THE DEVIL WAS AT THE U.N.!!!

As I read the headlines in my newsletter from Townhall.com, I realized the devil WAS at the U.N! President Hugo Chavez was right. He does take human form (2 Corinthians 11:14). However, Mr. Chavez got the devil's identity a little wrong. It was he who was doing the work of Satan. Calling a real Christian "the devil" only serves to reveal the allegiance of the accuser to the Accuser himself (Revelation 12:10).

Well, Mr. Chavez, what say you?

RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE

Today's post has a link to a news report of an ex-Muslim who was shot by his former fellow muslims after he refused to chant Koranic verses in honor of the lunar and solar eclipses. Here is the link: World Net Daily

It seems that anybody who dares to report on the murderous activities of these fanatic, fascist Muslims around the world is liable to be killed also. After all, who would believe such "slander"? Imagine, Muslims killing people for not being Muslim! Or even worse, Muslims killing people FOR REPORTING IT!!!

Worse yet, there are different factions within Islam KILLING EACH OTHER in Iraq (and probably other places)!

My hat's off to the pope for merely quoting an historical document and watching "the enemy" flinch (deny history and threaten its messengers), thereby proving the truth. I'm not a Roman Catholic. But every now and then, the pope says things that I find to be historically accurate, and therefore get my attention.

One last note, the term "Religion of Peace" is a ubiquitous euphemism used as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the supposed peace-loving nature of the Muslim folks around us. Let's all keep informed about the latest scurrilous reports of "evil and inhuman" (and violent) behavior of these poor, misunderstood murderers.

"WE HAVE LIFTOFF!"

Congratulations to the Atlantis crew for a successful launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida!

In case you missed it, there is an excellent video clip at www.FoxNews.com.

REVIEW OF LIGONIER MINISTRIES' NEW WEBSITE

Regarding Ligonier Ministries' new website, I found a plethora of issues using Internet Explorer to visit it. Briefly, the website's functionality was fraught with problems. For example:

• The video player... didn't!

• The archive list in the media player (Adobe Flash Player) had no text, just lines and colors.

• The sound quality of Adobe Flash Player seemed inferior to Windows Media Player.

On the positive side, I found that using another browser (Opera) corrected the issues of functionality, not quality. I don't mind using Adobe Flash Player, except that I have to wait for the whole clip to play before I can pause it, because the player is buffering throughout the first play. If I pause before then, it automatically starts over. After that, I can use it like Windows Media Player (i.e. navigate in and out of the clip). Also, I don't have a progress bar until the entire clip is buffered. Just a little info for the prospective user.

If you're a Christian, this is a great website. If you're not, I pray that you become one.

I will visit it again to see if Internet Explorer still has those issues with the website. Happy surfing.

ACCOLADES TO HIM

Well, I did it! I posted a new entry to my blog! Hallelujah! This is the cry of every self-absorbed, egomaniacal blogger out there. What an accomplishment, especially after several attempts at publishing SOMETHING which demonstrates my perceived ability to blog. I write to entertain myself. I blog to entertain others.

I blog, therefore I am.

Where to go from here. I am on a roll! Don't stop me now! Nay, thou canst not stop me!!! I'm on a hormonally-induced high. I even consulted my Strong's Concordance to check whether that was the correct use of the word "canst."

Ah, but I can stop. Yea, I can slow down.

I would say that the best Editor is the Holy Spirit. He can stop any self-willed creature in its tracks if He chooses to do so. Always out of infinite love does God act. But I digress. No, He is always at the forefront, even when we fail to acknowledge Him!!! Praise and glory be to Him alone.

Well, I got that off my chest. What next? A tirade of Biblical proportions? That was it.

Sorry, next topic.

THE TROUBLE WITH BLOGGING

I have been thinking about this blogging thing. You know, how it works and doesn't work, depending on your savvy of navigational skills. I like to just post (compose, edit, critique, publish, repeat) and post. It really forces you to think and use your creative imagination, to get the proverbial "juices flowing." Feedback from reality (the monitor) is the best kind. Nothing like reading your work before and after publishing it!

Well, it seems I have a few ideas about how to better experience blogging at its best. I have a few writing and literary skills (real and imagined) which I like to use when I'm typing my blog posts (or journal entries). One thing I'm finding to be very important is formatting, i.e. not rambling from one topic to another in the same paragraph. One thought per paragraph, please! Large clusters of miscellany are hard to read, in my humble opinion. By the way, did you notice I typed out those oft-used phrases in text messaging, IMHO and BTW? Ah, English.

