So I have been learning more about who I am, my Identity. I am learning that I am not the bad things that people may think or say about me nor am I good things that people say or think about me. I may display those qualities from time to time but in no way does that limit or define me to only those qualities. I have knew this for a while but I am starting to have a better grasp on it. For example if someone says “you are a mean person”, that is not who you are but you may be tempted to think “am I a mean person? ” or if enough people say it in your life time you may be tempted to think and eventually agree that “you are a mean person.” Then there is the other side when we hear nice thing from people about our selves. Wow you are a nice person, or you are really artsy or some compliment upon your abilities. All of sudden we start trying to do more of what we got the compliment on and slowly we let this compliment define us.

Let say one day you stop being artsy or you don’t feel like being nice or that ability everyone has been complimenting you on is absent and you can’t do what you used to be able to do… where has your identity gone? It is no where to be found. My friend Clarence spoke about this the other day and I agree with him that my identity can’t be wrapped up in what I can accomplish or what I can not accomplish because at some point I will not have an Identity if these temporary little things are all that is defining me.

So where do I find my Identity? I go to the one who created me. My Identity is not my feelings and emotions, thoughts and mind, or personality which are a part of my soul . God already tells me who I am in his word. He lets me know the truth about me, that when all these things that I thought I was are gone there is a me that is even deeper a me that He knows, a me that was dead but he brought back to life. My spirit, the core of me who he created originally. It’s important to figure out who you really are and not let yourself get defined by the good and bad things in this world, but instead by the one who has already defined you

I realized for a while now that I have been very comfortable but in a bad way. I like where I am, not really seeing any problems here or there and like the Pink Floyd song says “I am comfortably NUMB”. But this isn’t good because I want to live a life that is fresh daily…not stale, stagnant, and moldy. What caused me to get in this condition as I searched It was revealed to me that I have been letting my desires rule me in a sense. If I feel like it I do it… and If I don’t feel like it and I have to do it then I have a very poor attitude.

I started trying to exercise a while ago to address some of the consequences of my condition, comfort. It did not work because I was modifying my behavior not my belief and perspective… and that belief is that if something is not horrible then why is there need for improvement.

What really was being attacked was my personal relationship with God, Jesus. I felt like I was alright and that there was no need for growth and so I had become stagnant and absent of any zeal or enthusiasm for the relationship and life in general. I had/have a desire to increase Our relationship but it was being drowned out by my other desires.

So I have decided to go on a journey, one that I have not been on before one which the sole purpose is to seek God. Not that he will meet me because of my efforts but I will be denying a majority of my desires because I am serious and it is not something I am entering into lightly at all. the purpose of going on this journey is to be transformed, changed, a new person, a deeper relationship… though I know this doesn’t happen by my efforts… it is something I desire the utmost. Now that I have off of school I don’t have an excuse and I wont let myself take an excuse not to go.

I have been comfortable way to long and to any one who has gotten comfortable in a worldly way, it’s time to get uncomfortable in order to grow.

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. (hebrew 12: 7-10)

This solution involves 3 simple chords in order to make your regular tv an internet tv! I have a mac book and if you have a pc I’m sure you can find a similar solution. Apple has a mini-dvi to dvi adapter (or vga if you wanna go that route.) and If you want to use your HD I reccomend getting the dvi to HDMI adapter which they might sell at your local electronics/apple store as well what will be helpful too is an headphone to audio solution for your surround sound or tv if you don’t already have this equipment. (so that is 3 chords for a full functional internet tv solution) which was $40-$50 total. If you really wanna get fancy you can purchase a wireless mouse and or wireless keyboard. this beats the apple tv which is running for around $230 not including tax and shipping.

The benefits of this solution are.

• Surf the web using your tv as a monitor.
• watch movies from netflix (try it out for a 2 week trial and see how you like it 8.99 a month unlimited movies you can stream)
• watch episodes of your favorite shows (you don’t have to buy them on itunes they stream!.. visit your favorite tv stations website ie. abc.com)
• but if you did buy them on itunes you can watch your podcasts and itunes stuff as well.
• if you are a designer possibly designing on there I’m not sure about the aspect ratio though and dimension distortion.
• play online games.
• record things from your tv laptop if you have a digital video recorder hooked up.
• share with others and not be huddled up on the corner of your couch with your lap top.
• it’s cheaper and more beneficial than buying an apple tv.

check it out it might be a better solution than even getting cable or sattellite you might be able to cancel that stuff. You might have to sacrifice a little bit of quality but who’s counting pixels anyway and has HD really affected your tv experience if your honest I think you will say “No, I get into the action just as much with a lower quality movie file than with the HD.” After the “…but it’s so cool wears off” I think you’d rather have the money in your pocket or at least give it to a better cause than overpriced media or an apple tv. Unless you have money to flush? I highly reccomend this easy, quick, and cheap digital tv solution. (If your hardware is different than what I’ve listed above you can surely find what you need on the web to make a home audio/video solution for your laptop or desktop computer at an affordable price.)

