2004/08/29
Live from New York...It's Saturday Night!
This place is a riot! And one might break out here (more on that later).
Dave and I spent most of yesturday in the car. After missing about a dozen turns, we made it to our hotel; a nice Super 8 on 46th Street near 6th Ave (also known as the Avenue of the Americas). We walked around for about 6 hours last night. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (Andymac is never allowed to enter that restaurant - too many enviable guitars). Times Square was unbelievable. Seriously, television doesn't do it justice.
Today we marched with over a quarter million protestors. I could not have even imagined what that experience is like. After that we went to the Brooklyn Tabernacle (Pastor Jim Cymbala). With a congregation of over 10,000, it's an exciting church.
I wish I could write more, but I'm too tired to move my fingers.
"Hey Bush, how about you have another pretzel?"
Dave and I spent most of yesturday in the car. After missing about a dozen turns, we made it to our hotel; a nice Super 8 on 46th Street near 6th Ave (also known as the Avenue of the Americas). We walked around for about 6 hours last night. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (Andymac is never allowed to enter that restaurant - too many enviable guitars). Times Square was unbelievable. Seriously, television doesn't do it justice.
Today we marched with over a quarter million protestors. I could not have even imagined what that experience is like. After that we went to the Brooklyn Tabernacle (Pastor Jim Cymbala). With a congregation of over 10,000, it's an exciting church.
I wish I could write more, but I'm too tired to move my fingers.
"Hey Bush, how about you have another pretzel?"
2004/08/23
R.I.P.
My regularly scheduled blog has been interrupted this evening with breaking news of a terrible tragedy. My first fish died. I had four black ones and three white ones. May he rest in peace.
But it gets creepy after that. I can only see two white fish, a dead one and a live one. I have looked through every possible spot in the tank and all I can see are two white fish. The other one has totally disappeared. Also, the black ones are eating each other. It's mayhem in there. It's my own little Lord of the Flies scenario playing itself out on a glass stage in my bedroom.
Seriously though, it seems like there are two bully fish and two getting-eaten-alive-slowly fish. They don't seem too injured yet. I've tried seperating them, but it seems that no matter which one I trap, the other three just keep attacking each other (they're attack is really just nibbling...they're little fish). Any advice would be appreciated!
But it gets creepy after that. I can only see two white fish, a dead one and a live one. I have looked through every possible spot in the tank and all I can see are two white fish. The other one has totally disappeared. Also, the black ones are eating each other. It's mayhem in there. It's my own little Lord of the Flies scenario playing itself out on a glass stage in my bedroom.
Seriously though, it seems like there are two bully fish and two getting-eaten-alive-slowly fish. They don't seem too injured yet. I've tried seperating them, but it seems that no matter which one I trap, the other three just keep attacking each other (they're attack is really just nibbling...they're little fish). Any advice would be appreciated!
2004/08/18
The Lighthouse
"It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to talk about it; lighthouses do not ring bells or fire cannons to call attention to their shining - they just shine."
-Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899)
Bryant reminded me of this in his comment (thanks for it, btw).
Also, the quote that I attributed to Dennis Rainey in my last post was actually originally from A.W. Tozer.
-Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899)
Bryant reminded me of this in his comment (thanks for it, btw).
Also, the quote that I attributed to Dennis Rainey in my last post was actually originally from A.W. Tozer.
2004/08/15
Testimony
"Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."
I realized recently that almost everything I have held dear has, over the past couple of years, disappointed me or intentionally hurt me in some way. I've been let down by church leaders and camp leaders, I've been hurt in the extreme by a girlfriend of two years, by school faculty, and by people I considered close friends. I can't believe what I've heard come out of the mouths of people that I held in high esteem. A job that I was dedicated to became, for lack of a sufficient description, a hell-hole.
I never realized during those golden high school years how perfect everything was for me.
But I don't reveal these feelings to evoke pity. On the contrary, I am only now beginning to realize the work that God has been doing with me.
