Lessons from Brea

Back from vacation

2007-08-07T15:05:00.001-07:00

We are back from vacation! We took a three week vacation from SoCal to Cedar Point, Ohio and back. It was great to tour the country on the open road. The experience has led me to love my family and my country more than ever. A quick rundown of our trip:

- Grand Canyon
- Painted Desert/Petrified Forest
- Albuquerque/Tinker Town
- Carlsbad Caverns
- San Antonio
- Arlington/Six Flags Over Texas
- lots of driving...
- St. Louis
- lots of driving...
- Sandusky, Ohio/Cedar Point
- Amish country
- lots of driving...
- Colorado Springs/Focus on the Family
- Mesa Verde
- Moab, Utah/Arches National Park
- Las Vegas

I posted pictures using Picasa here.

Updated remodel pictures

2007-05-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

The addition is now completely enclosed! We are getting closer...

Yes, it's true...

2007-05-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

Number six is on the way.

More remodel pictures

2007-05-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

Our remodel project is moving right along. It is actually starting to look like a room. We did have a problem when the rains came in late April - it soaked through the carpet on the outside and came on in. I had to rip up the carpet to protect the wood floors. We talked with our contractor last week and right now we have a target of end of June for completion of major construction. We'll see...

The framing is coming along (April 18)

Then we had the rains (April 20)

The walls and roof are going on (May 3)

And so it begins...

2007-04-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that we are doing a remodel project at our place, adding on to our family room and redoing our kitchen. It finally hit home yesterday as the walls came down. I will be posting some pictures of what has happened so far...

Note: you can click on the pictures to get a larger image.

In the beginning: what it looked like before.

March 1 - The beginning: destruction of the trellis and patio.

March 26 - Next was the laying of the new foundation...

April 16 - Then they tore down the walls of the kitchen and family room...

April 17 - Then the walls went up.

Keep checking back for more updates as they come...

Marne's thoughts

2006-12-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

As we were putting our Christmas letter together this year, Marne and I reviewed the journaling that she did right after my accident. I have always told her that I wanted to post what she wrote on my blog, but she never felt that it was quite finished. After reviewing it again, she said to just go ahead and post it. So, here it is, Marne's thoughts about our experience written just a few days after the accident...

It’s Monday morning, October 9, 2006, the phone rings and Dave’s voice is filled with panic. He said, “I’ve been in a serious accident and I should be dead! A truck fell on me, but I was able to get out of the car…I won’t be able to take the kids to school. Oh my God, I should be dead, but I’m okay.” That is all I remember him saying though I know I was on the phone with him longer than that. From that moment on I remember praising God that he was alive and calling a few friends and family asking them to pray. While I wasn’t sure what to do next I realize now my objective was to find out for myself that Dave was really okay. I remember taking a quick shower, getting the kids ready for school and praising God that Dave was alive. I dropped Joel and Cori off at school (Aaron had already left for school for an early fieldtrip) and drove up to Lambert where the accident occurred. The sight of two helicopters in the air over the accident I couldn’t yet see gave me the chills as the severity of this accident began to become real. The road was completely blocked so the officer told me to park and walk to the accident scene. Thank God I had talked to Dave or I would have been completely devastated by what I saw.

The first person I talked to knew Dave had been taken to the hospital, but went to find out which hospital. When he came back he explained that he had taken photos of the accident and thought that the tv news reporters would want to talk to me. I told them about Dave’s phone call to me at 7:40 that morning and how we were praising God for sparing his life. They shared with me comments from police and EMTs who had been at the scene that morning…”I expected to find a double fatality accident, not a walk away accident. There’s something wrong with you if you don’t believe in miracles after seeing this.” I quickly walked up to the preschool and asked Ms. Condon if I could leave Seth a few minutes early explaining Dave was in that accident. She and the assistant teacher told me they had been praying all morning for those involved in the accident never realizing of course it was someone they knew. From there I headed to St. Jude hospital to see for myself that Dave was really okay. Praise to God filled my thoughts and the overwhelming need to see Dave. I am thankful that I didn’t spend time dwelling on thoughts of the possible extent of injury he could have suffered, but looking back at it I’m surprised I did not. I finally found the ER and waited for Dave to return from X-rays. Miraculously, he suffered only minor injuries, a nasty bruise on his shoulder, a small cut on the top of his head, redness on his upper right thigh and soreness all over his torso. Those that treated him and saw the photos of the accident were amazed at the lack of harm to his body. By 11:30a.m. Dave was released from the hospital and I drove him home. What a surprise to us to find all the media interest in this accident and Dave’s miraculous survival! The remainder of that day and the following morning were filled with interviews and photos from all the local news stations, Inside Edition, and the Orange County Register, not to mention a phone that kept ringing as people heard about the accident and realized it was Dave.

As the week has progressed and we are still trying to deal with this trauma several thoughts have stood out. First of course is the precious gift of life itself and not wanting to waste one moment or take it for granted. Celebrating our 15^th Anniversary together yesterday was an incredible blessing as I consider this accident should have been fatal. I also realize that while we spent much time crediting Blue with having a part in saving Dave because of its solid steel frame, perhaps its mission was also in proclaiming what God did. What I mean is many people around town knew Dave drove that blue mustang and recognized it when they drove by or saw it on the news thus giving us an opportunity to talk to them. We have had so many people talk to us about the accident, even people we have never met. I pray that we take each opportunity and give God the credit that belongs to Him alone. Also, I think much of the media interest in this story was due to Blue and what that car meant to us. Thus, the media spread the story further than it would have gone had the accident occurred with our Geo Prizm. It is my prayer that those who hear about this accident will recognize it for the miracle it is and give credit to the Lord. He is the one who deserves all the attention and interviews. How did He do it? When I look at pictures of the accident or what is left of Blue I am filled with awe at the incredible miracle it is that Dave is alive. Deepening our faith and realizing firsthand His mighty power is also a result of this accident. Seth was afraid that a snake might eat him when he was trying to go to sleep the night after the accident; I had the opportunity to pray that the Lord who can hold a big rig up to keep it from crushing Seth’s daddy was able to protect him from a snake. At first I thought how cool God gave us this incredible demonstration of His power and protection for our kids and then I remembered how much I need that example also.

Light the Kinara!

2006-12-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

My daughter performed in her (public) school's second grade holiday songfest last week. I was surprised and pleased that they were able to sing several songs about Christmas, including a couple overtly Christian songs, such as Silent Night. They were able to do this because they also sang songs representing other cultures, including Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

We went with some friends to look at Christmas lights last night. As we were walking around the neighborhood, my daughter and her friends started to sing...the Kwanzaa song. They liked this song so much that they sang it over and over and over, very loudly. It should be noted that none of these girls comes from a family that celebrates Kwanzaa. Many people walking by looked at them a bit strangely and wondered what was going on. We finally convinced them to sing Rudolph.

I think it is important for our children to understand and respect other cultures and even to become familiar with some of their traditions. But I also want to ensure that they understand that we celebrate Christmas and that this time of year is special to us for that reason. All cultures are not the same. All traditions are not the same. it is not hateful to say that; in fact, I think it is harmful NOT to say it. We have to find that balance between respecting others and their traditions and faith while teaching our children about our traditions and our faith.

Improvement

2006-12-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

An update on my recovery from the accident...

This weekend I was able to start being close to normal: we spent some time at Disneyland Friday, I mowed the lawn on Saturday, and I started putting up the Christmas lights on Sunday. Yes, I had to go slower and take lots of breaks, and yes, my back was very tired and aching at the end of each day, but I am encouraged because I could not have even tried to do some of these things last month.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Another kind of digital divide

2006-11-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

I drove by a Honeybaked Ham store today while running some errands. The line to get in was around the block, probably 100 people long. What the heck, I thought to myself? Then I realized: it's the day before Thanksgiving, probably one of the busiest days of the year for them. My next immediate thought was: don't these people know that they can just go online and have their food delivered to their door - no fuss, no muss, and no waiting in stinking long lines and wasting half their day? We ordered online last year for Christmas and it worked great. Then I realized: I am probably one of the few that even knows you can order your Honeybaked hams online.

I teach my students about the "digital divide" (see this post) and we define it as unequal access to technology. The term "access" not only refers to physical access to the technology but also to the ability to use the technology. Should this term also extend to simply not knowing a specific use of the technology is available? I'm sure that many of those that were in line are also online - this is Orange County after all. This can extend so much further: there are many uses of the Internet that I take for granted (maps and directions, weather reports, movie show times...) that others may not know exist or, if they do know, they have never been shown how to make it useful for them.

The concept of making use of technology for a specific reason has a term: "effective use". One of the leading writers in the field of Community Informatics, Michael Gurstein, wrote on it a couple years back here. There are many who could make effective use of the Internet if someone just showed them how. Those of us who are working for a just society and a just world need realize that just giving physical access to technology and doing basic training are not enough. For use to implement effective use, we must give people the ability to understand how to apply it to their everyday lives. We are fast approaching a time that those who do not know how to make effective use will find themselves on the outside looking in - or standing in line.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Transparent Society is now

2006-11-17T15:48:00.000-08:00

...and we are in city #2.

