A Third Grade Curriculum Worth Reprinting

Posted on 2016-07-04 by Patrick
In the now out of print “The Embarrassed Believer” by Hugh Hewitt https://www.amazon.com/Embarrassed-Believer-Reviving-Christian-Unbelief/dp/0849914191/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467647489&sr=1-1&keywords=the+embarrassed+believer Hugh offers up the Third Grade Curriculum from his church Sunday School.  This is what he outlines as a guideline between a Believer, a Bystander, and a Bad Guy.

I am somewhat embarrassed to say I cannot currently pass the curriculum, not at 100% anyway.  Currently I have this at about 70% with little change in ten years.  I also do not agree 100% with Hugh on this assessment of how this splits up the parties.  It is a good indicator, but it certainly is not conclusive.  Some of the most strident atheists that I know have made a point of knowing the Bible as well as many Christians.  Sadly they only know the words and make a point of only reading the painful parts and taking those out of context.

There are also many Christians who have placed Christ in their heart, who have yet to learn the Bible.  It is a shortcoming for sure, but it does not necessarily make them a bystander.  It does however potentially leave them as quite an ineffective Christian when it comes to their most basic and important of charges.   The Great Commission requires a certain level of competency on Biblical knowledge.

While the test itself is all from The Embarrassed Believer (Hewitt, 1998, pages 107-109), I have updated the verses to the English Standard Version specifically.

So here is the test.  By the time a Third Grader graduates to fourth grade Sunday School they should be able to do the following:

  • Recite the books of the New Testament in Order (November-March)
    1. Mathew 
    2. Mark
    3. Luke 
    4. John
    5. Acts
    6. Romans
    7. 1st Corinthians
    8. 2nd Corinthians
    9. Galatians
    10. Ephesians
    11. Philippians
    12. Colossians
    13. 1st Thessalonians
    14. 2nd Thessalonians
    15. 1st Timothy
    16. 2nd Timothy
    17. Titus
    18. Philemon
    19. Hebrews
    20. James
    21. 1st Peter
    22. 2nd Peter
    23. 1st John
    24. 2nd John
    25. 3rd John
    26. Jude
    27. Revelation
  • Sing the Doxology from Memory (November)

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host     
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”
  • Demonstrate passing the peace of Christ (April)
Say: “May the peace of Christ be with you!”
Respond: “And with you.”
  • Recite the Lord’s Prayer (November)
Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV) “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'”
  •   Recite John 3:16 (March/April/May)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (ESV)
  • Recite Romans 3:23 (October/November)
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (ESV)
  • Recite 1 John 1:9 (December/January/February)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
  • Identify pictures of: (September)
    1. Pulpit
    2. Pew
    3. Font
    4. Communion Table
  • State a simple explanation of Baptism. (March)
  • State a simple explanation of Communion (September/October)
  • State a simple explanation of the symbolism of bread and wine in Communion. (September)
  • State in order the liturgical (church) year. (May)
    1. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost.
  • Find a hymn by number in the hymnal.  (October)
  • Find in the Bible: (October)
    1.  Genesis
    2. Psalms
    3. Mathew
  • Additional items for third-graders to learn:

Demonstrate the responses, “We lift our prayer to you…”, “Hear our prayer, O Lord.”  “Lord Hear our Prayer”.

  • State the correct order of worship:
    1. Prelude
    2. Call to Worship
    3. Praise
    4. Confession
    5. Sermon
    6. Prayers of the people
    7. Passing the peace of Christ
    8. Offering
    9. Benediction
  •   Identify the Pastor by picture
  • Write:  A Simple call to worship
    1. A simple prayer of thanksgiving and praise.
    2. A simple prayer of confession.

In the time since Hugh wrote the book a lot of technology has transformed the church.  Some of these are of course church specific, responses will vary from church to church as well as denomination.  Because of technology not every church will have a hymnal anymore, many more modern churches instead project the words onto screens throughout the church.  Some churches don’t even necessarily have bibles in the pews anymore, rather they use digital media and will quote from multiple translations in the same service.

Regardless these differences however this is a very good starting point.  Knowing where to find the books within the Bible is a key aspect of understanding your faith.  Knowing key scripture is important in articulating the basic tenets of faith.

