I just wanted to share an update on some of the cool projects I have been working on.

New Business
I now setup websites for Author’s and businesses. Many of them are paying to much for golden handcuff sites. Others have no site at all. What I like about WordPress is that my clients can update the site as easily as they can ask me to do it for them. They like this too because they can keep their site current.

Some wordpress sites I have made include:

• PeerlessRoofing.com Great roofing & remodeling company in the Temple Belton TX area.
  
• RenaeBrumbaugh.com An expository daily devotional.
• AustinRhetoricClub.org My favorite debate club ever
• GreatShalom.org An Austin radio show about healing, homeschooling & health. A podcast is coming soon so that you non Austinites can listen in.
• CaltarionChronicles.com David Umstattd’s blog about a book he is writing.
• JenniferLackey.com A friend of mine. She is smart and too busy to update her blog.

Thomas Camp
I have started an internship program with my businesses called Thomas Camp. Paul Hastings is my first attendee. He is learning about marketing, web design, book keeping, organization, cooking and vacuum repair. Follow his blog for day by day rundown of Thomas Camp.

BrookAudio.com
We will be launching BrookAudio.com today! If you love Audiobooks you will love this site. Brook Audio: Turn your car into a classroom by bringing to the classic audiobooks on the road.

Writers Conference
By God’s gracious provision I have pulled together the funds to go to the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference in New Mexico next week. It is the second biggest writers conference and my best chance to get a publisher all year. At the conference I will get a chance to "pitch" my book to publishers.  Pray that I get favor.

Courtship Blog
Over the last several weeks I have talked to dozens of homeschool moms and a handful of homeschool dads from all over Texas about courtship.  Many of them are concerned that courtship is not working very well to get young people married, particularly young women.

I have also talked with people from all over the world including a member to the Chinese underground church to an Indian who grew up in Singapore about different methods of courtship in other cultures. I have heard about betrothal, courtship, Christian dating, arranged marriage, and even "dateship."

I will start a new blog soon that will examine the obstacles to modern courtship and then discuss solutions. My hope is to spark a dialogue as we pioneer this new approach to marriage. I will post a link once the blog is up and ready to go.

Grandfather
On a sad note we are concerned that my grandfather is dying. Please pray for him. He is not born again as far as we know.

I think thats it. Let me know if I forgot anything. Sorry for all the personal posts.

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Every beat of a man’s heart pulses the desire for greatness. We long to take up our sword and join in the fray. Yet, the lives of most men don’t look like a grand battle. They look more like a game of put-put golf. We don’t realize the things we do have little impact on the world outside the miniature golf course.  The game is fun, but it lacks meaning.

What has happened? 

We hear echos or war, the clash of resounding arms and we long to be a part of something greater than ourselves.  The drumbeat for battle echoes the beating of our hearts. But, we can’t see the battle because it is fought not with guns but with words and deeds. The war is not in trenches but in the arena of ideas. Our enemy twists the truth to steal, kill, and destroy.

Will we stand to fight him?

Throughout the centuries men of God have stood up against this unseen foe. They carried the torch of truth and now hold it for us to take. But, for many of us, the only battle we fight is against an enemy that doesn’t exist. Why invest hours trying to beat level thirty when a spiritual war wages all around you? If we, the generation of today, fail to take up the torch of truth, who will pass it on to the generation of tomorrow? Will history remember us as those who let it die?

All my life, adults told me that my generation would be the one that God would use to usher in revival. Yet, when I look around I see Christian youth sitting idle, getting entertained by their TVs, computers and youth groups. Where are the warriors training? Where are the strongmen who long to run into battle? Where are the warrior poets holding the torch of truth for all to see?  Most of them haven’t even signed up for boot camp. Encouraged by their mothers to value safety over obedience they are still boys. Boys living in men’s bodies. 

This is your invitation.

For you, boot camp can start today if you are willing. The only cost of admission is total commitment. There is no room for double mindedness among the soldiers of light. Those who sign up and then look back have no place in the Kingdom we fight for. Our General shares our allegiance with no one. We are either all His or not His at all. God has no grandchildren, step children, or part time warriors. We must follow him alone and with our whole hearts or admit we follow a different king.

But our journey does not end with bootcamp. Some of you reading this are already trained beyond your obedience to God.  If that is you, the next step is to do something with the hundreds of hours of sermons you have heard. Take the Gospel out of the church and share it with the lost. Feed the poor. Care for widows and orphans.

God has not called us to play defense against evil. We can’t win if the game ends with the score 0-0.  We won’t win by attending weekly Sunday training and then seldom showing up for the battle. God is calling boys to become men of God .

Will you be one of them?

Are you ready to put away childish things and get about your Father’s business? If so, there is a place for you. This book isn’t about helping you quit gaming. It’s an invitation to an adventure that is better than gaming.  This book will change your life, if you will let it.

You have been reading an excerpt from a chapter in my book Digital Cancer. What do you think?

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Hello Friends,
Quick note.

For those of you who only get this blog via Facebook, you are missing out. You get way more coolness and less hassle when you subscribe via email or RSS .

I have started blogging at cgames.com . Think of it as the rough draft of the book I am writing about the dangers of digital gaming . Brain Morgan is a contributing writer to the cgames blog .  Those of you who haven’t read his stuff will see he’s a smart guy.

I will continue to write on this blog about politics, religion and public speaking and technology. But the book related posts will now all wind up at cgames . You can even get the cgames posts delivered directly to your email in-box . How cool is that?

