Nathan Campbell – Page 254

Become a mathlete, impress nobody

I don’t want to pretend to be all that interested in maths. I’m not. But I am interested in party tricks. Especially party tricks that make me look smart.

Here’s Wired’s collection of mathematics hacks to impress your friends (except the friends of yours who have maths degrees who don’t like jokes about e^x. That’s you Benny. Dan has a maths degree and he liked my jokes…

“To multiply, say, 11 x 32, add the digits of 32 (3 + 2 = 5) and insert the sum between them: 352. Numbers with two-digit sums use a slight variation: For 11 x 84 (8 + 4 = 12), add the 1 from 12 to the 8 and leave the 2 in the middle: 924. “

November 19, 2009

How to really mess up your kid

d’Armond Speers is obviously a bit angry at the name his parents gave him. So he decided to seriously mess up his son’s life by speaking to him exclusively in Klingon for the first three years of his life.

“I was interested in the question of whether my son, going through his first language acquisition process, would acquire it like any human language,” Speers told the Minnesota Daily. “He was definitely starting to learn it.”

Luckily for the kid, it seems is all turned out ok…

As for Speers, who still gets nostalgic when he recalls singing the Klingon lullaby “May the Empire Endure” with his son at bedtime, the experiment was a dud. His son is now in high school and doesn’t speak a word of Klingon.

Although some of the things he’s done lead people to believe he’s a “Star Trek” fanatic, Speers said it’s actually a passion for language that attracts him to Klingon.

November 19, 2009

Back to school

Tonight is the second installment of my birthday present to Robyn. We’re going to round two of cooking school at Townsville’s De Studi kitchen shop.

Round one – Moroccan – was a smash hit. Robyn has already produced delicious Lamb Sigaras since. I will post the recipe one day… but first… the cook off…

There wasn’t a whole lot of interactivity in the classes – we were able to fill, and roll, our “sigara”, which is some sort of language for cigar shaped filo pastry thing stuffed with sensational lamb mince…

November 19, 2009

Someone already made my shirt…

There’s nothing new under the sun…

They don’t have Optimus Prime though…

Oh well. Voting for getting my shirt designed will open if/when Threadless approves it…

November 19, 2009

A performing fartist

Let it never be said that I have standards. I present to you… Mr Methane, Britain’s premier flatulist. His website has annoying music. But it’s not as bad as this video.

November 19, 2009

Theological Smackdown: The end is the beginning is the end

The last few weeks of Westminster Confession of Faith classes (WCFC) left me feeling a little bit like Hulk Hogan at a press conference…

We’ve changed the order somewhat due to the absence of our venerated leader, who for some reason decided that stuff about end times would be less controversial than stuff about the sacraments.

He was wrong. The chapters on the state of men after death and the resurrection and the one on the Last Judgment ended up being pretty heated.

The judgment study got bogged down in the question of whether Christians go through the process of judgment to be found innocent – or if we skip the process altogether.

It was a case of the one proof text verse the many proof texts – and both sides of the debate walked away thinking they’d won and the other side were idiots.

Our group features some John Macarthur fanboys (surely a breed as rabid as my posse of Mark Driscoll fanboys), who are very rigidly stuck on the idea that dispensational premillennialism is the only way to understand end times.

I’m not one of them. They told me I don’t understand Revelation. Or the Bible. I told them that Calvin was an amillenialist. It got a little ugly.

For some reason they also hold Revelation to be the most important book of the Bible. It’s like a trump card that can be played to render all perspicuous passages of Scripture relating to the same topic unclear at the sake of a fringe interpretation of a complex book.

The millennium sure is a curious little issue to think about – but at the end of the day it’s not a salvation issue. And we have freedom to disagree.

I think it matters though – because it’s the vocal fringe that brand Christianity as a bunch of crazies – and if you have a look at Christian cults – you’ll find that most of them subscribe to a premillennial eschatology. This may or may not be a strawman.

I just think they’re wrong. My thinking, like Dave’s about Christianity, comes from my parents. Check out dad’s most excellent sermon series on Revelation to see what I think about the millennium and the book of Revelation spelled out…

I think we get into trouble when we disregard the style a book is written in when we’re looking to it for meaning. That’s part of looking at context.

I got angry when I read this list of reasons Superman is better than Jesus because the guy took a verse (Luke 19:27) from a parable about a king out of context and applied it to Jesus.

