This is my new beamer behind those studly young men
Cheers!...
Rudolf isn't so lonely anymore
What kind of holiday would it be without breaking something?
A few of us crazy pplLots of fun I tell you.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
States
I've made another pilgrimage down to the States and or course it was a total blast. It is so good to see old friends again and renew old acquaintances and use lots of tp :) its was tons of fun just hanging out and playing games and doing some other stuff that I will refrain from telling you just inc ase any cops read this blog :P I haven't even left yet and I already feel like coming back. Oh and did I mention the Beamer my good friends Re and Greg gave me for free? Awesome times! Here are some pictures:
This is my new beamer behind those studly young men
Cheers!...
Rudolf isn't so lonely anymore
What kind of holiday would it be without breaking something?
A few of us crazy ppl
This is my new beamer behind those studly young menCheers!...Rudolf isn't so lonely anymoreWhat kind of holiday would it be without breaking something?A few of us crazy ppl
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Hi
Just wanted to let you know that I am alive. Christmas is such a busy time of year especially when your car breaks down and you are working 11 hours a day and you have a christmas party of some sort to go to about every other day and you have to pack up all your stuff so that you can be cleared out of your room by the end of the week and you are flying down to the states for a few days on a pretty much last minute idea and you have to figure out all the paperwork involved in taking a car back from said flight down to the States. Yes indeed. Not much time to post, but after the holidays are over, I will have much to post on. I need to get pictures from people too, but right now I need to go to bed. 4:30 up tomorrow. Yippee.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Is God a Killjoy?
I'm reading a book called the Ten(der) Commandments by Ron Mehl and it has really made me stop and think so I though I would share some of the gleanings I've gotten from it so far with you.
So often when people think of God and the bible they see someone who is a killjoy. They read the Ten Commandments and the hear rattling chains and clanking prison doors. They see these Commands as the harsh, legalistic, confining commandments of a god who finds some kind of sadistic joy in watching people suffer as they try to keep his laws. Is this really the case? Are the Ten Commandments a binding burden on us that God has put there just because he can?
Have you ever stopped and taken a moment to read through Exodus 19 in its lead up to the giving of the Ten Commands in Exodus 20? 'The Lord called to Moses out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on Eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."' (Ex 19:3-6)Did you hear that? In his introduction to the Ten Commandments God talks about bearing his people up on eagles wings. The Lord was reminding them of how much he had done and how he had saved them from oppression and slavery. How can a God who loves his children so much that he will use an analogy like that of a mother eagle teaching her young to fly and making sure they don't get hurt, give unloving commands? No! God's commandments are expressions of his love and care and concern for his people. They aren't just some arbitrary laws that he has given to makes us unhappy, they are the loving words of a loving God. "I bore you up on eagles wings!"
love can come in many different shapes. It might come as a quick hug from a friend when you need it the most, it might come as a word of encouragement or a box of chocolates, or a love letter, or a blood soaked cross on Calvary's hill, or it might even show up written in stone. I might come as Ten Commandments. God has written us a love letter (the bible) and it is full of stories about him and those that follow him, it is full of wisdom and poetry, it is full of fantastic and glorious stories about what he is like, and it is full of advice. Loving advice. Fatherly advice. Perfect advice. Ten Commandment advice. Who wouldn't want to listen to commands like this?
So often when people think of God and the bible they see someone who is a killjoy. They read the Ten Commandments and the hear rattling chains and clanking prison doors. They see these Commands as the harsh, legalistic, confining commandments of a god who finds some kind of sadistic joy in watching people suffer as they try to keep his laws. Is this really the case? Are the Ten Commandments a binding burden on us that God has put there just because he can?
Have you ever stopped and taken a moment to read through Exodus 19 in its lead up to the giving of the Ten Commands in Exodus 20? 'The Lord called to Moses out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on Eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."' (Ex 19:3-6)Did you hear that? In his introduction to the Ten Commandments God talks about bearing his people up on eagles wings. The Lord was reminding them of how much he had done and how he had saved them from oppression and slavery. How can a God who loves his children so much that he will use an analogy like that of a mother eagle teaching her young to fly and making sure they don't get hurt, give unloving commands? No! God's commandments are expressions of his love and care and concern for his people. They aren't just some arbitrary laws that he has given to makes us unhappy, they are the loving words of a loving God. "I bore you up on eagles wings!"
love can come in many different shapes. It might come as a quick hug from a friend when you need it the most, it might come as a word of encouragement or a box of chocolates, or a love letter, or a blood soaked cross on Calvary's hill, or it might even show up written in stone. I might come as Ten Commandments. God has written us a love letter (the bible) and it is full of stories about him and those that follow him, it is full of wisdom and poetry, it is full of fantastic and glorious stories about what he is like, and it is full of advice. Loving advice. Fatherly advice. Perfect advice. Ten Commandment advice. Who wouldn't want to listen to commands like this?
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Global Warming Part I: The Science?
This has been rattling around in my head for some time now, but as I was writing this up I found I had far too much to say for one post and so I've broken this down into a multi-part series. Part I is about the science behind the whole Global Warming fad.
Global warming has become the hot topic of the day. It seems hardly a day goes by that we don't hear something about it in the news and politicians are going on and on about it and what we should do about it. Usually this takes the form of regulating carbon emissions and many countries and states have already put in place restrictions on these emissions. A lot of people are very worried about global warming and what it will do to us all, so much so that a group of politicians got together and decided to enact something call the Kyoto Protocol which requires assenting nations to greatly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. But what exactly is all the hype about? Should we really be getting all worked up about global warming and be spending trillions of dollars in an attempt to curb it? I think not. Let me explain why.
First of all it's poor science. Well actually to be more precise, it is not science at all. You see, science involves using the scientific method to arrive at a conclusion. This means it needs two key things: observable and measurable evidence, and repeatability. Thus for example something like the law of gravity is scientific. We can observe what happens when we drop something and we can measure the acceleration change and we can do this over and over and over again making us extremely certain that this law holds true.
Global warming on the other hand does not involve repeatability of any kind since it is merely conjecture about the the future. Also, It only involves evidence insofar as it extrapolates far beyond what is mathematically and scientifically acceptable, and it ignores true evidence in that most of the parameters in models have to be guessed at or estimated since we cannot now everything about our climate. It is far to complicated for even the most powerful computers to come even close to calculating the effect of every parameter, without even considering the fact that we are far from know what exactly all these effects are. Let me briefly illustrate this fact. There is something that is known as the butterfly effect I know that link is quite technical but the point of what I'm trying to show you is that potentially every flutter of a butterfly's wings can have a huge effect on the weather and thus unless our models account for every flutter of every butterfly's wing, ever bird that flies, every man and animal and plant and fish that moves on this earth, unless it accounts for every fluctuation in the sun's energy output, unless it accounts for all the forest fires and volcanoes, unless it accounts for so many parameters that we can never know, it will not be truly accurate. The question is how accurate do we have to be to have a reasonable model? How much stuff can we ignore and how much do we need to include? We don't know. We are missing the repeatability factor and so much of what is done is just educated guesswork. The parameters used and the weight they are given in the models is guesswork. The model designers use the parameters they think matter the most and then assign them the values they think they will have.
Now of course we don't need to know any of these things to be able to say that global warming will happen. If, for example, we were to look at global temperatures and say that for the last 500 year the temperature has always gone up be 0.01 degrees per year we would be able to say with a large degree of certainty that it will continue to do so. However to look at the approximately 30 years of data that we have indicating a global warming trend and extrapolate that into the next 100+ years is HORRIBLE science. I would receive an instant F if I tried to do anything of that sort on a lab or assignment. With only 30 years of data you cannot extrapolate more than 5 years into the future and still have any degree of certainty. For example if we were to look at the 30 year warming trend that occurred from ~1915-1945 we would predict that average world temps would be about 1 degree F higher than they are right now. We can't use the data that we have to extrapolate into the future until we have much more of it.
Therefore, we see that since the whole global warming theory relies on simplified parameter inputs (and therefore is highly susceptible to the preconceptions and assumptions of the person creating the model and entering the parameters) and also has no repeatability and cannot be verified or tested it is not true science.
Coming next: The consensus?
Global warming has become the hot topic of the day. It seems hardly a day goes by that we don't hear something about it in the news and politicians are going on and on about it and what we should do about it. Usually this takes the form of regulating carbon emissions and many countries and states have already put in place restrictions on these emissions. A lot of people are very worried about global warming and what it will do to us all, so much so that a group of politicians got together and decided to enact something call the Kyoto Protocol which requires assenting nations to greatly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. But what exactly is all the hype about? Should we really be getting all worked up about global warming and be spending trillions of dollars in an attempt to curb it? I think not. Let me explain why.
First of all it's poor science. Well actually to be more precise, it is not science at all. You see, science involves using the scientific method to arrive at a conclusion. This means it needs two key things: observable and measurable evidence, and repeatability. Thus for example something like the law of gravity is scientific. We can observe what happens when we drop something and we can measure the acceleration change and we can do this over and over and over again making us extremely certain that this law holds true.
Global warming on the other hand does not involve repeatability of any kind since it is merely conjecture about the the future. Also, It only involves evidence insofar as it extrapolates far beyond what is mathematically and scientifically acceptable, and it ignores true evidence in that most of the parameters in models have to be guessed at or estimated since we cannot now everything about our climate. It is far to complicated for even the most powerful computers to come even close to calculating the effect of every parameter, without even considering the fact that we are far from know what exactly all these effects are. Let me briefly illustrate this fact. There is something that is known as the butterfly effect I know that link is quite technical but the point of what I'm trying to show you is that potentially every flutter of a butterfly's wings can have a huge effect on the weather and thus unless our models account for every flutter of every butterfly's wing, ever bird that flies, every man and animal and plant and fish that moves on this earth, unless it accounts for every fluctuation in the sun's energy output, unless it accounts for all the forest fires and volcanoes, unless it accounts for so many parameters that we can never know, it will not be truly accurate. The question is how accurate do we have to be to have a reasonable model? How much stuff can we ignore and how much do we need to include? We don't know. We are missing the repeatability factor and so much of what is done is just educated guesswork. The parameters used and the weight they are given in the models is guesswork. The model designers use the parameters they think matter the most and then assign them the values they think they will have.
Now of course we don't need to know any of these things to be able to say that global warming will happen. If, for example, we were to look at global temperatures and say that for the last 500 year the temperature has always gone up be 0.01 degrees per year we would be able to say with a large degree of certainty that it will continue to do so. However to look at the approximately 30 years of data that we have indicating a global warming trend and extrapolate that into the next 100+ years is HORRIBLE science. I would receive an instant F if I tried to do anything of that sort on a lab or assignment. With only 30 years of data you cannot extrapolate more than 5 years into the future and still have any degree of certainty. For example if we were to look at the 30 year warming trend that occurred from ~1915-1945 we would predict that average world temps would be about 1 degree F higher than they are right now. We can't use the data that we have to extrapolate into the future until we have much more of it.
Therefore, we see that since the whole global warming theory relies on simplified parameter inputs (and therefore is highly susceptible to the preconceptions and assumptions of the person creating the model and entering the parameters) and also has no repeatability and cannot be verified or tested it is not true science.
