A Beautiful Collision

Iron Man

2008-05-05T14:09:00.001-04:00

I saw Iron Man on Saturday. It was awesome!

The Office is Back

2008-04-25T07:48:00.003-04:00

OK, so we are now three weeks into the return of the office, post-WGA strike.

What do we have so far?

Week 1: The Dinner Party
Quite possible the most awkward episode of the Office ever.
We learn that there is trouble in Paradise... Jan and Michael's relationship is dying.
We learn why Jan hates Pam... Michael said they used to date
Hunter was made a man by a mysterious older woman =)
Michael has apparently had 3 vasectomies
Bonus! In a deleted seen, Angela mentions Andy's attendance at Cornell (Remember this great quote: "The capital of Maine is Montpelier, Vermonth, which is near Ithaca, New York, where I went to Cornell")(Anyone have a tally of how many times Andy, and now Angela, has mentioned Cornell?)

Week 2: The Chair Model
Michael and Jan are over
People in offices are excited by very small things, like new chairs
Michael further displays his complete lack of sensitivity towards the gay community ("Oscar Meyer Weiner Lover")
Michael is super-shallow (but we already knew that)
Jim has apparently already bought an engagement ring and is now going to torture Pam (and the viewers) by doing things like kneeling down on one knee... to tie his shoe
Kevin and Andy display a rare moment of assertiveness and empowerment
Michael and Dwight know the words to "American Pie", but not in the right order (and some made up along the way)

Week 3: Night Out
Ryan's plans for the website haven't turned out as he expected (including an infiltration by a sexual predator)
Michael is lonely... and horny... but mostly lonely
Jim tries to do something right and botches it... again!
Toby blatantly shows his feelings for Pam... and announces he is moving to Costa Rica
Dwight is apparently a real ladies man
Ryan is doing coke or some other recreational drug

So, all this to say, what is up with the writers?! Did the strike impair their brains?! Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed watching all of these episodes, and the insights we have gained on the characters have been great. We are learning all kinds of facts and tid-bits about our favorite characters. But, it doesn't feel like The Office. I feel like I'm watching a spin-off of my favorite show. All the familiar faces are there, but something just isn't clicking. Maybe it's some of the strange character development, or maybe the writers are trying to prep us for something big. Whatever it is, they've only got 3 more episodes to restore the show to its former glory.

Final rant: They need to quit making Jim look like such a patsy. It's like their trying to turn him into a Michael Scott protege. Stop it! Oh well, the good news is we have Season 5 to look forward to in September, with a rumored 30 half-hours of Office goodness!

Adventures with Cash

2008-04-07T09:56:00.006-04:00

I wanted to share this little bit of my life with you:

Friday night, my parents were coming into town, and Katie was cooking dinner. I was given the task of obtaining a few groceries on the way home. I went to target because I needed some non-grocery items as well. I got everything on my list except one thing.

So I head to Publix on the way home to get an eggplant. Generally speaking I love publix. Their stores are clean and the employees are friendly and helpful.
Today was different.
I go to the produce section, pick out an eggplant and head to the checkout. Now, given that I had only one item, I figured it would be fastest if I went through the express lane. I also thought I could save time by paying with cash. So, Mr. Personality rings up my eggplant and announces that my total $1.35 (which I already knew, because I can read, and had already begun to dig in my pocket.) I pulled out one of these:

And two of these:

That's a buck-fifty, just in case you were wondering. Now, I know that a lot of people don't use the Sacagawea Golden Dollar, but I do expect people to at least be familiar with them. After all, they are legal tender, and the US Government did a huge marketing campaign for them just a few years ago. Mr. Personality however just stared at my dollar coin for a good 2 minutes, never saying a word, just making grunting noises. Finally, he deposited it in the register and handed me my $.15 change, and I was out the door.

I was actually kind of shocked. You would think that people who work with money would be familiar with it in all of its iterations. But, I did learn an important lesson: great fun can be had by paying with rarely used pieces of currency. Next time, I think I'll use a $2 bill:

Seeking Suggestions

2008-03-27T11:33:00.002-04:00

I have a great job. I just felt I needed to say that. I really like my job and it pays all our bills. Those are pretty much my only requirements for a job.

However, I was thinking that it would be nice to be able to do some extra work on the side. Katie and I would like purchase a home in a couple of years, and socking away some extra cash never hurts. That being said, I have no idea what I should do, so I pose a couple of questions to those of you who know me in any capacity: What are some skills and/or talents I have that I can utilize in doing work on the side? What advice can you give me on getting started in utilizing those skills? I still don't know many people here outside of my office, so how do I get the word out that I have skills for hire?

Your advice is greatly coveted.

Guitar Hero News

2008-03-13T14:16:00.002-04:00

Two posts in one day? I must be on crack.

