blogs/faith

2010: Perspectives for the New Year

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

As a flip-side piece to my 2009 evaluation post, I would like to set some things that I should take into account regarding the year 2010:

In the personal side, it is clearly evident that I should become more careful about my own health. It is also clear that I should do this not only because of myself, but because I am a steward of God’s creation of my own body, and because I am indebted to people who love me and appreciate me. It is going to be a tough effort, no doubt; but I should do it nonetheless.

Regarding work, it is clear that I should go look for a better job. This would include a better-paying day job, and also see whether I can improve on my translation practice. A tough call, again.

In my studies, I have several goals, but the most important of these is to try to keep as high as GPA as possible and to read as much as I can.

As for the computer stuff, it looks like this year is going to be interesting in both Slackware and KDE fronts. I just converted the laptop to Slackware-current, and so far it’s great.

Finally, I should improve my spiritual life, in church attendance and in devotional practice.

All in all, this is just a small sample of what I see ahead for me in 2010. Please keep me in your prayers.

blogs/faith/General

2009: The Year in Retrospect

Posted on by Eduardo / 1 Comment

Oh my. 2009 was such a year! It was a year full of news good and not so good, and it came and went in style, but all was so hectic! 😉 But I digress. The year 2009 was a year full of blessings, challenges, and opportunities and one more reason to be able to give thanks to the Lord.

In the work front, things were not so easy. I got a much needed raise; but falling U.S. Dollar prices and a serious threat of cuts in our fundings reminded me of how unstable my position is despite the good efforts of Rev. S., my patient, kind, and understanding boss. Now, more than ever, it is clear that I should look for a job that could allow me to improve on my weak finances. For that reason, I went to see Uncle M. (you’re right, the big shot lawyer) to see if he can get me a position in the Judiciary Power (one of our three branches of government). He told me upfront that the situation is not very good, but he would look into that for me anyway. Now, I am awaiting for news. Let’s pray for that.

As for my personal life, things were more or less okay, but this year will mark the departure of Don Victorio, my father in law. He was quite a character, and I liked him a lot. His countenance and ideals were the perfect embodiement of the Quixotic archetype; but despite his quirks he was a kind, generous, and fair gentleman. We all miss him. As you may have read in my previous post, too, one of my sisters got married near the end of the year, and it was a joyful moment for all the family.

I also realized that I was having increasing problems with sleep, tiredness and lack of concentration. This made me see a doctor yesterday, and he gave me some news I would rather not hear. I am going to write about this ASAP.

Regarding my spiritual life, I recognize that I should really get my act together. A number of circumstances that act very well as excuses —tiredness, my hatred of praise bands, noise and music, and the disagreements with the current church leadership, and so on— all led to a dismal attendance to church services. One may chose to ignore this fact, but the truth is that my spiritual life will not be helped by it. I am trying to revert this dreaded habit, but it is not easy.

In my academic life (i.e., law school) things went very good. I was able to study on full scholarship thanks to a perfect 5.0 (equivalent to a 4.0 in the American system). We had some difficult subjects, but thankfully I was able to pass all of them with flying colors. I got an 5 in everything save for one course, where I got a 4. But I am happy, and I look forward to my third year with confidence and anticipation.

Well, this is a short summary of what happened on 2009. Please keep me in your prayers. Stay tuned!

blogs/faith

Merry Christmas!

Posted on by Eduardo / 5 Comments
Paraguayan Manger Scene
A typical manger scene from Paraguay.

for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.
(Luke 2:30-32, ESV)

I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The year that just passed was a difficult one, but the Lord granted us His love, comfort and wonderful provision in all times. More than anything, I have seen the Nunc Dimitis (Simeon’s song, Luke 2:29-32) become a reality in my life.

On Christmas Eve we had generally a good time. Since my father in law passed last June, we had to spend the traditional Christmas Eve dinner with my in-laws. We ended up having a wonderful time, not exempt of tears, of course, but all in all it was full of gratitude and joy for the gift of Christ’s presence among humanity.

