andrew dodson

One year ago today, I posted this:

I don’t really like using the phrase “New Year’s Resolutions,” but here’s a list of things I’d like to accomplish in 2005 (in no particular order):

1. Continue to grow as a Christian.
2. Continue to improve my health & fitness.
3. Pay off all credit cards. (CompUSA)
4. Spend money wisely.
5. Act upon the opportunity to get raises at work.
6. Keep in better touch with family & friends.
7. Obtain more recording/web design opportunities.

We’ll look back on this list on December 31, 2005 and evaluate my success.

Of that list, #1, 3, 4, 5, & 7 happened. As for #2, I wouldn’t say my health & fitness got worse, but I definitely slacked on going to the gym. To that end, I’ve gone to the gym four times this past week, and have plans to continue to go at least that much in the coming weeks. In regard to #6, I don’t really have a reason (meaning, I don’t want to make excuses). I occasionally call up old friends, but the “keeping in better touch with family” part has been lacking.

Overall, 2005 was a good year. I’ve experienced a lot of personal growth. I feel like there are some very interesting things in store for 2006. I don’t know what, and I’m not going to set any expectations. We’ll just have to see what happens…

Seemingly, Vertex is back on the right track. The last several months have been a bit unorganized when it comes to the lead team and Vertex. Bit, we have met twice in the past few weeks, which is encouraging. The next Vertex is January 6th, with another lead team meeting the following Friday.

There is an extreme amount of potential for Vertex as a ministry in this community. I don’t think we’ve come remotely close to what Vertex could be. Hopefully, through prayer, planning and God’s leading, we can help Vertex reach its full potential.

If any of you would like to come to the next Vertex, check out the link above for more information. In particular, if you’re a young adult and are looking for something positive to do in Frankfort, we’d like you to visit Vertex.

I’ve got one more day left to get some things done, and I’m afraid I won’t get done everything I’d hoped. I’ve enjoyed having the week off, but I’m not ready to go back to work. I almost wish I had another week off, and maybe then, I’d get caught up on website projects, recordings, etc.

I’m a bit discouraged at this point, but hopefully, I can make some more progress tomorrow and get done whatever I can.

The good news is that by spending so much time on website projects this week, I’ve learned several things along the way.

Just to catch you up on my “Week of Productivity”:

I haven’t done as much as I’d hoped to this point, but things are getting done. I still have most of tomorrow, Saturday, and part of Sunday to get more done.

Most of all, I need to update the member bios on the LBB website. After that, I’ll need to work on recordings to get CD orders mailed out.

Still a lot to do and time’s running out. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…

It’s late…once again. And my brain hurts.

I spent this afternoon watching a video at Josh’s. It was crazy long (around four hours), but very good. It discussed the history and theology behind Calvinism. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a Calvinist (yet), but it challenged my beliefs and shed some light on questions I have about Scripture. I would love to watch the same style of video in support of Arminianism. I feel like I have a lopsided point of view right now.

As of right now, I’m taking a break from working on the new JMB website. It’s coming along, but very slowly. As my web development skills have improved, I’ve noticed it takes me much longer to create a site than when I first started. More content, more graphics, more stuff in general.

Time – 2:45 a.m.

Why am I up so late, you ask? I’ve been figuring out that I have it made by using iPowerweb as a web host for most of my websites. I discovered this while trying to set up a Wordpress blog on the Josh Martin Band website, which is hosted through Yahoo. The problem lied in having to set up a MySQL database (of which I know nothing about) using phpMyAdmin (which I know nothing about). I then had to update the wp-config.php file in Wordpress to reflect the database name, user name and password. By using an extremely small amount of logic and a whole lot of luck, I finally figured it out. The glory of iPowerweb is that it does all of this automatically. Yahoo does not.

Next up will be importing our current blog to the new blog. Soon after, I’ll unveil the new site design I’ve been working on, complete with a photo gallery, sound clips, and hopefully an online store in the near future. At the rate of tonight’s developments, we should see the new JMB site by 2009. Goodnight…

Recently, my Sunday School class tackled the issue of why God allows evil. This topic is one of the most often used arguments by non-Christians to refute the existence of God. They say, “If God is a loving God, why does He allow evil?”

The answer is two-fold. First up is Jonathan Edwards (follow that link for more info on Mr. Edwards). He says in regard to sin and evil:

“There would be no manifestation of God’s grace or true goodness, if there was no sin to be pardoned, no misery to be saved from.”

In short, I believe we’d be living in a perfect world with no sin or evil. That would completely rule out our need for God and His salvation. There has to be standard set in place to define good and bad, with God representing the good.

John Piper adds to the subject with the following:

“2 Corinthians12:7, where Paul says that his thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan and yet was given for the purpose of his own holiness…Which means that here Satan is being used by God to accomplish His good purpose in Paul’s life.”

Part two of the answer is a bit more vague. What was God’s purpose behind the tsunami? Why did Katrina happen? If God is in control of all things, why does He create such disasters? The Old Testament is full of examples of God using disease and disasters to show judgement upon those who turn away from him (see: story about Noah). The bottom line is, however, we cannot try to comprehend God’s purpose behind every event in the world. If we could understand God, that would put us on the same level as Him. That’s not the case – God’s God and we’re not.

My conclusion is the same as Mr. Piper’s from above. God allows Satan to work in the world, He allows evil to happen, for one reason alone – to make us more holy. To set the standard of the kind of life He wants us to live – void of all sin and evil. Sure, bad things are going to happen to good people (see: story about Job). God gives and God takes away. However, if we can say “blessed be the name of the Lord,” when these things happen, He’ll be truly pleased.

I’ve been spending some time over at Crosswalk this week. It’s a great site with plenty of Bible reference material, devotionals and more. Go check it out…

Crosswalk.com – Devotionals, Christian Music, Family, Christian News, Forums & more

Okay, so I’m a little late with this post. Christmas sort of jumped up on me this year, and I’ll be honest… I never really got into the holiday spirit. I guess with being so busy at work and trying to keep up outside of work, it was hard to focus on enjoying this time of year. I tried to not lose site of the reason, though.

Isaiah 9:6

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

(NKJV) says:

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

For more on the story of Christmas, be sure to read Luke chapters 1-3, which also includes the story of John the Baptist.

One of my early Christmas gifts was a copy of John Piper’s Desiring God. Another of my many goals and things-to-do this week includes attempting to read this book in one week. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on my progress, and share how the book is creating a desire for God in me.