Jonas Bull

The End of The World

2011-05-20T07:31:00.000-05:00

Allegedly the world will end, or at least be the beginning of the end, sometime tomorrow. I haven't put much thought into why Mr Camping thinks May 21st is the big day. It's pretty much irrelevant.

Let me say it again:

Whether or not the Rapture occurs on May 21st is IRRELEVANT.

In my experience only two kinds of people worry about the rapture, the end of the world, whatever, with regard to a specific date. One, there are those who fear the coming of the end, primarily for themselves. Not always because they fear eternal damnation, but because they fear the loss of the things they know and love. The other type looks forward to the end of a world they cannot understand and perhaps enjoy the idea of people who have wronged them getting their just rewards.

They both miss the point, although the oblivionists less so. One day, the world will end. Whether that is tomorrow or two thousand years from now makes no difference to me. It only matters to anyone in as much as you may have another day's grace to work out your own salvation. But even if the Big Day is called on account of idiocy, you personally may not get another. Anyone, at any time may get hit by the proverbial bus. ANY time. Think about that.

Who do you need to apologize to today? Who do you need to show, not just tell, your love to? Have you gotten your heart right with God? You may not even make it til tomorrow night. The time to get yourself straight is now, rapture or not.

I won't be waiting up tomorrow night. I feel pity for those who will be sorely disappointed Sunday morning. That will be when the true test of your "faith" is. If you are convinced Camping is right, and excited about the end, one way or another, you need to take a long hard look at why that gets you so worked up. It may not be the reasons you are telling yourself.

As for me, the rapture is welcomed anytime.

Scio Redemptor meus vivit

xkcd: The Difference

2011-04-29T08:04:00.000-05:00

http://xkcd.com/242/

How many times I have ended up having to repeatedly reinstall
(rebuild, reconstruct, remake, recook, etc.) because of the phrase: "I
wonder if..."

Tornado in Ridgeland

2011-04-15T11:29:00.001-05:00

Three Months with The Cr48 Notebook

2011-04-08T07:40:00.000-05:00

I got a Cr48 notebook in late December and have been messing with it ever since. More or less.

I was initially rather excited about the notebook, it was fast, secure, light. It has insane battery life, it is Linux based, it's more or less open to developers and reverse-engineering. I took the time. I tweaked. I updated. I joined a number of Cr48 discussion groups.

After three months, I still use it. Some.

The overall design just doesn't work.

So, the parts, and what makes them great:

The hardware is robust and fast enough for what it does. Really, the CPU is a little slow by today's standards, but everything else is well matched to it giving an overall experience that feels lightning fast.

The browser is Chrome, of course and it is awesome. I really feel that the Chrome browser is the best browser you can get today. It does an unbelievably good job of keeping the state of your browser sync'ed over multiple machines with usually being obtrusive about it. Almost everything "just works."

The OS is just the browser, basically. This is where the trouble starts. The Cr48 is basically useless without a network connection. I'm not always well connected. Thus, when I want to write a paper, a lesson plan, a blog entry, even a simple note to self, I do NOT pull out the Cr48. I use my clunky (but reliable) old Toshiba, or increasingly I find that I use my Android phone.

In fact, I am becoming more and more solidly of the opinion that the Cr48 needs to be dumped in favor of fully integrating the Chrome browser into Android.

Sorry, Cr48 team, I tried. I'm still trying. But I think the Cr48 is going to be remembered as a false step on the path to better things.

The Act of Faith

2011-04-06T20:33:00.000-05:00

Paul wrote "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb11:1)

Suppose you come awake as from a long sleep. As you wake up, you begin to recall the circumstances of your "sleep". You begin to remember that you had been injured in some way, such that you volunteered to take part in a radical experiment, though the details yet escape you.

As you regain consciousness you remember your youth, a career, fears, successes. You begin to recall lost loved ones. You thank God that you will see another day.

As you drift towards full wakefulness you remember pain, and though you seem to feel some pain now, it is distant, not the immediate force of your memory.

Now you begin to recall the details of the experiment that has kept you alive. Your body was crushed, and infection was destroying what little was left. The experiment offered a chance to survive, but the details remain fuzzy. You do know it was a controversial decision.

Now you begin to become aware of your surroundings. You are in a room, more lab than recovery room. It is clean, and you smell disinfectant, plastic, metal. You recall that the life-saving operation involved extensive reconstruction, replacement of body parts, transplants.

