Logocentric (adj).Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
I have always enjoyed the longer distance running and skiing. The Marathon in Summer Olympics and the 50km Mass Start in the Winter. My wife can't understand how I can watch the same race for several hours. But they are fascinating to me. I like the Downhill Slalom, Bobsled and Luge sports. Attending a Winter Olympics remains on my bucket list.
My favorite sporting events in the Winter Olympics are the Luge, Bobsled, Figure Skating and curling. Initially, I thought I would be bored with curling but I'm not. It's fascinating how they determine each glide's angle and potential score.
When my children were younger we built them a luge course, they loved it. We were lucky that winter to have lots of snow to build up the walls and with some help with pallets that we covered with snow, it kept them and the neighborhood kids busy until it warmed up and melted. I was a lot more at ease with the luge course than I was when they decided to try arial jumps off our house roof. Never a dull moment when you live in Maine.
I am reading ESV through the Bible this time. Like you, I've explored a bunch of translations. My church uses NIV but my women's Bible study group (part of the same church) varies based on what Bible study we're doing.
Hope you enjoy the Olympics! I agree that the every four year thing makes them feel more special.
I read the New American Bible, which is a Catholic Bible. (NABRE) They include Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, which generally aren't included in other versions of the Bible. I would be curious to read an orthodox bible or the Ethiopian Bible as I hear they have differences as well.
As for the Olympics, I love the Winter Olympics. I'm just crossing my fingers I have time to watch!
In terms of the original texts the NASB has the best reputation among conservative scholars. It looks at more translations, has a sensible hierarchy of text selection and the best principles for approaching the translation task. It favors original texts when possible. The ESV and NKJV are on a similar level. The Net Bible gives the best overview of the discussions in its commentary. The NIV renders the original text to make it more readable. It is a more functional text which is why many churches use it but it is also less precise. Greek or Russian orthodox are more Septuagint orientated and there is a considerable amount of ethical or emotional rendering to the text.The disadvantage of the NASB is that it loses much of the Hebrew poetical style in its effort to be precise as this does not translate into the English
I'm very fortunate to have met some practicing and humble Christians. Truly humble people seek to serve, not attain power and influence. The actions of many Christians make me run the opposite way... as fast as I can.
In his book, Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee states: "Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony than our trying to be right and demanding right of others. We become preoccupied with what is and what is not right. We ask ourselves,' Have we been justly or unjustly treated?' and we think thus to vindicate our actions. But that is not our standard. The whole question for us is one of crossbearing".
Jeff, this is an excellent book. Perhaps one for your reading list?
I know, I know, I'm super late to the party on INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE. In my defense, when it came out I was working on a double-header of other Marvel movies (CAPTAIN MARVEL and then AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR a couple months later) and wasn't exactly going out to see new releases in the theater at that point in my life... or since, really. As a result, I didn't even hear this song until some point in early-to-mid 2019 and it's been featured on several of my playlists since. I'm not a huge fan of Post Malone in general, but there's something about this song that just ticks all the right boxes for me. Sony's head of music was quoted as saying, "Post and Swae have delivered a song that’s both heroic and emotional, which is exactly what a Spider-Man story needs. It’s anthemic, but also heartfelt — the perfect soundtrack for Miles to discover the Spider-Man inside himself" and I have to say that I really agree. There's something layered and multifaceted about this song; there's a lot of things going on and it blends a lot of styles that really work.
I'm also a bit partial to this song because sunflowers are my wife's favorite flower. Before her grandfather passed several years ago, he always used to call her his sunflower and as a result, those yellow flowers have always had a special meaning to her. She'd rather have sunflowers than just about any other flower (no roses, thank you), and she likes sunflower imagery on everything from home decor to office knick-knacks to items of clothing. Sunflowers have been a fixture in our home for years, and it was lovely to discover this song that in a way feels, as that Sony executive said, "anthemic, heartfelt, heroic, and emotional" and all while featuring imagery that's so meaningful to my wife. There are times where we'll just put this song on repeat for an hour and listen to it while we're driving or hanging out at home and it's always sure to cheer both of us up.
I had never heard of Greta Van Fleet, let alone any of their songs, until I saw Trailer #2 for Ford v. Ferrari in mid-September of last year. The movie ended up being one of my absolute favorites of all of last year, and both trailers for the film are exceptionally well-cut. I'm sure my enjoyment of the movie and all the racing footage played a part in the appeal of the song, as that's usually how I find new music.
Greta Van Fleet is a band from Michigan that formed in 2012, and released their debut studio album in 2017. This was the debut single off that album. It rose to the top of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in just 14 weeks, the fastest ascent on that chart by an original band (i.e., not a solo musician breaking away from their original group) since 2001. Their sound has been called reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and, yeah, I can kind of hear that in this song and a couple of their others that I've checked out since discovering them.
At the moment, this song is in pretty heavy rotation on my driving playlist, which is mostly high-energy songs that I like to blast during the commute when I'm tired and the audiobooks and podcasts aren't doing me any favors with keeping my eyes open. During those times I'll crank some energetic music to wake myself up. The only problem is that after seeing it set against a racing movie, I'm usually disappointed when I ultimately have to accept the fact that I'm not racing a GT40 in Daytona, but rather cruising down a Southern California freeway at a blistering 15 miles per hour. Still, I really enjoy the song and it does a great job of getting me excited to be behind the wheel of a car, even if it's just commuting back and forth between home and the office.
Comment • View 1 comment 
Still, I really enjoy the song and it does a great job of getting me excited to be behind the wheel of a car, even if it's just commuting back and forth between home and the office.