http://www.groklaw.net/pdf/Comes-3096.pdf

It was a long journey (36+ hours by plane) but eventually we landed in Durban, South Africa. We were met by two members of the Tugela Ferry Rock of Life church and were kindly transported to Tugela Ferry. As we drove further from Durban and closer to Tugla Ferry it became obvious that the living standards in these communities were worlds apart. Here are a few facts taken from a newsletter by the Rock of Life Church in Tugela Ferry:

Tugela Ferry is the largest populated area in the Msinga district of Kwa Zulu-Natal. The Tugela River flows through the Northern border of the rural village of Tugela Ferry. There is an estimated population of one million people.

Rock of Life Christian Church started in 1964 as a very small local church. The congregation grew steadily and in 2000 the membership totaled 400.

The church has on staff six full time pastors, ten elders, and seven deacons.

Worship services are held on Sundays at 10:30am with Sunday School for the children. The church has twelve branches that serve the region.

Below is a typical Sunday morning service at the Rock of Life Church:

A typical Sunday morning service at Rock of Life Church

This is perhaps the poorest region in South Africa and is literally the “heart” of Zulu-land.

Overlooking the Tugela Ferry region

This was a typical Zulu home from what I saw while in the area

The needs in this region are great. There are souls at every mountainside, living vast distances away from civilization making it hard to reach many. AIDS is an unprecedented epidemic is this area where once the cycle begins, it is nearly impossible to stop. 4 out of every 5 children under 15 will die before they reach adulthood. Orphans are many and poverty is in the majority. I was completely overwhelmed by what I saw and I cried out to God for this people, that He would send labourers and indeed if it is His Will I would go.

Elzeth Malherbe, a dear woman of God has given her life to care for orphans in the area having worked among this people for decades. She administers the Khayelisha Care Orphanage where children who would otherwise die are taken in and cared for.

At the time of this writing I cannot say for certain in what way I will be involved with this need that would take many lifetimes to address, but I pray and cry out to the Lord for His Grace and His Church to get a feeling for the vast need. As the scripture says:

Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

While the church body in Tugela Ferry is running full blast to help in every way they can (lead by Pastor Barney Mabaso), we the rest of the body of Christ should seek the Lord and ask Him in what way He would have us to help. Let me say that the greatest need (in my opinion) is NOT money. These people need help, prayer support, encouragement, intercessions and a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit! Yes, God is among the Zulu’s and these people are WIDE OPEN to the gospel. They have many customs that in some ways prepare them for coming to Jesus.

I recall a discussion with pastor Barney regarding musical instruments. Barney mentioned “we blacks don’t need them, God placed it in our mouths”. I must agree with this dear brother:

The choir singing ‘repent’

In conclusion I would love to answer any question that my readers may have regarding this people, just send me an email to (mark_vejvoda @ h o t m a i l . c o m ) but I will post contact information for the Christians working directly in this area. These people are trustworthy and very competent, God fearing servants of Christ:

Rock Of Life Church
Tugela Ferry Mission

PO box 397, Tugela Ferry, 3010 email: tugmission @ x s i n e t . c o . z a
Ph. 033 493 0087 FAX 033 493 0083

For more photos of Tugela Ferry, check out my facebook photo album:

here

Thankfully I have a friend close by who is a heavy duty mechanic and he checked things out for me. One The starter motor itself there are two wires connected, one thick wire coming directly from the positive battery terminal and a smaller thinner switch cable that gets triggered by the ignition.

My friend used a screw-driver to directly connect the screw holding in the Positive cable to the screw holding in the switch cable to test to see if the start would turn over. If not then either a) your battery may be low or dead but more likely b) the starter is failing. Once you have verified that the starter won’t turn over, remove the screws holding the cables and the two long screws directly underneath the start (which hold it in place of the car body and the engine).

Take that part to the auto parts store (or wreckers) and likely they’ll give you some cash for the old core which you can use towards your new starter (mine cost $184.00 Canadian before taxes). Be sure to KEEP the heat shield from your old starter to put on your new one (you just pull it off it fits on via pressure fit). Below are some pictures of the new starter showing the nuts where the cables would connect to and the holes where the two long bolts hold it into the body.

- Should we do foot washing during communion or not?

- The sisters should wear a head covering or not?

- We should greet each other with a holy kiss or not?

- How often should we have communion and who can participate?

- Prayer, real regular prayer meetings?