Later, we had some hectic times since one of my sisters married on Sunday, December 27. It was a beautiful time, only that it was too hot, even for a late evening. Our clothes were drenched. But we were very happy.

Then, we spend the New Year’s Eve dinner with Mom and my other sister (the married one was too busy in her honeymoon 😉 ). It was a peaceful time, and that allowed me to think long and hard about the blessings that God granted us along the year.

I hope you had a wonderful time these holidays, and may God grant you peace, hope, forgiveness, and happiness.

General

One More Year

Posted on by Eduardo / 2 Comments

Today I’m officially one year older. So far, it is a nice day; I had lunch with the family, amidst a nice day at the office. And in a few minutes, I am supposed to be off for school.

This has been an amazing year. The Lord has blessed me beyond all comprehension, and I am really thankful for that. It was a difficult year, though; this was the year I lost both my father and father-in-law, together with many other dear relatives. All in all, God showed me the profound truth of Ecclesiastes:

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 9:7-9)

Thank you, Lord, again, for all your mercies and protections on this year. Grant us, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that we might continue with hope, joy, and love.

P.D.: I am running Slackware 13.0 now. It’s simply amazing. Try it!

General

Some updates

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

Well, another month has passed. Someone took my month away! 😉

In fact, life has been hectic. Thankfully, finals are over, and with it another semester. I feel really relieved and grateful, and with great expectations for the next semester. In fact, this semester was really difficult due to a sum of things. My father-in-law passed away, and that was an especially tiring period, right at the closure of the class period, with term papers being due and all the related hoopla.

And then, I moved, right among the finals. That was extenuating. I finished the bulk of the moving on the wee hours of a Monday. We put our last box of movables at the new home at 4am and then I crashed the bed, only to get up at 8. I then did some quick review, and went off to school where I had final oral examinations on Civil Law of Persons and Family… so you get the idea.

Don’t despair, though: I plan to sound on the web ads question, as promised. Stay tuned!

faith/General

Law School

Posted on by Eduardo / 4 Comments

Some of you may have seen scattered references to law school in my previous posts and therefore wondered about it. The gist of the story is that I am, in fact, in law school. How I got there is quite a story.

Back to Monday, 10 March 2009. I was busily doing my work in Rev. S.’s office when the phone rings. It was Uncle M., one of my mom’s younger brothers and one of the country’s big-bigshot lawyers, a renowned authority in civil and contract law. He runs the family’s law firm, started by my grandfather back in the 1930s. He droned on his usual imperative low bass voice:

Uncle M: Son, I have been thinking about you. I think you have a great mind for legal matters. You are uniquely qualified for being a lawyer. So, why don’t you give a try?

Myself: Yes, Uncle, I also have been thinking about it. But I have no money, and no way to get books. I am planning to start studying maybe next year, because with some luck I’ll be able to save some money…

Uncle M: Son, the moment is now. Don’t worry about the money. If you are willing, your studies will be paid on your behalf, no strings attached. As for books, you can always borrow textbooks from the law firm’s library. Now, son, this is an extremely important question: are you willing to enter into the study? Because your moment is NOW. Are you willing?

Myself: (Rather trembling) Yes, Uncle, I am willing.

Uncle M: Good. I’ve heard that Universidad Columbia has a great law school and they can get you started now. So go and register yourself TODAY!

Myself: Yes, Uncle, I will register today…

Uncle M: Attaboy. Send my love to your mom, will you? Good bye, son.

I hung up the phone, stunned. I told the conversation to Rev. S., who told me: “This is a long-awaited answer to some of my prayers. You really need to have a good paying secular job besides your theological training. The Church has not been completely fair to your commitment and you need to secure provision for your family. You have a job with me, but you know that our financing can dry up anytime. You will do great in the legal profession, and studying law will be great stewardship for you.”

