Not So Famous…

It appears that the work of Can Erten has paid off.

The blog software I use supports localization (changing the language depending on one simple setting.)  But the theme that the blogger uses must also support localization.  The guy who wrote my theme is German, but he created an English localization file.  However, a select group of people, for reasons unknown, are not able to use the localization for this theme, and the writer of the theme has no idea why.

However, a guy named Can Erten wrote a script that changes some settings to make the localization work just fine.  I tried his script yesterday, and it totally broke my blog.  I wrote to him, and he fixed “a small bug”, and now it works!  WOOT!

Blog is readable now.  :)

I’m sure some of you may have noticed that there are some things on my blog that are German.  This is not intentional.  lol.  Being as how I have barely a PASSING familiarity with German, I would never put my blog into German.

You think you have it bad??  Imagine what my options page looks like.  Looks like Rammstein went freaking nuts on it.  :)

I’m currently working on it, and am hoping to have it all fixed by the end of Saturday.

Last night at Bible study, we were discussing Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, which brings me to one of those questions that I find interesting:

How many times was Jesus tempted in the wilderness, according to the Book of Matthew?

If you said 3, you’re wrong.  He was tempted once in the wilderness.  The second time was on top of the temple, and the third time was on an “exceeding high mountain”.  Sheesh.  lol

Anyway, we were talking about Satan commanding Jesus to jump from the temple roof, for it was written that the Lord will give His angels charge over me.  Jesus didn’t jump from the temple, but if it had been in God’s plan for Him to reveal Himself in this way, Jesus would have most certainly been protected.  That got us thinking…

If you were Superman, wouldn’t it be funny to just jump off tall buildings, scream the whole way down and land on your head???  Then, then someone comes to find out if you’re ok, just jump up and say, “HELLO!!!  I’M FINE!!”  And then run off.  That would be freakin’ HILARIOUS!

Or maybe put a gun to your head and scream, “I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!”  And then pull the trigger.  The bullet would just ricochet off your cranium, of course, but that would be a great joke to pull on the people around you.

Think about it…the possibilities are endless.  :)

I’m not posting this because I’m depressed, because I’m not.  I’m not posting it because I feel my marriage is in trouble, because it’s not. Sure, the summer gets me down…and more so when the weather is as crappy-hot as it is, but that’s not why I type this.  I just feel like typing.

My title explains how I feel much of the time right now. Lately, it seems as though Kim and I have been snapping at each other.  I’m sure some of it is the heat, but I look inward, and I can see that most of it is me.  She may say something that didn’t make me feel great, sure.  We all do this.  However, it is how I react to it that defines how the conversation will go.

I am not patient enough…  She deserves more patience from me.  She doesn’t deserve to feel like she has to walk on eggshells all the time.  We’ve both been around people like that, and neither of us want that the rest of our lives.

Why am I not patient enough? There could be a lot of reasons, but there is one that sticks out in my mind.  Perfect love is patient, and we cannot love perfectly.  But we can love more patiently if we are earnest in knowing God, and we are only earnest in knowing God when we are diligent in reading His word. 

I am not diligent, dedicated, or holy enough…

Sure, I’ll get better.  Sure, there are people that are far worse than myself.  Does any of that matter?  Kim is the love of my life.  She is the only woman for me, and the only woman I ever want.  If I can say that in all seriousness, how can I say that me not working harder to be more patient, more diligent, more dedicated, or more holy is ok?  How can I be fine with that?  How can I compare myself to anyone else, when it comes to a woman who is incomparably beautiful, wonderful, and lovely?  I need to be better than I am now.  I need to be more.  I’ll never be good enough for her…but she loves me.  I cannot change anything other than my attitude, and it needs to be better…with the Lord as my strength, it CAN be better.

This is where the work comes in, kiddies.  This is where marriage gets more difficult.  This is what it means to work at keeping the marriage fresh, and a joy to be in.

Heavenly Father, please help me. On my own power, I can only be as I am.  However, Lord, I know what Your plan is for marriage.  Father God, please help me to be more patient…please help me to be more diligent in reading Your Word.  Please help me to be the husband you want me to be.  Help me to lead my wife in a loving manner…to esteem her happiness and her love more than my own…to deny myself for her.  Help me to love her as I ought.  Amen.

Actually, I had a good drive, and a good evening last night.  But today has been one problem after another.  :)  The problems are being worked on or have been solved, but it’s made for a heck of a return!  :)

To begin with, I don’t know whether people who have e-mail accounts with my domain read this or not, but I’m apparently having problems with my e-mail server.  What I have discovered is this: Apparently, while I was on vacation, my hosting company determined they needed to move my web hosting to a better server, which is pretty cool.  However, somewhere in the process of moving people to the new server, they managed to totally break e-mail.  If you sign into webmail, you will notice an obvious difficulty getting there.  If you use an e-mail client like Thunderbird or Outlook, you’ll only notice that you’re not getting any e-mail.  I don’t know whether things are just getting lost or what, but I have been assured that they are working to resolve the issues.  I’ll let you all know when I know any more.