I've always been a strong-willed person. I have, for the most part, an ability to see the picture in a way that is larger than most people are able/desire to see (for example (as those who know me can attest), my dilemma with the causes and effects of how Walmart is able to offer such low prices). This, I fear, has resulted in a feeling of self-worth and -- dare I say -- self-satisfaction that is incompatible with what we read in Scripture.
My self-reliance has produced plans that did not necessarily take into account the will of God (even though they were, for the most part, centred around 'serving God')[James 4:13-16]. But how can someone effectively serve God when he does not even have the faith that God demands? Of course the answer is, he can't. That's where I was. I was (or am, as it's a constant battle) too self-reliant to be used by God. I'm supposed to accept God's help as a child accepts help from a parent. A small child does not question why a parent chooses this plan or that. A child has no concept of the future beyond what the parent has planned. A child merely accepts the parent's wisdom and planning, and benefits from the results.
Am I making any sense? That's been the point of the last two years. Man, I wish I had been smart enough to learn that lesson to begin with! I mean, I always knew that we were supposed to depend on God, but I always figured that I could get away with securing myself a nice little plan that suited my comforts.
And so, despite the fact that I'm a little uncomfortable sharing this much with all of you, I offer it with a two-fold purpose. First, as a warning. I wish I had learned this lesson sooner without all the pain that it took to teach me. Be teachable, take God at His word, and accept what He says. Doing so will result in much blessing, and much less needless suffering. Second, I offer this testimony as a praise to GOD, who works all things for the good of those who love Him. Perhaps Dennis Rainey is right when he says, "it is doubtful that God can use a man fully until He has hurt him deeply."
I pray that God would use me in a way that would bring Him much glory and myself none.
I realized recently that almost everything I have held dear has, over the past couple of years, disappointed me or intentionally hurt me in some way. I've been let down by church leaders and camp leaders, I've been hurt in the extreme by a girlfriend of two years, by school faculty, and by people I considered close friends. I can't believe what I've heard come out of the mouths of people that I held in high esteem. A job that I was dedicated to became, for lack of a sufficient description, a hell-hole.
I never realized during those golden high school years how perfect everything was for me.
But I don't reveal these feelings to evoke pity. On the contrary, I am only now beginning to realize the work that God has been doing with me.
I've always been a strong-willed person. I have, for the most part, an ability to see the picture in a way that is larger than most people are able/desire to see (for example (as those who know me can attest), my dilemma with the causes and effects of how Walmart is able to offer such low prices). This, I fear, has resulted in a feeling of self-worth and -- dare I say -- self-satisfaction that is incompatible with what we read in Scripture.
My self-reliance has produced plans that did not necessarily take into account the will of God (even though they were, for the most part, centred around 'serving God')[James 4:13-16]. But how can someone effectively serve God when he does not even have the faith that God demands? Of course the answer is, he can't. That's where I was. I was (or am, as it's a constant battle) too self-reliant to be used by God. I'm supposed to accept God's help as a child accepts help from a parent. A small child does not question why a parent chooses this plan or that. A child has no concept of the future beyond what the parent has planned. A child merely accepts the parent's wisdom and planning, and benefits from the results.
Am I making any sense? That's been the point of the last two years. Man, I wish I had been smart enough to learn that lesson to begin with! I mean, I always knew that we were supposed to depend on God, but I always figured that I could get away with securing myself a nice little plan that suited my comforts.
And so, despite the fact that I'm a little uncomfortable sharing this much with all of you, I offer it with a two-fold purpose. First, as a warning. I wish I had learned this lesson sooner without all the pain that it took to teach me. Be teachable, take God at His word, and accept what He says. Doing so will result in much blessing, and much less needless suffering. Second, I offer this testimony as a praise to GOD, who works all things for the good of those who love Him. Perhaps Dennis Rainey is right when he says, "it is doubtful that God can use a man fully until He has hurt him deeply."
I pray that God would use me in a way that would bring Him much glory and myself none.
2004/08/08
On News
"Contrary to the images on the eleven o'clock news, which to a large extent are a function of a definition of "news" that has at its centre elements of the dramatic and atypical....
