I am not asking for a theological debate. I just want to offer a few thoughts. Do you think God grieves when any of his creation dies without accepting his sacrifice? Is God’s love only limited to those who love Him? Would the prodigal’s father have grieved over his son if he had never returned? I know how much I hurt when my son was lost. I know how many tears I cried.

I won’t pretend to know the state of MJ’s salvation at the time of his death. I pray that he accepted God’s Gift of Salvation. But if he didn’t he was still loved. He was a son, a brother, a nephew, a cousin, a father, a friend and yes, he was God’s creation. So there will be mourning over his passing, and if he died as a sinner, I think God must be grieving.

I don’t believe we should ever gloat over the death of a sinner. Do we think we won something? Should we dance at their “getting their just rewards?” Let’s never forget that we all deserve death, but for the Grace of God.

So, no, I won’t rejoice, I’ll weep

An interesting statistic from the Consumer Research institute…

Americans throw away 44% of junk mail unopened yet still spend 8 months per lifetime opening bulk mail.

Surely you can find better things do do with those eight months, right?

So — put a trash can and shredder near the door to eliminate junk mail before it comes into the house.

Even better – cut down on how much junk mail you receive by contacting Direct Mail Marketing Association Consumer Choice.

1.  A Quicklook Plugin (Mac only)
2.  A Standalone Java Program

If you like Web Design, you probably use a lot of stock images in your
designs. The following article is a list of 50 websites that provide
free, open-sources images and photography to help you creating stunning
designs without spending a dollar.

As I am a WordPress user by heart, I have a large list of Wordpress related bookmarks. Many of these bookmarks have proven their value over time and I am pretty sure they will be helpful for you too. .

Thanks to Mundane Matters for the link.

Today there are a growing number of artists who realize that connecting with their fans online with a great blog, twitter and maybe FaceBook will mean the difference between having a career and not having a career. Radio singles are a crap shoot to get on the air and brick/mortor stores are becoming fewer every year.

I have always maintained the attitude that the internet should be used to relate to your fans.  Too many artists just stick up information and never update, or even respond to simple email inquiries.  These same artists don’t understand why they aren’t selling CDs.  After all they know that if they “build it they will come.”

Fans want intimacy.  There are many ways to give that too them.  Be human, have fun.  Treat them like friends.  Take some time to explore Social Networking (Twitter, Facebook, etc).  Let them get to know the real you!

They had this to say about their belief that not everyone can maintain a filing system.

Many people, otherwise competent and some even brilliant, cannot maintain a filing system. It has nothing to do with intelligence or organization or even self-discipline. I’m convinced it’s just the way they are wired.

I found the idea of a one-box, catch-all, dump box interesting, as I have a somewhat similar though slightly more organized approach. I have a simple Jan-Dec accordian folder and I dump all my receipts, paperwork, etc in each month accordingly. At the end of the year I go through the file month by month, file anything that I need to keep permanently, scan as much as possible and keep digital copies, throw away anything I don’t need, and dump the rest back in the folder, place a rubberband around it, label it for the corresonding year and put it away.

Simple, efficient, and super satisfying in that I feel like I am really organized without being locked into some super filing system that I can’t ever seem to remember how it works.