Anyway, for those of you who play Guitar Hero on the Wii, there is good news on the horizon. Sometime this year, there will be downloadable content for this magnificent game. That means possibly new songs and/or characters and guitars. I'm stoked. See: here

Good Day

2008-03-13T12:42:00.003-04:00

You know it's going to be a good day when you turn on the radio and you hear both Styx and Kansas!

Mark Driscol

2008-03-04T00:59:00.002-05:00

Today I started reading Mark Driscol's "Radical Reformission". In the introductions, he makes an interesting observation about living out our faith that I want to share with you.

Driscol says that the ways in which we live out our faith can be divided into three categories. They are:

Loving Jesus (Gospel)
Loving Others (Culture)
Loving Brothers (Church)

He then goes on to assert that all three are important for healthy faith, and the emphasis of 1 or 2 of these at the cost of deemphasizing the other(s) will result in a serious flaw. He gives the following examples:

Emphasizing Gospel and Culture but neglecting Church results in parachurch. Here we have people who have found Jesus through a culturally relevant gospel, for instance at a Young Life meeting, but are never pushed to interact with the rest of the Church.
Emphasizing Culture and Church but neglecting Gospel results in classic liberalism. This is common among many mainline denominations. Good things are emphasized and good works are performed as an extension of the Church, but the Gospel of Jesus is missing.
Emphasizing Church and Gospel but neglecting Culture results in fundamentalism. Common among conservatives of a more independent mindset, these folks often seem more interested in building each other up and living right with good theology than taking the gospel to their neighbors.

I found this observation to be very interesting. What do you think? Is Driscol right, wrong, partially right?

Fox News

2008-03-03T13:36:00.002-05:00

Whoever runs the live closed captioning at Fox News gets paid way too much. That is all.

Voting and Politics

2008-02-22T09:45:00.006-05:00

As if you all don't have enough political commentary this election year...

I have a few questions regarding this year's presidential election.
1. Do you plan to vote pragmatically or according to your convictions, or are you one of the lucky ones who can do both?

2. Do you believe that voting for "the lesser of two evils" is ethically justifiable? This is an important question for me, because I feel like I'll be put into this position this year.

3. If you believe it is very important to keep one candidate/party out of the White House, why? What purpose does it serve? Or, if you believe it is very important to get a specific party/political ideology into the White House, why? What purpose does it serve?

4. What is the biggest factor in who you decide to vote for?

Here are my answers to these questions:

1. I plan to vote according to my political convictions, and it will not be pragmatic. The person that I am voting for has a snowball's chance in hell of actually winning the election.

2. Absolutely not. If I believe that neither of two primary choices are good in this election, then to choose either one is to violate my conscience, highly unethical. I did that 4 years ago, and I will not do it again. However, the whole "lesser of two evils" idea is fallacious in regards to presidential elections. It's a false dilemma. You have more choices than just McCain and Obama (which is what it looks like we're going to be facing in November). There are tons of third party and independent candidates, and even if you can't find one of those you like, you can always write someone in. Some people would say, "Isn't that wasting your vote?" I suppose it depends on whether or not you think it's important for your vote to represent your voice.

3. The first half of my question was spurred by people I know who hate McCain but will vote for him anyway to keep Obama or Clinton out of the White House, and does not pertain to me. I refer you back to my answer regarding the "lesser of two evils".
Now, do I think it is important to get my candidate into the White House? Absolutely. It's very important to me that we get some governmental leadership that believes in restricting the government to its constitutional roots. The purpose behind this (for me) is two fold: 1. I think we ought to be true to the intentions of the men who founded our government. If we're not going to do that then at least amend the Constitution so that we're not violating it. 2. If we were to have a government that was actually restricted by the Constitution, then government hand-out programs would end. In my candidate's plan, these programs would gradually be phased out. We can't just cut these people loose because we've taught them to rely on the government to meet their needs. We have to help them unlearn this mentality. Once the government stops providing hand-outs, the Church will no long have that crutch to lean on. You see, the Church in America (as a whole) has done a rather piss poor job caring for those in need, something it seems quite obvious we were tasked to do. My hope is that without a crutch to lean on, She might actually step up and fulfill Her purpose.

4. The biggest factor for me is picking a Constitutionalist, the only real conservatives left in this country.

Ok, so I wrote more than I originally intended, but what I really want to know is what you all think. What are your answers to these questions?

Oops!

2008-01-29T15:35:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when you don't play your guitar for a month. I have almost no callouses. New goal: play every single day for an hour or until my fingers hurt too bad to play, whichever comes first.

Update

2008-01-28T21:04:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm pretty much a terrible blogger. I'm extremely inconsistent. Anyway, on with the update...

