:: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 ::

:: Dave King 20:18 :: (0) comments ::
...

How many software developers does it take to change a light bulb?
We have no idea, it's a hardware question.

That is so me. Software, yeah I get it. real world stuff, umm... So kudos to Mike for replacing his sink! Speaking of renovations, IdeaJoy now has relative font sizes. Jakob Neilson explains why relative font sizes are important in his article "Let Users Control Font Size". I've also installed some new links on the blog roll. Some of those were way overdue. Bonus points to anyone who can point out the two changes I've made but not mentioned!

-Peace

:: Dave King 23:56 :: (0) comments ::
...

Mike's Spot On The Wall

• Mike The Plumber:
  "If the women can't find you handsome, at least they can find you handy" or so Red Green would have us believe. But what do you do if you're neither?
  It's a very good thing I found a woman to whom it didn't matter. She loved me in spite of my glaring inadequacies. (she's a bit like Jesus that way) So it should come as no surprise that my bathroom sink has been dripping constantly for 5 or 6 months.
  Finally I'd had enough. I screwed my courage to the sticking place and set out (with a good deal of encouragement from the aforesaid woman) to replace the sink.
  It took only three trips to the local Home Depot to get all the bits and pieces. It only took 4 hours or so to do the job. But it wasn't the difficulty that made this experience interesting. It worked. Yup, it worked and it looks good too. I had tried something I had never done before. I was fairly convinced that I would only botch it up but God blessed the work of my feeble hands and it worked. And I feel great.

Mike's Walk

• Recovery:
  I'm still struggling with some of the "hang around" from last week. ("Hang around" is that thing sin likes to do to your neck after you've really messed up.) The enemy is using every weasel in the sack to get me to give up, give in, or give him an inch. I should recognize his voice by now but somehow it's still really hard to get up, dust myself off and trust the Lord for my salvation, my healing; His being perfect to make up for my imperfection; His suffering the rejection of God on the cross so I wouldn't have to; His stripes for my healing. So for the next week I'm going to be saying, whenever that serpent's voice hisses in my ear to remind me of all the failures in my life, "Yeah, but Jesus still kicked your butt on the cross, He kicked your friend Death's butt three days later and not only that but you're the one who's gonna burn, you rotten old snake."

:: Michael 16:44 :: (0) comments ::
...

some random thoughts on a sad anniversary

A year ago today, at age 59, my dad lost his fight with cancer and left this world to go to his home, to the reward that awaits anyone who will accept the grace God's wants to give. Dad did not worry about himself, he knew where he was going. He did worry about us, his family – my Mom especially, how we would make out with out him. In that sense I'm glad he passed away on September the 8th and not say a week latter. The event's of September the 11th would have been a burden on his last few days. He would have worried about the type world we would be left to deal with, a world he was leaving.

I miss him a great deal. One of the things I realized I've lost is getting to know my Dad as an adult. We'd really just started that process, and it was cut short, way too soon. His passing away at age 59 raises the very really possibility that at 31, I am past middle age. A sobering thought. I'd like to say it's taught me not to put things off. I was working on goodbye letter to my dad when he died. We thought he had six months left, but it was less than six weeks. I'd like to say that I've learned to do important things now, but I just learned this morning that a lady from our church that I've meant to visit in a nursing home, passed away suddenly early Saturday morning.

There are things that I'm thankful for. The time we had together, a close friend lost his Dad when he was 12. Friends of Mom and Dad's in Edmonton who have stayed close friends with Mom over this last year. It's not uncommon that when a spouse passes a way that couple friends fade away. So I'm thankful for this couples friendship and faithfulness.

I wish I could convey more of what my Dad meant to me, and to us as a family, but at the moment I just don't have the words.

-Peace

:: Dave King 15:35 :: (0) comments ::
...

If you have no idea who Larry Wall is, or what Perl is then this post if for you. See people who know those things already know that Larry Wall has an interview on /. If you didn't know that I plead with you to go and read Larry's interview. Get past the geekness of it all and appreciate that here is a Christian speaking to a group of people normally hostile to the gospel, but Larry has earned the right to be heard by the Tribe of Geek.

Update Here is a great example of why I get so excited about Larry.

So let me try to clarify what I mean, and reduce it to as few information bits as possible. A lot of people have a vested interest in making this a lot tougher to swallow than it needs to be, but it's supposed to be simple enough that a child can understand it. It doesn't take great energetic gobs of faith on your part--after all, Jesus said you only have to have faith the size of a mustard seed. So just how big is that, in information theory terms? I think it's just two bits big. Please allow me to qoute a couple "bits" from Hebrews, slightly paraphrased:

You can't please God the way Enoch did without some faith, because those who come to God must (minimally) believe that:
A) God exists, and
B) God is good to people who really look for him.

That's it. The "good news" is so simple that a child can understand it, and so deep that a philosopher can't.

That's from question 7, the role of religion?

Update #2
I'm not the only one who enjoyed reading what Larry had to say. Here are some other blogs that are commenting on the interview:

The Mountaintop

The Upward Way Press

Keith`s Weblog

Christdot

JDominator

Dispatches from Outland

Looking Back ... Looking Forward

blogs4God

-Peace

:: Dave King 17:56 :: (0) comments ::
...

A friend of mine is trying to become a permanent resident of Canada. He's semi-permanent already, essentially if not legally, and has lived in 4 provinces since arriving for grad school in 1995. He is currently on work permit, and trying to navigate the treacherous bureaucratic waters of immigration. He tells me his case would be a done deal if the Alberta Association of Architects would issue a letter of support. Alas, they will not, but have been convinced to offer a "letter of non-objection"..

Leaving aside obvious bureaucratic head-shaking, his situation struck me as an encapsulation of our modern-day Canada.

On some level, he is just encountering that greatest of canadian virtues, upon which our entire society, for better or worse, is founded: Tolerance. Rather than a hardship, his experience is potentially quite fortunate! Most of us native Canadians are firmly entrenched in middle-of-the-bell-curve-dom, not too smart, not too stupid, not too weird, not too gay, not too urban, not too rural, ... (Canada defines itself by what it's not, after all..), most of us never get to see Tolerance, being firmly in the realm of boring old Acceptance.

My nameless friend, on the other hand, is experiencing the joys of the fringe, where people find that they think you don't really fit, but we're too darn polite to say so, so we'll tolerate you and hope you don't bother us too much. This is rare stuff! No more than 5-10% of the population!

If the association comes through with a "Non-Objection" letter, he may even be perfectly placed for winning in our democratic system, where we don't vote FOR something, we vote AGAINST things. The Charlottetown accord (a 1992 referendum) comes immediately to mind; I recall friends say they agreed with most items, but because of one particular sticking point they'd vote against it - another camel felled by gnats. Our political history is full of people winning by being the second choice of enough people; more people did not object to them than to anyone else!

