August 31, 2009 Leave a Comment
Donald Miller is one of my favorite authors. His new book “A Million Miles In A Thousand Years” is coming out soon. I missed snagging a review copy this morning so I guess I’ll have to buy one like normal readers. To get you pumped about this book here’s the first thirty pages.
Shalom,
Scott D
August 30, 2009 Leave a Comment
Lately I have been having second thoughts about Facebook. Recently, one of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, posted on his blog about his consideration of deleting his Facebook account. His consideration involves not being able to keep up with all the posts, messages, etc. Since I am not a world famous author, I don’t have the problem of inbox overload. However, my problem is more insidious.
I am a pretty opinionated kind of guy. I have never been afraid of saying what I think, even to a fault. My Facebook account is set up to automatically pull posts from my blog to my Facebook Notes. Most of my posts deal with spirituality or technology but occasionally I have posted about something with political overtones such as healthcare reform. I also have been known to comment a lot on other’s posts.
I have a number of different groups of “friends” on Facebook. A bunch are from church, a bunch are relatives and a growing bunch are from work. Usually, when I post something political it usually leads to a good natured back and forth from some church friends who are of a different political bent. I love a good natured debate. I consider myself adult enough to be able to agree to disagree with people.
The problem is in the way Facebook operates. If I post something my friends can see it. If they reply, not only can my friends see their reply, but their friends can see it too. People who may not know me, but know my “friends”, then can see my posts as well. Who knows what they think about this back and forth. It seems like today we have lost the ability to “agree to disagree” with our political foes. Talk show entertainers and others have ramped up the vitriol to where politics are no longer about the art of compromise with regards to divergent viewpoints, but instead are a bombastic, all out, win or lose, “you’re either for us or against us” slugfest.
What do these friends of friends think about me when they see my opinions, especially when they see my other posts about faith? Does their disagreement with my politics cause them to disparage my comments on faith? I’m not really too worried about what they might think of me personally, but my faith is profoundly important. If my comments about politics and such cause them to diminish their opinion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ then I have failed miserably because I have become an impediment to Gospel.
In electronics there is a concept of rating electronic devices by measuring their “signal to noise” ratio. A better receiver, will pick up more of the desired signal and less of the undesirable background noise. Right now I am afraid my signal to noise ratio is poor in that more of the background noise is being picked up with less of the desired signal getting through.
I am not quite sure yet that I am going to delete my Facebook account. There are a lot of good things about Facebook. It’s important to share, even minor points in other’s lives. These are the things that make us “friends”. However, I am going consider how I use Facebook and try to make sure that my signal to noise ratio is good. Maybe this will cause me to post less often. Maybe this will cause me to change what I post. Whatever happens, I want it to be measured against what is really important. That there is a God that loves you. That there is an eternity after this life. That he choices you make now will affect your place in that eternity and that you should trust Jesus for that eternity.
Shalom,
Scott D
August 30, 2009 Leave a Comment
I went down to the Apple Store yesterday and dutifully paid homage to the Apple Fan Boy in me by purchasing a copy of the Mac OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard operating system. I also ended up buying some new video editing software (Final Cut Express) and some photo editing software (Photoshop Elements). Now I can play with video compositing which I have been wanting to try for a while, and get back to some art photography that I used to enjoy.
I still have a few of these items. The rest have been passed on to others or sent to the big network in the sky. This doesn’t include all the other Macs I have used at work either in the Navy or at my current employer (we had one or two at one of my assignments years ago). My work history with them goes back to 1989 and was with Mac SE and SE30 era. I guess 20 years is a pretty long time for a love affair with Apple products.
August 23, 2009 Leave a Comment
Tyler Dodds led worship at my church this morning. He was really good. After the service I bought his new album which has this song on it.
The Bible says that for Christians, this world is not our home. Are you living your life like this world is not your home? Are you focused on what’s here and now or what comes after?
Shalom,
Scott D
August 19, 2009 Leave a Comment
As I have been watching the healthcare debate play out I find it interesting that the word “government” is being used as a pejorative by those opposed to health care reform. I thought I’d offer these observations about those so opposed to government.
The protesters at the town hall meetings likely woke up that morning and turned on their TV or radios (whose airwaves are regulated by a government agency to ensure that broadcasters don’t interfere with one another and everyone uses the same standards). Then maybe they fired up their computer and got on the Internet (originally created by a government agency) to check their email. Then they go to their coffee maker (regulated by a government commission so it doesn’t start a fire or electrocute them) and get their morning cup of joe.
After getting in the shower (using water provided by a government run utility) they go to their closet and turn on the light switch (which allows electricity from a government regulated utility) to light their light so they can find their clothes. After getting dressed, they hop in their car (also regulated by a government agency to ensure it meets safety standards) and pull out onto the (government designed, funded and maintained) roadway. As they head to the meeting, they pass the new (government funded and maintained) fire station and the city park (also government funded and maintained).
Meanwhile their thoughts turn to their children’s school (also government funded) and think about the new school year and their child’s new teacher (government employee). They probably thought it interesting that their child’s new teacher went to the same (government funded) state university as they did. What a small world it is.
