Aqueous Humor

Just trust us...

2009-08-13T15:28:00.002-04:00

NOTE: I did NOT write this post. It was written by Tim Bayly, my dear Pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd. I'm just spreading the word and giving it a hearty "Amen!".

Link here: http://www.baylyblog.com/2009/08/trust-us.html#more

Text:

Just trust us...
(Tim) For several weeks, now, the news has been filled with articles reassuring Americans that government medicine is inevitable and poses no danger to us. They tell us government medicine will not fund abortions except in the most extraordinary cases where any reasonable man would agree the baby must die. It will not require the wholesale slaughter of the old and feeble--what we are taught to refer to as "euthanasia." After all, termination counseling isn't mandatory; it's simply an option offered those who may find it helpful.
A front page article in the Indy Star yesterday (picked up from the LA Times, by the way) blamed Rush Limbaugh for all the fear. "Nothing bad will happen," the civil authority tells us. "Just trust us."
Trust you?
You have got to be kidding! Trust you? You can't be serious!
Look at your track record. Your government education is so bad you'd sooner die than enroll your own children in the public schools serving your neighborhood there at the White House. And this is equally true of Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama.
Trust you?

Your Great Society poverty programs have put our great, great grandchildren in hock up to their eyeballs, and now you're fixing your greedy eyes on our great, great, great and great, great, great, great grandchildren.
Trust you?
Acknowledging them to be a huge stupidity, you've pulled down your federal housing projects and dispersed their occupants in smaller concentrations out in the suburbs. But then, you've had the audacity to take credit for the subsequent decline of urban crime rates, knowing full well crime rates in the suburbs have risen in direct proportion to urban crime rates falling.
You used the home mortgage industry to accomplish political ends and bankrupted it.
You designed our Social Security ship and baby-boomers will now sink it.
You forced our armed forces to allow women to step into harm's way, so now we've had pictures of twisted American sisters engaging in sadomasochistic torture of Muslim men spread everywhere, further endearing us to our Islamic neighbors and, as they see it, teaching them the true nature of Christian faith.
You have vowed to uphold our Constitution, then turned around and refused to protect the freedoms that Constitution guarantees.
Yet you make a big show of defending freedom; after all, freedom's your thing!
Look and see what you mean by freedom, though, and it's clearly only the freedom to hate, oppress, and murder. It's the freedom of sodomites to spread death and prey on little boys. It's the freedom of lesbians to adopt children so they can raise them in fatherless homes. It's the freedom of parents who hate their children (refusing to discipline them) to remove discipline from their neighbors' homes, every school, and every public place. It's the freedom of pornographers to enslave women and children to sexual perversions that make the Hindu temple prostitution of Amy Carmichael's day look like child's play. It's the freedom of doctors and fathers and mothers to slaughter unborn babies in numbers that make the combined totals of Mao, Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot pale by comparison--somewhere between 50 and 75,000,000, year after bloody year.
And you, civil magistrate, ask us to trust you? You, Submergent shills, tell us to put our hope in President Barack Obama?
Well, speaking of trust, maybe we can meet halfway? I'll trust President Obama and our millions of civil magistrates to do every evil thing and to protect every perversion and oppression known to man. That's the trust I'll give you.
And, civil magistrrate, I will also submit to you--but only in matters not requiring my own, my family's, or my congregation's rebellion against the Only True God. But as I submit to you, I'll preach that God is using you to bring His judgment on these United States of America.
The Old Testament prophets tell us that is His habit.
As in every age, the world today is separated into two groups: those who love our Creator and those who hate Him; those who serve the Only True God and those who serve Satan; those who hope in the civil authority and those who hope in the Lord.
The false shepherds of the Submergent Church don't recognize their idolatry and think those opposing Hillary Clinton's "village" and President Obama's "hope" are simply jaundiced, incapable of stepping out of their curmudgeonly take on Christian faith long enough to see all the positive things our civil magistrate can do for us. The list is endless, you know--from ending the war in Iraq to slowing down baby-slaughter to taking back the national dialog from partisan hostility to ending global warming to solving our national health care crisis. "When you realize the power of citizens united for the common good," they tell us, "you realize there's almost no problem government can't solve."
Well, usually I don't bother writing about such damnable foolishness, here, because I've found pomo Submergent types don't like to dialogue. But in case any of them pass by or one of us is able to get one of them to listen to someone other than himself, l must point out our nation was founded on the principle of personal accountability to the Holy God. Not one of our founding fathers was deluded enough to think our civil compact could survive the death of the fear of God among those holding public office, let alone among Reformed Presbyterian pastors.
Government health care will slaughter our parents and grandparents just as our Supreme Court has slaughtered our children. And you, dear brother and sister in Christ, will not just pay for it through your taxes.
You will do it. Your own voice will nod the assent and your own hand will give the pill and pull the plug.
This is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, God have mercy.

