Beauty in Technology

The 4 Mile Hill church of Christ is now e-mailing the weekly bulletin to those who desire to have it in digital format and archiving them on their website.  I'm pretty excited about having added this feature and want to thank my big bro, Bryan, for his guidance and encouragement in this process.  I hope everyone finds this beneficial.  Shoot me an e-mail at caseymcdonald@att.net if you want to be added to the e-mailing list.  Have a great weekend!

4 Mile Hill

Check out this coming Sunday's bulletin.  We are in the process of archiving bulletins from the past too.  I hope everybody is having a great end to the week...Happy Friday!

Lookin' to Lose Lbs?

I haven't exactly made it public that I'm attempting to get back down to the weight I was when I graduated high school, but I had to share the excitement I've had since I started during Thanksgiving Holidays.  Kayla got me an iPod Touch as an early Christmas present.  She found a free Application on hers called Lose It!  which is basically a calorie counter.  I thought it was pretty sweet so I downloaded it to my new iPod and started keeping track of how many calories I consumed...wow, what an eye opener!

I may get into the details of my success up to this point in a later post, but the purpose of this blog post was to let you know a piece of advice that helped me get over a recent hump in my weight loss journey.  I subscribe to a newsletter from Everyday Health and their "Diet & Nutrition" section.  The article from this past Wednesday described exactly how I overcame a stagnant slump in my weight loss.  I was just cutting the calories out of my diet, but exercising gets the metabolism going and aids in weight loss even when NOT exercising.  So check it out and don't give up on that New Year's resolution you made just 2 months ago.  If you've already stopped, get back on the horse...you can do it.  You don't have to have an iPod  and the Lose It! App to lose weight, but you do need to burn more calories than you consume.  A simple concept that is much easier said than done.

Remember, none of this matters in the grand scheme of things...eternity.  Paul wrote, "...for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Timothy 4:8).  You can physically exercise and be in the best shape of your life, but it doesn't even matter if you aren't spiritually exercising.  Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).  So, do you love Jesus, are you keeping his commandments?

Personal Finance

During the past year and a half or so I have enjoyed reading on finances.  My wife, Kayla thinks I'm a nerd for actually enjoying balancing the checkbook, creating monthly budgets, maintaining a sinking fund account for our savings, and especially reading books about all this.  The book I am currently reading and would strongly recommend is by Steve Diggs called
No Debt! No Sweat!
If you have not taken control of your financial situation, there is no better time than now!  Paul told Timothy, "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim. 5:8).  I have helped a couple of people with personal finance and love to do so.  If you have any questions, I would love to discuss them with you.  Just comment on this post, shoot me a message on Facebook, or e-mail me.

What Color Is Your Bra?

A recent trend has come about on Facebook concerning breast cancer awareness. Newsweek wrote an informative article about it. A few quotes from that article include: "No one yet knows who started the meme...someone kicked it off a few days ago with a chain-letter-style Facebook message to a bunch of women, asking them to virtually flash the world in the name of supporting medical research."

Kate Daily, the author, goes on to write, "At this point, there can't be a person in the world who isn't aware of breast cancer. What we need is not a context-free reminder of its existence, but a cure, as well as some scientific clarity about how best to prevent the disease. Does anyone think the Facebook meme contributes an iota to that? I doubt it...It ends: 'It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men will wonder why all the girls have a color on their status!' That's what this is mostly about: not cancer, but flirting."

I have been thinking about this all day and the author of this article summed up my conclusions about the motives beautifully: "So after all this, why did I end up describing my lingerie on Facebook anyway? I guess for the same reason anyone posts anything on Facebook: I wanted a little attention."

You may have honestly had good intentions in your status update if you participated, but if you truly wanted to raise "awareness" for breast cancer, why not instead post a picture of the nationally known symbol of breast cancer? OR...if you are computer illiterate and don't know how to post a picture on your status, why not just simply write, "Pink Ribbon."? I think it comes down to you wanted attention, whether or not you want to admit it.

I certainly am not a perfect and sinless person, I have far too much sin in my life and thankfully it has been washed away. Before you posted your lingerie color and pattern all over Facebook for the world to see, did you stop to think of the implications it might have on the men out there? If you are a woman, you may not not realize it, but men constantly struggle with lust...posting what your wearing (or not wearing) as a bra certainly does not help the constant struggle Christian men face. So please, show some dignity, respect, and modesty.

A simple question that was a fad for a while and sadly has died out was: What Would Jesus Do? Would Jesus tell his women disciples to go tell everyone what type of undergarments they were wearing to spread the news about the healing he was performing. I could be too far out on a limb here, but I'm gonna say "No." Jesus was a doer, not a talker. You want to do something productive about breast cancer? Stop talking about it, get off Facebook, get a part-time job, sell some things, raise some money somehow and donate it to a breast cancer foundation.

Snow Day!

Most if not all of the local schools around Searcy are out today (and if Searcy cancels it's amazing!). The roads are pretty bad, so working from home.

Keep our family in your prayers...Kayla's grandmother passed away this morning at 2:30.

Rain...Rain

Today I saw a lady pick up her kid from the bus stop using a bathroom rug as a makeshift umbrella. It made me smile and think, "Good 'ole Arkansas."

Summer Class

I did good on my paper. I'm pumped about it. Very proud of myself. That's a load off.

Pardoned?

Is pardoned in the secular sense the same as forgiven in the spiritual sense? In other words, when Nixon was pardoned by Ford and Nixon was able to live out the remainder of his days without being punished, is that the same as Christ's blood forgiving our sins? I think I may have an answer, but what is the difference in pardoned in a worldly situation and a spiritual one?

Summer Lovin'

Summer events are coming to an end and the school year is about to start. We have one more youth trip pending for Arnold, MO which will be fun. Grad School is going a little rough. I hope it gets better this semester.