Dan Pedersen

Latest Web Project

We've finally released my latest web project to the public. DisciplinedFinancialManagement.com is the efforts of my friend Greg Coutant (aka "The Budget Guy") and his concern for the finacial education of our children.

My New Blog

To try to push myself in a different direction I finally decided to start my own blog. I know this isn't anything revolutionary in itself, but prior to this I haven't done that much public oriented writing. We'll see how it goes. Check out Web Ministry Thoughts.

Dad

One of the more difficult things I've had to deal with this year was the unexpected death of my father. It still doesn't seem real. Almost every day I run into something that I would have normally considered talking or consulting with him about. We had a photo montage done up for the funeral. My friend Jim Blake over at Video Views did it for me.

In memory of Raymond Pedersen

Portfolio December 2008

Been working on so many things, I never seem to update this site. But, since I just released a new site last week and did another one a while back I thought I'd list some of my side projects:

Compliant Data Systems Inc.

CDS is a medical billing company that specalizes in automation and HIPAA-compliant data handling.

I'm the Chief Engineer, but not the web designer.

Word of Life Christian Fellowship

WOLCF is a non-denomination spirit-fill church. Its a nice place, very casual, down-to-earth practical, and the pastor is just awesome!

I'm on the church's leadership team and am responsible for the web-oriented outreach efforts of the church.

Greater Rochester Loving Education At Home

GRLEAH is one of several Christian homeschooling groups in the Rochester area. Friends of mine are the leaders of this group and ask for some help with a new site.

My family belongs to PCC Leah, and I have nothing to do with their web site.

Video Views Professional Videography

Another friend of mine does some real nice video work so I help him out with some web work.

Acts 13-14

I had the really cool opportunity to teach at a Wednesday night church service this week. I had a great time doing it and it seemed to over fairly well. If anyone's crazy enough to want to see what I talked about the links are below.

1. Acts 13-14 Slides as Flash
2. The audio recording (if your really crazy...): RA (2.4M) or MP3 (54M)

A note of thanks

Its been a while since I've been able to write anything here (shoemaker's child problem) mostly because 2005 was such an awful year for me professionally. On a positive note, the outlook for 2006 is excellent. I heard a preacher speaking last weekend about "quantum leaps" in the year 2006. This is consistant with the words I've been personally receiving and hearing in other areas. He also had a cool line: Christ died, so that he could clean up, what we messed up, so that we can catch up. That is very encouraging to me since I know 2005 was littered with mistakes and concequences, some that are only now being felt.

The encouragement for 2006 started in the beginning of December with my receiving recognition for "commitment to equal access, and for demonstrating awareness and sensitivity in the course of service RIT students with disabilities" from the Disabilities Services Office. Some one of my students made the nomination anonymously. To whomever you are, thank you. I sincerly needed the encouragement.

Leadership

To lead, is to serve. Whether it is as my role as a husband, or father, or teacher, or supervisor, or developer, the demonstration of my leadership is my service. To serve, is to love. My passions, my convictions, they are not compromised by my service - they are who I am. However, the character of love, and therefore service, and therefore leadership, is best described by the following:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

My failure to demonstrate these characteristics is the failure of my leadership.

Christ and Deuteronomy

How well do you know Deuteronomy? When Christ was tempted by Satan in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11) He quoted from Deuteronomy three times (and once from the Psalms). This fact has forced me to confront two things.

First, how well do I know Deuteronomy? It is probably not the most widely read book of the Bible, and yet, Christ quoted from it. If we are to be more like Him, shouldn't we know the same scripture that He did? I think yes, and that brings me to my second issue.

How well do I know the words of Christ? I know the Star Wars movies inside and out. I've read most of the Star Wars novels - some several times. I know the Lord of the Rings books fairly well (and the movies too). But how well do I know the words of Christ? Not well enough, IMO. I bet many of us don't, and I think that's a poor reflection on our Christianity.

I had the idea of consolidating the words of Christ into one page. You would think that from my previous readings of the Gospels I would have known that they are almost entirely His own words. I'd quoted most of Matthew before I decided that it was a silly exercize. Therefore, I plead with you to learn the Gospels. Learn what Christ has said to us. Shouldn't His words be the most important knowledge we have? What can possibly be more valueable to your life than the knowledge of His Word?

Citizens of Heaven

I've been doing some study in Phillipians recently. During that study I ran across this:

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ...

The word conduct is conversation in the King James or live in the World English. I found that searching for the word conversation in the King James in the New Testament that all but two uses of the word are, some derivative of the Greek word anastrophe. The two remaining references are in Phillipians, the one above plus:

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

I guess I should have read ahead when I started this because the NIV uses citizenship instead of conversation which is is "better" (World English uses "we belong to heaven"). The main Greek word is politeuma which refers to being a "citizen".

The point is that we as Christians are citizens of heaven. Whenever we go overseas, people look at us as representatives of what it means to be an American, or whatever country we are from. The question is, do we reflect our citizenry of Heaven or the attitutes of Christ our King? Our "conduct" should be reflection of our citizenship. Too often, I think, its not - my own included.

Unreasonable Expectations

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The profession of Software Engineering is so fraught with error and unreasonable expectations I am constantly trying to overcome multiple obstacles just to get a simple job done. New tools, new people, new technologies. They all come with costs that no one understands until too late. I must try to remember this passage more often. How much more important are we than birds or flowers to God? (hint: He died for us, not them...)