Moreover, Rev. S. helped me by reorganizing my work schedule so I could opt for afternoon classes instead of evening ones; he also was kind enough to allow me to take days off in exam times, and many other courtesies.

Well, I told about the news to my mother and my wife, and both were enthusiastic. Dad was also very happy and supportive. So I went to the university that very day, registered, and then had my very first class session. That 10th of March was a momentous day; I started the day thinking it would be just a regular Monday, and I ended up being a law student…

Fast forward to today: I’m about to finish my semester. It has been really hectic, and tiring. But so far I am maintaining a 5.0 (equivalent to an American 4.0) GPA. Please pray for my studies; on Wednesday I must sit for final exams on Constitutional Law.

All in all, this has been a wonderful demonstration on how the Lord could turn your life upside down in a matter of minutes. He is really in control of our lives.

General

Don Victorio, RIP

Posted on by Eduardo / 2 Comments

You might remember about my father-in-law, Don Victorio, because I wrote about him previously (see Don Victorio the Spaniard). Today I am writing about him to tell you some sad news: he passed away on Friday, June 12th, and he was buried on the next day. He had some complications and had to be hospitalized; sadly, he never recovered.

Don Victorio was stubborn as a mule and he was quite an odd character, as I wrote before. But first and foremost, he was a man of nobility and integrity, who raised six children with his lifelong wife without ever compromising his high ethical standards. A direct descendant of General Riego, he shared with his ancestor the passion for human freedom, dignity, and rule of law. This, together with his staunch, lifelong Catholicism, led him to be one of the founders of the Christian Democrat Party of Paraguay back in 1960, and stood against the totalitarian regime of General Alfredo Stroessner. Another passion of him was teaching, and he held a professorship in the Catholic University of Asunción for several years, and he was a teacher in several schools as well.

He was born into a wealthy family that shortly afterwards lost all money, and was thrown into poverty. Despite that, Don Victorio was a tireless worker, and could provide for his family well enough. Right now, no one of them is wealthy in money; but Don Victorio left them the best inheritance a man can leave his children: the sense of honor and integrity, and the unyielding commitment to the cause of Jesus Christ.

Please pray for the family: for the widow, the children, the grand-children. They are doing well enough, but we know that the upcoming months are going to be very difficult for them.

Good-bye, Don Victorio. I will miss our talks about “life, the universe, and everything”. May you rest in peace, dear suegro.

blogs/computers

Bilbo Blogger!

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

I just discovered a great blogging app: Bilbo Blogger, a blogging app for KDE4. I set it up in its simple config dialog, and presto! it retrieved all my last posts, and automagically set itself up. So far, it looks very promising. We’ll see. Until then, it surely looks like a winner.

For Tim: I plan to post something related to my law studies ASAP. Stay tuned!

=-=-=-=-=
Powered by Bilbo Blogger

General

Extremely. Tired.

Posted on by Eduardo / 1 Comment

Here I am, at 2.35 am, working at a term paper I should submit to Law School. Yeah right, domicile theory should be straightforward… famous last words. 😉

Well, other than that, I had a nice Saturday. This is going to be one busy year.

faith/General

Happy Easter!

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

We are about to finish an exhausting Holy Week. For those of you who live up North, Holy Week in Paraguay is almost entirely a holiday week, thus providing a much needed break from the daily stresses, in a climate of reflection and contemplation of the Passion of our Lord.

I thought I would mostly rest on this week; however, things conspired against that. Besides having two serious term papers to write for law school, I had to finish the church bulletin early (because the presses don’t work on holidays), and some other projects: a court-ordered translation, a report for Rev. S due in two days, and some paperwork. To all this, you should add that the car needed some fixing and spent three weekdays at the garage. The result? is about to be Easter Sunday, and I am exhausted.

