Wikiquote Is My New Best Friend

For realsies.

http://www.wikiquote.org/

So good.

"It is true that the materialistic society, the so-called culture that has evolved under the tender mercies of capitalism, has produced what seems to be the ultimate limit of this worldliness. Nowhere, except perhaps in the analogous society of pagan Rome, has there ever been such a flowering of cheap & petty & disgusting lusts & vanities as in the world of capitalism, where there is no evil that is not fostered & encouraged for the sake of making money. We live in a society whose whole policy is to excite every nerve in the human body & keep it at the highest pitch of artificial tension, to strain every human desire to the limit & to create as many new desires & synthetic passions as possible, in order to cater to them with the products of our factories & printing presses & movie studios & all the rest." ~ Thomas Merton

I hope the irony of the fact that you're reading this on the interwebs doesn't escape you.

Also, Twitter is seriously cramping my blogging & making me lazy.

K, love you, bye.

[mccracken]

McCrackens' Update -- March 2011

Our friend Alysen Merrill was the 'guest speaker' at a partnership dinner we had recently. Since she is in England, she recorded a short video to address our guests. We'd love to share it with you now, if you didn't see it already.

We need your help! Can you partner with us by giving monthly? Would your church, small group, business, or organization be willing to join with us in seeing the Gospel of Jesus Christ advance in England?

(These are not rhetorical questions.)

We can't do this without you. Can you commit to partnering with us at $50 a month? Or more? Or less? Drop us a line &/or head over to http://www.nmsi.org/donate to partner with us. Please let us know how we can be praying for you too.

Grace, Peace, & Love.

~Ryan & Meghan McCracken

New Mission Systems International honors preference of gifts solicited & in accordance with IRS regulations retains discretion & control over their use.

McCrackens' Update -- February 2011

Dearest Friends & Family,

Meg & I are committing to beginning every day in prayer, putting our partnership development in God's hands. To be transparent, this isn't something we've been doing nearly as often or as faithfully as we should. We've been trying to figure out clever plans before we gave it over to God. That stops now. We want to fully put our trust in Him. He will provide the partners we need. Thank you for walking through this with us. Your prayers are beyond value.

After the last few crazy weeks (Meg's sister had a baby boy, then my sister got married, & Meg's parents are in the middle of closing on a new house & moving), we are spending most of our time right now in Oklahoma City working with a new church plant, Frontline Church South OKC. We will still be traveling to Amarillo as needed as well as taking a trip up to Joplin, Missouri, next month. Where God leads, we will follow! We'd still love to sit down with anyone you know that might be passionate about seeing the Gospel advance in England.

We're proud to report that we've yet to touch any of the funds that have been sent to our NMSI ministry account. God has provided for us over & over again. We have more than double the amount that we allotted for one time expenses in our move to England ready to be used when the rest of our budget is met!

How are you doing? Have any questions or comments? How can we be praying for you? Hit us up via telephone, email, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, snail mail, or carrier pigeon. We love hearing from you!

Striving To Be Faithful,

[mccracken]

--
Ryan M. McCracken
rmccracken@nmsi.org
http://www.nmsi.org

Skype: ryanandmeghan

Mobile: 806 683 1752
http://twitter.com/likemindead

==

Our newest nephew, Moriyah Lund!

My new brother-in-law, C. T. Echols IV, & his wife, my sister, Kayla!

Meg & I at Jay & Kayla's wedding!

Adiós, 2010

It's been a long year that went by all too quickly. Time is so strange. "Seems like forever ago... yet just like yesterday..."

I think my favorite new word from this year is "nontroversy." The drama, both in the media & in the lives of those around me, is too often sad & petty. Grow up, folks.

In 2011, let's work to swallow our pride, humble ourselves, & love. Not some nebulous, feel-good "love" that looks good on a résumé. Love Is A Verb.

Okay, that video is awful. Awesomely awful. Apologies. YouTube is a scary place sometimes.

Seriously, though, I do believe with all my being that God is love, Gospel love is serious business, & that Jesus Christ came to seek & save. If you've never given it a look, do so. Don't buy what others have told you, see for yourself. If it's been awhile & you're a bit rusty, look again. If you seek, you will find.

felix sit annus novus

K, love you, bye.

[mccracken]

Finished Music Project

A couple of months ago I set out to meticulously organize my music collection. Today, I finished. It was a gruelling ordeal.

1. Fix grammar, spelling, and syntax in file names.
2. Convert files (.mp3, .m4a, .flaac, etc.) to .ogg (Ogg Vorbis).
3. Save a 500x500 cover art image in each album's folder.
4. Edit the ID3 tags in the files to have correct information.

I have it synced across my laptop, my wife's laptop, our Gigabeat, and an external hard drive. Feels good. Feels really good.

K, love you, bye.

[mccracken]