Relating Apologetically to the World

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This was a discussion board assignment for the Apologetics class I’m taking. Here is a link to the article I had to read for the assignment.

The article by Williams was both inspiring and challenging to me. I was glad he pointed out that “intellectual activity is insufficient to bring another to Christ” but that it is still the duty and privilege of every believer to be ready to defend his or her faith with the world. I was also somewhat ashamed by my limited engagement with the world in an apologetic manner. His passion for the lost jumps off the screen and makes me want to step up my engagement with people who need Jesus.

The ineffective approach that I tend to default toward is the defeatist approach. I don’t see the church as a “safe place” for believers to meet, nor do I think it sufficient to just live a lifestyle that is evangelistic. What I most struggle with is having the heart and desire to be more evangelistic. My defeatist mentality tends to doubt that people will actually change so why bother trying to share the Gospel with them. What apologetics does for me is bolsters my confidence in knowing that my faith is indeed true and in turn motivates me to more fully live my life in the way that God has called me to live it.

The first three principles Williams discusses have major implications for me. First off, I really need to me much more intentional about going to where lost people are. As a minister, my full-time profession is working with Christians. My parents were both Christians. I attended Bible College. In a normal week I don’t cross paths with lost people very often. That being said, I need to make connections with people in intentional ways.

Second, when I do meet lost people, I need to make the most of every opportunity to share the Gospel with them. Since I know that I may not come into contact with lost people too often I need to capitalize on every opportunity as much as possible.

Third, I need to find more ways to relate to people. Since I’ve grown up in the church I don’t find the normal lifestyle of the world to be very attractive. It’s not fun to be around world people acting worldly, but I need to fan the flame of evangelism in my heart, knowing that Christ calls me to connect with people so that they can connect with the Savior.

Useful Free Software

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I’ve recently come across a couple of very useful software programs (for Windows). The first is VideoSpin by Pinnacle. It’s basically a dumbed down version of their commercial Pinnacle Software. The good thing about this program is that it’s freeware. It does all of the basic timeline editing that I need and it handles titles very well. I was looking for a program that could edit mp4 files and this does it. The downside to the program is that to keep using mp4 (or maybe just to export to it) I’ll have to upgrade to the “advanced codecs” for $15. Other than that, I’ve found it to be decent and meet all my basic video editing needs, which I’ll be doing more of when the baby comes. Read Download Squad’s review of VideoSpin here.

videospin screenshot

The other program that I just started using is called DVD Flick. It’s another freeware program that allows you to create basic DVDs that you can either burn to DVD or save as an image file (ISO). It’s very simple to use. All you have to do is drag and drop the video files you want to be on the DVD (maybe that you’ve edited using VideoSpin) and then click “Create DVD.” Check your “Project Settings” first, though, because I think the program was written in Europe, so it defaults to PAL format that won’t work in the USA. Change this to NTSC and you’ll be good to go.

The program separates the video files into separate titles on the disc, which will allow you to skip through the DVD if you have multiple files. One thing it doesn’t have is any way to create DVD menus, which would make it a perfect program if it had this feature. However, if you’re just looking for a quick and easy way to make DVDs to play in a DVD player, this program may be what you’ve been looking for.

dvdflick screenshot

A last piece of software that I’ve found is the Reverse Order Comments plugin for WordPress blogs (like my blog). After uploading and activating the plugin, a simple edit of your theme makes the comments that people make on your posts to appear at the top of the comments section. This is the order order I wanted comments to appear on my blog because I have a couple of posts that have quite a few comments and this makes sure people see the freshest comments first.

Baby Update: We’re starting to see her kicks

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It’s starting to become very real that Brea and I will be having our baby soon. It’s closing in on less than three months until she’s due, so the day will be here before we know it.

Last night was really cool. Brea had mentioned that she saw when the baby was moving earlier in the day and late last night I saw it too. She was going nuts for about ten minutes. It was the first time I had seen anything, but I had felt her kick quite a few times before.

In other news, we’re starting to strongly consider naming her Emory. The basic meaning of the name is “strength,” which would be one characteristic we’d like her to have. We’d also like her to be balanced with a more feminine middle name, but no real good leads on that.

