"HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?" Francis Schaeffer

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Ingredients of a SPANGLISH SANDWHICH! (See Adam Sandler's movie)

Ingredients:
3-4 slices of bacon
2 slices of Monterey Jack cheese
2 slices of toasted rustic country loaf (pain de campagne)
preferred substitution used here: sourdough boule)
1 tbsp of mayo
4 tomato slices
2 leaves of butterhead lettuce (Boston lettuce variety works here)
1 teaspoon butter
1 egg

It certainly makes my mouth water to look at it.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Hate Christian Conservatives

“The great bogeyman of the academic Left is the Christian conservative movement. Yet an academic never has to go to church or send his children to church. The polar opposite of the evangelical mega-church in American society is the great leftist tent revival in academia, but to participate fully as citizens in this country, we have to attend that revival, and we have to send our children and grand-children there as well. Oh, and (when it comes to public universities) we spend our tax dollars to pay for it, regardless of the school our kids attend.”  http://phibetacons.nationalreview.com/ 

Monday, May 22, 2006

The REAL JESUS

But then Jesus turns to His own and says, "But who do you say that I am?" Though Jesus has been revealing Himself to His disciples through His words, His deeds, and His presence, He had never asked them this question until now. Yet Peter says, "I know. You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Promised One, the Consolation of Israel, the one whom God promised, the Prophet that Moses promised in Deuteronomy, the Suffering Servant promised in Isaiah's prophecy, the one who would come and save His people from their sins. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!"

Al Mohler

The comfort of heresy

Al Mohler on the attractiveness of heresy.

Why would persons prefer the false gospel to the true?
This is why: If the true storyline concerning Jesus Christ was that He was merely a mortal prophet who came to establish an earthly dynasty and to help us all celebrate the divine feminine and be a part of His circle of knowledge and enlightenment, then the fact is that we do not have to think about the fact that we are sinners. If that is what the life of Jesus is all about, then it is not about how we must be redeemed from our sin, but rather about how we can simply be enlightened and informed. The truth is, the human heart would much rather be told it is uninformed than that it is sinful.
If the truth about Jesus is that he was merely another human being, then God does not lay claim upon your life. He does not lay claim upon your marriage. He does not lay claim upon your sex life. If this is true, then God does not much care about any of that; he simply wants you to be informed. There is no "take up your cross and follow me." There is no discipleship. There is no dying to self and living to Christ. There is none of that, and there is no judgment. All of which sits well with the postmodern mind, for there are many people who think the best news they could hear is that they will never have to face judgment. As a matter of fact, the only way to understand the world around us is to acknowledge that the vast majority of our neighbors do not believe they will face judgment.
The reason false gospels are so attractive and so seductive is because it is convenient for us to be told that we are not the problem. We would much rather believe that the problem is a conspiracy--that humanity has been held in darkness because some have conspired to suppress the truth. “

The problem is:  we ARE the problem.

Friday, May 19, 2006

The Church's role

WHAT is the church to do?

“You see, sometimes the church does not remember this, but it is the church's responsibility to anathematize. That is something we don't talk about very much, but it is the church's responsibility clearly to declare as false anything which stands against the true gospel of Jesus Christ. We live in a harmonious age when everyone wants to nod at everything, smile appreciatively at everything, and not pass judgment on anything. In the midst of such an age, however, the church is called to say "no" and to identify the false as false. Otherwise we cannot truly honor the truth.”                           Al Mohler

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Human Cannoballs

Ooh, I’m “down” with this.  Wouldn’t want to do it but would love to see it.

DARPA is considering using launching devices to thrust personnel onto the roofs of buildingsCircuses have been amusing crowds by shooting performers out of cannons for a long time. Variations of this can also be found in launchers using elastic cords, trampoline mats and Aircraft seat ejection technology. The problem with these designs is the unpredictable projectile and the lack of control over the launching device. US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is considering this concept as a way to catapult police, fire and special force officers on top of buildings in a hurry. The device will consist of a ramp with side rails that will seat the person. A cylinder will shoot compressed air from under the seat propelling the seat to the end of the rail. The chair will come to a sudden halt, but the very brave person sitting in the chair will not. The expectation is that the person will fly over the edge of the roof and land safely on top of the building. The DARPA patent adds that a computer can automatically find the correct angle and the appropriate launch speed. It also claims that with this equipment, the total flight time to reach the top of 5-story building will be less than 2 seconds. For now, I'll stick to the stairs.http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2353

Monday, May 15, 2006

Not a great time to be a Russian

Not a great time to be Russian!   ( Found on Ace of Spaces)
– Tanker
“Sure, I know they are raking in the dough with oil over $70 a barrel. But I'm not switching passports anytime soon!
About 1% of the population is infected with HIV
Abortions exceed births
Shortest life expectancy in Europe and decreasing
Population decreasing by nearly 800,000 a year
Yikes, I think Putin is making Stalin look good!”