Revelation 1 – “Witness Protection” – MP3

Revelation 2-3 – “To Him Who Overcomes” – MP3

Revelation 4-5 – “Who is Worthy?” – MP3

Revelation 6-7 – “When are we going to get there?” – MP3

Revelation 12 – “Defeating the Accuser” – MP3

Revelation 13-14 – “The Power – or the Passion?” – MP3

Revelation 15-16 – “Exodus Again” – MP3

Revelation 17-18 – “The End of the Scarlet Harlot” – MP3

Revelation 19 – “Onward Christian Soldiers?” – MP3

Revelation 20 – “Pit Stop” – MP3

Revelation 21-22 “Coming Home” – MP3

One of the things that Willows Pressy doesn’t do that MPC does really nicely is the sermon outline and pithy title. I like the structure a sermon outline provides for my listening – even if it’s just so I know how long the guy up the front will keep talking for – I assume listeners to my sermons feel the same way…

November 19, 2009

“Spiritual” Style

Someone has decided that someone at the Associated Press has decided that when Christians talk about the Holy Spirit’s guidance they actually mean something else.

That’s the only conclusion I can draw from this AP story about Catholics and celibacy.

Here’s the offending (or offensive) paragraph…

“Apparently seeking to squash any speculation that Rome had been courting the disaffected Anglicans, the Vatican said the “Holy Spirit” inspired Anglicans to “petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion” individually and as a group.”

Actually, the “journalist” has gone a “little nuts” with the “quotation marks” as though every “noun”, “adjective” or “clause” that is a little “complex” needs “punctuating”…

Here’s the post that raised the conspiracy theory. I think it more likely that the journo was providing quotes from the document he cited in the first paragraph.

November 19, 2009

Where to eat

I’m not eating fast food this financial year. But if I was. And if I lived in America. Then this flow chart would be useful.

It can be easily adapted to our Australian milieu…

November 19, 2009

Ten famous blogs that make me laugh

Single themed blogs are so hot right now.

If you’re not aware of these already then maybe you should be…

Passive Aggressive Notes
There, I fixed it
This is why you’re fat
Failblog
Surviving the World
Stuff White People Like and the spin offs – Stuff Journalists Like, Stuff Christians Like, and Stuff Christian Culture Likes…
Fancy Fast Food
Insanewiches
Super Useless Super Powers
Larknews.com

I’m not sure that “Just Google It” will ever make it to that list…

November 18, 2009

Don Watson on Rudd Speak

There’s a great interview transcript on the ABC website featuring author and speechwriter Don Watson.

Here’s his plea to the PM…

I think he really ought to see it as one of his responsibilities to use the language as it’s meant to be used. I mean he does understand language very well, he knows when and how to use it well, which makes it all the less forgivable that he uses it so tiresomely so often.

Here’s his take on spin.

They just send us messages, and they call it spin, you know, which look if it was spin it would be fantastic, I wouldn’t mind it. Spin sort of suggests something mesmerising. This isn’t spin it’s anaesthetic. It’s like a big cloud of gas that comes over and makes cutting your toenails look interesting.

Spin gets a bit of a bad wrap. Everybody spins. Some people just declare it more than others. Here’s an example of how spin can be helpful, not dishonest.

Fact: Townsville is not widely known as a holiday destination.
Bad Spin: Nobody goes to Townsville for a holiday.
Good Spin: Townsville is an undiscovered and emerging holiday destination.

Both statements say essentially the same thing. One is more likely to get people to consider a holiday in Townsville.

November 18, 2009

The best bunch of Links since the Zelda games

So. There hasn’t been a link post around here for a little while. Lets fix that shall we…

Simone stirred the hornets nest by pondering the impact the increasing prevalence of same sex relationships will have on the perception of close friendships amongst Christians.

Izaac posted about iChurch. He’s also posted a series reviewing the church plant he was part of… it’s not quite finished, but when it is it’ll be worth another link. Izaac, and his wife Sarah, will be spending next week with us in Townsville. This is very exciting.

Sarah blogs more than Izaac and today she wrote about moving house, and moving church – two of the most stressful things a person can do…

Amy likes good TV shows and believes good stuff… or at least stuff I mostly agree with.

Jeff posts good links.

Dave Miers shows why customer service is important – and why coffee cup holders in cars are a necessity.

Ben posted a crepe recipe. We bought a crepe pan. The two may have been linked.

Mikey encouraged people to think more broadly than their local congregation when it comes to ministry. He also posted a link to this article/lecture (PDF) from Michael Jensen on the CASE website on apologetics that I’ll post more on eventually. Michael Jensen is the Australian Christian blogosphere’s everywhere man. Seriously. How many sites does he contribute to?

Ben was away for a week – but he’s back. And we’re all happy. He kicked things off on Monday with a new leaner looking quiz…

Andrew Katay writes good stuff and he’s looking for student ministers next year… if he ministers like he writes that would be a worthwhile opportunity.

