Favorite Christmas Passage

Revelation 12 should be read more at Christmas. Iit places the Christmas story at the center of the cosmic battle between good and evil. It's a wonderful antidote to Christmas cuteness.

- Peace

6th 'Harry Potter' book already a hot seller

July 16 is the release date for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It's already a hot seller. I'm wondering when it will hit the WRW list. Any guesses?

- Peace

Three Funerals and a Christmas

Kim's uncle passed away early Sunday morning. He died of injuries from being broad sided, he may have been at fault. Kim flies to Saskatchewan tonight, the funeral is tomorrow. That's three family deaths in 2004 for Kim.

Sarah and I will join her there at the end of the week for Christmas.

- Peace

The Twelve Voices of Christmas: Gabriel

I'm doing a monologue tomorrow as Gabriel. I'm thinking the only way this will work is to do it off stage as we just don't have the tech to do angels, at least not the type where their first words are 'Do not be afraid.'

- Peace

A Geek Proverb

Far better to be right and poor
than to be wrong and rich.

Proverbs 16:8 The Message

- Peace

Thinking about Michal

In Leap Over a Wall Peterson takes us through 2 Sam chapter 6. In the chapter Uzzah is killed by God when he tries to prevent the Ark of the Covenant falling of a cart. Peterson makes the case that this is not isolated incident of Uzzah, that he’s been trying to control and manage God for years. We just see him at the end of his story.

That got me thinking out Michal and how she criticizes David at the end of the chapter

How wonderfully the king has distinguished himself today--exposing himself to the eyes of the servants' maids like some burlesque street dancer!

And the chapter ends with this comment 'Michal, Saul's daughter, was barren the rest of her life.' I’ve always heard that has God’s judgement of Michal. Not a stated judgement but implied. This weekend I’ve been wondering about an alternate iterpetation: Michal had no children because her love relationship with David ended that day.

Michal was David's first wife. She loved David helping him escape Saul murderous rage. That was ten years before. Ten years that David spent in the wilderness. Ten years that Michal spent as a princess in Saul’s court. After David fled for his life Saul ordered that Michal be married to Palti. David relaims Michal when he returns form the wilderness but he also returns with a second wife. I think it's fair to say their relationship was under some serious stress. Not sure what that changes if anything. For me it adds depth to the story.

I also wonder about David’s response to Michal

by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor

I’m not sure why by I read that as a double entendre.

- Peace

Outdoor Attitude Brought Indoors

I did a session on the XBike at the familly leisure center.

I do think the 'true-to-outdoor cycling exercise' line on their web site is over the top. It's closer to real ridding the way Medicine Hat is closer to Halifax than Calgary.

That said, it's a great workout. You do get to use your upper body more, pumping from side to side as you do a standing climb for example. Your legs can also stop while you pump because the xbike lets you coast For those who haven't been to a spin class: regular spin bikes will rip your legs off if you try to coast. Suprisingly stoping while pumping your arms makes for a great work out as you have push hard to get started again.

I was pouring sweat 10 minutes into the class.

- Peace

Real Live Preacher: How To Find a Church

We're looking for a church, not very hard we've only been to one since deciding to look. The above article spoke to me, especially point 1: you won't find that church.

- Peace

Dreaming of a Geek Christmas

An MP3: Super Mario World Super Mario's Sleigh Ride OC ReMix. It's better than you'd think.

- Peace

President's Choice Financial Sets It's Customers Up for Identiy Theft and Fraud

I've gotten my fair share of phishing attacks for American Banks that I'm not a customer of. They are easy to spot as I'm not a customer of these banks. I just delete them, no big deal. This email did catch my attention

Dear David King,

This email is to inform you that you have not logged into your President's Choice Financial MasterCard online account for 32 days. In order to ensure your online account status remains in an active state, please click here www.pcfinancial.ca or www.pcfinance.ca (for Quebec residents) and log into your account.

Regards,
Customer Service
President's Choice Financial
1-866-246-7262

It follows the classic Phising Attack Formula,

Dear Customer,

Due to [random technical reason] We ask that you to sign into your account, please click [url].

The only variant is that I do have a MasterCard with President's Choice Financial, so I called their 1-800 number from the back of my card. Turns out they do indeed send out these messages. This is just plain dangerous. They are setting up their customers to fall for Phishing Attacks.

Banks will tell you that they will never, under any circumstance, ask for your bank card PIN number. Anyone claiming to be from the bank and asking for your PIN is a fraud. It's a simple easy to understand rule.

The same logic should apply to emails asking you to log into your account. By sending out legitimate emails asking people to log into their account to keep them active President's Choice Financial is making fraud much easier. Ironicaly President's Choice attempte to warn it's customer about the dangers of Identity Theft.

I've tried to report the issue to Presiden't Choice with little success. The customer service people get very confused, one told me I needed to send a screen shot of the security issue.

Security needs to be more than 128 bit encryption and browser settings, it needs to be a culture.

- Peace

2nd flat tire this week

For the second time in three days I got a flat tire on the way home. Tonight was about 1km sooner than on Tuesday. I walked up the hill to Britania, called Kim and headed to Starbucks.

On the upside: Starbucks was having their Christmas customer appreciation night, so Tall latte's were on the house. Nice.

- Peace

Her mother should provide her a coat

Her mother should provide her a coat!

Sarah's exclamation
When Kim dug out
a like new red coat
that Sarah out grew
all too quick

Yes she should provide her a coat

End of November
mornings are cold
minus twenty
by next week

Yes she should provide her a coat
Mothers should know

Why she doesn't
I don't know
don't understand

We learn
the mother isn't around
girlfriend of her stepfather
takes care of her
you can call it that
I guess

a like new red coat
is little protection
from realities harsh

- Peace

3200km, 200%

[recorded earlier today on my palm pilot]

I'm sitting at starbucks waiting for Kim to pick me up. My ride home ended with a load pop, something cut through my rear tire. I did 23km today, 11km short my usual round trip. On the up side I only needed 19km to pass the 3200km mark for 2004. That's 200% of my original goal for this year. Its more than the past 3 years put together. I think I can reward myself with a latte.

Yeah I know I made it sound like I had given up for the year at 2600km, but Nov has been nicer than November in Calgary should be, so I kept ridding. Course being Calgary the nice weather can go on and off like a light switch. Still I Only wiped out twice, I've learned that ice fog can freeze up break and shift cables in a couple of hours and I've doubled my goal for the year! Did I mention that?

- Peace

bday/xmas list

My family finds me hard to shop for, so they've asked (demanded) a bday xmas list. so here it is.

Music:
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2 or the deluxe version

Books:
A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian D. McLaren

The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life by Armand M. Nicholi Jr. and/or the DVD

The Divine Conspiracy : Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God by Dallas Willard

A Grief Observed by CS Lewis

Any book by Eugene Peterson that I haven't read. I've read: Under the Unpredictable Plant, A Long Obedience, Reversed Thunder, Leap Over a Wall and of course The Message.

Rhe one book that I haven't read by William Gibson: Patern Recognition. Infact this is a hold over from last years list.

DVDs:
I've held off getting DVDs for two of my favorite trilogies cause I knew there would be an ultimate box set coming. The wait is nearly over:

The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix / Reloaded / Revolutions / Revisited / The Animatrix)

The Lord of the Rings - The Motion Picture Trilogy (Special Extended DVD Edition)

also good choices:
Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition)

Spider-Man 2 (Widescreen Special Edition)

Clothing:
Mozilla Star TShirt XXXL

BTW for those of you who are wondering my Bday is Dec 24.

- Peace

xtreame stationary bike!

Saw the xbike at the Family Leisure Centre, it's a staitionary bike designed for mountain bikers. I have no idea if this is a gimic or not, but I've heard it's quite the work out. Since the handle bars move side to side you need to work you uper body to stay balanced while riding, more like trail riding.

Word is that there will be a drop in class starting in Dec. I'm going to have to give that a try.

- Peace

U2 on SatNightLive

Rudy has posted an mpeg of U2 on SNL.

- Peace

The Price of Power

No not a rant about how power corrupts, just thought I'd share that the software we've been working on since Feb. went live today.

One of the things I worked on was the code that sets the price of electricity in Alberta. The price range can have an impact of a proximetly $200,000 / hour. I had to be quite parinoid about that code.