Let me explain: in The Transparent Society, David Brin argues that the march of technology will bring us to a point where every part of our public lives will be recorded. According to Brin, this will be accomplished via "tiny cameras, panning left and right, surveying traffic and pedestrians, observing everything in open view." The book asks one basic questions: who should have access to the images captured by the cameras? Two scenarios are given: in "city #1" the police and governing authorities have access to the images, in "city #2", the public shares access with them. He argues that, while both would lead to a large reduction in crime, the latter would reduce the abuse of power by the authorities. When I discuss this book with my students every semester, many are doubtful that this would be the case: members of the public would abuse the use of the cameras and invade privacy. But we all agree that it is very likely that this "transparent society" will indeed come to pass, and very soon.

Written in 1999, the book did not envision armies of citizen with their own personal video cameras embedded in portable phones. Since these cameras are not public, they are owned by the individuals and the authorities may or may not get access to them. In effect then, we now live, right now, in city #2. I am prompted to write this by the latest news story out of UCLA, where video images captured by a cellphone camera will be used to document their abuse of a student there. However, it is not just this story that tells me we are in city #2: just recently the Texas Border Patrol has made their cameras accessible to the public and are seeking the public's assistance in watching the border and reporting any illegal crossings. And here's another story that shows how an arsonist was captured by video footage.

It may not be the transparent society specifically depicted in the book, but David Brin saw this coming seven years ago. Check out his site and specifically the pages devoted to this topic.

Ministry in a flat world

2006-11-16T07:05:00.000-08:00

This week in my MIS class we discussed some of the main points in Thomas Friedman's book The World Is Flat. This book discusses the changes in technology that have occurred in the past few years that have brought about a change in the way the businesses and peoples in the world interact. Using these "flattening" technologies, power is shifting from countries and corporations to individuals and small groups. The book addresses these changes and then gives its prescription for Americans and American businesses.

In thinking about this new "flat" world we live in, I begin to wonder what it will mean for Christian ministry. Some questions to ponder, for now:

- should the priority of using the Internet, in all its various forms (web sites, podcasts, mailing lists, etc.), rise in churches and ministry-related organizations? And does this translate into larger budgets for Internet-based projects?
- should Christian ministries "offshore", that is, hire people or organizations outside the US to manage their web presence, in order to save money?
- because the Internet is global, should a church use the web primarily as an evangelism tool? A missionary support tool? Or should the focus be on the local congregation?
- what level of Internet or web literacy should be required of missionaries or pastors as part of their training?

If you have opinions on these, feel free to comment. Or to add more questions to the list!

Linerider

2006-11-12T17:03:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen it, be warned: it is addicting. Click the video below to see it in action, click the link below to play.

Linerider

Be purpose-driven

2006-11-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

I discussed in an earlier post my plans for research in the area of the use of web technology for Christian ministry. My initial foray into this area of research will be to simply get to know some different groups (churches, faith-based ministries) that have developed successful web sites or web resources. I want to understand what issues they encounter, what best practices they would recommend, and how they're organized. But, first, and maybe most important, is to understand what these organizations consider the purpose, or mission, of their web site.

A mission statement drives what an organization does. Understand the mission and you understand the organization. In the case of faith-based organizations, this mission will show how they move their faith into action. For example, Biola's mission statement:

The mission of Biola University is biblically-centered education, scholarship, and service—equipping men and women in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a faculty member there, my work is driven by this mission. We constantly work to understand how to do this better and integrate our personal faith with this mission.

A mission statement should also exist for an organization's use of web-based resources. Unfortunately, for many of these churches and ministries, a web site is usually thrown together by a volunteer with no clear purpose in mind except to put the church or group "on the web". But this leads to a web site that is not properly maintained or ends up being forgotten. A poor quality web site may end up driving potential new supporters or members away and is a poor contrast to the excellence that should be the result of serving Christ.

A mission statement for web-based resources would help focus its direction and give it a place in the organization. Is is seen as a way to minister to members of the organization? Is it primarily a channel for raising funds? Is it to support missionaries? Or maybe it is simply another way to share the gospel. This mission statement should be in line with the organization's overall mission statement.

So, dear blog readers, I need your help: if you know of churches, ministries, or faith-based organizations that high-quality web sites that are focused on the mission of the organization, let me know! Much of my research time over the next few weeks will be finding these organizations and understanding how they integrate the mission of their organization with their use of Internet technology.

My wife loves me

2006-11-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

So I get home from work last night and notice something: the lawn was mowed. Even more impressive: it was edged as well. Backyard too. Since my accident, I have been unable to mow our lawn and was hoping to maybe try to do it this coming weekend. Now I don't have to: my wife asked the neighbor's gardener if she could hire him to do it this one time, and he agreed.

This may not seem like a big deal; many people hire gardeners to mow their lawn. However, we never have and I had been lamenting that it had been almost a month and our grass was starting to look "shaggy". The fact that my wife understood how much it bugged me that I couldn't live up to my responsibility to keep it mowed and then had the courage to approach a gardener she didn't know and hire him for this task showed me her love for me.

Thanks baby, you're the best.

This makes you think...

2006-11-08T15:33:00.000-08:00

I was teaching about the implications of "new media" in my MIS class today and how the individual now has the ability to get a message out to the world. We no longer need to go through editors, publishers, or other filters to get our message out, but instead can reach the world directly ourselves through blogs, podcasts, and videos. A friend of mine then sent me an email of this.

Goodbye to one of the good guys...

2006-11-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

I recently posted about my favorite web sites, the ones I must check out every morning to get my "daily fix" and feel caught up with the world. One of those sites is now gone; Doug TenNapel has decided to stop writing his blog. The warnings began a couple of weeks ago when he stated that once he hit one million "hits" (in other words, one million people viewed his blog) he had been planning on stopping. He also stated that using a blog to air his conservative right-wing views had become a problem for his career: it was hard to get hired in Hollywood while espousing the views he was posting on his blog everyday. Doug is a conservative Christian working in Hollywood - something extremely rare. To date, it seems he has been quite successful - his most well-known work is the current series "Catscratch" running on Nickelodeon.

I did not agree with Doug's viewpoints all of the time, but it gave me good insights into the views held by others farther right in the political spectrum than I. I also found his candor about his feeling and his faith refreshing. So many times a blog is just another protected persona someone is putting up and, when you meet in them "in the real world", they seem so different. I will miss his blog.

This also raises a question: what does this do to his testimony as a Christian? Is he any weaker a Christian because he has shut his blog down? Is he "hiding his light"? Should we criticize Doug for doing this, or should we understand? There is no requirement that Christians write blogs. But once Doug had started writing his, he attracted hundreds (thousands?) of visitors a day to read it. It only took him 20 months to get to one million hits! He shared his faith many times over, as well as his controversial views on issues of the day. He shared his daily life, to the point where he wrote that his blog readers knew more about him than his family! I myself reluctantly support Doug's decision to stop - it is between him and God to determine how to best present his testimony in the future. At Biola, we talk about "Business as Ministry" - Doug is doing this every day he faces his peers in Hollywood and continues to practice the principles taught by Jesus Christ.

Why should the devil have all the good . . . web sites?

2006-10-31T06:44:00.000-08:00

Martin Luther is quoted as having said "Why should the devil have all the good music?" While this is debatable, it has spawned a song and a movie and has been used as a rallying cry for those who believe that Christians should use their God-given artistic talents to their fullest in the creation of music. While it is questionable that the results (Contemporary Christian Music) are actually good art, the point is still valid: God has given Christians unique talents and gifts that should be used to their fullest, which should culminate in art that is of the highest class and beauty created. As Christians, we should never be satisfied with "good enough".

In fact, this should be true in every area of the life of the Christian. In Colossians 3, it speaks of "doing your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men" (NASB). I can attest: this is very difficult to do. With five kids, two jobs, and serving in several areas, it is always tempting to do "just enough" to get by and not be excellent. It is a constant struggle.

So why the title "Why should the devil have all the good web sites?". As I stated in an earlier post, I believe that I was not killed in my accident because He has more for me to do here first. Besides the things mentioned in a previous post, I believe God has uniquely positioned me for another task: developing a research base on how Christian ministries can effectively accomplish their mission via technology. God has laid on my heart a desire to see technology used to reach the world for Him. We have all seen church web sites that have fallen by the wayside and are no longer maintained. It is embarrassing to me as a Christian to see this happen - if you are going to do it, do it well.

How am I uniquely positioned? I have a Ph.D. in Information Systems and Technology. My research interests are in the effective design of social systems. I work at a job that will encourage and reward me for research. I have worked in the IT industry for 15 years and continue to do consulting there, keeping my eye on the "pulse" of the latest technology. I have a deep desire to see churches and other Christian ministries use technology to accomplish the mission God has laid out for them.

