mere thinking

Dead Weight

2009-10-30T21:26:00.003-06:00

Last Sabbath was one of the clearest days I’ve seen in Colorado - the air was pure and clear, visibility was amazing, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The view was amazing.

Josiah and I were standing at 14,148 feet atop Mt. Democrat in the Colorado Rockies. You could see for hundreds of miles in every direction, and some believe you can see more 14ers from atop this peak than any other summit in Colorado.

The hike to the summit was fairly short, an elevation gain of only 2100 feet over 2 miles, and a well-marked trail all the way to the summit. The snow made it a little more difficult in places. Exposure in some places made for some very cutting winds and icy trails. And although the hike isn’t any too difficult, I don’t like carrying extra baggage around. My gear is pretty light, and aside from a headlamp and pocket knife, I don’t pack anything that I don’t plan on using.

There are four peaks above 14,000 feet in a convenient loop, and we’d planned to climb as many as possible. I’d brought along my GPS to track out elevation gain/loss, moving/stopped time, and total trip length. About 10 minutes into our hike, the cold got to my nearly-worthless Duracell rechargeable batteries and they died, leaving us with my slightly less accurate, but nonetheless realistic and honest, estimates of trip details.

When we cleared the summit, we had 360° views for hundreds of miles. At that altitude, the already blue Colorado sky appears deep and rich. Directly above you it’s so deep it’s almost black. Every peak above 12,000 feet is snow-capped, and the contrast is breathtaking. Although I’ve now summited eleven 14ers, the views never cease to amaze me.

This is a fitting place for a picture - but I don’t have one...

During Fountainview graduation in June, 2007, I did a night-summit of Mt. Askom. At 8376 feet, it’s about 400 feet below the elevation I grew up at in Colorado. However, the views are still breathtaking - especially at sunrise. Thinking we’d summit during the night, and in an attempt to travel light, I’d left my camera in the truck at the trailhead. We arrived at the summit about 5 minutes before sunrise. This was, without a doubt, one of the sweetest and most bitter mountaintop experiences I’ve had. The most amazing sunrise I’d ever seen, and no camera with which to capture it. After that day, I swore I’d never climb another mountain without my camera. And I haven’t.

As we stood atop Mt. Democrat in Colorado, I took off my pack and pulled out my camera. Not just any camera - a full-frame D-SLR with a wide-angle zoom lens. 3.2 lbs. at normal elevation, but at 14,000 feet, it weighs in at an astounding 7 lbs! I’ve lugged this beast to the summit of eleven 14ers. When I pulled the camera out and turned it on, nothing happened - the battery was dead. I might as well have taken a brick up that mountain.

Hmm, I wonder I there’s an object lesson there somewhere.

Photoshop

2009-10-10T22:53:00.005-06:00

Here's to Photoshop!

It seems there's no end to what you can do to an image in Photoshop. From simply enhancing the colors, to merging multiple images to create something completely different, Photoshop is an amazing tool, and has saved many a sorry picture for me. :)

The image in this post can be seen on the intro page of my website. You can see the progression of layers from start to finish. Assuming that most of my readers are Photoshop savvy enough to understand the lingo, and not being too lazy to write a step-by-step tutorial, I'll just give an overview of the steps involved in enhancing the image here. If, however, the interest is there, I am willing to do a step-by-step tutorial. In the mean time, you're on your own to figure out the details.

I opened the original image.
Added a black fill layer with a lens flare and set the blend mode to screen.
Duplicated the layer to enhance the colors.
Added a color balance adjustment layer, adjusting the darks, midtones, cooling the areas around the lens flare to give that nighttime look on the left of the image.
Added a hugh saturation adjustment layer to increase the hugh and saturation while decreasing the lightness. I set the blend mode to hard light and decreased the fill to 40%. This more than anything else added the 'pop' to the image, giving it it's rich colors.
Added a curves adjustment layer and using a slight 's' curve, increased the contrast further.
Added an exposure adjustment layer and used a layer mask to increase the contrast between the sunlight and darkness.
Combined all the layers in a new layer on top (CMD+SHIFT+OPT+E) and used the burn tool to darken the edges of the image.
Added another hugh saturation adjustment layer to darken the sky on the left, really giving it that night look.
Then I added stars... This was done in two layers for different sized stars with varying brightness. To render these stars, I used a combination of a add noise filter and adjusting the threshold. Then I masked out the clouds.

That's it!

De Ja Vu

2009-09-08T07:52:00.005-06:00

Yesterday I upgraded to Snow Leopard, Apple's latest OS X operating system.

Thus far, I've only noticed a few differences:

a) wakeup is noticeably faster.
b) you can now browse stacks.
c) that hideous blue glow added to Exposé!

At first I thought this was a bug, so I started looking for a fix. It seems however, that Apple did this on purpose...

If I never used Exposé, I probably woudln't care, but I use it all the time! I couldn't stand seeing that obnoxious "MS Paint" boarder every time I switched windows. So I fixed it...

The process reminded me a bit of hacking Windows Vista to run on my first "Vista-ready" machine - one of the reasons I switched to Mac. While this won't cause me to switch back to PC, it is a bit annoying. Overall, Apple releases really good products, they pay attention to the details, and they get it right the first time. With the number of complaints out there, I don't doubt that one of their first major updates will resolve this. Just wish I didn't have to in the mean time.

If you're annoyed by the Glowing MS Paint in Exposé, it's super easy to fix:

a) Go to, MacintoshHD > System > Library > CoreServices > Dock
b) Right-click and "Show Package Contents"
c) Locate and delete "expose-window-selection-big.png" and "expose-window-selection-small.png" (replacing will give you an error, so you have to delete)
d) Copy these .png files to the same location.
e) Open the Terminal and type, "killall Dock" (Case sensitive).

The result:

Phyllis

2009-09-01T17:26:00.004-06:00

“How did you guys sleep last night?”

“Fine, how about you?”

