Probably not coming from Belfast

Tweeted Bible Reading

2011-01-24T16:12:00.001Z

A few of the guys at Emmanuel are helping each other work through a chronological bible reading plan over the course of the year, albeit a little behind due to only starting last week. To (possibly) help the reflection on this, as well as aid in my reflection on what I'm reading, I'm going to try and post a quick main point or key verse on Twitter, which you can find here. As you may notice, it's something that I've thought of before, and did set up a special Twitter account for this purpose and got nowhere, but I'm hoping that admitting to its existence will help me actually post on it! Feel free to offer comments, hopefully it will either be of some use to someone reading it, or failing that, for myself.

Unto us a child is born

2010-12-25T08:31:00.003Z

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be callèd Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

A very blessed Feast of the Nativity of our Lord to all!

Enjoying Lewis

2010-12-17T18:50:00.003Z

I am presently making up for the sin of not having read The Chronicles of Narnia in my childhood by attempting to read the first three novels before heading home to Belfast for Christmas. It's a task that I must say has been rather pleasant, particularly because of Lewis's quotability and wonderful turn of phrase. Indeed, I am now finally reading years of quotations that I've heard in sermons in context! Anyway, I'm coming near the end of this mini-aim (I do intend to read the rest soon, but we want to go and see "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" in the cinema when in Ireland, and I didn't want to do that without reading the books...), and came across what is my favourite so far:

"In our world," said Eustace, "a star is a huge ball of flaming gas."
"Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of."

Just a wonderful way of putting it. I do feel a desire to revisit a lot of CS Lewis books past enjoyed in the near future...

The Christian's View on the Law

2010-12-13T18:48:00.011Z

Some will doubtless dispute this. If that is so, they will say, why did Paul say all those nasty things about the law in Romans and Galatians? Paul was primarily opposing the way people were (mis)using the law; he was battling a misconception about the function of the law. The law can never be in any way to any degree a standard you can meet and so earn salvation. The law can show you how you fail to be or to do what God requires, but it cannot absolve you of the guilt incurred in breaking the law. The can accuse you but cannot justify you. The law is like your back-porch thermometer - it will show you how hot or cold it is outside, but it does not have the power to raise or lower the temperature. That's why my only hope is Jesus, the Law-keeper who suffered the lawbreaker's judgement (Gal 3:10, 13).

Dale Ralph Davis, 1 Samuel: Looking on the heart, pg 110

The Future Focus of the Church

2010-12-06T08:07:00.004Z

Whereas the God of Israel is not a God of the dead but of the living. For His city, the future is always the touchstone. His city now is not the preserve of the city of yesterday but an anticipation of the city of tomorrow.
Peter J. Leithart, Against Christianity, pg113

Stop whining, Ricky...

2010-12-03T16:30:00.003Z

It was a great morning for a Brit to wake up and check the cricket scores. It is not often that an Australian score of 245 all out is recorded at the Adelaide Oval (indeed, they haven't scored less than 300 in a first innings there since 1993). Still, I had one cause for being disappointed...

I read that there were two run-outs in the Australian innings, and I desperately hoped that one of them would have taken Ricky Ponting's innings. I may be alone in this (although I'd doubt it), but since his rather vocal moaning over his run out to substitute fielder Gary Pratt at Trent Bridge in the 4th Test of the 2005 series, I don't think a cricket series is complete without a 'genuine' Ponting run-out. Complain about that, Ricky.

Of course, the ultimate "Stop winging, Ricky" moment came at The Oval just over a year ago, but I don't think I'll get fed up of seeing further examples. Saying all that, I'll take a golden duck and run-out for Katich and Doherty. And of course, a 245 all out at the Adelaide Oval. Here's to the hope that the England batsmen actually post something of worth tonight...

A Prayer for the Day

2010-11-25T13:54:00.008Z

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we shew forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all men; We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we shew forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
A General Thanksgiving from the Book of Common Prayer, 1662

A Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and family!

A moment of life for a lonely 'blog

2010-08-18T00:18:00.002+01:00

I feel that at some point I will have a consistent approach to this 'blog, and refrain from leaving it unattended and lonesome for months at a time. At times in the past, this has manifested itself in new resolutions to post more often, but time has taught me that these resolutions have rarely show much fruit beyond a brief flurry of posts followed by a period of radio silence, so the only recourse made available to me is to content myself that "once in a blue moon" is still, by strict definitions, a regular frequency for posting.

However, occasionally I enjoy celebrating the fact that the title for my 'blog holds true (that being "Probably not coming from Belfast" for those for whom the title isn't made apparent), and this moment of non-coherent and quite frankly self-referential rambling indeed comes far from Belfast, in the somewhat charming town on Moscow, Idaho (feel free to consult a map - I feel many people who live her would have to do likewise), enjoying a pleasant August, and alternating between enjoying the approach to my wedding in around 12 days time and feel all too much of the panic that often accompanies such a event. But in all, I am very much enjoying the company of my fiancee, Carolyn, looking forward to the point when she will become my wife, Carolyn, and the adventure that will come from probably not being in Belfast together. Happy times await.