When I talk about this research, I do not simply mean "I will show them how to make good web sites". There are already many people out there doing that, most notably the Heal Your Church web site run by Dean Peters. What I am talking about is an academic look into what makes some uses of technology by churches and other ministries effective, and why some fail. It is not the selection of particular technologies I am concerned with, it is the processes used by these organizations that should be analyzed. It is quite simple to put up a web site these days - it is much more difficult to create an Internet presence which leverages the church or ministry and increases its reach manyfold.

What will be the result of all this research? I don't know. A book, a web site, seminars, training classes, consulting - maybe a mix of all of these. My first step is just to understand more fully the issues facing churches and other ministries when using technologies and looking for common patters. This will be followed by a more explicit research proposal and possible grants. The process may easily take more than a year, but along the way I hope to impact the world in the way God has gifted me to.

I will use this blog to communicate my progress as I go along - I hope you'll check in once in a while to see how it's going.

My Music

2006-10-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

One of the ways I cope with hard times is by getting absorbed in my music. Ever since I was young, I always found refuge in listening to meaningful songs. I find that there are two sorts of people in the world: those that find music meaningful and look forward to experiencing music just for the pure joy of the music, and those who see music as something to have in the background. How can you determine which kind of person you are is simple: would you be happy to spend an evening by yourself listening to music and doing nothing else?

So, for me, during this time of stress and troubles, I have latched onto a couple of bands whose music really has said some of the things that I myself cannot verbalize; songs which lift my spirits, bring me to tears, and make me think. The first band is The Lost Dogs, a group I have written about before. As a big fan of this group, simply posting links to the lyrics of some of these songs does not do them justice, but it is one way I can support the band. Three of their songs that have been a blessing to me these last eighteen days are: Jesus on the Shore, Crushing Hand, and Blessing in Disguise. I cannot say enough good things about this group: each of the members individually and all of them together are so talented, in a musically just world they would all be superstars.

The second band is The Violet Burning, a group I stumbled upon while keeping up with the Lost Dogs. Several songs from the Faith and Devotion of a Satellite Heart album are so worshipful and heartfelt that whenever I hear them I feel refreshed and purified. What is so amazing is that these two groups are almost exact opposites: the Lost Dogs play a progressive country/Americana style while the Violet Burning are much more Alternative or Modern sounding.

Thanks to everyone who continues to ask how I am doing: I am still sore and unable to do anything to exert myself. I am going to physical therapy and seeing my doctor to determine the best course of action. Continue to pray for my wife, my healing, and wisdom on how to best deal with insurance and health care management.

Shannon's Story

2006-10-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

Many of you have heard that the car right behind mine in the accident was a student of mine, Shannon Reeve. I was not aware of this until amazingly, the afternoon of the accident, I got an email from her saying she was right behind me! Shannon was in my MIS class during Interterm earlier this year. I have asked Shannon to "tell her story" and I am including a picture of her poor car as well. Take it away, Shannon...

Now I'm sure you're all a bit played out on this story, but imagine seeing a big rig fall on top of your car and not thinking you're going to survive and then you may understand why it's nearly impossible to stop talking about it!

Monday morning, (don't you hate those?!?)... I have a big day ahead of me and am trying to get to school a few minutes early so I can have one last glance at my notes before I take a BIO test. As I am exiting on Lambert from the 57 freeway I see the big rig, turning in conjunction with my car, start to swing out into my lane and seemed like it was going too fast. As I try to make the turn as wide as I possibly can, I hear the squealing of brakes and see the big rig toppling on to my car. There is no where for me to go, so I hunch my shoulders and try to semi-duck, but brace myself for the for the worst. After the crashing, bending of steel, shattering of windows, ect. (sounding amazingly like any car crash you see in the movies) I open my eyes and to my amazement I am alive! My car is nearly crushed by the semi, but thanks to God's outrageous protection, where I am sitting is still in tact! I see a few people run over from their cars across the street and ask me if I am OK. I say yes, tell them I just need to get out, then ask if everyone else is OK. Someone asked me if I had called the police, and I, of course, said no... I was in shock I was alive, the last thing I am thinking about is calling the police! So, as they call 911, I reach for my phone beside me and call my parents to tell them what had just happened.

I tell my dad I was just in an accident, a truck had flipped and was stuck on top of my car. "I don't know how I'm alive!" Is what I said that must have made his stomach turn, but he tells me he's on his way and I tell him to be careful because there might be traffic now. haha!

Long story short, the firemen use the jaws of life to get me out. The roof had hit my head, but to my amazement... not even a scratch! My back and neck are sore, but nothing immobilizing. Now some people call me the "miracle girl" or say that they could see that an angel covered me to protect me. All I know is that God's protection and control was more real to me that day than ever before. No one was seriously injured in an accident that the coroners office was called to come on scene. God still does miracles today, and I believe what the devil intended for evil God has used for good.

I thank God for his protection of Professor Bourgeois and myself, as well as everyone else involved. It is hard to cope with the fact that you are okay while other people die from accidents like that daily. All I know is God is awesome, and I am thankful to be alive to fulfill the purpose He has for me... whatever that may be!

-Shannon Joy

Why me?

2006-10-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

People die in traffic accidents every day. Why did God allow me to survive when so many die in similar accidents every day (see here, here, here, and here) ? I know that this is a question many survivors ask, and many chalk it up to "luck" or "karma".

As for me, I truly believe God has a plan for His creation and His will is going to be accomplished through those of us here. This plan is laid out in the Bible for all to see. Some hear the plan and choose to ignore it, some don't bother to look, and many have never heard. We will never fully understand the role each of us plays in this plan without first seeking it out:

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 NASB)

I will never know all the reasons why I survived this horrible crash while others die every day. I do know that I am part of God's plan for this world and I must do my best to fulfill my role in it by continually "renewing my mind": meditating on His word daily, praying to Him for wisdom daily, and then seeking out counsel of those wiser than myself. And then going out and doing it.

I believe that one of the reasons God spared my life at this time was so that my wife and I could continue to raise our five children. My desire for them is to learn to love the Lord and serve Him using the gifts He has given them. My wife still needs me and we are blessed every day by the thought that God allowed me to continue to work alongside her in this task.

I also believe that another of the reasons I survived this accident is so that I can share this story and my faith with others. I'm not one to push religion on everyone I meet, but if at least one person changes their heart and turns to God because of my experience, it will all have been worth it to me. We are all here for only a temporary time, some longer than others. Are you going to be part of God's plan? Or are you just doing your own thing, looking out for number one?

I am also coming to the conclusion that there is another task God has left for me. I will share that in an upcoming post.

Fifteen years

2006-10-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

My beloved, amazing, beautiful wife and I celebrated 15 years of marriage last week. Since I was too self-absorbed and busy last week I was not able to get her a card or gift. Finally, last night, I gave her my gift: a simple gold ring with five diamonds in it, one for each of our children. Thanks to our parents (both my mother and Marne's parents) for watching the kids, we are going to be able to go away to Vegas this weekend kid-free to celebrate and relax. Of course, Marne will have to do most of the driving now because of my condition.

I just wanted to use this space to celebrate my wonderful wife, my beautiful family, and all the other blessings that God has given to me.

A total loss

2006-10-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Just received confirmation from my insurance company that the Mustang is a total loss. This is no surprise, but it is starting to hit home that it is never coming back. We're not sure what we're going to do about getting another car. We have been blessed to have another car that I can drive while we decide what to do.

The insurance company has yet to get back to me with an offer, but I am not sure getting a new car makes sense. On one hand, it would sure be nice to replace the car with another classic Mustang, maybe even another 68. On the other hand, trying to raise a family of seven living on one person's income in Orange County, it really isn't the best use of money. Opinions?

And now for something completely different . . .

2006-10-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

I have been concerned about the involvement of evangelical Christians with politics for some time. It seems that we wholeheartedly support what the "good guys" do (read: Republican agenda) and condescendingly shake our heads at the agendas of the "bad guys". I gave up on the Republicans a long time ago and don't feel at home in any of the political parties.

A man named David Kuo has written a book describing his first-hand account working in the Bush Administration's "Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives" and it deserves a read by Christians of all stripes who are concerned about the intertwining of faith and politics. The book is called Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction

From the book:

I have no anger towards my former colleagues or towards anyone else. Part of what made this so difficult to write is the amount of respect I have for my former colleagues. I like and respect them.

It was also a real challenge to try and tell the entire story, my own intimate story about what happens when you struggle with God and politics—and politics wins. I think one of the things that drove me was feeling the urgent need to tell people, particularly Christians, I suppose, that politicians look at any constituency with very cold eyes. They form constituencies to form a governing coalition. That isn’t a bad thing; that’s just what they do. And I think Christians have come to this notion that this White House is somehow their fellow parishioners with them, and that is simply not the case.

... and those of you looking for more posts about my accident, stay tuned, they will continue over the next few weeks.

One week ago...

2006-10-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

It was about this time one week ago that it all happened. I just wanted to take this moment to praise the Lord for all He has done in the past week and thank everyone for their continued support and prayers. As for me: pray for healing as my body still hurts. I am feeling better every day, but I still can't lift anything heavy or stand for long periods of time. Also pray for wisdom in dealing with insurance companies and legal issues. Thanks.

