:: M squared T ::

:: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 ::

Yesterday Was Nuts

It all started off when one of our retired teachers called: her husband had changed something on their computer that meant she couldn't check her e-mail. So over 2 1/2 hours of phone calls, we finally decided that they were going to have to reinstall the mail reader program. Of course, they couldn't be online and on the phone at the same time. This, of course, complicated everything because we would have to hang up and wait for them to log on and test the new changes, fail and get back to me.

That was round 1.

Round 2 began when I called my grandpa, who has been asking me for weeks to work on his computer. He got slammed by several e-mail virii and at the same time got hit with what now appears to be a hardware failure (drive controller). But I didn't know about the second problem when I started. I told him that I had to do laundry last night no matter what - I was out of clothes. So my roommate and I went over to do laundry and fix grandpa's computer.

Sort of. First mistake was overloading the washer. It walked across the room. He was displeased. Second mistake was trying to install WinXP on his computer; his CD-ROM drive and his Hard Drive weren't communicating properly and I ended up with a non-working computer.

But then we had washed three loads and dried one and it was almost 11:00 PM. So I took my roommate home (who didn't want to finish the laundry project), and I went to look for a laundromat.

Begin round 3.

The lady at the laundromat whined at me for coming in so late. I said that I had to dry these, not wash them. I said I'd be done before she had to leave. She meant to leave early, even though the place was supposed to be open longer than that. So she spent the next 20 minutes whining at me. She tried to bum cab fare off of me and I told her I'd take her home. I did and got back after midnight.

I was so jittery, I don't know when I got to sleep. I rolled into work late today, and I'm kinda out of step with the day's work.

Some days are just like that, I guess.


:: Matt 11/30/2004 10:37:00 AM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Advent Reflection

Alan Creech linked this today - thought it was good:

We light a candle today, a small dim light against a world that often seems forbidding and dark. But we light it because we are a people of hope, a people whose faith is marked by an expectation that we should always be ready for the coming of the Master. The joy and anticipation of this season is captured beautifully in the antiphons of hope from the monastic liturgies:

See! The ruler of the earth shall come, the Lord who will take from us the heavy burden of our exile
The Lord will come soon, will not delay.
The Lord will make the darkest places bright.

We must capture that urgency today in the small flame of our candle. We light the candle because we know that the coming of Christ is tied to our building of the kingdom. Lighting the flame, feeding the hungry, comforting the sick, reconciling the divided, praying for the repentant, greeting the lonely and forgotten – doing all these works hastens His coming.

:: Matt 11/28/2004 11:45:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Defining "Geek"

This is worth reading.

A sample...

Intermediate Geek

• Enjoy telling people about how you searched the Web for 3 hours last night to find the best deal on kangaroo burgers
• Have friends who constantly ask you questions relating to anything electronic and believe whatever answers you give them
• Have written your own computer programs
• Write some of your correspondence in Notepad or VI
• Know how to code HTML in a text editor
• Never turn off your computer

Found while channel surfing... more on that later.

:: Matt 11/28/2004 09:48:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Whew...

I got that off my chest (see below), and now I'm all smiles!

It's a good day, it really is! In fact, I'm going outside for awhile...


:: Matt 11/28/2004 04:14:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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I HATE RealNetworks!

RealNetworks, I hate you! Let me count the ways:

1. You made me enter everything short of my mother's maiden name to be able to use your product. Your privacy policy said you won't distrubute it. Riiight. If you didn't use it, why do you collect it?

2. Even though you SUCK, you're the industry standard for streaming audio.

3. You put all sorts of crap in the Windows Registry that I have to go in and clean out by hand.

4. You piggyback other programs with the realplayer that I don't want, didn't ask for and will delete promptly.

5. I had to check four boxes to keep from getting your STUPID advertizing.

6. And then you have stupid ads in the realplayer itself. I DONT WANT THEM!

7. You automatically update yourself to new versions that require more entries of personally identifiable information without asking.

RealNetworks, kindly get a life!


:: Matt 11/28/2004 04:05:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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(Church) New Year's Eve

Tonight is the last night in the church year; tomorrow begins Advent.

Advent is a reflective, penitential season, but it is different in tone from Lent: our reflection is to bring us into a heightened awareness of our surroundings. We are preparing for the return of Christ.

