Non-alcoholic Pong Shots

Some guys from Olivet Nazarene University--maybe with a little too much time on their hands. Still, that's college life. Thought my Lafayette friends would like this.

Last Meal

I found it interesting that the most requested final meal of inmates on death row was a cheeseburger and fries (read about it here). I would probably pick the same thing (add a milkshake), but I have to confess it feels a little creepy to share culinary choices with murderers and rapists.

Okay, so clock's ticking . . . what's your final meal?

Does God know the future?

Had an interesting converstation with a friend on Facebook today (thanks Keith). He was prodding me for my thoughts again on a subject we've discussed before. Here's the transcript (edited, of course):

12:54pmKeith
I have a theological question for you. Explain what your justification is for God's ability to only know every thing that has happened and not everything future included

12:58pmAndy
Let me ask you this first: Does God know God's own future?

12:59pmAndy
If not, then how can He know our future (aside from bringing about the fulfillment of His will and design) in any specific detail?

1:00pmKeith
hmmm.....I don't think so. Otherwise how then would you explain him changing his mind when Moses asked him to spare lives?

1:01pmAndy
You would have to say He knew He would change His mind.

1:01pmKeith
right....and that doesn't make sense.

1:02pmAndy
And if that's the case, then how does He know our future without it impinging on our freedom AND without our future being little more than a ruse?

1:03pmKeith
agreed.....so .....prophecy

1:08pmAndy
Forthtelling aside, I see in prophecy not so much prediction as predetermination. As I'm sure I said to you before, if I tell Oscar that he will be punished if he lies to me, and then he lies and is punished, that's similar to God saying Israel will suffer punishment for its sins. Or you could say that prophecies concerning Jesus' birth are simply God bringing it about in a way He has forordained. You could also argue from the perspecitve that the writers of the Gospels picked and chose which prophecies they saw Jesus as the fulfillment of. In other words, there are many "prophecies" that did NOT refer to Jesus but perhaps could have . . . had He done something to fulfill them.

1:10pmKeith
Is that a slippery slope to saying that Christ was not the chosen one, rather he was just fulfilling prophecy that was written about someone else?

1:12pmAndy
Well, it's commonly accepted that the Suffering Servant referred to a person (or nation, i.e. Israel) contemporary with Isaiah but we also believe it refers to Jesus as well . . . so, is that a slippery slope?

Jesus said I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. If that's the case, then even if the law (or prophecies) referred to someone else originally, Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of all that God had revealed to the Nation ofIsrael.

1:13pmKeith
i accept that :-)

1:17pmAndy
Back to the future . . .

1:18pmAndy
If when God created us, time, as we know it began, and as time bound beings with personal freedom we are able to make free choices and those choices have real influence over future events, then how can we say that God knows the future when it does not yet exist? Is it really limiting to God to say that He doesn't know something that can't be known or doesn't exist in His creation? I don't think it is. Although we may feel worried about limiting God, it doesn't seem that He's worried about it because He's already done it by creating us with autonomy and more especially through His own Incarnation in Jesus Christ.

So, what do you think? Does God know the future?

Poker Playing Priest

Came across this article on a priest who's playing poker to "raise funds to help build a new, bigger church." You can read it here.

So what are your thoughts on gambling and the way of Christ?

10,000 Hours

My friend Eric offered a thought-provoking post a couple of days ago on the observation that it takes approximately 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert at it. So many implications . . .

Here's a link to his post: Ten Thousand

Getting Sick on Vick

So how screwed up is it when we pay a recent criminal $1,600,000 this year, and $5,300,000 next year, to play a silly game like football, while untold thousands of men, women, and children in our country (not to mention the rest of the world) languish in abject poverty?

I'm all for second chances, but come on.

Pass the bacon

I think bacon is God's way of saying, "I'm still here, and I love you. Everything's gonna be alright."

Sucker for infomercials

Over the course of 13 years of marriage, Barb and I have picked up a few items directly from informercials or after they've shown up in stores (don't mock, I know more than one of you own a George Foreman Grill). So, if you're brave enough to admit it, I was wondering what items others of you have purchased and whether they've been crap or actually decent.