For those of you who don't already know, I've moved (sort of). I say sort of, because I'm currently living in a hotel. I've taken a job with the North American Mission Board as an Internet Consultant. What that means is that I'm basically the jack of all trades for the media services team. Anyway, the Board is located in Alpharetta, GA, as is my hotel. Barring any catastrophes, the family will be joining me on Friday, and we'll be moving into a townhouse in Cumming, just a few miles north of Alpharetta.

I don't know if any of you have done this before (other than Dad), but it sure is odd to move ahead of your family. It's pretty lonely, and pretty boring as well, but I've got my guitar and my work laptop to keep me occupied. Anyway, I just wanted to update everybody. I leave you with some pictures:

The view out my office window

The cuteness (Evie)

The cuteness with her Papa

Poverty Part 2

2007-12-12T09:41:00.000-05:00

Here is the next installment of my comics on poverty. Part 1 is here. (Note if the comics look misaligned or garbled, simply click on it, and it will take you to full size version).

This comic series is especially fresh in my mind right now, being so close to Christmas. I see all consumerism around us, even in my own life, and I can't help but think of those who don't have any food today. Do I really need another gadget?

Life at Liberty University

2007-12-10T13:41:00.000-05:00

I saw this little animation about Liberty today on YouTube. I don't know how old it is, but it's hilarious. Totally true too.

Encouragement from Germany (More Thoughts on Mediocrity)

2007-12-04T09:30:00.000-05:00

My friend Caitlin, who current resides in Germany, recently posted the following excerpt from Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest".

In the Matter of Drudgery...We are not meant to be illuminated versions, but the common stuff of ordinary life exhibiting the marvel of the grace of God. Drudgery is the touchstone of character. The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we will look for big things to do. 'Jesus took a towel...and began to wash the disciples' feet.'

There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God's way of saving us between our times of inspiration. Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling minutes, but learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God.

...The tiniest detail in which I obey has all the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I do my duty, not for duty's sake, but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience the whole superb grace of God is mine through the Atonement.

This really encouraged me. It's kind of related to my last post (even though Glenn thinks my mediocrity is exceptional). I think the fear of mediocrity translates into the spiritual realm as well. I feel like I am always looking for the next big thing from God, as if He can only be experienced in major highlights of life; the birth of a child, or some sudden profound spiritual realization. Yet it seems that God designed this life to be lived one moment at a time, whether it's discovering a cure for cancer or feeding the dog. He is glorified in it all, when done with the right heart.

What do you think? Do you also experience this longing for something big? Do you tend to think of your faith in terms of going from one major spiritual event to the next? How can we combat this mindset?

A Question

2007-11-27T13:52:00.000-05:00

Why do I feel that everything I do has to be special, unique, original, edgy, inventive, new, improved, thought-provoking, and/or profound? To put it another way, why do I find it unacceptable to be and do average? Am I afraid of mediocrity? Am I insecure, and therefore define myself by the things I do (that must be exceptional) instead of who I am? I don't know. I've never really been good at this soul searching type stuff; I was just thinking about this today.

I guess it's that time of year again...

Poverty

2007-11-19T14:15:00.000-05:00

Here is a new series of comics about responding to poverty. Questions to consider: What is the right/best way to deal with poverty? Do you believe you have a responsibility to the poor? Why or why not? What do you think Jesus would do for the poor?

Ok, here is the first strip:

When We Disagree

2007-11-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

The discussion going on here, here, and here leads me to ask a question. Really I'm seeking guidance/advice. I want your opinions. Given that the group of believers that I meet regularly with (my "church") does not share my views on purpose of meeting (at least we disagree in practice), invitations, the nature/importance of baptism, eschatology, the concept of church membership, etc... should I stay or should I go?

I've wondered for some time if these disagreements are things that should send me looking for a different group to meet with. Right now, I don't think so. It seems to me that what Christ desires most from His Church is mutual edification, Kingdom activity, and unity. I can't see myself leaving and then saying that I have unity with those believers. Yet, I feel as though many of that group would look at me as dishonest/deceptive for staying when we don't agree about so many things (This applies at the denominational level as well).

So what do you think? Should I stay or go? I love the people that I currently gather with, and really this is the first time in my life I feel like I've truly experienced Christian community, but I want to do what's right. What to do...

Review: Texas Roadhouse

2007-11-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

So Katie and I went out to eat tonight, and I had this thought that I ought to review the restaurant and give you the 411. I think I may start doing this regularly, as 1.) I love food, and 2.) I love to eat out. Hopefully, this will be helpful for those of you who live in the same area as I do. OK, on with the review.

Restaurant: Texas Roadhouse
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Cost of Outing: ~$23

We ate here around 5 PM on November 7. The Restaurant has been open for just over a week, so that could affect the rating.

