Do As You Are Commanded

Reading my Bible made me angry this week. It doesn't happen often, but some teachings are hard to accept. So here's what I learned, from Luke 17:7-10.

"Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come immediately and sit down to eat'?
"But will he not say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink'?
"He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?
"So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'"

Add that to Matthew 5:48 - a commandment to be perfect - and you have some pretty ridiculous stress. Just to get to the baseline, just to live up to God's expectations, I have to be perfect. And for it, I get called an unworthy slave!

Actually, I don't get called an unworthy slave, though God certainly has the right to call me whatever He wants (Job 38). I'm supposed to remember my position in relation to God, and call myself an unworthy slave. God will say to those who do as they are commanded, "Well done, good and faithful slave" (Matthew 25:21). The idea is humility. God doesn't need you or me. He doesn't need anyone. He'll never have cause to thank any of us, either, no matter how much time we spend doing good works and ministry, no matter how perfectly we follow His laws.

And, strangely enough, recognition of our lowly position is somehow liberating. I don't need to skip out on family time with my wife so that I can be involved in every single ministry my church does. I don't need to work myself to death trying to be there for everyone, all the time, no matter what. God can provide for all those ministries, all those people, all those needs, better than I can (incredible, I know). I simply need to find God's will for me - whatever it is that He commands me to do - and do it. Sometimes, it's as simple as sitting at His feet (Luke 10:38-42). Sometimes it's more. But whatever it is, the world doesn't rest on my shoulders. It is in His hands (yes, He's got the whole world in His hands).

I'm not Atlas. I'm just an unworthy slave of the LORD Most High.

The Possessions Exercise

I found this idea on Jake Seliger's blog The Story's Story and it seemed pretty insightful....

List the ten most expensive things (products, services, or experiences) that you have ever paid for (including houses, cars, university degrees, marriage ceremonies, divorce settlements, and taxes). Then, list the ten items that you have ever bought that gave you the most happiness. Count how many items appear on both lists.

I made the two lists below; it took me several hours to think of the ten things that bring me the most happiness. The point of the exercise, of course, is to realize that Stuff (with a capital "S") should be there to give us energy, not to take it away. Thankfully, most of the items I've spent money on thus far in my life are also on my list of things that have made me happy! Now, the idea is to get rid of the stuff that doesn't, and not spend money on anything that won't.

Ten Most Expensive Items

1. $14,500: Used 2001 Cheverolet Silverado 1500HD
2. $7,200: Diamond Engagement Ring
3. $2,700: Cello (including Bow and Case)
4. $2,000: Dell Precision M60 Workstation
5. $1,199: MacBook 5,1
6. $999: Living Room Set
7. $749: College Ring
8. $700: Tempur Pedic Classic Bed
9. $540: Springfield XD Subcompact 9mm
10. $459: 32" Samsung HDTV

Ten Highest Happiness Items

1. Engagement Ring:
   I'll just use this as a placeholder for my marriage. I love you, hon.
2. Used 2001 Cheverolet Silverado 1500HD:
   Freedom of movement. That's the happiness of a vehicle. It's not a big deal maybe if you're in a city with decent mass transit, but I'm not.
3. MacBook 5,1:
   Almost the same freedom of movement... just virtual. I went almost a week without a computer when the Dell died. Definitely one of my most loved purchases.
4. Cello (including Bow and Case):
   Music is an incredible gift from God, and the ability to use it to praise Him is even more incredible (Psalm 144:9).
5. Kitchen Table and Chairs:
   What's the best place to sit around and talk with friends and family? Kitchen table. What about board games and playing cards? Kitchen table. Oh yeah, and it makes having company over for dinner work so much better.
6. 32" Samsung HDTV + Living Room Set:
   I've never been one for TV, but I enjoy company. Having a place that's conducive to relaxation and laughter together is really nice.
7. Tempur Pedic Classic Bed:
   Speaking of relaxation... I'm pretty sure that gravity is higher in the region immediately surrounding that mattress, and it's definitely comfortable. I was sleeping on a pile of blankets on the floor before I bought the mattress, and a couple of friends who bought one thought it was too hard so they sent it back, but my wife and I love it.
8. Benchmade Jackknife:
   Carry this thing everywhere... every man should have a knife in his pocket. It's too useful not to.
9. Roomba 560:
   No vacuuming, ever. Well, at least less than it used to be. And the apartment is so much cleaner! Freedom of movement (time), anyone?
10. Levi's 559 Jeans:
    Yeah, I'm reaching here. It's hard to think of things that have made me happy in the long run. But I own two pairs of these jeans, and they're basically the only pants I wear. So they must be decent, right?