The other issue I had to deal with today was the return to work.  It was very cool to see everyone I work with.  These people are awesome, and they all welcomed me back.  However, I knew I would have to go to Hayward today, and that’s always an adventure.  We are getting a new employee at the Hayward office, so my job has been to get him set up.  Today that meant stringing cable across a drop ceiling, which isn’t any fun.  lol.  I got it taken care of, and he’s up and running now.

All the problems are good problems, really.  But it signified a very abrupt welcome back to the working world.  :)  How is everyone else doing?

Well, folks.  It’s about time for me to be leaving for the first family vacation (not counting what Kim and I have gone on together) I’ve had in years.  It promises to be interesting.  I know that probably sounds less exuberant than many of you probably expect, but the fact of the matter is…I’m worried there are going to be spiders.

With these cabins, you never know what to expect.  Sometimes the owners take really good care of these places….and sometimes……blech.

But anyway, sleeping is only part of the time, and the rest of the time should be fun.  ;)

I hope everyone who happens upon my corner of the Internet has an awesome week, and I’ll be back to posting on a completely irregular basis as soon as I get back.  ;)  See you all l8er.

I recently did something so incredibly stupid that my brain actually left me for a few days.  Said it needed some time to think about “us”.  Freaky, eh?

What did I do, you ask?  Well, hold on to your horses, my laugh-eager friends. I’ll tell you.

To begin with, I order my computer equipment at my job from CDW.  They have some seriously great prices, and I can find pretty much anything I want on their site.  I also recently changed jobs. I took my CDW loyalty with me to my new job.  One of the first things I did when I got here was set up an account with CDW and start getting things I needed from them. I got a great toolkit, some awesome testing equipment, etc.  In addition, one of the LAST things I did with my old company was to make sure my old co-workers had access to CDW’s site, and asked my account manager to remove my access with the old company’s Extranet Purchasing Page.

Flash forward to last week when the CEO of my new company asked me to purchase some wireless connection equipment for our other building in town.  He was very eager to get it in, up, and running.  No problem!  I’ll just order from CDW.  Well, I logged into CDW’s site and started browsing.  I found the equipment I needed, put it in my cart, and kicked off the ordering process.  Everything went smoothly…that is until this past Tuesday, when my old boss sends me an e-mail letting me know that they got a package addressed to me from CDW…

WELL….It appears as though CDW did NOT in fact remove my purchasing access on the old site, and it also appears that Pavlovian Conditioning is a VERY strong thing in homo-sapiens.  What I mean by that is that I had been signing in with my old credential information for about 3 years at my old company. When I see that CDW login page, I just type the first login credentials that come to mind.  Mind you, this was not the first time I’d done this.  I’ve logged into that site using the wrong credentials several times, but always I’d either not purchased anything (just browsing, thanks), or else I logged out and back in with the proper credentials before making a mistake.

All’s well that ends well, I suppose.  My old company is RMA’ing the equipment (Return Materials Authorization) back to CDW, and in my opinion they should cancel the bill and not charge my old company.  After all, I distinctly remember asking CDW to cancel my account, so something like this wouldn’t happen.  After all, it’s not like I was worried that I would be tempted to purchase high-end computer equipment at my old company’s expense.  Lucky for them, I’m not like that.  We’ll see if this little incident teaches CDW a lesson about personnel change standard operating procedure.  :)

http://www.addictinggames.com/cubefield.html

I like it…it’s fun.

It’s been a little while since I last wrote.  I don’t know whether I’ve written any of this already, but my wife got a job, which is neato-keen.  It’s at a Christian school, so I don’t know whether I like that or not, but we’ll see.  She’s excited to have her own classroom, that’s for sure.  I’m happy that she’s happy.  Things are just so much…happier when she is also happy.  :)

She recently got a nice Nikon camera, which she has been wanting for quite some time.  That’s a very cool thing. I don’t touch it, of course…let’s not be stupid.  After all, she doesn’t touch…well…ok, so she is allowed to touch whatever she wants, but I know better than to pick up a camera that is worth almost as much as my computer.  I look at it from afar, and I “oooo” and “ahhh” over her pictures.  That is my job, and I must say, I am one skilled son of a monkey.

I’m in the middle of redesigning my company’s website, which has been very cool.  I just got an idea one day, ran with it, and have been very pleased with the outcome.  I am FAR less pleased about my monitor at home.  At work, I designed this really nice background for the menu and logo of my company.  It was way cool…but when I got home, the contrast ratio of my LCD monitor was SO JUNKY, I couldn’t even see the darn thing.  So I purchased a new monitor.  :)  Hey, the graphic looks cool…I’m not changing that.  lol

I mentioned in my last entry that my wife and I are becoming members of the church we have been attending for the last 3 or so years.  This has been quite liberating, as I’ve known for a long time that it is God’s will for believers to be a part of a Bible believing church.  They are to place themselves under the authority of the governing body of the church, and submit to that authority.  I’ve known that for a long time, and yet, Kim and I have not done so, and it’s been nagging at me for a long time. It feels good to be doing that which I know God wants me to do.