Atmosphere: 1/5
Cons:

It was loud. Not because of the patrons having conversation, but because of the annoying country music playing over the PA. I noticed this as soon as we walked in. It turns out that about every 20 minutes, the music gets even louder and the entire staff does a line dance to whatever song is playing. This was further magnified by the fact that we were seated at a table directly under a PA Speaker. Not a good start.
Another oddity: Women outnumber Men on the staff (not including the kitchen) by at least 5 to 1, maybe more. I only saw two male waiters and two bus boys. Also, the majority of the hostesses and waitresses were very young looking girls who fit the stereotypical profile of "the cheerleader". It gives me the impression that the owner or the hiring manager might be a little bit sexist. Just a strange observation.

Pros:

There were plenty of places to sit.

Service: 2/5
Cons:

Our server had zero personality.
We were seated for at least 10 minutes before anyone took our drink orders.
When we finally had the opportunity to interact with our server, she seemed bored, as if she'd rather not be at work. She didn't tell us anything about the food or specials. For me this a big minus. If the people that work there aren't excited about the food, then I wonder why I'm even bothering to eat there.
Also when our food arrived the guy who brought it to our table placed an EXTREMELY hot plate in my hands because my salad plate was in the way. I actually burned my fingers a little bit.
When we were finished eating we waited at least another 10 minutes to get the check.

Pros:

My tea was never empty.
My order was 100% correct.

Other Comments:

This is a new restaurant, so maybe the staff just need more training.

Food: 4.5/5
Cons:

My Salad had waaaaaaaaaay more toppings than salad. The fries were over-seasoned.

Pros:

The food is so delicious here. This has been my experience at all Texas Roadhouse locations I've frequented, and I've never eaten anything bad on the menu.

What we ate:

2 Sweet Teas
Dinner Rolls w/ cinnamon butter
Grilled Barbecue Chicken w/ 2 sides

A house salad w/ honey mustard dressing
French fries

"Road Kill" (Chop Steak smothered w/ onions, mushrooms, and monterey jack cheese) w/ 2 sides

A house salad w/ bleu cheese dressing
Chili

Other Comments:

Did I mention that the food here is great?
Get anything with barbecue sauce on it, and you won't be disappointed.

Final Rating: 2.5/5

The food here is great. Hopefully the service will improve. If it doesn't, consider utilizing their to go service. Same great food, without the annoying tip!

Why Do We Gather?

2007-11-06T13:00:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about the purpose of the Church gathering together. That is what is the main objective of what we can call the main event (what happens for most believers on Sunday mornings)? Does the main event happen for believers or for lost persons? Is it to teach and encourage the Church, or is it to evangelize the lost? I believe that when the Church gathers together it is for the purpose of encouraging the Church, teaching her and building her up. That's not to say that lost people never come to faith during the main event, as there are always lost people among believers who don't know they're lost, but primarily the main event exists for the Church.

This causes a problem for me and the majority of believers in my tradition. You see, if my conclusion is correct, then why don't our activities reflect that conclusion? Every sermon ends with an evangelistic call to salvation. Most, if not all, of our "outreach" programs are centered around the idea of getting lost people to come to the main event. We even use that mentality to justify building programs: "If we build a family life center, then people from the community can use it, and we can get them to come to church". It seems inconsistent to me.

Am I reading too much into this? Or, do most people not share my conclusion about the purpose of the Church gathering together? What do you think?

A Little Too Close to Home?

2007-11-05T14:56:00.001-05:00

I think this picture should be on a wall somewhere at SEBTS. If you work there, I think you'll agree =)

Reasons to Dress Up for Church Part 3

2007-11-05T11:44:00.000-05:00

The series continues... Each of these strips presents an argument that I have often heard for the idea that is right or better or more godly to dress up when we gather with the Church, and then shows my response/critique of that argument. Part 3:

Another Thought Regarding Church Dress

2007-11-02T09:48:00.001-04:00

This just popped into my head, so I thought I'd post it briefly before I forget. If it's true that we should dress up in "nicer" clothing (I believe nicer is an arbitrary standard) when we meet with the Church (for whatever reason), then doesn't it follow that we should dress like that all the time? The odds of you interacting with other believers (the Church) in your day to day routine is very high if you live in the part of the country I do. What if your family are all believers? Do I need to have family dinner in my suit? After all, the Church is meeting together...

Just a thought.

Reasons to Dress Up for Church Part 2

2007-11-02T09:44:00.001-04:00

Here is part two of the series. Enjoy.

Reasons to Dress Up for Church Part 1

2007-11-01T15:31:00.000-04:00

This series, and the comic I posted previously were inspired by this old post. Feel free to continue discussion.

A Modern Mis-Interpretation

2007-11-01T09:57:00.000-04:00