29th January 2011
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In browsing the links on Tim Daniel's
music blog, I found a site where
some of his sermons are posted, for the church he pastors. I must pass
along these two links:
The show is an engaging explanation of the salmon life cycle, the threats to their well-being, and therefore indirectly, the threats to our own. Alexandra Morton explains the common sense details in the clearest manner I've ever heard.
We are basically killing our own resources out from under us, out of confusion, greed, and cowardice. The simple message is manipulated and distorted so that by the time it reaches the masses, it is so fuzzy and unclear that hardly anybody cares about it. It is nearly always presented as some fuzzy potential risk that we haven't quite scientifically figured out or proved. But the reality is that any child, when faced with these facts, could tell us we're stupid.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6
How can we expect God to take care of us and heal us when we are so ruthless with the world entrusted to our care? Of course, He is kind, but He is also just, and if we sow such destruction, we will reap death.
I just quoted part of Psalm 19 in a previous blog post, but in light of this podcast, the entire Psalm is relevant. I'll quote just three more verses, but encourage you to read the whole thing:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Psalm 19
When I heard the amazing systems of the sockeye salmon in British Columbia in this podcast, these verses came back to my mind. These salmon are a testimony to the wonders of God. They have a lesson to teach us, if we will listen.
I'm richer than I thought!
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
I attended all the places of worship in the town where I lived, but I honestly believe that I did not hear the gospel fully preached. I do not blame the men, however. One man preached the divine sovereignty. I could hear him with pleasure; but what was that to a poor sinner who wished to know what he should do to be saved? There was another admirable man who always preached about the law; but what was the use of plowing up ground that needed to be sown? Another was a great practical preacher. I heard him, but it was very much like a commanding officer teaching the maneuvers of war to a set of men without feet. What could I do? All his exhortations were lost on me. I knew it was said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved," but I did not know what it was to believe in Christ. I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair now, had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm one Sunday morning, when I was going to a place of worship. When I could go no farther, I turned down a court and come to a little Primitive Methodist chapel. In that chapel there might have been a dozen or fifteen people. The minister did not come that morning; snowed up, I suppose. A poor man, a shoemaker, a tailor, something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach.
Now it is well that ministers should be instructed, but this man was really stupid, as you would say. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had nothing else to say. The text was "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 45:22) He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter. There was I thought, a gleam of hope for me in the text. He began thus "My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says 'Look.' Now that does not take a great deal of effort. It ain't lifting your feet or your finger, it is just 'look.' Well, a man need not go to college to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool and yet you can look. A man need not be worth a thousand a year to look. Anyone can look; a child can look. But this is what the text says. Then it says 'Look unto Me.'" "Ay," said he, in broad Essex, "many of ye are looking to yourselves. No use looking there. You'll never find comfort in yourselves. Some look to God, the Father. No, look to Him by and by. Jesus Christ says, 'Look unto Me.' Some of you say, 'I must wait the Spirit a working.' You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. It runs: 'Look unto Me.'"
Then the good man followed up his text in this way: "Look unto Me; I am sweating great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hanging on the cross. Look! I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend and sit at the Father's right hand O! look to Me!" When he had got about that length, and managed to spin out ten minutes or so he was at the end of his tether. Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I dare say, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger, He then said, "Young man, you look very miserable." Well I did, but I have not been accustomed to having remarks made on my personal appearance from the pulpit before. However, it was a good blow struck. He continued: "And you will always be miserable in life, and miserable in death if you do not obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment you will be saved."
Then he shouted as only a Primitive Methodist can: "Young man, look to Jesus Christ!" I did "look." There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun: I could have risen that moment and sung with enthusiasm of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to Him. Oh, that somebody had told me that before. TRUST CHRIST, AND YOU SHALL BE SAVED.
Remember, dear brother, if you give your whole soul to the charge committed to you, it does not matter much about its appearing to be a somewhat small and insignificant affair, for as much skill may be displayed in the manufacture of a very tiny watch as in the construction of the town clock; in fact, a minute article may become the object of greater wonder than another of larger dimensions. Quality is a far more precious thing than quantity.
17 And unto Adam he [God] said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Genesis 3 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1:2 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Romans 8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Ephesians 5:20
When Adam was first created, he was given much. He was given a planet to live on, dominion over it, fellowship with God, a wife and hope of a future family, and blessings of every sort.
If anyone was worthy of being envied, it was probably Adam. And I'm assuming that Satan did envy him. For what happened next? Nothing less than the deception, trickery, and usurpation of Godly authority over the world. When Adam decided to obey sin instead of God, he became a servant of sin. And sin has none of the blessings that God does.
