Archive for the ‘Do Something’ Category

Posted on March 9, 2010 - by Andy McMahon

A new day

If you’ve been following my twitter feed at all, you probably know I’ve started working out/training for a race.  yes.  This fat man has started running.  My initial goal was to get below 200 pounds, which I have now done.  My new goal is to get to 185.  (While being able to build muscle and endurance)  Anyway… this is not the blog for that.  You can follow along here.  Me, and Adam Black are writing and working together to meet our goals.  he’s a great accountability partner.  I’d be lying if I said I don’t want you to go comment and recommend different things for us. 

again. it’s http://beardsofsteel.wordpress.com

Go!

Posted on August 7, 2009 - by Andy McMahon

One Year Without update

One month.  It has been one month since I have quit drinking energy drinks.  Let me tell you something, it is not easy.  The hardest time is the morning, obviously.  But also, when we go out to play trivia or something.  

My escape from not drinking a beer at a bar has always been redbull. (more expensive I might add)  Now, I don’t have that shield.  I have a sprite.  Not as awesome.  

It’s helped me remember to pray.  Sound silly?  Well, it’s not to me.  It reminds me, every morning, yes, every morning, to die to myself.  It’s a great reminder.  I can’t imagine how these kids must feel.  Hungry, tired, weak, all because we can’t cough up 1 dollar a week, or a day, or a month, to help them out. 

Lord, please help me remember there are people out there hurting.  Your people.  Help me not loose compassion.  Help me remember that there are things I don’t need, no matter how much my brain might try to convince me.  God.  Help me live like you!

-Amen!

Posted on July 30, 2009 - by Andy McMahon

#CompassionThurs

Winny has been sponsored!  Thank you, whoever you are!
If you would still like to give to compassion, you can pledge for my OYWO project, Or, simply give by clicking here.

It’s Thursday.  To me that means it’s Compassion Thursday.  Basically, a group of bloggers and myself choose one child a week, who has been waiting OVER 6 months for sponsorship, and we try to get them sponsored any way we can.

This week I chose Winny.

Name:	Winny Elisabeth Margaretha Ferdinand (ID2270024)
Birthday:	March 22, 2001    Age: 8
Gender:	Female
Region:	Asia
Country:	Indonesia
Program:	Teofani Student Center

Personal and Family Information:
Winny makes her home with her father and her mother. Running errands is her household duty. Her father is sometimes employed as a farmer and her mother maintains the home. There are 3 children in the family.

As part of Compassion’s ministry, Winny participates in church activities. She is also in primary school where her performance is above average. Playing with dolls and playing group games are her favorite activities

To Sponsor Winny, click her image.  If you can’t sponsor Winny, but want to donate something, you can donate here and give what ever amount makes your comfortable.  If you’d like to pledge to donate to Compassion, while I participate in OneYearWithOut energy drinks and cigarettes, leave a comment below, and I’ll contact you with details.

Another thing, it’s very important we pray for these kids.  Pray for their safety, pray for their parents, (IF they still have them)  Pray for their hearts.

Thanks!

Posted on July 8, 2009 - by Andy McMahon

Knowing vs. Doing

This is the comment I read on Twitter that inspired me to write today.  I don’t think about it but, *maybe* once a day.  And then, I just think about it.  It makes me sad, sure, but I’m not overcome with deep sadness. I don’t act on it often.

It got me to thinking.  Knowing and practicing are two different things.  Knowing and doing something is different.  Shane Claiborne said it best when he said, “For even if the whole world believed in resurrection, little would change until we began to practice it. We can believe in CPR, but people will remain dead until someone breathes new life into them. And we can tell the world that there is life after death, but the world really seems to be wondering if there is life before death.”

it’s the same thing.  The whole world can know about world hunger, (And probably kinda d0) but little will change until people start to act on it, until people start to do something.  I guess that sums up why I felt called to join “One Year Without”.

Now, I don’t know what you believe if you read this blog.  But I do know that we have a very real problem in this world.  A problem that is over-shadowing (and enabling) world hunger.  That is greed.  I struggled with giving up energy drinks for two reasons. One reason was because I love them, like a fat kid loves cake.  The second reason is because I thought, “I earn this money, why should I give up what I like. What I do isn’t going to change the situation of the World.”

Honesty makes me sound like a real jerk.