Soon you become fully awake and remember that there was more - you had agreed to be replaced, a piece at a time with bio-mechanical parts. As you begin to interact with your surroundings the primary researcher - your doctor - explains that once they started replacing, they had to continue as infection was spreading rapidly.

There is now no original cell remaining of your body.

Are you still you? Are you even alive?

What is the difference between a "you" that has been programmed to look and act like you and a you that has been maimed to the point that you cannot be recognized nor interact with the world? You may claim that "you" would know the difference. But what about the rest of us? What makes us "us?"

My thought today is that Faith is what makes us real. Faith is what tips the scale from a complex of emergent properties over to a living soul.

Not by our strength, even the "strength of our faith." This is the simple faith, "child-like," which accepts that what God has given simply is. How does this work? Well, faith, of course.

It isn't a matter of belief, as such. Believing a thing doesn't make it so. Faith is not equivalent to belief. You may believe that a thing is so, based on evidence, observation, prediction. You can believe that because it has always been it will always be, etc etc. Belief may yet be wrong. Faith is the acceptance of what is so despite lack of evidence, despite evidence to the contrary. Where belief fails, faith moves mountains.

Faith is knowing you are alive.

Faith is knowing you are you.

Faith is knowing Jesus saves.

You can't have faith that is "strong enough". But faith can make you strong enough.

Science Fair, Here We Come!!

2011-04-05T08:35:00.000-05:00

Building nuclear reactor at home - from scratch

http://3.14.by/en/read/building-nuclear-reactor-at-home

(Credit & Copyright: Svarychevski Michail Aleksandrovich)

Svary shows how to make a homemade nuclear reactor for under $50.

Unfortunately it doesn't even produce enough power to charge a cell phone. But perhaps there are improvements?

Regardless, it -looks- cool!!

Persistent Praying vs Mantras and Magic Words

2011-01-23T15:50:00.000-06:00

Vain Repetitions

Mat 6

7 “When you are praying, don't say meaningless words like the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard because of their wordiness.
8 Don't be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him

Te confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal is one of the most dramatic examples of prayers to other gods vs prayer to Jehovah God. Look at Elijah's simple prayer compared to the Baal prophet's fevered show. As more time passes and their deadline (literally) approaches, they become increasingly frantic and resort all manner of things to attract the attention of Baal.

Elijah, taunts them (?) but prays confident that the Lord will answer: He prays that God will be glorified. He prays for a sign, not for himself, but so that the Israelites will be brought back into the fold.

1 Kings 18:25-40 (NIV) Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "..Since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no-one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no-one answered, no-one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench round it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood." "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The Lord--he is God! The Lord--he is God!" Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

Mantra Prayers

Mat 6:5 “And whenever you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their full reward!
6 But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Mat 7: 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name, didn't we?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you evildoers!’”

Wikipedia: A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that are considered capable of "creating transformation".

The purpose (one purpose anyway) of prayer is to “create transformation”, I think it is fair to say. But a prayer that becomes a mantra places your faith in the words and the repetition of the words, rather than on God.

People often believe that if they simply repeat the right words the right number of times, what they want will be granted. Examples: I have heard stories of Japanese after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs who believed that repeating certain actions (paper swans) or words would cure them of radiation sickness. Other examples?

What about us?

Persistent Prayer

Luke 11: 5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

How do we square the idea that we should not use "many words" in prayer with the admonitions and examples of persistent prayer?

The key is to understand that there is no magic in repetition or in the form of words. Rather, the issue is relational: in being faithful and determined in going to HIM. God knows in advance what we need or desire, so He does not need to be lectured. Rather, we should go to Him consistently and persistently with simple humility to make our requests known, until they are answered.

Luke 18:1-8 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;  2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:  3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.  4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
  5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
  6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.  7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?  8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Phil 4:6 6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Prayer For Dummies errr Disciples

2011-01-02T16:48:00.000-06:00

Luke 11:1 (NIV) One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

And that is what he did. He proceeded to give them a short simple prayer that (in the original language) rhymed and had an easily remembered cadence. He specifically says that you should pray “in this manner” as opposed to “repeat after me”. You should use your own words, Jesus says, but use this as a guide.

Our Father, which art in heaven,

Gal 4:6 (NIV) Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out "Abba, Father".

