Blog on the Lillypad
Saturday, December 13, 2003
 | Working Overtime
I had a chance to work overtime today, so I drove down to the jobsite (an hour) and put in a full day, alone, writing lockout/tagouts for every piece of equipment in the Media Prep room. "Media Prep" is the short hand term for the phase of pharmaceutical production where the liquid food to feed the bacteria (which will ultimately eat itself to death) is cooked up in enormous tanks (Three of them are 5000 liter capacity). The process starts in one tank, and as the liquid reaches a given setpoint of pH, yeast content, temperature, etc., it's transferred to the next tank, and from there to the next and so on through five tanks. By the end of the process, the bacteria has grown and becomes dense enough in solution to be processed into vaccine. |
A lot goes into each tank: the growth media, water, steam, additives. And a lot goes out of the tanks: condensate, off gases, and the media. All of those input and output valves, pipes, and pumps have to to be written up with specific directions so that technicians don't get hurt when they go in to repair something on a tank. These tanks are so huge that they have "manways" in the top, which are narrow openings just big enough for a man to slide through so that he can drop into a tank and effect repairs. You couldn't pay me to do that. the techs who do it use rappeling gear to get in and get out.
It was difficult enough for me to crawl under the tanks today and look for valves to shut off the inputs and outputs so that each tank can be separated from the process for repair work. I'm not young any more. I realize that. Sliding and pushing my way under these behemoths and around the stainless steel pipes and numerous tubes and wires took a lot out of me. I'm sore, especially my knees. And it wasn't a dignified process, so I'm just as glad I was alone on a Saturday. I had to slide on my back in a few places because there wasn't room to turn over. Some of the valves were positioned between the massive tanks and the back wall of the room, and nobody could have gotten back there to check the valve numbers. I climbed up on a steel maintenance platform above and peeked through the cracks to verify the valves were there. But I had to document their purpose and use through the engineering drawings. (Ideally, purpose and use of components are verified by both the drawings and a visual verification.)
Anyway, I put in a good eight hours, and now the day is over.
Friday, December 12, 2003
| VALKYRIES: Some Through the Fire submitted for a Christy Award
I just got a letter from my publisher telling me that they have submitted Volume 1 of the two-volume VALKYRIES novels to be considered for a Christy Award. If you don't know, Christy Awards are the publishing awards given in Christian publishing (Christian Booksellers Association). Having a book submitted for the award is a good way to get it circulated and reviewed. The field of entries is narrowed to three in each category in the late spring, and winners are announced in late June/early July. |  |
You can beat the rush and Order VALKYRIES: Some Through the Fire right now.
Thursday, December 11, 2003
 | Interview with Cindy Swanson
My interview on the radio in Rockford Illinois is now available on the web. Cindy Swanson, News Director and announcer for WQFL/WGSL Radio, interviewed me regarding my two-volume novel, VALKYRIES. Click here to listen (MP3 format). The interview is about 15 minutes long (~15 MB). |
 | A Quick Guide for New Comers
I see that I have been linked by http://www.benedictionblogson.com/, which appears to be a commentary blog on religious blogs of all denominations. Also, A kind review and a link from http://martinrothonline.com/ has sent several readers my way. So if you’ve come from either site, you’re probably too mainstream to comprehend the intricacies of the IFB-KJVO movement. Here are some basics. |
Christian Fundamentalism at one time was interdenominational. At its best, it was a religious movement that stipulated that the Bible is the sole authority of the Christian faith, so even though people might disagree on some points of interpretation, every issue must be taken to the Scripture. Therefore, diligent study of the Bible and ongoing research to comprehend the ancient languages and their context was the purpose of all theology and Christian practice. At its worst, Christian Fundamentalism has always been a refuge for those who gather up odds and ends of overlooked verses and minor texts and spring ridiculous notions on unsuspecting people. But because of the overall emphasis on thorough study, the kooks were kept in check in the first few decades of the movement, if not eliminated.