I also was thinking about individual posts, how composing them one at a time according to train of thought (or threads, if you will) would increase my chances of knowing what the heck I'm talking about in any given post. I may be over-analyzing this thing, but it's fun. I call it "pipelining", or lining up the posts, as I start and finish them out of sequence and publish them when I'm satisfied with their overall quality. This might help fight blog fatigue, which is the enemy of focused writing.

As I said, focus and fatigue are enemies. You may feel like rambling on and on about virtually everything once you've caught the blog bug. But knowing where to draw the line is very important. The philosophical ramifications of this are almost boundless. Notice how I said "almost boundless" because only God is infinite. But the next dog you see chasing its tail, ask whether it has learned anything or come to any conclusions.

Speaking of conclusions, here's one.

LIGONIER MINISTRIES

I am looking forward to seeing Ligonier Ministries' new website, which should be up in a few hours according to their temporary placeholder site.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS

I titled this post as such because I had no cohesive theme with which to tie together the individual paragraphs. Hence, the "miscellaneous" nature of it. I desire to keep posting entries which capture the attention of someone passing over my blog. When, not if, I lack sufficient material for discussion, I resort to miscellany.

For example, I have been listening to The Pilgrim's Progress online here. You may or may not be a fan of that book, but I occasionally feel inspired to listen to it online or read it when I can.

I am revising this particular post several weeks after originally starting it. This is the beauty of selective posting, which means I start composing several entries before deciding which one to publish. I may or may not publish them all. In fact, I don't.

Well, the most important thing to remember about blogging is that you shouldn't put the first thing that pops into your head into the post, unless you're on a roll!

I thoroughly enjoy watching Dr. RC Sproul on his website, www.Ligonier.org.

This post is also an experiment. I want to see if the time stamp changes when I publish it several weeks after I start it. In this case, it was August 21.

Shakespeare Would Have Been Proud

 I have been wanting for some time to post an entry here, but have lacked sufficient cause and material to discuss. However, I have been spending exhorbitant amounts of time surfing, printing, and reading various articles relating to investment. May I direct you to The Motley Fool? It is an outstanding vehicle for learning all about investment and planning your financial future and freedom.

KUDOS TO FIREFOX

Kudos to Firefox!

Earlier this year, I suddenly noticed Firefox not completely loading web pages (only a couple of them). After downloading and reinstalling several times, I decided to install from CDROM-- which came with a book called "Firefox Secrets."

Well, this time, those web pages loaded correctly. So I updated the browser to the latest version (1.0.7). Now we're surfing!

SermonAudio.com - Order my steps Lord

SermonAudio.com - Order my steps Lord

Why does it not surprise me that ninety percent of the Reformed Christian sermons I hear that bless my soul are preached by Baptists? Let us take note of the fact that "many are the plans in a man's heart, but the LORD directs his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

IWASWONDERINGWHATWOULDHAPPENIFITYPEDTHISBLOGENTRYWITHOUT
SPACESORPUNCTUATION

Nobody would read it, right?

Well, anyway, have a safe Independence Day!

APOLOGY, ETC.

My apologies to anyone reading my blog. It seems the previous post was erroneously formatted after I posted it, and it now appears in two-toned psychedelia--complete with flaming-red hyperlinks. All my attempts at rectifying it have proven fruitless. Let's hope this post is more like the previous ones.

Well, I've just downloaded and installed Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2. I must say, it reminds me of Linux (in a good way), and of Apple, in the overall appearance of web pages. I would say they look more like the aforementioned's browsers than the old IE. All of the available features certainly increase the Cool Factor. Let us surf and see.

I encourage you to risk taking the time and effort to download and install different browsers to see the various ways--like automobiles--to get around the Information Superhighway.

Bravery (and money) will afford themselves the opportunity to explore the possibilities of desktop computing. We have only touched the tip of a philosophical iceberg.

But for now, it's bedtime...

NETSCAPE NAVIGATES!!!

Well, I have made a fairly pleasant discovery (so far) in using Netscape's Navigator web browser. One of the things I like about it is that on Hotmail, the text editor has a fully featured formatting toolbar. In Firefox and Opera, the toolbar does not appear. It seems that only Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are the only two browsers I have which support that feature in Hotmail. Just a little bit of trivia.

Surf on, fellow bloggers!

SATURDAY NIGHT BLOG

Well, tonight finds me watching the Arizona Diamondbacks playing on TV, and me wondering why Blogger.com is having issues with my blog.

