Distracted

Well, I figured that it has been long enough since I last posted on here. It has now been a little under a year and I always think of this blog when I think about wanting to share my learnings of the day. I thought that the title of this post was fitting because it is the same as my last post and it is also what I feel like at the moment.

I have started to dive in, more seriously this time, to Game of Life. For those of you that don't know what this is, it is my pet project. As a summary to what the game is, it is like playing the board game Life with real people. Each year a student starts off setting up their life, and then as the years go by they try to become as prosperous as possible while having fun with their friends. It started off as a game that I played as part of a youth group growing up, then as I transitioned out of that life stage I began helping to staff the game, and finally I decided that the game would be better with a computer driving the back end of the game.

For that reason I decided to build the game using Ruby on Rails a language that I was and still am infatuated with because it is so inventive and fun. It truly is like crack for programmers. Anything that causes me to say, "I can't believe that I'm doing this again..." I find that Ruby and Rails has already addressed or solved for me.

Traditionally, this game is played at a church in La Canada in the Fall, so between those times I either forget about it completely, or try to make major overhauls in the structure. For this year, I decided that I was done with Rails 2.1.0 (the current version when I originally started). It was time to finally updated to the new version Rails 3.0.

I have found this to be a complicated, but intriguing migration. Coming from a Java background I initially threw caution to the wind and installed the 3.0 gem and figured that I would debug the issues as they showed up. However, Rails was never conceived with backwards compatibility in mind. They do keep a moderate amount of backwards compatibility, however, my application wouldn't have even worked on Rails 2.2 let alone 3.0. Needless to say, it didn't even function after the upgrade. I couldn't even really find a distinctive error to tell me what to change.

So then I decided to see what other people were doing and found that there is really quite a process to upgrading Rails. Every minor revision causes about 20% of Rails to change completely from what it was a minor revision before. Needless to say you need to approach it one minor revision at a time to have a hope of making it to the most current version.

So over the last couple of months (you can see how dedicated I am) I have been tackling it one minor revision at a time. First from 2.1.0 to 2.2, then 2.2 to 2.3, and now finally I'm tackling 2.3 to 3.0. I have been tracking the whole process here: http://www.shadowslab.com/wiki/display/GOL/Home if anyone is interested. Not much there yet, but I hope to begin using it more as I invest in this.

However, the guides that the kind people that make Rails put out are a cornucopia of links. I start in on one with the intention of learning about the release and find myself waist deep in amazing articles about not only Rails but amazing programming concepts. It is like having all of the Wikipedia content that I care about centralized on one page.

I can't resist finding out a little more about a new programming paradigm that they have implemented so I click the link and find myself a developer's blog post. From there he links off to the concept that started the paradigm and I find myself in the land of theory and it just goes from there. All of the sudden Firefox is filled with so many tabs that I'm starting to scroll on the tab bar to get back to where I was.

So tonight I started reading through the 3.0 release of Rails, then find a piece about how they are switching to Arel for all of the Active Record query generation, click the link which talks about what prompted Nick Kallen decided to create Arel, midway through reading about that he starts talking about how it is based on relational algebra which intrigues me for a bit, but finally I end up going for the article about closure under composition.

The example that he shows is pretty intriguing so I decide to learn more about it and end up at the online copy of the book that he raves about Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. Since I am a procedural programming type of guy I'm always intrigued by books about Lamda Calculus based languages or functional languages. Anyway, this book ties me up for the rest of the night.

I find myself at the end of the day wishing that I had another couple of hours to read through all of this, and only at step 3.5 of the Rails migration out of a total of 13 steps, but a lot more informed. I always get excited to find new and innovative thinkers in software engineering.

We'll see how far I get this weekend.

Distracted

A quote from Maggie Jackson's book "Distracted" warning us about the consequences of indulging an overly technological lifestyle:

Consciously doing all we can to free ourselves from the last boundaries of space and time, we are ultimately trading our cultural and societal anchors for an age of glorious freedom, technological innovation - and darkness. As our attentional skills are squandered, we are plunging into a culture of mistrust, skimming, and a dehumanizing merging between man and machine. As we cultivate lives of distraction, we are losing our capacity to create and preserve wisdom and slipping toward a time of ignorance that is paradoxically born amid an abundance of information and connectivity. Our tools transport us, our inventions are impressive, but our sense of perspective and shared vision shrivel.

Intention

In my reading of Renovation of the Heart today, Dallas Willard talked about the steps to begin renovation. Mainly, that affecting a true change in the depths of our heart involves more than just simply wanting transformation. There needs to be a clear vision of what the outcome of a change would look like, a firm intention to make the change, and a lot of work to provide the means for the change. He put this together in the acronym VIM:

• Vision
• Intention
• Means

But about intention specifically, he says:

Concretely, we intend to live in the kingdom of God by intending to obey the precise example and teachings of Jesus. This is the form that trust in him takes. It does not take the form of merely believing things about him, however true they may be. Indeed no one can actually believe the truth about him without trusting him by indending to obey him.
~Dallas Willard, pg. 87

I think this is where a lot of misunderstandings about faith come into the Christian church and into our lives. Many Christians come to describe faith as merely the belief that what God says is true. And thus salvation and the Christian life are just the belief that Christ died for my sins. But if all that comes from this is just a mental note or an inward agreement that it sounds right, then that is not true belief (James 2:18-19).

True belief as Willard points out is trust in what God is saying is true, and then from that actual trust comes the outflow of true intent founded upon the gripping vision of God's kingdom (the vision of a world where what God willed would be done without compromise). These two, when honestly put together, will not be able to help, but to pour out physical obedience to God in the form of Christ-likeness.

