I’ve always tried to be the best Dad I can be; making sure my kids had everything they needed, food on the table a roof over their head and clothes on their back. But I ran across a blog post by my son today that really made me feel like I had failed as a Dad.

My oldest son said in a blog post that he lives in a family were he doesn’t feel loved and wants to run off with his girlfriend. Now maybe I’m being overly concerned like most Dad’s. After all it could just be a rant on his part, but it still makes you wonder why the kid would say something like that. Especially when you see things differently.

I’ve always felt I give Josh pretty much everything he asks for. He doesn’t have a need for anything so I wonder if it’s a case where it’s not love that he feels is lacking but more so respect.

I can’t see why he would feel unloved, I get up early and go out of my way to drive him to school because he doesn’t like to ride the bus, I give him money for lunch cause he doesn’t like to brown bag it, I don’t ask him to do very much around the house. Basically he is in charge of taking out the garbage once a week and washing the dishes every other day. I don’t think that’s too much.

I can’t help but to think maybe its because I have never had the quality time to spend with him or his brothers / sister that would make him feel that way. My schedule is very hectic. I leave for work at 7am and get home around 6-6:30pm. Three nights a week I pick up my great niece from the sitter and feed and watch her until her mom gets off work. After picking her up, we eat dinner (if I convince Chris to cook) then if no one has anything going on, I work on my side job most of the night. which is usually betwee 9pm and midnight.

I could give up the side work, but that would mean less money coming in and the family as a whole would need to give up some of the luxuries they now have. It’s frustrating to feel like you are doing everything you can to help provide the things they want the most then hear comments like the kids don’t feel loved.

I wish I didn’t need to do the extra work or that I knew “HOW” to spend more time with the kids to make them happier but I don’t know what to do.

What makes a kid feel loved more? How do you spend quality time with the kids on a budget?

I could be over-reacting, but it still makes me sad to think all my efforts and sacrifices over the years have been for nothing…

I have long been a fan of Google and when the Android operating system came out I was very interested in the G1 but I just couldn’t bear to replace my crackberry but while at the store I found myself looking more and more at the MyTouch 3G Fender Edition. What a cool looking phone with everything I would need.

Now having been a Blackberry addict for a long time I was able to whip out an email or text message or BBM in seconds flat! My biggest concern was going to be the change to a touchscreen phone vs my already superb typing skills on the Blackberry. I decided I would try the MyTouch 3G for the 14 days and if I didn’t like it I could always bring it back and get the Bold 9700.

I’ve now had the MyTouch for about a month and am really happy I kept it.

The MyTouch 3G Fender Edition sports a cool “Starburst” Fender Paint job which in some respects makes it much more difficult to put this cool looking phone into a case or skin and hide the design. The phone comes with a screen protector but a Zagg protective skin is recommended.

The MyTouch comes with a 384Mhz Snapdragon processor, 296MB of internal storage for all your apps, a 16GB SD card for your music and pictures and 191MB of Ram. Now while this is a pretty good setup, most of it will be obsolete next year when the 1Ghz phones come out but by then I’ll be looking to upgrade to the Nexus 1.

One of the coolest things about the MyTouch Fender Edition is the packaging. The phone comes not in a box, but in a cool reusable case. Check out the video below to see the packaging and un-boxing.

Some Pros and Cons:

Pros:

• The phone feels great in your hands. Compared to this, the Blackberry feels like a plastic toy.
• Call clarity is superb. You can’t even tell you’re on a mobile phone.
• The apps you can get for the Android OS are amazing. Everything you could every imagine.
• Music sounds great and videos play with easy especially with the built in Youtube app.

Cons:

• Typing on the MyTouch sucks. It has slowed me way down, but I’m still learning. The great thing is the predictive text which helps compensate for your fat finger typing.
• I miss BBM. BBM was cool, easy to use and great to chat with friends. But as more and more of my friends move to Gmail, we just use Google Chat instead.
• The volume level stinks. Its hard to hear on speaker phone and I can’t even hear the alarm going off. Luckily the 3.5mm jack allows you to connect to speakers.

Overall I have to say I am very impressed with the MyTouch 3G Fender Edition and the Android operating system. Yes, the typing is slow, but I’ll get better.

Peace… G

Hi Rev. Patch,
I hope all is well for you tonight. The children’s pageant was great today!

I am a newcomer to your church, you spoke to my wife briefly today about us becoming members. I wanted to take a moment and share my story.