Are we ready? Do we want God's rule to come and set right all injustice? Are we ready to greet and celebrate his arrival, or do we wish he just wouldn't bother?


:: Matt 11/27/2004 10:44:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Spam Blogs

Has anyone else noticed the increasing number of spam blogs out there - especially on blogspot?

I'm not talking about "comment spam" although I'm starting to see that more and more (damn them spammers!), I'm talking about whole blogs which are nothing but spam.

I just wish these folks would use their God-given ingenuity, creativity and engineering sense to better ends.


:: Matt 11/27/2004 01:43:00 AM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I just watched "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" with Jim Carrey, Kirsten Dunst, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood and Mark Ruffalo.

This is a movie that really keeps you thinking. There's so much in it about relationships: why we end up hating the people we initially liked/loved/enjoyed. It reminds brooding types (like myself, at times) to remember the good times so as not to become jaded about the bad.

I recommend this movie highly - one that will speak to everyone, because we've all had relationships that are beautiful and then start to hurt.


:: Matt 11/27/2004 12:09:00 AM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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More Template Changes

I just changed my comments over to blogger so that I can get the e-mail about them when they come.

Enjoy!


:: Matt 11/26/2004 01:21:00 AM :: permalink :: comments (3) ::
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Cluetrain on Community

One definition of community is a group of people who care about each other more than they have to.

Hmmm...


:: Matt 11/25/2004 07:53:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Self-Definition

He tells us to take note, so I have:

You will never know who you are if all you talk about is what you aren't. Church planters take note. Musicians and artists take note. Community development workers take note. Christ-follower... TAKE NOTE!

Most of the time, the churches in our community define themselves by what they're not. And doing so seems to contribute to the constant sheep-shifting between congregations. Maybe if we defined ourselves positively this sheep-shifting could be limited.

Link via Jason Evans.


:: Matt 11/25/2004 07:24:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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The ClueTrain Manifesto

I avoided reading this book for a long time because it seemed so focused on business and marketing - two things I really can't bring myself to pay much attention to.

But I started in on it tonight: and I am having trouble putting it down.

As the authors say, it's probably the first book to be the sequel to a website.

The thing of it is, it makes my argument about why the church's got to change, get a new view on life, take a different approach.

So it's going on the "eccentricities" column to the left.


:: Matt 11/24/2004 09:58:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Tim LaHaye Declares Armageddon Against Tyndale

Ok, not really. But he's really honked off.

This may be old news to many of you, since it came out on Saturday last, but I couldn't read the full article until today: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/living/religion/10220385.htm

[Thanks to Rich Clark at http://www.deadyetliving.com/ for the link.]

I don't know what's making him more angry: the fact that Tyndale is offering a different perspective, or the fact that they're calling both book series "fictional."

LaHaye's Left Behind series either borders on heresy or dives headlong into it.

Heresy, you say?

Yes.

How?

Here's how: LaHaye's books are predicated on the notion that every promise made to Israel in the Old Testament must be fulfilled literally. Therefore, any promise regarding land, Jerusalem, Nations Streaming to Jerusalem, victory over enemies, the Temple, David's Kingly Line, etc. all have yet to be completely fulfilled. According to LaHaye (and his dispensationalist cohort), all these promises have to be fulfilled completly to the literal, physical descendents of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob, the Jews. Unless these promises are fulfilled, the end of the world cannot come. Now, why is that so important?

The church and the scriptures have long taught that Jesus Christ must return (in the same way that he left - See The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1) to complete his work of setting everything right that humanity has somehow messed up, destroyed, derailed or damaged. He will bring all creation back under the reign of God, and, in so doing, bring about the completion of what (St.) Paul calls "the new creation." This new creation was begun in Jesus Christ, and will be brought to fuflillment on the day he returns. At that time, what has been stated about Christ from the earliest days of the church will become literally clear: Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the promises of God. All the promises, prophecies and perspectives of God in scripture find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

It is at this point that LaHaye and the dispensationalist cohort break ranks with historical Christianity. If all the promises to Israel have to be fulfilled literally to Jews, then Jesus Christ is not the fulfillment of all the promises of God as the letters of (St.) Paul and the church throughout history have attested. Moreover, they believe that the only way anything is going to be "set right" is either (a) by the complete destruction of the current creation (the "it's all gonna burn" theory), or by (b) Jesus Christ literally coming back with an army and smacking people around or otherwise physically overwhelming everyone.