And so in the meantime, the 'blog will have to content itself in the odd undirected comment. And additionally, it will have to deal with the fact that some postings will finish almost as abruptly as they began.

Message Ends. So to speak.

A different form of train spotting

2010-06-27T07:57:00.004+01:00

There is a positive about having no cool points left, and that is I can make confessions without any fear of damaging my reputation any further...

With that in mind, here it is: I like train stations. Well, sort of. I like particular types of train stations, terminuses (or is that terminii?) to be precise. This is nothing to do with me being a train spotter, although I have been accused of being that in the past (I'll confess to enjoying travel of trains perhaps a little too much, but have no desire to take photographs of them...), nor is it because of the general collection of cafés that accumulate in larger train stations. That is merely a bonus.

My real reason is summed up by this sculpture in one of my favourite locations. Yesterday, I was in London and my friend asked to meet at St Pancras, and I was more than willing as it gave me a chance to go and look at The Meeting Place by Paul Day that is located in the Eurostar Arrivals lobby, which I feel really sums up what I love. There are a few areas that I'll confess to being a bit of a romantic in relation to, and one is people watching in places where people are reunited. This may be an extension of the fact that I love doing it myself - going to collect a certain special someone or a long since seen friend is such an exciting experience, it's something to look forward to, particularly the moment they walk through the door at arrivals and the embrace that ensues. It's the point where you have the opportunity to welcome the traveller home or to the destination of the journey, and I love it. Furthermore, it is arguably better in the other direction - there have been many a long journey made more than bearable because of the knowledge that someone will be waiting on the other side to welcome you.

And so I have my little bit of pleasure and enjoyment of sitting in a train terminus watching the same moment happen to others. People watching is a fun activity if you know where to look.

Book Review: "The Reason for God" by Tim Keller

2010-06-24T22:46:00.004+01:00

Those, like me, who find it hard to shy away from “heated discussions” will more than likely be keenly aware of the difference between winning the argument and pointing people to Jesus as Lord. Many times I’ve walked away from a conversation knowing very well that I’ve spent too much time arguing over questions about Christianity, and too little actually explaining the gospel, or for that matter even preparing the ground for the gospel to be proclaimed. It’s a problem, I feel, that is shared by many popular Christian apologetics books. There are some excellent books explaining the gospel, but my non-Christian friends often have so many questions to sort out before they would even begin to read those. On the other hand, the books that do start to answer these questions can be too limiting. They often present themselves as the the be all and end all in the argument over issue X, and are content to leave it at that. It's like my fiery conversations all over again, never pointing people to the next step.

The Reason for God however, is different. It deals with many of the same issues - “How can you say there’s only one way to God?”, “Can the Bible be trusted?”, “Hasn’t Science disproved Christianity?” - and yet there is a difference in the way Tim Keller treats these issues. As you read each chapter, you begin to realise that his focus isn’t on answering the question and winning the argument as such, but to convince the reader that the reasons for rejecting Christ are not as watertight as first thought. From that point, he then argues that faith in Christ is itself an intellectually honest and compelling way of looking at the world. What stops Tim Keller’s book from falling into the same trap as others is his honesty on the limitations of his method. Even when arguing for Christian faith, he is upfront in admitting that his arguments are “rationally avoidable”, ie. there is a way of explaining your way out of any of the arguments without resorting to stubbornness! As a result, his arguments focus as a means to encourage the reader to stop putting up barriers and to engage with the gospel of Jesus Christ, rather than to land the knock out blow in the argument itself.

For the Christian reader, there is much encouragement to be found in reading this book as an intellectual and compelling defence of the faith that we all share. More than that, it provides a useful corrective and exemplifies how to point to the gospel through our discussions for those, like me, who can get lost in the fog of arguments. For the non-Christian, although this may not be the book that helps them make the final connection that Jesus is Lord and King, it may help them reach a position that they would be prepared to begin investigating more closely the claims of Jesus Christ that they may never have thought reasonable before. A recommended read.

Originally written for the Hall of SMACC, the blog for St Mary's Anglican Cathedral Contemporary in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Everyone knows that three flights are better than one...

2010-06-20T10:40:00.004+01:00

Naturally, I've been thinking about flights recently, and I'm well versed in a number of flight comparison websites. Now, of course they're only really useful for long haul flights, where the options of different ways are quite dizzying. For internal flights, such as for my trip back to Belfast, I know perfectly well that the cheapest flight will probably be with Ryanair or Easyjet, and that BMI and flyBe are also worth looking at as an alternative. Still, it's good for a bit of enjoyment to see what the most ridiculous option they will offer will be...

So, if you were wanting to get to Belfast City from Bristol, had £1639 going spare and felt that just under an hour is much too short a time to spend getting somewhere, then you could:

Fly with KLM to Amsterdam Schiphol
Change to fly with CityJet to London City
Then transfer to Heathrow to catch an Aer Lingus flight to Belfast City.

I really dislike Ryanair, but I feel this 8 hour 55 minute work of art is probably taking avoidance to the extreme. In the end, I've booked with Ryanair, and am now starting to feel a little cheap compared to the alternative...

Notes from a quiet year so far...