:: Steven 10:38 :: (0) comments ::
...

Arts Round Up

cause Ellen said "yes please!".

Conertstone Festival has posted video clips form this summer's performances. The Five Iron Frenzy clip is too funny. There is also a clip from U2's Bono speaking on the issues facing Africa and asking people to visit the Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa website.

Poet Warrior posts his ten favorite movie scenes.

I'm not sure it's art, but it's pure pop culture. Ultraman fans come out of the closest at hotdogblog.

Still on the pop culture beat, the homeless guy blogs on Spock, God and illogic.

Conertstone Magazine has a review by John Trott of "Open Enbrace" by Sam and Bethany Torode. The book is on birth control, the review isn't friendly. John does have some things to say on poetry and symbols and their role in the Christian life.

Stranger in Strange Land shares her favorite love poem and points to discussion on poetry.

Richard Bott has a powerful retelling of a familiar parable. Warning not for the feint of heart.

emergent downunder has a juxtaposed version of the Lord's Prayer.

What in Tarnation? is wondering what to do with the Screening Room.

-Peace
Dave

:: Dave King 09:26 :: (0) comments ::
...

MartinRothOnline.com now has permalinks. Short for permanent link, they enable one blog to link directly to the story of another blog. The perma-links are imbedded into the title of Martin's articles. Martin's first story with a permalink is a little cheesy.

-Peace

:: Dave King 17:16 :: (0) comments ::
...

Jen has an idea worthy of serious consideration. The September 11th Media Fast. Sainterros has a post pointing to other blogers thinking along the same lines.

-Peace
Dave

:: Dave King 09:45 :: (0) comments ::
...

Mike's Spot On The Wall

• Good Friends:
  Some people say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I don't buy it. I've had to move quite an unbelievable number of times in my life and I would just lose track of my friends each and every time. Moving became for me a synonym for "starting from scratch and not knowing a soul". Whenever a friend moved away from me I figured the same thing would happen. They would forget me.
  Then there was Dave (our fabulous host here). Dave and I met at NAIT and we continued to be friends after our graduation (another "start over" type event).
  Then Dave moved.
  I helped him pack. I doubt I really expressed to him how much his friendship had meant to me over the years or that I thought I would likely never see him again.
  But Dave surprised me. He didn't let me slip into the oblivion of forgetfulness. He phoned me, planned get-togethers, and made me feel, well, loved.
  He arranged for us to meet at Tim Horton's this weekend and we talked about old times, new times, and why I had an armadillo in my rectal cavity about Planned Parenthood but what we said wasn't really important. What was important was that he took the time out to see me, of all people, and make me feel that I was someone important in his life.
  If I fail to make it plain I'll just say I love ya Dave, you minister Christ's love to me in a way that makes it live.

Mike's Walk

• Even when I stumble:
  It's hard for me to read the bible some days. I see more of me in king Saul or Esau than David or Paul. I can't understand why God wants anything to do with the likes of me. I mean sure He used a donkey but….
  We had our Wednesday morning prayer group meeting this morning. Normally this is a good thing and it should have been a good thing today. I asked for prayer today for my walk, which had stumbled into the old sin again, and my finances, which are looking reddish. But after they prayed for me I had to leave the room. My heart was broken not only over my sin but after my dreams and hopes for a life which would be pleasing to Him and seemed impossible now.
  All I could see were my failures.
  And yet…
  Even in that dark time He was still with me. He stayed by my side while my facades crumbled away leaving only Him and me. I don't know where God is leading in all of this but after today I know, at a much deeper level than I knew before, that I will not be traveling alone.
  Psalm 139:
  ¹ Lord, you have examined me and you know me. ² You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. ³ You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. ⁴ Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. ⁵ You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. ⁶ Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding.

  ⁷ Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? ⁸ If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. ⁹ If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, ¹⁰ you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. ¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, ¹² but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you. ¹³ You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb. ¹⁴ I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart. ¹⁵ When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there- ¹⁶ you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began.

  ¹⁷ O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are! ¹⁸ If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. ¹⁹ O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! ²⁰ They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name. ²¹ O Lord, how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! ²² I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies. ²³ Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. ²⁴ Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way

:: Michael 16:44 :: (0) comments ::
...

From User Friendly:

Despite not being recognized in Australia, the Jedi prove they are in fact as real as any other religion.

-Peace
Dave

:: Dave King 08:15 :: (0) comments ::
...

Ever had that experience of struggling to put something into words only to find someone who does in a short few lines. Stephen Shields' post titled whither fideism closes with just such an example.

my own Christianity must not be *merely* a theology, merely a code of ethics, merely a socio-cultural phenomenon; but that at its most fundamental level, my religion must be about my personal, daily, normal (sometimes!), interactive, relationship with the Triune God.

-Peace

:: Dave King 16:33 :: (0) comments ::
...

Information, what we do with it, what we think about it and how we communicate it, seems to be today’s theme.

Martin Roth has a great article Too Much Information (And Way Too Much Football) – Why Ignorance Is Power. In short – we don’t always make better decisions with more information. It is also a great example the eXtreme Programming principal of "yesterday's weather". In XP "yesterday's weather" refers to the practice of planing future performace based on past performance.

Jordon Cooper is working on a review of David Wienberger's Small Pieces, Loosely Joined. Sub title of the book is "a unified theory of the web."

Deep :: Dirt links to a A chat-room paraphrase of Genesis 18
by bloggedy blog’s Andrew Careaga.

Sainteros asks “Question: how might the theory of memes be understood in terms of the action of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church?”

:: Dave King 14:37 :: (0) comments ::
...

I just finished playing Ico with Sarah and Maria. If a video game can be art, this is it.

Approached as an interactive and emotionally satisfying bedtime story, Ico succeeds wonderfully. - Next Generation Magazine

I think that line sums up Ico nicely. It's a story of a young boy, Ico, imprisoned in a castle who frees a mysterious princes who is being held by the queen of the castle. In a traditional quest to free the princes, the princess is a goal at the end with no character. In Ico, the princess Yorda is an active part of the game. Ico must defend her from the evil wraith that try to kidnap her, and solve the puzzles in each section of the castle to lead Yorda out. As you progress through the game, over coming challenges, Yorda and Ico form an emotional bond that gives the game real depth.

At it's heart the game is a series of puzzles on how to move Yorda through the castle. Climb this chain her, pull that switch, move that box. The puzzels are well done and enjoyable. Most of the puzzles involved careful observation. Lots of "hey is that a door over there? Did you climb that ledge?" We did need to consult the FAQ on the net, but usally to find that out that we missing some technique in controlling Ico. Being able to swing from a chain or jump and the slash to cut the ropes, two things we learned from the FAQ.

