Tuesday, January 29, 2008
What I Believe (Part IIa)
I was going to come back today and soften the edges of my last entry. I thought it may have been a bit harsh and rash and someone would be offended and simply ignore or argue against it instead of it causing a stirring in hearts (my own included). From one point of view, this is *MY* opinion. This whole blog is just my opinion, and as J. Vernon McGee says, "that's just my opinion, so you can forget it now."
But from another point of view, it's the Bible. I try to be introspective in my entries and not outwardly judgemental. So, bear in mind that my last entry wasn't meant to make you feel bad. I feel that there is a time to blog with love and caring and a time to blog with urgency. This was one such entry.
I do not know if the Rapture will occur during my lifetime, but I do know that time is running out.
But from another point of view, it's the Bible. I try to be introspective in my entries and not outwardly judgemental. So, bear in mind that my last entry wasn't meant to make you feel bad. I feel that there is a time to blog with love and caring and a time to blog with urgency. This was one such entry.
I do not know if the Rapture will occur during my lifetime, but I do know that time is running out.
Labels: beliefs, church, volunteer
Saturday, January 26, 2008
What I Believe (Part II)
or What In God's Name Are You Doing!?
The story goes that there was once a man who lived across the street from an elementary school. Each morning, he would witness the caravan of minivans and SUVs depositing children. Soccermoms (one word?) would distribute their kisses and ensure their children's backpacks and coats were all intact, and the parade would continue with the whistle of crosswalk guards in the background. On this day, one child in particular was misbehaving immediately after leaving the safety of his mother. The man's attention was caught by the mother as she shouted to her child. "What in God's name are you doing!" The actions of the child are immaterial, but the words meant everything to the man who was listening.
The words pierced him to the hilt. He had attended church Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night [three to thrive]. He had tithed and thought He had the will of God in his life. But the more he thought about it, the more selfish his actions seemed. Attending church service is good for his soul. Tithing is good for his church, but everything he was doing was beneficial only to him or his immediate surroundings. He wondered to himself, "what in God's name am I doing? What am I doing in the name of God?"
He went into the house and tried to continue his day. He tried to live his life as he had for all these years. But he could no longer justify the inactivity of his Christianity. Until now, he hadn't witnessed at work for fear that someone would be offended and talk to HR. He wouldn't push his faith on his family and friends for fear of rejection. He was earning nothing in the great commission and he was not obeying God's word.
After several hours of Bible study and prayer, he discovered that there are over 100 verses in the Bible that address the need to care for the poor and needy. He would give annually to United Way, but that was it. But was that enough? And how much is enough? The answer to that is murky, but doing nothing isn't doing God's will. Doing something would at least begin the process.
The story's not about me, but it conveys the meaning of what I believe. If you're a Christian, ask yourself, "What in God's name am I doing?" Is it enough to attend church and tithe and do all the things that benefit you directly? Even the unsaved take care of themselves. Moreover, I know some unsaved people who are amazingly philanthropic. Will their uncircumcision count as circumcision in the eyes of God? I'm often perplexed as to why Christians, who are good, decent people, don't volunteer. Or if they do, they confine it to food baskets from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I have some bad news for you - the homeless are homeless all year long. Are souls going to get saved on their own, or are we called to be disciples and spread His Word? These should be simple questions, but if we understand God's will and we know what the Bible says, why don't we do it? That, in a nutshell, is direct disobedience. Plain and simple defiance of God's will. It's turning our backs to God and saying that we want our own way and we want our own will and this is *my* life alone and 'thanks' for all the 'me' stuff I can hoard and squirrel away, and can I have some more please?
If we, who are called by His name, are not going to do His work, He will find someone else to do it - and they will get the blessings. The Old Testament is full of examples of God's people turning their backs to His will and doing their own thing. God inevitably decides to bless someone else.
