Spent this last weekend in Asheville, North Carolina. Steph and I were both looking forward to taking pictures, especially of the Biltmore Estate and house, but unfortunately the camera decided to stop working just as we arrived. This is the only picture we could get.

We did get a few others of us goofing around the night before. Click here to see those.

Spent this last weekend in Asheville, North Carolina. Steph and I were both looking forward to taking pictures, but unfortunately the camera decided to stop working just as we arrived at the Biltmore House. We did get one picture of the house, and a couple of us the night before when we broke out the camera. Not what we were expecting, but it’s better than nothing. Here are a few fun ones.

People often argue that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God, rather he was a great teacher – a man from whom we could all learn.

I never liked that argument, and a paragraph out of A Layman’s Guide to Protestant Theology does a good job of explaining why:

If Jesus was not and is not the Son of God, insists (John Gresham) Machen, then he is the very reverse of a reliable teacher of ethics. For Jesus claimed to be divine; he claimed to have authority over men; he claimed to do that which only God can do – forgive sins; he claimed to be the Messiah, foretelling that he would return on the clouds of heaven; he asserted that he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If Jesus were only a man and claimed these things, he cannot be our example, for he was either a madman or a charlatan.

Word.

I haven’t written in a while. Wasn’t planning on writing tonight. Then I saw this video and it broke me down so I had to share it.

No long introduction is necessary. I could rant and rave about how it makes me feel…but Francis Chan says it best in the video, so I’ll let him do the talking.

Please watch it. It’s short, it’s disturbing, it’s graphic, but it’s powerful.

Currently Reading: The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

I took a basic values inventory for class tonight and guess what? I am task oriented and achievement focused. Surprise, Surprise.

Or not.

It’s not a stretch to say that tasks have consumed my entire adult life. In my work and at home I will often lose myself in a task, so much so that I will avoid getting up for anything – even food – until I complete what’s in front of me. Last night I didn’t eat until 9pm. Why? I had to finish what I was doing. It’s 9 right now and I still haven’t eaten. It’s bad, and it’s been worse. Just ask my wife…if it weren’t for her I would go many nights without food.

Finishing something translates into achieving something so I’m not surprised that was a value as well. One of the questions in the analysis asked whether I was more concerned with accomplishment than holding a certain position or title. Easy. I will always take an achievement over a title or position and sometimes am frustrated with those who worry about titles more so than getting the job done.

But there’s where I learned something. Not that achievement and task orientation are things I value highly, but that they are just…values.

Values are personal, and perhaps more importantly, variable. Not everybody shares the same values and is it not better for me to come to this realization than to assume my values are common laws that everyone should follow? I am not sure why that is suddenly clear, but in taking the analysis I knew that each person would have different results. I also knew that my results reflected values that are important to me, and if they are important to me than they are important to others. Perhaps understanding that is the first step to full acceptance of others as they are, even if the step is a small one. At least it’s in the right direction.

I’m sure I’ll write here again. Someday. Right now my focus is on other things. Like starting the New Year off a little less narcissistic. (Sooner or later you realize your opinion doesn’t matter. Maybe it comes when you hit 30, I do in two weeks.)

I’m also reading more. I’ve finished a number of books lately including Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, which I strongly recommend. Other than that I’m studying, enjoying life away from the web, and concentrating on beating my siblings and wife at Words with Friends. These things are important.

Currently Reading: Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan

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Currently Reading: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

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The top 5 of my Top 25 songs. To find out more about the list, start at the beginning.

5. Death Cab For Cutie – Transatlanticism | Album: Transatlanticism
I listened to this constantly when I lived in Tokyo, Japan. It’s one of those songs that got me through a rough period in life. Not because of the words or the meaning or what not, just because it was so good at a time when music was my life.

4. Pearl Jam – Black | Album: Ten
Pearl Jam is another band that could be all over this list if I allowed it, specifically any song off of Ten. Black is my favorite Pearl Jam song, the lyrics and raw emotion in Eddie Vedder’s voice are hard not to like.

3. Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah | Album: Grace
I know this song is a cover – I believe the only one of the list, but it’s the best cover version of the song by Leonard Cohen. It’s way more popular than the original. There are not many songs I would label as “beautiful”, but this song truly is.

2. The Beach Boys – Good Vibrations | Album: Smiley Smile
These last two songs are a toss up. They’re both equal in my eyes. Good Vibrations is a song that just has that sound that gives me goosebumps. The melodies and harmonies of the Beach Boys are the best recorded in my opinion, and this song showcases the group at their best.

1. Led Zeppelin – That’s the Way | Album: Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin is my favorite band and many of their songs could have ended up here. I chose That’s the Way because it was the first song by Led Zeppelin that I fell in love with. The album III isn’t appreciated enough, which is sad because it has some of their best music.