Head-dibs

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If Hamlet's father never appeared as a ghost, Shakespeare would have no story (so to speak). Similarly, if Jacob Marley had not appeared to Scrooge, there would have been no story. Sadly, important elements of Scrooge and Marley's conversation and Scrooge's response on Christmas Morning have been lost as interest in the text has diminished. First, Marley communicated something vitally important to Scrooge that Christmas Eve, and I want to make certain that as many who read this, understand Marley's greatest lament: "'But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. 'Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. 'Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!' It held up its chain at arm's...

An orange.  An orange! C’mon Grandma!  After all, it’s Christmas!  Where’s the fudge?  How ‘bout some bon-bons? I know I saw you icing a cake.  An orange.  Really? I stood there with my orange.  It made my hand cold. I said I was hungry but it was Christmas and Christmas is about cakes and apple pie and coffee and brownies and Pfeffernüsse and turnovers and petite-fours and gingerbread and Pavlova and icing and cookies and pudding and an occasional candy cane (maybe) and fruitcake and cider and pumpkin pie and eggnog and butter tarts and cider and donuts and Trifle and æbleskiver and rice pudding and those little chocolate Santas wrapped in printed foil and hot chocolate and whipped cream and marshmallows and that funny cake that looked like it was cooked in a jello mold (the one with all the raisins) and marzipan and banana pudding.  Sugar plums! Nuts. I could have some nuts. Instead of the orange. Ahk!  Give me a bowl of rocks, wh...

Welcome!  all Wonders in one sight! Eternity shut in a span. Summer in winter, day in night, Heaven in earth, and God in man. Great little one! whose all-embracing birth Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heav'n to earth!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, darling, beautiful, Godly, wonderful, wife.  You are always in my heart.

Congratulations to our December Graduates! Popular Christian author and Columbia International University alumnus Philip Yancey will be the speaker at CIU's December commencement exercises. Yancey is the author of 20 books that explore the questions faced by most Christians and include "Where Is God When It Hurts," "Disappointment with God," and "Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?" He drew heavily from his CIU background in developing "The Student Bible," a best-selling edition of the Bible with study notes. Yancey's books have won 13 Gold Medallion Awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and have sold more than 15 million copies. A native of Atlanta, Yancey met his wife, Janet Norwood at CIU, and went on to earn graduate degrees in Communications and English from Wheaton College Graduate School and the University of Chicago. He joined the staff of "Campus Life" Magazine in 1971, and worked there a...

With this much red, it might as well be a murder mystery . . . and its everywhere! (It's not a murder mystery, by the way) 

I saw these plaques for sale in a store.  Glad to know God's love for us in Christ Jesus never fails!

Looks like this is turning into a week of photoblogging.  My friend Dan took this picture in New Mexico:

Dr. Rick Higgins writes on " This One Thing ." "Hey, Ma! You'll never believe what I caught while offshore fishing !" Definitely some crazy artwork  out there.  They say "weird."  I say " Amazing" cloud formations .  These supercells are incredible . Ok, one more.  Here are some incredible photos of Earth, as art ! Drifting.  It takes me away:

I saw the following “conversation” (one of three, actually) written by a young man named Lev Novak posted on a website (forgive me if I don’t provide the link): “God: Noah, all the people of earth are sinners. You alone are righteous. Noah: Thanks God. Long time fan, first time prophet. God: So, I have decided to smite the entire world with a flood. (pause) Noah: Couldn’t you just teach man goodness? God: No. I’m thinking “flood.” Noah: So you’d rather just kill every- God: What part of “flood” do you not understand?” The act of God flooding the earth is a noteworthy matter for consideration, but is the conclusion correct? What we call “Noah’s Flood” was not a stand-alone incident and sudden whim of God.  The young man gave the reason for God’s judgment by flood in the very first sentence, “all the people of the earth are sinners.” The Bible says, “ The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his h...

Created by Online Education

(ht: my wife)

Here are some beautiful snapshots of America before Pearl Harbor .

"If I get arrested, do I have to sit in the basket?" (ht: WNW)

"Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice."

