never heard this song before. A young lady named Malin was leading the singing from the piano and as the small congregation sang the words I could not understand, the spirit of the song and the sweet sound of the singing moved me as I pondered the notion that my ancestors and their decedents had been worshiping Jesus on this very spot for more than 200 years.

After the sermon, Malin pulled out a hand drum, started an appealing rhythm and led the congregation in a song that I had heard as a child. The song was entitled “Don’t Build Your House on the Sandy Land”. I later learned that the topic of the sermon was about this very thing and Malin had selected the song because it went well with the minister’s message.

At the end of the service, I recognized one word: “America”. The minister was looking right at me and was obviously announcing the fact that I was visiting from America and that there was going to be a coffee following the service in my honor.

As we exited the church, several other relatives were just arriving. Many came and hugged me and wanted their picture taken with me. It was here that I met Sten-Åke Herbertsson (Roger’s brother) who was planning to take me on a fishing trip on Wednesday.

A small group of family members walked me around the church looking at the grave stones of my ancestors. Many of the names I instantly recognized from the many hours of research I had performed prior to my trip. The graves were beautifully adorned with flowers and the surrounding lawn was perfectly manicured.

We then walked to another nearby building where many family members were gathered to have coffee and some snacks. Members of the family which had not yet seen the family tree gathered around and engaged in delightful conversation about where their names appeared on the tree. Many of them realized for the first time that they were related to neighbors they had known their entire lives.

Ann-Helen had learned that I could play the piano and during the reunion asked if I could play a song. I sat and played my arrangement of “Amazing Grace” which everyone enjoyed.

Not long after I was introduced to a new cousin, Christina, and told that she would be taking me to her house for lunch and showing me around later that afternoon. So, I followed Christina in her car to her house where I met her husband Niclas and two boys. Christina made a wonderful taco lunch and shortly afterwards, Christina, Charlotta and I set out for our sightseeing trip to Tjolöholm Castle. I thoroughly enjoyed walking through this incredible building with my two cousins. The tour was in Swedish but Christina and Charlotta helped interpret along the way.

Once we had returned to Christina’s house, I learned that Christina was taking me to Mathias and Linda’s house for dinner. Christina’s two boys were also coming so they could play with Linda’s boys. We had a wonderful time eating Linda’s delicious cooking and talking about all kinds of things. During the conversation, we were discussing cake baking and I had to call my wife to find out what to call a cake covering made from almond paste…marzipan.

As we got ready to leave, Christina accidentally backed her car into a big rock and damaged part of the bumper. I felt awful for her.

Christina dropped me off at the bed and breakfast. I said goodbye to her and her two sons, went inside to my room and went straight to sleep. I was really, really tired, but it had been an incredible day!

My First Trip to Sweden (Day 2)

2010-07-24T19:14:00.001-05:00

I awoke Saturday morning at 8:19 AM. The problem here is that Roger and Ulrika had invited me to have coffee and go for a walk at 8AM. Roger, Ulrika and Ida were leaving for Turkey later that morning to visit their younger daughter and I wanted to see them one last time, and here I was already late. So I sent Roger a text message letting him know I was running behind, but would be over a little later.

The Hilmersgården has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, so if there are other guests, you have to share the bathroom. Fortunately, no one else was in the bathroom so I was able to get in and get out quickly. I got dressed, had a little breakfast, stuffed my backpack with a jacket and Nikon D70 camera, and headed out the door for Roger’s place. I had missed the morning walk, but was able to enjoy coffee with Roger and Ulrika. Roger and I also had an opportunity to look at the genealogy research that I have stored on ancestry.com.

After saying our last goodbye’s, I headed over to Ann-Helen’s house where I met her husband Anders and her cousin Margaretha. After looking at the family tree, we had cookies and coffee on the back patio and had fun looking up words in the Swedish-English dictionary. Ann-Helen also showed me some old land maps from the 1800’s which show where the old houses stood. She showed me the spot in her back yard where the Anders Larsson house used to stand.

After taking a few pictures, Ann-Helen, Margaretha and I headed off to meet Ann-Helen’s mother who lives next door. Astrid loves flowers and is said to have “green fingers”. We took a few photos at Astrid’s house and then headed off to see the old house at Gressela 5.

The old house at Gressela 5 is where Johannes Andersson (Anders Larsson’s son) reared his family. When Johannes Andersson died, his son Olof Martin Johansson reared his family there. The last person to live in the house was Olof Martin’s daughter Olga Olsson. Since Olga’s death in 1982, no one else has lived in the house.

After taking pictures of the old house at Gressela 5, we returned to Ann-Helen’s house briefly to pick up Ann-Helen’s daughter, Charlotta. The four of us then traveled to the Fjärås Bräcka visitor’s center where we had a nice lunch of cauliflower and crab soup, followed by some coffee.

Next, we went to meet Margaretha’s son, Matthias, and his family at their home. It might be interesting to note that Matthias and his father, Sven, raise more than 5,000 pigs at a time. They also maintain farm land to grow the crops to feed the pigs. In addition, the family has several apartment houses nearby that they rent for 5,000 – 6,000 Swedish crowns per month.

When we arrived, Matthias’ wife Linda was outside painting some tongue and groove boards while Matthias was inside watching his three small sons. Linda remarked that it was nice to be outside painting boards for a change while her husband was inside with the kids. We went inside and after everyone got a chance to look at the family tree, the boys showed me their Legos, miniature farm, trucks and tractors. We then admired the family garden while Charlotta and the boys jumped on the trampoline.

Not long after, we were on our way to Äskhult, an ancient village dating back to the 17th century. After walking through the old houses, we visited the village’s small café and gift shop where we had a snack. It was there that I learned the Swedish word for ice cream is pronounced “glass” and the Swedish word for glass is pronounced “gloss”. On our way back from the village, Charlotta mentioned that she enjoys talking to me because she is learning new English words.

We soon left Äskhult and traveled to Ann-Helen’s niece’s house. Christina also said to have “green fingers” and has a beautifully manicured back yard. She lives in a new development and has two sons. Her husband Niclas Hermansson works for Volvo Trucks.

After visiting Christina, we drove back to Ann-Helen’s house. I knew that family and friends back in the United States were eager to see some photographs, so Charlotta helped me get on their laptop and upload the first round of photographs to Facebook. Anders Davidsson showed me a shirt he had which was covered with old American cars and the words “Route 66”. Anders told me that it had been a lifelong dream of his to visit America and drive Route 66. He and Ann-Helen had been to New York several times to visit family they had there, but had not been able to fulfill his dream yet.

About an hour later, Anders and I left to pick up Astrid and we all went to Margaretha’s house for dinner. Margaretha had apple cider and pretzels, toast with goat cheese and roasted walnuts, potatoes, salmon with red onion sauce and salad. For desert, we shared vanilla and chocolate ice cream with fresh raspberries, strawberries and of course, coffee. It was a meal fit for a king. Ann-Helen’s sister Mariann, who was watching her grandson Gustaf, also attended the dinner. Margareth’a husband Sven has never been to America, but would love to come see the big farms. Since the family had planned to meet at the Hanhals Kyrka (church which is pronounced “shirka”) in the morning, the dinner guests asked questions about how often our family attends church in America, how often we take communion, do we baptize our children and a number of other questions. After an incredible meal, it was time to go.

Back at Ann-Helen’s house, I finished uploading the photos to Facebook and headed off to Hilmersgården. It was 11 PM when I finally got in bed.

My First Trip to Sweden (Day 1)

2010-07-23T17:18:00.000-05:00

My first day in Sweden was better than I could have imagined. Roger Herbertsson, a direct decendent of my great, great grandfather's brother, had offered to meet me at the Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport. I had no idea what Roger looked like. As I exited the baggage claim area, I saw Roger and his daughter Ida for the first time in my life. They were holding a sign that read “Daniel Johnson” and they both had bright, welcoming smiles on their faces. We exchanged hugs and Roger showed me that his arms were full of “goose bumps”. It was a thrilling moment for all of us.

