Life with Autism

Just wanted to post this again. It tells the story of our son, Pierce, and his battle with Autism.

Click here to view the video.

Billary!!

I laughed when I saw this... and then I vomited.

Spears Shown Grace

Good stuff from Craig Ferguson, host of CBS's Late Night with Craig Ferguson. It's very refreshing to see a comedian show some restraint. Britany Spears is an easy target, and it's unfortunate that so many will choose this time of obvious struggle as an opportunity to tee off on the pop star. Koudos to Ferguson for handling Spears' struggles with grace.

Watch Ferguson's monologue here.

Pistol Pete

One of my hero's in life is "Pistol" Pete Maravich. The Pistol was a phenomal basketball player, and his ability to manipulate a basketball is legendary. He was way ahead of his time, and many of the highlight reels we see today have trickled down from Pete Maravich's creativity and style. In many ways, Pete brought the one-on-one style of play that became prominent in the Michael Jordan years to basketball.

Pete is college basketball's all time leading scorer, averaging a staggering 44.2 pts per game, without the 3-point line (He played for LSU, of course!). He was a five-time All Star in the NBA, and averaged 24.2 pts per game in his 10 year career (15th all time). Most of his career was spent with the New Orleans Jazz, who later became the Utah Jazz (Jazz makes a lot more sense in New Orleans, doesn't it?).

On January 5, 1988, while playing a pickup basketball game at the Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena, California, with a group that included Focus on the Family head James Dobson (Maravich was scheduled to appear on Dobson's radio show later that day), he collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of only 40. An autopsy revealed that his death was due to a previously undiagnosed congenital heart defect; he had been born with only one coronary artery instead of the normal two (he had no left coronary artery, a very rare condition).

"He'll be remembered always", former LSU head basketball coach Dale Brown said on hearing the news of Maravich's death. "When we see some tousled-haired kid with drooping socks standing on some semi-darkened court or in a yard after everyone else has gone home, he will be shooting a basketball, and we will remember Pete."

Years before his death Maravich told a Pennsylvania reporter, "I don't want to play 10 years [in the NBA] and then die of a heart attack when I'm 40."

Here's the ultimate Pistol Pete highlight. Enjoy one of the greatest of all time!!

Fusion 2007

I went to the Fusion Conference in Orlando last weekend, and it was a really good experience. I've worked with Fusion from the get-go as a creative consultant, and it's always very cool to see some of the things we've brainstormed about for months around boardroom tables come to life at the actual conference. One such creative element was a series of videos based on the life of Nehemiah, but brought to life around the events of Hurricane Katrina. The videos were top notch, the interactive elements involved were inspiring, and the heartbeat of the conference came through loud and clear. Very cool.

Fusion is coming to Irving Bible Church in September, and here's a video that will give you an idea of what this thing is all about. Enjoy!

Blender Lantern

From the folks at "Will it Blend?" comes this fun demonstration of what happens when you put glow sticks in a blender.

5 Great Ways to Leave a Tip

Try one of these the next time you tip your waiter. Personally, I like the spider.

Car of the Future?

Foldable? Stackable? Electric? If this thing works, parking will become much more pleasant.

Read story here.

13 Places to Watch TV Online for Free

Tired of those crazy cable bills? Try these free TV sites on for size!!

The World is Changing...

When I read this article I was reminded of the opening line of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: "The World is Changing..."

There are some serious implications for the church, education, government and just about every other aspect of society if this article is correct (which I don't doubt that it is).

Read more here about the recent report of a Census Bureau survey found that married-couple households in the U.S. are now outnumbered. A hair more than half — 50.3 percent — of households are headed by unmarried people, and 31.7 percent of American children are being raised in unmarried homes.

Giant Asian Wasp!!

Sweet Mercy!! I bet it would hurt like a mutha to get stung by one of these!!

Why do we Play War and not Peace?

Office Bloopers

If you are, as I am, a fan of The Office, here's a fun assortment of bloopers from the show. Man, it really doesn't matter what Dwight says, I laugh the minute that guy's face hits the screen. Enjoy!!

Mom's who eat fish have smarter kids.

Children of mothers who ate more fish and other seafood while pregnant are smarter and have better developmental skills than kids of women who ate less or none, researchers said on Thursday in findings they called surprising.

Read story here.

Dante's Peak?

