A Jesus I Can Worship

This is a great quote from pastor Mark Driscoll, of Mars Hill Church in Seattle:

There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity.

—Mark Driscoll, Relevant Magazine^[10]

Pet Peeves

• Computer keyboards with the little legs in the back propped up. How is it more comfortable or healthy to type with your hands in an upright position? Try this - place your arms in the normal 90 degree typing position - now lift just your hands as high as you can and try maneuvering your fingers as if you are typing. Ok, now place your hands level so that they are in line with your arms and pretend you are typing again. Now why on Earth would anyone prefer to have their keyboard angled up using the little legs in the back?
  

• DVRs. Digital Video Recorders (Tivo is probably the most common) - I know they're wildly popular, and I definitely see the advantages, especially since you can avoid watching the commercials on TV shows. But I wonder how much more TV on average that people watch once they get a DVR. Everyone that I have talked to watches a significantly larger amount. Which would make it one of the greatest and yet one of the most evil inventions since, well, since the TV.
  
  Can anyone/everyone who has a DVR please either confirm or deny this?
  
  
• Speaking of TV - SAY IT AIN'T SO! Mad TV is canceled!? That really stinks, since it's one of only two shows that I really enjoy watching, the other being The Office. (not really a pet peeve, just a disappointment).
  
  
• Churches that make up their own dumb religion, such as this one - The Madonna of Orgasm Church is on it's way to official recognition in Sweden. Here's a quote from the founder “The orgasm is God, the orgasm should be worshiped”
  

Computer Kids

Yep, as the above picture demonstrates, my son can use the computer now. First he set up his own Windows login and started playing World of Warcraft after downloading the BitTorrrent. Then he started his own blog, set up a Linux server, and finally hacked into the DMV.

Ok, so maybe navigating around Playhouse Disney and moving Pluto through a musical maze isn't quite the same thing as writing SSIs using Java. But the kid is only 3 1/2, so maybe by the time he starts school...

As for Emily, she's not ready to take control of the mouse just yet, but she enjoys watching her brother and offering her assistance whenever possible.

Lucious Links

I recently finished reading two more books, and the reviews for them are on my web page at:
http://www.thelomonacofamily.com/thoughts/reviews_books.html

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A 30 minute video from my co-worker Heath, about the current financial crisis of the U.S:
http://www.iousathemovie.com

No matter where you stand politically,
EVERYONE IN AMERICA REALLY NEEDS TO SEE THIS!

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The link below is to a chilling true story, as told by the man who experienced it. http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2008/11/10/657854/bloodyelbow-com-exclusive

Reading his account is more powerful to me than listening to the 911 call, but the two parts tell the whole story well. Since I have a boy about the same age as his, reading about his son's reaction to the incident got me teary eyed.

It's definitely inspirational to improve on my home's security and on my personal self-defense.

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Amanda and I went to see this movie on Saturday.
While it had a few cheesy moments, I thought it was excellent overall.
http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

Escaped!

Well, we have finally sold our 2001 Ford Escape.

The selling process has been a long and annoying one. Long because we have been trying to sell either one of our two pre-minivan vehicles (whichever comes first) since July/August (when we bought our minivan). And annoying because of the flaky potential buyers that you come across on CraigsList.

Most of them can be categorized as low-ballers, asking $1000 or more below your listed price. We had an offer of $3600 when we were selling my Z for $6100. We had a $5000 offer on our Escape when we were selling it for over $7000. We have had numerous emails and phone calls that ask the following incredibly annoying question - "How low are you willing to go?"

If I tell you the answer, then I've just given away my hand, jerk off! Just make an offer and I'll either reject it, counter it, or accept it! That's how the buying/selling process works - at least as far as most normal people are concerned.

Now we are still considering selling my 300ZX as well, and I would either have to rely on car pooling, or the bus and my bike to get to work. There are many inconvieniences associated with this idea, but it's the only way that we can forsee in the nearby future to pay off both our credit card debt and the loan that we took out for the purchase of our Honda Odyssey.

Amanda with the Escape, soon after purchasing it in 2004.

Voting With Your Spirit

Ok, I admit that the title is bit of a gimmick to get you to read this. However, it's not completely irrelevant either.

I was praying and thinking about the election on the way to work today, and I noticed people on several street corners holding up signs both for and against Proposition 8 (about gay marriage). I smiled and realized that while it can sometimes seem like a curse, we really are blessed to be so inundated with influence and attempted persuasion during the election seasons. We can do almost whatever we want to express and promote our political preferences and opinions - stand on street corners, send promotions in the mail, post internet content (blogs, web sites, videos, etc), have news and opinion shows on radio and TV, newspapers - you name it. Praise God - we have freedom!

Then I was praying for God's will to be done, for His hand and blessings to be upon this nation. And I realized that maybe the best results that could occur aren't really what is best for the American people, or even for the nation as a whole - but the best case scenario regarding the party and people that would be elected for our country would be the ones that are best for God's kingdom.

By that I mean that we should be hoping and praying for the people, influence, and laws to occur that would best promote the cause of Christ. The circumstances that would help the most people seek to know Jesus and/or for existing Christians to grow stronger in their faith.

I've heard it asked whether Constantine might have been the worst thing to happen to Christianity, because he helped to legitimize it, to legalize it. He removed the oppression from the cause that was growing like wildfire at the time. Of course, whether it was good or bad is only speculative, but we as fragile and limited people never really know what's best for God's purpose - only He does. What could on the surface seem beneficial could really be stifling, or vice versa.

So even though the laws and people that come to power this election may or may not reflect our political views or preferences, our ultimate hope is that through their words and actions more people would somehow be saved. And I believe that should be our prayer.

But feel free to stand on street corners and yell at the top of your lungs in the mean time.

Voting, Web Page, Supercar

Amanda and I have officially voted, via absentee ballot.

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Last week I finally posted a picture update to our family web page and posted the link in my previous blog. Unfortunately our domain name registration expired at about the same time. So if anyone tried to look at the pictures before but the web site was down, I have re-registered it and the link should work now.

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I was surfing through the videos on Jay Leno's Garage tonight, when I came across his review of the SSC Ultimate Aero. While I was familiar with the car before, and I knew it was the world record top speed holder, I didn't know that it was made in America, and I didn't realize how awesome it looked and sounded until watching this video.

It has now officially surpassed the Pagani Zonda, Koenigsegg CCX, Bugati Veyron, and maybe even the mighty McClaren F1 as my favorite car.

For more information on this incredible vehicle, check out the links below.
http://www.shelbysupercars.com/
http://www.supercars.net/cars/3621.html