Wheaties & cream
March 29, 2008
A month or so ago I was cruising the long cereal aisle at the supermarket, trying to make an important economic decision, when I spied the familiar Wheaties box. Man, did that bring back memories of gorging on a big bowl of sugared Wheaties, lathered with cream from the top of the milk bottle. My mouth watered.
Yesterday I indulged once again. Same Wheaties, but with Half & Half. Ambrosia! Skim milk just doesn’t cut it. I got to wondering how long Wheaties has been around, so I asked Mr. Wikipedia, and this is what I found.
It all started in 1922, in Minnesota, when a clinician accidentally spilled a wheat bran mixture onto a hot stove. By 1925 they had figured out how to box it for the market, and the name Wheaties won over Nutties and Gold Medal Wheat Flakes. It became the Breakfast of Champions in 1933.
Some Wheaties trivia:
- 1926 - First ever singing commercial. “Have you tried Wheaties” (to the tune of Jazz Baby).
- 1934 - First athlete on a Wheaties box: Lou Gehrig.
- 1988 - Michael Jordan holds the record for most times on a Wheaties box, 18 times, followed by Tiger Woods in 1998 at 14 times.
It looks like my heyday roughly coincides with Wheaties’ heyday, but Wheaties is still forging ahead while I’m slowing down. I think Wheaties will win the race.
Dave, which he just boosted his cholesterol count a tad.
Easter redux
March 28, 2008
We’ve been reading a lot about why Easter fell so early this year, and I’ve understood little of it. The words quoted below popped up on the web recently, presumably to put the issue to rest once and for all. So, for you inquiring minds, consider:
Easter is the date of the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21… [T]he cycle of Easter dates repeat themselves every 5,700,000 years. The cycle of epacts (which encode the date of the full moon) in the Julian calendar repeat every nineteen years. There are two corrections made to the epact, each of which depend[s] only on the century; one repeats (modulo 30, which is what matters) every 120 centuries, the other every 375 centuries, so the [p]air of them repeat every 300,000 years. The days of the week are on a 400-year cycle, which doesn’t matter because that’s a factor of 300,000. So the Easter cycle has length the least common multiple of 19 and 300,000, which is 5,700,000 [years].
That clears it all up, right? Except for the first sentence, which I presume is factual (on the web you never know), I don’t find the explanation terribly helpful. I hope someone out there will parse the words and give me a hand. In the meantime, we always have timeanddate.com to fall back on. That tells us that Easter falls on April 12 next year, perhaps out of the snow zone for some of us.
Dave, calendar-challenged.
The keyboard gene
March 24, 2008
Where does chronic keyboard addiction (CKA) come from in the Ayers clan? I don’t know whether genes can properly be said to come from anywhere or anyone, but several of the family seem to suffer varying degrees of this pernicious CKA malady.
So here is the data. Make of it what you will.
Since dear Marilyn has a pathological hatred of any keyboard, (I think maybe a Royal portable typewriter fell on her head some time in her past), I shall start by assuming that I am the prime propagator of the KB gene in our family. We have four children, and one of those decided to skip a generation, but the other three have shown signs of suffering from CKA. The most seriously afflicted is our firstborn, Larry, followed closely by his sister, Linda, and arguably her matronly younger sister, Leslie. Only equally matronly Laura seems immune.
As an aside, I remember when my brothers and I accompanied mom and dad on a motor trip from Mt. Lebanon, PA, to Niagara Falls in 1947. It was billed as sort of a second honeymoon for the folks, and it got off to a rough start. Somewhere before Buffalo, NY, Dad ribbed Mom a bit about being a matron, now that she had turned forty. Three pairs of big ears in the back seat picked up on it and started calling her “matron mom.” Big mistake. I thought for a while that dad would throw us out of the car and make us walk the rest of the way. And then there was the incident in the hotel room at the Falls when they left us alone while they went out and held hands or something. But I digress.
Larry’s oldest, Tyler, seems to have received a dollop of the KG, and it’s a little too early to tell about great-granddaughter Franziska. And I’m not sure about Tyler’s sis Adrian, although we do get e-mails from her, mis-punctuation and all.
The next logical step in this scientific inquiry is to look back in my past to see where I might have picked up the KG. I think first of mom’s brother, Uncle Bus. I remember his wonderfully descriptive letters written from Okinawa, but he didn’t type. The only other possibility that I know of on mom’s side was her sister, Auntie Lois. She was a Navy Wave in the big war, and she typed a blue streak.
As far as I can remember, and that isn’t very far, no one on dad’s side of the family used a keyboard at all. There apparently were no bloggers then to get them started. I have to smile when I try to picture grandpa Ayers typing away from his combine, or grandma Ayers turning from her laptop to wring the head off a chicken for dinner.