2010-06-20T09:19:00.004+01:00

2010 has been a bit of a year so far. This can mostly be summed up by the fact that many from my church small group have been teasing me about being a world jetsetter. It's true that, although I tend to meander about Europe with a reasonable regularity (this year, despite everything else going on, I've still made it to Prague and have just returned from a school trip to the Schwarzwalde in Germany), my travels this year have been of a more far-flung variety. First of all there was the fantastic return trip to Kuala Lumpur in April. It was great to return to a place that now is firmly lodged in my heart, and my two weeks there had a wonderful feel of returning to family, which made leaving more of a strain than I had first realised. Of course, there was more than one way that statement could be taken - Icelandic geology has never featured so highly in my thoughts, and offered the opportunity to see more of Abu Dhabi than I'd ever really thought I would!

After finally managing to return to the UK, the jokes started with guys at work about finally needing to stay put. I then said I was off to the US in May. They laughed, I laughed, then slowly they realised I was serious. They asked where abouts I was going, expecting my answer to be Boston, New York, Washington D.C. or some other large metropolitan centre. My answer generally involved having to draw a map to try and show where on earth Idaho is... So what causes an already jetlagged man to pack up on another long haul flight to the middle of nowhere?

Well many of you now know the answer. Carolyn and I were introduced to each other in Easter of 2009, through what can only be described as the machinations of my good friend Daniel and his then fiancée, Brooke. Carolyn had travelled to Oxford to see Brooke, and while here I had been summoned (again, I feel this is the correct term) to share Easter lunch at Brooke's host family. It was a pleasant enough time, and I thought she was a nice girl who I could get on with. But nothing could happen - after all she lives in Washington state and I in Bristol. It would never work...

I met her again briefly at the wedding of the aforementioned friends, and again conversation sparked and we talked until the sheer exhaustion of that particular day overtook me - the details of my insanity on that day are enough for another story at another time. However, rather than drifting of our separate ways as we had last time, this meeting led to a series of e-mail exchanges and various comments on Facebook. Over the next few months, this became a regular and established feature, and to use the vernacular, I began to fall for this American lady. She is beautiful, considerate, very funny (in a good way), and we realised we shared a passion for learning and teaching, as well as for travel and things historical, and most of all earnestly pursuing a knowledge of the Lord and a life that pleases Him. So in November of last year we began courting. I'll not lie, it was an odd experience, as in the time that we were courting we only met face to face once, when she came to the UK for her break in February. We were both warned, and in what little way that we could prepared ourselves for, that because of the unusual nature of our relationship, meeting each other as a couple could feel somewhat awkward. I am truly thankful that this was not the case, and we seemed to pick up where we left off, and enjoyed a lovely week together.

We kept communicating for the few months that followed, and I booked a ticket to fly out to the US for the away leg. Over this time, I was able to reflect on the week that we'd had together, on top of letters, e-mails and phone calls that we'd had with each other, and became more and more convinced that I wanted to marry this lady. And so, jetlagged as I was already, I happily compounded that on a trip to the Northwest, and on a bench in the University of Idaho Arboretum, in a section where plants from the Western North America lie beside those from Europe, I asked Carolyn if she would be my wife. I am pleased to announce that she said yes.

For those who have felt left out of the process, I hope this fills in some of the gaps! We are both looking forward to the 28th August which will be our wedding day (God willing) and for the life together that lies ahead of us beyond that. Your prayers for us will be appreciated, and thanks to all who have already offered their words of encouragement and congratulations!

Bible Study Software

2010-05-12T22:23:00.002+01:00

Before I got my mac, I was a huge fan of the bible study software e-Sword, and if I hadn't switched to OSX, I'd still be using it. However, it is a Windows only application, and I was forced towards the functional, but at the time not nearly as good MacSword. It was probably the only regret of switching to a mac...

However, doing an update of MacSword a little while back has revealed version 2 of MacSword to have made huge moves, and is now just as good as I remember e-Sword (although not having access to e-Sword, I don't know where that is in its development), and so well worth a look, certainly for anyone laymen who are regularly involved in leading bible studies or giving talks. Further to my delight, it has released a version compatible with iPhone OS 3, called PocketSword, again something worth having if you are lucky enough to own an iPhone or an iPod Touch.

Back to study

2010-05-01T12:04:00.005+01:00

After a gap of just shy of three years, I'm continuing my part time theological studies with the Moore College Correspondence Course. While I was in Malaysia, I helped teach the classes for three of modules and sat a further three, but when I returned to the UK, time pressures meant that I never got around to finishing off the Preliminary Theological Certificate.

However, with feeling a little more settled with my job, and study leave for some of my classes coming up, I feel there's a bit more time now to continue, so have signed up to study Ephesians over the next couple of months, which I'm looking forward to. While doing so, I may be trying to get back into the swing of doing more extended pieces of writing, which will probably find their way onto this blog. For those who want to follow, any comments would be welcome, and for the very few that actually read my blog on Blogger, I'll make sure the posts are labelled appropriately. Alternatively, it'll probably just be me blogging into the ether, but it'll be good for me...