Angels

2006-10-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

When I was first struck by the truck, my initial thought was that I could not breathe very well. I immediately began to determine how I could get out of my car. The window wouldn't budget and the door wouldn't open. A gentleman standing outside the car was looking at me and telling me not to move as he called 911. I yelled through the window that I could not breathe and I needed to get out. He told me to turn away from the window and he proceeded to pull on it until it broke. He was pulling out, away from the car, not in towards me. Once the window had been broken, the door opened (I can't remember if I did it or he opened it) and I was able to crawl out onto the center median.

I have not heard from this man again, I don't know who he was, and pictures of the car (see the one posted to the right, taken after I was already out of the car) show that the window was not broken. Several people have told me that he was an angel. I am not one to quickly believe that sort of thing, though I do believe that angels do walk among us. It is possible that the window did not actually break and that this man simply ended up pulling the whole door open. But it comes down to this: either he was an angel who the Lord sent to rescue me, or he was a man who felt compelled to help and then remain anonymous. If the former, what a miracle! If the latter, what an amazing man. It got me to thinking: we can all be angels, of sorts, in so many situations. Have you ever been in a situation where someone has needed help and you were too busy or scared to help? God is so amazing and powerful that you CAN be an angel to that person.

Just a thought.

On being a media show

2006-10-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

One of the most amazing aspects of this whole ordeal has been the media's reaction. I have never held a high opinion of the news media, especially local news reporters, but I'll have to admit that they have been nothing but professional, kind, and patient. The pictures here are still captures from interviews I did on local news. See the links from Tuesday's entries to watch the segments.

Within minutes of arriving at the hospital, I was asked if I would be interviewed on the local ABC affiliate. I was stunned! At that time, I was still on a back board and in a neck brace, so my immediate answer was "no - not now". Once they had cleared my spine and removed the brace so I could sit up, I then gave the interview. It was relatively simple and I was impressed with the sensitivity and respect of the two-person crew (camera and interview personality) that conducted the interview. As time passed, I soon began to realize that everyone in LA wanted to know my story and I was being asked to interview for every local station. My first inclination was again to say "no" - I could see no reason why I should be giving interviews. I hadn't done anything to deserve it and I was certainly not looking for any attention. As I was contemplating this, both my amazing wife, Marne, and my good friend, Steve Huff, told me: "Dave, you have a story to tell. You need to tell it." And they were right.

I have now been on all the local news channels and been interviewed by Inside Edition (who has yet to air the piece). Since then, I have received emails from several people telling me how inspired they have been by what has happened:

I just heard from that you had a car accident but you are survive. We watched the news together and I saw God's miracle and your strong faith. It was amazing. Since I was amazed by that, I posted this news on my HP. One of my friends read my blog and watched the news. She has been my friend since high school and an anti-Christian. However, she gave me a comment and said, "It might be accident but since I saw this miracle, I now feel like that God is."

She has never changed her mind even though I talked to her about God. However, you changed her through this accident even though you have never talked to her. I am so sorry about the fact you had a car accident and lost your favorite car but I just want to let you know about this and I wanted to say thank you. I will keep trying to tell the gospel to her from now on since you gave me a chance. Again, thank you.

And this one...

Hi Professor Bourgeois!

I graduated from Biola in Dec '04. You were never my prof, but when I saw you on the news last night, I was astonished to learn that you made it out alive! It was encouraging, because when you recently graduate, its not easy starting your life over in the "real world". And when I saw how strategic God was in saving you, even when you had no idea a huge monster was falling on you, I was amazed.

When you told the reporter that you would always carry God's purpose with you, even more so now, I was touched.

Thank you for your encouraging words!

I have also been receiving encouragement from current students, coworkers, friends, and members of the community. I am humbled and awed by what God has done. And I am convinced He will be doing more. Not just for me, but for many, many others as well.

P.S. A quick update on me: I am slowly on the mend - not quite as sore and stiff as before, but still in some pain. Pray for healing and a return to normalcy.

It's just a car...

2006-10-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

I got to go see what was left of my car tonight. How depressing. As you can see from the pictures, my beloved Blue 68 is dead. Amazingly, I was able to retrieve all my valuables: my PDA, my cellphone, my book, and some items from the trunk. I was not allowed to remove the license plate, but I hope to get that also.

I bought this car in 1985 from some family friends, the Elders. I had grown up with their son in Pasadena and always loved that car. When they told me they wanted to sell it, I immediately asked for it. I was in college at the time and they allowed me to pay them off slowly, about $50 a month.

I had my first date with my wife in this car, we drove away from our wedding in this car, my kids all clamored to ride with me in this car - even my two-year-old son, who knew it was something special. It was part of my identity. I drove it as a student at Biola and now as a professor there. It had been painted several times and I had the engine rebuilt once and overhauled a couple of times.

In the end, it's just a car. But it was also part of our family. My daughter Corinne said that Blue was a hero, it "saved daddy's life". This is probably true, since a newer car would probably have been crushed further under the truck and I would not be here to write about it. Of course, I also believe God had a hand in it, since I almost chose to drive our little Geo to Bible study that morning.

This isn't how I wanted my 15 minutes of fame...

2006-10-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

Thank God I didn't die under a ton of hair gel!

Yesterday, on my way home from my men's group, the car I was driving was crushed under the trailer of a truck that had tipped over. One minute I was sitting in my car, thinking about how I was going to be home to see my son get off to school, the next there was a truck trailer six inches from my face. Initially, I could not breathe, but with the help of some other drivers who had come to the scene, I was able to get out of the car and crawl to safety. Amazingly, I suffered no immediate injury: I am not paralyzed, no broken bones, no lacerations. I was whisked away to St. Jude's in Fullerton where I was treated well and quickly and was home before noon! I truly believe God protected me yesterday. I am reminded that He has a plan; there is more for me to do while I am here. I have a wife, five children, a ministry at Biola University and my church, and those things are where I need to be focused.

I am still getting my head around what happened to me right now, and I will write more about it as the days go on. The most amazing thing so far to me is the interest that the media has had in the event. I have been interviewed by all the local LA stations and, just this morning, by Inside Edition. The Inside Edition folks said that I would be on tomorrow's (Wed 10/11) show. Here are a couple of links to stories from the local media:

KCBS TV news Got my first name wrong in the story.
Orange County Register
Fox 11
NBC 4

Thanks to Bruce Chambers from the OC Register for these pictures and to Holly Robaina for encouraging me to blog about it.

Lost Dogs concert

2006-10-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

I went to the Lost Dogs concert last Saturday. Fred Sanders, another Biola prof, went with us, and he has a great review of the concert over at Middlebrow. If you appreciate thoughtful, unique Christian music, this is a group you should check out.

My daily fix

2006-10-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

OK, so I am going to try to get back to working on this blog again. Don't give up on me!

Every morning when I stumble into my office, I have certain web sites I always want to check out so I can feel "caught up" with the world. I put this in a bookmark folder and then use Firefox's "Open with tabs" feature to open them all at once. A website must be "worthy" in order to appear on this list; some that I have put there have been removed after several days of finding nothing useful in them.

Anyways, here are the sites I currently deem worthy of a daily "fix":

Doug Tennapel's blog
MSNBC news
Hugh Hewitt's blog
Mark D. Robert's blog
Instapundit
Middlebrow
Drudge Report
Lifehacker

What sites do you find you need to review daily?

Been busy, but this is important...

2006-08-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

Interesting viewpoint on ID

2006-05-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

This story focuses on an important part of the Evolution/ID debate: the study of evolution does not help us with our moral decisions.

Don't Be Good

2006-04-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

Google's corporate motto is "Don't Be Evil". Today, Google has announced the name of the Chinese version of their site: ‘Gu Ge’ or ‘Valley Song’. In doing business in China, Google has also agreed to censor their results. This means that Google is actually modifying their results based upon the policies of a Communist government. The report goes on to say:

Talking to reporters later, Schmidt said Google's managers were stung by criticism that they accepted Chinese censorship, but said they haven't lobbied Beijing to change its rules.

"I think it's arrogant for us to walk into a country where we are just beginning to operate and tell that country how to operate," he said.

Asked whether Google might try to persuade Beijing to change its restrictions, Schmidt said he didn't rule anything out, but said it hasn't tried to change such limits elsewhere. He noted that Google's site in Germany is barred from linking to Nazi-oriented material.

"There are many cases where certain information is not available due to local law or local custom," he said.

This sounds good, but it doesn't hold up when applied universally. If a Islamist government asked them to filter out everything offensive to Islam, would they do that as well? We've always trusted Google to show us what is truly out there, now it appears that at least some of us (the Chinese) cannot.

It appears that "Don't Be Evil" works great until you are faced with a question of profits. What a powerful statement it would have been for Google to refuse to agree to China's policies. More analysis hereand here.