This is getting ridiculous. I’m sorry. (Sort of.)
Dave, clicking away with abandon.
Bible Diary - Titus 3:1-15
March 24, 2008
The goal I set for this year’s Lenten studies was a string of 40 consecutive Bible Diary entries (excluding Sundays). I ended up on Saturday, March 22, near the end of Titus, so I’ll tack on this post to wrap up my comments on that short epistle of Paul’s. The first 2 chapters were devoted to instructions to Timothy, who had been left in charge of the new congregations on the island of Crete. Paul was in the middle of his third missionary journey, which ended with his second Roman imprisonment and death.
Conduct Toward Those Outside the Church
3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. 3:2 They must not slander anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people. 3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. 3:4 But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. 3:7 And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”
Summary of the Letter
3:8 This saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on such truths, so that those who have placed their faith in God may be intent on engaging in good works. These things are good and beneficial for all people. 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, quarrels, and fights about the law, because they are useless and empty. 3:10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings. 3:11 You know that such a person is twisted by sin and is conscious of it himself.
Final Instructions and Greeting
3:12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 3:13 Make every effort to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; make sure they have what they need. 3:14 Here is another way that our people can learn to engage in good works to meet pressing needs and so not be unfruitful. 3:15 Everyone with me greets you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
Paul turns his attention to relations with those outside the church, starting with their attitude toward their rulers and authorities. They are to be good and loyal citizens, good advice to us as well. Paul teaches that God often regulates the lives of the ungodly for the benefit of His people. Your life and mine may have been regenerated and our perspective changed, but it was not always this way. We were once ungodly ourselves, so we should give those in authority over us the respect due them as God’s agents for law and order.
Next come words of warning about divisiveness. Paul draws a bright line between engaging in foolish controversies and staying busy with good works that benefit all. That seems a helpful dichotomy. The former may be more fun, but it is not very beneficial.
The letter ends with Paul dealing with some administrative matters and his characteristic “Grace be with you all.”
Dave, all primed for Philemon.
-sdg-
New clothes for the Orlop
March 23, 2008
I know. Here we go again. I ran across the Revolution theme a few months ago and just got around to trying it on. It’s a WordPress set of clothes, but it is more flexible than just a list of posts. You can see there are still gaps in the home page, but I’ll wear these down sometime, unless I find a ‘gotcha’ that says I’d better return to the genteel ‘Ocadia’ theme I have been using for a year or so.
With feature pages running across the top menu bar with categories below, it should be easy to get around. The search bar at the top may also be a help. The three columns at the bottom of the page are an experiment that I haven’t really thought through, yet.
I may have a problem with the way it handles comments to posts. You can help me test this by adding a comment to this post.
Thanks,
Dave
Bible Diary - Titus 2:11-15
March 22, 2008
This passage might be titled “The Christian World-view.” In four pithy verses, Paul mentions grace, salvation, life-styles to reject and adopt, hope for the future, the substitutionary atonement, and the glorious return of the Christ. This constitutes an “Executive Summary” of Paul’s teaching. He tells Titus, in effect, “You know these things, so work hard to communicate them with authority.” Titus cannot complain that he received no clear charter from the Apostle!
2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 2:12 It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 2:13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 2:14 He gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who are eager to do good. 2:15 So communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke that carries full authority. Don’t let anyone look down on you.
I think of all the ways the gospel is communicated, starting with the Holy Bible itself. The giants of the faith who followed Paul and the other Apostles wrote thousands of words of exposition for the benefit of believers in succeeding generations; men like Augustine of Hippo, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, R.C. Sproul, and many, many others. I might expect that the gospel would suffer much distortion as it is passed down from generation to generation, but I would be wrong. To any objective observer, the essentials of the Christian faith today are the same as when Jesus walked the earth.
Of special note, at least for this Reformed believer, is the Westminster Assembly of 1643, made up of 10 lords, 20 commoners, and 121 clergymen, who met over a thousand times over 6 years to codify Scripture and create teaching aids for the church. The result was the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, documents still of great value to the church. If you are looking for well-attested miracles, the approval of those documents by Parliament must be on your short list.
Dave, Puritan at heart.
-sdg-
Bible Diary - Titus 2:1-10
March 21, 2008
Just how does anyone go about communicating good behavior to older men and women? That is the charge Paul gives Titus. As an older man I can think of a few times where younger persons in the church have nudged me back on course in my Christian walk. I think of Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens his friend.” I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but the older I get the harder it is to change.
