Chicago Pictures

I arrived home from Chicago today. The plane was barely delayed and the trip went very well. We definitely knew we were in Alabama when the blast of heat hit us! The difference between 85º and 100º is huge!

It's good to be home. The test went well though not perfect. There was one part in which we did not meet the requirements and until our project manager there reviews the test results with his boss, we won't know exactly what the outcome will be. Watching the test revealed where our weak spots are so we now know what we will change if we have to do another test. Overall, I was pleased with the test though I would have been much more happy if the results had been completely within the test parameters.

Here's a view of the John Hancock Center from the bottom as well as what we saw from the top at the observation center. I guess you can't help but be amazed at how tall skyscrapers really are! Especially when there are so many in one city!


It always amazes me to see the swimming pools on the top of tall buildings like you do here and at the St. Louis Arch. We only saw out one side of the building. If you want to see more, make sure you visit Chicago on a very clear, cloudless day.






This building was interesting because at first glance it looks like the windows are kinda fancy projecting out like that in the middle. The you realize that it's actually just a really good paint job. Most buildings were not just plain boring buildings but had something special to make them look neat.





While walking around downtown, we also passed the Contemporary Art museum. This car is I guess contemporary art. Rob is wondering how it came out of the ground like that!

Blogs to Note

I've updated some of the blog links on this page. My neighbor Pam has posted an article in memory of her baby Samuel who was still-born in 1997. Note also that her blog address has been updated with corrected spelling. (I wasn't thinking when I set up her blog address last month.)

Also, I added a link to Joshua Harris's blog. I've enjoyed his books as well as the New Attitude Conferences that I've attended so I wanted to share his blog as well.

Finally, take a look that the Girl Talk blog. Some of the posts on here are definitly more for girls, but others are interesting for everyone. I've especially enjoyed reading their recent book reviews on Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart.

The Authority and Inerrancy of the Bible

Chapter two of Wayne Grudem's book Bible Doctrine examines the Bible's authority and if it can be trusted as inerrant. The first 3 of 6 review questions and my answers follow:

1. Defend the following statement: "All the words in Scripture are God's words."

In many places, the Bible claims to have a record of God's words. Old Testament prophets often used the phrase, 'Thus says the Lord" and in many places what the Prophets said are referred to as being words that God spoke through the prophet (1 Kings 14:18, Jer 37:2, etc). Although those verses don't claim that all the words in the old testament are God's words, they do demonstrate that we actually have a written record of God's own words. Other passages state that the Book of the covenant or God's laws are considered to be God's words as well (Ex. 24:7). Verses like 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 1:20-21 in the New testament indicate that all the Old Testament are God's words. The word Scripture used in the New Testament refers to the Old Testament writings and not to any sayings that are recorded in books not part of the canon. In 2 Pet 3:15-16, Peter refers to all the letters that Paul wrote as something that people distort as they do "other scriptures." This comparison classifies the writing of Paul as equal with the old testament scriptures. Paul does a similar thing when he quotes twice from the "scriptures" in 1 Tim 5:18 - one quote is from Deuteronomy and the other from Luke. So in this, we find that at least one of the gospels was also classified as scripture. Therefore, the writers of the New Testament appear to be well aware that more writings were being added to the category of scripture which contain God's own words.

We become convinced that the Bible contains God's words by the Holy Spirit speaking in and through the words of the Bible as we read them. This doesn't happen unless we take the time to actually read what the Bible says. Then we will realize that the Bible is not like any other book, but actually God's words speaking to our hearts.

It's also useful to know that there are external evidences of the truth of the bible through the fulfilled prophecies, changed lives, and accurate historical information.

2. What is meant by the idea that the words of Scripture are "self-attesting"?

If we believe that the Bible is the highest authority, it's impossible to find a higher authority to use a proof that the Bible is God's word. Using human logic or science to try to prove the Bible makes those things to be more reliable or truthful than the Bible. So, the Scripture must be the ultimate authority to prove the Scripture is God's Word.

It does seem to be a circular argument, but that doesn't make it invalid. One must appeal to the highest authority for proof or else it wouldn't be the highest authority. Everyone actually uses this type of circular argument to justify their beliefs: Reason is justified as ultimate authority because it is reasonable; Logic is thought to be highest because it seems logical; human experiences are justified as the only authority for truth because human experiences show a person that is true. So if we all use circular logic when defending a belief in our ultimate authority, how can a person find truth?

In the end, the Bible will show itself to be far more persuasive in it's truth than other religious books or intellectual reason. All other options have inconsistencies and shortcomings while the Bible will prove to be accurate in all its teachings about the world, about us and about God. Since we are sinful, our perceptions are faulty so this will really only happen as the Holy Spirit enables us to be persuaded that the Bible is God's word and is true. So, more knowledge of the Bible and a correct understanding of God and creation together confirm the accuracy of each other. Creation doesn't prove the Bible, but it does give us a greater assurance that the Bible is really the only truly ultimate authority.

3. How can we know God's words are truthful?

If the Bible does indeed contain God's words as argued above, we can be sure of their truthfulness only if we can be sure that God always tells the truth. We learn in the Bible that God doesn't lie in Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18. So if God can't lie, then then his word's (the scriptures) must be truthful and without error. The Bible is not just true, but it is actually the ultimate standard of truth itself (see John 17:17). So, there will never be a fact of science or history ever discovered that will contradict the Bible. God has known everything forever so he will not be contradicted by any new human discovery. It is possible that man has incorrectly interpreted the Bible to say something that it did not teach so we must reexamine the Bible when what are thought to be new facts are discovered that seem to contradict the bible to see if the facts are false of if man's interpretations of the Bible are false.