The difference between the "belief" and "faith" promenant in Christian culture and this type of belief is radical. It nullifies the debates between faith and works, because there was never meant to be a difference. True faith will spawn the works that signify a Kingdom minded person.

Grace

For my devotion this morning I was reading through Renovation of the Heart and I found this quote:

The transformation of the inner being is as much or more a gift of grace as is our justification before God. Of course neither one is wholly passive. (To be forever lost you need only do nothing. Just stay your course.) But with reference to both justification and transformation, "boasting is excluded" by the law of grace through faith (Romans 3:27-31; Ephesians 2:1-10). In fact, we consume the most grace by leading a holy life, in which we must be comnstantly upheld by grace, not by continuing to sin and being repeatedly forgiven. The interpretation of grace as having only to do with guilt is utterly false to biblical teaching and renders spiritual life in Christ unintelligible.
~Dallas Willard, pg. 82

What an amazing concept and one that I, at least, had never before thought about. The fact that we need grace from God constantly is taken as a matter of course by most Christians, but in why we need it is almost always seen only in the light of forgiveness for sin. Is it easier to resist temptation and push off sin or to ask for forgiveness after having given in? Could someone ever say that they resisted temptation without the grace of God?

The idea that grace from God is only given when one is asking for forgiveness from sin is a lie, and can do a lot more damage than we realize at first. Christians can get into the practice of remembering their need for God's grace only through committing sin and the process of forgiveness that it starts. The fact that it is only through God's initiative and continuing grace that we are anything but depraved is something that we should remind ourselves constantly so that we do not take anything for granted, but are continually thankful and humble in the remainder of our race.

Troubleshooting That Nasty Blue Screen

I ran across this web page yesterday and figured that I would share it around because buried in the middle there is the first good post for debugging blue screens that I've ever seen.

The basic directions extracted from that post are as follows:
Download Debugging Tools from Microsoft and use kd to analyse your minidumps
1) Create folder c:\symbols
2) Download and install the http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.mspx
3) Locate your latest memory.dmp file- C:\WINDOWS\ Minidump\Mini011005-01.dmp or whatever
4) open a CMD prompt and cd\program files\debugging tools for windows\
5) type the following stuff:

Code:
c:\program files\debugging tools>kd -z C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini011005-01.dmp
kd> .logopen c:\debuglog.txt
kd> .sympath srv*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
kd> .reload;!analyze -v;r;kv;lmnt;.logclose;q

And it actually works.

Another Last Day

So as it turns out, yesterday wasn't our last day, today was our last day. We had the privilege of being able to return to the village where we had previously done worked with the kids. This time, we said a final farewell to all of the volunteers and translators in the village.

We originally went there with the intent of only seeing a few of the leaders of the community, but in the end, everyone showed up. It was good to see everyone there again, especially a guy named Okaesh. At 18 years of age, he was the youngest of the male volunteers. I'm so glad that he will be continuing with the kids after we leave. He was only there for two of the days that we were in the village, but his demeanor and comfort with the kids was obvious. Most amazing were his times of worship. When he led worship, there wasn't a single kid in the room who was sitting still.

But, back to the story. Today we were going back to the village to wash feet. I had been excited about this ever since Steph had shared her experience with it on her last trip two years ago. For those of you who aren't familiar, this comes from an incredibly deep and profound moment that Jesus shared with his disciples the night they took the first communion. In that act He modeled humility for his disciples and what it meant to be a servant and then commissioned them to go and serve others.

After singing a few praise songs and reading John 13:1 - 11 in both English and Hindi, a small sermon was given explaining the passage and its significance to the leaders, and then we proceeded to wash their feet. The moment was by far one of the most touching moments of the trip. To get to pray for and commission these people who were already such great servants was a blessing to both the washers and the washed alike. I know that none of us will forget it.

After that they gave us lunch, which was, as always, amazing. I never knew how good Indian food really was until I came and had it home made; we have been blessed by some truly amazing cooks! Then we said our goodbyes again, this time for the truly last time... On this trip at least. = )

Last Day

So this is the last day that we got to spend with the kids. Its crazy how much of a relationship you can develop even over the meager bit of time that we've gotten to spend with them. All of them were high-5'ing us and saying goodbye. There were tons of pictures taken, and hopefully a lot of the good ones will be posted on Steph's blog linked off to the right here.


Even with all of the parting ceremonies, today was still a really good day with them. It was very different from usual. Usually the day goes something like, we present two stories, sing 30 minutes worth of songs in English AND Hindi, and then play a couple of games with them. This time we presented one story and sang songs, but they did most of the entertaining.

They came up on stage and presented Bible verses and songs that they had memorized (complete with hand motions!), as well as performed a skit for us.

They did a classic skit about a man with a burden trying to find relief. First, he tried a palm reader, but at the end try as he might he was still left with the same burden. Then, he tried drinking it away with friends (don't worry, they used Coca-Cola), but still there was no help. Then he tried partying and dancing, but still nothing. Finally, some friends came and shared the gospel with him and relieved him of his burden.


I know I've shared this before, but the difference between the first day and the last has been amazing. After everything was said and done, they had an alter call and guided the kids through a prayer of salvation. In the next couple of weeks, after we are gone, they are going to continue to disciple the ones who want it.

Our host shared with us that they are going to continue this for the next couple of years if possible, because they see such amazing fruits from it each time.

One thing that I've noticed about being here, is that it doesn't seem like this is just a "mountain top" experience for these kids. These kids are serious and they really do long for the peace and love that is found in Christ. They show time and time again, through answers to questions and the way that they speak to us and others, that they remember what they have been taught. They seem to eat up each word that is spoken, each story that is shared.