Catholic copyright Jan 24, 2006
This is the kind of thing that I think gives Christianity a bad name:  The Vatican is copyrighting everything the Pope says, which means they'll also be charging money for it.  The copyright is also retroactive:  It applies to the past 3 Popes before the current one.  (via Boing Boing)

Even though I don't associate myself with the Catholic Church (Catholicism is in fact different from Christianity, though we can peacefully coexist), a lot of people do, and this is unfortunate.  Christianity is the belief in God and his son Jesus Christ, who acted as a sacrifice for our sins by dying on the cross.  Catholicism is the same thing, with the addition of a Pope (an infallible being sent from God ... or elected by a bunch of high-ranking Catholic officials), confirmation (mandatory membership in the church), and lent (the thing where everybody stops eating chocolate for a month). #religion
Bible reading Jan 7, 2006
In accordance with my New Year's resolution, I've been reading the Bible every day.  Sure it's only been a few days, but it's going well. 

I've read through the entire Bible twice in the past.  I came to the conclusion that I wanted to read through the Bible because I had been a Christian for a while and decided that, as a Christian, I should try to know what I'm talking about.  So I started reading 5 chapters a day, right before I went to bed at night.  This was during college, and it went through the summer after my freshman year and into my sophomore year.  I finished it in about 8 or 9 months.  I kept a list of all the interesting verses I found and I asked smart people a bunch of questions on issues I encountered.  All in all, it was a good experience, but it felt like more of a task and less of a getting-to-know-God-better type of thing. 

The second time I did it, I started in October of 2004.  I read through it with Wendy because I figured it would be good to talk to someone about what I was reading, knowing that the person would be reading the same thing as me.  We followed a schedule from this site (also here) that had us read from a different book of the Bible each day.  Each of the seven days of the week was assigned a different topic of books:  Epistles, Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy, and Gospel.  It seemed like a good idea because it would avoid getting boring.  It turned out to be a relatively good way to do it, but it was very confusing because we were simultaneously reading from 7 different books and following 7 different stories/plots/lessons. That made it a bit complicated. 

So this time, I'm reading through the Bible with a group of people from my Bible study, and we're following the outline in Our Daily Bread, which has a "Bible In One Year" segment.  It has us read a couple chapters from the Old Testament and maybe a chapter from the New Testament each day.  It only takes about 15 or 20 minutes to do the reading, and it's much easier to follow just 2 different stories/plots/lessons.  When I finish it at the end of 2006, I'll hopefully remember to write about it. #religion
Moment of driving clarity Jan 3, 2006
I had a moment of clarity while driving to work this morning.  I was stuck behind someone who was going about 25 mph.  Sure the roads were bad because it was snowing, but I don't think there's much of a difference between going 30 and going 25.  I wanted to go 30.  But then I was thinking and came to the conclusion that perhaps this person was driving slowly in front of me for a reason.  Maybe it's to keep me safe.  Maybe it's so I don't get another speeding ticket.  Maybe the road will suddenly blow up in front of this person and will engulf their car in a fiery ball of mayhem, leaving my car untouched.  Whatever the reason, maybe God has a plan.  I have to remember that more often. 

I came to this realization a few times in the past.  As I'm driving behind someone who's going slower than I'd like, I think about passing them over the double yellow lines.  But then I think, Maybe there's a cop up ahead just waiting to give me a ticket.  Maybe there's a reason why I'm stuck in unfavorable situations. #religion
New year Jan 1, 2006
[I wonder if there's anyone with a website that hasn't written a post called "new year".  I'm so unoriginal.]

Like all dumb people, I have a New Year's resolution.  It's not to be a better person or to work out 4 times a week.  It's not to give more money to the homeless or climb the Eiffel Tower.  My New Year's resolution is to read the Bible cover to cover.  This is absolutely an obtainable goal, and it's something that I know I'll complete.  I've done it a couple times in the past, but the difference with this time is that I'm doing it with a few other people.  This could be good because we can talk about different things that we learned or different passages that we don't understand.  It's also good because we can encourage each other in doing it.  Another thing that's different about this time is that I'm planning on writing a brief summary of every chapter in the Bible.  Just a one-line thing.  (I also have a grandiose plan in the back of my head to computerize this as well, but I'm not sure how I want to do that just yet.)  This might also be accompanied by some themes or lessons learned.  I'm not quite sure about the details; I'll figure it out as I go.  One thing that always causes me problems with long-term tasks is that I'm mildly obsessive compulsive.  So if I start something one way, I'll want to finish it the same way.  I'm hoping to get away from that a little bit by allowing the process to change over time. #religion
Halo and 2 Peter Dec 12, 2005
This guy claims that the story of the XBox game Halo is taken from 2 Peter chapter 2.  I don't know about this... #religion
TV a la carte Nov 30, 2005
This ongoing debate between the FCC and cable providers about TV a la carte really gets to me.  [I'm claiming that I was the first person on earth to think of this idea.  You're welcome.]  I mean, who wouldn't want to choose exactly which channels to get, instead of being fed a bunch of junk from cable providers?  And then I found that person.  She called into a radio station this morning, saying that she occasionally likes to watch old movies on one of those old movie channels, but she probably wouldn't select that channel because she doesn't watch it that often.  So she feels that this would put those channels out of business.  Oh, what a travesty.  I would be crushed if those poor little TV channels that no one watches went out of business.  I would cry myself to sleep every night. 