I took the opportunity to recompile KDE during all this hoopla and now I am happily running KDE 4.2.2, which appears to be even more fast and stable than the previous 4.2.x releases.

Despite all this toil and work, tomorrow we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. He is Risen! and with Him, the promises of new life, new heavens and a new earth. Happy Easter to everyone! The Lord is risen!

computers

Wireless? Yeah!

Posted on by Eduardo / 2 Comments

There’s a story with sombragris, the trusty laptop that my brother, friend and namesake Ed Hurst graciously gave me. Sombragris is a Dell Latitude D505, and works great with Linux. Great, that is, with the exception of wireless networking, which is furnished by a Broadcom chipset, that never worked, not even in Windows.

Now, whenever I checked /var/log/syslog I began to notice something similar to these lines:

Feb 10 20:32:53 sombragris kernel: b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file "b43/ucode5.fw" not found
Feb 10 20:32:53 sombragris kernel: b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware and download the latest firmware (version 4).

And just because I was tired, I wondered… “what if I go to that website, get the darned firmware, and see what happens? At least I will make these annoying warnings go away…” And I did exactly that.

It turned out that the Linux Wireless Wiki is an excellent resource on all things wireless on Linux. I followed the instructions that it gave me, got the Broadcom firmware, placed it in /lib/firmware, and lo and behold! I am wireless!

Next, I tested the usability of the wireless connection with the wireless network that my sister put up at Mom’s home. It is a network with an encrypted password, and a good speed. Armed with the passphrase, I was granted access in no time.

Now, I am writing this post using wlan0 as my Internet connection. Yikes!

And here I am, working wireless in GNU/Linux, in a machine whose wireless was unusable in Windows. If only I had paid attention to that warning before. Oh well…

And thank you, Lord, for our small discoveries of every day.

General

The Historic Ships at Vapor-Cué

Posted on by Eduardo / 2 Comments
Historic flag from ARP Piraveve

The inscription at the flag says:
“This flag was the last one to wave on the Yhaguy River, on the boat Pirabebe. One of the sailors was Hermenegildo Almirón, who gave this to Mr. José Asunción Rolón.

August 18, 1869”

I’m back at the helm after a quick vacation trip. I visited the historic site of Vapor-Cué (“Old Steamboats’ Place), a site near the town of Caraguatay, where the last seven units of the Paraguayan Navy (including a small warship) were ran aground by Paraguayan sailors so they couldn’t fall into the hands of the Brazilian forces in 1869, during the final skirmishes of the Triple Alliance War that Paraguay fought to the bitter end against the combined armies of Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina (1864-1870).

I’ll try to post some photos. Click on them to see a larger version.

Warship ARP Anhambay, captured from Brazil.
Warship ARP Anhambay, captured from Brazil, rebuilt.
ARP Pirabebe, rebuilt. Use the small gate at the fence for scaling.
ARP Pirabebe, rebuilt. Use the small gate at the fence for scaling.
The Memorial at Vapor-Cué
The Memorial at Vapor-Cué
The Manduvirá River (rather a tiny brook) from the ARP Anhambay. I took the pic from abeam, looking at the port side.
The Manduvirá River (rather a tiny brook) from the ARP Anhambay. I took the pic from the centerline, looking at the port side.
ARP Añambay's fore. This was a huge ship!
ARP Añambay's fore. This was a huge ship!
The historic museum at Vapor-Cué. It is very small, but adequate. My car can be seen at the right.
The historic museum at Vapor-Cué. It is very small, but adequate. My car can be seen at the right.
Boilers and other remains of the ships at Vapor-Cué. At the right there is a memorial with inscriptions.
Boilers and other remains of the ships at Vapor-Cué. At the right there is a memorial with inscriptions.
A view of the gardens at the hotel near Vapor-Cué, looking toward the swimming pool. The price, roughly USD $15 for a double room (but no meals at all, not even breakfast) was right.
A view of the gardens at the hotel near Vapor-Cué, looking toward the swimming pool. The price, roughly USD $15 for a double room (but no meals at all, not even breakfast) was right.

