Simple Minds?

While working in the computer lab with my "Gear Up" for math class, another class came into the media center to take some personality quizzes. The site they were using was simpleminds.com. Several of them were taking the "Famous Leader" quiz. They were all having fun with it after one of the girls in the room was labeled as Sadaam Hussein. Needless to say, I had to take the quiz. Here are my results:

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Then I had to take the "Which classic movie are you?" quiz. Here are those results...

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

True?

The Bull

The Bull
by Matt Harmless

He stands within his stall of wood,
That long term resident the bull.
Around he's been since barn has stood,
With docile splendor at its full.
Be not deceived at quiet stance,
Impression made at the first glance,
For underneath the tranquil stare,
This behemoth doth really glare.
So when the wooden fence is lowr'd
You'll find real quick you have been gored.

(Yes.  It has a secondary meaning.  I am not actually writing about a bull.)

Giving

I preached on giving yesterday.  It wasn't as difficult a topic to discuss as I originally thought.  I have heard pastors before talk about the difficulties of giving.  What I actually learned was that this topic is very natural to the very essence of who we are as Christians.  The sermon ended up being a tad bit on the long side, but I will attribute that to the fullness of this topic.  Frankly, I barely scratched the surface of what needed to be discussed.

Anyway, if you are interested in hearing these thoughts on a Biblical perspective of giving, you can listen right here:



You can also download them by right-clicking here and choosing to save the mp3 file.

As a little disclaimer, I felt very much, as I was preparing this message, that my logical flow of thought was a little off.  To some, this may not be an issue, but for some reason, I always feel like I need a precise logical flow.  When it doesn't come together logically, I always feel a little off when I am preaching.  For me, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the difference between the tangible presence of God's Spirit while studying and the presence of a logical flow of thought.  Though I am sure this is not the case for everyone, it is true for me.

Netflix Pick of the Week: The Pluto Files

As we are gearing up to go back to school, I thought it might be appropriate to post an educational movie this week.  Therefore, my choice is the NOVA produced movie, The Pluto Files.  Here is the Netflix description:

In this installment of "Nova," Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson (director of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium) dishes out surprising facts about Pluto, the notorious "ex-planet" that so many people still seem to love. Discovered in 1930, Pluto was demoted to a mere member of the Kuiper belt in 2006. But passionate opinions -- and emotions -- remain about its place in our universe.

I watched this movie with my boys a couple of months ago.  As it states in the description, the host of this series is Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.  I found this particular topic to be interesting because of his personal connection with the "demotion" of Pluto from planet to dwarf planet.  This series does a great job of making the  material both interesting and educational.  (As a teacher, I know that isn't always easy to do.)

A word of warning, since this topic deals with cosmic objects, it also jumps into cosmic origins. Since this program is secular in nature, their default position is to determine the origins in a universe devoid of God.  Personally, I have never shied away from opportunities like this.  It gives me the availability to teach my children some of the inconsistencies of the naturalistic theories of origins.  What always amazes me is their ability to perceive those problems on their own.

Anyway, if you are already a Netflix subscriber, then I would like to recommend this movie.

Netflix Pick of the Week: 2001: A Space Odyssey

My Netflix Pick of the Week is another classic.  I want to recommend this movie, not because I particularly enjoy this movie or because I think this is such a great movie, but simply because it is a classic.  Here is the Netflix description:

Stanley Kubrick's quiet masterpiece probes the mysteries of space and human destiny. While investigating the appearance of mysterious monoliths throughout the universe, astronauts David (Keir Dullea) and Frank (Gary Lockwood) battle their ship's intelligent computer, HAL-9000. This epic sci-fi drama based on Arthur C. Clarke's story "The Sentinel" was nominated for four Academy Awards and won for its stunning special effects.

The movie is rated G, so the whole family can watch it.  One warning though, the "bad stuff" in the movie is all of the evolutionary references.  If you watch it with your kids, it gives the option of opening up some dialogue on the topic.

If you are already a Netflix subsrciber, click here to watch the movie or to add it to your instant queue.

What's the difference?

I'm going to borrow someone else's words for a moment...

“Dad, what does it mean to be a man and not a woman?” or a daughter’s question, “Mom, what does it mean to be woman and not a man?” If you can only answer that question in terms of biology or in terms of pop-culture traits, this book is worth reading in full.

Most of the Christians that I know would answer these questions, as the quote states, "...in terms of biology or in terms of pop-culture traits..."  I might even say that for most Christians that I know personally, to answer these questions by going to the Bible, may not even enter their minds.


This is why I am going to share this resource with you.

The book that the quote is referring to is a book by John Piper titled, What's the Difference?: Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible.  You can get the book on Amazon for a fairly inexpensive price, but you can also download a pdf version for free.  I downloaded it, then uploaded to Google Docs for later reading.

Click here to go to Amazon.com

Click here to download the free pdf version.

Sunday Afternoon Sketch

I used to draw all of the time.  Doodles, sketches, and even a couple of art classes.  Even as a young adult, I drew several pictures for my wife. Recently my youngest has been doing a lot of drawing, and doing very good at it.  Plus he loves it.  So I bought him a sketch book and some pencils over Christmas break.

 Watching him draw had stirred up some old passions in me as well, so I decided to purchase a second sketchbook and a second pack of pencils.  That was over Christmas break.

Yesterday I picked it up and decided to draw my oldest son as he played some video games on the laptop.  I call it...

He Wasn't With Us Yesterday

And the photo I took after I was done sketching...

I forgot his bracelets, he moved his leg, I didn't draw the lamp correctly, I skipped the TV and the cup on the coffee table, ...