- Should a Christian dress modestly and how does that look?

- Christian community or individuals?

- Should Christians fight (war, court, etc) or not?

- Speak in tongues / prophecy or not for today?

- Eternal Security /Predestination?

So many topics and so many ideas. What I have found is that these items above are often causes for a lot of fighting and grief amongst Christians (what an oxy-moron… or just moron?). Yes I have been a moron myself and have fought many over these issues myself. What alarms me are two things:

1. Why are we fighting about these things, why can’t we grow up and come to some kind of agreement (for items not critical to our collective walk in Christ agree to dis-agree and love each other)

2. Why are so many abandoning convictions they once believed so passionately?

So I am resolved to:

a) Avoid a fight. Discuss when a peaceful opportunity arises, share in love and leave it be.

b) Always re-evaluate my convictions, but not to abandon those ones that stand the test of scripture and the assurance of the Holy Spirit.

Too often many abandon convictions for a whole host of reasons (I don’t understand all the reasons). People want to be accepted and the more you hold to convictions different than others, the less they accept you. No-one wants to be alone so over time people either compromise or abandon. No I am no fan of being alone, but either the conviction is real and based on your love for Jesus or its false and you wasted all those years in the past following it. I am seeing people show courage less and less to stand for what they believe, as if they never thought through what they were following in the first place.

My cry is for the Lord to give His people faith, strength and courage to follow what is right and good in the face of tremendous pressure to abandon and compromise as it faces the whole Body of Christ today.

After planning and praying for 1 year, our family has moved from Enderby, BC to rual Prince George, BC. We leave behind some dear friends, friends who we prayed with, and studied God’s Word with, friends who love Jesus. Goodbye Andy and Wanda, Lil, Tim and Brian, John and Heather, Gene and Lori, Michael, Richard, Ken, Bill and your wife, Owen. Each of you spent meaningful time in prayer with us and touched our hearts in a very special way. You prayed out evil influences from our communities, saved broken marriages, softened our own hard hearts and participated in the exercise of eternity. We will miss you and remember you. By God’s Grace we will see you again before eternity.

Some people questioned our move, while others gave encouraging words. Was it the right thing to do? Yes, and only the Lord can see the full fruit. While moving, a lot has been shown to me. Tremendous challenges awaited us, many of which I feel I did not navigate through as Christ would have had me to have done. We moved from our home in Enderby, BC to Lac La Hache for 2 weeks, then on to Salmon Valley (Prince George). Many things went wrong and the logistics were insane. Dealing with utility companies, banks, moving truck rental companies, Notaries, inclement weather… the whole experience left me sitting down and looking at it in mediation. God was showing me myself. Through the trials and tests, my replies and behaviour… it is what I am. The Lord knew it would take a giant two part move for a family of 8 mixing in the real world with real people to show me what He wants to change in me.

The final blow to my self-confidence came while listening to: this

There have been times I have known what it means to really pray… to change history… to intercede and to agonize for things on God’s heart. Lord help me to return to this place of eternal usefulness for the Masters sake.

Amen.

Enoch, walked with God and was not, for God took him; and while it is not stated in so many words, a fair inference is that Enoch walked a path quite apart from his contemporaries.

Another lonely man was Noah. Evidence points to the aloneness of his life even while surrounded by his people.

As far as we know not one word did God ever speak to Abraham in the company of men. Face down he communed with his God, and the innate dignity of the man forbade that he assume this posture in the presence of others.

Moses also was a man apart. While yet attached to the court of Pharaoh he took long walks alone. After the break with Egypt he dwelt in almost complete seclusion in the desert.

The prophets of pre-Christian times differed widely from each other, but one mark they bore in common was their enforced loneliness.

Jesus died alone in the darkness hidden from the sight of mortal man and no one saw Him when He arose triumphant and walked out of the tomb, though many saw Him after-ward and bore witness to what they saw.

This cheerful denial of loneliness proves only that the speaker has never walked with God without the support and encouragement afforded him by society. The sense of companionship which mistakenly attributes to the presence of Christ may and probably does arise from the presence of friendly people. Always remember: you cannot carry a cross in company. Though a man were surrounded by a vast crowd, his cross is his alone and his carrying of it marks him as a man apart. Society had turned against him; otherwise he would have no cross. No one is a friend to the man with a cross. “They all forsook him, and fled”.

The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world.

