These are just some sketches my daughter Allison made on my iPod the other day (Note: I removed Sketch by Allison (2) because it wasn't finished, but I still think it's good, so I'll just leave a link). I think they are great. She's actually better than this, it's just that the sketch programs on the iPod aren't all that easy for a 7 year old to use. It's also probable that they weren't finished. The sketch program has a save button she probably hit by accident and I noticed the pics on my iPod later on.
Something happened to me yesterday morning that I feel I need to share. Though I frequently have very vivid dreams that often hold meaning for me, my dream yesterday morning was quite different than my normal dreams. Usually my dreams are reasonably lengthy and vague in purpose, but this one was short and pointed and I feel it was probably a vision from God, not just a normal dream.
In my vision, there was a large, intimidating storm cloud and as I stood there, it became a face; the face was in the cloud and it was the cloud, that is, the cloud became the face; it was a bearded and kind yet firm face though it was still a cloud. And, believing it was a manifestation of the Lord Father, I asked Him the question that has been troubling my heart, "Why can't these people understand?" And I was given an answer. "Because they choose not to be able to understand." That was my entire vision.
My question was regarding people's ability to understand His Word, understanding that the Scriptures say what they mean and are correct (specifically Gen 1-11, but in general the whole Bible). Though I believe the Bible says what it means and is correct, I can understand the world through what I would call the fiction of popular historical science (i.e. the big bang theory, the theory of universal common descent by evolutionary principles, the proposed abiogenesis of life) and I would have to be able to do that in order to comprehend other science fictions (like some of my favorites, Dr. Who, Stargate, Star Trek, etc.) as I would be lost watching them if I couldn't. It seems to me that everyone I know who believes the historical record in the Bible can similarly wrap their minds around these stories passed off as science and mixed with science and distinguish where science and stories begin and end. But others seem incapable of doing the reverse, understanding the world through the historical record of the Bible when they are convinced of the popular historical view.
In rememberance of 1 Thessalonians 5:21 ("Test everything. Hold on to the good."), I recollect 2 Peter 3:5: "But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water." (Contrast with the big bang theory which says that the earth formed from dust and gas condensing into a molten ball and cooling to form solid land, then water came later.) I test and even if this is not a bonafide "vision", it is still a good dream as it is aligned with the Scriptures.
So my vision is true; it means to me that those who are unable to understand the truth are unable because they have decided to be unable. After contemplating this and praying about it, I believe that it means that I should not focus on trying to make people understand but only bring the truth and let anyone who wants to understand it do so. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)
It seems that I've been voted. Jeff, one of the top dogs at the company and a Christian friend who I work with, has done a survey and it appears that there's general consensus that I'm the one voted most likely to go postal. They say it is my appearance and mindset (which seem to be quite different than most others). I think this is totally hilarious. I think part of it is that with my long hair and beard (both dark brown), the association of Serpico is in people's minds.
Wonderful news. Apple finally decided to fix (or replace) my iPod. It took three times sending it to them and three weeks without my iPod, but finally I am going to have a working iPod again!
Update 2008-10-24: It appears that whatever they're doing, they're shipping it from Shanghai (China) which is the same place they shipped my original. Must be a new or refurbished one. I'm glad that I saved a copy of my hardware stats so I can compare the new one with the old one.
Update 2008-11-05: Well, they sent me a new one (or refurbished, can't tell really). Sorry 'bout the lack of update, but I've been moving and been too busy and haven't gotten my Net moved yet.
I am putting this separate from my main article on slavery because I don’t think it lends itself directly as my viewpoint, per say, but as a comparison of mine with that of someone else. I would like to address some stuff from a particularly anti-Biblical website.
Leviticus 25:44-46: The site uses NLT which says, “You may treat them as your property,” to infer that slaves were supposed to be treated as less than human, but in NIV and Young’s Literal Translation you can see this has nothing to do with treating them inhumanly, it is about transferal of service. Servitude, I might add they were not supposed to be stolen into. “Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.” (NIV)
He gets the opposite from Exodus 21:2-6 that I did, ironically. I got that there was a provision such that a slave need not involuntarily be separated from his spouse. He got that as a mandate to coerce lifelong slavery. He doesn’t apparently think very highly of the integrity of slave owners or the intelligence of slaves.
I’m skipping Exodus 21:7-11 for now to discuss on the topic of women as my thoughts make more sense there.
Exodus 21:20-21 elicits punishment of a man who hurts his slave only if the slave dies, however, in context with Exodus 21:18-19, where the punishment for hurting a non-slave who doesn’t die is repayment of lost wages, you can see that the lost wages only affects the slave owner and such he has already lost his own wages and repaid himself equally, thus no recompense is logically required.