LaHaye et al. see the second coming as important for yet another reason: there's nothing good left here. It's our job to rescue everyone from this burning building and then run for cover before it really gets bad. God wants to get rid of this crappy creation of his and start over. This is the "turn or burn, flee or fry" mentality. And this is precisely the perspective of the New Testament Pharisees which Jesus challenged so often in the gospel accounts. There is a radical discontinuity between the old way of doing things and the new, divided by the actions and event of God's savior/deliverer/messiah coming to straighten things out.

Instead, Jesus and historical Christianity offer a different angle. In Jesus' scenario, the new creation enters and invades the old on the sly. Like a virus, it begins to infect the old and transform it into something different - yet with continuity to the old. Thus, we see a baby in a manger, a cross and a crown of thorns instead of a conquering warrior. The empty tomb, then, gives us a glimpse into what the new creation is like: continuous with the old, yet different. Jesus' body was still his body - it was not in the tomb and it even still bore the scars - yet, it was somehow different enough to be hard to recognize and, better yet, had the ability to pass through locked doors.

In Jesus' scenario, he must return to bring justice to those who are victims of injustice. He waits, showing forbearance and grace to the unjust, hoping they will cease their injustice and turn to him. But he will not wait forever. To do so would deny justice to their victims. He desires to redeem and transform his creation which he originally called "good." Were he to destroy the creation, he would deny the value of embodied existence - which at one point he found so important, so compelling that he became human himself to bring about our new creation.

This has become a much more long-winded explanation than I intended it to be. To explain it fully would take at least a book or two. But I hope that this explains why I'm so cranky when it comes to the Left Behind series. I welcome questions, discussion and critique.


:: Matt 11/24/2004 06:55:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Cheese Sauces and Microwaves Don't Get Along

While attempting to make myself a one-portion sized helping of Fettucine Alfredo, I decided to violate a rule I knew full well:

Never put a cheese sauce in a microwave.

Why is this?

For one, it is the violation of the 12th commandment: "Thou shalt not put cheese sauce in thy microwave."

Secondly, it burns the cheese sauce on one part while leaving the rest RAW.

Humph.



:: Matt 11/24/2004 06:49:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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I Almost Hate To Link This...

'cause I don't want them to get any more hits than absolutely necessary.

But it's really funny. I mean, funny and sad.

Nevertheless, now for your humor and entertainment, M Squared T now presents:

Jack Chick's "Angels" Tract

...about how rock music is of the Devil.

Link via http://www.liquidthinking.org/

Oh, yeah, and remember to rock on!


:: Matt 11/23/2004 10:51:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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This Is My Life

Check out this online Newsweek article:

Nov. 18 - Next week, millions of college students and young professionals will head home for the Thanksgiving holidays. We’ll sit with our families in warm, candle-lit dining rooms eating stuffed turkey, reminiscing over old photographs, preparing holiday shopping lists and … Please. Let’s be frank. We are going home to fix our parents' computers.

Link via Mike Bishop.


:: Matt 11/23/2004 10:39:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Modified Template

I've been fussing with formatting over the last couple of days and have made a few changes.

First, you'll notice that my recent posts are listed on the left below the "shortcuts" (yes, my shortcuts since I use this as my home page). They're listed by title.

Second, you'll notice a few changes to the links on the left column. Check them out!

Third, you probably won't notice that the permalinks are now more readable - having their own page and the name of the title of the article.

I suspect a complete overhaul and redesign are on their way. I don't know when they'll show up, however.


:: Matt 11/23/2004 04:45:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Work Irregularities

I'm wearing a suit to work today. This is highly unusual.

This school is very informal; the teachers wear jeans, and rarely (if ever) wear ties. The students, of course, wear whatever their chosen style or persona desires.

But I'm wearing a suit. I am out of place. It's funny to see people's reactions to this.

(I'm going to a wedding. Geez!)


:: Matt 11/23/2004 11:34:00 AM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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This is a Test


View into the Garden of the Gods

This is a picture I took last May in the Garden of the Gods in Shawnee Nat'l Forest. What do you think?