“We’re not sleeping in there again tonight,” the girls complained. “In there,” referred to a small cabin.

The cabin was nestled in a valley called the Strein River Valley. Located in the lower-half of British Columbia, and surrounded by majestic mountains and fields of wildflowers, this cabin provided an ideal location for hikers to stay. During the day, we would explore the many beautiful little trails that wound through the woods and up the mountainsides. At night, we had all the comforts of home - from a cook stove and table, to a roof and beds.

Being courteous, we (the guys) offered to let the girls sleep in the cabin, while we all slept in tents by the river about 40 feet away. After the first night, however, it was obvious that our gesture hadn’t been appreciated. So we switched places - the guys would sleep in the cabin, and the girls got the tents.

I suppose I should at least explain why the girls refused to spend another night in the cabin. The cabin was not vacant. Someone named Phyllis lived there - or perhaps I should say, something. Phyllis is a rat. And Phyllis has lived comfortably in this little cabin for a number of years. The proof of this is seen in her name carved on the wall by previous campers, it's chronicled in log books left behind by other adventurers, and brought to mind by the big steel bins which is the only safe place for food.

This cabin was quite the find for Phyllis. Campers are often careless, leaving food out where she could steal it. They'd build a fire in the wood stove, making the cabin cozy warm. And in case she was discovered, there were dozens of little holes and crevices offering her shelter that she could dodge in and out of.

Being nocturnal, Phyllis had made her presence known shortly after the girls had gone to bed the previous night. Someone had felt something brush their leg, and turning their light on found themselves face-to-face with Phyllis - who they claimed was huge! Since this wasn’t the only time they had this experience, it made for quite a long first night for the girls.

Now, this isn’t just another rodent story - and what sets this story apart from all the others is Evan. Evan was one of the four guys on this trip.

We were an adventurous group - all in our early twenties and thirties. Evan was about 22, and had an interest in Joni, one of the girls now refusing to sleep in the cabin. A computer nerd through and through, one would not initially expect to find Evan at home in the great outdoors. But there was a side of Evan that would come to life when not in front of his Mac, and this side was fond of the outdoors.

After a full day of hiking and a hearty meal, we were more than ready to crawl into our warm sleeping bags. Though it was early summer, the valley in which we were staying would get quite chilly at night - cold enough that we could see our breath. The tents didn’t offer much protection from the cold, so we weren’t disappointed to be in the warm cabin that night. Before laying out our bags, we discussed who should sleep where. There was a small loft space about 7 feet above the floor on one side of the cabin with room for two people to sleep. Below, the table would double as a bed where there was room for two more.

One of the guys decided to sleep in the shelter just outside the main cabin. That left three of us inside. Not wanting to be bothered in the middle of the night by a rodent, I choose to sleep in the loft. Evan and Jesse both choose to sleep on the table.

Just before turning off the lights, Evan grabbed a large, cast-iron skillet.

“What’s that for?” Jesse asked a bit hesitantly.

“In case Phyllis shows up.” Evan responded.

“Is there room up there in the loft?” Jesse asked.

“Yep,” I responded.

Not wanting to get hit in the middle of the night by Evan’s cast-iron skillet as he was swinging it at Phyllis, Jesse decided to move up into the loft. Upon seeing Jesse moving to the loft, Evan began to get anxious about being the only one left down below where Phyllis roamed.

“Don’t worry, Evan,” we assured him, “if you kill Phyllis with the skillet, you’ll be the girl’s hero.”

This seemed to reassure Evan, so we turned out the lights and went to sleep... Well, almost.

A couple of moments after the lights went out, we heard Evan:

“Uh, guys... There’s something big, and it’s staring in my face...”

Jesse turned on his headlamp and looked over the edge of the loft to see a rat, almost twelve inches long sitting at the foot of Evan’s bed.

“Just before you turned that light on, that thing was about four inches from my face!” evan exclaimed.

“Well, if it comes back, use your skillet,” Jesse said as he turned off the light.

Just as we were drifting off to sleep, there was an obnoxiously loud crash - it was the sound of Evan’s cast-iron frying pan colliding with the wood pile directly below the loft. Jesse leaned over the edge and turned on his headlamp.

“Did you get it,” we asked.

“I don’t think so,” Evan responded.

Phyllis was nowhere to be seen.

He crawled out of his sleeping bag, picked up his skillet, and after making his way back to the table, crawled into his sleeping bag. Jesse turned off his light again.

About two minutes later, we heard it again - WHAM!

Again, Jesse turned on his light. Again, there was no Phyllis. Again, Evan crawled out of bed to recover the skillet. Again, Jesse turned off his light, and I drifted off to sleep.

Apparently I sleep like a log, because that was the last I heard that night. The rest of the night I slept peacefully. The next morning I awoke to find a very tired Evan, his nearly destroyed cast-iron skillet, and no Phyllis.

Turns out that Jesse hardly slept either. He said that about every 10 minutes or so there was a loud crash as Evan’s cast-iron skillet missed Phyllis and crashed into some other object in the cabin.

After passing about half the night chucking a skillet at a very nimble rat, Evan realized Phyllis was faster than he was.

We stayed there for about a week. I think that night was the only one that Evan chucked his skillet at Phyllis - the next night he slept out in the shelter with Greg.

Perhaps one of these days, I’ll return to the cabin with this story, and leave it there for other campers to read - and to explain why one of the cast-iron skillets is mangled. If I decide to spend the night, I’ll sleep in the loft.

How Far From Home?

2009-05-27T00:14:00.004-06:00

Enoch and God went for a walk one evening. This wasn't the first time they'd gone for a walk - in fact, they walked together often. This particular evening, though, Enoch and God walked so far from Enoch's home, that when it was time to go back, God said, "Come to my home, it's closer."

This is the only account of such an event in the Bible. But the reality is that this is the only way anyone ever enters God's home - by walking with Him so far from their own, that they're closer to heaven than earth. Obviously this is metaphysical, not physical. It wasn't Enoch's physical position that changed, rather it was his spiritual.