His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences his is forced to walk alone. The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

The man who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. A certain amount of social fellowship will of course be his as he mingles with religious persons in the regular activities of the church, but true spiritual fellowship will be hard to find. After all, he is a stranger and a pilgrim, and the journey he takes is not on his feet but in his heart. He walks with God in the garden of his soul– and who but God can walk there with him?

The truly spiritual man is indeed something of an oddity. He lives not for himself but to promote the interests of Another. He seeks to persuade people to give all to his Lord and asks no portion or share for himself. He delights not to be honoured but to see his Saviour glorified in the eyes of men. His joy is to see his Lord promoted and himself neglected. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shop-talk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens. He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up”. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else. He learns in inner solitude what he could no have learned in the crowd– that Christ is all in all, that HE is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, that in Him we have and possess life’s summum bonum.

Two things remain to be said. One, that the lonely man of whom we speak is not a haughty man, nor is he the holier-than-thou, austere saint so bitterly satirized in popular literature. He is likely to feel that he is the least of all men and is sure tp blame himself for his very loneliness. He wants to share he feelings with others and to open his heart to some like-minded soul who will understand him, but the spiritual climate around him does not encourage it, so he remains silent and tells his griefs to God alone.

The second thing is that the lonely saint is not the withdrawn man who hardens himself against human suffering and spends his days contemplating the heavens. Just the opposite is true. His loneliness makes him sympathetic to the approach of the broken-hearted and the fallen and the sin-bruised. Because he is detached from the world he is all the more able to help it.

The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they feel too much at home in the world. In their effort to achieve restful “adjustment” to the unregenerate society they have lost their pilgrim character and become an essential part of the very moral order against which they are sent to protest. The world recognizes them (modern Christians) and accepts them for that they are. This is the saddest thing that can be said about them. They are not lonely, but neither are they saints.

A.W Tozer

One BIG caveat! I was ready to buy the washer / dryer pair (the dryer was LG’s DLE2516W) but the first few places I went to do not typically stock appliances! The days of going to the store and getting your replacement the same day are mostly over. In my case I got the pair from Trail Appliances (which had excellent selection, the prices were the same as competitors but they also have stock on hand).

Once I got the new washer / dryer home I was VERY happy with the quality, ease of use and design of this pair. Time will tell the long term quality story, but thus far an excellent purchase for our family of 8 (saves much time and energy bills compared with our older pair).

As I read this passage I think of a man who was so wrapped up in finding and doing God’s Will that nothing else mattered to him. This past Friday we sold our home on Jensen Road. All final conditions have been met and we officially start to pack. This story started a year ago, just before the great economic crisis of 2008 began. Vickie and I quite content with our home and family caught a glimpse of something that began a year long journey. Our desire was multi-faceted but mostly surrounding the spiritual well being of our family. Desiring to be a family that “lives life” together and grows in Christ together we saw an opportunity to move from the beautiful gift God gave us on Jensen Road to an even better life.

A life without debt, without bondage to the traditional world system of work->money->time all sucking the very life force from you while at the same time preparing to ensnare your children one day in the same. A simplified life where you are free to carry out God’s will should he ask you to participate in His eternal purposes in this life. A life where children and parents don’t just wave to each other first thing in the morning and last thing at night before bed. Life as God intended it to be:

Deuteronomy 28:13  And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

Read this in its context!

We set out last September to sell the house and a little over a year later it will be completed. We plan to purchase something within our means (without going into debt) and living content and seeking God’s perfect plan in all that we do. By staying out of debt we are free to make decisions that otherwise we could not make. While some work is still required to provide the bread, that is a far cry from the life long tragedy that often claims the best of our years away from our families. This is a risky path, there is no question. This is a strange path in comparison to the common path taken, there is no question.

Matthew 6:31-33  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

This verse and many others consist of Jesus telling his children that life is much more than a career or getting ahead or planning retirement. Paul had no RSP’s, Peter barely knew his ABC’s and Timothy’s age proved that living for eternity was available from your youth. Think of Christ’s words to Peter:

John 21:15  So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

He wasn’t talking about physical bread! He was talking about life! Eternity!

This next chapter in life for us shall be a glorious one. While difficulties are sure to lay ahead:

John 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Pray for us.

Pros:

- Stunning beauty all along the way

- Mostly shaded by large trees and brush

- Lots of fresh glacier water along the trail to cool off your body

- Reasonably short hike for such a gorgeous destination. You can camp at the Lake and hike / mountain climb further to the peaks if you are experienced.