Prior to leaving the United States, I had reserved a car with the Sixt company through RentalCars.com and it was available for pickup at the airport. We walked to the rental car area and I provided the agent with my passport and driver’s license, a requirement for renting a car in Europe. The process was seamless and I soon had the keys to a new Mini Cooper. Roger decided to ride with me and I followed Ida as she led the way in Roger’s car. Roger told me that he was impressed that my driving was very smooth and considerate of the passengers.

Since it was lunch time, we drove to Kungsbacka and had lunch at Roger’s favorite café. While we were eating, Roger made arrangements with Kurt “Chico” Johansson (a local newspaper reporter) who was to meet us later that afternoon. Chico was planning to write an article for the Norra Halland newspaper about my visit.

After lunch, Roger showed me the way to Hilmersgården, the bed and breakfast I had booked through the city of Kungsbacka’s website. Once we arrived, Eva Elmquist (the proprietor) showed me the room where I would be staying. After putting my luggage in the room, I went downstairs and unrolled the family tree that I had brought with me. Roger and Ida began studying the tree with great interest. About that time, Chico arrived and began asking questions about my visit, looking at the family tree and taking pictures for his newspaper article.

Shortly after, Ida had to leave to go exercise with her mother, so Roger and I decided to drive around Hanhals so I could get the lay of the land. The first stop was to introduce me to Ann-Helen Davidsson, another relative who would be showing me around the next day. We agreed to meet around 10 AM the following morning.

Roger then took me to Fjärås Bräcka which is the only place in Sweden where you can see a fresh water lake and the ocean at the same time. We then drove around Hanhals including Pilagården, Torkelstorp, Skåre and the surrounding area.

Near Pilagården, one of the crops that is grown during the summer months is horseradish. The Swedes call this “pepper root” and there is a local processing plant which prepares the locally grown horseradish for sale.

Roger and I also visited the wharf where twelve years earlier in 1998, Roger’s father, Rune Herbertsson, had died tragically when a homemade sand dredge had capsized in the channel. A gasoline tank was stationed on either side of the floating platform which drove the old truck motor they were using to turn the dredge. One of the tanks had less fuel in it so the platform began to tilt to one side. Rune’s friend went to stabilize the platform by moving some fuel from the other tank into the empty tank when the platform capsized. Rune became trapped in the cabin of the vessel and drowned.

After driving around Hanhals, it was time for dinner so Roger and I drove back to the same café in Kungsbacka where we had eaten lunch. We met Roger’s wife Ulrika there and had a nice shrimp dinner.

After dinner, Roger and I drove to Hanhalsholme. This is a historic Swedish site where an ancient king had built a fort. The fort is no longer standing and it is now the location of the local swimming school where many youngsters first learn to swim in the Kungsbacka fjord. As we walked around Hanhalsholme, the sun began to set.

Roger invited me to his house. Ulrika was home now and I showed her the family tree. Roger gave me a copy of an old photograph which he believes is of his great grandfather, Johan Emil Johansson, his wife Albertina and their first daughter Alice.

After the brief visit to Roger’s house, I drove back to Hilmersgården and went to bed. I had been awake for 31 hours.

Foggy Bathroom Mirrors

2010-07-13T21:46:00.008-05:00

Scenario: You're in a hotel bathroom enjoying a nice, hot relaxing shower...that is after you've played with the pulsating shower head and finally realized that it wasn't going to work except on that one setting, and after multiple attempts to get the shower curtain to stay all the way closed, you finally decided that it wasn't worth your time to even report it to the front desk.

Elated that, unlike your shower at home, you can run that piping hot water over your weary body for a long time without running out of hot water, you soak in the steamy, self-made sauna.

Suddenly, reality hits as you recall that you had reluctantly made a breakfast appointment with one of those pesky vendors. So, you grab one of those starchy white towels and step in front of the mirror.

The moment your feet hit the cold tile floor it occurs to you that maybe the hotel staff didn't clean that floor too well so you toss down another towel to stand on thereby ensuring that those feet of yours stay clean and don't cool down too fast.

Looking up, you are confronted with the reality that the mirror has been rendered useless and is covered in a thick steamy fog. What to do, what to do?

My friend, I have the answer for you. It is not a new fancy invention, but rather a method for fixing the problem. Here it is:

Open the bathroom door
Take a hand towel and roll it up so the roll is about 12 inches wide
Hold the rolled towel with two hands (one hand near either end)
Lean over the sink and place the towel on the mirror as high as you can reach
Press down on the towel and SLOWLY move the towel down the surface of the mirror (SLOWLY means that it should take 10 - 15 seconds to reach the bottom of the mirror)

By following the steps above, you will have a clear, fog-free mirror that will serve you well as you make adjustments to your appearance.

After you have tried my method, I would appreciate it if you would leave a comment on its effectiveness. Enjoy!

Is Project Management and Strategic Planning Unspiritual?

2010-06-26T01:01:00.010-05:00

After discussing this topic with a number of leaders from Christian organizations, I have concluded that some leaders of Christian organizations believe that project management and strategic planning are in direct opposition to the concept of being led by the Holy Spirit. This is simply not the case. In fact, the Bible illustrates these disciplines for our advantage.

First, some terms for those that are not familiar with the project management area of study.

A project is simply work that has a definite start and end.
Ongoing work, operations, does not have a definitive start or end.
Strategic planning is the excercise of formally documenting the answers to the questions: 1) where do I want to be? 2) where am I now? 3) how am I going to get there? 4) how will I know when I've arrived?

In project management, there are five (5) primary process groups: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring/Controlling and Closing. All of the activities of a project will fall into one of these five areas.

Examples of these activities demonstrated in the Bible...

Initiating
Initiating a project is the act of defining the scope of a project and gaining executive sponsorship and support for the project. In Genesis, we see the Godhead agreeing to initiate the "project" of creating man. In order to do so, a suitable environment also needed to be created. The project had a definite start and end date (six earth days to be exact) and the Triune God was the sponsor.

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." ~ Genesis 1:26

Planning
The planning phase consists of the activities associated with scheduling, budgeting and answering the "how are we going to do this project" questions. In 1 Peter we see an example of God performing planning activities.

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." ~ 1 Peter 1:18-21

Executing
Executing contains the activities in which the work actually is performed. Jesus, speaking to His mother Mary, indicates that the timeframe for His ministry on earth, which had been alloted during the planning phase, had not yet come. Jesus was intimately familiar with the "project schedule" which had been developed by His Father.

"And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" ~ Luke 2:48-49
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." ~ John 2:4

Monitoring and Controlling
Monitoring and Controlling consists of those activities, performed over the life of the project, that focus on ensuring that the project is meeting the intended objectives. Activies can include status reporting and quality assurance.

An interesting example of a Monitoring and Controlling activity is found in the book of Job.

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. ~ Job 2:1

Here we see God calling his subjects, including Satan himself, to give an update as to the status of the project which God has begun executing!

Closing
Closing a project consists of ensuring the project team members are transitioned off the project, closing contracts and any other final activities that need to be performed. Some examples of closing activies are:

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross..." ~ Colossians 2:14
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." ~ Revelation 21:1

When discussing the need for project management practices within Christian organizations, one leader indicated to me that he did not want his organization to be "institutionalized". He supported his statement with, "you cannot use the same concepts here that you use in the business world."

Really? The vast majority of Christian organizations have offices with telephones, computers, copiers, fax machines and a host of other items that have been developed by the business world.

I am suggesting that it was not the business world that developed the disciplines of project management and strategic planning, rather that these concepts originated in the mind of an incredibly organized God.

So what do I think this leader meant by his statements?

Suppose a minister gets called at 3AM to visit members in the hospital or intervene in a difficult family situation. In his mind, these were unexpected opportunities to serve his membership and were impossible to plan.

