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T u e s d a y , A u g u s t 3 0 t h
9:37PM |
Great Time Of Year
t's a great time of year for
baseball. The Phillies are in the middle of a crowded wild card race
- as a matter of fact they're in the pennant race. Leading the wild
card, 4-and-a-half back for the NL East pennant. The rest of the NL
East is in the thick of the wild card race, all within soemthing like
three games, and out of 32 games remaining for the Phils, 26 are
against division opponents, so these games have playoff intensity and
huge importance. So much for the NL East being the weak NL Least.
These last games are some games worth going to.
And with the excitement of baseball far from over, in comes football.
I'm excited about that starting up this year, ready to watch the
Eagles make another run at the Super Bowl. Fantasy football draft is
tomorrow: this will be my inaugural participation in that. I've never
gotten excited about fantasy football, but I'll give it a try. There
just aren't as many categories in fantasy football as in fantasy
baseball, not as many interesting stories, not as much diversity, and
the season is far shorter. In fantasy sports you just can't
top fantasy baseball: the length of the season, the disparity between
pitchers' games and hitters' games, a dozen stat categories to track
and score off of... exciting stuff. But here are my NFL
predictions.
AFC East
1. Patriots
stable champions until proven otherwise
2. Bills
overrated early on, but should be good; offense is questionable
with Losman QB'ing
3. Jets
they'll be right with Buffalo, but I give the Bills the edge in
division games because of their defense
4. Dolphins
they have their work cut out for them, but at least they have some
players this year
AFC North
1. Ravens
odd call i know, thinking they'll top the Steelers... but with
Jamal Lewis healthy and Kyle Boller getting some experience, they
could have an offense to support their defense
2. Steelers
Roethlisberger will take a step back this year, and his team with
him; they should still make the playoffs at 10-6 to the Ravens'
11-5
3. Bengals
one of my personal favorites the past couple years, i'm afraid it
still isn't the bengals' time; though a good defense and an offense
with electric potential will keep games close
4. Browns
they need Winslow back; they need something exciting in
cleveland
AFC South
1. Colts
they'll be feeling the heat from the Jags, but no one in this
division has the defense to corral the Colts
2. Jaguars
an exciting up-and-coming team with a bunch of young no-name
(currently) guys; they'll be overlooked by too many
3. Texans
if Carr breaks out this year, the Texans' future is looking
good
4. Titans
they seem to be rebuilding, but have something exciting in bennett
and the position battle between travis henry and chris
brown
AFC West
1. Broncos
this is the hardest division to call; the broncos get the edge
with their mile high dynamo on both sides of the ball
2. Chargers
i'm not a Brees believer, and am ready to see NC State alum
Phillip Rivers take the helm, handing off to LT and throwing bombs to
gates and company
3. Raiders
no doubt the offense has improved; the defense just has to hold
the lead... hard to do in this division
4. Chiefs
always a step behind the leaders of this division
NFC East
1. Eagles
class of the NFC, there is really no clear rival to Philly,
especially within their own division
2. Giants
even with the inexperienced younger Manning, this team has
potential and will be tough
3. Cowboys
they should probably sack Bledsoe and develop a future
quarterback; problem is they don't really have one and they have some
decent weapons this year... not good enough
4. Redskins
great defense, especially if they can add Corey Simon, but where
is the offense?
NFC North
1. Vikings
their only real challenge in this division is the Packers;
culpepper will continue to light it up and they now have a
respectable defense
2. Packers
Favre is still surrounded by the pieces he needs
3. Lions
Harrington's receivers will make him look better than he
is
4. Bears
good choice in exploring young offensive talent; can't wait to see
Urlacher on the field again this year
NFC South
1. Panthers
my number one threat to the Eagles' reign in the NFC; well-rounded
and deep
2. Saints
the offense will continue to thrive behind that great
o-line
3. Falcons
yes, number three; Vick isn't all that, Dunn isn't all that, the
team isn't all that
4. Buccaneers
good for a cellar-dweller, but they're just not what they were
two/three years ago
NFC West
1. Rams
the fun and gun has gone nowhere; it is alive and well, and so are
the Rams
2. Seahawks
getting used to being number two; hasselbeck needs help
3. Cardinals
early Cinderella; if the o-line comes together this team will be
solid
4. 49ers
rattay was the right choice; 49ers are the wrong
choice
The college radio station here has some great stuff Sunday, Monday,
and Tuesday nights... I just heard Murs & Supernatural's "Breakfast
Club".
M o n d a y , A u g u s t 2 9 t h
2:09PM |
Comic Relief
n this humbling natural disaster
named Hurricane Katrina, newscasters exist for comic relief. While in
the gym this afternoon I was watching CNN's coverage of the storm.