At some point in his walk with God, Enoch crossed that invisible line that marked the 1/2-way point between heaven and earth. His worldly home was a thing of the past. He could leave it without hesitation and without grief. Yet this was not a literal home - not a home in the sense of four walls and a roof. There is much truth in the saying, "Home is where the heart is." Giving a man four walls and a roof doesn't mean he's at home, even if he calls it home. For example, you could give an Eskimo a jungle hut, and though he may call that building home, he would be no more at home than the shivering native in his igloo. They way a man thinks and lives more accurately reflects where his home is than does an address.

In the case of Enoch, every aspect of his being, from the readily visible words and deeds to the secret thoughts and intents of his heart more closely resembled those of heavenly residents than those of earthly inhabitants. His talk was more like the angels than his coworkers. His time was spent as faithfully as those who served in the presence of God. His thoughts turned to God as frequently as those who dwelt daily in the Divine Presence.

Do you walk with God? Not all walk with God, but there are some who do. And then, not all those who walk with God reach that invisible line. Some grow weary and suggest a return to the comfort of their home - they long for rest and slumber in their bed. For others it's simply too strange and frightening to wander far from the home they know so well, with which they're so familiar, and which offers such comfort and security. Still others may drag their feet so slowly along the way that the fading daylight altogether disappears, leaving them in total darkness, completely lost.

Enoch walked with God, and God said, "Come to my home, it's closer."

How far from home are you?

It's True

2009-04-26T11:36:00.007-06:00

Before the rumors get circulating, I want to make an announcement. I'll do it by way of a story though. :)

I hadn't been able to sleep for like two nights (not really) but I couldn't get free of the thought that she'd traveled all the way from New York to Lynden, WA and it was only a little longer before I could meet her.

Finally, Friday came and I headed off for the great country to the South. I had to run several errands before I'd get to meet her, and with each errand finished, the anticipation grew.

"Almost time now."

I headed to the mini storage to pick up the three packages. I got there and started searching through things.

"Not mine... not mine... not mine either..."

It was too early to get nervous, but I was wondering where the packages went. Finally I spotted them over in one corner. I grabbed them and headed back to my truck.

I didn't have a knife on me because they frown on those at the border, so I used my keys to open the packages. First package... second... and now the third - and there she was - my new lens!

And unlike many of my friends in relationships with foreigners, I didn't have any trouble bringing her across the border - she made it just in time for Evan's wedding. I'm sure we'll get along splendidly. Every day that we're together is better than the day before. Here's a couple pictures:

Can't Sleep

2009-04-23T00:29:00.000-06:00

Dizzy with anticipation!

Bachelor Cooking

2009-03-16T02:43:00.011-06:00

I think I've posted this story on every blog I've had... I'm posting it again upon request, and because I think I have a number of new readers that haven't seen it before - if you're one of the unfortunate few who have read this before, I sincerely apologize.

* * *

I was hungry again. It's not uncommon for me to be hungry, especially given the circumstances. I stepped into the kitchen, and looked at all the dirty dishes stacked on the counter. I quickly made my way back to the comfort of my seat in front of the computer... but that nagging hunger just wouldn't leave. Once again, I got up and made my way into the kitchen (a distance of about 5 1/2 feet.) Once again the dirty dishes sat there, motionless on the countertop. It had been nearly one day now, and none of them had washed themselves yet. The situation wasn't improving.

I'm currently living in a 30-foot travel trailer for the summer. The kitchen is nearly eight by eight. The countertop takes up only a small portion and fits between the sink and the stove. There's just enough space on the counter for a box of cereal and a bowl - you have to hold the milk. Across from the counter is the table. This would work as a counter except that it also works as an office...

The refrigerator is worse. Originally, there was a decent-sized gas refrigerator. Unfortunately, it had quit working and had been removed. The refrigerator I am currently using is about 5 cubic feet. To give you an idea of how small 5 cubic feet is; if you wanted to put a pillow in the refrigerator - not that you would - but let's suppose you wanted to, you'd have to take the pillowcase off, smash it down real small, and if you try real hard, you might fit it in the refrigerator - the pillowcase, that is - what were you thinking trying to put a pillow in a 5 cubic foot refrigerator? But I digress.

I went back to the computer. As I sat in front of the computer listening to my stomach rumble I decided it might be worth it to do some dishes. I realized that if I was going to eat with a fork, I'd have to wash it. However, I was out of plates as well. This meant that I'd either have to wash a spoon - as eating out of your hand with a fork isn't pleasant - or else I'd have to wash a plate as well. I went back into the kitchen...

The sink is smaller than the refrigerator. This makes doing dishes somewhat tedious and frustrating. It's not uncommon for me to get more water on the countertop and floor when using a full-sized sink and with a sink this size, it's even worse. But my stomach was still rumbling, so I started running the water.

To hold me over, I got out the peanut butter. I then opened the overly crowded refrigerator to search for the celery. As I bent over (the refrigerator is about knee-high) I saw the celery - surrounded by about a dozen other objects. I carefully began extracting the celery. Thump. The soy sauce fell out of the door. I put it back in the door and quickly closed the refrigerator door before the mustard tried to escape as well.

Now I set to work washing dishes and munching on celery sticks with peanut butter. I only own two plates, two bowls, eight spoons, eight forks, eight knives, one wooden cooking spoon, one spatula, two pans, a skillet, and one glass. All but two knives and the spatula were dirty.

One of the pans hadn't been used, but was still dirty. This is due to the leaky stove. Well, technically it's the vent above the stove that leaks. I use this pan to catch the drips (sometimes as much as two quarts of slightly brownish water.) If I don't catch them, they go down, through the stove, and onto the carpet in front. There's not much carpet to get wet, but it's all I have to walk on and it's not pleasant to walk on we carpet first thing in the morning. But I digress again.

I finally got all the dishes washed, and nearly all the peanut butter eaten. I find myself eating things simply so they don't go bad or get "any worse." I suppose peanut butter won't go bad very quickly, but I've thought that more than once. It's something like this: I open the fridge in the morning.

