I Can Only Hope to Be Peter

Matthew 14:22-36

Peter catches a lot of crud. He proclaimed Christ and was called the Rock on which the Church would be built, but also denied knowing Christ and sank when trying to walk on the water.

But let us take a closer look at his little stroll on the Sea of Galilee. First, the context. John the Baptist had just been killed and Jesus withdrew. However, people followed to hear him speak. This is where we hear that famous story that we all remember from Sunday school: The Feeding of the Five Thousand. Afterwards, the crowds dispersed and Jesus sent the disciples away on boat while he prayed. The disciples hit some rough water and then see a strange figure on the water moving towards them...on foot. "And now," to quote Paul Harvey, "the rest of the story."

The disciples did what any red-blooded human would do - flip out. After Christ assured them, Peter calls out to him. This is often translated as "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water," and this is often seen as Peter's first mistake (doubting Christ). But "if" could be better translated as "because". The NIV study note says it is "A condition assumed to be true." Peter is telling Christ that he will follow him, even in the seemingly impossible. And after having the faith to step from the ship to the sea, Peter gets scared and begins to sink. But here is where things get interesting: his first response isn't to try to save himself and swim back to the boat. Matthew tells us that he calls out to Christ for salvation.

I can only pray that when I start to sink, my first reaction is to call out to God.

Rock on.

The Simulated Economy

The economy is normally one of the biggest voting issues for presidential elections. Anyone will tell you that. But have you ever thought about our economy? And the global economy as a whole, for that matter?

Look at a dollar bill, or whatever piece of currency you have laying around. What is it worth? Can you take it to the government and get a dollar's worth of gold or silver or anything for it? Not anymore. Our currency is entirely theoretical. The dollar's value is derived from faith that when you give it to someone, you get something back for it. Dollar in soda machine, Coke out of soda machine. Five dollars to cashier, cheeseburger from cashier.

Bonds are based on the idea that you give money to the government and you get it back. A currency of currency, in a sense.

Stocks are just the same. The value of stock (non-prefered stock, that is) is dependent not only on how the company performs, but also (and more so) on the supply of the stock. How many people are buying it? How many people are selling it? You give money to a company, and assuming that the company does not fail, you can sell it to another person, assuming that that person is willing to pay for it.

Keeping this in mind, it makes sense that the currency in the game Second Life should have an impact on the currency in the "real" world. Currency in Second Life is a currency of currency as well. You give the Second Life makers your money, assuming that you will get Second Life money back. You use the cyber SL money assuming that you will get SL goods. You sell those goods, knowing that you will get SL money. You transfer the cyber bucks to "real" bucks, assuming that when you give the "real" money to someone, you will get something back.

In short, this cyber economy is every bit as real as the US economy.

Rock on.

Edit: It has been brought to my attention that this is the nature of economy. The point was made that gold has an assigned value, just like the dollar. After pondering it for a while, I realized that gold was used as a currency because it was a commodity, just like salt. A gold-based currency is a version of a barter system.

Today, I Become a Disillusioned Youth

It's official. Today was election day, and I voted. But barely.

Now I see the vicious cycle in it's entirety: Politicians don't care about students because students don't care about politics. Students don't care about politics because politicians don't care about students.

I was able to register to vote on campus. This is good. Both the Young Republicans and Young Democrats had registration drives. And that's as far as it went. Outside of registration, there were no movements on camus to get students to vote or even concerned about politics. A few facts to consider:

1. Despite claiming a campus of 30,000+ students plus faculty and staff, there is no polling site on campus.
2. There was no organized system to get students to their polling places, despite an enormous campus tranist system. I had to get a ride from an intern at CCF.
3. My polling place was on the completely opposite side of campus from me (and about three miles away from that side of campus, in the middle of nowhere), despite other polling places being closer.
4. Outside of the attack ads on TV, there was no attempt to educate students on issues or candidates.
5. Students registered in other states and precincts were unable (and unwilling) to get through the red tape to get their absentee ballots. Some planned to drive home to vote, but classes got in the way.
   

I know two other people who voted. Only one of them was a student.

On the note of not being educated enough to vote, I almost decided not to vote. Simply because I didn't know anything about any of the candidates running. The one thing that got me to the polls was the tax issue: I wanted to vote for the Special Local Option Sales Tax.

I hope people do a better job in two years when the election matters most.

Rock on.

When Satan Uses the Church

Today was fun. We had a group of protesters, for lack of a better term (though religious nut-ball fits just as well), held signs in front of the Tate Student Center telling all who saw and heard that they were going to Hell. It takes a turn for the worse here, as part of their message was that Christianity is not the answer and that those who thought they were Christians were going to Hell for listening to their respective churches instead of God.

Given my short temper and low tolerance for stupidity, I did what I do best: yelled. I grabbed my Bible and, at the top of my lungs (and louder than I’ve ever yelled before), read 1 John 4:7 to them and the crowd. After the main “preacher” mocked me (much in the manner that I mocked my sister when I was five), and told me that I was not a Christian, I announced to the assembled crowd (weirdos always draw a crowd) that God loved them.

And this brings me to my point: Satan can use the Church and believers as effectively as he can use anybody else. The obvious example here is the protesting group. But what about me and the other people who were arguing with/yelling at them? Did people get our message that these people were wrong? Or did they just see people who claim to follow God yelling at people who claim to follow God? By shouting the Word, did anyone get my point or did they just see another version of a protester? One person thanked me for what I did, but she was one of those arguing with the protesters.

Feet, meet mouths.

Rock on.

