Nonsensical Ramblings of Mark

Still sorting through it all

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:06:18 +0000

Last Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday until about 1:00 p.m. our family was all together at Family Camp at Circle C Ranch in Delevan, NY. Don’t ask me where Delevan is because I would just refer you to my GPS as to the exact location and path to get there. All I know is that we went West and then South for a while…and I am so glad we did. We had a time we had no business having in a place that holds great significance to us. My wife Nan was saved from the penalty of her sin there when she was 16 and we took couple of trips with the teens from Sodus Bible Baptist Church to the Snow Camp they hosted. Our boys were so excited to be there and did things that they had never done before like rock climbing, horseback riding, and water balloon volleyball. It was also great to just get away with fellow believers, hear from God’s Word, and just be in a place that, for 40+ years, has been preaching the Gospel of Christ to kids who desperately need it.

I think the thing that I enjoyed the most was that, when my boys asked me to do something with them, I was able to do it. There were no email messages to return, to lawns to mow, no phones ringing…it was just us. It was great playing ping pong with Will and shooting some pool with Drew. It was also awesome to hold my wife’s hand as we prayed and asked God to bless our relationship and our family. We were bummed that we had t come back to “real life”.

Yet this “real life” has blessings of its own. After we returned from our camping experience I cleaned the fish tank and mowed the lawn. Drew had the great idea of playing catch and we were able to do that together. What a blessing that was and a great way to continue the connections we made at Family Camp. God has been so good to me and His blessings seem to go on for miles and miles.

A few bits of randomness

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:34:23 +0000

I am only now getting my Linux box upgraded to Ubuntu version 9.10 and then, eventually, on to 10.04. I pulled my keyboard for that particular machine out from under the desk and found that it was excessively dirty. Well, I had heard that you could run a keyboard through the dishwasher and, as long as you wait long enough to let it dry, plug it in and it will work. Well, I ran the keyboard through the dishwasher last night and we’ll see if I can use it again. It came out very clean by the way.

I was reading some review about a laptop that was for sale. One of the comments was that it had a “smallish” hard drive. I looked at the specs and found that the hard drive was listed at 320 GB. Of course, being the old guy that I am, 320 GB is not “smallish” at all. It got me to thinking that by the time my boys care about the specs on a computer of any type I would venture to guess that a terabyte drive would be the minimum they would be looking for. That is amazing to me.

Rocky Mountain Holiday

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:36:01 +0000

Last night my boys were chomping at the bit to watch a 1982 Muppets/John Denver special called Rocky Mountain Holiday. They loved every minute of it. What really caught me off guard a bit is the extent that they enjoyed the “down home” nature of the show. I mean, here is John Denver with his acoustic guitar walking around and signing his way through real and imagined scenes of a camping trip that he is on with the Muppets and they were riveted to it like it was a chase scene in a Star Wars movie. In their attention to this I sensed their appreciation and even love of simple things. Even though they are a little rough around the edges (they’re kids after all) and still so prone to wander (they’re sinners after all) they are still so pure and innocent in what they enjoy. It seems like the simplest things take them by surprise and they love, I mean really love, life.

There is a part of me that is so satisfied that they love Lawrence Welk as much as Lego Batman on the Wii. There are simple shows that they find so gratifying (like the Muppets or What’s in the Bible) and their sweetness is evident in that. I love that about them. Heck, I love them and who they are. I pray that their Father in heaven will continue to nurture a sweet, sensitive spirit in them and the desire to transfer that to their God and neighbor.

That may have done it

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:35:48 +0000

When I eat late at night (say after 7:00 or so) I have very vivid, intense dreams. Most of them are way to realistic for me, in the midst of the dream, to realize that it is only a dream and some are so real that I have a hard time convincing myself, when awake, that it was a dream. Well, lately, I have either been eating late by design or just gotten into the habit of snacking later at night. I have noticed that I have not felt all that rested lately and was wondering why. Hey, it takes me a while to figure these things out.

Well, last night I made sure that I did not eat anything before bed. I did have some decaffeinated coffee with a little vanilla creamer in it, but that was it. I don’t remember anything that I dreamed about last night (for the first time in a week or so) and I feel a bit more rested today than I had been feeling. Hopefully this is what I need to do to make sure I am well-rested. We’ll see.

I have always had the issue of vivid dreams after eating later at night, but it never resulted in a tired feeling the day after. Could this be part of some of the changes that accompany aging? I know I don’t act like it but I am over 40 now. Well, regardless of the “disease” I think I may have kicked at least one of the symptoms. Time will tell.

Maybe a bit too pie-in-the-sky

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:42:31 +0000

Sometimes I like to pretend that the information that has had an effect on me in a profound way will, similarly, impact my boys. After reading Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer I was deeply moved by the end of the book where some excellent perspective and counsel was offered. It altered my reality and made me want to make it required reading for my boys when they get older. I guess I have this grand illusion that it will be used in their lives in much the same way that it has been used in mine.

Undaunted with my fantastical thinking I have yet another requirement for them. On my way into work I completed listening to a lecture by Dr. John Frame on the presuppositional apologetic approach of Cornelius Van Til. The approach he took, and the balance he struck, literally astounded me. It made me want to make my boys listen to it for it addressed some of the weaknesses I have as I assess what is going on around me and definitely leveled some false dichotomies that I had erected in my mind.

Is this pure fantasy? Am I to expect them to have the same feelings I do after the experiences I have had? Am I to expect God to generate the growth in them that He has in me through the ministry of these two men? I guess it is nice to think about but I can’t set those expectations on them and Him. I will be too disappointed if they do not manifest the character building that has been done in me as a result of what I have been exposed to.