Over time, as the authority of Scripture has been more pervasively challenged and mainstream denominations have tried to encompass more conservative members, Christian Fundamentalism has become almost entirely Independent Baptist. Another reason for this shift is that the Fundamental Baptists themselves have insisted upon a severe and rigid doctrine of separation from anybody who has fellowship with those who are viewed as “compromisers”. Thus the Fundamentalists pushed out those of similar sentiment because they would not leave their denominations. Methodists and Presbyterians were harried by arguments of separation and so they left Fundamentalism. The Pentecostals stuck around in the movement a little longer, but the extremes of certain subsets of Pentecostalism (the Oral Roberts visions, etc) got to be too goofy in their brand of Fundamentalist kookiness, so all Pentecostals were eventually were pushed out.
| Eventually, the emphasis on separation led to an emphasis on independence. Independent Baptists view the autonomy of the local church as the Scriptural method of church government (in spite of the fact that Paul acknowledges himself as being an authority over many churches). And this has led to a dangerous isolationism as well as an incredible authoritarianism that makes the Independent Baptist pastor a pope in his own church. |  |
About 25 years ago, just as the “Baptist-Bride” nonsense was dying down (the belief that the Bride of Christ is made up of Baptists), a notion that the King James version of the Bible is a perfect, inspired translation moved in to fill the stupidity vacuum. The idea caught on slowly at first, for a generation of educated men had to be pushed out by a new generation of dunderheads.
| At the same time, the Jack Hyles style of church practice was catching on. Jack Hyles headed up a movement that teaches that making a church grow in numbers is the primary work and duty of the Christian. He also taught a strict and rigid legalism colored by gross misogyny. The combination of strict legalism, church growth, and the minimizing of Scripture as a convenient tool designed for English speaking people (no longer requiring diligent and regular study) has created the IFB-KJVO movement. It stands for “Independent Fundamental Baptist – King James Version Only”. |  |
The IFB-KJVO movement hosts a plethora of corruption that remains un-addressed by its leadership. And when I say corruption, I mean the real thing: sodomizing of little boys, molestation of little girls, child abuse, wife abuse, rampant adultery, pornography, and violence. Not every church is guilty of these things, but the occurrence is far higher than even I had supposed until I started to research it. Reception to my writing about these abuses has been attacks upon my character, baseless accusations, and a silly defensiveness that points out the sins of other denominations (which, as you recall, were pushed away by Fundamentalists years ago because of their compromise). When I present Scripture to the IFB-KJVO preachers to rebut their foolishness, they resort to namecalling and mockery. So far they have failed to produce any Scripture to justify the rampant IFB-KJVO disobedience to the Scriptural demand for purity in the pulpit and purity in church leadership. Read this blog to get the details. Check the list of links to the right.
 | Currently, the watering hole for IFB and former IFB (and recovering from IFB) people is the Fighting Fundamentalist Forums web site, or FFF for short. Over there, people of all shades of Fundamentalism argue, and you can get a good snapshot of the gross ignorance of Scripture in those who most loudly declare the Bible to be the rule for faith and practice. I recommend that you check out the Hyles-Anderson forum to view the IFB-KJVO people in the greatest numbers. If you want to see more detail about the most vociferous posters, you can check out my Cast of Characters |
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
 | Back to the Doctor's
Finally got in to see a doctor today about the stress thing. Other than the stress reactions, my health is great, according to test results. The doctor just about congratulated me for it. I suppose these poor health professionals see so many people who trash their bodies that getting a patient who refuses drugs and is concerned about proper care is an encouragement. The throat spasms have continued in the four weeks since the record setting non-stop spasms that put me in the emegency room, but nothing as severe as what I had that day. (Yet they do scare me when they occur.) But they are lessening in frequency, duration, and severity. His prime recommendation is more exercise, and he's very keen on my martial arts training. |
We talked about my scoliosis, and he told me that he thinks that with proper exercise I can beat it all the way into old age. He also advocated yoga for me, as well as hard martial arts. He agreed that a drug intervention at this point isn't necessary, as long as I manage the stress with care and intelligence. Exercise and proper sleep were the two main points that he made.
