Unconscious Mutterings game of free association:
I wonder what this says about me, other than my obsessive need to turn everything in there to a link where possible!
Well… I was blaming the solar flares, but it seems there has been an electrical fire somewhere on the Monsanto campus that has destroyed the link between East and West campus halves - power, network, phones, everything. Half of our team was sent home and need to call in tomorrow to see if things are fixed. The rest of us (including me) have to stay and use a room elsewhere on campus, piggy-backing on the redundant network and power connections close to the main computer room here.
Which Sluggy Freelance Character Are You?
What can I say? I knew it going in, and now it’s confirmed!
Thanks to plaid_dragon (via Paul_B =:o}) for this great quiz!
Something we learned this weekend was the composition of the three synoptic gospels, explaining why and what material is duplicated between Mark, Luke and Matthew and why scholars postulate a lost document they call “Q” (from the German “Quelle”, meaning source). Essentially it’s a simple case of looking at the unions and intersections of the documents - what do Luke and Matthew have in common, that didnt come from Mark - that came from “Q”. My diagram (below) differs from the one in the course materials … I call it artistic license!
It boils down to the fact that the authors of Luke and Matthew had access to both “Q” and Mark’s gospel at the time of writing and each targetted their writing to a particular audience, either quoting from one of the other sources or writing their own material (known as “M” - Matthew, and “L” - Luke).
Baptism (part I)
Nicander of Colophon was a Greek poet and physician dating back to about 200BC. [The classics department of the University of Leiden has a bibliography online] In a a recipe for making pickles, Nicander wrote that the vegetable should ‘dipped’ (Greek word, ‘bapto‘) into boiling water and then ‘baptised’ (Greek word, ‘baptizo‘) in the vinegar solution. Now, baptizo is used 65 times in the New Testament. According to my dictionary, the word means
- to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk)
- to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one’s self, bathe
- to overwhelm
The related Greek word ‘baptisma‘ (used 22 times in the NT) means to immerse or submerge, also.
Jesus is quoted in Luke 12:49-50 saying,
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!”
Jesus had already been baptised by John in the Jordan so he didnt mean an immersion in water. Obviously it was a different immersion, a plunge into the depths, dwelling there a while to rise back out afterward. We see it in the symbolism of baptism today: an association with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection. He could see things building and it is obvious (especially in parallel passages in Mark 10:38 and Matthew 20:22) that he was intentionally heading toward His death, laying His life down willingly.
We had a VLI intensive training this weekend - about 11 hours of lectures talking about the synoptic gospels (Mark, Luke and Matthew). During that time FF Bruce was referenced a number of times and I came away with a desire to read his book “New Testament Documents - Are they Reliable?” Well, guess what? I found a copy of New Testament Documents - Are they Reliable? by F.F. Bruce online for free. Enjoy!
I found a page of Better Ideal Weight Body Calculations that allow for age and gender differences when calculating ideal weight ranges and body mass index (BMI). I’ve been trying to lose weight, and succeeding - 12 pounds in 7 weeks - the page suggests I have a distance to go yet before I am close to the ideal weight for my height. However, my short term goal was to lose about 15 pounds in 2 months … I am going to be close … but I might just miss the goal. Not sure if I have set myself another goal yet, but, it might be nice to get close to my ideal weight by my birthday (Feb 17th). Think that’s too aggressive?
The BBC News website has a good article on why fast food makes you get fat, with a Real Video segment that can be watched about it. The Obesity page gave an interesting statistic:
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Bene Diction wrote
This is fun. It’s a free intelligence test. After taking it and you want more information on your in depth profile, you pay for it. However, they give you a good teaser in the free results.
I dont know if I am smart or not, whats the scale here? The test told me:
Your IQ score is 135We also compared your answers with others who have taken the test, and according to the sorts of questions you got correct, we can tell your Intellectual Type is a Facts Curator.
