May 2, 2007
Someone recently pointed out that my "quasi-daily" factoid is fast becoming "quasi-monthly". Sorry about that. Chalk it up to the last few weeks of the semester! I'm almost finished though: 3 more finals is it--last one on Monday, May 7th. Oh well, 2 factoids for the month of April...I'll try to do better in May. (Although I'm not making any promises. I'm planning to be out of town nearly half the month!) So you may just have to do without. :-)
April 9, 2007
I have jury duty this month. I know most people complain about the pitiful daily pay of $12.50, but when you aren't working anyway, that's not too bad! lol
I went for orientation Friday (that's $12.50 for about 45 minutes), then had to report again today. Someone in our ever-efficient local government called us in even though the court is on "spring break" this week, so I get another $12.50 for about 15 minutes today! That's a total of $25 for about an hour of "work". Wonder if they're looking for someone full-time?
April 1, 2007
So I've been thinking about it for the last few weeks, and after this semester is over I'm going to move down to Guatemala. Bro. Dale Hughes has been there for several months and (as you may have read in my last factoid) I recently met the pastor of a church down there. Bro. Medardo Guerra is his name, and he seems like a good man. I should be able to get a job there teaching English without any problem, and I'm sure Bro. Dale would love to have the company for the rest of the time he's down there. I don't know how long I'll stay...probably a year or two until I'm ready to come back to the states. By the way, if you've read this far and you actually believe this, happy April Fool's Day! ;-)
March 25, 2007
My Spanish skills got a good workout yesterday! I went to the fellowship meeting at Bro. Tim Hughes' in Elkton, KY and Bro. Dale was there with the pastor of the church he's currently attending in Guatemala. He introduced me to Bro. Guerra and asked if I would translate for him. I said I'd do my best (sore throat and all!) but I was SO relieved when I saw Bro. Rudy come in. He's a native of Guatemala himself (who recently became a naturalized citizen--Congratulations!) and is obviously much more fluent than I am. So he did most of the translating until he got tired. You don't realize how exhausting it is to speak non-stop for 3 or more! I took over for the last hour or so, then they asked Bro. Guerra to get up and speak at the end of the service. I tried to get Bro. Rudy to translate for him, but he pointed out that it would be easier for me since English is my native language. (It's always easier to translate from your second language TO your native language than vice versa.) So I stood and translated in front of everyone. It was just the 3rd or 4th time I've translated like that publicly, and it is nerve-wracking! He wasn't used to speaking with a translator, so he didn't pause to give me a chance to catch up! I had to really concentrate in order to try to listen and speak simultaneously! I was told afterward that at least once, I repeated something that he said in Spanish rather than translating to English! But I enjoyed it and was glad I could help.
March 21, 2007
I'm thinking about re-entering the work force. You know, not having a paycheck isn't all it's cracked up to be. LOL Seriously, though, I needed a break from work, but I think it's been long enough. I was going to start part-time asap, but then I started my new class and thought I'd wait. Also, I have lots of places I want to go out of town during May and June and it might be difficult to get off with a new job, so I think I'll wait till after camp meeting. Then it's back to the real world. (sigh...)
March 18, 2007
I have a new class starting this week. It's an accelerated Microeconomics class. Originally it was supposed to meet once a week for 3 hours on Tuesday nights for 5 weeks, but they changed it at the last minute to an all online course. (If they'd done this at the beginning of the semester we could have been working on the class all along.) So I've got to pack a semester's worth of work into the next 5 weeks. We've got to read at least 3 chapters every week and take 3 tests for a total of 15 tests plus the comprehensive final over the next 5 weeks. I'm gonna be busy!
March 15, 2007
I thought I'd made an 81 on my first test for my online stats class, but I was reviewing the test the other day and found a mistake: the computer counted my answer "5,340" wrong because it had a comma, which didn't exactly match the stored correct answer of "5340", so I emailed the professor and he corrected it, which brought my grade up to an 86 on the test, and my average in there is now (just barely) an A! So I'm straight A's again! I've just gotta keep it up for the second half of the semester now!
March 13, 2007
Well, since I took the pressure off by renaming this section Quasi-Daily, it's become more of a weekly feature. Hmmm, I'll try to be better about updating regularly, or, failing that, I'll be more truthful by renaming it the "Weekly Jonathan Factoid"! (Of course then I'll probably be even worse about posting regularly!) Ah well, an update to my last factoid: I did indeed set a new personal speed record on the hill I mentioned: 41.1 mph! (I can probably better that speed as well, but I may not push it until I find a straight line hill. On that one, I have to make 2 turns during the descent!)
