I think I've been watching too many forensic shows. Tonight I was watching an episode in which they were trying to figure out who choked a teenage girl, wrote "JEFF YOUR NEXT" on the mirror in lipstick and left. Here's why I think I've been watching too many episodes: the most disturbing thing about this story to me was how grammatically incorrect the killer's threat on the mirror was. In my mind I quickly began narrowing down the suspects. Any college kids were immediately eliminated. The idiots who believe typing in all capital letters while on the computer (because then they don't have to capitalize) were defintely in, especially since the comma was omitted. The mirror was kind of high, so the killer wasn't a midget. There were no finger prints or identifying fibers, so all they had to go on was that message. In the end, they caught the killer by getting his boss to tell him to make some huge signs to hang outside, and the handwriting was a match. Thank goodness they caught him. Maybe now he'll get his GED.

It finally came. No I'm not talking about the new blogger.com format (but that's cool too), but my New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) finally arrived and has been placed where it belongs—on one of my bookshelves. Now I had been waiting for this set for at least three years, and so it was my birthday/tax return present. :) Here's a picture of my ecstasy.

It's almost over. That's what I keep telling myself. The last two weeks have been unbelievably busy at work, and tomorrow will be the last busy day seeing as how it's the last day for loans to close. After that, it should be way easier as I finish up at this job so I can start working at the other.

I miss being a kid. I really do.

I just slept all day. I worked half the day, came home, ate lunch, and went to sleep. And now I just woke up. I feel kinda cheated out of a Saturday.

I think my sister called, but I don't know what I told her. She figured out I was taking a nap, though. Brandon called before he came home from working with his dad, but I don't know what he said. I do know that when I woke up, I was sleeping on my cell phone. Oh, well.

Is it just me, or is the author missing something? Okay, I remember hearing about WWI and WW2, but I'm having a hard time remembering that third war.

It is a good thing that our faith does not rely upon archaeological evidence, but upon the truth of the Scriptures. The James Ossuary was "neat" find while it lasted, but unfortunately its authenticity is in doubt. I just feel sorry for Ben Witherington III, a great NT scholar, who happened to write an entire book on the ossuary (now seemingly in vain?).

I put in my two weeks notice today at my job. I hardly knew how to do it. I've only quit a job once before, and that was because I was graduating and off to college. But today, I was too giddy to think about it, really. All I knew was that I could, and I needed to get it done fast so that my two weeks would be done by the end of the month.

I got a new job during my lunch break. You search, you interview, you put in applications and then you get a job because your husband knows the boss of a company and you don't even go in for an interview. Ah well, I'm thrilled.

I was really moved by this story. I especially liked the "About the Author" section.

Today, Wendy and I met with our pastor and agreed to become members of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Costa Mesa. We are definitely excited about this church and know that we have found a place to call our "church home" for many years to come.

I have no idea where he got the idea to get one. But he wants one so badly now. A dart board. I say no. Why? I have enough trouble trying to make a one bedroom apartment with the living room walls nearly all lined with bookcases look even slightly feminine. I don't want a dart board to make it look like a bar. Besides, whenever I picture one of those things it's surrounded by little holes in the wall or a big ugly cedar square. Bleh.

Here's a good example of what exactly is wrong with much of modern worship. Has anyone ever thought of worshipping God, or is that too out of style now?

So we saw "Finding Nemo" on Friday night. We went to the 10 pm showing hoping all the youngins would be asleep by then, but we were way off. We had to choose between sitting near a couple with an infant or single father with a toddler. In his wisdom, Brandon chose the toddler. Which is why I made him sit next to it. But it was nice, because Brandon got the commentary I didn't get. "That was scaiwy, daddy. What happens next? Where de fishy go? The egg is a fishy, daddy. Daddy, it's dawk." Any of you married kids should go watch a children's movie before making any big decisions. It'll put things into perspective. Otherwise, the movie was pretty entertaining.

This past week I discovered first hand why a seminary education must be a requirement for the pastorate. At first I didn't necessarily believe this. Seminaries were presented to me as being cemeteries--a place where the liberals or the "dead in Christ" called home. Of course I didn't want anything to do with that. After speaking to many people from various seminaries--including the staff members--I realized that this representation of seminary was not only a misrepresentation, but a flat-out lie. It is true that some seminaries are worthy of abstaining, but on the other hand, there are many seminaries that preach Christ and have a heart for the ministry. I've even taken a class at a decent seminary. People would say to me, quoting 1 Cor 8:1 that "knowledge puffs up, but love edifies," thus meaning that seminary is all about knowledge and so we must rely upon the Spirit solely in pursuit of studying the bible. Yet how many of these people that argue that a seminary education is bad, really know why? They think they do, but the problem is that most of them only know what they've been told, never knowing what it is to read the scriptures exegetically. Thankfully, I am not still in that place. Let's say this together, "having proper education is both smart and respectable."