"Huh?" Wipes eyes. "This hasn't been in here that long." Sniff, sniff. "Hmmm. It doesn't smell too bad yet. Humph, spaghetti for breakfast... Well, I gotta eat it before it gets any worse." And who knows what Tofu really smells like anyway?

Well, that's what was on the menu tonight; salad, because the lettuce was frozen - I'll get to that in a moment - spaghetti, because I didn't know how much longer it would hold out, and spaghetti sauce that's only been open for 3 days (I'm trying to plan ahead.)

I opened the fridge again. Thump. There was the soy sauce. I pulled out the carrots, spaghetti in a zip-lock bag (moldable and space-saving,) a green pepper, the spaghetti sauce, lettuce, and a slice of soy cheese. I put the soy sauce back in the fridge and thought, "Wow, it looks so empty."

I began inspecting the objects I'd just pulled out of the refrigerator. I looked at the tomato first.

"What is that? Ewww. This has only been in there one week. Well, maybe two - I don't know. I guess I could just cut that part off." Sniff, sniff. "Whoa, forget that! No tomato in the salad tonight."

Then the lettuce.

"Oops. It's frozen. I guess I can't store it in the freezer." Most normal conditions would have made such an observation seem a bit, "well... DUH!" Here's the scoop: having only 5 cubic feet to work with, I was confronted with a choice last time I bought celery sticks. Either the celery stays out, or the lettuce goes in the freezer.

The refrigerator has one cooling coil that doubles as the "freezer." I packed some stuff around the lettuce to insulate it and prevent its coming in direct contact with the coil, hoping it wouldn't actually freeze. For those of you living in 30-foot travel trailers with 5 cubic foot refrigerators that are thinking of doing this, let me tell you now, it doesn't work. I'm sorry, but you'll just have to let the celery sticks wilt.

The spaghetti sauce looked fine, which was to be expected. Then I grabbed the spaghetti...

"Spaghetti in a zip-lock. Heh, it looks a bit like a brain." I opened it up. "Doesn't really look slimy. That's good!" Sniff, sniff. "Whoa, that doesn't smell right." Sniff, sniff. "... it doesn't really smell wrong either though." Sniff, sniff. "What is left-over spaghetti supposed to smell like anyway?" Sniff, sniff. "It smells like garlic. Did I put garlic in the spaghetti when I made it? I know I put some in the sauce. Did I put some in the spaghetti too - I can't remember. I guess I'll have to taste it." Taste. "Hmm, can't tell." Taste, taste. "Hmm, still can't tell - I guess it can't be too bad."

The pepper was fine. I failed to mention that I have one well-used cutting board (I had just washed this as well.) I pulled it out and began chopping up the veggies. I put the sauce in the pan and began heating it. I put the spaghetti in the microwave just to be safe. The idea being that 7 minutes in the microwave will kill anything living in the spaghetti. Ants are the only thing I know of that can survive in a microwave. If I'm wrong, please don't tell me.

I looked at the lettuce. "I suppose this is what frostbite would look like on a green human. At least nothing is growing on it..." I pealed off the outer leaves, and found a decent amount that was salvageable. I used what I could, and threw away the rest.

With carrots, celery, green pepper, lettuce, soy cheese, and dried cranberries, I was able to produce a very tasty-looking salad. As with all my edible-looking creations, I took a picture of it.

The sauce was ready, so I got the spaghetti out of the microwave. I was feeling pretty safe about it at this point. I put the spaghetti on the plate and poured the sauce over it. I put away all the vegetables, making sure none of them were in direct contact with the cooling coil. It was looking good, but something seemed to be missing. Garlic bread! I pulled the bread out of the "pantry" (similar to a medicine cabinet. And got the toaster oven out from under the sink...

I won't tell you about the toaster oven right now, except to say that it took me a while (and lots of cleaning chemicals) to become comfortable about the idea of my food actually touching it. I needed the Smart Balance, so I opened the fridge. Thump. Clatter, bump, rattle, thud. The soy sauce was out again. This time 1/2 the contents came along - including the carrots.

"Lord, I don't know how you give me such patience." I put the carrots, soy sauce, curry, sweet and sour sauce, and rice back into the fridge. Quickly, I shut the door. I then "buttered" the bread and put it in the toaster oven. Then I returned the Smart Balance to the fridge - or at least tried. The door wouldn't close. I rearranged the orange juice, moved the milk, put the spaghetti sauce, rice, and soy sauce on the other side of the fridge, and tried again. Still, nothing. I put the carrots under the jars. This time it worked.

I stood up, proud that I'd repacked the fridge so well. Sniff, sniff. "It smells funky in here." I turned around. "Oops..." I'd forgotten about the bread. Quickly I shut off the oven and opened it. "Hey, that's not too bad." I scraped off the worst of it and added some garlic salt. I sat down to eat. "Finally."

The salad was very good. The spaghetti wasn't bad, and I'm still feeling okay, so I might be able to finish the rest of it tomorrow... The bread was pretty good. I even made seconds on that - and I forgot it again...

Finally full, I stacked all the dishes in and around the sink. I looked at them sitting there, motionless. I walked over to the computer and sat down. "I'll do those later...."

All The World

2009-03-12T00:08:00.008-06:00

Something's been bothering me lately - actually, for quite a long time. I hadn't thought about blogging it, but after Evan's blog, debunking some popular and sensational conspiracy theories, I thought I'd use the power of the pen. You may or may not agree with what you read, but please do think it through carefully.

In all seriousness, I truly believe there's a danger of which many are ignorant, and I hope to shed some light on it.

Revelation 13 issues a very solemn warning: "And all the world marveled and followed the beast." To contextualize a bit, Revelation 14 states that those who follow the beast "shall be tormented with fire and brimstone." The skeptic-father of a friend mockingly declared, "You're going to be deceived, it says all the world, you're in the world, aren't you? You can't escape the deception!"