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Apple Stands for Security by Opposing It

Posted on 2016-02-17 by Patrick
This morning the following story popped up in my Flipboard news feed.  Tim Cook: Apple Won’t Create ‘Backdoor’ to Help FBI Access San Bernardino Shooter’s iPhone http://flip.it/aKeSz
I’m not an Apple fan boy by any stretch of the imagination.  Yes I own a Macbook Pro (I bought it in 2010) and I purchased a 2013 iPad Mini for my wife about a year ago, but that’s it.  Both are relatively old products.  I’m writing this post from a Nexus 7 Tablet, every smart phone I have ever purchased was an Android, and on my personal computers I run various flavors of Linux.
This letter by Tim Cook inspires me to support and consider further purchases from Apple.  Encryption is a key component to keeping our security.  We all saw the physical devastation that occurred on 9-11-2001, and we all saw the damage caused by just two terrorists in San Bernardino.  Both were unspeakable and inhuman acts carried out by twisted human beings. 
The government is asking for a tool, and yes it could be used for good.  The problem is that Tim Cook is correct, this tool is ultimately a master key that could be used on everybody.  We live in a digital age where identity theft is incredibly common, my own credit card info has been stolen 4 times in 6 years (three times that resulted in charges on my account, thankfully I was able to have those suspicious charges removed). 
Encryption is incredibly important in protecting that data.  Where we once walked around with maybe a few key items in our pockets and the rest safely locked in our home or elsewhere we now put our entire lives in our pockets and “The Cloud”.  If that encryption is compromised it’s as good as leaving your door open with a blinking sign on the street that says rob me.
By refusing to assist security experts in breaking their own encryption Apple is taking a stand for stronger security.  Apple isn’t fighting against the war on terrorism, and they aren’t aiding terrorists.  Apple is protecting you from the next waive of terrorism, the Cyber Terrorist.  The Cyber Terror threat is alive and well, and we need to start thinking differently if we are going to win.  That means thinking long term.  If you think for one second that a master encryption key would not be duplicated or stolen by our enemies you are underestimating them.  This is our technology, perhaps we need to find better ways to utilize it, not break it.
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New Years Eve 2015

Posted on 2016-01-01 by Patrick
So this year has gone way too fast.  I did fairly well on meeting my resolutions,
(http://guidedconscience.blogspot.com/2014/12/on-to-new-year-and-resolutions-that.html)
though I did lose track of them with my move in June-July.  While I didn’t achieve everything I am still
quite happy with the close of the year.
Assessment.
  1. I most certainly continued to live a happier
    life, and I am increasingly Happier with every day.      The key I’ve found is with both gratitude and
    generosity as well as simple obligation.     
    I still suggest that you read “The Happiest Life” and that you read “Happiness
    is a Serious Problem”.
  2.  I spent as much time as I could with family, school
    did impact that but my free time was for the most part family free time.      Even away I, and my wife made it a point to
    talk to every single day.
  3.  I have done quite well with Church attendance,
    though between Thanksgiving and New Years I definitely fell a bit short with
    finals and homework taking up my weekends.
  4.  I did not hit my 220 mile goal for January
    February but I did do quite well.      My run
    time did not improve by 3 minutes, but I did manage to improve my two mile run
    by a full 2 minutes.      I’m very happy with
    that.      I ran my first and probably only
    half marathon this year, I ended up getting stress fractures that postponed
    running for about 6 weeks in the Spring.     
  5.  Did not bother with the GMAT.  I did take the GRE and had a score that
    comparably was greater than the GMAT score.     
    I did apply for the position mentioned last year but didn’t get it.  Oh well, at least I tried.
  6.  I read and completed several books this year, I
    don’t remember all of them but it was a much better year of reading.
  7.  Didn’t happen.
  8. I have been reading it fairly regularly (roughly
    once a week.).
  9. So the move resulted in dropping a course which
    subsequently resulted in being shut off from registering for another class
    until I could pay off the dropped class.     
    As consequence I only completed 3 more classes.  Though if things go well I will be able to
    transfer some work credits over to cover an additional 6-9 credits or 2-3
    classes.        A good success.
This year’s resolutions.
1.   I will continue to be a Happier Person and
continue to follow in the advice from The Happiest Life, Happiness is a Serious Problem.
2.    
I will continue to spend
more time with family, and continue to build on my relationship with them.
3.    
I will continue my Church
attendance, and look into joining a small group.
4.    
I will cut 3 minutes off of
my 2 mile run time, I will do this by adhering to a plan and aim to hit 220
miles between January 1 and February 28.  These miles will use the old
Cross Country rule (Running is 1:1, Swimming 1:1, Elliptical is 1:1, Bike is
4:1, Rower is 1.5:1).    I’m logging
all of my miles over at Runkeeper,
and Garmin, my runs are also being logged over at Nike+  if you are a personal friend of mine I will
let you track this with me.
5.   I will continue to read more, I’ve missed it and it has become a
labor of love again.  Also Audible,
has made workouts more enjoyable, I have started to augment my reading with an
audio book copy from Audible while working out, hitting two goals at the same
time.  It isn’t exactly the same as reading, but it keeps the mind active
as well as the body.  I will complete the
known Game of Thrones Books, I will compile a list tomorrow of all the books I
intend to read.
6.   I will improve my pushups by 25% over the course of the year.
7.   I will continue to read the Bible more regularly, this year I
will start off with a devotional and stick to it.  I plan on doing this
with an electronic copy on my tablet and using two Bibles as a reference ESV
and either the NIV or NLT translation.
8.    
Take another 5 classes for my MBA
9.  I will go through Beach Body’s Body Beast Program twice over the next year.
Continuing on the Long term goals.
1.    
I will continue to work on  my MBA.
2.    
I will go back for a second masters in Foreign
or Public Policy.
3.    
I will eventually go back for a Doctorate:  Business, Law, Philosophy, or
Statesmanship.  Will see based on the
outcome of forks life gives me.
4.    
Retire, and from there just keep working.
5.    
Yes I still want to work on my sub 13 minute two
mile again.
6.    
Pay off the last of my debt, I made a great goal
with that last year I aim to be credit free minus student loans and Car payment
and mortgage by the end of 2019.  Maybe
even down to just Student loans and Mortgage by then. 
7.    
I sill want to donate between $500K and $1
Million over the course of my life.  I
guess I really should start keeping track of what I am donating every year.
8.    
Start up or become heavily involved in a non for
profit.

