The Night of St. Nick. Is Santa Claus real?
December 25 is Christmas Day. The day Saint Nicholas allegedly delivers presents to the “nice” children of the world. This begs the question, “Is Santa Claus real?” Perhaps not, but a few years ago I read an interesting article some physics students put together that answers this very question.
Read on for the satirized, scientific study.
Read more
Babies, Books, and Knitting
This is the time of year when many celebrate a rather historic moment: the birth of a child. It is unusual because our culture typically shuns the embracing of a single religion in favour of the “many paths to God” philosophy. Perhaps it is the captivating allure of a small, innocent child that calms the belligerent tendencies in us. Or perhaps it is simply that as creatures of habit we feel compelled to embrace the unwavering traditions in which we were raised. Nevertheless, every year the story is told and it begins in Matthew chapter one:
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
22All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”
–Matthew 1:18, 22-23 (NIV)
The book of Matthew launches a new era in Biblical writings: The New Testament. The book initiates a new beginning of the Bible that builds on the foundation of the Old Testament and starts the ball rolling with a series of writings that together comprise a single narrative. What is remarkable about Matthew is that even though it begins with the Christmas story, the birth of Christ, there is something that takes place in the first few verses that is even more interesting: The genealogy of Jesus. Although I find reading genealogies a tad dry, the fact that God chose to begin with one illustrates a facet of His character that I find most intriguing.
Can A Genius Replace A Worship Leader?
I’m thinking it may be able to. I say, “it,” and not, “him,” or, “her,” because I’m not referring to a person but rather a piece of technology.
Many months ago Apple introduced a new feature in iTunes called Genius. The (simplified) premise behind this new technology is that iTunes reports your library of songs, artists and albums, along with a record of your listening habits to Apple’s online servers. It sounds big brother-ish but really the goal is that when this information is collected en masse it allows Apple to analyze and build associations between songs based on the collective listening habits of… everyone.
I’ll admit I’m a bit late to the game. I never actually tried out the Genius feature when it was first introduced. I decided lately to give it a shot. What did I find?
The Genius was able to take the song I had selected, Starfield’s I Will Go, and build a list of 25 songs from artists in my library. The result? I had a playlist that started with some great rock songs that eventually progressed into those famous “transitional” songs worship leaders like to use. Of course, no worship set would be complete without the obligatory finale ballads.
What about those times when the Spirit of God moves after the worship leader finishes his or her last song and all of sudden we feel drawn into a state of majestic worship with songs that cannot be described as up-beat nor slow, but rather as intense and powerful? Genius has you covered. My playlist wrapped up with just those songs.
Eerie? Maybe. Perhaps the Spirit of God moves through my iPhone.
Facetiousness aside, the playlist was well put together. The accuracy of the playlists does seem to reinforce that human beings are creatures of habits. The beauty of Apple’s implementation is that as time goes on the lists will only ever get more accurate and better-suited to the style you want to listen to.
So can a Genius replace a worship leader?
Heh, no. Of course not. But if you’re a musician on a worship team it will definitely get you a song list sooner! 
z-Lightview Updated to 1.3.0
I’ve just released version 1.3.0 of my z-Lightview WordPress plugin. This update fixes a few bugs and provides additional options with how Lightview will be used on your WordPress site.
Full details and a download link are available on the z-Lightview page.
Laridian’s PocketBible Approved
For awhile I was not optimistic that Laridian would be releasing any iPhone or iPod Touch Bible application. Having used their software for years on my old Palm devices, losing a full-featured Bible application was my biggest regret in moving to iPhone.
I tried Laridian’s web-based iPocketBible service. Even though the web application was feature rich, it wasn’t available when I had no Internet connection and it was a bit slow to use. For the last several months I have been using Olive Tree’s BibleReader [iTunes link]. It is a great piece of software. Simple, fast, and easy to navigate (I can get to any verse in only four taps). The downside, of course, is that with Laridian I had purchased a significant library of translations and study notes. Replicating the same material with Olive Tree’s line up would have cost me several hundred dollars.
Now Laridian’s PocketBible for iPhone and iPod Touch is set to be available tomorrow (September 16). The free application will include the KJV and allow users to log in to their Laridian account to retrieve purchased titles (both newly purchased and previously purchased ones). Material is available off-line, so an Internet connection is not required.
I have not been following Laridian’s blog to the extent of knowing what their software will feature; however, if it is anything like their previous offerings it should be pretty good. I am looking forward to being able to have my entire library of reference material with me again.
My only complaint (yes, I can have a complaint without having used the software) is that Laridian is late to the game. If you search the iTunes Store you’ll find a plethora of Bible applications. Some are garbage, but some have tremendous offerings. I think Laridian’s only saving grace is their pre-existing customer base.
I will update this post with a link to their software when it becomes available.
Update: The application is now available [iTunes link].
New Site
Well it took significantly longer than I originally anticipated, but my new site is finally complete.
Take a look around. Hopefully you find it easy to navigate and don’t run in to many errors!
What If Starbucks Marketed Like A Church?
Here’s a great video that answers the question of what Starbucks would look like if it marketed itself like so many churches today do. This video has been around for a bit, but it’s still funny (and true).
It’s Like Drinking Water
At church we are doing a series on hearing the voice of God. I spoke this Sunday and talked about what it means to “pray continually” and how God wants to speak to us throughout our day.
Click the link below to listen to the audio, or watch the video.
Printers: The Worst Part of A System
Having worked in tech support for several years, I can attest that if anything is going to give an individual trouble, it’s going to be the printer. I stumbled upon the following YouTube video and couldn’t help but get a laugh.
Note: There is some mild language in the video.
z-LightView Updated to Version 1.2
I’ve just released version 1.2 of my z-LightView WordPress plugin. This plugin utilizes the excellent LightView software by Nick Stakenburg to create smooth image galleries in WordPress pages and posts.
This update improves functionality by using the latest JavaScript libraries for LightView. It also improves how these are included on web pages to avoid potential conflicts.
Get the update here.