Perhaps being reared in a society where God is outlawed has its negative consequences.  jb

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Secularists shut you up

So, do you have more freedom of speech and thought at a Christian institution of higher learning or a secular institution of higher learning?

As my friend (and ADF colleague) Jordan Lorence often says, our secular universities are really the church schools of the left. To borrow his analogy, mission statements are the new Apostle's Creed, diversity training (and increasingly the courses themselves) functions much like Sunday School, and speech codes are the equivalent of anti-blasphemy laws. In general, an outspoken atheist at a conservative Christian college is far more likely to enjoy stimulating, civil debate than is an outspoken conservative Christian at one of our elite secular colleges.”  NationalReview - Phibetacons

Possibly you knew that.  jb

Saturday, May 13, 2006

The men and man to be

 

The picture's now 20 years old and the grandfather is deceased. It's special Posted by Picasa

Friday, May 12, 2006

Your Dad and you in the workplace

By Ellen WulfhorstFri May 12, 2:07 PM ET

Successes or failures of employees in the workplace can be traced to what kind of father they had, a psychologist argues in a new book.

In "The Father Factor," Stephan Poulter lists five styles of fathers -- super-achieving, time bomb, passive, absent and compassionate/mentor -- who have powerful influences on the careers of their sons and daughters.

Children of the "time-bomb" father, for example, who explodes in anger at his family, learn how to read people and their moods. Those intuitive abilities make them good at such jobs as personnel managers or negotiators, he writes.

But those same children may have trouble feeling safe and developing trust, said Poulter, a clinical psychologist who also works with adolescents in Los Angeles area schools.

"I've seen more people hit their heads on what they call a glass ceiling or a cement wall in their careers, and it's what I call the father factor," Poulter said in an interview. "What role did your father have in your life? It's this unknown variable which has this huge impact because we're all sons and daughters."

Styles of fathering can affect whether their children get along with others at work, have an entrepreneurial spirit, worry too much about their career, burn out or become the boss, Poulter writes.

Even absent fathers affect how their children work, he writes, by instilling feelings of rejection and abandonment.

Those children may be overachievers, becoming the person their father never was, or develop such anger toward supervisors or authority figures that they work best when they are self-employed, he writes.

"A lot of people say, 'I never knew my dad,"' he said. But, he added: "You knew the myth, you knew your mother's hatred, you knew your anger, you knew your dad was a loser. Trust me, you knew your dad.

"The father's influence in the workplace is really one of the best-kept secrets," he said. Poulter co-authored an earlier book on mothers and daughters called "Mending the Broken Bough." "The Father Factor" is set for release next month by Prometheus Books.

Looking at the influence of fathers fits with other recent research on workplace behavior, said William Pollack, a psychology professor and director of the Centers for Men and Young Men at McLean Hospital, part of Harvard Medical School.

"There's been a good deal of research to show not only that our family-life experience and our experience with our parents affects our personality, but it affects our corporate personality, both as leaders and followers," said Pollack, author of "Real Boys."

"There's also good research to show that for men and women, the way they identify with their father and their father's role may well affect how they interact as a manager or leader in the workplace."

Poulter, by the way, describes his own father as the absent type. After this book, he said, "my dad won't even talk to me."

Thursday, May 11, 2006

I drive a 17 year old Maxima

I drive a 17 year old Maxima.  I’ve owned it about 6 years and it had a grand total of 20,000 miles on it when I bought it from a lady in my church.  She was the original owner and simply never went anywhere.  I’ve put 100,000 miles on the car so for a modern car the mileage is still tolerable.  I’ve had repairs done but nothing humongously  expensive to this point.