Here's my list:

My first purchase (I was in high school) of an infomercial product was the famous "Soloflex". You know, it looked less like a machine and more like a work of art. I didn't, however, buy it from tv, but snagged it (w/attachments) for $350 from an ad in the paper. It was sturdy enough and well designed, but I never liked the feel of pushing and pulling the rubber band weights. Used it more for chinups and dips than anything else. Sold it 10 years later for $200. I'd give it a grade of C.

"Sweepa" picked up at Ohio State Fair in late 90's. Still have it, and it actually works like it says. Grade: B+

"Salsa Master" also picked up at the Ohio State Fair. Makes a great fresh salsa. Also chops nuts well and cleans up quickly. We don't use it much though. Grade: B-

"Walk Fit" shoe inserts. After paying hundreds of dollars to a podiatrist and purchasing expensive inserts from his office that did nothing, I decided to try out these babies. Ordered about 7 years ago off of TV from a hotel room in Effingham, IL (funny name--say it aloud). Still wearing them today. A+

When we lived in Kansas City, one of our homes had Brown Recluse spiders, aka Fiddlebacks. Not something you want around unless you like huge, festering lesions on your skin when they bite you. So we tried the plug in pest repellers, which we bought at a store, to get rid of them. These absolutely did not work. Grade: F

"Magic Bullet" ordered directly from television (bad idea). Good product--we've used it a lot. Great for protien/milkshakes, smoothies, grinding coffee and chopping nuts and hard candy. Juicer does not work well at all. Grade: B

"Tempur-Pedic" mattress. Okay, no, we didn't spend $1500+ on a mattress, but we were convinced we wanted to try out the "memory foam". So, when it was time for a new mattress, we bought a really firm one, and then I found a foam supplier online and ordered a 3" memory foam mattress "topper" with a similar viscosity (that's important, fyi) as a Tempur-Pedic mattress for about $200. Truth be told, it is very comfortable (although hot) and I'm guessing the Tempur-Pedic would be great. I don't think you really sleep any better though. Grade: C because of cost.

The "Swivel Sweeper". So, if you have hardwoods or any other hard-surface flooring AND you have young children, you probably should run out and buy one of these now. This thing cleans up crumbs like the LAPD cleans up a crime scene. Parents purchased our first one from a box retailer. The second one we picked up new for $5 at a garage sale. The only down sides are that it's not as great as it says at working on carpets--not bad, but not great--and it's not as durable as you would hope for $35 new. Both are now defunct, and we're using the "Sweepa" again. Grade: B because of durability.

A year and a half ago, I was up late watching the 50-year-old Tony Horton doing the kinds of pushups and chin ups I could only dream about at 33. Ordering the P-90X DVD series wasn't far behind. Learned my lesson, though, and bought it off of ebay for cheaper and without all the hassles of S+H. The workouts are for real and the videos are great quality, but alas, I've yet to complete the 90 day routine. Grade: A+

Here are a few items I don't, and probably won't ever have, but would like if I could afford it.

#1 Fein Multimaster--Always need more tools, especially cool ones.

#2 Snuggie (just kidding)

#3 Chef Tony's "Miracle Blades"--Can you say "rock and chop!"?

So, what do you have, and how's it working out?

Leviticus 19:27--Is this what they had in mind?

This is flat out awesome: The World Beard and Mustache Championships.

Enjoy.

Btw, Leviticus 19:27, "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard."

17 years in 2 minutes

Here's something to pass a couple of minutes. Watch a man age 17 years in 2 minutes here. Not something you see everyday.

WWYD?

I was driving past a church today that had one of those marquee-like signs out front filled with what they hoped would pass for wit and/or wisdom. As most of us do, I glanced over to read what trifle it contained this week. At the same time, the car in front of me had applied its brakes to turn a corner. I had to stop harder than usual to avoid a collision.

The question then occurred to me: What if someone looking at that sign actually hit the car in front of them and, God forbid, actually killed someone in the collision?

Then I thought, what if the pastor of that church could somehow know that at some point in the future, that the church's sign would divert someone's attention long enough that they would accidentally kill another person in an accident? What would that pastor do?

Of course, we'd contend he or she would remove the sign immediately.

Ah, but here's the dilemma: What if the pastor could never tell anyone what he or she knew about the sign and its effects? And what if the people of said church were irate over the sign and demanded it be put back up? What if the issue threatened to divide and destroy the church? What if the issue caused someone to lose his or her faith?

WWYD?

What would you do if you were the pastor of that church?