By Spence Hackney on 2/27/2006 7:52 AM

Why is it that I can concentrate on the code for a new web site for a few hours without taking a break, but I can't concentrate on the Word for more than 10 minutes.  When I read it seems like I constantly have to go back and reread passages and work to maintain my focus.  This is not the case when I do my day to day work.  Why is this?  Why am I so easily distracted?  I am sure that part of it is that I have been conditioned to focus on my work area, but not on my Bible reading.  Part of it my also be some attacks of Satan, the great confuser.  Part of it may be that I don't much like to read at this point, and when I do I like to read web-style in quick bite-sized chunks.  But it seems that there is more to this and it troubles me.  I seem to be so distracted that I can no longer concentrate on spiritual matters.  Granted, it is not always like this, in January I was averaging 3-4 devotional blog posts a week, while in February I have posted two.  So what can I do about this?  The first thing I can think to...

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By Spence Hackney on 2/20/2006 6:32 AM

The purpose of the "Law," or Old Testament rules and regulations, has always been a bit difficult for me to sort out.  I think that it did have a valid point in keeping the Jews from the negative consequences of "sinful" behaviors such as promiscuity.  However, Romans 3:20 gives us the most concise explanation of the purpose of the Law that I have seen:Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law he will become conscious of sin. (NIV)I think that this is the purpose of the Law even today.  Gauging ourselves against the gold standard of the Law points out the areas in which we are deficient.  If you are going to make a couple pieces that need to be identical, stair balusters for example, you first create a template.  Then as you are creating the pieces that need to match you will constantly compare the...

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By Spence Hackney on 2/9/2006 3:49 PM

I have used Windows PCs for many many years now. I have never owned a Macintosh, an Apple, or a Mac (I did have a TI-99/4A and a Timex Sinclair though).  Today I broke the mold.  My bright, shinny, tiny Mac Mini came in the mail today from Amazon. I am impressed.The packaging was amazing, the design is stunning, and I know we have all heard this a thousand times...it...

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By Spence Hackney on 2/7/2006 10:47 AM

I have come to seriously rely on the excellent Spellbound FireFox extension.  This extension allows you to right click on any text box and check the spelling of what you type.  Excellent for blogging!  Unfortunately, it broke when I upgraded to FireFox 1.5.01.  Fixing it was pretty simple though.  To install Spellbound you actually have to install two extensions, one for the front end and the other for the back end.  The problem was that both of these extensions were only set up for FireFox versions below 1.5.0.1.  It is pretty simply to fix this though:Download the extension and save it to your computer.  This should be a .xpi file.Change the extension from .xpi to .zip.Extract the zip fileInside you should find a file called install.rdf, open this file in notepad or your favorite XML/text editor.Look for the tag and replace whatever is in it with a version above what you are targeting.  For instance, I just entered...

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By Spence Hackney on 2/7/2006 8:28 AM

I think most of us have heard that judging others is a sin.  Of course, it is not that big of a sin, right?  It is probably on the order of sneaking a quick glance at the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue on the magazine rack, right?  Well, I hate to say it, but from what I read this morning it seems like it is a big deal to God.  Check out Romans 2:1-5: Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say, "We know that God's judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth." Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the...

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By Spence Hackney on 2/3/2006 2:00 PM

I downloaded the State of the Union address from Audible (its free!) and finally got around to listening to it yesterday while I was driving.  It was a lot of what I expected (the exact first half was on the war on terror and homeland security).  However, I did catch one really wise (and accurate) thing that Bush said: Hindsight is not wisdom and second guessing is not a strategy. How true this is.  So much of what we hear in the press is "he should have acted on this information" or "she shouldn't have authorized this."  What we have to constantly keep in mind is that no decision is made with perfect foresight.  All decisions are executed under limited time frames, with limited information, and with limited assessment capabilities.  Considering all of the mistakes I make when it comes to poor "foresight" I (along with every American) should probably give our elected...

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By Spence Hackney on 2/1/2006 4:08 PM

This video is so bad I hate to even post it.  However, it may be the single funniest "blooper" that I have ever seen.  What bothers me so much about it is that it is not quite a blooper...she is actually serious about it!

By Spence Hackney on 2/1/2006 7:05 AM

My son was awake list night....and my wife slept right through it.  That is my -3 month old son Christian, and not my soon-to-be 2 year old son Nathan.  I was snuggled up to my wife who was asleep and I could feel Christian doing back flips in her tummy.  What an amazing thing!  How wonderful that God gives us an experience like this.  To know that a completely new creation is inside of my wife is an incredible thought!  thank you God!

By Spence Hackney on 1/31/2006 8:19 AM

The idea of "God's economy" has figured into my thoughts a lot lately.  What I mean by this idea of God's economy is that God has completely different valuations of things than we do.   In Matthew 5 God lauds the meek while the world admires the strong.  God blesses the peacemakers and the persecuted, while the world claps for the victor.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit,       for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn,       for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek,       for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,       for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful,       for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart,       for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,       for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,       for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say...

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By Spence Hackney on 1/31/2006 12:01 AM

I just added a "Read Through the Bible in a Year" page under the "Resources" tab. It basically displays a section of the ESV for each day of the year.  As the name suggests, if you follow it every day you will have read the whole Bible.  You will also notice that I added a daily scripture verse on the home page in the right column.  On a technical note, to achieve this I styled a couple of feeds from the ESV's excellent RSS syndication page.  It took a bit of custom XSLT to achieve the look I wanted.  You can download the one for the "Read Through The Bible in a Year" here...

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