Check this out.
I downloaded the free version (a Spanish to English or English to Spanish module will set you back 4.99). And it works. Magic.
Fighting the war on Christmas
While I may think that some of the stuff these guys are saying is true – I may even agree with some of their thinking – I don’t think the way to fight the “War on Christmas”TM or put the “Christ back into Christmas” is to take an inflatable Santa to a firing range in order to pump him full of lead.
Dumb.
If Bieber were a Christian singer called “technopraise”…
He would look and sound like this monstrosity.
This kind of performance gives carols a bad name.
Merry Christmas
I’ve pretty much, as much as possible anyway, avoided writing anything too Christmassy this year. Because the Christian blogosphere tends to descend into a sea of red and white triteness at this time of year – or it starts banging on about some war on Christmas. I’m not hugely interested in writing either of those posts. So, let me say this: Merry Christmas.
And then let me point out that Christmas is about Jesus and church. That’s where the “mass” comes from. Right? But you don’t see anybody suggesting a “War on Church” – I guess because xmas still has the mass bit…
Anyway. Eat lots. Be good to your mother/wife/significant other. And if you are a mother/wife/significant other make sure you’re not doing all the work.
That is all.
How to pick up (Christian) ladies: tips from Greg D
This slightly creepy guy named “Greg D” runs a slightly creepy website (which is now “under construction” so you might need to check out the cached version. And also includes video tips. His “meetup” group is still running.
Conversation starter: “Are you in a gang”…
Introducing geeks
Meet the Geeks: Short Film from Sano Sagara on Vimeo.
I think I’m a Bible geek. A coffee geek. A food geek. A wannabe tech geek. And an Internet geek.
What sort of geek are you?
My 13 Favourite YouTube Videos from 2010
A Monkey riding on a pig, with a catchy song
Creed Shreds (A slight written language warning on this one)
A bit of Remi Galliard
A Chimpanzee Riding on a Segway
Bill Bailey plays U2
Chinese army redub
Subtitled Hymns
Old School Christian Advertising
Ninja Fight
Joel Osteen on Bacon
K-Strass the Yo-Yo Master
Steve Jobs in adjectives…
An Anti-Farmville Ad
Defining Faith
My biggest problem with the New Atheists boils down to this:
That’s not faith. Here’s how Hebrews 11 defines faith:
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
I would suggest, humble readers, that this definition of faith – belief in the unseen – is not the same as deliberately not seeing. Which is the way most atheists seem to frame it. Seeing something and denying it is not faith – which is a problem for some Christians, I’ll admit. But thought and faith are not in opposition – faith simply deals with that which we hope and do not see. I don’t have faith that a chair will hold me. I trust that it will. Because I have watched it, or experienced it, holding me. That’s where, I think, faith and trust are different.
If I had found any contradictory evidence (ala point 1 of the above definition), ie if I had seen it – then it would no longer be faith keeping me in a position (according to Hebrews 11) but stupidity. Taking something “on faith” does not mean not seeking to confirm the thing by investigation, or observation – and it does not mean holding a position contrary to logic, reason, or observation. This is where I think Atheists 2.0 have it most wrong. At least second most wrong. I think not believing in God is where they have it most wrong…
That is all.
My 11 Favourite Songs from 2010
In no particular order. Because order is difficult. Picking ten proved difficult too. I ended up with 11. As you can see, and read.
Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
Local Natives – Airplanes
Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover Martyn
Florence and the Machine and Dizzy Rascal – You Got the Love
Whitley – Head First Down
Gotye – Eyes Wide Open
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Mumford and Sons – Awake My Soul
Boy and Bear – Fall at Your Feet
Deerhunter – Helicopter
Angus and Julia Stone – Big Jet Plane
Kids say the darndest things about Christmas
This cute little nativity story pretty comprehensively sums up the modern confusion about Christmas. I walked into EB (a computer games store) yesterday and noticed their current catalogue reads “What Would Santa Do”…
Trials and Tribulations
After a few days holidaying in Airlie Beach and catching up with friends in Townsville, which have been really nice, tomorrow sees me “trial for license” – part of the ongoing process of becoming a Presbyterian minister.
I’m preaching at a fairly old school Presbyterian Church in Townsville in front of a few members of the North Queensland presbytery who will “appraise” my performance and pass judgment on my ministry suitability.
I’m preaching on the Beatitudes. Here’s a paragraph from my sermon.
“But I want to suggest, at this point, that we’re not looking at the beatitudes right if we understand them as a set of rules to follow to be part of God’s kingdom. I grew up thinking that the word “beatitude” was a description of what these verses mean – I thought they were a set of instructions for how we should behave, and what our attitudes should be. The beatitudes. But I think the meaning of these verses does hinge on what the word beatitudes actually means. It’s latin. It means “blessings.” And it picks up on that repeated “blessed are” phrase at the start of each verse.
The beatitudes aren’t about what we have to do to be in the kingdom – and in fact, as soon as we read them that way we’re slipping into the same trap as the Pharisees. We’re making rules and regulations for belonging to the kingdom.”
Then I say that the beatitudes are about God’s blessing of us, through Jesus, whose life and ministry are modeled on the beatitudes. Doesn’t seem heretical to me… how about to you?