There is some combat in the game. As mentioned there are some evil creatures, goasts made of black smoke that try and take Yorda from Ico. Ico is armed only with a stick, and later a sword that he uses to beat the creatures back.. When beaten the creatures disappear in a puff of smoke. The girls found the monsters creepy enough to be scared, but not so much that they were disturbed by them. In a departure from tradition Ico does not have a health meter, his mission is just to keep the bad guys from pulling Yorda through their portal into the dark realm. The vilians can momentarily disable Ico, but nothing worse.

When ever the black gosts apeared the girls handed me the controls, to dispatch the monsters in the room. They were convinced that this was a "dad" duty, and I admit I enjoy playing the hero.

If you've got some time to spend with a couple of kids who like puzzles then I'd recommend Ico. We finished in just under 14 hours, not including mistakes and restarts. It's a one player game, but we played as team. We worked on the puzzles together, and I fought the monsters.

-Peace

PS check out the Ico page on MetaCritic for tons of other reviews.

:: Dave King 22:42 :: (0) comments ::
...

Misspelling our way to Google hits.

Last time it was Mike's spelling of 'blizard' that caught Google's attention. This time it was my mangling of 'Chatholic' that got us the top listing for 'chatholic church view on abortion'.

Dave King, Who?

Someone was looking for "Dave King" calgary. Of course they could have been looking for Dave King the former Calgary Flames hockey coach. ... Mike do you want to start using your middle initial? Bonus points for anyone who can guess the secret to Mike's name.

-Peace

:: Dave King 17:38 :: (0) comments ::
...

I'm back from an extended family weekend. Saturday afternoon we watched our nephew compete in Highland Dancing at the Calgary Highland Games. We then headed 300km north to Edmonton to see my mom & sister. This morning I got a change to have coffee with Mike at Tim's. It was good to see Mike's face. New WLW results are up :)

:: Dave King 17:18 :: (0) comments ::
...

Just a quick note that I'm a way from my home machine till Monday evening, so WLW won't be updated till then.

-Peace

:: Dave King 12:52 :: (0) comments ::
...

Bene Dection is searching for Candians who will still be known in 2252. Tim Horton gets my vote!

So while you're pondering Canadians with staying power, I'll point in another direction., size. Like the song by the Arrogant Worms says "Canada's Really Big"

We're the second largest country
On this planet Earth
And if Russia
Keeps on shrinking
Then soon we'll be first
(as long as we keep Quebec)

The USA has tanks
And Switzerland has banks
They can keep them, thanks
They just don't amount
'Cause when you get down to it
You find out what the truth is
It isn't what you do with it
It's the size that counts!

Well, the thought counts too. Consider "Big Things: Canada's Monuments" Like the Big Coke Can of Portage la Prairie. I admit, it is a very American icon, but it's red and white eh! Or that Big Magnet in Moncton, that pulls cars up the hill there. In Lethbridge, they know there's nothing finer than a wind gauge you can read from 500 meters, that's half a kilometer for the Americans in the crowd. The Lumberjacks of Herst Onatario are the stuff of legend! Though they would loose in a fight witth the Lumberjacks of Nackawic. And it just wouldn't be Canada with out a Moose or two. That first one is from Moose Jaw, my wife's home town. So when you think Canada, think Big!

-Peace

PS I know I saw someone posted the full Arrogant Worms song recently, but for the life of me I don't recall who. Any help?
Update: Thanks to Bene Diction for pointing out that it was right under my nose Brianna at petals on a wet, black bough had posted it.

:: Dave King 16:29 :: (0) comments ::
...

Arts round up:

We're a creative bunch here in the blogsphere. I've been surprised no one seems to be doing an arts round up. I'd like to step up to the plate, expand on that geek image of mine. I'm thinking of posting once a week on Thursday evening, so that it's here for Friday reading.

If you've posted some art, music, poetry, a short story let me know.
If you've mentioned art, music, poetry, a short story or a book let me know.

Richard Bott takes a stab at Iambic Pentameter, and does quite well.

Check out ocular confection's Ear Candy

Urban Onramps announces their film school is going on line. Looks like they need a MPEG expert.

OVERFLOW attended the road show of the Lion King the Musical, and came away impressed by how they turned traditional Broadway production values on their head.

Stranger in Strange Land reviews and links to the latest U2 single.

The Screening Room is a blog for movie reviews, first movie is Signs.

Deep :: Dirt comments on an article in Christianity Today about Dante and post modernism.

Sainteros shares some thoughts on giving, and gifts us with poetry.

So let me know if you'd like to see another round up next week.

-Peace

:: Dave King 19:41 :: (0) comments ::
...

What's Wrong With Planned Parenthood?:
Before we comment on this church's decision lets review the history, goals, and ultimate objectives of the Planned Parenthood organization. (their stand on abortion may be the least of their sins….)

• Planned Parenthood was founded in 1916 by Margaret Sanger as America's first birth control clinic. All the founders of Planned Parenthood were known eugenicists who wanted to rid the world of the "undesirable element". This was based on race, education, wealth, and religious affiliation. It is no surprise or secret that the first clinic was in Harlem. (see Margaret Sanger's Eugenic Plan for Black Americans)

  A bit of Margaret Sanger: This is the "Plan For Peace" document that Margaret Sanger presented before the New Historical Society:
  1. to raise the level and increase the intelligence of the population.
  2. to increase the population slowly by keeping the birth rate at its present level of fifteen per thousand, decreasing the death rate below its present mark of 11 per thousand.
  3. to keep the doors of immigration closed to the entrance of certain aliens whose condition is known to be detrimental to the stamina of the race, such as feebleminded, idiots, morons, insane, syphilitic, epileptic, criminal, professional prostitutes, and others in this class barred by the immigration laws of 1924.
  4. to apply a stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is already tainted, or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring.
  5. to insure the country against future burdens of maintenance for numerous offspring as may be born of feebleminded parents, by pensioning all persons with transmissible disease who voluntarily consent to sterilization.
  6. to give certain dysgenic groups in our population their choice of segregation or sterilization.
  7. to apportion farm lands and homesteads for these segregated persons where they would be taught to work under competent instructors for the period of their entire lives.

  Other Margaret Sanger'isms:
  Margaret Sanger promoted racism ("We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."), infanticide ("The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.") and eugenics ("Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race.")

  Planned Parenthood still continues in this mode today working largely in underprivileged minority neighbourhoods. It also continues it's outreach to schools.

