At least they're being honest

We have a private UseNet at work - we can post for sale ads, ask questions (can you recommend a mechanic), etc. A couple of times a year there is a posting that goes something like this "I was caught speeding doing 130 in a 100 zone. Does anyone know how I can get off?" Then there is discussion about the merits of fighting it in court, etc. Now there are a couple of things wrong with this.

First, if I was caught speeding I wouldn't announce it to the world (and no, I've never got a ticket). You think there would be some shame. Second, it is not as if they are being coy (i.e. I don't think the radar was working properly). Yes, at least they are honest, but the essential content of their message is "I'm guilty and I don't want to pay the penalty". Third, all of these arguments about fighting it in court and hoping the police don't show, displays a lack of moral character. If the police have to show up in court because (even though you admit you're are guilty) you want to fight the ticket, someone has to pay (i.e. the taxpayer). When evaluating our actions, it is helpful to ask what the results would be in our society if everyone was to engage in this behavior.

Favorite Poem

This was in the flyleaf of H.A. Ironside's Bible. I know it isn't sophisticated or anything, but it is my favorite poem:

"Bold infidelity; turn pale and die.
Beneath this stone four sleeping infants lie;
Say, are they lost or saved?
If death's by sin they sinned for they are here,
If Heaven's by works in Heaven they can't appear,
Reason, ah, how depraved!
Turn to the Bible's sacred page, the knot's untied.
They died, for Adam sinned;
They live, for Jesus died."

Epitaph on a tombstone over four children, in St. Andrews Church Yard, Scotland

The Russians are coming! (ok, they came)

Today we took a one day trip to the "1000 Islands". We went into Gananoque, which is a tourist town on the St Lawrence River. I wasn't too impressed. The big thing in town is the waterfront with the boat tours. The problem is, the parking. The tour company didn't have enough parking and there are few signs telling your where to go. They really need some help from an urban planner to help them sort out that mess.

After that, we went to the Sky Deck, which is a 400 foot high tower on Hill Island. You have to take a bridge to the U.S. but before you get to the U.S. you get to the Sky Deck (which is on Canadian territory). It cost about $20 for us to go up, but it certainly is a spectacular view.

Finally, we went to the tiny little town of Rockport. From there we were able to take a 1 hour boat tour of the 1000 Islands. The hour long tour was $38, and I think it was worth it. We couldn't visit Boldt Castle, because it is on the U.S. side and we didn't have passports. The security restrictions must have really, really cut into their business! Interestingly enough, there was a whole tour bus full of Russians on the boat with us. Personally, I found this just as interesting as the tour, although I am wondering how this group of people found the money to take a North American tour, buy the Nikon optics, etc. Hummm!

So, now we are home. We had some of Karen's fabulous Pasta Carbonara (left over from last night). Karen says it's "comfort food", which I take to mean "food that you don't eat, but rather consume with gusto".

More from Joel

People love kid stories (gee, I wonder why), so here's another one. The other day I woke up about 7am, and Joel had come in to our room. I wasn't quite ready to crawl out of bed so I let Joel crawl in beside me. He liked it so much he said to me "I was so happy I cried."

On the other hand, a couple of nights ago Joel was being very whiny, and we kept saying no to him. Finally I told him to go up to his room. He said to me "Don't be hard on me." I think my generation and his generation may have some differences of opinion as to what is meant by being hard on a child. Anyway, by the end of the evening he was hugging me and telling me how much he loves me, so I guess saying "No" to him and sending him to his room for about 5 minutes hasn't scarred him for life!

Bad News (ok, maybe you won't think it's so bad)

I've been planning to purchase William Mounce's textbook on Greek, but the new second edition which was published in August 2003 is now sold out. It is expected it will be available again at the end of October. Arggg! I guess I will keep on going with my old book.

Lego Creations

The other day, my children created a Lego spaceship that was about 4 feet long. They told me it's name was the "Bachi". I asked where they had got the name and it turns out it was from Mount Suribachi in the old John Wayne movie, "The Sands of Iwo Jima". Who would have thought!

