HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAC MAN!

Okay, for those of you who may not know, I'm a HUGE '80's arcade game fan. You know, the kind of games that you'd cruise down to your local 7 Eleven or Circle K after school to play as a kid. Back when games didn't have 15 joysticks, 57 buttons and 20 page manuals. Back when games were GAMES!

There was nothing quite like having a pocket full of quarters and being able to wander around in a darkened local arcade, discovering the latest release from Williams, Midway, Sega or Atari. Journey, Depeche Mode or Def Leppard was typically blaring on the Jukebox, judicious use of black lights and neon accented the blackened walls and regardless of where you stood, the scent of chips and "pump cheese" coagulating underneath a heat lamp lingered in the air. Ah, Good Times.

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Pac Man. I can't tell you how many times I've shoveled quarters into that beloved machine. I'd never mastered more than a few levels, but I definitely had the fever. Of course there were other classics; Donkey Kong, Excitebike, BattleZone, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Galaga, Tempest, Centepede and Pole Position. The list goes on and on... But today it's all about Pac Man, the game that literally launched a gaming revolution.

Google is hosting a cool Doodle this weekend that's actually a JavaScript version of the game. It's quite playable- containing 256 levels. The familiar cut-scenes, Ghosts and the Yellow man himself are all there. No quarters are required. (Here's a hint: The arrow keys control Pac Man, but if you click on the Insert Coin button 2 times, Ms. Pac Man appears! That's right, you can simultaneously play a level with both characters! She uses the w, a, s and d keys)

Quick Facts:

"Pac Man" was originally called "Puck Man", however the Title was changed prior to being officially launched in the United States, as Arcade Operators were afraid that patrons may "deface" the marquee.

Ms. Pac Man was actually an unofficial sequel to the original game, created by Midway in the US. However, Namco later officially embraced the title in Japan.

Super Pac Man was intended to become the sequel to Pac Man, however the popularity of Ms. Pac Man eclipsed Pac Man and became the sequel to the original. Super Pac Man was then released as the "third" game in the franchise. Despite being technically superior in architecture and game play, it remained less popular than the original.

Pac Man used the Zilog Z-80 Central Processing Unit, running at just over 3 MHz. The whole game had a footprint of only a few Kilobytes. In comparison, the iPhone 3GS has an ARM CPU running at 600 MHz and 256 Megabytes of memory (and at least 16 Gigabytes of storage).

Good Night and God Bless!

I'm Completely Empty, But I'm Forgiven!

I've got nothing... I'm not sad, depressed or upset about anything. I'm simply tired and ready for bed. I just wanted to pop in and say "Goodnight" to all of you, before turning in for the night.

I'll leave you with something that stuck with me today in a podcast I was listening to. You've likely heard or read it before, but take a minute to read through these verses carefully; soaking in each sentence.

John 8:3-11

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Whoa. Think about the freedom from condemnation that Jesus just imparted into this woman's life! He wasn't condoning sin, but he wasn't condemning her, either. Our Lord forgave her. This story dovetails so beautifully into another set of scriptures as well:

Romans 8:1-3 (New International Version)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man

Good Night

More Trials

Today started off pretty well, but toward the afternoon, my loving wife called me with news about our car. Again. It seems that after last month's ordeal and this weeks' window repair, the air suspension misbehaved for her while she was picking up the kids. We had a low-rider with fault alarms illuminated in the dashboard.

Great. How much is that going to cost? This blessing of a vehicle has cost us over $2000 in repairs this year and today's event appeared to seemingly add to the total. Thankfully, the next couple of trips in the car revealed a "normal" ride. I'm not certain if the issue was a fluke, or if we're going to be facing more costly repairs soon.

Now is the time to sit back, relax and trust that God is allowing this for a reason. It's either a test of faith, character building or He's going to show up in a big way. One day at a time, we'll get through it. Lord, thank you that you know every outcome for all situations!

Matthew 6:34 (New International Version)

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Psalm 9:10 (New International Version)

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Good Night

30th Anniversary of Mt. Saint Helens Eruption

It's difficult to believe, but for many of my generation who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens serves as a marker in our childhood. Most of us have clear memories of where we were and what we were doing at the time. As young children, we may not have understood exactly what happened that morning in 1980, nor did we have a clue of the magnitude of the event, or the breadth of its reach. It was big news in our town, but it was inconceivable that other towns knew what was going on. Little did we know that this was a genuine "world event".

