So I’m talking with a friend from work about why people do stupid things. In this case, the stupid thing was one of our customers frequently likes to perform a very very large query on a very very large database. The query looks something like this:
Select * from Every_Table
For those of you who are not savvy with SQL (Structured Query Language), performing a query such as this is the equivalent of making the following request:
Please show me everything in the known universe - in detail - right now.
The reality is that the customer really doesn’t want that much information but they are looking for something specific. Our job is to help them find what they are looking for. It seems that no matter how many times we exlain this, they always fall back on performing that very large and time consuming query. In trying to understand this behavior, my friend offered the following story:
Once upon a time, there was a man who was driving a very nice sports car. He was racing along the open road when he found himself far out in the country. No sooner had he realized this, when he whipped past a farm. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man standing near a tree and holding a pig. Quickly, the driver stopped and turned around and headed back to the farm.
The driver pulled into the long driveway and up to the farmer. It seems that the farmer was holding the pig up to an apple tree and the pig was eating the apples right from the branches. Thinking quickly, the driver offered the following advice. “You can save a lot of time if you just pick the apples yourself and gather them into one place on the ground”, he said.
The farmer responded, “what’s time to a pig?”.
While this is an interesting story, I didn’t feel any better after hearing it. I would guess that the moral of the story is that sometimes people just do things that don’t seem to make any sense.
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1. Thou shall not permit your commitment to God to get in the way of your friends, hobbies, favorite sports team, or TV show. Only fanatics allow their Christianity to take control of their lives.
2. Thou shall remember the Sabbath day and keep it full of activities with family and friends, for the pastor will understand if you can’t make it to church.
3. Thou shall not testify to the lost about Christ for you wouldn’t want to upset an unbeliever (or believer) with their sin.
4. Thou shall not read and study your Bible, but instead expect the pastor to feed you. In addition, thou shall complain at every feeding, insisting that the pastor doesn’t know how to preach, and isn’t meeting your needs, your children’s needs, or for that matter, anyone’s needs.
5. Thou shall not give the tithe, but only a pittance, for God understands that you are poor, and can’t do any more.
6. Thou shall not spend much time in prayer, for if you do, you might wear holes in the knees of your pants.
7. Thou shall not help in any capacity in the church, for everyone knows that the pastor is supposed to do everything. If thou were to help, it would prevent the pastor from feeling needed, since he doesn’t have anything to do anyway.
8. Thou shall not reach out thy hand to help the poor, the needy, the widow, or the orphan, for that is the work of the welfare program.
9. Thou shall not permit any gossip to pass you bye, but capture each and every morsel so that you may share it with others.
10. Thou shall not worry about the unbeliever, the drug addict, the alcoholic, or the prostitute, for everyone knows that to touch them is worse than leprosy. Thou shall also ignore the needs of those on the mission fields, for thank God you aren’t called to do anything for them.
11. Thou shall expect recognition at every opportunity, whether it be from the pulpit, in the bulletin, or in personal conversation. This should include a reserved parking space and a special title. If thou does not receive this recognition, thou shall throw a temper tantrum before the pastor, and threaten to stop giving your pittance to the church.
12. Thou shall blame the devil for everything you do wrong, and everything that goes wrong in your life, for you know that it can’t be your fault.
If thou shall seek to fulfill all these commandments and do all that is contained within them, then you shall be blessed with self-righteousness, pride and foolhardiness. There shall be laid up for you a crown of fire in the everlasting flames of hell.
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Recently I was surfing on the Christian & Missionary Alliance web site, and I noted both the biblical critera for serving in church leadership (1 Timothy 3:1–7) as well as the CMA’s additional criteria. This got me thinking - particularly the part about being “above reproach”.
First of all, lets define what it means to be “above reproach”.
When Paul writes this, he is using it as sort of an umbrella for the criteria that follows. Paul is saying that a man is to be blameless in his outward conduct and is to be upright and just in his dealings with other people. Paul says that an elder (or overseer) is to be beyond question in this regard. The elder (or overseer) should be the kind of man that no one would ever suspect of any wrongdoing or immorality. He should be the kind of man that people would be very surprised or even shocked to hear charged with such acts.
But how is it possible if we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of the Lord?
This is an excellent question and worth exploring. First of all, by asking this - do not attempt to dismiss that there are men of exceptionally high moral character. For just as low-life scum bags exist, so do respectable men. It is not that the elder is sinless or perfect, but that his demeanor and behavior over time has established a well-deserved respect and admiration from other people.
