http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en runalong@mac.com Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:01:56 -0700 Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:02:06 -0700 iBlog 1.4.6 Mark Swanson runalong with pastor mark "Rev" it up, boys & girls, the faster pastor from the county of Shasta brings you RUNALONG: An eclectic, humorous & inspirational E-zine served up fresh daily by the world's only ultrarunning pastor! Mark Swanson runalong@mac.com runalong with pastor mark Arts & Entertainment http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C552796228/E20070410103306/index.html So far I'm liking what I'm seeing. For the present I'll be adding new posts to my Rapid Weaver site. I might change the URL so don't link directly to it yet. I haven't yet pulled the trigger and bought the full version, but if I do I'll start figuring out how to update my links, etc. For now I've added a few new posts - here . And best of all kids... it's commentable!

Update: I just learned how to embed Hope2CUSunday videos in my new blog - pretty cool- check it out here . ]]> Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:33:06 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C552796228/E20070410103306/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C552796228/E20070409221031/index.html Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:10:31 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C552796228/E20070409221031/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1784233261/E20070409120834/index.html So first a lot of skeptics were wondering if global warming was real or if it was man-made or simply normal variations. Most of them seem to have come around.

Now the skeptics are asking if global warming is really such a bad thing. This article seems to raise some good questions.

Here's my question. Morally and ethically is it better to silence the skeptics and rally around the consensus or is that just lemming-like groupthink?

Or is it better to encourage the skeptics and contrarians lest we rush headlong into a cure that may prove to be worse than the disease?

When is it wrong to oppose a widespread consensus and when is it commendable or prophetic to do so?

I don't know either.

But I do know that with globular de-cooling either choice (if wrong) could lead to dire consequences for billions of people.

Not choosing doesn't seem to be a good option either.

And yes, "globular" is a perfectly legitimate synonym for "global". Even if it doesn't have quite the same ring. ]]> Mon, 09 Apr 2007 12:08:34 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1784233261/E20070409120834/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1906075509/E20070409115745/index.html Here we go again. Mrs. Runalong made out a shopping list for the grocery store and then left it on the bed. She does something like that several times a month. (So do I, but that really isn't relevant here, so why are you even bringing it up?).

What was I saying?

Oh yeah. Anyway, she called me from the store to see if she had missed anything on the list while shopping from memory (haha!).

She hadn't. All 25 items present and accounted for.

My wife has an amazing memory!

When she remembers to use it. ]]> Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:57:45 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1906075509/E20070409115745/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1769191645/E20070406113757/index.html This is how I answered the last time I was asked that question:

The evangelical view of salvation, which is basically what the Reformation was all about (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, et al seeking to return to the earlier views of Augustine, Paul, et al after the medeival RCC made salvation works-based in order to control people): is that salvation is entirely a work of God, received by sinners as a free gift of God's grace and cannot be earned or deserved in any way.  Jesus paid for our sins on the cross (the atonement) and salvation is free to all who trust in His person and His work.   Once we are justified (a once-for-all-time event), i.e., our debt incurred by our sins against God is declared paid by Jesus, we cannot lose our salvation.  

To reiterate what I wrote before: our life as Christians is not meant to be a worrisome, "I wonder if I'm being good enough and doing enough to please God enough to let me in" (which presumably would be followed - after death- by "Hey look, we made it, we're the good people", resulting in a heaven full of at least semi-self-righteous people); but rather- "I don't and didn't deserve salvation any more than anyone else but Jesus paid for my sins and I've been adopted into God's family by grace and nothing I can do will ever cause me to be rejected"  This security leads to a life of gratitude, peace, joy and growing freedom from self-interest (no longer having to obsess over our own eternal prospects we can focus on serving others).   If you never quite know if God has accepted you there will also be a hesitancy to be grateful (hard to be grateful for something you don't know if you have), and a certain lack of peace and joy for the same reason.

And, as I hinted earlier, the whole theology is wonderfully spelled out in the hymn "Amazing Grace" by former slave-trader John Newton.

Scriptures which encourage believers to rest in the security of knowing they are fully and eternally accepted by God include (among many others):

(click here for references)

In that last reference the Greek word translated "know" (oida) refers to a settled, certain knowledge. ]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:37:57 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1769191645/E20070406113757/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C259003902/E20070405225556/index.html It's the third most oft-sung song in the US but when it was written it wasn't even the writer's top seller (Shine On, Harvest Moon). Mark Steyn has lots more of interesting background on the song that's gone on to sell a brazillian boxes of Cracker Jack. ]]> Thu, 05 Apr 2007 22:55:56 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C259003902/E20070405225556/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1123883927/E20070405210833/index.html Thu, 05 Apr 2007 21:08:33 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1123883927/E20070405210833/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1906075509/E20070403195019/index.html Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:50:19 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1906075509/E20070403195019/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1976361149/E20070403192034/index.html I apologize for the lack of blogging, I spent about 5 hours Friday and Monday evening trying to troubleshoot and fix Runalong but, as you can see, to no avail. I even downloaded and tried the iBlog beta update version 2.0 and it had the same problem. I've played with rebuilding my blog and with iDisk and everything I could think of and am pretty much out of ideas. And the "support" at iBlog doesn't answer my emails. I don't think iWeb is going to work for me and I'm not crazy about switching to Blogger but I'm running out of ideas and patience.

