Well, well, well... my second 3ABN Today "Behind the Scenes" taping in two months happened this morning. This time I was on the show with Jim Gilley, Mollie Steenson, and John Lomacang. We talked about a variety of things. My part was explaining a forthcoming survey that will be sent to everyone on our mailing list; it will also be made available online. It's something we hope as many people as possible will participate in, and I'm personally quite excited about the valuable feedback we stand to receive.

There are several sections to the survey: The first is demographics. The second and third sections are about the programs and presenters on 3ABN. And the final sections deal with more general viewer preferences, our supporting communications (the 3abn.org website and 3ABN World magazine), and 3ABN's effectiveness as a ministry. If you watch 3ABN, either on TV or by Internet, I strongly encourage you to participate. It's a great chance to help 3ABN chart a course for more effective (as in life-changing) programming. And as one of the primary architects of the survey, I can hardly wait till the responses start trickling in. Keep an eye on the 3ABN website for information about the online version of the survey. All the questions are easy, and the whole survey takes only 10-25 minutes to complete.

If you want to hear my segment on the 3ABN Today broadcast, tune in for the second hour of the program on February 14, 9:00 p.m. CST. It will be repeated Friday at 2:00 a.m. CST.

Tags: 3abn

Today started out warm and a bit breezy. Later on a fast-moving storm came in, bringing rain, hail, and finally, snow. We also had a tornado watch, but no twisters showed up for the party.

At the peak of the storm, all of the 3ABN employees were asked to come downstairs into the safer part of the building. It was a nice break, and we got to chat a bit. However, it was not really a severe storm, compared to others we've had.

I feel so much power now. I just learned how to make fruit topping for toast. Previously if I wanted a break from cereal and oatmeal, I was pretty much limited to toaster waffles and applesauce, or maybe applesauce on toast, or something savory like soup, or beans and rice.

Well, now those chains are broken. I can have fruit on toast every week! And it's pretty easy to make:

• 3/4 c. water (cold!)
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 c. sugar (or maybe you could go with 2 Tbsp or none at all if you have fruit that's pretty sweet by itself, like peaches)
• 2 c. fruit, fresh or frozen (I used frozen blackberries ... yummy)

Mix the water, cornstarch, and sugar in a cold saucepan. Heat the saucepan on medium, stirring constantly. Eventually the whitish mixture will turn clear. Keep stirring. Eventually it will turn into a fairly clear gel that's nice and thick. Add the fruit. Stir occasionally. If the fruit is frozen, it will take maybe 5 minutes to thaw. It smells really good about now — visitors might start peeking in: "What are you making???" The whole process takes maybe 10 minutes.

The above recipe should make enough for 4 pieces of toast, applied generously. You can multiply the recipe if you have more mouths to feed, or if you want to make extra and freeze it for later. Enjoy!

Actually, thinking back, I may have made this once before in my high school home ec class. (Yeah, I took home ec — go ahead and laugh.) But I'd forgotten how easy it was.

Tags: recipe

Someone sent these to me. Since I'm not one for sending lots of e-mail forwards, I decided to post it here.

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
—Winston Churchill

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. —George Bernard Shaw

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. —G. Gordon Liddy

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. —James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. —Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. —P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. —Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801–1850)

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. —Voltaire (1764)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.   —Mark Twain (1866 )

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. —Thomas Jefferson

Tags: humor, politics

If you're a Mac user, read on. Otherwise, please feel free to skip this one.

The second annual MacHeist promo is underway. This bundle includes more than $350 worth of applications, for only $49. Two of the three "locked" apps have already been unlocked in the first 3 days of the promo. And the third locked app is well past 3/4 of the way to being unlocked. And that's with 10 days left ... so it's pretty much guaranteed that all 11 (there's a chance a 12th will be added) apps will be unlocked and included in the bundle.

If you visit the MacHeist website, you will find a description of all the apps. Just click on their icons to learn more. The most useful ones in my estimation are 1password, Awaken, Speed Download, AppZapper, CSSEdit (if you edit websites), Snapz X Pro, and Pixelmator (which is not unlocked yet).