Hillary Clinton as President would make the USA less safe

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I assumed it was true before, but now that I’ve read this article from the Wall Street Journal I know it is true. If Hillary Clinton succeeds in her quest to become the next President our country will immediately become less safe. She is a politician in the worst sense. She makes decisions and holds opinions on issues primarily based on how it affects whether or not people will vote for her. He stance on issues are not based on commitment or personal values, they are basically a popularity contest. Here is an excerpt from the article:

The perpetrators were members of Armed Forces of National Liberation, FALN (the Spanish acronym), a clandestine terrorist group devoted to bringing about independence for Puerto Rico through violent means. . . . [On Aug. 11, 1999,] while Congress was on summer recess, the White House [Bill Clinton] quietly issued a press release announcing that the president was granting clemency to 16 imprisoned members of FALN. . . . Initial reports stated that Mrs. Clinton supported the clemencies, but when public reaction went negative she changed course, issuing a short statement three weeks after the clemencies were announced. . . . While the pardon scandals that marked Bill and Hillary Clinton’s final days in office are remembered as transactions involving cronies, criminals and campaign contributors, the FALN clemencies of 1999 should be remembered in the context of the increasing threat of domestic and transnational terrorism that was ramping up during the Clinton years of alleged peace and prosperity. . . . On the campaign trail, the Clintons like to say that Bill is merely supportive and enthusiastic, “just like all the other candidates’ spouses.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Returning Bill and Hillary Clinton to the White House would present the country with the unprecedented situation of a former and current president simultaneously occupying the White House, the practical implications of which have yet to be fully explored.

Read the full article.

NBA Champion Prediction: Let history pick the winner

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The NBA season is past the halfway mark. The official break of the All-star game is still a week away, but every team has played close to 50 games, so we have a good feel for how teams will do. That being said, I would like to eliminate nearly every team from the list of contenders and offer a list of the five teams who have a legitimate chance of winning it all this year.

This list is based on the past six years of NBA Champions. It’s a very simple system. It answers the questions of who won? How many points did they score? How many points did they allow? And what was the scoring difference? For your reference, here is a list of that info:

 

            Winner           PF       PA       Diff

2007   San Antonio 98.5    90.1    8.4

2006   Miami             99.9    96        3.9

2005   San Antonio 96.2    88.4    7.8

2004   Detroit          90.1    84.3    5.8

2003   San Antonio 95.8    90.4    5.4

2002   LA Lakers     101.3  94.1    7.2

            Averages       97.0    90.6    6.4

Based on these winners, there are some easy indicators that I’ve found. First, no team in the past six years has won the title allowing more than 96 points a game during the regular season. Second, no team has won the title averaging less than 90 points, but a better indicator for this stat is the average points scored of 97. Last, no team has won the title with less than a scoring differential of 3.9. So, with these stats in mind, who are the legitimate title contenders for 2008? As of February 9, they are:

1          Detroit          97.5    89.9    7.6

2          Boston           99.6    89        10.6

3          Dallas             100.2  95.6    4.6

4          San Antonio 96.3    91.2    5.1

5          New Orleans 100.2  94.6    5.6

I think that based on these stats, Detroit has the most legitimate chance of winning. I know Boston’s numbers are more impressive, but they have NO PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE as a team together. If they did, I would label them the hands-down favorite to win. As you can see, there is no one else in the East who has a real shot at winning it all.

In the West, I put Dallas first, based on their stats (and my personal bias). They’ve got a great nucleus and are playing putting up great number. I would not count San Antonio yet, simply because they’ve won it all so many times this past decade. And New Orleans is in a similar situation with Boston in their lack of playoff experience, so I really don’t see them even making the Western Conference finals.

This list leaves out the team with the best record in the West: The Phoenix Suns. They made a blockbuster trade this week in picking up Shaq, so it’s hard to really know where they will end up come playoff time. But as of right now, they don’t match up with the statistical criteria for NBA Champions. I also don’t think that Shaq will put them over the top. I expect them to fizzle out of the playoffs in either the first or second round.

The other team that isn’t on this list that needs to be considered is the LA Lakers. The Suns are getting all the trade attention because of the Big Aristotle, but Pau Gasol is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. He was hidden in Memphis for his whole career, but now he will be getting the attention he deserves. It’s hard to say for sure, but the Lakers may end up being a force to be reckoned with.

With all of that being said, let me make my NBA Final prediction: Dallas vs Detroit. This may cause some family problems for my younger brother.

Blog Look Update

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It’s been LONG overdue, but I’ve decided to give my blog a fresh look. If you read my posts via RSS or facebook you won’t see the new look (you’ll have to go to kevinrossen.com). I’ve got some more updates to do still, but let me know what you think.

Super Bowl XLII Commercials

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So the game is over. I thought it would be a good game and it turned into one of the best Super Bowls that I’ve seen. Eli Manning came up big time in the fourth quarter. Miami Dolphin fans are happy because of their precious perfect season record being in tact. That’s about all that I can say about the actual game. On to what most people care about: the commercials.

I’ll get to my favorite commercial in a minute, but there was one commercial that really sneaked something very subtle in that I really don’t understand. Near the end of the Sobe Thrillericious commercial one of the lizards passed gas. I’m not kidding. Here’s a screenshot of the actual moment:
Sobe Thrillericious Passing Gas

If there is a good reason why this is in here, please let me know. Check out the full commercial (the farting happens at 0:51):