Christians and Science

2006-04-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

As the Intelligent Design debate is making headlines, the media is portraying Christians as anti-science zealots. And we are partly to blame: the way we present ourselves sometimes gives the impression that we are going to ignorantly hold our positions despite scientific evidence to the contrary and, worse, that we don't care if we are contradicting science. Personally, I believe that scientific fact and the Bible will always be in 100% agreement. When a scientific theory or discovery is made that gives the impression of a contradiction with the Bible, then one of two things has happened: either the science is incorrect, or else our understanding of what the Bible has to say is incorrect. If it is the former, then we have science on our side: new discoveries and interpretations will eventually correct the previous ones. If it is the latter, must we be so dogmatic that we lose our credibility with the world? I believe that, on certain interpretations of scientific fact in the Bible, we must remain open to changes in our understandings. Now, I am not saying that we should constantly be changing our beliefs so that we are always in agreement with science. Instead, I am saying that we should carefully examine our beliefs and choose our battlegrounds. Was the world created in six literal 24-hour days? I am open to discussion. Did Jesus exist as a man on this planet approximately 2000 years ago? I am not open to debate.

Give me your comments and opinions on this one.

It is finished

2006-03-30T16:25:00.000-08:00

I successfully defended my disseration proposal this afternoon and I am now a Ph D! I have to make some revisions and turn in my final completed copy by April 10th. Graduation is May 13th. It will be really strange to not be in school anymore. I have been in school since I was 5, with only a one year break between BS and MS and about two years between MS and PhD. I am looking forward to having more time for my family and my work at Biola.

Hey...maybe I will even be able to post to my blog again.

I've been busy, OK, stop hassling me...

2006-03-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

I guess it is really about to happen.

The coming tragedy...how to help

2006-02-24T07:16:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in a post a while back that I would be researching ways that readers of this blog (along with me!) could work to help out our brothers and sisters in Africa. One interesting solution is in Mark D. Roberts' series on the ONE campaign and his suggestion for the EIGHTY campaign. I will be joining both.

Here is the link to the series. The ONE campaign stuff starts with the entry entitled "PART 8: Bono's sermon".

Death of a pet

2006-01-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

Our cat Jasper died yesterday. My wife and I got him about fourteen years ago, right after we were married. He had been sick for quite a while, so it was not unexpected. (No, he is not dead in this picture, that was just one of his favorite spots for "hanging out")

The death of a pet can be used as a way to help our kids understand how to deal with truly sad events. Death is not something to be hidden away and not talked about; instead it should be discussed and understood as part of the process of life. When it was obvious that Jasper was not going to make it much longer, we allowed all the kids to say their "last words" to him. After he had died, we called the kids in and let them see him and say goodbye. There was much crying and sadness, but after a while the talk turned to the funny experiences we had with him and how much we loved him. At dinner we thanked the Lord for letting us have him in our lives.

One of my kids keeps talking about how Jasper is in heaven and how much he must be enjoying himself. My wife and I decided it that there is no point in discussing the theology of animals in heaven. You never know: it may be possible that our pets will be there with us.

There is still some sadness around the house, but most of the attention is now turned to Jasper's sister, Josie. The kids all appreciate her so much more. I hope this experience has helped our kids (and us) deal with death (and other trying times) just a little bit better.

Visions of the future

2006-01-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

I am big fan of science fiction novels. I recently got my hands on a "Top 100" list of the best sci-fi novels of all time and I am making my way through these. It turns out I had already read 17 of the top 20, so I am trekking down to the used book store to work through the rest.

One of the things I have noticed in reading science fiction is that the authors tend to take one of two views about the future of earth: either it will degenerate into chaos, with life on earth being filled with crime and shortages (doomsday) or mankind will solve their problems and work together to explore the stars (utopian). This is, of course, a generalization and not all SF novels do this. But it gets me wondering about the mindset of these authors. The "doomsday" authors have a very low view of man and are very pessimistic about the future that technology will bring. The "utopian" authors believe in the goodness of men to overcome our problems and come together as a world. It would be an interesting study to classify all the SF written in the past fifty years or so and see what sorts of trends we could find.

But this gets me thinking: as Christians, what sort of future are we envisioning? On the one hand, we can look at the fallen nature of man and the coming apocalypse described in Revelation and take a very pessimistic, or doomsday view. On the other hand, we can be working for bringing Christ's kingdom to earth and take an essentially positive, though probably not utopian, view.

I, myself, take a middle road. I don't expect to see any of the doomsday scenarios play out, at least not until the Lord returns. I also don't see any utopias coming any time soon. As human beings, we will always be faced with the same problems of good and evil, they just may be in different forms. What I do hope for is that advances in science and technology can help us overcome many of the physical problems we encounter: cures for sickness, help for the disabled, better quality of life as we age. I also see that technology can be used as a way to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. Now that is something to be working towards.

Some interesting pieces around the web

2006-01-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

Weblogs were originally created as a way to help people manage their web experience. Well, I'll do that today! Here are some interesting pieces from around the web:

John Mark Reynolds gives some cheerful news for 2006.
The Church Report lists its top 50 most influential Christians in America. Some interesting choices here and some surprises.
Doug Tennapel shows why Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was so great.
...and on the same blog Mac points out how King was treated by the right in his day as a warning for us today.

Enjoy reading.

Hilarious

2006-01-16T07:32:00.000-08:00

This post is hilarious.

MLK

2006-01-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thunder cloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Rain down on him
Mmm...mmm...mmm...
So let it be
Mmm...mmm...mmm...
So let it be
Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thundercloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Let it rain
Rain on him

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
(nobody like you...)
Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...

Predictions

2006-01-16T06:46:00.000-08:00

It's January, so everyone is making predictions. A couple of the most interesting are from John Mark Reynolds and Robert X. Cringely. John Mark Reynold's predictions are "cultural", while Cringely's are predictions for technology and the computer industry.

The most intersting prediction from Reynolds is his thinking on Iran. He states:

Iran will become more important in the news than Iraq. Iraq will begin to move toward peace and the mullahs will feel the threat of reaction to a democratic neighbor in their own people. When in trouble, dictators demonize Jews and Americans. Expect the nuclear program to continue and for someone (Israel if the worst happens) to take it out. Have the doves so ham-strung Bush that he will not be able to keep this rotten regime from getting weapons we know they will use?

I think he is right on here. This is a regime that must be watched carefully and we must be ready to act. Their latest strategy is to deny that the Holocaust every occurred. They are going to hold a conference on it. And these guys are going to have nukes? I don't think so...

Cringely's most interesting prediction is probably this one for Google:

Google will continue to roll out new products and services as it builds out its infrastructure for a huge push in 2007. They'll need money, of course, so I predict a supplemental stock offering timed with a 20-to-1 stock split. 2006 is a building year for Google.

I'm not sure what "a building year" for Google means, and I'm not sure I agree. I think that Google will begin to use its dominance to solidify its position as the place to go on the net. We will see.

And predictions from me . . . maybe later, not today. Now I'm off to keep working on my dissertation.

Search

2006-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I read The Search by John Battelle. I found it so compelling that I am going to use it as part of my E-Business Strategy course this spring. It is the story of the search industry, with a special focus on Google. According to the author, the folks at Google feel that only about 5% of the search "problem" is solved so far. These search companies want to get inside your head and determine your intentions so that when you search they will fully understand what you want and provide you with the exact result. A fascinating idea. But just how will they get inside my head? That is the question.

Pondering this idea of search has led me to another path: how could technology be used to help those seeking information about Christianity? How can the results be presented so that the seekers can truly find Christ? Do a search right now on "Jesus Christ" and you will find a mix: Campus Crusade's web site, results from a PBS special, a Mormon web site, and a news story discussing the idea that maybe Jesus never did exist. Campus Crusade shows up first, so I am guessing that they have done their homework in regards to search results on the term "Jesus Christ". Kudos to them.

I have been playing around with the idea of developing a site that can be used as a resource for those working to understand the Christian worldview and theology. This would not be an evangelism site, but instead a place where current events and philosophies can be discussed in an environment that is trusted but allows for differences of opinion. Think Wikipedia for Christian thought, but with a guarantee of well-thought articles and opinions. Is this a good idea? Do you know of other sites that do this well? Send me your comments and ideas.

Mark D. Roberts on Islam

2006-01-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

Mark D. Roberts has started a series on Islam, specifically on the interview that Hugh Hewitt did with Joseph Fessio. This will be well worth the read. Anyone who wants to know what our world may look like in the next few decades should understand this.

The coming tragedy?

2006-01-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

The world sits by while Africa starves. As Christians, this is our concern. But what can be done?

Sometimes it seems as if the evangelican church is so inward focused (faith) that we do not make it a priority to find those in need and help (works). But "faith without works is dead" (James 2:14-20). I will be looking for ways that we can help and posting them to this site.

The coming battle

2006-01-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

I've said before that I think we are now in a war with Muslim extremists. This interview that Hugh Hewitt had with Father Joseph Fessio adds a dire warning. First, he states that Europe may eventually become Muslim, with governments that outlaw religious freedom. Second, he sees no way for Islam to change via a Reformation, such as Christianity did. Read the summary of it at hughhewitt.com or the full interview at radioblogger.com.

Still going...