Conduct Consistent with Sound Teaching
2:1 But as for you, communicate the behavior that goes with sound teaching. 2:2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. 2:3 Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good. 2:4 In this way they will train the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, 2:5 to be self-controlled, pure, fulfilling their duties at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message of God may not be discredited. 2:6 Encourage younger men likewise to be self-controlled, 2:7 showing yourself to be an example of good works in every way. In your teaching show integrity, dignity, 2:8 and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss, because he has nothing evil to say about us. 2:9 Slaves are to be subject to their own masters in everything, to do what is wanted and not talk back, 2:10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, in order to bring credit to the teaching of God our Savior in everything.
There is a heap of paradox here. I know pretty well how I am expected to be, like dignified, having self-control, being sound in the faith. On the one hand, this takes hard work as I “work out my salvation in fear and trembling.” At the same time it is possible only if I yield myself to Christ and let Him do the heavy lifting, since I am powerless to remake myself.
Paul is reviewing for our benefit the characteristics of a Spirit-filled life, as he does in his letter to the Galatians. He knows how hard it is for us to stay focused on the Exemplar who was tempted as we are yet never sinned.
Dave, still with a pretty dull edge.
-sdg-
Equinox day
March 20, 2008
Sometime today the equinox occurs. The Astronomy Picture of the Day site provides a spectacular view of the event, courtesy of the Expedition 15 crew. Earth dwellers will experience nearly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Recorded last June from the International Space Station, the Sun’s limb still peeks above the distant horizon as seen from Earth orbit. Clouds appear in silhouette as the sunlight is reddened by dust in the dense lower atmosphere. Molecules in the more tenuous upper atmosphere are preferentially scattering blue light.
Dave, quite content with a vicarious viewing.
Bible Diary - Titus 1:10-16
March 20, 2008
These words from Paul don’t seem to me to be very inspiring, but that may be because I am not in touch with the context of Titus’s situation. Paul’s readers probably knew exactly what he meant by “rebellious people, idle talkers, and deceivers,” I can almost understand, having known a few who seem to fit that description, in and out of the pulpit and from the printed page. When my discernment gift is working well, I can usually spot the phonies.
1:10 For there are many rebellious people, idle talkers, and deceivers, especially those with Jewish connections, 1:11 who must be silenced because they mislead whole families by teaching for dishonest gain what ought not to be taught. 1:12 A certain one of them, in fact, one of their own prophets, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 1:13 Such testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply that they may be healthy in the faith 1:14 and not pay attention to Jewish myths and commands of people who reject the truth. 1:15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 1:16 They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
Paul let’s the noisy deceivers have both barrels! They must be silenced. I can hear Titus saying to himself, “Yes, but how?”
Cretans aside, I think Paul’s answer is to understand what drives the deceivers. “But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted. ” In short, they don’t know Jesus Christ. This described Paul himself before his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, so stern rebuke, love, patience and persistence are the order of the day.
Dave, still wondering about those Cretans.
-sdg-
Bible Diary - Titus 1:1-9
March 19, 2008
Like 1 Timothy, this letter was written during Paul’s fourth missionary journey and before his final arrest and imprisonment in Rome. Titus, “my genuine son in a common faith,” a Gentile convert of Paul’s, was left in charge of the church on Crete. He begins this letter to Titus with a two-sentence summary of his ministry to proclaim the gospel. Paul sees himself as a slave of God and an apostle. No one can accuse Paul of not knowing the name of the game.
Salutation
1:1 From Paul, a slave of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness, 1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. 1:3 But now in his own time he has made his message evident through the preaching I was entrusted with according to the command of God our Savior. 1:4 To Titus, my genuine son in a common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior!
Titus’ Task on Crete
1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set in order the remaining matters and to appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 1:6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who cannot be charged with dissipation or rebellion. 1:7 For the overseer must be blameless as one entrusted with God’s work, not arrogant, not prone to anger, not a drunkard, not violent, not greedy for gain. 1:8 Instead he must be hospitable, devoted to what is good, sensible, upright, devout, and self-controlled. 1:9 He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught, so that he will be able to give exhortation in such healthy teaching and correct those who speak against it.
It sounds like churches had been planted in a number of towns in Crete, the fifth largest Island in the Mediterranean, so Titus had a lot of territory to cover. His objective was to train and appoint elders in each church to teach and to pastor. It sounds like a large and difficult assignment. Paul briefly reviews the requirements for an elder, as he had done for Timothy. The most difficult of the qualifications was to avoid deviating from the message as transmitted to the elder, through Titus, from Paul. Considering the difficulty the modern church has in staying on-message, I have to wonder how well they did.
What keeps elders, then or today, on track? I can only think of two reasons: 1) the miraculous preservation through the centuries of the Word of God, and 2) the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. Otherwise the stain of sin would surely distort the transmission of the truth.
Dave, more than a little stained himself.
-sdg-
