Yep, I said it.  A lot of people are tip-toeing around this obvious question.  If you ask Black people (or to be politically correct, African-Americans) this question, more times than not, you will hear a resounding yes.  Partially because he’s Black, but also because he offers hope that things will get better.  If you ask White people (is there a politically correct term for White people?), you will hear all sorts of answers, but deep down inside, some of them are thinking, NO!  I think some White people are just not comfortable with the thought of a Black man running the country.  I say this mainly because as this democratic nomination goes on, and on, and on, and on, it appears quite a few of Hillary’s supporters are of the mindset that if Hillary doesn’t win the nomination, they will vote for McCain.  According to this article, http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/27/clinton-tells-democrats-dont-vote-for-mccain/, posted on CNNpolitics.com, “A Gallup poll released this week indicated that 28 percent of Clinton’s supporters would back McCain should the New York senator lose her quest for the Democratic nomination.”  Based on this, is it safe to assume that these supporters of Clinton would just rather not vote for a Black person, even though that person is in the same political party?  I understand that there are differences (some would consider them vast differences) between Hillary’s and Obama’s campaign.  But isn’t voting for McCain just because Hillary doesn’t win, spiteful?  Based on what I’m saying, I’m sure it sounds like I’m making this presidential race about, well race?  I guess in some ways, I am, but if you are really honest, I’m not off base, am I?  Read this article talking about Mike Huckabee’s very offensive joke about Obama being shot (click here to read:http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/16/huckabee-jokes-about-obama-ducking-a-gunman/) and tell me what you think about my assessment of this presidential campain.

The Warning against Offending a Child,  Matt. 18:5-10

(18:5-10) Christians—Responsibility: Christ used the child (Mt. 18:1-4) as an object lesson to teach that believers have an awesome responsibility for watching over one another. The Jews used the word child in two ways. It referred either to a small child or to a disciple of some teacher, a beginner in the faith. In this passage, Jesus used the word child to refer to three persons.
 1. It means a small child.
 2. It means a beginner in the faith, someone who has just been converted and become a newborn child of God. This person is a new Christian; therefore, he knows little about the Lord and about how he is to live. Hence he is very impressionable, and he can be easily misled or confused.
 3. It means any believer who has a childlike spirit and character. This childlike spirit is the very spirit about which Christ has just spoken (Matt. 18:3-4). It is the spirit He desires and expects in every follower of His.

Christ cares deeply for children, for all who have the childlike spirit and character. He calls those who follow Him “little ones” (18:6; 10:42). The depth of His care is clearly seen in this passage, a passage that lays a terrible responsibility upon all men—a responsibility that is unmistakably clear and so desperately needed. Christ gives three terrible warnings against offending a child, and He spells out the three terrible offenses against a child, “little ones who believe in” Him (v.6).
 1. The child represents Christ (v.5).
 2. Offense 1: Leading a child astray (v.6).
 3. Offense 2: being a stumbling block (v.7-9)
 4. Offense 3: despising a child (v.10).
(18:5). Children: the child represented Christ. The word for “shall receive” (decheta) means to receive a child in every way possible.
 1. It means to receive the child as a person: with tenderness, warmth, care, affection and love—no matter how low or unimportant or poor. Christ is contrasting the child with the greatest person, the person over whom the disciples had just been arguing
 2. It means to receive the child when he is in need physically or materially: to feed, cloth, shelter, visit, and help him (Mt.25:35f; Jas.1:27).
 3. It means to receive the child spiritually: to help him grow, build him up, encourage, and motivate him to follow Christ and to share his faith.

Note two reasons why we are to receive the child.
 1. The child represents Christ. To receive a child is to receive Christ. Whatever is done for the child is done for Christ.
 2. Christ cared for each child, every single one. He said, “one such little child”; that is, that single child is important to Christ. Christ does not want that child…
  • Left out, feeling like a non-person, uncared for and unloved.
  • Left in need physically or materially, having to scrap and scrounge around, surviving all alone.
  • Left alone, not knowing how to follow Christ and how to grow spiritually.
Christ clearly said: to receive and help “one such child” is to receive and help Him.

Thought 1. Welcoming and being receptive and open to people and their needs are of utmost importance to Christ
Thought 2. There is an unbelievable lesson here, a lesson that is so often unheard of among men: to minister to people is much more important than “being the greatest” in any earthly kingdom. The point is simply this: to receive another person is to receive Christ, and receiving Christ is much more important than being the greatest. (to be continued)

May the Lord Jesus Christ bless, keep, strengthen, and heal you today is my prayer for you.