Well, this is it.  November 30, the last day of NaNoWriMo.  I will close this 2010 year and this portion of the project with 172 pages and a word count of 51, 814 in 15 chapters.  But still not finished.  Now its time to read what is written, flush out what didn't work and make what was produced from scratch even better.  Might call it a "vision check." Here are the last two sentences: " They turned and walked back to the wall, leaving him at the gate.   One of them looked back, across the dark."

50,022 words!  Word-count goal is met in 15 Chapters!  Honestly, I am not finished and will be taking the rest of the month to get the novel to a functional place before going into the editing phase.  At least I can say, "whew!" I am happy with it overall, but there is still so much to do.

Remember, the holidays are for families, so remember this amphibolie during this festive time of year: "include your loved ones when baking cookies!"  Happy Thanksgiving!  Speaking of pilgrims, when did American accents diverge from British accents ?  Beware that dreamy and disembodied after-turkey feeling . How to miss the moment with your iPhone . Get some perspective with this " Scale of the the Universe ." If you are watching movies for the holidays, don't miss the Architecture of Inception .

Well, as of this moment, I am at 46, 060 words in 13 chapters of my novel.   The goal is at least 50,000 words.  I believe I can finish this book in three more chapters, Bob. Anybody want to project a guess toward my final word-count?

43,295 toward the goal of 50,000 words, at least.  Started Chapter 12 this morning and have to start thinking all the more seriously about the end.  I am, for the most part, pleased with what I have but I am also keenly aware of spots to be edited.  Got to get this story right! Here is the first paragraph of my novel, "The Ghosts of Christmases Past": "Scrooge was born, to begin with. There is no doubt about that. As to the specific time hardly anyone gave thought to take notice.  On one side of the clock Christmas Eve was laying to rest and on the other began to rise Christmas Day.  The clock had barely begun to toll the midnight hour when she finally began to deliver and the sound of his cry finally mingled with his mother’s own, both together drowning out the final stroke of twelve--hers a cry of pain and joy at his birth and his a cry of simply being born.  He was a Christmas baby, a true cherub and an angel, heralding his own arrival in the wo...

37,393 words towards the goal of 50,000.  I hoped to be finished with Chapter 10 "yesterday."  If you already know what the book is about, please don't spill the beans.  Please. Anybody want to forcast a guess as the final actual word count, as I plan on overshooting my goal? Any guesses for the number of chapters? Any suggestions for the movie? Next week, I will post a summary of the book.  How 'bout that?

 . . . but have you heard of a Seuss Army knife ? Visit some major cities of the world in 360 degree, zoomable format . Don't get dizzy! From the highest point on earth, to the very lowest .  Enjoy the fall colors of Colorado . They ask a great question at the end of this video.  Wonder what the answer is?  It's pretty obvious to me . . . See more funny videos and TBT at Todays Big Thing .

November 14 - 18 is the date of the Muslim pilgrimage called "Hajj." This is a very interesting 15 minute video on what Muslims experience while on Hajj to Mecca. For a more detailed and personal look at Hajj experiences, watch the documentary, National Geographic: Inside Mecca . I have found a very interesting verse in the Qur’an, and I have a question for Muslim friends. The Qur'an says: ‘ If you are in doubt as to what we have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before you .’ (10:94) This verse says that Muslims should consult the other holy books which were revealed before the Qur’an. Would you like to study the other Holy books with me?

29,125 words!  Chapter 6 is HISTORY!  I feel like celebrating with some alphabet soup or something.  You know, get stocked to "hopefully" knock out two more chapters this weekend . . .

25,977 words written so far toward the goal of 50,000 (48 pages, single spaced; 78 double spaced--spacing is not a concern at this time). At this writing I am halfway through Chapter 6 and my main character is only twelve years old.  Fifty-two more years to go . . . I wonder how much I will overshoot my wordcount goal?  Anybody want to venture a guess? My fingers hurt.