I guess what I can expect is that God will use other men and women of God in the same manner that He used Vischer and Frame in mine. But, alas, I will probably not share in their excitement and growth and that may disappoint them. That, in and of itself, is a bit of a bummer. I guess it makes the times when it does happen that much sweeter.

For a brief moment….

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:15:52 +0000

I subscribe to a classifieds service where I get emails concerning things for sale. I have hawked quite a few things and bought some stuff through the service and I enjoy it. Well, a “gem” came through just now that, for a brief moment, I thought about acquiring:

FS: 6-1/2 HP Horizontal; shaft gas engine Brand New – Never Run $125

Growing up we always dreamed of having a go-kart. What red-blooded American boy didn’t? Of course the lack of resources always got in the way. This was paired with a lack of technical know-how to actually put the thing together and get it to run. Safely.

Well, my resources have grown but my lack of mechanical ability has always been with me. I am afraid that no amount of tinkering could make up for the fact that I am clueless about mechanical devices. Every once and a while I’ll crack something open, jiggle something here and there, and then make it work out of sheer grace and mercy from God, but barring that I just don’t have what it takes to put a go-kart together. Unless you expand the definition of a go-kart to mean a metal cage that doesn’t roll, catches fire, and administers third-degree burns to small children.

That I can do.

The mouse, the mole, and Me the Barbarian

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:20:01 +0000

I remember a few years back that I had an encounter with a mouse in the basement of our former house that left me thinking if I had it in me. I found a mouse that was stuck in our utility sink in the basement and did not have the means to escape. After some ensuing hilarity I finally caught the thing in a coffee can, poked some holes in it (so it could breathe) and let it go in a field on my way to work that morning. I wasn’t sure if I could kill another living thing that was more complex than a mosquito or small fish. Well, this weekend I found my answer.

We were talking with a neighbor when Nan saw something crossing the street and quickly identified it as a mole. I knew what I had to do. I ran up to the garage and got a spade and quickly made my way down the driveway determined to do it in. Thankfully it got tangled up somewhat in the grass so I was able to place the spade just behind its head and snap its neck in two with it. Another quick blow to the top of the handle of the shovel ensured its quick demise. Quickly examining it before putting it into the plastic bag for proper disposal I found it to be a beautiful creature in general. I had seen moles (both living and dead) before but I never noticed how slick and sleek they are. It is too bad I had to kill it, but I hate moles with a passion.

So there I have it. Not quite a Conan moment, but that’s really a big step for me. Or at least confirmation that, under the right circumstances, I can track something down and snuff the life out of it.

Beyond music, playlists, and podcasts

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:07:21 +0000

I still need to do some work on this but I am beginning to find more and more uses for the iPod I received for Christmas a while back. Recently I was on a trip to Sacramento, CA and found myself in a plane for many more hours than I was comfortable with. Of course, I did not have the necessary reading materials, headphones, and other accoutrements that would have made the trip more bearable. Determined not to have that happen again I have been looking for other things to use my iPod for and have stumbled upon a more than little resource called iTunesU. Now iTunes is the main vehicle for getting content onto the iPod if you want to fill it with stuff that you do not already have in CD or other digital form. It turns out that iTunes also has a vast amount of content online that is a bit more academic than entertainment focused.

Currently I am listening to a series of lectures by Dr. John Frame from the Reformed Theological Seminary concerning the history of Philosophy. I have listened to a short lecture on Augustine and am now in the midst of a two-lecture presentation on Kant and his successors. It has been refreshing to hear about the philosophies of these two men from a Reformed perspective. Although I cannot say that I am 100% within a Reformed framework on all that I believe about God this has been wonderful experience. Attending two secular universities for my degrees I was always subject to this type of philosophical examination from a humanistic perspective. Although that perspective is valuable from an informational standpoint it did not do as much to strengthen my faith in Christ than Dr. Frame is doing now.

Slowly but surely

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:58:25 +0000

It seems to be finally happening. I have, for the longest time, been trying to get my mind thinking correctly about the word “church”. It was very easy for me to play lip service to the fact that the church is the people of God rather than the building that they congregate in on a given Sunday. I mean the Bible is pretty clear that is the case. On the other hand whenever I heard the word church I immediately thought of the building. I have been trying to get that out of my head for the longest time. Well, I think that I have turned the corner.

I have heard the word “church” from my oldest son and, most recently, a co-worker where my mind went immediately to the people rather than the building. In fact, when I heard it from my son, I got very confused because he was using the word in a context where it could not have been misunderstood as being the people rather than the building. My confusion brought me an amount of satisfaction that is not usually produced when I am confused about something.

I have often heard it said that “with right doctrine comes right living “. I am not too bent out of shape if I cannot make the connection between orthodoxy and orthopraxy that this moment about this particular teaching. I just know that I have had to spend an unusual amount of time on this point and I think that it is, thanks be to God, finally startng to sink in.

Safe and sound

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:46:59 +0000

Safe and sound knowing that You’re big enough to
Wrap around my heart completely
Safe and sound just knowing that You know me – Safe and Sound, Mercy

I had an experience in my ride into work today that can only be described as being held. I had a mildly stressful weekend that really came to a head, so to speak, when I got back from our evening service. There were quite a few stressors that effected my countenance to a great degree and I was caught up in them to a great extent. I had a restless night’s sleep last night and knew I needed to meet with God in a special way this morning. Actually I think it may have been God Himself prescribing the cure for my anxiety.

I took what He offered and had a commute into work this morning that was unlike anything that I have had in a while. Why didn’t I run to you sooner Dad? Your peace was available to me last night, wasn’t it? Why didn’t I avail myself of it? Maybe that was part of it God…maybe it was. To say that I am happy that You know me is too cheap a thought. It’s not just your Word, your commandments, or your promises that are my rock. It’s not this joy, hope, and peace that are my sure foundation.

It’s You.