You simply have to watch this short video. Amazing!
I don’t deserve it. Any of it.
I don’t deserve the great, majestic Savior I have for a God and who has me for a son.
I don’t deserve the beautiful, sweet, wonderful lady I have for a wife and who has me for a husband.
I don’t deserve the lovely, precious kids I have for children and who have me for a father.
I don’t deserve the kind, awesome people whom I love and serve as a pastor.
If you ever feel like anyone owes you something you’re not getting, then be careful about bitterness sprouting.
Ponder how much you have that no one owed to you; that you don’t deserve.
An attitude of gratitude is a result of acknowledging one’s true place.
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As promised, Google will no longer censor search results in China. Google’s solution is to redirect users to Google Hong Kong, which shows uncensored results. Google Blog explains this interesting decision:“Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. (…) We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we’ve faced—it’s entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China.”
It’s obvious that Google Hong Kong will be blocked in China and this workaround is only temporary. Google wanted to continue operating in China without censoring search results: “In terms of Google’s wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there, though the size of the sales team will obviously be partially dependent on the ability of mainland Chinese users to access Google.com.hk.”
Google agreed to censor search results in China four years ago because it hoped that things will get better over time. Here’s an excerpt from a Google blog post written in 2006:
“We aren’t happy about what we had to do this week, and we hope that over time everyone in the world will come to enjoy full access to information. But how is that full access most likely to be achieved? We are convinced that the Internet, and its continued development through the efforts of companies like Google, will effectively contribute to openness and prosperity in the world. Our continued engagement with China is the best (perhaps only) way for Google to help bring the tremendous benefits of universal information access to all our users there.”
Unfortunately, Google’s optimism was misplaced: “Google and more than twenty other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China” and there were many “attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger”.
Google China’s homepage until today:
Google Chine’s new homepage:
Labels: Web Search
This decision has profound implications.
For anyone who would like to get a glimpse into my Mama’s retirement party, this is a 10.5 minute video that I made, using pics and video taken on my cell phone (Palm Treo):
Jeannette Joseph’s Retirement Party was held on her 74th birthday, 3/18/2010.
She worked for the DA’s office for 29 years (First Judicial District of Louisiana). She was highly spoken of by both the DA and her immediate boss.
St Louis – March 6, 2010
The United Pentecostal Church International inaugurated the Reverend Doctor David K. Bernard as general superintendent of the 3-million-member organization Friday evening. The ministers of the organization selected Reverend Bernard at their 85th annual General Conference held in St Louis last October.
The inauguration service was held at The Sanctuary in Hazelwood, Missouri, with a reception that followed at New Life Center in Bridgeton, Missouri. There were five speakers: Reverend Rodney Shaw, Austin, Texas; Reverend Darrell Johns, Atlanta, Georgia; Reverend Ken Gurley, Pearland, Texas; Reverend Bernard’s father, Reverend Elton Bernard, Gonzales, Louisiana; and Reverend David K. Bernard gave his inaugural address.
David K. Bernard founded New Life United Pentecostal Church of Austin, Texas, out of which sixteen additional churches were started under his leadership. He is also the founding president of Urshan Graduate School of Theology. He earned a doctor of jurisprudence with honors from the University of Texas, a master of theology from the University of South Africa (where he is also completing his doctoral dissertation), and a bachelor of arts magna cum laude in mathematical sciences and managerial studies from Rice University. The author of thirty books with over seven hundred fifty thousand copies in print, he has been published in thirty-six languages and has ministered in forty-six countries on six continents. He and his wife, Connie, have three children—Daniel, Lindsey, Jonathan and his wife, Sara—and one grandson, Elijah.
The United Pentecostal Church International, headquartered in St Louis, has 30,000 churches in 192 nations around the world and a ministerial membership of 27,000. It was formed in 1945 from the merger of two previously established organizations. The UPCI emerged out of the Pentecostal movement that began in Topeka, Kansas, in 1901. It traces its organizational roots to October 1916, when a large group of ministers withdrew from the Assemblies of God over the doctrinal issues of the oneness of God and water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. Reverend Bernard is the seventh general superintendent in the church organization’s history.
This photo of us was taken by a waitress in Papadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Dallas, a wonderful place where we stopped to eat after my sister, Janet, and my niece, Amber, picked me up at the airport today in Dallas. After eating delicious seafood, we made the drive to Shreveport, where I had hoped to surprise by Mother. I had “sneaked” there to honor her on her 74th Birthday and her Retirement Party (all to occur tomorrow). However, Janet accidentally gave the surprise away too soon. She made the mistake of posting this and other photos of us on Facebook from her iPhone while we were in the restaurant. Mama logged on and saw us. BUSTED! LOL. Thanks for praying for me for a safe trip! PS: Amber is not Janet’s daughter. She is the daughter of my brother, Warren.
This photo of me was taken by my sister, Janet, today in Dallas, after she picked me up. The location in the background is Papadeaux Seafood Kitchen, a wonderful place where we stopped to eat. Thanks for praying for me for a safe trip!
Technology is supposed to make life easier and better, but often the proliferation of gadgets, gizmos, and software just makes our lives more complicated and drains our available free time. Furthermore, just when you thought you had learned all the rules, methods, syntax, object orientations, encapsulations, wherefores, therefores, why-fors, and GUI’s… suddenly, PHUI: the ground beneath you moves, the bottom is dropped out, and a whole new way is invented for doing stuff you never really needed to do in the first place.
However, falling behind the pace of advancement can be as problematic as attempting to stay relatively near the cutting edge. The crowds are fickle. The winds of popularity can change in a blink, and the crowds flit from one platform to another like a huge flock of frightened birds. Keeping a set of software tools extendable, easy to use, and likeable, keeps people invested, and you get to keep using a platform with which you’re familiar.
Some relief can be found in the realm of free, open-source, group supported software projects like WordPress. WordPress’ methods, setup, interface, plug-ins, group participation, and progressiveness, etc, are really moving in the right direction. But enough about WordPress. Right now I’m giving Posterous a once over. We will let you all know what we think about it.