God allowed this to happen, but note what happens next. Authority changed hands through trickery and sin, but when it did, what did Satan get? Did he get the same blessed world that Adam had? Nope. He ended up with a world of vanity, a world of death, a world that was cursed.
Isn't that the same today? If a woman usurps her husband's authority, does she not receive a cursed home? If a man disobeys Christ and does not love his wife as himself, does he not receive a cursed home? If a man steals a car or robs a bank, does he not end up under the curse of the law, with goods he cannot easily use? If an employee deals treacherously with his employer, does he not live under the dread of getting fired, and eventually the reality of it? The blessed thing we covet, when ill-gotten, turns into a curse in our hands. The shine is lost, the pleasure is gone, and it comes with a load of work and worry. Stolen grass is never as green under your own feet compared to when it was under your neighbour's feet.
So when Jesus says:
And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him. Mark 12:17
Isn't that a damning statement? For what does Caesar have dominion over? He can only rule over the cursed world, the world that is vanity, the world that is dying, the world that has no future.
Praise God! For even in the midst of our rebellion, even in our punishment, even in the midst of the curse that we rightly receive for our own sin, God is working for our good in the future. He has a plan to redeem! The world that Satan stole dominion over is now wasting away, and it will eventually pass away. But there comes a new heaven and a new earth for the children of God, the servants of obedience.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
So in obedience to Ephesians 5:20, I thank God for the curse. I thank Him that in His wisdom, He is reserving marvelous good things for us, out of His grace and mercy. I thank God that He cannot be mocked. I thank God that He uses both obedience and rebellion to glorify His own Name. Praise be to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever!
Well, I stumbled across his own music blog! He has linked to mp3's of nearly all his old music, free to download.
Enjoy!
Albert acquired an acute ague and acquiesced alone amidst abundant agonies.
Agile Alice avoided an approaching avalanche.
Are any adherents available among apathetic apostles?
An appendage applied afore activation annuls actual advantages.
An aging actor acquires alternative appeal.
Attention! All apartments above A3 are acquiring adjustments.
Abusing an alphabet amid alliteration afflicts an audience above an average amount.
Andy adroitly amended Albert's algebra application.
An austere attendant appeared, affixed an announcement (applying ample adhesive), and ambled away.
Ask, and an answer appears.
Any arguments against abundant alliteration assume abated appreciation.
He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; Ecc. 10:8a
In the sermon on this passage, the focus was on lack of preparation, and not watching where you were going. The idea being, "Fools Rush In."
While I believe this is valid, I found it helpful to view the verse inside out. What would happen if the man did not dig the pit in the first place? Of course, he would not be able to fall into it.
This has such a practical and spiritual application, that I find myself starting to apply it to new areas.
For example, if I don't get into debt, then I can't overextend myself and go bankrupt.
If I don't buy sweets, then I can't eat them and get fat.
If I don't put myself in compromising situations, then I can't fall into adultery or fornication.
If I don't listen to negativity, from myself or others, then I'm free to remember the positive.
If I don't sign a contract with terms I don't like, then I can't be manipulated later on.
If I don't give my private data to untrusted parties, then I don't have to worry about what nefarious sorts may do with it.
If I don't drink alcohol, I can't get caught drinking and driving.
And so on.
The idea being that the little things, the little risks, the small pleasures, can end up creating risks for ourselves later that are harder to avoid than the small ones.
Of course, there are external risks that we can't manage. And there may be pits that others dig for us, too. I may receive an unexpected bill or disaster and go bankrupt that way. I might find I have some disease that causes more drastic weight gain than normal. And our bodies naturally give us desires that cannot be easily ignored. But these things are hard enough to deal with without digging pits for ourselves to avoid as well.
I find that I've spent a good chunk of my life digging pits. I dug them because they were exciting, or fun, or experimental. Or even because I thought it was the lesser of two evils. I'd think, what harm is a little pit? I can easily see it and walk around it, right? But I've spent more time than I want to admit falling into them as well.
So what pits am I digging? And are they pits that I would like to fall into later on?
It occurs to me that the answer to that question could be yes! If I'm digging a pit of goodness, then indeed, I do want to fall into it.
So I can bait my future for good by digging pits of goodness.
I can save money for a rainy day, so if I need it, I don't need debt.
I can buy wholesome food and keep my cupboards stocked, so the easy food is the good food.
I can avoid secrets, in both friendships and romance, and keep relationships in the light of day.
I can seek out inspiration, from the Bible and from friends, and encourage others, so it will return to me.
I can learn how to negotiate, and keep my affairs in order so that no contract becomes a necessity.