I'm sorry if you work long hours and I'm sorry that you're busy with family and other things that benefit you and add to your happiness. I'm asking that if you call yourself a Christian and if you can read these verses below and not be moved to do something (immediately), then you need to take inventory.
1 John 3:17 -
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
James 2:15-16 -
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Deut 15:7 -
If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother.
Deut 15:11 -
For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
Matthew 19:21 -
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Matthew 25:35 -
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in.
Luke 12:33 -
Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
Luke 18:22 -
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
And about 100 other passages from my King James Bible.
The story goes that there was once a man who lived across the street from an elementary school. Each morning, he would witness the caravan of minivans and SUVs depositing children. Soccermoms (one word?) would distribute their kisses and ensure their children's backpacks and coats were all intact, and the parade would continue with the whistle of crosswalk guards in the background. On this day, one child in particular was misbehaving immediately after leaving the safety of his mother. The man's attention was caught by the mother as she shouted to her child. "What in God's name are you doing!" The actions of the child are immaterial, but the words meant everything to the man who was listening.
The words pierced him to the hilt. He had attended church Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night [three to thrive]. He had tithed and thought He had the will of God in his life. But the more he thought about it, the more selfish his actions seemed. Attending church service is good for his soul. Tithing is good for his church, but everything he was doing was beneficial only to him or his immediate surroundings. He wondered to himself, "what in God's name am I doing? What am I doing in the name of God?"
He went into the house and tried to continue his day. He tried to live his life as he had for all these years. But he could no longer justify the inactivity of his Christianity. Until now, he hadn't witnessed at work for fear that someone would be offended and talk to HR. He wouldn't push his faith on his family and friends for fear of rejection. He was earning nothing in the great commission and he was not obeying God's word.
After several hours of Bible study and prayer, he discovered that there are over 100 verses in the Bible that address the need to care for the poor and needy. He would give annually to United Way, but that was it. But was that enough? And how much is enough? The answer to that is murky, but doing nothing isn't doing God's will. Doing something would at least begin the process.
The story's not about me, but it conveys the meaning of what I believe. If you're a Christian, ask yourself, "What in God's name am I doing?" Is it enough to attend church and tithe and do all the things that benefit you directly? Even the unsaved take care of themselves. Moreover, I know some unsaved people who are amazingly philanthropic. Will their uncircumcision count as circumcision in the eyes of God? I'm often perplexed as to why Christians, who are good, decent people, don't volunteer. Or if they do, they confine it to food baskets from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I have some bad news for you - the homeless are homeless all year long. Are souls going to get saved on their own, or are we called to be disciples and spread His Word? These should be simple questions, but if we understand God's will and we know what the Bible says, why don't we do it? That, in a nutshell, is direct disobedience. Plain and simple defiance of God's will. It's turning our backs to God and saying that we want our own way and we want our own will and this is *my* life alone and 'thanks' for all the 'me' stuff I can hoard and squirrel away, and can I have some more please?
If we, who are called by His name, are not going to do His work, He will find someone else to do it - and they will get the blessings. The Old Testament is full of examples of God's people turning their backs to His will and doing their own thing. God inevitably decides to bless someone else.
I'm sorry if you work long hours and I'm sorry that you're busy with family and other things that benefit you and add to your happiness. I'm asking that if you call yourself a Christian and if you can read these verses below and not be moved to do something (immediately), then you need to take inventory.
1 John 3:17 -
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
James 2:15-16 -
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Deut 15:7 -
If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother.
Deut 15:11 -
For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
Matthew 19:21 -
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Matthew 25:35 -
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in.
Luke 12:33 -
Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
Luke 18:22 -
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
And about 100 other passages from my King James Bible.
Labels: beliefs, church, volunteer
Thursday, January 17, 2008
;
So, why title today's entry ';'? Simple, as a programmer, I use the ';' key a lot. Programming is just another way of communicating, except in programming, you're communicating with a machine and not another person. You have syntax and sentence structure and rules just like you're seeing in this entry. Think of ';' as the period at the end of a sentence.
