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>Palm 97

In Psalms, Theology on August 13, 2007 by mstevensrev

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The Lord Reigns

97:1 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
and burns up his adversaries all around.
4 His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!

When was the last time you saw a storm roll in? The clouds the wind when it is a really bad one you can be feeling uncomfortable if you really think about what is ahead of you. My friends in Brooklyn felt this the other week when a tornado touched down in their neighborhood. This picture would have really stuck in the Ancient Near East (ANE). These folks were much more effected by the weather than we normally are. So picture God sitting on a throne with roaring clouds around him, pretty sweet. Reminds me of a set for some rock band, perhaps Spinal Tap?

This God is alive and rock’in those who are worshiping a piece of wood, or a tree, or an old picture of their grandfather are missing out on the show. The entire show makes the followers happy, they are really rock’in out. Their lives are being preserved, they don’t have to live in darkness, and for that they are thankful.

All of us are looking for a rock star around to follow. The sad part is the makeup, smoke and mirrors often makes these people. Our hopes are set up and smashed. And of course deep down most of us want to be one, but we look in the mirror and are reminded each day we wouldn’t make it. I am thankful that we have songs (Psalms) about God being this way because he should be sexy (not sexist, ha), but it is the ordinary things he does for me that blow my mind. That each day, bone head mistake after bone head mistake, he continues to love me, and bless me. When my fears get the best of me, he settles me down.

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Articles

>Thank you very much

In Fun on August 9, 2007 by mstevensrev

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Best compliment I have ever been given…

Actually, the phrase he used was, “It’s amazing the wisdom Mike stumbles into.”

now if I could only be more intentional. Was Columbo intentional??

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Articles

>Further thoughts on my bogging

In Fun, Localization, Translation Services on August 9, 2007 by mstevensrev

>This post is inspired because I went back and reviewed this new blog that I created and noticed a few things.

http://thewebtheologian.blogspot.com/2007/07/ms-wpc-experience.html#comments

First I am a total dork and was very excited that Steve Clayton: Geek in Disguise commented on that first entry. Now the bad news I have yet to upload the picture he is commenting on, but as they say “the check is in the mail”. My wife and I were reviewing the pictures on our camera yesterday, and guilt washed over me. Thankfully Steve has been gracious so far, and hasn’t banished me from Friends of the Blue Monster Group on Facebook. I am sure my time is limited. Steve’s comment excites me because he is one who seems to get that which I am still trying to get. From my seat he is a A lister. The down side I feel on blogging, which has been communicated over and over again is the ‘A listers’ and everyone else. Now the fact that someone I respect and enjoy commented on my blog says something about the accessability of the tool. I have yet to recieve a phone call or email from an author I read and respect, Fredrick Buechner has yet to give me a call…though I haven’t left him any VM or emails. Perhaps that is part of it, the conversation is less intimidating or/and invested. I read, I learn, speak up when it makes sense to, and we all go on with our lives. Pealing it all back is what I mean by Steve gets what I am trying to learn.

Second, the content of my blog is not tight. Consistantly I am able to blog on the Psalms. That is a discipline for me, and not discipline in a bad way but something that I enjoy probably more than others. Then content ranges from bloggers I like, to sermon illustrations, to news, to my industry. Welcome to my life, I am spread out, just as I think most people are. I am a salesman who worked as a pastor with a focus on community development who orginally wanted to be a child psychologist. And then of course there is the whole rockstar thing, but we all want to be rockstars.

Lastly, I have gotten more blogging with blogger.com and Windows Live Writer in then I could with iWeb. And now the process of updating the iWeb site is becomming very cumbersome. This has to be easy and fast. The catch with the Mac offering is that I could research the problem and correct it, maybe. But instead it is just easier to use something that works. Now what I would love is to be able to import all my old blog entries into this blog site. Again don’t have the time right now to look in that.

