The rest are pretty amusing as well. Some are obviously people joking around, others witty puns and some are over-the-top ridiculous to the point of being offensive. Then you have the ones like the above where you want to say, "If you want to be taken seriously, at the very least use spell check else you run the risk of making the point of what you are protesting against."
Today is World’s AIDs Day — a day set aside specifically to raise awareness and support for the 33 million people living, and dying, with it. It’s a disease that is literally tearing through the developing world at an alarming rate and it’s one that we don’t yet have an affordable, easily reproduced and highly available cure for yet. In 2007, it was reported that 5.7 million people in South Africa had HIV/AIDs; 22.4 million have it in all of sub-saharan Africa. To add, several million more are being infected yearly and more than 14 million kids are orphaned because of it.
Hopefully those stats are humbling enough to make you want to do something. Truthfully, there’s so much that needs doing; Education, medical research and care, funding and raising awareness here are just a few of the things we can play a part in. It’s not a situation that bares no hope regardless of how dire it may seem. Research is advancing — there are groups that seem to be ever closer to a vaccine and just this past May it was reported that a German group actually successfully cured AIDs in a stem cell transplant procedure; the patient has now been HIV free for 2 years. An end is in site.
And until that end — a highly available cure and/or vaccine — is fully seen, I can take some hope knowing I serve a GOD bigger than any disease, no matter how scary it may seem. One of the most moving stories of Juli and I’s time in Cape Town this past May was meeting Angela, an 18 year old woman lying on her death bed in Masi. She had AIDs and was dying of TB; hospice had sent her home, not giving her much time at all. When we first met her, she couldn’t move or doing anything for herself. We told her about a man, GOD’s son, who loved her so much and was here for her now and always. We told her about HIS kingdom and how it differs from ours (which is broken by sin and decay and death). And we cried out to GOD there with her.
It’s still amazing to me how GOD heals and comforts and restores those that come to Him. I see this throughout the Gospels especially, as Jesus walked through life. It’s not always how I expect it and it’s not always how I might want it but above all of this and my limited expectations God is now and always faithful. That hasn’t, and won’t ever, change.
Anyways, back to Angela. Many in our rather large group got to see and meet her throughout our trip. She had such a hunger for Jesus. And an amazing thing was happening — by the end of the trip she was easily talking and she could feed and bathe and clothe herself and even briefly make it out of bed. She was supposed to be getting weaker and weaker until she died and here she was getting stronger.
We left after two weeks but left her in the hands of the long term missionaries to continue discipling her. About a month after we had left, some of the long termers visited her and after hearing complaints of pain, took her to the hospital. She was tested and after some time the doctor came back and said, “I know why you are having this pain. The medication is so harsh and is treating something you don’t have and is causing it. In your x-rays and blood work you show know signs of TB! I don’t understand it but there it is.”
She and the long termers and us when the told us celebrated our GOD’s strength and compassion — He’d taken away this young woman’s disease and healed her at least of that. Several months later the doctors called her back in for another test as they just couldn’t believe the results. They showed the same thing — no TB. She was baptized rejoicing the day, knowing hope that sees Jesus’ kingdom breaking through here and now and knowing how it changed her (not just the healing) and how it can change others.
It will be a wonderful day when we all have vaccines and cures and successful treatments for blights such as AIDs. But more than that though I have hope knowing that there is kingdom where none of these blights even exist and it breaks through occasionally into our broken kingdom and it is bringing with it hope and change through the redemptive power of Jesus.
There are precisely two emails that even sound scandalous: one in which a scientist refers to borrowing another scientist's "trick"—which skeptics interpret as falsifying data and which actual legitimate scientists say means "a clever way of doing something"—to "hide the decline," which is a poor way of saying he is attempting to correct for the fact that tree rings don't reflect modern warming trends that are well-documented by actual thermometers.
The other email that is terribly scandalous is even better. As George Monbiot explains:
One of the most damaging emails was sent by the head of the climatic research unit, Phil Jones. He wrote "I can't see either of these papers being in the next [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report. Kevin and I will keep them out somehow - even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"
One of these papers which was published in the journal Climate Research turned out to be so badly flawed that the scandal resulted in the resignation of the editor-in-chief.