So, how do we build flexibility into the planning process when the nature of someone's work is unplanned? Simple. By keeping a log of past activities, it becomes easy to estimate the amount of unplanned work that occurs within a month, quarter or year. In a short time, it will become evident what percentage of unplanned work can be expected for certain activities. As a result, hours can be dedicated to unplanned activities and the remainder of the hours can be dedicated to projects and planned operational tasks.

If you would like to discuss these or other topics further, feel free to contact me.

A Sketch of the Life of A. P. And Lillias Johnson

2010-02-13T21:46:00.001-06:00

by Agnes Romie Johnson Meckfessel (also available in PDF)

History records that in 1658 the extreme Southern part of Sweden was released from Denmark by the Treaty of Roskilde. It is recorded that at this time numerous families of noble birth and breeding settled in the valleys, building their castle-like homes, cultivating their fertile fields and raising their sleek cattle. Here for hundreds of years the lives of these people were ordered and stable, filled with a sort of peace and assurance. As the years went on, generation after generation, the families intermarried and the population spread out. Many families later drifted to the seacoast towns. The towns grew into cities.
It was in the country where the great forests marched down to the placid lakes, abloom with water lilies, where stately beeches and feathery willows bordered the turbulent streams, that Andrew Peter Johnson was born. It was the year 1845, the date May 15. Perhaps the first sound he heard was the ecstatic twittering of birds which abounded in this land of lavender-tinted heather, rose-colored rhododendron, and sweet-scented yellow Honeysuckle. It may have been this beautiful environment where he first found himself that instilled in him the love so great for all nature that he always associated all things beautiful - whether it be a perfect flower, or a wave dashing on the rocks, breaking into a shower of diamond-like drops, with the Infinite. It was the happy songs of the birds he loved, intermingled with the faint tinkle of his Chinese wind harp that were the last sounds he heard when he died at his home in Sacramento, California one day after his eighty-ninth birthday on May 16, 1934.

Read the rest of the story: http://www.eyelightmedia.org/andrew_peter_johnson.php

Dual Garbage Can Theory

2009-10-24T10:15:00.006-05:00

Simple observation can lead to incredible discoveries. And, if you recall the scientific method from your high school science course, you may remember that observation can lead to a hypothesis, a hypothesis can lead to a theory and a theory can eventually become a law.

I am to the point in my research where I am proposing a new theory to the scientific community. The "Dual Garbage Can Theory" proposes that in a restaurant where two garbage collection bins are placed side by side near the exit, the one nearest the door is always less empty, 99% of the time.

Think about it. Next time you visit McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Captain D’s, Chick-fil-A or any other fast food restaurant, when you deposit your trash, test my theory.

Are there exceptions to this rule? Of course there are. If the employees have recently emptied both trash bins, or conversely, if the employees have neglected to properly maintain the garbage collection area, the extremes will yield non typical results. But, I am certain that these anomalies can be predicted mathematically.

So, you may be wondering how knowing this theory of mine will benefit you. Well, it's quite simple really. It is knowledge that will save you time. Next time you are in a fast food restaurant, always go to the garbage can nearest the door because there will be room for your trash.

How often have you lifted the first door, only to find that it is completely full? You then lift the second door and there find room for your deposit. Each time you lift the first door may cost you five seconds of your time and possibly some level of subconscious disappointment or dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the restaurant staff, thereby negatively affecting your psychological well being.

Over a lifetime, proper application of this theory could save you hours and maybe even days of effort (depending, of course, on how often you eat at restaurants that employ the dual garbage can model) and improve your overall quality of life since every time you go to deposit your trash, there will be room for yours. You can feel good about yourself knowing you made a wise decision based on scientific evidence.

I welcome feedback and further analysis of my theory from the Waste Management community, The American Journal of Psychiatry, Yum! Brands, Inc., the International Board of Environmental Health and Safety and any other organization that recognizes the value this research. I look forward with anticipation to the day this theory, having withstood the rigorous testing of the scientific community, will become a universally accepted law.

The Value of PERT Estimating

2009-06-16T21:54:00.007-05:00

For the beginner, a PERT estimate is a method for estimating the duration of a task by taking pessimistic (P), realistic (R) and optimistic (O) estimates and using the PERT formula to derive a number which is slightly weighted toward the pessimistic side. The PERT formula is as follows:

PERT Estimate = (P + 4(R) + O) / 6

That is to say, take your pessimistic estimate (worst case estimate if everything goes totally wrong), plus 4 times your realistic estimate (what you think it will most likely take), plus your optimistic estimate (if everything goes perfect) and divide that sum by 6.

Now, if we throw probability into the mix, recognize that you only have a 50% chance of completing the task within the time frame that the PERT estimation formula provides.

To increase the probability, find the standard deviation by utilizing this formula:

Standard Deviation = (P - O) / 6

That is to say, take your pessimistic estimate and subtract your optimistic estimate and divide the result by 6.

Since the PERT estimate result yields a 50% probability, an 84% probability can be achieved by adding one standard deviation to the PERT estimate. A 97.5% probability can be achieved by adding two standard deviations to the PERT estimate, and a 99.5% probability can be achieved by adding three standard deviations to the PERT estimate.

For example, let's assume that you are driving from point A to point B. Your pessimistic estimate is 8 hours, your realistic estimate is 4 hours and your optimistic estimate is 2 hours. First complete the PERT estimate:

(8 + 4(4) + 2) / 6 = 4.333

Now calculate the standard deviation:

(8 - 2) / 6 = 1

The result:

You have a 50% probability of completing the trip in 4.333 hours
You have an 84% chance of completing the trip in 5.333 hours
You have a 97.5% chance of completing the trip in 6.333 hours
You have a 99.5% chance of completing the trip in 7.333 hours

And this is how PERT estimating, aligned with Standard Deviation, can provide you with an estimating methodology that you can use in almost any type of planning exercise.

America, Don't Criticize Your Leaders

2009-04-21T22:27:00.018-05:00

As I listen to the media, both “liberal” and “conservative”, I am grieved by the critical spirit that is so often expressed toward our national, state and local leaders.

This propensity has infiltrated the work place, the home, and unfortunately even the church. Why is it that so many Americans feel that it is their “God given right” to rant and rave about their elected officials? Let’s explore the direction that God has actually given in this regard.

First, we must understand that God Himself establishes our leaders.

“For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” – Psalms 75:6-7
“Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:” – Daniel 2:20-21

That's right...no matter who you voted for, it was God who promoted Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Sr., Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barak Obama to hold the office of President of the United States.

Second, we must understand that God Himself influences the decisions of our leaders.

“The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” – Proverbs 21:1
“And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he harkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.” – Exodus 9:12
In speaking to Pilate, “Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” – John 19:11

That's right...whether you agree or disagree with the Bush's "War on Terror" or Obama's "Economic Stimulus Plan", it was God who ultimately permitted those decisions.

Third, we must understand that God expects us to submit to the leadership of the authorities He has established.

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” – Romans 13:1-8
When asked about paying taxes to Caesar, “And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.” – Mark 12:17

Fourth, we must understand that speaking in an unrestrained, critical manner of the authorities God has established is unrighteous in God’s site.

Peter, in providing a definition of the “unjust” relates, “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.” – 2 Peter 2:10
In the same manner, Jude writes, “Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” – Jude 1:8-9

We live in the greatest democracy in the world and have the opportunity to express our opinion through our vote and through our elected representatives, but once the ballots are cast, it is our responsibility to honor and submit to the leadership that God has ordained (unless the leader's direction is in direction violation of God's law).

Do not speak evil against your leaders. Pray for them.

What I'm NOT saying:

I am not implying that you should not voice a well crafted argument in defense of Biblical principals. Christians should make a wise, humble appeal to government officials like Joseph in Egypt or Daniel in Babylon.
I am not implying that you cannot disagree with the decisions of government officials. Rather, Christians should disagree in an agreeable manner.
I am not implying that God causes men to sin.

