Saturday, June 30, 2007

Much Better Than an Ech A Sketch

Check this out. I was just browsing the net and found this guy. He uses dirty windshields to create his masterpieces. The most creative thing I've ever come up with for a dirty car is to write "wash me" on the window.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Summer Classes

I'm currently taking Summer classes in order to fulfill some of my prerequisites required for my fall classes. My advice to any student thinking about taking a Summer class: don't do it unless you absolutely have to. Summer classes eat your soul. Whole. They devour all your time and rob you of an enjoyable Summer. Then they use your few and far between down times to pick their teeth.

I'm only slightly exaggerating. My Dynamics class has been the focal point of my life for the last two months, and my Mechanics class is about to take over where Dynamics is leaving off. These are not easy classes during the normal semesters. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT take heavy calculus-based physics classes during the Summer. It's insane. There have been times where I think I've been going insane.

But all in all, I'm doing better. I'm starting to get into a routine that's starting to work, I think. When the fall semester comes, I will be well equipped to handle the onslaught of in-depth engineering classes. Hooray, engineering classes! A real job and a life without classes and homework sounds pretty good right about now.

Some day.

Monday, June 18, 2007

A Trail of Heroes

So, I'm out on the road working for MDOT yesterday with my partner Eric, and we find these little plastic fireman figures on the side of the road. We kept finding them at pretty even spacing as we went down the road, as if someone threw them out of their car window at steady pace. It's the strangest thing. Eric and I followed said trail and picked them up as we went. We found seventeen firefighters in all. They now have a home in our MDOT truck. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled for more.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

The Adventures of Wheelchair Man


This morning I was checking out some headlines from msn.com and I stumbled across this little article. Apparently, a man in a wheelchair rolled out in front of a semi as it was moving and the handle bars became lodged in the grill of the truck. The man was pushed four miles down the road at 50 mph before the police were able to rescue him. Don't worry, he's okay.

What a crazy story. The craziest part it this: this event took place in Paw Paw, Michigan on Red Arrow Highway. This is just about twenty miles from my apartment. It's strange to see a local story like this make national news. I'm just glad the guy's alright.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

D-Day

Today is the 63rd anniversary of D-Day. This day always sends me to a sober state of mind when I think of the incredible sacrifice given by the men that stormed Normandy during one of the most important events in history. I always try to watch at least the first fifteen minutes of Saving Private Ryan in honor of that sacrifice. Please take a moment to remember the people who died on that day so that we could be free on this day.

What is D-Day?


Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.


Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.


SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Heaven is Not Our Home

Here is something that's been on my mind for a while now. Heaven is not our home, nor will it ever be. All my life, I've heard that when people die, they go to Heaven to live with Jesus. I cannot think of a single passage in the Bible that refers to this. Now, what I want to make clear is that if anyone knows of a place in the Bible that does broach this topic and if you strongly disagree with these statements that I'm making, by all means, let me know. I am making claims from what I know and I want to be informed of when I'm wrong. Also, for all intensive purposes, we are assuming you are saved by the blood of Christ when we refer to someone going to heaven.

Some claim that you go to Heaven when you die, some people believe that we "sleep" until the second coming of Christ. I have no real stance on that particular issue and I don't wish to get into deep doctrinal discussions. What I do believe is that we were created for this world. Actually, I believe that this world was created for us.

First things first. When God created Adam and Eve, He did not put them in Heaven with Him (Again, this is assuming God resides in Heaven). He placed the first people in a garden on Earth and then gave them dominion over every living thing. He created the world for us. He did not create Heaven for us.

Now, through all the texts of the Bible, we are given a common theme: God dwelling on Earth with us. God walks in the garden of Eden, God meets Abraham on Earth, He wrestles with Jacob here, He indwelt the Ark of the Covenant and resided in the Tabernacle so that He could commune with the Israelites, He came down in the form of a man called Jesus and made friends with the scum of the earth. In fact, Jesus died for the scum of the earth. One day, Christ will come back to this Earth and rule from Jerusalem, not Heaven. The Bible has God coming to us. It's not the other way around.

Normally, when a subject of slightly different doctrinal beliefs pops up, I dismiss it because I see it as unimportant to the overall mission of Christ and something that needlessly separates His Body of believers. But I feel that this is not some trivial issue, not because of a simple belief that we will leave this earth in the end, but because that belief hurts our mission as disciples.

If we start to think of this world as temporary, as simply a waiting room until we die and go to our real home, we are more apt to think of salvation as a "get out of hell free" card and less apt to reach out to others. This also stems back to the idea that the Kingdom of God is not a kingdom in Heaven, but a Kingdom of a unique sorts right here on Earth. We are the Kingdom, and the Kingdom is here.

In the end I guess I really don't like when people look to Heaven as a sort of retirement. I seriously think that our eternity with God will be so much more than just worshiping Him forever. God created us for a reason, and I don't believe it's to take the place of the angels that already worship Him non-stop. We worship God with our lifestyles and by using the gifts that He gave to us when He created us. I believe that will continue even when this earth passes away and God reveals the New Heaven and the New Earth.

To me, the very idea that He's going to create another Earth tells me that this world and our place in it are so much more than we truly know. And we should live like it.