Category Archives: Uncategorized

So our second son is due June 23rd and we’ve narrowed it to two first names.

They are Calvin and Owen. If it’s Calvin the middle name will be Elliot, but we have yet to find a middle name for Owen.

What’s your preference? And what should the middle name be for Owen?

So a huge lake disappeared in China following the big earthquake. That’s pretty crazy and similar things have happened in Chile, Russia, and China before. Here’s the article:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/14/asia/migrants.php

Who knew the Vatican has a chief astronomer? And apparently, believing in aliens is ok by the Vatican. Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes stated “Just as we consider earthly creatures as ‘a brother’ and ‘sister’, why should we not talk about an ‘extraterrestrial brother’? It would still be part of creation.” Anyone else think a lion is their brother? Me neither…This guy also believes the Big Bang Theory is “the most reasonable explanation of creation”. Time for a new chief astronomer Benedict. Here’s the article:

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hkZ-EuLUcs2evw8TSyNbsuStpAGw

A bitter Rick Perry is ruining the transportation industry in an effort to get what he wants. Turned down by the legislature for private tolls, he has joined with txdot to give a collective middle finger to the state legislature and in the end only hurts the economy further and destroys jobs. Here’s another article.

Perry: Legislature ‘abdicated responsibility’ on transportation

By Ben Wear | Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 11:56 AM

Gov. Rick Perry will be addressing the Texas Transportation Forum at lunch today, a convocation of about a thousand engineers, planners, politicians and others interested and involved in road and rail building.

In a copy of his remarks released this morning (with a caution that Perry frequently deviates from the prepared text), the most notable part is a brief critique by Perry of what transpired in 2007: The Legislature that year fought back at the Perry administration’s zest for toll roads, particularly toll roads under long-term lease to private companies. TxDOT and Perry have been fighting back ever since.

In that section, Perry was scheduled to say: “I want everyone within earshot to understand that we cannot assume this problem will fix itself. And while I am looking forward to addressing this issue when the legislature meets in 2009, the state cannot afford a repeat of 2007. Members of the legislature must understand that ‘no’ is not a solution to this challenge. It is an abdication of responsibility.”

In the prepared test, “solution” and “abdication of responsibility” are underlined.

Here’s the whole text of the speech as written:

Thank you, Ned [Holmes, commissioner of the Texas Transportation Commission] for that kind introduction and for having me here today. I also want to commend Amadeo [Saenz] for your work leading this organization through one of the most challenging times in its history.

TXDOT has certainly been spending some time in the public eye, but this place is about big challenges, not big excuses. And I’m convinced that this team can handle the heat. Road builders are cut from a different cloth. It takes a person of vision to look at a state, analyze the growth trends, understand the infrastructure needs, and offer a plan to move people around that haven’t even been born yet.

That kind of planning can sometimes puzzle those individuals of limited perspective. As you know, my good friend, Ric Williamson, was such a visionary. So that often put him at cross-purposes with those who viewed our state’s infrastructure needs through the lens of the next 2 years, instead of looking at the next 20…or 30…or 40 years. With his passing, we certainly lost a clear, passionate voice, but the challenges that he vigorously fought to overcome have not gone away.

If anything, those challenges have grown larger, and this moment in time finds us at a crossroads. Our population continues to grow by roughly 1,500 people per day. For you Aggies in the audience, that means we could fill Kyle Field up with newcomers every 55 days, or fill it up 66 times in the next ten years.

That’s a whole lot of people with a whole lot of needs, but that’s not the only factor in play. We’re also dealing with a funding crisis brought on by a less-than-reliable federal gas tax system. inflation at the national level for everything from materials to labor, and the fact that the bonds passed in 2003 have been spent. As of right now, TxDOT construction lettings are projected to be half of what they were in 2005.

That is not what I call progress. It’s what I call a problem.

Ladies and gentlemen, as I travel around Texas and the country, one of the things I enjoy the most is bragging about the Texas economy. Texas is leading the nation in job growth and has been voted the top state in the nation to do business. Just yesterday, I read where we are now the leading state in the nation for corporate headquarters, recently surpassing New York.

Companies are moving to Texas in droves, creating thousands of new jobs for our people and investing billions in our economy. If we can’t find a way to move their goods, services and workers around this state, they will leave just as fast.

The simple truth is: When it comes to roads, we need more of them.

Because I’m sure as heck not going to stop inviting companies to relocate their operations to our state. Those jobs mean income for Texas families, tax revenues for local communities, and a continually rising economic tide. And good roads mean a better quality of life for our citizens.

Unfortunately, folks on the various sides of this issue have lost sight of these simple facts. Too often, we have seen the issue of road construction driven by emotion, rather than reason. When this happens, honest debate is stifled, and solutions are sacrificed at the altar of politics.