He also strongly suggested St. John's Wort, but I want to see how allergenic it is, first. He even told me I could probably go back on coffee if I wanted to, but after the last experience, I don't think so! Not any time soon! I'm scheduled to see him in four weeks as a check on how I'm doing.
 | How to Win at Blogs
Just saw another reference on the FFF to my "wicked blog". Always nice to know that I frighten some of these grossly incompetent, angry, aggressive IFB-KJVO preachers enough to cause them to peruse my blog. They're my best advertising. They get hot and bothered and say something about my blog, and then everybody trots over here to see the latest thing I've posted. As of four o'clock today (with a third of the day remaining), the blog had 51 hits. Thanks to Marty Braemer, BAPTIST, and others for the advertising! I expect the post from yesterday about Jack Schaap's deceptive doctrine and foolish theology sparked the latest commentary. |
By the way, if you're wondering how to get to the FFF, click here.. The Hyles-Anderson forum is the best pick for touring the rampant bad doctrine and corrupt morals/communication in the IFB-KJVO movement. And if you just wonder who everybody is, click here for the Cast of Characters from the FFF.
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
| More Drivel from the Pulpit of First Baptist of Hammond
I had to cut this down to limit the stupidity, but you can catch this post over on the FFF on the Hyles-Anderson Forum under the title of "48,000 saved at FBCH: Great Commission Sunday". |
From Dr. Schaap; Sunday evening, June 22, 2003
We had [a] big huge great commission day last year. We preached the gospel and had 48,000 saved in one day....In the next several weeks you’re gonna hear some of those goals we’re gonna set.
....
Now I want First Baptist Church not to roll over and have its feet up in the air and say scratch my belly God make me feel good because I’m a member of a great big huge church that is fat and lazy, but God I want to get back on my hind legs and I want to run.
Well, first let's take a look at that astonishing number: 48,000 saved. That's almost half the population of Gary Indiana. In fact, it's equal to the entire population of Crown Point. If you ever had that many people genuinely saved, bars would close down, crime would drop, and police and emergency workers alike would testify that some great conversion had taken place. And none of that, of course, has happened.
The reason is two-fold: (1) First Baptist of Hammond is notorious for inflating figures, and (2) Jack Schaap and his cohort nincompoops do not preach salvation. They preach "repeat-after-me-salvation," in which they assure people untaught in the Scripture that if they believe (in terms of acknowledging) that Christ is the Son of God and has died and risen again and repeat a salvation prayer, they will be saved.
The problem, of course, is that even the devils believe at that level, as Christ Himself said. And even a parrot can repeat a prayer if taught patiently. Thus, numerous people falsely taught and falsely assured repeat salvation prayers, sign little cards, and merrily go on in ignorance of the Word of God and the fellowship we have in Christ, because a deceiver got up in a pulpit and told them they would be saved.
What really caught my attention in this excerpt though, is Schaap's attitude towards God--that God stands by to reward those who go out and make their churches grow to big numbers, ready to reward them, apparently, the way a master rubs his dog's belly.
The demoniac in the tombs was found in his right mind and seated at the feet of Christ. Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, took her place at the feet of the Savior as His pupil; and Christ would not allow her to be rebuked away from it. Our reward is at God's dispensation, but the growing Christian consciousness is that which seeks greater knowledge of God. To sit at His feet and learn Who He is and converse with Him as students to their Master and Father is the highest aim of the Christian and our great reward.
Granted, pleasure and rest have their roles in refreshing us and giving us joy. But this inane world of Jack Schaap's, where God's rewards will make us lazy, and blessings engender some sort of pride, is just as much a deception as the false plan of salvation that Schaap and these IFB-KJVO sectarians preach. The men and women who knew Christ most profoundly labored for Him and died for Him, still knowing Him even through suffering and death. And their works are not what is reckoned in Scripture as valuable; instead, their knowledge of Him is what's valuable. Paul's own highest goal for himself in the Christian life as he approached his own martyrdom was this "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death".
Once you get out of the book of Acts, you don't ever see the apostles or writers of the scripture referring to big conversions or having to work harder to get more saved. This focus is not excluded, but the main focus is on comprehending our salvation and knowing Christ. Labor in that field of endeavor: study the Scripture, search and see what Christ has done and what we have and are in Him, and the labor will be much more easy and natural to the Christian heart. To get a purpose, you simply have to have a purpose, and the purpose of the Christian life is to know our Savior. But when you have that purpose and see the Hand of God in everything, speaking of Him and exalting Him become a part of your everyday conversation.
