Yup, a t-shirt quilt. This is just the back, made from scraps. The front has the more interesting logos and such. I found that I had a lot of fun t-shirts that I never wore for one reason or another, and I decided they would be more useful as a quilt. Then I could keep them and use them. :)
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Speaking of...
...memories, here's a project I've been working on lately:
Yup, a t-shirt quilt. This is just the back, made from scraps. The front has the more interesting logos and such. I found that I had a lot of fun t-shirts that I never wore for one reason or another, and I decided they would be more useful as a quilt. Then I could keep them and use them. :)
Yup, a t-shirt quilt. This is just the back, made from scraps. The front has the more interesting logos and such. I found that I had a lot of fun t-shirts that I never wore for one reason or another, and I decided they would be more useful as a quilt. Then I could keep them and use them. :)
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Memories
The other day a water pipe burst in my parents' house. I found out about it when my mom called and said that she was going to start getting rid of some of the things I had stored there, so if I wanted any, I'd better go get them. Well, most of the things I have stored at their house I haven't looked at for years, and probably wouldn't actually miss them if I never saw them again... but I am somewhat sentimental, and its possible that I could find something that would be useful, so tonight I went.
Boxes of memories... That's the joy of the things I had saved - memories attached to each of them. Memories that aren't normally called to mind, but that are precious, just the same. I had notes and homework saved from almost every class that I took in high school and college. I threw most of those out, except for a few I thought might be useful in the classes I currently teach. Then I had lots of cards, saved from birthdays, Christmases, graduations, etc. Quite a few letters as well. It was bitter sweet to look through those. I don't really have anywhere to store them, and I'm trying to simplify, so I ended up throwing most of them out, but it was hard. I have letters from campers who I've long since lost touch with. Lord, I think of Alicia, Lisa, Deborah, Toni, Michelle, and others... You know where they are. Please work in their lives. I had letters from my Grandma A. from before her strokes. She can't write now, and can talk very little, but I know she loves me, and those letters and cards remind me of how it was before. I also found letters from old friends, teachers, and dear family. Some I haven't heard from in years, some I still see now and then. It makes me wish I was better at keeping in touch. It also makes me thankful for things like email, blogs, and facebook, which aid in keeping in touch, and can even help us re-find people.
Lots of good memories in my life. Lots of people that I thank God were in my life. Lots to look forward to from here, and perhaps a challenge: Alana, work harder at communicating with the people you love!
Boxes of memories... That's the joy of the things I had saved - memories attached to each of them. Memories that aren't normally called to mind, but that are precious, just the same. I had notes and homework saved from almost every class that I took in high school and college. I threw most of those out, except for a few I thought might be useful in the classes I currently teach. Then I had lots of cards, saved from birthdays, Christmases, graduations, etc. Quite a few letters as well. It was bitter sweet to look through those. I don't really have anywhere to store them, and I'm trying to simplify, so I ended up throwing most of them out, but it was hard. I have letters from campers who I've long since lost touch with. Lord, I think of Alicia, Lisa, Deborah, Toni, Michelle, and others... You know where they are. Please work in their lives. I had letters from my Grandma A. from before her strokes. She can't write now, and can talk very little, but I know she loves me, and those letters and cards remind me of how it was before. I also found letters from old friends, teachers, and dear family. Some I haven't heard from in years, some I still see now and then. It makes me wish I was better at keeping in touch. It also makes me thankful for things like email, blogs, and facebook, which aid in keeping in touch, and can even help us re-find people.