Back to the whole reason that I am writing this now. Earlier this week I spoke with a pastor as I was demonstrating our new bible software. I said, "Oh look, we even have some of these charts by Clarence Larkin," thinking that would catch his attention being a dispensationalist. He answered that he didn't believe in dispensationalism. I was astonished, thinking that he was some renegade pastor because dispensationalism was one of the very tenets of his denomination. I began explaining what dispensationalism was and he agreed with every point, but ended with, "I just don't believe in that." Though I am not a dispensationalist myself, I found it very odd that a person who subscribed to that very doctrine (in a denomination that requires it), did not even know its own label. He was very confused on this matter to say in the least.

I just continued with my demonstration until he made a second interesting statement. He said that the NIV is a very poor translation because it omits the name "Jesus" in over 200 places. I could not refrain from interrupting him as he continued to bag on a decent translation. I gave him a suggestion of a book to read that might help him to have a better grasp on the argument, but he was not open to any further reading because his mind was made, his position firm. He basically told me that the NIV was unreliable because Westcott and Hort were bad Christians. I told him that his argument was fallible because 1) it was ad hominem and an attack against someone's character has no value when we have 5,500 manuscripts to look at, and 2) Westcott and Hort are not even responsible for the text of the NIV. Then I asked him if he wanted to play the whole "ad hominem game" because Erasmus, the founder of his text (the Textus Receptus) was remembered most for being a humanist. He said that it didn't matter because the KJV was God's inspired text. You can ask Seth, the pastor actually said that the KJV was inspired by God. He basically concluded that he felt like it was the right text and that nothing was going to change his mind.

All I wanted to do was to open, just a tad, that closed mind of his. His problem is two-fold. First he was uneducated concerning the issues at hand, but Second, he was unwilling to become educated. He had asked me if I had heard a certain tape series on the topic. The tapes were by the head pastor in the denomination. I told him that I had heard the tapes and thought they misrepresented the issues. He then concluded that I was badly mistaken because I disagreed with his denominational head and so I must speak to that person to get my head on right. The root of the issue, I believe, is that in this denomination a proper education as preparation for the pastorate is both not required nor esteemed. If one was to go to seminary they need to be extra careful that they do not rely on their education rather than the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Yet if that pastor that I had been talking to actually went to seminary he would know what he believes concerning eschatology, and also would know the arguments about bible versions and etc. Ignorance in the pastorate is a sad thing and I would absolutely hate to sit under a pastor each week that did not know what in the world he was talking about.

Seth suggested that I post a list of my top five favorite books. Just coming up with the list made me realize that I don't read as much as I'd like to. Now that I have a lot of books I'd like to read, I have very little time. So, here is my list. I guarantee you'll recognize a few from your high school reading list.

5. Animal Farm, George Orwell
4. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
2. American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser
1. Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris

Lord of the Flies nearly made my list, just for the mental picture of Piggy, an overweight little boy I like to think looked sort of like the kid on “A Christmas Story.” In Animal Farm, one of the commandments is "All animals are equal, (and later added) but some are more equal than others." I really think the management at my work adopted that slogan. As for The Great Gatsby, who wouldn't love a story about a desperate man reaching for a fantasy that comes fatally crashing down? Frankenstein taught me to pity those less fortunate who only want to be loved, especially ugly monsters that are made of a collection of dead people parts, wronged by science, who end up a tad spiteful after being rejected. An American Tragedy teaches an important lesson about how chasing after the American dream of materialism can lead to killing your pregnant baby-mama. And Me Talk Pretty One Day is a collection of stories that are just plain funny. There you have it. The books I love and why I love 'em.

Thanks to my grandma, Wendy and I finally got ourselves a membership to AAA. When Wendy was telling my brother, Sean, what my grandma got for us, she told him that it was a membership to AA. Though we are going to a Presbyterian Church, for the record, we have not be overtaken by Presbyterian drink. Yet I'm looking forward to our new relationship with the automobile club: maps, towing, roadside assistance, DMV services, and discounts to restaurants and hotels. Hopefully my car won't get too comfortable with the new relationship and decide to breakdown on me for the fun of it.