Anyway, today is the first non-Sunday in 5 weeks that I haven't gone for a run. My legs appreciate it. Last week I finished most of my runs with one mile at about 7:15 (hard enough to be hard, but not too hard). Yesterday I finished my short 7 mile run with two one-mile runs of 7:15 and 6:54. They're getting easier. I'll only run about 30 miles this week but I'll do about eight of these fast one-milers to keep my aerobic conditioning up. In the American River 50 Mile Race (4/14) I plan to do the first 29 miles (paved and mostly flat) at about a 9 minute mile pace. Studies have shown that in long races a 5 to 1 running to walking ratio is best for most runners so I'll be running 7/8 of a mile at about an 8:20 minute per mile pace, followed by 1/8 mile walking at about a 12:30 pace (90 seconds) to get my 9:00 average (6.67 miles per hour).

The last 21 miles of the course are hilly (over 3000 feet of climbing and equal descent), technical and possibly muddy so I'll be shooting for an 11-12 minute pace there to meet my goal of a sub-nine hour finish. My previous four finishes have all been under 10 hours with the fastest several years ago at 9:03. I'm a little older now (so they tell me) but I'm better trained this year so if it isn't too hot on race day I think my odds of meeting my goal are pretty good. We have five of us going from our congregation (counting my daughter) which just may be the most people from one congregation ever to run in any one ultramarathon! ]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:20:34 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1976361149/E20070403192034/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1243325369/E20070331192049/index.html Why did Jesus dine at a Japanese Restaurant? ]]> Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:20:49 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1243325369/E20070331192049/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1976361149/E20070331165139/index.html Me!

If only all my goals were as well-defined and easy to meet as this.

My goal for March was to run 27 times (every day except Sundays- I've never done this before, usually running 3-4 times per week) for a total of at least 300 miles (I've been over 300 only once before, until this month my most miles for March was 211 and my second most for any month was 241).

Totals: 27 runs for 306 miles. I may actually have run more than last May's 311 as I was careful to GPS all my runs this month (rather than estimating) and GPS tends to slightly understate distance on twisty trails. But that's OK; I used to be an accountant and every accountant knows that it's better to have an objectively determined number, even if it's wrong, than a subjectively determined number, even if it's more accurate.

My shortest run was 5.5M, my longest was 33.5. My pace was generally between 10-12 minutes per mile on the trails (including walking breaks) and 8-10 minutes per mile on the roads. My running is 80% trails and on the twisty, rocky hilly trails around here, 11:00 mpm is harder than 9:00 mpm on the roads. This past week I was starting to recover enough that I was able to work in five miles of speedwork at an average pace of about 7:10 mpm. At the American River 50 mile race in two weeks I'll be aiming for an average speed of about 9:00 mpm for the first 29 miles (the mostly flat, mostly paved section) and about 12:00 mpm or better over the last 21 hilly trails miles.

Best of all: I ate a LOT of ice cream this month, and didn't put on any weight! Now I'm off to the buffet! ]]> Sat, 31 Mar 2007 16:51:39 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1976361149/E20070331165139/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1976361149/E20070330190644/index.html Tomorrow's the last day of my quest to run 300 miles in 27 days (every day except Sundays) in March, a feat never before accomplished in human history by any 52 year old pastor named Mark!

I'll let you know how it all came out. For now I'll just say, I'm still on schedule.

Meanwhile I understand that my quest for 300 miles in March has been made into a hit movie called, appropriately enough: "300"

I haven't seen it but I understand it isn't for the faint of heart. Hey, I'm living it- I could have told you that! ]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:06:44 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1976361149/E20070330190644/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1123883927/E20070330190234/index.html Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:02:34 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1123883927/E20070330190234/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1906075509/E20070330183420/index.html At last the "experts" are starting to figure out what every 12 year old kid in America (and a few of us adults) figured out long ago...

According to Meyer’s findings, by the age of 12, children believe that earning praise from a teacher is not a sign you did well—it’s actually a sign you lack ability and the teacher thinks you need extra encouragement. And teens, Meyer found, discounted praise to such an extent that they believed it’s a teacher’s criticism—not praise at all—that really conveys a positive belief in a student’s aptitude.

In the opinion of cognitive scientist Daniel T. Willingham, a teacher who praises a child may be unwittingly sending the message that the student reached the limit of his innate ability, while a teacher who criticizes a pupil conveys the message that he can improve his performance even further. ]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:34:20 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C1906075509/E20070330183420/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C552796228/E20070331000248/index.html I spent the evening trying out Apple's iBlog. I gave up. I kept trying to figure out how to get it to do basic blog functions only to find out that it wouldn't do them, at least not the way I wanted it to. I like some of its features, but not others (don't get me started). You can look at my experiment here , if you are interested. It looks good, anyway. If you click on one of the posts you'll see how the post is supposed to look but I want my posts to look that way on the main page, and I want my links on the main page also, right hand column. Is that too much to ask, Apple? For all the great stuff Apple is doing you'd think they could come up with a decent word processing program and a decent blogging program. You'd think that, but you'd be wrong. Give me a week or ten to get over my frustration and I may give Blogger a try.

Update: Scotte ("Evidence has been found that William Tell and his family were avid bowlers") Hodel tells me that iBlog is being updated again after a hiatus so many there's hope for the old hag yet! ]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:02:48 -0700 http://homepage.mac.com/runalong/iblog/C552796228/E20070331000248/index.html