“WHEW! So far I’ve survived 3 Facebook trimmings..I’d like to thank my Mom, friends and mostly the academy for my good fortune .

Honestly, this was out of being irritated by the plethora of messages I read about how people are “trimming”, or “cutting”, or “insert holier than thou word here“, their Facebook friend list.

First, lemme say that I’m no longer irritated .  And that I’m not gonna criticize for how you handle your relationships.

What I wanted to address is the what we call “real” friends.  By pure assumption, I have to guess if I’m not a real friend, I must be a friend who isn’t real?  Or does that mean that I’m only a friend in this land of internetedness, which is a fake world that doesn’t REALly exist??  I’m not real, so I must be fake, right?  I mean, most of the reasoning is to use one social networking site for anyone willing to play along and the other for “REAL” friends and family.  Right?

We all get to choose who is or isn’t a friend, but what constitutes a friendship?  Is it merely common bonds?  Lots in common?  Is it based on geographic similarities?  For some, I guess, they could be based upon what a friendship with a specific someone might be able to DO FOR us.  I guess there’s all kinds of reasoning and all kinds of ways we can rate who is or isn’t a friend.

For me, it’s all about connection and communication.  I’m not sure what a ‘real friend’ is, but I’m a simple guy and just call em friends….if the word ‘friend’ is what I call ya, that’s what you are.  There’s no fine line that you need to be concerned with or a subtitle…..You’re a friend…PERIOD.

So really, this post isn’t about my judging others or their way of categorizing their social networking sites.  It’s more about thanking you, friends, for being exactly that…..a friend.  You know who you are and chances are if you don’t, we haven’t talked much.  But I don’t think I could ever say I have too many friends so I welcome any newcomers to the group .

Those who have been around….thanks for the communication, support, prayers and encouragement.  <<Some of those words you shared, not knowing how supportive and encouraging they were to me.  I appreciate you all!  Just know that a face-to-face encounter isn’t the sole highway to friendship. There’s a great chance that I may never physically meet some of you, but appreciate your friendship all the same.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13

Thanks again!

I just finished the last few details.  Thanks to Shawn for the nifty logo.  I like it!

WhatsThisPhotoFor dot com

A few things about the new site:

• From the main page you can access the photo site, this blog and the Facebook page.
• There is no RSS or way to subscribe–I’ll let ya know here, on Twitter or Facebook when there’s anything new .
• Unless you are the client, you won’t have access to all of the pics.  Clients will be prompted for a password when clicking the ‘proofing’ link to see all of their pics.
• By clicking the “Portfolio” link once you enter the site, you will get highlights from every session, so there are still plenty of pics to see.
• General pics of our family, etc. will be either on this blog or on our Flickr site.
• The blog on WhatsThisPhotoFor is gone.

So basically, I wanted something a bit more professional, where people could browse my pics and once they had them taken, could view them and order prints all from one place.  I also struggled with the point of having 2 blogs.  If there’s a story to tell with a specific pic or set of them, I’ll just do that right here .  Otherwise, pictures of you or your family are personal and the picture will tell the story for you.

So, head on over to WhatsThisPhotoFor.com, check things out and let me know what ya think.

Oh and if ya know anyone in Germany who needs some pics taken, send em my way .

About a month ago I was emailing back and forth with a friend who had also left Twitter, but went back.  He said he missed some people…..my response was “I wish I felt the same.”  Well, that was a bit harsh and not entirely true.  Since this post, I’m not sure my life has changed much.  I mean, I’m not on the computer nearly as much anyway, but that has more to do with taking care of a baby then it has to do with anything else.  I’m always attached to my phone which is where I would do most of my tweeting anyway.  But what I have noticed is that there are lots of people who I used to have daily conversations with via Twitter that I haven’t spoken to since that post.

Yeah, I still have some issues with the fakeness and self-promotion that comes with Twitter, but it is what ya make it I guess.  There are pros and cons to most everything and if I could sit here and tell ya I have tons more time now than I did then, this post wouldn’t be going up……BUT, that’s not the case.