Coming next: The consensus?
Get Firefox
Yesterday when I was looking at my blog at work I was forced to use Internet Explorer to view it and I noticed something about it. IE pretty much sucks of course, but I didn't realize just how badly it was displaying my blog, so if you are using IE and you see a messed up looking 097 across the top of it and you have to scroll down past all the posts to be able to see the links and stuff on my sidebar, I apologize. I apologize on behalf microsoft and the developers of IE, but I also apologize on my own behalf for not pointing you toward the solution seeing that about 60% of my pageviews come from people using IE. The solution you see is really quite easy. I could recode my whole page and fight with it until it works in IE, but I'm kind of lazy so I'll tell you how to fix it: Just GET FIREFOX. I have a link on my sidebar if you scroll down(WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY down if you're using IE :-P) Just click on that and you'll be able to download firefox for free.
I've been using Firefox to browse the web for about a year now and I've never looked back. Its a much better browser than Ineternet Explorer in pretty much every way so you should really get it. You'll be amazed at how much better my blog looks, and the rest of your surfing experience with be improved too :) Its worth the download.
I've been using Firefox to browse the web for about a year now and I've never looked back. Its a much better browser than Ineternet Explorer in pretty much every way so you should really get it. You'll be amazed at how much better my blog looks, and the rest of your surfing experience with be improved too :) Its worth the download.
Friday, December 01, 2006
It's Raining
So I'm at work right now and it is pouring rain so I'm not to busy, but the sad thing is I have to go out in said rain (and blustery cold wind feeling like -4) and try to write stuff down and give it to the truck drivers. Needless to say I am cold right now. I just got in and I feel wetter than a fish in the ocean and colder than a polar bear on an iceberg. It took me about 10 minutes just to type this up because my fingers are so cold they are refusing to move. Hope your day at work is going well too :)
Dave Westy
PostScript: As the last truck drove off the site the sun came out. How......nice.
Dave Westy
PostScript: As the last truck drove off the site the sun came out. How......nice.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
I wanna post
I want to post something on here but I'm working way to much. I have to wake up at 5 am every day this week to get to work and then I don't leave until between 4:30 and 5 pm, which about gives me enough time to get home, eat supper, shower and go to bed. One of these days soon though I'll do an actual post. I promise. Oh yeah, Sheffield conference was a blast...check out Karissa's blog to see some pictures.
Off to bed
Dave Westy
Off to bed
Dave Westy
Monday, November 20, 2006
pictures and more
I went home (to my parents place that is) this weekend and while I was there I downloaded all the pictures off of Tim's camera and so I thought I would post a few of them for your viewing pleasure.
This is still from the thanksgiving day hike...nice scenery
Scott found the hike very peaceful
The rock climbing was tons of fun!
We're just a little...umm..Different. But we have lots of fun
Like I said...Different. You only wish you where as strong as Joel
The Three Westies:
This is still from the thanksgiving day hike...nice scenery
Scott found the hike very peaceful
The rock climbing was tons of fun!
We're just a little...umm..Different. But we have lots of fun
Like I said...Different. You only wish you where as strong as Joel
The Three Westies:This weekend was once again a blast but I got home at about 12am and then got up at 5:30 this morning for work and I have to get up at 4:30 tomorrow so I need to hit the hay folks. Have a great night and enjoy the pictures. Oh and by the way, I hate seagulls...one ate my sandwich today when I wasn't looking. Any good ideas for revenge?
Dave Westy
Dave Westy
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Monday, November 13, 2006
Weekend
Ok, Well you people try and solve the conundrum that is Anonymous, (and no he is not me, just so you know) I'll go ahead and put up another post.
This weekend was blast. I played hockey Friday night and got a nice slash on one arm and a bruise on the other so you know it was a good game. Then on Saturday I went paintballing with a bunch of the Living Water youth. Good times and good bruises so once again lots of fun. Now I really want to get a paintball gun. If only I wasn't a poor student :( On Sunday I about ping-pong'd and airhockeyed myself out at the Wassinks place.
The evening sermon also bears mentioning. It was on Judges 16:22-31 which is the story of Samson after he has been captured and then destroys the Philistine temple of Dagon. The point that really struck me was that of the hopeful sign that we read of in Judges 16:22 where it says: 'but the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.' In spite of his sin and folly God forgave him and his hair started to come back, and so it is with us. Even at when we are at our lowest point and floundering in our sins, God has mercy on us and our hair begins to grow back so to speak and we have a glimmer of hope. We just need to cast ourselves on Him like Samson does later on in the chapter and just as God gave him the physical strength he needed so He will give us the spiritual strength we need.
So yeah, all in all an excellent weekend. Good fun, good fellowship, and good teaching.
Dave Westy
P.S. Does anybody out there think the word verification sux? :-P
This weekend was blast. I played hockey Friday night and got a nice slash on one arm and a bruise on the other so you know it was a good game. Then on Saturday I went paintballing with a bunch of the Living Water youth. Good times and good bruises so once again lots of fun. Now I really want to get a paintball gun. If only I wasn't a poor student :( On Sunday I about ping-pong'd and airhockeyed myself out at the Wassinks place.
The evening sermon also bears mentioning. It was on Judges 16:22-31 which is the story of Samson after he has been captured and then destroys the Philistine temple of Dagon. The point that really struck me was that of the hopeful sign that we read of in Judges 16:22 where it says: 'but the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.' In spite of his sin and folly God forgave him and his hair started to come back, and so it is with us. Even at when we are at our lowest point and floundering in our sins, God has mercy on us and our hair begins to grow back so to speak and we have a glimmer of hope. We just need to cast ourselves on Him like Samson does later on in the chapter and just as God gave him the physical strength he needed so He will give us the spiritual strength we need.
So yeah, all in all an excellent weekend. Good fun, good fellowship, and good teaching.
Dave Westy
P.S. Does anybody out there think the word verification sux? :-P
Monday, November 06, 2006
What do they feed us?
There is something in the food in the St. Thomas area. I know of no group of people that are crazier and more insane. I love you guys!! I had a great weekend of craziness in St. Thomas. Of course I went to the Sola Scriptura conference and it was every bit as good as I thought it would be. Good times Friday night with all the people who slept over at my place and good times Saturday night too. Poor Tim Horton's staff. Has Mark gotten any phone calls yet? Sunday afternoon everyone came over to our house between church and we went to Joel's house after church...lots of fun at both. All in all a fun filled weekend and a reaquired realization of just how crazy we are in St. Thomas. If I wasn't so tired right now I would go find an escalator. Have a blast!
Dave Westy
(you know you wish you went to St. Thomas last weekend)
Dave Westy
(you know you wish you went to St. Thomas last weekend)
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Traffic
So it took me 1 hour and 34 minutes to get home from work today. 1 hour and 34 minutes to travel 25 kms! That means an average speed of 15.96 km/h. Does anyone know where I can find a cheap used helicopter?
Dave Westy
Dave Westy
Sola Scipture
My good friend Dr. Pipa is going to be speaking at a Sola Scriptura conference this weekend, together with Dr's Hakin and Beeke. All of these men are great speakers and will have a lot of helpful stuff to say. This year's topic is "The Doctrine of Scripture" and the conference is being held in London. It will be well worth going to and if you need a place to sleep let me know and I'll arrange for you to have your own personal space of carpet to sleep on. See you there!
Dave Westy
Dave Westy
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Chemistry
Seeing that this blog is supposed to be about a Crazy Chemie I though I would share with you some facinating chemical news. They have discovered (or more precicely, made) the 118th element. See, I knew y'all would find that most exiting.
Dave Westy
Dave Westy
Friday, October 20, 2006
More on Seatbelts
Well, well well, who would have guessed that seatbelts are so exciting they warrent two posts on this blog? I want to fist of all say thank you to all those that posted comments on my last post, they have been really helpful to me in seeing where the weaknesses in my argument are and in seeing where I am being misunderstood. I'm not always so good at expressing what I mean and your comments help me figure out what assumptions I have that I need to make more articulate and where I need to smack myself on the head and say, 'duh, what were you thinking Dave?'
So, a little clarification on what I was saying in my last post, this time having spent a little time thinking about it instead of just spouting some thoughts off the top of my head. I still stand by my original point in that I think the government should not be considering this type of legislation and that to do so is put its hands where they don't belong, but I want to expand and clarify why exactly I think so. First of all I want to talk about my argument that this legislation will discriminate against the poor. This statement is in fact true. People with less money have less vehicles per person and so are more likely to overcrowd a vehicle with more occupants than seatbelts, and hence this law affect one group (poor people) more than another group (the wealthy) and thus is discriminatory. However, discrimination is not necessarily a bad thing (for example I could have a very disciminatory taste in wines)and the fact that a law influences one group more than another says nothing at all about the propriety or acceptability of that law. The reason I included this argument in the first place was that most of the politicians that support this law would be against the idea of discrimination and so their support of this law is illogical, however, if someone was to use this argument against a law I liked I would dismiss it out of hand and so I should not use it myself. My apologies for a poor use of terminology.
Also, it seems that there is some disagreement as to how much this law would actually cost society. I personally think that it would be expensive because anything that the government gets its fingers into ends up costing us (as well as for a number of other reason that I can share if you really want me too) but without having actual numbers it is pretty much useless to argue about this point, although I do think that the government should try to understand the cost of its legislation versus the benifits that will be gained by it. It is true that its hard to put a price on human life but there comes a point where it is outrageous to keep spending money for the possibliity of extending someone's life by a few years.
However, those points were not at all the main idea that I was trying to get across, they were more like extra points of consideration, while the main thrust of what I was saying was that the government needs to keep out of stuff that is not its business. Let me say first of all that I have no problem with seatbelts. I think they are a great invention and I wear mine as a matter of habit. I think it is foolish not to wear one without good reason and I have no doubt that they do help protect you in case of an accident. What I am arguing against here is seatbelt LAWS, particularily trying to stop someone from riding in a vehicle that has more occupant than there are seatbelts in that vehicle. I certainly agree that to do so is more dangerous than not; after all I did link to an article where 4 people where killed in just that situation. My problem is not that it is a dangerous activity, it is that the government has absolutly no right at all to tell me what level of danger is acceptable for me. I am a responsible adult and am quite aware that I would be putting myself in a higher risk situation, and I don't need some allknowing government to tell me that I can't. I am reponsible for my actions (even God's soveriegnty doesn't abdicate me of that responsibilty) and to try and pawn that responsibily off onto the government is utterly rediculous. If I choose to ride in a car with more people than seatbelts, I am responible for anything that happens to me, not the government. It doesn't matter how 'stupid' I may be for not wearing it, I am still the one that is responsible for my actions and not the government. The government may not tell me how safely I have to live my life because to do so overstep its realm of authority.