Ok, I had a real scary few hours there.  Here's what happened: I woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head (you know the routine) and as I was walking out the car (I was not late), I took my keys out of my pocket and turned them around to find the car key (I have many keys).  Something did not look right. My flash drive was gone.  My novel was missing! I put my coffee cup in the van, started the van so it would defrost the windshield (no ice-scraper yet) and went back toward the front door looking to see if I'd dropped it.  Nothing.  Tried to go back inside, but the door was locked.  Went back to the van to get my keys, looking all along the way again in case I'd missed anything, went back inside, looking around.  Kissed darling wife again ('cause she needs lots of kisses) and thought I would ask her about my flash drive when she was more awake. When I got back to the car, my panic subsided because I remembered that I'd uploaded m...

I could not go on.  I nearly finished chapter 4 and hated it, despised it.  So I wrote another chapter that became a much better chapter 4.  Does that count as editing?  Oh well.  Hoped to get a good start on Chapter 5 over the weekend, but realized I have some other things to look into first.  That's what happens when you plot. Cumulative Word Count 19,033 Total Words Remaining 30,967 (goal is 50,000) At This Rate I Will Finish On Nov 19, but its not gonna happen . . .

ht: Anita, for pointing me (us) to this short video on the James Wilson (1831) globes.  I am related to this James Wilson, not the James Wilson of Pennsylvania who signed the Constitution.

Feeling like Snoopy, sitting on the doghouse with the typewriter.  One particular cartoon stands out in my mind: Frame 1: "It was a dark and stormy night." Frame 2: "Suddenly, a pirate ship appeared on the horizon." Frame 3: "A maid screamed, a door slammed." Final frame: Snoopy looks up, "the twist in the plot will baffle my readers!" Current Word Count 14, 709 toward my goal of 50,000 Words per Day to Finish on Time 1412 Total Words Remaining 35,291

Current Word Count 5912 Words per Day to Finish on Time 1575 Total Words Remaining 44088 This is breaking me out of the academic mold.  I am so accustomed to writing academic papers that (in an overly simplistic way) merely address a topic and reflect in some manner on that which is reported.  Novel writing is something else! My latest experience is thus: I have direction I would like to go, create the scene and draw out the action in my mind.  After pouring myself out, I have an entire paragraph!  Boo.  Now, I set it down, come back and look again at that paragraph, which has now become an outline in and of itself.  I am fleshing out and am causing to happen through characters and dialogue.  I've even seen characters leap onto the page I had not planned! For example, I could say there was an assassination attempt on the King; or I could describe an afternoon on the playground where a group of children thr...

Here's a picture of my "Novel Bible."  These are the notes (so far) that I will be consulting as I write my novel in one month .  I am learning very quickly. I began with a more mathematical approach to this project, thinking that I could break the project down into smaller portions based on clean divisions of the overall project: 50,000 words = about 1667 words per day, or one scene per day.  I then set an initial goal of 1 chapter per week, or 5 chapters at the most. Two words: "Epic Fail!"  Of course, I'd rather do this two days into the project, than later. My first chapter was subdivided into eight smaller scenes.  I just finished one scene and realized that the scene in itself is one whole chapter!  If I squeeze eight scenes into one chapter, it would produce rather lengthy and cumbersome chapters.  If this pattern holds true, then my novel will be not five chapters, which sounds simple enough, but as many as 37 chapters!  ...

November is National Novel Writer's Month ( NaNoWriMo ).  I am not posting any blogs during November, except for any that may be related to NaNoWriMo, my novel specifically.  My wife and I will be writing on separate projects, aiming at at goal of  at least 50,000 words, or a 175-page novel by November 30, 2010.  So far, I have a nice 5 chapter novel charted out and am rather excited about the whole endeavor.  Can't tell you what it is (where would the fun be?) but you may catch a hint of what I am writing by taking a glance at my "Currently Reading" list, to the right, on this blog. Perhaps you happen to be in the Columbia area, and would like to join us for some lunch-time write in's.  Bring your laptop, your plots or the seat of your pants (depending on how you write) during the noon hour (or longer, depending on your schedule) to the campus of Columbia International University  (this is not a CIU sponsored...

Or is it footage of a real time-traveler from 1928? After all, he is a film student, and does tend to smile a bit when describing the details; but, how compelling is the evidence? This time of year, you never know! But there is one thing you should know . . .