Economic Solution

2009-04-02T19:44:00.004-05:00

As I sit here listening to our Senate and House debate the issues on C-SPAN, I continue to be convinced that the solution to our country’s problems is a little closer to home. The laws, the rules, the regulations, the massive systems and the staff to support it all is a complex machine that takes enormous effort to change.

So, as simple as it might seem, here’s a solution to our high tax rate and our large, complex set of government rules and regulations. It’s a simple question of supply and demand. We all understand that if a business doesn’t have any customers, it eventually goes out of business.

If the American people would stop shopping at their federal, state and local government agencies, then many of those agencies would no longer need the dollars to staff the massive programs.

In addition, many of the government’s social and regulatory programs have been birthed to provide for the needy where their neighbors have failed and to regulate the dishonesty of those who seek to take advantage of the poor.

Rather than going to the government for education, unemployment compensation, assistance finding a job, gambling, and health coverage (just to name a few), if the American people would seek to solve the challenges they face through diligent work, like our fathers before us, then the government’s demand for your tax money would be diminished.

If the people of America will start being creative, helping their neighbors in need and thereby encouraging their neighbors to avoid government assistance, then we could solve the problem outside of the political process.

To put it quite simply, if you go the government for help, they are going to bill you for it.

Home Education: A Compelling Documentary

2008-12-05T03:38:00.014-06:00

"Home Education" Production Photos

Home education is sweeping through the country as parents recognize the wonderful opportunity they have to educate their children at home. Whether you're considering home education as an option or are already teaching your children at home, this documentary will become a source of continuing encouragement for moms and dads everywhere. You'll meet several families from various walks of life who have considered the cost, made the commitment and are succeeding in teaching their children at home. Homeschooling is an educational alternative your family cannot afford to overlook.

While there are a myriad of home education products out there, the majority of them target families that are already home educating. This film targets three groups of people:

For existing homeschool families, this DVD will become a useful tool for explaining, to friends and relatives, the reasons why you have decided to educate your children at home
Families that have thought about homeschooling their children but have some reservations or concerns about it will find many of those concerns addressed on this DVD
Families that have been homeschooling for a short time, have become discouraged and are considering putting their children back in school will be given fresh ideas that will motivate them to continue

To order this documentary on DVD, visit ChristianMovies.com

Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program Video

2008-12-05T03:20:00.013-06:00

I had the privilege of producing, directing and editing this video for the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) in August 2008.

AHSAA Production Photos

The Bryant-Jordan Student-Athlete Scholarship Program is named in honor of two of the greatest football coaches of all time - Coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan of Auburn and Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant of Alabama. Both of these men had high work ethic and strived to instill in students commitment and academics as well as athletics.

The future of our state will soon be in the hands of today's youth. With our committment to the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program, you will ensure the continuation and expansion of this outstanding program.

The Universe...Millions of Years Old?

2008-11-11T03:03:00.015-06:00

Modern science seems to indicate that the universe is millions of years old. Scientist point to a myriad of scientific evidences (radiocarbon dating, distance traveled by starlight, etc.) to support this theory.

How can the Biblical account of creation and modern scientific fact be reconciled? Read on...

First, briefly consider the existence of God. Well known apologist Ray Comfort presents this concept...if mankind were to assess his total knowledge of the universe in terms of a percentage, he may conclude that he has learned a mere one percent (1%) of everything there is to know (in fact, one percent may be too generous a figure). Therefore, if mankind has not uncovered 99% of the information that the universe contains, isn't it plausible that contained within the 99% of the information we haven't discovered yet, there might be substantial evidence that God exists, that His knowledge far exceeds our own and that He is perfectly capable of the Biblical account of creation?

The Bible indicates in Psalms 14:1 and again in Psalms 53:1 that "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God..." It would be foolish arrogance to consider the scope of the universe and conclude that mankind has accumulated enough evidence to categorically conclude that God does not exist.

After acknowledging that God exists, consider the following...

When God created trees, did he create them as little saplings or as full grown trees? Had you or I cut down a tree on the third day of creation, based on the physical evidence alone, we might have counted the rings and concluded that the tree was several hundred years old.

When God created Adam, did he create him as an infant or a full grown man? If you or I had met Adam on the sixth day of creation, based on the physical evidence alone, we would have concluded that Adam was a full grown man.

So, if God created the tree with apparent age, and God created Adam with apparent age, is it that much of a leap to conclude that God also created the stars' beam of starlight (millions of lightyears long) so Adam could enjoy looking at the stars at night?

The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 10:5 instructed, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

If we have a way of thinking that is in opposition to the Holy Bible, it is the duty of all men to take their fallible thought captive and replace it with God's knowledge.

When God speaks of scientific concepts in His Word, you can trust that God's explanation is accurate.

Homeschool RecordKeeping

2008-11-03T23:11:00.004-06:00

Whether you are an individual family needing a convenient record keeping solution or a non-traditional private school (umbrella school) desiring to reduce administrative overhead, Homeschool Reporting Online offers solutions. We are committed to providing and enhancing our services to meet the needs of our members. For families, we offer:

Simple, secure online record keeping system
Offsite electronic storage and backup of important student records
Record grades, track attendance, portfolio entries, lesson plans, standardized test scores and immunization records
Access and update your records from any location, via the internet, at any time
Flexibility in record keeping or reporting requirements
Generate student transcripts immediately
Opportunity for you to train your student(s) in online computing
Records protected by username and password authentication

But don't just take our word for it, read what other home educators have been saying!

FREE 30-day trial

Homeschool Reporting Online will assist non-traditional private schools (umbrella schools) in providing online administration for all reporting families at no cost. We realize that not all such organizations have the resources available to create and maintain electronic reporting methods that reduce costs, reduce paperwork, reduce document storage, enhance retrieval time, encourage communication and reduce reporting time and transcript generation. Learn more...

Gantt Chart Task Bar Conditional Formatting

2008-09-11T15:01:00.002-05:00

Suppose your boss has requested that the task bars on your Microsoft Project Gantt chart be Green if they haven’t started or when they are in progress, but Red if they are late.

In the Task window, right click on a column heading and select Insert Column…
Select Flag 1 from the Field Name drop down and then click OK
Right click on Flag 1 column heading and select Customized Fields…
Select Flag 1 from the list and click the Rename button
Enter Overdue Task and click OK
Click the Formula… button
Copy this formula into the space provided:
IIf(Now()>[Finish] And [Actual Finish]=ProjDatevalue("NA"),Yes,No)
Click the OK button
Select Format > Bar Styles…
Select the Task line and change the Color to Green
While the Task line is selected, click the Cut Row button immediately followed by clicking the Paste Row button two times
Rename the second Task line to Task – Red
Select the Task – Red line and change the Color to Red
On the Task – Red line, click in the Show For … Tasks column and change the value to Flag 1
Click the OK button

American Christian Apathy

2008-08-06T14:02:00.004-05:00

As a weekly Bible Study teacher (aka. Sunday School), I have often wondered why the majority of American church members seem to have little or no interest in attending a weekly Bible Study.

In a recent teacher’s meeting, we concluded that less than 40% of the church members in our church attend Bible Study. According to the Barna Research Group study done in 2000, only 19% of church members attend Sunday School.

In the way of example, this past week, I spent 5 to 6 hours of personal time studying for the lesson on Acts 17:16-34. The published times for Bible Study at the church I attend is 9:09 AM to 10:15 AM, yet we could not start the lesson until after 9:30 AM because of late arrivals. This seems to be the weekly norm.

Imagine what would happen if you showed up 25 minutes late for work every day or 25 minutes late for the latest blockbuster movie.

Why will people pay good money to attend a local community college or university to learn a new skill, or attain a Master’s degree or PhD, but will not spend an hour a week attending a no-cost, in-depth study of God’s Word?