I suppose that is the crux of the argument: when can the government tell me what to do and when does it need to stay out of my life? There are some areas where the government is obviously allowed (and required) to tell me what to do, for example it has every right to tell me not to kill you for disagreing with me, but there are also areas where it just as obviously does not have control over me, for example in telling me what kind of toothpaste I need to use tonight. The problem is discovering what sets the line. What is it that determines wether or not the government has jurisdiction over a particular activity? What exactly is the role of government in society? As Ruth pointed out, the role of government is to punish evil and approve of good (see Romans 13). This does not mean punish evil and mandate good, but punish evil and approve of or encourage good. Thus it is appropriate for the government to forbid and punish murder as being a sinful action, but it is not appropriate for it to require me to use only Crest toothpaste, even if there were studies that indicated that it better for my health to use Crest than any other kind of toothpaste. It might be a good thing for me to use only Crest toothpaste but the government would be overstepping its authourity to require me to use it.
So what about seatbelts? Is it immoral to put more people in a car than available seatbelts? No, of course not. It is no more immoral than going snowboarding or parasailing or walking on the side of the road or doing any other activity that increases your chance of getting hurt or killed. Thus the government is overstepping the bounds of its authority in trying to pass this type of legislation.
That is the gist of what I was trying to say in my last post. I hope this helps clear up any confusion. Keep the comments coming and enjoy your weekend
Dave Westy
So, a little clarification on what I was saying in my last post, this time having spent a little time thinking about it instead of just spouting some thoughts off the top of my head. I still stand by my original point in that I think the government should not be considering this type of legislation and that to do so is put its hands where they don't belong, but I want to expand and clarify why exactly I think so. First of all I want to talk about my argument that this legislation will discriminate against the poor. This statement is in fact true. People with less money have less vehicles per person and so are more likely to overcrowd a vehicle with more occupants than seatbelts, and hence this law affect one group (poor people) more than another group (the wealthy) and thus is discriminatory. However, discrimination is not necessarily a bad thing (for example I could have a very disciminatory taste in wines)and the fact that a law influences one group more than another says nothing at all about the propriety or acceptability of that law. The reason I included this argument in the first place was that most of the politicians that support this law would be against the idea of discrimination and so their support of this law is illogical, however, if someone was to use this argument against a law I liked I would dismiss it out of hand and so I should not use it myself. My apologies for a poor use of terminology.
Also, it seems that there is some disagreement as to how much this law would actually cost society. I personally think that it would be expensive because anything that the government gets its fingers into ends up costing us (as well as for a number of other reason that I can share if you really want me too) but without having actual numbers it is pretty much useless to argue about this point, although I do think that the government should try to understand the cost of its legislation versus the benifits that will be gained by it. It is true that its hard to put a price on human life but there comes a point where it is outrageous to keep spending money for the possibliity of extending someone's life by a few years.
However, those points were not at all the main idea that I was trying to get across, they were more like extra points of consideration, while the main thrust of what I was saying was that the government needs to keep out of stuff that is not its business. Let me say first of all that I have no problem with seatbelts. I think they are a great invention and I wear mine as a matter of habit. I think it is foolish not to wear one without good reason and I have no doubt that they do help protect you in case of an accident. What I am arguing against here is seatbelt LAWS, particularily trying to stop someone from riding in a vehicle that has more occupant than there are seatbelts in that vehicle. I certainly agree that to do so is more dangerous than not; after all I did link to an article where 4 people where killed in just that situation. My problem is not that it is a dangerous activity, it is that the government has absolutly no right at all to tell me what level of danger is acceptable for me. I am a responsible adult and am quite aware that I would be putting myself in a higher risk situation, and I don't need some allknowing government to tell me that I can't. I am reponsible for my actions (even God's soveriegnty doesn't abdicate me of that responsibilty) and to try and pawn that responsibily off onto the government is utterly rediculous. If I choose to ride in a car with more people than seatbelts, I am responible for anything that happens to me, not the government. It doesn't matter how 'stupid' I may be for not wearing it, I am still the one that is responsible for my actions and not the government. The government may not tell me how safely I have to live my life because to do so overstep its realm of authority.
I suppose that is the crux of the argument: when can the government tell me what to do and when does it need to stay out of my life? There are some areas where the government is obviously allowed (and required) to tell me what to do, for example it has every right to tell me not to kill you for disagreing with me, but there are also areas where it just as obviously does not have control over me, for example in telling me what kind of toothpaste I need to use tonight. The problem is discovering what sets the line. What is it that determines wether or not the government has jurisdiction over a particular activity? What exactly is the role of government in society? As Ruth pointed out, the role of government is to punish evil and approve of good (see Romans 13). This does not mean punish evil and mandate good, but punish evil and approve of or encourage good. Thus it is appropriate for the government to forbid and punish murder as being a sinful action, but it is not appropriate for it to require me to use only Crest toothpaste, even if there were studies that indicated that it better for my health to use Crest than any other kind of toothpaste. It might be a good thing for me to use only Crest toothpaste but the government would be overstepping its authourity to require me to use it.
So what about seatbelts? Is it immoral to put more people in a car than available seatbelts? No, of course not. It is no more immoral than going snowboarding or parasailing or walking on the side of the road or doing any other activity that increases your chance of getting hurt or killed. Thus the government is overstepping the bounds of its authority in trying to pass this type of legislation.
That is the gist of what I was trying to say in my last post. I hope this helps clear up any confusion. Keep the comments coming and enjoy your weekend
Dave Westy
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Seatbelts
There was a fatal crash in Toronto this weekend. Apparently 10 Koreans were riding in a minivan, which of course means that there were more people than seat belts, and so now; 'Ontario moved swiftly yesterday to close a loophole in the province's 30-year-old seat-belt law' by introducing legislation that requires there be no more passengers than seat belts in a vehicle. This is a wonderful new development isn't it? Seat belts save lives, and so anything that forces people to wear their seat belts more is a good thing isn't it? Well, as you might have guessed, I think there is another side to the story and so I would like to present you with a few of the reasons that I think this move is another example of how our government runs on 'feel good' principles instead of 'do good' principles.
1. Its my life. If I want to go bungee jumping, or skydiving, or work as a crane operator or do any other high risk activity I am free to do so. Why? because it is my life and I am free to decide what level of risk is acceptable. If I am allowed to place myself in additional risk for my pleasure or convenience with these kind of activities why not with packing more people into my car?
2. It discriminates against the poor. You might have 2 cars to choose from every time you want to go riding but I might not have that luxury and cramming 8 people into my goe metro might be the only way I can get the whole family around. Ok sure I could make two trips but I'm poor remember? I can't afford the gas.
3. It makes for good rhetoric, but not necessarily good sense. It sounds really good to talk about how we are going to save lives, and how it is all worth it if we even save one life but that is not necessarily true. There are risks in life that we have to live with,and it hard to decide what is acceptable risk. We will never get rid of all risk in life and so we have to make decisions as to what is acceptable risk. Is it acceptable to drive a car at all? even with seat belts people still die in car wrecks. Is it an acceptable risk to get out of bed in the morning? There is no way some generic law can come up with what is acceptable risk because it is different for each person. Let me decide what is an acceptable level of risk, it'll save us all a lot of money in trying to enforce a useless law.
4. Speaking of money: Its going to cost a lot of money to come up with the law, to make the legislation, and to enforce it. Is this money well spent? we have already established that it is hard to decide what level of risk is acceptable, but what about quantifying the risk itself? I haven't seen any numbers, but I suspect the benefit is marginal. Most people that are going to wear a seat belt already do and changing legislation won't change that. You see proliferating laws doesn't solve problems. The laws have to address actual problems and have to make sense.
Dave Westy
1. Its my life. If I want to go bungee jumping, or skydiving, or work as a crane operator or do any other high risk activity I am free to do so. Why? because it is my life and I am free to decide what level of risk is acceptable. If I am allowed to place myself in additional risk for my pleasure or convenience with these kind of activities why not with packing more people into my car?
2. It discriminates against the poor. You might have 2 cars to choose from every time you want to go riding but I might not have that luxury and cramming 8 people into my goe metro might be the only way I can get the whole family around. Ok sure I could make two trips but I'm poor remember? I can't afford the gas.
3. It makes for good rhetoric, but not necessarily good sense. It sounds really good to talk about how we are going to save lives, and how it is all worth it if we even save one life but that is not necessarily true. There are risks in life that we have to live with,and it hard to decide what is acceptable risk. We will never get rid of all risk in life and so we have to make decisions as to what is acceptable risk. Is it acceptable to drive a car at all? even with seat belts people still die in car wrecks. Is it an acceptable risk to get out of bed in the morning? There is no way some generic law can come up with what is acceptable risk because it is different for each person. Let me decide what is an acceptable level of risk, it'll save us all a lot of money in trying to enforce a useless law.
4. Speaking of money: Its going to cost a lot of money to come up with the law, to make the legislation, and to enforce it. Is this money well spent? we have already established that it is hard to decide what level of risk is acceptable, but what about quantifying the risk itself? I haven't seen any numbers, but I suspect the benefit is marginal. Most people that are going to wear a seat belt already do and changing legislation won't change that. You see proliferating laws doesn't solve problems. The laws have to address actual problems and have to make sense.
Dave Westy
Monday, October 16, 2006
Sundin
500th goal in overtime, while down a man, as a hat trick, and his 365th goal as a leaf to tie for second place on the leafs all time goal scorers. This man truly is one of the greats in this game. Matts Sundin:
Saturday, October 14, 2006
sweet videos
Here are a couple of incredibly amazing, and maybe just a little bit geeky videos. These guys are my heros
now why couldn't my physics class be this interesting?
I WILL build this someday. Except mine will include explosions and be loud and crazy as well as awesome
now why couldn't my physics class be this interesting?
I WILL build this someday. Except mine will include explosions and be loud and crazy as well as awesome
Thursday, October 12, 2006
SNOW!!
Its October 12 and its snowing!!!! Does anyone else find that insane?!?! hmmm Maybe we'll have some good snowboarding this year. :)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
David Spears
My friend David Spears passed away this past Sunday. For those of you who don't know his story, he was in a car wreck a little over 3 years ago which caused him to spend a number of months in intensive care and then to be wheelchair bound. He has been in and out of the hospital and therapy since and last week was once again admitted to the hospital with seizures. He went to be with the Lord on Sunday afternoon and the funeral was held today. My deepest condoleces go to the family that he leaves behind him. I only wish I could have made it down to be there with y'all in this time of sorrow.
Please pray with me for his family, who have spent so much of the last 3 years of their lives taking care of David, as they go through this difficult time.
Love and prayer
Dave Westy
Please pray with me for his family, who have spent so much of the last 3 years of their lives taking care of David, as they go through this difficult time.
Love and prayer
Dave Westy
Saturday, September 16, 2006
4 hours. That was my sleep time last night. 5 hours the night before and 6 or less every other night this week. Do you think that is why I'm tired? Coffee is my friend folks. Work has been going ok. Its not very exciting stuff and I don't think I"ll be learning much this semester, but I'm getting some pretty long hours and making money so I guess I shouldn't complain. But then again I'm tired and grumpy so I can use that as an excuse. I pretty much stand around and do nothing all day long except write a few things down and keep an eye on the work to make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to do. Rather boring...Especially if there is no one around to talk to or its raining and I'm standing there getting wet or when I only get 4 hours of sleep and almost fall asleep standing up. On a positive note: Coffee is my friend.
hmmm...What else is going on in my life? Not too much actually. I get home from work, make supper check my emails talk for a while and then go to bed. The place I am staying at is working out very well. My landlord is Ryan Kidd and he is a great guy to be renting from. The atmosphere here is very good although the food my Chinese roommate like to cook sometimes doesn't exactly smell like food, but overall I am having a really good experience so far.
you'll have to excuse any errors or idiocies (yes that is a word ...I was excited for a minute there cause I thought I invented a new word) wow that was mean...I can't believe I just said that about myself, but anyways, I'm going to claim that they are due to sleep deprivation although you probably won't believe me. So since this post seems to be getting progressively worse and I don't seem to have anything to say I'll just stop talking and bid you all a fond adieu.