It seems the Dashboard and other behind-the-scenes pages at Blogger are okay. But I noticed the last couple of days, my blog has been de-formatted (temporarily?) I think I saw someone else's blog affected as well, but I'm not sure. I'm going to explore this further, and see if I can't change templates or something to get to the bottom of this. Not a problem. I'm just interested in what may have happened. Fun, fun, fun!

OPERA ROCKS!!!

 Hey, all of you low-tech, geek-wannabes (like me) who would like surfing in a new, different web browser! Here is Opera, which you may or may not like (I do). Because Firefox was having trouble completely loading some webpages, I thought I'd give Opera a re-try. It is a refreshing change. True, Firefox has many features which Internet Explorer DOES NOT. But Opera gives Firefox a run for its money.

Don't get me wrong: IE is still a good browser. But why drive a Ford when you can drive a...(fill in the blank)? Toyota? Honda? Lexus?

Just like Linux is touted as the solution to Windows, Firefox is touted as the solution to Internet Explorer. And in my case, Opera (and IE) is the solution to 
Firefox. Ah, choices. 

A RANDOM POST

Thanks to all who commented on my recent posts.  They are much appreciated.

Regarding the features and advantages of using the Tekka template from Blogger.com, I thought it was too stark but simple enough to do the job. However, when I found another template (Powell Street) at http://blogger-templates.blogspot.com, I liked it best of all the others on that page.

Here is a little lesson in hyperlinking from your blog post (which I learned while doing this one!):

1. Highlight the text you wish to hyperlink.
   
2. Click the Hyperlink button in the toolbar.
3. Enter the desired address of the hyperlink.
4. Click OK.
5. Depress the Bullet Points button in the toolbar, or else every new paragraph WILL BE A BULLET POINT!!! (This last one was for me because it is very tricky business to make a list like this.)
   

There. Now a new problem arises.  Every new line that you type will be completely hyperlinked until you do the following:

1. Go back and select (highlight) all the text that it (the Blogger Post Editor) is hyperlinking (that you don't want hyperlinked).
   
2. Click the Hyperlink button in the toolbar.
3. Delete any text from the address bar of the JavaScript pop-up window.
4. Click OK.

By double-spacing, you disable the bullet-point feature and return to standard paragraphs. Whew!

 I will now go back and follow my instructions to de-hyperlink this entire lesson!

POWELL STREET BLOG

Almost sounds like a horror movie, doesn't it? Actually, it's the name of the template I installed to make my blog more appealing. Whaddya think?

A Change of Template

I would like to announce that as of this posting, I have converted my blog to a new template called "Tekka," which I'm sure connotes a post-modernistic theme of high-tech "whatever" attitude. I say whatever because it was an arduous search through each and every template on Blogger.com before I arrived at this one, which is a fair compromise of all features I prefer in the appearance.

--Editor's note: Don't worry, I'll change my mind in the next post...

THIRTY-FIVE MILLION AND COUNTING

Okay, here is another post by this very occasional blogger. It takes a lot (apparently) of inspiration to get me to sit here and type a message to some indiscriminate mass of readership which I will (may) never see in this life. But because I am a Christian, and believe all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)--whew--, this is hopefully not just another "futile" attempt at becoming one of the many (35 million) souls who yearn, nay, starve for attention from other human beings who read blogs. I must admit I read very few blogs, mainly HughHewitt.com and others associated with it.

Well, that's enough introductory blogposting. I'll just carry on with the rest of my post.

It seems there are 35 million blogs on the web today, according to Jeremy Wagstaff of the Wall Street Journal Online.

I had to start a new paragraph because the blog editor wouldn't stop underlining and hyperlinking my text! But I found out the underlining doesn't show up after the hyperlink in the published post.

In any event, let's try an experiment: FOX NEWS ...there, no underlining or hyperlinking after the hyperlink! Success.

As I was saying, here is an article (see the Wall Street Journal Online) about the glut (that's overabundance, for those of you in Rio Linda) of blogs on the Internet. There is no human way possible to read ALL THOSE BLOGS!!! Therefore, as Mr. Wagstaff suggests, one must consult an aggregator website such as BlogBridge.com. to make any sense of it all. Frankly, I haven't gone there myself. But if I just click the link, why I'll be there in mere moments... yecch! Chaff and wheat.

Anyway, if you are reading this, please post a comment (unless you're an automated comment generator from deep cyberspace).