- Peace

Naked Objects Framework

I'm attending the Western Canada Java Software Symposium this weekened, and was most impressed with David Thomas's presentation on Naked Objets as a way to Object Oriented Rapid Application Development. He talke about doing two minute iterations as opposed to two week interations. He also pointed it it can be a great way to gather requirements, even if you don't us the Naked Object UI in the final version.

- Peace

GNU Chess

Playing and being beaten by GNU Chess.

- Peace

More than food

From Tim's post about Melba

My son Mark and I have stopped by River of Life Lutheran Church in north Minneapolis a number of times these past two weeks. They open their basement kitchen each weekday to Loaves and Fishes, a program that serves free supper meals between 5:30 and 6:30. We heard about the program through a couple from our church that has made this a nightly event for themselves. They hang out, some times eating, but always listening, and usually praying with those who are interested.

I've noticed something about the Salvation Army's Center of Hope here in Calgary. We're good at serving food to people, but we're not good at sharing a meal with people. I need to move from talk to action as the good people at River of Life Lutheran Church have done.

- Peace

The Homeless in Uptown: Fear vs. Love

Jon Trott talks about the down side of his neighbourhood going from being one of the very poorest neighbourhoods in Chicago to one of the city's hottest real estate markets.

He includes this choice quote from a new neighbour

If city and park district services can eliminate rats and Asian beetles, why can't they eliminate homeless people who are determined to spoil our parks, threaten our health and safety?

Worth a read.

- Peace

25 Pseudo Random Obscure References

I've added a new feature to Who Reads What @ blogs4God. The system picks 25 items with only a single reference at random, well pseudo random at least, and lists them on the right hand side.

I just felt it would open things up a bit, away to spotlight stuff that otherwise would get overlooked. Enjoy!

- Peace

Calgary shelter residents stricken by Norovirus, tests show

Mystery solved. It was creepy to be down there knowing that something big was happening but not knowing what.

- Peace

A Song (for Kyle)

Halo 2 is on the way
E I E I O

November 9th is the big day
E I E I O

With a BLAM BLAM here
And a BLAM BLAM there
Here a BLAM there a BLAM
Everywhere a BLAM BLAM

Halo 2 is on the way
E I E I O

as seen on Mustard on Your Leg, a blog without perma links!

Course I'm waiting for it to come out on PC cause I'm a PS2 fan, and I'm not getting an xbox just to play Halo.

- Peace

Illness strikes Calgary Drop In centre clients

Kim, Sarah and I went down to the Center of Hope to help serve supper. As we drove past the Calgary Drop In Center (DI for short) we couldn't help but notice several ambulances and polices vehicles out side the building.

When we arived at the Center of Hope we were told the DI was in lockdown, something unknown was making people sick. Food poisoning was the word from one lady, but she also added "you don't quarintine people for food poising". To be honest standing there with my wife and daughter I was a little worried about what I had brought them into. Yeah it was happening a few blocks away, but lot's of people go back and forth between the DI and the Sally Anne every day.

While serving food we heard all sorts of comments, one guy said he'd been held hostage for three hours, several people said at least one person had died, their had been officers in bio hazard suits. There was no way to know how much was true. It was sureal.

We were told that the Center had received a phone call from officials warning everyone to wash their hands cause that's how the virus was spead. I made sure Sarah washed her hands!

We're back home and feeling ok. Sarah didn't eat supper but I think that was psychosymptomatic . On the other hand she cleaned up her area around the computer, she may be sicker than I thouht.

- Peace

Intel Kills Plans for Chip for Large-Screen TVs

The chip was designed to push the price of 50-inch projection TVs under $2,000.

So I guess I'll have to join Kris and just spend the money on a more expensive TV now.

- Peace

Vote? Explain Your Answer

an interesting if unworkable idea.

- Peace

You'd think I'd learn...

Ridding in November is dangerous. There's not enough ice to justify putting on a studded tire. Riding a studded tire for 15 km on bare pavement would just kill it. However, there is enough ice on the path in Fish Creek to be a pain in the knee, the knee that hit the ground hard after loosing my balance and traction on the ice. No major damage, but ouch!

On the upside I saw a group of nine deer crossing the road as I headed down into fish creek. And I saw one deer as I climbed up out of fish creek.

- Peace

A Revival in Calgary Prayer / Worship Meeting

[from my buddy Lonnie]

Saturday November 6 2004 1PM - 4PM
Rocky Mountain College
All Welcome
For More Info http://www.revivalcalgary.info

Myself (Lonnie Hartley) and (Kameron Robinson) from Axis (Center Street Church)
Have had it on our hearts to arrange this
We would like this, God willing to be a meeting of prayer and worship
to pray for revival in Calgary, That God will be in the forefront of
our Christian Lives and that he comes to the forefront of the lives of
non-Christians, a Re-awakening of Christianity in the hearts and minds
of people in Calgary.

Definition Of Revival :
A time of reawakened interest in religion. A meeting or series of
meetings for the purpose of reawakening religious faith, often
characterized by impassioned preaching and public testimony.

Renewed interest in religion, after indifference and decline; a period
of religious awakening; special religious interest.

And if you can't make it, Please pray about this, that it is a success.

Thank Your For Your Time

Mini Golf

Loyd introduced us to CandyStand Mini Golf last night, and then Sarah and Loyd left me feeling like I'd eaten a whole package of sours. Yes I sucked at thtat game.

- Peace

2600 km best year ever!

Yesterday, despite some ice and snow, I passed the 2600 km on the way back from work. That means 2004 is my best year ever for biking. My previous best was in Edmonton at just over 2500 km.

2600 km is 1000 km more than my original goal for this year, 400 km more than I did in 2003 and 2002 combined. That's despite getting hit by a truck and loosing six weeks.

This year I did some fantastic trail riding with friends including Bragg Creek, Revelstoke, Jasper and Canmore - Banff. Thanks guys!

So the 2005 goal is 3200km, double the 2004 goal. I'll get started on that in Feb. or March. In the meantime I'll be doing low impact work out class (trym gym) with Kim on Monday nights, a spin class once a week at the YMCA and walks in Fish Creek with Kim. The hope is to keep some of the progress I've made, so I'm not starting from scratch in 2005.

- Peace

Notes form the weekend

Had a great weekend in Nova Scotia. Surprised my grandparents, they didn?t know we were coming. It?s the only large family gathering we?ve had in ten years. Twenty nine members of the family were at the house to celebrate my Grandparents? 60th Anniversary. I think it?s safe to say a good time was had by all.

Hikes

the hill behind my Grandparents? place climbs 45 meters (~150 feet) and has a breath taking view of cape split. My mother, my daughter and I hiked the Partridge Island trail, it?s just 1.5 km and but it climbs then drops 40 meters. It?s a steep climb in places but takes you out into the bay for a magnificent view of Cape Blomidon, Cape Split and Spencer's Island. I really need to get a digital camera.

My daughter is an Albertan

After we left the main highway Sarah couldn?t understand why the road didn?t go strait to Parrsboro, there were so many curves! She did admit that it made the ride more interesting, compared crossing the prairies to Sask.

She bought a gift for a friend and was dismayed that the $26 dollar price tag meant paying almost $30. The 15% sales tax vs. the 7% we pay in Alberta was a shock to her system.

Long Day

On Monday I got up at 6:30 Atlantic time to have breakfast with my grandfather, who hass always been an early riser. Spent the morning hiking and then returned for lunch and packed. Drove to airport and departed from Halifax at 17:20. Flew to Calgary via Ottawa and Toronto. Arrived home at 1:00 Mountain time; that?s 4:00 Atlantic time. It was a twenty one hour day.

- Peace

60th Wedding Anniversary

Sarah and I are heading to Nova Scotia (the other side of the country) tomorrow to join the celebration of my maternal grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. Will be back late Monday. Have a good weekend.

- Peace

A Bicylce Built for... Dave?

Dave, I saw these and thought of you. I'd love to see you going down Elbow on one of those.

I enjoyed I Robot as an Asimov Fan!

Kim and I saw I,Robot on Sat, and just as every review said it had nothing to do with the I,Robot collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov. The move did have alot to do with ideas that Asimov developed in Foundation and Earth where he tied the Foundation and Robot serries together into one time line. I,Robot is a fun sci-fi action mystery and true to much Asminov latter writings on the Three Laws of Robotics. It's cool when you get more from a movie than you expected.

- Peace

Haunted Blog

I find abandoned blogs errie. They once had life, but all that's left is the ocational haunting in the comments Xavier+ has be come such a blog. Hasn't been updated since July. Francis never posted his email so there's no other way to touch base. Weird. Hope everything is ok with Francis. I'm removing Xavier+ from the blog roll.