NoiseTrade Widget

2009-03-12T19:42:00.001-04:00

Judgment is Coming

2009-03-07T10:23:00.002-05:00

Amo 1:13 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
Amo 1:14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
Amo 1:15 And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD.

The President we as a nation have elected is doing exactly as he promised. Within a few weeks of taking office, he lifted restrictions on funding abortion overseas. This Monday, he will reverse restrictions on stem cell research, where babies are made (FYI, that includes in vitro and in vivo), then killed, for the prospect of maybe someday using this research to find a way to prolong another persons life a few more years (many bio-scientists are also becoming more and more skeptical of this, in favor of non-embryonic stem cells). Kill the next generation to preserve this one just a few years? That's a surefire way to extinguish our race even sooner...although I think God may wipe us out before then. I have intentionally avoided being "political" in my blog, but this is not politics, this is religion. And don't think for a second we have a "secular" government. Obama is religious to his core. He worships Molech and Baal more intently than the vast majority of "Christians" worship God.

We in America use Hitler as the poster child of evil. Let me tell you Hitler was nothing in the grand scheme of things. We teamed with Stalin to bring down Hitler, and Stalin was worse than him! Add in Mao Tse Tong, and all of these men combined slaughtered somewhere between 30 and 60 million (Hitler being the least) deaths in three countries over a combined 50 years. That works out to at most 1.2 million a year. We kill somewhere between 1.4-1.6 million a year just in America!

And it is going to increase. Our new president is disgusting. He laughs at the blood pouring through our streets and rivers, and we laugh with him. Our inner cities, which is where most of these slaughterings take place, worship at the altar of his priesthood, where he vows to continue offering up our children to his idols, as well as using our tax dollars to help other nations do the same.

I do not claim to be any sort of prophet, and I am not going to claim that our current economic collapse is only a sign of things to come. I don't know. But this I do know: Our High Priest and righteous Judge vowed to utterly destroy the children of Ammon and drive out their rulers, will He not do the same to us?

God help us.

Viviendo en Mexico

2009-02-14T20:58:00.002-05:00

So I have moved on to the next phase of my life...my last optometry rotation...in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico. I still have very limited internet access, just like the previous 6 months, so this might be my only post for a while again. I am living with a Christian family here, and they take wonderful care of me. They feed me, house me, do my laundry. They speak next to no English (entirely non-conversational), and I speak very limited Spanish, so it's very trying. But the idea was for me to get much better at Spanish, so hopefully that works out well. I have seven weeks left. God has been humbling me greatly with this family's generosity and reliance upon God. I have come to recognize how faithless I am in everyday life. Which has led to God doing great things in increasing my faith! I praise Him for that, and trust that He will continue to do great things in me. It's as if I can hear Him say to me,

"I have brought you out of the land of Egypt, will I not also provide (...) and care for you now?"

Sad...

2008-10-27T19:13:00.002-04:00

Once again, I have left a bunch of people I dearly love. At least I'm only 4 1/2 hrs. away from B-town...so hopefully I can make some weekend trips. In the meantime, I'll be looking at a lot of eyeballs owned by the brave men who have risked their lives for our freedom. I want to take one more opportunity to mention Paul Washer's sermon "10 Indictments" given at the recent Revival Conference in Atlanta, GA. It is a must for all Christians in this country. See my last post for its link. Also check out this short video of Washer talking about persecution in America.