Even today, there are people who remain in New Orleans, Mobile, and
other parts of the Gulf Coast, and the news agencies join civil
authorities in warning and advising people to stay indoors if they
are within the storm's fury. Inexplicably, CNN's coverage then cut
over to a weatherman followed by his cameraman as he talks about and
shows how the streets are flooding, dangerous debris is flying, and
sturdy buildings, lamp-posts, and trees are being ripped down and
tossed by the wind and floods. He then acts like a clown as he dashes
out into the street and ducks behind one of those blue street-corner
mailboxes, shouting instructions in a melodramatic army captain kind
of style to the cameraman as he urges him to follow and to shout if
sees any large debris coming at them. Soon enough, the blue mailbox
follows the course of the nearby trees and begins to break apart, and
the newsman shouts the "Retreat" as he struggles against the wind
back into the hotel parking deck, where he proceeds to fall flat on
his face and get carried a couple feet in the rising waters. He gets
up and says something to the effect of "so you see how strong the
storm is raging and what it's like out there". Yeah, and you're the
only one clowning around out there.
It is good to see that New Orleans has not been thoroughly deluged as
was feared as recently as yesterday, but there will be a lot of
clean-up and need for new housing that people will be facing.
S a t u r d a y , A u g u s t 2 7 t h
4:21PM |
Questionable Availability
ell I might be forced to stay
here after all. The MSN-based blog has really been annoying me
because almost every other time I go there the site is either
unavailable or there is some other error that keeps me from pulling
up the webpage. The site has been successfully visited 93 times as of
3:00, but for every two times the site is accessed successfully there
is a "temporarily unavailble" or "page not found" error, it's not
worth it to me. That problem almost never occurs with GeoCities.
Couple that with the fact that not everyone is readily able to
comment on the new blog, and despite the fact that I like the way the
new blog looks and automates a lot of the work I do, it's not looking
like it will be worth the move.
F r i d a y , A u g u s t 2 6 t h
10:17PM |
New Location
o ahead if you like and preview
my new blog. I'll be posting there for at least
the next few days on a trial basis (so you probably don't want to
change your links yet). My main concern right now is MSN's uptime,
but we'll see how it goes. Let me know what you think of the new
blog, and what you think about the move, if you care at all. Oh,
you'll need an MSN passport (you have one if you have a Hotmail
account or if you use MSN Messenger) to leave comments on the new
blog. Some things have changed, such as the list of blogs I link to.
I don't visit as many blogs as regularly as I used to, and on this
new blog I link mostly to the few I still read and the blogs of those
who comment on my blog or who I otherwise am aware that they visit my
blog regularly.
T h u r s d a y , A u g u s t 2 5 t h
4:18PM |
Mythological Creature
love this kind of stuff. A
farmer in Texas set a trap in the hope of catching the elusive animal
that was killing some of his chickens and turkeys. He
caught it. The story was blown up into rumors about the farmer's
possibly having caught a chupacabra, a legendary vampire-like animal.
The mystery animal is being identified right now, but when I look at
the picture of this "chupacabra", I think I can help.
It looks like a jackal that lost a lot of hair while lying dead
overnight. Jackals can be found roaming wild in Texas and like to
kill and eat small game such as birds. Compare these pictures;
first the photo from the farmer's catch, and then a photo of a
jackal:
W e d n e s d a y , A u g u s t 2 4 t h
11:30AM |
Commenting On The News
ne of the reasons why I love the
BBC website as my
preferred source of news is the varied comments from readers that are
encouraged and published (filtered first) at the end of many of the
articles. It adds an enlightening and often humorous aspect to the
article, and displays a sampling of opinions from people all over the
world. Example: scroll down to the bottom of this article. What I do not have much tolerance
for and from experience have learned to avoid are the common
unmoderated message boards utilized by several American news sources,
primarily sports news.
9:23AM |
Newness
erhaps the rise from ignominy
for our softball team has begun: we won our first game in two years
yesterday evening, but not after our trademark final-inning collapse.
Final score: 15-14.
After years with Geocities, I am contemplating moving my blog to MSN
Spaces. I like having unlimited design control over my blog, but
there are definite time advantages in utilizing a service that does
it all for me, and a few things besides. I'm getting old and just
can't keep up anymore. Not really. I favor MSN Spaces over other free
services like Blogspot and Xanga because it is a smoother hosting
mechanism and allows a lot more customization than Xanga or Blogspot
(I've already played around with MSN Spaces and put up a test blog
there). I am rather loathe to leave my current residence just because
it's my creation, but I'll keep you posted.
Has anyone tried the Beta test of Google's new instant messenging
service: Google
Talk? If so, what do you think about it? Does it really seem to
have more to offer than the several other established instant
messenging services? I'm not a Google fan, so I hadn't heard about
Google Talk until today.
T u e s d a y , A u g u s t 2 3 r d
9:14AM |
Plodding Along
ood news - I think I've finally
found the
college through which I want to complete my B.S. degree in
Computer Information Systems focusing on website management. It's got
everything I want, which has been very hard to find. I'll apply and
see if indeed this is the place I'll be enrolling in next fall.
M o n d a y , A u g u s t 2 2 n d
5:36PM |
Long Hill To Climb
an you imagine being athlete
enough for this?
