The Oyster

January 27th, 2007

There once was an oyster whose story I tell,

Who found that sand had got under his shell;

Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain,

For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain.

Now, did he berate the working of Fate

Which had led him to such a deplorable state?

Did he curse out the Government, call for an election?

No; as he lay on the shelf, he said to himself,

“If I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it.”

So the years rolled by as the years always do,

And he came to his ultimate destiny—stew.

And this small grain of sand which had bothered him so,

Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow.

Now this tale has a moral—for isn’t it grand

What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand;

What couldn’t we do if we’d only begin

With all of the things that get under our skin.

Author Unknown

Mathew 25 – Doing Good

January 25th, 2007
Glass of Water35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

While reading this passage, I’ve realized something unique for myself. We see Jesus giving a parable to his disciples about the sheep and goats. After separating the two in groups, he says to the right, or the sheep, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father…”. And the in verses 35 and 36 he begins to list the reasons. All of the listed necessities are considered the basics for life. Food, water, shelter, clothing, health and fellowship are all the basics needs that humans have. Jesus pointed out to the ones on the right that they have done all of those things to Him.

No where does it list great accomplishments that we as people often consider, like being a pastor of a largest congregation, preaching the best sermons, or singing in the greatest church choirs. Jesus points out the basic necessities of humans and the need of others to fulfill them.

Another unique fact is that the sheep did not even realize that they did those things for Christ. It was a natural way of life for them, because such works flow naturally from the heart. There is no need to apply extra effort and display to others your charity. A true Christian displays such characteristics as something common and ordinary. It is clearly seen, that the Lord notices such works and takes everything into account.

We can find a great lesson in these two verses. God cares about what we do and how we do it. Ultimately the smallest works of charity and basic assistance to those who are in need of it carry with them a great consequence in God’s eyes.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Gal. 6:9

Using SCP with a stored rsa public key

January 4th, 2007

Using SCP with a stored password.

These instructions relate only to the root login. Some things can be changed to accommodate other user logins.

To store the password follow these commands:

run ssh-keygen -t rsa
Hit enter when asked for other information

id_rsa.pub has been created under your root directory: /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

id_rsa.pub is a public key that will need to be placed on every server that you want to have access to

Copy the contents of id_rsa.pub and append them to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the other machine(s).
Create the authorized_keys file if it does not exist.

Do a test with scp of a single file. It should not prompt you for a password. If the password is still requested, then something is missing.

Hidden Process command:

To run a hidden process just append & at the end of your command.

Example: scp -r myfolder root@192.168.1.1:/home/public &

This will start the process and copy the whole myfolder to the new location /home/public. The process will be hidden and only identified by a process id.

The Truth Suppliment

January 3rd, 2007

[VIDEO=2]

The following video clip was made by the youth from the Light of the Gospel, Russian Baptist Church, in Spokane, WA. www.lightofthegospel.com

Dr. Norman GeislerDr. Norman Geisler led a seminar “Truth About Truth”. What is truth? – that is the highest philosophical question. Those who deny truth must be sure that what they are saying is the truth. It is impossible to deny truth, because one needs to use it to prove that it does not exist. Truth is narrow and specific not vague and relative.

Dr. Ravi Zacharias said, that Jesus claimed to be the Truth. If that is false, then you have nothing to worry about, but if that statement is true, then you better find out what Jesus said while being on earth.

Listen to this intriguing seminar that will cause you to think and look differently at the concept of truth.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download

Mathew Chapter 2 – The Wise Men

January 3rd, 2007

Introduction

This year I have decided to start posting regularly as I read the Bible. I will predominately focus on the New Testament, though that is not set in stone. These are just my thoughts and questions that I had while reading the listed chapters. I hope that when God reveals the answers I would be able to update these posts to a more recent version.

Mathew Chapter 2

Wise MenMathew reveals an interesting detail in his Gospel about the so called Magi or wise men. I hope to study and see what others write about these individuals and where the suspect they are from. One explanation that I’ve found is that they are the decedents of the astronomers and astrologists from the days of Daniel. They kept Daniel’s revelations and instructions about the coming Messiah. Supposedly Daniel, while being a highly appointed ruler, gave instructions about the gifts that they would need to bring to this new born King. Studying the night skies, they were able to discern a phenomenon that clearly indicated the birth of the promised King.

I’ve seen animations of the supposed night sky during those times. One unique phenomenon was the alignment of a couple of planets in the Leo constellation. The lion constellation always indicated Judah, or the people of Israel. Comets have always indicated a bad omen and were always linked with the dark side. Meteors are also eliminated from the possibilities, since they are so short lived.

Only Mathew reveals the story of the wise men. He indicates that they came to Jerusalem to find the new-born King. At this point I have to ask a question that has always intrigued me. I’ve always heard that these men traveled a long distance from a far away land, that probably took them more than a year to arrive at the final destination. We know that Mary and Joseph where from Nazareth. The only reason that they came to Judea was because of the census (and possibly a religious holiday as well). Herod found out and commanded all the children, 2 years and younger, to be killed. I guess this is where most people get the numbers in terms of the time it took for the wise men to find Jesus. To me this does not make clear sense. None of the Gospel writers indicate that they stayed in Judea (Bethlehem) for an extended period of time.