Yesterday and today, I've been struggling with a piece of nasty code that had a memory leak that I couldn't seem to plug up. I took it apart and put it back together, but after running for a few minutes, I'd run out of memory. Hmph!
I called a meeting after lunch so I could have some other eyes look at my code. I drew the schematic on the board and had printouts for everyone - and one person showed up. "Here's your problem", was his introduction. It wasnt' quite as simple as a missing semicolon, but it was close. I was leaving a database statement open and growing it thousands of times in each of millions of iterations.
The rookie equivalent of a missing ';'.
Yesterday and today, I've been struggling with a piece of nasty code that had a memory leak that I couldn't seem to plug up. I took it apart and put it back together, but after running for a few minutes, I'd run out of memory. Hmph!
I called a meeting after lunch so I could have some other eyes look at my code. I drew the schematic on the board and had printouts for everyone - and one person showed up. "Here's your problem", was his introduction. It wasnt' quite as simple as a missing semicolon, but it was close. I was leaving a database statement open and growing it thousands of times in each of millions of iterations.
The rookie equivalent of a missing ';'.
Monday, January 14, 2008
The Strawman
There's been something that has been driving me mad, but I never really put a trite name to it until this weekend. I was listening to some left wing liberal radio station (because I enjoy yelling at my radio), when the subject of religion in politics came up. The question was whether Barack Obama would be ineffective in the Middle East since he would be considered an apostate Muslim. But that doesn't really have anything to do with this entry. The discussion quickly drifted onto the candidates Romney and Huckabee, who according to the radio personality "don't believe in evolution or gravity and think the Earth is flat." Did the radio listeners think that these would influence their ability to govern a nation?
That, my friends is a straw man argument. You start by making some outrageous exaggeration of someone else's standpoint in order to make it easier to make your point, and it's not doing anyone any good.
That's something that I hope to be able to recognize and address, and it's something I hope I can do in a spirit of love. It's also going to be a lot of work. This means that when I hear someone say that the Catholics worship Mary, I'm going to have to understand what that means from a Catholic standpoint. When I hear about Pentecostals speaking in tongues, I'm going to have to understand their views and Biblical references for doing so. If Scientology says that we are a race of space aliens infected with the spirits of Thetans blown up by Xenu, the evil leader of the Galactic Federation... well, some arguments don't need a straw man.
That, my friends is a straw man argument. You start by making some outrageous exaggeration of someone else's standpoint in order to make it easier to make your point, and it's not doing anyone any good.
That's something that I hope to be able to recognize and address, and it's something I hope I can do in a spirit of love. It's also going to be a lot of work. This means that when I hear someone say that the Catholics worship Mary, I'm going to have to understand what that means from a Catholic standpoint. When I hear about Pentecostals speaking in tongues, I'm going to have to understand their views and Biblical references for doing so. If Scientology says that we are a race of space aliens infected with the spirits of Thetans blown up by Xenu, the evil leader of the Galactic Federation... well, some arguments don't need a straw man.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Exodus 4:10 & The Cheese Slicer
Or "Who moved my cheese slicer?"
"And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." -- Ex. 4:10
I just told pastor that I would be willing to be the narrator for the Easter program. Gulp! Thankfully, it's months away so I can memorize my 10 lines. O.K. 10 very long lines. What's so hard about memorizing 10 lines? Well, that takes me to my cheese slicer story.
I had always accepted the fact that I sometimes forget my keys or miss freeway offramps. I forget people's names and birthdays and addresses and more things than I can remember. "Small stuff", I always thought. "Merely a lack of concentration or focus", right? I was going about my day a few years ago, happily running some errands after work. I stopped by the mall to buy a cheese slicer because I thought that slicing blocks of cheese myself would somehow be more frugal than buying sliced cheese - not to mention saving the waste of all those individual wrappers. These are the things that single men think about. I walked into [insert name of store here] and headed to the cheese slicer display. There were many styles and prices to choose from, and I wondered why America needed so many choices for slicing cheese until I recalled that there are just as many kinds of cheese:
After a while of comparing features (as many features as a cheese slicer can have), I settled on my selection. I paid the nice cashier and merrily went home to enjoy my new purchase.