As if that's not sobering enough, Christ warns that there will be such great deceptions in the last days that, "if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Mt. 24:24) Add to this His somewhat cryptic, rhetorical question, "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Lk. 18:8) and it becomes clear that this is a serious matter.

In response to these warnings, some have made it their peculiar responsibility to warn people of end-time deceptions, counterfeits, and things of this nature, working untiringly to uncover the true intentions of the papacy (the beast-power of Revelation 13), it's works, and the perceived support system surrounding it (e.g. secret societies, paganism, rituals, etc.).

If one desired, one could go to an entire lecture-series primarily focused on the origin of certain fraternities, their roots in papism, and their perceived roles in modern politics. One could listen to quotes from leaders in these societies, politicians, religious leaders, even the pope himself, that betray the intents of the of the church and its co-conspirators. You can return, night after night, to learn about satanic symbols, secret rituals, connections with the occult, pagan traditions, its influences in pop culture, sacred rites performed by these organizations, and on, and on, and on...

Some of this information is true, some is merely fanciful surmisings. However, that's not what concerns me. What concerns me is the overall obsession with this theme. It doesn't take a genius to realize that a multi-week series of meetings that "follows" the lineage of deception in Catholicism is a bit suspect. After all, didn't Revelation 13 warn us about following the beast? Sound like a stretch? Keep reading.

Immediately after His warning about deception, Christ said "Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not." (Mt. 24:26). Notice He says not to even go look into it. There's a danger in even pondering and holding company with deception.

Remember the story of the Garden of Eden; how Adam and Eve had the whole garden, full of God's wonders and creations that testified of their creator? Perhaps that wasn't exciting enough - perhaps it was a sincere mistake - either way, Eve wandered away to the vicinity of the garden with the tree inhabited by Satan. Did she think she was in any danger? No. In fact, it wasn't until a short time after she'd eaten the fruit that she realized what she'd done. And all this could have been avoided had she simply not gone wandering around on the devil's ground.

The threat is not only to those who are openly wondering after the beast. It is possible to become so obsessed with the study and unveiling of deception as to be to be unwittingly wondering along after the beast. All this begs the question, "How much is too much?"

Satan will use anything to distract the mind from God and heavenly themes, even the study of his own deceptions. If the primary theme of our study and interest is the deceptions of satan, then in a very real way, he has taken our attention from God and we've begun following the beast. The Bible tells us that God "will bring to light the hidden things of darkness." (1 Cor. 4:5) It's not for us to search out Satan's deceptions - the God has already revealed what we need to know in the scriptures. Would our time not be better spent searching out the "deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:10)?

"The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of false teachers and the delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions... None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict... Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place of God." - The Great Controversy, p. 593-595

Wow. Conversation over, if that's not clear enough, I doubt any case would be found compelling. The scriptures are our only safeguard. The Bible lays out, with unmistakable clarity, the answers to every deception we'll face - study the Bible, know the scriptures! Familiarity with deception is not a safeguard. It's not through the study of counterfeits that banks verify bills - but through knowledge of the genuine. Knowledge of the scriptures is our only safeguard against deception.

"Oh, but it's necessary for us to know these things to awaken the church and bring revival!"

This will never bring revival. True revival is a response to God's goodness and this begins by beholding God, not the devil and his agencies (Isa. 6). Revival brought on by a cerebral awareness of spiritual danger leaves the heart untouched and unreconciled to God. This kind of revival, like Judas' repentance, is motivated by fear of consequences and is insincere and insufficient (Judas was aware that consequences existed, as well should we, but they should not the motivation for revival).

I believe the real issue regarding revival is found in the answer to this quetion: "Do we live our lives as though Jesus is coming soon, or because Jesus is coming soon?" Think carefully. The answer's not as simple as you may imagine.

In fact, there's some very serious dangers in preaching conspiracy (extra-Biblical) theories (I know some won't approve of my use of that word, "theories," but forgive me, I don't know what else to call them). The teaching of these theories bothers me more than their pursuit, because of the effect it has upon it's audience(s). The dangers come on two fronts:

The Believing Audience:

Satan wages war upon the beautiful, simple truth of God by any means available. Always seeking to thrill the senses and enthrall the imagination, he strives at every turn to inhibit our ability to appreciate and contemplate God's simple truths.

As if the sensationalism from 21st century pop-culture isn't enough, we bring that same mentality into the pulpit by presenting mysterious secrets of organizations, and the obscure influences of occultism, exciting the senses and entertaining the imagination of the hearer. The result is that these people find the simple truths of God's word dull and uninteresting in comparison with the scandal and mystery of the papal system. In a not-so-figurative sense, the beast has captured their wonder.

I have seen people who can scarcely defend their faith from the Bible, who are easily excited and become animated by the discussion of the papacy, secret societies, and conspiracy theories.

The second front is the Non-believing Audience, and the effect had here is, I believe, even worse:

For the skeptic, these teachings simply give grounds for disbelief and ridicule. Why risk turning someone away with extra-Biblical teaching, when they may have been compelled by the truth of God's Word?

For the neutral hearer, it may be one of three things:
a) unbelievable, in which case they join the skeptics.
b) compelling, in which case they join the Believing Audience.
c) or maybe even offensive, which is worse than the position of the skeptic.

Consider the red heifer...

When I was about 9-years-old, I heard that a red heifer had recently been born and that this was the first red heifer in thousands(?) of years (I don't remember exactly - but it was a long time). In the small Adventist circle we were in, this created quite a stir as it was believe to be a key part of Satan's plan to deceive the Protestant world. It was expected that the heifer would be sacrificed soon, somehow uniting Protestants with Israel, commencing a world-wide ecumenical surge. Of course the Catholic church was in the middle of this somehow.

Now, here we are, 16 years later. The average life-span of a cow is 7-14 years (can you believe I actually looked that up...). But even if they really pampered Bessie, and she's still alive, they missed their shot, because according to Leviticus 19, she's supposed to be 3-years-old when they sacrifice her.