Later our protester passed the new shopping center (whose operator received tax incentives to build it, as well as government provided water, sewer and road infrastructure to support it) and wondered if there would be a drug store in it. That drug store would carry products (regulated by a government agency for safety) that would be so convenient to buy just down the street from home.
As our protester’s trip progressed, they passed a police officer (government agent) who arrested a dangerous drunk driver. That officer will later take the arrested person to jail (a government facility) where they will be remanded until they make bond and eventually get a court date in a court (also paid for by the government). At least this dangerous drunk driver won’t endanger our protester’s trip. Hopefully the prosecutor (government agent) will convince the judge (another government agent) to throw the book at him and the scofflaw will have to do time in prison (government facility) before he kills someone.
Before getting to the meeting, our protester thinks about their vacation and how nice it will be to get on a plane (also regulated and controlled by the government) and take a flight leaving the local airport (funded and maintained by the government) instead of having to drive further away to the other airport (also government funded and maintained). While they ponder this they pass a billboard recruiting young men and women into our military (government funded) to “defend our freedom”. The billboard promises incentives like the GI Bill (government program) to pay for college as well as health care (government run) and retirement benefits (government run) to those who join.
Now our protester arrives at the convention center (government funded and maintained) and pulls their protest signs out of their trunk. The sign rails against the “evils” of the government and how they want the government out of their lives.
Shalom,
Scott D
August 18, 2009 Leave a Comment
I find the passage here in Mark 9:14-29 to be interesting. While Jesus and three of the disciples are up on a “high mountain” where Jesus will meet with Moses and Elijah and become transfigured before Peter, James and John, the rest of the disciples are left to contend with a crowd of people. I am sure that the crowd was quite an assortment of people, those who came to see Jesus, those who came to scoff, those who wanted to see a miracle or two and some who did not even know why they were there.
Jesus, Peter, James and John return to find the rest of the disciples arguing with the scribes while the crowd watched. When Jesus asked what was happening, a man approached Jesus and told him a sad story about his son.
“Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” – Mark 9:17-18 ESV
Some commentators mentioned that the symptoms he described resembled epilepsy. But whatever the cause, this man’s son didn’t have much of a chance for a normal life in the condition he was in. The man then asks Christ to heal his son saying “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus responds by telling the man that “All things are possible for one who believes.” The man then answers with an answer that I so connect with. He says:
“I believe; help my unbelief!” – Mark 9:24 ESV
What really struck me is the seeming incongruity of this answer. Eugene Peterson translates that passage in his Bible translation The Message: “Then I believe. Help me with my doubt.” It’s not this man’s faith I so understand but his doubt.
When I became a Christian, I saw those around me who seemed so confident in their faith. I bet they never had doubts. I thought something must be wrong with me because I have had my doubts over the years. My doubts have caused me to question everything about faith in general, and my faith in particular. This doubt is maddening. Given the consequences of getting this right, isn’t it crucial to get it right? How can I be assured I have it right when I struggle with doubt? Is it possible to have complete and total faith without a smidgen of doubt? Am I doing something wrong?
What I find interesting in this passage is not what happened, but what didn’t; Jesus didn’t rebuke this man for his doubt, he just healed the man’s son. Apparently we can come to Jesus doubts and all and He will still hear our plea. I find that so hopeful. Just like I don’t have to be perfect and sinless to be accepted by God, I don’t have to have perfect faith either. It’s not what I do that makes me acceptable to God, but what He did for me. God chose to give me the gift of salvation not because of anything I did, but because He chose to. That’s what makes it a gift. I just need to accept this free gift in spite of my doubt and like this desperate father did, ask Jesus to “Help me with my doubt.”
Shalom,
Scott D
August 12, 2009 Leave a Comment
There’s a story making the rounds about a former Ohio police officer who suing his former employer. Seems like the officer claims he was harrassed and suffered a hostile working environment by his fellow employees making comments about his wife posing for Playboy magazine. The harrassment included things like fellow officers asking for autographs and copies of the magazine.
I made the mistake of googling her name without selecting the option to turn off images in the search and I can ashamedly say that she is indeed naked on the Internet. A link to a story (This one is safe for work, no naughty pictures.) can be found here. From the story:
“It just became unbearable for the officer. He was repeatedly asked for the issue of Playboy. Ever since his wife posed for Playboy, it’s just been an unbearable environment for him to be in,“ Sherrod said. Source: NBC4i.com
This just begs the question: What did they think was going to happen? Isn’t that the whole point of posing naked in a magazine is to draw attention to one’s naughty bits? If your wife posed in her birthday suit, wouldn’t you expect people, from complete strangers to your co-workers to have an unusual or even a lewd interest in her and her now public “private parts”? Why do you think they are called “private parts”?
This doesn’t excuse the lecherous behavior of his co-workers but there is an old principle that our actions have consequences. That’s the main reason we see certain principles taught in scripture like this one:
“…women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control” 1 Timothy 2:9 ESV
BTW, The Greek word translated here as “modesty” means just that “modest”. It’s pretty safe to say that the Apostle Paul used the word because he felt it was the opposite of naked as a jaybird.