So the scandal is that a researcher thought a paper was flawed and said he would do anything to keep it from being published, not because it said something dangerous that he is trying to keep hidden, but because he thought it was bad science. And then it turned out to be bad science.
And then again, there is always another side. Manipulating data (as the previous article reports) still looks quite bad and is indicative of shady science. Certainly an interesting debate right now.
SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based.
It means that other academics are not able to check basic calculations said to show a long-term rise in temperature over the past 150 years.
The UEA’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) was forced to reveal the loss following requests for the data under Freedom of Information legislation.
As I've written about before I'm skeptical about the validity and urgency of the global warming debate (but am all for responsible environmental stewardship and legislation that calls for it!). This article solidifies that skepticism as valid (along with the 1000s of hacked emails released in the past few weeks). It's amazing what was done in the name of "science" to push a few pet theories. Perhaps these new revelations will allow us to move beyond the polarizing "global warming" debates into healthy talks about what environmental stewardship is (preserving the rainforests, for example) and is not (sacrificing the aforementioned rainforests at the altar of the almighty dollar).
Coming back from lunch, my co-workers and I had an odd encounter. There was a man in sweats with a dog passing out flyers. Curious, I took one. It turns out that this man was a Christian of the far right fringe; his brochure claims that the end of the world is near, giving its date as May 21, 2011.
Folks and encounters like these both amuse and disturb me. It amuses me that they would make such brazen claims (against the clear teaching of scripture); it disturbs me because this is all that many hear or know of Christianity. For those with this or similar beliefs, I think it’s important to keep in mind a few scriptures (these are important — not just words of wisdom from Brandon).
Matthew 24:36 — “But as for that day and hour no one knows it –- not even the angels in heaven -– except the Father alone.”“ It’s parallel in Mark specifically says not even the Son — Jesus — knows. So…we have here a group claiming knowledge that Jesus didn’t even have while on earth and that it specifically says no one has. We are commanded to always be alert but there is never an expectation that we could possibly know, in fact alertness comes because it’s not something we will ever know. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 confirms this as well in Paul, specifically saying that the Day of the Lord’s return is like a thief in the night — at a time we never know.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 — “But examine all things; hold fast to what is good.” Knowing the above (the exact day isn’t something we will ever know) makes examining this and any sort of prophecy extremely important. It is a scriptural mandate after all. 1 Corinthians 14:29 tells us that we should examine all prophecy given as well. Just because someone claims a prophecy (or some sort of secret knowledge) doesn’t mean we are to buy into it hook, line and sinker; we have a responsibility to be responsible with whatever was given.
Acts 17:11 — “…they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so.” Our number one way to examine any prophecy, word, etc must be against scripture. If the two do not line up scripture always trumps. The Bereans where known for testing all things against scripture and we’d be wise to as well. If we did, we’d know that claims like this are baseless as they go against the clear words of Jesus.
Deut 18:22 — “…whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.” It’s telling to look at groups that have made prophecies like this in the past. Remember the Y2K scare perhaps? There have been others too, and it’s groups like this one making the claim. Now this “word” won’t be proven true or false until May 22, 2011 but looking at past fruit I imagine would be telling.
Like I said, claims like the above disturb me. It turns people further away from Jesus. It distorts the Bible and the clear teaching of Jesus. It produces fear and madness — not the fruits of the Spirit — in peoples hearts.
I have more to say as well, but will hold off for the moment.
The Conrad Grebel Review is an interdisciplinary journal of Christian inquiry devoted to thoughtful, sustained discussion of spirituality, theology and culture from a broadly-based Mennonite perspective. The Review is published three times a year. Each issue usually contains refereed scholarly articles, responses to articles, informal reflections and book reviews.
If you look in the "Past Issues List" they have many of their issues from 1998-2007 available for download, including special issues devoted to theologians like Stanley Hauerwas, John Howard Yoder and Miroslav Volf. They also have a special issue on Nonviolence as a viable response to terrorism that I'm looking forward to reading.
Can you correctly identify the source of the following quote?