Now, do you suppose a teaching like this will build or shake the confidence of your hearer? It certainly didn't build my confidence. And if this teaching is wrong, is it such a stretch to think perhaps other teachings of the Adventists are wrong too? Perhaps the papacy isn't the antichrist. Maybe they were wrong about the identity of the lamb-like beast. And so we clumsily hang sound Biblical truths on a line made of extra-Biblical theories.

At this point, you may be wondering if I'm suggesting we quit preaching any form of apocalyptic message. God forbid! The Adventist movement exists only because of it's end-time message. The warning against receiving the mark of the beast is central to the 3-angels messages of Revelation 14. The identities of the beasts of Revelation 13 are undeniable. The world must know that a Holy God has begun the work of Judgment and that He's coming soon to put an end to this war between good and evil - and if adventists don't preach this, who will?

We simply need to devote our focus to the scriptures. Think of the dollar bill again. If your ability to avoid counterfeit bills is wrapped up in your intimate knowledge of counterfeits, one needs only make a counterfeit with which you're unfamiliar in order to dupe you. But if you're intimately familiar with the original, no number of counterfeits, no matter how carefully crafted, could fool you. Our safety isn't found in being savvy of Satan's work - but in being intimately connected to our Savior.

On whom is your focus? Do you spend more time seeking to know and understand the nature and character of a Holy God, or the Holy See?

What excites you? Are you passionate about the connection between faith, righteousness, and obedience, or would you prefer to study connections between Catholicism, secret societies, and government officials?

Where do you search for truth? Do you "search the scriptures daily," or do you search internet forums and news articles daily?

Jesus said "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." That word, sanctify, in that passage can loosely be translated prepare. It's God's word that prepares us, sanctifies us, secures us. Extra-Biblical theories serve only to excite, distract, and jeopardize our minds.

Enough of the conspiracy theories and secret societies. Enough of the satanic and pagan symbols. Enough of the extra-Biblical conjecture about Satan's work. Return to the study of scripture. Return to teaching the Bible. Return to talking of a soon-coming Savior. Return to heavenly themes, until Jesus can say of you as He said of His disciples, that, though in the world, 'They are not of the world...'" (Jn. 17:16 & 17)? Because you can rest assured, all the world will follow the beast, whether they know it or not.

Sneaky Parrot

2009-02-17T04:24:00.005-07:00

Going over old photos and found this from back in September. It's probably a sign that I have too many photos when I can lose them so easily...

He's not really sleeping, just hoping to lure me in close enough to bite.

_{Shot with Canon 30D + 24-105mm f/4 L @ 105mm, f/4, 1/400, ISO 250}

Health Food Unhealthy for Bachelors

2009-02-13T00:14:00.002-07:00

Which is more unhealthy, preservatives, or mold?

C'mon, how fast can a guy be expected to eat a whole loaf of bread? All the other bread lasted more than a week!

Which tastes better, moldy bread, or fresh bread?

There's really no difference, they're both quite good. I went back for seconds. And except for the green fuzz and itchy eyes, you'd never know the difference.

Been Busy

2009-02-09T03:38:00.004-07:00

Last couple weeks have been hectic. Hopefully things will slow down a bit now.

Took this about a month ago:

Portrait

2009-01-31T01:04:00.003-07:00

Tomorrow's sermon was more or less ready and I was going to read for a bit before bed when, 'ding', Apple Mail notified me that I had a new message. It contained what was quite possibly the worst picture I've ever seen of me. So I thought I'd share it with the world on my blog! I did a bit of photoshopping, and I'm so happy with the results, I may even use it as my profile picture under my "about me" section.

Paper Buckets

2009-01-15T14:17:00.003-07:00

"Could you get paper buckets for the offering on Sabbath?" was the question.

"Yes" seemed like such a simple answer. And I suppose it was, but let me tell you, there was absolutely nothing simple about going from "yes" to actually having the buckets.

I knew nothing about paper buckets, so I did what I always do when I know nothing about something - I turned to Google.

"Paper Bucket Supplier in San Jose" - 0 matches found.

"Bulk Paper Supplier in San Jose" - lots of matches and aside from a Central Cash and Carry, most were large paper suppliers - jackpot!

So I called a paper company that, for their sake, shall remain unnamed (I actually just can't remember their name...) They were a bulk supplier of paper products for the San Jose area.

"Do you carry paper buckets?"

"What are paper buckets?"

What is this, a trivia question? I thought I was calling the experts here... "Um... They're like buckets ... made out of ... uh... paper..."

"If I knew what a paper bucket was, I could tell you whether or not we have it."

At that point I was tempted to ask him to just list their entire stock over the phone and I could tell him if they carried paper buckets, but I restrained myself.

I think it's a safe assumption that if he doesn't know what it is, he likely doesn't have it. So I called another company.

"Do you carry paper buckets?"

"What size?"

*silence*

"Are you there?"

"Can I call you back?"

Perhaps I should have thought about the size before trying to place the order... So I did some research on paper bucket sizes.

When you go to someplace like Starbucks, you have 3 choices - small, medium, and large. And I had enough trouble with that (because they don't call them 'small, medium, and large', but that's another rant). As it turns out, unlike many products, paper buckets do not seem to have standard sizes (i.e. small, medium, large). They range anywhere from 8 ounces (I always called these paper cups, but what do I know...) to 180 ounces. The obvious question is "how big is an ounce?"

Is a 180 ounce paper bucket big enough? How much is 180 ounces? Maybe 180 ounces is how much the paper bucket weighs. Now I'm all for acting in faith that God will bless, but passing a 180 ounce bucket almost seems to be presumption. And how practical is that? 180 ounces is over 11 pounds ...empty. What happens to the poor people at the back who have to pass it when it's full? I guess nobody could sneak out with it...