Lots of good memories in my life. Lots of people that I thank God were in my life. Lots to look forward to from here, and perhaps a challenge: Alana, work harder at communicating with the people you love!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Book thoughts
I finished reading "Dracula" over the weekend... It was very interesting, but throughout the whole thing I kept thanking God that the world is not really like that. It's not the evil in the book that bothered me. I know there is evil in this world, ever bit as evil as Count Dracula, though perhaps in rather a different form. What bothered me more was the portrayal of the good, especially God. In the book Mina, a truly amazing and "good" woman, is bitten by Dracula, and then also forced to drink his blood. As a result, though completely innocent in her own actions, she is tainted, unholy, and beginning to become the thing she most detests -- a vampire. Because of this, she is apparently rejected by the "God" of the book, and is likely to end up damned to hell. I do not at all like the idea of a God who would reject a holy person (as the book portrayed her to be) because they were the victim of an evil creature. I think that is pretty much opposite of the Biblical God, for which I am eternally grateful. In the reality of the Biblical God, none of us are holy, and we all deserved to be damned for our own sins. I suppose in the book analogy you could say that all of us would choose to be vampires, and God would be truly just to damn all the murderous vampires. Yet, amazingly, God forgives us, rescues us, and shows us another way. Instead of judging us based on the wickedness of the being that takes our blood, He judges us based on the righteousness of the Being Who gave us His blood.
The other book I was working on this weekend was the "Mathematics" book of a previous post. It is really interesting reading through the brief survey of the history of math and philosophy that it gives. One thing that kind of struck me is how one generation can have ideas which in the next generation can be twisted, misinterpreted, or, alternately, followed to their logical conclusions, with the end result being the separation of math from a Biblical world view. Let me try to explain. I'll take Descartes as an example. Now, I don't actually know that much about him, so if what I say is completely wrong, I'm sorry, but I think the basic idea I'm trying to get across holds true with other people, even if it doesn't actually work with him, so bear with me.
Descartes, as most people know, was a philosopher and a mathematician, famous for the statement "I think, therefore I am" and for the Cartesian coordinate system named after him. He was also, at least nominally, a Christian. I, of course, don't know his heart, and its possible that he didn't know it either, as we know from Jeremiah that our hearts are terribly deceitful. At any rate, I think it is very likely that he thought he was writing and thinking and developing the theories and philosophies that he developed for the glory of God. He was probably attempting to help the cause of Christ. Yet, as a result of his work, the door was opened to throw the God of the Bible out of philosophy and mathematics. Descartes' thoughts were followed to their logical conclusion, and man happily declared himself autonomous.
What a tragedy. And from it I draw two applications for my own life. First, I want to always be careful to base what I believe on the Bible, the word of God, knowing that no matter how wise and intelligent I am (or think myself) my reasoning will always be flawed to some extent. Second, I want to be very careful to speak precisely and use words well. It is very easy to misunderstand or misinterpret people, which I have seen often in teaching. Somehow, the thoughts in my mind don't always make it to my student's minds intact. Some misunderstanding is unavoidable, but I want to do the best that I can so that poor language on my part will not contribute to the dishonor of God.
The other book I was working on this weekend was the "Mathematics" book of a previous post. It is really interesting reading through the brief survey of the history of math and philosophy that it gives. One thing that kind of struck me is how one generation can have ideas which in the next generation can be twisted, misinterpreted, or, alternately, followed to their logical conclusions, with the end result being the separation of math from a Biblical world view. Let me try to explain. I'll take Descartes as an example. Now, I don't actually know that much about him, so if what I say is completely wrong, I'm sorry, but I think the basic idea I'm trying to get across holds true with other people, even if it doesn't actually work with him, so bear with me.
Descartes, as most people know, was a philosopher and a mathematician, famous for the statement "I think, therefore I am" and for the Cartesian coordinate system named after him. He was also, at least nominally, a Christian. I, of course, don't know his heart, and its possible that he didn't know it either, as we know from Jeremiah that our hearts are terribly deceitful. At any rate, I think it is very likely that he thought he was writing and thinking and developing the theories and philosophies that he developed for the glory of God. He was probably attempting to help the cause of Christ. Yet, as a result of his work, the door was opened to throw the God of the Bible out of philosophy and mathematics. Descartes' thoughts were followed to their logical conclusion, and man happily declared himself autonomous.