  In our public schools it is nearly illegal to teach a biblical view of creation or human sexuality, but PP can come in and distribute condoms with literature that not only shows how to use it but encourages it's use. Planned Parenthood promotes sexual activity in almost all of it's literature. It rarely if ever lets these young people know that a condom fails more than 30% of the time. They tout a condom as an effective protection from AIDS, STD's, and pregnancy. Of course if you happen to get pregnant then abortion is a perfectly acceptable solution to that problem. (in 1991 in the US Planned Parenthood performed 129,000 abortions)(see Planned Parenthood. It's not what you think, A Plan For Peace, The History and Plans of Planned Parenthood, Why We Oppose Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood Exposed, )

:: Michael 17:19 :: (0) comments ::
...

Priest will not wed Planed Parenthood Volunteer

This was on the news last night. A priest in Medicine Hat is refusing to wed a couple because the bride-to-be, volunteers with Planed Parenthood. The woman was shocked to learn that because she disagrees with the Church she could not be wed in the Church. She was also described as being a practicing Catholic. (from the TV report)

How shocked should this woman be? I'm thinking she shouldn't be surprised. The Bishop for Southern Alberta is quoting Cannon 1398 of the code of Canon law "Anyone who is directly involved in abortion counselling may incur an automatic excommunication". Seems cut and dry. However there are priests in Calgary that teach birth control is ok, so the teachings of the Catholic Chruch are not always as clear as one would think . How much canon law is the average Catholic supposed to know? Does anyone else know of someone being disciplined for disagreeing with the Church's pro-life stand?

Just for the record, I'm pro-life. I've seen Christian friends go from being pro-choice to pro-life over time. I'm willing to accept that there are Christians who describe themselves as being pro-choice, even though I disagree with them deeply. I link to at least one from IdeaJoy.

Update
The main discusion of this topic is over at In Between Naps. As well Pete Vere weighs in with his thoughts re: Cannon Law. My take is that this is a rare event in the Chatholic Church, and that might explain why this woman was so suprised by the priest's action. The other tidbit that came out was that the priest only found out about the connection with Planned Parenthood via an add in the paper.

-Peace

:: Dave King 08:35 :: (0) comments ::
...

how blizards are made?

I'm sorry we don't know. Some poor New Zealand child, who spells like Mike, asked Google this question. And we came up in the results. This is the first time Google has shown up in the logs, other than someone plunking in IdeaJoy.

You know, every time we post about these odd search strings that bring people to our blogs, we run the chance of being indexed with that story on the front page. The search engine will increase our ranks for those terms ...

-Peace

:: Dave King 07:16 :: (0) comments ::
...

Kim bought Riley Armstrong's new CD "Whatever the Weather". After several listens, I have to give it the thumbs up. Riley's second solo CD is full of quirky, catchy, world beat influenced pop. This is feel good music from a guy who can't stop smiling.

A good example of Riley's writing style is What If:

What if she reads it wrong?
What if she thinks I'm boring?
Each line more convincingly snoring.

And what if she reads it right?
What if she thinks I'm crazy?
Cause I'm Canadian, maybe?

And what if she doesn't read it all?
Will it all fall in on me?

[chourus]
What ifs got no room
What ifs got no right
What ifs worries doom

Worry can't be friend of mine,
please rest inside,
and know it's in God's time.

I don't know about you but I can relate.

The CD has a couple of draw backs. The fun song "My Girl Friend's Famous" could use a third verse. He repeats the line "My Girl Friend's Famous" just few to many times ant the end of the song. But even veterans like the 77's pull that stunt once in a while. The other misstep is Recipe, I've removed it from the playlist. It's a novelty song that would have been better left off the CD. Just as annoying as Life Boat by Steve Taylor with none of the redeeming qualities.

But these are nitpicks. Out of fourteen tracks only Recipe is dud. The rest of songs are a joyful blend of humor, grace, faith and worship.

To get feel for Riley's humor I recommend the claymation video Sleep & The Making of Sleep. Truly funny and only 8 minutes long. Sleep is from his self titled debut album.

-Peace

:: Dave King 11:27 :: (0) comments ::
...

Mike's "The Will Of God" Continued...

• The apostle Paul said "And so I will come to you full of joy, if it is God's will…" (Romans 15:32) and "If it is the Lord's will, I hope that I will be able to send Timothy…" (Philippians 2:19)

  If?? What's with this "If"?

  These verses seem to indicate that Paul did not know God's exact will for every circumstance and yet it is also clear that at times he knew exactly where God wanted him to go and what God wanted him to do (That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, "Don't be afraid! You have given your witness for me here in Jerusalem, and you must also do the same in Rome." (Acts 23:11))

  I believe God has a plan for us but He does not always make it clear where we are going because He wants us to trust Him and let Him drive the bus.

  :: Michael 13:48 :: (0) comments ::
  ...

Mean Dean is beating the drum for The BlogMD Initiative, over at blogs4God. The MD is for Meta Data. I've posted a couple of ideas in their forum, and will continue to do so, but here are a few bits of Meta Data that would make my life easier with Who Links Who.

• a list of Alias urls such as jordoncooper.com and jordoncooper.sk.ca.
  
• tags to mark the beginning and ending of each post
  
• the perma link for the post
  
• time stamp for each post in UTC
  

If you're not a geek you're thinking most of that information is there on the page why not just use that? True, the information is there, and you and I are blessed with pattern matching software and hardware to see it. However computer programs need things marked out for them with explicit detail to pick up on the information. That's what The BlogMD Initiative is about, creating the markings so we can write software to navigate the expanding blogsphere.

(Happy Dean?)

-Peace

:: Dave King 12:11 :: (0) comments ::
...

Sainteros moved his blogroll over to blogrolling.com. Because it uses JavaScript to include the links on the client at runtime WLW couldn't see the links. I've updated WLW to use Rhino to evaluate any JavaScript with a source of http://rpc.blogrolling.com/. So now his blog roll links show up. And any other blog rolls using blogrolling.com will show up too.

While poking around at Sainteros today I notice he linked directly to his entry in WLW in his blog tools list. Neat.

-Peace

:: Dave King 23:10 :: (0) comments ::
...

Mike's Spot On The Wall

• Soul Fest:
  I spent 12 hours of Saturday at Soul Fest.The free concert was awsome. My personal fave was Lianna Klassen. I'm not usually a fan of world beat music but she was great.
  I wonder how they managed to make this concert free?