My first host was Freehostia (.com) this Host is great if all you are doing is hosting a plane (x)html site with out data base access (this is the host I had MySQL problems with). This was my first real host and the reason I chose it is because it was free hosting with ZERO ADS which is extremely rare and I recommended for any small site. If you are trying to do something bigger and have a more interactive site I recommended trying another host.
Price/plan: Free plan no ads

…Blue host, didn’t have any problems, good load times (for now) easy set up easy use. The only problem is you are locked into long-term plans and they do offer a 30day full refund if you don’t like it within the first 30days. The reason I left them is because I was sharing a server with 250 - 400 people they told me, and they said I was sharing 8gbs of ram with that many people so that meant worst case scenario I was only getting 20mbs of ram for multiples sites. I wanted something more dedicated. The only problem with economy hosts is they tend to oversell and it causes your site(s) to go s..l..o..w…. again great if you are hosting 1-5 simple (x)html sites or even dynamic sites with low traffic.
Price/plan: $160 2yrs plan (6.95 a month trick)

…Liquid Web, This host looks very realiable and probably is and I tried to used their virtual dedicated servers stuff and it was too much hassle. They have a great website and there very own servers and have various internet providers connected to them ensuring your accessibility through out the world. I highly recommend them IF you know what you are doing and have time to set everything up (It will take some time…) there lowest VDS was 60 a month so I thought I would try it out. I did and it wasn’t for me like I said to much extra stuff to do that I was ready, they are lacking tutorials to use the service so it is definitely for the more experienced. I didn’t get a change to try their regular hosting plan but I would still consider it.Price/plan: $60/month virtual dedicate server

…Host Gator, again another economy host that I am currently with that I haven’t had any problems with other then my clients in Jamaica not being able to view add-on domains that I used for their website which really concerns me, so I might switch again later (tired of this host quest). They offer a ton of space like all economy hosts and make big promises as all econ hosts do. they are like bluehost above.

…Godaddy, Some of my clients are set up with godaddy and I like there reliablity it seems pretty fast. The user interface is confusing but you get used to it. This is a likely candidate for a future host for me after I see how it works out for my clients. They have a pretty good reputation and are big enough to make changes if needed. Also if you are hosting domain names with them then it is even easier to use. my clients are on there economy plans but one of my clients is switching to their virtual dedicated server plan and I will be the setting that up. (crazy)

…Christian webhost(.com) This is the web host I use for my church and they are extremely reliable and I haven’t had any problems with them. they are not as much an economy host because they are a little more pricey but you get what you pay for with them. A Great host for reliable hosting.

None of these hosts are perfect, every hosts has there problems if you look up negative reviews for any host you will find them… and the reviews do help you stay hesitant before clicking the pay button.  I asked around, searched the web,  It is seriously a hunt trying to find a good web host. Make sure you find a host with the least problems and visit many different sites when researching a host. Some things to keep in mind when looking for a host.

• pray about it… no really, pray about.
• High price does not equal high quality.
• Boasting of features a ton of space and a ton of bandwidth does not equal a good host either (your sharing that space with 200-500 people in most cases).
• Don’t get locked into a long term plan pay monthly.
• Know what you need and estimate growth.
• Make sure there’s a money back guarantee if they are a good host then they can gaurantee themselves.
• Do your research.

Obviously I am not like Daniel.. and my peers aren’t jealous and trying to bring charges against me… but my point is he was beyond reproach (they couldn’t find anything to accuse him of), he was trustworthy (He said he would do something and he did it which helped him develop this rep), He had integrity (he was neither corrupt or negligent) and Most of all he Trusted God! The man had Integrity and it began with God. He was promoted and had high ranking and that was because of God too!

When people look at me I’m confident they are seeing a very distorted version of whom I claim to be and what I claim to believe. When I take a look at my words, actions, and motives my conscience confirms what or who I am living for, what’s really in my heart. Lord fill me with your Spirit, Love, and Truth.

When I used the software I had to install apples x-11 user from the startup disc that came with my mac and also I had to install something called wine.  After I finally got it up and running I was viewing my pages through ie6 and picking out the bugs.  Then it started crashing and it wasn’t working and I had to close the app and restart.  I didn’t ever really get ie7 working properly but it was better then switching back and forth from the mac and pc constantly.  When using a trick I learn is, don’t minimize the ie6 browser just drag it off the screen and hit refresh later to much action causes it to crash/freeze up.  I reccomend it for quick tests and the desperate who don’t have access to pc’s.

Creating the blog was very easy and set up was a breeze, it wouldn’t take one of your web buddies but a couple of minutes to set one up for you and you can find a domain and hosting together for $10-30 dollars a year some where, depending on your needs. The site you are looking at now was a template that I downloaded for free out of their huge library of WP temps. I highly recommend using WP for anyone interested in starting a blog. If you would like some info or help about setting one up feel free to contact me. RichardAndrewLee (at) yahoo (dot) com I’m around… and I’ll give a little bit of my time for you : )

Many times I find myself sharing about web-design or giving advice on things that I am passionate about or have mini passions about like mac books or drinking coffee black or some pet peeves ; I can be pretty zealous when I talk about them too. I was cut to the core when I realized that I am an evangelist… for myself… for the web… for things thats could be gone tomorrow. Here I am selling all of these things to people, mini passions daily, and they are definitely buying it. So the type of evangelism you do shows where your heart is or isn’t. passion…

Galatians 5:22-26 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. NEW PASSION…

This hits me between the eyes..!CONVICTION!. If you could invert this passage I feel like I have been doing that. I’m very thankful I have a Father who cares and treasures my relationship with Him and he has made it possible for me to come back. thanks God, thanks Jesus, Thanks Holy Spirit. NEW PASSION..