March 7, 2007
Some more cycling stats for the last couple weeks if you're interested--2/28/07: 2 hrs 29 min, 32.46 miles; 3/2/07: 1 hr 33 min, 20.07 mi; 3/5/07: 1 hr 2 min, 14.92 mi; 3/7/07: 2 hrs 15 min, 31.68 mi, maximum speed-38.8mph!!! That was on a new hill that I just discovered today! It snuck up on me and I wasn't in the right gear, so I didn't even pedal down it at all; I'm sure to set a new record there soon! :)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Friday, March 9, 2007
3/9/07: How God is like a tree. (From the Deep Thoughts department)
I was riding my bike today and saw a large tree that had been cut down. I do some of my best meditating while on my bike, and I'd been thinking about God, so I came up with this comparison between God and a tree. I'm not sure how truly valuable this thought is, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway!
A tree is quite different from a human being, to state the obvious. We tend to anthropomorphize God, to conceive of Him as similar to a human. And rightly so! After all, the Bible tells us we are created in His image. But here's where He is more like a tree than like you or me: if we were to separate a part of our bodies--say a finger--from our bodies, then that part of our body would die; it would cease to have life. Not so with a tree: when a part of a tree is separated from the larger organism, the part that is separated retains life in itself. At least with most trees, if you take a cutting from it and plant it in the right kind of soil with the right nutrients etc., it will flourish and become a tree in its own right.
Similarly, when we receive the Holy Ghost, it is as if God separates a piece of Himself and plants it in us. If we provide the right kind of soil, that Spirit (the very life of God in us!) will flourish and grow in our lives and bear fruit. On the other hand, if we do not nurture this life that God has given us, it can die. I have heard it said that someone's Holy Ghost can't die, because the life of God cannot die. However, the way I conceive of this personally is like the tree. The fact that a piece has been removed from the original tree does absolutely nothing to diminish the life in the original tree. Even if that new tree that came from the original becomes diseased and dies it in no way makes the original tree any less alive.
So is the life of God. When He plants His life in us by baptizing us with His Spirit, we can nurture it so that the Spirit thrives within us, or we can starve it, mistreat it, not water it--or maybe even uproot it by actions that are displeasing to God--until it dies within us. Though that planting of the Spirit in us may die, it in NO way diminishes the life that exists independently in God.
No wonder the Psalmist compares the righteous man to a tree in 1:3--"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
God's life is a precious gift that keeps on giving. It will bear fruit in our own lives, and in turn we can use that Spirit to water others that they may yield fruit as well!
Jn. 5:26 says "As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." I believe that, ultimately, overcomers will be given that kind of life as well. Then men will truly be trees of life in God's garden! What a goal to strive for!
A tree is quite different from a human being, to state the obvious. We tend to anthropomorphize God, to conceive of Him as similar to a human. And rightly so! After all, the Bible tells us we are created in His image. But here's where He is more like a tree than like you or me: if we were to separate a part of our bodies--say a finger--from our bodies, then that part of our body would die; it would cease to have life. Not so with a tree: when a part of a tree is separated from the larger organism, the part that is separated retains life in itself. At least with most trees, if you take a cutting from it and plant it in the right kind of soil with the right nutrients etc., it will flourish and become a tree in its own right.
Similarly, when we receive the Holy Ghost, it is as if God separates a piece of Himself and plants it in us. If we provide the right kind of soil, that Spirit (the very life of God in us!) will flourish and grow in our lives and bear fruit. On the other hand, if we do not nurture this life that God has given us, it can die. I have heard it said that someone's Holy Ghost can't die, because the life of God cannot die. However, the way I conceive of this personally is like the tree. The fact that a piece has been removed from the original tree does absolutely nothing to diminish the life in the original tree. Even if that new tree that came from the original becomes diseased and dies it in no way makes the original tree any less alive.
So is the life of God. When He plants His life in us by baptizing us with His Spirit, we can nurture it so that the Spirit thrives within us, or we can starve it, mistreat it, not water it--or maybe even uproot it by actions that are displeasing to God--until it dies within us. Though that planting of the Spirit in us may die, it in NO way diminishes the life that exists independently in God.
No wonder the Psalmist compares the righteous man to a tree in 1:3--"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
God's life is a precious gift that keeps on giving. It will bear fruit in our own lives, and in turn we can use that Spirit to water others that they may yield fruit as well!
Jn. 5:26 says "As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." I believe that, ultimately, overcomers will be given that kind of life as well. Then men will truly be trees of life in God's garden! What a goal to strive for!
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