A Message for Our Day

2008-10-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

10 Indictments by Paul Washer

A Renewing of My Mind

2008-10-06T23:52:00.000-04:00

(I composed this a few months ago and haven't updated my blog due to limited internet access...fyi I have been in back in B-town for 2 1/2 months now and am already getting ready to head off again, this time to Huntington, WV)

In the past few weeks I have been embarking on a journey to rework my understanding of life in Christ and reinterpret my life experiences in light of scripture, which by necessity includes the proper use of Bible words. In one sense I have been on this journey for years, but recently it has been a very conscious, heart and mind-wrenching experience. I suppose it started with me surrounding myself with people (Grace Community Church) who seem to have a prominent concern with whether or not I'm a Calvinist, and then wondering how in the world a church full of Presbyterians and Baptists (and a "third wheel" of a pastor with a Vineyard background) could even remain standing, let alone how I found myself in such a thing (I am of course referring to Church of the Good Shepherd).

On one hand, it has been very exhausting not only to have these conversations, but also sit under sermons where at least half of the time was focused specifically on aspects of Reformed doctrine (which for the past month has been the case). To be honest, I have avoided having the "I'm not Reformed" conversation, because the prospect alone wears me out right now. So why do I keep going back? Well, I know they love Christ, they love the souls under their care, and they handle God's word seriously, even if we reach different conclusions about some doctrines. For the same reason, I will never attend another church in Bloomington other than CGS. They truly love one another and do things rightly. I will always be with people like this, as opposed to finding a church where I "agree" with their "doctrine" but is absolutely dead.

The good thing about all this frustration is that it has caused me to reconsider my understanding and use of words and biblical terminology. In my studying, I came across a discussion mainly between two brothers over at sermonindex.net regarding the distinction between Baptism in the Holy Spirit and fillings with the Holy Spirit. Ron Bailey, both in this discussion and in his teaching series "Having begun in the Spirit" makes mention that Bible words don't have definitions, but histories, and we must track these histories to understand the words. God was very specific in His choosing of words, and used two very detailed languages (unlike English) to express what He wanted to convey to us.

The Bible has very few true synonyms. At its simplest, in any language, if two words meant the exact same thing, there wouldn't be two words for the thing. Even if two words essentially mean the same thing, they often have quite different etymologies, so they bring different emphasis. Add to this that this is God's word, so we must pay close attention to how He uses words. Some may call me a little too pedantic, but in this day of evangelical muck-soup, maybe a little pedantry is what we need.

In college, while involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, I was taught, as literally millions have been since the late 1950s, that one gets "saved" simply by praying a magical prayer. 4 simple laws to agree to, then after a 10 second regurgitation of a written prayer...WHAM! congratulations! Now you can be assured that you are going to heaven! No more worries! While this whole "method" (as well as most of the teaching contained in the little booklet) is completely baseless and unscriptural, I think a lot of the problem is our concept and use of the word "saved." It's so shallow. The Bible use of this word is not to describe a one time event in the life of an individual whereby beforehand he was not saved (which is sloppily equated to "not in heaven") and now he is (which is sloppily equated to "in heaven"). Rather, a person goes through many "salvations", is continuing to progress in salvation, and will eventually have a salvation not yet seen. Salvation is a very broad term with many applications (may I direct you to Paris Reidhead's sermon So Great Salvation for some great insights regarding this concept) leading to one Great Application. Salvation is so much more glorious than the concept most of us have been taught. It encompasses things like conviction, repentance, justification, regeneration, sanctification, glorification...which are all very distinct workings of God in the life of the Christian resulting in conformation to the image of His Son.

A Calvinism I Can Chew on, and Find Tasty (part 1)

2008-07-02T18:57:00.002-04:00

Last night at Bible study, Brother Tim Conway (pastor at GCC) was discussing the need to overcome sin, and how the warnings of scripture often go right over the heads of most Reformed folks because of the doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints. He suggested that Jesus wasn't just being hyperbolic in Matthew 5:29. If we don't take sin as seriously as Jesus talks about and mortify the deeds of the flesh, we are in danger of hell. Tim obviously believes that if you are "elect" you have no choice but to overcome; but he acknowledged that the emphasis of scripture is on us thinking that the possibility exists that the Saint might not overcome and enter heaven if we are not violent about it. He recalled a pastor friend of his, whenever asked by a young believer if it was possible to lose salvation, even though his theology would say "of course not," he would instead say with gusto, "You can if you DO."

