Thomas Umstattd Jr.

Safe in Russia

I have now been in Russia for four days and I love it here so far. Here are some photos from my trip to Russia here. I will try to post more photos and videos as often as possible. If you would like updates emailed to you sign up for my email newsletter. My last meal in Texas. The food here is so good I don’t miss Texas Bar B Que… Yet. This is Dr. Imad N. Shehadeh the Senior Professor...

ACW Christian Writers Conference

Last Weekend David Umstattd and I visit the American Christian Writers conference in Oklahoma City. At the conference we learned about how to write better and about the business of writing. This is an exciting to time to write because the web gives us greater access to our readers than ever before. But with that it is harder to get published than it has been in the past. Here is a quick video with...

I am Going to Russia!

Married people often tell me how they miss the freedom they had when they were single. Well I am single and I have done very little with this supposed freedom. Well no more. Russia Antioch Belton is sending me to Russia from Feb 25 through March 25. I will be working with Mir a Russian charity that serves orphans. I will be shooting a documentary, building websites, fixing computers, teaching about...

A Woman at a Well (Psalm)

You may not know Charity Chambers but she is an up an coming poet. Unfortunately, she has no blog so it is hard to read her work. The good news is that she gave me permission to publish this poem. I think you will like it even if you’re not into poetry. A Woman at a Well By Charity Chambers I was almost there, I needed one more day. I was following a vision, and I was on my way. Chasing after...

Does Jesus Have Cancer? – Part 2

In part one we talked about Spiritual Cancer and how to see if you are a cancer cell in the body of Christ. So now what do we do about the other cancer cells in the Body of Christ? Here is what Jesus has to say about it: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped...

Does Jesus Have Cancer? – Part 1

The problem with cancer is not that it causes harm (like a virus). The problem is that cancer cells do nothing. Cancer cells take resources from the body and give nothing back in return. They just grow and take the place of functioning cells. Soon there are so many cancer cells doing nothing that an entire organ can die causing death in the whole body. Unlike normal cells, cancer cells lack purpose....

10 Laws for Better Email

Happy Monday! I wanted to share with you something I found on the Bad Language Blog . About doing a better job at your email. If you ever feel overwhelmed or frustrated with email this post is for you. Most emails are badly written. No surprise, perhaps, since we write more emails than anything else. By 2010, the business world will have produced 27,000 billion gigabytes of email . So what goes wrong? Not...

Rob Bell Revealed

from the archive… False prophets don’t speak heresy. Not at first anyway. They build trust before leading unsuspecting people into error. Rob Bell has used his Nooma videos to become a household name and to get access to evangelical churches that would normally shield the flock from liberal humanistic theology. Last night Peter, Jonathen and I listened to God Wants to Save Christians Part...

100th Post & Happy New Year

Hello everyone. Today marks my 100th post. WooHoo! Thank you for all of your feedback and support. Out of the 100 posts I have received over 230 comments. There would be no point to this blog if you were not here to read it. Thank you. Goodbye 2008 2008 was a difficult year in many ways. Many things died this year. Ron Paul’s hopes to win the primary, Brook Audio, and my Grandfather among others. Hello...

The pain of being broken (Psalm)

Oh Lord, there is a sadness deep within my heart, The pain of being broken, my world falling apart. I feel the throb of loneliness the sting of isolation. My soul is torn asunder and left in desolation. Fear and questions both assail me, could it have gone a different way? Could I have spoken different words, to make today a different day? My heart not only hurts for me but also for another. The one...