It seems as if the world is coming to an end, and I’m quite frankly suprised that there’s not more cults out there trying to get people to drink special koolaid. Three hurricanes and a massive earthquake in a relatively short period of time, and you would think that end-time doomsayers would be out en masse. But so far I haven’t heard much about them. (A few scattered reports, but that’s about it)

It’s true, the Bible talks about terrible times in the last days, and here is the rundown:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (2 Timothy 3:1-4, NIV)

Well, my vote is in: Jesus could come back any minute. All those descriptions are stuff we’re proud of here in America. (“look out for #1″, “he needs higher self-esteem”, “if it feels good, do it”, the “American Dream”) I hope you’re ready to meet Him face-to-face. If you’re not, check out this link: http://guidance.gospelcom.net/answer.htm. (Internet evangelism-good, I suppose, but not quite like a personal witness. )

Ryan says to me:

“CAUTION – memorizing Scripture is hazardous to your life. If you develop a disciplined method of memorizing, reviewing (review, review, review, and then review some more) PLUS meditate on these verses throught the day applying them and abiding by them you will be forced to deny yourself and walk closer to the Lord. Memorizing verses is the singer most effective way to grow in the knowledge of Christ and be an effective witness. It will not be easy. Learn them well. Repeat them often.”

Point taken, Ryan, and thanks for the encouragement. It’s a discipline I’d gotten out of, and my soul really thirsts for that kind of intimacy with God again. You know, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us” Part of knowing Christ is knowing the Word, seeing how He was the completion, the fulfillment, the epitome of God’s love, presence, and influence on our lives.

If you don’t memorize scripture, try it today. It’s FREE! Yes, no cost to you, no annual contracts, monthly recurring fees, or hidden charges. Start with me today on Ezra 7:10

Ezra 7:10 “For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.” Ezra 7:10

Don’t forget the reference, repeat this thing like a madman, and in a few days you’ll have it down. Then come back here and get on board with the next verse, or find your own!

When you type a phrase into Google, you might get a few relevant results. But it seems like you’re guaranteed to get a bunch of “junkmail” results–one from every shopping site in the known universe, (plus now it seems like the unknown universe is impingin upon my searches!) Why?

I just started working with Step2, (http://www.step2.com, or http://www.step2direct.com) and working in their internet marketing department has got me learning way more about the internet than I ever imagined existed. It seems that SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is a huge business now, and making your site show up at the top of a search list costs a lot of dough. You can see this as a good thing (finally, no more of those stupid geocities homepages that were made in an hour and still keep kicking five years after they’ve been abandoned.) Or you can see this as a bad thing (I don’t want to buy anything, I just want to learn!)

A seach usuall also gets you a bunch of sponsored links, which statistics tell us many people glaze right over. I, personally, didn’t even notice them the first time I searched for our company on Google. (Where’s the site? I’m not seeing any links!) Retailers pay big bucks for you to see their site first, and then your eyes just whizz past it, mostly due to the conditioning of seeing so many spammed ads over the past few years. (ie, you search for Hardwood Flooring and end up with a link for a T-Shirt customization place that boasts “Buy Hardwood Flooring T-Shirts Today!”)

Good grief, when will it end? Never, probably. Every time they find a way to filter out those jerks, the jerks find new ways to get back in. It just goes to show that the internet has spread lots of information, but also lots of pathetic punks who just want to make a quick buck, and will trash anything to get it. Thanks to Google though, sponsored links might finally settle down. You see, if you “spam” the internet by buying every single keyword, you get a lot of clicks that are people who aren’t looking for your stuff. Google tracks those false leads, and charges the sites that buy them more per click. Hmm… Google, please crank up the rates and put those jokers out of business. And please, find a way to do that with “organic” search results as well. For the rest of you out there, download the Google toolbar and start ranking pages as crud if they turn out to be so. Make the web a better place for all of us!

So I said I’d blog about iPods. I got mine via FedEx on Saturday, and let me tell you: they’re all they’re cracked up to be. I admit, a bit expensive if you get the biggest, baddest, newest ones. If you hurry though, you can get a 4GB mini from Apple for $159. They’re refurbished, but mine looks as pristine as new, and works like a charm. With the same warranty, and cosmetic equality, who wouldn’t save $40 on a refurbished unit? You still get free shipping, and after tax my total came out just under $170. Not bad for the epitome of cool.

Back to them being all they’re cracked up to be: I love my iPod mini, I really do. It allows me to have most (not quite all, but who really wants to carry around those few CDs worth of music that you regret wasting $15 on?) of my music with me all the time. No more listening to stupid DJs on the radio, no more having to listen to Amy Grant’s hits from the 1930′s yet again, no more having to carry around a bunch of CDs, and no more having to listen to consecutive songs by the same artist. Make some killer playlists (a few for each mood), order your songs by artist, album, or genre, or just throw it in shuffle mode and hit skip when it throws a lame track your way. You’ll be jammin to fresh music all day long. Heck, with 4 GB you can leave it playing for three days straight and still not repeat a track.

And did I mention it just looks sweet? iPod mini is the definition of industrial design gone right. The iPod Nano is even smaller (it felt too unsubstantial to me!), and with a color screen just might be worth the extra dough for some of you. As for me, i love the size, weight, and feel of the mini, and i wish they had just slapped a color screen and flash memory into the mini’s housing instead of going smaller.

Anyways, you get the picture. i love my iPod mini. i might just start writing all my “i”s in lower case in honor of my new favorite gadget. Why did i wait so long to get one?

Oh, and if you like to swim, they make a waterproof case for it, so now you can be a fish and still own an iPod. And if you hate to lose your tunes while you shower, i guess that could work for you to…