That’s what went through my brain.  Then I remember, Jesus Christ calls me to a whole new standard of living.  He calls me to be extraordinary.  He calls me to be “Not of this World.”  He calls me to die to myself daily.  This OYWO is a challenge to both.  To help combat world hunger and for me to remember HOW to die to myself daily.  How to let the Spirit win over flesh in me.

It’s not easy, but I tried to google it, and “This will be simple.” is no where in the Bible.

Posted on July 1, 2009 - by Andy McMahon

One Year Without Plans, dates, and stuff

In my last post, I said that I was going to give up Energy drinks for a year, and continue to give up Cigarettes, on the conditions that you, the readers, would pledge to give some money to Compassion International.  Like I said, you can say you’re giving a set amount, a certain amount per day, or just sponsor a kid.  Anything will work, and that’s all you have to do.  In the meantime, you will be added to my blogroll, and you’ll also be added to the blogroll over at the ‘official’ One Year WithOut blog.

So far I have three pledgers.  Brian Childers, My Wife and Toby.  Look over to my blog roll and you’ll see them.

Here’s the plan.  July 7th will start my One Year Without energy drinks. (and still cigarettes)  Meaning July 6th will be my last day able to drink energy.  I will keep you updated via my blog, mainly an egotistical way to get you all to cheer me on.  Remember, you have something riding on this too.   If you are a pledger, I will send you an updated E-mail every 4 weeks (or thereabouts) letting you know how long it’s been, how I’m doing yadda yadda.

If I at any point feel like I’m not challenged in what I’m giving up, I will drop something else, until I feel challenged.

While I’m going without, I’ll be focusing my prayer on the children all around the world who would probably laugh at me for saying I’m gonna struggle going a year without energy drinks.. they go DAYS without clean water!  I’ll be in prayer for myself, as I hope this will be a healthy move for me, and I hope it will help me really grasp somethings about myself.

Final thing, if you haven’t pledged, it’s not too late!  Comment below, or shoot me a DM on twitter, a message on facebook, or.. there’s this thing called E-mail that some people do.  I’m not hard to get in touch with.  Let me know what you’re pledging, and I’ll add you to my list.  I really appreciate all of the support you guys are offering, but I promise, not as much as these kids will!

God Bless you all!

Posted on June 26, 2009 - by Andy McMahon

One Year Without

I stumbled upon this blog recently and it really hit me.  So I clicked the contact link.  Since then, I have been in talks with Lee and Jenny Amstutz, the people who had this idea.

The idea is that global hunger is happening around the world daily.  So, people are vowing to give something up, in efforts to support a child through Compassion International. This movement has taken off so much that Dr. Stafford, President and CEO of Compassion International has also joined the challenge in giving up cacao.

So, me, my wife (maybe) along with a few other people are going to be doing this.  What I need from you?  A pledge.  A pledge to donate money to compassion.  It can be a vow to donate 10 cents if I give up my vice for a year, or it can be a vow to donate 10,000 dollars.  Either way, it will help. Comment or Email me I can help point you in the direction you need to go.

Starting sometime in July, (Date is still tentative) I will be giving up energy drinks for a year, and since I have already given up smoking, I’ll throw that in there too. (Smoking is permanant)  I pledge to give this stuff up… What I need is some pledges.  1 dollar a week, a penny a day, whatever!  As an added little bonus, I will also add you to my blog roll.  (YEE HAW…. ok, not really but still)

So.. Let’s go.  One Year Without.  Who knows, maybe you even want to join in on the fun!?

Posted on June 23, 2009 - by Andy McMahon

Live Happy

This is a direct copy from Joshua White’s blog. The same guy that brought the “Taste something you’ve never tasted challenge”.  He has a new challenge and it spoke to me.  Recently I’ve struggled with my temper. I’ve written about it.  When I get in bad moods it’s difficult for me to get out.

It’s pretty much shaking my entire world.  I’m recognizing it and trying to fix it, and this is a great challenge that will A) challenge me, and B) possibly have positive repurcussions.

Once you read what he’s written (Below) you’ll understand why I follow this cat.  He’s cool, he’s smart, and he thinks about stuff and challenges the online community to REALLY practice what we preach.  It’s great.

–Joshua’s Blog–

Posted on June 17, 2009 - by Andy McMahon

If You’re Not Fascinated, You’re Not Paying Attention

Something big is happening.  It’s bigger than winning that new iPhone from Squarespace.  It’s bigger than your bad day at work.  It’s bigger than your boyfriend breaking up with you.

