Tuesday, January 27, 2009

IceBreaker

Mr. (or Madam) Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen. My name for those who don't remember is David Dykstra. It is a great privilege today to speak a little about myself. I pray that this speech will edify you, and I hope that you will evaluate me honestly, by giving me lots of suggestions for how to improve.
There's a tip I'd like to give you to help you remember my name. If you ever forget who I am and can only think of the "tall" guy, it's ok don't panic. One of my friends has told me that to him I'm both David and Goliath.
While I thought about what aspects of myself to share in this speech, I considered numerous possibilities, including but not limited to my birth in a blizzard, my former occupation in a hog confinement, and time I punched my sister over a UNO game. All this these juicy topics and more have been forgone, and in their place has been substituted something hopefully alittle more substantial, my life's purpose.
Now I don't care what our Toastmaster booklet says, but the Icebreaker is not really an easy speech for me. I can assure you, that while an Icebreaker can be relatively simple for someone to compile, and even though they know the topic better than any other human, it is not what I call easy. The reason for this is that in the Icebreaker, I have to make my life and what I see as important in life, interesting to others. Since I save all the speeches I give, I was able to dig into the past to find my first speech ever. It too was an Icebreaker given at another homeschool Toastmasters. Talk about too much boring information. Have you ever read a birth certificate or an obituary? That is probably what my first speech sounded like. Oh and I even brought my birth certificate along to read out loud, just so you could get a feel for what I mean. Name: David Lee Dykstra, Date of Birth: November 1, 1991, Sex: Male, Well I don't think that was included in my first Icebreaker speech... I could go on... Who's interested in hearing my birthplace? Do you really want me to list all my siblings, their names and ages? Will you even remember a thing I've said about myself?... I think you get the picture. As near and dear the nitty gritty details of my life may be to me,in reality, it is tough for others who don't know me to listen or relate. Partially this maybe due to the uninterest of the audience, but a large chunk is due directly to the insignificance of the subject matter which can be presented in present-oriented type way. For example if I were to give an Icebreaker, on my dream career, or dream retirement, it is likely that 50 years from now, the majority of the people in this room would not remember my speech. In addition they would probably not even remember me. 100 years from now, it is probable that only my children and grandchildren will remember me. After the last of my grandchildren have died, the life I lived will have been all but lost. The friends I had, gone. The hot geo metro I drove, the memory disappeared. Even the house I lived in and my hometown, will either be completely changed or demolished. Most likely even those descended from me will have no clue to the details of my life and many of them will not even remember my name. Think about it, how many of you know who all eight of your great-grandparents are? Much less your 16 great-great grandparents? My point is, in the perspective of eternity, the present is drastically over rated. Am I saying that my life, the things I've done, and my goals in life are meaningless? Actually, yes!... If. If I live my life, and base my actions on present-oriented prioritys it is a worthless life from an eternal perspective. Let's listen to a man who experienced this purposelessness first hand.
Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes relates to us the futility of a life lived for oneself. He eloquently ends the book in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

"Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil."

The world will forget me, my life, and my work, but there is another who does not forget, nor leave a life unjudged. Now, I'm not a good model of my motto, but here it is "Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last."
Fittingly enough, the author of that phrase is unknown.
Mr. (or Madam) Toastmaster

Monday, January 26, 2009

"Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators" (a review)

"Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators" (written by David Chilton) is the best concise book I've read on the subject of Christian giving and Economics. Indeed medium length, easy-to-read book gives such a diverse analysis of Christian economics as to address tithing, the Jubilee, and National economic policies.
This excellent work of writing was started as a rebuttal to the theology of Ron Sider's book "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger." "Rich Christians" recommends "Christian" socialism, and goes so far as to advise pooling all the world's resources and wealth and then dividing it "equally." Chilton is so good about actually quoting Sider that it isn't necessary for the reader to be familiar to Sider's work. Chilton plows right throw Sider's advised policies and socialist ideals, shedding light on the fact that Sider's work is not just recommending "alternate" economic policies, but is supporting a blatantly ungodly, unscriptural, and thus immoral Communistic type policies. Chilton shows Sider's lies, his inconsistentsy, and his twisting of the truth. But Chilton doesn't just curse the darkness, he outlines solid scriptural, and thus sound economic policies and practices. These include Biblical principles for charity, slavery, and loans.
All in all, if your worldview is lacking in regards to Biblical Economics (and Stewardship) or in how to refute the opposite, I recommend you read, "Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators."

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Hi there! I have created this blog to talk about less serious matters than my other blog. (But don't worry its not like that blog is my religious blog and this one is secular. For after all one's worldview influences all of their life.)