Guy Fawkes Night

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November; the gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."

College Randomness

College...is random. So very random. Very very random. And now I'll tell you why.

Yesterday, I spent three hours at CCF washing cars. And then went home, showered, came back for evening activities, and spent another six hours there. Doing things like making brownies. And discussing biblical family structures. And carrying people around on my shoulders. Now I'm sitting in the CCF house typing this.

Today, I went to my Geology class and we had a pop quiz. However, the teacher told us we could get our answers through "a collective effort". She told us we had five minutes, then stared at us. Laughing, she said in her Argentinian accent, "Why aren't you going?" After four minutes of us yelling across the room of about eighty students, one girl stood up and shouted all five answers. The entire class ended up getting an 80%.

Anyways...college. It's random.
Yea.

Shalom

The Rat Brains Are Taking Over!

As if an online game that impacts the economy wasn’t enough, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are growing cultures of brain cells from rodents on electrodes. These electrodes are hooked up to robots, which are, in turn, able to navigate mazes, follow objects around a room, and even draw.

To me, this screams I, Robot. Or even possibly Borg. Sci Fi aside, what is the use of this? The possibility of transplanting human brains into robots (yea for living forever!) is ruled out as the cells must be grown on the electrodes. Creating drones raises more questions then stem cell research (surely, having a human mind, and therefore, soul, qualifies one as human).

So, real cyber pets? Another "real" simulacrum?

Rock on.

Here I Stand, I Can Do No Other

Happy Reformation Day.

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The world hasn't been the same since.

Luther, a Augustinian monk, spent his life in fear of God's judgement. He saw no hope for salvation in the Church, which had begun focusing on works as a means for salvation, and using Purgatory as a tactic for selling indulgences.

Luther went to Wittenberg to study at the University, earned his doctorate, and most importantly, realized the importance of salvation by grace through faith.

After the posting of the Theses, Luther was excommunicated, but refused to recant, leading to his famous saying at the Diet of Worms:

Hier stehe ich; kann ich keine andere tun; Gott helfe mir.

Which, translated, is "Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me."

As Luther continued to preach, many of the local princes followed him. While it was a long time before true religious freedom was found, it broke the Roman Catholic church's five-hundred year monopoly on western Christianity. The Reformation also served to divide the Holy Roman Empire between the Protestant and Catholic states, a pretty distinct line between north and south.

The Reformation and Counter-Reformation brought the Renaissance into the Church. Luther utilized the movable-type printing press (developed by Johannes Gutenberg a century earlier), the vernacular, and wood-print cartoons to spread his word (Albrecht Duerer was heavily influenced by Luther). The Catholic Church utilized art to combat Luther's teaching.

But perhaps the most important impact of the Reformation was that it brought religious life out of its stagnant state throughout Europe. After Luther posted the Theses, the average citizen started to stand up and take notice of what was going on.

Rock on.

Edited and expanded on 31 October 2008.

Taps - In Honor of a Fallen Pioneer

This past weekend was fall break for the University of Georgia, and as so many people, I joined the mass exodus from campus to return to my old watering hole, Leavenworth, Kansas. During the three days before break began, I had received some saddening news: a graduate of my high school, only three years older than myself, had been killed in action during the War on Terror. I had attended school with his brother. I knew people he knew. His name was still mentioned by my friends.

The viewing was held at Leavenworth High School and members of the LHS JROTC served as ushers. The funeral director had requested four cadets to hold doors and direct people with in the school, and being an important task, the call went out to senior cadets. However, more than four cadets showed up. There were twelve, all in uniform, with six others in civillian dress asking if they could help out. Ater the viewing, the funeral director asked the cadets to carry the flag-drapped casket out to the hearse. Never before has the LHS Corps of Cadets performed such an honourable task, and they did it with great professionalism.*

The next day was the funeral. There was a request that the members of the military community line the streets of the Fort for the procession. The turn out was astounding. As the hearse drove slowly by, not a sound was made, but the point was made clear. This was one of our own. He died that other may live, the least we could do would be to show up in support for his family.


Rest in Peace, Corporal Unger.

*This portion of the account is second hand and provided by LTC (ret) David Black, SAI of LHS JROTC.

Giving - The College Edition

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

When I first read "You will be made rich..." I immediately checked my wallet, hoping to find a $5 bill (or, preferably, larger) I had forgotten about. No such luck.

Many of us, especially college students, think that we can't give back to God because we don't have enough for ourselves. I mean, we are in college and facing new expenses. At least $300 on books per semester, food, toiletries, and laundry. All of this was provided before and we have to buy it now. Plus, there's "entertainment expenses". New CDs, movies, going out to eat.

And forget about time. If we want to go to class, get our work done, sleep, eat, keep clean, and spend some time with friends, then we have no time to give back.

Of course, all of these are nothing more than excuses. Half of my"entertainment budget" for this semester could feed a starving child in Africa for over two months. And time? I have a problem. I can't find the time to do anything. That doesn't mean that it's not there. I just haven't found it. This is because I refuse to wake up more than thirty minutes before class and spend time I should be working on my favorite addiction: Facebook.

Now what does this mean? Is every single disciple called to take a vow of poverty? No. But all disciples should be very careful with their resources.

The Lord will provide something for you to give back to him. You just have to find it.

Rock on.

Post Script: Yea, it's been a while since I've posted on the Bible. Why? Because I planned on doing my quiet time in the mornings. However, as I've said, I sleep in the mornings. So please bare with me as I try to wake up in time to spend some time in and with the Word. And prayers are always appreciated.