During my childhood, I was raised by a Mother who was Catholic and a Father who was atheist. While my Mother believed in God, she allowed the children to determine their own faith. Having no exposure to Christ, I went on through my years sometimes believing, sometimes not.

It wasn’t until after I got married and had children that I started to really question the existence of God and like so many others, it was always in times of hardship. We’ve had some hard times throughout our life together (23 years), and we face some now. My wife Jennifer lost her job and our house is in jeopardy of repossession.

Needless to say, I questioned why God would do this to me. I was a faithful husband and a good father, why is it that I should have these troubles when I see so many evil men prospering? Why would an almighty God allow this to happen to his children?

Things got so bad at one point I started calling myself an atheist. Things just got worse… Now having said I felt I was an atheist, I still read the bible from front to back, studied all the religious stories and got married in a church.

One thing I never noticed though was that every time we were in real trouble, things worked out in the end. For some reason. Yes, it was an inconvenience, but they worked out (Usually for the better).

I started seeing that friends of mine who had accepted Jesus into their life and into their heart where always doing well. Things were always working out for them. I started to feel jealous that they should prosper and I sit and wallow in my own pity.

I feel that I am a successful man. I have a good job, I have great children and a loving wife. I served on the Rochester Hills City Council for 8 years allowing me to full fill a lifelong dream. But still something is missing in my life.

When I found out about the back taxes we owed and the fact we were going to loose the house, I asked myself why? Why is this happening to me again? Many a sleepless nights have been had questioning what I’ve done wrong.

The answer was simple.

I never fully accepted Jesus into my heart and into my life.

As you may know, my daughter played snowflake in the children’s pageant this year. She participates regularly on Wednesday nights. Two weeks ago, she told us she needed to go to church on Sunday as they were going to practice. I thought this would be a great chance for us to go to Sunday service and see what the church was about.

We attended Sunday service and felt so welcome by you and the other members of the church, we decided that we want to be part of Redeemer. I couldn’t help but to hold back the tears in my eyes last week and again this week as we stood to pray and talked about Jesus’ love. I know he forgives me, but now I have to forgive myself for not accepting him for so long.

Personally, I feel a man needs to live life by seven values that make up the principals of Courage, Love and Truth. Those principals are Compasion, Honesty, Honor, Justice, Sacrifice, Valor and Spirituality. It is easy now to see my life was incomplete.

Now I know my problems are not going to go away just because I started going to church. After all, God gave us free will and it was my free will that got me into this mess. I can only ask for his forgiveness and guidance to get me out of it and hope that you and the members of the church will accept Jennifer and I into your church as well.

Your kindness and the kindness of the members of the church touched me so much that I wanted to give something back in addition to the offerings during service. Seeing that God has given me a talent, I felt I should use it in his name. I have reserved the domain name http://www.redeemermissionary.org and would like to create a website for the church as my gift to you. For making me feel Jesus in my heart and for filling a spot that has been empty for some time.

Thank you again, for all you have given me.

See you Wednesday Night,

Gerald Robbins

As I accept faith in Jesus Christ, one of the things I looked for was what does it mean to be Christian? Is it enough to just say I believe in Jesus Christ and go to Church every Sunday? Or is there more to it than that?

I read the Bible, front to back and back again, but for whatever reason, scripture alone just wasn’t enough. I need to know how to take scripture and apply it in my everyday life.  In essence, how do I be “Christian.”

I set out on a journey to learn as much as I could about Christianity and just what it means. Below you’ll find my first installment of this series, “The Beatitudes”.

Again, what you read below are my thoughts and views on how to take the teachings of Christ and apply them in everyday life.  They are not meant to be scholarly teachings or analytical reviews, rather my personal thoughts based on the research preformed by me.

I hope my thoughts give you reason to search for yourself and help guide you through your discovery as a Christian.

Peace,

Gerry

The Beatitudes
Jesus Christ gave us the eight Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded for all posterity in the Gospel of Matthew, the first Book of the New Testament of the Bible. Jesus offers us a way of life that promises eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Ten Commandments, given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the Old Testament Book of Exodus, relates a series of “Thou shalt nots,” evils one must avoid in daily life on earth.

In contrast, the message of Jesus was one of humility, charity, and brotherly love. He taught transformation of the inner person. Jesus presents the Beatitudes in a positive sense, virtues in life which will ultimately lead to reward. Love becomes the motivation for the Christian. All of the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us salvation – not in this world, but in the next. The Beatitudes initiate one of the main themes of Matthew’s Gospel, that the Kingdom so long awaited in the Old Testament is not of this world, but of the next, the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The first beatitude from Matthew does not indicate that simply the only way to get into the kingdom of heaven is to sell all your personal belongings and take a life of poverty. It means do not place high value on material items. Be humble before the Lord for those who are humble in spirit are blessed by God. The poor who are arrogant, deceitful and full of envy have no access to the kingdom of heaven even though they are poor.