One big pro is that when I deleted my account, it gave me a prompt 3 times to be sure I wanted to delete because “accounts CANNOT be recovered”.  Well, that’s either a lie or a ploy to prevent peeps from deleting cuz I have reactivated my account…..same name…..same followers…..same everything.

Haven’t had time to check in with folks yet, but if ya knew me there, hit me up.  Chances are, I’ve missed ya .  I type that assuming those who annoyed me aren’t reading this blog .

Tweet ya later!….oh yeah, in case you forgot, you can find me @Pastor_T <—There.

It’s all about YOU!

You’re a fake!

Lemme tell you what you should do.

THIS is how twitter should be used.

YOUR blog NEEDS to do more of this and less of this.

You’re not the same in person as you are on the internet.

CAN’T WE ALL GET ALONG?

The answer is NO! We can’t ALL get along.  Not gonna happen. You’re not gonna get along with everyone, but you can respect them enough to SHUT UP.  If you don’t have uplifting or encouraging to say, it is POSSIBLE for you to NOT comment.

It is entirely possible that the best thing to say is NOTHING. There is so much tearing down going on, so much hurting each other, so much ME, US, I, THEM.  Can we stop…..for a minute?  You don’t have to get along with me, but LOVE me anyway.  I don’t have to call you friend, but I can love you enough to NOT rant on how I disagree with you.

I’m just as guilty as the next guy, but no more.  My rant does nothing, but show how I have let you get to me.  My anger probably fuels you and shows everyone how small I am.  No more! The love of God needs to be more visible in my life….not just on Twitter and Facebook, but in this thing called REAL LIFE. I refuse, for one more minute, to let the inconsequential happenings of social media  dictate my mood.

No, I’m not gonna run away mad and not use these media outlets anymore.  Just a different approach.

Be nice!

Encourage someone you disagree with….Not just those who think along the same lines as you.

Follow a drug addict on twitter…..not just pastors who don’t “need” you.

New approach.

Starting NOW.

That’s all.

This will be short and sweet and is really a plea to you Twitterers.

Twitter is great. I have made many connections via Twitter.

Blogs are great.  I have made many connections via Blogs.

I have noticed, though, that I haven’t made many blog connections since Twitter blew up.

Again, love Twitter…..but Twitterers, hear this:

DON’T STOP BLOGGING!

It’s great to get 140 character spurts of your life, your ministry, etc., but it just doesn’t compare to the in depth posts of your blog.  I follow your blogs because I find what you write to be interesting.  I can’t watch Twitter all day long and although Tweetdeck is awesome, I’m not scrolling through thousands of tweets after being away for awhile.

I’ve subscribed to your blog……WRITE A POST!

Thanks….That’s all.

I don’t claim to be a perfect Christian.  I promise I’ll never make that claim.

I do know right from wrong and the fine line that seems to be between the two.

This post is to ask for your input on a few things.  I don’t want you to give me an excuse to do wrong.  I’m pretty sure my mind is made up in regards to what I’m about to type, but I’m curious to know where other people stand.

I’m not positive how I should say what is to follow, but I will say up front….I AM NOT talking about anyone specifically, nor is it my intention to offend anyone.  Just seeking opinions, regardless of what they are.  If you feel the need to be negative, I might suggest the X in the upper right hand corner (upper left to Mac users)….I’m not finding fault or judging….NONE OF THAT.  That said…..here ya go:

I’ve said this before…..I read LOTS of blogs…..I would say 95% of the authors are Christians.  Lots of posts I read talk about how broken they are…..how all jacked up their lives are.  Most use these lines, I assume, to let readers know none of us are perfect and they’re just as screwed up as the next guy……Ya know, to seem more “normal”.

What I find odd is this:  Lately I have seen more and more posts telling readers about specific things they have done and are doing,  explaining them away cuz “I’m just a broken mess like the next guy.”

