Meet the weird neighbors

Somebody was throwing away a tile cutting saw, still in the box. It had been used, but probably only once. There were cut tile pieces next to it, so I'm thinking that maybe a guy had some tile work he wanted to do, bought a cheap Harbor Freight saw. Used it for the work, then threw it away. I took it home, and Saturday afternoon, tried cutting some rocks with it; as a with-kids project. I already had the rocks; I was saving them because I really like the way metamorphic rocks look. I study their appearance because I want to be able to reproduce that layered look quickly and easily with paint. 

 As it turns out, The cut edges show the layers in a very nice way. Here are a couple pictures of the results. Most of these rocks have a spray clear coat on them, to make the patterns show more.

I'm working in someone else's shop for awhile, while I finish a large project. I prefer to have no radio, music, or other sound playing while I work; because I'm trying to develop what I call “mind time”, where I think of constructive or worthwhile things while doing repetitive work. The results of this practice in the last couple of weeks have been very satisfying. I'm experimenting with new painting and metal preservation methods, getting great results, and documenting the results with a Nikon camera, while mentally rehearsing the copy for accompanying web pages. I hope to start making these web pages at donahuesignarts.com
Anyway, the other day a contractor at the other end of the shop had music playing all day. I've prayed about other people's music before, and seen what I thought was God's intervention. This time, a wicked Rod Steward song came on, but I realized that I should be praying that the message in the song was of no effect, as it was broadcast over the Knoxville area. So I kept praying that way, while some songs were playing. It felt like very worthwhile praying.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When political, economic, or other problems occur, the first cause is usually sin and disregard of God. However, another usual suspect way back in the chain reaction is government interference. So...if no one has yet done it, I want to coin a phrase: A little government goes a long way. It's sort of like that saying that is attributed to Abraham Lincoln:“This too shall pass”;in that it's dual purpose. You see, liberals will warmly embrace it because they love government, and wish for even more to go even farther. Conservatives will snicker.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I've heard creationists and intelligent design people talk about the careful position of the Earth in the Solar system and the fine tuning of the universe; which all makes sense. One thing I don't remember anyone talking about is temperature ranges in everyday life. I'm talking about the narrow range of temperature that many processes work in.
In order to define narrow here, I'll look at some extremes: minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, and millions of degrees Fahrenheit. The cold temperature is attempted in a lab, the high temperature is achieved in an atom bomb. In my everyday life, the extremes are a lot less: the dry ice a mechanic was using to shrink a large steel pin, so it would fit in a press-fit hole. The high end is in my coal forge, where I can turn steel (which melts at about 2850 degrees f) to liquid.
I work with my hands more than most people, and the variety of materials I use is also more. Vinyl paint mask is a vinyl film that is adhesive on one side. It allows a computer controlled machine to make a very precise one use stencil. This stuff works great at 80 degrees f, sorta OK at 60, and rather annoying at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil base paint changes a lot between 40 and 65. Think about butter, molasses, and motor oil. See how long one of the new florescent light bulbs takes to work on the porch in winter. Your refrigerator works at a little over freezing, probably? Look how fast food taken out and left on a 60 degree counter would spoil. Look at how much hotter a running horse or dog gets when it's 80 degrees outside, instead of 45. To you and I, that 35 degree difference feels like a lot, but compare it to the other temperature ranges in the world.

I don't want to make a posting about
Calvinism, but do want to make a comparison. One of the more
interesting statements I've heard in defense of Calvinism is that
very few Christians believe in universal atonement; most all believe
in limited atonement. The difference is in who and what determines
the limitation.

A few people I know believe that
marriage is a one-time shot, if you are separated from your spouse,
you're to remain single till that person dies or reconciles with you.
I'm not yet ready to confirm their position, but I do think their
evidence is persuasive. These days, I think the most common church
position is that the “exception clause” allows for divorce and
remarriage. And my, how dogmatic people are when making known the
full range of meanings included in the one Greek word. It's getting
to the point that the word will cover what you want it to. I heard a
well known “Christian psychologist” say that a man hitting his
wife was in violation of the vows; therefore it was the same as
adultery, and perfectly legitimate grounds for divorce (and
remarriage, of course).

But suppose that there are some
churches still holding to the idea that adultery is the only grounds
for divorce. Do they ever question couples arriving at their church
as to why they were divorced from their spouse? What church does
that? Isn't this de facto unlimited divorce?

Oh, we don't want to hurt anybody, we
don't want to break up a family. I understand, that's the very reason
I'm moving carefully on this doctrine. As my sister in law pointed
out though, a lot of people have no problem counseling a couple in
their first marriage to divorce and break up the family.

If a church was to deny full
membership to a remarried couple; how many of these couples do you
suppose would thereby be persuaded to end their marriage? Probably
every last one would simply find a church where they're accepted.

To reiterate: A church that says there
is limited acceptable grounds for divorce, but does not enforce this
position, joins the ranks of those who hold to unlimited divorce and
remarriage.