Bed Time!
Dave Westy
hmmm...What else is going on in my life? Not too much actually. I get home from work, make supper check my emails talk for a while and then go to bed. The place I am staying at is working out very well. My landlord is Ryan Kidd and he is a great guy to be renting from. The atmosphere here is very good although the food my Chinese roommate like to cook sometimes doesn't exactly smell like food, but overall I am having a really good experience so far.
you'll have to excuse any errors or idiocies (yes that is a word ...I was excited for a minute there cause I thought I invented a new word) wow that was mean...I can't believe I just said that about myself, but anyways, I'm going to claim that they are due to sleep deprivation although you probably won't believe me. So since this post seems to be getting progressively worse and I don't seem to have anything to say I'll just stop talking and bid you all a fond adieu.
Bed Time!
Dave Westy
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Long time no see
Its been a while since I've had a good internet connection and a lot has happened since then. My little old Escort blew its head. Yes I agree...That wasn't a very nice to do, but it did it anyways. Tim and I tried to fix it:
But it was a piece of junk. So I bought a new car instead. A Mazda 626:
Its got a lot of kms but hopefully if I drive carefully it will last me a while. *cough* it does peel though *cough* I don't know how I know that.
Of course buying a new car means that I had to pay for it somehow and so I spend the last week and a half working for my dad on the new machine shed he's putting up.
this picture is actually from before when they were putting up the rafters. I was working on getting the steel on the roof, but I don't have any pictures of that. Notice the usual Westerveld care for safety. All of us have safety harnesses and we don't ever do things in a way that isn't prescribed but the book. Oh well, nobody's died (yet) so I guess its ok.
I also started my new co-op job at DCS in Markham so right now I am unpacking all my stuff and trying to get settled in here and bemoaning my fate. I have to leave for work at 6:15 tomorrow morning. Yes you heard that right 6:15. 6:15 folks. That Sucks. I don't like getting up that early. At all. Sigh. Well I guess I'll get back to my unpacking and try to get to bed on time.
Enjoy sleeping in
Dave Westy
But it was a piece of junk. So I bought a new car instead. A Mazda 626:
Its got a lot of kms but hopefully if I drive carefully it will last me a while. *cough* it does peel though *cough* I don't know how I know that.Of course buying a new car means that I had to pay for it somehow and so I spend the last week and a half working for my dad on the new machine shed he's putting up.
this picture is actually from before when they were putting up the rafters. I was working on getting the steel on the roof, but I don't have any pictures of that. Notice the usual Westerveld care for safety. All of us have safety harnesses and we don't ever do things in a way that isn't prescribed but the book. Oh well, nobody's died (yet) so I guess its ok.I also started my new co-op job at DCS in Markham so right now I am unpacking all my stuff and trying to get settled in here and bemoaning my fate. I have to leave for work at 6:15 tomorrow morning. Yes you heard that right 6:15. 6:15 folks. That Sucks. I don't like getting up that early. At all. Sigh. Well I guess I'll get back to my unpacking and try to get to bed on time.
Enjoy sleeping in
Dave Westy
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
DONE!
DOOOOOONE!!!!!!!! Exams are over! I'm done for the term. No more studying, no more I tell you, no more. One more term done and gone, Now its time for me to go party before the realities of a broke student with a broken car sink in. Woooo hooo. I'm done!
Dave Westy
Dave Westy
Thursday, August 03, 2006
2 more done
Organic is done!!!!!!!! so is Heat Transfer now. 3 down...2 left. I'm over the hump people. I can see the light at the end of tunnel, but I have an exam in 17 hours, so back to the books.
Dave Westy
Dave Westy
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
Death
Last night I found out that a girl I used to work with at Staples was killed in a car accident over the weekend. Little Sherri and I did our training together and used to hang out and joke around all the time. She was so much fun to be around and so full of vitality and life that its hard to even get my mind around the fact that she is gone. It truly was a tragedy and has made me stop and think about death. Death is not part of the natural order of things, it is something that has come upon us as a result of sin in this world, but it is nevertheless a very real thing and this accident reminds us once again that we really have no idea when we will go. She was on her way to work on minute and dead the next.
It truly is sobering to think about. What will happen to us when we die? I'm sure each and every one of us would like to think that we will go to heaven or some place like it, but Jesus tells us in John 3:16-20 that only those who believe in him will spend an eternity in heaven with him. I would like to encourage each and every one of you to think about that for a minute. There are a lot of things in life that are important but what are they compared to eternity? What do the 70 or 80 years that you'll spend on this earth mean compared to an infinite number of years spent in eternity? Take a few minutes today to think about the most important thing that you can think about; your eternal future. God sent his son Jesus Christ down to earth so that you and I could be saved from our sins and spend an eternity with Him in heaven. He also promises that if you believe in him you will be saved. What does that mean to you? Are you one of His? Take a minute to answer that question, it could be the most important question you ever ask yourself.
Dave Westy
It truly is sobering to think about. What will happen to us when we die? I'm sure each and every one of us would like to think that we will go to heaven or some place like it, but Jesus tells us in John 3:16-20 that only those who believe in him will spend an eternity in heaven with him. I would like to encourage each and every one of you to think about that for a minute. There are a lot of things in life that are important but what are they compared to eternity? What do the 70 or 80 years that you'll spend on this earth mean compared to an infinite number of years spent in eternity? Take a few minutes today to think about the most important thing that you can think about; your eternal future. God sent his son Jesus Christ down to earth so that you and I could be saved from our sins and spend an eternity with Him in heaven. He also promises that if you believe in him you will be saved. What does that mean to you? Are you one of His? Take a minute to answer that question, it could be the most important question you ever ask yourself.
Dave Westy
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Classes are over
I finished up my last day of classes for the term yesterday and now the stuDYING begins. In preparation for my studying I went through all the assignments that I have back to figure out which course I need to focus on. I aim for an 80% average on my courses and based on that I calculated how much I need to get on each final:
So there you have it folks...Who thinks I need to spend a bit of time studying for organic? Maybe a better calculation for that is what grade I need to pass the course (47.6% in case you were wondering) Anyways, back to the books
Dave Westy
| Course: | Current Mark | Mark Necessary on Final for 80% |
| Advanced Math | 85.8 | 74.3 |
| Organic Chemistry | 55.7 | 90.4 |
| Heat Transfer | 93.2 | 71.2 |
| Materials | 86.3 | 73.8 |
| Thermodynamics | 76.5 | 82.3 |
So there you have it folks...Who thinks I need to spend a bit of time studying for organic? Maybe a better calculation for that is what grade I need to pass the course (47.6% in case you were wondering) Anyways, back to the books
Dave Westy
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Wal Mart: good or bad?
A lot of people have problems with Wal-Mart, but really it has a been a great thing for us. I mean who doesn't want the same thing for half to price? its cutthroat competition but that is how the economy becomes more productive. Wal-Mart has made many companies much more effiecient and so has greatly increased the amount of productivity that the same number of people can have which means plain and simple that we are now richer in terms of real wealth then we were before Wal-Mart came along. you can read more about it in this Pro Wal-Mart article. I thought it was an excellent article. Hope you enjoy it.
Dave Westy
Dave Westy
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
He Lives
Yes I am still alive believe it or not and to prove it I've added a few things to my blog. Sometimes people ask me what I listen to and I never quite know what to say cause I listen to pretty much everything and I don't even know how to classify my listening. But thankfully for all those who wonder (including me) there is a cool website: Last.fm that can help out with this. basically it keeps track of all the songs I play on my computer and then generates a nifty little weekly chart of my favorite arists of the week which you can see on the sidebar if you scroll down a bit. Of course you can also go to my profile and see more details. Well thats my bit for the night. I'm off to bed. Blessings to all.
Dave Westy
Dave Westy
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Canada Day
So, for the long weekend I went up to Ottawa to visit my cousin who is doing a work term up there. I had me a blast of time. We went up Friday and after fighting a bit of traffic got there and hung out for the night at Brian's (amazingly clean....I was almost guilt-tripped into cleaning up my apartment - Almost) apartment. We also went roller-blading on the bike path along the Ottawa river which is a beautiful trail. On Saturday we went to parliament hill to join in the festivities there, and toured the Mint and the War museum. The number of people there is impossible to describe, but I'll just say that there was so many it was pretty much impossible to move at times. The fireworks were pretty awesome too.
On Sunday we went to the Reformed Presbyterian Church (Ottawa in the morning and Russell in the afternoon) and caught up on some needed sleep. Then on Monday after stocking up on cheap French beer and touring Riduea Hall, which has some of the most beautiful grounds I've ever seen (I must say Ottawa is a very beautiful city), we headed back home. We got stuck in traffic but a few backroads later and we were home in reasonable time. I wish one of us had been smart enough to bring a camera, but hey even genius's forget stuff like that sometimes, so sorry, no pictures :(
Dave Westy
On Sunday we went to the Reformed Presbyterian Church (Ottawa in the morning and Russell in the afternoon) and caught up on some needed sleep. Then on Monday after stocking up on cheap French beer and touring Riduea Hall, which has some of the most beautiful grounds I've ever seen (I must say Ottawa is a very beautiful city), we headed back home. We got stuck in traffic but a few backroads later and we were home in reasonable time. I wish one of us had been smart enough to bring a camera, but hey even genius's forget stuff like that sometimes, so sorry, no pictures :(
Dave Westy
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Birthday
June 27. Its just another day on the calendar. But you see there is also something about this day. Its the day I entered the world. For better or worse there I was and now here I am 21ish years later still screaming and causing a ruckus every chance I get. The nice thing is I get free incoming calls on my cell phone so y'all better call and wish me a happy birthday! (519) 496-0512. Oh and you know what the best part of my birthday is? I have a midterm on Wednesday, which means I get to spend the day studying. What a treat!!! I'm so excited.
Hope you are all having a wonderful day.
Dave Westy
(yes. I'm old now)
Hope you are all having a wonderful day.
Dave Westy
(yes. I'm old now)
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Countdown
I've once again added my coundown til exams are over onto the sidebar -->
so that you can see how much longer I have until freedom :)
so that you can see how much longer I have until freedom :)
Marriage
I think its the year of weddings. I have already attended 4 weddings this year and had invites to two more that I couldn't make it to. I just attended my cousin Anita's wedding this past Friday and it was wonderful to see them express their vows to each other. It seems like everybody is getting married but have you ever wondered why? There are some in the world today that decry the very idea of marriage. They see it as being 'old fashioned' or 'out of date' but is this really the case? Were these four weddings just a chance for a bunch of people to get dressed up and tell each other they were in love in front of a group of people, and then have some good food and go on with their lives, or is there something more to marriage? Is it just something we do cause 'hey that's the way its done' or do we have a deeper reason for doing it?