Adding a return and two new blogs. Pernell Goodyear has returned to blogging and his wife Margie has joined him. Rev Joyleaf's wife Lori has also joined us blogging fools.

- Peace

Wild Life

I saw six deer and one hare on my ride home tonight. I live in a city of almost a million people. There are times I love living in Calgary. Tonight was one of them.

Next week when it snows, I won't be so happy... but for now Big Grin!

- Peace

It is what it is what it is

I like U2 because they aren't afraid to look at horror and misery, call it what it is, and not explain it away, but just let it be. It is. Suffering is.

-Peace

Happy Thanksgiving

Headed to Edmonton to spend Thanks Giving with my family.

- Peace

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

a big corporation doing good works until we all get bored of watching them do it. Yeah I'm a cynic.

- Peace

2002 + 2003 = 2200 km

On the way to work I passed the 2200 km mark for 2004. That means I've done the same amount of riding this year as I did for 2002 and 2003 combined. Big Grin.

The picuture on the right is of the famous Banff Springs Hotel. It was taken by my budy Lonnie as we neared the end of the Goat Creek Trail on Saturday.

- Peace

InfoWorld TechWatch: Open source - The Salvation Army of software?

- Peace

Stranger in a Strange Land: The Ellen Identity

I had never imagined that I would get a call from a CIA clandestine service recruiter ...

a must read.

- Peace

The 404 of Faith

Other favorite 404s: The System is Down, WMD and The Aglican Church of Canada's actual 404 page.

- Peace

Just short of 2100 km

Was on my way home, about 10 km from home (Elbow and Glenmore) when my chain broke.
Now given that I put 3400 km on my chain, it needed to be replaced. Thing is it was replaced on Saturday. This was a brand new less that 50 km chain that broke just as I started to cross Glenmore trail. grrr. Back to the bike shop and another nice day wasted.

- Peace

Google Local Canada

Google has a new search function for Canada called Local Canada. A friend sent me directions to a Tai Sub place saying it was accross from Wicked Wedge, and while I've heard of it, I've never been there. Searching for Wicked Wedge near Calgary AB did the trick though. I bike past there on the way home from work.

Google Local Canada also did well with Funky Pickle, my favorite pizza place in Edmonton.

And I'm not the only Candaian to notice it, see today's User Friendly.

- Peace

Back in the Saddle

My new Manitou Black Platinum fork came in on Saturday, I took the bike in to PedalHead at 1 pm and had it back by 5 pm. Went riding with Kim Sat night, didn't ride Sunday, or Monday but rode to work yesterday and today. This morning I passed the 2000 km mark for 2004. That 125% of my original 2004 goal of 1600 km. 2000 km was my goal for 2005.

The next big mile stone (km stone?) for me is the 2200 km mark. Anyone want to guess why?

I'm loving the new fork the lock out feature that lets me adjust how stiff the fork is on the fly. As I climb up out of fish creek I can reach down and flick the lock out to 75%, then as I reach to top of the hill I can set it back to 50%. Not sure what setting I'll use for trail ridding, but it's easy to experiment.

- Peace

Last Day of Summer, First Frost?

From Environment Canada:

city of Calgary
6:32 PM MDT Monday 20 September 2004

Frost warning for
city of Calgary continued

Frost is likely over most of southern Alberta tonight.

A ridge of high pressure will bring clearing skies and light winds to southern Alberta tonight. This will allow temperatures to drop to near or slightly below zero giving frost to many areas.

Calgary weather is just about as close to random as you can get.

- Peace

The Terminal

We saw The Terminal last week and really enjoyed it, more comedy, less romance. On a related note I found : Cornerstone Magazine :: **Cornerstone Classic** Down and Out at O'Hare by Chris Ramsey quite interesting.

- Peace

1952 km and holding

The good news: Yesterday morning on the way to work I passed the 1920 km mark, 120% of my goal for 2004.

The bad news: On the ride home I decided the bike has be come unrideable. At luch I had the front brakes readjusted, and by the ride home I had to unhook it for the last couple of kms.

Back in June when I was hit by a truck, there was damage to my frot fork. I noticed somthing was wrong when I started biking again in Aug, but it was minor as I rode on smooth paths there was push back on my left hand, even when going strait. At first I thought that the head set was out of alignment. After a few tries at realigning it, I got Al at PedalHead to take a closer look: indeed the front fork was damaged. I've been able to get by but the sitution has gotten worse. The front wheel rubs against the break pads and ridding becomes dog slow and very hard. I've ordered a new fork a Manitou Black Platnium, but until it comes in I won't be ridding anywhere.

- Peace

The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud

Got a preview copy of the first hour of The Question of God, a four hour series on PBS,Wed Sept 15 and Wed Sept 22.
Here's the blurb

This series explores, in an accessible and dramatic style, issues that preoccupy all thinking people today: What is happiness? How do we find meaning and purpose in our lives? How do we reconcile conflicting claims of love and sexuality? How do we cope with the problem of suffering and the inevitability of death? The series, based on a popular Harvard course taught by Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, author of the The Question of God, frames these issues through the eventful lives and challenging ideas of two of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century, Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. In the series , the ideas of Freud — an atheist and lifelong critic of religious belief — and Lewis — a Christian and arguably the most popular and widely read proponent of faith based on reason — are brought together in a debate centering on the central question of human existence: Does God exist? Each episode combines dramatic reconstruction with lively discussion led by Dr. Nicholi and commentary from other experts, and deals with a specific theme related to actual incidents and emotional turning points in the lives of Freud and Lewis.

From the first hour it looks like this will be an interesting and faithful introduction to Freud , Lewis and their ideas. I know a fair bit about Lewis and found his sections very representative of the man and his thinking. I now know I need to read A Grief Observed, where Lewis wrestles with his faith after the death of his wife.

I knew next to nothing about Freud, beyond the occasional cigar reference, and the sections devoted to him presented him as an great thinker and very real person.

I didn't find that the panel of experts added much to the discussion, but it was just the first hour. I'm hoping the discussion will get deeper to really wrestle with the idea, not just defend their entrenched positions.

And if you don't get it taped on the VCR, Amazon will have it on DVD.

BTW a PR firm working on the project has been recruiting us bloggers sending out the preview tape, looks like they're doing a good job: Matt Hall, David Peterson, Mark D. Roberts, Stacy Harp, Neely and Stuart Buck have all blogged it.

- Peace

Grief in September

Our men's group meets every second Saturday of the month, and we're going through Leap Over a Wall by Eugene Peterson, one chapter a month. Yesterday's meeting was on Sept 11th and the chapter was on Grief, David in Lament. Here's how Peterson closes the chapter:

A failure to lament is the a failure to connect. If we refuse to learn the Davidic lamentation, our lives fragment into episodes and anecdotes, a succession of jerky starts and gossipy cul-de-sacs. But we're in a story in which everything eventually comes together, a narrative in which all the puzzling parts finally fit, about which years later we exclaim, "Oh so that's what that meant!" But being in a story means that we mustn't attempt to get ahead of the plot -- skip the hard parts, erase the painful parts, detour the disappointments. Lament -- making the most of our loss without getting bogged down in it -- is a primary way of staying in the story. God is telling this story, remember. It's a large, capacious story. He doesn't look kindly on our editorial deletions. But he delights in our poetry.

For me this chapter took me back to Sept 8th, 2001 and the death of my father.

- Peace

Cool Web App Debug Tool for FireFox

If you need to see the headers being sent by a browser or web server check out the LiveHTTPHeaders extension for FireFox. I've used Muffin for this in the past. However, as a proxy Muffin can't display the headers sent over an SSL connection cause the data is encrypted between the server and the browser. LiveHTTPHeaders as a browser plug-in can display the headers after they've been decrypted. Too cool.

- Peace

Christy's argument for universal health care

seems like every time I read about someone actuall experience with an HMO, I'm very glad to be Canadian.

- Peace

110% down, 240 to km to go.

If you're wondering what that's about read this post.

Elim Hall

Elim Hall was one of my favorite bands from the 80's and I still listen to the Things Break casset when I drive my 94 Carrola. But now I have all the MP3s thanks to the Elim Hall Page at the music room. Under songs they link to the The London Music Archives that has archived music from in and around London Ontario in MP3.

