The older I get the more I wonder why the world is becoming what it is...
I heard this morning that Woodrow Kroll has been a professor at Liberty University for many years. Each year he gives the incoming freshmen a quiz on Bible knowledge. (Keep in mind that this is a Christian University)
It is a very basic quiz asking simple questions like 'Who was Adam's wife' and the like. You only have to get 50% of the answers correct in order to pass the exam. He said over the years, the number of students passing has steadily decreased.
With society and the world being what they are today, that didn't suprise me too much. But I never realized how bad it has gotten. It was said that last year he administered the test to 1050 incoming freshmen. Can you guess how many passed the test?
Only 45 students out of 1050 in a Christian University could correctly answer 50% of some of the easiest Bible questions imaginable.
What does that say about our nation? Our churches? Our families? There is only one thing I can think of - the Bible, God's revelation to us about Himself, and His instructions on how we should live, has become irrelevant in the lives of people today. What is actually the most important Book has apparently become the least important to the people who need it most.
45 out of 1050... I am sad.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Three Foot Sparklers
Well another 4th of July has come and gone. This one wasn’t too bad I guess. It didn’t rain at least.
When I was growing up, the 4th was a BIG event. The family (extended) would get together for a picnic, usually at Josie Creek county park, and there would be about 75-100 people all having a good time. Well the kids would have a good time anyway. I don’t know about the adults.
Thinking back on it, it seemed like they were mostly working and yelling at kids to get off that, don’t go there, do this, don’t do that... well, you know how it is.
Anyway, Josie Creek is a little tiny park in the middle of the woods in the middle of farmland in Northern Wisconsin. I haven’t been there in probably thirty years now, but I bet it hasn’t changed. A lot of things don’t change up there. Some places go away, but I think the park is still there – I see the sign on the highway that says it’s → that way.
There wasn’t a whole lot there to change actually. Some grass, a bunch of trees, a little cove of water off the river that had a ‘beach’ (a 25 foot stretch of slightly smaller rocks on the water’s edge), and the cliff.
Oh yeah, the cliff.
That was the ultimate. The cliff was a section of land where it looked like they cut out a chunk of a hill and left the rest. It was maybe 60 feet high and had a really good slope. Not quite steep enough that you couldn’t climb it, but more than enough to make even the energetic youth breathe hard by the time they got to the top.
But it was the coming down that was the fun part.
We’d start out with a little jump, and then would have to run as fast as we could trying to get down. Of course most of the time we didn’t make it to the bottom without a spill. I couldn’t tell you how many skinned knees and scraped elbows came from that cliff. But it was a blast anyway.
Then in the late afternoon, most of the folks would have leave to go milk the cows, and the rest of the folks would pack up/clean up before leaving. We usually ended up at one family members farm for the evening to light the fireworks.
We didn’t have the big fireworks like they have around here – those were (maybe still are) illegal. We had stuff like Fountains, Lotus Blossoms, smoke bombs, and sparklers. Sometimes a family member from out of state would smuggle in some firecrackers or bottle rockets.
The best were the huge three foot sparklers that you would stick in the ground and light, and they would light the whole yard for minutes at a time. And you could light the little sparklers off the bit one by just touching them to it before running all around the yard acting like an idiot.
Forth of July as a kid... We used up a lot of energy on that day every year.
This year I sat out on my deck in the back yard for a few hours, then when it got too hot I went inside and took a nap for the rest of the day. And to be honest I’m not sure which I enjoy more – the nap or running around with a sparkler. Maybe next year I’ll try to dream of running around with a sparkler while I sleep.
When I was growing up, the 4th was a BIG event. The family (extended) would get together for a picnic, usually at Josie Creek county park, and there would be about 75-100 people all having a good time. Well the kids would have a good time anyway. I don’t know about the adults.
Thinking back on it, it seemed like they were mostly working and yelling at kids to get off that, don’t go there, do this, don’t do that... well, you know how it is.
Anyway, Josie Creek is a little tiny park in the middle of the woods in the middle of farmland in Northern Wisconsin. I haven’t been there in probably thirty years now, but I bet it hasn’t changed. A lot of things don’t change up there. Some places go away, but I think the park is still there – I see the sign on the highway that says it’s → that way.
There wasn’t a whole lot there to change actually. Some grass, a bunch of trees, a little cove of water off the river that had a ‘beach’ (a 25 foot stretch of slightly smaller rocks on the water’s edge), and the cliff.
Oh yeah, the cliff.
That was the ultimate. The cliff was a section of land where it looked like they cut out a chunk of a hill and left the rest. It was maybe 60 feet high and had a really good slope. Not quite steep enough that you couldn’t climb it, but more than enough to make even the energetic youth breathe hard by the time they got to the top.
But it was the coming down that was the fun part.
We’d start out with a little jump, and then would have to run as fast as we could trying to get down. Of course most of the time we didn’t make it to the bottom without a spill. I couldn’t tell you how many skinned knees and scraped elbows came from that cliff. But it was a blast anyway.
Then in the late afternoon, most of the folks would have leave to go milk the cows, and the rest of the folks would pack up/clean up before leaving. We usually ended up at one family members farm for the evening to light the fireworks.
We didn’t have the big fireworks like they have around here – those were (maybe still are) illegal. We had stuff like Fountains, Lotus Blossoms, smoke bombs, and sparklers. Sometimes a family member from out of state would smuggle in some firecrackers or bottle rockets.