A New Take on Contemporary Christian Music

2010-04-29T18:03:00.003+01:00

I'm in the process of listening to the album Hymns by Page CXVI, which is a project to make the words of older hymns more accessible by setting them to more contemporary tunes. A first listen sounds good (although I am the sort that likes to mix good theology with a bit of a rocky beat), and I figure it's worth a listen and can be found here. The album is free to download for this week only I believe.

How the "Hopey-Changey" thing going?

2010-04-24T08:00:00.002+01:00

There now follows a party political broadcast for the Conservative party (or is it the Liberal Democrats? It's hard to tell...):

When did British politics get all American? I suppose it has for a long time, but it feels particularly noticeable this time around, when it's hard to hear much about policy, but what we do know is there'll be lots of change. Change you can believe in. Change that works for you. You know it's getting bad when even the incumbent Prime Minister is talking about change...

As much as I remain politically conservative, David Cameron appears to be taking Boris Johnson's route to victory in the Mayoral Elections a few years back, a campaign for which I was surprised the Conservative Manifesto wasn't contained in one page and read:

"I'm a different person to Ken Livingstone. I also don't like bendy buses."

Not that you can blame him, it's a tactic that seems to work, the electorate appear to be quite happy for indiscriminate change at certain points. Yet it's a little frustrating that it's easy to feel that Josh Lyman's comment to John Hoynes (I wasn't going to get through this without a West Wing quote) sums up what we know of his policy quite well:

"I don't know what we're for, I don't we against, except we seem to be for winning and against somebody else winning."

As mentioned, this is not a particular will to see Gordon Brown win, I will stick my neck out and say I want to see a Conservative majority in the election and for David Cameron to make to trip to Buckingham Palace to form the next government. My problem though is the means in which that will happen - it's sound-bite stuff. The result will probably mean, with the debates, a hung parliament, as the one playing the sound-bites well at the moment is Nick Clegg. And then when all the dust has settled, we'll start moaning about parties not delivering what they promised and failing to make the connection between what happens after 6th May and what happened before...

"More than 600,000 Britons disrupted by Volcano Ash"

2010-04-16T08:16:00.004+01:00

Well, I'm one of the statistics. I've seen so many of these news articles over the years, and although they often plucked my sympathy, you never think that it'll happen to you.

Well it has. And I'm stranded in Abu Dhabi, not really knowing when my return flight will happen. But before I garner any sympathy, I should point out I could be in worse places. This is a photo from my hotel, provide courtesy of Etihad Airways. The structure in the background happens to be the new Abu Dhabi Formula One Circuit - if you look closely you can see the Yas hotel that sits in the middle. The image in the other direction is also quite nice - it's a pretty nice room I've been placed in.

But now is time to wait. I'm unsure whether I'll be back for the start of term now, and I'm trying to see how many of my fellow educators are in a similar situation - I've met a fairly large number of teachers here waiting for a flight into Heathrow - it'll be interesting to see if there are any school closures resulting from lack of staff. I shall be watching the new with interest though, it's not like I have anything better to do...

Dalam Yesus kita bersaudera

2010-04-15T10:00:00.005+01:00

I'm sitting in the front room of what used to be my flat some three years ago. For the last couple of weeks, I've been back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the first time since leaving at the end of my apprenticeship in 2007, and it's been wonderful to come back. In something that seems a little bizarre given the short time I was out here (after all, I only spent 11 months in KL), the last few weeks have felt more like coming home than going on holiday, and it's been a real pleasure meeting old friends.

In wondering why that is, a clue was offered in the Bahasa Malaysia song that makes up the title, which I was sing yesterday. It translates as "In Jesus, we are family", and coming back here makes me feel how true that is. I'm not returning to acquaintances, or even close friends. In a very real sense it's coming back to family, family who welcomed me in and I shared my life with those years back. A new family, in Jesus Christ with God as Father.

"And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Matthew 12:49-50

The flipside is that it makes departing harder than the average holiday. Maybe it's time to start looking again at the flight costs for next year...

We are what we worship

2010-04-01T18:37:00.005+01:00

The Bible has a lot to say about mankind, and one of the biggest issues that rubs against modern culture is the fact that we are a people made for worship, or as I heard it put a couple of weeks ago, we as a species are less Homo sapiens or thinking man and much more Home adorans or worshipping man. We may resist it, but the continuing mirror held up to us is that if we are not worshipping the true God, then someone or something else will receive our worship.

All fine and well, but I've been struck recently by the fact that the object of our worship doesn't leave us unchanged, and so we are not only made for worship but made to be transformed by our worship. So then, if our worship is something false, then the results will be clear:

"The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
they have ears but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them!'
Psalm 135:15-18

We will become what we worship. Tom Wright brilliantly rams this point home by revealing the truth of this Psalm in our modern context:

"Those who worship money define themselves in terms of it, and increasingly treat other people as creditors, debtors, partners or customers rather than human beings. Those who worship sex define themselves in terms of it (their preferences, their practices, their past histories) and increasingly treat people as actual or potential sex objects. Those who worship power define themselves in terms of it, and treat other people as collaborators, competitors or pawns. These and many kinds of idolatry combine in a thousand ways, all of them damaging to the image-bearing quality of the people concerned and the lives of those they touch."