2006-01-05T08:04:00.001-08:00

Just in case you weren't paying attention: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the tenth biggest movie of 2005 and was #1 last weekend, moving back ahead of King Kong.

Pretty good for a movie that opened in December. I look for it to have "legs" and continue to do well throughout January. DVD sales next Christmas should be amazing,too. Filming of the second movie, Prince Caspian is rumored to have started for release in December 2007! Aww, we have to wait that long?

Lessons from Dover

2006-01-04T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Dover intelligent design case was completed yesterday when the Dover School Board rescinded their policy of presenting intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in high school biology classes. For many in the ID movement, this must seem a setback. But for those ID proponents who seek to present a sound, scientific alternative to evolution (and not to just push Creationism), this was expected. It is too early for Intelligent Design to be considered as a scientifically equivalent alternative to evolution.

Thomas Kuhn's famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions teaches us that science does not like to change. A scientist wants to build on existing theories, understanding the world more deeply through experimentation and study. This can only be done through the creation of "paradigms", which are simply ways to view the world, summarized here and excerpted below:

Throughout thirteen succinct but thought-provoking chapters, Kuhn argued that science is not a steady, cumulative acquisition of knowledge. Instead, science is "a series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions" [Nicholas Wade, writing for Science], which he described as "the tradition-shattering complements to the tradition-bound activity of normal science." After such revolutions, "one conceptual world view is replaced by another" [Wade].

Although critics chided him for his imprecise use of the term, Kuhn was responsible for popularizing the term paradigm, which he described as essentially a collection of beliefs shared by scientists, a set of agreements about how problems are to be understood. According to Kuhn, paradigms are essential to scientific inquiry, for "no natural history can be interpreted in the absence of at least some implicit body of intertwined theoretical and methodological belief that permits selection, evaluation, and criticism." Indeed, a paradigm guides the research efforts of scientific communities, and it is this criterion that most clearly identifies a field as a science. A fundamental theme of Kuhn's argument is that the typical developmental pattern of a mature science is the successive transition from one paradigm to another through a process of revolution. When a paradigm shift takes place, "a scientist's world is qualitatively transformed [and] quantitatively enriched by fundamental novelties of either fact or theory."

Kuhn also maintained that, contrary to popular conception, typical scientists are not objective and independent thinkers. Rather, they are conservative individuals who accept what they have been taught and apply their knowledge to solving the problems that their theories dictate. Most are, in essence, puzzle-solvers who aim to discover what they already know in advance - "The man who is striving to solve a problem defined by existing knowledge and technique is not just looking around. He knows what he wants to achieve, and he designs his instruments and directs his thoughts accordingly."

So, how then, does science change? We don't believe the earth is flat or is the center of the universe anymore.

During periods of normal science, the primary task of scientists is to bring the accepted theory and fact into closer agreement. As a consequence, scientists tend to ignore research findings that might threaten the existing paradigm and trigger the development of a new and competing paradigm. For example, Ptolemy popularized the notion that the sun revolves around the earth, and this view was defended for centuries even in the face of conflicting evidence. In the pursuit of science, Kuhn observed, "novelty emerges only with difficulty, manifested by resistance, against a background provided by expectation."

And yet, young scientists who are not so deeply indoctrinated into accepted theories - a Newton, Lavoisier, or Einstein - can manage to sweep an old paradigm away. Such scientific revolutions come only after long periods of tradition-bound normal science, for "frameworks must be lived with and explored before they can be broken." However, crisis is always implicit in research because every problem that normal science sees as a puzzle can be seen, from another perspective, as a counterinstance and thus as a source of crisis. This is the "essential tension" in scientific research.

ID researchers should be working toward a "revolution" around the origin of life. Instead of forcing ID into textbooks through political maneuverings, they should be continuing to work on ID as science. As I have stated earlier in this blog: if evolution is indeed untrue, then science will eventually declare it so. Even if they have to do it kicking and screaming.

Blogging in a postmodern world

2006-01-03T06:58:00.000-08:00

Blogging is the perfect medium for the postmodern world. Postmodernism says that there is no one objective truth but, instead, each person's experience allows them to understand their own truth. Our friends at Wikipedia can help with the definition of this a bit (taken from the entry for Postmodern philosophy):

The writings of Lyotard were largely concerned with the role of narrative in human culture, and particularly how that role has changed as we have left modernity and entered a "postindustrial" or postmodern condition. He argued that modern philosophies legitimized their truth-claims not (as they themselves claimed) on logical or empirical grounds, but rather on the grounds of accepted stories (or "metanarratives") about knowledge and the world -- what Wittgenstein termed "language-games." He further argued that in our postmodern condition, these metanarratives no longer work to legitimize truth-claims. He suggested that in the wake of the collapse of modern metanarratives, people are developing a new "language game" -- one that does not make claims to absolute truth but rather celebrates a world of ever-changing relationships (among people and between people and the world).

Thanks to the Internet and tools like Blogger, everyone now has the ability to post their thoughts and feelings for all to read. And everyone's opinions are equally valid, right? Well, no.

As Christians, what are we to make of this? Mac over at Tennapel.com has this interesting post discussing postmodernism and Christianity. He makes some good points, but he left something out. First this:

Therein lays the key, because it is no more necessary that a new convert believe there is objective truth than the Jewish converts in Galatia needed circumcision to become followers of Jesus (and Paul suggests that those who would insist upon that condition should just go all the way and castrate themselves). The insistence is first and foremost on faith alone and making real connection with God in Christ.

After that, all of our theologies are flawed and mirror dim.

Do I believe there is objective truth with a capital “T”? Well, yes. I’m just not the authoritative repository of it, and neither are you.

No...but the Word of God is. We must always clearly state that the Word of God is objective truth. However, this does not mean we cannot have open discussions with folks. He continues...

Well after hitting a few Christian blogs on Postmodernism, it became clear to me that while subjectivism is a philosophical issue (it isn’t a practical one) the real resistance in Christian circles is the utter distaste for dialogue and biblical narratives.

It’s just so much work to actually study the biblical narratives! Can’t someone just boil it all down for me in tract form? Oh look! They did!

And openly and respectfully talking with people? Gah! Can’t we just judge them and be done with it?

...

But I’ll point you to two example for Postmodern consideration. The first is the woman at Jacob’s well in John 4. The second is Philip out in the desert with the Ethiopian eunuch (toward the end of Acts 8).

The examples show how the Lord found people where they were and used their stories as a way of helping them to faith. This I wholeheartedly agree with. We must be willing to dialog with everyone and meet them where they are.

This is where blogs come in to play. A blog allows us to see people where they are. It helps us understand the different philosophies, trains of thought, and logic that is being used to understand the world. I read blogs both to enlighten myself as well as to understand the world around me.

It is imperative that we understand who the person (or persons) behind a blog are before we begin reading so that we know how to approach it. History teaches us that those with great oratory powers could persuade great numbers of people to follow them; so it is with blogging. Someone who is a talented blogger can begin gaining influence over their readers.

That being said, I follow the practice of reading at least one blog a day of someone I admire and one blog a day of someone with whom I do not agree. This helps me understand others and give me the ability to meet them where they are.

For me, some good blogs of those I do admire are:

A couple blogs I keep up with from those whom I do not always agree:

The Huffington Post
CrossLeft
apophenia (blog of an IS researcher in my field)

I am not scared of postmodernism; I want to use the power it brings. In this postmodern world, we cannot persuade people to follow Jesus through logic alone. We need to engage them where they are, hear their stories, understand their worldview. Not only will this allow us to reach others, it may allow God to work in our lives in new ways.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

OK, it's the day after, but the New Year begins today for me. I am sitting in front of the TV with my family watching the (wet) Rose Parade and eating Pop Tarts (a family tradition). Thanks to the magic of laptops and wireless DSL, I can do this (is that a good thing or a bad thing?).

I have taken quite a bit of time off this blog, but I will be posting again regularly this year. Though I have not finished my dissertation, it is getting close and I should be a Ph.D. in the next couple of months (pray for me on that one).

One last thing: you can now access my blog at http://www.lessonsfrombabel.com. Bookmark this new URL because I may be changing from blogger later this year and this URL will point to the new blog once I move.

Just awesome

2005-11-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

This post by Doug Tennapel should be shouted from the rooftops!

Dissertation blues

2005-10-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in so long due to other priorities. My dissertation is coming to a conclusion (hopefully) in the next few weeks and I have been spending all free time finishing it up. This is also the reason I have chosen not to participate in the GodBlogCon. However, I do hope to do some "virtual attending" by listening to the podcasts of the sessions (which I have been promised will exist at some point).

Regular blogging to continue after the dissertation defense! Though I hope to post occasionally before then.

BITS kickoff

2005-09-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

I am sponsoring an on-campus club called the "Biola Information Technology Society" (BITS). We are having our first meeting tomorrow night at 9:30 at the SUB at Biola. The club's stated mission is to:

use information technology for ministry opportunities.
help with IT career planning.
meet and network with other Biola students who are interested in a career in IT.