:: Matt 11/22/2004 10:12:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Reflection on Incarnation

Archbishop Rowan Williams reflects on Christ's coming to earth in his Christmas Message:

Human beings are wrapped up in themselves. Because of that great primitive betrayal that we call the Fall of humanity, we are all afraid of God and the world and our real selves in some degree. We can't cope with the light. As John's gospel says, those who don't want to respond to God fear and run away from the light. But God acts to heal us, to bring us out of our isolation - which is as bizarre and self-destructive as that young man beating his head against the wall. And he does this in a way that is just like the therapist in the video. He does what we do; he is born, he grows up, he lives for many years a life that is ordinary and prosaic like ours - he works, he eats, he sleeps. Here is ultimate love, complete holiness, made real in a back street in a small town. And when he begins to do new and shocking things, to proclaim the Kingdom, to heal, to forgive, to die and rise again - well, we shouldn't panic and run away because we have learned that we can trust him. We know he speaks our language, he has responded to our actions and our words, he has echoed to us what we are like.

Link Via Steve Via Father Jake


:: Matt 11/22/2004 01:20:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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This Is Weird

George W. Bush pulling a Secret Service agent through a bunch of Chilean guards on international television. http://www.dailyrecycler.com/blog/2004/11/taking-charge.html


:: Matt 11/21/2004 11:49:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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School Grousings

Working in an academic world of a local public high school, I often wonder if we really know what we are doing. Some days, in fact, it seems that we have created a monster: a creature made in the image of the ideals of an intellectual élite throughout the centuries - a creature that is, at best, a caricature of fully human life; at worst, well, something infernal.

I'm not sure how to express how I feel on this subject. A dervish of thoughts and ideas swirls around me and make little sense (as yet) in writing. Maybe there's more than one post here.


:: Matt 11/21/2004 11:21:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Jobs and Sermons

I'm trying to develop a few topics for sermons that I can start using during my "pastoral job search" process.

So I've come up with a few passages so far:

• Hebrews 12:1 - 2: the "cloud of witnesses" passage
• Matthew 4, 2nd half: the "repent for the kingdom is near" passage
• Any of the "take up your cross and follow" passages

Ideas?

:: Matt 11/19/2004 02:35:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Hokey Pokey = Hocus Pocus

I'm really in to history, so you'd think I'd have seen this one before:

The Hokey Pokey was originally a Puritan parody of the Catholic Mass. See http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/OLD-ENGLISH/2001-03/0985552472 for details.

Which brings me back to one I do remember: Hocus Pocus. Hocus Pocus is an imitation of unintelligible Mass-Latin for the phrase in communion where, after much hand-waving, the Priest elevates the bread and says, "Hoc est corpus meum." (This is my body.) It's easy to see how Hocest Corpus became Hocus Pocus.

Link via Steve.


:: Matt 11/18/2004 02:31:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Suicide Bombing = Human Sacrifice?

At least that's what this author says. I'm not sure I agree with him completely, but it is a very fascinating perspective - especially for the History Nut in me.

Link via Bene Diction.


:: Matt 11/18/2004 01:25:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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A Class Act Trying To Deal With Copyright Infringement

Gary Larson (The Far Side) doesn't want his cartoons illegally copied and distributed on the Internet. In fact, he's got lawyers tracking the 'net for his 'toons.

A web site I visited posted a copy of the note they received when they posted a "Far Side" panel. http://blog.revmike.us/archives/000646.html

Larson's request for sites to remove his material is very respectful; in the case I read, this engendered respect in return. The site removed the cartoon.

As someone for whom copyright law put food on the table for many years, I understand the frustration of artists, authors, musicians and scholars whose work is abused. Whether its name be plagiarism, bootlegging, misquoting or misinterpretation, inappropriate use of copyrighted materials does more than just take money away from the artist, producer, et al. The creator of the work often feels personally injured by inappropriate use. It's not about the money, at least for me. It's a matter of respect.


:: Matt 11/18/2004 11:45:00 AM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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A Newly-Discovered "Go(o)d Blog"

Check it out: http://odyssey.blogs.com/odyssey/

I like the "preaching naked" article a lot. :)

Thanks to Kevin (http://kevinrains.com/) for the link!