Surprised by Hope, pg 195

Idolatry is something real and very much alive among us, and so it becomes less of a trivial issue when we open our eyes not only to its existence, but they very real and present damage that it is causing to people around us.

The Tune of the Vltava

2010-02-18T20:18:00.003Z

There are some truths that can be said about me. I like travel. A lot. In particular, I like cities. Hence with very little provocation, I will head off to nose around some European capital. Each to their own addiction. Furthermore, I'm the sort of guy that will somehow feel some connection to a place that I plan to go to. There will be some monument, some person or just something that will draw me on a small pilgrimage towards a place. Hence, attractions that would, say, lead me to the business district of North Paris are not particularly uncommon. I will find something that ties me with some area of interest, usually theological, mathematical, scientific or historical. I suppose whatever takes my fancy...

Well, I've just got back from Prague, which was a lovely city, but dragged up a pilgrimage that has thus far been unrealised - one of particular musical interest. Now, this has a lot to do with the complete lack of things required to be musical, things like talent, an ear for music or much of a degree of arsty-ness (there is good reason I studied Engineering...), but I have been training myself very slowly to appreciate music, and in this regard, a certain Czech composer has a strong grip on me.

That composer is Betrich Smetana, composer of Má Vlast. When I was younger, I heard a part of that symphony called Die Moldau, which I then found out was a tone poem describing the River Vltava in Prague, and it became the first piece of music I ever connected to, that I felt I understood, I could see the river as I listened to orchestra playing. It felt very special, and has remained a favourite piece of mine ever since. So to actually see the Vltava for myself, almost to see if the picture painted for me by Smetana was true, was a wonderful feeling, as I stood in the ramparts of Vysehrad in the South of the city looking down the river. The music was flowing through my head the whole time I was there.

Additionally, while I was at Vysehrad, there is a cemetery there that holds a number of famous Czechs, probably the most famous of them being another composer, Antoine Dvorak, whose remains lie under a rather noticeable tombstone, complete with bust and crowd of tourists around him. A little further round the corner though lies a simple monument, with the words B. Smetana engraved on them. I had the excuse myself from the others barging past, but there lay the man responsible, 150 years on, of inspiring my interest in music. And the world moves on.

Do they know it's Christmas?

2009-12-15T21:57:00.005Z

At a fairly seasonal time, I've been looking through some old quiz rounds that I've written, and particularly amusing myself with the OUQS Committee Quizzes, which were all about writing clever themed rounds. This is that I particularly enjoyed from Christmas 2005, I believe. If you were wondering, the theme was "Do they know it's Christmas?".

1. Many Orthodox churches, such as the Coptic and Russian Orthodox, will not know that it’s Christmas time on 25^th December. What date do they celebrate Christmas?

2. Which Oxford Christian Society aims to make sure they know it’s Christmas time by annually announcing the date on which Christmas will fall?

3. Some Christian sects will not believe it’s Christmas time. Which group, possibly most noticeable for their rejection of blood transfusion, do not celebrate Christmas?

4. Other religions don’t quite accept that it is Christmas time, but that’s no reason not to celebrate. The Jewish festival of Hanukkah is celebrates the events described in which apocryphal book of the Bible?

5. Do we know when it’s Christmas time? How many days is it ‘til Christmas?

6. Does he know “Do They Know it’s Christmas Time?” What single surpassed “Do They Know it’s Christmas Time?” as the all time highest selling UK single in 1997?

7. You know when it’s Christmas time when repeats of old TV series start appearing. At the beginning the only Father Ted Christmas Special, Ted rescues a group of priests from the largest example of what in Ireland?

8. Do you know your Christmas Time? The twelve days of Christmas spans the time between Christmas Day and which other Christian Feast Day, celebrated on 6^th January?

9. When you’ve known that it was Christmas Time, it’ll be Boxing Day, otherwise known as St. Stephen’s Day. The story of St Stephen is told in which book of the bible?

10. It doesn’t have to be Christmas time, but you know it’s my quiz when there’s a random piece of education about Belfast thrown into the quiz. What is the name of the Belfast Cathedral, outside which stands the famed “Black Santa”, who is the dean of the cathedral collecting money for charity throughout December?

Half the fun is...

2009-12-12T14:25:00.003Z

The last couple years have been good for travel from me, and being the sort of person that I am, planning the travel tends to be almost as fun as actually travelling! It'll come as little surprise that I was someone who used to play with maps and timetables when I was younger. That really is no joke...

Anyhow, I've come across a website that has made me, if it were possible, even more obsessed. It's called Tripit, which acts as a travel itinerary accumulator, so you make your bookings for flights, coaches, trains, hotels, activities and whatever, forward them on to Tripit and they sort it out so the itinerary is in one place. It's entirely possible that I'm one of the few people who could find this fun and exciting, but the itineraries made are quite cool, and in case anyone falls into the same personality type as me, I thought I'd share...

Beyond a joke. Literally.