1 Pet 1:23 (NIV) For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

Heb 12:5-7 (NKJ) And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

1 Pet 1:17 (NIV) Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.

1 Jn 2:29-3:3 (KJV)

29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth

righteousness is born of him.

1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we

should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because

it knew him not.

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we

shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we

shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Eph 3:14 (NIV) For this reason I kneel before the Father...

Recognize and acknowledge our relationship with God (as mediated by the atonement of Christ).

We have, through Christ a portion in the relationship between God and Jesus. Thus we can call on God as a father, not an earthly father, who is fallible and limited, but a heavenly father, a holy Father.

In Aramaic abbā is a word derived from baby-language. As the Rabbis said, a small child "learns to say abbā(daddy) and immā (mommy)."

Jesus, offers us the right to call to God as Daddy.

And yet, Jesus prays:

hallowed be thy name;

Ps 145:10-13 (NIV) All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations...

Isa 42:8 (NAS) I am the Lord, that is My name! I will not give My glory to another...

1 Cor 4:20 (NIV) For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

Eph 6:10 (NIV) Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Isa 42:8 (NAS) I am the Lord, that is My name! I will not give My glory to another...

Prov 18:10 (NIV) The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe.

Rom 10:13 (NKJ) For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Remember that names had meaning and power in those days. Even today, isn't everyone fearful of identity theft? The name matters, ans there is no greater name than God.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams explained this phrase as a petition that people may look upon God's name (which is his word, his presence) as holy, as something that inspires awe and reverence, and that they may not trivialize it by making God a tool for their purposes, to put others down or make themselves feel safe. He sums up the meaning of the phrase by saying: "Understand what you're talking about when you're talking about God, this is serious, this is the most wonderful and frightening reality that we could imagine, more wonderful and frightening that we can imagine."

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/prayer/lordsprayer_1.shtml)

thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Luke 17:21 (KJV) "...the kingdom of God is within you."

Rom 14:17 (NIV) For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

John 4:34 (NIV) "My food", said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me..."

Mat 26:39,42 (NIV) "...Yet not as I will, but as you will... May your will be done."

Mark 3:35 (NAS) "For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

Eph 5:10,17 (NIV) ...find out what pleases the Lord... understand what the Lord's will is.

Mat 16:19 (Phi) "...whatever you forbid on earth will be what is forbidden in Heaven and whatever you permit on earth will be what is permitted in Heaven!"

C.S. Lewis: "Thy will be done, by me now!"

Keep in mind that the Kingdom of God is not a place or a time, but rather a state of being in God's will.

The idea is that God's will is in fact done and done correctly in heaven, and we wish to reflect that here on earth.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Prov 30:8 (NIV) Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty or riches, but give me only my daily bread.

Ex 16:14-20 (NIV) When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" ["Manna", in Hebrew] For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs...' No-one is to keep any of it until morning." However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell.

John 6:32-35 (NAS) Jesus therefore said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." They said therefore to Him, "Lord, evermore give us this bread." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

Phil 4:6-7 (Phi) Don't worry about anything whatever; whenever you pray tell God every detail of your needs in thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which surpasses human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.

What is our daily bread?

What happens when we have too much ?

If we have more than enough, and we try to hold onto it, can it cause us problems?

The word which we usually translate as "daily" (epiousion) is a rare word which appears first in the Gospels. Based on its stem roots, the following possible meanings have been suggested:
- daily, for the current day, for today (according to military rations, a daily ration of bread was one loaf)
- necessary for existence- for the following day, for tomorrow
- future, is coming, next- which pertains to, which belongs to- supernatural

How does God "give" daily bread?

Think about how you have interpreted this petition. Now consider whether it makes any difference to your interpretation because it says "our" daily bread instead of "my" daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.

Luke 11:4 (NAS) And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

Luke 11:4 (Phi) And forgive us our failures, for we forgive everyone who fails us.

Mark 11:25 (NAS) "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

Mat 6:14-15 (NIV) "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

Eph 4:32 (NAS) Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Col 3:13 (NKJ) ...bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

The Bible is pretty clear on this: we need to forgive.

There are some evils done in this world which are so terrible that it seems almost impossible to forgive them. (the Holocaust, rape, murders, etc.) How do you deal with such situations?

Which is more true?
- Our capacity to forgive depends on God’s forgiveness toward us.
- God’s capacity to forgive us depends on our forgiving others.