Just a few short years ago, we made significant progress on the challenge of building our transportation infrastructure. I would argue, in fact, that we changed the ages-old paradigm of how Texas does transportation. We brought local communities to the table through our regional planning authorities. We instituted bonding so local authorities could leverage toll roads and make their tax dollars go even further. We invited the private sector into the conversation for market-driven solutions to the funding challenge. This was progress and it works.

I want everyone within earshot to understand that we cannot assume this problem will fix itself. And while I am looking forward to addressing this issue when the legislature meets in 2009, the state cannot afford a repeat of 2007. Members of the legislature must understand that “no” is not a solution to this challenge. It is an abdication of responsibility.

Instead, we need to innovate. We need to thoughtfully debate. And we need to bring all ideas to the table to tackle the overwhelming need our state faces. And we already have some pretty innovative ideas on the table.

A decade ago, if I would have told you that there was a way to pay for all the roads you wanted, if I had talked about a group of people who are dying to compete for the chance to spend their money to build your roads, you would have told me I’d lost my mind. With all your experience in financing and building roads, you would have thought such a thing too good to be true. But it is true.

There are many, many financial institutions out there ready and willing to invest in Texas roads, willing to pay for the roads we need but can’t afford, in exchange for the opportunity to recover their investment and make a profit over time. In fact, last month, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters publicly estimated that there are roughly $400 billion dollars in private money available worldwide for public infrastructure projects. That’s billion with a “b.”

In Texas, we pursue private money to build our communications infrastructure, we leverage private money to build our rail infrastructure, and we welcome private investment from overseas if it means putting up a plant for Toyota or Samsung. So why in the world shouldn’t we pursue private funds to help us build roads?

I am convinced that private dollars, administered through private-public partnerships, are a significant part of the answer to our transportation infrastructure challenge. I also believe the legislature should break its addiction to gas tax money and insist it be spent on transportation and transportation alone. That will be a great first step, but not the only step.

We Texans are at the wheel of a powerhouse economy that is racing forward at record speeds. As our growth accelerates, our needs do as well. We do not fulfill the public trust if we waste our time arguing over millions when our needs are in the billions. We are stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime and hurting our state in the process.

So we need to innovate. And I’ll step up and say it’s possible we haven’t thought of every single solution to our infrastructure challenges. That door is open for a better idea. I’m intrigued by Senator Ogden’s idea of finding a way to give our Texas pension funds first chance to invest in Texas roads. I think this idea is loaded with promise. As the next session approaches, I look forward to discussing it and other ways to fund our road construction. The Senator’s creativity is a great example of how to approach the issue.

I also believe additional bonding can be part of a greater solution. However, until that greater solution, that long term strategy, becomes more clear, I am not willing to allow this state to just go further into debt. Running up the credit card just pushes back the greater problem for two more years. I say no more band-aids. No more short-term fixes. Texas needs long-term solutions and a long-term strategy and Texas needs it now.

I am fully committed to working with the legislature to find that long-term sustainable solution. Leaders like Lt. Governor Dewhurst and Speaker Craddick have shown they have what it takes to tackle tough problems. We have done so together in the past with tough issues like medical malpractice reform, balancing the budget in times of deficit, and finding solutions to school finance. I am confident that we can work together to solve this great challenge too.

I thank all of you for staying engaged in this difficult process. The work we do together makes a difference and we cannot relent in our quest to solve these challenges. Because, we’re not just talking about dollars and concrete and orange cones. Instead, we are talking about freedom: the freedom to move about, to transport goods or to simply travel freely with one’s family. This freedom is part of our Texas heritage and we cannot lose sight of this high calling as we wrestle with the details.

By advancing toward solutions and, ultimately, solving this challenge, we will make a better tomorrow for the state we all love so much. I encourage you to stay engaged, bring your best ideas to the table and be willing to get a bloody nose every once in a while for a noble idea. Otherwise, we’ll just watch the world pass us by as jobs, citizens and investment hit the open road for more favorable conditions.

That has never been the Texas way and, God willing, never will be.

Thank you for all you do. May God bless you and, through you, may He continue to bless the great state of Texas.

Apparently, American Idol sang “Shout to the Lord” during their Idol Gives Back (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXEraRnE4o) and the show the following night where they finally get rid of another bad singer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHuWxfcIqW4). The first night they censored/edit the first line to say “My Shepherd” instead of “My Jesus”, but sang the unedited edition on the following night.

There were many evangelicals that were outraged because “nonbelievers” sang a worship song, as if that’s never occured in life despite the fact it happens every Sunday accross America. If they weren’t outraged about that, then they were outraged about the lyrics being changed, which I can see would be shocking considering its a secular show…

The reality is people are being outraged by a television show on a primetime station. Are you kidding me? First off, the one song had more worship involved in it than most things that occur on TBN and second, if you want to get outraged about something, get outraged about this: http://thesoldproject.com/ or http://www.elpisproject.com/ElpisProject.com/home.html the SOLD project and the Elpis project which have now joined together to pursue the end of human trafficking and especially of sex slave trading of kids. That is something to be outraged about.

