The kingdom of heaven

I teach at a Christian high school in the mornings, and on Wednesdays we have a Chapel service to start the day. Last week Eric F. taught from Matthew 13:33

Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

This parable is very convicting. If we, believers, are the leaven, and the meal is the people around us, then Christ has "hid" us in our neighborhoods, in our jobs, in our walks of live. It does not take much leaven to affect a huge batch (possibly 22 liters) of meal. Are we affecting all "the meal" around us?

Purpose ...

Having been at SEBTS since the Fall of 2002, I have run into many people and have had many conversations with them. It is not uncommon for me to talk to some who are at the end of their time here and who unfortunately feel like this has been the driest spiritual experience in their life.
How could one feel dry at seminary, you might ask. Well the following conversation will probably answer the question for you, as it usually does for them ...

"So why are you here at seminary?"
"To get prepared for the ministry!"
"So God has called you to minister?"
"Yes."
"Have you been doing that these last years?"
"Well, no, I've been too busy with school and work."
"So, what you are saying is that you were created for a purpose, and you are not fulfilling it. Can you understand why you are miserable? "

Are you fulfilling your purpose in life?

Kitchen tiles ...

Tile work is progressing in the kitchen ... the plan is to be done by the end of the week. We put down a brown tile border (shown in the top part of the picture) before we moved in. I have currently been installing the lighter tiles in the middle. They are rotated diagonally and have 12 accent tiles interspersed throughout the room.

New Camera

Yesterday I mentioned that we had purchased a new camera. Actually, it was a combination of Christmas gifts from la mamma e papà, mamie monette, & the mama, that allowed us to purchase it. Thanks y'all!

As with the saw, I figured I'd share with y'all what I learned in our buying process. Unlike the saw, though, I did find a site with a 5 part, all inclusive, buying guide, so I'll refer you to it and will not try to distill all that information into this post (happy Margaret ... no bla bla bla). What I will share is how we ended up deciding on the Sony α100 digital SLR.

Background: I have been shooting with SLRs for now 15 something years. I started with an all manual Yashica FX-3 Super 2, which I loved and still have (I keep black and white film in it). Then several years ago, to make it easier to take action shots and to make it easier for Cindy to take pictures, we bought a Minolta Maxxum XT. We have no beef with the Minolta and plan to keep on using it, but with the house renovations and the blog, it was going to be more convenient to have a digital camera.

The decision process: So, we saw our options as follows: small cheap digital, medium grade digital, digital SLR.
If digital was not up to par then the SLR was out of the question. It was probably going to be a the small cheaper camera or it was going to be the medium digital. What's the difference? The main one, for us, was that the small cheap digitals do not have good zooms and Cindy is addicted to zooms. We would use the Minolta for all important shots, and the digital for all the keeping track of progress on the house and blog shots.
So the main question was: was digital technology up to par for Cindy? (Ok, I'm picky too ... but she is the pickiest ... I think it is all those years of working as a database publisher) We were hoping that stores would have sample pictures taken with various cameras, but they did not. We thus decided to go to Wolf Camera and try two cameras out against our Maxxum. Cindy took two shots of me (one against a light background and one against a dark background) with a medium digital, the Sony SLR (the only camera which will accept the α mount lenses we had with our Minolta Maxxum SLR), and our Maxxum.

The Verdict: we looked at the results and had friends look at the result. The medium grade did not compare with the DSLR or the Maxxum, and was thus eliminated. As for the others, our friends correclty identified one digital picture shot with the DSLR, but missed the other. Bottom line ... they could not tell the difference. Thus we went with the Sony α100 digital SLR.
Why Sony vs. the other brands: it's the only one which could use our α mount Sigma lenses.

First snow of the year ...

It is snowing! So I took the opportunity to go out and take our new camera (Sony α100 digitlal SLR) out for a test spin. This picture is not full resolution: I am at home with dial-up and I did not want to upload a 10Mpixel picture. I will write more later.