The Ten Commandments

A judge in Alabama is in trouble over a large monument he placed in his courthouse with the Ten Commandments on it. The legal complaint reads as follows:

Following a seven-day bench trial, Judge Thompson concluded that Justice Moore’s fundamental purpose in displaying the Monument was non-secular, and that the Monument’s primary effect was to advance religion. Glassroth v. Moore, 229 F. Supp.2d 1290, 1299, 1304 (M.D. Ala. 2002). Based on his determination that the Monument is violative of the Establishment Clause, on November 18, 2002 Judge Thompson entered a “declaration that Justice Moore’s placement of his Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama State Judicial Building was unconstitutional,” and allowed him 30 days to remove it.

I guess I'm confused in a couple of ways. First, while the 10 Commandments are a moral teaching from religious literature (i.e. the Old Testament) neither Jews nor Christians would state that following the 10 Commandments is the way to achieve salvation. How can you say that displaying a moral teaching is attempting to advance a religion?

I'm also confused about this whole "Establishment Clause". Specifically, the American constitution says in it's First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." This seems pretty clear to me, especially since most countries of that time had State Churches, and many of the colonies were established and populated by those seeking freedom from the State Churches. However, this Amendment has been has now been interpreted to mean: The judical system shall prevent any religious displays on any federal, state or municipal property. No moral teaching which has a basis in any religious writings shall be displayed or considered in the making of laws.

I don't know - this just seems very different than what is written.

What's with Shawn and the Hansard?

In response to Rebecca's question in the last message, no, I don't spend any time reading the daily Hansard. Instead, I use the search engine the government so thoughtful provides. The quotes I found were searching on the word "moron". As a point of interest, you can get away with calling someone a "moron" in the Ontario Legislature, but you cannot get away with saying that an honourable member has misled the Legislature. If you suggest a member is misleading the legislature you will be required to withdraw the statement. I suppose it might be interesting to do a search on the word "withdraw". Also, it might be interesting to search the Hansard for the Canadian Parliment - alas, so much to do and so little time.

Perhaps my favourite moment from the Ontario Legislature was during the reign of Bill Davis. I use the term "reign" because when Bill Davis was the provincial Premier, the Conservative Party had been in power in Ontario for longer than the Communists in China - but I digress. Anyway, some member of the Opposition was blasting away saying something like "Will the Premier admit that his government is a repressive failure!!!?" Davis was looking down, puffing his pipe, he slowly rose to his feet and said, "No" and then sat down again.

More from the Ontario Hansard

Mr Martiniuk: I only have two minutes and there's much to cover.
I would like to thank the member for Renfrew North, who spoke against the bill but provided no alternatives.

The member for London Centre is protecting her constituency. It's parochial. She is being overserviced and it's all cosy and she's protecting her little nest. I understand that. However, it's time we in this House started to look at the province as a whole. These are desperate times in my riding. I have 15,000 people who are not serviced by a family physician and I put it to the member for London Centre: Look at my people. Don't just try to feather your nest.


Mr Bisson: We are looking at your people. That's why we're going to vote against this bill, you moron.

http://hansardindex.ontla.on.ca/hansardeissue/36-2/l068a.htm

Friendship and Fellowship

Tonight, my church had its annual corn roast. For a number of years, one of the families has been inviting over the whole church for a pot-luck corn roast the last week of August. Lots of fresh picked corn boiling in a huge cauldron, great food and even better desserts! But the best part is always the people. It's always a great time of fellowship. It's an opportunity to spend some concentrated time with each other, as well as a time to get to know some new folks. Fellowship is vitally important in the life of a church. It requires people to be open and willing to get to know each other. It requires some folks to lead the way in initiating fellowship activities. And even if you don't have a cauldron and a camp fire, you can still find creative ways to be involved with each other!

A Couple of Musings

Karen and I have been talking about buying a mini-van. When Bethany heard us talking, she brought us her piggy bank and told us we could have all of her money because she doesn't need it. Of course, I cried. (and of course, I didn't take her money!)

Canadian Tire developed a good reputation during the blackout. They stayed open late selling necessities to people, and without power arranged for employees with flashlights to help each customer do their shopping. They were also set up to take Visa credit cards without needing to swipe them through the machine.

