Annotations along The Way

Apr 19

Snake Oil

US Military warns of bad times a coming:

“By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day” […] “While it is difficult to predict precisely what economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India.”

[source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/11/peak-oil-production-supply]

No sane human really denies that at some point, relatively soon, we will have a serious problem on our hands in regards to oil. As Americans, we fire through around 20,800,000,000 barrels of the stuff a year drive our cars, fly our planes, generate our electricity, heat our homes, light up our grills, create our plastics, ink, tires, cleaners, clothes, gum, etc (that list barely scratched the surface).

It seems odd that although warning signs keep increasing, production and consumption is not decreasing in any significant way. We have this stupid idea that in the end, everything will work out, because we feel that as a country, we are invincible. We feel that, as republicans, the democrats and liberals are lying about this “snake-oil science stuff” like climate change and fossil fuels running out. We feel that as democrats, we voted one in, so that will fix everything. Maybe the two years of oil in Alaska will be the answer. Maybe a car manufacturer will come out with another hybrid that costs $10k more than is gasoline counterpart, and allows us to drive an even bigger SUV. And our conscience is clear because it has a little green leaf on it.

It’s time for Christians to stop thinking that we can’t make this world a miserable and relatively unlivable place because we read Left Behind and we “know” that the rapture happens before anything really bad happens (that might just be a subtle challenge to a relatively new theology ;P ).

There will be more content on this topic in the coming months. Feel free to comment, I love good, open discussion.

Apr 13

Wheat & Tares

Matthew 13:24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Interesting parable, especially v29.

Apr 12

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:4-7

Apr 7

Environmental Stewardship vs Environmentalism

Nice little snippet here. I am looking forward to learning and writing more about this topic in the coming months.

Apr 6

How Tim Challies reads a book

Apr 3

“We must keep in view his word and leave alone his inscrutable will; for it is by his word and not by his inscrutable will that we must be guided.” John Calvin

The Everlasting Man

I set out to read “The Everlasting Man” after skimming a reading list of books that C.S. Lewis considered to influence him the most. The Everlasting Man topped his list, and apparently prompted his conversion from atheism. As C.S. Lewis has been one of my favorite authors for most of my life, I had some high expectations to say the least.

Diverse reading for the love of Christ.

In the past couple of years, I have been attempting to remove some denominational-bigotry in my life by purposefully reading theological (not necessarily in the “scholarly” sense) books by Christian authors from very different backgrounds with very different beliefs.

Welcome!

This will start off as a book review blog. As I relearn the skills of writing something of value (and not just the randomness that I’m used to spewing out via facebook/twitter), I figured reviewing books would be a good way to get the content flowing. I will attempt to review most of the books that I read here, which are varied in topic including financial, dietary, historical, fiction, poetry, motivational, (I will leave tech out) as well as the various streams within Christian books such as theological, inspirational (I dislike that term by the way), devotional, fable, and practical.

I will follow a basic format for the reviews: I will describe the book in a more or less detached way, doing a brief summary of what it actually says, followed by a personal reaction to it. I don’t claim to be an expert book reviewer, and I can guarantee that at times I will unfairly misinterpret the authors arguments, points, research, etc. Corrective comments are more than welcome!