#newyear
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A Special Thanks

Posted on 2015-09-19 by Patrick
It would be inappropriate for me to publicly endorse a candidate for President, or for the Republican nomination, and indeed right now I cannot do so anyway.  There are quite simply too many candidates that are vying for my vote  to even come to that decision at this time.

What I can do however is share a story, I am not even sure this story is a qualification for anybody to be President.  It certainly however is a story worthy of repeating and sharing given the its spirit of gratitude and inspiration.

My mother dropped out of college when she was pregnant with me, she and my father married shortly before I was born.  Their marriage was not however healthy and over time they separated and divorced.  Thankfully, my father wanted to be part of my life, and my mother recognized this importance equally.  They worked together to raise me despite their differences and I think this is all for the better.  I’m happy to call both of my parents any day of the week, I love them dearly.

We were poor before the divorce, we were even more poor after.  My mother was working at a nursing home, while she received child support, the low wages and three mouths to feed (mom, myself, and my brother), posed a steep mountain to climb.  Even with her income we were typically under the poverty line and received welfare benefits as a result.  However the benefits were such that if my mother worked just a few hours a week too much, we wouldn’t get the check (too much earned income) and we were worse off than if she hadn’t worked at all.  This difficult situation left my mother with a few choices for caring for us.

She choose to quit her job and go to school.  As a full time mom, and a full time college student, with kids in school she had a very difficult balance to make with us.  She worried about violence in the world, she worried about drugs, and gangs, and the statistical chances for a boy growing up in a divorced household at the time.  Maybe she didn’t worry about it, but given how much I worried about these things as a child of divorce at the time I can only assume they were her worries projected onto me and into my own personal psyche.  Regardless there was worry.

My mom announced when I came home from school that she read a bio piece about a renowned neurosurgeon.  It turned out that he was raised by his single mother, and that for many year grew up in hotels as his mother worked as a maid.  Both he and his brother had gotten into trouble, and his mother decided to do something about it.  Both the boys were required to read books and write reports and leave them for her to read.   Well the reading worked, the child would write reports read books and write and read and write over and over and over again.  This cycle went on for years, and despite the chances life threw him at the beginning he was able to overcome them.  It wasn’t until much later in life that the young boy became a man, and discovered that his mother never read a single report.  You see she couldn’t read.  His reading however ultimately resulted in his awareness, he had a brain.

Well my mother decided after reading this piece decided that she would do the same with my me.  Later, when my brother was able to read he would have to do the same.  I read countless books.  I developed a love of reading that is rivaled only by  my love of God, my Wife, and my Children.  I learned to love reading and writing more than even my chief hobby in college, Chess.  More importantly however reading developed a love of learning, of thinking, and knowledge.

