False Prophets

It looks like Harold Camping did it again.  Just as when he predicted the end of the world in 1994, his prediction/mathematical calculations were wrong in 2011.  (I would love to know what "error" he found in his 1994 calculations, though.)  However, it didn't stop the media from making a huge deal out of the possible doomsday today.  But, Christians who have actually read their Bibles already knew there was a good chance today would not be the day of the rapture.

1. Jesus warns his disciples, and us, about end-times prophets.  In particular, Luke 21:8 (all Bible quotations are from the NRSV): And [Jesus] said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and 'The time is near!'  Do not go after them."  
2. On the subject of prophets, the Bible has a very good test for determining false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:22): "If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken.  The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it."  Since we already knew Camping prophesied falsely in 1994, we knew we did not have to worry about what he said.  If God had wanted us to know May 21st was the day of the rapture, I imagine He would have found an honest broker.
3. Camping kind of put himself in the position of God (Mark 13:32): "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
4. Jesus uses the analogy of coming like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-44).  I find it hard to believe a thief would post advertisements in the New York City subway and on the National Mall giving the date and time he is going to rob your house.

Now, if those of us who profess Christ and have read the Scriptures knew this, why was there so little heard from us on this matter?  One, the media don't want to focus on reasoned discourse.  They focus on sensationalism anymore.  Two, we weren't sure May 21, 2011, at 6 p.m. local time, wasn't going to be the second coming.  As stated in point two above, we just don't know.  Camping could have gotten a lucky guess.  And three, this kind of thing has happened so many times in the past, we have been a bit jaded by it.

Unfortunately, Camping and his group have done damage to Christianity.  He has scared people, believers and possibly some unbelievers, without cause (well, except maybe his own fame).  And he has allowed the addition of skeptics who will question if Jesus is even coming again, and perhaps the entire Christian faith.  They will scoff and point out this false prophecy, even though it is hardly in line with true Christian belief.  And of course, there is the whole thing with the people who spent their life's savings or donated it to Camping.  They will have some hard times ahead.

Yet, I am convinced some good has come out of this incident.  First, I imagine many people at least paused and considered what they had done with their lives, and how they would feel if there was not going to be a tomorrow to make things right.  Second, we may have gotten a glimpse into why God won't let us know the date and time of the second coming.  We saw the believers of this false prophecy withdraw into their families and their churches, which is human nature.  When facing the unknown, we tend to withdraw into comfortable surroundings.  However, this is not what God wants of us.  He wants us out there in the world, being examples of His love.  Pleading the case of the widow and the orphan.  Working for justice for the oppressed.  He doesn't want us spending the last week of our lives huddling in churches waiting for Him to come again.  He wants us working for the "least of these," instead.

Third Year = Over

Minus some paperwork and final determination of grades for my students, my third year as a graduate student is almost over.  As a result, I now know that yes, doctoral candidates do get assigned grades for their dissertation research "course" and that our advisors just click the "A" button on the grade submission website.  Even more reason why grades don't matter to doctoral students.

In good news, my students did really well on their final exam.  Twenty-five out of seventy got a score of 90 or higher (out of 100).  As a result, at least 21 of them will get A's for the semester.  I may be able to argue a couple of more cases on Tuesday when we finalize the grades.

However, with the end of the school year comes a laundry list of things that I need to take care of.

1. I have to register for a conference my advisor wants me to attend in October.
2. I have to join SIAM, a professional organization for applied mathematicians (again, because my advisor thinks it's a good idea for networking and such).
3. I have to take the car in for the 108,000 mile service before
4. Reunion Weekend!  Now just to make it to the second weekend in June for my summer vacation.  It remains to be seen if I will bring work with me.
5. See my family's financial advisor.  My mom and aunt sold my late grandmother's condo a couple of weeks ago.  My mom cleared $65K, so she is paying $13K of my sister's student loans off and giving me the same amount.  Some will be used to open a retirement account; I'll talk to the advisor about what to do with the rest.
6. It looks like I need to prepare for a move this summer.  However, I'm not putting in a 30-day notice until paperwork is signed.
7. After the move, I need to (finally) get a passport.
8. Oh, yeah, I have that birthday thing in seventeen days.
9. And a get-together with grad school friends on June 3rd.