Chile: God at work amongst "the 33" miners . This is "Authority of Scripture" week on the campus of Columbia International University !  Download chapel messages from: Dr. John Harvey (Tuesday, Oct. 26) Dr. Bryan Beyer (Wednesday, Oct. 27) Dr. Larry Dixon and Prof. Andre Rogers (Thurs. Oct. 28) Dr. John DeWitt, senior minister at First Presbyterian Church, Columbia .

James M. Black published "When The Roll is Called up Yonder" in 1894.  This song has been sung often by many churches through the years.  I have a few questions for your consideration, at the end: Stanza 1: When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair; When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. REFRAIN: When the roll is called up yonder, When the roll is called up yonder, When the roll is called up yonder, When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. Stanza 2: On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise, And the glory of His resurrection share; When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies, And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. (REFRAIN) Stanza 3: Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun, Let us talk of all His wondrous love and ...

The reason I read is simply explained by looking down the banquet table to Tolstoy's German tutor who sat, "trying to remember all the dishes, wines, and kinds of dessert, in order to send a full description of the dinner to his people in Germany; and he felt greatly offended when the butler with a bottle wrapped in a napkin passed him by.  He frowned, trying to appear as if he did not want any of that wine, but was mortified because no one would understand that it was not to quench his thirst or from greediness that he wanted it, but simply from a conscientious desire for knowledge."  (War and Peace, Book 1, Chapter 18) Here is an ever-increasing list of books I've read (non-exhaustive): "9 Marks of a Healthy Church," by Mark Dever “ 10 Books that Screwed Up The World And Five Others That Didn’t Help ,” by Benjamin Wiker "The 99 Beautiful Names of God For All the People of The Book," by David Bentley "2001: A Space Odyssey," by A...

Did you notice the tee-shirts the Chilean miners were wearing during their rescue?  Did you notice that at the same time the Chilean miners were being rescued, 16 miners were being trapped in China ? Dr. King recommends these books for leaders in training and developing leaders . A few devotional thoughts on the most forgiving people in the world . Saturn's Moons Engage in Cosmic Paintball Fight . What are the similarities and differences between Biblical/presuppositional apologetics and traditional/evidence-based apologetics ?  This simple chart illustrates the contrast between the piece-meal approach of evidentialism against presupositional apologetics.

This is an interaction with the New Atlantis article, “ Getting Over the Code Delusion ,” based on my printer-friendly version. This way page numbers and paragraphs are more easily identified. When I read this article, I was reminded first of the great milestones of science (the earth is flat; there are only 1,100 stars, which happen to be all the same; the earth sits on the back of a large animal; light was fixed, air was weightless and blew straight; the ocean floor was flat and was fed by rivers and rain; sick people must be bled; hands must be washed in still water; and last, but not least, complete ignorance of invisible elements, such as atoms) and second, how science has been working hard to catch up to the Bible (the earth is a sphere, Isaiah 40:22; stars are without number and are different, Jeremiah 33:22, 1 Corinthians 15:41; the earth floats in space, Job 26:7; light moves, Job 38:19-20, air has weight, Job 28:25 and blows in cyclones, Ecclesiastes 1:6; the ocean floo...

How Can There Be Both Mercy and A Hell? The distinction between a game and a puzzle is that while a game produces winners and losers, puzzles are centered on a solution. C.S. Lewis debates the doctrine of universalism (“all will be saved”) along the same lines of this distinction: is personal eschatology to be regarded as a puzzle or a game? If a game, then why is the winner detestable? If a puzzle, then why the doctrine at all? Which is more tolerable: dismiss the doctrine of hell because it is disagreeable; or, allow the wicked person to enter heaven against his will and remain as he is? Does God send people to hell, or is it their sin? This is the difference between world religions and biblical doctrine. Hell is inflicted because men prefer darkness to light. Hell is not a sentence, but a fact of being. Punishment is just because righteousness, not vindictiveness, stands behind it. A man satisfied with evil will not be satisfied with righteousness. “Pain plants the flag o...

