Back to work today. Yay! No one has yet shown up at my cubicle holding a box, so I guess that I am still employed. God is good!
3.0 miles - 37 minutes - 4.9 mph.
I am really sore today from Saturday's and this morning's jogs, so I may need to take an extra day to recover.
September 22, 2008
September 20, 2008
Anxiously awaiting Oct 1
I am so looking forward to October 1st, 2008. I ought to be counting off the days on the calendar (but I'm too lazy to). But I will be so happy when that wonderful day arrives. Maybe I will treat myself to an ice cream treat, or to the alcoholic beverage (consumed in a safe and responsible manner) of my choice.
What happens on this wonderful, wonderful day? Is it an anniversary? A birthday?
No. It is the day on which I no longer have to hear about how the General Motors company will offer me their wonderfully generous employee discount on their typically overpriced new cars. Said offer expires on September 30th. This information has been pumped to into my brain through several media outlets ever since the Olympics.
In other words, on October 1 I no longer need to worry about seeing this commercial again:
I guess this is an indication that I am watching too much TV if something bothers me this much.
What happens on this wonderful, wonderful day? Is it an anniversary? A birthday?
No. It is the day on which I no longer have to hear about how the General Motors company will offer me their wonderfully generous employee discount on their typically overpriced new cars. Said offer expires on September 30th. This information has been pumped to into my brain through several media outlets ever since the Olympics.
In other words, on October 1 I no longer need to worry about seeing this commercial again:
I guess this is an indication that I am watching too much TV if something bothers me this much.
Dark Humor
3.0 mi - 37 min - 4.9 mph
After working out with barbells today and then going for a jog, I imagined the following conversation:
"Man, my muscles are sore."
"Why, what have you been doing?"
"Oh, I took up jogging."
"Really. Why did you do that?"
"Because I hate myself."
...not, you know, "I hate how I look and I want to change" or "I hate how I feel and I want to get more fit." No, it's kind of a conclusion based on the evidence: "I must hate myself to make myself feel this amount of discomfort on a regular basis."
Kidding! Hate's a strong word and I don't like to use it a lot, and I don't want to alarm my wife by using it regarding myself, so let me just assure you, Gentle Reader, that I am Just Kidding.
After working out with barbells today and then going for a jog, I imagined the following conversation:
"Man, my muscles are sore."
"Why, what have you been doing?"
"Oh, I took up jogging."
"Really. Why did you do that?"
"Because I hate myself."
...not, you know, "I hate how I look and I want to change" or "I hate how I feel and I want to get more fit." No, it's kind of a conclusion based on the evidence: "I must hate myself to make myself feel this amount of discomfort on a regular basis."
Kidding! Hate's a strong word and I don't like to use it a lot, and I don't want to alarm my wife by using it regarding myself, so let me just assure you, Gentle Reader, that I am Just Kidding.
September 19, 2008
Before and After
I wanted a picture of Hawk Mountain for my desktop, but I didn't want all the people in the picture. So I used the free Paint.NET to remove the people from the picture.
Here is the picture before editing:
And here is the picture after:
I think this turned out pretty well. I had fun with this project!
Today we went to Lums Pond to play disc ("frisbee") golf. We had a great time. My son had the lowest score, and while I could tell he was pleased, he didn't gloat or abuse anyone else, including his sister. I did the next best, I think, though I may have tied with my daughter. My darling wife has a tough time with frisbee physics, but she didn't seem upset. We cheered each other on, helped each other out, were generous with each other. My son even called "do over" for my wife at one point when she had a particularly bad tee shot. We just had a good time with each other.
Afterwards we went to Applebees, where I was kind of quiet as I imagined a story where a time traveler from the future shows up on Mars and shows himself to one of the Mars explorer's cameras, warning Earth of his pending arrival. then I thought about him coming to Earth with all kinds of cool technologies to help people. I was thinking "How would he be received? Would this ultimately be a blessing, or a curse? Would this benefit only the rich, or everyone?"
So that was a lot of my day.
Here is the picture before editing:
And here is the picture after:
I think this turned out pretty well. I had fun with this project!
Today we went to Lums Pond to play disc ("frisbee") golf. We had a great time. My son had the lowest score, and while I could tell he was pleased, he didn't gloat or abuse anyone else, including his sister. I did the next best, I think, though I may have tied with my daughter. My darling wife has a tough time with frisbee physics, but she didn't seem upset. We cheered each other on, helped each other out, were generous with each other. My son even called "do over" for my wife at one point when she had a particularly bad tee shot. We just had a good time with each other.