What a tragedy. And from it I draw two applications for my own life. First, I want to always be careful to base what I believe on the Bible, the word of God, knowing that no matter how wise and intelligent I am (or think myself) my reasoning will always be flawed to some extent. Second, I want to be very careful to speak precisely and use words well. It is very easy to misunderstand or misinterpret people, which I have seen often in teaching. Somehow, the thoughts in my mind don't always make it to my student's minds intact. Some misunderstanding is unavoidable, but I want to do the best that I can so that poor language on my part will not contribute to the dishonor of God.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Newton quotes
I've been reading the book Mathematics: Is God Silent by James Nickel lately, and he had a couple great quotes from Newton, so I thought I'd share those.
" The Supreme God is a Being eternal, infinite, absolutely perfect; but a being, however perfect, without dominion, cannot be said to be Lord God... And from his true dominion it follows that the true God is a living, intelligent, and powerful Being; and, from his other perfections, that he is supreme, or most perfect. He is eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, his duration reaches from eternity to eternity; his presence from infinity to infinity; he governs all things, and knows all things that are or can be doe.... We know him only by his most wise and excellent contrivances of things, and final causes; we admire him for his perfections; but we reverence and adore him on account of his dominion: for we adore him as his servants; and a god without dominion, providence, and final causes, is nothing else but Fate and Nature.... And thus much concerning God; to discourse of whom from the appearances of things does certainly belong to Natural Philosophy."
"...The main busisness of natural Philosophy is to argue from phaenomena without feigning Hypotheses, and to deduce Causes from Effects, till we come to the very first Cause, which certainly is not mechanical.... What is there in places almost empty of Matter, and whence is it that the Sun and Planets gravitate towards one another, without dense Matter between them? Whence is it that Nature doth nothing in vain; and whence arises all that Order and Beauty which we see in the World? To what end are the Comets, and whence is it that Planets move all one and the same way in Orbs concentrick, while Commets move all manner of ways in Orbs very excentrick; and what hinders the fix'd Stars from falling upon one another? How came the Bodies of Animals to be contrived with so much Art, and for what ends were their several Parts? Was the Eye contrived without Skill in Opticks, and the Ear without Knowledge of Sounds?.... And these things being rightly dispatch'd, does it not appear from Phaenomena that there is a Being incorporeal, living, intelligent, omnipresent, who in infinite Space, as it were in his Sensory, sees the things themselves intimately, and thoroughly perceives them, and comprehends them wholly by their immediate presence to himself... And though every true Step made in this Philosophy brings us not immediately to the Knowledge of the first Cause, yet it brings us nearer to it, and on that account is to be highly valued."
...and that's why we study science.
" The Supreme God is a Being eternal, infinite, absolutely perfect; but a being, however perfect, without dominion, cannot be said to be Lord God... And from his true dominion it follows that the true God is a living, intelligent, and powerful Being; and, from his other perfections, that he is supreme, or most perfect. He is eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, his duration reaches from eternity to eternity; his presence from infinity to infinity; he governs all things, and knows all things that are or can be doe.... We know him only by his most wise and excellent contrivances of things, and final causes; we admire him for his perfections; but we reverence and adore him on account of his dominion: for we adore him as his servants; and a god without dominion, providence, and final causes, is nothing else but Fate and Nature.... And thus much concerning God; to discourse of whom from the appearances of things does certainly belong to Natural Philosophy."
"...The main busisness of natural Philosophy is to argue from phaenomena without feigning Hypotheses, and to deduce Causes from Effects, till we come to the very first Cause, which certainly is not mechanical.... What is there in places almost empty of Matter, and whence is it that the Sun and Planets gravitate towards one another, without dense Matter between them? Whence is it that Nature doth nothing in vain; and whence arises all that Order and Beauty which we see in the World? To what end are the Comets, and whence is it that Planets move all one and the same way in Orbs concentrick, while Commets move all manner of ways in Orbs very excentrick; and what hinders the fix'd Stars from falling upon one another? How came the Bodies of Animals to be contrived with so much Art, and for what ends were their several Parts? Was the Eye contrived without Skill in Opticks, and the Ear without Knowledge of Sounds?.... And these things being rightly dispatch'd, does it not appear from Phaenomena that there is a Being incorporeal, living, intelligent, omnipresent, who in infinite Space, as it were in his Sensory, sees the things themselves intimately, and thoroughly perceives them, and comprehends them wholly by their immediate presence to himself... And though every true Step made in this Philosophy brings us not immediately to the Knowledge of the first Cause, yet it brings us nearer to it, and on that account is to be highly valued."
