Thought Quotient

I’ve been emailing an atheist friend of mine lately. It’s been a very fruitful experience. It’s given me a chance to better understand what he believes (or doesn’t believe) and it’s given him a chance to take another look at what scripture has to say.

I think I tend to view atheists as reactionary, and unreasonable. I am finding that some of them are not that way at all. They can be very analytical and very logical in their thinking. Having said that, I wonder why they don’t appreciate this verse where God invites us to come to Him and reason with Him…

Isaiah 1:18
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“When you are arguing against Him [God] you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch you are sitting on.” C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity

Note: I saw that in a Tom & Jerry cartoon once. It looked painful. I wouldn’t advise it.

More reminders of man’s sin problem. In the news today…

World Leaders Mark Auschwitz Liberation

In Poland, where leaders from 30 countries gathered to remember the victims of the Holocaust, Vice President Dick Cheney noted that it did not happen in some far-off place but “in the heart of the civilized world.”

“The story of the camps shows that evil is real and must be called by its name and must be confronted,” he said.

1/29 Update: Note the priorities of the American media in the following story…
Cheney’s Auschwitz outfit raises eyebrows
They are worried about what outfit Cheney wore!

Yesterday, Chuck Colson brought us this disturbing story of human predators in the tsunami ravaged areas…

The Evil that Men Do - A New Perspective on an Old Question

Washington Post reporter DeNeen L. Brown adds, “Those who have long worked in disaster zones say human predators are part of a pattern. The natural disaster strikes, people die, people mourn, compassion and aid roll in - and so do the predators.” …

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My current favorite song is on the latest Phillips, Craig and Dean album. The lyrics are simply the Gospel…simply the truth. Joined by Christy Nockels of Watermark on the vocals, this song (and album) is definitely worth checking out.

Mighty is the power of the Cross

What can take a dying man
And raise him up to life again
What can heal the wounded soul
What can make us white as snow
What can fill the emptiness
What can mend our brokenness

Mighty
Awesome
Wonderful
Is the Holy Cross
Where the Lamb laid down His life
To lift us from the fall
Mighty is the power of the Cross
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Okay… I wanted to post this Friday, but things just didn’t work out.

Wax - FREE Video Editing/Compositing Software

In case you hadn’t noticed… “Video Killed the Radio Star”. Well, if it didn’t kill them, it definitely wounded them. The market on digital camcorders and home video production software is crazy. But it’s definitely not an inexpensive hobby. I recently bought a nice new digital camcorder under the guise of using it for our soon-to-be new baby and it cost me just under $450 dollars with shipping and handling. (Canon’s new Elura 65 is a sweet deal for amateur video makers by the way. Microphone in, 1.2 mb ccd for crystal clear video.)

Now… that’s all well and good, but then you have to factor in the cost of all the other stuff you need to really do video editing: video tapes (mini dv 8 pack is just under $30 at Sam’s Club), head cleaner, backup battery, DVD+R drive for burning videos to disc, tripod, video capture hardware, etc. And of course, Video Editing Software.

Fortunately… Debug Mode has been nice enough to provide Wax video editing software for FREE! And it’s actually pretty good at what it does. It even offers compositing for special effects - a nice addition for a free product - including 3D effect compositing.

Pros: free video editing with compositing! (that’s pretty amazing in itself) and you can even use it as a plug-in to other NLE video editing software like Vegas, Adobe, etc.

Cons: I couldn’t find any capture utility, AVI encoding is not as clear as - say Pinnacle Studio’s AVI encoder, user interface is not the most intuitive.

Still… it’s FREE! And it actually does a pretty good job. Of course, there’s no customer support. But then, I use Pinnacle Studio Plus and their support is pretty much non-existent too. So, you’re not losing much.

Today marks the 32nd anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision. Instead of talking about politics, I’ll just post the lyrics of a song that Kathy Troccoli did several years ago on an album entitled “Love and Mercy“…

I can hear her talking with a friend
I think it’s all about me
Oh how she can’t have a baby now
My mommy doesn’t see
That I feel her breathe, I know her voice
Her blood, it flows through my heart
God you know my greatest wish is that
We’d never be apart

But if I should die before I wake
I pray her soul you’ll keep
Forgive her Lord, She doesn’t know
That You gave life to me
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