I freed the poor cheese slicer from its evil twist tie and cardboard fortified prison and washed it. I opened the utility drawer to introduce it to its new kin, and much to my surprise...Yes, not only did I already own a cheese slicer, but as soon as I saw it, I remembered that I had gone out THE DAY BEFORE and done the EXACT SAME THING! I now had two cheese slicers purchased without knowledge of each other within a 24 hour period! Now, that was cause for concern.
So, I called the doctor to see if I had brain damage. Apparently regular doctors don't handle things like this, so he sent me to a specialist to see if something in my brain wasn't working properly. The other doctor sat in a dimly lit room that oozed, "I'm a head shrinker and I'm here to listen to why you don't get along with your father." Weird. We chatted for a while, but I never really got a good answer for why my brain doesn't work right.
We scheduled a second appointment before which I was to fill out a questionnaire and return it to the nice nurse. I filled it out and returned it (I think :-). The second appointment came and again I sat in his dark office. We chatted some more about things that don't matter, and finally, the prognosis came.
This was going to be the answer to my broken brain issue. Was he going to give me a magic pill that would make me remember things? Was he going to change my diet? Was he going to suggest a brain scan (cool)? He sat back in his leather chair and uttered two words which ended the appointment. "You're quirky."
That's it? I'm quirky?
That's not the answer I was hoping for. So, I'm quirky. Fast forward to now. When I was asked to consider being the narrator for the Easter program, I immediately thought of Moses. I know I can't do this under my own strength, but with God, all things are possible, right? I'll give it all I can, but by faith, God will take me all the way.
Hebrews 11 - "By faith..."
"And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." -- Ex. 4:10
I just told pastor that I would be willing to be the narrator for the Easter program. Gulp! Thankfully, it's months away so I can memorize my 10 lines. O.K. 10 very long lines. What's so hard about memorizing 10 lines? Well, that takes me to my cheese slicer story.
I had always accepted the fact that I sometimes forget my keys or miss freeway offramps. I forget people's names and birthdays and addresses and more things than I can remember. "Small stuff", I always thought. "Merely a lack of concentration or focus", right? I was going about my day a few years ago, happily running some errands after work. I stopped by the mall to buy a cheese slicer because I thought that slicing blocks of cheese myself would somehow be more frugal than buying sliced cheese - not to mention saving the waste of all those individual wrappers. These are the things that single men think about. I walked into [insert name of store here] and headed to the cheese slicer display. There were many styles and prices to choose from, and I wondered why America needed so many choices for slicing cheese until I recalled that there are just as many kinds of cheese:
Meg Ryan: Did you know there are 452 official kinds of cheese in this country? Isn't that amazing? To find 452 ways to classify what is essentially a bacterial process? Don't you think that's amazing? Kevin Kline: You would prefer one kind of cheese? One cheeseburger to put it on? One restaurant to eat it in? Meg Ryan: I'm saying I 'like' the cheese!
After a while of comparing features (as many features as a cheese slicer can have), I settled on my selection. I paid the nice cashier and merrily went home to enjoy my new purchase.
I freed the poor cheese slicer from its evil twist tie and cardboard fortified prison and washed it. I opened the utility drawer to introduce it to its new kin, and much to my surprise...Yes, not only did I already own a cheese slicer, but as soon as I saw it, I remembered that I had gone out THE DAY BEFORE and done the EXACT SAME THING! I now had two cheese slicers purchased without knowledge of each other within a 24 hour period! Now, that was cause for concern.