S u n d a y , A u g u s t 2 1 s t
10:49PM |
Less Than Slaves
y coincidence, Pastor Liechty
read from Leviticus 22:11 in the prelude to the partaking of the
weekly Lord's Supper. This very week I had read this chapter in
Leviticus as I continued reading through that book, and was struck by
who was allowed to partake of the holy food of the offerings offered
up by the priests for the people of Israel. By default anyone of the
tribe of Israel who was not unclean or ostracized from the people of
God was allowed, more, required, to partake of a portion of the food
of the sacrificial animals offered up in particular sacrifices.
Leviticus 22:11 orders that outside the covenant community of God's
chosen people, visiting strangers and hirelings could not partake of
the holy food. However, slaves - "if the priest buy any soul with his
money" - were allowed to and required to eat of the holy food. They
could do so because they were under their covenant head.
I have always perceived the people of God's Israel as particularly
exclusive and stringent about who "counts" as the people of God and
who may participate in rites of worship. However, it is actually our
present church that is more exclusive. Old Israel excluded people
outside of the covenant nation; we in many churches today exclude
our own children!!! We, who now are all priests, who may now come
before God's presence in the name of His Son, do not allow our own
charges to commune with the rest of the covenant people of God,
feasting together before God as His family, a princely people. Our
sense of covenant and covenant headship has been lost. The covenant
has not been lost - it is still there, having been instituted by
Jehovah himself. We are simply and sadly failing to exercise our
covenant responsibilities. There is freedom in the covenant, in
placing ourselves under the direction of the Lord's commands. When
God's covenant with us is forsaken, we forfeit this freedom for
slavery... our children become less than the slaves of Old Testament
Israel.
I would be interested to see/read if this verse in Leviticus has been
used in theologians' writings to advocate paedocommunion.
Changing subjects, I had a good lunch at the Rench house today; and
though I don't know the official name of the meal it was shrimp in a
sauce overtop long-grain rice, with salad. This was followed by a
liberal dose of Rowan Atkinson. Now as the day expires, I must turn
to my daily Bible reading and chill to the Sunday Night Lounge.
S a t u r d a y , A u g u s t 2 0 t h
11:11AM |
Dating
might not be especially
qualified to speak of love and have often been told as much (as if
carnal love is the secret key and only basis for truly understanding
love), but I do want to say a few things regarding what seems to me
an unnecessary and encouraged fastidiousness among young reformed men
when looking to meet girls with the goal of meeting one's future
wife. The trend I speak of in reformed young men is to scorn the
Christian girls who 1) are not reformed and 2) show any skin on the
torso. I couldn't care less if a Christian girl whom I meet and date
is not currently in the "Reformed" camp, nor will I base my
impression of a girl entirely on the total surface area of her
clothing. I base my opinion on what I hope to demonstrate are valid
Biblical grounds and examples.
1. Again, though I apparently have never been in true love
before, and do not have the experience of living in marriage, I
believe that Scripture's revelation of man's nature, God's definition
of human love, advice from my parents, and the shared testimony of
married couples reveals that an important part of true human love is
being able and willing at all times to love your spouse, even when
she (there will be no he/she here, for I am speaking from my
perspective) is unlovely. As many who are older and more experienced
than myself have said: in fact it is most important that you are able
to demonstrate a genuine and patient love of the other when she is
most unlovely. Now the problem I see with the two referenced
idealistic standards in Reformed single mens' minds is that they seem
unprepared to love in the unlovely times: they have an ideal of the
lovely and they want it now and always and won't give the time
of day to anything that hints at being anything less. Before I
continue, let me state and please keep in mind that sometimes
Reformed men court and marry Reformed women and have great
marriages. I know several instances of this. It's great that their
thought processes are already aligned on a lot of things, but I will
continue to demonstrate why I think that it is unnecessary for a
single Reformed guy to consider only known Reformed women
exclusively.
2. I do not support segregating our small Reformed camp from
other Christians with a Bible-based faith, as if they are somehow
outside our fellowship (and lumped together with the pagans) or as if
they are beneath us. No, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ,
our fellow-workers in the responsibility of restoring Eden, and we
are all equal in God's sight. This is why the protestation of
Reformed single guys who proclaim "but we are not to be unequally
yoked" is preposterously in error. "Unequally yoked" means being
hitched with someone of a different faith, someone who is
proverbially walking backwards while you try to drag the cart
forward. If you think that you as a Reformed guy marrying a Baptist
girl creates an unequal yoke, I believe you are seriously wrong and
in sin. If she professes Christ and is striving to live a godly life
and grow in the knowledge of God, and she is consciously engaged in
claiming the world for Christ, you, the Reformed guy, should already
be doing the same thing... you have the same purpose, you are pulling
the cart in the same direction. If you think it more important to
grasp at detailed understanding of the role of election in salvation,
and in a firm ability to define the words we Reformed people are
proud of, such as can be found in our tomes devoted to systematic
theology, then you are the one pulling the cart in the wrong
direction.
3. A stubborn refusal to date anyone outside of the Reformed
camp as if such a relationship could not work would be disrespectful
to my parents and their example of success, rather like a violation
of the fifth commandment. My parents were Christians when they were
married if not as theologically astute as they are now, and not
Reformed as they are now. And yet I think they did a fine job in
raising my brother and sisters. I have no reason to believe I cannot
build on the model they have provided.