1password is helps you manage your passwords and much more. It does everything the autofill features of Safari and Firefox do, plus some other nifty things. You can create multiple identities — for example, one for work, one for home – and auto-fill forms from whichever identity you want. It can store secure notes on any topic you want. It has a "Wallet" feature where you can securely enter your credit card information and other personal details, to save typing them. It's quite flexible, and you can use as many or as few of the feature as you desire. (Personal details were obliterated in Photoshop from the image above.)



AppZapper provides the uninstall functionality that Apple should have built into OS X. Before deleting an application forever, it allows you to see, and selectively keep if desired, any files related to the application.



Awaken is a glorified alarm clock. You can enter as many alarm events as you like. These can play iTunes playlists or other media that you select. You can also launch applications or files at specified times. It also has an egg timer (countdown timer) and a sleep timer (go to sleep listening to music, and it eventually shuts itself off after the time you specify). The clock can be show full-screen (handy if looking at it from bed), and it can be controlled via an Apple remote.



CSSEdit is for the webmasters out there. It allows you to edit CSS files with all kinds of super cool features every computer geek will love.



Snapz Pro X is a screen capture utility. Besides simple screen captures, it can also capture specific program elements, selected screen areas, and — most impressively — movies and other things that change over time.



Pixelmator (not yet unlocked as of January 13) is a cool-looking Photoshop-type application for editing photos and other types of images. If you look at the screen shots, you'll notice it contains many of the same tools and features as Photoshop (Photoshop Elements is about $80 retail, Photoshop CS3 is $620–$1,040 retail, depending on the version). Although it doesn't do everything Photoshop CS3 does, it appears to cover all of the most common tools and commands. And unlike Photoshop, it is designed exclusively, and optimized specifically, for OS X.

Speed Download was recently added to the bundle. I've been using this application for years. It's very handy if you ever have to deal with downloads over slow internet connections, or downloads that are difficult to start or finish.

Other applications in the bundle include CoverSutra (works with iTunes, requires OS X 10.5), Cha-Ching (financial app), iStopMotion (create your own stop motion videos — fun!), and TaskPaper (note-taking app ... a little underwhelming, but what can I say? ... a better app is OmniOutliner). There is also a hint that one or more additional apps will be added before this bundle offer is done.

Interested? Head on over to MacHeist and buy the bundle!

If you're wondering what this "MacHeist" thing is all about, it starts as a series of online puzzle games in the form of missions ("heists"). Those who complete the puzzle missions get other free apps, as well as discounts on the MacHeist bundle offered at the end. I completed all the puzzles this year (with help from other users ... the puzzles can be very tough), and came home with all kinds of cool stuff. You can read a fuller description of this year's puzzle goodies here.

Tags: software, mac, deal

This is so funny. A coworker shared it with me. A perfect example of a ditzy blond.

http://www.biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=4702

Choice highlights:

"I thought Europe was a country."

"Like, I know they speak French there — don't they?"

Her: "Like, I'm listening to what you're saying, but I'm only hearin' what I want to." Him: "That's just called being a woman."

Tags: video, humor

I wanted to write some really profound lesson I learned from 2007, but so far I haven't come up with anything. What I've learned seems to be a random collection of observations, insights, and questions. Nevertheless, some of these might be useful or interesting, so here is a sampling:

FRIENDSHIP: Friendship is a funny thing. It is so desirable, yet in its purest form so unattainable. Most of my adult life I've tried so hard to cultivate friendships that I've suppressed my true personality, as well as my opinions and sometimes even convictions, believing that my true self is not sufficiently likable. But the result has been friendships that (with a few exceptions) barely exist, that are more illusion than reality — and there are not even many of those. I'm left believing that others like not the real me, but instead this limited and fine-tuned projection of me, if that. As a result, lately I have become a little more outspoken. So far it has neither helped nor hindered my relationships, but at least I feel more genuine. As much as I want to be likable, I feel even more compelled to be honest. Whether that will add or detract from my friendships remains to be seen, but either way I am willing to bear the consequences. This is partly because I have come to believe that a true friend will like me for who I am, and such a friendship will only blossom when who I am is outwardly apparent. (Of course, such a life must be lived in the context of who God wants me to be.)