Controversial Question

2008-05-20T23:53:00.002-04:00

Which is more slick and slimy: Rob Bell's preaching or Joel Osteen's hair?

A Few Things Learned

2008-05-20T23:16:00.002-04:00

It has been 5 months to the day since I last posted. I had no intentions of taking such a long hiatus, but alas, here we are. I hope to post more regularly once again. Last semester was long and rough, but I have finished my classwork and am currently on rotations for the next year. I dearly miss Church of the Good Shepherd and my family there, but I have found a good fellowship here in San Antonio at Grace Community Church. I don't know how I keep winding up in staunchly Calvinist circles, seeing as how I am not one. My friend Lane would tell you it's because God wants me to be one so he puts me (or has predestined me to be) in situations where it's screaming at me. I of course would smile and quip that it was my choice to be here ;-)

On another front, I did not buy the soprano sax I discussed many moons ago. I was in need of a better automobile to make my cross-country journeys so I bought a 2008 Hyundai Elantra, thanks to Lane.

A Few things I have learned in the past few months about manhood both from a dear brother in the Lord and walking through some of my experiences with him:
1. Men make decisions. Hopefully, they are grounded in scripture and supported with a multitude of godly counselors. But they make decisions in faith, without looking back, and face whatever outcome God gives.
2. Men are open and honest in relationships...always. Hiding feelings and emotions while playing games and speculating about what a woman is thinking and feeling is just foolish. No one profits from such things.
Now, I am not suggesting that if a man likes a woman he should immediately pursue her gung ho. Contrary, much prayer and counsel must be sought to see if she is a godly woman and that he is ready to pursue such a woman. Then, and only then, should he pursue.

I will not go any further than this because I still lack much wisdom in such things. So I leave it here, and will continue to seek, in general, as I started in this blog, what it is to be a man.

Adam, the First Man--Part 1: Men are Dirt!

2007-12-20T22:32:00.000-05:00

Here you go, ladies, this verse is for you:
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground" (Gen 2:7a). We are dirt. No one can deny it. Even before the Fall, we were dry, lifeless, simple. Low, humble, nothing. But then..."[God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7b). When God breathes into a man, he becomes full of life as God intended him to be. We cannot be men without God in us.

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it" (Gen 2:15). Ok, here we go. Start throwing stones and call me male chauvinist or primitive. But it's what the Bible says. Who was to work? Man. Woman wasn't even in the picture yet. Am I saying it is wrong for women to work? No. But is she to be the worker? No. Man is to be the "breadwinner." Get mad if you want. But God is establishing His proper order.

"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen 2:16-17). Man had fellowship with God in the garden, and was allowed to eat of any tree, which included the tree of life. He could seek God, but was not allowed to seek knowledge. We too will die by seeking knowledge for knowledge's sake, and not the Lord. Communing with God must be our primary concern. As Leonard Ravenhill said, "do you go to church to meet God, or to hear a sermon about Him?"

"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Gen 2:18). This is the first time God, in our record, said "it is NOT good." Everything else in creation up to this point was good. But man should have something else besides himself or the rest of creation (Gen 2:19-20). Notice that scripture does not say it is not good for man to work alone, but it is not good for him to be alone. For a man to be a man, not only does he need the Breath of God, but at some level needs companionship with another. Specifically why, God does not say (or at least I'm not privy to it without inducing), we just know it's good in the sight of God. This is the primary purpose of marriage; to have companionship that is good in the sight of God. Kids come later and are a blessing of God in this relationship, but the realtionship itself is first. So what would constitute this companion? First of all, it would be a help. [More stones] Not someone to lead him or provide for him, but to help him be. The companion would also have to be meet for him, which carries a lot of meaning. A more literal translation (I take the word of saintly scholars here...I know nothing of Hebrew) is corresponding to. Not exactly like him, but in his likeness exactly opposite to him such that they match perfectly. Physically (including sexually...think about it...there's only one way for it to work), emotionally, relationally. In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons the divorce rate is over 50% and pornography is such a problem in this nation is because we have confused the roles of men and women. Thanks to the hippies and the feminist movement of the last 40 years, our culture has taught men to be women and women to be men. And until we rediscover God's proper order of things, don't expect much to change.