Once a man becomes an elder, at least two things are assumed:
1) This man can be held out as an example for all areas of life to all of the sheep
(1 Timothy 4:12 & 1 Peter 5:1-3)
2) This man should be granted the benefit of the doubt in the protection from charges they may receive from the congregation
(1 Timothy 5:19)
Perhaps one of the worst things a church can have is a man in the position of elder who lacks high character and sets a bad example while being shielded from the judgement that the office of elder warrants. In other words, the position of elder is so critically important, that to hold this position and yet lead people astray would be deserving of a punishment so severe that having a millstone being put around your neck and be dropped into a lake would be better.
An elder should be a man who is held in high exteem for his character as opposed to his wealth or popularity. Such a man who is ranked by worldly means can easily fall into temptation and pitfalls when granted the status of elder. If a man is highly thought of because of his worldly achievements (such as running a business well or having a long history with the church), it is likely that he will lead the church based on this.
How do you find such men who are “above reproach”?
1. Take note of those men who are faithful in their dealings both within the church and outside of it.
- Do they keep their commitments?
- Do they give regularly and sacrifically to the church?
- Do they keep their word when others might not blame them for backing out of a commitment?
2. Take note of those men who “command respect” from others
- Do they inspire uprightedness in others?
- Does their very presence seem to cause people to “straighten up” or show more zeal?
3. Take note of those men whom everyone turns to
- Do they frequently get nominated for things because they are known to be reliable?
- Are they often turned to for situations that require ethical intrigrity because they “will do the right thing”?
4. Take note of men who carry on their lives outside of the church with integrity.
- Do they show up to work on time?
- Can they hold a steady job?
- Do they have good work habbits?
- Do they manage their finances well - paying debts and living within their means?
- Do they meet their obligations?
5. Take note of men who are positively known in the community.
- What do other people say about them and is it founded in truth?
- Do they promote themselves or are they known by their actions?
- What other organizations are they associated with?
Here are some possible questions to help bring about good discussion when courting someone as a prospective elder:
1. Is there anything in your life that you feel disqualifies you from serving as an elder?
2. Would any of your coworkers or family be surprised to hear that you were a leader in your church?
3. Is there anyone who would say that you should not serve in chruch leadership? Why would they say this?
Elders should have good reputations inside and outside of the church. If there is some outstanding issue with other people, it should be explored.
- What is the nature of the disupute?
- How did the potential elder handle it?
- Does the opinion of others disqualifiy him?
The character of an elder is extremely important. This office requires that only men of high integrity hold it. In a world where people are repulsed by the idea of judging others, being patient and discerning mature, and “above reproach” character in potential elders is one of the most difficult things a church can do in finding reliable men. But it is absolutely necessary.
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My friend and I are compiling a list of sayings that don’t make a great deal of sense to me. In some cases, some people find them quite insightful. I would tend to disagree. They take too much thought to figure out and then when you do figure them out, they are stupid.
As far as you know…
Save up to 35% or more
I gave him that and the whole 9 yards
You can’t win for losing
That’s neither here nor there
That’s better than a stick in the eye
If you will…
Stupid is as stupid does
Forever is a long time. At the rate we’re going, we’ll never get there
It’s the same, … but different.
- and my personal favorite
Hoping against hope
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Apple computer was exposed to internet gossip in May of 2007 and experienced a sharp reversal.
Because of a spoof email sent out by hackers to Apple employees fraudulently announcing that the release of the Iphone as well as the release of Apple’s newest operating system, Leopard, was being bumped back several months investors on Wall Street panicked and the Apple Stock dropped 2.8 Billion dollars in 6 minutes. After Apple announced that the email was a fraud stocks climbed back up all day and ended near where they had been before the panic.
www.washingtonpost
Lessons:
1. Don’t instantly assume what you hear or read on the internet is true.
2. People can be mean and passing along rumors and gossip can damage companies, churches and individuals.
3. Rumors can be effective.
4. Verify your sources by referring to original source documents to see if they have been misrepresented.
5. Make sure the decisions you make are based on fact.
6. People who start rumors or pass along gossip have motives.
7. Do the right thing: Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. Titus 3:10-11
8. If you listen to gossip or repeat a rumor, you may be just as guilty as the one who started it.
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R. Kent Hughes in his commentary on Acts 21 tells a story about one of the key practical problems with gossip. Perhaps this is one of the reasons the judgments against it are so strikingly harsh,
“In an eastern land, a woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor, and within a short time the whole town knew the story. The slandered person was deeply hurt and most unhappy. But then the lady responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely untrue, so she went to a wise old sage to find out what she could do to repair the damage. After listening to her problem, he said,. “Go to the market place, purchase a fowl, and have it killed. Then on your way home pluck its feathers one by one and drop them along the path!” Though surprised by this unusual advise, the woman did as she was told.