Mike's Walk

• Maybe I should ask for directions?:
  I know where I want to go I just don't know how to get there. Paul said we could "know the will of God (Romans 12:2) If we allow Him to transform our minds" and I believe it.
  So why do I still have difficulty knowing the will of God? (I mean that part of God's will that is specifically for me and not clearly outlined in scripture. God always wants us to read His word, He always wants us to testify for Him, He always wants us to pray etc...)
  I mean I pray to know His will, I ask Him to continue His trasforming work, I ask for help in submitting all of me to Him, so why do I feel in the dark.
  Most christians I talk to seem to have the same problem, we expect a step by step set of instructions from above on how to live our lives to the most minute detail.
  Today I begin to see dimly a different possibility.
  What if God doesn't care? I don't mean it in the apathetic sense. I mean if I worked at a different job it wouldn't really matter because God could still use me there. What if God's will is something bigger than what I do for a living or any particular ministry that I'm involved in? What would be His will for my life look like? So I looked up the "Will of God" in the meta-concordance and this is what I found....
    - Learn what is right by reading His word.
    - Have Godly standards not worldy ones.
    - That I would be free.
    - That I be His adopted child.
    - That I would not be foolish.
    - That I be obedient to my parents and those in authority, not for their approval but with all my heart.
    - That I be filled with His wisdom.
    - That I would have no sexual immorality.
    - That I be thankful in all circumstances.
    - That I have patience.
    - To silence scoffers by doing good deeds.
    - That I would pray for the things God wants.
  

:: Michael 15:24 :: (0) comments ::
...

Please excuse the long post, but I can't see the point in breaking this up into multiple posts. This my journal from my vacation, recorded on my Visior, or as I refer to it, my palm. as it runs the Palm OS. Times are all Pacific Time, as opposed to Mountain Time normaly used on IdeaJoy.

-Peace
Dave

02.8.20 18:00 is there a category for entering blogs on vocation, via your palm? Yeah, Addicted.

Had to kill a cockroach in the teepee when we got here quite the bit of excitement for Kim & Sarah. Teepee is more rustic than pictured. Plus 1 adventure -10 with Kim.

02.8.20 20:09 Sarah & Kim are playing cards, I'm tending the tail end of our camp fire. There is a tree covered mountain to the east of us. As the sun sets a shadow climbs the mountain making a giant sundial.

02.8.21 7:51 I wonder if Mean Dean got WLW up? I wonder if Bene is going
through WLW withdrawal?

Sunrise here is dramatic event. It starts up at the top of the mountains to the west. The mountain tops are the first thing to be bathed in the sunlight of a new day. Then the light sweeps eastwards down the meadows of the valley. As it light moves closer, you can watch it advance in real time.
Like watching the second hand sweep the face of a clock. Everything bathed in the light glows, becomes more distinct. The appearance of individual shadows makes things stand out.

I have a nine year old begging for breakfast. Got to go.

02.8.21 11:20 after break fast Sarah and I took the trail down to Box Canyon. This is not a government park, with easy paths and safety rails. The path from the camp ground takes you over a steep bank and next to the railroad tracks. Freight trains pull through here every couple of hours. In fact one is pulling through as I write this. We crossed the tracks and climbed down a path to rocks over looking where the water exits the canyon.

It's a scene of majestic beauty, aqua green rushing water, rocks faces and boulders rising to evergreen forest covered slopes that finally give way to peaks of rock and snow. Of course Sarah was bored in under a minute. I asked her if she knew the verse 'be silent and know that I am God.' She asked what it meant. I explained about just being quite and listening for God. I think the connection to the beauty around her was lost in translation. She hummed for a minute and said 'so are we going?'

02.8.22 17:25 this morning we went back to the canyon, snapped some pictures. This afternoon we went into the national park and did 2 board walks.

Giant Cedar Boardwalk was first. We walked between great cedars and their fallen comrades. The sun is filtered out high above our heads. It breaks through in places, highlighting a fern here a fallen cedar there. It is a natural cathedral: quite, reverent and full of awe.

Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk is a couple km west and closer to the river and goes through a marshland. The marsh is full of life. Much of the life is out of sight. Twice the skunk cabbage leaves rustled violently as some creature retreated from under the board walk to a location, I wasn't walking over. Birds called to other birds, all hidden from view. Some thing was causing bubbles in the water.

The exception to this stage fright are the dragon flies that zipped around us. The way the move in the mash is amazing. Lot's of short strait line connected with sharp angles. They move more like a sprite from an 80's era video game than anything bound by Newton's laws.

One dragon fly placed himself directly in my path. He hovered there staring at me. He was side swiped by another dragon fly. Whether it was an act of mercy or a territorial dispute I'll never know.

02.8.23 8:07 just sipping coffee before going to do some riding. Late last night as I returned from using the facilities I noticed the mountain to the south east was back lit by the moon. The moon was completely hidden by the mountain, but the ridge of the mountain had a pale blue glow. Light wispy clouds over head traced abstract designs in reflected moon light as stars twinkled through them. I was spellbound. When I recovered, I had walked several meters past the turn to our camp site.

02.8.23 8:33 just bumped into a guy who warned me off my chosen trail this morning. He just saw a cougar. I think I'll find another trail. Update: reported what happened to the folks at the park gate. Turns out cougars are very rare in this area due to a lack of game. So had I encountered cougar it would have been hungry.

02.8.23 11:16 back at the camp sight now. I did 5km loop in the Mount McPherson demonstration forest & x - country ski area. According to the map, in 2.5km I climbed over 100m above where the car was parked. For the most part I stuck to the dirt roads. I didn't see any one else on the trails. The only sign I saw of other trail users were horse shoe tracks.

02.8.23 16:43 just got back from the Revelstoke Railway Museum. For under $11 CDN we got to spend an hour and a half indoors with air conditioning. We've been blessed with very hot weather, so the challenge has been how to beat the midday heat. Luckily it cools off at night so sleeping has been quite comfortable.
The museum was very interesting. Canada being the 2nd largest country in the world, we're pretty proud of building a railway all the way across it. There is a big steam engine where you can sit in the cockpit. Yes I'm just big kid. The engine was staffed by a working train engineer who works with Canadian Pacific. We talked about various bits of train tech for about half an hour before Kim & Sarah pulled me out of there.

02.8.24 7:28 sipping coffee again. I'm headed back to the trail where the cougar was yesterday. Checked with the staff at the park gate yesterday afternoon and there were no other sightings, and no missing hikers. So I'll give it a try again today.

02.8.25 7:13 one last entry before we go. Yesterday was a full day. I did 6km of mountain riding on a great trail just outside Mount Revelstoke National Park, the cougar trail. Lots of rocks and roots kept me bouncing. There is one section I was told every one walks up. I had to walk up more than that and there was one section where I chickened out and walked down. Seems like a popular trail saw 3 other riders and an older couple on foot. I'm not sure that hikers should be on that trail but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We went to Revelstoke Dam, it's 175 meter high concreete dam on the Columbia river. The CN Tower is about 350 meters, so that's pretty tall. 25 years in the planing before they started work. It's a career project. After they build the dam Revelstoke started getting bad dust storms when the reservoir got low and exposed silt to the wind. They had to plant fall rye to stop the dust.