You'll never hear on the news that for 99 percent of the population in any metropolitan region on any given day everything was every bit as ordinary as it always is or that the large, large majority of the buildings did not fall down. That's not really what's demanded of the news, but the danger is that somehow the atypical and unusual comes to be treated as if it were the everyday and ordinary, and as a result, people cut themselves off from a good deal of possibly rewarding experience."
Stephen Friedman, "City Moves", 1989.
You'll never hear on the news that for 99 percent of the population in any metropolitan region on any given day everything was every bit as ordinary as it always is or that the large, large majority of the buildings did not fall down. That's not really what's demanded of the news, but the danger is that somehow the atypical and unusual comes to be treated as if it were the everyday and ordinary, and as a result, people cut themselves off from a good deal of possibly rewarding experience."
Stephen Friedman, "City Moves", 1989.
2004/08/04
Return of the Blogger
Despite a painfully slow internet connection, I have decided to return to posting. I've had lots to say over the past couple of months. My return has nothing to do with Andymac.
First of all, you guys are mooks for not understanding that in my last post I was writing to my blog, and not to any actual person. If I had a dime for every time someone said to me "ooooh, so who was that post to?" I'd have, like, 50 cents.
The election came and went without any coverage on my blog. I guess that's why we ended up with a minority government. Shame on you liberals for not getting out there and voting NDP. It was in a major way Layton's fault that the NDP didn't do better...he shouldn't have emphasized how dangerous the Conservatives are, it just led to people running for the (currently corrupt) middle.
I certainly do not agree with the NDP on many issues, but I had to prioritize what I deemed to be important, and concluded that I agree with the Conservatives on almost nothing, and that I despise everything about the Liberals. If I had known about the CAP at the time I probably would have voted for them. Jen is my hero for spoiling her ballot by writing in pen the CAP's candidate for Peterborough (he dropped out a couple of weeks before the election).
Paul Martin is useless, McGuinty is a lying scumbag. Bah, more later.
I've been reading Fast Food Nation. It is one of the best books I have ever read; I highly recommend it. Seriously, go get yourself a copy. I've found myself unable to eat much meat since reading it's section on production. And don't go and label me a hippy, neither; I don't care how they kill the cow. What bothers me is the sanitary conditions of the slaughterhouses since large corporations took over. Ever wondered how people get Salmonella or Escherichia coli 0157:h7 (E. Coli) poisoning when these pathogens are transmitted through fecal matter? That's right! As Schlosser puts it, "There's shit in the meat." 78.6% of ground beef contains microbes that spread primarily through fecal material. 'Nough said.
I don't want to misrepresent the book; it's balanced as it looks at all aspects of the Fast Food industry: from it's rather humble beginnings to how it currently affects the economy, socialogy, food production and consumption, and geographical makeup. The author is also very witty and ironic - I'd love to meat him in person (pun intended).
Here's an example of his writing:
"Hank was the first person I met in Colorado Springs. He was a prominent local rancher, and I'd called him to learn how development pressures and the dictates of the fast food industry were affecting the area's cattle business. In July of 1997, he offered to give me a tour of the new subdivisions that were rising on land where cattle once roamed. We met in the lobby of my hotel. Hank was forty-two years old and handsome enough to be a Hollywood cowboy, tall and rugged, wearing blue jeans, old boots, and a big white hat. But the Dodge minivan he drove didn't quite go with that image, and he was too smart to fit any stereotype. Hank proved to be good company from the first handshake. He had strong opinions, but didn't take himself too seriously. We spent hours driving around Colorado Springs, looking at how the New West was burying the Old.
As we drove through neighborhoods like Broadmoor Oaks and Broadmoor Bluffs, amid the foothills of Cheyenne Mountain, Hank pointed out that all these big new houses on small lots sat on land that every few generations burned. The houses were surrounded by lovely pale brown grasses, tumbleweed, and scrub oak - ideal kindling. As in southern California, these hillsides could erupt in flames with the slightest spark, a cigarette tossed from a car window. The homes looked solid and prosperous, gave no hint of their vulnerability, and had wonderful views.