A new table saw (part II)

So, it’s been almost a month since I’ve bought the new table saw (DELTA ShopMaster TS350), but believe it or not, I have yet to try it out. We have to do some furniture re-arranging before we can put it in the dining room: the room that was selected for me to make some saw dust in. I think God is continuing to teach me patience and self control because I’m like a little kid not able to play with his new toy and it is torturing me inside. The other day I did scratch that itch a little by turning on the saw (I was very surprised at how quiet it was - see the induction motor comment below), but that is as far as I’ve gone. Oh well, I’ve got to be patient.

In the meantime I wanted to compile thoughts about saw options and why I’ve learned that they are important (or not).

Cast Iron vs. Stamped Iron Tabletop
According to two articles written by American Woodworker, cast iron wing have “four valuable benefits that are worth the extra money.” The first advantage is the ruggedness of cast iron wings: you will not risk bending them as you might with stamped iron wings. The second is the added weight which dampens vibrations. The third is that they provide a great “dead-flat” surface which can be extremely useful for furniture assembly and more. And the fourth is that the table top, due to its solid flat nature, can be a very convenient surface to sharpen tools.^{1, 2}

Belt-Drive vs. Direct-Drive Motor
The general consensus is that belt-driven motors are a preferred option. By connecting the motor to the saw blade with the use of a belt, stress on the motor shaft bearings is reduced, vibration and noise are decreased (if the belt is healthy or if you have a segmented belt), and shaft elevation in less impaired.³ The motor is usually hanging in the back of the saw, on contractor models, or inside the cabinet, in cabinet saws. For contractor models, this decreases the mount of saw dust that the motor is exposed to, therefore causing the motor to last longer.⁴ It also makes it easier to replace the saw motor with more generic models instead of having to buy overpriced replacement motors for the original manufacturers.
On the other hand the advantages of direct-drive saws is that they are more economical³, they require a little less preventive maintenance (no belts and pulleys to check), and they transfer more of the motor’s power to the blade. Thus allowing a lower horsepower motor to do more work⁴.
Of interest is that fact that when American Woodworker in October 2002 published an article entitled “Small Shop Table saws”¹ in which they explain what they consider to be important features a saw should have, they did not mention the belt-drive vs. direct-drive issue.

Induction vs. Brush Motor
In case you were wondering what the difference was, an induction motor is a brushless motor.
Induction motors have a longer life time and are quieter, more efficient, and heavier than brush (or universal) motors. In addition induction motors, apparently, are “more of an "off the shelf" item.” The main advantage of brush motors is that they are cheap, lighter, and usually smaller.⁵

Evaluating the DELTA ShopMaster TS350
The TS350 has two great cast iron wings, definitely a plus. This makes the saw weight over 170 lbs, which makes it a pain to move, but more importantly, it makes it nice and solid.
The TS350 is a direct-drive motor saw. This is probably the one feature that I did not like on this saw because it decreases that the cutting height, possibly adds more vibrations, and might decrease the life of my motor. I think I read somewhere that it might actually be a belt driven motor, but that the belt is encased in the motor housing. Even if that is the case, blade height is not improved, vibrations might still be an issue, and if there is a problem with the belt, DELTA only sell the motor as a unit, so it only helps with a possible decrease of stress on the motor shaft. Again, I am not sure this is the case with the TS350, but I think that I read that somewhere.
The TS350 has an induction motor, which is a great plus.
The TS350 also is very enclosed with a dust port at the bottom, ready to be attached to a vacuum system. Dust collection was an important criteria for the American Woodworker¹, but I’m not sure if this was what they had in mind.
I’ll be honest, the ultimate keeping point for the TS350 is that I bought it for $270. I saw many saws that might have had a belt driven motor, but were twice the price and had stamped wings.

I look forward to testing this saw out and writing more about it in the future. BTW - I did download all the needed manuals and drawings directly from the DELTA website.

Sources
1. American Woodworker, October 2002
2. American Woodworker, September 2004
3. www.motherearthnews.com
4. Lowes Home Improvement
5. Ridgid Forum “Can’t decide on the saw” discussion

Our week-end off - part IV: so what did we do ...