In my neighborhood in Oregon, the sky grew dark and the ash fell like snow. I remember being cautioned to remain indoors and not to inhale any of the ash. Despite being ordered by my parents to stay inside, I remember looking outdoors and seeing cars with their headlamps on, wipers swaying back and forth, etc. The appearance of morning almost suddenly appeared as dusk. It was such an odd experience, you just had to sit back and take it in. As I grew older, I learned more about the people who died, the impact on the animal and plant kingdoms, homes, bridges and railways that were lost that day. Such an awesome, yet devastating force. I pray that those lost souls knew Jesus.

Although the volcano has remained active to some degree through mid-2008, there hasn't been anything like the "big one" in 1980. The landscape is still scarred. There is no mistaking the heritage of this volatile mountain. However, signs of life began to re-emerge in the years following the carnage and life has continued to eclipse death with each passing decade.

If God can bring life back to a devastated monolithic rock, how much more is He willing to rebuild our lives, if we allow Him access? We're infinitely more valuable to Him, so no matter the level of damage, God is up to the task!

Isaiah 61:3 (New International Version)

"and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor."

Good Night

It's All For the Kids

Today, we started a new program with the kids. It's a series of positive changes that we hope to keep around for the rest of our lives. We're trying to be consistent in how we discipline our kids, but in turn we also want to stop codling them. We want them to realize their responsibility to themselves and the family. We want them to understand that rules are rules. It's not fun in the short term, but in the end it will be totally worth it.

Trust me in the "not fun" part. Our daughter is testing our patience tonight, even now.

God give us the strength to make it through the night, and through tomorrow...

Psalm 37:7-9

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Good Night

Well Deserved Rest

Tonight I'm physically exhausted. After trying to fix the broken truck window to no avail, my wife and I went to True Value for some supplies for the house (and a few for the car), so we could salvage some productivity on this fine Sunday afternoon. Once home, my wife and I headed out to the yard for some pressure washing and digging holes for the supports for the gate we're installing in the side yard. (If you recall, last week our neighbor and I joined forces to install a new shared fence section.) All I did was dig a couple holes with a manual post hole digger, but it was enough to absolutely wipe me out. My wife was toast after pressure washing the driveway and entryway. How sad is that?

Then, it was in for the night. We finished cleaning up house and made pizza and garlic bread for dinner. If you've never assembled a pizza from Boboli, or Mia, I wholeheartedly recommend it- delicious.

Now it's time to settle down for the remainder of the evening. Hopefully the kids will go to sleep without a "fight fest". Once still in the house, I think the right thing to do is to dive into the Word, listen to a podcast, or meditate on something positive.

Either that or eat a pecan bar which just finished cooking in the oven!

Good Night

About Face

Before we get to my post, I just wanted to give a huge shout to my friend Scott, who was baptized this evening. Way to go, man. We're very proud of you! If you missed it, take a minute to watch the video clip and share in the moment. Go ahead and do it now- I'll wait.



Let's get started. I want to say I'm sorry to my family and friends. The past week has been really tough on me and I've handled it pretty poorly, both online and offline. The items I'm up against weren't even very serious in the scheme of things, but it's just been several issues aggregating together. If it were a test, I'm afraid I'd have failed.

Between messages from dear friends, a heart to heart with my wife, and worship tonight, the Lord gently reminded me of what's important. My problem is that I wasn't running to Him when things were boxing me in. I was selfishly trying to process through it under my own power. I never once thought about how my family must have felt while I was "knotted up"- or that they too, share in my burdens. The results were sub-optimal. My wife and kids were upset with me, my stress level went through the roof and the problems didn't go away. Like a dog returning to his vomit, I keep returning to this lesson: I need to repent and surrender to Him. I need to chill out...


2 Peter 2:22 (New International Version)

Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit,"[a]and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."

Webster's definition of "Repent"

1 : to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life
2 a : to feel regret or contrition b : to change one's mind

Lord, I'm sorry that when it comes to day to day issues and activities, I almost always fall on my face. It's easy for me to intellectually understand what needs to occur in order to live in an upstanding way. However, it's difficult to apply it- and that's key. Please grant me your grace to cover my faults. Please give me strength to rise up and pass your next test. I long to please you, my heart is inclined to you. I love you. Thank you for your covering. You know me inside and out and you understand the needs my spirit has, which my heart and body cannot wholly articulate right now. Thank you for everything, father. Thank you for life. Amen.

Good Night