This church is great.  If any of you out there are looking for a good denomination, and have been dissatisfied with that most churches pass off these days as Scripture-teaching, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church is an excellent denomination. They’re right on with their doctrine, and simply sitting in one service, you can tell that the pastors really care about the Word of God, and they really want to see it rightly taught.

Hope everyone else is doing well.  I’m going to get back to web design, and I’ll talk to you all l8er.

This post may annoy, anger, or offend some people.  Such is not my intention.  My intention is to post the Truth, because I feel there’s a distinct lack of such even with regards to the modern broad evangelical church.

Is orthodoxy important?  What is orthodoxy? Do you know the answers to these questions?

To answer the second question first, orthodoxy literally means “right teaching”, or “right belief”. That sort of answers the first question, doesn’t it? Doesn’t the book of Jude talk about false teachers becoming a problem in the last days?  What makes those teachers false if not a distinct lack of orthodoxy? So if the book of Jude warns against a lack of orthodoxy, then wouldn’t you suppose that orthodoxy is a good thing?  Wouldn’t you think it is to be desired?

Let me ask you a question. Have you heard of Nadab and Abihu?  Nadab and Abihu were Aaron’s sons, and they died because they offered worship in a way which the Lord did not command. Have we forgotten the fear of the Lord? Have we forgotten that we worship a God who has spoken to us in His Word regarding the manner in which He is to be worshiped?

I suggest that people have most definitely lost the fear of the Lord.  Why else would they introduce sculpture and/or painting into worship??  If Aaron’s sons thought to create innovation in their worship service, we must ask where it got them!  Note this, the Lord your God is immutable…He is the same now and forever.  He is still the same God that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha.  He is the same God Who has proscribed the ways in which we shall worship Him, and woe be to those who deviate from how He has determined we shall worship him.

Recently, my wife was talking with someone who was appalled that my church examines the beliefs of people who wish to become members.  My wife mentioned the process by which we are becoming members of this church, and this woman expressed displeasure that the Session actually tests the beliefs of those wishing to become members.  What the heck is the point of the church, if not to ensure that the Word of God is taught properly and to ensure that those who belong to the church believe the correct things about God?

One of the questions of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What do the Scriptures principally teach?”  I wonder what people would answer to that if people randomly asked them.  A couple years ago, I would have assumed that you’d get all kinds of strange answers from non-Christians, but that the Christians would pretty much have it right.  I am beginning to wonder.  The answer to that question, by the way, is: “The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.”  If the Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, how can you believe that orthodoxy is not relevant and still believe that the Bible is worth something?

People, orthodoxy is important.  You can’t just believe whatever you want to believe and still agree with the Word of God. You can’t just worship the Lord however you want.  Why not?  Read this, and think about it.  The Lord has commanded us to believe certain things about Him, and the Lord has commanded us to worship him in a certain way.  Read on:

29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Pay close attention to that last verse, people. Do what God commands, and do not do what He did not command you to do.

So am I a fun-hating curmudgeon?  Think about that charge before you levy it against me, and you’ll know it’s false. Am I intolerant?  Yes, and so is God. However, here’s what I do…I look at the Word of God and I say “Whatever it says, that will I believe.”  I do not play fast and loose with the Scriptures.  To do so is dangerous.  Why?

Once saved, always saved, of course.  This is simple…salvation was the work of God, and God is unchanging, so your salvation rests in something other than yourself.  If He is not faithful to you, then why believe on Him in the first place?

However, the Word of God also commands us to work our our salvation with fear and trembling.  In the last days there will be people who genuinely thought they were Christians, and were proved wrong.  How is it they thought they were Christians?  Maybe because they prayed the sinner’s prayer and thought that was all there was to it.  Praying the sinner’s prayer is not a guarantee that you are saved, sorry.  What is a guarantee?  Read the book of James.  If you are saved you’ll bear fruit, which will be evident in the works that you will do.  A love for the right teaching of the Word of God is one of the evidences of salvation, as well, my friends. It follows that if you pervert the clear teaching of scripture, because you do not have a love for orthodoxy, then perhaps you, yourself, should wonder about your salvation.

I could go on forever here.  Much more could be said about God, His holiness, what is required of us, salvation……..God obviously thought it necessary to give us the entire Word of God…I can’t sum it all up in a blog article.  But I can reiterate my last point. If you think that orthodoxy is irrelevant, and that personal interpretation is just fine, perhaps you should be concerned about the fires of hell.  Perhaps you should wonder whether you are, in fact, saved.  I don’t know…as I lived many years of my life not really caring what the Word of God taught.  Growing up in a mainstream evangelical church, I followed what my pastor said, and I ignored scripture that didn’t fit with what I thought the Bible should be teaching. (Predestination, fear of God, the wrath of the Lord).  However, I was saved…it was really only evident when I began rejecting teachings that didn’t fit entirely with what I was reading in His Word.  Am I a better Christian than anyone else?  No.  I have a LONG way to go in a LOT of areas.  But I can tell you that if you think orthodoxy is pointless or merely a point for argument, you might want to take a second look within.