I have a baby girl on the way – our first child – and as you can understand I’m doing everything I can to make it special.  I have to have a way to record this whole thing right?  For this special occasion, and because I’m a man who loves gadgets, I purchased a new camcorder so I can make those precious home movies.  During my search for what camera was the best (remember I love gadgets) I found out something new.

Did you know camcorders have hard drives now instead of tapes?  That’s right, you can buy a camcorder with a hard drive similar to those found in laptops.  I found camcorders with drives as big as 120GB meaning a user can shoot hours of home movies.

I will not talk in super-technical jargon because that is not what we are about here at 7daybuzz, but these cameras will do alot: still pictures up to 10 mega-pixels, shoot in cinema mode, super slow motion and the list goes on.  That sounds like just the thing I need right?  Uh, not so fast.

Get ready for this, camcorders can record directly to memory cards.  If you are asking yourself which memory cards since there are so many variations , these are the same memory cards used by many digital cameras, digital picture frames and cell phones.  Also, some cameras even have this memory built in.  The downside is the largest memory card, at the time of this writing, is 16GB.  I know you are thinking the difference between a 120GB hard drive and a 16GB memory card is huge, but there are two more things to consider.  Would you have 6 or 7 hours of video on your camera before you burn a DVD or download it to your computer?  The last thing to consider is the fact that memory cards have no moving parts which means one less part of a camcorder that could fail.

Assuming I get some, I will wait for comments before I reveal which model I purchased.

 

Let’s talk about management since many professionals’ desire is to climb the corporate ladder. The logical place to start would be to talk about management versus leadership – the two terms are used interchangeably and I think that is an error.

In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if we are talking about a janitorial crew or an IT staff–the most important social/management aspects someone must understand is the difference between managing and leading. Management is the act of directing and controlling a group of people for the purpose of coordinating and harmonizing the group towards accomplishing a goal beyond the scope of individual effort. Leadership can be defined as the ability to affect human behavior so as to accomplish a mission designated by the leader. The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do. The first characteristic of a leader is the ability to lead. Leaders lead people while managers manage tasks – there is a difference. I have seen many so-called leaders who have tons of position power without any personal power. For instance, I know my co-workers (I don’t like to even say the people who work for me) will do something for Thomas the boss, but I also think they would do something for Thomas the person and to me that is more important.

The second characteristic a leader is the ability to handle conflict efficiently. Some people just don’t like conflict and will do almost anything to avoid it. Conflict can have a positive impact in some situations and should be avoided if for no other reason than it allows people to get on with business afterward.

The third characteristic of a leader is the ability to manage time and/or projects effectively and efficiently. This is especially important in the IT department. IT is such an important aspect of many businesses and it isn’t a good situation if the a department is routinely missing deadlines, overlooking important project details or failing to provide previously agreed upon services. I think one negative result concerning this would be lost credibility. I think it is a huge thing when someone starts to lose faith in a department – I’ve been down this road several times.

Management/Leadership is a slippery slope and probably a situation where one size will never fit all. There are too many variables to list, but one factor is a person’s own personality. A specific training class could prove beneficial to one person and serve absolutely no purpose for the person sitting right beside him/her. Some personalities are better served to be “worker bees” – this isn’t necessarily a negative thing because there are many happy and well-paid worker bees. Having said all that, I would start a manager’s training much the same as any other person new to a supervisory role: a train the trainer type course. From there, an appropriate course would involve discussion of various aspects of management versus leadership and the characteristics associated with each. This would serve as an opportunity for the individual to get to know their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, I would suggest a project management type course with the goal of becoming a certified Project Manager.

A management position, regardless of the career field, just isn’t for everyone – that is something I think should be stressed often. I’ve seen several examples of someone being placed in a management position based on rank/tenure. It can be glossed over because that person may have the title or years or service for the position, but the reality is this could be a mistake because this leads to forcing a position on someone who cannot adequately handle it.

So what do you think? Is it better to be a manager or a leader (if you had to choose just one)? Also, should someone be placed in a position based on rank or tenure within a company?