Everyday Actions: Be humble before the Lord. Do not be arrogant; rather be thankful for what the Lord has provided. Give thanks every day from the bottom of your heart for the cries of the poor are heard in heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
The easiest way to understand this Beatitude is that Jesus wants you to mourn for your sins. In other words, be sorry for the sins you have committed and ask forgiveness. According to St. John Chrysostom’s Homilies on Matthew, XV, he says: “And again, in this Beatitude, Christ doesn’t speak of those who weep for any kind of causes, but of those who weep for their sins. Any other weep is strictly forbidden, like crying for earthly goods”.

Everyday Actions: Be sorry for your sins. There is not a man born from woman alive that is without sin. Be truly sorry for the sins you have committed and ask for forgiveness every day. Do not mourn because someone else has a nicer car or better job; mourn because you have sinned in the eyes of the Lord and be comforted by the knowledge that by asking for his forgiveness, you will find your place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
The third Beatitude is a paraphrase of Psalm 37:11. “But the meek shall inherit the earth…”and has no connotation of poverty, meaning a person who is humble and gentle despite his wealth. Moses, for example, was not the poorest of all men, but was the meekest. In fact, the Third Beatitude is a promise for everyone who rightfully serves God and has little to do with amounts of money or quantities of land. Everyone who rightfully serves the Lord must be meek, despite any possible wealth. From the Christian perspective of salvation, the earth inherited by the meek is the “new earth” of salvation described in Revelation 21:1.

Everyday Actions: In essence, don’t be a jerk. Be humble and gentle before the Lord. Look for the good in things rather than always looking for the worst. Cutting someone off while in the store parking lot so you get the closer parking space in not considered being meek! Don’t flaunt what you have and look down upon your brother because he does not have what you do.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
The righteousness described in this Beatitude is a moral attribute of God. The thirsty and the hungry are the oppressed; and their desire for salvation, their yearning for the refuge of Lord, is well described as thirst and hunger after righteousness. In order to make very clear the meaning of this Beatitude, Jesus put it twice in work, as shown in Matthew 14:13-21 and Matthew 15:29-39. The feeding of the masses is associated with their quest for religious and moral perfection. And it was not a reward, but a result: the result of their hunger and thirst for the words of God.
Everyday Actions: Seek out righteousness in the eyes of the Lord. Put your faith in Jesus and he will provide all you need. This does not mean he will provide what you WANT, but what you need. Do not think that because you believe yourself to be a righteous man that you will win the lottery or money will drop from the sky, rather take solace in the fact that your righteousness before the Lord will ensure your needs here on Earth shall be meet. Have faith in the Lord and the Lord will provide.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy
In Jesus’ time on earth, Jews considered mercy as one of the acts of righteousness (together with fasting and praying), and Jesus Himself places “judgment, mercy and faith” among “the weightier matters of the Law” (Matthew 23:23). In order to understand the importance of the Fifth Beatitude, we must understand what mercy is. To put it in few words, mercy is love expressed towards a needy person.

Everyday Actions: Show mercy and love to those in need. Do not look at the homeless man walking down the street with disdain or contempt, but rather show him love and mercy in the eyes of the Lord.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
A sermon preached by J. Stuart Taylor III

St. Mark’s Presbyterian

March 6, 2005

… How do I claim the blessing of the pure in heart when my life might feel splintered into thousands of details and fragments that hardly seem god-like? How do I claim the blessing of the pure in heart when my heart may be filled with double-minded confusion and ambivalence? How do I practice this beatitude in my daily life so that I can experience the blessing of the pure in heart that see God?  A wise Christian thinker by the name of Soren Kierkegaard once wrote that purity of heart is to will one thing. To will one thing is not to search through all the big and important things that could be the goals of life and then to decide on one.  It is not simply to set one’s priorities and to stay focused. It is not to make anything the one thing. No, wherever a person is in world, whatever road he or she travels, when she wills one thing, she is on the road to God. All ways lead to God if one wills only one thing.  What is that one thing? St. Paul said it was to seek the Kingdom of God. Let me say it a different way. Purity of heart is found in the person who seeks to respond to God in all things. Purity of heart is found in the person who seeks to respond to God in all things. If gradually in all things, we begin to will this one thing of responding in love to God, our eyes will be opened, and we will see God. And we will be blessed.