2009-12-11T16:17:00.003Z

Quite a popular joke that keeps being pushed in the faces of mathematics teachers is the following comment on the evolution of British mathematics teaching:

1. Teaching Maths In 1970
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
What is his profit?

2. Teaching Maths In 1980
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or £80.
What is his profit?

3. Teaching Maths In 1990
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is £80.
Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Maths In 2000
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is £80 and his profit is £20.
Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Maths In 2008
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and
inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the
preservation of our woodlands.
He does this so he can make a profit of £20.
What do you think of this way of making a living?
Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers. )

We can all have a laugh at this, safe in the knowledge that this is hyperbole, and that although worried at the direction, we can be confident it won't get this bad. Or so I thought, until this question from my top set Year 8 was pointed out to me,

A penguin is standing on an iceberg that is melting because of global warning. It now has a diameter of 6m.
(a) Calculate the area for the penguin to stand on.
(b) Where else could the penguin go to live?

Part (b) I'm sure will be enough for people to think that I've just pushed the joke that little bit beyond believability, but alas not, it really was there. I'm trying to assess whether that was better or worse than the question from a Year 7 textbook that, after a question on calculating the number of loyalty card points could be earned on purchase of bananas, genuinely asked the question,

(c) Do you like bananas?

I can't think why so many maths teachers lose confidence in the system...

The Machine is us/ing us

2009-12-09T21:30:00.003Z

You can tell it's a quiet night - I've been looking through some old videos that I've enjoyed in the past, and came across this one. It's a pretty cool way of introducing what's really meant by "Web 2.0"

Negative Number Confusion

2009-12-09T21:19:00.003Z

I feel that most people I tell about this article are starting to think that I'm spinning some sort of tale. Now admittedly, that's not massively unlike me, I'm quite happy to build up a lot of story around the telling of a simple joke, but for once this is really true - read this story from the Manchester Evening News all the way back from 2007.

My favourite quote has to be,

"I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it."

but I must admit it wouldn't be half as funny if it didn't have a "I'm not having it" at the end. It's almost enough to make a maths teacher give up and go home...

Have you heard the one about the statistician, the number theorist and the engineer?

2009-10-10T22:40:00.003+01:00

My classes have been suffering from mathematical jokes. I feel I should spread them more widely...

A mathematician decides he wants to leave the mathematics trade and become a fireman, so he goes to the local fire department. "OK, then, let's see how you do in a little test," the fire chief says, "What would you do if you passed an alley and say there was a bin on fire?" "Well," replied the mathematician, "I'd get a hose, connect to an hydrant, and then pour water on until fire goes out." "Very good, but what would you do if there was no fire?"

The mathematician thinks for a bit, then says "Well, then I'd have to find a match and set the bin on fire." The fire chief nearly chokes, "Why on earth would you do that?" "It's obvious, it reduces it to a problem I've already solved..."

Boom, Boom! More on the computing end of things...

Why do mathematicians get Hallowe'en and Christmas confused?
Because for a mathematician, Oct 31 is the same as Dec 25!

And for the true geeks...

What's white, non-orientable and lives in the sea?
Möbius Dick

I'm here all week, just so you know...

Connecting with the Norn Irish in me

2009-10-10T22:18:00.003+01:00

I live my life as an exile - I've now been living in England for some seven years and counting, with no prospect of returning to the motherland. As a result, I enjoy indulging in anything Northern Irish whenever it's presented to me. One of the avenues of this indulgence is the writings of John Pepper, a columnist for the Belfast Telegraph. I've been rereading his Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ulster Knowledge, which is hilarious in a "so true" sense for anyone from, or for that matter has visited, Northern Ireland. Take this entry under Exile:

"The Exile doesn't exist who fails to prick up his ears at the sound of a familiar accent far from home."

I remember times in Oxford when I had to be dragged away from people after a half hour conversation with a total stranger based solely on our common homeland. While there have been a number of laughs come from it, I'm feeling like getting a copy of it for my English friends, then they might have a fighting chance of understanding what I'm on about when I refer to scallion, sodas or start to talk about it being donkeys since we last did something...

Mightier than the Waves

2009-10-04T22:34:00.006+01:00

I have just returned from a weekend on the North Cornish coast with a few members of my small group from church. It was spectacular, and I feel that there may be a competitor for the North Antrim Coast as contender for favourite spot on earth. I'm hoping it won't be the last time I'm back! The photo on the right comes from the Bedruthan Steps near Mawgan Porth. We climbed down at high tide, and so the waters were surging right up to the bottom of the stone staircase, and looking a little ferocious. One of the people reminded me though of Psalm 93, which rather coincidentally was read out at church this evening:

The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.
The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring.
Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea,
the Lord on high is mighty!
Your decrees are very trustworthy;
holiness befits your house,
O Lord, forevermore.

From my perspective, these waves were pretty mighty! What an amazing God we serve! It's always nice when you experience something that allows you to appreciate such a truth anew.

Doug Wilson on Calvin and the Bible

2009-09-27T11:34:00.003+01:00

I've just finished listening to Doug Wilson's talk at the Desiring God conference, and would give it strong recommendation - particularly for it's strong defence of the role of preaching derived from the authority of God's word.