On Sunday, I missed a day of studying Greek. I have done some studying every day for the last month, but missing a day scared me because I find it far too easy to stop doing things. I find studying interesting, but it isn't always easy to be disciplined about it. I have been reviewing to the end of chapter 13, and hopefully by Thursday will finish chapter 14. Again, this is towards my goal of making it to the end of chapter 20 and then spending the money on a better book.

Preparing for the Next Blackout

OK, most people have power, even if Ontario's generating capacity is only about two thirds of what we need. Nuclear will come back online soon. But clearly there are some lessons to be learned from this experience, because it will be repeated. It might be technological failure, natural disaster or terrorist attack, but our power grid will go down again. Our unpreparedness was sad, particularly on the heels of the ice storm a couple of years ago. Here are some thoughts:

1) our politicians seemed to be flopping around like fish out of water. No decisive leadership. The Canadian Prime Minister stayed at his cottage while 10 million people in Ontario looked for leadership. I believe we must make our politicians understand that their efforts were not good enough.

2) different messages seemed to float around, and the government agencies that are supposed to coordinate during disaster didn't even seem to be able to keep their phones working, let alone coordinating, let alone communicating to the nation. Let's see some heads role (figuratively).

3) without electricity, all the gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores and banks were out of commission. Our local grocery store has a generator, but it could only run for 30 minutes. All of the frozen food, dairy, meat, etc. is all being thrown out. Our "just in time" delivery system now needs to cope with unexpected demand. Of course, were this winter the loss of power would be more significant still! My suggestion might seem radical, but given the risk evaluation (high impact if it happens again, high probability of happening again) I think is reasonable. Here are my suggestions:

- all grocery stores, pharmacies, banks and gas stations be required to have generators that will run for 7 days
- all police, fire, hospitals, water pumping and treatment centers have the same generation capacity
- all community centers have the same generating capacity, to serve a emergency refuge during cold and heat waves
- all apartment buildings to have a 24 hour supply of water on the roof
- designated radio stations for disaster information. Public distribution of solar powered radios tuned specifically to these stations. Again, these radio stations will have generators.
- cell phone systems have backup power supply
- all new houses have wiring set up so that a generator can be plugged in to power the furnace, or alternately a gas fireplace that doesn't require electricity to turn on.

Are these radical suggestions given the level of our vulnerability?

Children's Books

The school program we are using has a number of read aloud books, and so I thought I would provide a bit of feedback. The first book I read to the children (as part of this program!) was "Red Sails to Capri". It is a charming book, but I'm not sure it is a good read aloud, for the conversation jumps back and forth between people and children could easily lose the thread of who is speaking. On the other hand, it would make an interesting play, and could be adapted to having only two background scenries - the inn and the beach. Other the other hand, it would be hard to display the mystery on stage.

The second book is one entitled "Ginger Pye", and I am half way finished (so I can't comment on the ending). I think this book is great from the viewpoint of vocabulary development. My children are 7 and 5, and are quite interested. While Bethany could probably read most of it, I think it is better as a read aloud because I stop and ask them about the meaning of many of the words (some of which I don't know the meaning of!).

Of course, we try to be careful in what our children read, but personally I think Newberry Award winning books are better than a steady diet of "Franklin" books (and yes, we have lots of Franklin and Arthur books too).

Surviving without Electricity

Well, we have some electricity, or I wouldn't be writing this. I am however, using the computer very sparingly to conserve electricity. I BBQ'd last night and tonight. The kids are generally happy, and don't normally watch much TV anyway. The grocery story was crazy this morning - everyone polite and civil, but too crowded. We had planned to shop on Thursday and didn't have much in the house, so I had to go. The grocery store had a generator, but it was only set up to run for 30 minutes! If you're going to buy a generator, why only have 30 minutes worth of fuel?!!!

Of course, I had the day off work. Powering up a couple thousand computers and a couple thousand telecom switches would have displayed corporate irresponsibility. So, I got to spend more time with my family! See, a blackout isn't all bad. Of course, I'd like to thank the guy who mowed his lawn last night at 10:15pm while people were trying to sleep with their windows open. And then there was the fellow who absolutely had to mow his lawn today with his electric lawn mower!

I did some more Greek today (I've done some every day since I started). I'm up to lesson 13 now, but am spending time doing memorization of the previous chapters where things just didn't stick. It was a quiet day, and I was able to do some reading. However, I didn't get much sermon prep done without my computer, and I'm preaching next Wednesday. I might have to modify my prep technique to be less dependent on the computer!