After spending three days at Vapor-Cué, we went to the town of Piribebuy for some additional rest. All in all, we are thankful for this trip.

computers/General

KDE 4.2: Oh. My. Goodness…

Posted on by Eduardo / 2 Comments

Yep. That darned thing left me breathless. After roughly 14-15 h of compiling (that is excluding dependencies, such as Qt which alone took > 4h, and KOffice and Kdevelop as well), I am finally using KDE 4.2. I’m typing this on KDE 4.2, using Konqueror.

After KDE 4.1 I was expecting something good, but, honestly, not that good. The old annoyances are gone and the whole thing seems to have improved by leaps and bounds. And, it’s beautiful.

It might not be perfect, but having a free desktop such as this one is a treat. Kudos to the KDE community!

My current desktop
(click for a larger image)

General

KDE 4.2 released!

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

That’s right. You can read all the gory details at the announcement. This new version promises a host of improvements over previous versions.

The fact is, we’ll see. The level of outcry against KDE4 was unprecedented; the ‘nullification’ of KDE in Red Hat 8 was nothing compared to this. Even Linus Torvalds, a long-time known KDE user, is using GNOME now. Perhaps the “change shock” was too much for too many people (there’s also a response from KDE hacker Aaron Seigo and a more balanced evaluation by Bruce Byfield).

When KDE 4.0 was released, I switched back to KDE 3.5 within hours. The fact that the printing system wasn’t quite there yet, together with the absence of critical applications such as Kontact, made clear the fact that the release was not exactly usable for me. KDE 4.1 was something entirely different; here I had a completely usable desktop, even though it wasn’t able to complete with the engineering feat that KDE 3.5 is. But it convinced me enough to prompt me to switch (I hereby state that rumours of KWin 3D desktop effects running at excellent speeds on my old hardware had nothing to do with this decision 😉 ).

Now, I’m pulling sources from the Slackware source tree and I plan to compile them as soon as I can (read: if my wife doesn’t get too upset). I’m curious; it surely looks promising. As said before… we’ll see.

KDE 4.2 - Be free
KDE 4.2 - Be free

General

Lazy summer

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

Our summer is slowly passing by with no major news. I am still without a job, but we are praying for a new one. Days are usually hot, but now we are going through some rainy days that bring a welcome relief.

Meanwhile, I plan to install KDE 4.2 as soon as it comes out. I plan to write the results. Considering how good KDE 4.1 is, the prospect is good.

General

Merry Christmas!

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment
Paraguayan oxcarts
Paraguayan oxcarts

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.

Excerpt from the Magnificat, Luke 1:46,49,50

I would like to wish all of you a merry Christmas and a happy 2009. May you spend these holidays with all your loved ones, in peace, joy and comfort.

I spent Christmas Eve with Mom and my sisters, and Christmas Day with my in-laws. Today the reverse will apply: we plan to spen New Year’s Eve in my in-law’s place, while I plan to spend New Year’s Day with my mom and sisters.

All in all, this has been a stressful year, full of changes, but right now is not the time for evaluations. Instead, let’s join me in thanking our Lord Jesus Christ for all his blessings and protection, and asking Him for his continued protection in the year to come.

And thanks to you, my readers, for your continued patience, support, and encouragement. May the Lord bless you richly today and every day of your lives.

General

Slackware 12.2 on sombragris

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

I was able to upgrade the Slackware setup on sombragris the trusty laptop, to Slackware 12.2 without any problem. I didn’t install KDE, though; rather, I plan to put the KDE 4.1 setup from Slackware current, /testing directory. I plan to get back with more news as they develop.