At what point do we not use the fact that we’re all broken as an excuse?  I mean….is drinking wrong?  Is getting drunk?  Some will argue fervently that it is.  If it’s wrong, wouldn’t glorifying it via your blog be wrong too?  I’m not writing about the recovering alcoholic who is sharing/venting his or her story.  I’m referring to the average, every day, Christian, who in one post, has been delivered from these sins and way of life and now “battles” the demons.  At the same time of their battles, they talk about how last night they did this or that, but it’s ok….cuz I’m broken.

Is looking lustfully at a man or woman (that is NOT your spouse) wrong?  Does your writing a blog post making light of it because you’re just as broken as the next guy/gal make it UN-wrong?

Listen, (here it comes…are you ready?), I’m just as screwed up as the next guy…..I had to put that there, but the simple truth is I AM.  I am as unperfect as they come.  I do things that I’m quite sure I should not do.  I do things, and as I’m doing them, I wonder if God is crying in disappointment.  I am individually the spokesperson for brokenness.  I put a TON of my life out there via this blog.  I am, pretty much, an open book.  BUT I try my best not to glorify the bad that I do cuz I don’t have any idea who reads this stuff.  I’d be stupid to think it’s only those who comment and if you think that about your blog, GET REAL! I used to look at stat programs and I know that’s not true and I don’t want one of my posts to be read by some vulnerable teenager, giving them motivation to be “broken” just like I am.  In turn, they convince themselves that EVERYTHING is ok because they’re saved.

Yes, He forgives all sins, but we can’t forget, He also knows our hearts.  Do we think He doesn’t notice that we ask forgiveness for the same sins EVERY day?  At what point are we taking advantage of the Grace He has given us?  At what point do we stop?

Trust me, I know things are difficult….especially when we’re talking about drinking, smoking, etc.  To finally QUIT and stop talking about God forgiving you for NOT quitting, is a vicious cycle.  I don’t have a problem with the struggle…..we all struggle…..I struggle….LOTS.   I welcome anyone who needs to talk and I would much rather you come talk to me, or anyone else for that matter, than you write a post about it once a month…or better yet, every week.  I admit that I have actually had the thought…”well, i don’t feel so bad now that I know so and so has the same issues.”  Man, I just think that’s a scary message to have out there.

Again, no, none of us are perfect, but sometimes I see things that seem like we’re using our struggles over and over to seem more Christian…..in the end, aren’t we saying that we’re not learning any lessons, cuz we keep having the same struggles?

I don’t have the answers.  I don’t expect for you to have them either, but would welcome your thoughts.

Care to enlighten me?

I have written about blog stats and how I used to watch them like I depended on them.  I have also written that I don’t watch the stats anymore.  Waste of time.  I’m not selling anything and if it should ever get to the point where 2 lost people read, that will be good enough.

Coming ever so forcefully into the picture and stealing a little bit of the blog thunder, I believe, is Twitter and Facebook.  I’m not really bothered by it cuz if people read here or there or where ever, they’re reading and hopefully being entertained, motivated or moved to give.  Anyway, not really what this post is about, but a few days ago someone pointed out that I had 777 followers on Twitter.  I chuckled and then went to take a look.  It’s true….well, it’s up to 780 now, but who’s counting?  LOL

See, it’s not so bad with Facebook cuz I actually know a lot of those people.  I graduated with 430 people and although they’re not all on there, a bunch of em are.  But with Twitter??  I literally laughed out loud for a good 20 seconds.  I don’t know 780 people!  The funniest part about it is what Twitter calls these people….FOLLOWERS.  If 780 people “follow” me on Twitter, I will run around your block naked, with makeup and a blonde wig on.  The word “follow” is used very loosely.  I supposedly “follow” 496 people.  OK!