4. That being said, I do still value the Reformed
understanding and worship that I have been taught and brought up
under, and think it is worthy of perpetuation through the
generations. I do not think that this is possible only if I find a
Reformed girl to date. Something that is important in both myself and
in the Christian girls out there is teachableness - on both
sides. As the male, mine is the greater responsibility to teach.
I have no qualms about meeting an attractive, for example, Baptist
girl and discussing matters of Christian doctrine, and if she is not
teachable she will politely tell me to get lost or if I demonstrate
pigheaded dogmaticism and unwillingness to be challenged in my
positions she will tell me to get lost.
5. Looking for a girl in town who is Reformed and who never
shows any skin severely narrows down opportunities for finding a
mate, and could very easily lead to discouragement and loss of hope
in the mind of that poor Reformed guy, such that he would rather not
get married than "settle for a non-Reformed girl". He will stubbornly
cling to his rigid qualifications even at the expense of never
getting married. That really opens the door for sin to come in, all
because you were not willing to give other Christian girls a
look.
6. We have the example of Jesus to imitate. I for one am glad
that Jesus did not have rigid qualifications concerning whom he was
going to love, and that he loves me when I do not fit into the mold
of a perfect recipient of love. I think we Christians should humble
ourselves, take chances and challenge ourselves, and try to model our
love off of Christ's wonderful and perfect love.
In summary, for clarification:
- I am not arguing that a Reformed guy should not marry a
Reformed girl or that it is foolish for a Reformed guy to desire a
Reformed girl.
- I am arguing that many of the reasons many Reformed guys
give for looking for girls to the exclusion of Christian girls who
are not Reformed are poorly based.
Those are just a few thoughts. Feel free to ask for further
explanations or, if you are a Reformed person who holds to the idea
of dating that I spoke against, please argue your position.
F r i d a y , A u g u s t 1 9 t h
9:02PM |
Thoughts On Old Testament Stance Toward Sodomy
isten to God's Word:
Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is
abomination. - Leviticus 18:22
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of
them have committed an abomination... - Leviticus 20:13
Why does God call homosexuality among His people abominable?
Leviticus 20: 22-26 explains the purpose of sexual morality as
outlined by God's law. You shall not walk in the manners of the
nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these
things, and therefore I abhorred them (v.23). And you shall be
holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other
people, that ye should be mine (v.26). The Lord commanded his
specially chosen people to be distinguished from the fallen
rebellious nations whom God would clear away in His people's favor.
As this specially set apart people, they were expected to act like
people who are set apart, people who are the antithesis of the
heathen nations surrounding them. Sodomy, incest, and bestiality may
have been accepted practices in the mind of the Canaanites, and God
names these sinful practices as reserved for distinguishing marks of
those against whom His judgment will come.
With Christ's victory accomplished in His death and resurrection,
many of the old practices were done away with, though the
foundational principles behind those old practices remained. While it
can be argued that the dietary laws no longer apply, one should be
more hard-pressed to defend a notion that God's laws on sexuality
have been altered in any way. We are under a civil government to whom
we must submit with due respect and maintenance of orderliness, and
we are not under the theocracy of Old Testament Israel that had the
law's decree and the authority to put to death the sodomite (as
commanded in the latter part of Lev. 18:22). But the purpose of
putting to death the sodomite was not angry disgust, it appears to me
to have had as its purpose to cut off from among the people of God
those who blatantly chose to follow after the ways of the heathen
nations, those who are "others" in relation to the City of God's side
of the antithesis. This is the principle behind the civil command of
execution of sodomites that I would argue still applies today. We are
to cut off fellowship with the sodomite and consider him outside the
Church, not out of beastly anger and hot-bloodedness, but out of
loving disapproval. It appears to my limited vision that there is a
trend in churches, even among the members of conservative churches,
to rather try to feel pity for, explain away, and "discover the cause
of" someone's fall into homosexuality or other sexual perversion, but
this "exercise of love" or whatever it is should not lead to a
neglect of the command to cut off the unrepentant person who is in
violation of God's moral principles, and who is living contrary to
the dominion mandate - taking backward steps and looking back at
Sodom and Gomorrah rather than striving forward, eyes on Christ, to
restore creation to its original created glory, beauty, and subjected
orderliness.
In summary, I think the obedient Church will cut off the sexually
perverse, counting them among the damned outsiders, ministering to
them as we do to "normal" unbelievers. On the other hand, I think
that the disobedient Church will embrace and seek to tolerate and
understand the sexually perverse in the name of love. And love it
truly is; unfortunately it is love of the Canaanites, not love of the
God who resides in His glorious tabernacle among us.
T h u r s d a y , A u g u s t 1 8 t h
10:33PM |
Mostly Fun Music
y short list of fun music of the
moment...
