On my way to work this morning, I was listening to our local Christian Radio station, and Chuck Colson's Breakpoint show happened to be playing. The overall theme was a month-long review of some of Dante's historical works. He touched on several things, but there was one point that just hit home with me.
The discussion went something like this: People frequently ask how a loving God can condemn people to eternal separation from Himself? The truth is - God doesn't do that - people choose it themselves.
It ends up there are two ways people can respond to God. The first is to say to Him - "Thy will be done." That's the road He wants us to choose. God would have it that everyone do that, but some will resist until it's too late. When that happens, God will reluctantly say, when their brief life here on earth has ended, "OK -I gave you all the chances I could. You blew it. Now, THY will be done."
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Some assembly required
Some Assembly Required…
For whatever reason, that phrase has haunted me today. It came into my mind shortly after I woke up, and many things I’ve heard, read, and done today fit well into this framework.
This is a common phrase when you receive something in pieces – they are all there, but you have to put them together to make something that does what’s intended. And an instruction sheet is a good thing, too, by the way. Without following the instructions, things may not work as designed.
I sing in the praise choir at our church. I am one voice of many. I have a part to learn and give back; that part is different from the person next to me, and theirs from the next person, and so on. We couldn’t each have just one piece that didn’t fit with the others. Some assembly was required before we could help lead the congregation in worship. The “instruction sheet” was the written music score; that was our guide to assembly.
Our sermon today related the grumbling of the Israelites as they wandered through the desert. God, by His Mighty Hand, had brought them out of Egypt, and buried their pursuers under a wall of water. God provided them manna and water as they needed it. Then he gave them quail every evening. They even had their own navigation system in the form of clouds and fire. They had all the pieces, but somehow still couldn’t put it all together. There was still some assembly required – about 40 years worth! They were a work in progress for all that time, and for a considerable time after they reached the Promised Land.
I was also blessed today to be able to help serve a meal for our local Cornerstone Mission. Many hands provided things for the meal – main course, sides, desserts, drinks – but it was all just pieces. Before we could be a blessing to these folks who desperately needed this food, we had to organize it, heat it, serve it up. Some assembly was required.
The room at the mission was filled with people; many of their stories would be tales of woe and tragedy. But we must not forget that these “pieces” are as valuable to God as each of us. Our situations are different, but our souls are the same. Though the puzzle may be more complex and difficult to put together there, some assembly is still required.
As I reflect on this in my daily life as a teacher of Middle School students, I have to constantly tell myself that they, too, are works in progress. They are putting together various pieces of their lives in order to be their own person – and it’s my job (my passion, if you will) to help them along in that journey.
Some assembly required.
Lord, Help me to assemble my life as a model for those I touch in some way today.
AMEN
For whatever reason, that phrase has haunted me today. It came into my mind shortly after I woke up, and many things I’ve heard, read, and done today fit well into this framework.
This is a common phrase when you receive something in pieces – they are all there, but you have to put them together to make something that does what’s intended. And an instruction sheet is a good thing, too, by the way. Without following the instructions, things may not work as designed.
I sing in the praise choir at our church. I am one voice of many. I have a part to learn and give back; that part is different from the person next to me, and theirs from the next person, and so on. We couldn’t each have just one piece that didn’t fit with the others. Some assembly was required before we could help lead the congregation in worship. The “instruction sheet” was the written music score; that was our guide to assembly.
Our sermon today related the grumbling of the Israelites as they wandered through the desert. God, by His Mighty Hand, had brought them out of Egypt, and buried their pursuers under a wall of water. God provided them manna and water as they needed it. Then he gave them quail every evening. They even had their own navigation system in the form of clouds and fire. They had all the pieces, but somehow still couldn’t put it all together. There was still some assembly required – about 40 years worth! They were a work in progress for all that time, and for a considerable time after they reached the Promised Land.
I was also blessed today to be able to help serve a meal for our local Cornerstone Mission. Many hands provided things for the meal – main course, sides, desserts, drinks – but it was all just pieces. Before we could be a blessing to these folks who desperately needed this food, we had to organize it, heat it, serve it up. Some assembly was required.
The room at the mission was filled with people; many of their stories would be tales of woe and tragedy. But we must not forget that these “pieces” are as valuable to God as each of us. Our situations are different, but our souls are the same. Though the puzzle may be more complex and difficult to put together there, some assembly is still required.
As I reflect on this in my daily life as a teacher of Middle School students, I have to constantly tell myself that they, too, are works in progress. They are putting together various pieces of their lives in order to be their own person – and it’s my job (my passion, if you will) to help them along in that journey.
Some assembly required.