You already know I'm going to say it; What does the bible have to say on this issue? It is the ultimate standard so let's take a look at a few of the reasons it gives.
1) Marriage is a creation ordinance. Genesis 2:18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." and then vs. 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh. The union of a man and a woman is something that God sees as an essential part of his creation. It is fascinating to note that as you read through Genesis 1 God looks at his creation and says that it is good over and over again, but when he looks at man by himself he say that it is not good. Therefore marriage is more than just a good thing; it is a necessary thing. God's creation is incomplete without marriage.
2) Marriage is ordained by God. Mark 10:9 Jesus says "...What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." This passage is mainly dealing with divorce, but it holds an important principle for marriage; marriage is a union that God makes. Persons that are married are joined to each other by God. This means that the vows made in the wedding ceremony are not just promises to love each other, they are vows before God and therefore are in some sense spiritual. The marriage ceremony is not merely an agreement between two people it is a union the God makes.
3) The Marriage union is a picture of the union between Christ and His church. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her One of the reasons God created us as relational beings, is so that through our relationships we could get a slight view of how relationships with God work. We would not be able to understand what it means to have God as our Father if we did not see and experience relationships between Fathers and their children, and so we would not be able to wrap our minds around the union between Christ and his church if we did not see and experience the marriage relationship. It is true that this picture of marriage (just like all our other relationships) is tainted by our sin, but it still gives us a basis to start from in our understanding of Christ's love for his church.
For these three reasons, that God ordains marriage, that he did so from the beginning of the world before there was any sin, and that it helps us to better understand God, I would say that marriage is a good thing. These weddings I've gone to are not old fashioned out of date parties, but are essential and necessary for the continuity and improvement of our society.
Dave Westy
(hmm...time to get married?)
You already know I'm going to say it; What does the bible have to say on this issue? It is the ultimate standard so let's take a look at a few of the reasons it gives.
1) Marriage is a creation ordinance. Genesis 2:18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." and then vs. 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh. The union of a man and a woman is something that God sees as an essential part of his creation. It is fascinating to note that as you read through Genesis 1 God looks at his creation and says that it is good over and over again, but when he looks at man by himself he say that it is not good. Therefore marriage is more than just a good thing; it is a necessary thing. God's creation is incomplete without marriage.
2) Marriage is ordained by God. Mark 10:9 Jesus says "...What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." This passage is mainly dealing with divorce, but it holds an important principle for marriage; marriage is a union that God makes. Persons that are married are joined to each other by God. This means that the vows made in the wedding ceremony are not just promises to love each other, they are vows before God and therefore are in some sense spiritual. The marriage ceremony is not merely an agreement between two people it is a union the God makes.
3) The Marriage union is a picture of the union between Christ and His church. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her One of the reasons God created us as relational beings, is so that through our relationships we could get a slight view of how relationships with God work. We would not be able to understand what it means to have God as our Father if we did not see and experience relationships between Fathers and their children, and so we would not be able to wrap our minds around the union between Christ and his church if we did not see and experience the marriage relationship. It is true that this picture of marriage (just like all our other relationships) is tainted by our sin, but it still gives us a basis to start from in our understanding of Christ's love for his church.
For these three reasons, that God ordains marriage, that he did so from the beginning of the world before there was any sin, and that it helps us to better understand God, I would say that marriage is a good thing. These weddings I've gone to are not old fashioned out of date parties, but are essential and necessary for the continuity and improvement of our society.
Dave Westy
(hmm...time to get married?)
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Oilers
Oilers just won tonight 4-3....short handed goal in overtime. What a game folks. It was so good it pulled me from my studies so I better get back to the books. What a game!!
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Exams
Ok. So first of all moo. I got my final exam schedule yesterday and it is the worst possible exam schedule.
Aug 1 9:00-11:30 - Thermodynamics 60% final
Aug 2 9:00-11:30 - Organic Chemistry 70% final
Aug 3 12:30-3:00 - Heat Transfer 60% final
Aug 4 9:00-11:30 - Materials 50% final
Aug 11 9:00-11:30 - Advanced Math 50% final
Now that you have seen it in all its ugliness let me explain to you just how DISGUSTINGLY HORRIBLE this schedule is. First of all my Advanced Math final will probably be my easiest one and so I don't need a whole week to study for it, and then I also need more than a day to study for all my other exams. I can't learn the whole course in 1 day.....it takes 2 days to do that! And also the first day of exams is July 31 so its not like I have tons of time to study for all my courses before hand. So yes this exam schedule is utterly RIDICULOUS. I mean it is summer term for Pete's sake; there are way less student on campus so scheduling exams with a day inbetween them should be no problem. sheeesh. I guess they just don't get....I learn by cramming. If I don't have cram time I don't know how to do well. waaaaaaahhh.
My one hope is that we may still be able to change a couple of the exams. Well, I'm going to go feel sorry for myself for a while and if you happen to see the registrar at UWaterloo tell her I'm not happy.
Dave Westy
Aug 1 9:00-11:30 - Thermodynamics 60% final
Aug 2 9:00-11:30 - Organic Chemistry 70% final
Aug 3 12:30-3:00 - Heat Transfer 60% final
Aug 4 9:00-11:30 - Materials 50% final
Aug 11 9:00-11:30 - Advanced Math 50% final
Now that you have seen it in all its ugliness let me explain to you just how DISGUSTINGLY HORRIBLE this schedule is. First of all my Advanced Math final will probably be my easiest one and so I don't need a whole week to study for it, and then I also need more than a day to study for all my other exams. I can't learn the whole course in 1 day.....it takes 2 days to do that! And also the first day of exams is July 31 so its not like I have tons of time to study for all my courses before hand. So yes this exam schedule is utterly RIDICULOUS. I mean it is summer term for Pete's sake; there are way less student on campus so scheduling exams with a day inbetween them should be no problem. sheeesh. I guess they just don't get....I learn by cramming. If I don't have cram time I don't know how to do well. waaaaaaahhh.
My one hope is that we may still be able to change a couple of the exams. Well, I'm going to go feel sorry for myself for a while and if you happen to see the registrar at UWaterloo tell her I'm not happy.
Dave Westy
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Organic Chemistry
I have been studying for my Organic Chemistry midterm for the last 12 hours (with only an hour off) and so I about to go insane. Its time for a short break and so I thought I would share with you some of the brilliant suggestions that my prof. gave for doing well in this course:
- Remember the concepts learned in you previous Organic Course. Yup. I'm in trouble for this course!
- Try to understand the chemical reactions and concepts. Well actually I always try to make sure I don't understand anything I'm learning. Duh.
and then my personal favorite
- Learn to like Organic Chemistry. Learn to WHAT?!?!? NO. I refuse.
*sigh* Back to the studying. If only I could somehow like Organic, it might be a little easier :-(
- Remember the concepts learned in you previous Organic Course. Yup. I'm in trouble for this course!
- Try to understand the chemical reactions and concepts. Well actually I always try to make sure I don't understand anything I'm learning. Duh.
and then my personal favorite
- Learn to like Organic Chemistry. Learn to WHAT?!?!? NO. I refuse.
*sigh* Back to the studying. If only I could somehow like Organic, it might be a little easier :-(
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Welcome Home!!
So I get back from and awesome weekend in the States only to find out that I have 4 assignments due by the end of the week, 4 interviews to go to by Friday, 2 volleyball games to play this week, 2 days worth of notes to catch up on and 3 midterms to study for next week. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! So I have made a commitment. Absolutely no TV until June 12th.
Back to Work!
Dave Westy
Back to Work!
Dave Westy
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
What a weekend
I just had one awesome weekend!!! After finishing up class on Thursday I left for the Van Eyk's by around noon. 12 hours of uneventful (and boring) driving later I arrived in Greensboro, North Carolina. Of course I stayed up chatting and catching up on the news with Re and Greg until about 3 in the morning. The next morning we got everything together and then headed down to South Carolina for Matt and Stacy's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. The Bride was simply stunning, the bridesmaids were all beautiful as were their dresses, and the men were all wearing suits so I guess they must have looked good too. Matt and Stacy know too many ministers and so we had to listen to three 'semons' but the messages and exhortations where all very good and well worth listening to so all in all it was one of the best wedding I've ever been too. The church was so full that some people had to stand in the back and the reception afterwards was great too. I got to meet all my Greenville friends again and it was sooooo good to see them.
After the wedding a bunch of us went over to the place we were staying at (thanks so much Vandoodewaards for letting us use your house!!) and visited for a few hours. Saturday we out for lunch with Thomas and then visited the Spears and Bob and made all the Greenville rounds. We visited with Mrs. Karr for a while until Steph got home and then we all headed back to the Vandood's place to watch a movie and hang out.
Sunday we went to Second Pres. For the morning, where Mr. Spears had a great sermon, and then to the new OPC church that is meeting at the Seminary for the evening service. We stopped by the Karr's on our way home and Mrs. Karr made us some food and of course we talked a lot and didn't leave until about 10. As we headed home we where making really good time until we had a very disturbing and traumatic experience. You can read all the gory details on Re's blog but the gist of it is that a young girl died on the road about 200 feet in front of us and we saw pretty much everything except the actual event. It was definantly one of the worst and most sobering events in my life. Remember to pray for her family and especially for those friends that were there and saw her die.
I had a safe trip back on Monday although I spent most of the trip wishing I didn't have to go back and I didn't even get a ticket although I saw 18 cops on the way. So that was my weekend in a nutshell. It was a funfilled and awesome weekend!!! I miss y'all down there!!!!!!!! Love y'all too!
Dave Westy
After the wedding a bunch of us went over to the place we were staying at (thanks so much Vandoodewaards for letting us use your house!!) and visited for a few hours. Saturday we out for lunch with Thomas and then visited the Spears and Bob and made all the Greenville rounds. We visited with Mrs. Karr for a while until Steph got home and then we all headed back to the Vandood's place to watch a movie and hang out.
Sunday we went to Second Pres. For the morning, where Mr. Spears had a great sermon, and then to the new OPC church that is meeting at the Seminary for the evening service. We stopped by the Karr's on our way home and Mrs. Karr made us some food and of course we talked a lot and didn't leave until about 10. As we headed home we where making really good time until we had a very disturbing and traumatic experience. You can read all the gory details on Re's blog but the gist of it is that a young girl died on the road about 200 feet in front of us and we saw pretty much everything except the actual event. It was definantly one of the worst and most sobering events in my life. Remember to pray for her family and especially for those friends that were there and saw her die.
I had a safe trip back on Monday although I spent most of the trip wishing I didn't have to go back and I didn't even get a ticket although I saw 18 cops on the way. So that was my weekend in a nutshell. It was a funfilled and awesome weekend!!! I miss y'all down there!!!!!!!! Love y'all too!
Dave Westy
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Yes I am Alive
Its been a while since I posted on here which of course means I've been pretty busy. School is starting to pick up and the assignments are coming, although no labs this terms means that the workload isn't too brutal. I'm playing volleyball again this term and so far we won our first two games! We just played tonight and it was probably one of the best games we've ever played. Very good playing from both teams and a close fought game made for good times.