Back to google: "180 oz paper bucket measurements"

Lots of results, and most weren't related, but I was able to find measurements from which I concluded that the paper bucket didn't weigh 11 pounds (it's only 7 in. high). So I called up a paper supplier again:

"Do you carry 180 ounce paper buckets?"

"We have paper buckets - they're about the size of KFC buckets."

"uh... ok. How big is a KFC bucket?" I asked.

Ok, I know that sounds really dumb, but I'm a vegetarian, I've never been to KFC in my life. I have no idea how big a KFC bucket is...

I actually don't remember what he said. I just remember feeling really foolish and thinking, "That's such a dumb question." He probably met with his coworkers at lunch where they compare stories of dumb customer questions - I have no doubt he won that day. I do remember that they had what I was looking for - FINALLY!

"But we don't have any distributors in the San Jose area. You'll have to order online through this website."

"Actually, I found you through that website - I need these within a week, and I don't trust UPS to deliver them in time."

At this point, we both observed a moment of silence. I wasn't about to hang up after getting this close. Eventually the rep. said, "Let me take down your number and I'll see if I can have one of our distributors contact you."

I didn't hear back from them that day - I began to think they didn't take me seriously. After all, what kind of fool doesn't know how big a KFC bucket is? But the following day I got a call notifying me that there was in fact a local distributor that not only knew what paper buckets were, they had them in stock. The name was "Central Cash and Carry" - ya, the same place that showed up when I first Googled paper suppliers, and it's only 3 blocks from the convention center...

Now I just needed to figure out how many paper buckets we'd need.

Things in evangelism aren't always well-coordinated. Okay, maybe that's stretching it - they're almost never well-coordinated. I called the head of my department to get an estimate on numbers. They didn't know, so they contacted someone else. So through a series of calls, messages, e-mails, and possibly smoke-signals at some point, I was told we'd need 2,000.

"Okay, 2000... ...2000?!"

That seemed a little off to me - especially since we'd only had 4,000 people register. 2,000 is enough for every-other person to have their very own paper bucket! This is GYC, not ASI - two college kids can't fill a 180 ounce paper bucket with money.

Instead, I made some wild guess based upon seating configurations I'd seen at ASI and GYC previous years. 300 sounded like a reasonable number, so I called up Central Cash and Carry, and asked them if they stocked 300 paper buckets.

"Yes."

"Could you hold them until I can pick them up next Wednesday?"

"Yes."

It was that simple - well, almost... The following Tuesday I arrived in San Jose. One of the first things on my list of to-dos was to get an official count of rows so I could estimate the number of buckets we'd need. It was higher than I expected - we'd need somewhere around 500. So I went to pick up the buckets. Turns out 180 ounces is awfully big. So I asked to see the next size down. It was perfect. "I need 500."

"They're 100 to a box."

"Okay."

The guy ran out to the warehouse and got 5 boxes. The total was approximately $550. That's about $1 per paper bucket. It seemed expensive, and the boxes seemed a bit big, but I was just glad to have paper buckets. So I paid for the buckets and loaded the boxes into the car.

When I arrived at the convention center, I unloaded the boxes at the valet parking and left them there while I parked the car. As I walked back, I found a couple of people I knew and recruited them to help move the boxes to the storage room. And just when I thought it was all done someone asked...

"Why'd you get 1,000 paper buckets?"

Sigh, the joys of evangelism. We now have enough paper buckets to cover GYC's future growth. And if we decide to gather that faith-offering - there's enough buckets for that too. I just know I don't ever want to go in search of paper buckets again.

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T18:21:00.005-07:00

And here's a picture just because.

Back To The Drawing Board

2008-12-28T23:40:00.004-07:00

I haven't drawn anything in AGES. I recently got a sketch pad for my Mac (it's the time of year that things like that happen...), so I decided to draw something. I took an image of an eye and re-drew the pupil and iris from scratch. The rest of the image remains the same, but the pupil and iris were drawn entirely in Photoshop using brushes and various blending modes. I'm just a little excited about it. :)

A Brief Update

2008-12-23T22:52:00.007-07:00

Well, there's lots to write about - at least there's GYC to write about...

Yesterday I was in the Silicon Valley, California. GYC ended on Sunday, but I spent an extra day in San Jose because I wanted to hang with the Rosarios. It was soooo good to be back in the States again! I ate at Baja Fresh, signs were in MPH, we had one day of California sunshine, and "I visited the Mother Ship" at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California!

If you've watched the weather, you're aware that the Northern 1/2 of the US has gotten hit with some pretty noteworthy snowstorms. Airports have been closed, and travel has been a disaster. The timing couldn't have been more inconvenient. GYC had just ended, and there were thousands of Canadians flying North - well, maybe not thousands...

All flights into Seattle and Portland were canceled, due to weather, and all my Canadian friends were stranded. Every flight out of San Jose airport was booked through the 28th, so if a flight was canceled, there was no hope of getting home before Christmas. Even those who made it out of San Jose ended up stranded in either L.A. and San Francisco...

I was a little concerned about my flight to Denver. I checked online, and it said it was on time, but it said the same thing about all the canceled flights too...

I made it home without adventure. Here's some pics I snapped just before leaving California:

P.S. Oh ya, I am still trying to rebrand my photography. I have a new website and stuff ready to go, I just need a name and a logo. So if you have any ideas, shoot me an e-mail. Until then, I'm going to continue with "just another photographer."

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T15:28:00.002-07:00

This year, give presence.

From Way Back

2008-10-24T20:34:00.004-06:00

Still editing pictures from July. I'm so bad...

Winds of Change

2008-10-20T03:15:00.004-06:00

The word on the street is, I'm dead. But I'm here to say that's not true yet. I've got some exciting stuff cooking. Between that and work, I've not had a lot of time for blogging. Will it be worth the wait? Tell me what you think:

As per request, here's the before-and-after comparison:

Breaking the Silence

2008-08-23T01:33:00.011-06:00

I just bought Sara Groves' album, Tell Me What You Know.

