Tags: California, Family, Reunion, Vacation, Life

McMahon might want to visit Daveramsey.com to find out how to get out of debt. If you’ve read Ramsey’s books or subscribe to his philosophies on finances tell us why.

According to an Associated Press article members of the Des Moines, Iowa police department will be prohibited from exposing any tattoos, branding or intentional scarring on their faces, heads, arms, necks and heads. The department’s police chief says such adornments distract from a professional image. Is the chief on or off the mark on this one?

On July 20th TPE will be featuring Randy Travis on its cover. If you’re a gospel or country music fan this is a must-not-miss edition.

Tags: Tattoos, Ed McMahon, Randy Travis, Dave Ramsey, Bankrupt, Mortgage

Joel Osteen, Oprah Winfrey or neither? Check out this blog and see what people are saying about Osteen and Winfrey.

This Sunday, get a dose of Chuck Norris in TPE. The issue rocks and is a great one to pass on to military personnel and teens in your life.

Want to help those who are hurting? Help out at a Convoy of Hope outreach near you.

Want to let the world know how you feel about WALL-E, Oprah, Osteen, Chuck Norris, or helping the impoverished? Shout it out right here at Simple Plan. Come on, leave a word or two in the Comment box below.

Tags: WALL-E, Joel Osteen, Oprah, Convoy of Hope, Chuck Norris, Military

Heroics aside, the thing that really interested me about Pinson’s story was a quote he gave to MyFOXHouston.com. “I’d rather have a bad day fishing any day, than a good day at work,” said Pinson, 63. “‘Cause there ain’t never been no good day at work.”

Pinson may be on to something. Here are sampling of books publicist’s have recently sent to my desk for review: Caught Between a Dream and a Job, No More Mondays, and What Should I do with My Life?

Those titles alone tell me there are writers who see a multitude of Pinsons trudging through the workweek with only the weekend on their minds. While thumbing through the books this morning I couldn’t help but remember what one tired looking teacher regularly used to tell my ninth-grade history class: “Find something you like doing and you’ll never work another day in your life!”

Not sure that’s entirely true. I really like my job, but there are days when I’d rather be fishing with the likes of Pinson rather than working.

Writing for a weekly magazine has its good and bad points. There are deadlines that keep you sharp. Readers to please. Conflicts to resolve. Issues to research and debate, and long hours at the desk. But there is also travel to new places, opportunities to meet new people and satisfaction from telling people’s stories. Each month when I cash my paycheck, I feel its deserved and compensation for a job well done.

Note the word job. Some people, in the circles I run in, refer to our jobs as ministry. Others say we have a duty rather than a job. I think its a combination of both those things and a few others. But our work is still a job. I realize job falls far short of the magnificence of ministry and that duty sounds way more noble than job. But there’s nothing wrong with having a job — whether you like yours or not.

The Bible says our jobs can support our families, bring pleasure to the Lord, give us opportunity to do our best, and share our faith. Having a job does not guarantee wealth, happiness, peace and contentment. But really, should we be looking for those things at our places of employment?

Tags: work, jobs, fishing, conflict, journalism, opportunity

Here are a few facts Simple Plan has discovered about The Shack.

• In late May the book debuted #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
• Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, expressed his feelings for The Shack this way: “When the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of The Shack. This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!”
• In April The Shack had risen to the #6 best-selling book in store at Barnes and Noble.
• Some Christian leaders are not pleased with the handling of theology in The Shack regarding the Trinity.

No matter where you fall in terms of liking or disliking The Shack share your views with Simple Plan.

Tags: The Shack, New York Times best seller list, Trinity, Eugene Peterson

Or is it?

Providing passengers with Internet capabilities is akin to giving us a big screen television with unlimited channels and a remote. If flight attendants thought we weren’t paying attention to the pre-flight safety instructional while absent-mindedly flipping through Sharper Image catalogs, imagine what will happen when we can surf the Net.

Aye-yi-yi.