For those of you who do not know or listen to Derek Webb, these are some of his songs from a few CDs back. His lyrics are typically deep and convicting.

I recommend at least downloading A New Law and Rich Young Ruler off of his Mockingbird CD. The whole CD is amazing, but those songs are really challenging.

For those who do not know Brian McLaren, he’s described my most evangelicals as a heretic and unfaithful to the gospel. I disagree with him on a lot of issues. He is the front runner for the Emergent (not emerging) Church. The Emergent Church has become known for their desire to have conversations and steer clear of absolute truth that could be divisive and in so doing becomes unfaithful to the gospel, but that’s for another time and blog.

I recently read blog posts by him on Talking Points Memo which is a liberal political website and blog. Upon reading the articles, I was convicted that what he was saying was reality. He focused on the fact that most evanglicals completely ignore systemic issues (i.e. poverty, homelessness, environmental issues) and primarily focus on personal morality. Now we must not ignore personal morality or divorce it from systemic issues, but why have we ignored greater systemic issues?

I’m still wrestling with how we have gotten to the point that we ignore huge systemic issues, but one cause has to be a sinful self-focus that permeates our being and infiltrates the church by causing it to be inwardly focused instead of seeking the restoration of the world through the gospel of Christ.

I recently read Ministries of Mercy by Tim Keller and it’s an absolutely amazing book. It revealed sinful attitudes I held toward the poor that have been ingrained in me all my life. It was one of those painful reads that cause you to cringe because they force you to face sin you want to hide. I recommend it for everyone.

More to come on this topic as I wrestle with it more.

I work in the transportation industry designing roads in Texas.  As a whole, my industry is not doing so well currently.  TxDOT is the main client for consultants who do transportation engineering and they have recently slowed down all work in the state. 

TxDOT’s fiscal year is from September to September. This past September they published their budget and it looked to be a good year for the whole industry. Then in November, nearly 60 days after publishing their reports, they published reports that they were essentially out of money and to make up for the lack of funds, they would cut the consultant budget by 60%. They began canceling projects that were under contract and forcing others to end early.  TxDOT indicated this would be the standard for two years.  This has hit many consultant firms hard, causing lay-offs and hiring freezes for an industry that had been doing well for nearly 4 years.

 There are many who are skeptical of TxDOT’s claims (http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/traffic/entries/2008/02/04/dewhurst_has_doubts_about_txdo.html) primarily due to the gas tax. For those who are unaware, 40 cents of every gallon of gas goes to taxes, half to the federal government and half to the state government for the purpose of building roads.  “Where is this money going?” is the primary question everyone is asking and the question is valid. In 1999, according to reports, Texas alone generated 1.2 billion towards the gas tax.

TxDOT and Gov. Perry now claim that revenue from the gas tax is slowing (March, 12, 2008) and claims that a large portion of this revenue is used for agencies other than TxDOT. They are also pointing the blame at the federal government not granting sufficient funds. Maybe the most encouraging part of the article is that the State Auditor is looking into TxDOT’s finances.  Which is good because in the article they admit to double-counting 1.1 billion dollars, which I’m sure we all have done at some point or another.

The slowdown has caused much nervousness for people like me, with families and a house, who depend on projects from TxDOT primarily. The slowdown has caused TxDOT to give some of its work to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) and they recently received RFQs (proposals) for a US 290E toll road job and my company was awarded a portion of the project. This is very good news.

I’ll keep you updated on the affairs of the largest state agency in Texas, my former employer, TxDOT.

http://www.acppubs.com/blog/1230000523/post/430023643.html (1.1 billion screwup)

Great Day of the Lord – Andy Melvin

This is a song by our worship leader on his CD – The Human Engine Waits. It’s absolutely amazing and fires me up.  It talks about the return of Christ, which Jesus promised when he ascended into heaven. It’s a song proclaiming the amazing things that await those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Check it out. It’s awesome. We sang it last week in church and it was so awesome to sing with our body about the return of our King. I can’t wait.

Well, I’m hoping this will be a new feature, but it may not be seeing as I post in spurts, but we’ll see. I’d like to just post a few songs each week that I’ve heard, they may be new or really old, but just some awesome songs that I like.

 The songs recently that I’ve played over and over again are actually 2 hymns:

O, for a thousand tongues to sing by David Crowder Band on the Remedy CD and

Rock of Ages by the David Crowder Band on the Amazing Grace Soundtrack CD.

Here’s the lyrics for Rock of Ages:

Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill the law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Let me hide myself in Thee.

This is an amazing article worth reading.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/13/iraq.wheelchairs/