The prophecy foretold that Jesus would live in Egypt for some time. Such was the case when the family ran from their location down to Egypt. If they had been in Nazareth, they would have had to run through Judea down to Egypt, but that is precisely where Herod gave the command to kill all the children 2 and under (Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof). I would not imagine Nazareth to be a “coast” of Bethlehem, because it is located in a totally different region of the country (Galilee). The slaying had to be local to the city of Bethlehem, which was the location the scribes and chief priests indicated to. Nazareth, therefore, was never in danger of being violated by Herod’s forces.

After living in Egypt for some time, the family was commanded by the Angel to return. Joseph was afraid to go back to Jerusalem or near by Bethlehem, therefore it was revealed to him to go back to Nazareth.

I find two possible explanations.

1. The wise men came soon after Jesus’ birth, before they had time to return back to Nazareth.
2. The family decided to make Bethlehem and the regeion of Judea their new home for a while.

My conclusion is that the arrival of the wise men occurred soon after Jesus’ birth. They didn’t come years after the birth or even many months. I’m lead to believe that they came right in the nick of time to find the new born Jesus and provide the gifts that would serve as a financial base for the years in Egypt. God always has a better plan and reveals it right at the last moment. I’d like to see if someone has a better explanation.

DK

A case for Creation Science

December 28th, 2006

Dr. GishAs some of you have noticed, several weeks ago, we had an interesting gentleman in our area. His name was Dr. Duane T. Gish. To some, that name means nothing, but to others it a strong reminder of the colliding views in the scientific field. Dr. Gish is a Creation Scientist. He has spent his life in the field of microbiology working for the well known institutions such as Cornell University Medical College and the Virus Laboratory at Berkeley. In my opinion, as many will agree, his greatest contributes to the field of science came in the form of debates and discussion with some of the greatest evolutionary scholars. Dr. Gish has defended the creationists view since the 1970’s in 300 or so formal debates. He helped establish the Institute for Creation Research, which is now a fully accredited graduate school.

It takes faith and great courage to stand for what you believe, especially when it has to be done in a structured manner in front of hundreds of people. This is what Dr. Gish has been doing through out his life.

I’m not a scientist or have any scientific merit on the subject of biology, paleontology, or the theories of Darwin. I am, however, well informed and have interest in such subjects and matter. I believe the Bible and the story of Creation. Man and everything living has been created by an Intelligent Creator. We, as Christians, call him God.

This was the second time in my life that I got to hear Dr. Gish speak. The first occasion was a number of years back when he had a debate with one of the local professors from James Madison University at the local high school (Turner Ashby High School, Bridgewater, Vriginia). I remember that Dr. Gish focused precisely on the facts from science and the way that they are being explained through the methods of evolution. He explained that there is not even a slightest possibility of chance in some of the complex creations that we see everyday. I also remember the professor who defended evolution. His incoherent speech about everything else beside evolution, proved to me that evolution cannot stand against the facts of creation. Evolution may be exemplified in its own circles but it crumbles under the truth of Creation.

Dr. Gish and I after his speech

The last time I’ve seen Dr. Gish speak was at a local church on October, 12 2005, where he once again presented vivid examples of creation that overweigh anything to do with evolution.Evolution teaches that what we see around us is a result of genetic “mistakes” or mutations that happened over very long time periods. The “good mistakes” ultimately survived and transformed into more complex features and creatures. Dr. Gish has said that in most cases every mutation is bad and very rarely is there a good mutation. Dr. Gish explained that our educational system continues to support evolution as fact, at the same time not allowing any form of Creationist’s teaching. Science has no answers to some of life’s amazing transformations. Take for example the Monarch butterfly. It is a process of changing from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly that we call metamorphosis. The Monarch butterfly is a complex creature in the fact that it spends the winter in the same place in Mexico every year. For some of the Monarch butterflies that is a journey of more than 2000 miles. It is a fascinating process that transforms the Monarch butterfly from a caterpillar into what we know as the butterfly. The caterpillar suspends itself from a branch and turns into a chrysalis. This structure hardens and inside the green gel material becomes a beautiful Monarch butterfly.Dr. Gish has uses this example in practically every occasion. One time he was debating an evolutionist and asked him a question about the Monarch butterfly. The evolution professor had no clue, but pointed out that in the audience was a biologist that has spent his life studying butterflies. In all his studying, the professor had no explanation of how the transformation took place. Evolutionists, not able to explain the evolution of a butterfly, have come to a conclusion that it must have occurred the other way around. The butterfly turned into a caterpillar.