Ephesians 6:5, 1 Timothy 6:1-2 Jesus acknowledges the slave’s responsibility to fulfill their duty and encourages them to do such. This is probably the most direct example of the Bible condoning slavery. But remember my main article’s point, which was that the word slave does not need insinuate the atrocities related to the slavery industry of our past.
Luke 12:41-48 describes a parable explaining that we are all commissioned as servants of God and a reminder of the wrath, remember Revelation 6:15-16? It is written in Revelation 4:11 that all was created for the Lords pleasure. Because he created us, we belong to him and he will destroy us for our wickedness. When does a human create something that he does not claim ownership over it to himself? And we create from preexisting matter, which we did not create; God creates us from matter that he himself created.
There are some more verses from a particular tolerant religious site I want to mention as well. That site likes to use examples of how slavery is acknowledged or the acts of it described (in that a person was a slave) to demonstrate that the Bible condones slavery. I would remind you of my main article’s point that the word slavery and the position of being a slave does not necessarily indicate the deplorable institution of which the word slavery often reminds us. Whether or not the historical aspects of the Bible are interpreted as metaphor or not, the Bible acknowledging or describing slavery is as much promoting it as my acknowledging and describing the theory of evolution is promoting that.
Exodus 21:26-27 says that a slave should be freed if his master smite his eye or smite is tooth out. As opposed to condoning mistreatment up to a point, in perspective of Leviticus 24:19-21 (an eye for an eye…), this indicates to me that such mistreatment is so highly offensive that the master actually looses his mastership; this could account for a tremendous amount of relative value as he looses ALL the profit he could have made from the slave over the course of his life (possibly shorter if the slave was Hebrew). Proverbs 3:31 is a reminder that God wants none of us to be violent.
I know I said I wasn’t going to address women till a later topic, but I want to mention Exodus 21:11, where a female slave was to go without payment if selected as a wife then not provided her wifely benefits. As opposed to the thought that this means she should be turned away empty-handed, I believe this is indicating that she should not be required to pay the normal fee for her freedom. Deuteronomy 15:12-15 still indicates that slaves should not be sent away empty handed when freed.
With numerous references to Hebrew slaves being treated different than Gentile slaves, “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.” (Deuteronomy 15:15) It makes sense that Hebrew slaves should not be sold to Gentiles because they could not be relied upon to follow these laws. Jubilee freedom was in memory of the freedom from Egypt, where God did not free the Gentiles, but the Hebrews. This is to be a reminder for them.
As it would take a very long time to go over every each and every mention of slavery or servitude in the Bible, and there are a lot of sites out there discussing it, I am going to leave this as it is. Anyone who thinks I have missed something integral can post to me in my comments (or contact me in general).
This is the first post in a series of the topics on my interpretation of the Bible. Here is a preliminary list of these topics that is based on a comment from a post I made previously: slavery, war, polygamy, government and women. I have recently heard comments from a number of people saying that the Bible condones slavery, so I feel it is appropriate to start with this.
When most Americans think of slavery, they think of the slave trading industry as implemented in pre-civil war America. Slaves were commonly treated as less than human; often they were treated worse than cattle. Slaves were common victims of rape under the guise of forced sexual labor. Families of slaves were often torn apart when one slave was sold away from his or her spouse and children without consideration of the desire of the slaves affected. Otherwise free people were stolen by slave traders and forced into slavery often based on their skin color, heritage, location or religion. And, when a slave did escape from a cruel master, many areas had laws that required he (or she) be returned to that master often to face punishments that amount to torture or death. So a slave under this institution generally had no justification for being a slave and no hope of becoming freed.
To make matters worse, a variety of clergy and politicians insisted that the Bible condoned slavery because there is no reference in the Bible inhibiting it and numerous prominent figures in the Bible themselves had slaves. They led many to believe that the Bible is okay with this despicable institution of human degradation.
But, as dictionary.com defines slavery as, “the condition of a slave,” I look to see that a slave is, “a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another.” You can see that none of the things I have listed are in this definition. It does not include being treated as less than human nor does it insinuate that one necessarily is subjected cruelly. Even the dictionary doesn’t support the horrible institution described above by pure definition, so we have no reason to assume that when the Bible uses the word slave or slavery it is referring to that institution or it’s associated cruelty at all (unless otherwise stated, like in reference to the slavery experienced by the Hebrews under the Egyptians).
In fact, besides the pure definition of slavery by dictionary.com, the Bible is specifically against everything I have listed so far about it.
The Bible doesn’t promote slavery, but it does acknowledge its existence and impose limitations. Just as 1 Timothy 6:1-2 reminds slaves to respect their masters, Colossians 4:1 and Ephesians 6:9 specifically direct masters to be just and fair to their slaves and to not threaten them because the Master of us all is Jesus. No distinction of slave status is made for how to treat your fellow man in Matthew 7:12. No such distinction is made in rape (Deuteronomy 22:28-29, Deuteronomy 22:25-28). Proverbs 3:31 reminds us that God does not want us to be violent at all.