My Favorite Elim Hall songs are Park in Spring and Terry and the Pirates. Enjoy!

- Peace

Arrogant?

The real problem is not the charge that you are arrogant but the distinct possibility that you actually are.

- James W. Sire, Habits of the Mind

Bears on the way to work

On the north side of Fish Creek Park is a sign that reads Warning, bear frequenting area, please proceed with extreme caution. Thank You.. Of course I enter from the south side of Fish Creek and there is no sign, so I see this as I'm climbing up out of the park, great!

How weird is it that I live in a city of almost a million people, but could still encounter bears on the way to work? Will let you know if I see any.

- Peace

Small, small world

Had a great lunch today with Warren Horricks who I met through the Resonate.ca mailing list. One of the resons Jordon and company created the list was so people who want to talk about Christian faith in post-whatever Canada can meet, on line and in person.

We talked about influences on our faith, favorite authors, vatious interests and people. Turns out we know a bunch of people in common from IVCF: Anne and Sam Biro, Kirsten Jefferies, Dat Ng, Richard Wan, James Peters... small world. [OK with Richard he figures that there's a good chance he's met him, but wasn't 100% sure]

- Peace

Me, Wayne, Heber on the Iron Springs trail last weekend, Aug 21. We got lost, we got muddy, a good time was had.

- Peace

Tough Weekend

We're heading to Sask to pick up some stuff from Kim's folks place. The house has been sold, the new owner will be there painting, the stuff has been moved the the garage.

This will be hard for Kim as it's the house her father built, the house she grew up in and the last trip to Sask directly connected to her parents.

- Peace

100% down, 400 km to go

Last night on the way home, in the rain, just after entering Fish Creek Park I passed the 1600 km mark for 2004. That was the goal I set last October.

So I'm now going to chase my 2005 goal of 2000 km. Course this morning I overslept and took the car...

- Peace

Poor Geek Theology

As a geek, it's easy to take someone's bad theology and logic turn it back on them and watch the chaos. But when I do that, it shows how I just don't grok my own theology: if I accept that God loves me unconditionaly, then I must accept that he has the same love and grace for those around me, even the ones with bad logic and theology.

Grace is wonderfuly recusive.

- Peace

Painful news for our church

This happened last Sunday, and I didn't have the energy to blog about it, but Pernell gives a quick out line.

- Peace

1440 km down 10% to go

On the way to work this morning I passed the 90% point for my 2004 biking goal of 1600 km.

- Peace

Back to Biking to work

Did my first day back to ridding to work. Was suprised how much I had to psych my self up for it. I guess getting hit freaked me out more than I thought. Anyway made it there and back, no issues.

- Peace

Sexy Baptists

I see blogger [owned by google] has removed the word sense ads from blogspot blogs, no more adds inviting you to date sexy baptists. Sorry.

- Peace

Intel delays cheap hi-def TV tech

Wayne and I have been watching this cause we'd both like new TVs and would hate to pay a fortune and then have better cheaper TVs hit the market. Intel was talking about $2000 USD for a 50 inch HDTV that was beter than $4000 USD TVs on the market by x-mas 2004. Oh well. ZDNet UK has more coverage.

- Peace

J B Phillips: The essential principles of translation

There seem to be three necessary tests which any work of transference from one language to another must pass before it can be classed as good translation. The first is simply that it must not sound like a translation at all. If it is skilfully done, and we are not previously informed, we should be quite unaware that it is a translation, even though the work we are reading is far distant from us in both time and place. That is a first, and indeed fundamental test, but it is not by itself sufficient. For the translator himself may be a skilful writer, and although he may have conveyed the essential meaning, characterisation and plot of the original author, he may have so strong a style of his own that he completely changes that of the original author. The example of this kind of translation which springs most readily to my mind is Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyaim. 1 would therefore make this the second test: that a translator does his work with the least possible obtrusion of his own personality. The third and final test which a good translator should be able to pass is that of being able to produce in the hearts and minds of his readers an effect equivalent to that produced by the author upon his original readers. Of course no translator living would claim that his work successfully achieved these three ideals. But he must bear them in mind constantly as principles for his guidance.

- Peace

C.S. Lewis on Bible Versions

The same divine humility which decreed that God should become a baby at a peasant-woman's breast, and later an arrested field preacher in the hands of the Roman police, decreed also that He should be preached in a vulgar, prosaic and unliterary language. If you can stomach the one, you can stomach the other. The Incarnation is in that sense, an incurably irreverent doctrine: Christianity, in that sense, an incurably irreverent religion. When we expect that it should have come before the World in all the beauty that we now feel in the Authorised Version we are as wide of the mark as the jews were in expecting that the Messiah would come as a great earthly King. The real sanctity, the real beauty and sublimity of the New Testament (as of Christ's life) are of a different sort: miles deeper or further in.

I used this quote to help explain why I'm a fan of The Message.

- Peace

Radiohead's I'm A Creep In Flash

thanks Karl

- Peace

Group Photo in Jasper, Anne Marrie, Wayne, Sarah, Kim, me.

Back from Jasper

Did 22 km of riding this weekend, mostly trail. Took one un intentional dismount while riding a cool piece of single track that leaves from Old Fort Point a goes around the golf course at the Jasper Park Lodge. Got a good look at a Elk Bull with antlers that must have been over four feet wide, and we saw some White tailed deer. It rained alot this weekend and we got very muddy on a ride up to Beaver and Sumit Lakes.

We found this listing of places to bike in Jasper great for finding trails.

That 22 km brings me to 1382 km for the year, I'm hoping to hit my goal of 1600 km by the end of Aug. I'd be thrilled if I could break 2000 km before the end of Oct. Oct is normally the end of the ridding season for me.

- Peace

In Jasper

I'm at the Soft Rock Cafe less than $2 gets you up to 15 minutes of net access. Just thought I'd say hi.

BTW This morning I did my first 2km of biking since being hit over a month ago.

- Peace

The Weekend in Bullets

Mike and I Arrived Saturday 2:00 am, accident on highway 2 clogged trafic, wait for food in Edmonton, more traffic just one of those trips. BTW it's about 850 km from my house to LT's cabin.

Woke up Saturday 9ish, had breakfast, LT introduced us to Linea.

Linea is a mom with seven kids!

Linea is a dentist who claims pulling teeth is easy, but teaching people to do it is hard.

Linea has practiced dentistry as a missionary in The Republic of Congo.

Talked a lot about Christian duty, I was arguing that there is no such thing. Will blog the ideas here when I can. Linea, LT and Mike me worked me over pretty good.

Linea returned to Price Albert late afternoon.

Had supper, Talked, drank Jones, watched signs, went to bed. I slept in the Element - all three nights.

Went to Church in Spiritwood, was welcomed back as family. People there are warm and have great memories. We have lunch plans for next year, go figure.

Wendy, her husband and their son Mark came back to the cabin and we had lunch. Wendy improvised some amazing Garlic bread with the spices she found at the cabin.

Jordon (Wendy's husband) and I talked about books and Eugeen Peterson in particular.

Late afternoon The Coopers headed home.

We had some snacks, talked about faith, our falleness, love forgiveness and grace. I threw pillows at Mike as a sign of how much God loved him. OK you had to be there, but it made sense at the time.

Went to bed.

Got up, had brunch talked, packed, prayed, left.

It was a great weekend, and I'm missing a ton of details, like how I must have mentioned to the Ragamuffin Gospel a 1000 times and how LT referred to his girlfriend Carrol as his wife, only once, but Mike and I noticed. I'm thinking LT could be Mr. Carrol by this time next year.

- Peace

Home

Had a great time, need sleep. Will try to fulsh out details before levaing for Jasper on Thurs.

- Peace

Camping and Conversation

Going to pick up Mike in Edmonton, then heading to Chitek Lake for Camping and Conversation with LT and whoever else stays at the cabin this weekend.

- Peace

Linux a hit: Frozen Bubble

My daughter was quite impressed with the games that come with her Linux install: Frozen Bubble has become quite the hit. For those without a Linux box there is a Java Port in progress.

- Peace

D.a.v.i.d. K.i.n.g.

One of the poems my daughter wrote at school this year.

Dances like a monkey
Always has answers
Video game geek
Intellectual and funny
Definitely super crazy

Knows so much
Interesting and weird man
Never ever un-embarrassing
Going to mountain bike

The never ever un-embarrassing line comes from the fact that I sang along with the Christmas carrols at Wal-Mart.