A few years ago I sent my mother an email asking if it was Dr. Ben Carson.  I had been thinking about this decision she made.  It was a turning point in my life, and as a parent I have begun to think about those influential moments that made me the man I am today.  What pains can I spare my children, what blessings can I give them, and what lessons must they learn without my immediate aid.
This one stands out as one of the most defining moments of my childhood.  I had been doing research trying to identify the story that changed my life and I thought I found it here , she confirmed it.  I don’t think I would have ever entered a gang or gone the route of drugs, though I guess this is always possible.  I do however believe that my love of reading would never have been cultivated.
Without that love of reading I almost certainly wouldn’t have graduated from college.  Without my degree I never would have met my wife.  And without my wife, I wouldn’t have two of my very beautiful children.  I certainly wouldn’t have entered graduate school, and I probably wouldn’t be writing much of anything.

Last night I called my wife up to talk.  She is currently visiting my mother and staying at her home.  In the middle of my conversation my mother interrupted to ask me if I knew who Dr. Ben Carson was. She doesn’t identify as a Republican, so I can see why she might think I would have no idea.  She then told me for the third time in my life he was the inspiration for one of her most spectacular parenting techniques in raising me.

To Dr. Ben Carson I can only say thank you.  I will share a link to your official website, not as an endorsement but as a token of thanks for contributing to my path of adulthood.  You didn’t know me, you most likely never will know me, and that is ok.  You were a role model for children before you were running for President, you were at the time a very well respected surgeon and you changed lives without even having to perform surgery.  I look at your example and contrast it with the example of many in sports, the media culture, and even politics.  You stand out above the rest as an example of success, triumph over adversity, morality and your story can inspire others.

Thank you.

#BenCarson #RepublicanPrimary

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Free Speech, Civility, and the #Eric Sheppard Challenge

Posted on 2015-05-05 by Patrick
For those 5 people on the internet who don’t know what the #Eric Sheppard Challenge is; I’ll make it simple for you.  It is a challenge for people to walk on or in some other way disrespect the American Flag, and then post it on the internet for all to see.  The people who do this are naïve and quite
simply acting like spoiled children.
There is a second problem however that I believe is even worse than those children who are disrespecting the flag.  This problem is the people who react violently about the issue.  Last month an Air Force veteran, MichellManhart,  was arrested when she physically assaulted a student, Eric Sheppard, who was disrespecting the flag.  Her actions have set off a firestorm of reactions from the left and the right.
It was Michelle Manhart’s actions that inspired this whole #Eric Sheppard Challenge in the first place. Eric Sheppard, and the police department showed more understanding of the First Amendment and civility than Michelle Manhart when they refused to press charges against her. 
The American Flag is a symbol of all the Freedoms associated with the United States, first among these is the Freedom of Speech.  And yes burning the American Flag is an act of Speech.  The Supreme Court has affirmed this right in Texas v. Johnson (this hyperlink has been removed as the Internet Archive, Archive “dot” org is being flagged as malware).
Yet there are those among us that would threaten
violence and even react violently against a protester who would burn or dance on the American Flag. 
There is quite a bit of irony in this.  The
very people who despise the United States, these people who with either righteous or unjust anger towards this great country are as free to act as they please while those people who love the country apparently do not even fully grasp or respect the Freedoms they portend to love. 
Worse yet however, is while these people are raging against those fools who would effectively spit on their Freedoms, they are simultaneously willing to mock a religion such as Islam. (http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/2015/05/03/garland-curtis-culwell-center-swat/26848435/). 
American citizens are willing to mock a religion they know is violent, and they have every right to do this, yet they expect American Muslims to be civil and non violent in their protest or indignation.  In the same instance many
of these supporters of the Muslim mockery are willing to commit acts of violence against a flag protester?
Either we have a Freedom of speech or we do not. 
The Freedoms we have are indivisible; they are built into us by God.  We have Freedom of action, Freedom of life, Freedom of speech, and Freedom of ideas…the list can go on and on. Our founders feared writing each of the Freedoms into the Constitution because by doing so a portion of society would try and limit Freedom to those that were delineated, and or remove those that were written in.  We are endowed with Freedom, we are not lent Freedom by the will of the State. 
I have a message for those people, and I include veterans of the United States Military in this statement, who are willing to threaten violence, and commit violence against somebody who is exercising their Freedoms.  “You do not understand Freedom.”  I understand your frustration, I understand your anger, I understand your pain, but you have no right, at all to threaten
or act violently against a protester. 
The minute you do, the minute you attempt to assert dominance either by the power of the State or by your own Free Will of Action you are no better than ISIS, you are no better than those Thugs who murdered people at CharlieHebdo,
you are no better than those would be terrorists in Garland Texas  .  You are in fact no better than those thugs who would: riot, burn buildings, and otherwise destroy Baltimore  and other towns over perceived injustice and police abuse.
If you think for one second that Freedom of speech ends with your cause, with your perversion of justice I do not know you. These people who burn the flag, who trample on the flag, who disrespect
the flag, and America and the Freedoms that we know are inherent to humanity endowed by a creator, they are morons they are spoiled brats, but they have every Right, and every Liberty to do what they are doing.  You have every reason to be upset, but do not think for a minute that you have the Right to threaten violence over it, only when their words actually become actions violating another’s Freedoms are you Free to take action against these fools. 
I do not know you.  I rebuke you for your
inconsistent and foolish perversion of Liberty that you would threaten violence against for somebody exercising their Freedom in the very manner the Constitution was designed to protect.  Take action in the form of argument; address their complaints even if they are absolutely asinine with logic and fact.  Do not take it upon yourself to raise a hand, do not to take the long arm of the law to punish
these fools.  
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Does Sexual Promiscuity Reveal Character?

