Thomas Umstattd Jr.

The Land Beyond the Lake (parable)

Photo by wili_hybrid . An old man and a boy were fishing on the shore of a great lake. As they listened to the sound of the birds and the whispers of the wind the old man started to tell the boy stories. He talked of how he had grown up and how some things had changed and some stayed the same. He talked of how he had seen the land on the other side of the lake. “What are you talking about Grandfather?”...

Caltarian Chronicles

As a child when I heard the stories of Narnia I always wondered: what world lay beyond the other pools in the wood between the worlds. What adventures do they hold? Well, my brother has found one of those worlds. David’s world is called Caltaria. It is a land of adventure. Think Count de Monte Christo meets the Lord of the Rings with a Pirates of the Caribbean twist. I can’t wait for...

The Ladder of Abstraction

If you are a writer or a speaker this will help you understand how words work and how to make you message stick. This talk comes from the books Presentation Zen by Garr Reynold and Language in Thought and Action by S. I. Hayakawa. Here is a recording and slides for the Ladder of Abstraction talk that I gave at the Austin Rhetoric Club a few weeks ago. Transcript Download MP3 | View | Upload...

cgames.com – My Other Blog

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...

Balance in Evangelism (Video)

Here is a talk I gave at the 2007 Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp. You may recognize the first few minutes as from my blog. The audio quality improves dramatically after about five minutes. Summary Learn the principles that ground good evangelical methods. Learn to balance your presentation of the Gospel between Spirit Truth and Love. In this talk we discuss the challenges to balanced evangelism and...

The Boy and the Pool (parable)

A family once had a pool party at their home. Friends from all over filled their back yard, laughing and talking as they mingled around the grill. While no one was looking, a two year old boy toddled over to the pool and fell in. Soon a lady pointed the child out to the group. “That kid can’t swim.” She said. “Then help him?” a guests replied. “Oh no,” the lady responded. “I am...

The Golden Calf (parable)

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...

My New Podcast

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!

Book Writing Goodies

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...

Why I am Writing this Book

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...