- Peace

The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

I'd read some interesting articles with the authors over the past few years, so I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed. Lot's of interesting ideas, but most of them require significant research before being usable. If you're a senior developer then this book will make you think, but I'd hesitate recomending it to fresh grads: too many cool neat ideas, not enough time spent talking about when they are appropriate.

I'm not sure this book would be a big help on the road from Journeyman to Master.

- Peace

Religion is ...

... when God leaves the room and people make up rules to fill the space -- Bono

- Peace

The Joy of Tech!: A Brief History of the Internet

Can anything escape the black hole of spam?

- Peace

Belonging

I've just started, The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, and Small Groups , which is based on the concept of the four spaces of belonging, and so far it seems like an interesting book.  Alot of it so far has to do with debunking the current theories of small groups.  Namely that they're the be-all and end-all of church life.  Basically, he's arguing that there are other ways to experience a significant sense of community within the church apart from small groups.  In fact, the other ways are actually necessary as ends in themselves not just as stepping stones to small group involvement.

Personally I'm finding it is helping me think through my various relationships, both their significance to me and the way I interact within them.  He's helping me see the importance of all my relationships not just my intimate ones.  That's good considering that's what he's trying to accomplish in this book.  I'm also discovering I'm most comfortable in the personal space, which is good to know. 

Begbie Falls near Revelstoke

Back in in June Wayne and I took our bikes to Revelstoke to do some trail riding. One of the trails took us to Begbie Falls and Wayne took some awsome pictures. The trails is about 2.5 km of fire road riding, fast and easy, but plenty of rocks, and about half a km of hiking to get close to the falls.

I'm just starting to experiment with blogger's new photo blogging features :)

- Peace

Slashdot Poll: Do You Sneeze When Exposed to Bright Light?

answer yes I do, I inherited it from my dad. My daughter does it too. It's funny how few people know this happens, when I explain it's a known condition people look at me like I'm crazy.

It's known as Photic Sneeze Reflex, and it happens to me when I'm in a dark building and then come into bright sun light unless I have my sun glasses on.

- Peace

2nd Annual Road Trip to Chitek Lake

LT is hosting his 2nd Annual Camping Trip and Mike and I are going up on Friday July 30 and coming back on Aug 2. Anyone from the Calgary/Edmonton/Chitek Lake corridor that would like a ride just let me know. I have room for 2 more.

- Peace

Snow Banks in July

On the way to work this morning, as I passed Anderson Road, there was what looked like snow banks. They had to plow the roads after last night's hail storm. I live just 5 km south and we had a wind, rain and lightning, but no hail. Other parts of the city got flooded out.

Weather in Alberta is just wild.

- Peace

Great Penguins! German Linux, Australian Wine

My old Dell PII 300 from 1997 had been running Win2000 for the last three years or so, but my daughter had got one too many viruses and when I cleaned them out the machine became unusable. I got the Win2000 disk from work, was told we were covered at home, but don't work there anymore so I can't re-install.

I've been insterested in Linux since my first Java app ran on it in 1998, but I've never had a reason to switch, other than just cause.

Now I have a dead Win2000 machine and it's too old for XP and I don't want to go buy a new Win2000 disk.

I also know that Linux gets hyped quite a bit, so I didn't want to waste a bunch of time on it. I googled Linux bootable CD and found out about KNOPPIX:

a bootable CD with a collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it.

Downloaded it, burned to CD (from my PC) and put it in the near dead dell. It booted, found the sound card and anounced it was 'Starting the boot sequence', then brought up the K Desktop [GUI] Environment. It also found my router and net connection and I was able to browse the web. I didn't need to tweak a single setting. I'm doing this post from Mozilla 1.6 on the old Dell. Works just fine.

Next step will be to get data off this machine, free up some serious disk space and then install a full version of Linux. Running KNOPPIX have given me hope that it's worth the time and effort. If you'd like a no risk way to give Linux a try KNOPPIX is the way.

For those who don't know TUX, the penguin is the official Linux mascot.

Wayne and Annemarie had invited me over for supper again, and I saw a billboard for Little Penguin Wine today. I checked out their web site and liked their Wine Pairing Tips. I picked up a bottel of their Cabernet Sauvignon, dry but smooth with a very pleasing taste. Went great the BQ Chicken.

What can I say I've a good run of luck with Penguins!

- Peace

Wired 12.07: The Trillion-Barrel Tar Pit

Interesting story on Alberta's tar sands projects, and the challenge of getting oil out of muck.

Not quite alone

Wayne and Annemarie had me over for supper last night, providing good food and good companionship. Much needed and much appreciated :)

- Peace

Sick and alone

OK so I start to feel like I'm on the road to recovery and I come down with the worst cold I've had in ages, and its triggering my Asthema as well. Sarah is in Edmonton vistiting a friend and Kim and the dog left today for Sask. I could use one of Mike's blues riffes right about now!

- Peace

Criminal Assault in Canada

Not I did not get assaulted. I did however tell a young woman at the ctrain station to put out her cigarette, cause I had gotten a good lung full of smoke and you can't smoke within three meters of a bus stop / LRT station in Calgary. Anyway I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention, and some guy (in his late fifties) starts telling me that it was assault, cause he knows what he's talking about and you can't touch a stranger. I told him he didn't have a clue and I would love him to find a transit officer so he could be proved wrong.

But just to be sure I double checked with Google when I got home and found this:

Thus spitting at someone would constitute [assault], whereas tapping someone on the shoulder to get their attention would not.

I love Google, I love being right. Course I let this guy get way under my skin and should have been way more Christ like that I was. So I was right, and yet handled it wrong. Sigh.

- Peace

Careless Driving and other things

I got a message from a member of the Calgary Police that the guy who hit me last monday has been charged with careless driving.

Driving a vehicle on a roadway without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for persons using the roadway, is considered careless driving. This results in a court appearance, six demerit points against your licence and up to a three-month licence suspension from the courts.

I also had an MRI today to see if he did any long term damage to my head.

But my worries have been put in perspective, one of the guys I grew up with at Brunswick Street Baptist Church passed away from brain cancer last week. Not sure what to say, other than it feels very odd to have someone I grew up with die. I guess that means I'm all grown up now.

- Peace

Catch Up

I was in Edmonton this weekend for my sister's wedding. I hope to have photos to share, as all the wedding photos were taken on high end digital cameras. So you'll see me in a tux.

Made it back to work yesterday, still sore but I was able to be productive.

Both rims on my bike will need to be replaced, as will the pedals, other than that the bike seems in good shape, better than me.

- Peace

Recovery Update

Ok so I've been home since Tues. Mostly just getting sleep, parts of me still really hurt. Tons of road rash. Yuck.
Thanks for your words and prayers.

- Peace

Woke Up in the Hospital

Biking home from work last night, I was hit by a truck. So they tell me, I woke up in hospital this morning. Got a bunch of cuts and hurt in several places. Still need to pick the bike up from the fire hall. Police say the guy in the truck was at fault. That's all I know.

- Peace

Quidam

We we're given 5th row VIP tickets to Quidam, the Cirque du Soleil show currently playing in Calgary. Unlike last year's very abstract Alegría, Quidam told a story you could follow if you paid close attention. It's the story of a family that has become creaky and brittle and how they've placed their spirit, or joy in a cage.

There's a lot going on and it's easy to miss the story developing. You need to keep an eye on the red balloons as they represent the joy of life. As well keep an eye on what's happening at the back of the stage. In mid act one of the main characters will appear at the back edge of the stage to watch, tying what's going on in the foreground to the developing story.

I found the Aerial Contortion in silk particularly moving. Isabelle Vaudelle acted out birth, growth, beauty and then death by suicide, the mother of the family then carries her body off stage. What did Isabelle's dance represent? Was it a tragedy in the mother's life, her own spirit? I don't know, but it was beautiful and disturbing at the same time.

But the show didn't stay heavy for long, their was some brilliant comedy involving members of the audience. The clowning didn't add much to the story but lightened the mood considerably.

In the end the family is reunited with their joy, where else but at the Circus? OK so the ending is lame, but what other hope would you expect Cirque Du Soleil to put forth?

- Peace

PopMatters Music Interview With Pedro the Lion

You were too busy steering the conversation toward the Lord/ to hear the voice of the Spirit saying 'shut the fuck up'/ you thought it must be the Devil trying to make you go astray/ besides it couldn't have been the Lord, since you don't believe he talks that way

hmmm... I may have material for my next sermon. I've definatly felt that way, with myslef and with some evangelical friends. Sometimes we don't know when to listen.