We bought lunch and took it to the top of Mount Revelstoke (by car). The lunch didn't work so well, lot's of bugs near where we were eating. We then did the 30 minute hike up to the summit, what an incredible view. Not nearly as many bugs at the summit, so we should have carried our lunch up.

Took the bike up with the car, so when we returned from the summit (by shuttle bus) I rode the 21.5 km back down to the park gates. In that distance you drop about 1400 meters. What a rush. My maximum speed was 61 km/h, I averaged 38.9 km/h, had to slow down for turns and stopped at the look outs to snap some pictures. I also refilled my water bottle in a mountain stream. Going that fast dries you out even if you are just coasting most of the time. It was a total endorphin rush, what joy to just fly down a mountain road. I've gone faster on a bike (just over 70km) but never that fast for that long. Kim said they only waited five minutes for me at the bottom, and they didn't stop at as many lookouts.

:: Dave King 20:53 :: (0) comments ::
...

ok we're headed out on vation this morning. I've left Mike with the keys to the blog, so I declare the camel refuge open. Mean Dean has the code to WLW and is looking into getting it installed on one of his machines. If he get's up at blogs4God that's great. Otherwise you'll have to do with the results form this morning.

And yes we're going to sleep in a Teepee. I've always wanted to do that, even if it is a modern tourist version.

I'm taking my Bible, Suprised By Joy by CS Lewis, and Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. We'll see how much reading I get done. It's vaction so no goals, I just like to be well prepared.

-Peace

:: Dave King 06:55 :: (0) comments ::
...

This morning's proverb hit a cord with me.

In the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery.
- Proverbs 28:23

Of course that is in the end. In the short term, I've found flattery to be quite popular ;)

-Peace

:: Dave King 14:58 :: (0) comments ::
...

Mike's Spot On The Wall

• A Good Excuse:
  I didn't post on Friday (I try to blog twice a week) but I had a good reason. I worked rather hard on Friday to finish up my in box and get my church's web site updated so that I could have more time with Carol. Not only did we have some extra time together Friday night but we had a "date day" on Saturday that included the zoo and several garage sales. I love spending time with her and its good for her to know that after 17 years (since we started dating) that I'm still very much in love with her.

Mike's Walk

• Camel Abuse:
  I interviewed Joe Camel about the problem of camel abuse.
  
• Joe:
  "There's been a lot of mention of Camel's here lately and it's just plain abuse I tell ya. We caemel's have always been missused. I tell ya it goes all the way back to Leviticus when God told Moses we were unclean. Common, have you ever seen a dirty camel? And then God tells Samuel to tell Saul to smite the Amelek including ox, sheep, camel and ass. Common now, what did we do? It gets worse I tell ya, Jerimiah made out that camel's are devious. And it gets even worse. We get worn, threaded through needles, and finally swallowed. It's abuse I'm tellin' ya, plain abuse."
So what am I saying here? Well the corollary verse is the one about specs and logs. There are worse evils in the world than spam. Maybe we should have more rants on what the enemy is doing in places like Rowanda or China, or about disease and hunger. We have no righteousness in ourselves and our human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose (James 1:20).

:: Michael 10:03 :: (0) comments ::
...

Thanks to Emeth Hesed Smith for her kind words about Who Links Who.

sainteros added us to his blog roll, thank you.

:: Dave King 08:27 :: (0) comments ::
...

ocular confection is looking for feed back on some raw, just out of the box, tecno. He has the new tune posted on his site. Check it out. Yeah I know, no one listens to tecno.

-Peace

:: Dave King 18:32 :: (0) comments ::
...

Brianna has posted her own "Manifesto", well worth the read, a breath of fresh air.

-Peace
Dave

:: Dave King 13:53 :: (0) comments ::
...

Quotes you need to put into context

the kind of dumbstruck intensity seen only in crack-heads, rare book collectors, porn addicts and boy band fans.
- Notes from a Hill Side Farm, link via Gideon Strauss

We could make a fortune once they get the munchies
- Pastor George Campbell of the the New Life Church in Dartmouth NS, link via Christianity Today

These are the results of your feed back form
- User Friendly


On to music, Deep Dirt recommends giving a Aaron Spiro listen and shares some thoughts on postmodern music.

-Peace


PS blogspot archives seem to be up and down this morning, so you may need to check back latter for the Notes from a Hill Side Farm quote.

:: Dave King 08:16 :: (0) comments ::
...

OK the new version of Who Links Who is done. I've added the ability to format the results via XSL using Xalan from Apache. Get the code if you want it.

-Peace
Dave

:: Dave King 23:27 :: (0) comments ::
...

Who Links Who has an issue at the moment. I ran the full system, including the auto publish out of habit. Sorry about that. I'm working on some new code. Should be back to normal soon.

-Peace

:: Dave King 17:10 :: (0) comments ::
...

Go for the Wake, stay for Alice Cooper

Thinking Out Loud has taken down the LeaderBoard. For those new to this corner of the web, the LeaderBoard ranked sites based on the number of links they got from other sites on Martin Roth's Semi Definiative list of Christian Blogs. You know, back in the day.

The LeaderBoard inspired Who Links Who. When I first started bloging I didn't have SiteMeter set up in such a way as it could track vistitors by Referer. So when we got a score of 2 on the LeaderBoard, I had no idea where they came from. I realized that the LeaderBoard program had to know in order to generate the LeadBoard, it just wasn't designed to display the information.

I sent this poorly worded email

Wed Jul 17 22:24:56 2002

To: "caschwar"

Subject: Leader Board



Hey what a great idea.



Just wondering what about a details page where you list all the found 

links,  I would love to find out where my two links came from.



sometheing like

page ideola.blogspot.com

ref martinrothonline.com

ref ideola.blogspot.com



-Peace

Dave

Well I didn't hear back, turns out Craig had other things on his plate. I started playing with the idea in Java, and that's how WLW was born. But it was because the LeaderBoard was out there first. So go over there and pay homage. And while you are there check out Thinking Out Loud's thoughts on Alice Cooper.


-Peace
Dave

:: Dave King 21:24 :: (0) comments ::
...

JesusJounal.com editor Donald L. Hughes’ article Focus On Links and Libel has hit a sour note with Jen over at My World As It Is Sung. I'm not fond of it either. It seems to be long on fear, short on clear examples.

I much prefer this article Libel & Defamation in the Information Age. It gives some good examples on what the courts have considered to be libel. It also not as US centric as the article by our good friend Don. The short story is stick to the facts and clearly state when you are giving opinion based on those facts.

Fact: JesusJournal.com sent me spam.
Opinion: That was rude!

As neither JesusJournal.com nor Donald L. Hughes’ have disputed any of the facts stated here on IdeaJoy, I’m not going to worry about his apparent scare tacticts.