The clear answer is priorities. In the American way of thinking, a Master’s degree or PhD has greater value than Bible Study attendance because more secular education may help me get a promotion, a better paying job, or earn me more respect with my employer or my professional circle.

I have a brother-in-law that is an associate pastor and he is routinely asked to provide Biblically based counsel to church members. There is counseling available for those thinking of marriage, couples with marriage issues, family counseling, youth counseling and the list goes on. The vast majority will leave the counseling session and ignore the minister’s advice.

Why will people pay good money to see a therapist or psychiatrist, who will more than likely counsel them from a humanistic perspective, but will not receive the Godly wisdom and counsel their pastor provides them free of charge?

A true believer will naturally love the people of God (the Church) and the Word of God (Bible) and will make both a priority.

His Will, My Will

2008-07-24T11:17:00.004-05:00

After disciplining my nine year old son for his procrastination (all day long) in his school work, I instructed him to sit at his desk and complete his assignment. After only a few minutes, he resumed play with his sister, jumped over the sofa, and literally bounced off the wall. I took him to my bedroom closet, the place my children know as the place of correction. He listened intently as I spoke passionately to him with tears in my eyes…

Dad: Son, I want you to learn this lesson so badly…to submit your will to mine. You want to do what you want to do first. I want you to do my will first. You have ignored the voice of your mother all day long. I just got done disciplining you just a little while ago. How quickly you forget. God expects obedience. His Word says that obedience is better than sacrifice. You can bring all the gifts to the church that you want, you can give all your money away, but if you’re not obeying God in your life, the sacrifice is worthless. You may think it is difficult to come in here and receive correction, but your mother bears the burden of your disobedience every day. I bear the burden of your disobedience every day when I come home from work and hear how many times your mother had asked you to do your school work or clean your room. Son, when will you learn this lesson?

As the words came from my lips they returned to my ears. I could hear the Father saying the very same words to me. Jesus bore all of my sin in his own body on the cross. As His son, He has felt the weight of my own disobedience, deceitfulness, pride, and every evil way. He wants so much for me to not just hear his Words, “obedience is better than sacrifice,” but to employ them…that His Word might cause me to learn to submit my will to his, to refuse to sin when the opportunity arises, to focus my energies on working His way on His work.

Defer Not To Pay It

2008-07-24T11:13:00.002-05:00

As I was preparing to discipline my daughter for being disobedient to her mother all day, fearing the consequences of the imminent, she repented “Daddy, I will obey mommy every day for the rest of my life…I promise!” No sooner had she issued her vow did the Holy Spirit remind me of times that I, under duress from the consequences of my own failures, had made promises to God that, at the time, were very sincere but afterwards soon forgotten.

The Spirit reminded me of the verses in Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 which read, “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”

Lessons in Wal-Mart

2008-07-24T10:55:00.003-05:00

Rearing children is a lesson in patience and consistency. My children need a lot of direction, instruction and correction. It is interesting to me how the Holy Spirit has provided direction, instruction and correction to me at the very moment I am attempting to teach my children.

For example, our family was shopping in Wal-Mart when I turned around and realized that one of my children was missing. He had found an item of interest and had proceeded down a different aisle. His mother and I sprang into action looking down every aisle in an effort to locate our wayward son.

After a few wide eyed moments, I finally spotted him half way down an aisle with an employee standing over him scolding him for pulling items off the shelf. I’m sure she was also wondering “where this kid’s parents?” I apologized to the clerk and once she had gone, I leaned over and wagged my finger in his face and scolded him for not staying with his parents. I remember emphatically saying, “Son, if you will just walk beside me and stay right here (pointing to the ground next to my feet), you will not get into any trouble!” While the words were being formed in my lips, the Holy Spirit was speaking to my own heart, “Yeah, Dan, if you will just walk beside me and stay close to me, you will not get into any trouble!”

What my son had done by wandering off was just a small example of the many times I have wandered away from God’s side and strayed from being obedient to the truths of God’s Word. The Spirit of God took this opportunity to teach me with my own mouth.

Lies from the Heart

2008-07-24T10:50:00.001-05:00

Lying seems to be an infectious disease among my children. During a recent biting episode, the conversation went something like this:

Dad: Did you bite your brother?
Daughter: [Cool as a cucumber] No.
Dad: Then why does he have teeth marks on his back?
Daughter: [Gesturing with hands and a puzzled look] I don’t know.
Dad: Well, he says that you bit him.
Daughter: [Enter blame game] Dad, he came in my room and was bothering me.
Dad: So you got mad at him and bit him?
Daughter: No, Dad, it was more like he ran into my teeth.
Dad: So, you did bite him?
Daughter: [Sheepishly] Yes.
Dad: Why did you lie to me?
Daughter: I didn’t want to get in trouble.
Dad: Now that you’ve lied to me, you’re in more trouble than if you had just told me the truth.

I’m reminded of Psalm 15:1-3, “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.” And again in Psalm 51:6, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts…”

In order to lie, the lie has to be conceived on the “inward parts” first…then it comes out the mouth. If I purpose to never conceive of a lie in the imagination of my heart, then I will speak the truth.

The lie is first conceived in our heart before it ever reaches our mouth. I have caught myself, on several occasions, fashioning an “explanation” that, should I get caught by someone, be used to justify or spin the wrongdoing to an acceptable level. God’s desire is that we simply speak the truth in the heart, so that when we are questioned, we are prepared to speak the truth. I am convinced that the lying takes far more energy and creates far greater consequences than simply telling the truth.

How often is the truth spun in the business world in order to make the sale, to conceal the oversight, to land the new job?

Authority and the Appeal

2008-07-24T10:34:00.001-05:00

I used to work in an environment where I was being told what to do by four people: the CEO, the President, the CFO and the Director. Each thought his project was the most important. I was placed in a position where serving not two, but four masters was a daily occurrence. It added a great deal of stress to my position.

I finally went to the CFO, who was supposed to be my immediate supervisor, and requested that arrangements be made where I could answer to one person. All tasks would flow through my immediate supervisor. The result was a great deal of freedom and a decrease in stress.

My immediate supervisor provided a level of protection from the inquisitions and demands of others. He knew what I was working on and had the opportunity to set my priorities.

Even in the best of circumstances, conflicts in priorities will arise. Authority provides the solution. A quick trip to the bosses office to ask, “Boss, I realize all of these tasks are important, but which would you like me to accomplish first?” This places the responsibility on his shoulders. If the President comes knocking on your door to ask why you have not finished his pet project, you point your finger to your bosses office and say, “Sir, my boss indicated that this task should be done first, and I have devoted my energies in that direction.”

If the President then directs you differently, say “Yes, sir” and then make sure you immediately explain to your supervisor that the President of the company changed your priorities.

Your boss has two choices at that point: (1) to accept the President’s new direction, or (2) go to the President himself and appeal. Meanwhile, you’re working on the President’s project.

Why?

It all has to do with God’s design for authority in our lives. Now I didn’t come up with the concept, but rather am affirming that I have found it to be true and very beneficial to those that follow God’s design.

One of the most difficult things in life is to maintain a balance in all things. A situation occurred once when working on a film project where the producer of the show handed me several hundred dollars, asked me to run by the grocery store and pick up several cases of beer for the wrap party and began naming off several various brands and labels. I was on the clock.

(The purpose of this example is not to argue for or against alcohol but to illustrate a principle of authority.) Personally, I have a strong conviction against drinking alcoholic beverages of any kind. Immediately, I knew that I could not complete this assignment and maintain a clear conscience. What did I do? I appealed to the producer. “Sir, I understand your intention for asking me to do this. Your desire is to provide enjoyable refreshment for the crew after a long days work. Personally, I have a strong conviction against consuming alcohol and would not be able to purchase this for others.”