- Peace

Tough Questions

If you are not willing to be a homeless person's friend, then who will? If you are not willing to be his/her friend, why would that homeless person care what you think is best? Where does a homeless person belong? With you? If not, then where?

- The Homeless Guy

I'm meeting with a guy from the Center of Hope on Friday to talk about our Church getting more involved with the meal program. We already serve food, but we want to go and eat, listen and talk with the people there. This comes about in no small part due to a previous post from Kevin about a group of people who were willing to the feed but not eat with the homeless.

- Peace

1280 km down 20% to go

I passed the 80% of 1600 km mark on the way home tonight. I've now biked more than in all of last year. Big Freakish Grin!

Going to ride PowderFace with PedalHead's Group Ride tomorrow night. Pray for me, or rain ... what ever keeps me safe ;)

- Peace

Switchfoot: A voice for change

BTW SwitchFoot will be in Calgary July 17. See you there :)

- Peace

Big Sky Country

Dispatches from Outland - Daily Dispatches - Without Irony Department

Yup the prairies have a beauty all their own. Course I love the mountains, going Biking in Revelstoke this weekend, and I'm from the Maritimes and sunrise over the Atlantic is amazing, but so is big sky country.

- Peace

1120 km down, 30% to go

I passed the 1120 km mark last night. So 1600 looks very do able. I'm starting to have crazy dreams about 2600 km.

Going with PeadalHeads tonight to Sulphur Springs, I hear it's mostly climbing. Yuck. I hope to out their early and get a head start and 'let' the 'slow' group catch up to me.

- Peace

Who Reads What now has comments

I used my old Haloscan account to give WRW a comment system. Be the first one to give it a try.

UPDATE: posting works, but the comment count doesn't, sigh. I'll have to dig through the HaloScan support forums to figure out what's wrong.

UPDATE 2: looks like HaloScan was just having a bad day, everthing seems to be fine now.

- Peace

Out Classed

Ok so on Wed night I went biking in Canmore in an area known as the Bench Lands. It's in the north east corner of Canmore, no where near the Nordic Center, I was wrong.

The slow group on Wed was made up of Alan and Ian, who were leading the ride, and three terminally good looking twenty something females. And your truly, over weight 30 something. At one point when I caught up to them they were talking about the Marathons they run. Yeah not good for the my inner chauvinist ego.

I felt like I need a group bellow slow riding, a Bike and Hike group. Oh well that's what I go for: to challenge myself. I just wish the gap wasn't so big or apparent.

- Peace

My own desert

Well, it's time for me to start thinking about my own desert/wilderness experience. That is, after all, the substance of my first assignment.

Given that I'm not as introspective as I should be exercises like this aren't easy. It seems to me that my eremos is not one of sight or of sound... but of the mind. The aspect of the eremos experience that I can currently relate to is that of leaving behind both the expectations of others and of self and attempting to listen soley to God.

In the desert you realize in order to survive you can't worry about what you "should" do. In the heat and dryness you only have enough energy and resouces to focus on the things you must do. Right now I'm trying to differentiate between those things - what I should do to please others and self and those things I must do to please God.

NOTE: I just realized I was supposed to write about our response in the desert. Unfortunately, in the desert you can't always follow your plan, you must move with the rhythm of the creation around you.

How did I get here?

Yes, this is how long it takes for me to read through one article. I'm starting to think the 3rd week of Sept. deadline maybe be a tad early.

For those of you interested in language, our word "hermit" comes from "eremites", which is one who chooses to live in an "eremos" or desert/wilderness. Hermits actually seek places of isolation, desperation and danger in which to live. Why? Because they know these places provide the greatest opportunity to develop our spirit's capacities and to truly know God.

So, must we all become hermits in order to truly know God. Of course not. We just need to have eyes that see the eremos around us, then respond accordingly. Some examples of eremos that we can encounter include: broken relationships, memories of abuse, loss of employement, physical injuries, church controversies, etc. Some words that describe an eremos: wandering, alone, thirsty, broken, cut off, uncertain, chaotic, and so on. If you can relate to any of these circumstances or words you may be in the midst of an eremos experience.

It is true that we do not choose many of these circumstances, yet in a way, when we hand our lives over to God we should know that he will eventually take us through these various experiences to help transorm us into the people he has created us to be.

NEXT: What is the proper response in the eremos?

Biking in Canmore

Heading out tonight for the PedalHeads group ride. Going to the Canmore Nordic Center. Here's what Tourism Canmore has to say:

Canmore Nordic Centre Mountain Biking Trails
Difficulty Rating: Light to Difficult
Distance: Over 60 km of trails.
Location: From Canmore, follow the signs from downtown.

"With the Bow River on one side and the jutting, snow-capped Canadian Rockies on the other, the Canmore Nordic Centre is the model venue for a World Cup cross-country event...Find seven more like this, and the World Cup would never have to go anywhere else."
-Velo News, August 14, 2000

It's also great fun for recreational riding.

Designed and developed for the cross-country ski and biathlon events of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, the Canmore Nordic Centre offers you over 60 km of exhilarating trails, ranging from rolling doubletrack to plenty of steep and gnarly singletrack. A stop on the World Cup mountain bike circuit from 1998-2000, the Nordic Centre has challenged the world's best riders.

I'll let you know how it goes.

- Peace

Welcome to Planet Pixar

I used to say for years that story was the most important thing to us, Then I realized that all the other studios were saying the same thing. They say that and then they go and produce crap. What you say doesn't mean a damn thing. It's what you do that matters.

Ed Catmull, Pixar's president.

- Peace

Boom!

POD tonight!

Into the Desert / Wilderness

For the next little while I'll be working on some papers for a course on the desert/wilderness theme in Christian spirituality so I thought I'd (actually Dave told me to) share some thoughts on a subject that is still unfamiliar to me.

The reason I say "desert/wilderness" is b/c the greek word - eremos - can be interepretted either way (Compare NIV and NLT) and actually refers to a lonely place, uninhabited by people. It may be a dry, parched land, or an ocean storm threatening to drown you. It may be a steep cliff off of which you could fall if the slightest breeze comes your way. It may be a thick forest with the constant threat of dangerous beasts. Essentially, an eremos is a place without the companionship, resources or distractions of others. We are alone in the eremos and we fear for our survival.

If you haven't been there yet, you will be someday. When that day comes you will be left with only yourself, your true self, in the presence of your Creator; and the only stance that will allow you to survive will be one of humility, gratitude and absolute reliance upon him.

NEXT: how do we end up in an eremos?

Go for souls and go for the worst

Did not jump log, Hit log, fliped bike, landed on log, pain

ok, so it's not too bad, made it back on my own power, but not looking forward moving in the morning.

- Peace

Joss Whedon's Next Project: Astonishing X-Men Comic Books

I never got into Buffy, but I'm a huge fan of Fire Fly, so I may look into getting this serries.

- Peace

There is no try

From Matthew 25

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.

It dawned on me this week that there no quality given to each of these acts, no I was thirsty and you gave me something really good to drink, I was sick and you stopped to visit with just the right words. It's so easy not to do something cause we don't know how or feel that we're not good enough, and yet Love requires that we step up and reach out.

- Peace

800 km down 800 km to go

Biking to work this morning I passed the 800 km point for the year. I also passed the 400 km point for May. So I think I can safely set 1200 km as my goal for end of June. Even in Calgary June tends to have less snow than May, so I should be able to beat 400 km for June. You may or may not remember that 1200 km was my total distance last year.

- Peace

It's a little long, but I think this quotatin does a decent job of summarizing Peterson's point in Under the Unpredictable Plant.

"...I was with a person who treated me with great dignity. Or, more particularly, he treated my God-interest, my prayer-hunger with great dignity...It was accomplished by means of Reuben's prayerful listening. He had nothing to tell me, although he freely talked about himself when it was appropriate...Reuben assumed a stance of wonderment. In his company, I also began to enter into wonder. For his attentiveness was not to me, as such, but to God. Slowly his attitude began to infect me - I gradually began to lose interest in myself and got interested in God in me."

Although this book is about the vocation of a pastor, this seems like a good stance for all Christians to aim for.

Roll up the Rim and say ah

Roll up the Rim and say ah
That wouldn't be a bad idea in Calgary. Getting a familly Dr. is like playing the lotto. Anyone else had problems getting a Dr. in Canada or else where?