So, I called the doctor to see if I had brain damage. Apparently regular doctors don't handle things like this, so he sent me to a specialist to see if something in my brain wasn't working properly. The other doctor sat in a dimly lit room that oozed, "I'm a head shrinker and I'm here to listen to why you don't get along with your father." Weird. We chatted for a while, but I never really got a good answer for why my brain doesn't work right.
We scheduled a second appointment before which I was to fill out a questionnaire and return it to the nice nurse. I filled it out and returned it (I think :-). The second appointment came and again I sat in his dark office. We chatted some more about things that don't matter, and finally, the prognosis came.
This was going to be the answer to my broken brain issue. Was he going to give me a magic pill that would make me remember things? Was he going to change my diet? Was he going to suggest a brain scan (cool)? He sat back in his leather chair and uttered two words which ended the appointment. "You're quirky."
That's it? I'm quirky?
That's not the answer I was hoping for. So, I'm quirky. Fast forward to now. When I was asked to consider being the narrator for the Easter program, I immediately thought of Moses. I know I can't do this under my own strength, but with God, all things are possible, right? I'll give it all I can, but by faith, God will take me all the way.
Hebrews 11 - "By faith..."
Decisions decisions
We now have the choice between a Mac or a PC at work when our laptops are replaced. I've had a PC for years, but with this new choice, I can't for the life of me decide which I should go with. Comments welcome, but I'd also like a vote. I once had an Apple ][ a long time ago. I imagine that the OS (which is now *nix based) is very different from before. Does anyone with a Mac have any suggestions?
P.S. I'm not really sure if this voting thing will work. Here goes nothing.
Comments
P.S. I'm not really sure if this voting thing will work. Here goes nothing.
Comments
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Pending
Yikes! The house that I made an offer on just changed status to "Pending" on the MLS. It's nice to know that I'm not in charge. I figure that a complete remodel of the inside, two dogs and a fire in the fireplace would be nice.
That's my will anyway. I wonder what His is.
That's my will anyway. I wonder what His is.
Monday, January 07, 2008
So anyways, the snow trip and such as
I may not always be understood, but I feel accepted in my singles group. :-) I think I'll stay until I'm too old to go on the hikes, rock climbing and snow trips. We really had a nice time in the snow this weekend. We didn't get to ski because everything was shut down. Instead, we made saucer runs in a blizzard and played board games.
Here's a new foot picture for my growing collection. Now that my blog has been discovered by my Morgan Hill friends, there may be some explanations in order. First, I'm not really sure why I journal (blog) on such a public forum except to say that I shouldn't have anything to hide. I don't blog every little detail though. For example, I don't blog a lot about people in my life because I don't think this is the forum for that. Some people sneak in from time to time. Second, I haven't always been the man God wants me to be, and the older entries show it. I've still not won the race to be that man, but you can hold my hand to the fire for any entry after March of '07. Third, I don't backspace. I let words flow from my stream of consciousness directly onto this blog without giving much thought to tact, content or context.
There has been a lot of talk about New Years resolutions (of which I don't normally partake), but it might make sense to at least have some goals. Otherwise, what do I strive for? So, how about these?
Outline 13 books of the Bible. This would enable me to outline the whole Bible in 5 years.
17 inch guns
Here's a new foot picture for my growing collection. Now that my blog has been discovered by my Morgan Hill friends, there may be some explanations in order. First, I'm not really sure why I journal (blog) on such a public forum except to say that I shouldn't have anything to hide. I don't blog every little detail though. For example, I don't blog a lot about people in my life because I don't think this is the forum for that. Some people sneak in from time to time. Second, I haven't always been the man God wants me to be, and the older entries show it. I've still not won the race to be that man, but you can hold my hand to the fire for any entry after March of '07. Third, I don't backspace. I let words flow from my stream of consciousness directly onto this blog without giving much thought to tact, content or context.
There has been a lot of talk about New Years resolutions (of which I don't normally partake), but it might make sense to at least have some goals. Otherwise, what do I strive for? So, how about these?
