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?
"Blog Harbor" PROMPT (DAY 8): Movie franchises are movie series that are connected by a common character, setting, or other overarching piece of material. They can be open-ended (James Bond, Fast and Furious) or finite (Harry Potter, Hunger Games), centered around a shared universe of content (Star Wars, Marvel Cinematic Universe), or continuations/re-packaging of a popular initial film (Despicable Me, Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mission: Impossible, Toy Story, Transformers). For today's prompt, tell us what your favorite movie franchise is, as well as your favorite and least favorite movies in that franchise.
This one's a no-brainer for me, and not just because I happen to work for the company that makes the movies. While there are plenty of other franchises that I am incredibly excited about (I've never missed seeing a Mission: Impossible or Star Wars film in the theater, for example), the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most amazing franchises and flat-out remarkable accomplishments in the history of the medium. Eighteen movies to date, all opening at #1, grossing a combined total of nearly $15,000,000,000 (that's billion with a "b") at the worldwide box office to date. For context, in actual dollars (not adjusted for inflation), that's more revenue than the feature films of the Star Wars universe and all 25 films in the James Bond franchise COMBINED.
But for me, it's not just about the money.
It's amazing to see my childhood super hero fantasies come to life; in the 80s and 90s, who could have imagined that just a few decades later we'd be seeing photorealistic effects that would make Doctor Strange's magic, or the interstellar space battles of the Guardians of the Galaxy, or the movements of all-CGI nonhuman characters like Thanos or Rocket and Groot seem plausible? The fact that technology is finally catching up to our imaginations and allowing us to make a motion picture out of the panels of the original comics makes it an exciting time to be exploring these movies.
Additionally, the whole shared universe thing is really mind-blowing. We've seen shared universes in television. We've seen tangentially shared universes either over a very limited number of films (Alien, The Matrix, the Star Wars trilogies, etc.), or where the narrative isn't necessarily interwoven (Mission: Impossible, James Bond). This much interconnectedness has never been done with high budget studio features to the tune of eighteen consecutive films and counting.
Finally, and what I love perhaps most about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is that we're not afraid to make different kinds of movies. While they have certain commonalities (the tone, visual style, etc.), the team isn't afraid to take risks with different types of stories. Captain America: Winter Soldier is a political thriller. Ant-Man is a heist comedy at heart. Guardians of the Galaxy is a classic sci-fi space opera. Thor: Ragnarok is a buddy comedy. With over 8,000 characters in their repertoire and a team that isn't afraid to take risks, I think there will always be interesting stories entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even as articles continue to be written about the assumed or impending demise of the super hero film genre.
For years, my two favorite Marvel Studios films were Captain America: Winter Soldier (political thrillers are my jam, and then add super heroes to the mix? Aww yeah...) and The Avengers (seeing all of these characters assemble on screen for the first time was a dream come true). But I truly think that Black Panther is giving both of those films a run for their money. I think it's one of the most poignant, important movies we've made to date... and it happens to be a hell of a lot of fun to watch too. It's a remarkable film that deserves every bit of its record-setting accolades and recognition, in my opinion.
The least favorite films are a little tougher. Until Thor: Ragnarok, the Thor franchise was probably my least favorite character as a whole, and Thor: The Dark World is probably one of my least favorite Marvel Studios films. And even though it pains me to say it because I love Shane Black's other films, I think Iron Man 3 was interesting, but a pretty big miss. I mean, it's an Iron Man movie where he spends the vast majority of the film outside of his armor! But this is all mostly nit-picking because, as a whole, I think the entire MCU is pretty great even when we're talking about their less stellar offerings.
While there are plenty of other franchises that I am incredibly excited about (I've never missed seeing a Mission: Impossible or Star Wars film in the theater, for example), the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most amazing franchises and flat-out remarkable accomplishments in the history of the medium. Eighteen movies to date, all opening at #1, grossing a combined total of nearly $15,000,000,000 (that's billion with a "b") at the worldwide box office to date. For context, in actual dollars (not adjusted for inflation), that's more revenue than the feature films of the Star Wars universe and all 25 films in the James Bond franchise COMBINED. 
But this is all mostly nit-picking because, as a whole, I think the entire MCU is pretty great even when we're talking about their less stellar offerings.
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