Afterwards we went to Applebees, where I was kind of quiet as I imagined a story where a time traveler from the future shows up on Mars and shows himself to one of the Mars explorer's cameras, warning Earth of his pending arrival. then I thought about him coming to Earth with all kinds of cool technologies to help people. I was thinking "How would he be received? Would this ultimately be a blessing, or a curse? Would this benefit only the rich, or everyone?"
So that was a lot of my day.
September 18, 2008
Back from Hawk Mountain
We just got back from a few days of family vacation in Pennsylvania. We spent a few days camping and seeing some sights. Our main goal was to visit Hawk Mountain, so named for all of the raptors that swing by there in the fall on their migration south. A mild hike up the mountain from the visitor's center yielded this spectacular view. We did get to see a lot of raptors - mostly turkey buzzards, but at one point we got to see through binoculars a "kettle," or rotating column, of several dozen birds as they caught thermals several miles from the mountain. Quite an impressive sight. Views like these just lead me to spontaneously start praising the amazing Maker, and cause me to thank Him for allowing me to experience such sights.
We also stopped by French Creek State Park. The picture is of Hopewell Lake.
We had a good time together. My wonderful kids seemed to enjoy the slow pace of our vacation, away from the computer and any console games. We "camped" in a cabin; it had real beds and a futon, electric, a refrigerator and a heater. This seems like cheating compared to our earlier tent camping experiences years ago, but we all agreed that we enjoyed this experience better. In the spirit of camping, though, we did cook two meals a day over a fire. They were great meals, planned (but not all executed by) my darling wife. She asked that each family member take main responsibility for building one fire and cooking the meal. She let me make chicken soup one night, which was pretty straightforward - I was glad for that! My darling kids took responsibility for their meals (my son made great hamburgers), helped set up and tear down camp, did dishes when asked, and just generally contributed to a great time.
The last picture is of some random beautiful scenery, as taken by my daughter as we sped by. I just love being in such places, where there are trees, and hills, and old buildings. It calms my soul.
September 15, 2008
Christophany or Theophany
Refer to this post.
Well, the poll has been closed for over two weeks, so I ought to talk about it. The question was: Who or what was the theophanic angel in the Old Testament?
So it looks like the poll bears out my own opinion: that it really was a theophany (God appearing as an angel), or it was the angel acting as an envoy for God with all the attendant rights and powers that we, in our democratic society, don't really understand.
Funny that the poll should end up matching my own expectations. Wonder how that happened. ;-)
Well, the poll has been closed for over two weeks, so I ought to talk about it. The question was: Who or what was the theophanic angel in the Old Testament?
With ten votes, the results are as follows:
| Christophany | 2 (20%) |
| Theophany | 7 (70%) |
| Mistaken identity (they thought it was God but it was just an angel) | 0 (0%) |
| Angel was an emissary or envoy for God | 7 (70%) |
| Something else | 1 (10%) |
So it looks like the poll bears out my own opinion: that it really was a theophany (God appearing as an angel), or it was the angel acting as an envoy for God with all the attendant rights and powers that we, in our democratic society, don't really understand.
Funny that the poll should end up matching my own expectations. Wonder how that happened. ;-)
September 14, 2008
Review: Jim and Casper go to Church
Summary: Jim Henderson, a Christian and former Pentacostal minister, and Matt Casper, an atheist, visit some of the largest and best-known Evangelical churches in America, and also some churches of other flavors. Much of the book is given over to their recounting their experiences at these churches, and of how Casper reacted to what was done in the church. You can find the Amazon description here.
For the most part, Jim allows Casper to speak. He allows Casper to relate and criticize what he has seen and experience without trying to interpret or "spin" it for Casper. Here are some of the criticisms that Casper levels against the churches he visited:
I mostly didn't enjoy this book. However, I don't like most Christian nonfiction books, so it is in good company. I find that a great majority of Christian nonfiction books spend their time telling the reader or, worse, the church at large what they are doing wrong. I dislike such books because I criticize myself frequently, and I find it too easy to accept the criticism of strangers. Reading such books often leads me to a sense of hopelessness and despair. This book in particular led to feel like what I've been doing in church for the last twenty-five years has been in vain.
(If you know of good Christian books that don't take this tact, please, let me know. Note that I've never really connected with Max Lucado.)
As I began reading the book, I had the suspicion that Jim had an agenda - that he had particular things that he wanted to say to the Christian church, certain criticisms that he wanted to bring, and that he felt that he had an ally in Casper who would lend weight to his criticisms. As I went through the book I began to wonder why Casper or any atheist should determine how we run church. Isn't our Sunday meeting for believers? Why should a nonbeliever determine how we do things? I got my answer at the end of the book: Casper evaluated Sunday morning meetings because those are the ones that are advertised, and those are the meetings that we are encouraged to bring "our unsaved friends" to. As long as this is the case, Jim asserts, it is reasonable to have a nonbeliever come and evaluate the Sunday morning meeting.