While in St. Simons we rested (mentally more than physically). We ate some seafood. We took bike rides (including one which concluded with a wet ride home). We climbed to the top of the light house. And we walked (and sometimes ran) on the beach. As you can see below, the dogs loved the beach: so many birds to chase ...

Our week-end off - part III: honoring a pastor

At the center of this trip is the fact that our church wanted to honor its pastors. This is quite a "hot" topic in our community of believers. What does it really mean to honor a pastor?[1] I have much to say on the topic, but for this post let me focus on how this trip honored me, much more than a salary ever would.

Scripture states: Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine - 1 Tim 5:17 (NKJV) From this passage, it seems to me that this honoring comes as a response to a job well done.

This is exactly how this trip was honoring to us. It was given to the pastors to thank us for all the work we have put into pastoring this family of believers. It was a gesture of appreciation and honor for the work that we did, not a way to hold us accountable or to free up our schedule. In addition, before we left, we were presented with gifts for our trip. The neat thing about these items is that they were the result of people knowing us. You see, this part of the honoring was personal. Just as Paul told Timothy to honor (personally) elders, so these people honored us in a personal way beyond the corporate gesture.

I do want to thank our body for honoring us in such a way. It meant so much to us.

[1] For some great throughts and conversation on the topic see:
*Theron's Honoring Elders post, posted on December 13, 2006 at 11:19 AM
*Alan's On Being Honored ... post, posted on December 16, 2006 at 10:52 AM

Natale

English translation found in the comment section

La mia mamma, sul suo blog, ha cominciato una serie di articoli sul metodo Tomatis. Nella sua introduzione scrive, a proposito di un libro di Tomatis: "Si conclude con una frase che per me era ed è tuttora il massimo “affermerò che ciò che conta nell’esistenza dell’uomo, è la fortuna di scoprire Dio stesso.”"

In questa stagione di Natale, questo commento mi fa pensare alla ragione per la quale Dio si è incarnato. Dio ci insegna nella Bibbia: "Dio ha tanto amato il mondo, che ha dato il suo unigenito Figlio, affinché chiunque crede in lui non perisca, ma abbia vita eterna." (Giovanni 3:16) Questo figlio non era semplicemente un figlio di Dio, come insegna il mormonismo, o un'incarnazione dell'angelo Michele, come insegnano i testimoni di Jahova, o un profeta, come insegna l'Islam, ma Dio stesso. Nel quattordicesimo capitolo del vangelo di Giovanni:

Gesù gli disse: «Io sono la via, la verità e la vita; nessuno viene al Padre se non per mezzo di me. Se mi aveste conosciuto avreste conosciuto anche mio Padre; e fin da ora lo conoscete, e l'avete visto ... Chi ha visto me, ha visto il Padre; ... Le parole che io vi dico, non le dico di mio; ma il Padre che dimora in me, fa le opere sue. Credetemi: io sono nel Padre e il Padre è in me; se no, credete a causa di quelle opere stesse. (Giovanni 14:6-10)

Dunque "la fortuna di scoprire Dio stesso" è la fortuna di scoprire il Cristo della Bibbia: questo Gesù bambino che celebriamo a natale che ha vissuto 33 anni (Dio e uomo), che è stato crocifisso per i nostri peccati, che è risuscitato, e che adesso è seduto alla destra del padre (non perché sono due, ma perché il padre è solo spirito, ma il figlio è anche corpo risuscitato). L'avete scoperto voi il Cristo della Bibbia? No? Potreste cominciare con leggere il vangelo di Giovanni.

Our week-end off - part II: posting from afar

This second post actually has little to do with our weekend and all to do with technology. I thought it neat that I am posting this using my laptop and my cell phone. I have a Motorola Razor which I connected to my Toshiba laptop with a USB cable. I then dialed in to my regular ISP provider. Sure it's dial up, but I can access the web from anywhere Verizon has service. The computer claims that I have 115.4 Kbps connection, which is over twice what it claims to have with a regular land line, but it sure feels slower; one of these days I will do some research to find out why. Oh, well ... enough with technology.