Meanwhile, Asunción is an unbearable mess. 38 C / 100 F with no wind is taking its toll on the city. This is going to be a very, very hot summer.

faith/General

The Last Day of My Current Job

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

As I told you before, Rev. S. (my boss) told me that my current job would run through December 31. Well, today my boss told me that he already needed the office. Some of his relatives would come over for the holidays and therefore he needed to convert our office into a makeshift bedroom. So, he paid me in advance and, at noon, I walked away as an employee for the last time.

Right now I am without a job. I have my (meager) severance pay, so I might get by for a month or so; but the fact is, I need a job as soon as possible.

I was told I might get rehired if a certain special project is approved. My boss also told me that the pay would be way better. In any case, I covet your prayers. Thanks!

computers/General

Linux Canuck’s: How to Help a Newbie

Posted on by Eduardo / 1 Comment

Wandering through the Web, I found this piece by Linux Canuck: How to Help a Newbie. The writing is full of excellent advice; therefore I am glad to recommend its reading. It is a great resource indeed, and valuable not only for helping “newbies” in the Linux community, but in a whole range of social groups as well.

Meanwhile, I upgraded the blog to WordPress 2.7. So far it looks great. Now, let’s download those Slackware 12.2 ISO images…

faith

Today’s Collects from the Daily Office

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

Given the sorry state of world affairs, these collects make great prayers:

Most gracious God and Father,
in whose will is our peace:
turn our hearts and the hearts of all to yourself,
that by the power of your Spirit
the peace which is founded on righteousness
may be established throughout the whole world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

and,

Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
infinite in wisdom, love, and power:
have compassion on those for whom we pray;
and help us to use all suffering
in the cause of your kingdom;
through him who gave himself for us on the cross,
Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord. Amen.

faith/General

Life goes on

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

After Dad’s passing, everything went to normal. All my daily chores, school, work, errands, reading, study, and so on, were exactly the same as usual… but I realized that they were more and more difficult to perform.

Thankfully, we are arriving at the end of the year. Believe me, 2008 was quite an experience so far. But the guidance of our Lord was always with us, and now more than ever.

Please keep praying for my family and me; and also pray for a new job. My current one ends on December 31, and I have no prospects, yet. Thanks!

General

Goodbye Dad

Posted on by Eduardo / 1 Comment

After battling several chronic illnesses, my father passed away on Thursday, November 6, 2008. He was 72 years old. His passing away happened after a one week of hospital intensive care.

We had the funerals and the burial on Friday, and I tried to get some rest yesterday, because I was simply exhausted.

We are going to miss Dad. His example, his virtues, his advice and his company well be missed. Please pray for the the bereaved family; we surely need those prayers. Thanks!

faith

Is Christian Perfectionism a Danger for the Church?

Posted on by Eduardo / 4 Comments

The other day Rev. S. confided me that one of our pastors was causing some stir within our church’s pastoral team. It is a problem that is bound to happen every October, just before our end-of-the-year regular administrative assembly, because it is the time when we have to submit the names of candidates for all the different leadership positions within our congregation.

This particular pastor is an excellent Christian and he has our utmost respect. He earned his reputation working as a missionary in Nepal, facing paganism and demonic forces almost daily (no, I am not exaggerating), while being a good witness of Christ. But the problem with him is that he came from a Pentecostal denomination, and he is too influenced by perfectionism. Whenever we proposed some candidate, he objected pointing out a flaw or another: “But he has trouble raising his kids”… “But he is reluctant to tithe…”, “But he is divorced and remarried…”, and so on.

The other pastors of our church understand that is not realistic to expect perfection. As a side observation, I concur and I also can see that the current generation that provides our church leadership material (i.e., people usually over 45) is facing several issues and many of them lead less than perfect lives. So why point the finger to those people’s faults?