What makes you happy? Is it what you've paid for?

Google Chrome?

After reading several articles about Chrome on Lifehacker this week, I decided it was time to try Google's browser again. And I think I might keep it.

I've been a die-hard Firefox user since way back when it was called Phoenix (that was before Firebird) and I can't stand browsing the web without my beloved AdBlock. But Chrome is changing things; it does (almost) everything Firefox does!

• AdBlock: Now on Chrome. "Blocks ads all over the web."
• AutoPager: Works in Chrome. "Automatically loads the next page of a site inline when you reach the end of the current page for infinite scrolling of content."
• Find-As-You-Type: There's an extension for that. "Find text or links as you type."
• FlagFox: Better on Chrome. "Displays country or region name, Google PageRank, Alexa Rank and WOT information for the websites you're visiting."
• Ghostery: Coming soon to Chrome. "Alerts you about the web bugs, ad networks and widgets on every page on the web."
• Greasemonkey: Mostly good in Chrome. "Allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript."

Really the only thing I'm missing is FireGPG, but with Thunderbird 3 and Enigmail, I'm good to go for email and encryption... so yeah, Chrome it is. Can you say way faster, and 100/100 on Acid3?

Image Issues

Whose image are you made in?

"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." -Genesis 1:27

I've seen a lot of people lately making themselves in Peyton Manning and Reggie Bush's images - or at least wearing their jerseys. There are also a bunch of people making themselves in the image of a "Tea Party," aside from those making themselves into the image of President Obama or Rush Limbaugh. One of the guys at work chafes every day that he must make himself into the image of an office professional and wear khakis and a shirt, rather than being the image of Mark Martin, his favorite NASCAR driver. Personally, I just put on my boots and belt buckle and make myself into the image of a cowboy.

1 John 2:6 says that we should do as Jesus did - basically be His image. Luke 6:40 tells us that when we're fully trained, we'll be there. My question is do I really have that as my goal? Whose image am I making myself in?

Bridles and Fences

James 1:26 says that if anyone doesn't bridle their tongue, their religion is worthless.

So do you bridle your tongue? Or do you fence it? Or does it roam free?

There are two reasons to build a fence. One is to keep things in; the other is to keep things out. When we're talking about horses, fences keep them in the pasture and out of the dangers of the wild. So if James had written to "fence your tongue," we'd be good if we just never said anything bad - if we kept ourselves from gossip, malice, deceit, and all unrighteousness (Romans 1:29). But he didn't. He wrote that we must bridle our tongues.

When you bridle a horse, it's not to keep it out of the bad places. It's so that you can control and direct it to the good ones. So we must control and direct our tongues to the gospel. We must read scripture, exhort, teach (1 Timothy 4:13) - we must preach Christ glorified. If we aren't active in that endeavor, our tongues aren't bridled. They might be fenced, but that's not enough.

RealCrypt == TrueCrypt in Fedora

So, I didn't know this, and I've been installing TrueCrypt from source every time I update my system, but via a comment on this guide page I found out that RealCrypt is a rebranded version of TrueCrypt that's available in the RPMFusion repository. Hello, encrypted files (with no compiling required).

Just thought I'd share the knowledge since it's Data Privacy Day.

I Could Do Better

With $5,725,813,591.00.

That's the total amount (thus far) spent on 100 interesting projects funded by the recent government stimulus bill. It includes such gems as $2.2 million spent to build water pipelines to a golf course in San Francisco and $350 million to build a map of America showing where broadband internet is and isn't available. Or $219,000 for a "Study on 'Hookup' Behavior of Female College Coeds."

No really, that last one didn't come from some college humor website or even Facebook - it's real (number 33). The Stimulus Checkup is Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Senator John McCain's (R-AZ) look at what's costing America so much money. I vote we fire some people.

For a real-time view of how bad it is, visit www.usdebtclock.org.