Lord, Help me to assemble my life as a model for those I touch in some way today.
AMEN
Thursday, July 24, 2008
hailstorm
Wednesday afternoon, we had a good old midwest hailstorm come through. I captured a short video of the front steps and the hail coming down.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
trip to Sioux Falls
This is a post with a video from our trip to Sioux Falls to see granddaughter Elise (and the rest of the family, too..)
(This is a later edit) I was doing some work with video and uploading to my internet web space at my school, and some of the recipients of the video were having problems getting it. So I made a webpage, and posted it, then linked it to this blog. Worked well.
More on the trip - We took our oldest Daughter and her kids with us, so all three grandkids were together. I think everyone had a good time of it.
(This is a later edit) I was doing some work with video and uploading to my internet web space at my school, and some of the recipients of the video were having problems getting it. So I made a webpage, and posted it, then linked it to this blog. Worked well.
More on the trip - We took our oldest Daughter and her kids with us, so all three grandkids were together. I think everyone had a good time of it.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Educational dilemma
When do inherent risks outweigh benefits?
Here's the philosophical side: I've been reading a lot about motivating students by tapping into their love of gaming. I't a research-based technique that's recommended by many experts. This research says that's what students do in their free time, and that's what they love to do. So that's what we should do whenever we can make educational use of it in a classroom.
Move to the application in the classroom side: I teach 7th grade computers, where about half the curriculum is oriented toward keyboarding skills - striving for 35+ words per minute with 2 or less errors per minute on a 3 minute timing. This, in and of itself, is less than glamorous to a 7th grader. So I've tried to find games that support that part of the curriculum.
Enter http://play.typeracer.com - The site provides lines from various books and articles that people are asked to type - most of what I've seen are excerpts from books, songs, poetry - and appropriate for use in a classroom. There are two sections - a place to practice, and a place to race against others. After logging into the site, and working with it for just a couple of moments, all students were able to understand the game and how to play. Most of them were fully engaged for the alloted time. A couple of them were extremely competitive and became quite vocal as time progressed, and I could see that there was a spark that had caught on.
Here's where the question comes in. Students race against opponents randomly chosen from whomever is logged into the site at any given time.
We can specify and control in the classroom what our students may or may not use for a name when they sign into the game; not so with the rest of the random players from around the world who are on the site. Some of these names are not well chosen, and the students brought a couple of these to my attention. Nothing I saw was extremely offensive, but some still not entirely school appropriate. The practical thought here is that there's nothing this MySpace & MTV & Facebook genreation that I'm teaching hasn't seen. But I don't want to appear to condone the use of this type of language or vernacular in a classroom.
I like the site. The students like the site. It has educational value for typing skills. But should I restrict them from it because of what they just MIGHT see on it from other players around the world? If I continue to use the site, what's the best way to with those random occurrences when and if they arise?
Any thoughts are appreciated.
Here's the philosophical side: I've been reading a lot about motivating students by tapping into their love of gaming. I't a research-based technique that's recommended by many experts. This research says that's what students do in their free time, and that's what they love to do. So that's what we should do whenever we can make educational use of it in a classroom.
Move to the application in the classroom side: I teach 7th grade computers, where about half the curriculum is oriented toward keyboarding skills - striving for 35+ words per minute with 2 or less errors per minute on a 3 minute timing. This, in and of itself, is less than glamorous to a 7th grader. So I've tried to find games that support that part of the curriculum.
Enter http://play.typeracer.com - The site provides lines from various books and articles that people are asked to type - most of what I've seen are excerpts from books, songs, poetry - and appropriate for use in a classroom. There are two sections - a place to practice, and a place to race against others. After logging into the site, and working with it for just a couple of moments, all students were able to understand the game and how to play. Most of them were fully engaged for the alloted time. A couple of them were extremely competitive and became quite vocal as time progressed, and I could see that there was a spark that had caught on.
Here's where the question comes in. Students race against opponents randomly chosen from whomever is logged into the site at any given time.
We can specify and control in the classroom what our students may or may not use for a name when they sign into the game; not so with the rest of the random players from around the world who are on the site. Some of these names are not well chosen, and the students brought a couple of these to my attention. Nothing I saw was extremely offensive, but some still not entirely school appropriate. The practical thought here is that there's nothing this MySpace & MTV & Facebook genreation that I'm teaching hasn't seen. But I don't want to appear to condone the use of this type of language or vernacular in a classroom.
I like the site. The students like the site. It has educational value for typing skills. But should I restrict them from it because of what they just MIGHT see on it from other players around the world? If I continue to use the site, what's the best way to with those random occurrences when and if they arise?
Any thoughts are appreciated.
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