From the comfort of a miserable seat in coach at 30,000 feet, we will now be able to e-mail, shop, read the latest news, blog and probably even stream television shows as we jet across the sky to domestic and international destinations.

It seems just a few years ago I saw a throng of people gathering around another passenger who had a portable DVD player on his tray table. Everyone was astonished that such technology existed. “And it cost less than a seven hundred bucks,” the man said proudly. “But it’s totally worth it.”

Nowadays you can get on a plane and never utter a word to a fellow passenger if you’re not in a talking mood. Pop in your ear buds; bury your nose into your computer, magazine or book; pretend you’re asleep; or just do the burning stare technique into the headrest in front of you and most people won’t bother you.

Will Internet capabilities just be another excuse for travelers to ignore one another? Or will they bring people together as they travel and search the Web for the perfect toaster or latest score?

Who knows?

But if I’m the student of human nature I think I am I would lean toward us passengers becoming even more reclusive. Which is fine with me because I am not much of talker when I fly.

But what about those people who use flight time as an opportunity to share their faith? Will the Internet prove to be just one more obstacle to clear before they share the gospel? Or will they be able to parlay the new technology into genuine conversations about faith? I guess it depends on the person and his or her determination. But that’s just a guess. What do you think?

Spill the beans by clicking on comments (just a little below this post).

By the way: Simple Plan won’t post again until May 22.

Tags: Internet, wi-fi, Airlines, surf, Net

That is absolutely stunning news.

Who would have thought that Starbucks would ever experience a sharp drop-off in customers? Then again, who would have thought gasoline would even come close to four bucks a gallon or the price of eggs would skyrocket or the housing market would plummet or flying would begin to move back to being for only those with large, disposable incomes?

Certainly not most people. If they had, many wouldn’t have operated with a no thought for tomorrow philosophy when it came to their finances. With blind abandon hundreds of thousands of homeowners liquidated the equity in their homes, took vacations they couldn’t afford, racked up huge credit card bills and bought vehicles that were way out their league. Countless consumers also didn’t give one thought to dropping four or five bucks a day at Starbucks either.

Now here we are. Inflation is making people reprioritize their needs and wants. Discretionary incomes have been zapped. People are beginning to watch their pennies and Starbucks is having a sharp drop-off in customers.

Excellent (not really).

Though it’s easy to point a finger at the government or big oil companies or food corporations for the current economic downturn maybe we should be pointing a finger at ourselves. After all, we’ve helped create the economic beast that is now feasting on our pocketbooks.

Tags: Starbucks, Gasoline prices, customers

Winfrey is everyone’s best friend. She’s easygoing, smart, wise, and imperfect, yet sure of herself. She’s also the kind of friend you could easily imagine yourself sitting down with and telling her all your secrets.

It’s easy to envision her empathizing with you and giving you sage advice. After all, she does that several times a week with famous people. If Angelina Jolie can open to Oprah, so can you.

Oprah is also rich beyond measure and does numerous good deeds throughout the world. But spend a few minutes watching her show and you begin to believe she lives in suburbia and shops at the SuperCenter with a fistful of coupons, just like you. Like I said, she’s very likable. So much so, you wouldn’t want to disagree with her for fear of losing a great friendship.

And then there’s her fame. Movie stars love her — so do politicians. She’s been in movies too. She promotes books and has her own magazine that she regularly appears on the cover. Who wouldn’t want to be associated with this woman?

It’s no wonder countless people would love to call Oprah their BFF (best friend forever).

But even better than all those admirable qualities is that she’ll share with you. Whether it be her friends, her feelings, her money or her ideas on religion and the way things should be. They’re there for the taking.

Currently, she is touting Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth. It’s not only one of her book club’s selections, it’s also the basis for a weekly Internet class on Oprah’s Website that she and Tolle are teaching. Required reading? You guessed it: A New Earth, which has been described by some as New Age thinking repackaged for the umpteenth time.

Recently, Roger Friedman, wrote Is Oprah Starting Her Own Cult?

Simple Plan wants your to answer Friedman’s question here.

Tags: Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, Angelina Jolie