I finished this book about a week ago, and so my irritation with it has diminished somewhat and I have been able to gain a little perspective. There are things that I desire in church that Jim and Casper would appreciate - for example, greater simplicity in our Sunday meeting. I thought that their idea of joining with nonbelievers in existing service projects, rather than starting our own, an intriguing idea.
However, what I am left with overall is the sense that we try to put too much on Sunday morning. We try to make it both a believer's meeting and a meeting sensitive to the needs of seekers and outsiders. These two goals seem to be in conflict. I think that it is very important to preserve a whole-church believer's meeting, and I can't realistically see this happening outside of Sunday morning. I don't think that it is right to steal from the church for the sake of some potential outsiders, because the church needs to be strengthened so that it can help outsiders.
What I think we should do is provide a separate meeting for seekers and outsiders. As part of this meeting, they can be instructed in what we do on Sunday and why we do it. If they decide to attend the Sunday meeting, the seeker's meeting could be a place where they return to ask questions or argue issues.
I'm not sure how well this idea would fly, or whether seekers would skip the main meeting in favor of this explanatory one. However, I think that it makes sense to not force seekers to only learn about our church through a believer's meeting that they may find confusing or strange.
For the most part, Jim allows Casper to speak. He allows Casper to relate and criticize what he has seen and experience without trying to interpret or "spin" it for Casper. Here are some of the criticisms that Casper levels against the churches he visited:
- The church spends too much time and money on a professional production on Sunday.
- The church treats the things that it does on a Sunday morning - lifting hands in worship, talking about physical healing- with too much familiarity for someone who has never experienced them before.
- The church spends too much of its Sunday meeting on feelings and belief and not enough on talking about what they do to aid their community.
- The church is given to celebrity worship.
- Most churches lack a "call to action."
- The church should be more racially integrated.
- Too much of what happens on Sunday seems scripted and false.
- Most people in church lack the courtesy to greet strangers.
- Most of what the church does on a Sunday doesn't seem to have much to do with what Jesus taught.
I mostly didn't enjoy this book. However, I don't like most Christian nonfiction books, so it is in good company. I find that a great majority of Christian nonfiction books spend their time telling the reader or, worse, the church at large what they are doing wrong. I dislike such books because I criticize myself frequently, and I find it too easy to accept the criticism of strangers. Reading such books often leads me to a sense of hopelessness and despair. This book in particular led to feel like what I've been doing in church for the last twenty-five years has been in vain.
(If you know of good Christian books that don't take this tact, please, let me know. Note that I've never really connected with Max Lucado.)
As I began reading the book, I had the suspicion that Jim had an agenda - that he had particular things that he wanted to say to the Christian church, certain criticisms that he wanted to bring, and that he felt that he had an ally in Casper who would lend weight to his criticisms. As I went through the book I began to wonder why Casper or any atheist should determine how we run church. Isn't our Sunday meeting for believers? Why should a nonbeliever determine how we do things? I got my answer at the end of the book: Casper evaluated Sunday morning meetings because those are the ones that are advertised, and those are the meetings that we are encouraged to bring "our unsaved friends" to. As long as this is the case, Jim asserts, it is reasonable to have a nonbeliever come and evaluate the Sunday morning meeting.
I finished this book about a week ago, and so my irritation with it has diminished somewhat and I have been able to gain a little perspective. There are things that I desire in church that Jim and Casper would appreciate - for example, greater simplicity in our Sunday meeting. I thought that their idea of joining with nonbelievers in existing service projects, rather than starting our own, an intriguing idea.
However, what I am left with overall is the sense that we try to put too much on Sunday morning. We try to make it both a believer's meeting and a meeting sensitive to the needs of seekers and outsiders. These two goals seem to be in conflict. I think that it is very important to preserve a whole-church believer's meeting, and I can't realistically see this happening outside of Sunday morning. I don't think that it is right to steal from the church for the sake of some potential outsiders, because the church needs to be strengthened so that it can help outsiders.
What I think we should do is provide a separate meeting for seekers and outsiders. As part of this meeting, they can be instructed in what we do on Sunday and why we do it. If they decide to attend the Sunday meeting, the seeker's meeting could be a place where they return to ask questions or argue issues.
I'm not sure how well this idea would fly, or whether seekers would skip the main meeting in favor of this explanatory one. However, I think that it makes sense to not force seekers to only learn about our church through a believer's meeting that they may find confusing or strange.
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