He pulled me aside. “Now, Dan, I know why you say that, but I’m not asking you to drink any, just buy it.” He paused. “What are you going to do if your on the set of a big movie and some big-time producer asks you to do this? If you say no, he might fire you no the spot.”

I’m sure he was relating his own feelings at that moment. He awaited my response. “Sir,” I said, “if you need to fire me right now, I understand, but I could not violate my own convictions.”

He looked at the floor. I can remember it as vividly now as if it were happening. Several seconds went by which seemed like minutes. Finally he looked up. “If you feel that strongly about it, I’ll get someone else to do it. Some people don’t even have convictions.” He turned and walked away.

The moral of the story…there’s always perfect balance to God’s design. When an authority asks you to do something contrary to God given convictions, God has provided for the appeal process.

What's Really Important?

2008-07-24T10:25:00.001-05:00

My dad told me several times, “Son, pick an occupation that you enjoy so much that you would do for free if you had to.” This was good advice.

Allow me to expound on this topic. Men, pick a career that affords you the opportunity to be home every night with your wife and, if God blesses you, your children. The most important gift we have other than God’s gift of salvation, is our family. You’ve heard the old adage, “No one has ever said on their deathbed, I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”

The career is not nearly as important as the availability of fathers to their children. “The glory of children is their fathers.” I’ve heard someone say, “Children spell love T-I-M-E.”

When I walk through the door, my kids eyes light up like they’ve just received a Christmas present. They run to me, grab on to my legs, sit on my shoes so I can’t walk, assist me in falling to the floor, pounce on me and then snuggle on my chest making little baby sounds. There’s no one else in the world that admires me that much.

I’d be a fool to ignore that. I’d be a fool to invest so much time at work that I missed cherishing that part of their life. I am told there will come a time when they won’t do things like that. I hope it’s not true.

In the fast paced society we live in, we are accustomed to having everything immediately (McDonalds, microwave, telephone, modern transportation, etc.) Liken a family to a mutual fund or other investment. If you invest regularly, at the end of your life you will reap the benefits. If you fail to invest, you will reap loneliness. Your children will become so busy with their own lives that they won’t have time for you.

My dad used to tell us, “Don’t ever put me in a nursing home. Just build a little one room apartment on the back of your house and I’ll die happy just tending to your garden.” I never did like gardening, but he does.

A career is just an ends to a means. You work to live, not live to work. Enjoy what you do, but enjoy leaving what you do too.

KTM Accident

2006-08-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

One Friday morning about 9:00 AM, heading west on I-10 near Tallahassee, Florida, I took the 270 degree exit ramp for Highway 90 going towards town. I was half way through the turn, going about 45 MPH, when I saw one of those painted arrows coming up. So, rather than take the chance of slipping on the arrow, I decided to pass it on the left side (outside of the turn). Everything was fine until my wheels began to slide on some loose sand near the edge of the road.

Rather than attempt to lean the bike even further to bring it back onto the road, assuming that I might fall on the pavement, knowing that I only had jeans and a short sleeve shirt on, I make a quick decision to straighten the bike up and ride down the grassy embankment on the outside of the turn.

Now, along this exit ramp were metal reflector poles every few feet. The angle in which I went off the road made it difficult to thread between two of those poles at 45 MPH, but I made it through. At that moment, the ride became very bumpy, and I could see that at the bottom of the grassy knoll was HWY 90 and it was coming up fast. I applied the rear brake slightly and the bike began to fish tail on the wet grass, and I wasn’t slowing down much. I then instinctively applied the front brake and as you can imagine, in the next instant I found myself sliding down the grassy knoll face down and head first at about 40 MPH, the bike sliding ahead of me and slightly to my left.

I remember lifting my chin and looking out my helmet. The grass was whizzing by my face. Then I saw it…a big yellow merge sign rapidly approaching to my right. By this time, my body had shifted from head first to sliding with my left side first and I slammed into that merge sign just between my left pelvis and lower ribs. Fortunately, the pole that the sign was attached to was about a 2.5” round pipe.

I couldn’t breath. I rolled over and saw my bike lying there a few feet from me. The engine was still running. I reach out and hit the red kill switch. Then, I rolled onto my back, lifted my knees and opened my face mask and just lay there trying to catch my breath, wondering how bad I was hurt.

I had not been laying there long when a “Good Samaritan” peered into my helmet, cell phone in his hand and said, “Dude, I saw the whole thing! Do you want me to call 9-1-1 or…” He looked around as if his next words were Top Secret, “…or do you want to keep this quiet?”

At that moment, I wasn’t quite sure what to do, so I told him that I just wanted to lay there for a few minutes. Another “Good Samaritan” showed up about that time. After a couple of minutes, I asked if they could help me stand up. Each of them grabbed one of my hands and slowly helped me to my feet. Then, they picked up my KTM 625 SMC. There was grass all down one side and the right rear view mirror was cracked, but that was all the damage that I could see.

I got back on the bike, it started just fine. I thanked the guys for their timely assistance and for taking the time to stop and help me. I then got back on the interstate, rode home, and got in the tub to soak.

The extent of my injuries were two broken ribs on the lower left hand side, and one broken rib in the back near where it attaches to the spine. I also had a big bruise where I had impacted the merge sign pole.

Looking back, had I gotten a leg caught on one of the reflector poles, or slid out into the road on HWY 90, it could have been a lot worse. All things considered, the accident happened with the best possible outcome. The LORD and his angels were definitely looking out for me that day!

Remote Control Aircraft

2006-07-01T00:00:00.003-05:00

Another fantastic hobby which I have thoroughly enjoyed is that of flying remote control (R/C) aircraft. I purchased my first airplane, a P-51 Mustang PTS, through the local Hobbytown USA.

I must admit that there were a few mishaps when I was first learning...

On my first takeoff attempt, my plane took a hard left into a ditch because I did not realize that on a tail-dragger such as the P-51, the torque of the engine will cause the plane to veer off course unless right rudder is applied to keep it going straight down the runway.

Since I lived in the country, I decided to utilize my front yard as my own personal R/C runway. As a result, I had three encounters with power lines and two encounters with trees. But, once I learned how to fly and avoid obsticles, I was taking off and landing in my front yard with ease.

On another occassion, I was performing a loop too close to the ground. The plane went over the top, but was unable to pull out of the loop prior to impacting the terrain. The sound of the balsa crumpling as it hit the ground was one I will not soon forget. Fortunately, I was able to remove the engine, servos and receiver and install them in a new airplane without too much expense.

Hangar 9 has done a tremendous job of providing a line of great looking R/C airplanes. Hangar 9 sells their products online through Horizon Hobby.

My most recent airplane is the Hangar 9 Funtana X 50...

Christmas 2003

2003-12-25T00:00:00.001-06:00

It’s December already and the whole family has Christmas on the brain. Like last year, Lee Anne had set the alarm clock for 4:30 AM and braved the “Day After Thanksgiving Sale” at Super Wal-Mart, and I, being the loving, supportive husband that I am, offered to stay home with the children as they lay nestled all snug in their beds. Yes, I admit that I had participated in this adventure last year, after which I decided that being surrounded by an endless sea of flying female elbows was not my idea of a relaxing vacation. Every aisle was completely filled with bumper to bumper shopping carts along with wild eyed people having only one thing on their mind – getting their loot before someone else did. You see, I was in the market for a computer and all I wanted to do was read the side of the computer box; you know, the label with all the specs like RAM, hard disk space, CD writer, etc. As I moved in that direction I was suddenly screened out by two women, arms out and crouching like basketball players trying to get a rebound. I don’t think Michael Jordon could have made it through that screen.

To bring you up to date, Lee Anne is doing an incredible job educating our children in the home, Rebekah will be 7 next month and can already read and write, Benjamin (5) enjoys Lego’s, his hamster “Nutty”, riding his bike without the training wheels and anything that flies (hopefully not the hamster), and Stephen (9 months) has two teeth and moves faster than a Tennessee tornado. The Johnson tree has been decorated, the stockings are hanging on the stair case and the children are dropping subtle hints, on second thought, they are boldly proclaiming every item their little hearts desire to be laying under the tree. Ah, Christmas is in the air.