CRUCIBLES: Recently my church denomination has been studying the subject of "crucibles" in the Christian life. The year 2007 was a crucible for me, in respect to my beliefs. A flood of hard questions came in on the one side, and my long-standing and deeply held convictions and beliefs were arrayed on the other. Many of these questions I still cannot answer. Many of them are my own questions, so I can't quite throw them out. But on the other hand, I am not ready to say that perfectly good and reasonable answers do not exist. And against these questions are strong arguments and evidences that say something else, that testify to the truthfulness of what I have believed. So here I am, with unanswered questions still lingering, and also a faith that I'm not willing to relinquish as long as it proves true. It is not an enviable position, but I am not sure it is a bad one either. Again, my desire is to be honest with myself and with truth. I realize we now "see through a glass darkly," and that one of the greatest lessons we can learn is meekness and trust. We cannot expect answers to everything. A world of answers would be a world that would not need faith.

OUTREACH: I have become very weary of an in-grown church life. Lately I have decided to participate in just about every outreach opportunity that comes along, whether it is finding Bible study interests (such as at GYC), passing out door hangers (what a group of us did recently in Benton), singing to residents at an assisted living center (what I joined on a recent Sabbath), or cleaning up thousands of mouse droppings and other filth from an infested home (something a small group of us did a number of months ago). Anything that I feel competent to do, I want to do. I think some of my friends are tired of hearing me play this one string, but I really believe the church in the Western world is dying for lack of outreach. Every time I hear about another church program, another social, another series, I want to say, "Enough! Let's focus a little more on output instead." I know the church needs regular study. I'm a teacher of an adult class at my church, and I think it's important to study. But I am also persuaded that input without output results in bloat and corruption. The true Christian faith has always been a religion of action, with a sense of responsibilty towards God for its influence and accomplishments in the world.

BLOGGING: One of my reasons for blogging has been to increase output. I came to realize that I have a wealth of knowledge and insight about all kinds of things. But I also came to see that I am like a book that is seldom read. Few ask me what I think about this or that. As for the others who never ask, maybe they don't care; or maybe they don't think I'm competent; or maybe they think I may know something, but I am not qualified enough, or humble enough, or interesting enough, or spiritual enough, or likable enough that they want to hear it from me. For whatever reasons, the information is not getting out. So I decided to do something about it. The fruit of this has not really been seen yet, since most of my blogs are about personal news. However, I have begun to dish up some spiritual content from time to time over on my Xanga blog. I had hoped that more people would "bite," but it hasn't happened. Initially I was a bit discouraged, but then I developed this attitude that, no matter if not one single person read or responded to what I wrote, I would still write, because I think my ideas need to be shared. I'm not sure anyone else feels this way about my beliefs, but I am convicted that my beliefs are my most valuable asset, even more valuable than my creativity or my skills as a graphic designer or computer tech person. I don't want to be held culpable of neglecting the light that I have. It may be that these beliefs do not amount to much. But I cannot judge that. All I know is that sharing them is important to me, and apparently important to God who I believe is the source of all truth. I have not yet found or developed a suitable venue for most of what I want to share, but I am working on it.