Our week-end off - part I: Intro

We have come to the end of our "romantic gateway" given to us by our church. Several months ago, our church family approached the three pastors and told us that they had decided that they wanted to honor us by giving us a week-end away. They wanted us to take some time off and spend some time with our spouses. So after many hours of thinking and searching the internet, we decided that the best option for us was to stop by St. Simons Island, GA on our way down to see Cindy's mom for Christmas. We got here Thursday December 21st and spent our two nights here together. We also decided to extend our trip one more day so that Cindy's mom and grandmother could join us. They got here earlier today and we will all leave tomorrow, heading for Moultrie, GA.

I figured that I would slit this post in several parts ... so be looking for all of them!

temptation - Oscar Wilde

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

found on the wrapper of a Baci Perugina chocolate (I think ...)

I figured that if I was going to list good quotes, I should also list bad quotes. So here is an example of one. Now, I don't expect Wilde to reflect a Biblical world view, but just from an ethical point of view, this quote has quite the range of implications.

As a Christian, this quote makes me think of many Scripture. Here are two:

1 Cor 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
What a contrast: yielding vs. bearing!

Heb 4:15-16 - For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
What a Savior! What a comfort to know that we are not alone.

A new table saw

As some of you know, my old table saw gave me a great spark show and bit the dust, just before we moved in the new house. My friend BG, who fixes tools for a living, told me that it was not worth fixing it, so I've been in the market for a new saw for a couple of months.

I struggled for a while, as to whether to buy a small table top saw, as I had, or if to use this opportunity to upgrade to something of better quality. Apparently I had been pushing this saw too much with the house project, so maybe that was an indication that I needed to upgrade. Also, Cindy and I have a couple of furniture projects in the works, and a nicer saw could really help with those.

I did much research on saws, but everything kept on pointing to saws costing over $500. So I decided to wait and see what God would do. The first thing He did was that He used my lack of saw to help me build a relationship with my neighbor across the street, whose saw I have used several times. There is nothing like sharing tools and working together in the same shop for starting up conversation and getting to know people. So Don, if you ever read this, thanks for letting me use your saw and thanks for letting me get to know you a little better while I used your saw.

The second thing is that I believe He has finally led me to a good buy. So I was in Lowes the other day and I saw a nice saw on clearance (Delta TS350 shown in the picture), so I went home real quick, did some internet research and then bought it.

I had not done as much research as I had wanted, so I made sure that I could return it if it did not meet my requirements. So what were my requirements you ask? Well I wanted a 10" table saw with a cast iron top, possibly cast iron wings, stand, a nice solid fence, and a belt driven motor. Does the Delta TS350 meet those requirements? Nope. It turns out that it is a direct drive and not a belt drive.

So, I then asked myself why I came up with these requirements, and how hard these requirements were. That will be the topic of another entry ... BTW I'm keeping the saw and will also be reviewing it as I get to use it next year.

Joy in the midst of persecution

Yesterday I was reading a comment from a friend of mine oversees, E. He was talking about persecution of believers with a local pastor. This is part of what E. shared about this pastor's experience on persecution:

"We then talked about what it was like to be beaten. We did not talk about the physical pain, but rather the experience of joy that God provides in the midst of persecution. He did feel honored to experience pain for the Lord. I did not see or hear any regret on his part. His experience reminded me of Peter and John's joyful reaction in the Book of Acts after they were beaten. At a personal level, I found it exhilarating to meet someone who had experienced this because it is so foreign to life in the USA. My friend is not hoping for more persecution, but I believe he is ready to face it if it happens. His trust is in the Lord, whose grace is sufficient (II Corinthians chapter 12)."

What a testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was such an encouragement that I wanted to share it with y'all. Keep on praying for believers all over the world who are being persecuted.

pecuniary reward - Dargan

... the caution in 1 Peter 5:2 where the Apostle urges the elders that they should not take the oversight 'for filthy lucre but of a ready mind,' indicates that there was sufficient pecuniary reward in the office to attract the cupidity of the selfish and the sordid. - Edwin C. Dargan

found in Edwin C. Dargan, Ecclesiology: a Study of the Churches (Louisville: Dearing, 1897), 59.