I went home this past weekend and saw all my St. Thomas peeps. And speaking of St. Thomas, the St. Thomas Free Reformed Church is having a conference on June 9th and 10th. It starts at 7:30 and registration is from 7:12-7:27 :-P. Pete Vandoodewaard is speaking on "God the creator; The Doctrine of Creation and your Life" and Pete is a great guy. I also hear that there are lots of fun events planned for Saturday, so you should definantly go. It'll be a blast, and I better see you there ;-)
I'm heading down to South Carolina this Weekend for Stacy's wedding, and I am starting to get PUMPED. I can't wait to see y'all down there! Well, the homework is calling me so I better get back at it. Just wanted to let y'all know that I am still alive.
peace
Dave Westy
I went home this past weekend and saw all my St. Thomas peeps. And speaking of St. Thomas, the St. Thomas Free Reformed Church is having a conference on June 9th and 10th. It starts at 7:30 and registration is from 7:12-7:27 :-P. Pete Vandoodewaard is speaking on "God the creator; The Doctrine of Creation and your Life" and Pete is a great guy. I also hear that there are lots of fun events planned for Saturday, so you should definantly go. It'll be a blast, and I better see you there ;-)
I'm heading down to South Carolina this Weekend for Stacy's wedding, and I am starting to get PUMPED. I can't wait to see y'all down there! Well, the homework is calling me so I better get back at it. Just wanted to let y'all know that I am still alive.
peace
Dave Westy
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Fun times
What a fun weekend. The end of the first week of school and so it was time to have some fun. :-) On Friday night we did some stuff with the younger young people at the Colenbrander's. The events of the night involved getting dirty and somehow I ended being a team leader and having to participate instead of getting to run an event. That made for some crazy fun times.
The first event involved a bunch of stuff like leapfrogging and walking across 2 by 4's with your whole team. Crazy stuff, but no one got hurt so there's not much to tell you about there. Then it was the mud slide climb where we had to get our whole team on top of an eight foot hight structure by going up a mud covered sheet of plywood. I was bosting everybody up and managed to get a scrape on my head as well as a nice big one on my arm and bruised elbow. Now that game was worth writing about :-D. then the last game involved finding fake eggs in a pool full of mud, and I'll make this short and sweet. I got thrown in said pool of mud. I got really dirty and I didn't have a change of clothes with me. it was AWESOME. :-P
Saturday I went to Canada's Wonderland for the first time!!!! Lots of fun there but there was alot of people so we didn't get on too many rides, but hey, half the fun is waiting in line. Saturday night we went to hear the AOC (All Ontario Choir) Finale. Got to see a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a while and listen to some good music. So that's what I've been doing with my life. but now its back to the books.
The first event involved a bunch of stuff like leapfrogging and walking across 2 by 4's with your whole team. Crazy stuff, but no one got hurt so there's not much to tell you about there. Then it was the mud slide climb where we had to get our whole team on top of an eight foot hight structure by going up a mud covered sheet of plywood. I was bosting everybody up and managed to get a scrape on my head as well as a nice big one on my arm and bruised elbow. Now that game was worth writing about :-D. then the last game involved finding fake eggs in a pool full of mud, and I'll make this short and sweet. I got thrown in said pool of mud. I got really dirty and I didn't have a change of clothes with me. it was AWESOME. :-P
Saturday I went to Canada's Wonderland for the first time!!!! Lots of fun there but there was alot of people so we didn't get on too many rides, but hey, half the fun is waiting in line. Saturday night we went to hear the AOC (All Ontario Choir) Finale. Got to see a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a while and listen to some good music. So that's what I've been doing with my life. but now its back to the books.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Good to be back
Well, I'm all moved in and back into the school schedule. I went grocery shopping and spent over a $100 stocking up on all the essentials like chips and pop and pizza and the odd bit of healthy food. Speaking of healthy food I've been eating great since I got here. Supper yesterday was a half a bag of Fries, a couple of greasy burgers and a half a tub of yogurt. Man I love being a student :-)
Seriously though, its going pretty good so far. Most of my profs are pretty good although I don't know if I'm going to be able to survive my Organic Chem class. I must make sure I don't bring a rope to class with me cause if I had one today I wouldn't be writing this right now. :-p I hope things improve cause if they don't I might just be learning everything from the textbook. Ah well, the joys of being a student.
I better get back to putting off doing homework although thankfully I don't have much to put off this week. Just a little bit of reading and some touching up on my work report. Peace.
Seriously though, its going pretty good so far. Most of my profs are pretty good although I don't know if I'm going to be able to survive my Organic Chem class. I must make sure I don't bring a rope to class with me cause if I had one today I wouldn't be writing this right now. :-p I hope things improve cause if they don't I might just be learning everything from the textbook. Ah well, the joys of being a student.
I better get back to putting off doing homework although thankfully I don't have much to put off this week. Just a little bit of reading and some touching up on my work report. Peace.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Back to the books
I'm done, I'm done, I'm done!! work term is over. It was a pretty good term although it could have been a bit more stimulating, but now its all over. Back to the books for me. School starts Monday, so hopefully my mind hasn't seized up over the last four months. I might need to give it a little kick start and get the rust out of it.
"ok Dave...what is the first law of thermodynamics?"
"ummm....isn't it about stuff that can do stuff and not other stuff?"
Oh darn....I'm in trouble. Well, I better pack up my belongings so I can get moved back into my apartment and start studying. Enjoy your summer!!!
"ok Dave...what is the first law of thermodynamics?"
"ummm....isn't it about stuff that can do stuff and not other stuff?"
Oh darn....I'm in trouble. Well, I better pack up my belongings so I can get moved back into my apartment and start studying. Enjoy your summer!!!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
They've done it!!!
I need to get myself one of these
In the space of 176 years the Lower Mississippi has shortened itself 242 miles. That is an average of a trifle over 1-1/3 miles a year. Therefore any calm person, who is not blind or idiotic, can see that in the Old Oolitic Silurian Period, just a million years ago next November, the Lower Mississippi River was upward of 1,300,00 miles long, and stuck out over the Gulf of Mexico like a fishing rod. And by the same token any person can see that 742 years from now the Lower Mississippi will be only 1-3/4 miles long, and Cairo and New Orleans will have joined their streets together…There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesome returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.
Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
That, my friends, is why I like science :-DMonday, April 17, 2006
Bout that time again ain't it?
So I guess its time to let y'all what I been up to lately. After all I'm working for the government which means I get a four day weekend (good Friday and Easter Monday) Not bad at all. Got to sleep in Friday, and then when to church and after the service we had a soup dinner at the church. Friday night a bunch of us got together and played some pool and stuff and when for a walk in the foggy woods. Oh so spooky.
Saturday was another good long sleep-in and Saturday afternoon we went for a hike. Of course Pete and I got there late so we walked around for an hour trying to find everybody else. We finally met a couple of people and after wandering around with them for another hour, we finally managed to catch up with everybody else. That night we went to watch the Hamilton Bulldogs play their final game of the season (we got in free too, courtesy of Pizza-Pizza!) They even had a semi-steaker (upper-body male nudity you know) who came running out on the ice and then flopped down and slid on his belly. Plus there was the crazy drunk people who where trying to get everybody to do the wave, and couple of really good fights.....and even a bit of hockey. not a bad night at all.
Sunday we went to do some singing for the old folks at a local long term care home, and after church we went and played some beach volleyball. A couple of use decided that plain old volleyball is just boring so we started diving for every single ball. I discovered something new. Sand doesn't taste good...and it sucks when it goes up your nose. We also had a Sudoku compition. I've never done that game before but I think I'm addicted now.
Ahh yes, all in all a good weekend. Well I'm pretty busy doing nothing right now so I'm going to go back to it. y'all enjoy yourselves now.
Saturday was another good long sleep-in and Saturday afternoon we went for a hike. Of course Pete and I got there late so we walked around for an hour trying to find everybody else. We finally met a couple of people and after wandering around with them for another hour, we finally managed to catch up with everybody else. That night we went to watch the Hamilton Bulldogs play their final game of the season (we got in free too, courtesy of Pizza-Pizza!) They even had a semi-steaker (upper-body male nudity you know) who came running out on the ice and then flopped down and slid on his belly. Plus there was the crazy drunk people who where trying to get everybody to do the wave, and couple of really good fights.....and even a bit of hockey. not a bad night at all.
Sunday we went to do some singing for the old folks at a local long term care home, and after church we went and played some beach volleyball. A couple of use decided that plain old volleyball is just boring so we started diving for every single ball. I discovered something new. Sand doesn't taste good...and it sucks when it goes up your nose. We also had a Sudoku compition. I've never done that game before but I think I'm addicted now.
Ahh yes, all in all a good weekend. Well I'm pretty busy doing nothing right now so I'm going to go back to it. y'all enjoy yourselves now.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
A new way to fight crime
Well since my life is so boring that I don't have anything to write about I though I would just share this link with you
A new way of fighting crime
That is the kind of superhero we need. Much better than superman.
A new way of fighting crime
That is the kind of superhero we need. Much better than superman.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
random
One more month and I'm done working here at Environment Canada. One more month, and then I'll have to hit the books again and start studying. I'll be starting my 3-a term which means I'm over half done. Where does the time go to? The looming approach of a new term made me stop and think about where my life is going. What do I want to do when I graduate? How do I want to apply the skills that I'm learning and what career do I want to get into when I graduate? Do I want to work in the oil industry, or water treatment, or pharmaceuticals, or do I just want to be the guy who gets paid to make your life miserable when you try to go across the border?
Well those are some pretty big questions and I don't know all the answers yet, but I'll lie awake at night in bed for the next few night and let you know when inspiration hits and all the worlds problems are solved.
In other news…..OUR PLANET HAS BEEN INVADED BY THE FIERCE AND RELENTLESS ALIEN TRAFFIC CONES!!!!!!!
click here to find out more!
it time to PANIC folks. We only have 2 more days until complete cone domination. Does anyone have an underground bunker I could use?
Don't worry...I"ll be alright soon. I just suffering from mad human disease.
and don't ever forget those wise words spoken by Mark Twain: "it is better to keep you mouth shut and let people think you are a fool then to open it and remove all doubt"
Monday, March 27, 2006
Another weekend
So I put over 600 kms on my car this weekend. yup that's right 600 kms (abour 400 mi for you Americans) from Friday night til sunday night.
First off Friday night I picked Peter up at the Go-Station in Burlington and then we headed to Dundas to see an art show that Tammy was in. Then it was off to Welandport for the conference there. Jeremy Veldman spoke on controling our minds and how we need to be careful of the sins of the mind. Then after a boxing match with all the guys that slept over at veldmans and a bunch of crazy times and about 3 hours of sleep we were back at it with another speech from Jeremy Saturday morning and then a time for discussion. after that it was time for the floor hockey tournement in which my team lost every game we played. Hey it takes talent to be that bad!!! :)
That night we went to hear a couple of choirs sing in Burlington. (Mattaniah Mens choir and the Hosanah Choir) It was glorious to listen to (especially the lady on the panflute...she was just amazing) then after stopping for a bit at a Timmy's in Dundas we headed to knors for a bit of (much needed) shut-eye. Sunday was church of course...and a good refreshing nap and then sunday night we played some roller hockey in brantford and then I took Peter back to Toronto and headed home to burlington.
