Chauvinism much?

So, my prof in developmental psyc showed us this book today. It's one of those things that it's so bad, it's funny.

Here's the book online.

You should go read it. It won't even take 5 minutes.

On Malcolm X

"In prison he joined the Black Muslims, became an avid reader, broke the habits of smoking, eating pork, using drugs, and uttering profanities."
~The Religious Care of the Psychiatric Patient, Wayne E. Oates.

An interesting list, to be sure...

Swine Flu

Brilliant.

Its strange how certain things just stick with you...

I wrote a song for my 6th grade English class. I haven't looked at it in years, and yet the chorus popped into my head this evening.

I thought I saw a light at the end of the tunnel
But it turns out that light was just an on-coming train
I just keep living my life, day-by-day
But I can't help wondering: will my life stay this way?

hm.

Do it yourself

You'd think if we were exporting all of our jobs, we'd at least have the sensibility to export our tools as well, so that we don't need a set of Chinese screwdrivers* to take apart a simple household fan.

But no...



*Not a racism comment. They have different (normally smaller) tools in China.

"Freedom" by Run Kid Run

I heard this song last night on the radio. It's awesome. Partly because it's a great song, but mostly because it's so true.

Our God is a truly awesome God!

"One thing must be emphatically stated.

The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect. The first ecclesiastical councils to classify the canonical books were both held in North Africa-at Hippo Regius in 393 and at Carthage in 397-but what these councils did was not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practice of those communities."

~FF Bruce, The Reliability of NT documents, Ch 3.

"Sooner or later, Daddy and I will find out..."

This phrase emerged from the archives of my brain tonight. It was often said to us as kids: partly to convince my brother and I to tell our parents the truth, and partly to get us to behave (whether they were looking or not.)

But I made a realization tonight: that's not true. They don't always find out. They don't always know.

And I knew this, of course, but I never really made all of the connections. And part of me was a little sad, to be quite honest. How much better it would be-- I thought-- if they DID know. Then perhaps we'd be compelled to behave...or at least tell the truth. Because our parents would know about it.

And then I realized something:
We do have a Parent who knows what we do. God didn't reveal Himself to us as Father for no reason. He indeed knows all that we do.

And yet...are we any more well-behaved because of it?

A paradox...

Dungeons and Dragons. I've never played it, and honestly don't know much about it. To the best of my knowledge it's an RPG board game. I know people who've played it, I know it's popular, and that most people like it.

I also know that it DID (and perhaps still does in some small circles) have a cult-like following. People, teens especially, I suppose were getting sucked into the game, spending all their time, energy, and money on it. Then if their character died, that which they had built their identity on died as well. And it wouldn't be much of a stretch that several committed suicide over the death of their character.

What's inherently bad: the idolatry of it. If your life cannot go on once a fictional game character has died, it was your functional savior. If you can't see your life without D & D then that's idolatry. And that's a sin.

Fine. Relatively straight-forward.

But then there are other's who take it further than that... Jack Chick for instance. Here he has a tract, in typical Jack Chick fashion, on the "evils" of D & D. He goes so far to say that they actually promote witchcraft, sorcery, and the like.

It that true? Some would say yes. Others would say no.

And then I read a blog post on Challies talking about how Al Mohler, CJ Mahaney, Mark Dever, and John Piper...the head-dudes for Together for the Gospel...play D & D.

And then I get confused...

Especially when at work today I came across a paper for clients to reflect on their histories, to see perhaps why they might be having troubles like they are.
Most of the options were pretty standard: have you or anyone up to 2 generations removed from you...
-participated in the occult?
-been molested? raped? a victim of incest?
-practiced divination? palm reading? Ouija boards?
-attempted suicide? inflicted harm upon yourself?
-been a member of a cult (whole big long list)?
....you know. Pretty standard stuff.

But then there was some other things that threw me off....
-played D & D?
-played Magic-The Gathering?
-played with a magic 8 ball?

It's interesting. B/c at least as far as something like D & D is concerned, it's a big ol' paradox:
-People who like the game say there's no witchcraft/evil inherent in the game
-People against the game will say that there is. (And they either "escaped" from it, in which case they're probably pushing some sort of agenda. Or they've never played it b/c they think it's evil, and therefore will never know.)
-Both sides will think their opponents are blind liars.

Dresses

The first of (perhaps) many rants on wedding dresses:

Just because I want a "modest" wedding dress does NOT mean that I am
1. fat
2. Mormon

That is all. Thank you.