As a pleasant aside, the introduction gives a good reason for why we are happy to call ourselves "Calvinists", while at the same time refusing to venerate John Calvin beyond his role as a human teacher. In as such, the first ten minutes comes with particular recommendation for anyone who feels shy of the title, or is inclined to reject the need for human teachers altogether. Then by the time you've listened through that much, you may as well keep going...

Checkout Challenge

2009-09-21T19:28:00.002+01:00

I was posed a question recently by a colleague at work, and on reflection I'm struggling to figure out why it hasn't been a bit of a chestnut on the quiz circuit, as it appears to have many of the qualities required. Or maybe it has been and I just haven't noticed. Anyway here it is:

What is the lowest checkout in darts that required a 3-dart finish?

For those uninitiated in the great sport of darts, a checkout needs to finish on a double or a bullseye (50 points). To count, it must require three darts, and not be able to be done on one or two darts, e.g. 40 wouldn't count, no matter how many times you insist you could do it 5, 15, double 10, as it's quite clear that double 20 would do.

Feel free to comment any solutions. The method that my colleague and I used to solve it demonstrates an interesting method of proof, so a follow up on solution should be expected, along with a little discourse on some area of mathematics, I should expect.

Other Aspects of the Covenant

2009-09-02T13:14:00.005+01:00

One thing I’ve been thinking about recently is the fact that being in the covenant isn’t necessarily good news. I feel I’ll need to elaborate on that a bit more - one of the passages that has been in my head is this one:

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.”

Matthew 11:21-22

The reason for woe here is the privilege that these two cities possess. They have seen the work of the Messiah, witness the signs that he points to, and yet have not repented, and because of that their judgement will be worse than that of Tyre and Sidon. For although the cities of Tyre and Sidon may well be ‘worse’, they didn’t get to see God at work in the flesh. In one way of putting it, it’s expected of Tyre and Sidon, they knew no better (although it’s worth noting that this fact doesn’t mean they escape judgement), but for Chorazin and Bethsaida, what were they thinking? They knew better than to reject God, and yet did so anyway and will be judged more harshly because of their knowledge.

The basic point is one that is almost self-evident: To be privileged brings additional responsibility, and although the passage above isn’t explicitly covenantal, there are many places where the same point is made. The biggest example would be the the people of Israel in the Old Testament. The curses for disobedience of Deuteronomy 29 are part of the covenant Israel had with God, and not in spite of it; they would be judged specifically because of their knowledge of God’s law. Another helpful illustration is that of another God instituted covenant relationship: marriage. To quote something I’ve been reading recently:

“The unfaithful man remains a husband – even though he has a slept with Suzy, Sally, Shirley et al. The fact such a man is a husband compounds the guilt; it does not lessen it in any way. If we knew that a man was promiscuous, and then found out he was married, we wouldn’t say, “Well, at least he’s married!” His covenant vows make his sin worse. When a single man sleeps around his sin is great. [...] When a married man is sexually treacherous, his sin is multiplied many times over.”

Doug Wilson, A Primer on Worship and Reformation

The same must be true in the New Covenant. There are those who have entered, through baptism, into a covenantal relationship with God, and then openly rebel and teach falsehood about the God with whom they have a relationship with. They are in the privileged position of hearing God’s word, and yet turning their backs on Him. The temptation of many evangelicals is to label these people as not Christians, but to do so is to let them off the hook. For a non-Christian to deny the deity of Christ is sinful, but understandable, but for a covenant member to say the same thing is to place themselves in far greater condemnation. To people who profess the name of Christian but live in disregard to God, the covenant is no place of blessing, but will stand in judgement against them. And so there must be an urgency in trying to win our brothers over, by having a view of them both as brothers within the same covenant and as those facing judgement because of their evil, and we will do so by acknowledging the issue as one of church discipline rather than the more external one as it is presently currently conceived.

Returning to the Ether

2009-09-02T13:10:00.003+01:00

It has been a long absence from the blogsphere, but I now endeavour to return. I shall attempt to place a few more thoughts up here from time to time, and shall also return to updating my Twitter a little more frequently (which at the time of writing, still claims that I have not reached Moscow yet. There is possibly more than one way that that's now wrong...).

Casting pearls before swine

2009-03-02T19:38:00.003Z

At church, we've been looking at the Sermon on the Mount for a few weeks, and last night came the turn of the challenging passage of Matthew 7 and the passage about "judge not lest ye be judged". Without going into too much about the personal challenge of the passage (for those interested, you can listen to the sermon here), the main thrust was that passage was not an excuse to not challenge ungodly behaviour in fellow Christians, but rather to correct others with humility and an awareness of your own sin. In the context, we came across the somewhat puzzling passage of Matthew 7:6:

"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces."

Now in the context of the encouragement to humbly correct our fellow Christians, the way that this verse was thought about was that sometimes we will correct others in all humility but still find it taken badly, so the encouragement is not to lose heart in humble correction to be the right thing to do. Now this makes a lot of sense, but I still feel a little uncomfortable about it - firstly, Jesus' words seem to read as an endorsement not to even try something, rather than an encouragement for those who have had bad experiences trying to do the right thing, and secondly the wording seems a little strong, after all reference to pigs doesn't tend to be made lightly.