First I have to say, Sara Groves never disappoints me. The music is good, but her lyrics - her lyrics are amazing! They're not fluffy or repetitious. And while I like all her songs, there's a song on this album that's really outstanding: When the Saints.

The first time I listened to this song I cried. And even though iTunes says I've listened to it 33 times, I still get goosebumps and it brings tears to my eyes. I've posted the lyrics, but you should definitely buy the song from iTunes. It's only 99 cents - or just get the whole album. There's other good songs on it.

- - -

When the Saints

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
it often overwhelms me
but when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
their courage compells me
And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court
I hear his call for freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the angry spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the dying man's side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
and when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them

Farewell My Friend

2008-08-02T06:37:00.006-06:00

Greetings from Atlanta International Airport.

When something significant happens in my life, I write about it. About two months ago I wrote about something very significant that happened to my family. I've had a bit of time while I've been traveling to edit it and now post it. The following was written on Thursday, June 19th, 2008:

* * *

Only twice in my life has something died in my arms.

I was in Cincinnati, OH at Youth for Jesus in 2004. We were just getting ready to start that evening's meetings, but most of the youth were missing. Since they were staying at the church school behind the church for the summer, I was asked to run down there and fetch them.

When I got to the school I saw most of the kids huddled over by one corner of the building. I approached them to let them know that it was time for the meetings to start. When they saw me, the informed me that a small bird had hit the window. Some of them wanted to help the poor little thing, but didn't know what to do. I sent them all up to the meetings and got a towel. I carefully picked the bird up in the towel and took him inside the school.

He was gasping and twitching a bit. I didn't expect him to live, but I got a drop of water on the tip of my finger and put it to his beak. He drank a little this way and settled down a bit. He lay there, his tiny chest heaving for two or three minutes. Not knowing what to do I just held him and prayed. A few moments later he passed away.

Today, my parents and I drove up to our house just outside Woodland Park, CO with my German Shepherd, Shadow. We have 40 acres there in the Rocky Mountains. The property is beautiful with rocks, trees and meadows. Every time we take Shadow here he loves it. There's plenty of land on which he can run and play. This was his home. This is where he grew up. This is where he lived. This is the place he loved.

We helped him get out of the truck. His back legs have been nearly paralyzed as a result of a condition called Spondylosis where his lower spine begins to deteriorate and he loses control of his legs. It's so bad he could hardly climb the 3 stairs to get on the porch. But once we let him out of the truck he and he realizes he's home, he gets excited and runs all over. Sometimes limping, sometimes just dragging his back legs. He's lived four years like this which is more than twice what most dogs survive, yet he still acts like a puppy when he comes home.

After letting him run around for a bit, I took him for a walk out across the meadow toward a nice little aspen grove on the other side. That walk brought back a lot of memories. In his younger days, we would kick Shadow's basketball (his favorite toy) across that meadow and he'd go thundering after it - at 110 lbs., you could hear his feet as he raced across the meadow. Today it was a slow and laborious trip for him. Sometimes his legs would give out, but if we didn't stop, he wouldn't either. So we took several breaks to let him rest.

About the time we got to the aspen grove, the vet arrived. I took Shadow over to the Aspen trees. The vet came over and talked with us a bit. Shadow was excited with the new people and wanted to be up moving around but I told him to lay down, which he did very obediently, and I sat down next to him, just petting him. I sat there for a while in the dry, parched grass just petting Shadow and thinking - he grunted and talked as he has since he the day I brought him home twelve years ago.

"Let's do this." I finally said.

The vet shaved a small spot on Shadow's back leg and inserted a syringe.

I hugged him as the vet began the injection. Shadow didn't know what was happening, and, as he has since he was a puppy, he squirmed and talked to me as I hugged him. I start to cry. That moment seemed to linger. Thoughts and feelings too intense to make sense of flooded over me. All I could think of was the finality of that moment - the immutability of what was happening. I held Shadow tightly, not wanting to let him go. I remember feeling him relax in my arms. Then, when I petted him he didn't talk - he always talked. It was over. I sat there on the ground, just squeezing him tightly and sobbing.

I saw the darker side of the world today. I said goodbye to my most faithful friend. I tell myself over and over again that this was the best thing for him, but part of me feels like I betrayed him. He's been a part of my life for the past 12 years and I can't believe he's gone.

We buried Shadow there in that grove under a beautiful Aspen tree. His collar hangs on a branch above his grave.

I thank God for the time I had with such a precious gift, and I pray that I might learn someday to be as selflessly loving and faithful as him.

If dogs go to heaven, surely I will see you there, but until then - goodbye my faithful friend.

English Bay

2008-07-28T17:32:00.006-06:00

The Celebration of Light is an annual fireworks competition held over English Bay in Vancouver, BC. Three countries competed this year: China, the USA, and Canada. All of these pictures are from Canada's program. I wasn't able to make it to any of the others. The Canadian display was based upon the Godzilla theme. There was more than 30 minutes of constant fireworks complete with a "we're under attack" radio broadcast and synchronized music.

Some 100,000 people attend this event, and transportation is a nightmare! I rode the Skytrain to a friend's condo (right off the water) and we walked down to the beach (a 3-minute walk) where we watched the fireworks. I was able to get a front-row seat right on the edge of the water (without any heads in front of me...) I spent the night at his place because it would have taken me hours to get home.

All-in-all, it was an awesome experience, and one I hope to repeat someday! Here's a few more pictures. I'll keep adding them as I get them edited, so check back.

HSBC Celebration of Light 2008:

Celebration of Light

2008-07-25T19:05:00.005-06:00

Without a doubt the most spectacular fireworks display I've ever witnessed! Truly an awesome experience. I'd love to be able to do it again someday.

More pictures and details to come when I get a chance.

The Eye of the Beholder

2008-07-23T02:21:00.004-06:00

It's said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder - I disagree. I think beauty transcends perspective. Does beauty exist where it is often overlooked and rarely appreciated? Perhaps it is there more striking than anywhere else.