In any case, the performance of my students has made me really happy.  So it makes up for the not-so-happy things earlier this month.

Last Call

Monday, I start the spring semester, complete with teaching duties (Wednesday mornings are going to be a pain), but lacking in classes for me to take.  As such, a relatively low-productivity break comes to an end.  But, I did accomplish some things over the past five or six weeks.

• Spent Christmas (and completed the requisite shopping, etc.) with family, finding out some interesting facts in the process.
• Gave a sermon on some of the mistakes in traditional Christmas imagery (if you want an emailed copy, let me know).
• Read a paper my advisor wanted me to read over break.
• Finished half of the regular season academic tournament math questions.
• Proctored a qualifying exam, earning $60 for sitting on my rear end for four hours.
• Started using the online dating account.  Whether or not it shows any utility remains to be seen.
• Created a professional web page.  I just have to add the html files to the public folder on the department's network.
• Spent some time with friends.  Easily one of the more enjoyable parts of break.

So, break was more productive than I anticipated.  May the same be said for the spring semester.

Proverbs 11:29

Today, one of the more heinous crimes that can be committed against a democratic republic occurred in Arizona.  A crowd meeting with their congresswoman was gunned down outside a grocery store.  The congresswoman was shot in the head, but is expected to survive.  Six others, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, were not so lucky.  Almost immediately, the reader comments on CNN's website devolved into accusations of either the liberals or the conservatives being behind the attack.

As of the time of writing this post, the gunman's motives have not been made public.  But what does it say that people are willing to believe the opposite political side would be behind this attack?  It says that the level of political discourse in this country has hit rock bottom.  This is in no small part due to the rhetoric from the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, and others on the extreme right and left.  Using loaded terms such as "communist" and "fascist" only serve to dehumanize the other side.  Such a level of discourse does a great disservice to a republic committed to the civil debate of the issues.  Neither side is committed to the destruction of the country, as neither side has nothing to gain by it. 

Ultimately, it appears that the face of this tragedy will be the Arizona congresswoman, and to a lesser extent, the slain federal judge.  But maybe the face of this shooting should be the face of that nine-year-old girl.  A girl who was with her parents to do some shopping, or perhaps with her parents to see the democratic process in person as a lesson, but was sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Now, it is a bit early to say if this shooting was politically motivated.  But from the reactions today, we all know it could very well be.  If it was not politically motivated, we should consider this a warning to tone down the rhetoric.  Take a few seconds and think of a couple of good things that the other political side has done for the country.  An adversarial system is okay, so long as it is not taken to extremes.  Otherwise, we may see more of these nine-year-old girls in similar situations. 

Abraham Lincoln once compared the United States to a house.  (That whole, "a house divided against itself cannot stand," thing.)  And this brings me to the title of this post.  These political pundits and "leaders" who demonize the opposite side at every turn should heed this verse from Proverbs: "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind."  And probably lead to the destruction of more innocent people.

In the Beginning (of 2011)

The new year is off to an interesting start, and all indications are that this trend will continue, at least for a while.  So, here is a forecast of sorts for me for 2011.