Exodus 21:2-6 indicates to me that a man shouldn’t be separated from his wife even in servitude without his consent. Perhaps this indicates the bond of marriage should be stronger than the bond of slavery.
Stealing people and forcing them into slavery is specifically condemned in Exodus 21:16 (it doesn’t appear to matter what skin color, heritage, location or religion a person has). How then is one supposed to become a slave? I can’t seem to find a prescription for this activity in the Bible, but it is insinuated by context that a man can sell himself into slavery (Leviticus 25:39, Deuteronomy 15:12) (possibly this is something like bankruptcy provision in today’s society, noting Exodus 22:3) or a person can be born into slavery (Leviticus 22:11). Also, women and wartime hold special circumstances, but I’ll bring that up under those topics (I am finding they are very special topics). It appears that entry into slavery should somehow be voluntary or inherited. A lot of weight is attributed inheritance in the Bible, and maybe that could be another topic for future study. It also appears that there are conditions in which a slave can purchase his own freedom or have it purchased by his family (Leviticus 25:49).
As for escaped slaves, “If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master.” (Deuteronomy 23:15) I believe this law was written to protect slaves who are mistreated.
So the Bible acknowledges the existence of slavery. Does it condone it? Perhaps by not condemning slavery it could be inferred that it is not inherently evil or immoral in and of itself; there are certainly worse things to be than the property of a God fearing man. But do not allow people who claim the Bible condones slavery to mislead you into believing that the Bible condones the atrocities committed under the slave trading industry from our past because this is far from the truth. Be careful if you say the Bible condones slavery that the person to whom you say it is aware of the difference otherwise you may be leading them away from Jesus. (Note that there is a special warning in Matthew 18:6 for those who lead children away from Jesus and if anyone requires it, I can get a hold of a large millstone, some rope and a sea.)
All will be terrified at the wrath of the Almighty (Revelation 6:15-16) free man and slave alike because as Jesus said, we are all slaves to sin (John 8:34). But in the end, Jesus has redeemed us to God by his blood (Revelation 5:9); he paid our way, so we can all be saved from the consequences of sin and, through his power, live happily ever after (Romans 6:23). Praise be to Jesus Christ; He is Lord!
The socket on my iPod where I plug my USB cord, wall charger and bluetooth adapter has intermittent functionality. I tested the iPod with 4 USB cords and 3 PCs which I know work with other iPods. I sent my iPod to you guys twice, but I am still experiencing this problem. I have updated my firmware and iTunes and have followed all recommended troubleshooting tips. I'd rather not go another week sans-iPod if not necessary. Please advise.
And that's what I sent them. I've got a limit of like 450 characters or something though it says on the form it's 250, I think, but I can't condense this to 250 characters. For up to an hour, I wait for someone to read it and probably send me back a semi-automated response saying that they approve my repairs and they'll send me a box to send them my iPod. At least in the mean time, I can put my music back on (careful to not touch the cord!) so I can listen to it till I get the box to ship it back to them. All this is very depressing.
EDIT: Yep, there it is:
Our initial diagnosis indicates that because your product replacement will likely be covered by the warranty, an AppleCare Protection Plan, or another Apple repair program, there should be no charge to you for the service performed. If we have questions or concerns regarding the repair coverage, we will notify you. ... Within two business days, you should receive a package at this address: ... The package will contain shipping materials and instructions for you to return the original product to Apple at this address:
They condensed my problem to this:
Problem Description: Accessories - Dock - Top Connector not func/damage
I am thinking that if the technicians only see that, then they might not realize the problem is intermittent sometimes. I am guessing that without that knowledge, they probably just push the iPod into some diagnosis dock, wait for an automated check pattern to run and send it back to me because it happens that the diagnosis dock sits at the right angle so that my iPod will happen to connect every time.
It could be a problem with the support system, not the individual technician. Bah! That doesn't make me feel any better about this. Though, it does make me curious how much it costs them to have a box shipped practically from coast to coast 6 times. I guess all that gets passed on to the customer. But maybe they save by having less for the techs to read, though that's offset slightly by the random frustrated customer who says, "Doesn't Microsoft have a product to compete with this yet?!"
Something happened to me yesterday morning that I feel I need to share. Though I frequently have very vivid dreams that often hold meaning for me, my dream yesterday morning was quite different than my normal dreams. Usually my dreams are reasonably lengthy and vague in purpose, but this one was short and pointed and I feel it was probably a vision from God, not just a normal dream.
It seems that I've been voted. Jeff, one of the top dogs at the company and a Christian friend who I work with, has done a survey and it appears that there's general consensus that I'm the one voted most likely to go postal. They say it is my appearance and mindset (which seem to be quite different than most others). I think this is totally hilarious. I think part of it is that with my long hair and beard (both dark brown), the association of Serpico is in people's minds.