“You must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. Be fair and give justice to the poor and homeless.”
16% of Americans surveyed believed the statement came from President Obama–the number one response in the study. 9% said the Dalai Lama. Martin Luther King Jr. came in at 8%, and Oprah Winfrey garnered 4%. And 3% said Bono. Taken together, 54% of American misidentified the correct source. Only 13% got it right–the Bible (Proverbs 31:8-9).
“The survey illustrates the reason we created ‘The Poverty and Justice Bible,’” commented R. Lamar Vest, president of American Bible Society, “to highlight God’s concern for the poor, marginalized and oppressed.”
“The Poverty and Justice Bible seeks to challenge the notion that the Bible is outdated and proves that God – not politicians, celebrities or even our greatest activists – was the first to speak out on today’s most pressing issues,” added Richard Stearns, president and CEO of World Vision, an international relief organization and collaborator on the Bible project. (Read the full report)
Perhaps the most disturbing finding of the study was that 80% of Americans claim to be familiar with the Bible. In other words, the vast majority of Americans believe they know what the message of the Bible is at least in general terms. And yet survey after survey reveals just the opposite.
I thought I’d followup my Must Have iPhone Apps post with a mac version.
Accordance — It may not be the prettiest but this is the best Bible software on the mac. It does everything you need — notes, highlights, word search, passage/translation correlations, deep searches, etc. Using this, I’m able to highlight and annotate the Bible to my hearts content, making it the perfect decentralized journal.
Safari — You’ve got to browse the web with something. I keep wanting to go with a different browser but Safari is the best looking and easiest for me to use; after a day or two or five, I always come back to it.
iTunes — I listen to a lot of music so music management is necessary. This app does it best on the mac. I don’t think it needs much more explanation.
Adium — Chat software is a must in my job as a system administrator. It’s an easy way to keep in contact with co-workers and others that might be experiencing problems. As we don’t have a centralized chat service, it’s necessary to have a client that will allow me to connect to everything without a ton of windows. It’s fully themeable (contact list and chat windows) and keeps detailed logs (which comes in handy more often than you’d think). Skip iChat and check Adium out if you do any chatting.
Tweetie — This is “must have” because it’s a twitter client and its just so nice to microblog the day (and keep up with others doing the same). I’m not convinced that this is the one I’d settle on in the long one. I’ve tried it, Twitterific, TweetDeck, SeismicDesktop and others not worth mentioning; of these Tweetie is the best for me so far. You should consider the others as well if you are looking for a twitter client.
TextMate — This is a text editor and so much more. I use it daily — all of my blogs are written here, daily notes are written here, random bits of info are collected here and even coding is done here. It has an extensive bundle system that extends functionality (converting Markdown into HTML, highlighting code and turning a text document into a wiki are just 3 examples). I say it is a must have, even though it’s not free.
Terminal — Another built in app and another must for sysadmins. It’s the command line interface that not only allows you insight into the inner workings of your computer but allows you to easily connect to other systems to do administrative tasks. It’s another daily use app.
Espresso — This app is new on my radar. I used to use Coda for web development but am really impressed by Espresso. It feels lighter, but is just as powerful, still doing everything that Coda did.
Dropbox — 2 GB of free for online backups (with paid upgrades that aren’t exorbitantly expensive). It autosyncs all of your machines and allows access online. It’s super easy to share folders and files with friends too. All in all, Dropbox is the best that I’ve seen in this genre of app.
Calibre — This program became necessary as my pdf library increased and I found myself with mobile devices (kindle and iPhone) that worked as ereaders. It allows for as seamless as you can get conversions from one format to another and easy transfer to external devices. It’s also open source and multi-platform. If ebooks are something you care about, this is the software to check out.
DaisyDisk — This is a slick app that’s often handy in basic computer tuning exercises. It graphical gives you a look at all of the files on your machine, allowing you to visualize the amount of space they take up. It makes identifying run away log files or those old home videos you’d thought you’d archived easy so that you can reclaim the space.
DateLine — DateLine is simple in its function: it provides a calendar that sits on top of your desktop, as a line, and distinguishes the current day so that you always know the date. Visually it’s stunning in its simplicity and its utility is well worth the download.
