Communication levels

I wonder what level of communication is possible with the different forms of communicating we use today. I am not concerned with speaking face to face or over the phone, but I wonder more about written communication and the potential dialog level that one can expect.
□ E-mail
□ Bulletin board with a rather open discussion group.
□ Structure on-line course
□ Chat room

CHAT ROOM (rating 2) I would place the chat room at the bottom. On a scale from (1) the lowest, to (10) the highest, a chat room would only rate a 1 in my estimation, but I’ll give it a two because I know there are some people who do carry on extended, in depth, and relevant communication in these rooms.

Bulletin board with a rather open discussion group (rating 4) I place the on-line bulletin board next, and I will give it a 4. It is a low rating and I know the potential for very in-depth discussions exist but I think “open” is what drops this mode of discussion. People can come and go as they please and they owe nothing to the board. Off post comments can be made and credentials cannot be verified.

E-MAIl (rating 5) I’m not sure what to do with e-mail. I’ll give it a five because theoretically you will come to know a person more intimately if you are e-mailing, and it holds all the potential of the bulletin board. One draw back is that there is no easy way to sift back through piles of old e-mails except to sift through them. Maybe there’s more with them that I have just never learned. I suppose e-mailing back and forth files, word documents for example, doing the corrections and comments might be helpful. I guess I could have given e-mail a 6 or 7.

Blog (rating 4) Here I really am at a loss. Because few, if any, will ever read this, its pointless except for my own thinking through of things. I suppose it would be possible for two people to agree to work on a project in a web blog and it would be like a private bulletin board and so I guess I should give it at least a 4.

ON-LINE CLASSROOM (rating 7) Receives my highest award. It's certainly not a ten but I think it holds the most promise of achieving quality exchange of ideas since you can incorporate all of the above ways of communicating plus exercise control with regard to the people, discussions, and goals of the communication.

I’ll have to do a little searching on this topic now and try to find some one else who has contemplated this question.

Christmas Christian?

Christmas is over for another year, and I am so glad that it is gone. I’m not complaining; I’m just glad that it is over.

I want to focus my mind on Christ, but I cannot do it at Christmas. Christmas has nothing to do with Christ, but is a time of increased commercial trading, a holiday to feast and give gifts, and to watch sports. It’s O.K. to have a winter holiday where gifts are given, friends and family gather and enjoy each others presence, and sports are played, but we must no longer pretend that it’s about Christ Jesus; because it’s not.

It’s about commerce, feasting, and sports.

Many people know this, but they still fight to try to make Christmas be about Christ. They work in a church service on Christmas eve, say a prayer at the Christmas dinner, and maybe watch a Christmas special that tells the story of the birth of our savior, but for most of the holidays the sports, commerce, and celebration take center stage.

I’m ready to abandon Christmas as anything to do with Christianity. I want to be a part of Christ but not a part of Christmas. I want to think about the birth of my savior, but not have to force it in during halftime. I want to give thanks to God and study his word, but not by driving to a building to hear a sermon at 11:00 at night when it’s 5 below zero.

I hope in the coming year I can experience the presence of God and fellowship with people who truly desire to walk in fellowship with Him.

A study in Rome

I have began to study the book of Romans; it was written by a guy a couple thousand years ago. The book is found in the Christian bible and is available on-line at Bible Gateway.

This book contains some of the scriptures that Christians often rely on to support opposition and condemnation of homosexual practices. As I study the writting, it doesn't seem like the central point of the text was to present an argument against any of several sinful practices mentioned but rather to lay the ground work for a different argument, the presentation of the gospel of Christ.

I'm just beginning my study and anyone may join with me at ezyoke.com.

A little flock of sheep with 'christian' the ram in the center. Sheep are cool animals. They are not as cool as cows. Sheep like to hang out with each other, and they seem to think it's the end of the world if they get separated from their gang. If you feed them grain, they start making a rucus every time they see you, hoping you'll come with some more of their favorite food.

Crockpot Bean Soup

I made a big pot of bean soup today. I found the recipe on the 'net' at the Reading Group Guides site! (click above the picture if you want to go there).

CROCKPOT BEAN SOUP
32 oz can whole tomatoes
1 lg can chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup white wine
1 ½ cup onions, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp pepper
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp parsley
2 cups ham, diced
1 lb assorted dried beans

Soak beans overnight, drain, rinse and drain again. (Hint: you can save time by covering beans with 6-8 cups water and covering with vented plastic wrap - cook in microwave 10 minutes and then let them sit on counter 1 hour) Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and cook 3-4 hours on high or all day on low. The flavor is enhanced by allowing the soup to sit refrigerated for 1-2 days.

It is really good, but make sure you take a few beano pills if you have trouble with digesting. I used a 20 once package of 15 assorted beans and left-over ham from thanksgiving. Yummy!

Liz and I playing songs in the summer. 

Go to my web site.

‘Jesus on Leadership’ and ‘More Jesus Less Religion’ are two books that I plan to read in the coming days, because I have a week off from my job.If you're interested in Jesus, but not necessarily the 'church' as it is practiced in so much of America today, please click on the "Go to my Web site" at the top of the photo. I could use help from other believers.