The best were the huge three foot sparklers that you would stick in the ground and light, and they would light the whole yard for minutes at a time. And you could light the little sparklers off the bit one by just touching them to it before running all around the yard acting like an idiot.
Forth of July as a kid... We used up a lot of energy on that day every year.
This year I sat out on my deck in the back yard for a few hours, then when it got too hot I went inside and took a nap for the rest of the day. And to be honest I’m not sure which I enjoy more – the nap or running around with a sparkler. Maybe next year I’ll try to dream of running around with a sparkler while I sleep.
The Old Fart’s Blog
“Hey old man!”
“Blah blah blah... the Old Fart over there [gestures toward me] blah blah...”
Those are just a sampling of the comments I’ve been increasingly hearing over the last year or so.
Old Fart... Old Fart... Hmmmm, I guess I can get used to that.
I guess I’ll have to get used to that. Because like it or not, no amount of hair coloring and/or break dancing can change the fact that I’m getting older. Moment by moment, I’m aging.
And it’s showing. I tell people that I have the mind of a 19 year old (my family says 12 but we won’t talk about that), and the body of a 90 year old. And unfortunately, much of the time it feels like it. But in reality, the mind is slowly going too. Well o.k. the mini-stroke I had a while back played a part in that, but that’s beside the point.
My nineteen year old side still likes to keep up with technology. In fact, it’s my job (well... one of them). My other job is owning and running a restaurant. Whereas I mostly hate my technology job (working for one of the biggest companies in the world as a software engineer) I very much enjoy running my restaurant and interacting with the folks that come in everyday.
And so I thought there had to be a way to combine the two into something I could enjoy. Yes, I might be, um, how should I say it... maturing, but I have also often been on the cutting edge. Bet you didn’t know I was one of the first folks to put streaming video on the web. I did a couple series of videos way back in ‘92 and ‘93.
But I'm entirely too lazy to write high tech pages anymore (what's that? There are programs to do it for you now???), so now I decided to split the difference and blog instead.
Here comes the reminiscing old farts are famous for:
WARNING – anyone under 30 or so will probably have no idea of what I’m talking about next...
I remember spending hours typing line after line of code into my Tandy color computer just so I could play “pong”. And then if I shut it off, I’d have to start all over again the next day. Those days ended when I got my beloved COCO II with a cassette drive to store my programs. And then came the Commodore.
Load ,8 ... Then I could go get a cup of coffee, go to the bathroom, cut the grass, and come back right about the time the program finished loading off the cassette tape. Well that is unless the tape got a wrinkle or something in it.
Ah yes, the good old days...
But this blog isn’t about computers (exclusively) It’s mostly about Christianity, current trends in the church, remembering the old times, planning for the future. Maybe even some things that might help others.
A creative outlet for me and anyone who might wish to comment on my ramblings.
Feel free to comment, criticize, praise whatever you like... I hope that sooner or later I’ll be able to hit on something for everyone reading.
May the Lord bless you.
“Blah blah blah... the Old Fart over there [gestures toward me] blah blah...”
Those are just a sampling of the comments I’ve been increasingly hearing over the last year or so.
Old Fart... Old Fart... Hmmmm, I guess I can get used to that.
I guess I’ll have to get used to that. Because like it or not, no amount of hair coloring and/or break dancing can change the fact that I’m getting older. Moment by moment, I’m aging.
And it’s showing. I tell people that I have the mind of a 19 year old (my family says 12 but we won’t talk about that), and the body of a 90 year old. And unfortunately, much of the time it feels like it. But in reality, the mind is slowly going too. Well o.k. the mini-stroke I had a while back played a part in that, but that’s beside the point.
My nineteen year old side still likes to keep up with technology. In fact, it’s my job (well... one of them). My other job is owning and running a restaurant. Whereas I mostly hate my technology job (working for one of the biggest companies in the world as a software engineer) I very much enjoy running my restaurant and interacting with the folks that come in everyday.
And so I thought there had to be a way to combine the two into something I could enjoy. Yes, I might be, um, how should I say it... maturing, but I have also often been on the cutting edge. Bet you didn’t know I was one of the first folks to put streaming video on the web. I did a couple series of videos way back in ‘92 and ‘93.
But I'm entirely too lazy to write high tech pages anymore (what's that? There are programs to do it for you now???), so now I decided to split the difference and blog instead.
Here comes the reminiscing old farts are famous for:
WARNING – anyone under 30 or so will probably have no idea of what I’m talking about next...
I remember spending hours typing line after line of code into my Tandy color computer just so I could play “pong”. And then if I shut it off, I’d have to start all over again the next day. Those days ended when I got my beloved COCO II with a cassette drive to store my programs. And then came the Commodore.
Load ,8 ... Then I could go get a cup of coffee, go to the bathroom, cut the grass, and come back right about the time the program finished loading off the cassette tape. Well that is unless the tape got a wrinkle or something in it.
Ah yes, the good old days...
But this blog isn’t about computers (exclusively) It’s mostly about Christianity, current trends in the church, remembering the old times, planning for the future. Maybe even some things that might help others.
A creative outlet for me and anyone who might wish to comment on my ramblings.
Feel free to comment, criticize, praise whatever you like... I hope that sooner or later I’ll be able to hit on something for everyone reading.
May the Lord bless you.
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