1. It's Not The Fall That Hurts - The Caesars
2. An Honest Mistake - The Bravery
3. The Fall - Way Out West
4. Be Your Husband (live) - Jeff Buckley
5. Show Me - Moya Brennan
6. My Friend - Groove Armada
7. A Day At The Races - Jurassic 5
8. Don't Look Back In Anger - Oasis
9. A Sun Came - Sufjan Stevens
10. Love In A Trashcan - The Raveonettes
10:14AM |
Quieter Perspective
ne of my co-workers pointed out
a good article by a grieving parent of a son killed in action in
Iraq, one that decries the actions of Ms. Sheehan. Read Ronald
Griffin's article on opinionjournal.com here, and read a letter reported by Matt
Drudge to be from Cindy's relatives here.
I as well do not understand anger directed by grieving parents to
their government when their children voluntarily enlisted in the
service that stands by to engage in the occupation of war...
W e d n e s d a y , A u g u s t 1 7 t h
12:45PM |
Become The Star Of A Thriller Novel
ow much would you pay to be
immortalized with your name as the name of a character in a John
Grisham or Stephen King book? These two writers are auctioning off
the privilege, and I think it is a brilliantly novel money-making
idea. If you have a big ego and are too trivial to really do anything
else to give your name some measure of lasting historical value, this
auction is for you. It's better than having a star named after you,
because more people will see your name this way. Other authors are
involved in this auction as well, and proceeds go to The First
Amendment Project. Story: "Authors offer immortality in web
auction."
8:14AM |
Porcupine Dish
ere is something for all you
lady types. There was an article on BBC this morning about a
porcupine problem in Kenya that results in destroyed crops and
exhumed graves. A Derek Coggon from Uganda, where porcupines are a
delicacy, offers this humorous recipe for his Kenyan neighbors. I
find it humorous anyway.
Porcupines are the most delicious and tender of all game animals. Do
not skin it as the skin is the tastiest part (1-2" thick) and is 60%
of the whole animal (rather like crackling).
Pluck out (carefully) all the large quills
Either drop into or pour over boiling water
Scrape the remaining quills (feathers) off
(The outside skin will resemble a suckling pig and the feet will
closely resemble a human hand... take no notice)
Remove the feet/entrails/head
Remove the scent glands at the rear carefully (very important!)
Stuff the inside with stuffing and rice and dried fruit mix
Leave in fridge overnight
Grease the outside of the skin
Bake in the oven until golden brown and cooked
Save one of the hands in a jar for your guests when they query what
type of animal they are eating and watch the reaction!
T u e s d a y , A u g u s t 1 6 t h
10:43PM |
Storming Hungry Host
xcellent! There is a
thunderstorm and heavy rain to lull me to sleep this evening. On the
downside, the approaching storm cancelled the first softball game of
the season, after we all got out to the field and started warming up.
This was my first day back at work, and there are several design
projects lined up for me to work on in my spare time, so I figure
that I'll be kept quite busy. I guess that will cut down on the time
that I had to blog, play baseball games, and hunt for weird news
stories while at work!
I've got a hankerin' for wings, and I don't think that this is just
brought on by the encroaching football season. Pound for pound, I've
got to eat more food than any of ya'll. It just goes nowhere and
doesn't show. I'm almost always ready to eat, and probably feel the
need to eat about as regularly as an infant. You shouldn't be
surprised if you heard me screaming like an infant when I'm hungry,
either. I would like to hire a chef to go with my house I eventually
get. Not a prim artistic girly chef, but one that throws together
some mean mounds of meat and potatoes and cooks with liberal amounts
of butter and oil. Some men age and feel like they should have been
born into a woman's body; I age and feel like I should have been born
into a heavily-proportioned man's body.
Dang it, the thunder stopped!
S u n d a y , A u g u s t 1 4 t h
6:52PM |
Allegorical Paradise
hat follows is one of the many
fantastic parts of G.K. Chesterton's Manalive, a funny and
marvellously written story in which the main character is the
eccentric Innocent Smith, who breaks with convention to revel in life
and show other people that they too should be soaking up all the
richness of life. In this excerpt, Innocent Smith has left his house
in England, a house with a hedge and a green lamp-post in front of it
beside the road, in order to find his house again. And so he travels
around the world journeying to his home, which in his absence he
learns to appreciate more, or, in his own words, he learns to covet
his own things rather than the things belonging to other people. Now
Innocent Smith reaches the Sierra Nevada mountains in the western
United States, where he meets and converses with Louis Hara, owner of
a remote watering hole in these mountains. Innocent Smith talks about
the reality of the heavenly Paradise and muses on its relation to our
specific stewardship of our own personal portion of this fallen Eden,
and Innocent begins the conversation (Louis Hara narrates and is
consequently the "I" who speaks in the ensuing dialogue):
"I think God has given us the love of special places, of a hearth and
of a native land, for a good reason."
"I dare say," I said, "what reason!"
"Because otherwise," he said, pointing his pole out at the sky and
the abyss, "we might worship that."
"What do you mean?" I demanded.
"Eternity," he said in his harsh voice, "the largest of the idols -
the mightiest of the rivals of God."
"You mean pantheism and infinity and all that," I suggested.