Machine Translation

So, here I am. Studying for my Spanish final. And my book is talking about the pros and cons of machine (computer) translation, and if it's even worth putting money into, b/c it's so darn complicated. And it's talking about how it's especially hard with words that have various meanings, and how they might be translated.

This one is my favorite

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."=
"The vodka is good but the meat is rotten."

Perhaps we should do our translations by hand....

50 years ago...

...college students were getting crap for believing the Bible. It's very sad, but in some ways comforting to know that this is nothing new.

"in sending it forth afresh I continue to dedicate it to those university and college students throughout the world who, singly or in groups, maintain among their colleagues the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ our Lord.
F. F. B. April 1959."

-Preface to "The New Testament Documents: Are they reliable?" by FF Bruce

Like butter scraped over too much bread...

It's coming down to the end. And my motivation is fading fast. I keep thinking I just have to wait until....my pysc project is done, my finals are done, I go see John, I start my summer internship....and THEN things'll be better.

And the little Humanities teacher in my head is punching my brain, saying Live in the moment, live in the moment, live in the moment!

I'm trying. I know that God put me here to do something specific in this place and time. And maybe that's just homework for the time-being. But He has planned it, so I need to live it as He wants me to.

That doesn't make it easy... but I know that "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28)

Even homework. :-)

It's 3 o'clock on a Tuesday

And my translation still sounds like...well, a translation.

You know what that means?!?

Techno time!

In Honor of Velociraptor Awareness Day

http://xkcd.com/87/

http://xkcd.com/135/

(Don't forget to scroll over the pictures to see the extra message!)

With thanks to Mrs. Amy Lynn Kalmar-Jam

This, you may recall is the author of my NT class textbook- the infamous Bart Ehrman- on the Colbert Report. It's most amusing. Enjoy. :-)

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bart Ehrman
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

Phraseology

So, a lot of our idioms don't translate word for word into other languages. Spanish is no exception.

Perhaps my favorite phrase I've learned yet:

English phrase- to let the fox guard the hen house
Spanish phrase- poner la iglesia en manos de Lutero
Literal English translation- to put the Church in Luther's hands

:-D

Easter Break Homework

If I were my NT professor, the only assignment I'd give to my students would be to go to/ watch an Easter service. After all, isn't that the point of the whole Bible?

But, no. I get to compare "inconsistencies" between Galatians and Acts...

From my community service paper

"People won’t listen to you unless they respect you. And they won’t respect you unless you respect them."

I wrote it, then read it and was really please with what I saw. Praise God for insight! :-D

Mira!

I'm working on my Spanish translation, which I figure I'll be pretty proud of when all is said and done.

This is my word of the day. And perhaps of my life. Alfajores. It doesn't really translate, but if I had to guess, I'd say it means "love and happiness."

Brave by Nichole Nordeman

The gate is wide
The road is paved in moderation
The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in
Welcome to the middle ground
You're safe and sound and
Until now it's where I've been

'Cause it's been fear that ties me down to everything
But it's been love, Your love, that cuts the strings

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave
Brave, brave

I am small
And I speak when I'm spoken to
But I am willing to risk it all
I say Your name
Just Your name and I'm ready to jump
Even ready to fall...

Why did I take this vow of compromise?
Why did I try to keep it all inside?

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave
Brave, brave

I've never known a fire that didn't begin with a flame
Every storm will start with just a drop of rain
But if you believe in me
That changes everything
So long, I'm gone

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
I wanna be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave
Brave, brave

Random tidbits

~According to the middle school kids I work with, I'm gay. Because when I have a cup in my hand I have a tendency to swirl it subconsciously (because I do that to my coffee in the morning to mix it better.) I'm not sure what they have found in their extensive amounts of scientific and psychological research that has lead them to this conclusion, but I think they need to double-check their data. (Or just stop calling everyone and their mom "gay".)

~In England the expression "everyone and their brother" (or mom, as I tend to modify it) is "everyone and their dog."

~"Potable": def. suitable for drinking. Good to know. I was thinking that it was an alternate pronunciation of "portable."

~I may actually get an A in Spanish this semester! It would be the only A I've gotten in a college Spanish class. I'm pretty excited!

What a fallen, fallen world...

A friend of mine, a 6th grader, asked my advice on what to do with a friend who talks about suicide and cuts himself with a pencil...

It breaks my heart to even think that a 12 year old would face such problems.

There's a grief that can't be spoken

All-nighters, much?

No. Thank you very much. I like to avoid them like the plague. But last night, I got stuck with one...pretty much. Going to bed at 5, waking up at 7:30... that just doesn't count in my book.

But! My paper is done, and all is well.

Some amusing insights into my adventure last night.
1. Craisin trail mix is awesome stuff! The perfect 3am snack!

