Performance and worship

It's been interesting being involved with worship / praise teams at church these last few years. Having played music since my teens and becoming a Christian relatively recently, I've been a musician longer as a non-believer.  A great many musicians, including myself, love performing as much as just playing.  To perform implies entertaining and calling attention to oneself.  But to a Christian, everything should be done to glorify God, not oneself. As my church's Worship Arts director has remarked, it is very easy to cross over from worship to performance. 

 

Revolution OS

http://www.revolution-os.com/about.html

Just finished watching this documentary, which proves I'm a nerd. It presents yet another example of the wisdom of crowds ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds ) at work.

Secretive proprietary development within a fairly homogenous group (Microsoft Windows), can easily be matched or exceeded by a large heterogenous group that openly shares information (Linux).

Sticking it to the man!!

Putting up ornaments

I believe we're biased by what we belive...and don't tell me otherwise

I listened to an interesting freakonomics podcast that asks how do we know what we believe is true.
It supports my belief that the more educated one is in a subject, the more closed-minded they become to other ideas. The more energy someone takes in taking a stance, the more emotionally invested they become.  There often is pressure to conform, too. The podcast also points out that more educated people are better at finding data that supports their beliefs (confirmation bias).

One thing I found interesting was that a guest - professional skeptic Michael Shermer - treats evolution as de facto truth.  I guess it goes to show that nobody can be skeptical about everything. :)

I can relate...

...because of Ted, our Lego maven.

If Area Dad Steps On Legos One More Time... http://t.co/RX4jtZ7S

I want this camera

http://www.funnyism.com/i/epicfail/19589

Awesome Int'l Space Station footage

Aurora Borealis, city lights, lightning, clouds - very cool. http://t.co/nAj3ikza

Leapin' Sundogs (not lizards)

@ForecastWatch: Cool cloud phenomenon: "Crown Flash" and "Leaping Sundogs" caused by storm's electrostatic fields
http://t.co/TlPtKK16

Fathers

In spite of what our culture tells us, 

Isaiah 1:17

"Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow."

http://bible.us/Isa1.17.NIV

Isaiah 1:18

Isaiah 1:18 NIV

""Come now, let us settle the matter," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

http://bible.us/Isa1.18.NIV

European vacation

This article is scary accurate with depicting my trip to Europe in the summer of '87 - right before my sophomore year at Iowa State, no less! Add to the irony that I later married a classicist who could have broadened my a mind a wee bit more than I managed to do on my own.

@TheOnion: Backpack-Laden Student Trudges Slack-Jawed Past Wonders Of Ancient World http://t.co/VJKqagL4

Murmuration of Starlings

Just amazing! I learned a new scrabble word too!

Romans 8:24

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?"

http://bible.us/Rom8.24.NIV