"I mean," he said with increasing vehemence, "that if there be a
house for me in heaven it will either have a green lamp-post and a
hedge, or something quite as positive and personal as a green
lamp-post and a hedge. I mean that God bade me love one spot and
serve it, and do all things however wild in praise of it, so that
this one spot might be a witness against all the infinities and the
sophistries, that Paradise is somewhere and not anywhere, is
something and not anything. And I would not be so very much surprised
if the house in heaven had a real green lamp-post after all."
1:42PM |
What We've Been Waiting For
ne of my favorite songs with a
Christian message off of the new Coldplay album, X & Y, is
the, for me, newly-discovered bonus track "Til Kingdom Come".
Previously I had been listening to this album through my subscription
to Musicmatch, which allows me to play every song mp3 except for the
bonus track. This past week I bought the cd for listening to in the
car, and because I try to purchase the work of artists that I enjoy
and who I had been listening to for free to their minimal or null
benefit. "Til Kingdom Come" is a first prayer to God. Praise God, you
who have discovered what you have been waiting for, and yet there is
much more to come... Here are the lyrics.
Steal my heart and hold my tongue
I feel my time my time has come
Let me in unlock the door
I never felt this way before
And the wheels just keep on turning
The drummer begins to drum
I don't know which way I'm going
I don't know which way I've come
Hold my head inside your hands
I need someone who understands
I need someone someone who hears
For you I've waited all these years
For you I'd wait 'Til Kingdom Come
Until my day my day is done
and say you'll come and set me free
just say you'll wait you'll wait for me
In your tears and in your blood
In your fire and in your flood
I hear you laugh I heard you sing
I wouldn't change a single thing
And the wheels just keep on turning
The drummers begin to drum
I don't know which way I'm going
I don't know what I've become
For you I'd wait 'Til kingdom come
Until my days my days are done
Say you'll come and set me free
Just say you'll wait you'll wait for me
Just say you'll wait you'll wait for me
Just say you'll wait you'll wait for me
S a t u r d a y , A u g u s t 1 3 t h
9:38PM |
Leading Evil By The Nose
think that Rev. Jeff Meyers has
a good brief essay (dated 1996) on the relationship between God and
evil. Follow this link and read the section entitled
"Leviathan and Job".
F r i d a y , A u g u s t 1 2 t h
4:43PM |
The Scapegoat and the Wilderness
s part of my daily Bible
reading, I am currently moving through Leviticus in the Old Testament
and 1 Timothy in the New Testament. Today I came upon Leviticus 16,
which outlines the requirements and procedures for the priest's
sacrifices of atonement for himself, and then also for the people.
Verses 20-22 describes the atonement for the people, involving two
goats - one of which was killed and sacrificed as the sacrifice of
atonement, and the other of which was the "atoned" goat, or
"scapegoat" in the words of Leviticus, the goat that was set free. Verses 20-22 describe what happens to the
scapegoat after the sacrificial goat has been offered up.
[20] And when he hath made an end of atoning for the holy place, and
the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the
live goat:
[21] And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live
goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of
Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a
fit man into the wilderness:
[22] And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a
land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
After reading about the bloody and grim sacrifices, I was startlingly
struck by the beauty of verse 22: "and the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited", into the
wilderness. In a powerful visible display, the people of Israel's
sins were confessed, and God took their burden off their heads and
carried it away, out of their lives, far into the uninhabited
wilderness. They were forgiven, their sins remembered no more, to
perish with that scapegoat in the inhospitable wilderness.
And yet this wilderness picture also implies something else: a
dichotomy between where God's people are and then this other
place, the hostile barren wilderness. As opposed to the deathly
wilderness, God's people are inhabiting the city of God, where there
is life because God is there and He provides for them.
Even so, God completely forgives us and remembers our confessed sins
no more, putting them far away out of mind. Unfortunately many of us
will turn and follow that scapegoat bearing their precious sins into
the wilderness, but the Shepherd will bring us back. He sent His only
Son to the wilderness to die in our place, so that we could come
before God as his children without the mediation of priests or the
shadowy ritual of sacrifices. And so living in the city of God
demands responsibility on our part: to keep God's law, to confess our
sins, to not chase down and cling to our sins... else the city itself
will crumble into a wilderness.
4:00PM |
Try To Find A Weirder Blog Entry On Someone Else's Blog
o I was looking down at my chest
today and noticed what looked like a split end on one of the chest
hairs growing near my nipple (despite the singular reference, I have
two nipples). And women worry about split ends on their head hair!
Sheesh! Oh, and it was just an illusion created by a piece of dust.
T h u r s d a y , A u g u s t 1 1 t h
11:33PM |
Bite Size Pieces
idbits for the day...
- The "best beer in the world" is made by Belgian monks in a small abbey.
- For the price it would have cost me on short notice to fly to the
Trinity Fest in Moscow (Idaho) I could have flown to Edinburgh and
spent a day. It would have been even cheaper still to fly to
Edinburgh than flying directly to the Moscow-Pullman airport would
have been. Though there would be plenty enough to do and see in
Edinburgh any time of the year, I would prefer to visit sometime when
one of the major festivals is taking place in the city, such as the
Military Tattoo or the Book Festival. Currently the Fringe Festival
is underway, but that does not look as interesting as the two
aforementioned events. One day I'll go.