The next day she informed the man that she had done as instructed. “Now go and collect all those feathers and bring them back to me,” the sage said. The lady followed the same path, but to her dismay the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching all day long, she returned with only two or three in hand. “You see,” said the old wise man, “It is easy to drop them, but impossible to bring them all back. Likewise, it does not take much to spread a false rumor, but you can never completely undo the wrong.” We Christians must take this to heart!”
Not only does gossip “go down to the innermost being” leaving the hearer forever affected, it lasts longer and travels further than you might have intended. Prov 18:8
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In a recent article on Rueters, Alister Doyle reports that “China says its one-child policy has helped the fight against global warming by avoiding 300 million births, the equivalent of the population of the United States.”
This has got me thinking about abortion, birth control, and over population of the earth. While they are not the same issue, I believe our ideas about these issues and the value we place on them share a common root.
It may be said that abortion can hold its own as a hot social topic, it is likely that less people are interested in any controversy about birth control (aka family planning). I believe these two topics are very closely related. While some people may be opposed to abortion on the grounds of killing and death of another person, they are usually open to birth control because the sense of death is not present. The commonality lies in the fact that the God of the universe has an opinion about these subjects and that that we may not share it.
Does scripture speak on this issue?
This is the question of our times. When people are asked this, often times it does not even register with them and they immediately begin to tell you what “they” think about the issue. I would expect this behavior from non-Christians but it is quite surprising to hear it from people claiming to have “faith in God”. What kind of “faith” are they talking about and what does it mean to have such a faith? Does “faith in God” mean, “I secretly believe there is a force in this universe larger than I am”? Well, if it does mean that, then doesn’t it warrant an investigation as to what this mysterious “force” is, what it desires from us and what it thinks and feels about issues?
When asked a second and subsequent time, “Do you think scripture speaks on this issue?” or more clearly, “Do you think God has an opinion about this?”, one would expect a believer to say, “Yes, I think He does”. As soon as one says, “But I think…”, they have established themselves on the path of sin. It is not to say that we should not think about or deeply contemplate questions and be content little robots regarding the issues of our day but rather that we should be investigating how the God of the universe sees things compared to how we might see them. What is the difference between my opinion and God’s and why do I think that way? Ultimately, scripture speaks to that as well. My opinion about what God thinks, speaks volumes about me and my spiritual condition.
Doctrine
I heard an interesting definition of the word “doctrine” from my pastor this weekend. “Doctrine is man’s conclusions about scripture.” When asked if doctrine was “good or bad”, Pastor replied, “would it be better to not have any conclusions?”.
That being said, what does doctrine say or what can we conclude about God’s opinion regarding abortion, birth control, over population?
Genesis 1:28 says, “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Psalms 127 says, “Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.”
Are you going to tell God that His reward is a burden to you and you’d rather have a big screen television? Will you throw His blessing back at His face? Clearly, scripture says that children are a reward. It is “good” to have many children. I would even go so far as to say, the more, the better.
Pastor Steve Schlissel says it like this,
“Love your children. Love them first by wanting them. The very employment of birth control is a statement against the gifts of God, and it plants the foot firmly along the road for love to grow cold. It is the very foundation of choice against love.
If God gives you five, ten, fifteen, or twenty, then praise Him! He’s given you quite a legacy. While birth control and abortion are certainly not to be considered as moral equivalents, it must never be forgotten that the argument that foisted the former, cemented the path for the latter.”
But, you might say, “The Bible nowhere says that birth control is sin. So it is wrong to say that it is. You’re adding to the Word and binding men’s consciences where God is silent.”
From QuiverFull FAQ:
Q. What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any law of God, given as a rule to the reasonable creature. Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 24
Can the same logic be applied to other sins not mentioned explicitly in the Bible? For instance, the Biblical case against pornography might be said to be even more derivative than the case against birth control. Certainly the Bible nowhere mentions pornography at all, nor depicts anyone using it. Are we therefore prohibited from calling it sin?
There is a tendency among certain theonomists to insist that only those things mentioned explicitly by the law of God are sinful. But Christ’s sermon on the mount was largely devoted to refuting this sort of reductionism. To anyone who reasoned “The Law nowhere says that it is a sin to look at a woman with lust in your heart, so it is wrong to say that it is,” Christ answered that your heart is precisely the place from which sin upwells. Can anyone want to avoid children without thereby holding a different opinion of their value than God does? And is holding a different opinion than God on an ethical issue not sin?