This means you are highly intelligent and have picked up an impressive and unique collection of facts and figures over the years. You’ve got a remarkable vocabulary and exceptional math skills which puts you in the same class as brainiacs like Bill Gates. And that’s just some of what we know about you from your test results.
If I remember rightly, Bene scored 120 and Alison was 131. I’d love to know about the rest of the world - leave a comment!
Im listening to Keith Green today. I have a deep and abiding love for his music - however dated it might seem to be - the challenges to faith that it contains are timeless. Of particular note
The Sheep And The Goats
© Keith GreenAnd when the Son Man comes, and all the Holy Angels with him,
Then shall he sit on His Glorious throne,
And he will divide the nations before Him, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.And she shall put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left,
And He shall say to the sheep; come ye, blessed of My Father,
inherit the Kingdom I have prepared for you from the foundation of the world,
For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink,
I was naked, and you clothed me,
I was a stranger, and you invited me in,
I was sick, and I was in prison, and you came to me.
Thank you! Enter into your rest.And they shall answer Him, yes, they shall answer Him,
And they’ll say, Lord, when?
When were you hungry Lord, and we gave you something to eat?
Lord, when were you thirsty? I can’t remember. And we gave you drink?
Huh, when were you naked Lord, and we clothed you?
And Lord, when were you a stranger and we invited you in?I mean, we invited lots of people in Lord. I could never forget that face.
And Lord, when were you sick and we visited you?
Or in prison, and we came to you? Lord, tell us?In as much as you did it to the least of my bretheren, you’ve done it unto me.
Oh yes, as much as you’ve done it to the very least of my bretheren, you’ve done it, you’ve done it unto me. Enter into your rest.Then He shall turn to those on His left, the goats.
Depart from me, you cursed ones, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat,
I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink,
I was naked, out in the cold, in exposure, and you sent me away,
I was a stranger, and I knocked at your door,
But you didn’t open, you told me to go away,
I was sick, racked in pain upon my bed,
And I begged, and prayed, and pleaded that you’d come, but you didn’t,
I was in prison, and I rotted there,
I’d prayed that you’d come.
I heard your programs on the radio, I read your magazines, but you never came.
Depart from me!!!Lord, there must be some mistake, when?
Lord, I mean, when were you hungry Lord and we didn’t give you something to eat?
And Lord, when were you thirsty, and we didn’t give you drink?
I mean, that’s not fair, well, would you like something now?
Would one of the Angels like to go out and get the Lord a hamburger and a coke?
Oh, you’re not hungry, yeah, I lost my appetite too.
Uh Lord uh, Lord, when were you naked,
I mean Lord, that’s not fair either Lord,
We didn’t know what size you wear.
Oh Lord, when were you a stranger Lord,
You weren’t one of those creepy people who used to come to the door, were you?
Oh Lord, that wasn’t our ministry Lord. We just didn’t feel led, you know?
Lord, when were you sick? What did you have, anyway?
Well, at least it wasn’t fatal; oh, it was?
I’m sorry Lord, I would have sent you a card.
Lord, just on last thing we want to know,
When were you in prison Lord? What were you in for anyway?
I had a friend in Levenworth…ENOUGH!
In as much as you’ve not done it unto the least of my bretheren,
You’ve not done it unto me.
In as much as you’ve not done it unto the least of my bretheren,
You’ve not done it unto me. Depart from Me.And these shall go away into everlasting fire.
But the righteous into eternal life!
And my friends, the only difference between the sheep and the goats, according to this scripture,is what they did, and didn’t do!!
The VLI lecture this week talked about the spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence. Feeling challenged I will be applying a few hours tomorrow intentionally to them, a taster, of things to come no doubt. Taking the morning off work I plan to head up to Creve Coeur Lake and spend some quality quiet time surrounded by the beauty of creation. This weekend is the official “Holy Spirit” weekend - the Alpha retreat - and the first of my planned outreaches for VLI. Our pastor has specially planned matters with that in mind: giving my usual tasks to other people so that I will be free to focus on more outreach oriented matters - talking and praying with the people that are going.