Don seems to avoid libel worries by never stating whom he is talking about or what they have done. That is certainly playing it safe.

-Peace
Dave

:: Dave King 21:46 :: (0) comments ::
...

The Nation Post is reporting that there is a miniseries about Hitler's formative years is in the works.

The miniseries, which is being produced by Alliance Atlantis and directed by Canadian Christian Duguay, is based on the biography Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris, written by Sir Ian Kershaw, a professor of modern history at Sheffield University and the man widely regarded as the planet's pre-eminent expert on the Third Reich

The story talks about TV critics,largely negative, reaction to the idea. But if I have the time when, if it comes out I'll give it a chance. Hitler is an almost perfect data point in understanding what people think about the question of evil. Almost everyone agrees that Hitler was evil, so what we learn is what people think that means. A couple of examples come to mind.

Philip Yancy's article Beyond Flesh and Blood, subtitle: I used to disdain biblical talk of "invisible spirits." No more.

Try to explain on rational grounds the mass insanity that seized Germany in Hitler's day. ... The experts have no answer but "forces beyond our control." New Testament writers agree and do not hesitate to name those powers

I saw Dr. Morgantaller in a debate at the University of Alberta back in the early 90's. He's a holocaust survivor, so as you can imagine, he has some thoughts on Hitler. He believes Hitler was the result of an unhappy home life. He explained, in his opinion, how providing abortion services helps prevent furture Hitlers by making sure each child is a "wanted" child.

The most common trend I've noticed is to cast Hitler as simply insane, a monster, a no-longer-human example of evil. That position worries me. If we place Hitler out side the human experience it makes it easier to deny the evil in our own societies, and in our own hearts. If Hitler was human, than he's stands as warning of how we can go so very wrong.

I don't know if the mini series will be well done or not. But it could be a chance for some interesting discussions on the nature of evil.

-Peace

:: Dave King 07:38 :: (0) comments ::
...

Thanks

I need to say thanks to Mean Dean, for everything we take for granted and forget to say thanks for.

To Bene Diction for including IdeaJoy in his coverage of the JesusJournal.com thing. And Josh Claybourn for the same thing. Sorry Guys that was way over due.

Jen added IdeaJoy to her blog roll over at "My World As It Is Sung". Thank You!

Mike for asking hard questions.

Andy Clark of Apache.org for a quick bug fix to NecoHTML. New WLW results, with the bug fix in place, are up. BTW since I've added a time stamp to the main WLW page, I don't anounce new results every time.

-Peace
Dave

:: Dave King 23:43 :: (0) comments ::
...

Jen's blog redesign is up. And with the new look a new name "My World As It Is Sung". Nice Narnia reference!

-Peace
Dave

:: Dave King 21:47 :: (0) comments ::
...

Update
Shalom has removed the letter from Donald L. Hughes, Editor at JesusJournal.com, at their request. That is odd, as it was posted at their request.

JesusJournal.com thinks I'm nasty.

It's true. The evidence is over at Shalom, She's reprinted JesusJournal.com's reply to why they won't remove her link. (Me I'm waiting for them to kick us out)

Here is the section where their editor thinks I'm nasty.

We did not intentionally Spam. We visited each Blog we found and collected information, including email addresses when available. We
did put them into our emailing program to send them out for efficiency, and so farwe have had 5-6 complaints about that. We apologized to each of those
people, except one who was so nasty, that we just ignored. There are a few people out there who are hell-bent on attacking us, but we seem to be
getting overwhelming approval for our ministry.

OK so I've sent four emails complaining about getting spamed, and not goten an apology from them. Now I've posted the text of two of them previously. So I'll add my original note when I got their spam

From Dave King
Sent Thursday, August 8, 2002 10:24 am
To editor@JesusJournal.com
Subject NO SPAM

duh!

Shocking, I know.

And my last email, with the exact text:

Subject: Re: Code of conduct
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 08:01:37 -0600
From: Dave King
To: "JesusJournal.com" words@JesusJournal.com

I think you missed the camel in that email. I don't like geting spam from you. What are you going to do about it? I don't like sites that just suck content from other sites with out giving credit. What are you going to do about it? I'm so glad that the gnat of the broken email has been taken care of.

-Peace
Dave

Truly Down and Nasty!

There are other options:

1) Don Hughes doesn't know what he's talking about when he says he apologized. He seems to have great difficulty with the common accepted definitions of spam and intentionally, so he may not understand the word apologized.

2) He may not be referring to me and my apology has gotten lost in the mail. That's the great thing about the type of gossip being spread by Don, you can't check on it. Don says 'Someone out there is being nasty'. But Don hasn't told them, and hasn't named names, so you can never check the facts, and they can never defend them selves.

His logic of only apologizing to people who are nice to him seems odd. He expects other people to turn the other cheek, but please don't expect it of him. I'm also having trouble with the 'we just found these people on the net, and we didn't find them via Martin Roth or blogs4god.com' line he's pushing. Plunk IdeaJoy into google and all you get is MartinRothOnline.com, and until recently we were scoring zero on Who Links Who. And it seems like lots of other obscure blogs from blog4God.com all showed up at the same time. Odd that.

And finally Don cleary doesn't understand blog4God.com.

Martin has said his list at MartinOnline was only 200 names. Ours is
over 400 and we will be adding many more soon. We have simply done a better
job of finding Christian Blogs

blog4God.com has said in the FAQ that they are not looking for Christian blogs. We find blogs4God.com and ask to be included.

Yeah I think it's time to dust the sandals off again.

-Peace
I think I'll head over to JesusJournal.com and rate IdeaJoy as nasty, and quote Don.

:: Dave King 19:58 :: (0) comments ::
...

Mikes Spot On The Wall

• Why Is "Missions" Sexier Than "Service"?
  I serve on the board of an interchurch oranization called Neighbourlink. or I should say I used to be.
  Of the six board members who there when I started two years ago only two remain. Lest you get the idea that they were quiters aside from me the next newest board member had over 8 years working with the organization.
  We have contacted churches in our city, our regional director has been knocking on doors, we have done dramas and promotions. At a typical meeting where we sent a letter to hundreds of churches 6 will show and one will commit to the work. But… missionfest attracted 70 churches and thousands of people went to see it.
  I'm not dissing missionfest, but what bothers me is how we can be so eager to go to a different country feed the poor, build shelters for the homeless, provide education, sponser youth events, get medical supplies and aid to those that need it but when it comes to the same problems or issues in our own back yard nobody seems very interested. Maybe its because with a mission there is a definate start and end date that doesn't require us to commit our whole lives to. Maybe when the person with a need is in our country we figure that it's their own fault or that the government should take care of them.
  Maybe some other country will send missionaries to us and the needs will be met.