John the Baptist preached "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." (Mark 1.4) Jesus forgave sins during his ministry. (Mark 2.1-12) If such forgiveness was available before his death, why did Jesus have to die? (Passages like Romans 5.15-21 and Hebrews 9-10 may help.)

And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Luke 22:40 (NIV) ..."Pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

Eph 6:11-17 (NIV) Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes... Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

2 Thes 3:3 (NIV) But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

2 Tim 4:18 (NAS) The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

What connections do you observe between the Lord’s Prayer and what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane?

Does God test / tempt people? See the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 and consider what happened to Job. Also see 1 Corinthians 10.13; James 1.13-15.

What is one temptation you never want to face? Why would this one be hard for you?

What would be best for you: To never face any temptations? To face temptations but receive help in resisting them?

What is the difference between praying that we not be led into temptation and that we be delivered from evil?

[For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.] Amen.

1 Chr 29:11 (NIV) "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all."

1 Cor 4:20 (NIV) For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

Eph 6:10 (NIV) Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Isa 42:8 (NAS) I am the Lord, that is My name! I will not give My glory to another...

Thy Will Be Done or My Will Be Done?

2011-01-02T16:45:00.000-06:00

Mark 11:24-25 (NIV) "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

John 14:12-14 (TEB) "I tell you the truth: whoever believes in me will do the works I do--yes, he will do even greater ones, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask for in my name, so that the Father's glory will be shown through the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it."

Why aren't our prayers answered (the way we want)?

Why, when we know a thing is “Good” and Right” do we pray for that thing and it is still withheld?

How do these verses (which are straight from the mouth of Jesus) mesh with:

Mat 26:39 (NIV) [Jesus in Gethsemane] "Yet not as I will, but as you will..."

James 4:15-16 (Jer) The most you should ever say is: "If it is the Lord's will, we shall still be alive to do this or that." But how proud and sure of yourselves you are. Pride of this kind is always wicked.

C.S. Lewis' commentary:

"As regards [the fact that many prayers go unanswered] no evasion is possible. Every war, every famine or plague, almost every death-bed, is the monument to a petition that was not granted... They have sought and not been granted. They have knocked and the door has not been opened."

"But [praying that God's will be done], though much less often mentioned, is surely an equal difficulty. How is it possible at one and the same moment to have perfect faith... that you will get what you ask... and yet also prepare yourself submissively in advance for a possible refusal? If refusal is possible, how can you have simultaneously a perfect confidence that what you ask for will not be refused? If you have that confidence, how can you take refusal into account at all?"

What have you prayed for and received?

What have you prayed for and not received? Can you see a reason why it would not be in God's will?

To tell someone who has just suffered the loss of a loved one, as one extreme example, that their loss was God's will is difficult. Should that be the response when they ask why God didn't answer their prayers?

Why do we not move mountains EVERY day?

C.S. Lewis:

"I'm not asking why our petitions are so often refused. Anyone can see in general that this must be so. In our ignorance we ask what is not good for us or for others, or not even intrinsically possible. Or again, to grant one man's prayer involves refusing another's. The real problem is... not why refusal is so frequent, but why the opposite result is so lavishly promised?"

"1) These Scriptures are the worst possible place at which to begin Christian instruction... You remember what happened when the Widow started Huck Finn off with the idea he could get what he wanted by praying for it. He tried the experiment and then, not unnaturally, never gave Christianity a second thought. We had better not talk of the prayer of faith as "elementary". It is a truth for very advanced pupils indeed. It is a coping stone, not a foundation. For most of us the prayer in Gethsemane is the only model. Removing mountains can wait."

James 4:3 (NIV) When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Many people develop a “faith” that is akin to an emotional state. They convince themselves that what they want is right, good, and that if they only believe hard enough, God must grant their request on the strength of their “faith” alone. IS that biblical? Is that even faith?

Faith, we are told, is the essence of things unseen. What does that mean with regard to prayer?

A revival preacher here years ago told this story (paraphrased and shortened):

“ When I woke this morning I was in a terrible hurry. I rushed through a shower, a quick cup of coffee, and getting dressed. Still more asleep than awake I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I grabbed a tube of what I believed to be toothpaste, and began to brush my teeth.

“However, I quickly realized that what I grabbed was not toothpaste, but was, in fact Ben-Gay.

