"Oh, they're in a better place now..."

I never have liked this statement. In light of what is going on in my family these days with my Paw Paw being sick and the story that Joye told me yesterday about a teacher, 24 years old and engaged to be married who died in a car wreck on the way to school one morning. I know the person who says it means well and wants to console the hearer, but its not that we feel bad for the person who has left us...we feel bad for ...ourselves. I mean, I realize they are in a better place but they are no longer here. I feel bad for this girl's family and fiance, not the girl...i feel bad for my Maw Maw and my Mom and Dad and...me, not Paw Paw. Then I think, "Is it then selfish to hurt so bad that they are not here, in a world that can be so cruel and harsh at times?" I mean shouldn't we be glad that they aren't suffering any more? I think about the story of David in the Old Testament when his son was deathly ill (i think it had something to do with his sinning...) and he was praying day and night, layed out prostrate on the floor, not eating or anything....until his son died. He then got up and washed his face had something to eat and went about his life. Someone asked him something like "Shouldn't you be sad or in mourning?" His reply was why should he pray if the child is dead? I don't know, I think sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. Just the presence of a friend in a time of grieving can be therapy. This is my plan as I prepare to go to Myrle Beach to visit with family during this time, to keep my mouth shut and just be there. Everyone will be hurting...and when that time comes I'm not going to patronize anyone with "Oh, he's in a better place now..." We know that and we're going to miss him like crazy when he's gone.

Shameless promotion

Hey guys, this post is a completely shameless plea for some free software. A website that I have been reading recently is having a contest of sorts, BLOGZOT 2.0 on MacZOT.com, to give away $105,000 worth of software today. They are giving 3,000 licenses to a cool text editor called SubEthaEdit from CodingMonkeys. By blogging about it, I'm lowering the price by $0.05, if it gets to zero then I get a free copy. As can the other Mac people on this blog, by either keeping an eye on the MacZot or blogging about it yourself and letting MacZot know about it.

Ok, thanks for letting me shamelessly get some free software. Now Jeramie say something funny...MacZot, BlogZot, Coding Monkeys...there's a joke in there somewhere.

Ben Witherington: The Da Vinci Code Movie--- Are You Ready to Rumble?

Ben Witherington: The Da Vinci Code Movie--- Are You Ready to Rumble?

From the same guy that provided the critique to Bart's book, comes a good blog entry about The Da Vinci Code. Sounds like we're going to get a good overview from Hope. But I think I might just have to read this book. I've heard its a quick read and pretty enjoyable. Has anyone read it? Anyone have any thoughts?

I was thinking...

At first glance "Misquoting Jesus" looks to me like "Mosquito Jesus". Could you imagine that? Bzzzzzzzzzzz... And another thing, "Mosquito" sounds like it could have its origins in spanish. Like its a small "mosq", whatever that is... anyway, i was just thinking.

Ben Witherington: Misanalyzing Text Criticism--Bart Ehrman's 'Misquoting Jesus'

Ben Witherington: Misanalyzing Text Criticism--Bart Ehrman's 'Misquoting Jesus'

In the spirit of balance, here's an interesting critique of Bart's book. It's sort of long, but its a good read. I don't know much about the author, just found him while "Googling".

NPR : Bart Ehrman's 'Misquoting Jesus'

NPR : Bart Ehrman's 'Misquoting Jesus'

Here's the link to an interview of Bart on NPR's Fresh Aire that I talked about at small group tonight. I think I may read the book soon, seems like it might be an interesting read. I don't know much about textual criticism of the Bible.

Road Trips, Crocked Teachers, and Crack Dealers

If you happened to be driving south on I-95 or west on I-4 last night between 2 AM and 4 AM, I apologize if I swerved into your lane.

The wife and I drove down to see her family last night, Friday, April 14. We make this drive pretty often and each time we talk about flying the next time. I am not going to hold my breath until that happens. However, given that I had to pay $2.89 for gas in SC last night, I might take the under.

Last time we made the drive from NC to FL, I noticed at one of the gas stations that you could "rent" books on tape or cd. There is a company that has a network setup where you can rent a book at one place and return it somewhere else down the road. Very convenient, yet quite pricey. We rented Prey by Michael Crichton, and A Painted House by John Grisham. Both were decent books, but I wouldn't say I was happy I paid $15 to hear them.

I was telling a co-worker about renting books and listening to them in the car on road trips. She promptly informed me that I was a sucker and I was took by the man. Well, she didn't say those words, but that's what she meant. She told me about this site, Audible, where you can download audio books. Audible is currrently offering you one free download if you sign-up. Previously, they were offering three free downloads for setting up an account. Luckily, she still had a link to the sign-up page offering the three free books.

So, I set-up an account and downloaded my first book, Freaknomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. The subtitle for this book is "A Rouge Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything." We listened to the first four chapters on the way down. It is very thought provoking. They ask questions like "What do school teachers and Sumo wrestlers have in common?" and "If drug dealers make so much money, why do they still live at home with their parents?" The answers are based on data, and are pretty impressive. If you have not read this book, you should check it out. If you are going on a trip soon, let me know and you can borrow my cds. Or, you can go here and get your own three books.