When speaking about the fossil record, Dr. Gish pointed out to the missing transitional forms. There are many fossils found in a layer of rock called Cambrian Rock. Logically, evolutionists explain that creatures changed from one form to a more complex form. That would mean that the pre-Cambrian rocks should contain transitional creatures – some form that looks similar to what is found in the Cambrian strata. Unfortunately, for the evolutionists, that is not the case. There are no transitional forms of fish, for example, that are found in the pre-Cambrian rocks. Every creature is found to be fully formed.

When the fossils start to focus on man, then there is even more controversy. The Australopithecines, which claimed by many evolutionists to be a missing links between humans and apes, in some cases were revealed as frauds. Many evolutionists continue to put a strong case on pieces of bones and skull and claiming that it is that form of ape that transformed into a human.

Personally, after hearing and reading some of the material, I would totally reject all these Australopithecines as being either fraud, ape or just human. There are many forms of people in the world, some are short some are tall. Some have ailments that cause them to be crippled. Sure, you can dig up some bones and find an ape skull, slap that together, and there you have a missing link. As Dr. Gish said,”there is no science involved in that”.

Ultimately both Creation and Evolution is a theory as based on the scientific method. Using science, it is impossible to prove one or the other case, since science involves experimentation. How can one experiment with Evolution or Creation? However, one can make a very educated and informed decision after examining the facts. Evolution teaches that nothing produced everything, while Creationists uphold the Word of the Bible. Creation makes more sense than the confused ramblings of evolution scientists. I would rather take it by faith that God created than involve my faith in believing in “nothing” that exploded, transformed, mutated, and formed what we see now.

The Bible is a proved document that has lasted thousands of years. It describes a loving, magnificent Creator who created everything for a purpose. There will always be people that do not want God to be part of their life. There are many people that are against Dr. Gish and what he does. They want to put him in a bad light by pointing out that he mixed the facts or used improper quotations. Such critics avoid the actual facts at stake – how can evolution explain something simple as a Monarch butterfly?

May God bless Dr. Gish an all of his work that he has accomplished. There are not many of those Creation Scientist that are able to show this world the myth of evolution. I am fortunate to have met such a man.

“I believe that one day the Darwinian myth will be ranked the greatest deceit in the history of science. When this happens, many people will pose the question, “How did this ever happen?” (Dr. Sorren Luthrip, Swedish Embryologist)

-DK-

Intelligent Life in the Cosmos

December 27th, 2006

[inspic=96,left,fullscreen,thumb] When we talk about life on other planets, we often infer organisms similar to ourselves. The scientific world is in constant search for “intelligent” life in the cosmos. All the efforts, time and money are invested to prove the fact that life evolved. If life evolved by chance, then there is a likely possibility of life existing in comparable conditions on other planets.

We as Christians believe in the fact that God created everything seen and unseen. I personally do not see how God would create anything that would make others doubt Him. Any form of life on other planets would create a lot of doubt in people. Imagine finding living organisms on Mars. This would indicate to many scientists that life did evolve from small organisms and the proof has been found. Such discoveries, I think, will be a strong foundation for the evolutionists.

God has a purpose for everything. He created the earth in a unique way. We can be sure that there is no other place like it. He has placed His creation in a place where it can honor Him. Man is the ultimate creation of God.

The Bible is the truth because it proclaims about Him who is Truth. Jesus Christ came into this world to redeem man from sin. There is only ONE Jesus Christ and He has come only ONE time (so far) to the place where intelligent life exists.

But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him. 1 Cor. 8:6

I as a Christian do not believe in existence of any other form of living creatures somewhere out there in the cosmos besides earth. The Bible does not explicitly negate the fact of other organisms existing on other planets, but it sure makes it convincing argument that man is the only intelligent creation in the whole universe with a domicile on planet earth.

Slideshow: Kids

December 4th, 2006


I’ve finally decided to update the blog. Recently I purchased a MacBook and got back into Macintoshes. When I say “got back”, I mean that I left the Mac world some time in the mid 90’s. This slide show is of my 2 children, Abby (Abigail) and Vika (Victoria).

FlyBoys v1.0

August 29th, 2006

RC Airplanes

When we began flying this year, our total numbers were twice the size. Half of the planes have been destroyed in crashes. Everyone experienced some sort of a crash. Some have been major – without hope of rebuilding, while others were mild. The two planes featured are the J-3 Cub by Great Planes and the SIG Kadet Senior (Modified with ailerons). The Kadet Senior has had a recent facelift which included a repair process of the wing support area and new covering of the body. It now features a .61 Tower Hobbies engine instead of the OS 40 that powered it previously.

Airshow 2006 – Andrews AFB

June 22nd, 2006

Airshow 2006

A couple of my friends and I visited the annual DoD open house at Andrews AFB. This wasn’t my first time there and I’ve seen some of the participants before. I think that things were tuned down a bit this year. I’m not sure if this was the first year that they did this, but we had to park at the FedEx field (Redskins stadium) and shuttle-bused to the base. The show lacked some participants and was “ok” for first timers. The highlight, as usual, was the appearance of Blue Angels. There were also the Canadian Snowbirds that did some nice formation flying.