richard's notions.

1 Samuel 17
25
And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.
26
And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
27
And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.
28
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
29
And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
30
And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.
31
And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.
32
And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
33
And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
34
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35
And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37
David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
38
And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
39
And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
40
And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
41
And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.
42
And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
43
And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44
And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.
45
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
46
This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47
And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.
48
And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
50
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
51
Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

posted by Richard Okimoto at 15:43.

poll on justin mcroberts' website:
Who has the most influence on your spiritual life?

Friends 43.9%
Indirect influence (music, books, etc.) 20.6%
Church 20.6%
Family 14.2%

Total Votes: 189


man... that's so sad. it's almost completely backwards.

posted by Richard Okimoto at 09:22.

i thought he was fun.

ps- if anyone has the capability to cut the sides off of that, to make is square, i'd appreciate it.

posted by Richard Okimoto at 08:09.

call me antipatriotic (though, i assure you i am not), but i am just tired of all this 'god bless america' stuff. a quick quote from doug wilson:

We want to hear God's Word to us, and be truly humbled -- instead of mindlessly assuming that all those other people throughout the world are somehow blind to our innate "goodness." In the twenty-four hours following this atrocity, the prevailing cant about the goodness and decency of America shows that it might take more than *this* horror to humble us. According to this vile school of thought, America shouldn't be under attack because it distracts us from stem cell research. As God's judgments begin to fall upon us, we have to understand, with each successive wave of judgment, that it is still better than we deserve. In Revelation, in the midst of judgment, men gnaw their tongues in torment -- and still refuse to repent.

i'm tired of all the chatter about how great america is. we are a strong nation, no great, but our praise needs to be focused on god, not ourselves. you may reply, "but everyone is talking about prayer, and singing god bless america!" phooey. anoter quote, this time from an email my pastor, virgil hurt, sent out to our congregation...

Pray in Jesus� name. I have heard many responses calling men to prayer. And to the extent that the prayer is directed to my God, I rejoice, but this is not automatically a good thing. The god of our nation is a god of diversity. Many pray to him in their own name, as they should, since he has no ears to hear the folly of such prayers. But the God of the Bible, the living and true God, is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can only come to Him in Jesus� Name. Please pray that our nation would realize the folly of serving any other so-called god. There is but one only, the living and true God.

he also mentioned that robert shuler invited all faiths to the crystal cathedral to have time in prayer together. what foolishness!

i am frustrated.

i'm going to finish up with another quote from virgil hurt.

"Remember that in the sovereignty of God, this attack was directed at us, America. If God is indeed in control, and He is, we must respond in true repentance and humiliation before Him. He is our only hope and stay. A mighty fortress is our God, a strong tower, and refuge."

posted by Richard Okimoto at 08:45.

i got this email just now... too funny......
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--
Hello,

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To check our prices and submit www.chard.blogspot.com to 300,000+ search engines, go to TrafficMagnet.net

I would love to hear from you.

Best Regards,
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[in this section were some images of a big magnet, a monitor with my site in it, and then this (which is by far my favorite part)...]



--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

those flying people crack me up!

posted by Richard Okimoto at 10:39.

here's a question we can speculate about...

why do you suppose that people who are not true believers pretend to be?

posted by Richard Okimoto at 09:06.

i recommend antithesis.com, and especially their book store, the discerning reader.

they have great articles about culture (including one on the prayer of jabez) and counterculture. and their bookstore has great books at great prices. i sound like a commercial, but it's all true. i just don't know how else to say it. and they have great service, also. i wish i could afford $75 worth of books today.

posted by Richard Okimoto at 15:23.

just to finish up the story about my job adventures...

i just now signed the papers. virginia western matched the salary of hampden-sydney, so i am staying here. that's a 7.3% raise, plus the benefits are slightly better, and it'll definitely look better on my resume to have stayed at one place for several years rather than hopping all over the place. oh, and i can't forget to mention that i should get an additional 2.7% (of my old salary) raise in the next few months.
the first paycheck with my new and improved salary is going to be october first, which interestingly is baby's due date.

ah, the providence of god.

posted by Richard Okimoto at 14:39.

what do you think of this quote?

Wherever God is present, apart from his appointed Mediator and the means of grace (Word and sacrament), he is present only in fire, smoke, wrath and power.

michael horton said it in his book, In the Face of God.

post thoughts on the back40.

i won an auction on ebay last night. and my auction is up to 36 40 bucks.




posted by Richard Okimoto at 09:38.

how to begin, how to begin...

i don't like silly obligations... i'm just tired of them. now, let me make a distinction here between real obligations and silly obligations. there's a difference, and i think common sense is a accurate guide to recognize and make that distinction. so i'm not going to explain what i see the difference as being.

i think that linking to friends' webpages or bloggers is often one of these silly obligations. recently, i decided that i will link to what i read, and not what i don't read. a link is a recommendation to check something out, and i think it only makes sense to link to things that you consider worthy of checking out. several years ago i emailed t-rev about this new band i had heard about. i asked him to tab a song for me, and to check them out. the band was cord of three. he tabbed the song for me, but he didn't post the tab on his site, nor link to their site from his. why? because he didn't particularly like the song and he thought their webpage was poorly done. i was offended at the time, slightly, but that was only because he didn't like this band that i thought was incredible. as far as linking to the site, i can't complain because it's his site and he can do what he will with it. that's how i feel.

should i be obligated to link to someone's blogger just because they post on the back40? sco used to link to my blog in his 'people i know' links. no more. i'm not sure why, and it was a little upsetting. but that was my pride, and i quickly dismissed any problems i had with him removing my link. for sco to link to my blog is a silly obligation, and i'm not going to hold him to it. bethany, for example, has linked to my blogger, though. (well... she has pseudolinked me :) the link is still the old url) nonetheless, i appreciate it that she linked to me. does that require me to link to her? i don't recall ever asking her to link to me. i can understand a link exchange type thing for sites, but that isn't what i'm after. i don't think i've asked anyone to link to my blogger or the back 40. i'm glad that people do link to them, and that people read and interact with them.

the bottom line i will summarize with a few points:

• i appreciate any links that people give me.
  
• if i link to you, it means i read what you write... and like it.
  
• if i don't link to you, it doesn't mean i hate you.
  

if you don't really want to link to me, and choose to remove the link, i won't be upset. like i said, i don't like silly obligations.

posted by Richard Okimoto at 10:11.

happy labor day every one. i hope it's relaxing and fun for you.

posted by Richard Okimoto at 09:35.