Saturday, February 05, 2005
One mixed-up guy
I admit it: in some ways, I'm a bit of a nerd. If you were to visit my house, it wouldn't take you long to notice that I have two PCs networked together, a home entertainment system that visually dominates the living room, and Lego models scattered hither and yon. To further confirm the prognosis, I've been working with computers of all sizes since the early 1980s, and I run the Linux operating system in place of Windows on both PCs. What's more, my upstairs hall is filled with large collections of CDs and DVDs. All things considered, how much more nerdish could I get?
But, please take another look. Sure, I've got the whole house wired for sound, but what's with that music that's coming out of the speakers? What with the background crackle and the quaint old performance style it sounds as though it was recorded half a century ago! Also, notice all the books on music, history, culture, and art on my bookshelves, not to mention the fact that the vast majority of the movies on my DVD racks were produced before 1960. Why, most of them were made in _black and white_, and many of those that are in color are adaptations of classic literature such as the novels of Jane Austen. What kind of nerd would be caught dead with this kind of stuff?
If you look even closer, you'll notice that I have a strong interest--actually, a compelling faith--in something even older: the Reformed Christian faith. At least one-third of my bookshelves are filled with solid Christian literature by both old and new writers: John Bunyan, the Puritans, C. H. Spurgeon, John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, etc.. Given that the Gospel in which I believe was put into written form over two thousand years ago, and was in fact ordained by God in distant eternity, before He created the heavens and earth, I would daresay that my outlook on life, despite all of the computers and electronics, could hardly be more old-fashioned.
Well, I suppose that this brief article makes me sound like a pretty mixed-up guy, but in fact I have found no contradiction in taking advantage of the best from both the past and the present. In this blog, I hope to draw on what I've learned from the past and what I observe in the present, sharing what I hope will be useful insights into how we might employ lessons from the past to our lives in the early 21st Century.
If you're interested, I invite you to visit this blog often to see what morsels I have to share. I hope you will give them fair consideration and in turn share any comments that you may have.
Thanks for reading!
But, please take another look. Sure, I've got the whole house wired for sound, but what's with that music that's coming out of the speakers? What with the background crackle and the quaint old performance style it sounds as though it was recorded half a century ago! Also, notice all the books on music, history, culture, and art on my bookshelves, not to mention the fact that the vast majority of the movies on my DVD racks were produced before 1960. Why, most of them were made in _black and white_, and many of those that are in color are adaptations of classic literature such as the novels of Jane Austen. What kind of nerd would be caught dead with this kind of stuff?
If you look even closer, you'll notice that I have a strong interest--actually, a compelling faith--in something even older: the Reformed Christian faith. At least one-third of my bookshelves are filled with solid Christian literature by both old and new writers: John Bunyan, the Puritans, C. H. Spurgeon, John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, etc.. Given that the Gospel in which I believe was put into written form over two thousand years ago, and was in fact ordained by God in distant eternity, before He created the heavens and earth, I would daresay that my outlook on life, despite all of the computers and electronics, could hardly be more old-fashioned.
Well, I suppose that this brief article makes me sound like a pretty mixed-up guy, but in fact I have found no contradiction in taking advantage of the best from both the past and the present. In this blog, I hope to draw on what I've learned from the past and what I observe in the present, sharing what I hope will be useful insights into how we might employ lessons from the past to our lives in the early 21st Century.
If you're interested, I invite you to visit this blog often to see what morsels I have to share. I hope you will give them fair consideration and in turn share any comments that you may have.
Thanks for reading!
