Share Button

Cold Now, but a Heat Wave is Coming

January 23, 2014 | Category: Current Issues

While America endures a terrible cold spell, Australia is experiencing drought and record heat. Neither situation proves or disproves anything about climate change. The universal climate system is a very complicated thing. Some climate scientists say climate change is not so much “global warming” as “global weirding.” That’s kind of what the world is experiencing.

This year, 2014–despite our current cold spell–will probably be another very hot one. It’s an El Nino year, which comes around every four years, and that always brings extra heat. Four of the six hottest years on record (since 1880) were all El Nino years–2010, 1998, 2002, 2006. So we have that to look forward to this summer.

The earth is definitely warming, and doing so very rapidly, as opposed to naturally-occurring increases which occur over a period of hundreds of years. The ten warmest years on record (since 1880) have all occurred since 1998.

  1. 2010
  2. 2005
  3. 1998
  4. 2003
  5. 2002
  6. 2006
  7. 2009
  8. 2007
  9. 2004
  10. 2012
Share Button
Comments Off on Cold Now, but a Heat Wave is Coming

Don’t Tell Me What’s NOT Right

January 20, 2014 | Category: This or That

This morning I came across an article titled, “Five Ways to Teach Your Children to Hate the Ministry.”

This is a very popular article format–putting something in a negative, as a way to explain what SHOULD happen. But I’ve come to dislike it. It’s gimmicky, cliche, uncreative. And it comes from a negative mindset. We shouldn’t look at ourselves from a negative viewpoint, always pointing what Christians do wrong.

  • “Ten Ways to Kill Your Youth Group.”
  • “How to Turn Off Unbelievers.”
  • “Five Behaviors That Will Destroy Your Church.”
  • “Seven Principles of Highly Ineffective Pastors.”

When I come across this type of article, I pass. There may be great content, but I’m not interested in reading yet another article about what we Christians do wrong. The media is filled with so much negative stuff. We don’t need to add to it, especially when talking about our life-giving faith. Let’s try to start from a positive.

Share Button
Comments Off on Don’t Tell Me What’s NOT Right

History of the Bell

January 15, 2014 | Category: General silliness

Taco Bell was started in 1946 by a former Marine named Glen Bell. His first location was called Bell’s Drive-In, and it sold hot dogs.

About six years later he began experimenting with tacos, and eventually opened three stands he called Taco Tias. He rebranded it as “Taco Bell” in 1962. By 1967, there were 100 Taco Bells.

The question is: why do I care? I never eat there.

Share Button
Comments Off on History of the Bell

A Wasted Afternoon in a Snowdrift

January 7, 2014 | Category: It's My Life

Made a quick trip to Times Corners this afternoon, a couple miles from my home. Roads are very slick. Coming back on Covington, I knew the uphill grade at the Hadley intersection could be very slick and you don’t want to come to a complete stop. But a car ahead of me was spinning tires, and I had to stop…and couldn’t get going again. I slipped into the snowbank, with no chance of extracting myself. Wheels spinning on ice.

I helped the other vehicle get unstuck, then some guys came to help me…but MY DOOR WAS LOCKED. Autolock kicked on? I sure don’t remember hitting the lock. No way to get in.

I had to leave my Dodge Dakota running on the side of the road, with cars creeping and slip-sliding past. A guy took me home (about a mile), and I called Pam, who had the only other key. She left work (clear on the other side of town), picked me up, and we drove to my pickup, which had now been idling for nearly an hour.

The road was a sheet of ice. In face, a police car was spinning its wheels and had to give up trying to get thru the intersection and just turn around. I expected other cars to have slipped into my stationery truck, but none had, fortunately. Amazing.

As I approached my truck, a guy in an SUV behind it said, “Steve, you need me to pull you out?” It was my neighbor. He attached a strap and pulled me out fairly easily.

Not a fun afternoon, but everything worked out.

While waiting for Pam at home, I had a nice prayer time. I asked God to somehow protect my truck, and to provide a way for me to get my truck out of the drift. Check, and check. When I saw my neighbor there, it was like God saying, “How’s this for an answer?” God is good.

Share Button
Comments Off on A Wasted Afternoon in a Snowdrift

Five Movies Worth Seeing

January 3, 2014 | Category: Movies

We watched five movies in theaters over the holidays. All good ones. Finished with “47 Ronin”  (it was the weakest of the five, yet still enjoyable). Here’s the full list, in the order we saw them.