I think that most of the objections raised by this pastor come from his flawed understanding of Christian holiness, an understanding that has been tarnished by Christian perfectionism, or a doctrine that maintains that, in John Wesley’s own words, is possible for the Christian to attain in this life the “deliverance from inward as well as from outward sin”. Please note that this is not, by any means, a denial from all sin; and even the perfectionistic Wesley had a rather realistic view of sins in the Christian. After all, he was an accomplished pastor of soul and had an excellent insight on issues of sanctification and holiness. But the teaching of this doctrine led to impossible standards in most Holiness churches; and I can tell that in our particular environment, this brought the practice of double lives and hypocrisy among Pentecostals and other Holiness churches.

That’s why the doctrine of perfection is a danger for the Church: despite all its good intentions, it is a sure recipe for hypocrisy, double-standards, legalism, and judgmentalism. As for me, I prefer a church of fallen people with all its warts and difficulties rather than some shiny, “Stepford-Wiwes”-esque, pasted-smile den of hypocrites.

Despite the good intentions and the sincere intention of commend the search for holiness implied on the doctrine of Christian perfectionism, I cannot clear it as is neither Biblical nor realistic; and it is completely contrary to a true Reformed view of total depravity. Better than writing any answer to it, let me suggest you this excellent rebuttal by Zacharias Ursinus written roughly 200 years before Wesley, as a commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism.

We need to keep in mind all the time what Paul has said so eloquently on 1 Corinthians 1:26-29. With his usual wit, my namesake Ed Hurst has nailed down the crux of the issue on the motto of his “School of Holy Cynicism” (a post of his, a post of mine): Mankind is fallen. Sinners will sin. Let’s not lose sight of this. If we do, we are doomed to fail.

blogs/computers

Akismet enabled

Posted on by Eduardo / 2 Comments

I finally caved in and enabled the Akismet web service to stop comment spam. I was getting between 250-300+ comments per day, all of them spam. So far, it seems to work well… and whoa! what a relief!

Meanwhile, I’m spending the day at home, doing some errands and pampering my wife, who caught the flu. Tomorrow will be a whole different day, though… Friday, the dreaded Church Bulletin Day. Carpe diem!

faith/On Porn/Philosophy

On Porn: A side note

Posted on by Eduardo / 2 Comments

First, a disgression. I know it’s been a long time since I posted something substantial here. This is because of my busy life, and in part… because of the success of the forum. You see, I come here with the best intention of writing something, and then I have to face with something like 2000+ comments waiting for moderation. When I finish clicking through all of them (now in batches of 25 instead of 100, courtesy of the newer WordPress), I am not only tired and barely able to think of something; the fact is that I also am left with no time for writing; the rat race of clicking ate all of it. Sigh… Now, with 554 comments pending, let me put a little rant.

The sidenote. Yesterday I was watching a talk show on a Christian TV network who shall go unnamed. The interviewer asked a young Christian lawyer about the “dangers” of the Internet, with a strong implication on pornography and eroticism. The lawyer began to ramble on and on about how “dangerous” it is, especially for children. He also noted that most “Web safety” (i.e., censoring spyware) installed on home computers can be circumvented; and how even if it is not, people can bypass the restrictions by browsing with their mobile devices. He went on to suggest parents to register their child’s phones with mobile carriers as a children-owned phone so its Web access could be filtered. Well, you get the idea: Control, control, and more control. Big brother is watching you so you’d better behave.

For the record, let me make it clear that I support the efforts of parents who wish to know the whereabouts –real and virtual– of their children. That’s only natural, and it’s the way of parenting. I am not going to tell parents what to do. My bone of contention is different.

What I saw in the program, and in the outlook of most Christian “answers” (????) to pornography and related sins of lust and the flesh, is how misguided they are. They think that the answer is control, and more control.

If the Church thinks that the problem of the sins related to lust, such as pornography, are going to go away because of more control, perhaps she must think again. More control, and the sensation of being constantly watched is deleterious to true Christian spirituality, which needs of a closed, very private and personal space for its adequate development (see, for example, Matthew 6:6).

