Miscellaneous Post...

This is a "catch-all" post: In the past week, I've setup the church for podcasting and move quite a bit more information on to the Grace Bible Church Wiki.

The podcasting is pretty cool. I use my laptop and Audacity to record the unbalanced output of the pastor's wireless microphone. After recording the sermon, it's just a matter of a quick conferral with Dean to find out any edits he might want made (removing extra silence on the the tail end of the sermon, or any pre-sermon notices given). In all, I can take the raw audio and have it ready in less than thirty minutes for publishing. After that, I use a PHP script installed on the rbcgrace.com server called "Podcast Generator". It's pretty slick in every way - except that I can't upload via PHP due to some weird connection error with large uploads (looks like a BellSouth problem.) Regardless, I can upload via FTP to and then Podcast Generator is smart enough to recognize that a new MP3 is ready to publish. I have a URL that I then goto that pings the iTunes store to state that a new podcast is available.

As far as the wiki work, whew! I've been quite busy. Setting things up initially takes some organization and then adding the content is just a bit more work. No problems though. I do enjoy seeing the end result.

As a result, I haven't been posting about my Bible Reading progress. (Still going!) But I am collecting favorites and blurbs about specific verses in Psalms for a later blog posting.

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How To Really Prepare...

I made a wiki entry over at my church's wiki: It's just a study note that I expanded from my Bible reading. A nugget as someone once said. Here.

Has anyone ever (as in the history of mankind) prepared like King David did there?

NOTE: The link has changed to reflect my moving the wiki note from the church's wiki to my personal wiki.

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Blog Name Change

You can't be a "newbie" anything forever. I couldn't keep calling myself a true aquarist either. Although I do mess with a fifty-five gallon cichlid tank at work (in Dad's office), Christian's (my newbie tank) has long since stopped functioning. It's not all my fault: after the filter mechanism failed a second time, I was facing an expense that was almost a quarter of the tank's entry price. With no living fish and only plants left, I decided that it was not worth fixing. So, I'm no longer a newbie nor an aquarist.

Why "Musings of a Josiah Wannabe" then?

"Musings of ..." was easy. I felt like this blog had always been more about my thoughts, my family happenings, my pictures, etc. than just a fish tank that "Musings of ..." fit. I like the second definition found at "The Free Dictionary": a product of contemplation; thought. Although not every post here begins with contemplation, by the time I've typed out my thoughts, read the typing, edited, corrected, and then posted, I think I've met and passed the threshold of contemplation.

The "..." was the hardest. I spent a few days trying to think of anything to put there. Of course, I hadn't a clue. After my daughter was born - and I pointed more people to this blog - I also kept having to explain newbie aquarist. I started asking for help for a new name. I asked my pastor if he could think of something appropriate. What kept running through my mind is "how do I define myself in one word, two words, three words?" As I told my pastor, my inclinations toward "Musings of ..." with "Godly Father", "Christian", "Jesus Follower" sounded good to me but also disingenuous and a bit prideful. I hope to be all of those, but I also know that I fail miserably and often. [Darn this flesh!]

I've been making my way through the Bible marking progress with my Bible reading spreadsheet.

[Side Bar]
Yes, I know, I'm way behind! I've made progress slowly at times, not at all at other times [I did mention how I fail miserably and often?] No, I'm not saying that Bible reading daily is a requirement for Christian living. I am saying that for me it almost is. (I could probably chart my ups and downs in my Christian walk with that spreadsheet.)
[End Side Bar]

My Bible reading: I was and am still in the Old Testament. Short story long, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are tough - long lists of laws, people's name, their family trees, reiteration of the law. Then you are confronted with Joshua and Judges. Joshua's good - encouraging. But Judges? It's best summed up by it's last verse - Judges 21:25 - "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." OUCH! There was a pattern: sin, condemnation, crying out (repentance), deliverance (by a judge). I found it a bit depressing. Ruth is just a breath of fresh air - it's needed and how wonderful is the order of the Bible in that Ruth shows that there were some faithful ones in the time of the judges? Then First and Second Samuel - the beginning of kings for the Israelite nation. Good stuff (but again failures too)! First and Second Kings. Some good kings, mostly bad ones - following the same pattern found in Judges, with the exception that as the king went, so did the country. Good king following God meant that Israelites followed God as well and prospered; Bad king doing evil meant that the Israelites did the same and came under condemnation.

Shortly after Mary Alice's birth, I got to 2 Kings 22 which introduces king Josiah - young king Josiah at the age of eight! Josiah's immediate ancestors: great grandfather was "Good King Hezekiah"; grandfather was the king Manasseh, traditionally the one who killed the prophet Isaiah: 2 Kings 21:16 - "Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord." Josiah's father Amon, evil king who only reigned for two years. Amon's servants killed him in his own house. [They had rather had an eight year old as their boss than the eight year old's father!]

Josiah stood out and not just because of his age, not because of his doing "right in the sight of the Lord". So many good things about Josiah: his repairs of the temple, his response to the finding of the law (which is another great story in of itself!), his covenant renewal, his reformation of the nation, his Passover celebration - the like of which had not been seen (in conformity to the law) since the time of the judges! All of which were great things. But his epitaph (or what I read as his epitaph) in 2 Kings 23:25: "And before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him."