Andrew Finden is in Germany being an almost world famous opera singer… well, one day… he shared his thoughts on church tourism. And a string quartet tribute to Nirvana. String quartet tributes are one of my favourite sub-genres. You really should check out Muse or Radiohead in all their string quartetly goodness.

Leah wrote five tips for surviving the Internet. Pretty sound advice and worth reminding yourself of… I’d add a couple – don’t forward stupid emails without going to snopes, and don’t believe anything without checking with google first.

November 18, 2009

Armed and dangerous

When you’re young you’re taught many lessons that you ignore. Like don’t eat watermelon seeds. Don’t pull faces when the wind is going to change. Don’t wear old undies when you go out in case you’re in a car accident. And don’t carry everything with just one hand.

This is so you don’t end up like this guy. Who at least is able to compete in world arm wrestling championships.

November 17, 2009

Keep your friends close, and your bobble heads closer

If you’re looking for motivation to do your work properly – or to treat people right – then this Vito Corleone Bobble Head is the perfect desktop companion.

November 17, 2009

I made a shirt…

I just designed a shirt. The idea came from a tangent on my last post.

It’s called “Future of Evolution”…

Here it is – you’ll be able to vote for it to be produced on Threadless any day now…

If they reject it you’ll be able to order copies from wherever I can get it printed…

November 17, 2009

Fine tuning

I’ve been thinking a little bit about why I am convinced of the truth of Christianity a little since Mark Driscoll’s Jesus based apologetic made me question the way I approach “theism”, and Dave’s thoughful series on atheism concluded with Jesus as a foundational reason for rejecting atheism and adopting Christianity (not theism). I tried my hand at defending Christian belief on the basis of the historicity of Jesus and the veracity of claims made about him in the Bible here.

I’ve been thinking that while my adherence to Christianity as an accurate representation of a monotheistic God hinge on Jesus and his claims – there are other reasonable reasons to believe in a God who creates and sustains the universe.

The Fine Tuned Universe argument, the idea that conditions in the universe are extraordinarily balanced and complex, has its detractors. It has its scientific explanations – like the anthropic principle (that things could only be this way for life to exist – ie that life couldn’t possibly have happened in any other way). And it has its Christian proponents – like William Lane Craig.

I find it pretty compelling. Atheists using a frame work of naturalism find it mind blowing but explainable. And once they have an explanation they don’t need a cause. Because to add a creator to the mix would create something else that needs a creator. I think it’s an odd paradox that none of their equations of chance – including the whole multiverse concept – ever factor in a universe with an omnipotent God. Surely if multiple universes exist then each one has a probability of developing a God powerful enough to destroy all the other universes? Monotheism is the natural outcome of this school of thought.

On a side note – I want to ask Dawkins or any evolutionary biologist a question. Given infinite time will humans eventually evolve into shapeshifting aliens? That would seem, based on Transformers, to be the evolutionary pinnacle.

I’m happy to accept much of the science of evolution. But I wonder what happens when you do that and remove God from the picture. What does the end point look like? How long before we can fly?

The quote below is the reason for this post. And it seems particularly dumb. To me the idea that there are a lot of things in the universe that can kill us, and want to, is a case for an intervening creator, not a case against…

I want to do a fast tirade on stupid design. Look at all the things that just want to kill us…
Most places in the universe will kill life instantly – instantly! People say that the forces of nature are just right for life. Excuse me? Look at the volume of the universe where you can’t live. You will die instantly. That’s not what I call the garden of Eden.
…
This is all stupid design. If you look for what it intelligent, yeah you can find things that are really beautiful and clever – like the ball socket of the shoulder – there are a lot of things you can point to. But then you stop looking at all the things that confound that revelation. So if I came across a frozen waterfall and it just struck me for all its beauty, I would then turn over the rock and try to find a millipede or some kind of deadly newt, put that in context, and realize of course that the universe is not here for us – for any singular purpose.

So now nature is not right for life which makes life less probable, not more, and the atheists embrace it. I would have thought the greater the improbability of life the greater the case for God. Am I missing something? The fact that bad stuff happens naturally – and that there are things out there that can kill us fits with Christian doctrine rather than contradicting it…

I love the part of the quote that equates the concept of Eden – a safe haven – with the whole universe. It’s just dumb.

These arguments come from this video – and I found them here. Be warned – this video contains a frame depicting abnormal and aborted fetuses.

Even without the specifics of Jesus I find the argument for a creator much more compelling than a naturalistic understanding of things.

November 17, 2009