Vox has now opened up registration to anybody at all, which means you can now all sign up and post comments on my journal if you want! :)

Vox

The John Journal

[dull voice]Whoopeedoo.[/dull voice] :)

No, seriously, I really enjoy Vox especially because of its easy tagging of posts, something which Blogger is just now getting around to in their Beta.

This is a very awesome idea: You answer roughly 30 questions with "agree / disagree" and then it shows you the varying "contradictions" or "tensions" that exist in your beliefs.

Philosophical Health Check.

I got a tension quotient of 27%, which apparently is pretty much average.

One of my "tensions" is the classic one:

You agreed that:

There exists an all-powerful, loving and good God

And also that:
To allow an innocent child to suffer needlessly when one could easily prevent it is morally reprehensible

These two beliefs together generate what is known as 'The Problem of Evil'. (...)

Richard Dawkins has been creating quite a bit of hype in the blogsphere and news lately with his new book "The God Delusion".

I have to say, in interviews and such, he really comes across very sharp and logical to me, so much so that I think I'm going to get the book and read it.

In any case, I was really glad when I came across this 15 minute debate between him and a guy named David Quinn, a Catholic commentator and journalist. Very sharp thinking is going on here on both sides, but IMHO, Richard gets debated right into a corner.

Quotes to look for from Richard:

"I simply deny that."

"I'm just not interested in free will."

Enjoy: Quinn vs. Dawkins

Found on Uncommon Descent. Note that I don't really like that blog, BTW. :)

I know, I know, I'm WAY late on this, this was becoming popular months ago, but anyways: Pandora (www.pandora.com) is AWESOME. It's a free Internet radio that automatically picks music you like.

It first asks you for your favorite artist. So I entered Jars of Clay, and here's what it said to me:

"To start things off, here's a track that's musically similar to Jars of Clay called "Free" by Donavon Frankenreiter, that features a subtle use of vocal harmony, mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, a vocal-centric aesthetic, major key tonality and electric pianos."

Now, how frikkin' cool is that? You can create up to like 100 or 1000 "stations" that all dynamically play music "similar" to whatever you specify, and it reacts to you saying you like or dislike certain songs.

Just read this incredible letter directly from a Marine in Iraq. Time magazine itself tested its authenticity, so this is the real deal. Just jaw-droppingly intense stuff in there, and it sure is a breath of fresh air to hear straight talk about the war without having any political agenda (in either direction) be involved in the report.

Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province — Any Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician (EOD Tech). How'd you like a job that required you to defuse bombs in a hole in the middle of the road that very likely are booby-trapped or connected by wire to a bad guy who's just waiting for you to get close to the bomb before he clicks the detonator? Every day. Sanitation workers in New York City get paid more than these guys. Talk about courage and commitment.

TIME World -- The Secret Letter From Iraq

Check this out. Very intriguing picture where you can basically zoom in further and further and the picture just keeps revealing more and more detail until you end up being back at the beginning. Hard to explain, but anyways, try it yourself.

Chelsea Hudson, a friend from church, came on Saturday and took loads of pictures for fliers and advertisements and stuff for us. She's really, really good (see her web site). Check out this one of Joshua with the rest of us in the background, it rocks. This one is perfect for a tagline like "CHECK US OUT!" or something. :)

See a few other pictures from Saturday here: johnandchels's Xanga Site - Welcome to The Rock. Big thanks again Chelsea for taking the pictures, they're awesome!

I just read this and thought it to be a beautifully eloquent and forceful defense of theism:

Transcript of the Pope's Regensburg address, September 12th, 2006:

We believe in God. This is a fundamental decision on our part. But is such a thing still possible today? Is it reasonable? From the Enlightenment on, science, at least in part, has applied itself to seeking an explanation of the world in which God would be unnecessary. And if this were so, he would also become unnecessary in our lives. But whenever the attempt seemed to be nearing success - inevitably it would become clear: something is missing from the equation! When God is subtracted, something doesn’t add up for man, the world, the whole vast universe. So we end up with two alternatives. What came first? Creative Reason, the Spirit who makes all things and gives them growth, or Unreason, which, lacking any meaning, yet somehow brings forth a mathematically ordered cosmos, as well as man and his reason. The latter, however, would then be nothing more than a chance result of evolution and thus, in the end, equally meaningless. As Christians, we say: I believe in God the Father, the Creator of heaven and earth - I believe in the Creator Spirit. We believe that at the beginning of everything is the eternal Word, with Reason and not Unreason. With this faith we have no reason to hide, no fear of ending up in a dead end. We rejoice that we can know God! And we try to let others see the reasonableness of our faith, as Saint Peter bids us do in his First Letter (cf. 3:15)!

We believe in God. This is what the main sections of the Creed affirm, especially the first section. But another question now follows: in what God? Certainly we believe in the God who is Creator Spirit, creative Reason, the source of everything that exists, including ourselves. The second section of the Creed tells us more. This creative Reason is Goodness, it is Love. It has a face. God does not leave us groping in the dark. He has shown himself to us as a man. In his greatness he has let himself become small. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father, Jesus says (Jn 14:9). God has taken on a human face. He has loved us even to the point of letting himself be nailed to the Cross for our sake, in order to bring the sufferings of mankind to the very heart of God. Today, when we have learned to recognize the pathologies and the life-threatening diseases associated with religion and reason, and the ways that God’s image can be destroyed by hatred and fanaticism, it is important to state clearly the God in whom we believe, and to proclaim confidently that this God has a human face. Only this can free us from being afraid of God - which is ultimately at the root of modern atheism. Only this God saves us from being afraid of the world and from anxiety before the emptiness of life. Only by looking to Jesus Christ does our joy in God come to fulfilment and become redeemed joy. During this solemn Eucharistic celebration, let us look to the Lord and ask him to give us the immense joy which he promised to his disciples (cf. Jn 16:24)!

Quote of the day: "I ain't flat, the band's sharp." - Robbie Williams in the background of one of his songs. (As a joke of course)

We just got back last Friday from our vacation at the North Sea, which was awesome...more later on that.

Now I need to get the "I usually don't do memes, but..." out of the way before I post this:

I usually don't do memes, but...my brother Timothy tagged me, so I really have no choice. :) Note my answers are not at all going to be as impressive as his are (Henry David Who?) Here we go, my answers to the book meme:

1. One book that changed your life:

Well, sorry, but the only book I can think of that actually deserves that description would also be the most obvious answer: the Bible. No other book I've read (so far!) has impacted me strongly enough that I'd say it actually changed my life.

2. One book that you've read more than once:

Radical Reformissionary by Mark Driscoll. I read it on my own, then also our church read it together. I found myself thinking "That is EXACTLY what I've always thought, just never had words to describe it like that." more than once reading it.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island:

Other than the Bible and "Practical raft-building", I can't think of anything better than a good deep novel: Lord of the Rings for example.

4. One book that made you laugh:

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I don't know exactly why, but he hit my funny bone very often in that book, I think my humor is similar to his. I found myself laughing out loud on the tram, people staring at me out of the corner of their eyes. :)

5. One book that made you cry:

This is kind of embarrassing, but Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala. There is just story after unbelievable story of God answering desperate prayers, and one story of parents and the church crying out to God for the parents' runaway daughter, only to have her completely turn her life around and come back home brought me to tears.

6. One book you wish had been written:

The Gospel of James with stories about Jesus' teenage and young adult life as remembered by his brother.

7. One book you wish had never been written:

The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: NOT because I disagree with the science in the book (though I do), but because of what happened philosophically in society as a (direct and indirect) result of Darwinism.

8. One book you're currently reading:

Walking from East to West by Ravi Zacharias. Great book so far, it's a very intriguing account of his life - growing up in India, then moving to Canada, then the States. His insights and memoirs in there are so inspiring and challenging.

9. One book you've been meaning to read:

Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or ours? by Roland Allen. This book was written in 1912, but is seemingly becoming more and more relevant as time goes by.

10. Tag someone else:

Hmmm...I tag my wife. *evil grin*