2. Pandora becomes your bff whilst pulling an all-nighters. (While I confirmed w/ my new study buddy down the hall...we were both in the study room, headphones on, listening to pandora radio.

3. It's really easy to fall asleep after 2am. And almost any sort of music will lull you to sleep. (yes, indeed, even techno) There is, however, at least one exception. That which Pandora calls "Deathcore Metal." No joke. It's ridiculous. I spent the wee hours of the morning listening to it, b/c it was the only thing keeping me awake. Thankfully, I was too tired and too focused to understand the words (upon listening to it this morning, it was a bit frightening...).

4. To keep myself amused with this new music sensation, I decided to define it. So here goes.

"Deathcore Metal" =
The Swedish Chef
+

Gollum
+

The Gremlins
+

A Machine Gun
+

Insanely Impossible Guitar Hero Riffs
+

This guy's voice at age 75

Dreaming? Being awake?

I've been having nightmares every time I sleep...for about 3 days now. For whatever reason they come and go; but when they're around it's not pleasant. And I wake up, petrified, and then fall back asleep. Only to remember them in the middle of the next day.

And then, the days....well, they just have a personality of their own.

Sometimes...

it's worth being up early, studying for your exam in the lounge. The look on the security guard's face when he comes past, is priceless.

What he thought (according to his face): "Wait? What the crap is that? Is that a student? It can't be.... It is! Holy crap! What is a student doing awake?? I'm so confused!"

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!

There once was a poor old man who owned a bony plow horse. The animal was old, but allowed the man and his son to plow the fields to grow the food off of which they lived. One spring afternoon the horse broke loose from his plow and ran away. The man and his son chased the horse, but it ran into the forest. They searched the woods for days, but to no avail. They were without any means of making a living. The old man’s friends, hearing the yelling, ran to his house. Trying to console him, they said, “We’re so sorry about your horse, old man. What a misfortune you’ve had.” But the old man said, “Bad news, good news-who can tell?”

A week later, the old man and his son were in the field, attmepting to plow it by hand, when they saw a cloud of dust approaching on the horizon. Lo and behold, it was their horse returning leading a herd of wild horses. The old man was rich! Not only did he have plenty of horses to work on his farm but he could sell the others at a profit. Again his friends came running. Filled with joy, they cried, “How wonderful!” But the old man whispered, “Good news, bad news-who can tell?”

Then the next day, when the farmer’s son was trying to ride one of the new horses, the young man was thrown to the ground and broke both of his legs. Upon hearing of the accident, the friends ran to the old man's house. "How unfortunate!" they cried. "Surely this is horrible news!" But the old man simply replied, “Bad news, good news-who can tell?”

And a short time later when the village went to war. A declaration went out that all young men had to go and fight. But when the recruitment officer came to the house of the old man, he shrugged, saying "We've no place for your son in this war." So the son avoided going into battle. Good news. Bad news. Who can tell?

Procrastination...or lack thereof

I'm spending my entire weekend working on a paper that isn't due until the 23rd. It's kinda crazy. At present, my only deadline is to finish taking notes on a book that needs to be back to the library by tomorrow night.

I don't think I've ever done this before....except when being forced by deadlines for notecards (which I don't count).

It's so strange....

I'm getting a little bored, and I just realized: I can take a break! It's not due on Monday or anything! I don't have to kill myself to get it done this minute.

Is this maturity? Responsibility? Wisdom?

Whatever it is....it's weird :-p

"Problems" with my thesis for Roots of Early Christianity

~I can't say that Paul thinks that men should have only one wife (without specifying that this only applies to those who choose to marry...cf 1 Cor 7)

~I can't refer to the the letters of the New Testament as the "Pauline epistles" (b/c my professor doesn't think that Paul wrote all of them)

~I'm not allowed to capitalize pronouns referring to Jesus (He, Him)

"We are mearly players, performers, and portrayers"

~Limelight, by Rush.

Someone said to me tonight, "Are you okay? You don't seem yourself..."

My unspoken question: If I'm not myself, then who am I?

To Bart Ehrman

(Author of The New Testament: A historical introduction to the early Christian writings: My NT textbook.)

A quote from Pastor Mark Driscoll's Tolerance Rant

"I don't care if you know what the showbread is, and the temple is, and what the lamp stand is...If you don't know Jesus, you don't know jack about the Bible!"

Excellent thoughts on suffering

A series of blog posts by Mark Driscoll on the Mars Hill Church blog. Very insightful. Most helpful.

Part 1: Intro
Part 2: 15 Kinds of Suffering
Part 3: Why do we suffer?