Hank's ranch was about twenty miles south of town. As we headed there, the landscape opened up and began to show glimpses of the true West - the wide-open countryside that draws its beauty from the absence of people, attracts people, and then slowly loses its appeal."
And on it goes. A beautiful work.
I'm going to call it quits for now, but just as a follow-up to my second last post: I found out what Petro-Canada stands for. Pierre Elliot Trudeau Ripping Off Canada.
G'nite folks!
First of all, you guys are mooks for not understanding that in my last post I was writing to my blog, and not to any actual person. If I had a dime for every time someone said to me "ooooh, so who was that post to?" I'd have, like, 50 cents.
The election came and went without any coverage on my blog. I guess that's why we ended up with a minority government. Shame on you liberals for not getting out there and voting NDP. It was in a major way Layton's fault that the NDP didn't do better...he shouldn't have emphasized how dangerous the Conservatives are, it just led to people running for the (currently corrupt) middle.
I certainly do not agree with the NDP on many issues, but I had to prioritize what I deemed to be important, and concluded that I agree with the Conservatives on almost nothing, and that I despise everything about the Liberals. If I had known about the CAP at the time I probably would have voted for them. Jen is my hero for spoiling her ballot by writing in pen the CAP's candidate for Peterborough (he dropped out a couple of weeks before the election).
Paul Martin is useless, McGuinty is a lying scumbag. Bah, more later.
I've been reading Fast Food Nation. It is one of the best books I have ever read; I highly recommend it. Seriously, go get yourself a copy. I've found myself unable to eat much meat since reading it's section on production. And don't go and label me a hippy, neither; I don't care how they kill the cow. What bothers me is the sanitary conditions of the slaughterhouses since large corporations took over. Ever wondered how people get Salmonella or Escherichia coli 0157:h7 (E. Coli) poisoning when these pathogens are transmitted through fecal matter? That's right! As Schlosser puts it, "There's shit in the meat." 78.6% of ground beef contains microbes that spread primarily through fecal material. 'Nough said.
I don't want to misrepresent the book; it's balanced as it looks at all aspects of the Fast Food industry: from it's rather humble beginnings to how it currently affects the economy, socialogy, food production and consumption, and geographical makeup. The author is also very witty and ironic - I'd love to meat him in person (pun intended).
Here's an example of his writing:
"Hank was the first person I met in Colorado Springs. He was a prominent local rancher, and I'd called him to learn how development pressures and the dictates of the fast food industry were affecting the area's cattle business. In July of 1997, he offered to give me a tour of the new subdivisions that were rising on land where cattle once roamed. We met in the lobby of my hotel. Hank was forty-two years old and handsome enough to be a Hollywood cowboy, tall and rugged, wearing blue jeans, old boots, and a big white hat. But the Dodge minivan he drove didn't quite go with that image, and he was too smart to fit any stereotype. Hank proved to be good company from the first handshake. He had strong opinions, but didn't take himself too seriously. We spent hours driving around Colorado Springs, looking at how the New West was burying the Old.
As we drove through neighborhoods like Broadmoor Oaks and Broadmoor Bluffs, amid the foothills of Cheyenne Mountain, Hank pointed out that all these big new houses on small lots sat on land that every few generations burned. The houses were surrounded by lovely pale brown grasses, tumbleweed, and scrub oak - ideal kindling. As in southern California, these hillsides could erupt in flames with the slightest spark, a cigarette tossed from a car window. The homes looked solid and prosperous, gave no hint of their vulnerability, and had wonderful views.
Hank's ranch was about twenty miles south of town. As we headed there, the landscape opened up and began to show glimpses of the true West - the wide-open countryside that draws its beauty from the absence of people, attracts people, and then slowly loses its appeal."
And on it goes. A beautiful work.
I'm going to call it quits for now, but just as a follow-up to my second last post: I found out what Petro-Canada stands for. Pierre Elliot Trudeau Ripping Off Canada.
G'nite folks!