:: Matt 11/18/2004 10:30:00 AM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Funny Article About Windows XP

http://www.jsonline.com/lifestyle/advice/jan02/10333.asp


:: Matt 11/17/2004 10:29:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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So I went and got myself a massage...

Yesterday I got myself a massage. It was a good massage, about 15 minutes, and not badly priced at that.

Problem is, though, that today I'm totally stiff in my neck and shoulders. Like I can't turn my head.

What the heck?!?


:: Matt 11/17/2004 11:48:00 AM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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All-Campus Worship II

Dr. Wright's Talk from All-Campus Worship is now available in MP3 format at http://cfchome.org/mp3s/20041112.mp3

Thanks to our friends at CFC for putting it up!


:: Matt 11/16/2004 04:42:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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This is a HOAX

Someone sent me an IM today in the form of a chain letter saying that AOL was going to start charging inactive AIM users for AIM service.

It's a chain letter that's been circulating since 1998. See http://hoaxinfo.com/imcharges.htm


:: Matt 11/15/2004 01:28:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Despite popular opinions to the contrary, the Christian Church is still one of the most oppressed groups worldwide. This oppression takes different forms in different places, but the outcome is often the same: hazing, imprisonment, harrassment, even death.

Many governments around the world see Christians as a threat to their way of life. Most of the Christians involved are not missionaries, nor are many of them "Western." Most are local Christians living in their own culture. Nonetheless, these people are seen as a threat to power, a threat to socio-religio-political homogeneity, a threat to a chosen lifestyle.

Thus they are beaten, arrested, put on trial for trumped-up charges, exiled and killed.

Let us join together in prayer for the persecuted Church.

http://www.idop.org/




:: Matt 11/15/2004 12:03:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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All-Campus Worship

Dr. Christopher Wright (of John Stott Ministries) was the main speaker at All-Campus Worship this semester. His sermon was on "A Call to Radical Christian Distinctiveness."

Truth be told, I was a bit wary of what he might say to us. But my fears were quickly allayed when he began to speak first from Leviticus and then from Matthew 5:13, ff.: "you are the salt of the earth... you are the light of the world..."

Instead of doing what I see as more typical, that is, encouraging a Christian "goal-line stand," Dr. Wright said, "of course the world's going to be dark and rotten! That's its natural tendency. But it's not really the world's fault that it gets that way: any house will, during the course of the day, get dark. But that's not the house's fault. It's the job of the light to illumine it. Any piece of meat, left to itself outside in the sun, will go rotten. That's not the meat's fault. It's the job of the salt to preserve it."

Instead of belligerant conservative evangelicalism - "you've got to fight to keep this society from going down hill - call your senators," - Dr. Wright proposed that actually following Jesus would salt and light the world in a much more radical way.



:: Matt 11/15/2004 11:30:00 AM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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So What?

I have a blog. Duh. You're reading it.

I don't post all that often.

Well, now...

Basically there's four reasons for this:

1. I don't really have that much time to do it - blogging takes time. Some of these people must be on for hours and hours a day JUST BLOGGING. It's kinda screwed up, actually. I mean, get a life!
2. The stuff I think is good I want to protect (copyright, etc.). Blogging just doesn't seem to allow for that kind of protection. I want to get it "out there," but I don't want it being snagged by every unscrupulous freak out there.
3. When I post, I really have no clue how much it's being read: I don't have a hit counter or anysuch gadget. So it just goes out there. Just typing it is therapeutic, but, geez, I only need so much therapy.
4. After reading a lot of blogs out there, heck, after surfing the 'net almost every day since '94, I've discovered that there's a lot of real drivel out there. That which is not drivel is often a mass rally for something that is "preachin' to the choir." I don't want to add to the level of drivel in the world; I don't tend to post random personal stuff. Actually, when I want people to see stuff I usually e-mail them 'cause they get it faster and see it (rather than post it, which means only a few people will check it out, and at a much later date).

Ergo,

So what?

Maybe I'll start posting more - and it's gonna be random...

:: Matt 11/12/2004 03:10:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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Election's Over

At least it didn't take weeks to sort out this time.

I think that will help us move on.

In any case, the president's got a full plate.


:: Matt 11/03/2004 03:20:00 PM :: permalink :: comments (0) ::
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