I was feeling a little restless today, so I decided to go chop down a tree. The idea had been brewing for some time. On our property, near the back end, there is a tree (one of many) that needs removing from our yard. Some well meaning person who lived here before us planted some trees, or allowed them to start growing. Regardless of intention, these trees have not been well maintained. They are half-dead, ugly, writhing things, and they needed to be removed. Now I love nature, and I have basked in the majesty that is a mighty sequoia, or Douglas fir. All the more reason, then, to rid my yard of a scraggly mess. I decided a while ago that it needed demolishing, and so when I was at Crappy Tire yesterday, I bought an axe with the hope to use it soon.
Have you ever noticed that a distance measured up and down seems deceptively shorter than it truly is? Specifically a felled tree is REALLY long. The sheer size and weight of this one surprised me a little as I guided it to the ground (which was not helped by the stupid vine growing all over the place on my street, which had hooked the tree to the fence I share with my neighbour. (If the vine had got its way, where would be a nice chuck of fence missing between our house and his!)
On a related note, there is very little that is more satisfying than chopping down a tree. It might be the adrenalin (epinephrine) rush, or it might be the boy in me that likes destroying things, or it might be the man in me that likes conquering nature. Who knows, but it feels pretty good!
4/27/2008
3/29/2008
Literature
I have always considered myself to be a fairly well read individual, but I came across this list of the best 100 novels put out by Random House. Boy was I wrong! According to the panel of experts, I've only read 9 of the best 100 novels. 9%! That's terrible! My only consolation is that I have read 14 of the best novels as selected by "the readers". Oh, and those same 14 books stand up for Radcliffe's rival list.
My goal is to get past the 20% mark by the end of the summer, we'll see how doable that is, considering that I have two and a half M.Ed. courses to try and finish during the same time span.
As well, I'm trying to listen to M.Div. lectures from various seminaries. I've finished 14 courses so far from Covenant Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary in St. Louis. That's equivalent to a year and a half of full time studies (which I've completed in 18 months, of course without the assignments and exams, and therefore much easier!) They offer 20 courses for free, which you can download in .mp3 format. Gordon Conwell and Reformed Theological Seminaries also offer such courses. (GCTS courses you must stream online, but you can take 10 exams and receive a certificate of Lay Studies. RTS is available from iTunesU with TONS of content.)
Isn't learning fun? Now if only I could convince all of my students to be as passionate (or ludicrously insane) about their studies!
My goal is to get past the 20% mark by the end of the summer, we'll see how doable that is, considering that I have two and a half M.Ed. courses to try and finish during the same time span.
As well, I'm trying to listen to M.Div. lectures from various seminaries. I've finished 14 courses so far from Covenant Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary in St. Louis. That's equivalent to a year and a half of full time studies (which I've completed in 18 months, of course without the assignments and exams, and therefore much easier!) They offer 20 courses for free, which you can download in .mp3 format. Gordon Conwell and Reformed Theological Seminaries also offer such courses. (GCTS courses you must stream online, but you can take 10 exams and receive a certificate of Lay Studies. RTS is available from iTunesU with TONS of content.)
Isn't learning fun? Now if only I could convince all of my students to be as passionate (or ludicrously insane) about their studies!
3/22/2008
"Worship Wars"
I couldn't pass up the chance to comment on this article posted on CBC.ca earlier this week about "Worship Wars" in churches. Having now attended church (of the evangelical protestant variety) for over 25 years, I can say that I've been around a few controversies in the churches that I have attended. I will agree with this statement from the article: arguments over music and other styles of worship are often hotly (and very selfishly) contested.
A little history: Much of the problems with worship comes from a split in churches over what constitutes "acceptable" worship to God. This is actually a crucial point for Christians, as there are examples in the history of Israel recorded in the Old Testament of the bible where people (Nadab & Abihu, Uzzah) are struck dead for worshiping God incorrectly.
There are two competing principals which Christians tend to adhere to: the normative and regulative principles of worship. The normative principle essentially says that if God doesn't prohibit a form of worship in the bible, and it benefits the people and unity of the church, then that form of worship is acceptable in church. Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican/Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, some Baptist, Pentacostal/Charismatic churches tend to hold this position, meaning that they incorporate all sorts of drama, music, etc. into their worship services with no problem. Reformed, Presbyterian, and some Baptist congregations follow the more strict regulative principle which states that the basic elements of a worship service have to be instituted by God, as seen in the bible (specifically the New Testament).
Both beliefs can be taken to extremes, where in some cases a person walking in the door of a church following the normative principle would wonder if it believed in God at all, and in others, the regulative principle cuts out all songs, singing, instruments and leaves one wondering "how do I express my love for God, if I have no way to respond to this worship service?"
The point of a worship service should be to hold up how great and worthy God is, and allow us humans to respond to that greatness. It may inspire awe, love, thankfulness, respect, repentance, even fear. Then we must respond with our hearts and minds, voices and bodies.
A little history: Much of the problems with worship comes from a split in churches over what constitutes "acceptable" worship to God. This is actually a crucial point for Christians, as there are examples in the history of Israel recorded in the Old Testament of the bible where people (Nadab & Abihu, Uzzah) are struck dead for worshiping God incorrectly.
