andrew dodson

Posted by mobile phone:
I am currently at Morehead’s graduation to see Julie.s brother graduate. I think I’d like to start a movement to replace Pomp and Circumstance with something more lively at graduations. At least something less repetitive. Congrats Phillip!

I am currently listening to Mark Driscoll’s Doctrine series.  I really, really enjoyed his sermon on creation.  You can watch the video below, or visit the sermon page where it is available to download in a variety of formats.

My new employer, 524Concepts recently launched two church websites.  You can see screenshots of the sites below that are linked to their sites.  I had a small hand in the Williamstown site, but a bigger role in the Crestwood site.  We are currently developing two sites in support of the Crossings camp ministry.  They should both launch within the next month.  Also in the pipeline are sites for at least three other churches, and a non-profit or two.  All of this, along with the possibility of a few bigger organizations in the near future.  Exciting times at 524!

A month or two ago, I posted about a new Bible reading plan that I had started.  I really, really loved the plan.  But, ultimately, I started to miss a day here and there.  Then, a couple of days.  Next thing you know, I’d only read through the plan two or three times in a week.  The plan took around 30-45 minutes each day to read, and unfortunately, I wasn’t dedicating that much time to Bible reading in my day.

I had started my new job in Louisville, so I was leaving earlier and getting home later at night.  On top of this, I was juggling several other things and – once again – I wasn’t dedicating the time in my day to read.  Excuses, excuses, I know.

I started thinking about alternatives.  I have raved about the accessibility of the ESV in the past – it’s available online, through email, iTunes, RSS feeds, or you can print the reading plans and read in your own Bible.  Their reading plans are listed on this page.  I chose the “Every Day in the Word” plan – an Old Testament reading, New Testament reading, a Psalm, and a couple of verses of Proverbs.

Now, I have no excuse to not get some sort of Bible reading in throughout the day.  I have subscribed to the podcast, so each day, I transfer that day’s audio to my iPod and listen on the way home from work (sometimes I listen to it twice).  I also have the plan emailed to me, and finally, I have a printed copy in my Bible.  These plans take less than fifteen minutes each day, and I’m finiding it much easier to keep up.

My Bible reading plan has me going through the book of Judges right now.  When I started reading it, I admit that I wasn’t terribly excited.  Something like, “Great.  Another boring Old Testament book that seemingly has no application whatsoever to my life.”  Today, I’ll read the final chapters and move on to Ruth.  I have to say, I’ve enjoyed reading through Judges – much more than I thought.  I mean, you can’t go wrong with the story of Eglon and Ehud.  I’ll spare the details, but what a great, somewhat funny story.  And, in chapter 19, I sort of get a kick out of the father-in-law that won’t let his Levite son-in law go home.  And, of course, the story of Samson.  There is deeper application to the book than I will get into here, but it’s just another very clear example that all of Scripture is profitable to our lives.

A couple of days ago, I was the recipient of good will.  I arrived home from work, entered my apartment and noticed a package sitting in the middle of my kitchen floor.  I realized my landlord had probably brought the package to my apartment since it was too big for my mailbox.

Stepping in to my living room, I noticed something else.  There were vacuum cleaner marks on my carpet.  Or, so I thought.

Before I go on, you have to know some of the back story on the carpet in my apartment.  The previous tenant lived there for seven years and, apparently, never thought about keeping the carpet clean.  There were spills, cigarette burns and general filth.  I was a little disappointed that my landlord did not replace the carpet before I moved in (though I did get a fresh coat of paint).

Now that you are caught up:  As I inspected the vacuum marks, I realized they had actually shampooed my carpet.  I had thought about renting a carpet shampooer in the past, but never really had the desire to rent one, or the desire to spend the money on one.

The one final piece to the story is this:  Earlier in the morning, I had emptied my trash, but left the bag sitting in my kitchen.  My hands were full as I was heading out to work, so I left it there – to be taken out later.  I looked in my kitchen and the bag was gone.

All in one day, my landlord had delivered a package to me, shampooed my carpets and taken out my trash.  So, thanks, landlord.  I really do appreciate it.