- Peace

Survived my first group ride in two years.

Did the Sibald Flats Ride, last night. Talk about a misnomer, the first half of the ride is up and down like crazy. I was able to keep up with one young lady who's a new rider, she was very timid heading down hill. I was much slower going up so I caught up with her at the base of each climb. Two other guys bailed and took the short cut to the easier part of the path, so I guess I wasn't dead last ;) Realy need to work on my climbing.

Took one unplanned dismount, but didn't bend, twist or break anything on the bike or myself so it's all good.

The next PedalHead Group Ride is June 2,in Fish Creek, at the south end of Elbow Drive. Just 3km from my house. Luckily it doesn't conflict with the Stanley Cup Schedule.

- Peace

Attitude and Behaviour Survey

Bene Diction links to an American survey on Christian Attitude and Behaviour towards the poor. The major draw back of the survey is that it never defines the term poor, but asks what you think of poor people, are they lazy, unlucky, hardworking, kind?

There are lazzy poor people, there are working poor people who most of us could never keep up with, there are people who are down on their luck and people who are trapped in addiction. I just don't think the survey captures the complexity of poverty, or allowed me to express the view that the causes are specific to each person.

- Peace

Old School NHL Fan

From Greg Grant of the Online Folk Festival via email.

Old School NHL fans pull for teams in this order in
any playoff series:

1) Your team
2) The team playing the team you most enjoy hating
(ie, Red Wings fans may pull for whomever is playing
Colorado, and Maple Leafs fans may pull for whomever
is playing Montreal before invoking the remaining
rooting precedence structure).
3) The Canadian team
4) The Original 6 team not from Canada. In the event
two Original 6 teams are playing each other, you
should root for the team that is not the Rangers.
They won their Cup a few years ago, and if it takes
another 40 years to win it again, that's just fine for
the true Old School NHL fan.
5) The first set of expansion teams (Buffalo, Pgh,
Philly, etc.)
6) The team north of the Mason-Dixon line and east of
the Mississippi
7) The team west of the Mississippi and north of the
Mason-Dixon line

Corollaries to the above: since an Old School NHL fan
holds grudges, has a long memory, and has a sense of
history, you may not in any event pull for:

1) Any team that has moved out of Canada (Phoenix,
Colorado)
2) Any team that has moved out of Minnesota (a.k.a.,
the Canada of America) [Dallas]
3) Any team that has been in the league for less than
5 years

Therefore, it is clear that if you are an Old School
NHL fan, you will be pulling for the Calgary Flames in
the finals over Tampa Bay, since they carry the banner
for Canada (see Rule 3) and Tampa Bay is below the
Mason-Dixon line (and may only be supported if it is,
indeed, your team. Of course, since no Old School NHL
fan would have the Tampa Bay Lightning as their team,
this point is truly moot). The Root Canadian Rule
would also take precedence over the Flyers.

In the event that two teams below the Mason-Dixon line
would end up in the finals then it doesn't matter whom
you root for, since Old School NHL fans would be
thoroughly disgusted and will simply be watching in
hopes of catching some really fierce checks, since the
presence of both teams in the NHL is truly an
abomination and they cannot really root for either team.

BTW my daughter has invoked rule #2 to cheer for Tampa, having been born in Edmonton she just can't cheer for the Flames.

- Peace

640 km down, 60% to go

On Thursday night I passed the 640 km mark. But the weather has been ugly (wet, cold and the verge of snow) so this week will need to be a solid week of biking to make 800 km by the end of may. Also I'm hoping to head up to men's camp and pine lake next weekend, and I'd rather leave the bike behind. The ridding at pine lake isn't the best, it's just gravel roads all around the lake, and it's lots of loose gravel, tough to ride in.

Wed I'm planning on heading out to Sibald Flats for the PedalHead group ride. Should be quite the humbling experience, the people are always great and the slow group waits up, but I hate always begin last. The folks on the wed night ride are always great, but I just hate being last. Oh well it's the challenge I'm looking for.

- Peace

just wondering

Have you ever wondered "Who Listens to What?" (hint, hint, Dave)

Raw Faith: Doesn't Vern Make You Mad?

- Peace

Doubting the Doomsayers - Philip Yancy

As a journalist who often travels internationally, I am well aware of the major problems that face our planet: global warming, income disparity, terrorism and wars, SARS, AIDS and other diseases. At the same time, I find it genuinely heartwarming to learn of the progress that has occurred during my lifetime.

A century ago, theological liberals rightly complained that conservative Christians cared for souls but not bodies. Liberals led the way in social reform. Now, evangelical organizations such as World Vision, World Concern, and Opportunity International are among the most prominent and effective dispensers of 'common grace' to a needy world.

After several days of research, I paused to give thanks for this remarkable progress. I have learned not to believe everything I read on the Internet, and not to believe everything I hear from doomsayers.

- Peace

Pastor?

I'm coming to the end of "Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness" and I'm getting a feel for what Peterson thinks a pastor isn't moreso than what a pastor is. This is probably b/c I'm so used to thinking of a pastor in the wrong way, according to Peterson, that I'm having trouble picturing the day-to-day life of Peterson's model.

Having said that, I'm interested in hearing what you consider a pastor to be, i.e. who is a pastor and what does a pastor do?

On the way home

I'm at the tourist center near the world's tallest teepee in Medicinehat Alerta. We've stopped to eat our lunch and let the dog use the dog run. They have free net access in the gift shop. More when I get home.

- Peace

Bill Hybels of Willow Creek visits U2 in Dublin

sad news

My father in law passed away yesterday. Kim left for Moosejaw last night. Sarah and I will stay in Calgary for a couple of days till funeral plans are made.

- Peace

Beautiful Letdown

Sarah, (my 11 year old daughter) picked up a copy of Switchfoot's The Beautiful Letdown, and in small doses it's good, enjoyable alt/rock/pop. As an album the biggests drawback is most of the songs center around wanting more, being dissatisfied, longing. And on their own they're fine songs, but with 11 songs I find my self longing for some emotional and spiritual range.

- Peace

New Logo?

Just playing with Gimp 2.0 so what do you think?



Can I use it as my logo or has it been done?

- Peace

Native Comments

I've turned on the native blogger comments. Not sure when blogger got comments, but there are days where haloscan is just so slow... Course they lasted longer than any of the other commenting systems I tried. So leave a comment and tell me what you think.

- Peace

Reading Week

Durring the winter I do most of my reading on the train, one of the plusses of public transit, then durring the summer I ride my bike. Looks like I'll get caught up on some reading this week. Here's the forcast in brief

(Today)Chance of showers
Tue Snow
Wed Snow
Thrus Chance of flurries
Friday Showers or flurries

BTW I'm reading: The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master and I should be able to get start on: THabits of the Mind: Intellectual Life As a Christian Calling
by James W. Sire

- Peace

Christian Curses

Do you ever find yourself overwhelmed with righteous indignation, but without the words to express it?

If phrases like these would be useful in your arsenal of chastisement you can find more here.

"Listen, O thou breaker of the commandments, for you will be pursued into the mountains by sex-mad baboons!"

"Hear this, O ye sad Pharisee, for you will be cast onto a steaming dung-heap!"

Calgary in Spring

A poem

Birds are returning
Flowers are blooming
Trees are in leaf
and filled with snow

Yup we got hit with a May snow storm. Calgary gets an average of 10.2 centimetres of snow in May. My fith spring in Calgary, you think I'd get used to the idea, but it still just seems wrong.

- Peace

480km down 70% to go

I was kept a wake last night by the Calgary Flames fans, who partied well into the wee hours. But I didn't mind, the Flames did what no one thought they could, beat the best (and one of the most expensive) teams in the NHL. And that enought to make even me a fan.

Dispite the late night, I got up early and biked to my 7:00 am breakfast meeting (ok I was 10 minutes late), and then onto work. One the way home I was chased by raind clouds, but a the wind was at my back as I past the 30% mark and it felt good. Not getting past first round of play offs for the first time in 15 years good, not even two playoff shut outs good, nor a last minute goal to win in six good, but good.

- Peace

Blindside: About a burning fire

picked up the new Blindside CD, cause they're opening for POD here in Calgary June 8th!

Going to listen to it in the car on the way to Edmonton, my sister is graduating from Taylor University with a Masters in Cross Cultural Ministry.

- Peace

Good news for Grits!, Bad news for the country.