The Biola Computer Store has graciously donated iTunes gift certificates and an iPod nano as giveaways for the first meeting! We hope to generate a lot of interest in the club tomorrow night and get off to a good start!

If you're around campus, drop on by.

What were they thinking?

2005-09-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

I just read the Frank Hayes column in Comuterworld on FEMA's disasteraid site. For some inexplicable reason, FEMA is requiring the use of IE6 to apply for disaster aid. Hayes' article does a good job of blasting FEMA. But I'd like to also add my $.02. In the review process for making this decision (assuming that a review process was used), did they even think of the fact that, in a major disaster, schools are often used as shelters and that many schools have only Apple Macintoshes? Or that a disaster victim may get set up on a low-cost Linux/Firefox PC?

When I went to the FEMA site to check on this myself (posted photo), it turns out that you don't even see the browser compability error until you are already three screens into the process!

Two places at once

2005-09-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

I have been invited to be an occasional poster over at the GodBlogCon blog. I will be posting there on issues having to do specifically with blogging and the impact it is having. Check it out.

Our civic responsibility

2005-09-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Today in my MIS class, we discussed the NAE's statement For the Health of the Nation. This document is a call to evangelicals to get off their butts and get involved in our society. For a good analysis of it, see the extensive review at Mark D. Roberts blog site.

The reason I have my MIS class read this document is to get them thinking about our responsibility as Christians to those who are less fortunate and specifically to those who are on the other side of the digital divide. In our discussion today, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the well-thought out responses, both in support of the statement and not supporting it. For the most part, those that did not support it thought it was too vague; those supporting it appreciated the fact that it made them think and it was, at the very least, an attempt at unifying evangelicals together for a larger purpose.

So you want to help...

2005-09-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some links to several sites where you can donate to help out with the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina. Click on the link for more information on each organization and to donate.

Salvation Army
Red Cross
Samaritan's Purse
Evangelical Free Church of America
Soldier's Angels

Do it.

Mark D. Roberts on the web's response to Katrina

2005-09-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

Looks like everyone is taking notice of this trend. Check out this article by Mark D. Roberts on the phenomenon.

One point I'd like to make here: I am hearing a lot of self-congratulations from bloggers on how great their response is and how they are "making a difference". While this seems to be true, let's not forget those who have always been making a difference: the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, and many other fine organizations. Less self-congratulation and more helping is what's needed.

Categories: Hurricane Katrina, disaster

Using technology to connect with those in need

2005-09-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

The scenes in Louisiana and other parts of the South are nothing new. Hurricanes and earthquakes have always been with us, and their impacts have had varying levels of devastation. What is new is that we can connect as never before with those going through it. Before the web, we could get reports on these sorts of disasters through television and newspapers. But now, we can get real stories about real people, direct from those being affected. Pictures can be uploaded instantly. Relief efforts are available at the click of a button. We can even immediately turn to Christian leaders for guidance, comfort, and wisdom. For those willing to take the time, the full impact of this disaster can be absorbed.

As Christians, it is our duty to help those in need. I hope you take the time to understand what has happened, reflect upon it, and then do your part to assist those as God leads you.

Update: Doug Tennapel is graciously offering a copy of one of his books OR an original drawing from his Catscratch TV series to anyone giving $50 by the end of the day today. If you needed a bit more prodding - here it is!

Categories: Hurricane Katrina, disaster

Phil Hendrie has a blog

2005-08-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

Phil Hendrie, the funniest man in radio, now has a blog. Not only does he have a blog, but it is a highly-charged political blog, with a "I'm a liberal but support George W. Bush" point of view. Check out the first post for an overview of where he is going with it.

WFB on ID

2005-08-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

Our founders made a wise choice when they separated church from state (establishment clause). However, as we have seen, shifting interpretations of the establishment clause have now led us to a situation where God cannot even be mentioned in public schools (or, at least, the education establishment, with the help of the ACLU, has made us believe so). William F. Buckley has some interesting insights into how this has affected our schools and the teaching of evolution. Will allowing a discussion of philosophy into the teaching of evolution confuse students?

While I support ID, I am a bit wary of how quickly they are trying to get their beliefs/findings/philosophy into the public school system. A better course of action may be to let ID mature and gain more adherents in the scientific community before trying to change school curriculums (curriculi?). Will forcing ID into schools now really benefit us in the long run? The first step, at this point (and a huge one) would be to simply ask that the possibilty that evolution does not fully explain life be discussed, and that students understand that the theories associated with it come from a Philosophic Naturalist (read: no God) background.

Categories: Intelligent Design, ID

Thoughts about Disneyland

2005-08-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

I took my family to Disneyland yesterday. We live close by and have annual passes, so this is a somewhat regular event. Disneyland is celebrating its 50th anniversary and has a quite spectactular fireworks/multimedia show. Until last night, the centerpiece of this show has been Sleeping Beauty's castle, which gets lit up to match the theme of the current segement of the show. For example, during the segment on the Haunted House, images of ghosts are shown flying over the castle.

Last night, we had the privelege (and luck) of being told about a new addition to this show at the "It's a Small World" attraction. For the first time, they duplicated the fireworks show over this area of the park and, most spectacularly, they projected digital imagery on the facade of the Small World ride itself. For example, during the Haunted House segment, we got to see images of the ride itself, including the stretching elevator and hitchhiking ghosts. This, combined with the fireworks and music, was just something amazing to behold.

So all this fantastic entertainment got me thinking: what is the morality of spending the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of dollars on amusing people? I am big Disney fan for the most part and enjoy taking my kids to the parks, but this got me thinking of how much value we, as Americans, place on being entertained: Amusement parks, movies, television, video games. If we have enough money left over after paying the bills to use it on entertainment, then don't we have enough money "left over" to support another missionary or help our church?

As my children grow up, I need to be sure they understand this. We will probably still keep the Disney passes, but to ensure that they understand the privelege they have in going to Disneyland and the choices we (as parents) have made in order to get the passes must be made clear.

Categories: Disneyland, entertainment

I'm back

2005-08-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

I've spent quite a bit of time trying to decide what to do with this blog. I have been unhappy with some of the formatting issues and the level of support for categories. However, I think I have them solved and will continue to blog right here at blogger - at least for now. Look for more regular posting from me starting this week!

Time to think about this seriously?

2005-07-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

Just read this on Wired. With all the talk about RFID and security over the past few months, I have had fleeting thoughts that maybe, this time, here is the technology that will point us toward the end times. I'm just reluctant to go there because it seems that doomsayers have been saying the same thing for the past hundred years and nothing has come of it. However, with the new emphasis on using technology to identify individuals, can implants be that far behind? Implanted RFID seems impractical to me, however, when eye "prints" or DNA could be used just as effectively.

Categories: RFID, End_Times, Mark_of_the_beast

London

2005-07-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

Back from vacation...

Though the focus of this blog is not political, I must comment on the attacks in London this week. As so many others have already said, but I must as well, attacking civilians just shows the cowardice of the enemy. They know that they cannot fight us directly, so they seek to sow fear and dissent. It worked in Spain, I guess...

I grew up during the end of the Cold War. During that time, I felt pretty secure as a civilian. Our military was strong and we were keeping a constant eye on the Soviets and other "commies". This is now all changed. We are now all part of this battle.

I have been reading Gates of Fire, a novel about the battle of Thermopylae. I am gaining an understanding of how all of Spartan society prepared for battle. I think it is time that we began to understand that just leaving the battle to the military is not enough. What am I recommending? I am no expert, and this blog is not necessarily the place for it. There are those who are trying to figure out how this must be all our fault, or if we only "understood" the enemy better, then this wouldn't happen. To them, I say that your belief in the goodness of humanity will lead to the destruction of our society. While I am very hesitant to use military action as a solution (I was against our going into Iraq, but not Afghanistan), I am not sure we have a choice anymore. I think that maybe it is time to seek out the enemy and, as John McCain said yesterday, "destroy them".

Categories: Terrorism, War_On_Terror

More on ID

2005-07-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

Over at Mere Comments, there is a rebuttal of sorts to George Will on ID. It is worth reading and gives some more background on the debate.

George Will on ID

2005-06-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

OK, I know I said I was on vacation, but I saw this today and had to post.

George Will has a great review of the evolution/creation/ID debate in this week's Newsweek. Maybe the most important comment is his take on the place of Intelligent Design in school curriculums:

The problem with intelligent-design theory is not that it is false but that it is not falsifiable: Not being susceptible to contradicting evidence, it is not a testable hypothesis. Hence it is not a scientific but a creedal tenet—a matter of faith, unsuited to a public school's science curriculum.

I think it is a mistake to focus so much energy refuting evolution. If there are truly flaws in it, science will eventually uncover them. As I stated in an earlier post in this blog, exactly how God brought this universe into existence is not as important as the fact that he did and winning others to Christ ought to be our focus.

Categories: evolution, IntelligentDesign, ID, origins

Some time off...

2005-06-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

I will be taking some time off for the next few days for a family vacation. Look for more posts after July 6th...