...and that's why we study science.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Back home!
I went to Kalispell this weekend. My old roommate was getting married, and I got to be in the wedding. It was a fun time. A little crazy, but probably more relaxed than a lot of weddings. I haven't seen the bride (Celena) much since she moved, so it was fun to hang out with her a little again. The families seemed to get along well, and the bride was amazingly relaxed. 
That's the bride and me. :)
At the beginning of the ceremony the pastor asked every one there (attendants and audience) if they would seek to encourage the bride and groom to uphold the vows they were about to make, to push them to love each other and to love God more. I really appreciated him pointing that out. In Christian marriages, the Christians who witness the marriage should be willing to get involved in the lives of the couple (or stay involved) in encourage them in their marriage. As Christians in general we should be more willing to be open and vulnerable with each other and confront sin when it rears its ugly head. I think the church would be much purer if we did. At any rate, I want to take seriously the responsibility to encourage Matt and Celena. They are moving quite a distance away, so it will be work, but I do want to do the work to keep in touch and encourage and exhort them when I can. I just need ideas as to how best to do that, and then I need to make the time to do it! May the Lord bless their marriage as they strive to fulfill their vows, as they grow closer together, as they grow closer to Christ.
That's the bride and me. :)
At the beginning of the ceremony the pastor asked every one there (attendants and audience) if they would seek to encourage the bride and groom to uphold the vows they were about to make, to push them to love each other and to love God more. I really appreciated him pointing that out. In Christian marriages, the Christians who witness the marriage should be willing to get involved in the lives of the couple (or stay involved) in encourage them in their marriage. As Christians in general we should be more willing to be open and vulnerable with each other and confront sin when it rears its ugly head. I think the church would be much purer if we did. At any rate, I want to take seriously the responsibility to encourage Matt and Celena. They are moving quite a distance away, so it will be work, but I do want to do the work to keep in touch and encourage and exhort them when I can. I just need ideas as to how best to do that, and then I need to make the time to do it! May the Lord bless their marriage as they strive to fulfill their vows, as they grow closer together, as they grow closer to Christ.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
New Song
This is a song we sang in church this last Sunday. I don't think I'd seen it before, but it was sung to the same tune as "The water's wide" so it was easy to pick up, and I really liked it. I don't think we sang all of the verses, but I'll include them anyway.
The Lord is King
by Josiah Conder
The Lord is King
by Josiah Conder
The Lord is King! lift up thy voice,
O earth; and all ye heav’ns, rejoice!
From world to world the joy shall ring,
“The Lord omnipotent is King.”
The Lord is King! who then shall dare
Resist His will, distrust His care,
Or murmur at His wise decrees,
Or doubt His royal promises?
The Lord is King! Child of the dust,
The Judge of all the earth is just;
Holy and true are all His ways;
Let every creature speak His praise.
O when His wisdom can mistake,
His might decay, His love forsake,
Then may His children cease to sing,
“The Lord omnipotent is King!”
Alike pervaded by His eye,
All parts of His dominion lie;
This world of ours, and worlds unseen,
And thin the boundary between.
He reigns! ye saints, exalt your strains;
Your God is King, your Father reigns;
And He is at the Father’s side,
The Man of love, the Crucified.
Come, make your wants, your burdens known;
He will present them at the throne;
And angel bands are waiting there
His messages of love to bear.
One Lord, one empire, all secures;
He reigns, and life and death are yours:
Through earth and Heav’n shall ring,
“The Lord omnipotent is King!”
Mike Huckabee Ad:
This does not necessarily reflect my political views, but it is rather amusing. :)
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