Wew....just telling you about it has worn me out and so I'm off to bed. Have a good week y'all and watch out for fuzzy purple monsters (I'm feeling weird ok)
First off Friday night I picked Peter up at the Go-Station in Burlington and then we headed to Dundas to see an art show that Tammy was in. Then it was off to Welandport for the conference there. Jeremy Veldman spoke on controling our minds and how we need to be careful of the sins of the mind. Then after a boxing match with all the guys that slept over at veldmans and a bunch of crazy times and about 3 hours of sleep we were back at it with another speech from Jeremy Saturday morning and then a time for discussion. after that it was time for the floor hockey tournement in which my team lost every game we played. Hey it takes talent to be that bad!!! :)
That night we went to hear a couple of choirs sing in Burlington. (Mattaniah Mens choir and the Hosanah Choir) It was glorious to listen to (especially the lady on the panflute...she was just amazing) then after stopping for a bit at a Timmy's in Dundas we headed to knors for a bit of (much needed) shut-eye. Sunday was church of course...and a good refreshing nap and then sunday night we played some roller hockey in brantford and then I took Peter back to Toronto and headed home to burlington.
Wew....just telling you about it has worn me out and so I'm off to bed. Have a good week y'all and watch out for fuzzy purple monsters (I'm feeling weird ok)
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Pictures
A few pictures for your enjoyment.
Have you ever thought your job sucked?
Speaking of crappy jobs:
They have finally done it. They have managed to come up with an emissions free car. *drummmm roolllll* and here it is:
Time to buy a truck?
Who needs a minivan when you've got a motorbike?
Have you ever thought your job sucked?
Or maybe its not so bad after all?
Speaking of crappy jobs:
They have finally done it. They have managed to come up with an emissions free car. *drummmm roolllll* and here it is:
Time to buy a truck?
Who needs a minivan when you've got a motorbike?
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Church Government
The Church which I am now attending (Living Water Reformed Church) is currently an independent church. However, we are having a vote on March 20th on whether to federate with the URC (United Reformed Church) or with the OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church). This reason for this vote is that the elders feel that it is not good to be independent and that therefore we should federate. This of course raises the question, why should a church federate? What (if anything) is wrong with being independent? What does the Bible have to say?
Well, First of all I think we need understand what the church is. The church is an assembly of believers. Its a gathering together of Christians to worship God. Go through the New Testament and every time you come across the word 'Church' replace it with 'Assembly of Christians' and you will invariably find that it fits in perfectly. It doesn't refer to a building or place but rather to the people of God. The church is more than that though; it is also a Kingdom, the kingdom of Christ. This of course means that it has to have some form of government and therefore that is has three things: 1) rulers 2) ruled 3) laws. (see Heb. 13:17) These three things would have applied in the time of the Apostles and writers of Scriptures as well as they do to us, which means that a determination of the Apostolic form of Church government should give us a good idea as to the principles that we can use in our church government.
So what are these principles? I would like to propose 6 principles (and I got these from and excellent little book called 'The Apostolic Church - Which is it?' by Thomas Witherow)
1)The office bearers are chosen by the people.
in Acts 6:3 the 12 apostles tell all the disciples '...Pick our from among you seven men of good repute.' These men were not appointed to their office by one man or a couple of men but by all the brothers i.e. popular election
2) The words Bishop and Elder refer to the same office
Titus 1:5-7 Paul speaks of and elder in one breath and in the next calls him a bishop
3) In each Church there is to be more than one elder
Acts 20:7, Phil 1:1
4) ordination is an act of a plurality of elders
1 Tim 4:14, Acts 6:6
5) There was the privilege of an appeal external to the local congregation
Read Act 15 (its kinda long but read it anyways :-))Note several important points: There was a dispute in Antioch which was apparently a pretty big one '...no small dissension and debate...' this dispute was not getting settled so they took it to the external ecclesiastical assembly in Jerusalem which publicly debated the issue and pronounced a decision on it. This decision was submitted to by the church at Antioch and presumably those of Syria and Cilicia as well.
6) Christ is the head of the church
Col 1:18
Several of these points don't apply to the independent situation so much as to prelacy (Roman Catholics, United Church, etc.) but they are still useful points to remember. The main one would be point 5 which seems to me to clearly say that it is not good or right for the local congregation to be the ultimate and final appeal on a subject. We should be part of a larger assembly of the gathering together of elders of the church of Christ. So I for one am glad our elders have decided to go ahead with federation and I hope and pray that our church will be stronger and better for it.
Well, First of all I think we need understand what the church is. The church is an assembly of believers. Its a gathering together of Christians to worship God. Go through the New Testament and every time you come across the word 'Church' replace it with 'Assembly of Christians' and you will invariably find that it fits in perfectly. It doesn't refer to a building or place but rather to the people of God. The church is more than that though; it is also a Kingdom, the kingdom of Christ. This of course means that it has to have some form of government and therefore that is has three things: 1) rulers 2) ruled 3) laws. (see Heb. 13:17) These three things would have applied in the time of the Apostles and writers of Scriptures as well as they do to us, which means that a determination of the Apostolic form of Church government should give us a good idea as to the principles that we can use in our church government.
So what are these principles? I would like to propose 6 principles (and I got these from and excellent little book called 'The Apostolic Church - Which is it?' by Thomas Witherow)
1)The office bearers are chosen by the people.
in Acts 6:3 the 12 apostles tell all the disciples '...Pick our from among you seven men of good repute.' These men were not appointed to their office by one man or a couple of men but by all the brothers i.e. popular election
2) The words Bishop and Elder refer to the same office
Titus 1:5-7 Paul speaks of and elder in one breath and in the next calls him a bishop
3) In each Church there is to be more than one elder
Acts 20:7, Phil 1:1
4) ordination is an act of a plurality of elders
1 Tim 4:14, Acts 6:6
5) There was the privilege of an appeal external to the local congregation
Read Act 15 (its kinda long but read it anyways :-))Note several important points: There was a dispute in Antioch which was apparently a pretty big one '...no small dissension and debate...' this dispute was not getting settled so they took it to the external ecclesiastical assembly in Jerusalem which publicly debated the issue and pronounced a decision on it. This decision was submitted to by the church at Antioch and presumably those of Syria and Cilicia as well.
6) Christ is the head of the church
Col 1:18
Several of these points don't apply to the independent situation so much as to prelacy (Roman Catholics, United Church, etc.) but they are still useful points to remember. The main one would be point 5 which seems to me to clearly say that it is not good or right for the local congregation to be the ultimate and final appeal on a subject. We should be part of a larger assembly of the gathering together of elders of the church of Christ. So I for one am glad our elders have decided to go ahead with federation and I hope and pray that our church will be stronger and better for it.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Family Connection
And you thought the dutch relations were complicated...Just be glad you aren't your own grandfather :-D
Complicated Family Connections:
“So what is your problem?” the psychiatrist asked the strung-out man.
“It all stems from my marriage. I married a widow with a grown-up daughter. She is my stepdaughter.
“My Dad, a widower, came to visit one day, fell in love with my stepdaughter, and eventually married her. Now my stepdaughter is my stepmother.
“My wife and I had a son. Automatically, he became the brother-in-law of my Dad because, after all, my son is the half-brother of my stepdaughter (who married my Dad). Since my son is the brother of my stepmother, he is also my uncle.
“Then the woman my Dad married also had a son.
Naturally, he is my brother, because he is the son of my Dad. But he is also my grandson, because he is the son of my stepdaughter.
“My wife is now my grandmother, because she is the mother of my stepmother; as a result of which I am the grandson of my own wife.
“Seeing as how I am married then to my grandmother, I am not only the husband and grandson of my wife, but I end up being my own grandfather!
“That is why I am a little strung out.”
link of the post: robo-war
Complicated Family Connections:
“So what is your problem?” the psychiatrist asked the strung-out man.
“It all stems from my marriage. I married a widow with a grown-up daughter. She is my stepdaughter.
“My Dad, a widower, came to visit one day, fell in love with my stepdaughter, and eventually married her. Now my stepdaughter is my stepmother.
“My wife and I had a son. Automatically, he became the brother-in-law of my Dad because, after all, my son is the half-brother of my stepdaughter (who married my Dad). Since my son is the brother of my stepmother, he is also my uncle.
“Then the woman my Dad married also had a son.
Naturally, he is my brother, because he is the son of my Dad. But he is also my grandson, because he is the son of my stepdaughter.
“My wife is now my grandmother, because she is the mother of my stepmother; as a result of which I am the grandson of my own wife.
“Seeing as how I am married then to my grandmother, I am not only the husband and grandson of my wife, but I end up being my own grandfather!
“That is why I am a little strung out.”
link of the post: robo-war
Monday, March 06, 2006
It was a pretty fun weekend. Friday night we had a youth group event in Brantford. We played a few games that involved having all the lights turned off and hence a few bruised shins, but it was a lot of fun. We also heard a brief talk and had a discussion on how we can influence those around us and how we are influenced by other and how to be a positive influence to our friends, family and community. Then on the way home Friday night my brother calls.
'‘Hey Dave you coming home this weekend?'
'‘well no, I'’m planning on coming down next weekend for Dad'’s birthday.'’
dude you should come this weekend cause I can'’t be there next weekend, so this way the whole family can be here.'
'‘ummm....ok'’
so Saturday I headed home and visited with the family. That was lots of fun (even the part were my 6 year old brother almost gave me a black eye. (He'’s got one nasty left hook :-) ) I played hockey there Saturday night and got to see all my St. Thomas buddies then and on Sunday. Of course we stayed way too late at young peoples Sunday night and so by the time I dropped of Peter in Toronto and got back to Burlington it was past 12:30. Oh well, working on six hours of sleep isn't that bad if you'’ve got plenty of coffee in your system.
Since this world is full of so much interesting stuff, I'’ve decide to start a little thing on here call '‘link of the post'’ I was going to call it link of the day, but I don't post every day, so that just wouldn'’t fit now would it? Basically the idea is so to post a link to a random article that a came across that I found interesting. At lot of these will probably come from the 'random article'’ button on wikipedia since I like to browse that during my lunch break at work. Today'’s link of the post:
This is why I don't want to be a doctor
'‘Hey Dave you coming home this weekend?'
'‘well no, I'’m planning on coming down next weekend for Dad'’s birthday.'’
dude you should come this weekend cause I can'’t be there next weekend, so this way the whole family can be here.'
'‘ummm....ok'’
so Saturday I headed home and visited with the family. That was lots of fun (even the part were my 6 year old brother almost gave me a black eye. (He'’s got one nasty left hook :-) ) I played hockey there Saturday night and got to see all my St. Thomas buddies then and on Sunday. Of course we stayed way too late at young peoples Sunday night and so by the time I dropped of Peter in Toronto and got back to Burlington it was past 12:30. Oh well, working on six hours of sleep isn't that bad if you'’ve got plenty of coffee in your system.