I can minimize the amount of private data that matters to me, so I don't have to worry, and pay with cash where appropriate.
And I can seek out activities that do not involve alcohol; activities that are more creative fun than consumptive fun.
Looks like I'd better get my shovel after all...
These sermons are on TV, if you have cable, but a better way is to subscribe to the sermon RSS feed at the Living Truth site. Here is the RSS URL that I use:
http://www.livingtruthmedia.com/LivingTruthPC.xml
Note that the MP3 history on this RSS feed is limited to only one at a time, as I recall, so be sure to update regularly. If you find this URL many weeks after January 8, then you've unfortunately missed the podcasts.
In addition to this, there is a long and interesting series of sermons on the same book at the site One28Ministries.org. This site maintains a large archive of sermons in text and MP3 format. Many of the sermons are recorded as Sunday sermons to a youth group. The sermons are listed in reverse blog order, so you can find the start of the series here and work backward.
The world of ice skating.
Danny was not quite sure what to make of the hard leather skates as they were laced tightly around his small ankles. The skates were hard and cold, and they pressed against his ankle bone with the threat of agony that never quite came. When he stood, he felt as if his feet were both inflexible blobs and wobbly brooms ready to bring him down like a house of cards at the first wrong step.
But such worries paled in comparison to the instability thrust upon him when his blade first touched the smooth surface of the ice. If his father had not been right behind him, Danny would likely have slipped backward and knocked himself unconscious on the rink boards. Arms akimbo, with his father's hands under his armpits, his feet began to understand the strange new surface.
His father patiently held onto him, explaining the method of thrusting side to side with the skate blades. With each lap of the specially marked beginner's area, Danny began to build new confidence in his abilities. Slowly, his father's hands lightened their hold, and more of Danny's weight was supported on the thin blades beneath him.
Danny was given a large orange street pylon. Holding the top with both hands, he was able to support himself without falling down. Thrusting his skates faithfully, he was soon gliding haphazardly within the beginner's area like a motorized tripod.
This was the world of blissful momentum. Glancing forward with furtive peeks at the rest of the rink, he could see the adults and older kids skating round and round in circles with amazing speed. His heart filled with hope that he would someday be able to do the same, but his head was soon focused again, religiously, on the top of the orange pylon. He held on for dear life.
After about 30 minutes of practice, Danny found that he could build up a fair amount of speed. It was thrilling. The artificially refrigerated air filled his nostrils as he gave the pylon a burst of speed, and then coasted to a stop. Back and forth he would go in the learning area, his fear fading into pure fun.
The crunching sounds of steel blade against ice was inspiring. The grown-ups seemed to make their skates do all sorts of maneuvers. Danny was inspired to try to go as fast as he could.
He started carefully at one end, his backside pressed against the cold boards to the left of the rink. Gripping his pylon with new ferver, he looked ahead, and saw it: a clear path between the mass of other kids and parents practicing in the same section. This was it. It was his time to soar!
He launched himself from the boards with a grunt, a wild smile spreading across his face that grew ever wider the harder he paddled his legs. The sudden start nearly made him fall, but he regained his balance with the help of his pylon, and began to race one of the adults he saw out of the corner of his eye.
It was working! He was flying along the surface just as fast as the adult beside him, the rink air chilling his face as he increased speed. With just a bit more effort, he might even beat his racing opponent to the other side!
It was only then that he realized the new world of frightful pain that was also part of the ice and cold, for there were no brakes on his skates, and even though he had stopped skating, the pylon and the steel blades were faithfully carrying him to the right side of the rink. He closed his eyes and braced himself. A bloody mash of nose and board soon followed.
The next thing Danny remembered he was staring up from the ice, his father looking down at him with a concerned look on his face. He was asking Danny if he wanted to stop.
But it was too late. Danny was hooked. The wild grin had not left his face. His blood was on the ice, but now the ice, and skating too, was in his blood.
Each time the device powers off and restarts, it sets itself to use DHCP.
The device runs Linux under the hood, and even exposes the SSH port, but the accounts it uses are not obvious. And root is disabled.
To fix the device yourself, you will first need root access. The easiest way is described in this wiki page. Basically:
ssh USERNAME_hipserv2_seagateplug_XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX@DEVICE_IP_ADDRESS sudo -E -s
The USERNAME is the name of the account you have created on the device, when using the usual Windows interface. The XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX is the PK Product Key located on the bottom of the device.
First, make it easier to gain root access by enabling root SSH logins:
Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and uncomment: PermitRootLogin yes Set your own root password: passwd root Restart SSH: service sshd restart
Next, there is a bug in the logic of the /etc/init.d/oe-bootinit script's ensure_firstbootnetwork() function. The entire function should probably only run if the /etc/firstboot file exists, but there is an if/else statement that only checks this for the first half of the if statement. The else is where the DHCP overwrite happens.