There are two competing principals which Christians tend to adhere to: the normative and regulative principles of worship. The normative principle essentially says that if God doesn't prohibit a form of worship in the bible, and it benefits the people and unity of the church, then that form of worship is acceptable in church. Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican/Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, some Baptist, Pentacostal/Charismatic churches tend to hold this position, meaning that they incorporate all sorts of drama, music, etc. into their worship services with no problem. Reformed, Presbyterian, and some Baptist congregations follow the more strict regulative principle which states that the basic elements of a worship service have to be instituted by God, as seen in the bible (specifically the New Testament).
Both beliefs can be taken to extremes, where in some cases a person walking in the door of a church following the normative principle would wonder if it believed in God at all, and in others, the regulative principle cuts out all songs, singing, instruments and leaves one wondering "how do I express my love for God, if I have no way to respond to this worship service?"
The point of a worship service should be to hold up how great and worthy God is, and allow us humans to respond to that greatness. It may inspire awe, love, thankfulness, respect, repentance, even fear. Then we must respond with our hearts and minds, voices and bodies.
3/09/2008
Exercise
There's nothing like a good challenge... I've taken on a bet with a couple of good friends who are all the same weight. Lose the most weight by Mother's Day - you know, The Biggest Loser kind of stuff. I was in the lead a few weeks ago, but I haven't worked out since -- unless you count an hour and a half of pushing cars and shoveling snow as exercise.
On another note, I've spent so much time setting up my course blog and website for school, that I haven't had a chance to post here. Life is busy sometimes.
On another note, I've spent so much time setting up my course blog and website for school, that I haven't had a chance to post here. Life is busy sometimes.
8/24/2007
Bible on iPod
Browsing around the blog at BibleGateway, I came across this website offering the Bible on iPod for free. It's only the New Testament, but it is in ESV, which has become my favourite version to read for it's poetic style while maintaining good scholarship and translation accuracy. I haven't fully tested it yet, but take a look for yourself. They've successfully tested functionality on the Nano, Video and Mini. Version 1.3 is supposedly coming out soon to include Psalms and Proverbs.
8/23/2007
Blueberry Pancakes
Here's my first story. The topic of the challenge was "confused". Hopefully that's been captured a little in this short story.
The challenge specifies 150-750 words, and I think mine comes in just over 350, so somewhere in the middle.
The challenge specifies 150-750 words, and I think mine comes in just over 350, so somewhere in the middle.
8/22/2007
Story
I posted my first story on faithwriters.com for their weekly challenge. This week's challenge was on 'confusion'. I'll post the story on the companion site soon.
8/21/2007
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a tricky thing. The more you need it, the more you want it, but the less you want to give it.
Being a victim can bring power if the one who hurt you has a conscience. That's one reason why many people allow themselves to be victimized. They take the moral high ground over their tormentor. If he ever reflects properly on his actions, he will be guilt stricken, and a the victim will hold power over his self esteem. (Not to mention the attention and vindication we receive as victims!)
But power is not all that is involved when we are hurt. If power is what drives us as victims, then we are no better then our aggressors. What we really need is peace. Forgiveness brings peace because it equals out the power. The person with the moral power elects to relinquish that power and restore the balance in the relationship. It removes the anger of the victim, the guilt of the aggressor, the separation between two people. Forgiveness restores the relationship, and reconciles two people. But it requires the victim to lay down what little power they feel they have over the person who hurt them. No wonder we don't want to give it even when it is the things that will heal us the most. No wonder we want it so bad when we have hurt others.
I am convinced that forgiveness is only possible through Jesus Christ. There are two reasons. First is that I don't think that any human is fully capable of giving up our power voluntarily. We will always hurt people, and we will never fully heal over our wounds. At this rate we will always be worse off over time in our relationships with people. The second reason is that every time we offend somebody we also offend God, and we rarely say 'sorry' to him and seek his forgiveness. Jesus provided forgiveness to us through his death and resurrection. He removed God's anger, paid for our deficit, wiped the slate clean, restored our relationship. He condescended to forgive us. Now we should forgive others likewise, even if it is a tricky thing to do.
Being a victim can bring power if the one who hurt you has a conscience. That's one reason why many people allow themselves to be victimized. They take the moral high ground over their tormentor. If he ever reflects properly on his actions, he will be guilt stricken, and a the victim will hold power over his self esteem. (Not to mention the attention and vindication we receive as victims!)
But power is not all that is involved when we are hurt. If power is what drives us as victims, then we are no better then our aggressors. What we really need is peace. Forgiveness brings peace because it equals out the power. The person with the moral power elects to relinquish that power and restore the balance in the relationship. It removes the anger of the victim, the guilt of the aggressor, the separation between two people. Forgiveness restores the relationship, and reconciles two people. But it requires the victim to lay down what little power they feel they have over the person who hurt them. No wonder we don't want to give it even when it is the things that will heal us the most. No wonder we want it so bad when we have hurt others.
I am convinced that forgiveness is only possible through Jesus Christ. There are two reasons. First is that I don't think that any human is fully capable of giving up our power voluntarily. We will always hurt people, and we will never fully heal over our wounds. At this rate we will always be worse off over time in our relationships with people. The second reason is that every time we offend somebody we also offend God, and we rarely say 'sorry' to him and seek his forgiveness. Jesus provided forgiveness to us through his death and resurrection. He removed God's anger, paid for our deficit, wiped the slate clean, restored our relationship. He condescended to forgive us. Now we should forgive others likewise, even if it is a tricky thing to do.
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