"And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen 2:21-23). Here is the next step in God's establishing order. God could have easily formed the woman out of the dust as He did the man. This would have made her separate and "equal" in all aspects (For clarification, I do not mean than men are somehow "superior" or more "evolved" than women, but that we are very different in our roles and responsibilities). But taking her from man's flesh and bone made her in his likeness, of him, as his perfect complement. God did what He said, and made "an help meet for him." This order and method sets God as man's head, and man as woman's head in God. Now don't get mad at me. This is how God did it and this pattern is consistent throughout scripture and taught explicitly by Paul in 1 Cor. 7, among other places.

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Gen 2:24). Here we see it is the man who is to seek out a wife, not the other way around. The man, being the head and leader, must take this first step. In our culture today, women are more likely to seek men. Another recipe for failure. If a guy can't even step up and risk himself to seek a woman, how in the world is he going to be man enough to lead her in a relationship? Likewise, a female who seeks a male is likely far too "manly" to accept God's role for her in a relationship. In Scripture, when the woman is the one who "puts herself out there" without her covering (either her father or husband), she is considered a prostitute (at this point, I'm sure someone will pick out exceptions, but we must keep in mind, they are EXCEPTIONS, and often for good reason). Once again, we see the primary purpose of marriage; a cleaving to become one flesh. Once in marriage, he is no longer his own, but hers. And likewise, she is now his. All self-ambition and pride must dissolve for the sake of each other. If you get married for yourself, you can be sure it won't work out like you "planned." It can't be about me, it has to be about my wife, and me serving her.

Who were we (both men and women) created to be?

2007-12-05T20:08:00.000-05:00

"Let Us make man in our own image, after Our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). Both man and woman (this verse applies to both) were made in the likeness of God. Body, soul, and spirit (a trinity if you will), we are self-aware, we can think, reason. While these things are true, that is about where our "characteristics" that are similar to God's end. But to be made in His image, oh that goes so much deeper! We are His image-bearers. We are to represent God to this earth. When you look into a mirror, it is your image-bearer. It is NOT you, but if it is clean and flat, and optically perfect, the world could look at that mirror and see you exactly as it should. That is what we were made to do. Be God's image-bearer. But if that mirror is crooked (which we have been ever since Adam sinned) and tarnished and filthy (which we have done with our sin), that image looks absolutely nothing like us. Take a funhouse mirror, coat it with clear fingernail polish or hairspray, cover it with mud and dung and maggots, then carry it around and only let people see the mirror, not you. How would you look?
We are that mirror. Everything we do that is not in perfect accord with Him gives the entire world a blasphemous view of God. Every time we gossip, swear, look with lust, hate, complain, etc, we are telling the world that God is a gossip, swearer, adulterer, murderer, complainer...What an awesome responsibility we have, and terrible our sin when we don't fulfill that responsibility!

"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Gen. 1:28). This verse is for all the abortionists and evolutionists and tree huggers and animal rights folks. In addressing abortioninst/feminists/Christians who try to play God with how many children they should have so they can pursue their careers and selfish desires without kids "getting in the way" (uh oh...I am gonna get in big trouble for that one!), read this: "And God BLESSED them and said be FRUITFUL." Children are a BLESSING FROM GOD, not unfortunate consequences of sex to be aborted or "put up with" while we try to remain independent and do as we please. Now let me be clear before people fall off their rockers and I get called judgmental: Am I saying you are in sin if you use birth control or aren't having kids every nine months during your 30-40 child-bearing years or trying to be wise about such things? No. But maybe. Seek the scriptures and be convinced in your own mind. If you search God and His word and determine that you can in all faith and good conscience use birth control (whatever prophylactic means you choose...obviously abortifacient forms are murder), then go ahead (Rom. 14). My feelings are that it is the ATTITUDE behind birth control (in most cases) that is sinful. Will I and my future wife (if God so chooses to bless me with one) use birth control? I don't know. How many kids will we desire or have? I don't know. But we must have a right mind about these things. Determine your own convictions on this issue. Don't take my word for it any more than the culture that has so greatly influenced us. But we MUST see children the way God sees them: as a blessing not a curse!

