Rebuilds are Uncertain, so is Recreation? (January 19, 2026)

This week’s Steadfast:

We know if a business or sports team rebuild, there is a lot of uncertainty. So what about when God rebuilds the whole universe?

God’s Buffet of Provision

It feels like the news cycle has been particularly wild since I happened to start preaching through Psalm 8 in mid-January. Busyness has a way of making us forget where we really are. This Psalm from King David seeks to help remind us of how things really are.

Just Accomplishing Something

Sometimes I just need to actually accomplish something. Even if that something is esoteric and not particularly necessary. That is how I spent the last few weeks contemplating computer file systems.

Breaking from the Dismal to Hope for 200

Life in 2023 feels like it is a constant flood of anger and problems, doesn’t it? What a refreshing break last night to simply celebrate Cardinals great Adam Wainwright winning his 199th game.

Do We Love? (February 6, 2023)

Tonight’s Steadfast:

We know a lot about God’s truth and what He calls us to do. But, do we do it towards those around us with love?

Continuing on the Journey of the Business of Life

It's Our Twentieth Anniversary of Exploring Ideas, Culture and Technology

Times certainly do change, whether time feels like it is going quickly or slowly. Twenty years ago today, Open for Business went live. It feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago. It’s been an interesting and wonderful journey.

OFB at 20 years old. I can’t get my head quite around it. Read on for some reminiscence about the magazine and its various longtime contributors.

52 Verses, 52 Books, 52 Weeks (Week 8: Job)

Melanie Haynes shares a thought provoking devotional thought this week from the story of Job. What are we to think when things go wrong?

Photo Album

Well, I planned to post this the next day after my last post, but I've added some new pictures to my photo album. You'll find some pictures from my spring trip to the Ozarks, as well as some summery stuff in a new album. I had planned to put my PQ results for July finally up, using the gallery to post it, but when I downloaded my pictures from my camera, I could not find the ones I'd taken for the Photo Quest. Hrmf!

Monday hailed the beginning of the fall semester of classes, so I'll probably be a bit quiet, but I was a bit quiet before, so I guess nothing will seem all that different.

It's a Beautiful Day

A Good One. You ever have one of those days that starts out sort of okay, starts to go down hill and then all of a sudden does a 180 and becomes a great day? That's the kind of day I had today.

PhotoQuest? Yes, I am incorrigible, as Kevin told me. Flip doesn't have hers up either, so maybe I have somewhat of an excuse though! I do have the pictures taken, I just need to hook up my memory card reader to my PowerBook to download and resize 'em (right now, I'm at my desk using — gasp! — Windows XP instead… more on that in another post).

I've Got Mail. Being ever the glutton for signing up for free e-mail accounts, I signed up for one of the new AIM Mail accounts to give it a spin a few weeks ago. As part of the launch, you get a message, after signing in for the first time, offering a daily contest you can enter in (enter once and you get the chance to win every day without any more intervention); apparently you can win a Mini Cooper S, a PlayStation Portable, iTunes Music Store music and various other things. I forgot all about it until the other day, when I decided to log-in and take a look see. As it turned out, I haven't won a Mini Cooper yet, but I did get a coupon for a free song on iTMS. Not too bad…

Oh, and for those who are counting, this takes me up to 5 free e-mail accounts (Yahoo! Mail, Netscape Mail, Gmail, AIM Mail and iBiblio are the ones I remember and are still active, at one time, I had a bunch of other ones). I don't have a Hotmail account, interestingly enough; I signed up for a Microsoft Passport when they still offered Hotmail-less Passport.com passports.

Of those, if I was going to use one, I'd use the Gmail account. Google has really done a nice job with the interface — it is lightweight and functional. I also managed to nab the coveted “my first intial plus last name” address, since I was invited to try Gmail fairly early in the beta. I have a .Mac account, however, whose e-mail is the one I generally use if I need an address other than the ones on my server.

Sunset

Tonight was a beautiful night. I've been trying to take more time to enjoy the simple pleasures that can be so easily overlooked with everything that needs to get done. This evening, it was the absolutely stunning sunset that seemed to almost set the trees of the area on fire. Having an ice cream soda to drink while enjoying the view was an added bonus.

Below the trees, not too far away, there were several groups playing baseball. It all seemed almost surreal, as a light breeze blew by, wiping away the memories of the last few scorching days of near 100 degree temperatures Fahrenheit (37 Celsius).

In other news: It looks like my PhotoQuest isn't getting done tonight, so I guess I'm going to have to post it on “June 31st.”