Posted on 2015-03-30 by Patrick
This
post is, in its genesis a response to something a friend posted on Facebook.  In her post she had commented to the effect
that a person’s actions, in this case having slept with every woman within 100
miles, does not speak to that person’s character.  I vehemently disagree, not just from the
perspective of a religious viewpoint but that this is a clear indication of
character from any perspective and that there is indeed good reasonable secular
reasoning to conduct self restraint.  My friend in fact asked me for an answer to this for people who do not ‘believe’, and I hope that this at least sheds some light on the matter.  In
no way, shape or form do I argue that sexual intercourse should be abstained altogether,
rather that impulses should be curtailed and that failure to do so reveals a
lot about personal character.  

This post does not concern judgment, it merely concerns recognition of character traits and the argument that we can see character in actions of a sexual nature.  I will aim to discuss judgment in a later post where I can devote more time and thought to it.  Here I only aim to explain why the act of sexual promiscuity can explain negative character traits.  I have a feeling I will have to write a great deal about this, and in today’s post I will rely almost entirely on C.S. Lewis’s MereChristianity and specifically on the chapter within entitled Sexual Morality.  I make no argument that we should be limited to one partner, nor even to the confines of marriage, that is a religious ideal.  Instead I look at the argument  by Lewis that there must be something wrong with our sexual natures and then extend the logic a following step.

Let me
be frank, sex is a wonderful pleasurable experience.  To quote Maude from the film The Big Lebowski “It (sex) can
be a natural, zesty enterprise.  But
unfortunately there are some people – it is called satyriasis in men,
nymphomania in women – who engage in it compulsively and without joy.”  

I do not argue argue that a man who merely sleeps
around suffers from satyriasis, this is an assessment best left to psychiatric
professionals.  I would argue however
that just because sex is natural does not mean one should indulge oneself
beyond what is right and good.  Sex is natural, and it is good.  The question at hand is whether there is an overindulgence in it and if that can even be recognized.  

C.S.
Lewis put it another way in his great work MereChristianity.  Think of sex like
appetite, indeed most of us have a sexual appetite.  Lewis’s argument goes on like this, if a man
is hungry he eats food, and if that man is left without a check on his appetite
for food he may overeat.  If this man
overeats he will more than likely eat only a bit too much say no more than 2 or
three peoples’ servings, but to eat 10 peoples’ worth of serving would be
considered ludicrous and indeed gluttonous. 
Lewis continues to argue that in regard to sex, it is a natural event.  How could sex not be natural, it is at its
most basic our means of reproduction. 
Yet if a man were to indulge his sexual urges whenever they struck as is
the case in sleeping with every woman in 100 miles, he would as Lewis put it have
potential to populate a whole village.

Of
course in our modern times we no longer have sexual intercourse just to ‘breed’.  We live in times of condoms, contraceptives,
and abortions.  We have taken away the
meaning of sex and replaced it with only the thrill of it.  And why not? 
Sex is enjoyable after all, and we know how to prevent its consequences
so what exactly is stopping us from enjoying it?  Well nothing is really.
Lewis’s
argument goes on to discuss the very real phenomenon of strip clubs.  In our modern world, we can see the result of
sexual salesmanship nearly everywhere we go. 
Strip clubs however are a supreme example because, for the most part, no
sex is actually going on.  It is the idea
of sex, it is the amazement that men can stare at a women in all her sexual
provocative natures with nothing more than the imagination of it all. 