Everyone has an opinion and nowadays, it seems everyone feels they have the right to voice their opinion, regardless if someone wants to hear it.  Because of this, blogging has become one of the most (if not THE most) popular venue to voice one’s opinion.  More times than not, I like to voice my opinion too.  Therefore, I am about to dip my toe in this vast arena called blogging, but I have a few questions:  Once I voice my opinion on a blog, how am I supposed to react?  Do I take every comment to heart?  Am I supposed to get offended if someone disagrees with me?  Or am I supposed to have really thick skin?  What type of personality should a blogger have?  Should a blogger be an introvert, extrovert, kind, sensitive, easily irritated, easy going? 

I know there are numerous adjectives that can describe a typical blogger, but these descriptions came to my mind first.  What other type of adjectives describe bloggers? I ask all these questions as I begin to enter into this blogging realm so I can try to get a basic understanding of what to expect from readers.   When I start getting responses to my blogs and they are not to my liking, do I follow the old adage ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’ or do I follow the feminist creed:  ’I am woman, hear me roar?!    I anxiously await the BUZZ on this blog.

What in the world does a college student need with a personal computer?  According to one website, the edzone, there are 101 uses for computers.  Really though, they may be a couple short, but the point is people seem to use computers now more than ever – 50 of those 101 uses are for students. 

So what kind of computer does a student need? Most of the computers on the market today will suffice for most students entering into college. They simply need to have network capabilities and run basic software applications like Microsoft Office.  Many future college students could benefit by taking a personal computer, laptop or desktop, to college with them.  Unfortunately, the cost associated with such a large purchase while paying college tuition, causes some to go without.  We Embrace is a nonprofit organization who is extremely concerned about the lack of knowledge and access that impoverished communities have to technology. Therefore, We Embrace’s ultimate goal is to enrich and empower youth, as well as impoverished families, in communities, via technology. By pressing on towards that goal, We Embrace will help diminish the digital gap that exists between urban and surburban communities.

Go to this site – We Embrace - and look at what difference, as small as it may be, that they’ve made so far.  What do you think?  Is there a digital divide, because of economics, that exists between urban and suburban communities?  Let us know what you think.

Gal. 5:22-26

The peace of God is the peace of assurance (Rom 8:28). It is the peace of unquestionable confidence; the peace with a sure knowledge that one’s life is in the hands of God and that all things will work out for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom.8:28).
The peace of God is the peace of intimacy with God (Ph.4:6-7). It is the peace of the highest good. It is the peace that settles the mind, strengthens the will, and establishes the heart.
There is the source of peace. Peace is always born out of reconciliation. Its source is found only in the reconciliation wrought by Jesus Christ. Peace always has to do with personal relationships: a man’s relationship to himself, to God, and to his fellow men.

A man must be bound, woven, and joined together with himself in order to have peace.
A man must be bound, woven, and joined together with God in order to have peace.
A man must be bound, woven, and joined together with his fellow man to have peace.

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one (both Jew and Gentile, all men), and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us” (Eph.2:13-14).

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” (Col.1:20-21) (to be continued).
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless, strengthen, keep and heal you is my prayer. May you have a wonderful day in Jesus.

Ever been sitting at home and see something on TV, or hear something on the radio, and want to talk about it with someone, but look around and nobody is there?  Have you ever been itching to tell somebody what you think or dying to give the most profound opinion on a subject, because you know that once you unleash your thoughts; the world will be a better place?  Well I have just the thing for you!

Blog with us at 7daybuzz!  7daybuzz is the place to scratch that itch by seizing the opportunity to tell us what you think!  You can tell us, them, him, her, everybody!  We are not a respecter of person, we just want you to talk!  And we wanna talk every day!  Not only can you talk to us, but we will offer you a plethora of topics and subjects and fun to share with the world!  Our themes range from the serious, to the entertaining, to the political.  You wanna to talk about it, we wanna hear it!  Here is the schedule of events:

Monday – What’s Up? (general news)
Tuesday – Technology Today
Wednesday – Bible Class (Writers include: published author J. Louis Fonzer, and the man known as The Master bible class teacher, Dr. Harold E. Sawyer Sr.)
Thursday – Family Matters
Friday – Say What? (you tell us what you want to talk about)
Saturday – Entertainment Chatter
Sunday – Gospel Gab

Wouldn’t you agree our smorgasbord of topics is enticing enough to at least come see what’s going on?!  We so look forward to having you join us Monday… Tuesday… Wednesday… or every day!  Whatever tickles your fancy, talk to us about it!  We hope you come again and again!

With Warm Regards: (while chatting/blogging amongst ourselves : )

Bliggedy Bloggers:  Kim, Tom and Kathy