The UmBlog

LED wheels from Monkelectric

Thanks to the blog of Green Home Building and Sustainable Architecture I learned there are round houses with courtyards made from rammed earth in China called Tulou . These things are awesome in too many ways. Since the Dilbert DUH house I've liked the luxury of a courtyard. And I am a sucker for a round house. And rammed earth is almost like having an earth-sheltered house. But these houses are made for family clans to live together. They are big. But I love them so much. Some information on these houses as well as Chinese architecture in general here . This picture and specific historical information on these houses here . Both sites have close ups including of the interiors as well as more aerials showing clusters of these homes, like a mass UFO landing. update Dec. 2010. I found a travel article about these complexes on a Chinese news website . There are more pictures and more information. Great info, When I first read about tulou (literally, earthen buildings) I wa...

Most people find summer a great time to read books, but I haven't. In the winter when we are trapped inside because of lousy weather, then I have time to read, but now...I'd rather bike around Block Island , Rhode Island. One book I can't finish at this time is The Invasion of America by Francis Jennings. It interests me as he discusses the tribes that still live in my area, the Narragansetts, Niantics, Pequots and Mohegans. He described Block Island as a "mint" of wampum, the pre- and post-colonial currency of the area (p.93) An Englishman, Captain John Oldham, was murdered near Block Island and the native inhabitants were presumed guilty. A punitive party was sent to mete out "justice," but were unsuccessful. The expedition turned into an expensive fiasco, however. On Block Island, English guns and armor easily overcame the Indians' brief resistance, but no amount of trudging about that isolated tiny tract of land would disclose the Indians after ...

Sadly, not a week goes by that someone arrives at my blog searching for topics such as "6 y. o. sex" or "pro child sex" or worse. It is dreadful. They come here because of a post I did on a 6 year old girl rescued from the sex trade in Cambodia. I'm glad perverts are briefly confronted with the tragedy of their sin when they arrive at my blog. I doubt it helps them much though. I do want to note, again, that the International Justice Mission is an organization trying to rescue those enslaved in the sex trade and are worth your support. However, I have a crazy idea about confounding the search for perversion. If those of us with blogs included such awful key words in blog posts but with pointers to the tragedy suffered by children and the hope offered by organizations such as IJM perhaps we can confound those seeking such depravity. Let me know if you do it with a comment here.

Gayle Erwin is a traveling Bible teacher who really grasps grace. His style is humorous and profound. He has really influenced me as a teacher. This method of preparation for teaching from his latest newsletter is a gift. I encourage all to read the jokes and the teaching at the newsletter then listen to his streaming broadcasts (or watch video ) as well as purchase his book, The Jesus Style . Sometimes I tell an audience that I wish they could see the Bible through my eyes. It would truly come alive. I try to put myself in a passage, become a character there or an observing bystander, look around and think of what I might be seeing and what might have led up to the event recorded. Then I ask what the event or passage tells me about God, about his character, about his actions. Next, I ask what the passage tells me about myself, my character, my actions and thoughts. Finally, I ask what action the passage urges or commands me to take or what warnings of actions to avoid. Onc...

Can be listened to here , or downloaded from iTunes, see here .

Our Big Daddy You are totally awesome Make things here like at home Come back soon We're hungry We're sorry We forgave the other kids Can we sit on your lap? You are totally awesome...

Please stop and watch for 2 minutes and 47 seconds... HT: Stuff Christians Like

Recently, I read the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Some people I know will say out loud, "Finally," as they read this. It actually was pretty eye opening. Now I know the basis of every After school Special I ever watched. It also explained to me some of the American Christian culture, not the evangelical culture in particular, but in general. It also explains why I hated English literature so much, they were so polite that nothing ever happened!!! Below are the points made in Carnegie's book. His techniques are used throughout the book as well. It's hard not to become a Carnegite after reading it. He weaves in testimonies of Carnegites who repented and came to faith in Dale's ways with spectacular results. Not that Dale's ways are so bad. It's barely about memorizing people's names. It's about treating others as you would like to be treated, with respect, with focus, with interest. How hard can it be? As any Chri...