Now imagine
as Lewis put’s it that you would go to a country where people would do this
with food, that men and women, would line up to watch a server lift the cover
to reveal some bacon or a nice velvety cake. 
This audience does not eat the food, they merely salivate about it, the titillation
of food in this sense is no different than that of the strip club.  If you went to this country you would find it
quite odd, and if you had to hazard a guess you would more than likely assume
that either people in this country were starving, or that they perhaps had a
distorted and indeed perverted sense of food.

Sex is
like this, indeed there are men, and women who are starving for sexual
intercourse, for love, for companionship. 
But one can hardly argue that our culture has a starvation of sex, we
use it everywhere.  We as a society make sex
easy.  I have already mentioned the rampant
use of contraceptives within our culture; we have removed the primary purpose.  Likewise a man who fornicates rampantly has in himself a perversion of his sexual nature as he clearly isn’t starving for sex.


Our sexual nature has become perverse.  Therefore a man who over-indulges himself
sexually is in fact becoming a perversion of a man.  This man does not act as an adult rather he acts
as a child, indulging himself at every turn without regard neither for the
people he sleeps with, nor does he consider anything beyond his simple pleasures.  Regardless, a person who sleeps around has
revealed a lot about their personal character and their personal weaknesses.  
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A First Quarter Resolution Update

Posted on 2015-03-15 by Patrick
Today is the Ides of March are you wary?

I would like to take this time to report on my New Years Resolutions and where I am on my progress.

1.  I am continuing to follow the wisdom in “The Happiest Life” and in “Happiness is a Serious Problem.”  I plan on breaking those books down with some study guides to help others along the way.

2.  I have been spending increasingly more time with my family, though the last few weeks have had a fair amount of time spent ignoring them due to school work as well.

3.  Church attendance has not been perfect, my notes file indicates 50% of the Sundays so far.  This has been largely dependent on the needs of school work.

4.  Running:  I haven’t even come close to my goal.  I was sick in January and February and in March.  My miles just aren’t up with my goal at all.  I will however be running a half marathon on April 12 and I am continuing to train for this, so while my miles aren’t where they should be according to my goal I haven’t given up and I will continue to train.  Furthermore, I have upgraded from my MotoACTV to a Garmin Forerunner 220.  I will find some time to write about this change in the near future.

5.  I did not take the GMAT, I instead took the GRE.  I did apply for the position I was trying for, my scores exceeded the minimum requirements and I feel comfortable with my chances.

6.  I have continued my reading and have been augmenting that reading with Audio Books from Audible.  To date this year, I have read:  The Great Divorce, Miracles and the Looming Tower.

7.  Little progress on the Pushup program.  I pushed this to the side and started it today upon my review of goals.

8.  Little progress here as well.  I need to pick up a devotional, I will order one today.

9.  I have completed one Graduate Course so far this Year.  International Business.  I missed only a handful of points and earned an A.   Tomorrow I start my next class:  Business Research Methods.

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On to the New Year and the Resolutions that Accompany It

Posted on 2014-12-30 by Patrick
First off I would like to review my resolutions from last year to this year.  http://guidedconscience.blogspot.com/2013/12/looking-forward.html

1.  I was definitely happier this year than last I highly recommend that anybody concerned with Happiness read these two books:  The Happiest Life, Happiness is a Serious Problem. Careful reading may help change the way you think as well as just deal with life.  Both books are available in hard copy and as an e-book, electronic copies can be purchased for Kindle, Kobo, and the Nook.  1 Point.

2.  I definitely spent more time with family, thought there is still some frivolous time that I could purge.  Overall though, I am pleased with my efforts and can call this a win as well.  1 Point.

3.  I have been going to church on a fairly regular basis, it has been a rejuvenating experience for the soul and has helped energize and focus my overall efforts.  1 Point.

4.  Quite simply didn’t happen, ran more but never got there in fact got worse.  No one to blame but me, I didn’t run enough, and I didn’t do enough sprint workouts.  0 Points.

5.  Not at all, just didn’t happen.  I did run 2 legs of the longest relay race in the United States, but that is it, and I didn’t even do it officially, I just started running to help someone else to the finish.  0 Points.