Monday, December 08, 2003
Teaser for DEATH AND CHOCOLATE
This is the intro for a new Doctor Who story I am working on. Scroll down for other topics.
This is the intro for a new Doctor Who story I am working on. Scroll down for other topics.
Sarah Jane Smith, swinging her tiny purse by its strap, entered the Doctor’s laboratory to find the tall, white-haired scientist waiting for her, his feet propped up on the edge of the workbench, his body perched precariously on a stool that he kept tipped back.
“You look very self satisfied,” she said at once. “Like the cat who got the cream.”
“I am self satisfied,” he told her. His smugness was almost comical. “I am extremely self satisfied.”
She came around the stool where he sat with his long legs stretched to the table edge.
“Found a new planet?” she asked.
“No,” and his voice was patient.
“Cured a disease?”
“Cured half a dozen before lunch. You missed it.”
“Phhh,” she said. She looked around the cluttered lab and cast a cautious eye at his TARDIS. Perhaps, she thought, he had rung her up to suggest a trip abroad. Out into time and space. She wasn’t ready for this. But at the moment he seemed perfectly content to sit tipped back on that stool. And the tall blue police box that was his time machine was silent and locked up.
She came around him on the other side and tossed her purse onto the workbench. “Well you’d better tell me because a busy journalist like me takes precious little interest in asking questions of anybody with that smug look on his face.”
For answer, he thrust a hand into his velvet smoking jacket and withdrew two small white envelopes. He held them up in triumph.
“What are those then?” she asked.
He flapped them back and forth, and a rich perfume touched her senses. For a moment it filled her with both anticipatory hunger and sudden realization. Her face lit up as she exclaimed, “No kidding! Invitations to the Chocolate House tour!”
“Those of us who have been invited choose to call it the Royalty House Tour,” he told her. “As that is what it’s properly called. And it’s not just the tour, Sarah Jane. It’s an invitation and two passes for me and my chosen companion to spend a weekend there, getting to know the place.”
She came at him so fast that he nearly toppled backwards off the tipped stool.
“Chose me!” she exclaimed. “Oh I’d love to go!” For a moment her anguish at thinking he might really be teasing her flashed across her face with genuine pain. “You don’t want to take the Brigadier or some chum from UNIT---“
“Chum from UNIT? Chum?” he asked.
“So you ought to take me!”
He swung his legs down and deliberately stood. When he did get up, he was a foot taller than she. “Of course I ought to take you, but the understanding is that we are a couple; a pair---“
“Well that’s all right, isn’t it? We’ll go as father and daughter.”
“Father and daughter?”
“Please take me with you! I’m dying to go!”
At her earnestness, his lined face softened. “Well of course I’ll take you with me. That’s why I called you here, to ask you to come along.”
“Oh Doctor, that’s wonderful! Thank you! I’m dying to take one of their tours!” She was so happy that she seized his hand in both of hers. “Oh maybe I can do a story on it.”
His eyes twinkled at her delight, but as she left him to fill the electric kettle for tea, his face took on a faintly quizzical expression.
“And just think,” she said as she opened the tap at the lab sink. “All that free chocolate. I’ve heard that you can have as much as you like while you’re there---“
“You know, I cannot understand the incredibly addictive draw that chocolate has on even the most sensible of young women,” he said.
“Oh I love chocolate. Especially well made chocolates, and they’re ever so expensive---“
“Yes, but why?” He stepped after her to get the mugs from the shelf over the sink. “What’s the attraction?”
She turned and shot him a puzzled look of her own. “It tastes so good! What else?”
He gave a slight shake of his head and started looking for the canister of tea. “I’ve never had time to investigate it, but there’s a magnetic draw of chocolate for human females. Perhaps I’ll look into it before we make the trip. Or perhaps while we’re there. It’s this weekend. That’s the best I could do. Hope you can get away.”