Wow! It hit me hard. What a statement. What a testimony. What a life! I wanted that, I want that - for my family, friends, neighbors, and others who know me, to be able to say that *I* followed the Lord with all my heart and all my soul and all my strength.

But the blog name didn't strike me then. I went to my parent's house a day or so after reading and being blown away with Josiah's epitaph and found my niece working on her Bible homework. What was she studying? King Josiah. I was "johnny on the spot!" It was nice reinforcement of my focus on Josiah. I was able to answer her questions with her. Hmmmm. I thought, "Josiah?"

There's an excellent song by Steven Curtis Chapman that comes to mind now. "Waiting for Lightning" tells how easy it is for us to look for the bright, unmissable sign of lightning when God is whispering in our ear. Just when I had been wanting a new blog name, with a short definition for me to define myself. "To be like Josiah?" Yeah, I want to be like Josiah. I wannabe like Josiah.

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What Does *It* Look Like?

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted. Lots of things going on, and no time to discuss them. I can't and shouldn't complain - though I want to and feel like I need to (sin!).

However, I do feel compelled to blog about something else: something that is important (maybe even more so regarding the current things/environment/circumstances that I am going through...) - the "It" referenced in the title...

I know that my purpose (and indeed, everyone's purpose) while here on planet Earth is to do just one thing. To do "It": to glorify God. Simple statement, eh? I've summed up what I feel to be the most important thing that I (or anyone) can ever do, and yet, I know that "It" isn't so simple.

So I've been struggling to better define "It". I sometimes think "Wow, 'It' would be so much easier if only I were on the mission field..." Or "if only I were a pastor..." Or "if only I were a doctor..." etc... Where does that kind of thinking get me? Besides, I'm not so sure that some, if not most, missionaries / pastors / doctors don't struggle with "It" too...

I've come to the conclusion that God has me here (time, place, and *circumstances*) for His reasons, for my ultimate good, and for His glory. "It": To glorify God in all that I say, do and act. As a visual person, I want to know what that looks like. I've been asking myself the above question... What does it look like - while working at RainGard, while at home, while working in the yard, while talking to my neighbors, or while _____________ [fill in the blank]? Over and over again, I ask. I wonder if I'm coming close to "It".

I'm addressing this question in two ways: Bible reading and prayer.

From my Bible reading, I see examples of those who struggled, who failed, and who succeeded and sometimes did all three! (I know I struggle and fail, not completely sure about my success...) I also see guidelines for success. I know I need to be more diligent and disciplined in my reading.

I also pray (and need prayer!) that I do "It". I'm praying that as I try to do "It", I fulfill the most important and greatest commandment of all [Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-28].

I needed to write this. I need this as a reminder and as encouragement. With the end result that those around me don't hear me, don't focus on me or my actions, but rather they see God and He be glorified over all.

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Catching up...

This post has been a few weeks in the making - I've been much busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs... I won't bore you with those details (after all, it's the people who read this who already know the details because they were the details.) This post is about my book reading...

Three weeks ago, I finally finished this book. WHEW! I think one day (when I have very little to do - as if that'll happen!!!) I'll go back and read the book and make notes such as: Where, When, Background, Who vs. Who, Pivotal Action, etc. It would probably make the book more interesting and I'd probably get more out of it.

Then I picked up and started Thr3e by Ted Dekker. I read it in two nights. It was a pretty good read - suspenseful and well paced. I might not agree with the background theology that Dekker's characters believe, but it was nice to read a book without foul language, and without having to skim over "racy" sections...

But now, three weeks later, I've again fallen behind on my Bible Reading for the Year. Today is as good a day as any to get back rolling... I should mention that I think I really started to fall behind when I ordered and started reading J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible series. I was hoping to use it to expand on my daily reading: reading my daily portion and then read the "Thru The Bible" commentary for that portion. The problem is that I started reading it (the day after I finished "Thr3e") and reading through Genesis chapter 1 took thirty-two pages. Ouch!

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New Year's Resolutions...

Yeah, it is sorta late to be discussing resolutions but Dean's sermon of two Sundays ago (January 7th) has goaded me. (Goaded may be too strong of a word... Encouraged is probably more appropriate).

It seems like my resolutions never change - they are the same as the previous year's but sometime in the new year, I drop the ball and the resolution gets dropped. I'm pretty sure that this is the same for most people, but Dean's sermon and his statement that he had actually made a resolution and kept it for a year was very encouraging. So what is the resolution that I'm blogging about? Reading the Bible in a year. I've read good portions of the Bible, but I know that I've never read it completely. I tried different reading schedules but nothing has worked for me. (I usually make it to Leviticus and then really struggle). I want that to change - I really, really want to complete this resolution, so I've create my own reading schedule based on the Bible that I use the most - my Ryrie Study Bible (NASB). I'm using Google Docs & Spreadsheets to track my progress. Here is what I've got so far:



Hopefully, you should be able to keep track of my progress (and encourage me from time to time!) The permanent (and updated) location of the spreadsheet is here.

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