10.31.07
Happy Reformation Day
Bet you thought it was Halloween? Better yet, today is the 490th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, thus starting the Protestant Reformation.
On a roll …
It’s been a good month for studies, if not for other things. 
I’m at the end of Chapter 8 in my study of 1 Corinthians … that’s good progress as I was at the end of 5 six weeks ago. I’m working at a 2 chapter per month pace, so probably won’t finish until February unless I cut back on other things.
I’ve also read a book on the cross by Tozer and three short books by Graeme Goldsworthy (Goldsworthy Trilogy). Goldsworthy is one of those writers who just draw you into the subject. The problem I have is that I find myself highlighting constantly as so much of what he writes is stuff I want to refer back to. I have to be careful I don’t turn all the pages yellow!
10.28.07
Perspective
David sold his G-5 and didn’t have enough space on his Mac book to store all his music and videos. He loaded them on my system until he could get an external drive. The other day I noticed that I only had 12.9 GB on my E drive and commented to David that I was really low on disk space.
I can’t help laughing when I reflect on that comment. My first computer was an IBM clone with a 20 meg hard drive and 712 K of RAM … this was back in the day when “no one would ever need more that 656 K”. My next machine had 170 megs, them I upgraded that to 500 megs. As you can see, my first three systems didn’t even total a gig, and I am worrying about only 12.9?
10.25.07
I’m just sayin’
Watching video of the Bush visit to the California fire zone raises questions …
Are the normal “no fly” rules being imposed for this visit?
Does that mean the fire-fighting planes are grounded during the visit?
If the planes are grounded, how does that translate to acres and homes burned?
Maybe he should have found another way to view the damage.
For Rachel
Ok, I couldn’t resist trying to cleanse the wound. My ESV Verse of the Day for today is: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1.6. Some versions say “perfect it” instead of “bring it to completion”.
We are a work in progress and most of us aren’t there yet, but we aren’t “at the day of Jesus Christ” either. Sorry, Ann, I don’t think you are perfect yet.
No NaNoWriMo
- <song>I’ve got, got, got, got, got no time</song> to do it this year.
- I have other things to devote my creativity towards.
- I’m trying to have a Life.
Those are my excuses … pick the one that works best for you.
10.22.07
Meditations on John 1.14
A few days ago my son Steve posted about his study in John and John 1.14 in particular:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
After my conversation with Steve, I had further cause to consider this verse. I am reading Gospel and Kingdom by Graeme Goldsworthy and he commented on this verse on page 114 (don’t think that didn’t give me pause!). The more I meditate on this verse, the more in awe I am to realize that God came to us and lived among us. The implications of that are almost more than anyone can comprehend.
10.20.07
Dei … just the way it is
I responded to a post on a blog asking for opinions as to whether WordPress or Blogger might be the better solution. This was from someone who had trashed his Blogger site while trying to tweak it. He mentioned that a friend had recently switched to WordPress, which made me look at the friends site and then I thought “wow, I like his theme”.
So I spent what seems like forever looking at themes at WordPress. I narrowed the search to 2 column layouts like the one I currently have, but still there were hundreds … actually over 1100. And you know what? After looking at all of those and downloading a few that I thought I could modify, I decided that I like my theme pretty well. I modified the original theme and might play with it a little more … or not. For the most part, Dei, I like you just the way you are. 
Blocking file transfers
Lovely news headlined on Google News and several sites yesterday relating to blocking of peer-to-peer file transfers by Comcast. Perhaps that explains the problems I have been having uploading information to the server at church?
I’m very impressed
So I wrote a letter to Al Gore at the end of September in response to something I read on one of the sites I frequent.
I’ve been writing letters to politicians for years, and letting my elected representatives know my POV on issues under consideration. Never until today have I ever gotten a reply. So it was a form letter, but someone took time to run it through the mail merge program and personalize it. I’m not naive enough to think it was personally signed … I recognize the difference between a printed signature and a handwritten one. But hey, he answered me and responded to my comments.
Way to go, Al!
10.09.07
Win Books (or help me win)
You could win 40 copies of R. C. Sproul’s “The Truth of the Cross” and one copy of Richard Phillips “Jesus the Evangelist”. Even if you don’t care about winning, you could help me win! I care!
Please use my referral code: 21169
10.08.07
Unplugged?
I read several blogs and today followed a link to a blog where the author posted about unplugging from the tech world to focus on what is real. He commented that he was becoming something of a slave to his electronic gadgets, and they were buffering him from things that really mattered in his life.
I have had similar feelings. In some ways I miss using the internet the way I used to, communicating with a variety of people and having wide ranging discussions on all manner of subjects. Blogging is kind of like spitting into the wind. I get to state my POV, but who knows who sees it and what they think. I guess that is why I am not a “good” blogger. 200 posts in 22 months doesn’t make me very prolific, does it now?
The thing is, most of the people I used to relate with have moved in very different directions. Many have really embraced the postmodern idea of tolerance, which is really no tolerance. In other words, I don’t agree with what you feel and think, therefore it is not valid.
And so, to a great extent, I have unplugged myself as well. Being off work has had its good side. I have read good books and had time to really think about the things that are important to me. I don’t feel so inclined to play the games one is required to play to get along in the work world today. Maybe age has something to do with it as well. I still keep up with some of my virtual friends, but I don’t have the energy to interact with many of them. They are not interested in what matters to me, and I don’t have the perception that anything important matters to them. If I wrong them. I am sorry, but I can only go on what they project, and it seems pretty superficial most of the time.
Now that I have probably insulted some people, I will say that I regret losing touch with some of them. But not enough, it seems, to give up the things that matter most to me.
Weather you like it or not …
Last week I was going to post on how much I like autumn. Our weather was beautiful … just the way I like it … temps in the low 70s during the day with a mild northerly breeze to temper the sunshine … temps in the low 50s at night … good sleeping weather … no need for turning on the heat or air conditioner.
Well, there is an adage in Minnesota that if you don’t like the weather, stick around for a day and it will change. I guess that applies to when you do like it as well. After a gorgeous week it got very humid on Friday and the wind shifted to southerly. On Saturday it was 86° and humid. I gave up and turned on the air. Which was a Good Thing, because it didn’t cool off. CNN even saw fit to mention that it was 80° at 10 PM.
Today is better and I can comfortably wear sweats.