“I’ll make a point of getting away for this. You don’t snag a pass to the Chocolate House more than once in a lifetime!”
“Royalty house!” he exclaimed.
END
 | Christmas Goodies and the Health Food Junkie
I'm not really a health food junkie, but stress, poor diet, and lack of sleep have made me so highly allergic to stuff I used to shrug off that I am now on the wagon of food sensitivity dieting. No coffee any more, no wheat, very little meat, no sweets, and (oh the pain of it all!) no chocolate. So of course this is the month at work when everybody brings in loads of thick pastries crusted with sugar swirls, bowls of foil wrapped chocolates, pyramids of Reeses cups, and endless confections. |
Today, our training coordinator walked around passing out Herhsey's kisses to everybody. I thanked her and set mine on my desk. Two minutes later, Joadster, my friend from a previous job, came to my cubicle, hand out. "It's such a shame you can't eat chocolate---" she began. I passed the kiss into her open palm. "Take it. Thanks for your sympathy."
She feigned delighted surprise. "Oh why thank you!" Later, she offered me her applesauce, but I declined.
 | Running Around, Getting Captured, and Escaping with the Doctor
Yesterday while working in the kitchen I wheeled in my small telly and VCR and watched INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS, which I bought at the Doctor Who convention. A concept that Non-Who readers may not know is that of RAGCAE, which stands for "running around, getting captured and escaping." It's a device typical of all pulp adventure stories that is now almost universally derided, (as RAGCAE scenes are often inserted into adventures shows and even novels as a means of providing filler to get to a desired length). But good RAGCAE can make a story a real spell binder. DINOSAURS has plenty of RAGCAE, but as the story has got an interesting concept behind it and a genuine search for an answer among the characters (as well as a conspiracy that includes a regular from the series), it's forgiveable. Sarah Jane Smith does a lot of detective work on her own in this story, making her more than just a helpless and screaming comnpanion. Regrettably, though she does discover a lot on her own about some of the mechanics of what's going on, she only discovers who is in the conspiracy by by falling prey to each culprit in succession. |
| On the other hand, it's a great story about conspiracy, personal loyalties, and the frictions that arise between the British army and UNIT. And the downfall of a trusted member of the team *is* sad. Liz Sladen is great and believable, and it's nice to see her following out her own line of investigation to a solid conclusion. I wish her character had stayed that independent in the stories that followed this one. But watching DINOSAURS has inspired me to get together a Sarah Jane story. I've already titled it "Death and Chocolate" and hope to get it outlined over the next two weeks. To give her proper credit, it ought to be a complex mystery, and those take a lot of work! |  |
I'd still like to see Liz Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) next year at the convention and hope for it, but even if I don't, I am REALLY glad that all of the Third Doctor adventures were released at last on video (just in time for DVDs!)
Sunday, December 07, 2003
 | Another great cure!
I started a sore throat on the last day of the Doctor Who convention, and it blossomed into roaring pain on the two-day trip home. Once I got back to North Carolina, I went to the Harris Teeter where my Chinese grocery clerk dispenses home remedies as well as tips on the freshest produce. I asked him how to cure a severe sore throat, and he told me to take a good-sized piece of fresh ginger (two and a half inches or maybe three inches), peel it, pound it out with a hammer, then put it in a saucepan and cover it with two cups of water. Simmer it for a while. Then drain off the liquid and drink it. |
I refined this a bit further by thinly slicing the ginger rather than pounding it (too tired to pound), and I added freshly squeezed lemon juice to it after I poured it off into a mug Woooooo-Weeeeeee! It was like drinking fire, but it took a lot of the soreness right out. For my second serving, I let the ginger simmer for several hours in a couple cups of water. This increased the potency. Again, it seemed to help my body fight what had been a really bad sore throat.
By the third day after I'd started the ginger, the sore throat was cleared up, although the infection had moved high up into my glands and sinuses as it worked its way out of my system. I was really congested. Today I felt better yet, and I expect to be just about well by tomorrow. But now that I've had to give up coffee (owing to this stress thing), I've become accustomed to steaming, flaming ginger tea with lemon in the mornings.