And the other major competition is televangelists.  This kills me because I'm supposedly "on their side".  The Christian connection.  Their argument is that their main purpose is to reach out to the unchurched.  Most normal people wouldn't select religious channels as part of their viewing pleasure if they had the choice.  I know I wouldn't.  So the televangelists think they'll be losing their ministry.  I agree with that.  But I also think it's not entirely a bad thing.  Personally, I don't know anyone that actually benefits from those channels.  Perhaps there's a person out there who came to know Christ from a televangelist.  I'd like to meet that person.  And to quote the liberal-leftist-atheist talk show host I was listening to this morning, "What did God do before cable?"  Amen, lefty. 

But on a serious note, I do slightly support televangelists and the like, because I think they do perform a viable service.  They have the availability to reach out to billions of people across the globe.  This is a great thing, and it's something that was unheard of 50 years ago. 

And here's an even better idea than TV a la carte:  TV on-demand.  Instead of selecting the channels you want, you select the shows/programming you want, regardless of the channel.  So instead of channel surfing to see what's on, you choose what's on by selecting from a list of available options. #religion
Divorce Nov 29, 2005
I believe in God.  And I believe in a devil.  Maybe not a horned, hooved devil.  But an opposer of God; an adversary.  Good presupposes evil.  If there is a God, there must be a devil. 

I think that one of the things the devil rejoices over is divorce.  Statistics say that about half of marriages end in divorce.  And this isn't just the devil-worshipping heathens (term used jokingly); it applies to Christian marriages too.  So then people start to think, "Why get married if it'll just end in divorce?"  The next step after serious dating then becomes living together.  While this isn't the worst thing in the world, it's like taking something good and twisting it.  I'm not saying that these people are obeying the devil.  I'm just saying that these cultural norms are all part of the devil's plan:  Opposing God.  So each time a married person gets that idea in their head, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," the devil is saying "Eggzelent!" and twiddling his red, pointy fingers. 

[Disclaimer:  I know some people who live together but aren't married.  I don't think they worship the devil.  And this post isn't directed at them.  It's directed at the thought pattern of people who live together as the next step after casual dating.  First comes holding hands, then kissing, then living together.  Then the breakup and starting from the beginning to do it all over again.] #religion
Jello fight Nov 19, 2005
One of the best experiences in my entire life happened when I was in youth group in high school.  The pastor's wife was the youth group leader, and she invited everyone over to their house to have a jello fight.  Yes, a jello fight.  I was kind of skeptical at first because I wasn't really sure how it would work.  But I went along with it.  We each made a few packages of jello and brought them to their house in plastic bags.  We were in their backyard, and when the time came, somebody yelled out, "Jello fight!" and we let loose.  I don't remember if there was a point or a winner.  All I know is that we threw jello at each other.  And that's all that matters in my book. 

The best part came when I saw the pastor's wife running for cover.  She was throwing her bag of jello like you'd think a pastor's wife would throw (I don't really know what I mean by that, but basically she was throwing like a girl).  So I took some jello chunks out of my plastic bag and flung them right at her, pretty much as hard as I could (which probably wasn't too hard considering it was jello, which is neither a solid nor a liquid).  Direct hit!  That just felt so good for so many reasons.  And the best part about it was that there were no hard feelings or consequences or anything.  I chucked jello at the pastor's wife and it was ok.  What a beautiful thing. #religion
Depends Nov 6, 2005
Ha!  That's a funny title, but no, this isn't about adult diapers. 

We're reading this book called "Love, Sex, & Lasting Relationships" in our Sunday school class and I just realized something.  For a long time, I've been apprehensive about the idea of trusting another person.  At some point in the past, I came up with a quote:  "Don't depend on people; they'll always let you down."  I didn't mean that they'll always let you down.  I meant that people will let you down at some point.  It may not be today or tomorrow, but it will eventually and inevitably happen.  This has two parts:  the idea of trusting someone to come through with something, to be there on time, or to do you a favor; and the idea of relying on someone to fulfill a certain desire or need.  The first part is mainly based on pride.  I don't trust people to get things done for me, so I often do them myself.  That's my problem.  It's pride based on repeated failures in the past.  But that's not the main issue here.  The main issue is the second part, that I don't rely on another person to meet my needs.  And I think that's still true, at least to a certain extent.  The book has a few interesting quotes:
The key to lasting relationships is developing a relationship with God through Christ in such a way that you are secure in who you are in him.

If you attempt to build intimacy with a person before you've done the hard work of becoming a whole and healthy person, every relationship will be an attempt to complete the hole in your heart and the lack of what you don't have.  That relationship will end in disaster.

In other words, when your identity is in Christ, you don't need others the same way, you don't have to perform, and they don't have to come through in order for your ultimate needs to be met.

The world says, "Set your hope on this person to come through for you.  Make this person the center of your existence."  It doesn't work.  The problem is, that person is weak, imperfect, and needy, just like you and just like me.
It's not that you shouldn't trust a person at all, it's that you shouldn't depend on them to fulfill your desires and needs.  Depend on God for that.  A person can meet some of your needs, and that's great.  But if you depend on a person to consistently meet those needs, you're setting yourself up for disappointment, just like you would eventually disappoint a person who's depending on you. 

This all sounds kind of dismal, but I think it's the truth. #religion
Gospel Oct 27, 2005
Literally, gospel means good news.  Specifically, it's the good news behind the story of Christianity:
  1. Jesus Christ is the son of God (Mark 14:61-62).
  2. He was sent to earth to be crucified on a cross and to rise from the dead (Mark 8:31).
  3. His death was a sacrifice that paid for our sins (Matthew 20:28).
  4. By believing these things and accepting him into your life, you'll go to heaven (Romans 10:9).
#religion