[continuing my interaction with " The Problem of Pain ," by C.S. Lewis] Human Pain Chapters 6 and 7 of C.S. Lewis’ book concentrate on the topic of “Human Pain,” which Lewis divides into two categories: “A. A particular kind of sensation, probably conveyed by specialized nerve fibers, and recognizable [sic] by the patient as that kind of sensation whether he dislikes it nor not . . . B. Any experience whether physical or mental, which the patient dislikes.” Immediately, Lewis expounds the pain of human autonomy; that is, the rejection of all that intended good that accompanies submission to God. One may choose the pain of self-surrender out of love for God and gain all the blessings that come with a restored relationship; or, one may instead choose suffer the pain of evil bound up in rebellion against Him. Pain is an illusion-breaker, snapping us out of the delusion that all is well and that all the resources of the world are ours for the taking. We are not self-suffic...

[continuing my interaction with " The Problem of Pain ," by C.S. Lewis] How Can My Breath Stink If I Have No Nose? C. S. Lewis asks, “why do men need so much alteration?” If the argument is that man has become bad through abused free will, then he must be able to use free will to become good. This means that the preaching of the good news (repentance by faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ) is not good news at all. “Christianity now has to preach the diagnosis—in itself very bad news—before it can win a hearing for the cure.” Lewis present two principle causes for this faulty assumtion: first, doctrine has been skewed by focusing more on virtue and less on vice, more on kindness and less on wrath. Second, sin and shame have been redefined, which leads one to wonder: was Jesus death a mistake if all it took to fix man was a shift in focus and some simple redefinitions? Lewis likens this to the abolition of the nose, “that the smell of hay or roses or the se...

A parachute jump from 23 miles (120,000 feet)?  I think Red Bull is the operative word here . November is Novel Writing Month .   Here are " 20 Questions To Ask of A Novel " and some " Neat Stuff for Writers ." Dr. Warren Larson helps us understand " A Christian Response to Islamic Terrorism ." They can get the billets and the bullets, but not the ballots .  Really, Mr. President?

[continuing my interaction with " The Problem of Pain ," by C.S. Lewis] Life sans Pain Is Lifeless: Chapter 2, “Divine Omnipotence” is thoughtful consideration of the power of God and what man expects of Him. For example, there today is heard the so-called objection to God through the question, “Can God make a rock so big He cannot lift it?” The question demands to know if God exists based on a demonstration of power, which only proves the question is not a good question. Lewis answers: “[M]eaningless combinations of words do not suddenly acquire meaning because we prefix to them the two other words, ‘God can.’ It remains true that all things are possible with God: the intrinsic impossibilities are not things but nonentities . . . not because His power meets an obstacle but because nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God.” If power were proof of existence, then what would be the outcome if you were challenged to arm-wrestle yourself? Impossibilities are s...

[This is will not be a book review per se, but more of a lengthy interaction and summation, spread out over a number of posts--bite-size and eaily digestable portions of this challenging book.] Lewis explains the purpose of his book, The Problem of Pain , as being a solution to “the intellectual problem raised by suffering.” Lewis expresses his personal feeling in the preface that he has nothing to offer his readers “except my conviction that when pain is to be borne, a little courage helps more than knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all.” This is perhaps the best summary of the book, humbly presenting both problem and solution with such little complexity. Lewis dedicates the introductory matter of the first chapter to building the framework concerning the rationale of religion (“awe,” generally speaking) through four elements: existence of Presence (the “numenous”) which through the fear of uncer...

Who, or what, is the Holy Spirit and what does the Holy Spirit do? Here is sampling of various views I found on the web: The bridge to God within you: one part being your own mind, the other The Mind of God; One of nine spirits of God; One of three gods; An aspect of God (mode) perceived by the believer; An active force, God’s breath or energy; inspiration; The power/mind/character of God; or, one of three aspects of mind action; The bounty of God; the conduit through which flows the wisdom of God; the reflection of God’s attributes; The created spirit that acts as an agent of divine action or communication; The reality of God; Haile Selassie The New Testament book of Romans contains 31 references to the Holy Spirit, 21 of which are found in Romans chapter 8. Here we learn the active work of the third person of the trinity the first being His work in us, setting our mind on spiritual matters (8:5); makes of us the dwelling of God (8:9), the sons of God (8:14); gives life to ...