- Not too far from major roads and towns and great for a day hike.

Cons:

- Logging roads are not marked as clearly as you might like it to be. The key way to get to the Trail head is to ignore everything you read about how to find the trail head and follow the Brown signs from the Vernon Outdoors Club (VOC). At some forks in the road all you will see is a small little arrow… follow it! At other forks the sings tell you which trail the fork leads to. This is the most sure way to get to where you want to go.

- Road gets rough and rocky at the last fork to the trail head… if you’re driving in a car you might not want to go forward… backing up is scary on some of the very narrow/rocky spots.

- Almost a gurantee you WILL get wet and muddy. Unless your balance (and everyone else who you may be helping) is perfect you will fall into water.

- LOTS of bugs and horse flies, ESPECIALLY at the top. We sae lots of hikers with shorts and t-shirts, and some taking toddlers up wearing the same! DON’T DO IT! Clothe yourself responsibly for bugs and cooler temps at the top.

- Trail often branches off to different paths which will lead you astray (happened to us a few times). MAKE SURE you use the flowing river as your guide.. it leads to the Lake. Most of the trail follows the right hand side of the river/water falls once you cross over the river at the large dip where the trail forks to the left of the river and down and across the river. Go down and across the river into a mess of broken tress from a past avalanche. You’ll see many avalanche areas skewing the trail.

- Prepare for dangerous wildlife, grizzlies etc.. are known to be in the area, carry some kind of protection in case of emergency (make moderate noise to let them know you are around). It won’t be easy to get down quickly if something happens.

The story of our hike:

We left Vernon at 8:15 am and arrived at the trailhead at around 10:am. Once you pass the Gold Pan Cafe, it is the first logging road and your left (called South Fork) but DON’T take the llogging road ALSO named south fork before the gold pan cafe, and DON’T ask people in the cafe for directions, they didn’t seem to know what we were looking for but gave us confident advice to continue doen the main highway for 30 minutes before turning! Follow those Brown VOC (Vernon Outdoors Club) signs as they are the key to success. This trip I took Jacob (15), Isaac (9) and Timothy(8) along and we had a great time. Thye Lake is VERY cold being a glacier lake but you can take quick / shallow dips to cool off. Be careful as the water is VERY cold and it is possibleto go into shock should you go in deep and long enough or dunk your head in the water at a place colkd enough. Overall the trail was an excellent adventure that we will never forget. I would recommend people use google earth to scope out the area to get a general idea of the landscape and always OVER prepare or you’ll be sorry.

Story #1: The plane that was destined to crash -

Air Force One 2-Ch Radio Remote Controlled RC Airplane Ready to Fly

My son purchased this RC airplane from nitroplanes.com and the plane's flight path started with a
with a throw while ending with a crash. We followed all instructions completely, but unfortunately
this plane from its very design was destined for the garbage bin. Here are my observations:

- The plane has no wheels so the only way to land is on the fuselage.
- The plane is quite heavy (for Styrofoam) and the engines (even with fully charged batteries)
  don't have enough power to lift the heavy plane.
- Let us fantasize for a moment! Lets assume the plane could actually lift off into the blue sky
  (as advertised). We all know what goes up must come down. Nearly EVERY SINGLE landing
  we had when trying to get this thing to take off ended with the wings breaking off!
  We had to crazy glue the wings back in place for subsequent attempts.
- My poor 9 year old son lost $66.00 (shipping included) and is sceptical of all
  flying toys.

Story #2: The GP2x Wiz

My eldest son purchased this multi-purpose open source based mp3 player. While enjoying its
wonderful features for a few weeks we noticed a newer shinier firmware release on the
company website sporting performance improvements and bug fixes. After following
instructions (to the exact detail) we ended up with a bricked device. I have sent
an email to the retailer in hopes for an exchange (which I am told by supporters on IRC that
it should be no problem). The Wiz is definitely an excellent device but the quality of the firmware
upgrade process (for a homebrew based device) should certainly not end in a bricking!

Story #3: Work Hard not Smarter

In a fictitious environment where software engineers and managers and quality assurance
all work together to make the finest products, comes doubt. In this "historical fiction"
bob has been nearly brain washed into believing in agile development methodologies and
TDD (Test Driven Development). While working in his little bubble world, bob and his close
associates experience tremendous results under a highly motivating manager that supports
this bubble team 85% of the way (hey 85% isn't bad). Years pass by and the team is doing
quite well, but the team also switches to a new and more darkened "traditional" environment
where everything "has been done that way for the past x years".