Since this world is full of so much interesting stuff, I'’ve decide to start a little thing on here call '‘link of the post'’ I was going to call it link of the day, but I don't post every day, so that just wouldn'’t fit now would it? Basically the idea is so to post a link to a random article that a came across that I found interesting. At lot of these will probably come from the 'random article'’ button on wikipedia since I like to browse that during my lunch break at work. Today'’s link of the post:
This is why I don't want to be a doctor
Monday, February 27, 2006
Vollyball and such
so this weekend a bunch of us from Living Waters put togther a volleyball team and entered in a tournement in Hamilton. It was a lot of fun even though we got kicked out of the semi-finals by a team that we had handily beat earlier in the tournement. Oh well, such is life. Other than that it was pretty much just a regular old weekend. We had Coffee House at the Hamstra's and played scatergories and managed not to get into too much trouble. All in all a fun weekend.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Life
Well, as you can probably tell by the lack of posting on this blog, I have been pretty busy lately. I've been snowboarding and playing hockey and volleyball and going to youth group and hitting up a conference or two inbetween. So ya pretty busy. Last weekend Woodstock URC had their youth conference. Greg Bylsma spoke on the Joy of Fearing God and it was a very very good speach. (I have to see if they recorded it cause its worth hearing again) He spoke of how we don't have a joy that lives life with our heads buried in the sand, but rather one that sees the realities of life and still sees how great our God is and how much better are the things that he has done for us than even the greatest miseries of this world. We did some 'amazing race' type thing on Saturday and went swimming and played water-polo after that. Then that evening we went to a Praise and Worship even which was pretty good too. So all in all a very busy and enjoyable weekend.
This past weekend I went home and saw my Mom and Pops and all the little buggers, I mean brothers (and Sister of course...can't forget her) It was nice to see them all again too and catch up with the news on the farm (My brother hit a deer, dad got another Jetta and the kids are all doing what kids do)
I have to work tomorrow and so that means I need to get to bed now :( but I thought I would just update so that y'all can know that I am still alive. Love y'all and don't forget to live in the fear of the Lord!!
This past weekend I went home and saw my Mom and Pops and all the little buggers, I mean brothers (and Sister of course...can't forget her) It was nice to see them all again too and catch up with the news on the farm (My brother hit a deer, dad got another Jetta and the kids are all doing what kids do)
I have to work tomorrow and so that means I need to get to bed now :( but I thought I would just update so that y'all can know that I am still alive. Love y'all and don't forget to live in the fear of the Lord!!
Monday, February 06, 2006
I'm all cracked up
Oh what the government won't do to get some tax money Crack Tax They say it made $2 million but I'm guessing that money came more in the form of being able to administer additional fines to the dealers rather then in the form of dealers actually paying up.
'yo man, I just broke like 5 laws, but I don't wanna break 6 of 'em so I'm gonna give ya 20% of my profits. Here you go dude.' *slaps down a wad of twenties* 'Peace'
Nah...I just don't see it happening.
'yo man, I just broke like 5 laws, but I don't wanna break 6 of 'em so I'm gonna give ya 20% of my profits. Here you go dude.' *slaps down a wad of twenties* 'Peace'
Nah...I just don't see it happening.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Smile
YIPPPPEEE!!!! My teeth finally got fixed and now I have my smile back. :-D Now I look all handsome again.....err....well at least I look like I used to (and even slightly better perhaps cause they straightened the one tooth out a bit while they were at it) Anyways...I am excited. I'll have to try and get a picture somehow. Anyone have a digital camera?
Monday, January 30, 2006
Weddings and Lack of Sleep
So, this weekend was pretty fun. My friends Nathaniel Johnson and Rebecca Spears got married on Saturday so I went down to SC for the wedding. I flew out of Buffalo airport right after work on Friday and arrived in Raleigh/Durham at 10:00. Greg and Arie picked my up and we stopped by Amelia's house on the way home and visited there for a while and so by time we got in bed it was about 2:30 a.m. We were up and at 'er at 7 the next morning and hit the road to Greenville by 8. The wedding itself was wonderful. A beautiful bride and handsome groom, a very well done service, beautiful Bridesmaid dresses and lots of really good food afterwards made for a great wedding.
after the wedding we visited a few people and then went and saw Glory Road...which by the way is an excellent movie. Watch it if you get the chance. After that we stopped by the Karr's house and visited there til 1 in the morning. I am proud to say we made it to Sunday School then next morning too. Although Mr. Clay (whose house we were staying at) couldn't quite figure out how we got there on time since we were still in bed when he left. Sunday School and Church were both excellent and then we went over to the Johnson's place to eat leftovers from the wedding. After stuffing ourselves we head back up to Greensboro for the evening service, and after that we talked into the wee hours of the morning and then after a quick 1 hour nap we headed off to the airport for the ride home. So here I am back in Canada and just a little bit tired :). Boy did I have fun though.
Dave...Off to Bed!!!
after the wedding we visited a few people and then went and saw Glory Road...which by the way is an excellent movie. Watch it if you get the chance. After that we stopped by the Karr's house and visited there til 1 in the morning. I am proud to say we made it to Sunday School then next morning too. Although Mr. Clay (whose house we were staying at) couldn't quite figure out how we got there on time since we were still in bed when he left. Sunday School and Church were both excellent and then we went over to the Johnson's place to eat leftovers from the wedding. After stuffing ourselves we head back up to Greensboro for the evening service, and after that we talked into the wee hours of the morning and then after a quick 1 hour nap we headed off to the airport for the ride home. So here I am back in Canada and just a little bit tired :). Boy did I have fun though.
Dave...Off to Bed!!!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Election
The numbers are in: The conservatives have a minority government. Stephen Harper is the New Prime minister of Canada and we have yet another minority government. I wonder how long this one will last?
Conservatives: 124
Liberal: 103
NDP: 29
Bloc: 51
Independant: 1
Its gonna be tough for the conservatives. I only hope they will be able to do some good while they are in.
Conservatives: 124
Liberal: 103
NDP: 29
Bloc: 51
Independant: 1
Its gonna be tough for the conservatives. I only hope they will be able to do some good while they are in.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
The Love of God
In youth group we are studying the book 'The Joy of Fearing God' by Jerry Bridges and so far it has been an excellent read. This week we studied the chapter on the love of God and it was an amazing chapter. What does it mean that God loves us? It means that He sent his son down to earth to die for a race that openly rebels against him and hates him. Bridges uses the analogy of a hobo coming to your door for food and you give it to him; but in God's case it is more like a hobo breaking into your house and stealing all your stuff and then getting caught and going to jail where you go an bring him food. God has a great and infinite love for us who are so unlovable. This amazing love worked in our lives can only lead to outworkings of holiness in the Christian's life.
He also talks about how we better come to know and appreciate the love of God. It is much like the opposing forces that we see in nature. If you whirl a ball on a string around your head it is pulling on the string in the outward direction while the string is pulling on the ball in an inward direction each of these forces needs the other one to counterbalance it, and so it is with the love of God and the fear of God. The more we come to understand how great and holy our God is and how far above us he is and how horrible our sin is the better we understand his love. He who has been forgiven much loves much. The more we learn about the holiness of God and the sinfulness of ourselves the greater our awe and fear of him will be and the greater our astonishment at his love. It is incomprehensible that God should condescend to love a wicked man like me and yet it is true. This amazing truth can never be dwelt on too much. This is where self-examination should lead us...to an astonishment that God still loves somebody as wicked as me. Hallelujah what a Savior.
He also talks about how we better come to know and appreciate the love of God. It is much like the opposing forces that we see in nature. If you whirl a ball on a string around your head it is pulling on the string in the outward direction while the string is pulling on the ball in an inward direction each of these forces needs the other one to counterbalance it, and so it is with the love of God and the fear of God. The more we come to understand how great and holy our God is and how far above us he is and how horrible our sin is the better we understand his love. He who has been forgiven much loves much. The more we learn about the holiness of God and the sinfulness of ourselves the greater our awe and fear of him will be and the greater our astonishment at his love. It is incomprehensible that God should condescend to love a wicked man like me and yet it is true. This amazing truth can never be dwelt on too much. This is where self-examination should lead us...to an astonishment that God still loves somebody as wicked as me. Hallelujah what a Savior.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
its time to post
Since Mary seems to have a weak stomach I'll update this thing so that she has something else to look at :-P Actually I just now finished setting up a wireless router here at the Bosshers.
Who are the Bosschers you ask...
well that is a good question. The Bosschers are the family that I will be living with for the next 4 months of my life. I'm on a co-op term in Burlington, working for Environment Canada on the GEMS water project so make sure you pay your taxes this year so that I get my paycheck.
anyways, now that I have that router set up and have access to high speed internet once again, I can update this once in a while, since I know how much y'all love to hear about my teeth breaking and what color socks I'm wearing and when I last went to the bathroom and other such interesting information. ya well, speaking of my teeth they are doing fine I have to go into the dentist soon, but I don't have a date yet...hopefully not too long, cuase I'm sick of freaking people out every time I smile.
In other news, I had a great Christmas down in NC...broken teeth or no broken teeth...it was soooo good to see Greg and Re again and of course all the rest of the van Eyk family together with all my friends from NC and SC...we had a blast down there and didn't even end up in jail...we did so much stuff that I can't even post it all on here...you'll have to call me if you want to hear all the details...
New Years was good too. We had a great New Year's Eve party and did some crazy stuff like sledding down a hill on garbage bags and racing through the snow in my socks...lots of fun. Then of course there was the St. Thomas yps New Year's Day Skating Tradition that has been going on for as long as man has inhabited this earth...(well, my mom and dad met there so its been pretty close to that anyways) although, since New Years was on a Sunday this year we had all the stuff on the 2nd, but it was still lots of fun. Volleyball where you spent more time waitig to play than playing and then skating and then getting home late and not getting enough sleep and almost falling asleep the first day of work...yes indeed. Good times.
Who are the Bosschers you ask...
well that is a good question. The Bosschers are the family that I will be living with for the next 4 months of my life. I'm on a co-op term in Burlington, working for Environment Canada on the GEMS water project so make sure you pay your taxes this year so that I get my paycheck.
anyways, now that I have that router set up and have access to high speed internet once again, I can update this once in a while, since I know how much y'all love to hear about my teeth breaking and what color socks I'm wearing and when I last went to the bathroom and other such interesting information. ya well, speaking of my teeth they are doing fine I have to go into the dentist soon, but I don't have a date yet...hopefully not too long, cuase I'm sick of freaking people out every time I smile.
In other news, I had a great Christmas down in NC...broken teeth or no broken teeth...it was soooo good to see Greg and Re again and of course all the rest of the van Eyk family together with all my friends from NC and SC...we had a blast down there and didn't even end up in jail...we did so much stuff that I can't even post it all on here...you'll have to call me if you want to hear all the details...
New Years was good too. We had a great New Year's Eve party and did some crazy stuff like sledding down a hill on garbage bags and racing through the snow in my socks...lots of fun. Then of course there was the St. Thomas yps New Year's Day Skating Tradition that has been going on for as long as man has inhabited this earth...(well, my mom and dad met there so its been pretty close to that anyways) although, since New Years was on a Sunday this year we had all the stuff on the 2nd, but it was still lots of fun. Volleyball where you spent more time waitig to play than playing and then skating and then getting home late and not getting enough sleep and almost falling asleep the first day of work...yes indeed. Good times.
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