Miracles

I am listening to an interesting lecture series on the Life and Teachings of Jesus, by Dr. Daniel Doriani from Covenant Theological Seminary, and in one of the lectures he asks the question "Do miracles take place today?" I thought it was an interesting question. Dr. Doriani's answer was no, at least not in the biblical sense. He defines biblical miracles as "a direct, unmediated act of God in the external world in which He works outside the common course of events to reveal Himself, to authenticate His servants, and to manifest His nature and redemptive purposes" and he says that using this definition, miracles no longer occur today. I think this is interesting to think about. Is this an appropriate definition of miracles? Is there some form of miracle that is not included under this definition? Doriani makes sure to distinguish between acts of God and miracles. Birth and "miraculous" healings from disease are acts of God. The biblical forms of miracles are used by individuals (miracle-workers) to establish the fact that they are agents of God. Since God no longer has any agents in Earth in the biblical sense (i.e., prophets, His Son, etc.) then he no longer peroforms miracles. Is this just semantics, or is there a substantive difference? Thoughts?

Golf

I have recently discovered that I love to golf. I golfed for the first time this weekend on a trip to visit Michelle's family for Thanksgiving. I golfed once about 7 years ago on a 9-hole course that was designed for 14 year olds, so I dont really count that one. I've been to a driving range about half a dozen times, but never to an actual golf course. The guys in Michelle's family went to the driving range in Simi Thursday morning to warm up for the 18-hole golf course in Westlake on Friday. It was a nice way for me to truly understand my limitations in golf. I went in expecting to be laughed off the golf course, but still knowing that I was going to have a good time. Michelle's family was very gracious and they gave me lots of tips and didnt laugh at me...that is until it happened. We had carts, so we didnt have to carry the bags, and I was in the cart with Michelle's brother Eric. On about the 14th hole, we were having particular difficulty finding my ball and as we were traveling full-speed in the golf cart, Eric and I noticed my ball as we were passing it and Eric turned hard to the left. I was not prepared for the turn and I tried to grab on to something, but I could not find anything in time and I fell out of the golf cart. It all happened very fast, and I dont remember much but I've been told that I bounced a couple of times like a stone across a pond. That's ok...I have embraced it. I now know that I will be the butt of everyone's jokes in Michelle's family for another 2 years or so. And I still dont care because I loved golfing!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today we celebrate what we are most thankful for. Today we get to spend some great, quality time with family and friends. Today we get to gorge ourselves on turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. Today we get to watch football. And, for some at least, today we get to prepare ourselves for black friday. In un-history geek-like fashion, I am not going to discuss the historical Thanksgiving because this holiday is not so much about the history of the Wampanoags and the Puritans anymore. This holiday is about spending time with family, reconnecting with loved ones who you see once every other month, at most. So today, I scorn those who call today Thankstaking and I proclaim from the mountain tops...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

End of the semester

I have not posted for a while mostly because it is coming to the end of the semester and I have some projects that I need to finish. I need to create a major power point presentation on an adolescent featured somewhere in literature for my Adolescence class. I chose Catcher in the Rye. I also have to write a 10-page informal research paper on the suburbanization of America and how white Europeans forced minorities into the inner cities while they took control of the suburbs. And the most exciting project is a 20 page research paper on the shift from white indentured servitude to race slavery in seventeenth century Virginia. How exciting is that?!?! If you want to know more about this topic, you can just ask me. My thesis is that this change was facilitated by the shift from family farms to cash crops, specifically tobacco, in the Chesapeake which created a labor need that could not be filled by England’s indenture system and needed to be filled by a new labor system where the master owned not only the labor of the servant, but the person of the slave.
I am starting to take my research papers more seriously than I have in the past. One of my goals is to be published by the time I’m thirty and the good news about CSUF is that 90% of the professors who assign research papers will recommend them to historical journals if they are good enough. So, I am working on heavy research on these papers so I can hopefully get published sometime soon.

Change

Every now and then, people need a change. Most people don't like major changes, they like small changes that they can control that help to spice up their lives and bring some excitement. Take me and Michelle. Michelle recently died her hair red (or as she has corrected me 100 times, Auburn.)




I, not being someone to be one-upped, also needed a change. So, I shaved my mustache. This is a drastic change for me because my upper lip has not seen the light of day in over 10 years. I have had a full gotee and mustache since just before my 17 birthday. But I gotta say, it feels good...kind of cold, though.

Police and Fire Fighters

These fires that have been ravaging southern california have got me thinking. These firemen who have been fighting these fires are true heroes in every sense of the word. Firemen are generally thought of as heroes. When you think of the LAFD through the past couple weeks, or of the NYFD on 9/11, you think of heroes. But do you think the same way when you think of police? When you think of the LAPD do you think of the brutality during the imigration rallies? When you think of police, do you think of donut-eating, stake-out-sitting, ticket-writing burdens? Maybe you don't, but I'm sure you know someone who will call a cop a pig whenever they see one. I think that police get a bad rap. My theory is there are two major things influencing this negative stereotype. The first is that police deal with people. When you deal with people, at times there are going to be a majosity of those people who do not like your actions. Fireman deal with nature and so dont have to deal with confrontations with people. The other, and more important, aspect is the effects of the media. The media is so quick to jump on a police scandal, but how often do you hear a positive report. When was the last time that the news reported about how police protect us on a daily basis. I think that firemen are true heroes, but I think that policemen should be considered heroes just as much as fireman