“I believed in all innocence and with every confidence that I had toothpaste on my brush – but that didn't make it so.”

Faith is not belief, nor is it confidence. Faith is both more, and, in a worldly sense, less than either of these. Faith of God is evidence, the obviousness in our life, of a knowledge that God can, will, and does.

1 Jn 5:14-15 14And this is the confidence that we have in him: if we ask for anything according to his will, he listens to us.
15 And if we know that he listens to our requests, we can be sure that we have what we ask him for.

Now we know that Jesus is holy. We know that he is above what we can aspire to. Yet look at when he prays saying “not my will but thine.”

Luke 11:11-13

11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

When Jesus is praying for Lazarus – He speaks and Lazarus comes forth. When he heals, he does so with complete confidence and faith. Yet when he is praying for himself he says not my will, but thine. Why?

Certainly it is recorded that we be instructed by it. What is the lesson?

When we pray for things which are close to our own hearts, no matter how much we strive, no matter how close we are to God, we cannot entirely take the human selfishness out of the way. Therefore, we should be careful that what we ask is God's will, and to His glory. We can know His will, in part because it is revealed to us, and in greater detail by prayer and study and experiencing it first hand.

John 15:14-17 (Jer) "You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants any more, because a servant does not know his master's business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learned from my Father. You did not choose me; no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name."

John 15:7-8 (NIV) "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

So what is it that distinguishes the prayer of faith?

The old Chinese proverb goes:

When I was 20 I disciplined my body.

When I was 30 I disciplined my speech.

When I was 40 I disciplined my mind.

When I was 50 I disciplined my heart.

Now I am 60 and can do whatever I want.

In terms of Christianity, and prayer, how can we relate to this?

When we are close to God our hearts will be right, our faith will be right, and our prayers will be right.

First discipline (disciple) yourself to God's will.

Adding your own (Ubuntu's anyway) Binaries to Cr48

2010-12-29T14:45:00.000-06:00

The firs thing you'll need to do is get into dev mode.

The do this:

shell
sudo su -
/usr/share/vboot/bin/make_dev_ssd.sh --remove_rootfs_verification
reboot

That makes writing to the executable partition possible. When you get back up, go back to crosh and do:

shellsudo su - mount -o remount,rw /mount -o remount,exec /mnt/stateful_partitionmount -i -o remount,exec /home/chronos/user

Cr48 Latest Fun Stuff

2010-12-29T07:44:00.001-06:00

After some disappointments attempting to connect the Cr48 to an ad-hoc WiFi network (android-wifi-tether) I came across some useful info. Entering about:flags into the browser window lets you enable some features that weren't on by default, including media player, AFS, Side Tabs, and more.

The AFS (Advanced File Browser) is an improvement over the default in several ways, including automatically unmounting USB drives, and a working, refreshing, "back" button.

Cr-48 Media Access

2010-12-23T09:24:00.001-06:00

One of the gripes about ChromeOS is the lack of local storage or an easy way to access local media (USB, etc.)

I've looked for an extension/app to do it, but so far haven't found any. I do understand the ChromeOS philosophy, but I don't always want all my stuff "in the cloud". Moreover, I frequently use USB drives as a "sneaker net" media, transferring stuff on and off boxes with no other ability to connect.

Well, I have a partial solution, at least if you have gotten into dev mode. It seems ChromeOS's linux infrastructure is fully functional and able to automount my flash drives. These get mounted in /media similar to the way they do on Ubuntu, debian and others. The files are accessible from the shell and the mount is owned by chronos (the only "real" user from the linux side).

However, from within Chrome you only readily have access to the "Downloads " folder.

(I took this shot after I had already created the link. So it's sort of a preview).

So I set a symlink from /media into "Downloads" and was able to browse my device!

Further testing runs into a glitch - there seems to be no way to go back. That isn't the case, however, you can go back, but the window doesn't refresh. Ctrl-r refreshes you into the correct level.

I'm satisfied with this for now, but a few trivial tweaks (and linking /media in by default) would add much needed and much requested functionality.

Cr-48 Developer Mode

2010-12-22T14:47:00.002-06:00

The CR-48 has a switch in the battery compartment which is being called the jail-break switch. That isn't strictly correct, but you get the idea. The switch is concealed under black tape here:

It's a hard microswitch:

Away from the battery terminals is normal, towards is developer.