The team is basically starting over from scratch learning new languages, products, processes
and culture. During this new adventure many difficulties arise but more importantly the
team begins to believe less and less in the doctrine since no-one seems to be following it
(like they are trying to do, of course not perfect). Finally things culminate to a meeting
where managers (and high managers) decide to dismantle what fragile safety guards were in place
and the message comes loud and clear... "work harder, not smarter".

You see the idea of productivity and performance can mean a whole world of difference
between different people and environments (and i'm not talking about code I'm talking
project metrics here). Its very easy for a software engineer to "close more bugs" but
the question is how many more has he created, and did he actually fix the real problem?

I don't want to get philosophical here because I don't feel it is required. Sometimes
the simplicity of the truth suffices. In this historical fiction bob is not disturbed
by the fact that the message is "word harder not smarter" but rather that the official
message is "work smarter not harder" but the truthful message is the opposite. Bob
thinks we should be honest with ourselves and at least admit to the truth. If people
want more with less quality then say so. Of course they don't want more with less
quality they want more with higher quality, but unfortunately it all takes time
to invest, which also costs more at some point.

Bob understands at the end of the day things must be done "on time". What bob doesn't
understand is how people who never actually do the work can set the definition of
"on time" without asking those who will do the work. But then again for bob its just
a job and thats all. There are limits to how much effort you can afford to help improve
things, especially when bob feels that maybe they don't want it improved?

======================
Mark my words, the issue of quality will define those who are successful from those who
are not in the next two decades.

Having time off is both relaxing and dangerous. Relaxing because you need not worry about all the silly politics going on at work and abroad (not that we should worry anytime anyways). The dangerous part is due to the fact that you have time to think when you have time off. Time to think about what is important, and time to think about what God is saying to you. I don’t think most businesses like employees to have much time off, not only because it costs money but more importantly because it gives people time to consider what they ‘should’ be doing as opposed to what they are doing. The more busy we are kept the less we think and dream about what God wants for us.

I enjoy writing software, but more importantly I enjoy my family, yeah even more importantly I love being… just being in God’s perfect Will for my life. Thank you Jesus for helping me and my family to see…. beyond the normal machinary of life, and into your eyes and into your Will.

How can you begin to talk about such a controversial topic while keeping a straight face and giving it serious attention? I am not a believer in psychology (the art of manipulation / creation of of realities) but I am a strong believer in sharing experiences and expressions of love. With all of the things the Bible teaches mankind, it summarizes the whole into a simple entry point namely:

Mark 12: 28-33 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Utopia starts with God. Isn’t He a person? Yes He is, and yet being a person he has the capacity to dwell in man, just like Satan being who he is can dwell in man. Utopia comes from God and flows into man, wherewith the Bible describes the mechanism. This comes then to the man Jesus Christ. Was He Utopia? Absolutely! But He was a person and we discussed above that Utopia is not a person or place but a condition. Exactly! If Utopia was a person, then Satan being in Utopia, experiencing it being part of it would still be Utopia, alas that is no longer the case. His condition was that part of Utopia that made him what he was, and also made Jesus Christ what He was. Could Jesus have done wrong? Let the scriptures speak for themselves:

[KJV] Hebrews 4:15
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

[KJV] Hebrews 2:18
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

[KJV] Revelation of John 3:21
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Jesus “chose” to live a life with all the same opportunities to sin and disobey as we face in our own lives (Hebrews 4:15). In that way He is able to understand mankind because of His experiences, and how effectively He is able to help mankind go through life victoriously. Jesus maintained a state of Utopia because He recognized His absolute dependence on the source of it, the Father, God. Jesus is the physical manifestation of God:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

God has given man an example of Utopia for our examination, specifically maintained by the man Jesus Christ:

[KJV] John 19:5
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!