And now for the environmentalists/animal rights folks: "And God BLESSED them and said...SUBDUE and HAVE DOMINION." What an honor and responsibility God has given us! We are higher than the rest of creation and are to take headship over it! Am I advocating cruelty to animals or destroying the earth through polution, etc.? Well, let me answer that by asking this: What kind of leader/ruler destroys those under him? A cowardly, unjust, irresponsible failure, that's who! That one is not a leader at all, but has made himself lower than those under him by not respecting the Authority over him. God has given us this earth to replenish it and rule over it. Let us take that seriously. On the other hand, it is a grave error to put all of life on the same level, for God has not done that. God's proper order of things does not include a "Mother Earth" whom we serve and not dare upset. What a blasphemous and idolatrous idea!

Let us see things the way God sees them. I know my pursuit of manhood must start with these principles laid out in His word.

Next up: Adam--the first man.

What is a Man and how do I become one?

2007-11-26T22:22:00.000-05:00

First off, let me say that no, I do not think I am currently a man. Right now, there is way too much boy in me for me to rightfully lay claim to that term. However, I have seen men and know men, One in particular, to realize that I not only desire but I must become one. And I hope and pray that I am clearly heading in the right direction, and that someday very soon God will make me a man. When expressing his own lack of faith to a Moravian, John Wesley was told, "Preach faith till you have it; and then because you have it, you will preach faith." So that is what I will endeavor to do. I will preach manhood until I have it. Stay posted...

Saxy

2007-11-20T08:21:00.000-05:00

In the last few weeks I've had an almost unhealthy obsession with saxophones. Listening to them, shopping for them, reading about them, studying harmonics and tone production, etc. In fact, the main reason it has been over a week since my last post is that I've spent so much time in sax world. I have no idea where it started. I'm kind of worried as to where it will end. Since coming to college 5 1/2 years ago, I have probably played my saxophone fewer times than I can count on two hands. In high school, I practiced on average 1-2 hrs. every day for three years and studied with Dr. James Ator in Fort Wayne, IN. While I do not in any way regret where I am now in studying optometry, at times I do wish I would have stayed with my horn in undergrad. But alas, I can't change where I've been, I can only determine where I go from here (with God's grace). I have pulled the horn out, conditioned the pads, checked the condition of my mouthpiece and reeds, and have it ready to go. Much to my excitement, by 11 year old brother has chosen to play the saxophone as well, so now I have extra motivation to play myself and teach some things to him.

I play a Yanagisawa A991: http://www.wwbw.com/Product/ZoomImage.aspx?img=Yanagisawa/50540.jpg

I have been itching to buy a S991: http://www.wwbw.com/Product/ZoomImage.aspx?img=Yanagisawa/yang.jpg

or the curvy model: http://www.wwbw.com/Product/ZoomImage.aspx?img=Yanagisawa/102935.jpg

Some saxophones that I will NEVER even dream of buying:
The soprillo sax: http://www.eppelsheim.com/soprillo.php?lang=en
The subcontrabass saxophone: http://www.eppelsheim.com/tubax_bb.php?lang=en

Here are some of my favorite sax players:
Charlie Parker (alto)
Paul Desmond (alto)
Cannonball Adderly (alto)
Art Pepper (alto)
Michael Brecker (tenor)
John Coltrane (tenor)
Todd Williams (tenor)

Speaking of Brecker, here is an absolutely amazing video of him with Bobby McFerrin (THE jazz "beatbox"...did The Cosby Show season 4 opening theme): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LYXdNW7uYI

Well, I hope that I've at least piqued your interest in jazz a little...if not, at least I'm feeding my obsession!

That's Offensive!