Useful Statements from the Work Place

I've been in the work world for 10 years now, and in "Management" for 5 of them. I usually know what to say, how to smooth the waters and how to make a situation better. Sometimes though, my sense of humor gets the better of me or I get somewhat tired of dealing with people. Here is the result:

Some that I have used quite successfully are:

1. Maybe Santa Claus will give it to you, but I won't.

2. Sure you can get blood out of a stone, if you SQUEEZE it HARD enough. (people will give a nervous laugh when you say this, especially if you do neat eye tricks at the same time)

3. Why am I not going to do what you want me to do? Because I don't feel like it! (yes, this successfully ended the conversation. I apologized later).

4. Don't look at me... I'm just in this for the money. (In response to some programmers who asked me why I went into management)

5. Just because you are good at your job doesn't make you good at my job. (Don't EVER offer to come over to my office and tweek my code).

6. Just so that we understand each other, this is at no cost to my company. (when dealing with an unpleasant vendor situation).

7. You know, everyone was so nice to you. I'm surprised nobody ripped your head off. (when dealing with that same vendor who sent someone on our site).

Another Statement from the Ontario Legislature

Some additional statements from the Hansard of the Ontario Legislature:
At http://hansardindex.ontla.on.ca/hansardeissue/37-2/l025.htm

Mr Beaubien: It's a pleasure to respond, especially to the member from Welland-Thorold when he's talking about this as a vicious attack on paramedics. I find it very disturbing that he would take this type of position, especially today when they were questioning about hospitals and the backup in emergency, and then all of a sudden they're not concerned about this vital service provided by these dedicated, well-trained individuals to make sure that there is no disruption in health care services, especially the emergency services in Ontario.

I wouldn't expect anything else when the member from Welland-Thorold says, "We'll do everything we possibly can to stop this piece of legislation and to make this government go through all the hoops and processes," because basically that is why you're still struggling with 8% and 9% of support in the province of Ontario. That's why there is a problem. That's why people in Ontario cannot see fit to support you people. With that type of support, no wonder you've got this type of attitude. It's totally irresponsible.

Mr Kormos: Click your heels and put on your arm band.

Mr Beaubien: That's right. That's the only way you can respond. The only way you can respond is to do a personal attack on somebody else. That's the only defence you have, because you cannot defend the position you've taken as an individual, as a member of Parliament and as a caucus member.

Interjection.

The Deputy Speaker: Order. The member for Niagara Centre will need to withdraw.

Mr Kormos: Withdrawn.

Mr Beaubien: When we make comments like the member just made, I find it very abhorrent. I look at it as a personal attack, and that's the only tactic that these people can use in order to try to put their point across.

Interjections.

Mr Kormos: You're a moron.

Mr Caplan: I find it passing strange to watch members of the government skate one way and the other --

Hon Frank Klees (Minister without Portfolio): On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I take personal affront to the member from Welland, who has just referred to a member of this place as a moron.

The Deputy Speaker: Order. He has withdrawn.

Ontario's Elected Officials at Work

This is an actual quotation from the September 16, 1997 Hansard of the Ontario Legislature, and can be found at http://hansardindex.ontla.on.ca/hansardeissue/36-1/l230.htm

The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Member for Brampton North, please.

Mr Marchese: Thank you very much. You know that very few jurisdictions in the world, if any -- I don't know of any; there might be -- have housing responsibilities to the municipalities except this reptilian government, except the madness of this government.

Mr Spina: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: That's an unparliamentary phrase; it's imputing the motive of the government and the members.

The Speaker: I don't think "reptilian" is imputing motive, but it sounds to me to be --

Mr Gerretsen: It sure is slithery.

The Speaker: Let me just finish. "Reptilian" is not imputing motive, but it certainly isn't parliamentary. It doesn't add to the debate here, so I'd ask the member for Fort York to withdraw it.

Mr Marchese: Speaker, you were almost on the verge of ruling correctly, I thought.

The Speaker: Member for Fort York, you're in dangerous country here. It's either withdraw or don't withdraw -- that's your decision -- but I don't want to debate with you about whether or not it's parliamentary.