From showing man that the kingdom of Utopia does not have its roots in “this world” we see a number of principles such as the fact that Jesus did not fight against an ungodly, unfair and corrupt authority that had seized Him and was to ultimately “kill His body”. They did kill His body, but they were never unable to remove the Utopia:

[KJV] Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

In this way we can see that the condition of man (whether Utopia or not) is one that is destined to continue in various degrees long after “this life” has ended whether a Utopia acquired on earth and continued in heaven or the default non Utopia continued and experienced in hell, and later the lake of fire. I think people typically dismiss the idea of Utopia quickly because how far away from it their current condition appears to be and mostly all of the examples around them appears to bode likewise. Utopia / Perfection are found in a condition given by God alone, and only possible to maintain by God alone. This is a central dependency, without which man can never experience Utopia, even if for a moment:

[KJV] John 15:5
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

It is when man realizes and appreciates and appropriates this dependency that Utopia becomes real. How do you know you ask? I have experienced this at times, though not in perpetuity. A man may say He has the same without God, without the Christ, but alas that is like saying you have experienced water by drinking in air. Perhaps technically speaking there is some legitimacy because in this life:

[KJV] Matthew 5:45
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

But experiencing God’s goodness (which is felt by all in unique ways) and supposing that is Utopia, when God Himself calls mankind to something higher than where man stands is a rejection of the higher calling and a satisfaction with the sampling of His goodness. That is not Utopia, it is an advertisement for Utopia, namely God’s goodness to man. Jesus is the single most important advertisement of what God can do with a man who gives himself to follow in God’s Will. No other example suffices (however impressive they may be) because no other man lived in Utopia perpetually like Jesus the man did. Utopia is not an ignorance of hurt, or an exemption of crucifixion, no Utopia simply put is:

[KJV] John 17:15
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Being able to live in a non Utopia, without willfully participating in all those activities that rob us from this condition:

[KJV] I John 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Which again reminds man of his dependency on God. Suddenly so much of the scripture comes into plain and clearer view. The way I see Utopia at work is:

1) The Father in heaven declares it.

2) The Son (Jesus) displays it.

3) The Spirit produces it in man.

And then in simplicity the Christian need not fret when called upon to be like our Father in heaven:

[KJV] Matthew 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

A great deal in life is missed because of the littleness of our faith. The less we make something difficult and complex, the more practical and useful it becomes to us. Jesus died primarily to give the opportunity for God (once again) to live in man, and therefore show a lost and selfish world what God is like by living through men and women. This is the essence of Utopia.

[KJV] Romans 8:29
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. �

and

[KJV] Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. �

One is the positive part of conformity, showing the whole purpose of God’s visitation to mankind namely for ‘God to live within man’ once again, its all about reconciliation (not just forgiveness). The other passage is the negative and speaks to the ever growing meat grinder which enlarges itself to meet the demand of consumers.

[KJV] Habakkuk 2:5
¶Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: �

This meat grinder is the world and its system. It destroys God’s creation by its very design. Marriages, families, relationships all neatly folded and organized into a society that pretends that it has freedom and is civil when indeed itself is truly enslaved into hopeless lusts, chasing after dollars, fornications, and power. Previous systems were only too obvious externally that they hurt society (communism, fascism, all the ism’s) but now the great deception has taken root. The love of many has indeed waxed cold, time spent with a person no longer exists, no TV, no movie, no external meat grinder attachments, just one person loving another without the aide of the insatiable system. Yes, people work to death in the current “economic crisis” but cannot look at what it will ultimately cost them.

Lord Jesus, continue to show us what we look like in your eyes. Set straight our life priority paths, give us the courage to stand, and at the end of the day just to stand. Let your Son shine through me, teach me how to die daily, to walk in newness of life, for he who hath the son hath life! (1 John 5:12)

Amen.

1. Technology:

Some deeper concentrations whirled through my mind today as I considered the reality of older hardware. Face it folks, we all have “out-dated” computers or parts kicking around fairly steadily these days. Like me you “need” to find some practical role for your old PC because sending it to techno-trash is too… final. As I ponder what my options are, I begin to realize just how badly Microsoft has set themselves up this time. For the first real time in my life (that I can remember) I do believe Microsoft has actually snuffed themselves out of a market. Old PC’s won’t be getting Windows XP installed on them will they! Not with all that licensing nonsense they introduced in XP!

Take for example my experience installing Ubuntu as a Dual Boot accessory to my Windows XP Installation. Here I have a LEGAL installation of Windows XP, I image the hard drive then move it onto a larger hard drive so that I can install more software (Ubuntu dual boot being part of that). Just by upgrading my hard-drive and NOTHING ELSE, Microsoft forces me to connect via Internet to validate my LEGAL copy of Windows XP or make a 1-800 call and talk to bots for 15 minutes to verify my LEGAL copy of Windows XP. Of course I run into numerous problems during this “renewal”because this is like the 10th time going through this with the same PC in the last 5 years since I am a techno-nerd I have changed the hardware in this PC numerous times over that timeframe. If that’s what I get just by upgrading a hard drive, you can be sure that old hardware won’t be seeing ANY LEGAL copies of Windows XP, they’ll be getting LEGAL copies of FREE UBUNTU LINIX! That’s right, I think many others will be doing the same over the coming years and this time Microsoft has really snuffed out the after market. There will be little to no after market. This will only prove to help the cause of free software and show everyone the fruits of closed source / fort knox / pricey operating systems.

