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May 30, 2005

Episode III

So, I saw Star Wars Episode III yesterday. It was okay.

Star Wars is interesting because really none of the movies where very good. The dialog was awful, the storylines where simplistic, the villins where unrealistically evil. I think that most of us go to see them for nostalgic reasons more than anything else.

I think John William's score is really what carries the series. The music makes the movie. It draws you in. It is interesting when the story isn't. I loved the musical transition in Episode II where Anikin gets enraged at his Mother's death. There is a subtle change where the music transitions from the light side, to the dark side.

I notice deep religous undertones in any successful Sci-fi movie these days.. Anikin was decieved by nearly the same lie as we find in Genesis 3:5. After that, I think the movie chickened out on the topic of sin. Suddenly he was pure evil. I don't think most people turn that way. They are decieved into doing what they think is right, and once they have gone so far down that road they see the deception, they realize they burned their bridges, and they can't go back. The movie went through this whole process, but glossed over it.

The movie ended exactly as I though it would. It is surprizing how bad the writing was. It was written like a actor had died on a TV show, and the writers had to find a quick and easy way to write her out of the script. Overall I was disappointed, but I have always been disappointed with Star Wars, and still bought tickets again.

Posted by at 3:42 PM | | Comments ()

May 23, 2005

All of my humble opinions about God in one place.

Christianity Survey

Created by thesurveyplace and taken 107 times on bzoink!

Do you think Jesus should be depicted with a darker complexion?Probably so.
Should alcohol sales be allowed on Sundays?Yes
How many people attend your church?175-300
Your opinion of premarital sex?Nothing enduring and good comes from it. It feels good at the time, but leaves a wake of destruction that can never be repaired by man.
Jesus is:God in flesh, who came so that he could free us from our sin. He humbled himself by becoming human and paying the price for our sins He is my Savior and my Master.
Should women/girls have bare midriffs in church?I would rather have bare midriffs in church than out of church, but it does make me a bit uncomfortable
President Bush is:A sinner just like me doing his best to do what is right. He might be right, He might be wrong, I trust him over the altermatives proposed.
Would you change your denomination if they allowed gay people?Christ died for their sins just like he died for mine. I think they should be invited in, not chased out.
My membership status at church is: I have commited to being an active participant in the Church. Membership is not a word that we use in my congregation, but that could be a whole sermon.
How often do you doubt the truth of Christianity?All of the time. Every time I am tempted to sin, I am questioning God's promises over the promises of this world. I make the right choices more often these days, but I still make the wrong one sometimes.
My salvation is determined by:My faith in the atoning work of Christ
The Christian Bible, in it's original form, is:The inerrant Word of God.
I believe that predestination is:True, but we cannot see it through our free will. Even though God knows in advance what choices we will make, we still have to make the choices.
Why do you think God has not allowed Christ to return?God has a plan and he is following it. There are still more that will choose him.
Once in heaven we will have memory of our life on earth, true or false?Probably so.
Should women be allowed to be pastors (or priests)?Yes, although my definiton of Pastor/Priest may be different than the norm.
Christian music, when compared to secular music, is:Both serve totally different goals, so it is kinda like comparing a hammer to an ice cream cone.
God says the death penalty is:A worldly concern. He condones it. Even Pilate was given his power by God. It serves a purpose that he can use for good.
Is abortion wrong?Yes. It is sacrificing one of God's greatest gifts on the alter of selfishness. Christ wants to restore those involved in this sin just as he restored me.
Do the unsaved suffer in hell?Yes, but I don't know how to describe that suffering. Where God is not bad things happen.
What's your opinion on evolution?Even the simplest organism is too complicated to be created by chance. There is an intelligent design. Evolution happens, but doesn't create, just refines
What happens after you die?We are held accountable. Our works will be tested by fire, and only those built on the foundation of Christ will survive to see heaven. We will be transformed to perfection.

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Posted by at 10:29 PM | | Comments ()

May 17, 2005

Quick summary of yesterday's events

One trip to the HMO for a 3 minute doctor visit and a referal: 25 dollars

A 2 hour wait in a 80 degree waiting room to visit a specialist: 50 bucks

Putting the blue bead that has been recovered from you son's nostril into the baby book: Priceless

Posted by at 1:31 PM | | Comments ()

Did nobody notice?

Is this real?

Forsake The Troops! Official Website

The website claims that the webmaster was killed for the opinions expressed on his website. A Google News search returns nothing.

Apparently this Michael Crook guy found a digital camera belonging to a military person at a NFL game and decided to hold it for ransom. There are pleanty of media refereneces to that incident. He then registered some inflamatory domain names to further his infamy. You would think that the media would notice if he was murdered.

Update: Finally a link on Google news. The Marine Times are backing my hoax theory for now: Marine Corps Times - News - More News

Update 2: Mr Crook's blog (not worthy of a link) confirms that he is indeed a liar.

Posted by at 10:12 AM | | Comments ()

May 14, 2005

Broadvoice apology

Open Letter from David Epstein

I have been shopping around for another VoIP carrier.. I am glad that Broadvoice came clean. They do have the most features for the price, and I have been satisfied with the quality of the calls. It is too bad this had to happen.

I will give them another chance if they can get it cleaned up in the next few days. It was working okay yesterday and today. This is good.

Posted by at 9:38 PM | | Comments ()

May 11, 2005

Nerdy Bible humor

I have almost completed the asterisk server for my church. I think it is going to be pretty slick. It allows them to have a full featured Voicemail system, and extensions on each desk. A lot of functionality, for little cost.

Anyway, working on the IVR part: Instead of 1 for english and 2 for spainish, how about this????