Everyday Actions: Everything you do, do it for God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Purification through vengeance and punishment is, in fact, the final work of peacemaking. Jesus is the Son of God, and through Him every disciple of His shall be called a son of God. This procedure is very well described by Paul:

…because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba,^]Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Everyday Actions: As sons of God, led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14 above), we declare who we really are when we avoid quarrels, mend our relationships, care for the sick, free the captives and reconcile people to each other. It is our ability to bless others and to love our enemies that set us apart from the world and all who live according to the flesh.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
There are some encouraging words about persecution in I Peter chapter 4, verses 12-19.  If we are living as we should, we should expect to be persecuted, (verse 12).  We are even instructed to rejoice that we participate in the sufferings of Christ.  We should count it an honor to suffer, even as Christ suffered.  Verse 14 says that if you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Peter warns us not to confuse persecution for righteousness with persecution for other reasons.  He specifically mentions three sinful conditions that would cause us persecution:  being a murderer, thief, or a meddler.  His point? We are not blessed when we are persecuted for sinful actions.

Next Peter tells us that if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.  Lastly, if you suffer according to God’s will, commit yourself to your faithful Creator and continue to do good.   Don’t be dissuaded by your friends or by the world.  Never give up.

Everyday Actions: Rejoice in the fact that you are a Christian and do not be ashamed to spread the word of the Lord for fear of being persecuted. Are you afraid of being labeled a derogatory subject because you have faith in Jesus Christ?

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

This text proved itself extremely important for Christian mentality and life and it was quickly underlined by the Apostles. Peter, for example, says: “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” (1 Peter 4:14).

The ground of the Ninth Beatitude is an older one, expressed by the king and the prophet David, Psalm 119:2: Blessed are they that keep His testimonies and that seek Him with the whole heart.

That is, actually, what the Beatitudes are about: to keep the testimonies of God and to seek Him with the whole heart.

Everyday Actions: Be not ashamed of who you are or your belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let those who will persecute you for being a Christian do so in the knowledge that your reward lies in the Kingdom of Heaven.

I have been struggling to get back into my workout and diet routine after an extended period off due to surgery and other issues. Because of my work schedule, we can’t go workout until 8:30 to 9:00pm. By the time we get dinner out of the way and relax for a few, the tiredness of the day kicks in and it’s a struggle to get motivated and get in the gym.

I worked real hard from Augist of 2007 to loose weight and get fit. Did a pretty good job. too, I went from a size 40 pants to a size 34 and felt real good about myself.

It’s amazing how one little life experience can set you back so far…

With the struggle to get back into that shape (which does not come easy at 42!), I decided to look for a motivator. I wanted to log a supplement. That commitment would force me to get off my duff and make sure I got to the gym. Lucky for me, when I searched the forum at Bodybuilding.com I found Gaspari Nutrition wanting testers for none other than Cytolean V2, a fat burner. What a catch! I applied with about 15 other people to be a tester and was one of the five people chosen to test it. I also found out that the guys behind the development of the product includes one of my Facebook Friends, Dr. Mike Uzmann and the director of Research and Development for Driven Sports, Matt Cahill. Both top notch guys.

In the world of supplements, it’s very difficult to find items that are more sustenance than flash, since the industry is not regulated by the FDA, it’s pretty open. You could spend a fortune on products and think you are getting top line supplements and end up with nothing more than powdered sugar, so finding Companies and products you trust is a must. So in essence, finding out Dr. Uzmann had his fingers on this product was good enough for me. He is one of the few people in the industry I trust unequivocally.

So now I found the motivation and reasoning (at least in my head) to get a move on it and get back to being healthy. Now I just need to get my diet squared away and I’ll be good to go. Unfortunately, my diet has always been my Achilles’ heel if you will. I start out with the right intentions and end up going back to junk for one reason or another.

Part of the reason is eating healthy is not cheap! For a family of 6 it can actually get very expensive not to mention, eating chicken every day is not so appetizing for the kids.

Hopefully, I’ll make it. The guys doing the logging have turned this into a “Friendly” competition to see who can get the most ripped during the log and while I am in now way the most cut out of the group, I am hoping to show these “youngsters” what I can do.

So in closing, I invite you to stay tuned and follow me on this journey I’m about to take. You can view my official log here:http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=118206061.

Of course, feel free to leave a comment of encouragement here or a recepie that you would like to share. I will post update along the way and hope to inspire others to start a nutrition program of their own.