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Articles

>David vs. Golaith

In Localization, Sinometrics, Translation Services on August 9, 2007 by mstevensrev

>Lionbridge- 2006 revenue $419.0 Million
SDL Intl- 2006 revenue $174.5 Million
Transperfect- 2006 revenue $112.8 Million

Sinometrics- 2006 revenue $2.5 Million

These are three of the companies I regularly go up against in bids. Now there are countless companies smaller than us in the industry as well, every city has a mom and pop shop that does translation services, either inhouse or they offer the service. Talk about competition.

The Top Twenty in our industry are ranked yearly in the Common Sense Advisory. I might have already linked to it, but incase I forgot. My personal goal is to do everything I can to get us onto that list, is that ambitious?

Here’s the link http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/members/res_cgi.php/070502_Q_Top_20.php

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Articles

>Psalm 96

In Psalms, Theology on August 9, 2007 by mstevensrev

>96:1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;bring an offering, and come into his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;he will judge the peoples with equity.”
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it!Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he comes,for he comes to judge the earth.He will judge the world in righteousness,and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Praise and Lordship. In the last Psalm it was remember what God has done for you that lead to praise. This Psalm it is looking at who God is that brings about praise. Creator, whereas the other gods are idols. He is strong, beautiful, full of splendor and majesty. He is royal.

Again this is something I often have a hard time with, thankfully creation and pslamist didn’t. What it means for God to be king means all obey him, all of creation. People and trees, forests. Everyone is thankful for his judgement beause it is good.

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>A World of Translation Work: Harry Potter in Translation#links

In Uncategorized on August 8, 2007 by mstevensrev

>A World of Translation Work: Harry Potter in Translation#links

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Articles

>Localization the wrong way

In Localization, Translation Services on August 8, 2007 by mstevensrev

>Teen finds out the wrong way to not mess with copyrighted material. I’m just impressed that the article uses the term localization. Maybe we are getting somewhere?

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSL0808150920070808?sp=true

Here is an interesting view on it I’m creating a link to the post…

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>Word of the day: Scallywag

In Fun, Word of day on August 8, 2007 by mstevensrev

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Scallywag, if I had a gang this is what I think we would call ourselves.  A rascal.  The term comes from the war between the states and the South would call Southern’s that would help the reconstruction scallywags.  I like how old-timey it sounds.  Like a good for nothing, but with some humor tied to it.

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Articles

>Psalm 95

In church, Evangelist, Psalms, Theology on August 8, 2007 by mstevensrev

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95:1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.”

Praise flows from a grateful heart.  In order to praise God you must know what he has done for you.  I love how this Psalm commands, sings, and provides the story!  There is nothing too high or too low for God, it is all his.

Sheep is one of those images that cuts both ways.  They are beautiful on the hillside, important to the economy, yet they are stupid and take lots of work and attention to maintain.  We are the sheep of God’s pasture.  God also warns us about those who have gone before and blown it.  Remember.  Take your time, long to enter into God’s rest.

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Articles

>Psalm 94:16-23

In church, Evangelist, Psalms, Theology on August 8, 2007 by mstevensrev

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16 Who rises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 If the Lord had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, “My foot slips,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
those who frame injustice by statute?
21 They band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity
and wipe them out for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will wipe them out.

So part one of this Psalm was all about a God who disciplines his people.  Now we move into the part I like better.  Discipline hurts, watching those who mess with me get what they desire, now that is what I am talking about.  God stands up to those folks.  This is freeing for a number of reasons, one of them is it means vengeance doesn’t even have to be on my radar.  I can worry about other things.

So if God grabs my foot when it slips why do I feel knocked around pretty good most days?  What a mystery.  His consolations cheer my soul, that’s true. 

Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?  This is a hard one.  Rhetorical? I’ll let you decide, he he.

God gets back, he wipes them out.  Not only do I need to be concerned about my mark on the world, but I need to  think about what will happen to and with my children.  Being wiped out doesn’t fare too well for their sake much less mine. 

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