Used computers will likely take more advantage of Linux than ever before and get people used to Linux, leaving them no reason to use Microsoft Windows (unless required to do so at their job) moving forward in their future endeavours.

Whether that happens or not is to some degree speculation, but you cannot deny that XP’s phone home system will actually prove to hurt Microsoft more than it helped them in the long run. (Let me be clear I am not an advocate for piracy, I have legal copies of all software that I use on my own PC’s)

2. Theology:

I find it very interesting that until this past 100 years, in general most of the world believed in the existence of God. That means for thousands (evolutionists will say millions or billions) of years most people didn’t disagree on whether or not God existed but rather which god was “The God”. Were these people smart? Are we smarter than all of them today with our Technology, Biology and Humanitology (just created a new word)? Today most people say that they don’t even believe that God exists. So either they were stupid and today we are smart or we are stupid and they were smart. Which one is it? Well, I do suppose that history can help us with that. Why were so many people “believers” in some aspect of a God in the past? In most cases you will find it was directly linked to experiences they had with God. Have we lost these experiences today? Has God left us? Have we left Him? If God really does exist, would he act the way you would expect Him to act? I believe the problem today in our theology is that we “have no need” for God and therefore He steps out of our way like a gentleman (for now).

As we push along through life focussing on being the good little consumers “they” want us to be plugging into that supply chain, we rarely lift a finger of effort to consider what it is that we really need! The truth is that this generation is the most miserable, selfish and needy generation the world has ever seen, WE need the bailout package not GM, Chrysler or Ford, we are already bankrupt and spending that which we don’t have… we need a saviour.

John 3:17-21 (Amplified version) For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation {and} be made safe {and} sound through Him. He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation--he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in {and} trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ's name.] The [basis of the] judgment (indictment, the test by which men are judged, the ground for the sentence) lies in this: the Light has come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than {and} more than the Light, for their works (deeds) were evil. For every wrongdoer hates (loathes, detests) the Light, and will not come out into the Light {but} shrinks from it, lest his works (his deeds, his activities, his conduct) be exposed {and} reproved. But he who practices truth [who does what is right] comes out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are–wrought with God [divinely prompted, done with God's help, in dependence upon Him].

3. Biology:

I left Biology for last just in hopes to keep all of the scientist’s reading this far. The Biology part illustrates our generation’s condition best (in my opinion). Take your health condition in consideration. You eat food every day, visit a doctor from time to time, perhaps exercise and maybe you eat organic  or locally grown foods. Here is a fact of life:

They don’t really care about you!

The food producers would have killed you long ago if it were legally permitted (via toxic ingredients… China as an extreme is just holding up the mirror… people JUST READ the ingredients of everything you eat for the next seven days and you’ll see what I mean, if you don’t know what the word means in the ingredient list use Google or Wikipedia) Doctors and Prescription Drugs were the third leading cause of death in America in the year 2000. Nothing wrong with exercise, but as a substitute for good old fashion “hard work” it just acts as another life distraction that takes your eyes off of the reality you’re living. Organic vs non organic… there’s a debate. On one side the organic industry often makes unsubstantiated claims about their “organic” product. People lets call it normal and lose the Organic label already! For the past x thousand years it was considered normal. So now a days I have to pay MORE to get normal food that my ancestors had to pay for their normal food. They weren’t stupid enough swap the terms / meanings of Normal and Commercialized Product, but our generation sure was. Great, now we have Captain Crunch! Go look and see how most cereal in the world is made today (and this link is a friendly one).

I think people put more effort into their once a year tax returns than they do in their daily health. Come on scientists, prove the true-ness of each thing that “they” try to sell you, vegetable, animal and mineral! Don’t put value in the pack of lies and assumptions that constantly fill our age or you become a participator in the madness. This is no argument specifically for or against organic / non-organic / doctor / drug etc.. its an appeal to the truth and the pursuit thereof.. you know what the scientific process is supposed to ultimately result in.