The social networking frenzy is not just for the yahoos anymore.  No one can say that Twitter is pointless.  No one.  Supporters for defeated Iranian presidential Candidate are rallying, and using twitter to organize.  It’s actually pretty stinking huge.  Check this link to read some of the live tweets going on as we speak.

I can’t get over the fact that this is real life.  This isn’t some internet game.  People are dying.  Do some research, see what you can do to help.  But for the love of God.  Don’t just sit here and ignoring it.  There are some specific things you can do to help support the movement, scroll past the image to see a good checklist as how to help..  Stuff like this is happening every day, all over the world.  I think it’s about time it’s brought to the forefront of our attention.  It’s time we stop ignoring it because it’s not us.  Compassion guys… compassion. If nothing else, pray as much as you can for this country, these people’s families, the lives of everyone.  Pray. Pray. Pray.

(From http://www.i-policy.org/)
The purpose of this guide is to help you participate constructively in the Iranian election protests through twitter.

1. Do NOT publicise proxy IP’s over twitter, and especially not using the #iranelection hashtag. Security forces are monitoring this hashtag, and the moment they identify a proxy IP they will block it in Iran. If you are creating new proxies for the Iranian bloggers, DM them to @stopAhmadi or @iran09 and they will distributed them discretely to bloggers in Iran.

2. Hashtags, the only two legitimate hashtags being used by bloggers in Iran are #iranelection and #gr88, other hashtag ideas run the risk of diluting the conversation.

3. Keep you bull$hit filter up! Security forces are now setting up twitter accounts to spread disinformation by posing as Iranian protesters. Please don’t retweet impetuosly, try to confirm information with reliable sources before retweeting. The legitimate sources are not hard to find and follow.

4. Help cover the bloggers: change your twitter settings so that your location is TEHRAN and your time zone is GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location and timezone searches. If we all become ‘Iranians’ it becomes much harder to find them.

5. Don’t blow their cover! If you discover a genuine source, please don’t publicise their name or location on a website. These bloggers are in REAL danger. Spread the word discretely through your own networks but don’t signpost them to the security forces. People are dying there, for real, please keep that in mind.

6. Denial of Service attacks. If you don’t know what you are doing, stay out of this game. Only target those sites the legitimate Iranian bloggers are designating. Be aware that these attacks can have detrimental effects to the network the protesters are relying on. Keep monitoring their traffic to note when you should turn the taps on or off.

7. Do spread the (legitimate) word, it works! When the bloggers asked for twitter maintenance to be postponed using the #nomaintenance tag, it had the desired effect. As long as we spread good information, provide moral support to the protesters, and take our lead from the legitimate bloggers, we can make a constructive contribution.

Please remember that this is about the future of the Iranian people, while it might be exciting to get caught up in the flow of participating in a new meme, do not lose sight of what this is really about.

Posted on June 11, 2009 - by Andy McMahon

Plank in My Eye

As you know I struggle with cynicism.  I do it a lot.  I noticed lately that I tend to focus on the splinters.

You know what I’m saying.  I don’t like to focus on me.  So, instead, I turn it on the church, or other people, or conferences.

So.. Now, I’m going to focus on me.  I am going to focus on the plank in my eye.  I might even write about it… I guess you’ll just have to find out.

Posted on May 5, 2009 - by Andy McMahon

Conference

I have a dilemma. It’s also a confession.

I don’t get it.  I don’t understand the hype of all of the conferences.  I’ve noticed them more and more, and I’m sure there are some things you learn at them.  What I don’t understand is why there are so many of them.  And why all of them are ‘epic’.

I don’t understand why my twitter explodes with hashtags and motivational comments for the span of the conference. when I say explodes, I mean, it’s like a twitter Hiroshima.

I don’t understand why I also get an explosion of people saying how great lunch was at this conference.  ie: “My lunch was delicious, I love fajitas.  Now I’m going to go to a session on world hunger. #superawesomeconference09″

I don’t understand why in this world, we’ve decided that gathering together as believers/leaders and talking about what the church has done wrong or what one church seems to have right is the answer.

I don’t understand. How listening to ‘famous pastors’ talk is going to improve the world, or the Kingdom.  It seems to me the only thing that might improve is a churches numbers, and our egos. (Is that what it’s about?)

I don’t understand why we can’t use this conference mentality and gather money and motivation and hearts for the poor, hungry and broken people, instead of a 3-D projector, a new sound system, or a bus to shuttle people from our far away parking lot.

I’m a cynic, I know.  What’s your take?  Hit me.