Category: News

Click on the colored are of the map to get detailed, up-to-date information on the “Station Fire” that is burning near us. Wild.

View Los Angeles area fires: Mount Wilson, La Canada Flintridge, Altadena, La Crescenta, Glendale, Pasadena, Acton, Agua Dulce in a larger map

Also, be sure and check out these incredible photos of the “Station Fire.”

I have to remind myself constantly that the world doesn’t revolve around me…though I sure like to think it does. But only by God’s grace can I slay the dragon in my heart that the Bible calls pride.

There’s a good piece from Newsweek that I think we all should read called “Generation Me” which basically discusses the fact that we’re just all about ourselves these days. Here’s a snippet of a key sentence and a link from the article (the whole article is only 6 paragraphs — quick, easy read):

“…as Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell point out in their excellent book “The Narcissism Epidemic,” released last week, we’ve built up the confidence of our kids, but in that process, we’ve created a generation of hot-house flowers puffed with a disproportionate sense of self-worth (the definition of narcissism) and without the resiliency skills they need when Mommy and Daddy can’t fix something.”

Read the full article from Newsweek here.

In a related story, a mom got upset this week when Disneyland wouldn’t allow MTV to film her daughters $150,000 quinceañera. Here’s a quote from the daughter:

“Who is Disney to say, ‘No,’ because we’re paying them,” Kreuger said. “I really want Disney to see the stress they caused. All my life I wanted to have a big quince, and MTV has the big shows and all the drama, and I wanted that too.

I sent in, like, two videos — I was trying really hard, and they liked me,” Krueger continued. “It gets me so mad that they’re not going to do this MTV thing.”

It’s a true story, but if seeing is believing then click here.

If you haven’t seen the new ads or container for Tropicana orange juice, then the following thoughts will make no sense to you. Be sure and view the side-by-side photo here, and the billboard ad here.

The first time I saw the new marketing ads for Tropicana I was honestly upset. The logo looked weird and no longer unique, the new container just looked like a basic store brand — like “Safeway Select,” and I missed the little red and white straw coming out of the orange. In fact, I voiced my opinion to my wife and brother-in-law in the car as we passed a billboard one day, but they didn’t necessarily agree with me. Since I work in the marketing world a bit (with product packaging and design) I figured my thoughts may have been exclusive to me and other design people, but still as a consumer it just wasn’t flying with me. As it turns out — I’m wasn’t alone. According to the New York Times, Tropicana is ditching their new product container design and implementing their old one. Why the sudden change? Apparently enough people called, emailed, faxed, sent Morse code, pony-expressed (you get the point) their outrage over the new packaging that Tropicana decided it would be best to scrap it.

I’m not trying to make more of it than should be made, but I do believe people feel a connection between a product and it’s package. There’s something familiar about it, something consistent, or maybe something special and when it changes so dramatically it actually feels a little wrong. I still remember the commercials where they would stick the red and white straw in the orange and start drinking — I think I even tried doing it as a kid (though finding a red and white straw is tough). Even though the orange juice on the inside is the same as it was before, the change in packaging makes it seem as if the product itself has been altered. Thankfully, not everything changes like orange juice and product packaging — like God. God never changes.

The Bible says God (or Jesus Christ) is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The Bible says God’s Word never changes (Psa 119:89). The Bible says that God’s love never changes (Jer 31:3). And the Bible clearly says that God never changes: “For I the LORD do not change…” (Mal 3:6). Theologians call this attribute of God His immutability. Unlike meaningless orange juice packaging, I never have to worry about the one and only God changing who He is or what He says. It’s for that reason that I can trust Him completely and trust in Him alone, because he’s the only One that is like that. This truth about God could not be more relevant than today. In the midst of great economic uncertainty, constant changing laws and lawmakers, new clothes, new cars, new technology, and even a new look for my orange juice, I can trust in a God who is always certain, whose law is always the same (the Bible), who never looks different, who never gets an upgrade, and who will always be the same for eternity.