DrawIt — For professional design work, Adobe products tend to be the standard. They are expensive and have a steep learning curve for non professionals though. Thankfully, there are some very rich, easy to use and independent design apps out there for the mac. This is my favorite. It focuses on vector based designs and is incredibly handy in making quick design mockups for web sites and other such things. As an added bonus — it won’t break the bank either!
LightZone — This is another graphic app, focused on photography rather than vector based design. It’s easy to use and quite powerful. Less expensive than a lot of the competition makes it a good choice to get your photo editing needs done.
Pixelmator — While LightZone focuses solely on photo editing, Pixelmator will do any other bitmapped based editing, making it comparable to (but not yet as powerful as) Adobe Photoshop. If you need something cheap and relatively easy to use, check it out!
Scrivener — Scrivener is one of those hidden gems. It’s a writing tool designed specifically for screenwriting but has application beyond that. I use it as a collection place for topical notes and scripture thoughts and discussion. Often longer essays will be formulated in this app first. One if its bonuses as well is a full screen mode (the word processor becomes the screen, hiding all other open programs, including the dock and taskbar). If you do much writing, you really should check it out.
VirtualBox — Sometimes you need to be able to run another operating system without new hardware or without rebooting your machine. Virtualization software allows you to do this from within your running OS. VirtualBox is Sun’s, and it is open source (read: free) and on par with the apps you’d normally have to pay to use. I run both a windows VM and a linux VM without issue on it. If this is something you need to do — check it out before spending your money.
And there you have it — a good list of apps to check out. A lot of these are freely available, but not all. Most of the commercial ones though have demos and should still be considered if they solve a problem you currently have. Suggestions about other apps to look at or opinions about the ones mentioned? Leave them in the comments!
A friend that has an iPhone on the way recently asked me what my “must have” applications were. I thought about it for a minute and he mentioned blogging it. Thinking that was a good idea, I made a list of my must haves, and then a few that I’m watching with anticipation. Note: The following are in no particular order.
YouVersion Bible — Right now, this is the best iPhone Bible application. It’s fairly straight forward and easy to use and allows for bookmarks (and emailing and tweeting verses). And the killer feature: downloadable translations so that I don’t have to have a network connection to access the Bible. It comes in handy in church, on the bus, or really anywhere I might be and puts about every translation at your fingertips.
Flixster Movies — You got to have a movies app if you love going to the theater. My wife and I do, and if we are out and about, this app will quickly tell us the near by theaters, what’s playing at them (and when), and even give links to buy online on the phone. It’s quite convenient — you won’t have to worry about missing a movie again (or ending up at a theater only to find that your movie isn’t playing or is sold out).
Amazon Kindle/Stanza — An ebook reader is another good thing to have for those times when you are stuck on an elevator or in a meeting that doesn’t relate to what you do. There are a plethora of free ebooks out their and software like Calibre will let you convert any document (or ebook) into a format readable by either of these apps. Both allow for bookmarking and notes (a must for a reader like myself). Stanza is more feature rich but the Kindle app is easier to use. Also, if you have a real life kindle, you can sync your libraries wirelessly, which is a bonus (this includes notes and highlights).
Shazam — This is one of those “fun” apps that you don’t use all the time (but more than you might have thought). It’s a music discovery service that listens to ~30 seconds of whatever might be playing on the radio or stereo of where ever you are, cross references it on the ‘net and comes back with the artist, album and title. It gets it right more often than not (and I’ve even seen it successfully work in loud bar environments). As an added bonus you can “tweet it” if you so desire.
Facebook — This one only makes sense if you use facebook. It’s a customized mobile interface with much of the features of the webapp. It’s “killer” feature though that makes it a must is the ability to call friends from your friends list if they list their phone number. This has come in handy numerous times as MobileMe had a tendency of randomly deleting phone numbers from my actual address book.
NPR News — News tends to depress me as the dark, dreary and depressing stuff is generally all that’s reported as its more sensationalistic. But there are events and happenings that are nice to know about, occasionally. I’ve found the NPR app to be the slickest and easiest to use. As a bonus it gives access to some of the cooler shows, like All Songs Considered.