6.  I took the GMAT, I got a score, and I got accepted into every school I applied, including UNR (one of the top programs in the country at this time),  ultimately since I am moving in just a few months and would lose my in state tuition benefit as well as grant in aid money, I chose to go back to Liberty even though it is not AACSB accredited.  I’m happy with this decision after 1 semester I am already rocking the GPA compared to my undergraduate and high school studies.  1 Point.

7.     Didn’t happen, I think I read 10 books:  Happiest Life, A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, The Screwtape Letters, King Lear,  The Five Love Languages ( a must read for anybody who wants a healthy relationship),   Boo  0 Points.

8.  Didn’t happen, embarrassed to even say the shortfall but at least I improved on this category.  I started using a different system from John E. Peterson and it was easier to stick to than just a phone app, I however waited way to long to get started on this and I believe sticking to this program will get me to my goal.  0 Points.

9.  I would not say that I am reading it regularly as in daily.  However, I have dug into the bible on average at least once a week outside of Church, so this is an improvement and I guess could be considered regular.  1 Point

10.  I have not completed a course from Hillsdale College, to be fair however I have actually started graduate school so I’m not letting my brain atrophy.  I have also listened to every published Hillsdale Dialogue.  If you don’t  have iTunes or you use an Android and wish to listen the actual podcast address is http://feeds.feedburner.com/hillsdaledialogues.  I have also listened to all of Hillsdale’s Western Heritage Course on iTunes University, I just haven’t done the accompanying reading.  .5 Point.

Resolution score 5.5 out of 10, not bad for a year of lofty goals though 55% is failing in most books.  We will have to see how I’m doing at the end of this year.

This year I aim to improve even more.

1.  I will continue to be a Happier Person and continue to follow in the advice from The Happiest Life, Happiness is a Serious Problem.

2.  I will continue to spend more time with family, and continue to build on my relationship with them.

3.  I will continue my Church attendance, and look into joining a small group.

4.  I will cut 3 minutes off of my 2 mile run time, I will do this by adhering to a plan and aim to hit 220 miles between January 1 and February 28.  These miles will use the old Cross Country rule (Running is 1:1, Swimming 1:1, Elliptical is 1:1, Bike is 4:1).  I’m logging all of my miles over at Runkeeper, if you are a personal friend of mine I will let you track this with me.

5.  Retake the GMAT, there is a job position I’m looking for and my current GMAT score is not high enough to qualify I plan on taking the GMAT on the 28th of January and Applying for the position just 3 days later.

6.  I will continue to read more, I’ve missed it and it has become a labor of love again.  Also Audible, has made workouts more enjoyable, I have started to augment my reading with an audio book copy from Audible while working out, hitting two goals at the same time.  It isn’t exactly the same as reading but you it keeps the mind active as well as the body.

7.  I will continue the Push-up program mentioned earlier from John E. Peterson.  It works and it feels good.

8.  I will continue to read the Bible more regularly, this year I will start off with a devotional and stick to it.  I plan on doing this with an electronic copy on my tablet and using two Bibles as a reference ESV and either the NIV or NLT translation.

9.  I will complete another 5 graduate courses bringing me closer to my MBA.

Long Term goals extended beyond the year.
1.  Earn my MBA obviously
2.  Go back and earn a Masters of Public Policy or Masters of Public Administration
3.  Go back for a Doctorate degree:  Business, Law, Philosophy, or Statesmanship
4.  Retire, while I plan to work for the rest of my life, I do not plan on having to work the rest of my life.  The post retirement work will be to keep me busy.
5.  Get my run time down to sub 13:00 for a two mile.  Show what an old timer can do when he gets his mind set on something.
7.  Pay off the last of my debt.
8.  Over the course of my life from today to the end donate between $500 k and $1 million to charity.
9.  Start up or become very heavily involved in a not for profit.

#newyear

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On looting and mob violence

Posted on 2014-11-26 by Patrick

The events in Ferguson, Missouri have continued to shed light on a massive problem within modern society.  No, it isn’t a problem of unequal access to justice between minorities and whites (this is not to say such unequal distribution may exist).  This problem is the loss of civility in the face of loss. 

First off, it would be foolish to deny that minorities feel they are unjustly represented under the law.  In the past few years there have been two high profile cases involving the death of a black teen, first in Florida and most recently the death at the hands of a police officer in Missouri.  In both cases the teen was unarmed and in both cases the teen was involved in acts of violence.  The question of an unjustified or unequal response has of course been brought up over and over again.