Peace,

G

Epistane is actually a methylated version of the controlled substance Epitiostanol (2±,3±-Epithio-5±-androstan-17²-ol), which was created in the 1960’s and used as a treatment for breast cancer. Since the only place Epitiostanol is only availabe at this time is in japan, chemists added a methyl group to the compund and the final product was a substance now known as Epistane. Epistane is a sulfur containing steroid which is known to have strong and long lasting anti-estrogenic activity as well as weak androgenic and mytropic activities.

Uh… What did you say??

In short, Epistane or 2,3a-Epithio-17a-Methyletioallocholan-17b-Ol, allows you to gain muscle quickly over a short period of time by reducing the amount of estrogen in your body thus raising the testosterone. During a typical cycle you can add 5-12 lbs of lean mass in 4-5 weeks.

Is it dangerous?

Well it can be if used incorrectly. Epistane has very minimal side effects but its still a methylated compound meaning it can still cause liver toxicity. So while it is safe, it is not for kids.

Have you done it before?

Two years ago I ran a cycle of Epidrol, another type of methylated anabolic very similar to Epistane, but I used a pulsing technique where you only take the compound on workout days. This greatly reduces the potential side effects but it also limits the amount of gains you can make. For me, during my six week cycle, my lifts went up by an average of 25 lbs, adding an amazing 70lbs to my squats and even though I was on a 4000 calorie a day diet, I lost weight.

What are the side effects?

Like any other oral compound, some damage will be done to your lipid profile while you’re taking this. The advantage that Epistane has over other orals, is that your body can recover from the lipid profile issues very shortly after you stop taking Epistane. To help with this, there are other supplements you take to reduce liver toxicity and to ensure your hormones don’t get out of whack.

So why do you want to do it?

In body building it is very hard to gain new muscle. There are only two real times when you will see large gains of new muscle: when you first start working out and when you start working out again after a long period of inactivity. For me, I am going through what is called a recomp (Recomposition). I have reached a plateau and in order to get over it, I had to change things up again. So I took time of from working out and am starting back up. Utilizing the Epistane would give me a jump start on my recomp by adding dry, lean mass while heloing me lower my overall body fat percentage.

If done correctly, Epistane is a safe effective way to get new lean muscle. If I choose to go natural, I may never get my recomp off the ground.

So what do you think? Should I Meth or stay at home?

With the times being tight, everyone is looking to pinch pennies. You can save money on health and beauty aids by scooping out some baking soda.

It may not come in a provocative package, but you can get some fabulous results from this little product.

Hair And Skin
One favorite use of baking soda is to soften the skin. By pouring a small box into a warm bath and adding a little sea salt, you can give yourself a spa-like treatment for just a few cents. When you emerge from the water, your skin will feel soft and silky — like you had a high-dollar treatment at an upscale resort.

Baking soda also makes a great clarifying solution for the hair. Just add about a teaspoon to your shampoo in the palm of your hand. It will remove excess build up and residue left from hair sprays and other products. If you have chlorine in your hair, baking soda is the perfect solution to keep your hair from becoming dull. No time to shampoo? Then dab a little on your comb or brush and it will remove any excess oils from your hair.

Many people have sensitive skin and baking soda can prevent hair loss from eczema if used in place of shampoo. If you have sensitive skin and shave, then try using about a teaspoon in a cup of water to soothe your skin prior to shaving and after.

Whiter Teeth, Less Red Burns
Many people spend $30 or more on whitening strips to have a gleaming smile. Others spend hundreds to have a dentist professionally whiten their teeth. Why pay so much, when applying a small amount of baking soda to your toothbrush will give you that same sparkling smile?

Also brushing with baking soda can heal cuts and sores inside the mouth while freshening your breath. Some people even report pain relief for cavities when using baking soda.

If you suffer from heat rash or sunburn, consider making a baking soda paste. Applying baking soda in the form of a paste to any sunburn or rash will give instant relief. Let the paste sit on the affected area for about an hour for best results.

Everyone knows that baking soda removes and eliminates odors from the fridge. Did you know that you can use baking soda as deodorant? Simply apply some cornstarch under your arms and then follow up with the baking soda. You’ll feel and smell fresh the entire day.

Baking soda has so many uses. You can add water and make it into a saline solution. This solution can be used for your eyes, earwax removal and digestive problems. Indigestion and heartburn can be eased with this solution. Using it as a paste can relieve the pain of a bug bite or bee sting.

With so many fancy and new products on the shelves today it’s difficult to know which one to try. When you purchase baking soda, you can know that you’ve made a frugal, safe and wise choice.