• Last night, I went to a trivia night at a bar in Baltimore with Oscar, Laura, and some of Oscar's friends from Baltimore.  I definitely see a good probability of me going the next couple of weeks.  I'll have to see when I teach to make a decision about the semester.
• I have officially advanced to candidacy.  With this comes a step increase (read: pay raise).  I also will no longer be taking classes, at least for a grade.  I may sit in on the occasional class but not worry about the assignments.  But 2011 will be the first year since 1990 I take no classes for a grade.
• I may have to get a passport this year.  My advisor mentioned the possibility of sending me to a conference in Italy for a week during the summer.  Hooray for my advisor's grants paying for it.
• If I don't make some progress on the dating front this year, I'm probably in big trouble. If I do make it to 2012 with the streak of no dates still intact, I will hereby give my friends the authority to act on my behalf with no veto from me.  (There, you have it in writing.)  Not that you guys can't try set-ups this year, but in 2011, I will still retain veto power.
• It looks like I may be off the hook for preaching the rest of the year.  The council president thinks the council has found an interim pastor.  There are still some details to work out, so this could be a false stand-down.  But in any case, the sermon seemed to go well.  I've had to email the written copy out to about half a dozen people.
• Here's hoping we don't see the snowfall this winter we saw last winter.
• I now have a couple of weeks of boredom ahead of me since I finished reading that paper yesterday.
• One set of math questions sent out, six more sets to go.

After finishing this, I realize that December will be fun when I revisit this list and look at its accuracy, or lack thereof.

May everyone have an enjoyable 2011.

As the Decade Ends

As 2010 draws to a close, I'm still not sure how I feel about it.  Sure, I had some good moments this year, but I also had some not-so-good moments.  There were also some things this year that I can't label as either good or bad.  So, without further ado, here is the year in review.

First, the good:

• I advanced to candidacy (okay, this isn't official until the first of the new year, but the work and paperwork was completed in 2010).
• The first wedding in my group of friends went off (congrats, Mairead and Alex).
• Reunion weekend in June was a good way to spend a summer (okay, late spring) weekend.  Among other things, I went sailing for the first time in my life (yes, I was a bad SMCM student).
• I have been much more social this year than in previous years.  Well, it seems so, anyway.
• I now get to write the ATT math questions for Frederick County.

Now, the low-lights of the year:

• I now have only one living grandparent.
• It has been over 3.5 years since my last date; over 4.5 years since I've had a girlfriend.  Granted, I sort of knew going in that 2010 was probably not going to be the year to break this streak.
• *Bleep* Snowmageddon.
• It took Pepco a week in July to restore power after a thunderstorm.  
• Frederick County put the patients in charge of the mental health facility known as the county government.

And the things I can't quite label:

• My church's preacher left.  Thus, I've had to serve and preacher a couple of weeks (and start off 2011 doing so, as well).  While I enjoy preaching every once in a while, I'm a little worried how long this may last.
• More seniority in the math department means more responsibilities (like helping with orientation and proctoring qualifying exams).

So, while my 2010 has been better than that of many others, I think I'm ready for 2011 (more on that in the next post).

Christmas=???

While Christmas was good (among other things, I did receive everything I asked for on my admittedly short list), there were definitely some, shall I say, interesting moments. 

1. The Lutheran pastor at Mount Tabor (of the other congregation at my church) jokingly referred to me as a colleague as the "UCC pastor" at Christmas Eve service.  I know I've preached twice since the UCC pastor left (okay, three times after next Sunday), but what?
2. Having two cats high on catnip in the room Christmas morning makes opening presents more difficult than it should be.
3. I got hints that it has crossed my parents' minds to consider a move to Utah.  Can you say, "out of the blue," boys and girls?  However, I don't know how serious the considerations are.
4. My sister admitted to an illegal, but not surprising, activity at Christmas dinner.  Hey, I tried playing Law and Order and advised her to keep quiet.  Unfortunately, two glasses of wine have significantly more influence than an older brother.  I also found out that my dad's drinking may have surpassed my drinking in quantity over the past few months.  (Granted, this doesn't mean much.)
5. The people who made the Bushisms desk calendars are back in business.  They owe John McCain a few bodily limbs for introducing the nation to Sarah Palin.
6. Wait, did the Redskins just beat the Jaguars?
7. Boxing Day "snowstorm" = dud in the DC area.  In the span of 24 hours, six to ten inches became one to two inches.  (Insert your own joke here.)  After last winter, I'm not complaining about this development.

Well, that's the Christmas recap.  Expect what have become the annual look-back and look-ahead posts in the next week.