LT is helping with the election campaign of the Liberal candidate in his riding, and so he was understandably happy with the news that the Liberals may be looking a fourth majority government.

But while a bounce in the polls is good news for the grits, I think it's bad news for the country.

Goverments are like underwear and should be changed on a regular basis, that applies to the Liberals in Owtawa and the Conservatives in Edmonton.

Minority governments can be good for the country, they force people to be creative and work together, allowing more voices to be truly heard in the house of commons.

Jack Leighton has promised support for a proportional representation system would be an NDP demand to work with the Liberals in a minority situation. First past the post is an unhealthy system, you can win 80% of the seats in the house with less than 50% of the votes. A proportional system would significantly reduce the regional politics we have now, allowing Liberals to be elected in the west (a least a few) and conservatives to be elected in Ontario.

- Peace

GMail anyone?

Signed into gmail and saw this:

Thanks for using Gmail and helping us improve the service. We're ready to expand our test to a few more users, and because you've been a trusted early tester of Gmail, we're looking for your help. Please invite a few more people who you think would like Gmail and could help us make it even better.

They've given me two invitations to use, comment if you want in.

- Peace

UPDATE: These are long gone, email asking to beinvited will be ignored.

Lenton Reflections

Now that Lent has come and gone, I'm interested in hearing from people who gave something up for 40 days. In particular, what is the purpose behind doing so and what did you experience through the process?

I've never done it myself b/c I'm not quite clear how giving something up, e.g. pop, relates to Jesus' sacrifice. I would like to give something up next year, but I would like to understand the significance first.

320 km down, 80% to go

I passed the 320 mark on the way home today. I lost over a week of biking to snow and a cracked rim on my rear wheel, but I've biked every day for over a week and I'm a head of the game. Almost doubling my weekday ride from 20 km to 35 km most days has been huge. I'm draging my self up that last hill on the way home, but it's getting easier.

I'm setting my goal for the end of May to be past the 800 km/50% mark.

- Peace

From U2 to the Anglican Church

If U2 can teach us to be honest in prayer, what can the Anglican Church teach us?

Here is a link to the Common Book of Prayer. I've linked to the US version b/c the Canadian version doesn't seem to have the Psalms. You can look around at all the versions once you're there.

Enjoy

May is Psalms Month

Half way through Under the Unpredictable Plant, Peterson challenges his readers to undertake a new discipline. He argues that this discipline along with Common Worship on Sundays and Recollected Prayer throughout the week provide the "basic pattern for our praying life and developing spirituality."

This discipline is the act of praying through the Psalms sequentially every month. With Peterson in the back of my mind, this almost sounds sacrilegious, but I'll say it anyway, if you're interested in trying this out with me, I'm going to start May 1. The sequence for the first 15 days is laid out for you here.

According to Peterson, "The basic Rule of Common Worship/Psalms-Prayer/Recollected Prayer is where we start from and return to - always."

The anti-Warren

Here's how Peterson describes his congregation in, Under the Unpredictable Plant,

These were the people for whom I was praying and for whom I was writing, these people whose spirits had taken early retirement, whose minds had been checked at the door. Suburbia lobotomized spirituality. In the flatness and boredom I lost respect for these anemic lives. These people who assembled in worship with me each week had such puny ideas of themselves. In a fast-food culture they came to church for fast-religion help (p.62).

He does come to say that he learns to see them in a different light, but still, this is the condition he sees them in. It's a good observation, but I pity the pastor who says that on a sunday morning.

It raises an interesting point though, which is that in order to see people as Christ does we have to both see them as they could be and as they truly are. I guess it is best to be honest about the condition of the people around us w/o being judgemental, and to honestly admit we fall into the same catagories.

It's refreshing to read a book by someone whose authentic criticisms are more uplifting than the guilt-producing idealisms that are often portrayed.

WRW is back up.

Amazon uses ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1) encoding for it's data, but does not declare it in the XML. So one 'é' brought WRW to it's knees. The bug has been fixed.

- Peace

I have GMail!

I have a gmail account, drop me a line at djking@gmail.com.

In other news I'm gettting some bad data from amazon, so WRW could be down for a while unit I find the problem.

- Peace

Honesty

Here's the blog form of my sermon from Sunday.

You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

These two commandments define our understanding of honesty. And while important and deserving of a many a sermon, they are not this sermon's focus.

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Friends speak the truth in love, that has huge implications for our relationships, but this is not that sermon either. Mostly cause I'm unqualified to give that sermon, thruth is easy, in love - I'm still working on that.

This is a call to Pray Naked, to be honest with God and tell him where you're at. Can you do that? Can you really pray what's on your heart? After all the heart can be a messy place.

Can prayer be like U2's Wake Up Dead Man?

Jesus, Jesus help me
I'm alone in this world
And a fucked up world it is too
Tell me, tell me the story
The one about eternity
And the way it's all gonna be

Wake up, wake up dead man

Ok maybe not, cause U2 is rock band, and they use language you wouldn't expect to hear in Church. So what do we do with this

God, you've walked off and left us,
you've disgraced us and won't fight for us.

You made us turn tail and run;
those who hate us have cleaned us out.

You delivered us as sheep to the butcher,
you scattered us to the four winds.

You sold your people at a discount--
you made nothing on the sale.

All this came down on us,
and we've done nothing to deserve it.

We never betrayed your Covenant: our hearts
were never false, our feet never left your path.

[Psalm 44]

or this

And you, Babylonians--ravagers!
A reward to whoever gets back at you
for all you've done to us;

Yes, a reward to the one who grabs your babies
and smashes their heads on the rocks!

[Psalm 137]

To be honest, I don't know. I can't explain why bad things happen to good people, but I can relate to the confusion and asking 'God where are you?'

I don't know how to reconcile God's grace the blood lust of Psalm 137. But if these things are in the psalms, the place where Christians have learned to pray for thousands of years, then there is nothing in your life you can not pray.

It would be tempting to stop here, to leave it at: it's ok to shout at God, but I need to give a warning.

If we're Honest with God he will be honest with us.

My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline,
but don't be crushed by it either.

It's the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.

[Hebrews 12]

Not that He isn't always honest, but I find when I'm honest with him, I'm more open to hearing him being honest with me.


so that's abou it, there was more but this gives you the basic out line.

I need to thank Brian J. Walsh for his sermon Wake Up Dead Man, singing the songs of lament from Get Up Off Your Knees as I was half way through preparing for the sermon, and fit perfectly with my working title of violent prayer.

Some friends thought quoting Wake up dead in church would be risky, and Brian J Walsh says the same in his sermon, but I got nothing but positive feedback and lots of support.

- Peace

Sunday morning "worship"

For those of you who couldn't make it to South Meadows on Sunday, you missed a good gathering. You know that when a preacher drops the f-bomb in a prayer and it goes over okay the congregation must be willing to accept some honest prayers / pray-ers. The message was thought-provoking and delivered in a laid back style that I found refreshing, i.e. it didn't feel like a sermon.

Since I'm on the topic, I would like to raise the question of the purpose behind Sunday morning "worship" services. In particular, I would like to read comments on the view that says worship gatherings are all about God. Is that actually a biblical view of Christian gatherings? Is it God's desire to have people come together to sing several songs (how many of those words are sincere & does sincerety matter? ), hear a sermon (how much do they really impact us?), partake in sacraments, and leave with nothing but superficial interaction b/w congregants (&God?)? Where do we see this in scripture?

(yes, I like brackets)

Onion Taken Seriously, Film at 11

This is both funny and sad. The funny part is obvious The sad part is there are too many 'Christians' who don't love Truth, and won't take the time to check out a story. If we are his sheep, then we need to train our ears to hear the Truth.

BTW I'm preaching on Honesty and truth tomorrow at South Meadows, so if you're in Calgary, feel free to come by and hear me preach. We meet in the Deer Run Community Center at 10 am.

- Peace

Here I go

Well, thanks to Dave I've begun reading, Under the Unpredictable Plant, by Eugene Peterson. Already (30pgs in) it has sparked a thought about something I first learned, and continue to learn over and over again in marriage, which is that the sooner I'm honest with myself and the other person in the relationship, the sooner healing, reconciliation, resolution, etc. can occur. Lately, I've been applying that principle more and more to my relationship with God and the religion that so often follows. I'm thankful for the example of biblical writers who were painfully honest with themselves & God and for writers like Peterson, Kimball & McLaren who give me permission to be more honest with myself, God, and others around me.