It’s understandable that many blacks and others may feel there was an injustice here that occurred.  We need to remember some simple facts.  Our system is different than many others in the world. 

1.  Here in the United States everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty under the law. 

2.  A grand jury is conducted using public jurors to decide if a case is even worth taking to prosecution. 

3.  Sometimes innocent people may go to jail and sometimes guilty people may go free, yet ours is a system of laws and it is our duty to obey those that are just and to voice our belief of injustices.

So many people may believe the Police officer in Ferguson may have gotten away with murder.  Perhaps they have analyzed the evidence, though my reading is they haven’t.  Regardless however many people are disappointed.  Many people emotionally invested themselves in this trial and those with emotional investment are no doubt quite disappointed with the results.

We should recognize this disappointment and even the desire to protest.  The perceived injustice weighs heavily on many souls, and their pain (the loss of a son, a family member, friend, or peer) cannot be measured in simple terms of justice.  For those aggrieved, their pain will be worn on their sleeves and on their hearts for some time.  Who could blame them? 

In his play King John, William Shakespeare writes

     KING PHILIP

You are as fond of grief as of your child.

     CONSTANCE

Grief fills the room up of my absent child,
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;
Then, have I reason to be fond of grief?
Fare you well: had you such a loss as I,
I could give better comfort than you do.
I will not keep this form upon my head,
When there is such disorder in my wit.
O Lord! my boy, my Arthur, my fair son!
My life, my joy, my food, my all the world!
My widow-comfort, and my sorrows’ cure!

The greif for those so rightfully agreived no doubt knows no bounds.  As Hugh Hewitt so rightly put it in his book “The Happiest Life”, in these situations it is best to “show up and shut up”.  In terms of grief those pained deserve to morn and to work through their pains, and we should not be aggravating nor shining the public light on them reigniting the injury over and over again.  The pain they feel is great and understandable

But then there is the other question.  The question of justice, the question of right and wrong.  We must assume however imperfect our system is, that it has worked and can continue to work only with active participation within, acceptance of the system, and yes in some cases peaceful protests against that system.

This means we must educate our children and enforce an education of our system of laws on immigrants pursuing citizenship.  We have a civic duty to each other to uphold the peace and indeed the law of the land amongst each other.  In terms of protest our actions should be pointed and focused.  What we have seen however was not appropriate.  

 The violence of last night is not representative of those aggrieved.  Thankfully the majority of those in the public eye have called out the actions of the looters for what it is: criminal.  The President, leading Democratic strategists, conservative pundits all have come together to dismiss these actions for the criminal actions that they were.  

This however does beyond mere criminality.  Last week groups published a list of targets.  These targets included the court house, an understandable location of public ire and location for a protest (though not for violence nor of looting).  The list however also included public businesses including Fortune 500 company Emerson.  It keys into a deeper and more sinister side to those organizing many of these protests 

Last night we watched as social order broke down.  We watched as police cars, and businesses were sset on fire.  We watched as justice was no longer on the mind, as pain was no longer the focus.  We watched people at their most base and at their worst.  These actions are not the actions of a hurt people these are the actions of criminal enterprise.  The targets were the very business run by neighbors and friends.  The burning buildings having provided jobs, goods, and services to the community for (in many cases) years.  

There exists a mindset amongst many of our youth that in numbers they can simply do what they want.  That those with strength are justified to take.  That no amount of social order, that no amount of law can stand justly in the face of those who wish to take.  This mindset is at the heart of those who were looting.  Where was the conscience that told them not to steal, that told them not to burn down buildings, or that told them not to rob their neighbor.

That conscience is fading.  We are watching a society that looks enviously upon those who work and produce things.  We are watching a society that does not care for property, except perhaps their own.  We are watching a society that believes that they should take what they want and leave the rest behind.  

These are the weeds that have been sown through discontent.  It’s a crop of thought grown with fertilizer of lies and watered by a perpetual stream of misinformation cultivated by a lazy media and apathetic teachers.  We have failed much of our youth.  I started observing this in 2011 with the rise of the flash mob. 

These twitter organized crime sprees gave rise to a modern form of Sophistry.  But of course much of this for back further than 2011. The attacks on business are rooted deeply in a hatred of success, an envy of the successful, and base Marxism.  Even the violence so heavily associated with these lootings holds true to the bulk of Marx’s writing.

     

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Another update on fake cell towers

Posted on 2014-11-15 by Patrick

Worthwhile story concerning your cell privacy.  http://nr.news-republic.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=1&articleid=31859487

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