It could have been bad

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/03/city_police_apprehend_fugitive.html#more

The "undisclosed" M-burg area was the Wal-Mart parking lot.
He was there @ 7:30, shooting at cop cars.
I walked out of the store @ 7:45.

Praise God for safety!

Sorry Amy

"Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone."
~John Calvin(?)

A very well phrased answer to the question, "How can we be saved by grace alone through faith alone if 'faith apart from works is useless/dead' (James 2:20)?"

Lord, help us

"The pornography industry has a big stake in defending itself against legal challenges and restrictive laws, and it has been stunningly successful in doing so. One of the leading legal defenders of pornography has been David Ogden, a lawyer who can only be described as a First Amendment extremist, who has even argued against laws against child pornography.

President Barack Obama has nominated David Ogden as Deputy Attorney General of the United States. This nomination is both ominous and dangerous. Given David Ogden's high visibility in defense of pornography, this nomination sends a clear and unmistakable message. The pornography business will have a friend in high office in the Department of Justice."

~albert mohler

Sorrowful yet always rejoicing

Lately I've been feeling the weight of the fallenness of this world: neglect, death, sin, suffering, disease, unfaithfulness, sorrow, pride, mistruths, abuse....the list goes on and on.

My heart is heavy with these things, in myself and those I love.

But His Word is good and true. And so I am sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

Here in the real world....it's not that easy at all

jobs, resumes, cover-letters, taxes, credit cards

when did all of this happen?

"By a standard of their choosing"

How does one operationally define a Christian?

"A standard of their choosing"? What does that even mean?

Work

I always wondered how people made it through college. They would talk about having several hundred pages of reading every night, and I thought "My goodness! They must have never slept!"

But now that I'm in that same situation, with probably 200ish pages to read for tomorrow, I realize how they made it.

They just didn't do all the work. :-p

And part of me still cringes at that. But I've come to accept that even if I do nothing else, I won't be able to do all my work, so why sacrifice the important things of life?

From "Introduction to Spanish Translation" by Jack Child

'The translator has another problem...whether to make his/ her translation so pleasing and beautiful in the target language...that it begins to lose faithfulness to the deeper meaning in the source language. The French express this "translator's dilemma" [as such:] "Translations are like lovers: the faithful are not beautiful and the beautiful are not faithful."'

The power of music

God speaks to us all sorts of ways. Sometimes it's awesomely and epically earth-shattering revelations. Others it's through prayer, or Scripture, or in a conversation.

And other times, He just works miracles through your playlist, to show you exactly what He wanted you to see. What was there all along; you just forgot it was there.

"I can tell the world"

I can tell the world about this.
I can tell the nations I'm blessed.
Tell them what my Lord has done,
Tell them that the conqueror has come.

Sometimes I think we get too wrapped up in our story that we miss seeing God in it. To take a step back from our lives and see what God has done in them....it's truly humbling.

Cardboard Testimonies

My roommate showed me this amazing video. After an already fantastic weekend, it was amazing to see how God is at work in the lives of so many people.

A quote from "City of Angels"

Seth: Why do people cry?
Maggie: What do you mean?
Seth: I mean... what happens physically?
Maggie: Well... umm... tear ducts operate on a normal basis to lubricate and protect the eye and when you have an emotion they overreact and create tears.
Seth: Why? Why do they overreact?
Maggie: [pause] I don't know.
Seth: Maybe... maybe emotion becomes so intense your body just can't contain it. Your mind and your feelings become too powerful... and your body weeps.

So appropriate for this weekend...

Route 15

If you've ever driven on it, you know the abundance of pornography stores ("adult bookstore" makes it sound far too sophisticated) that you encounter.

Every time I drive past one, I pray for the people there. That they may see their sin and folly and that they would Jesus would save them. Every time. There are between 5-10 stores between Harrisburg and Williamsport.

One time, a car was turning into the parking lot, and I prayed that they'd flee from that sin. And they didn't go in. I watched the car turn back onto Rt. 15 in my rearview mirror. They went back the way they had come. Perhaps it was someone who just missed their exit and was circling back. Perhaps the person forgot their wallet. Perhaps God touched their heart. Perhaps that was a turning point for them. Perhaps they've never gone back.

Today, I had 2 very different experiences in my driving:

The first wasn't too far from home. Driving past a store I prayed for the people inside, and for the owner. But there were no cars there! I was thrilled! How wonderful it was to see no vehicles parked outside a pornography store!

And then I passed one on my way into Williamsport. And the parking lot was sickeningly full. And it made me really sad.

And so I keep praying.