The system will erase the volatile partition, so be careful. You shouldn't have much on there anyway:

When you boot up now, you get a scary error message:

I especially love the sad face. The computer should be happy!

Anyway, you'll have to hit Ctrl-D here. If you don't, you'll get an even scarier error message:

Well, now the computer is just aggravated! I haven't explored just how this works internally, yet, but just hit Ctrl D at the first prompt and all is well.

Now you'll have to take your picture again, and do the initial login again.

But you will now be able to run the "shell" command from crosh and get a recognizable linux shell:

A bash shell, to be precise.

Try su sudo - and Bob's your uncle.

Now for fun stuff!!

UPDATES:

The recovery kernel

Cr-48 Testing

2010-12-22T10:24:00.005-06:00

I received a Google Cr-48 ChromeOS notebook through their beta testing program on Dec 20th. Naturally no one bothered to tell me I had a package until after midnight.

The packaging carried no indication of what was inside. Even the return address was a UPS address, kinda like a PO box. My excitement grew as I tore through the outer layers, and it began to dawn on me what I was holding.

There are no markings on the outside of the notebook at all (except the keycaps). No serial number, no model, no logos.

The notebook is about 9x12x.75" which is thick by comparison with the MacBook Air, but thinner than my Toshiba - or even the netbooks I have (thanks, Frank!). The shell feels sort of rubberized. It's actually a pleasing feel, like you can get a solid grip on it, and it isn't going to shatter or anything.

Speaking of which, the weight is a little heavier than it perhaps needs to be - but it feels good. It isn't heavy, but it feels substantial.

The display is crisp and bright, and despite a few early reviews to the contrary, I'd say it has better visibility than the devices I'm used to, if anything.

It has built in Wi-Fi which just works (asked for my passphrase at an appropriate time, etc). The 3G from Verizon is another story, which I will mention more later. I can also tether to my Android phone via USB with no additional setup. Just works. (Note: your phone has to support this, plus usual service provider disclaimers and warnings.)

The keyboard layout is a little different. There are no F-keys:

The key maps are: Forward,Back,Refresh,Full Screen, Window Switcher, Brightness Down, Brightness Up, Mute, Volume Down, Volume Up, and Power. Also missing (finally someone listened to my pleas!!) isthe Caps Lock key which may be the greatest step into the future of computing since the invention of Ethernet.

It's replaced with a Search key. Go figure. However, pressing the key may not have the response you expect. It opens a new tab in the current window. Pressing it again on the new tab closes it - unless you have opened a url or search in it. Then it opens another new tab. That takes about 3 minutes of getting used to, and then it becomes far more of a useful feature than caps-lock has been since the days when we had to type in all our COBOL in all-caps.

The touch pad is also rather different. It has no buttons. Single clicks are just a tap, double clicks are a two finger tap. A little hard to get used to, but effective. What isn't clear at all to me is how to click-n-drag. So far that's my main gripe. I'm reserving judgement for awhile to see how it goes. That means not using a mouse as I normally do.

Speaking of which I plugged in my Logitech mouse to the single USB 2+ port, and it worked flawlessly. I tried plugging bluetooth dongle in and it was quietly ignored. It seems bluetooth is already onboard, but not yet accessible to a standard user.

Logging in with my main Google Apps account produced unsurprising results - but that's a good thing! I fully expected that my apps and bookmarks would sync to chrome-the-browser and wasn't disappointed. ChromeOs has a couple of apps pre-installed that are now synced to my chrome-the-browser, but nothing that insults my intelligence or anything. Gtalk, a notepad, Gmail.

It's a browser-in-a-box. You already know this. It is very fast. In every case (except one, mentioned below) the limiting factor for speed was my network connectivity. Battery life self-reports in the neighborhood of 8 hours from a full charge and seems right on. It suspends rather than locking the screen, but you'd never know it, touching the touchpad immediately restores your session.

The normal user mode has access to a limited CLI shell called "crosh." It is mostly useful for acquiring diagnostic information as there are very limited capabilities for setting anything. There are some certificate utilities that I don't know anything about as yet also.

The Bad News
The Verizon data activation has a lot of issues. Mine is hanging at a partial activation, like many others. Verizon was unable to help as they didn't have the ESN/MEID in their system. Google has a team to help with this issue, and they are working to resolve it. I am expecting a call this morning to try and get mine activated. I will update after that call.