I don’t mean to say all this to pile on this poor guy and his clothing impaired wife, it sounds like this whole thing is turning out not to be the good idea they thought it was at first. But see, that’s the problem with sin. Many times it seems like a good idea at first, only to turn out to be something less so, or even downright horrible later on. God doesn’t give us the prohibitions in the Bible because he’s a cosmic killjoy. He does so because he loves us and knows that some things just aren’t a good idea.
Shalom,
Scott D
August 9, 2009 Leave a Comment
There’s an interesting article over at Yahoo! News about a recent Pennsylvania mass killer’s former church: Church says God will hold Pa. gunman accountable – Yahoo! News.
The killer, George Sodini, walked into a women’s aerobics class at a Pennsylvania fitness club turned out the lights and started shooting. By the end, three women were dead and nine were wounded. The killer, kept a blog were he outlined his plans and indicated that the reason he did this was because he had been rejected by women. In addition to his misogynistic ramblings the killer wrote of his understanding of the doctrine of heaven.
Among those he blamed for his perceived troubles were his family and Tetelestai’s longtime pastor, Alan “Rick” Knapp, whose teachings he interpreted as assurance he would go to heaven even after committing murder.
“This guy teaches (and convinced me) you can commit mass murder, then still go to heaven,” he wrote. – Source: Yahoo! News
This brings up an interesting question; Can you commit a horrific crime and still go to heaven?
A good friend of mine was involved in prison ministry for many years. One person he had the opportunity to be involved with was convicted killer Karla Faye Tucker. Her story was a little different. She was a drug addled killer, was convicted and sentenced to die, then found Jesus in prison. My friend was convinced, and so were many others that Tucker’s conversion experience was real.
But what about people who claim to be Christians, then commit crimes? The easy thing to say is that they must never have been Christians in the first place. But, we do know that just because we have a genuine faith experience that our sins don’t cease.
Sanctification, the process of becoming sinless and holy, has two parts. The first part was accomplished when we made a decision to trust Christ for our salvation. That part, was completed and is enough to assure us entry into heaven. The second part is a process that won’t be completed until we actually make it into heaven. We won’t stop sinning until we die and make it into heaven. You could describe sanctification as an already and a not yet.
Could a killer already possess a saving faith prior to his crime? I suppose that he could. Did this killer possess a saving faith? Only, he and God knows. It does kind of change your idea of heaven to think that you might share it with a killer or some other sinner just like you and me.
Shalom,
Scott D
August 2, 2009 Leave a Comment
My favorite movie is the dystopian science fiction movie “Blade Runner“. In the climax of the movie the protagonist Rick Deckard, is in an epic fight with a genetically engineered android Roy Batty. Roy is stronger and faster than Deckard and as Roy pursues Deckard, he toys with him like a cat does with a mouse. In his attempt to get away, Deckard tries to jump from one rain slick rooftop to another, only to slip and end up hanging from a girder. Roy, easily jumps across and stands over Deckard mockingly as he watches Deckard’s fingers slip one by one from the girder. When the last one slips, Deckard will plunge to his death.
At the last moment, when Deckard’s last two fingers slip from the girder, Roy grabs Deckard’s wrist and hoists him onto the rooftop. A stunned Deckard doesn’t know whether to flee or to fight his superhuman opponent. Roy sits down next to Deckard holding a live dove he caught on the rooftop. Roy, played brilliantly by Rutger Hauer, launches into this wonderful soliloquy.
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.” – Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), Blade Runner
We then see Roy’s head slump forward and watch as the dove, now freed from Roy’s grasp, flies upward towards the sky. One version of the movie has a narration that explains that in the final moments of his life, Roy saw all life as too precious to be lost. Whatever Roy’s reason for not allowing Deckard to die, we see in his final soliloquy, his pain over knowing that all the great events he was a witness to during his lifetime would now be lost in time “like tears in rain”.
I’ve been thinking a lot about legacy lately. I wonder what kind of legacy I will leave when life slips from my grasp? James the brother of Jesus says:
What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. – James 4:14 ESV
According to James, the chill wind of death could blow at any moment and our life would swirl like a mist and vanish. What would I leave behind? Would anything I have done make a difference to anyone? Or would they all be like those moments that Roy Batty mourned over?
I think this is a pretty common fear, especially for men.
It is my belief that all the stupid behavior we see some men engage in about the time they hit middle age is due to their realization that the end of their life on earth is on the horizon and they don’t have much to show for it. They go out a buy a Harley in the hopes that this will make them seem dangerous and wild and not really a soft, middle aged man who fears irrelevance more than death. They walk out on their wife and kids in the vain hope that their cavorting with another woman will make them feel alive and distract them from the fact that they are moving ever closer towards death.
In his sermon today, my pastor spoke about legacy. He challenged us fathers to leave behind a godly legacy for our families. The legacy that will last are the things you pass on to your children. That shiny new toy you buy yourself today will, before you realize it, end up on a trash heap. But a godly legacy will last forever. What is your legacy going to be? How will you be remembered?
Shalom,
Scott D
