NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

“Are You Coming” by Tim Pepper

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My son, Tim (lead singer in this video), spent most of his formative years in South Africa. He was eight when we moved to South Africa and thirty-two when he permanently moved back to the States. During those years he was in school a lot. He ended up with a Masters Degree in Bio Technology and taught high school biology for a couple of years afterward – I think he would be happy never to see the inside of a classroom again.

But what makes this story interesting is that during his university years he also learned to play guitar – self taught – and demonstrated an amazing ability to write lyrics, assign a tune and sing. He is a natural as a singer/song writer. Who knew?

Although he has never had music lessons to speak of (other than a few months worth of keyboard instructions when he was about 9 or 10 which he promptly forgot) he has written, I don’t know how many songs, and it has now become his passion. He has also developed some amateur recording skills and gotten experience working in more sophisticated studios recording some of his songs. [Read more…] about “Are You Coming” by Tim Pepper

OT Law Allows Parents To Stone Children

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Did OT Law Really Allow Parents
The Option of Stoning Rebellious Children?

Yes, according to the following passage:

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard. 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. Deuteronomy 21:18-21

But, as far as we know this law was never invoked in OT days and there is good reason to believe God never expected it to be. It was intended to make a point not prescribe a rule. It reads more like satire. No doubt Jonathan Swift got the idea for “A Modest Proposal” from this very text.

Then and now, parents were the primary influence in molding the character of a child’s life and, as the following text indicates God expects parents to use every waking moment to nurture good qualities in the lives of their offspring. [Read more…] about OT Law Allows Parents To Stone Children

CRP In The Amashova

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I just finished my fourth Amashova and my third 106K cycle race. Other than the first, which was the 38K exercise for beginners, every event has been an opportunity to showcase CRP, The Children’s Resiliency Project.

CRP is an orphan village situated in Ashburton, South Africa – just south of Pietermarizburg – and is the brainchild of a friend and colleague, Dr. Robert Graham. I’ve known Bob for fifteen plus years and have worked with him on various short-term projects here in South Africa. His professional life was centered in education prior to coming to South Africa but he has always had a strong interest in at-risk-kids and now focuses all of his attention on the orphan epidemic marring the South African community.

Although the main focus of my ministry is church planting I am sympathetic to the cause and provide support whenever I can. One way to do that is wear the CRP logo while riding the Amashova. I also let friends and associates know about this race and ask them to consider making a donation to the project. Hence this post.

You can get up to date information about the project here and securely make donations on the site. [Read more…] about CRP In The Amashova

Where Does Power Come From – God?

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We use things we can't fully understand (the brain) to figure out things we can.

Use The Power You Have
To Become The Thing You Must

To say God has all power is to say what we can easily understand, not because we have experienced it but because we, through rational thought, can reach this conclusion logically.

Obviously, I don’t have to prove there is power. It’s a no-brainer. Scientifically we have identified many different forms of power.

It is all around us, very available and is presented mostly in manageable forms. We derive much benefit from power – we couldn’t live without it – but the bottom line is we cannot create it. If it wasn’t freely supplied we wouldn’t have it.

We have learned ways to harness it effectively and to convert it from one non-useable form to a more useable one but, again, we cannot create it. In fact, one well established principle of physics reminds us that…

Energy can be converted from one form to another but it cannot be created or destroyed.

At least not by us.

Even the power we manage is presented to us in a controlled state. If it wasn’t we would be out of luck. Sunshine, rain and wind are all forms of power that can become quite destructive if supplied in excessive amounts. [Read more…] about Where Does Power Come From – God?

Shwe Shwe – Traditional African Fabric

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When I began my second quilting class, for intermediates, I wanted to use the traditional African fabric that is readily available here in South Africa, known as Shwe Shwe (Shway Shway).

The original brand, Three Cats, is only available in the traditional indigo blue, red and brown. I chose to use only the red and blue for my quilt. When South Africans see this quilt they usually think, “Oh, red, white and blue, for America.” But, other than the colors it is more African than American.

In this class we learned many new blocks and techniques such as:

  • Dresden Plate
  • Kaleidoscope
  • Drunkard’s Path
  • Log Cabin
  • Folded Bow Tie
  • Churn Dash
  • Maple Leaf
  • Folded Star technique
  • Appliqué
  • Stained Glass
  • Seminole Strips
  • Friendship Braid
  • Paper Piecing
  • Flying Geese Trees
  • And Schoolhouse Block to name a few.

All of these blocks, with the exception of Dresdan Plate, were used in the quilt shown in this post. [Read more…] about Shwe Shwe – Traditional African Fabric