Even among those who agree with us in practice — considering children blessings and eagerly welcoming all the children God will grant them — there is often a real reluctance to call contraception sinful. This probably has a lot to do with the widespread acceptance of contraception within the church. No one wants to be confronted with their sin! Especially if “everyone is doing it”. The natural reaction is to become defensive and hurl accusations of “legalism”, “adding to God’s word”, and “binding men’s consciences”.
If “family planning” were indeed an area of Christian liberty this objection would stick. But what if - as we read the plain teaching of Scripture, and the historic consensus of the church until the last century - the practice of contraception is really want of conformity and transgression of the law of God? Then we have an obligation as Christians to teach that birth control is sin. For if we do not, we are failing our brothers and sisters in Christ who must be called to repent of this sin and know God’s forgiveness.
But… Sure, we’re supposed to be fruitful. But that doesn’t mean we need to have as many children as possible. Having one or two children satisfies Genesis 1:28.
I fail to see how the fact that I was “fruitful” in 1995 and again in 1997 makes it permissible for me to subsequently pursue barrenness. Just think how ridiculous this logic would be if applied to other Biblical mandates! “I honoured my parents three times last year, so I have fulfilled the fourth commandment and am now free to despise them.” Or better yet, “I rendered my spouse due benevolence on our wedding night, so I have satisfied 1 Corinthians 7:3 and I’m now free to defraud him/her for the rest of our marriage.”
Note again that the outcome is entirely within God’s hands; it is He who gives the increase. Our obedience is at issue, not the number of children born to us.
Do I really believe that the earth will run out of space or perhaps there will not be enough land mass or resources to support human life?
Based on the above reasoning, I might ask, “Does God believe that a time will come when the earth cannot support or sustain human life?”
Perhaps this might be God’s response, “Who do you think sustains life? Don’t you know that man does not live by bread alone but on My very Word.”
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Every intellectual and cultural battle is won or lost in the assumptions. He who defines, wins. The controversy between evolution and Biblical creation is about much more than fossils and ape men. It concerns the basic presuppositions by which our society will answer questions concerning life, law, and human relationships. Most importantly, it is a battle over lordship: Who is Lord… God or man?
For much of this century, Darwinian evolution has appeared victorious in the cultural battle. The theory of evolution has done far more than just reshape America’s biology textbooks, it redefined the nature of the debate. Darwin offered modern man the same question which the serpent posed to Eve: “Hath God said?” thereby declaring man the ultimate source of authority.
The results have been devastating. Our society has declined to the point where Christianity is excluded from the public arena, parents may kill their own nine-month baby in the womb, and the lawfulness of homosexual marriage is openly debated by legislators. Many Christians disapprove, but when challenged to defend their position, are quickly silenced by protests that morality is not the proper domain of politics… more
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On Wednesday, August 1st 2007, around 6:00 PM, the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi river in Minneapolis collapsed. Investigators are attempting to determine the root cause and contributing factors of the incident. There are some things we know for certain about the bridge:
- it was 458 feet long, 390 feet over the river
- it was approximately 64 feet above the water
- it was 108 feet wide (8 car lanes)
- 100,000 to 140,000 vehicles used it daily
- it was built in 1967 and lasted 40 years
I had heard that this bridge was expected to give another 20 years of service before it would need to be replaced. Whether that is true or not will never be known. One thing that is for certain,
- once upon a time, this bridge did not exist
- then it did exist
- now it is a pile of rubble
The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is an expression of the universal law of increasing entropy. In simple terms, it is an expression of the fact that over time, differences in temperature, pressure, and density tend to even out in a physical system that is isolated from the outside world.
Hmmmm?? That’s as clear as mud. What is “Entropy”?
Entropy is a measure of how far along this evening-out process has progressed.
So, over time, things have a tendency move towards being completely “even”. Or put another way, “the total entropy (or evening out) of any isolated thermodynamic system tends to increase over time, approaching a maximum value”.
Entropy then, refers to changes in the status quo of a given system and measures the amount of molecular order, disorder, and or chaos present.
What does this have to do with the I35 Bridge? According to what the law is stating, the state of the bridge was moving towards disorder or chaos. It was falling apart, abet a little at a time and perhaps not noticeable. The “organization” of the molecules of the bridge were going to cause it to collapse. The only way to avoid this incident would have been to recognize that this was happening and prevent it. In other words, it was inevitable that the bridge would need repair other wise it would collapse.
Unless of course you subscribe to an evolutionary view of things in which case the molecules have simply reorganized themselves into a more orderly fashion.
Below we see an example of random molecules in the shape of cars sliding towards the newly evolved roadway.
Here are some rescue molecules seeming to interact with a sinking car molecule.
Two more rescue molecules randomly attempting to save a missing person molecule.
Freshly reorganized road atoms in their new configuration.