TIME: Time passes so quickly. Recently I went to a clinic for a checkup. I joked with the doctor that I was coming for a routine checkup, just six months late. She looked at me quizzically, and replied, "You haven't been here for almost two years." For a moment I thought she must be mistaken. But no, she was right. My life goes by in such a blur. Not only does time pass quickly, but once gone, it is gone for good. I think we've all had the experience of thinking back to events in the past, and wishing we could alter this or that. Rash actions, foolish choices, wasted opportunities, and stretches of life lost to fear or passivity are strewn across my memory. How I would love to flutter back through time and try another path (though doubtless it would be disposed to a whole different class of mistakes and follies). But one truth that has been firmly rooted in my mind in the past several years is the permanence of our choices. Every brick in the road of time is laid forever. Every choice is eternal. What I do today can never be undone. And this — is good news! Because it also means that every lesson learned is forever, and every grief endured, every trial overcome, every bad habit corrected is a fact that cannot be altered. Mistakes are tragic, but also essential, because once overcome they are the foundation on which firmer resolutions and deeper resolves are built. Furthermore, what happens now is anchored in time, but what happens hereafter is loosed from time. Time as we know it, with all of its baggage, will one day be gone. But, if we are saved, who we are lasts forever.

INEVITABILITY: A while back I had a discussion with a friend about time, divine foreknowledge, predestination, free will — and quantum physics. I know: Philosophers, theologians, and skeptics have been batting these ideas around for centuries. Who are we, my friend and I, to resolve it all in a brief chit chat one Friday evening? It's a fascinating pursuit for me, opinionated amateur philosopher-theologian that I am. For my part, I believe in all three doctrines: God's omniscience (including the future in detail), our predestination, and freedom of the will. I tried to explain this apparent paradox to my friend, who takes a very different (and, in his mind, more liberating) view. I think we found some common ground, but whether we found substantial agreement is not yet clear. At a point the conversation became a little heated, which I regretted — but was that inevitable? In a certain sense yes, in another sense no — such is the freedom my paradoxical beliefs afford me. But the kind of inevitability I'm aiming for in this paragraph is really a different kind than any of that. I sense a certain kinship with God, who knowing the Fall of humankind nevertheless created them. He loved them enough to will Himself to be hurt by them. Have you ever had the sense that what you were about to say or do would not be understood by those around you, and would backfire on you in such a way as to hurt you profoundly — and yet you knew you had to go ahead and say or do this thing anyway? This seems to be the story of my life lately. I feel like I'm my own worst enemy. But ... it's for the greater good. Actually it's for my own good, and everyone else's. But it still hurts to choose the path that breaks a friendship, when breaking the friendship is the last thing I wanted. I saw it coming ... and chose it anyway — inevitable as my own free will.

Tags: theology, philosophy, devotional, blogging

Happy New Year! 2008 has come. It feels new and strange, but familiar and natural all at the same time. At my job I work with projects that stretch into the future so often, I have been playing with 2008 for some time now. For example, the February 2008 edition of 3ABN World went to the press in December.

2007 was a good year. I learned new things, made new friends, reconnected with old friends, and had good experiences. The highlights of the year were:

• SEYC
• Camping and canoeing in Arkansas with my friends Rob and Christine Neall and Amy Clark
• The wedding of Adam and Gabriela Dean, and getting to know both of them
• My mom's visit for my birthday
• Getting broadband internet
• ASI
• Visiting my mom, my friend Eve, and the Parkers on Labor Day weekend (and getting my mom set up with a Mac!)
• First serious 3D illustration
• Upgrading to Adobe CS3 software at work
• Thanksgiving at my brother's place
• My first feature-length appearance on 3ABN: a 3ABN Today "Behind the Scenes" interview
• GYC
• My family coming for Christmas at my place
• Visits by Claus and Theresa Nybo, Valerie and Linda Crosier, the Malkiewyczs, David Shin, the Nealls, and Chuck and Christina Holtry at various times during the year ... and of course countless friends I met at SEYC, camp meetings, ASI, GYC, and over the holidays

In conclusion, I will summarize the ways you can keep in the loop with what is happening in my life:

• Subscribe by email to this blog (or use the RSS feed if you have a browser that supports it, such as Safari or Firefox)
• Subscribe to my Xanga blog (it contains my posts for the public, whereas michaelprewitt.com is more personal)
• I am on Facebook and MySpace
• May God bless you in 2008. Keep in touch!