Ever wonder what an active volcano looks like? Check out the plume from Mt. Etna!

Cat Wash

Washing cats is fun!!

Check out more pics here!!

Vacation Anyone?

Hard to describe where I am these days. The New Year started out with a bang, but the dust has settled, and I'm not sure if I'm standing amidst the ruins with which to mourn or a pile of construction supplies with which to build. My church, with all its wonderfulness is a place of great stress. My home, with all its love and beauty is a never-ending responsibility. My free time, with all its... well... freedom, is boring and aimless. Still, there are those moments where something bigger is at work.

Like last night.

A guy I've only met once - at a funeral of all places - called me. I'm not real sure how he got my number, but he called, and for some reason I answered. He spoke in a choppy, breathy tone, leading me to believe he was at best upset, and at worst suicidal. His thoughts weren't real clear, and even he was aware of this fact. After a few minutes of rambling, he finally shared, "I... I'm not sure why I called. I just needed someone to talk to, and I thought you'd be good."

After he stated that, things started to clear up quite a bit. He was, in a word, broken. His friend, at whose funeral we first met, had just passed, and with his passing came a whole new flood of confusing thoughts and emotions. After talking for a while, it became clear to me that this guy was just afraid. In light of the loss of his friend, he wondered what was next for him. The stark shadow of reality had temporarily caused an inner eclipse in his soul.

Now, I don't claim to have a quick fix for that kind of struggle. I just listened and nodded, as only someone who understands eclipses could, and I offered my thoughts when asked. At the end of our conversation we prayed, and I asked that God would bring peace, as He has many times in my life, to this wounded brother's soul. Before he hung up, he asked if he could call again, " ...you know, if I need to talk sometime." I assured him that would be fine. Then he said, in the most gracious of ways, "You're truly touched by God."

Well, that had to be it. I can't even figure out if I'm in a good place or not, but this hurting acquaintence-turned-friend concludes that I have the touch of God. I guess the only thing that I can conclude from all this is that God uses us regardless of how we feel. We don't somehow turn on God's usable switch when life is good, and turn it off when we're feeling kind of blah. God determines when and how He will use us, and sometimes it's right in the middle of our most useless moments.

It's just good to know, in times like these, that there is no vacation from following Christ.

Video from the Hayes Family Vault

Here's a video I made of a bunch of recent Hayes Family exploits. Enjoy!!

This is what I saw this morning...

...when I stepped outside:








Mmmmmm. Sweet Dallas snow. The weathermen are going nuts!! We may not make it through the day. Apparently the icy road conditions are mobilizing for an attack. Beware the icy road!!

A Day in the Life...

I can't seem to find anything that really jazzes me these days, so I've kind of slowed down on writing posts. Sorry. Let me just share with you what I did today. I was a little drained after last week because I had to speak at a funeral for a kid that was in my old youth group who decided it would be a good idea to kill himself. I baptized this kid. Man, it's tough to be a pastor at times.

I was also tired because we had a major event at church on Sunday night, and it was kind of my baby. Things went very well, but it just took all the wind out of my sails.

Anyway, I decided to take a personal day, and today was that day! Here's what I did:

1. Got up this morning and prepared the kids for school, after which I dropped them off at the illustrious Roanoke Elementary.
2. Fell asleep on the couch while watching a documentary on NYU's Downtown Hospital and its work after the 9/11 attacks. Is it wrong to fall asleep during a 9/11 documentary?
3. Woke up again at around 9:25, and headed to Barnes & Noble. I read halfway through a book about Autism, and then flew through a fascinating book by Scott Turow called One L. It's about Turow's first year as a law student at Harvard. Really interesting stuff.
4. After reading for a few hours, I walked through the Southlake Town Center, one of America's largest outdoor malls, to Snuffers. I loves me some Snuffers. I ate some spicy chicken strips and may have had a certain beverage or two. It was nice.
5. My final guilty pleasure of the day was a viewing of the film The Departed. Sweet mercy, this movie was good. Leonardo DiCaprio, who I usually despise, was very good in this film. It's easily the best role I've seen him take. This show had me hooked from the first frame to the last. One of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in a while.
6. When I left the theatre, it was snowing! I mean it was really snowing. It came down in white sheets for about two hours. That makes three snowfalls this year in my neck of the woods. Man, that global warming is really screwing things up.