IRL (In the Real World): For years I have been watchful of our families Internet usage. Not a week goes by when I don't hear about someone getting abducted or abused by someone that they met on the Internet. I personally know of a woman who "fell in love" with someone on the Internet, only to find that her Prince Charming was a 56 year old man who was unemployed and the father of 5 (not the international businessman that he claimed, or the 40 something hunk that he sent as his picture). In our small town near us a girl (15) made her way to the big city to meet up with a boy that she met on the Internet, only to be assaulted by the 35 year old man that had been posing as a young teen.

So when we decided to allow IM and blogs I thought that it would be a good idea to watch who they are chatting with and e-mailing. So you won't be surprised when someone admitted that they had met someone on the Internet and they wanted to go spend a night in a hotel in Nashville to meet with them. Okay, maybe a little surprised. I decided that we might want to back up and think twice about this. I finally convinced my wife that this may not be all that it appears and she met her friend today at church and then we all went to lunch afterwards.

It was pretty cool actually, a lot better than I had thought that it would be. The woman was someone that she met in a home schooling discussion board and was in the area for a family reunion. So we met for a few hours and I am sure that this will not be the last meeting, really nice lady.

Blogger Gets Fired: This is another one of those stories that CNN is so found of regading someone who does something wrong and refuses to face the consequences of their actions. The blogger in question said some inflamitory things regarding the company where she works. So what, I say inflamitory things about where I work, and I run the place. But what got her in trouble was that she was using her work time (and I suppose a company computer) to blog to her thousands of daily readers. The company said "Enough!" and gave her the boot. But the article talks about her "right" to blog (she is now suing the company). She claims that she was doing a private blog and it is her right to spend her free time as she wishes.

Reality Check. Every company that I have worked for has had some policy on the use of company property for personal use. The last company I asked for (in writing) the "right" to use my cellular for personal use when I was traveling and the right to use my computer to communicate with my family, also when traveling. But this was a different situation, I wasn't sitting in an office, I was giving my personal time to the company by traveling. If my employees wanted to blog on their free time, I don't think that I would have a problem with it, so long as they asked. I wonder if she asked?

The Stupid Family (courtesy CNN, America's favorite liberal press): Okay, I have always wondered how stupid some people can get, but this article really just proved how amazingly liberal that CNN is. The article is about a poor family that was vacationing in Lebanon and has been stranded for a week in Beruit. Okay, who vacations in Beruit? Beruit is the symbol of a disasterous city? Probably the only place worse for a vacation would be Chernobyl. Can't you just picture that conversation

"Honey, I was thinking about our vacation this year. How about Beruit?"

"Oh, we were really hoping to go to Bagdad."

The only way that Beruit could be a vacation spot is if they live in south central LA! (in fact, I googled them, they do live in Orange County, so I wasn't off by much). They say that they wanted to baptize their 9-month old son there. Okay, but why now? Why doesn't the husband have enough sense to think "Hey, I am in a country that is in conflict with another country that has lots of bombs, I might want to make this a quick trip." But nooooo! They stay there for a month. A month for vacation? Wow, that is some baptism. I had the honor of baptizing all four of my angels and it took about 10 minutes each. I am unaware of any culture that needs a month to baptize someone. The Catholics tend to take the longest and I have never heard of a baptism service that took much longer than an hour.

(Note to Station Chief, Middle East, Central Intelligence Agency: You guys might want to check out their story, sounds a little fishy)

Now to the folks at CNN. How pathetic are you when you have to feature a kid holding a sign that says "Please Get Us Out!". Where is the sign that says "My Dad is an Idiot!" If I were stupid enough to take my family into a hostile location for vacation I would also probably resort to this kind of publicity to get a free trip home. But, common sense says that if I were in a country that was being bombed I would leave immediately. I would walk if I have to. It seems to me that if they have been there for a month that they probably know there way around fairly well. The article says that Tony Esseily is from Lebanon. Is he such a screw up that his family there doesn't want anything to do with him? Why are they now trying to place blame on Lebanon for their plight. And Monika, quit complaining, you married him for better or worse. Guess what? This is the worse part.

There is nothing, NOTHING, in this article which qualifies for news. It is the story of a family that has made a series of bad (and suspicious) decisions and now wants to blame someone else for their problems.

Let Freedom Ring! It seems to be a rare thing when the judicial system does something correct these days, but finally someone has. Today a judge ruled that the search of Rep. William Jefferson (D -Louisianna) was legal. Hello? It was done with a search warrant, of course it was legal. We don't live in a monarchy or a dictatorship where our leaders get to do antyhing that they want (with the exception to the Kennedy's of course). The case against Jefferson (soon to be refered to as citizen Jefferson) is huge. His former aide plead guilty, his business partner plead guilty. They found $90,000 in a freezer ("I don't know how that got there!") with serial numbers matching a sting run by the FBI. They have him on video tape taking a bribe. The question seems to be why isn't this guy in jail?

The Stupid Groundhog Game: Have you ever been to the fair, or maybe even a mall arcade and seen that supid game where you see a groundhog pop out of a whole and you have to hit in the head with a sledge hammer or shoot it? I have been playing that all day, but with real groundhogs and real bullets. The stupid things are winning! I think that I have gone through a half a case of .380 shells and a couple dozen .22s.

The Line of Sin: Let me begin by saying that I am far from perfect and a sinner through and through. I don’t condemn those who I know are living lives filled with sin, but I look at my own life and see where I need to make course corrections. Throughout my life I have had one sin or another that I have battled. I suppose that right now worry is the current war against the flesh, maybe a lack of faith in God’s provision.

But there are sins that just don’t get in my way. I wish that all sin was this way, and maybe I have the secret and just need to apply it to everything in my life. In Jerry Bridges “The Pursuit of Holiness” he shares that most people look at sin as “how far can I go until this is sinful” while the holy person says “this is sinful, I must stay as far away from that as possible”. There is the difference.

I have one area that I have “mastered” for years. To many this isn’t a sin, but because I have chosen that narrow road and said that I need to stay as far away from it as possible, it has been much more easy for me. I have one good friend who has even bragged about his appreciation of this area. It is the drink. Alcohol, booze, hooch, whatever you want to call it. I have said that I will not indulge and stay away. At a large golf outing recently I was the lone abstainer. It seemed to bother the other guys in my foursome more than it did me. I have become used to seeing the strange faces when I say no to a glass of wine at dinner, a beer on the golf course, or a glass of Frangelico after a big meeting. But this is the line that I have chosen. It is closer than others, and it is easy for me.

This week a study by the University of Washington has said that even one drink can seriously impair you. I have thought this all along. If a state says that .08 makes you legally drunk, isn’t .079 really just about the same? If I get pulled over because of erratic driving and blow a .05, doesn’t that say that my driving was impaired enough that I shouldn’t be driving anyway? This is foolishness. People want to say that one drink isn’t going to change their behavior, but it does. Just one drink.

As a believer I have the other issue, the stumbling brother. If you are a Christian you know where I am on this. If you are not, then ask and I will explain it. In my case it isn’t just the stumbling brother, it is the four children that God has entrusted to my care. If I have spent my entire life abstaining (and for just reasons in my heart) and decided that just a glass of wine was okay, what does that say to my kids?

You may choose to consume alcohol, and most of you reading this will. As for me, I will stay away from that line.