2007-11-10T12:05:00.000-05:00

In my first post, I mentioned that most likely you will be offended at some point. I would like to expand on that a little. I will not, nor should we ever, seek to offend for the sake of being offensive. I will offend you because you may strongly disagree with what I say, or it may "cut to the heart" or rub you the wrong way...and that's OKAY. In this ever-increasingly "politically correct" and post-modern world we live in, we are being indoctrinated by media, congress, and the PC police to think that we are never allowed to tell anyone they're wrong, or say anything is wrong, b/c it's OFFENSIVE. Well, that offends ME. Not to mention that it's a self-refuting idea. Think about it. Person A tells Person B that they are WRONG and JUDGMENTAL for telling Person A that what they did or believe is WRONG. How absurd!

I'm reminded of a conversation I heard recently between Todd Friel of Way of the Master Radio and a post-modernist. Todd was preaching open-air and this guy in the crowd says something to the effect that Jesus can't possibly be the only way to God because what is right for you may not be right for me and we all have our own "truth". Todd asked him, cleverly, if he thought Todd was WRONG for preaching that Jesus is the only truth. The guy said no. Wait a second...Todd says Jesus is the only way, this guy says everyone has their own truth, therefore they disagree, right? Todd could not get this guy to say since they had opposing viewpoints he thinks Todd is wrong. Ensuing was a conversation that went something like this:
Todd says "What am I standing on?"
"A bench."
"Well, I think it's a watermelon."
"Okay."
"Am I wrong?"
"No."
"But you say it's a bench."
"Yes."
"I think it's a watermelon. Am I wrong?"
"No."

And on it goes. Todd likes to say, "It's like nailing Jell-o to a wall." There are two things going on here, but I will only address one for this post. What kind of world are we living in now that we can't even disagree on anything? This country was partly founded on the principle that it's good and okay to disagree, hence the first amendment. But we are quickly heading down the road where all thoughts and speech will be censored at the risk of offending someone. The same thing is going on in "evangelicalism" (I use that term very loosely) today with the emergent movement. Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt and others are saying that the "fundamentalists" are wrong for preaching doctrine (God's yes and God's no) and being "offensive."

We may and will disagree on some things. Again, that's OKAY. Let's discuss it. Take it to heart. Ponder over things. Then do with it what we will. After all, the only way to get your clothes clean are to throw in some strong detergent and agitate the snot out of them.

Now that's offensive!

Aqueous Humor?

2007-11-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

I chose this blog name for a variety of reasons. First, the obvious. I'm an optometry student, and God willing, will be practicing by the summer of 2009. The aqueous humor is a watery substance produced and actively secreted inside the eye to provide nutrition to your cornea and crystalline lens. It ends up draining into your venous system. Normally it is "optically empty" and helps light form a clear image on your retina. In eye infections or injuries, it can become clouded with white blood cells, blood from hemorrhaging (called a "hyphema"), or proteins leaking out of blood vessels (called "flare"). The aqueous humor is also responsible for maintaining a (fairly) constant pressure inside your eye. Abnormalities in the production or drainage systems can cause too high of pressures--causing or aiding in the progression of certain types of glaucoma (a progressive destruction of neural retina), or too low of pressures--making your eye "squishy"(an official medical term, of course).

I tend to be dry, and I enjoy dry humor...so this title will hopefully encourage me to make things a little more "aqueous."

A third thing I thought of when coming up with a name has a spiritual application. If we let foreign (worldy) things come in like cells, flare, or blood, it can cloud our vision (judgement). We need a proper filtering system like tight junctions of the ciliary body (or the Holy Spirit and His covering) to keep us clean and clear. We must be constantly aware of what we allow ourselves to see and hear. Remember, "garbage in, garbage out."

Lastly, I thought of James 4:14. Heating up the aqueous would turn it into vapor, which is exactly what God calls our lives in this verse. Leonard Ravenhill has an excellent sermon based on this text, and can be found here .

That's aqueous humor as I see it.

Here We Go

2007-11-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to do this for quite some time, and reading the blogs of two friends (The Big Diehl and A New Direction) inspired me to go ahead and start it up. I have to admit, I don't think I have any idea what I'm getting myself into, but we'll see how it goes. I hope to encourage and challenge those who read this. You may laugh (although I'm not that funny), cry (probably not), get offended (likely, depending on who you are), or think I'm a blithering idiot (which many times is true). It's going to be interesting...