----- the next 3 questions will come hopefully sometime soon this week. After an hour of answering these questions, I feel the need to stop and do something else since my brain is tired!

Chicago - Test Tomorrow

Today, the final pieces were installed on the doors for the fire test. The installation has gone amazingly smooth without any insurmountable surprises.

The test should begin tomorrow morning. We have to be there at 8 and the test should start by 9. If all goes well, it may be finished just after 12.

This afternoon after dropping the superintendent who led the installation off at the airport, Rob and I did a little sight seeing in Chicago. We were able to see a bit of downtown Chicago. The buildings are really quite pretty in Chicago. I will post some pictures sometime after I get home. We went up to the John Hancock Observatory and then had a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The view from the top was hidden on three sides by clouds, but we did see out (the west side I think) down to the ground. We also read about Chicago's growth as a city in a display up in the Observatory.

This afternoon, I've been catching up on my blog reading. I'm now using Google's reader so I won't miss anything - Thanks Elijah for suggesting the reader! I read one of Josh Harris's new posts and then scrolled down and read many of the older posts that I never actually read before. I found this one about online dating interesting as I have used eharmony in the past. It brings up some good advice in the pastoral counsel section.

Chicago, Flying and Eternity

For many, a business trip typically involves traveling a distance greater than one desires to drive so a plane flight is a necessity. I've always somewhat enjoyed flying. It's fun to look out the windows, you (typically) get somewhere faster than if you drove, and you are going somewhere that is either new or different from your home. Though I usually do prefer to be home and am always glad to return, traveling is nice and usually provides something interesting to look back on or tell people about once you are home.

There seem to be a huge number of people who travel for business almost full time. I think that for them the excitement of travel is completely lost. Frustration due to delays are a way of life that either build or are dealt with calmly as they come.

I am certainly glad that my business travels has been limited to a couple times a year. Right now I'm back in Chicago for a fire test for one of our products. There were problems when we tried this six weeks ago, so we're back to try again.

The trip home last time took a turn for the worse when we were almost stranded for 24 hours in Charlotte. The flight from Charlotte to Montgomery was cancelled only a few minutes before it was to board. We soon found out that our options were to either wait 24 hours for the next flight with empty seats to Montgomery or to fly to Birmingham later that night. As my mom was willing to pick us up from Birmingham, we gratefully took that flight.

The annoyance of changing flights, having to inconvenience my mom to pick us up, not getting home until midnight, then getting suitcases the next day and arrangements to pick up my car from the Montgomery airport convinced us that layovers were not a good idea. When planning this trip to Chicago, we were excited to find that we could get a direct flight from Birmingham. What could go wrong? The weather was great and we were on time to the airport.

Upon finding our gate, we noticed that the time for our departure flight had changed to an hour later. Not a big deal. Waiting an hour is not too bad. As time went on, flight updates were scarce and the updates we received were never true. The flight was always an hour away, but somehow the plane never arrived. Almost five hours after our intended departure, our plane finally arrived in Birmingham and we were soon off.

Arriving in Chicago and getting the car and driving to the hotel went well and sleep was quite welcome. Something about not getting to sleep until midnight will make one appreciate rest! Today's installation went well. We had no problems so far and I hope that tomorrow we will finish all that we need to do in preparation for the Thursday test.

Why is it that I get annoyed at airport delays? Is it because I sense that the airport flight announcements are intentionally misleading and I like the truth? Is it because I feel that I have a right to get on the plane at the time my ticket says?

There is really nothing difficult about sitting in an airport - especially when you are in a comfortable building and have a book to read. In reality, I didn't really get that annoyed at the delay, it just gets annoying when you realize that almost every trip seems to have similar delays. When will airlines find a way to avoid these types of delays? Or when will we learn to drive instead of flying?

Life in the long run can be compared in some ways to my flight to Chicago. As believers we know that this life is just a spec of time compared to the eternity we will spend in heaven. We are really on a journey to heaven. All we know is that someday soon we will be there. We never really know the exact time the last leg of the journey will take place. We can either use the time we have in transit for good or just waste the time in unholy pursuits. One of these days we will arrive and maybe we'll be surprised at how soon that will be.

DVD conversions

If you've ever tried to upload video from a dvd to youtube or tried to modify movie clips with .vob files in microsoft movie maker, you probably have run into the same problems I've had this week. Most free software out there that converts .vob files will only work for the first 5 minutes of a file (unless you pay for the full version). On Thursday, Elijah and I found a cool piece of free software called AutoGK that will not only convert the files, but also allows you to set the maximum file size of the new file. This way you can set the video to be under the 100Mb that youtube requires and sill have the best quality possible. Here are the two weeks of Peru videos taken by the Lima Peru church for Fountain of Grace's mission trip.

Killer Baby (as Pastor Tony calls it)

I'm taking a break from Romans and going through the book of James for the next few weeks. Today I read James 1:13-15 which talks about the deception of sin. It comes as an evil desire that entices a person to sin and then brings death. This evil baby picture is one I borrowed from Pastor Tony that he uses to illustrate these verses. Check out Pastor Tony's excellent devotional "The Child who Grows Up to Kill" here.