Moreover, the “more control” approach mistakenly conceives the “pornography problem” as a problem of willpower, when it’s not. Most sins of the flesh, and especially pornography, are sins of the heart highly related to idolatry. Sinful habits are just an effect of this. Therefore, with the “control” approach, you are just attacking the effects, leaving the real causes untouched. You cannot fight hunger just by glueing the lips of the hungry.

Until we stop fighting pornography with pseudo-ascetic, hyper-controlling approaches and we begin focusing on it as what it really is, i.e., idolatry, we are doomed to fail. Let’s hope we realize our mistake sooner than later.

faith/General

Thirty Eight Years

Posted on by Eduardo / 2 Comments

Thanks to the Lord’s grace and mercy, I turned 38 years old last Thursday. I didn’t want any celebrations; however, I had a nice noon dinner with the family.

The year that just passed was hectic, full of changes, difficulties, and opportunities. My work with Rev. S. is about to end when he ends his term in office. My salary was in steady decrease since two years ago, and in the last year this decrease in my income almost reached crisis proportions. Thankfully, I am now registered as a Public Translator, a condition that potentially can help a lot with the family economy. However, I began to study again, and I had endless opportunities to write, speak, and think.

Certainly I am not getting any younger. I must confess that I feel anxious about the problems the future might bring. However, I try to obey the Lord’s command about not worrying because of tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). And, especially, I am grateful to Him for His countless blessings, beyond everything I could measure. Let’s keep walking ahead, one step at a time.

faith

Law and Testimony

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. (Isaiah 8:20, NASB)

Once I read in an online forum a post by a fellow Christian who mentioned that a common argument against having the Bible as our rule of faith and practice is pointing out that the Bible is silent on the matter; and this fellow wanted some help in countering the argument. Someone else cited Isaiah 8:20, and to this, the original poster replied, almost relieved: “It is a good text”.

This verse of Isaiah is not just “a good text”. It is a strong, firm and secure indication about the right place that the Bible, the Word of God, should have in the life of the Christian believer.

The Word of God is law; it is a rule of living that must provide guidance our actions and intentions in every moment, because it is a record of God’s will. We must also keep in mind that the meaning of ‘law’ should also be extended to the meaning given to it by the ancient Israelites, an idea that is made very clear in Deuteronomy 6: The law is also teaching (as the ESV rendering of the text); is what makes us learn the way of God.

But the Bible is also a testimony. It is a living, extant record of how God decisively intervenes in the midst of human history to guide us to salvation, up to the point of the supreme sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, King and Prophet, and thus opening the doors of salvation through faith alone. The Bible is also a testimony, a record, of how a new humanity, transformed by God’s grace, was seeking to walk in obedience, hope, and faith towards the heavenly Jerusalem, the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God (Hebrews 12:22-24; Hebrews 11:10).

The text from Isaiah is very clear: “If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” In the practice of our faith, once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3), we have the sacred and solemn duty of conform our doctrine, our teaching and our lives to the rules of the Word of God. As the context of Isaiah 8:20 shows, other may place their trust in horoscopes and stars, or they migh seek communication with the dead, to get some guidance for their living; but “we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalms 20:7, NKJV). ¡Amen!

Article written for the church’s weekly bulletin, Sept. 07, 2008.

faith

Back to preaching

Posted on by Eduardo / 0 Comment

After a long hiatus, I was invited to preach at my church’s youth group at their weekly Saturday evening meeting. I preached on the “falls of the just person” as stated in Proverbs 24:16. So far, it looks like the sermon was well-received. (I plan to post the notes soon.)

It was nice to be back in preaching. I was quite out of “homiletical shape”, so it was more difficult than usual; but it was nevertheless a blessing for me. Adding to that, seeing so many new faces in the youth group was a real bonus.

Please keep praying for my church, who is facing some difficult times with several issues affecting the congregation, and especially for the youth group: seemingly untouched by those issues, it is very sensitive to anything disturbing the peace of the congregation.