Archive for September, 2003
President Bush’s thinking for good
Was referred to a heart-felt unscripted message by President Bush about his thinking behind the faith-based initiative, that allocates a portion of federal funds for faith-based community services. In this transcript of President Bush on Faith-Based Initiative, you can get his heartbeat on how he feels about serving those in need, and using every means possible, and faith or non-faith should not be a factor in obtaining available funds and resources for good people to do good works.
CSS Template Maker
http://www.inknoise.com/experimental/layoutomatic.php
“Select a layout type, width, and other options to the left, and then click Download or View and pick up your multi-column CSS layout starter kit (turning it into something unique and beautiful not included). You’re welcome to use the resulting generated layouts for any purpose, personal or commercial.”
Asian American males
Question>> I noticed many Asian christian men have an unrealistic view of marriage or are afraid to get married once they’re in a relationship – this in contrary proportion to my observations of white Christian men and I’m talking about committed believers – what is about 2nd generation Asian American guys?
djchuang >> While your question is asked out of sincere curiosity based on your personal observations, it may be offensive to some who are sensitive about cross-cultural comparisons. With that disclaimer ackowledged, let me try to interpret that observation a little bit.
Most of not all men, regardless of cultural background or ethnicity, have an unrealistic view of marriage, and has fear about marriage and committed relationships. There’s some truth to the stereotype that men are afraid of commitment, and that stereotype comes from the mainstream, largely white, culture. The difference you observe may be mostly this: that there are different cultural expressions of how that unrealistic view and that fear is expressed. A 2nd generation Asian American may be comparatively less overtly aggressive in pursuing a marriage relationship and/or more thoughtful about counting the cost of it, than his Anglo counterpart. Generalizations such as this are not very helpful, b/c I can find you an Asian male that is much more aggressive than an Anglo male, so do be careful in how you share your observations. It may be more helpful to help men of all backgrounds to deal with their common fears and misperceptions (cf. Larry Crabb’s Silence of Adam — generally, Asian men express silence differently than Anglo men, but both may be silent nevertheless).
a generous life
this weekend I’m at an event that’s quite posh, being hosted at the Four Seasons Aviara (near San Diego), and will be serving and interacting with high net-worth individuals.. my body shuddered walking into this place, which is extremely nice, as I’m initially nervous in being at a place that is so nice, and the hotel staff is here waiting on my beck and call, and it’ll take me a few more hours to get used to it.. one feature offered by 2 sponsors is an Internet room (so I can blog at hi-speed)..
what’s (one of) the most amazing things about the attendance is that they (most if not all) are approachable, personable, conversational, humble, and generous, very different from the stereotype of rich people being snobbish, penurious, standoffish, etc.. now they do spend money carefully and wisely, recognizing that all they’ve earned is a gift of God, for which they’re diligent in being good stewards, and they’ve come as learners to help each other be strategic, share their successes and failures, very transparently, and there’s lots of great conversations.. I’m in the mix not b/c of my net-worth, but b/c I’m a staff person who works for some high net-worth people [and this event allows us to tag along] 
and with the amenities and excursions available, I’m probably going to spend most of it getting into conversations..
the other sub-text to all of this is: it actually doesn’t matter how much money or resources you have, you can be generous with what you have.. that’s what Generous Giving is beginning to teach people about the real meaning of money (or at least, the Biblical meaning of money that’s often not talked about in many churches and among many Christians).. very helpful and freeing..
spinnin’ round
had a whole entry typed out here using my new Palm Tungsten C, but its built-in WiFi disconnected.. its behavior has been intermittent, not sure if it’s my home wireless router or its conserve power feature or what.. upgraded to the T/C from my Zire 71, as it’s in transit of being thrice replaced (and will eBay it upon its return).. just got it last night from FedEx b/c they wouldn’t deliver it without signature, and I’m road-warrioring in San Diego starting Wednesday (through Sunday).. as I was nearing my destination last night, after some lighter drizzling rain, during my turn left from Norbeck onto E Gude (Rockville), my car fishtails counter-clockwise, and I’m spinning out of control, couldn’t brake and couldn’t steer, so rode it out.. and by God’s grace (or sheer luck, if that’s your theology, or lack thereof) I didn’t hit anything or anyone, just stopped right in the middle of the road, completely 180 degrees turned around(!) did a K-turn to right myself, and got my package, charged it up last night, and during my intermittent sleep pattern of the past few days,
recalled the car accidents I had gotten myself into in my adult life.. most of them (3 out of 4) were in turns.. the one that just happened, and previous to that was 1993 in Dallas, on a dry road, at an intersection where I was too tired from a day of driving as a courier, and eased out into an intersection, forgetting to look both ways, and got sideswiped on the driver’s side by an innocent driver.. I quit my courier job that week, after a 6-month run. In Fall of 1988, in my first new car (‘88 Mercury Topaz) when I took a L-turn too fast leaving church one night, and wound up in the road-side ditch.. car must’ve been no more than 2 months old, and I ruined the rear axle, never drove the same. Around 1982, my first car accident was in my Dad’s bright yellow Dodge Dart, on a lightly wet road, I’m following a friend, and going into an intersection taking the right fork, I accelerate into the turn, and swerved slightly out of control to the right curb, and ruined the front axle.. wet roads and turns don’t do mix with me.