PicPosterous — This one is really only useful if you use Posterous. This blog runs on it and this app gives me a way to post mobile pics on the move. If you are a Wordpress user, they have an app (as does Tumblr).
Cartoon Wars — As the name would imply, this is a game. It’s got a pinch of tower defense and a lot of strategy and stick figures. They have a lite version available for free (but the full is totally worth it). It’s one of those games that you start and can spend days on (it autosaves so you can play a level here and a level there) which is a must have feature for someone busy with life and always on the move.
Tweetie — This is probably my most used app. It’s a standalone twitter client, has lots of features (pic, video, location tweeting, to name a few) and looks nice and works great. It’s fast, is persistent and is the best twitter experience on the iPhone (that I’ve found). It does cost money though.
TowerMadness Zero — Another game. This one is tower defense and, because its free, is one of the better ones. It’s 3d, has numerous tower and map options (including downloadable maps).
Dropbox — I use Dropbox to backup my documents and share other such things between computers. This app gives me access to those items directly from my phone, thereby making it quite useful.
Tripit — TripIt is another webapp I use to keep track of and cleanly organize travel plans. It really works well and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It does a better job than most of the other apps I’ve seen and used — I keep going back to it after seeing and trying others. Anyways, this gives me direct access to my trip information directly on the phone, making it very convenient and incredibly useful while traveling (having access to trip information on my phone saved my and 10 friends butts the first time I went to Cape Town).
There are a few other apps that I’m actively watching development on. They aren’t yet useful enough to me to be “must haves” but they do have future potential. They are:
Logos — This is a newcomer to the iPhone Bible apps. Currently the only modern translation available is the ESV (which is a great translation but not my preferred). It doesn’t do highlighting/bookmarking yet (that I can tell) and is pretty clunky to use. If you own Logos 4 though it does allow you access to your full library which makes it infinitely more useful; that’s a several hundred dollar investment though and not a viable option to the majority of users.
Evernote — This app ties you into your Evernote library and allows you to add new notes, as well as view and modify existing. I occasionally use it but find it clunky; I find myself using email or the built in notes app more often than not.
So there you have it — A list to get you started on an iPhone perhaps. All of the above apps are free or cheap so there isn’t any reason not to try them out!
You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
As I previously mentioned, I spent 7 days in Vegas a couple of weeks ago. Vegas, suffice it to say, is not my favorite place to be in this world (particularly where I was: the strip). Everywhere is a casino and it seems that the big seven sins are glorified (particularly greed, lust, envy and pride). Everywhere you go in fact, it seems that they are thrown in your face. It was quite meaningful then to read and meditate on the above verses.
You see Las Vegas (both physically and metaphorically) is the “city on a hill” that the world presents. It epitomizes everything the world holds dear and glorifies everything Christ doesn’t. Physically it’s a wonder to behold. The strip is lit as bright as day at night due to all the lights (as evidenced in the picture). The Luxor Hotel shoots an incredibly bright spotlight up to the heavens even (visible in the center of the picture). Metaphorically, we need look no further than its bold proclamation “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!” It appeals to all of our base and dark emotions as humans: the greed to get more and more from the casino machine, the lust to do what we want — see what we want — however we want, and the pride to know that its all OK here, to name just a few things.
It was both encouraging and emboldening then to read this passage (in the light of the surrounding Sermon on the Mount) and to know that this isn’t at all what the city of God is. To know that it shines brighter than anything the world can throw at it is so encouraging. Regardless of how bright the strip of Vegas seems to be in the darkest night — it’s all artificial and is nothing compared to God’s kingdom. And it’s incredibly emboldening to know that we can (and are) to walk in this light, shining before everyone that we meet regardless of where we are.
And so — this simple truth, that my life shines before people in contrast to the artificial light that the world produces, became my prayer throughout my days in Vegas. I don’t pretend perfection but I was able to have several encouraging encounters with folks. I would commend any one reading to contend as well for a life that shines brightly and in contrast to the light the world produces.
Written after one of my trips to Las Vegas