I've always enjoyed this quote .. must be the language ...

BTW - Dargan goes on to state that he does not believe salaries existed back in New Testament time, but that there is room for such a concept, if found advantageous. I'll write more on that sometime in the future.

For a great conversation on "Honoring Elders" see Theron's blog's Wednesday, December 13, 2006 11:17 AM entry.

For great conversation on "Should Pastors be Paid?" see Theron's blog's Wednesday, August 02, 2006 3:15 PM entry.

Finals

Yesterday I gave my college Intro to Computer Class at SECWF their final. It is not really a final, but the presentation of their MS PowerPoint project. To make it interesting, I stipulate only technical requirements and I let them pick whatever topic they will. This semester the topics ranged from reports on mission trips to the history of the toilet; from how to take over the world (BTW - for those tyrant business cards I suggest Altair19) to learning about money; from church services to a presentation on parking enforcement here on campus; from an artist's collection to a great presentation on abortion. I'm always very pleased with my students' presentations and they always make me think about a lot of interesting topics. Good job class!

And for you believers out there, let me encourage you, as I do my students, to use technology to glorify God and to further His Kingdom.

Updates on the house

So I started to do some before and after pictures of our progress.


Here you see the guest bathroom (the only functioning bathroom in the house). We tiled the floor (it used to be linoleum), painted the walls, painted the vanity, and changed the countertop, sink, and faucets. We are still in the process of painting the molding and the vanity doors. We look forward to my having time in January to make our mirror frame so we can finally have a mirror in this bathroom.


Here you see the progress on one of our guest bedrooms. This room required a lot of attention to the walls, new shelves in the closet, and the addition of the fan/light. Since the last picture, the junk is gone, the closet shelves are installed, the bed has been set up so Mama (Cindy's mom could stay there during Thanksgiving), and I started on the wood floors.

Family ...

I just got off the phone (well actually Skype) with a sister in Christ, R., who lives on the other side of the world. I had not talked to her since before she and her roommate left several months ago. It was great to be able to talk to her and share in the life with her, even if our conversation had to be guarded.

This conversation, and the fact that I miss them so much that I almost cried, made me think of the family of God. In theology we spend much time distinguishing between the "local" church and the "universal" church, but the more I study Scripture, the less I see this distinction as being beneficial (see discussion on membership link mentioned earlier for some food-for-thought on the matter). For me, R. is not just my sister at large (part of some esoteric "universal" church), but she is also still a member of Messiah Baptist Church. She might not be on the roll, but the impact on our spiritual family is still felt and will continue to be felt. Also, I see her work for Jesus oversees as being an extension of our family's work in Wake Forest. The link that we have through the Holy Spirit and through the time that we shared in the life (1 John 1:3) face to face is not breakable by great distances.

Finally, this conversation makes me praise God for technology which allows us to continue to share in the life, even if it is in a different way than when she was here.

Membership in the Church

Alan has been having a great discussion on membership in the church. Check it out.

... so what are we going to talk about?

I figured we'd talk about everything. Because of who I am in Christ I love to talk theology, Scripture, textual criticism, and anything having to do with the body of Christ: the church. Because of my training (aerospace engineering) I love technology (Brandi, you can stop singing now ... ;-). Which brings us to the next topic: great quotes. As I run across some, I'll post them. Also, Cindy and I have just bought a house that we are remodeling so I'll put updates and related links. Cindy and I have two beloved dogs, thus dogs have to be included in this list. Finally, I reserve the right to talk about anything else, after all this is my blog.

BTW - I'm multilingual, so I figured this blog should be also ... dunque se vuolete scrivere qualcosa in Italiano ou si vous voulez écrire en Français, be my guest. As for me, I'll try to translate for our anglophonic friends.

Mae:l

I'm diving in ...

Well, I've been wanting to do this for quite some time ... but time has always been an issue. In the mid 90's I published a rudimentary website with the purpose of "blogging" even though I did not know it as that back then. Like many other website it remained stale ... didn't have time to keep it up. For this reason, I have delayed starting up something else, but now is the time, so I'm diving in ...