Mikes Walk

• Praying For The Enemy:
  At 6:30 am every Wednesday morning a dedicated group of men meet to petition the Lord in intercessory prayer. Today we prayed for many things but one of our focus points was Iraq. Paul urged Timothy to pray for those in authority and it is only strange when one remembers that the authority in question was Nero. So we lifted Saddam Hussein in prayer. We were greatly moved as the spirit led us to bind the powers of darkness and to release Saddam to find his answer in Christ.

:: Michael 14:35 :: (0) comments ::
...

Ah yes the joy of tech. Meditatio is resisting redesign by Jen. Ian's Messy Desk had a meltdown yesterday, though it's back up. And Mean Dean is enjoying the peace and joy of geekdom :) Thanks to Dean for cleaning up Bene's HTML that was giving the parser issues yesterday. BTW I'm running out of new ways to annoy Dean, so please list suggestions in the comments ;)

-Peace

:: Dave King 08:37 :: (0) comments ::
...

<br/. can ruin your whole day. Or at least rob you of some links. There is an issue with the HTML parser I'm using for Who Links Who where it comes to a complete halt when it hits <br/. As a result WLW can only see the top third or so of blogs4God. So if they've linked to you and it's not showing up in WLW that's why. I'm in contact with the guy who wrote the parser over at Apache, a realy nice, and very smart guy named Andy Clark.

I've tried the Sun HTML Parser, the JTidy parser, and now NekoHTML. And NekoHTML has held up very well. NekoHTML puts the others in to shame. However, if this doesn't work out I'll have to write my own. I just need a simple one for WLW, but it's still a serious amount of work. But I've done it three other times for gsnet.com, IWTechknologies, and MPower. So I can if I must, but I don't want to.

-Peace

:: Dave King 21:57 :: (0) comments ::
...

As you can see we did indeed get a pair of glasses at blogs4god.com. I'm really stunned. I never know how to handle this type of thing. I need to mention it, because I need to say thank you. Thanks to Dean and Bene. I really do find this sort of thing humbling. So my geek response is to play the tension I feel for laughs.

So are they Ryders? I only wear Ryders. At $30 cdn, I can trash a pair a year and not break the bank account. I used to wear Oakleys (optically correct lenses rock!) but that is a very expense habit for a klutz like me.

-Peace

:: Dave King 12:23 :: (0) comments ::
...

Someone gave us a 9/10 at blogs4god.com. Thank you :) Personally though, I prefer compliments and insults in the comments, then we know what we are doing right or wrong. That and a link from your blogroll :) Yes I'm just that easy to please.

Also we also made the FAQ at blogs4God. The entry reads:

The "glasses" icon indicates the moderator of a section, and in very special cases someone who has made a significant contribution for the rest of us: ie: Martin Roth or Idea Joy.

Which is obviously a mistake, as Martin clearly has glasses and we don't. It was a nice thought, while it lasted. Oh wait, it's problably meant as a contrast. Yes that makes more sense. ;)

-Peace

PS it's IdeaJoy, one word, it's a Java thing.
PSS note to Mean Dean, can we get the search forms to use Get instead of Post? Don't make me quote the HTTP spec on why.
PSSS yes I'm feeling silly, our project at work made it into production today :)

:: Dave King 20:24 :: (0) comments ::
...

Wow talk about straining the gnat and swallowing the camel. I said as much in a reply to them this morning. No response some 10 hours latter. It's obvious that this group is glad to be in control but doesn't want a dialog. Time to shake off the sandals and move on.

-Peace

Subject: Re: Code of conduct

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 16:47:25 +1200

From: "JesusJournal.com" words@JesusJournal.com

To: Dave King 



Hi



Thank you for calling the bad link to our attention.  Now fixed.



Blessings!



----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Dave King" 

To: editor@jesusjournal.com

Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 4:23 PM

Subject: Code of conduct





Jesus Journal could start with:



1) say no to spam.

2) Give credit where credit is due.

3) say you are sorry when you realize you've broken any of the rules of 

conduct.



-Peace

Dave



PS the email listed in your manifesto for Christian Blogers doesn't 

work.  Maybe that could be point 4

:: Dave King 18:41 :: (0) comments ::
...

Bene Diction has a post about Jesus Journal wanting to start an ASSOCIATION OF CHRISTIAN WEBLOGGERS. Why they feel the name should be in all caps is beyond me. Part of what they want is a code of conduct. Here is what I've sent them.

Jesus Journal could start with:



1) say no to spam.

2) Give credit where credit is due.

3) say you are sorry when you realize you've broken any of the rules of conduct.

As they've broken 1 and 2 and not done 3, it would be a good place for them to start.

-Peace

PS feel free to copy the above and send to editor@jesusjournal.com.
PSS the email they list in their manifesto for feeback doesn't work.

:: Dave King 20:47 :: (0) comments ::
...

Bene Diction is asking "What do people agree or disagree with exactly?" With regards to Pray Naked Experience being rejected by CT 1000.

For me it's simple. I don't believe in a white washed Jesus. There is a rather large group in Christendom that want the kingdom to be squeaky clean, nothing to bother or upset anyone. Nothing to make you think, nothing to challenge a comfortable, neat tidy faith. And they do all this in the name of our radical, challenging, strange, refuses to be boxed in, God!

These people have been with us for a very long time.

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"

David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord , who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord 's people Israel-I will celebrate before the Lord . I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor." - 2 Samuel 6:20-22

In Jesus' time they were known as Pharisees a group of a very committed, legalistic, ultra religious Jews. Jesus, also a Jew, didn't have a lot good to say about them.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Matthew 23:23-27

And it of course it continues in our time as well. Mahatma Gandhi was ushered out of a church in England because wasn't white. I'm sure if he'd been allowed to stay it would have been offensive to some Christians.

A Christian nurse in Edmonton had been telling a friend and coworker about Jesus. Her friend decides to go to church on her own on Sunday morning. She picks a Baptist church in Edmonton. It was July, and hot. She went in and sat down, near the front because the place was packed. An usher came and asked her to leave be cause her shorts and halter top were not appropriate for church. So in front of the entire church she was escorted out. On monday her reaction was what it should have been. "If that's what Jesus is about, I want nothing to do with him". - Mark Davies, a Baptist preacher and profesor tells this story.

The common thread here is people only looking at the surface, not wanting to offend the cultural norm, and offending the Holy Spirit instead. In CT 1000's case they did have to go far to understand how Pray Naked Experience was using the word naked. CT1000 is right in thinking that the title Pray Naked Experience will offend some Christians. But will it offend God? No.

-Peace

:: Dave King 20:23 :: (0) comments ::
...

When it rains it pours. Ian has added us to his outbasket, on Ian's messey desk. Thanks Ian.

-Peace

:: Dave King 19:15 :: (0) comments ::
...