With everything that is, so truth is, they exist. Whether it be technology, theology or biology you need to ask yourself a very important question: “how do I come about finding the truth”.

1 John 2:21 I write to you not because you are ignorant {and} do not perceive {and} know the Truth, but because you do perceive {and} know it, and [know positively] that nothing false (no deception, no lie) is of the Truth.

Till next time…

Not Intended:

- Agile is useless (I really agree with agile as a methodology and have seen it work wonders)

- Agile = Sweat Shop (not at all, sweat shops are not created by methodologies but people)

- TDD is useless and should never be mentioned again (NO, NO, NO… you must read the rest of the article)

Now that we have that part out of the way I will start the real discussion. I write this article from two perspectives, that of grunt programmer in the trenches and that of Technical Lead via Software Architect. Agile is a powerful way of managing software development, it is hard to disprove that point (many do try). Agile essentially creates an environment or community within a product team (or teams) whereby the entire software development process is tracked. I stress heavily the word “tracked”. Agile serves many other useful purposes, but its broad appeal to management at most large corporations is most definitely its unique ability to:

1. Predict work with consistency

2. Track the status of any given “resource” at any point in time.

3. Allow for quick change in product direction within as little as a 1-2 week intervals.

4. Highly Quality Centric leading to less cycling.

5. Enormously Collaborative. Communication is the backbone of Agile, leading to far less misunderstandings or at least misunderstandings detected much sooner than usual.

This is a small list and comes only from the mind of a grunt. Agile’s potential is enormous, but alas potential is just that. It doesn’t take long to see that such benefits as these (and many others) placed in the wrong hands are disastrous. Imagine for example point #2, being able to track things at any moment. In the hands of a Micro Manager this ability actually hinders the work of team members. Imagine the following scenario:

Sammy and Bob estimate the work for the upcoming sprint (the 2 week period starting today). Estimates are just rough guesses. During the sprint Sammy and Bob experience significant traction and have unusual success (often referred to as Divine Intervention) and the estimated work completes well before the end of the sprint. This is certainly not the typical sprint. In fact the last sprint some work was not completed and had to spill over into this sprint. The success of this sprint at first feels like a relief when compared to the dirty, slothful feelings that were experienced last sprint. Truly some creativity, Divine Intervention and consistent focus has somehow all come together and tackled some difficult technical challenges while getting the team ahead all at the same time.

Enter the Micro Manager. Upon seeing Quality Assurance happy that finally a good sprint has arrived, Developers catching their breath and preparing to carry the momentum into the next sprint, the Micro Manager sees only one thing… resources! The Micro Manager says to himself “I have a few extra days to punish them”. The old saying “no good deed goes unpunished” comes to visit the team. Micro Manager begins to pile on more and more work, allowing not the slightest moment of rest or reflection. The team begins to ask themselves… “why should I ever try to get things done more efficiently and/or sooner, I just get rewarded with more work”.

This is a huge crux with Agile… namely the abuse thereof. I suppose this may be said of almost any system or methodology. I can see that many grunts quickly come to hate the “agile methodology” because of the way in which it is introduced to them. They promise you freedom, while in reality they enslave you all the more!

WARNING…. religious connection coming WARNING…

I asked myself, “why do so many people hate Christianity”? I mean nearly everywhere I go people keep talking about it as if it were evil. Then I realized.. “aha”! If you put people through a bad experience, call it Christianity, force them to stay in it for a while (say perhaps during their youth) then eventually they’ll begin to hate that thing you told them was Christianity. Now it suddenly all makes sense! If only people could see that Christianity is about a person, namely “Jesus Christ” living in you, not a group of people looking for your money and bombing other countries to “free” them. That’s right, just like Agile isn’t about how Microsoft does it or how Google does it, Agile is a principle, but left in the hands of the wrong people, any principle can get twisted. Case in point would be the Pharisees in the days of the life of Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, the real danger of course in all of this is how demoralizing it becomes. Both the Christian part and the Agile part. The lesson to be learned (in my opinion) is to value the things that are valuable, and separate the valuable from the invaluable. See the value in Agile, but don’t throw it out if your particular Agile experience was negative. And the same with Christianity, if you had a bad experience, I can guarantee you this one thing… you never saw Jesus, you saw man! The only reason any Christian will survive and hold on to their faith is because it is in Jesus, the son of God.