Jason and Karl are funny

The Band of Brothers got a write up in the N&O. I didn't actually read the article, but the pictures worth a look.

newsobserver.com | Band takes rock to Kyrgyzstan

Boot Camp

Daniel and I got Windows XP up and running on my new iMac.

Earlier this week Apple announced Boot Camp, that lets you install and run Windows XP on your Mac. So, last night Daniel and decided to try it out. I was impressed at how seamless the process was.

The requirements are few, you basically need an Intel Mac and a copy of XPsp2. Well, who the heck has a copy of XPsp2 laying around. Daniel searched an found that XP sp1 just wasn't going to cut it. Then, we learned about Streamlining, wherein you can combine an install with a service pack and create a new install disk. Thank you Paul Thurrott for your help on this one.

Once I got my XPsp2 disk set up it was just a matter of downloading the Boot Camp course. It takes you through setting up a partition for Windows, and makes a CD with the necessary drivers. Then, it is just a matter of installing Windows. I set up the file system as Fat32 which allows me to browse the Windows drive from the Mac. However, I cannot see the Mac drive from the Windows side.

So, when it was all said and done, I had a Windows machine, well at least a machine running Windows.

For me there is one big benefit. I can now go back to using Micrsoft Money. In my opinion Money might be the best thing to come out of Redmond. I mean I like my Xbox, but there are gliches from time-to-time. My biggest disappointment after my laptop died and I decided to convert to Mac-anity was that my only option for financial software was Quicken. Just to note, Quicken for the Mac is different from Quicken for Windows.

Other than that, I have not thought of a good reason to use Windows.

Just thought I would share.

Thanks for the help Daniel. Jonathan and Hunt, sorry you could not be there.

Searching for Man's Best Friend

Yesterday was an interesting day. Around noon, I was sitting in my office wondering what I should do for lunch. This usually consists of choosing between grabbing something from the cafeteria downstairs and eating in my office, or going to my house and eating something while I continue my quest to be the greatest college football coach in the history of the NCAA, or at least the best coach to use my Xbox. Then, I get a message from my brother-in-law informing me that my sister, not his wife, but my other sister, has lost her two dogs.

Quick update... My sister and her husband moved to Raleigh last weekend. He is in his first year of vet school, and it works out a little better if he is not an hour away from the school. They moved into a nice house with a fenced in backyard a few blocks from the North Hills Mid-Town area. So, Sunday night they come home and their two dogs are missing.

So, for lunch I decided I would go help her look for her dogs. If you have ever had a pet go missing, you might have an idea about her state. I gave her a call and she started crying on the phone. On the drive over, I was not real sure what my plan was for when I got there. I guess I just planned to drive around the nieghborhood looking these two dogs.

Well, while I was driving I decided I would pray about it. That might make me sound like I am someone that has a healthy prayer life, but don't be fooled. This was an odd conversation with God. I was unsure how you go about praying for a couple missing dogs. I mean does God care if these two dogs are lost? I believe 100% that he cares for the people invovled, but what about the dogs themselves?

I started audibly talking to God. I asked that he help to comfort my sister and brother-in-law. I acknowledged His control over the situation. Then, something hit me. A few weeks ago I was somewhere, and people were talking about a verse in the bible that says something about, "You do not receive because you have not asked." So, I decided to give it a shot, I said to God, "You said to ask for what we want. Well, I want us to find these dogs."

This was new to me. It is not really my style. Most of my prayers are thank you for this, that ans that other thing, or please help me with a, b, or c. I did not know what to think. I mean, I believe that God's will always prevails. So, by asking for a favor from God, was I somehow changing the dynamic of the world so everything could line up just right so I could find these dogs? I other words, do I have some effect on God's will? By asking for something to happen do I change what was going to happen?

Of course, this thought process only lasted a few seconds. Then, it was interupted by merging into traffic, and all the other thoughts that run through my mind at a million miles per hour.

While, driving around my sister's neighborhood for like an hour, and I found something refreshing. I found a hand full of people that seemed genuinely concerned for these people that they had never met. I met Farrah, a very nice old lady who has lived in that neighborhood for 50 years. Since they started building houses there she says. I met Jan and Pat at Brooks Elementary School both who were very kind and wanted to be as helpful as they could. I met an older gentleman who was willing to catch the dogs and put them in his garage. I also met a lady walking a German Sheppard that gave me tons of advice, the lady not the dog.

So... Thank you all for you help, and for reminding me that the world is not all bad after all.

In the end, my sister found Hank and Gracie at the animal shelter yesterday afternoon. I am not sure what effect my prayer had on the entire situation, but who knows.

Next Study

What do you think about this for our next study?

It is by the same people that did the lives of the apostles study we did.

Insights into the Life of Samuel

Finding himself playing a vital role during one of his nation's most trying times, Samuel was faced with decisions you will find familiar in your career, family, and relationships. From hearing and discerning God's voice to being a father to balancing life's many duties-Samuel's story is rich with insights for any man pursuing God's direction. Samuel will teach you how to weigh anchor, get underway, and become the man God has called you to be.

http://www.serendipityhouse.com/store/product.aspx?iid=352&tid=11&aid=7