October 31, 2011 Ten

This week I am so thankful to my God for

1. not being subjected to the commercialization that comes with Halloween
2. great students to get to know
3. getting to know my coworkers better
4. pay day
5. my new warm sweat pants from Decathlon
6. Castle
7. the employee at the train station who refunded my ticket after I missed my train
8. a fun engagement party with great food thanks to a friend
9. the joy of friends getting engaged
10. one month of engagement to my fiance

Sunday Ten October 23, 2011

I'm thankful to my God for:

1. repair workers who Spackled holes in my walls
2. getting teaching materials and then being reimbursed for them
3. now having a white board in my classroom (I'd had nothing to write on)
4. an academic calendar to know when the semester ends (just got it)
5. The Beekeeper's Apprentice
6. Uncommon Knowledge
7. the import section of Dennis (with chocolate from Germany!)
8. my brother's soccer team's success
9. being given a drawing of Winnie the Pooh by my new seven-year-old friend
10. meeting new people here

"Prayer does not equip us for greater works—prayer is the greater work."

I've recently been using Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest for my daily devotions and am continually drawn into his provoking reflections.

His devotion from October 17th says that prayer itself is the greater work, not a means to something else. We are to labor for God, and this is done through prayer.

It is easy for us to misunderstand prayer. But it is labor, not something we always enjoy, so "we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness." Of course we can enjoy prayer, but whether we enjoy it or not, it is something we must do.

And prayer is not just a vehicle to other ends (perhaps things we want); prayer itself should be our focus. And "when you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results" because "prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God."

What does it mean to labor for God? Does it mean praying for people's hearts? Is it the labor of keeping a relationship with Him? Is that what Chambers means by a "miracle of redemption" in ourselves and others?

Celebrity within the Church

I really appreciate the depth Dalrymple goes into as he writes about celebrity and how it could be affecting the Church. A couple excerpts:

What is the temptation that corresponds to Christian celebrity? Spiritual pride. The temptation to believe that you’re so attuned to God, so much in line with God’s vision and purpose and work in the world, that your word is gospel and your heart is pure and you’ve no need for accountability or rebuke or correction.

and

When I ... see towering images of Christian celebrities in thoughtful, spiritually serious poses, promoting their books or endorsing a new Bible translations, I think we have cause for concern.

This companion piece on the difference between admiration and imitation is also thought provoking. Let us all seek to imitate rather than admire.

Spackle

When typing the word "spackle", the spell checker corrected it to "Spackle". After looking it up in the dictionary, I discovered that it would be capitalized because it's a brand name, like Kleenex or Xerox.

This begs the question, how would one talk about "Spackling" without using a brand name? What do other makers of Spackle call their products?

Wikipedia actually has a very interesting article on genericide (what an evocative term!). Especially interesting is that while every company wants its brand names to be well known to the public, if they become the generic terms for that product (e.g. Aspirin, Zipper), then the company can lose control of the brand and trademark.

In everyday language, is it important to avoid trademarks such as Kleenex, Xerox, and "Google-ing"? Does one have a responsibility to not show preference toward any one corporation? When teaching English learners, how should one approach language regarding tissues/Kleenex?

Almost forgot: Sunday Ten

This week, I am thankful to my God for:

1. a boss who lets me into my apartment when I lock myself out
2. an HDMI cable to hook my laptop up to my tv
3. great weather for running
4. yummy cookies made by my fiance
5. helpful people to give me advice about tutoring in China
6. what my students write to me and the opportunity to get to know them
7. good friends to keep in touch with
8. my prayer journal
9. other people to worship with
10. the lessons He is teaching me about my pride

Harding for President?

I've forgotten most of what I ever knew about Warren Harding. It is interesting to see the kinds of problems the country faced when he became president and what he did about them. Definite parallels to today. Great reading here and here. These articles make him sound like a great leader, yet he is often regarded as one of the worst presidents. How bad was the corruption in his administration?

I have it so good (Sunday Ten)

There is so much to be thankful for this week:

1. wonderful friends to host us in sunny Xiamen
2. a bookstore with books in English
3. great bumper cars (which you can steer a full 360 degrees!)
4. excellent restaurants in Xiamen
5. the opportunity to gain a sunburn at the biggest Starbucks in China
6. an internet connection that works more than often enough
7. adequate time to prepare for my classes
8. St. Olaf Choir albums on my computer
9. God's desire to be relational to us in addition to His greatness
10. that my identity comes from Him

It's so easy to get grumpy when I don't get what I want or expect. And I've been spoiled in other periods of my life. But my situation is so good that complaining would be ridiculous.

The ethics of advertisement

For some time now, I've been a user of an add-on to my internet browser that blocks most internet advertisements, leading to a significantly more pleasant browsing experience, even blocking advertisements in videos from sites such as Hulu.

For most websites, their only source of revenue comes from their advertisements. They provide a service, and get paid for it from advertisers. If someone uses these websites and doesn't "pay" them by viewing the advertisements, is he stealing from them?

My question is: to what extent is it ethical to use ad blocking software?

Thursday's Sunday Ten

I was in beautiful Xiamen on Sunday, so last Sunday's Sunday Ten is coming out now.
I thank my God for:

1. affordable plane tickets
2. my first payday here
3. meeting more people who work at my school
4. discovering a nearby vegetable shop
5. figuring out how to order at a nearby restaurant
6. ways to communicate with people all over the world
7. a good first week of lessons
8. Pizza Hut's fine dining experience
9. a beautiful ring
10. a beautiful woman to wear it