Mr Marchese: I guess I will have to withdraw the words "reptilian government."

The Speaker: "Government" was fine.

Mr Marchese: What about "cold-blooded government"? Is that okay? The other word that you ruled out of order is really the intent --

The Speaker: When did I rule it out of order? I ruled it out of order?

Mr Marchese: You did. You said it was not parliamentary. But if you describe a government that I consider to be cold-blooded, I think that's what that word means.

Mr Floyd Laughren (Nickel Belt): A bunch of snakes.

Mr Marchese: It's the same idea.

Mr Spina: It's the same point of order, Speaker.

The Speaker: A point of order, member for York-Mackenzie.

Mr Spina: The honourable member from --

The Speaker: No, I said "York-Mackenzie."

Mr Klees: Mr Speaker, with all respect, I do believe you have ruled on the issue of "reptilian." In the theological sense, "reptilian" refers to the father of lies. I believe if the member continues to justify his use of the term "reptilian" --

The Speaker: Can we get to the point here, member for York-Mackenzie.

Mr Klees: I would ask that you ask him to withdraw what he just said.

The Speaker: Who?

Mr Klees: The member who just said it and the interjection by my honourable colleague the member for Nickel Belt.

The Speaker: I didn't hear either of them, but I will give them the opportunity of withdrawing if they said anything unparliamentary. Member for Nickel Belt?

Mr Laughren: If calling this bunch of bandits is unparliamentary, I withdraw the word "snakes."

The Speaker: There comes a time when you're going to eventually withdraw or not withdraw, because I'm sure the member for Fort York wants to finish his speech.

Mr Laughren: I withdraw.

Education for the Family

School started last week for us. As most of you are aware, we homeschool, and so there is a certain amount of flexibility in our schedule. Joel is making progress with his reading, and says it is fun. I guess he sees his sister reading and wants to do the same. Last year, when Bethany first started to read, Joel complained "Sister is no fun anymore. All she wants to do is read!" Oh well, you can't please all the people all the time.

Yes, I'm still going with the Greek. I read lesson 11 twice over the weekend, and lesson 12 once yesterday. I find 15-20 minutes a day lets me make steady progress (though not as much as I would like). Other projects include reading "The Case for Faith" (about 1/3 finished) and "The Histories" by Herodotus (almost half finished). It's most interesting to compare the last parts of the Old Testament to be written with Greek literature of the time (about 500 B.C.).

Choosing a Church

Some friends have recently moved, and are in the process of finding a local church. All of these friends have servant hearts, and so I'm sure they will find a church to settle in where they can be a blessing to others. However, this got me to thinking about what I value most in a church. Here is my first attempt at putting together a list (note that I assume that all of these churches are evangelical, show some signs of spiritual life, and are within a reasonable driving distance).

1) a weekly remembrance of the Lord Jesus (often referred to as a "Communion Service"). This act of worship is fundamental, and a weekly remembrance shows that a church has it's heart on worship and obedience. I very much appreciate the hour long "Breaking of Bread" my current church has (and indeed, people who have left to attend other churches which don't have this weekly remembrance tell me that this is what they miss most). However, whether it is a weekly one hour non-liturgical meeting like I am familar with, a weekly remembrance of the Lord Jesus in some form is fundamental.

2) church leadership by a plurality of Biblically qualified elders is my second most important point. If a local church has a plurality of elders, this tells me that the church is committed to obeying much of the New Testament with regards to church order. It also tells me that my soul is likely to receive proper shepherding (according to the Bible) and that I will likely be spared from the potential excesses of one man rule.

3) dispensational and non-charismatic doctrine. I have friends who are fine Christians in each of the opposite theological camps, but if a church is dispensational and non-charismatic, I have a pretty good idea where they stand on most theological issues, and even more important, what hermeneutic principles they will use for interpreting the Bible.

Thoughts? Opinions?

Greek Progress Update

I'm still working on the Greek, a bit each day. I've done lesson 10 in my book, but I noticed that my accuracy of translation was falling off. I was still getting the basic idea of each lesson, but because I had not done the memorization well enough, I was making too many mistakes. So, for the last several days I have been memorizing. Bethany helped me make up better flash cards, and helped me drill. It really seems to be paying off. For variety, I am using the FlashWorks drill program available free on the www.teknia.com web site. This is allowing me to increase my vocabulary.