Free car molecules will now have to evolve to navigate the improved physics of road travel.
New traffic laws are fully implemented. Some car molecules have adapted while others have not.
Order v.s. disorder - you make the call!
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As Solomon said, “there is nothing new under the sun.” History seems to be repeating itself.
Catholic Church and Selling Indulgences
In 1516-17, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for indulgences, was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money to rebuild St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In Roman Catholic theology, an “indulgence” is the remission of punishment because a sin already committed has been forgiven; the indulgence is granted by the church when the sinner confesses and receives absolution. When an indulgence is given, the church is extending merit to a sinner from its Treasure House of Merit, an accumulation of merits it has collected based on the good deeds of the saints. These merits could be bought and sold.
On October 31, 1517, Luther wrote to Albert, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, protesting the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences,” which came to be known as The 95 Theses.
Recently, the Patriot news reported that Catholics have been offered the rite to cut their stay in purgatory.
[St. Patrick Cathedral] is offering its 240,000 followers in central Pennsylvania a plenary indulgence that might reduce the time their souls spend in purgatory to be cleansed of their sins.
The Catholic Church teaches that souls of those who have died in grace must expiate their sins in purgatory before ascending to heaven. Those who receive a plenary indulgence have all temporal punishment for sin removed up to that point in their lives.
To earn a plenary indulgence, followers must visit St. Patrick Cathedral, the mother church of the Harrisburg Diocese. They also must repent their sins, take Communion, go to confession and pray for the pope’s intentions on the day they visit or within several days of visiting the cathedral.
The Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary, the office that oversees the granting of indulgences, approved the offer to mark the cathedral’s 100th anniversary. The offer began March 17 and will end next March 17 — St. Patrick’s Day.
Perhaps your asking, “what is a Plenary Indulgence?” According to the Catholic OnLine, it is:
An indulgences is defined as “the remission before God of the temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned.” The first thing to note is that forgiveness of a sin is separate from punishment for the sin. Through sacramental confession we obtain forgiveness, but we aren’t let off the hook as far as punishment goes.
Indulgences are two kinds: partial and plenary. A partial indulgences removes part of the temporal punishment due for sins. A plenary indulgence removes all of it. This punishment may come either in this life, in the form of various sufferings, or in the next life, in purgatory. What we don’t get rid of here we suffer there.
Is the concept of indulgences biblical?
Short Answer: NO
Long Answer:
Various Roman Catholic Church doctrines are derived from tradition rather than from Scripture. And as the Roman Catholic Church sees their tradition as consistent with Scripture and equal to Scripture in authority, this is not an issue with them. But to most other Christian groups, the Bible alone is the source of authority and is more than sufficient in supplying Christians with all the resources they need to know and serve Christ as God intended (2 Timothy 3:15-17; Acts 20:32). But because the Roman Catholic Church states that its doctrines are not contradictory to Scripture and accepts Scripture as part of its authority, it is appropriate for both groups to ask, “Are indulgences biblical?”
An examination of the passages the Roman Catholic Church uses to support such doctrines as temporal punishment, vicarious atonement by fellow believers and saints, and Purgatory, illustrate the Catholic reliance on tradition above and beyond Scripture. Other doctrines, such as the treasury of merit, the “pristine and unfathomable merit of Mary,” the “superabundant merit of the saints,” and the existence of indulgences are foreign to Scripture altogether! Is the doctrine of indulgences scriptural? A consistent and contextual interpretation of Scripture will neither support the teaching of indulgences, nor the doctrines it is built upon.
Stand To Reason Blog sums it up very well:
The view seems to be that we must satisfy justice by paying for and being purged of the unrighteousness of our sins, even after being forgiven by God. But here’s what I don’t understand: If a person were to receive a plenary indulgence and then immediately die, he wouldn’t have to go to purgatory. Therefore, purgatory isn’t really necessary–that is, even in the Catholic view, it’s possible to escape purgatory based on payments made through the merits of another. So if Christ has already completely
- satisfied divine justice [Romans 3:21-26],
- sanctified and perfected us (once, for all time) [Hebrews 10:10-14],
- purified and redeemed us “from every lawless deed,” [Titus 2:13-14]
- and cleansed us from all unrighteousness and sin through His blood, [1 John 1:7-9]
what is it the merits of the saints can do that Christ has not already done?
And if Christ’s work is sufficient to satisfy all justice (as Catholics would agree, for plenary indulgences are not possible unless the treasury of the saints’ and Christ’s merit is sufficient to satisfy all justice), why would the Church withhold Christ’s perfect merit from His people and only grant its application occasionally during events like a church’s 100th anniversary celebration?
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