3 days ago I put the drivers window down and it then refused to come up.  Now with most modern cars, windows that won’t roll up are quite common and often expensive to fix – somewhere in the $300 range for 1 window.  I can live with a window that is down (none of my other windows work anymore by the way) but not during the summer when it rains almost every day in Florida.  

I went by my mechanic’s house who’s handled our cars for about 20 years to find out that he had taken a bad fall while cutting a limb off a tree in his back yard.  He broke his femur, his back and had a bad break of his wrist.  He’s currently in a rehab facility.  He won’t be doing any mechanicing for awhile.  DANG

Somebody suggested I see if I can’t just pull the window up and prop it closed.  Well what the “hey.”  So today I managed to get the inside of the door removed but could not for the life of me budge the window though I didn’t see anything holding it in place.  With the interior door stuff removed but still plugged in I decided I’d try the power window device again.  VOILA, with a little tugging on my part it had enough power to raise the window.  At this point I unplugged the power system (so I won’t accidently forget and lower the window) and my car is once more good to go without being a) broken into or b) rained upon.    Mechanics R Us.  

Sunday, May 07, 2006

We held the memorial

We held the memorial service for my father last Friday, May 5th 2006.  He lived 83 years of life on this Earth and he has heard his final, earthly goodbyes.  My time, physical and emotional effort has been towards the moment of time in which my father’s life would be honored.  I haven’t had the energy or spirit to write in this past week.

I have been much relieved that his suffering is over, much relieved that the burden of his illness no longer rests upon worn-out family members.  My father died at home, we never hospitalized him and we were also able to avoid a nursing home too.  That he died at home was a great blessing.

I am exhausted.  I made 3 trips to Sacramento and back in the last 90 days.  I hate airplanes, airports, air attendants and airheads – you know who you are!
But I’m back home after a sleepless night on American Air.  They did their job but I can’t rest on planes and so I’m very weary.  (I think the “friendly skies” left town 10 to 20 years ago.)

I’m also weary as I consider my mother’s loss.  She and dad were best friends for 63 years; they had a remarkable marriage.  Sadly I’m not sure dad ever enjoyed fatherhood.  He was prone to an ongoing depressive state so he found his children and grandchildren a source of frustration and irritation more than of joy.  He was prone to get mad and yell at the “lot of us.”  His anger was intimidating and certainly acted as a barrier against much in the way of emotional intimacy.

My mother lives in a little apartment on the end of my eldest sister’s home.  My sister and her husband, Jerry, have been absolute troopers in the last  weeks particularly.  They’ve housed a succession of relatives, me included, without let-up for the last 8 weeks.  To say it has worn on their nerves would be to put it mildly.    Every week somebody(s) was driving up and somebody(s) else was driving off.  On top of that they were the primary care giver for my father.  And on top of that my sister had to continue her full time, important employment.

The MEMORIAL SERVICE was so special.  I had requested that the grandchildren, now mostly in their 20’s and 30’s, have an active role in the service.  Two older cousins of mine, Bob and John,  provided the prelude, postlude and hymn singing – John leading the music and Bob accompanying.

Michelle wrote and performed two songs for the Memorial and young Molly wrote and performed a song with my sister and her husband.  The songs choked me up; I had to wipe my eyes several times.  Eldest grandson Todd was the first to speak, then Seth and Caitlin spoke, Kirk spoke also.  In their own ways they were so eloquent as they paid tribute to dad.  We also had a brief “open mike” time where two of my sisters shared plus dad’s oldest living friend John who was able to drive up from L.A. and grace us with his presence.

Nephew Zack wrote a humorous yet moving tribute to my father.  He says he performed this fete at 3 a.m. the morning before.

The Memorial was held in a beautiful little chapel that is part of the facility of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church.  The weather was gorgeous, God’s handiwork was on display.  It could not have been nicer.

Then the reception followed where a 5 minute powerpoint presentation of my Dad’s life was displayed.  It was simply pictures in semi chronological order with a muted background hymn.  Powerpoint presentations can be truly powerful and moving as this one was.  Tributes go to my lovely wife who taught herself powerpoint in time to put it altogether.

ADRENALINE has carried us all the last two weeks, now we get to begin to experience loss and grief.  Hard days are ahead, especially for my precious little mother.

Healing to follow;  slowly.                      jb