  1. Thor: the Dark World. The second Thor movie (or third, if you count the Avengers movie). Marvel is doing a very good job with their superhero franchises–except for the Hulk movies.
  2. Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The second of four movies (derived from a book trilogy).
  3. Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. The second of three movies (derived from a single book). Added a number of things not in the book (“The Hobbit”), but I’m not a purist. They were good additions. They got pretty much to the end of “The Hobbit.” Not a whole lot left for the third movie.
  4. Saving Mr. Banks. An original screenplay, based on a true story–about the woman who created the Mary Poppins character, and Walt Disney’s efforts to get her approval for the movie. She was a VERY difficult person. Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks were superb as the main characters. Great acting all around.
  5. 47 Ronin. A Keanu Reeves movie, based on a Japanese legend. “Ronin” are masterless Samaria. It’s a love story and an action movie.
Share Button
Comments Off on Five Movies Worth Seeing

A Hefty Planet

January 3, 2014 | Category: This or That

Analyzing data from GPS satellites, scientists say the Earth may be heavier than previously thought. Which raises several questions for me:

  • You mean, somebody actually weighed the earth? How accurate can that be?
  • Does the Earth need to go on a diet? How heavy is too heavy? Would Jupiter be considered obese?
  • In light of the Earth’s additional weight, is there anything about my everyday life that I should change? Like pouring extra soda onto the ground?
Share Button
Comments Off on A Hefty Planet

My Alma Mater Makes ESPN’s Top Plays of 2013

January 3, 2014 | Category: Sports

ESPN’s SportsCenter compiled its Top Ten Plays of 2013. Huntington University, my alma mater, made the list. Ranking #6 was Shane Merryman’s three-quarter-court buzzer beater against Marian College on November 27.

Share Button
Comments Off on My Alma Mater Makes ESPN’s Top Plays of 2013

The Cross in the Netherworld

January 3, 2014 | Category: Religion in General

the_devil_vs_jesus_by_zuesarts-d51gutx

I recently read, “The Day I Was Crucified,” by Gene Edwards. Frankly, it’s not a very good book. BUT, early on, Edwards raised an idea I’d never thought of.

Did Christ’s death atone not only for the sins of mankind, but for sins in the supernatural realm? Like, with Lucifer and other angels who rebelled against God? I doubt you can build a biblical case for it, or against it. It’s just an interesting concept. The total context for Christ’s death went way beyond Planet Earth, but we don’t normally think of it that way.

Is a blood sacrifice necessary for forgiveness of sins committed by Satan and his minions? I’m not aware of any counterpart to bulls, sheep, and goats in the supernatural realm. Can they sacrifice a unicorn?

As with mankind, this would be a continuing offer of reconciliation, rather than a one-time deal. Can a fallen angel “accept Christ as Savior”? Do fallen angels come to God seeking reconciliation? Or are they condemned forever for their rebellion, with no possibility of redemption?

Like I said, I’d never thought of anything like this. Just something to muse idly upon and go, “Hmmmmm.”

Share Button
Comments Off on The Cross in the Netherworld

Terrorists in a Haystack

January 3, 2014 | Category: Current Issues

I’ve ranted before about how we’ve gone overboard with hyper-security, one prime example being the TSA. An excellent article on  Cracked.com talks about this.

Referring to the TSA’s tactics at airports, “The very few terrorists that exist are like needles in a haystack. But the TSA’s approach is to check every single piece of hay, in case it might actually be a needle.” Well said.

Share Button
Comments Off on Terrorists in a Haystack

Be Careful Who You Aim At

December 30, 2013 | Category: TV

In 1997, I believe it was (maybe 2001), my denomination passed a resolution to boycott Disney, because Disney was extending benefits to gay partners. The boycott was quickly forgotten, but it has never been rescinded. So technically, we’re still boycotting Disney…which half-owns A&E, which airs Duck Dynasty. Which means, I guess, that we should be boycotting Duck Dynasty. I’m so confused.

Share Button
Comments Off on Be Careful Who You Aim At
Page 28 of 213...10202627282930405060...

Receive Posts by Email

If you subscribe to my Feedburner feed, you'll automatically receive new posts by email. Very convenient.

Categories

Facebook

Monthly Archives