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'll admit that the title (and the header image of a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream) are what initially drew my interest in this article. Whoever came up with that as a lead-in is a genius.
After reading through the article, I was frankly really surprised to find that the majority of respondents most often fantasized about their current partners in new or favorite sex acts, rather than ones that would be considered taboo or forbidden. And only 7% of respondents reported fantasizing regularly about celebrities. Honestly, if I were doing this study and needed to form a hypothesis before beginning, I would have guessed that most people's fantasies would be more along the lines of, say, a threesome with two celebrity crushes, rather than, for example, taking a page out of the kama sutra with one's spouse or significant other.
I have to say, I'm actually kind of relieved to have been wrong about it (at least to the extent that this limited study speaks for the entire population about a topic that's rife with inaccurate data due to its sensitive nature). With all of the awful stuff going on in the world, it's nice to know that most people, when given the opportunity to fantasize, get turned on by the idea of spicing things up with their current partner rather than someone else.
On the other hand, though, I'm not entirely sure these results jive with other statistics, like how many couples get divorced, and how prevalent adultery is in our society. Maybe there's a study to be done in there somewhere... if most of us fantasize about our current partner, why do so many of us seek (or are at least willing to entertain) other partners?
Also, one of my favorite parts of studies like this is when their related findings are commonly understood but still reported like they were just uncovered through the hard work of this study. "It is widely believed that the mainstreaming of the internet has contributed to an increase in porn-watching." Yeah, no shit. And that "One study, published in 2015 by the Journal of Sex Research, found a 'big jump' in pornography consumption when comparing adults born in the 1980s to adults born in the 1970s, and it chalked that difference up to the fact that 'Children born in the 1980s onward are the first to grow up in a world where they have access to the Internet beginning in their teenage years." Again, no shit. You mean there was an increase in porn consumption once it became something you can get for free in the privacy of your own home rather than having to go out and get in magazine form from a newsstand (or your dad's/buddy's stash)? What a game-changing study three years ago!
And one last parting gift from this article. Sixteen percent of the study respondents reported that their favorite fantasies of all time are informed by something they saw in pornography. So if your significant other is into watching that kind of stuff, a quick perusal of his or her browsing history might just give you an idea of what would really spice up your love life. You know, so you can stop getting baited by those Cosmo articles. And according to this study, those fantasies might just surprise you in how vanilla they really are.
And that "One study, published in 2015 by the Journal of Sex Research, found a 'big jump' in pornography consumption when comparing adults born in the 1980s to adults born in the 1970s, and it chalked that difference up to the fact that 'Children born in the 1980s onward are the first to grow up in a world where they have access to the Internet beginning in their teenage years." Again, no shit. You mean there was an increase in porn consumption once it became something you can get for free in the privacy of your own home rather than having to go out and get in magazine form from a newsstand (or your dad's/buddy's stash)? What a game-changing study three years ago! 
And according to this study, those fantasies might just surprise you in how vanilla they really are. 
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