Society's Reactions to New Technologies

2005-06-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

Check out this great article in today's USA Today about nanotechnology. Kevin Maney points out how our reactions to new technologies as society follow cycles. He points out how important the "naysayers" about a new technology are, and that, even when maybe they seem a little wacky, they should at least be listened to. A great followup to the article is this news story in the LA Times on legislation regarding the use of RFID on people.

As a Christian, I feel that we must stay informed on these issues. To misuse a technology and then claim ignorance later is unacceptable.

Categories: new_technology, society, cyberculture, privacy, nanotechnology

Testing categories

2005-06-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

I am testing to see if I can add categories to my blog that will be visible at both technorati and del.icio.us. Thanks to John at Freshblog for the details.

Categories: categories

More on "Mactel"

2005-06-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

An article over at E-week discusses the strategy behind Apple's move to Intel. Maybe users will upgrade from WinXP to OS X?

Categories: Macintosh, Intel

LA Times Wikitorial - RIP?

2005-06-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

I went to check on the progress of the LA Times Wikitorial today and found this:

Where is the wikitorial?
Unfortunately, we have had to remove this feature, at least temporarily, because a few readers were flooding the site with inappropriate material.

Thanks and apologies to the thousands of people who logged on in the right spirit.

This is unfortunate. I was reading it over the weekend and thought that it was really starting to become a great forum for thought (especially since my edit was still there!). This is the problem with the wiki in general: its complete openness gives power to those who want to cause trouble. Why doesn't this happen to Wikipedia? It probably does, but it is immediately policed by others who feel a sense of ownership to a particular topic.

I hope the Times does not give up. Possibly requiring a more rigid registration would help. Or maybe moving to a blog/comment type format where the original editorial is kept intact but others are allowed to comment and possibly create branching entries.

As I said before, time will tell...

Categories: LATimes, Wiki, Wikitorial

A group opinion?

2005-06-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

Today, the LA Times released a "wiki" version of their editorial page. If you don't know what a "wiki" is, a good definition is here. The Times describes what they want to do with their opinion wiki here.

This is quite a grand experiment. It's one thing to use a wiki to collaboratively manage knowledge, such as with the grandaddy of them all, Wikipedia. But if an opinion piece is meant to represent the opinion of the paper, how can you allow hundreds, if not thousands, to edit/delete/create content? Hey, I know, let's create a Bible wiki, where the text of the entire Bible is input and anyone can change the content to their liking. After some time, we will have what the Bible should really look like. . .

OK, back to reality. To be fair, the Times notes that this is an experiment that may not work. And to be fair, the Wikipedia itself has worked extremely well, beyond what we can imagine. Time will only tell, I guess.

Categories: LATimes, Wiki, Wikitorial

Doesn't end the controversy

2005-06-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

Terri Schiavo's autopsy was released today. The results were that she was exactly in the state that her husband Michael said she was. She was in a persistent vegetative state and would not have recovered. Does this end the controversy? No. But personally, I think we should take some comfort from the fact that she would never have recovered.

From Wintel to Mactel

2005-06-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

OK, so what did you think when Apple announced the switch to Intel processors? If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's the story. My first thought was that Apple is going to finally get out of the hardware business, something they should have done years ago.

Robert Cringely has an interesting take on all this. He sees this as a way for Apple (read: Jobs) to finally beat Microsoft (read: Gates). Check out his column on it here. Short term, this probably means a drop in market share for Apple, but longer term this could be their inroads into the business computing market and, ultimately, a more competitive OS playing field.

Categories: Macintosh, Intel

The importance of origins

2005-06-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Our Sunday School class is reading Know What You Believe, by Paul Little, and we just covered the first chapter, "The Bible". In this chapter, Little discusses those who would use scientific arguments against the Bible. Our group got discussing this, and focused on the idea of the origin of life and of the universe.

After some reflection, I ask this: what importance is there in arguing the exact way in which the universe came into being or life came to earth? If you believe in the six literal days of creation and young earth, you have to contend with the scientific evidence of evolution and age. If you accept the "big bang", the ultimate question of what caused it still exists. Interestingly,the big bang theory was originally developed by Belgian Jesuit priest Georges Lemaître and, according the Wikipedia article about him, "it was too strongly reminiscent of the Christian dogma of creation and was unjustifiable from a physical point of view". Yet now, if you asked most Christians, they would lump the big bang theory with evoluation as an atheistic belief.

So, as Christians, what importance should we place on origins? Obviously, it is important to have a clear belief and be able to discuss it intelligently. But must we be dogmatic? Until convinced otherwise, I believe that it is more important to win others to Christ through love and a willingness to accept any belief in origins that is not in conflict with the Bible.

The end of VHS.. and DVD

2005-06-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

Just heard on the Drudge Report tonight (I know, I know, but it happened to be on the last station I had listed to when I got in the car) that Wal-Mart will be ending sales of VHS movies and moving to a strictly DVD format. Though I could not find the specific news story he was referencing, this seems to be a trend well-documented (look here and here). Drudge commented that this means we are all moving to DVDs. Maybe this is true, but I think we are already well into the post-DVD world. I was just speaking to my wife about this yesterday: she was suggesting that we might want to think about getting some sort of rack for our burgeoning collection of CDs and DVDs. My response was: why? It is not going to get much bigger. I believe that, in the future, we will not be purchasing physical media (such as CD or DVD) at all, but will be receiving it all digitally.

Last week, we purchased the latest Jars of Clay CD, Redemption Songs, for a discounted $13 from the local Christian bookstore. As an exercise, I just went online and found the same album available for download for $8.91. In the future, I will always be looking online for my music. I may not buy another CD again!

But what if you don't want to listed to it on your computer? I can then burn it to a CD or use my new SIIG Wireless Audio Link to broadcast from my PC or PDA to my home or car stereo (yes, it really works! Got it from Fry's yesterday for $20.).

Wise words for Christian bloggers

2005-06-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

Just read this on Christian blogging from Credenda. Interesting site.

As a new blogger, this is especially instructive. I hope to be able to live up to the standards discussed therein.

The church web site

2005-06-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

Just read an interesting blog here on the use of volunteers vs. paid professionals to create/maintain church web sites. This is a great rant, and the firestorm of comments that follow show how hot a topic this is.

This is an area that interests me greatly: how can we, as Christians, use the Internet to effectively serve the Lord? I worked with one of my MIS students, Dawna Sanders, in January 2004 on a small research project on exactly this. A telling summary from the report:

One thing that might hold churches back from their full potential in using Internet technology is the apparent lack of plan or structure across the board. 45% of churches had no strategy regarding it, and 50% stated that they had no specific Internet technology budget. 45% of churches have volunteers managing technology, as opposed to 35% with paid staff and 20% with a mixture of both. The majority (69%) of church websites were created by volunteers, and while 68% update the website frequently, over half have no policy on updates. Several churches mentioned that they just began paying someone, getting professional services, or forming a specific ministry team for Internet technology.

You can see the full report here. I am thinking about doing a more intensive research project in this area next year to see if anything has changed and to focus more directly on the use of the web and adding a focus on church/pastor blogging.

Privacy vs. security

2005-06-07T22:25:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest changes we are seeing over the past few years is the ability for technology to be used to spy on us. From spyware on our computers to the ever-present video camera, technology is quickly eroding our ability to remain anonymous. Some say that we are losing our privacy but gaining security. In this post-9/11 world, the ability to identify an individual quickly and accurately is becoming of paramount importance. But at what cost?

In The Transparent Society David Brin writes that we have no choice: our privacy is quickly disappearing. The question then becomes, who controls this technology and the information it creates? Brin gives two possibilities: 1) the government or 2) the public. His book makes the case for possibility #2 as the best solution. I tend to agree: this kind of power in the hands of the government can only lead to abuse and loss of freedom.

Interestingly, when I present this concept to my MIS students, most all of them prefer possibility #1. Apparently, the type of student who comes to Biola has a deep trust of the government. These students were 13 or 14 when Bush was first elected. I wonder how students at, say, Berkeley, would feel? I wonder how my students would respond if Kerry had been elected president? Imagine if, someday, they were to begin tracking down Christians...

Why the title?

2005-06-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

The story of the Tower of Babel (from Genesis 11) is apt because it the story of man's arrogance:

"Come, let build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven,and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." (Gen. 11:4)

Though God had directed the descendants of Noah to disperse and fill the earth, they instead decided to band together and build a tower to demonstrate their own greatness. It seems to me that we do the same things today. We create new technologies faster than we know how to properly use them. We look to biotechnology, the Internet, mobile phones, and other technologies to make life easier, to make life longer, but ultimately, these "staggering gods" will fail us. True meaning for life can only be found through faith, and those of us that are of faith must have a voice in how these technologies should be used.

I am no Luddite. I appreciate and support the use of technology as a way to improve our society. I just want to ensure that we are taking the time to properly understand what we are unleashing. Before we look to build our next tower, we should first understand what God has to say.

This blog is a way to help me understand my own thoughts on these subjects. I really don't know if anyone will ever read it. I invite your thoughtful comments if you happen to stumble across this space.