By this point, though, your device has passed the first boot, so you don't need this code anymore. I commented out the entire block of code, and replaced it with something innocuous, just to avoid any shell issues with empty functions:
echo do nothing > /dev/null
You'll want to be careful editing these files, since if you make a typo that prevents network boot, you won't be able to login to fix it.
It seems that Seagate has known about this issue since September, but there were no software updates that fix this issue. Using the web interface to check for updates, it claimed that the device was up to date. You may want to take this into consideration when making future purchasing decisions.
Good luck, and enjoy!
I grabbed the lyrics from here, copied for your convenience below.
Here's her song.
So. Honesty, eh?
I'm sure there are non-Christians who look at some Christians and wonder: are they really that happy, or are they faking it? I'm fairly sure, because I'm a Christian, and I wonder that myself.
There are, of course, ups and downs in life, and Christians are not exempt from that. For various reasons. Sometimes circumstances just seem to whack you over the head. Sometimes it is our own foolishness that gets us in trouble.
So I need to be honest as well. I don't want to be someone who fakes it. I don't want to be someone who makes it look like the Christian life is all roses and honeydew. We may be on our way to the promised land, but there's often a lot of desert along the way.
My own personal desert these days is loneliness. I strongly suspect that it's my own fault to a large degree. Actually, it is definitely my fault, because I don't work hard enough at life and I don't work hard enough at finding good friends.
I'm often very good at not doing something, even if I really want to. I can be an unmovable object at times, and sometimes that personality trait comes in handy. But I'm not very good at the "unstoppable force" side of things. Actually doing something, even when I know I should, seems to require a personal nuclear reaction to overcome that initial inertia.
So there are many factors in my life, stemming from that inertia, which create a recipe for being alone. And that recipe, when fully cooked, lands me in a dish of solitude that I cannot escape from when it finally becomes too much for me to handle.
This is the way of the fool.
I was recently reading Proverbs 26, and the interesting thing is that there are a group of verses at the beginning, that really give the fool a going-over. It talks about a whip for the back of the fool. It talks about how to handle a fool, and how to speak to him, or not speak to him. It tells how stupid it is to trust a fool, or to listen to a fool. It tells how fruitless it is to honour a fool.
And then it slowly turns the discussion to someone wise in his own eyes.
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him. Proverbs 26:12
Whoa! Now there's a whole new level of folly! Suddenly the fool, who has been taking a verbal beating for his folly, doesn't look so bad. Who could this new hopeless man be?
The chapter then launches into a new group of proverbs, talking about the lazy, slothful man. Uh-oh...
13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.
Apparently, he makes excuses.
14 As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.
I can hear the squeaking.
15 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. NIV says: 15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
Even feeding himself is a burden.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.
There it is! The truth is revealed! Even a fool is better off than a lazy man.
To keep with the theme of honesty: I am that lazy man.
So it should come as no surprise to me that I am lonely. It should come as no surprise to me that I am in a desert of my own making. And it should come as no surprise to me that other people, regardless of their beliefs or values, are happier than I am.
The only faking that is obvious to me would be if I were to pretend to everyone that I am happy. Some days I am, certainly, but I am not all the time. And most often, those days that I am feeling the lowest are because of me. I am merely reaping my own reward.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians 6:7-8
So why did I write this? It is not too flattering to bare my faults for all the world to see. But I'm slowly, ever so slowly, learning that faking it doesn't help anybody. It certainly doesn't help me, because not only do I have to invent something fake to project to the world, a fake life does not help me deal with my own problems.
Faking doesn't help anyone else either. How often have you been inspired by someone who seems to have everything together, and yet the "how to" part is missing? How do you get there from here? You only get that truth with honesty.
And finally, fake is repulsive, while honesty is attractive. I can't count the number of times I've found honesty in others to be pleasant, regardless of the truth that they are revealing about themselves. The real and the unguarded and the vulnerable is what disarms people. It is what defuses a tense situation. It is what adds humour to an awkward moment.
Honesty is freedom. You only have to worry about one instance of yourself, not many copies floating around the world that need management. And really, when it comes to honesty, others usually already know my faults. At times, I'm the last to know.
Fake comes from fear, and it usually happens without my conscious knowledge. It is way too easy to let fear twist me into a distorted little knot. Once I realize what has happened, a little honesty, even if it is just in my own journal that nobody reads, has an explosive liberating effect.
Honesty is the best policy.
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