From the Mind of MandoRon

I’ve been thinking about email inboxes lately.  It all started with AOL and ”You’ve Got Mail“.  After that, people were left to themselves to figure out what to do with all of that email.  I’ve come to realize that people can get lumped into four categories:

1. The “My Inbox Has Got to be Empty” people…  People that fall into this group labor all day long to keep their inbox empty.  They eschew the outside world.  They often work late.  They skip lunch.  All for the sake of keeping the inbox completely devoid of any new messages.  A sub-category of this group are people who don’t actually read and reply to everything, but instead, just sort everything into different folders either manually or automatically using rules.  Interestingly, many people in this sub-category forget to look in the folders to find their new email.
2. The “My Inbox is My To-Do List” crowd…  These people, myself included, use the inbox as a tool.  As emails are responded to and action taken, emails are deleted.  Those that require action at a later time remain in the inbox.  I typically have between 15 and 40 emails in my inbox.  This system works very well for me, and frankly, I just don’t understand why everyone doesn’t operate this way…
3. The “700 Club”…  These people rarely delete anything from their inbox, except maybe spam.  Everything stays in the inbox until they reach 700 emails.  Then they go in and delete everything more than a month old.  The cycle repeats over and over.  My wife is in the 700 Club; it drives me nuts.  If something doesn’t immediately get responded to, then it quickly fades out of view and is forgotten…  Not a good idea at work.
4. The “Mass Storage Device Inbox”… These are a fairly rare breed.  In fact, I only discovered their existence last week while in a meeting with representatives from one of our suppliers…  This guy had a 5,679 emails.  In his inbox!  I was floored when I saw that.  It took him 5+ minutes (in a meeting…) to find the attachment he was looking for.  As he was fishing for the right email, I noticed many emails that were 3, or more, years old.   My professional advice for people in this area is to seek help from a certified counselor.  I bet this drives the IT people crazy since he requires his own 1 TB server…

Leave a comment:  Which kind of inbox are you?  Have you seen any other interesting species?

Good evening! It’s Sunday Setlist time on the blog. 

This is week two of the One Prayer series at GracePoint.  I didn’t have any volunteer responsibilities this week so I got to sit with my wife and worship alongside everyone else.

The setlist:

• Broadcast by Fee (walk-in & exit)
• Deeper by Delirious
• Give You Glory by Jeremy Camp
• If We Are the Body by Casting Crowns
• Better is One Day by Kutless
• God With Us by MercyMe (offering)

Broadcast is a great song by Steve Fee.

Deeper has been a regular at GP since the beginning.   I find it difficult to sing “I wanna be” without using an English accent…

Give You Glory was sang by Amy this week.  I don’t recall ever having a female vocalist on this, but I could be wrong…  The band played this in the key of G (instead of D) to better fit a female vocalist.

If We Are the Body has also been around GP since the beginning.  In fact, it came out on the radio at the same time that we were launching GracePoint.  Great lyrics.

Better is One Day doesn’t seem to show up in the setlist very often.  We use the Kutless arrangement with a twist.  Rather than repeating the first verse, we add in a second verse: “One thing I ask and I would seek / To see your beauty / To find you in the place your glory dwells”. (I don’t know who wrote the second verse originally… We borrowed it from Petra’s version of the song.)  As a new twist this week, Gil sang lead on the verses and first two choruses.  Then Amy took over lead for the bridge and outro chorus.  FYI - This song works well acoustic too, although you miss out on all the cool toms. 

God With Us has only been in the repertoire for a few months.  Great song!

The band: one female vocal, one male vocal, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, and keys.

Many of you who know me, know that I’ve been planning on replacing my 1996 Chevrolet Lumina this year.  And if my employer ever stops laying people off (and I’m still employed), I will buy another car.  My main focus has been on a Mazda 3 hatchback.

Until yesterday.

I saw a commercial for the new Nissan Cube.  Nissan is definitely thinking outside the box on this one. 

I love the assymetric back window. There’s a few things I don’t like - the 122 hp  engine continuously variable transmission, for example.  But the design is freakin’ brilliant.

Definitely gonna have to test drive one…  And the top Krom edition is still under $20k!

It’s definitely a love-it or hate-it design. Do you love it or hate it?

Please add a comment with your caption ideas!

Sunday, Bryson preached on the story of Abraham and Isaac from Genesis 22.  (You can watch the sermon here if you like…)

If you recall, God told Abraham to go to Moriah and sacrifice his only son Isaac.  So Abraham obediently made the three-day trip and build an altar of wood.  But the angel of the Lord stopped Abraham at the last moment and provided a ram instead.

Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh, which means “the Lord will provide”.

Bryson made the point that God always provides for us at exactly the right moment.  He’s never late.  And unfortunately (for us), He’s never early either… 

This frustrates the heck out of us.  His timing is not our timing.  His ways are not our ways.

But He’s always on time and He always provides for us in our time of need.

I had the lyrics of a Stavesacre song going through my head during the sermon.  I thought I’d pass it along.  I love the line “Sovereign stillness whispers trust in me!” 

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Keep Waiting by Stavesacre -

I was far away from here, felt like a million miles
Under unfamiliar skies, in more than one way far from dreams I’d dreamed
I’d seen the blinding light, there was hope but was there time
Slow trigger starting line, and each day of waiting seemed eternity

You never left my side
You never left my mind

So they will open up their mouths, but really who are they
And soon enough they’ll fade away, only blind but soon they’ll have to see
Fear like a cancer spreads, how many more will drop their eyes
Lift their hands and wait to die, and how much time to spend to see who stands
But I think I know the way, I got a promise on the mind, and I’ll be looking for what’s mine
Sovereign stillness whispers trust in me

In just a little while
They’ll wish that they were silent

Keep waiting, I’ll be right on time
Keep waiting, I’ll be right on time

In just a little while
They’ll wish that they were silent

And when they try to take your eyes off of me, remember
And when they try to take your eyes off of me, remember me

Keep waiting, I’ll be right on time
Keep waiting, I’ll be right on time

In just a little while, they’ll wish that they were silent