Then there is Facebook. I have 340 friends.  Again, we’ll use the word “friends” loosely.  I promise ya I’ve only met 1/4 of them. I decided to count the Twitter folk and I’ve physically seen 32 of them.  Not gonna do that with Facebook cuz sifting through 780 Tweeters was more than enough.

What’s my point?  Well, I’ve watched enough Twitter to make some ill.  I see who people talk to regularly.  I see those who OBSESS over how many followers they have.  I’ve seen em brag to others about having more than them.  I’ve seen folks with 40 followers and folks with 1.2 million followers…and everywhere in between.  What bugs me is this: Of the 496 people I follow, 4 of them do not profess to be Christians.  That’s really my only Twitter strategy….if they follow me and are Christians, I’ll follow them back.  Sometimes I’ll have conversations with them and sometimes not.  Oh yeah, back to what bugs me….As I mentioned, I watch who these people talk to and it’s funny that NO ONE seems to regularly chat with more than 10-20 people.  More like 5-10 for most peeps.  But then ya have the pastors and worship leaders with thousands of followers.  Would you think they would be the ones speaking to the largest variety of people? In my experience, that’s not the case.

Just like the country club that is most churches, they “hang” with a certain click and ignore the rest.  I’ve held my own minor experiments, asking random questions to people with lots of followers just to see if I would get a response.  I’ve gotten responses from Bart Millard, lead singer of Mercy Me, Pete Wilson, pastor of Crosspoint church…..I even got a response from Perry Noble from New Spring…..These guys are probably some busy guys, but had time for the common folk.  But the vast majority won’t respond, but they will “follow” you.  They follow you thinking that if they don’t follow you, you won’t help pad their numbers and follow them back.  There are services so you can keep track of when people follow and unfollow you….I guess so you can beg them to not go…LOL  I used to use the service, but haven’t in a long while.  Like I said, I follow Christians and mostly Christians follow me.  These aren’t the people that Jesus told me to seek.  Seek the lost He said.  But wait….if they’re that much into themselves, maybe they are LOST.  Maybe so far lost that following me probably won’t help.

Well, whatever His plan is for them is not up to me.  I just expect more from people who claim to be Christians.  I expect them to be promoting Jesus, not themselves.  I expect for them to be giving of their time.  I expect that after they beg me to follow them to do more than try to sell me a book. I expect you to answer when I ask a question.  Maybe I can help you….maybe I can learn something from you.  I expect interaction….otherwise, what’s the point?

I’m just not gonna contribute to their egos anymore.

There….Rant over.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

g title="Bretzky" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitter_production/profile_images/51839983/Interceptor_concept3.03_normal.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="48" height="48" />

Ok, so I’m not a big tech genius like some of you out there, but I know a good thing when I see it.  Speaking of tech geniuses, I found this on the blog of one.  Check out his blog HERE.  This post is basically copied from there .

More about Flock:  If you like Firefox, you’ll love Flock.  It’s basically the same, except it is tailor made for the social network junkie, like myself.  Here’s some of the networks supported:

I know, if you’re a social freak like me, you’re sweatin about now.  All this in one screen.  I don’t get all jacked up about computer stuff in general, but this thing is making life easier .  Not only can you integrate all of these networks into Flock, I am writing this blog post from there.  I just click the blog button and drag and drop whatever pics or media I want in the post and here we are.  Yes, drag and drop and Flock embeds it for ya.  That’s worth the download right there.

Anyway, try it out and let me know how it works for ya.

flock-style

Ok, so I donated, I Twittered about it, I even sent an email to everyone in my address book, asking them to get involved.  It’s just not good enough though. I’m a HUGE fan of Mercy Me and a daily reader of their blog. Their efforts to find a cure for juvenile diabetes is awesome and I think everyone should help out; not just the people in my address book.  Watch the video, then click the link below it to put your wallet on a diet.  I have a theory:  If you have a computer that you’re reading this on, or a job that has computers that you’re reading this on….YOU HAVE A DOLLAR TO DONATE.  So, get on outa here and give a little!!

Click here to support Sam’s car.