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Spring planting would begin soon and it was time to make the yearly sacrifice. Pagiel’s father had died so it was now his job to make the pilgrimage to the Temple. At age 19 he had never been to Jerusalem, but he had heard the stories. He took a donkey loaded with grain offerings and led a lamb by a rope fastened around its neck.

After several days, Pagiel joined several other pilgrims who were also on their way to Jerusalem.

“What is your name young traveler?” A large man asked.

“Pagiel, son of Tola” Pagiel replied.

“Tola?” The man’s eyes brightened. “Of the Shelah clan?”

“Yes! Do you know him?”

“We fought in the war together. My name is Elizur” the man smiled.

“God asks little of us Pagiel son of Tola. He pours blessings on those who know how to make the right sacrifices. I have gone to Jerusalem every year and never has my family gone without food. Ba’al brings the rain and The Lord God keeps the Philistines away.”

“You sacrifice to Ba’al?” Pagiel asked, surprised.

“Of course young man as did your father. Ba’al is the king of the winds and the rain. If you want a fertile soil you sacrifice to him, everyone does.” An awkward silence followed. Pagiel expected someone to confront Elizur but no one did.
Elizer had never seen as many people as he did on Mount Zion. He followed Elizur through the city to the temple.

“That is an Asheroth Poll” Elizur said pointing to a tall wooden poll that stood outside the temple walls. “That’s where we make sacrifices to Ba’al.” Pagiel stared at the intricate carvings that covered the length of the poll. The people around it were smiling and seemed to be having a great time.

“Welcome to the sacred meeting place, would you like to make an offering?” Pagiel turned to see a young veiled woman. Pagiel stammered not knowing how to respond. “Have you ever offered a sacrifice to Ba’al before?” The girl asked with a smile in her eyes.

“Uh, no” Pagiel replied, not wanting to appear ignorant.

“We ask Ba’al for blessing though both offerings and a demonstration of what we wish him to do for us.” The girl looked Pagiel in the eyes. “What would you like Ba’al to do for you?”

“Can he really bring rain and make the soil fertile?” Pagiel asked. The girl laughed.

“Of course! Why else is everyone here? Give me your lamb and we will ask Ba’al together.” She led him through the crowds to a tent attached to the outside of the temple wall. Come, lay with me and we will show Ba’al what we want him to do for your farm. Let us drink our fill of love and fulfill all righteousness. She took off her veil revealing to Pagiel one of the prettiest faces he had ever seen. He wanted to say “no” but everything in him cried “yes.” His field needed rain and this was just too easy not to try.

The next morning Pagiel felt nothing but a cold numbness. The girl gave him a wooden figurine that she said would allow Ba’al to find him for blessing. Pagiel tucked it into his saddlebag as he led his donkey into the temple courtyard. He gave the grain offering to the Levites who looked somewhat surprised that he didn’t have a lamb but they didn’t say anything about it. “I guess I can please both gods.” He thought as he headed for home.

As he headed for home he passed a disheveled man shouting in the streets about idolatry, the wickedness of temple prostitutes and a coming judgment. Everyone ignored him and Pagiel decided to do the same.

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I have recently started my first podcast. For those of you who don’t know what a podcast is check out my other post what is a podcast? My Podcast is on the Dangers of Computer and Video games and will act as a companion to the book I am writing. You can listen off of the webpage or subscribe in iTunes.

Let me know what you think!

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Chances are you have thought about writing a book someday. Well here are some free resources I have found helpful.

How to Write A Book (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXMghQTGNLs
Good tips on writing as an action. Getting writing done.

Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses (mp3)
http://librivox.org/fenimore-coopers-literary-offenses-by-mark-twain/
A 30 minute mp3 of an essay that Mark Twain wrote making fun of another authors horrible writing. Great if you are doing fiction. Funny.

Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips (Podcast)
http://grammar.qdnow.com/
I know you don’t like grammar but this is an easy way to start getting better. Each episode is only about 5 to 8 minutes long. Well produced podcast. Grammar is important.

American Writers (Podcast)
http://www.americanwriters.com/
Podcast on the nitty gritty on writing fiction. How to develop likable characters how to write dialog etc. Read more…

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In the movie The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn takes a risk by going into the mountain of the dead. He went in hopes of securing for Gondor reinforcements to aid in the fight against evil. The dead while an unlikely ally in this cause ended up making the difference.

I have been thinking a lot lately about why I am writing a book about the dangers of digital gaming. And frankly, it’s not about the games. My heart is to see a generation of young men rise up as men of God and start living kingdom centered lives.

Imagine what would happen if thousands of gamers suddenly dropped their nets and started following Jesus like the men in the New Testament. I see gaming as an area filled with bound men who have huge potential for changing the world.

Many of my friends have hearts that burn for various nations around the world or even for the nations in general. My heart is to see the world reached but my heart burns for the United States. The U.S. church is withdrawing from society so quickly I am afraid we are quickly on our way to becoming another England or Europe.

If we are to see victory we need to gain small tactical victories that can lead, through Christ, to bigger victories and I think setting gamers free from gaming is one of those areas.

Like Aragorn I want to go into a place unlikely to yield greatness and find mighty warriors for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. I don’t hate video games. But, I love Jesus and I want to see an army raised up that will make a change for good.

I want to see men of God run after Jesus whole heartedly. Thats why I am writing this book.

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