Not long ago, while driving quietly down the road with the family, Rebekah, from the back of the van asks, “Dad, you know that song that says, ‘Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria’? Well, why does it say, ‘in Chelsea’s stable’?” After we finished laughing and telling Rebekah how cute she was, we then had an impromptu lesson in Latin explaining that the meaning of “in excel sis Deo” had nothing to do with some girl named Chelsea but has everything to do with a stable.

As I walked down stairs this morning, I was delighted to hear the Kirk Franklin Christmas CD playing “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” in that black gospel choir style. Somewhere in the middle of the song Kirk exclaims, “Santa Claus ain’t got nothin’ on this!” and you know, he’s right.

We’re constantly surrounded with little reminders, maybe a still small voice that gently reminds, “Hey, remember Christmas is my birthday.” No other birth in the history of the universe has carried such significance for mankind. God Himself coming to earth in the form of a child so that you and I might be forgiven. Truly “Santa Claus ain’t got nothin’ on this!”

Experimental Rocketry

2003-08-02T00:00:00.001-05:00

I recently became interested in amateur rocketry when I discovered Richard Nakka’s Experimental Rocketry Web Site. After studying the site for many days, I endeavored to create my very own rocket motor, the K1000 PVC Rocket Motor to be specific.

The motor contained 5 three inch grain segments cast from a mixture of Potassium Nitrate and Sorbitol (a sugar substitute available in health food stores):

The 5 segments were stacked inside the PVC casing and the completed motor ignited using a simple ignitor manufactured from a Christmas tree light.

The successful static test firing video:

Since the PVC rocket motor is not reusable, after test firing, the motor was cut in half (click the image to see a larger version). In the photograph, the nozzle is on the left. The divergent section is visible, but the convergent section crumbled when the motor was dissected. The metal washer served as the throat of the nozzle and minimized ablation. The motor's bulkhead is on the right and was constructed of 3 layers of cardboard and coated with high temperature silicon RTV sealant:

Now all I need to do is build another motor, a rocket, a recovery system, a recovery deployment system and a launch system!

There are a number of websites that present information in much greater detail than I could expound on in this blog, so here are some sites to definitely visit:

http://www.inverseengineering.com/
http://www.nakka-rocketry.net/
http://www.nar.org/
http://www.rocketmavericks.com/
http://www.rocketresearch.org/
http://www.rocketry.org/
http://www.space-rockets.com/
http://www.sugarshot.org/
http://www.tripoli.org/

Christmas 2001

2001-12-25T00:00:00.002-06:00

News...
On October 8th of this year we sold our home of three years on Longview Road and began construction on a new 2000 square foot home on Emily Lane of Covered Bridge Estates in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. The timing was definitely an answer to prayer. The economy was bad, home sales had slowed, we had no experience with For Sale By Owner and were discouraged by many realtors.

We got some good advice from my grandfather and asked God to sell it in His time. Three months transpired without any interest and then we showed the house to a young couple...they wanted it! After two additional months of waiting on their mortgage to be finalized, we closed the sale.

It could not have been more perfect timing. We started construction the next week. Once the foundation was built, the rain stopped for four weeks allowing the house to be framed and the roof shingled, the flooring never got wet.

Now in the final stages of construction, there are only a few weeks remaining before we are able to take possession of this beautiful property.

Daniel...
continues as Manager of Information Systems for the State of Tennessee’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development. He also assists the Minister of Students at Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church by leading the music during the Wednesday evening youth service and participates in the Awana program as Director of the Pioneer club for 5th and 6th grade young men. Dan has also developed and maintained numerous web sites including http://www.smbconline.com/.

Lee Anne...
has enjoyed hunting house plans, preferring paint, choosing carpet and visiting the vinyl store. She eagerly awaits the extra square footage and hopes to start a ladies Bible study by making our new home a hospitality center. Lee Anne has been asked on several occasions to apply her decorating skills for special church functions such as a Ladies Garden Party, Vacation Bible School and a Men’s Night.

Rebekah...
had several cute things to say this year. She was enamored when she realized the VCR remote control glowed in the dark and declared, “Daddy, it lives in the dark.”

Mommy was washing the door mat when Rebekah keenly observed that it was missing. She asked, “Hey, where’s the rub’er.”

Beka and Ben were scheduled to sing in the children’s choir for the first time. Lee Anne promised candy if they sang loud. During the performance, in the middle of the song, Rebekah asked, “Sing
louder?” and immediately following the final note exclaimed, “I want my candy now.”

Benjamin...
is excited each time we make a trip to “the property” as he calls it. He loves to play on top of the dirt pile, the sand pile or the gravel pile. He doesn’t know it yet, but Daddy bought him a big, red remote control truck for Christmas!

Benjamin’s favorite saying…“I will obey, I will!”

God’s Grace…
came to earth some two thousand years ago: born in a stable, laid in a manger, lived a sin-free life of thirty three years, rejected by his own race, brutally murdered, all part of God’s original plan, designed before time began, God’s precious Lamb, His name… Jesus.

For those who’ve accepted His plan, God’s Grace says, “You’re unconditionally loved and accepted.” As the songwriter says, “He forgives and forgets, I stand before Him holy. He cancelled my debt that day at Calvary. Now I’m justified, just as if I’d never sinned as yet. He not only forgives, He forgives and forgets. When you look at me, you may see me just as I am. But when He looks at me, He only sees the blood of the Lamb.”

Nothing brings a deeper sense of peace and contentment than getting a small glimpse of the depth and breadth of God’s amazing grace. “Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.”

Who Am I?

2000-09-30T00:00:00.001-05:00

I am the salt of the earth (Matt 5:13)
I am the light of the world (Matt. 5:14)
I am a child of God (John 1:12)
I am a part of the true vine, a channel of Christ’s life (John 15:1,5)
I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15)
I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit (John 15:16)
I am a slave of righteousness (Rom. 6:18)
I am enslaved to God (Rom. 6:22)
I am a son of God; God is spiritually my Father (Rom. 8:14,15; Gal. 3:26; 4:6)
I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him (Rom. 8:17)
I am a temple—a dwelling place—of God. His Spirit and His life dwells in me (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19)
I am united to the Lord and am one spirit wit Him (1 Cor. 6:17)
I am a member of Christ’s Body (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:30)
I am a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)
I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18,19)
I am a son of God and one in Christ (Gal. 3:26,28)
I am an heir of God since I am a son of God (Gal. 4:6,7)
I am a saint (Eph. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; Phil 1:1; Col. 1:2)
I am God’s workmanship—His handiwork—born anew in Christ to do His work (Eph. 2:10)
I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God’s family (Eph. 2:19)
I am a prisoner of Christ (Eph. 3:1; 4:1)
I am righteous and holy (Eph. 4:24)
I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now (Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:6)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3)
I am an expression of the life of Christ because He is my life (Col. 3:4)
I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (Col. 3:12; 1 Thes. 1:4)
I am a son of light and not of darkness (1 Thes. 5:5)
I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1)
I am a partaker of Christ; I share in His life (Heb. 3:14)
I am one of God’s living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5)
I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Pet. 2:9,10)
I am an alien and stranger to this world in which I temporarily live (1 Pet. 5:8)
I am a child of God and I will resemble Christ when He returns (1 John 3:1,2)
I am born of God, and the evil one—the devil—cannot touch me (1 John 5:18)
I am not the great “I Am” (Exod. 3:14); John 8:24,28,58), but by the grace of God, I am what I am (1 Cor. 15:10)