For King James English press 1
NIV, Press 2
"The Message" press 3
Hebrew and Greek press 4

Posted by at 8:37 PM | | Comments ()

May 10, 2005

"This should fix it"

I am really annoyed by the Extreme makeover home edition show on ABC. While generousity and caring for the hurting is a virtue, doing so to excess sends a message of salvation through materialism.

It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall a few weeks later. I bet the pain remains, and all of the new stuff is just stuff. The television viewers get to see the initial joy, but don't see the huge letdown after all of the new stuff leaves them empty months later.

Does anyone else feel this way? Or am I just a cold hearted jerk?

Posted by at 2:23 PM | | Comments ()

Nathan Reighley, Turkey

Yesterday my wife asked me to hold my son down so that she could cut his fingernails. She said that she had cut the fingernails on his right hand earlier in the day, and after about 3 fingers he had had enough and started wrestling and fighting with her.

When Nathan (just turned 2) heard that she wanted to cut his nails, he climbed up on my lap and held his left hand out, and politely allowed Andee to cut all 5 nails. Then he gave her each of his feet and let her clip his nails.

Andee asked him why he was so naughty in the morning and why he is being so good now that Daddy is home.

He answered with a smile: "Turkey"

(When he is ornery his Grandma often tells him "Nathan, you are a Turkey")

Posted by at 9:21 AM | | Comments ()

May 9, 2005

Porn on the front page

I think they should have to package the Spokesman Review in Brown paper or something. The last few days they have been discussing the Mayor's masturbation habits on the front page.

Bill Clinton got away with having an adultorous affair in his office. The media didn't think that there was anything wrong with that, but the idea of the mayor having computer fantasy sex in his office is abhorant.

If he had offered job and internships to attractive ladies, I don't think people would be raising such a stink. I think he should resign, but It would be nice if the media had the same determination to expose corruption in all politicians.

Posted by at 10:29 PM | | Comments ()

May 6, 2005

Mayor West's expensive imaginary "friend"

Spokane politics has been quite nutty for years. I thought it was finally on the mend until I turned on the news today.

Jim West :: A Spokesman-Review Investigative Report

Apparently the Mayor offered an city internship to a young man that he met on the chat boards at gay.com.

Turns out that this 18 year old high school student was actually a private investigator who was hired by the local newspaper who's parent company just settled a multi-million dollar lawsuit with the city.

The paper also reported that 2 convicted felons claim to have been molested by Mayor west back in the 1970's when he was a Sheriff's Deputy and a Boy Scout leader.

I had a very uneasy feeling last time I watched Mayor West speak. He was supporting settlement of the Riverpark Square fiasco and he likened the deal to a divorce. He then went on to discuss the "Blessing of a Divorce". Nothing angers me more than seeing those two words in the same sentence. For the former Senate majority leader (Republican) to throw out language like that was disheartening. His was using one of the devil's most powerful lies to move his agenda forward.

If it is true that Mayor West was giving out jobs (or unpaid internships for that matter) because of his own sexual interests, he should resign immediately. From the transcripts of the chats that the Spokesman had, that appears to be the case. The mayor didn't know this kid well enough to realize he was imaginary, and he was recommending him for a position.

It is quite a waste. Mayor West has been an effective leader for the city. It is a bad idea to follow the leader with a broken compass however.

Posted by at 4:21 AM | | Comments ()

May 2, 2005

26 hour day

Got up at 5:30 this moring and went to work at Bloomsday A bunch of folks from my church handed out water to the 50,000 runners. It was fun and wet. We had a church picnic this afternoon and an evening service. It was kinda cool to see how much the Church has grown. It has been quite a long time since we had a single service with everyone in the same place.

Tonight, I am working graveyard shift. It is pretty quiet, but I am sleepy. I will likely be doing the graveyard shift all week.

Posted by at 2:35 AM | | Comments ()

What is the ideal church size??

I have noticing some negativity and hostilitiy toward large churches within the Christian Blogsphere. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to all church sizes, and I don't think we really have that much control over how big a church gets.

Some folks argue that preachers who run megachurches are doing so for egotistical reasons. I disagree.

BibleGateway.com Passage Lookup: Acts 2;

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the Lord our God will call."

40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Peter ran a Megachurch of sorts. I don't think his church is a bad example to try to follow.

Other folks express fear over megachurches because if many people are going there, it must be the wide road. Really even megachurches are attended by a small percentage of the community. The pastor doesn't drive his congregation through those gates, he can only point to one and give it a label. Each person needs to chart their own course. Many Church attenders are on the wide road. We shouldn't judge the road based on the number of people that are on it, We should judge based on the Word of God. Many Mega-Churches teach the true Gospel. Some do not. Many small community churches teach the true Gospel, while some do not. I don't care how many people are believing something, I want to know the truth as God defines it.

Critics say that these MegaChurches should plant churches rather than expanding. On the surface this sounds like a good idea, but it really is not an either/or proposition. If a large church plants a successful new church, perhaps 10% will leave. Of those perhaps 5% will stay gone for the long haul. When a church is growing at an exponential rate, this is hardly adequte to substantially curb growth. There is a church in my neighborhood that has a 194% growth rate over 3 years. They planted a daughter church last year, but they are still growing faster than ever.

A good teacher is going to attract people. This is a good thing, not a bad thing.

I attended a large church for quite some time. I chose to join in one of it's church plants because I felt that I could better serve in a smaller church. In my mind, the ideal size for a church is big enough that there are plenty of needs to serve, but small enough that people are not comfortable as spectators.

Posted by at 1:12 AM | | Comments ()