So why am I trying to learn Greek? A couple of reasons. For years, I've been preaching and saying things like "I don't know Greek, but this word means...". I guess I'm a little tired of this. Studying Greek myself won't make me a scholar, but it should give me a working knowledge of the Greek New Testament. My second reason is something a friend once told me. He is very proficient in Greek (teaching at the Seminary level). He told me that using study tools and commentaries, I can study a passage and learn the same things he can learn from reading the Greek, but that he can do it much faster. So, learning Greek is an investment in the future. The challenge is to stick with it, while I continue to spend time studying the English Bible, preparing sermons, improving my preaching technique and reading other helpful Christian literature.

Separation of Church and State

Canada is wrestling with the issue of homosexual marriage. Others have discussed the issue far more capably than myself, so I would like to address a different (though related) issue. The issue I would like to discuss is the separation of church and state. A Catholic Bishop suggested that the soul of Prime Minister Chretien is in peril if he goes ahead with plans to legalize homosexual marriage. The response by Sheila Copps was most amusing. She was "outraged". Of course, when is she not outraged? I wonder what she was outraged by - a Catholic Bishop making a theological pronouncement? Perhaps it was outrage at a Catholic Bishop daring to discuss a moral issue?

On the other hand, Prime Minister Chretien was more subdued in his response, preferring to invoke the separation of church and state. This is an interesting phrase - the separation of church and state. I believe in it quite firmly, because a lack of separation between church and state is usually a disaster for the church (regardless of how much good it does for the state).

However we must ask, "What is meant by separation of church and state" to our Canadian politicians and within our Canadian society. Primarily, we see a rejection of the rights accorded to each citizen, if that citizen happens to be a Christian. If a person stands up and says, "I base my opinion on Karl Marx, Charles Darwin and Nicolo Machiavelli", his right to have a political opinion if unquestioned. On the other hand, if a person stands up and says, "I base my opinion on the teachings of the Bible", his right to have a political opinion is ignored. After all, the separation of church and state means that we cannot permit a person to base an opinion on religious grounds!

What else does it mean? It means when Christians organize themselves to express themselves politically in exactly the same manner as any special interest group, their opinion can safely be ignored by the majority of politicians. After all, we don't want the "Religious Right" in Canada, we have a separation of church and state, and we particularly don't want any suggestion that our laws should be accordance with Biblical morality!

The scary part for me is the consequences to our society. Reading Romans 1 in the Bible tells us what happens when God gives an individual or a society over to impurity. God doesn't introduce people to impurity, God doesn't force people to be impure, but he does give them over to the deepest desires of their hearts. As individuals, we don't want anyone telling us what to do (particularly when using the Bible), but unfortunately we don't like the society that results when everyone has this same right. But this is the society that we seem to want, and now there is nothing to do but reap the results.

An Unexpected Request for Prayer

Tonight after church, we were having a snack at the kitchen table. We were discussing the fact that several folks had visited our church today,. I said that it would be nice if some new people started coming to our church since a number of families have moved away recently to different cities for work. I said that this was something we should pray about. Then Joel piped up, "Let's pray now." This rather unexpected request that we pray surprised us, but also warmed our hearts! So we had a short time of family prayer.

A Different Type of Evangelist

I've been listening to some sermons from the Timothy Conference, held in Toronto over the Christmas/New Years holidays last year. I started with the keynote messages by Dr. John Lennox. The ministry he presents is somewhat different, but I guess that is to be expected from a man who is a Research Fellow in Mathematics at Oxford, and who holds 3 doctorate degrees - DPhil (Oxford) PhD (Cambridge) DSc (Wales).

I believe by gift and calling, he is an evangelist, but the way he spread the Good News is most interesting, since his knowledge of philosophy (and languages) allows him to talk to a lot of people that most of us would not get a chance to talk to (and people who would not listen to us). His ministry is similar to that of Ravi Zacharias or C.S. Lewis. Dr. John Patrick from Ottawa also has a similar type of ministry (http://www.johnpatrick.ca/). Anyway, if you get a chance to listen to some of the ministry John Lennox gives, you will likely enjoy it.