Since I am in Christ, by the grace of God…

2000-09-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

I have been justified—completely forgiven and made righteous (Rom. 5:1)
I died with Christ and died to the power of sin’s rule over my life (Rom. 6:1-6)
I am free forever from condemnation (Rom. 8:1)
I have been placed into Christ by God’s doing (1 Cor. 1:30)
I have received the Spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God (1 Cor. 2:12)
I have been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16)
I have been bought with a price; I am not my own; I belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19,20)
I have been established, anointed and sealed by God in Christ, and I have been given the Holy Spirit as a pledge guaranteeing my inheritance to come (2 Cor. 1:21; Eph. 1:13, 14)
Since I have died, I no longer live for myself, but for Christ (2 Cor. 5:14, 15)
I have been made righteous (2 Cor. 5:21)
I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living is Christ’s life (Gal. 2:20)
I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3)
I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and am without blame before Him (Eph. 1:4)
I was predestined—determined by God—to be adopted as God’s son (Eph. 1:5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven, and I am a recipient of His lavish grace.
I have been made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:5)
I have been raised up and seated with Christ in heaven (Eph. 2:5)
I have direct access to God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I may approach God with boldness, freedom and confidence (Eph. 3:12)
I have been rescued from the domain of Satan’s rule and transferred to the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13)
I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. The debt against me has been cancelled (Col. 1:14)
Christ Himself is in me (Col. 1:27)
I am firmly rooted in Christ and am now being built in Him (Col. 2:7)
I have been spiritually circumcised. My old unregenerate nature has been removed (Col.2:11)
I have been made complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)
I have been buried, raised and made alive with Christ (Col.2:12-13)
I died with Christ and I have been raised up with Christ. My life is now hidden with Christ in God. Christ is now my life (Col. 3:1-4)
I have been given a spirit of power, love and self discipline (2 Tim. 1:7)
I have been saved and set apart according to God’s doing (2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5)
Because I am sanctified and am one with the Sanctifier, He is not ashamed to call me brother (Heb. 2:11)
I have the right to come boldly before the throne of God to find mercy and grace in time of need (Heb. 4:16)
I have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which I am a partaker of God’s divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4)

A New Approach To Job Hunting

1998-10-23T00:00:00.002-05:00

Four months ago, my wife and I moved to Nashville from Orlando where I had been working for Disney/MGM Studios. Since that time, I had been searching for a video production job opportunity in the Nashville area. I had been doing freelance work here and there, but finding "the job" was not going as well as I had envisioned. I had talked to nearly every video production company, producer and director in Nashville and had not been offered anything.

On a recent volunteer job that I took, a fellow named Charlie, a guy that I had briefly met only once before asked me if I would be interested in being a road manager for someone. I told him that it all depended on the circumstances and who it was that I would be managing. Our meeting was so brief that I didn't give it another thought.

A few days later, Charlie called me and told me who it was and asked me if I would be interested in talking to her manager. I said I would. Later, Mike, the manager, called to invite me to her next event. I went and had a brief 5-minute meeting with them both.

The next day, Mike, called to arrange a time to get together for an interview. It seemed that we all had pressing events and our schedules were not working out very well. After reluctantly deciding on a late night meeting, we hung up.

It was time to write my check for next months rent so I sat down and filled in the amount. After I subtracted the rent from the register, I noticed that I only had $208.36 left. Out of desperation, I threw up a “flare” prayer, "God, how are you going to provide the money for next months rent; and what about food and bills?”

A few minutes later, Mike called back and said, "I had a long talk with [the performer] this morning. She said that she feels like she doesn't need to interview you."

My heart sank. I just knew that this was going to be another one of those conversations that ends with, "I'm sorry. Your credentials looks pretty impressive, but we just don't need you right now." My thoughts drifted back to Mike as he continued, "She was so impressed with you and your family last night that she told me to call you and hire you on the spot."

The only words that could come out of my mouth were, "Your kidding...your kidding!" I couldn't speak. Tears filled my eyes as I realized how much God cares for me. God provided the perfect job through a guy I didn’t even know, with a lady I had never heard of before, with no interview, in less than one week!

Our Second Born

1998-07-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

I had taken a couple of days vacation so I could build a new shed out behind our house. My wife, Lee Anne, was 8 months pregnant and I was sweating like a race horse trying to put this 12x16 barn style shed up by myself.

Lee Anne’s grandmother had arrived the day before on the airlines to spend a week with Lee Anne. Lee had a doctor’s appointment the Friday afternoon of July 2, 1998. They left me to my misery hammering and nailing on my shed.

Later that day, as I was wondering when that wife of mine was going to get home, I saw the sheriff pull up in my driveway. I thought, “What have I done now?” As I exited the fence, he got out of his cruiser.

Sheriff: “Mr. Johnson?”
Dan: “Yes, sir.”
Sheriff: “Your wife’s in labor at the Baptist Hospital.”
Dan: “Are you kidding?”
Sheriff: “No. They couldn’t reach you on the phone, so they sent me to see if I could find you.”
Dan: “Are you prepared to take me?”
Sheriff: “No. We don’t get outside Bedford county.”
Dan: “OK, thank you, sir.”

I rushed inside and found messages on the answering machine. I returned Lee Anne’s call at the hospital. She said, “Dan, I’m having this baby.” I said, “Can’t they stop it?” She said, “Nope.” I said, “Have they given you something to induce labor?” Lee Anne said, “No.”

So, I decided I needed to go to the hospital. I rushed around, got the video camera, and a couple of things I thought Lee Anne would need and ran out to the car. And guess what, the battery in my 1983 Nissan Sentra was dead. It wouldn’t even turn over. I ran over to the neighbors house and asked if he would be willing to give me a jump. He came over and tried to start the car, but the car was not cooperating.

Finally, I called a friend of mine from church, David Boyce, who came and drove me all the way to the Baptist Hospital (1.5 hours away) so I could see my baby being born, but much to my dismay, he had been born 10 minutes after I had talked to Lee Anne, so I missed the whole thing.

Our new son seemed to be doing well for about an hour and then he started having trouble breathing. They took him into intensive care and that is how the next 18 grueling days began. Ben started on oxygen, then x-rays, then they cut a hole in his side because his premature lungs had leaked air into his chest cavity, and then they put him on a ventilator, but because he fought against the machine, they had to paralyze him with a drug. We drove back and forth nearly every day to check on his progress and to hopefully hold his hand.

Our First Born

1997-02-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

In mid-January, Daniel and Lee Anne Johnson received some disturbing news--their baby had stopped growing inside the womb. The doctors determined that they would need to take the baby early in order to monitor it properly.

As soon I heard there were going to be complications, my heart tightened in my chest. Realizing that my only hope was in God, I called my family in Alabama to request prayer. My mother immediately called the church and got everyone from my home town praying for us. Between Orlando and Gadsden, we had hundreds of people lifting up prayers for our little one.

On January 29, 1997, the doctors induced labor. Within four hours Daniel and Lee Anne welcomed a new member into their family, Rebekah Dawn Johnson. An immediate x-ray of her premature chest revealed that her tiny lungs were filled with fluid. She was immediately put under an oxygen hood to enhance her irregular breathing patterns. With intravenous lines and monitor cables attached to her little body, she looked like an experiment from some science fiction film.

I never imagined the things that would go through my mind as I stood there and watched my first born daughter lay limp under the heating lamp. It was very difficult for Lee Anne too—watching the other mothers hold their babies and knowing that her own was just a breath away from heaven.

The first three days were pretty unstable. As the fluid in her body was slowly being absorbed by the surrounding tissue, her demand for oxygen fluctuated like a roller coaster. After several days, her breathing stabilized and the oxygen hood was removed.

When I heard that, it was like a breath of fresh air. I knew that she could start eating and that the worst was over. The next evening I sat by her isolette, cried, and thanked God for His goodness to us.

Rebekah was eating the required amount of milk within two days. She had a short bout with jaundice but with photo-therapy began recovering rapidly. It won’t be long now and little Rebekah Dawn will be sleeping in her own crib.