- If I wake up early enough tomorrow, I might go for a long drive,
and listen to music if nothing else. Observing the current hour, it's
looking like I won't be up early.
- Current reading involves revisiting the only two G.K. Chesterton
books I own: Manalive and Orthodoxy. I am very glad
that I decided to re-read Manalive only two years since I last
absorbed its pages. The story is brilliant, beautiful, and hilarious.
The opening paragraph should arrest you. In its totality,
Manalive is a satire of man's pessimism and blindness to the
good that Life is. Like his character, Chesterton whips out a gun and
sticks it in your face, not to deal death but to deal life.
- Two years ago I also told you my own story, about my epic wars with
my arch-nemesis the silverfish (centipedish bug with antenna-like
protrusions out of both ends of its shiny squirming little body).
There is irreproachable evidence that there has been a significant
influx of these creatures into my current apartment, as I have seen
three and administered just deserts to two of them. The third is kind
of high off in the ground in a place that cannot easily be reached
(not to be confused with the place where the sun don't shine) and has
not moved all day. He's going to die as well.
- There was a new show that premiered on ABC tonight called
Hooking Up that follows 11 girls as they try to hook
themselves up by means of online dating services. It was an
entertaining show that smacked of Blind Date but is better in
my opinion... you should check it out. Those of us who know Jack
LeMore perhaps might see her (him? did I say Jack?) make an
appearance on the show, you never know. :P Just kidding, doc. The
rest of you might be thinking "huh?" but that's because you don't
know Jack.
- Want a recap of my vacation? Sleep in, read, drive around, sit in
the sun, and run. Pretty much the things I do any other day only
spread out over the whole day instead of a few hours after work. As a
young single guy I don't really need casual vacation time...
or do I? I like to think: "keep working until you're sick or until
you're sick of work, then take a vacation". Neither apply at this
point in the summer. And that's a good thing, so I'm thankful for
this uneventful week I've had.
- Sometimes a girl who wears a low-cut shirt is more godly and humble
than a girl who keeps everything covered. Christian guys should not
with a self-righteous and haughty sprit write off the girl whose
shirt shows the slightest hint that those are really boobs under her
shirt, but give her a chance.
W e d n e s d a y , A u g u s t 1 0 t h
9:31PM |
The Story of Evil - A Comedy
hen God authored all creation,
He created something that was not-God. He perfectly created something
that was very good, but something that was yet incomplete from a
temporal perspective; because that which was not-God, nor as yet of
His family, was by necessity susceptible to imperfection. He created
the play, but had not yet adopted the actors and made them His heirs.
He was going to do something interesting and demonstrative first. In
this "play" called history, God introduced a character that thought
he could steal the show and become the new and ultimate author by
spreading evil in creation on the sly, throwing off God's plan. But
God knew and secretly (or not so secretly, as when Satan would come
to God for permission) allowed everything that Satan was doing and
planning, because God had already written the secret plot twist which
Satan was ignorant of and could not account for: the redemption of
creation through the sacrifice of the Son, creating an impregnable
fortress around His adopted people. Satan's attempt to steal God's
intended children was thwarted, as was his attempt to leave his
permanent destructive mark on creation, for under the victorious
Son's banner His victorious bride was awoken and began the human-pace
process of reclaiming creation. With an unsuppressed laugh, God
permitted evil's entrance into the world: and behold, it was very
good.
T u e s d a y , A u g u s t 9 t h
9:37PM |
Indeed It Does
s Built To Spill sang, "as long as it's
talking with you, talk of the weather will do". And so I will talk
about the weather, specifically weather that seems built to spill.
Here's an anonymous Scottish poem that sums up today's climate
disposition.
Mull Weather
It rained and rained and rained and rained,
The average was well maintained;
And when our fields were simply bogs,
It started raining cats and dogs.
After a drought of half an hour,
There came a most refreshing shower;
And then the queerest thing of all,
A gentle rain began to fall.
Next day 'twas pretty fairly dry,
Save for a deluge from the sky.
This wetted people to the skin,
But after that the rain set in.
We wondered what's the next we'd get,
As sure as fate we got more wet.
But soon we'll have a change again,
And we shall have a drop of rain
3:15PM |
A Time To Refrain From Shooting
think that you all must be
accustomed by now to my sharing odd news stories. Here's one for
today. An 81 year-old man in France was angered when he was woken
from his afternoon nap by the noise of fire-fighting helicopters that
were trying to put out a forest fire near the old man's house, so he
opened fire on them with a hunting rifle. When the police arrived at
the man's house to arrest him, he began hitting the policemen with
saucepans. My guess is that this man is not a morning person, either.
