Space Age Lutheran

Way to go Huntsville

2010-07-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is an old video apparently from the 90's when this delightful (verbally colorful) gentleman interrupted a news reporter and went off on a very odd rant.

It was turned into not too bad of a music video:

Pocahontas is my Great^14 Grandmother

2010-06-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

My cousin has begun researching our family tree. Apparently my great-great-grandfather was Union soldier during the Civil War.

He was the son of a Potato Famine immigrant.

His mother was a descendant of Pocahontas. I suppose that's fairly common in people from the Chesapeake Bay region.

It's common enough that through Pocahontas I am related to two First Ladies and astronomer Percival Lowell. That's a bit surprising on the white trash side of my family tree.

On my father's side of the family are German Catholics from Bavaria (immigrated shortly before World War I).

Lost Home

2010-06-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

I grew up in an area of the East Coast called Delmarva. It's a diamond shaped peninsula that included Southern Delaware, Eastern Maryland, and a long sliver of Virginia.

On this Peninsula we had our own religious background (primarily Methodist, Anglican, Catholic and Pentecostal). In our region we had a thick accent that betrayed our origins in Cornwall and Western England. We had our own cuisine and our own customs.

Since then the rural laconic peninsula has filled up with New Jersey-ites, Pennsylvanians, and various other urban Americans.

Now-a-days the past itself is a foreign country with customs and folkways that are alien to the present.

I can't return home but I suppose Alabama is the next best thing for this rural Lutheran.

Theology of Rest

2010-05-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

Burnt Out.

Americans today work more hours than our parents or grandparents. I notice that people look frazzled, hurried and distracted wherever I go. Even the unemployed look frazzled and weary.

Certainly some people seem content.

Some of the most weary and troubled people I see are in Church.

This is a wonderful thing as we expect the sick in a Hospital. The weary should be where they can find at least spiritual rest.

But I don't see Churches offering rest to the weary. I see Churches offering a lot of programs to keep people busy. A lot of sermons that pile moral requirements, and lists of 'Christian duties'. A lot of activities to keep kids happy. They can't seem to find time to offer rest to the weary...

We find our rest in Jesus Christ. Jesus said:

"All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Sin weighs us down with guilt. We desire to finally break free from sin and live a Victorious Christian Life. We do not find our rest in our own efforts or struggles.

We find rest when Christ takes the burden of our sin and places on us his own righteousness. He offers Baptism and Communion to give us faith that we have received forgiveness.

The Church is to reveal and uncover the forgiveness Christ has won for us. Rest comes when we stop trying to lift ourselves out of sin and realize Christ finished all that we need on the cross. We are sinners, but we are sinners who have been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb.

We may not be able to find rest in our struggles at work or at home but our soul can find rest in Jesus Christ.

Problem-Solving is the Problem

2010-05-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

By most standards the national government in Washington DC is doing poorly.

People complain about massive illegal immigration and the harm that it brings.

People complain about unemployment that doesn't appear likely to get back to normal for years.

People complain about how national regulations stifle small businesses and seem to not prevent big businesses from recklessness (British Petroleum, Goldman Sachs).

People complain about how deficits rise as the government spends money but none of the problems ever improve.

There's certainly a lot of truth in all the common complaint about the national government. It's usually inefficient, often ineffective and sometimes counter-productive.

Perhaps though the problem isn't with the government but with us.

Perhaps the government can't solve all these problems that we lay on the footsteps of DC politicians. Perhaps Washington should be looking to get out of the problem solving business and just try to keep from doing any more damage.

Perhaps we expect too much of mere politicians whether they belong to the Democrat or Republican tribes. They aren't given any special training about how to solve complex national problems.

All this focus on DC isn't healthy for our nation. We'd be better off if people looked elsewhere for hope.

I grew up near MARS

2010-04-22T16:51:00.001-07:00

I grew up about 30 miles away from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS).

Now the space industry is a big deal. The private sector space industry generates billions of dollars of profits each year.

GPS navigation (not just in your car but also on ships and planes), timing for teller machines, satellite phones, imagery for farming, Google Earth...

That's really just scratching the surface. The big money in the aerospace industry is in owning satellites but it's still vital for America that we have our own native launch industry.

If we can't launch and control our own satellites we leave our industry vulnerable to overseas adversaries.

So I'm glad to see MARS launching satellites and I hope to see more spaceports in the US in the years to come.

I Don't Agree with 'Em but I like 'Em

2010-04-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Reasons To Believe is a ministry founded and led by astrophysicist Hugh Ross.

The organization has a staff of physicists, astronomers, biochemists and philosophers. While I mostly don't agree with their view of progressive creationism, I do appreciate their view on new scientific discoveries.

They present the evidence, provide an unbiased evolutionary viewpoint, and then go on to explain their take. Occasionally I find myself agreeing with their critiques.

What really impresses me is how the RTB staff unpack and explain misleading news articles about scientific topics.

I especially appreciate Dave Rogstad (a Lutheran maybe?), Jeff Zweerink, and Fazale Rana. They each have an air of professionalism and modesty.

If you want to hear an intelligent voice from Creationism I'd point you towards their Podcasts:
I Didn't Know That
Science News Flash

Lutheran Sermon in 15 seconds

2010-04-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

I notice when I speak to people about religious issues they're expecting an advertisement.

"Become a Lutheran and your teeth will stay shiny white with new Thrivent toothpaste!!!"
"Become a Lutheran and you'll have health, wealth and become a better lover"

Instead Lutherans offer a message that seems incomplete, harsh and insulting.

Even the best part of you is evil and you deserve to be judged for it. Jesus died for people as evil as you to take away the judgment you deserve.

People are expecting more than that. They're expecting to be told to do something.

Make a decision for Christ.

At the very least they're expecting a feel-good self-help pep talk.

Believe in yourself and become a better you.

Gag me with a doggy chew toy.

Either hearing the Gospel created faith in you or it didn't. If you have faith after hearing the Gospel you are already saved. If you don't have faith after hearing the Gospel nothing else we say is going to help you.

Seeing Space Junk Before it Collides

2010-04-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

I appreciate images like that.

You may wonder why collisions don't happen all that often in space given how crowded it is. Well it's not really that crowded but when you've got objects moving in similar paths faster than bullets you do see quite a few "close" calls.

By close I mean objects coming within a few dozen meters of each other.

If you're interested in near misses (which sometimes turn into hits) I'd suggest you check out SOCRATES.

SOCRATES (Satellite Orbital Conjunction Reports Assessing Threatening Encounters in Space) allows you to see the near misses of satellites and space junk in a free software called AGI Viewer.

American Future in Space

2010-04-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Former astronauts, public officials and a lot of people in the space industry are all raising quite a fuss about the scraping of the Constellation program and the plan to return to the Moon.

America will depend on Russia for years to send our astronauts into orbit.

I understand the romance of exploration and space as the final frontier. I really do. I can't watch Neil Armstrong's walk on the Moon without pride. Still was the Moon a worthy goal after 50 years? What were we expecting to do there?

Now there's a plan in the works to land astronauts on an asteroid. That'll be difficult and we may even learn something from it. We're not going to capture the public imagination with something like that (assuming we even do it).

I think it's more likely that politicians continue to scale back American manned spaceflight until such time as we feel threatened and another space race starts up.

We may have another space race with China or Russia but we'll not be doing much otherwise. Meanwhile the probes we have on Mars are still exploring and Hubble is still making discoveries. Unmanned space flight is likely to continue to be the focus of US efforts. Sorry space cadets.