[story]
S a t u r d a y , A u g u s t 6 t h
11:21PM |
Jacket
onight I watched The
Jacket, and I thought it was good. I had not read very many
good reviews of the movie, so I was pleased with the real deal. Of
course, Keira Knightley co-starred in this movie and was looking as
good as ever. She's come a long way since when she was a double for
Natalie Portman's character in Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Adrien Brody did a great job... I enjoy his acting when he plays
fidgety, troubled characters. The Jacket is a time travel
movie, a rather fast-paced and soemtimes confusing suspense thriller.
Adrien Brody's "insane" character is carried into the future by some
means when administered experimental drugs by a psychiatric doctor
and stored in a morgue vault, and in the future he gains knowledge by
which he goes back into the past and fixes things, altering the
future to create better lives for Keira Knightly's character (Jackie)
and a few others, and to teach them a little bit about the importance
of their lives to the loved ones around them. I would say this movie
is most comparable to Twelve Monkeys.
I'm running out of interesting options in the New Releases section at
Blockbuster. Any recommendations of perhaps lesser-known movies that
you were thought were very good, either old movies or new movies,
would be welcomed.
F r i d a y , A u g u s t 5 t h
2:10PM |
Prank On A Wall
his is hilarious, I love it:
famed artist and prankster Banksy painted some graffiti art on the
Palestinian side of the West Bank barrier wall. He painted pictures
such as what appears to be a hole in the wall in one place, what
appears to be a horse head sticking out of another part of the wall,
and a ladder going over the wall. For pictures of some of his
paintings, you can view the BBC story.
T h u r s d a y , A u g u s t 4 t h
9:17PM |
Appearance of Evil
bstain from all appearance of
evil.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:22
I most often hear this verse naturally yet curiously applied with
undue concern for how one might look in other people's eyes: more
specifically, with the object of avoiding situations that might be
interpreted by an ignorant third-party observer as sinful or
questionable, even though they really are not. But I think the
alternate translation of this verse which fleshes out the definition
of "appearance" is more powerful in its message and more clearly
comprehensive in its caution to Christians: "Abstain from every
form of evil". Strive to keep yourself from sin, in all its
manifestations, in whatever deceptive or enticing form it might
appear. The evil of sin creeps up unawares and has many means of
tempting a person, and this verse cautions us to be vigilant against
being ensnared in sin. No sin, no matter how trite or harmless, may
be succumbed to. As the preceeding verse admonishes: "Prove all
things; hold fast that which is good". This verse, in my
opinion, should not be narrowly applied to "how we might look in the
suspicious eyes of others". Like the Lord, we should focus deeper -
on the heart, not man's outward appearance. If we by the Spirit's aid
can exercise piety in the heart, the outward appearance will take
care of itself, reflecting what is in the heart.
W e d n e s d a y , A u g u s t 3 r d
8:32PM |
O Corpum Mysterium
his looks like it will be an
interesting book: Why Do Men Have
Nipples? The book is written by a doctor and answers mysterious,
and slightly odd, questions about the human body that perhaps most of
us have wondered about at some time.
T u e s d a y , A u g u s t 2 n d
12:23PM |
Whoopee
whoopee cushion on a bus
frightens the bus driver, who calls in the anti-terrorism cavalry.
[story]
8:34AM |
Pluto's Dwindling Status
ith discovery of an "eleventh
planet", attention to the question of the validity of Pluto's status
as a planet has ignited. Some people, who learned long ago in grade
school that "Matilda Visits Every Monday, Just Stays Until Noon,
Period" (mnemonic for remembering planet names in order) and
therefore Pluto is our tenth planet, have a hard time with doing a
mental about-face and denying Pluto's status. Some say science does
not have the right to alter accepted thought and revolutionize
people's thinking. Perhaps medievals who insisted that the world
really is flat whined the same thing when astronomers began
saying that the world is round.
M o n d a y , A u g u s t 1 s t
11:24PM |
Our Dichotomy Opens The Combat
eth [blog] pointed to something hilarious you all need
to see. It's a Revenge of the Sith spoof, though not intended
to be. See, it's a pirated copy of the Chinese version of Revenge
of the Sith (or should I say Backstroke of the West?),
with subtitles translated directly into English from the Chinese. The
result of this translation is... interesting.
Here's the link, and more here.
12:39AM |
Work
t's the end of the sabbath, so I
can start thinking about working. There's a bit here and there lined
up for me.
Manage time better
Do something useful and meaningful. Don't be content with being a
discontent bum. At least pursue old hobbies, or start a new one. Get
good at something.
Get my 401K started
That's long overdue. Did you know I could be working for another 40
or so years? That's a long time. It might be a good idea to get
self-employed somewhere along the way, rather than throwing all those
years away at someone else's dream.
Clean this place up
Cleaning teaches futility. Nothing ever stays clean. I'd curse the
dirt and streaks and grime, but Adam's sin already took care of
that.
Meet the girl downstairs
She's pretty and pleasant whenever I see her, but she doesn't go out
at night... her car is always outside at night even on weekends, and
she hangs out by herself smoking on her porch or whatever she does. I
kind of like that. She recently moved from Michigan so she's new
here.
Get things ready for college transfer
And pretend that it means a lot to me. Happy August.
E l s e w h e r e
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P o e t r y
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S t o r y
R e a d i n g / R e a d