With these in mind, an alternative suggestion was floated in small group afterwards, that the pearl might be alluding to the "pearl of great price" of Matthew 13:45-46, and so might be the gospel. This interpretation would say don't preach the gospel (the pearl) to non-Christians who have consistently rejected it (the pigs or dogs). This has the appeal that it is allowing scripture to interpret scripture, but this still seems to not fit right. The result of this might lead to a withdrawal of any hope of grace on certain people, that there are some people that we might be led to feel are beyond the call of the gospel and so we needn't bother preaching it to them, which might be right but feels wrong somehow.

I was therefore continuing to mull this through my head this morning, and my thoughts were returned to thinking of some comments N.T. Wright had made at a sermon in Oxford last year, which encouraged me to look back at the other "pearl" passage in Matthew:

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."
Matthew 13:46-47

It seems that the pearl of great price isn't quite the gospel, but the "kingdom of heaven". Now the kingdom of heaven is a reference, I think, not only to the future rule of Christ that will happen when all things have been completed, but also his influence and rule on earth now. Elsewhere in Matthew (such as 4:23, 24:14), the gospel is referred to as "the gospel of the kingdom" or "the Good news of the kingdom". This would suggest that the thing of value isn't the gospel as such, but rather that the gospel is such good news because it declares the kingdom of heaven and God's rule to be available through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So how does that affect Matthew 7:6? Well, if the pearl is the kingdom of heaven, or to use different language, the rule of Christ, then we need to be careful in how we approach moral issues with non-Christians. With Christians who have strayed, it is wise to approach in humility to encourage one's brother (and also oneself) to submit their live more in line with God's word. But this approach is because you and your brother have sold all for the pearl of great price, and appreciate to some degree the greatness of Christ's rule. To take a similar line with non-Christians won't work, they scoff at God's rule, so why cast our pearls in front of them to convince them? Rather, we need to proclaim the beauty of the pearl itself, and hope that God opens their eyes to appreciate the pearl themselves.

To clarify, I'm not saying that non-Christians are necessarily unpersuaded to live God's way in some areas, but rather to try and convince them to adapt to some moral solely because it is God's will is misguided, and we rather need to address the core problem of rebellion to God before focusing of living lives according to the will of God.

Maybe short is more my style...

2009-03-01T21:45:00.002Z

I think I'm going to experiment more with Twitter, we shall see if that gets update more than this blog does!

(That said, I shalln't be ignoring here, not that I'm particularly active...)

Colour in black and white

2009-02-21T23:10:00.001Z

This is quite a cool optical illusion thing, worth checking out.

Consolidation

2009-02-19T23:31:00.004Z

For anyone who might notice these sort of things, I've imported a few posts from a previous blog that I used to keep, just to bring most of the stuff that I write together in one place. This would be why there are some posts that seem to come before the post that gives an introduction to the blog.

Of course, I write this and the most likely outcome is that no-one notices anyway. And yet I keep writing...

Reading for Relaxation

2009-02-19T22:45:00.004Z

One other notable point that occurred during my trip away: I have now read my first P.G. Wodehouse. I had been strongly recommended to try something from him, and so whenever I was in second hand bookshops, I always had a quick look to see if I could pick anything up. It's a testament to his popularity, I suppose, that his books seem to be quite rare, but I did finally find a copy of Ring for Jeeves in the Blackwell's second hand section.

I'm pleased to say I quite enjoyed it, and I think I've found a pleasant source of fairly lightweight reading (in the best sense of the term, as in not too heavy when you are looking for a little revival). The humour seems to be quite similar to that of Jerome K. Jerome, that I had the pleasure of sampling near the end of last year - rather focused on the charmingly absent minded. It does, however, make for embarrassment in public reading, randomly laughing out loud on a train is not considered the done thing in Britain...

I'm now back into the cycle for the reading group that I attend, after missing a couple of meetings, first due to illness then down to not hearing which book early enough to read it in time. The book this month is Nada by Carmen Laforet, a translation from Spanish about a teenager coming to study in Barcelona in the years after the Spanish Civil War. Quite a change in tone from my holiday reading, but the first few chapters seem promising, and shall be nice to be able to join a discussion again.

Wonderful Copenhagen

2009-02-18T12:12:00.004Z

I'm now back from a very pleasant few days in and around Copenhagen on my half-term holidays. It's quite a wonderful place, and I'm already making mental plans for a return, maybe in the summer for a bit of a cycling tour. It was very cold, as I suppose one should expect if one visits Scandinavia in February, but although I'd like to return when it was a bit warmer, the cold does allow it to snow which added something to the place. It has quite a fairy-tale sort of feel to it in normal weather, but the snow made the old town look like the sort of scene you'd expect to see illustrated in a story book. It's not hard to see where Hans Christian Anderson got much of his inspiration from!

Other highlights of my short break include: walking around Hamlet's Elsinore Castle in the freezing cold and snow, lots of time to relax and read, lovely roommates in the hostel and ensuing evening conversations about home countries and the like, finding somewhere suitable to watch Ireland move one step closer to a first Six Nations trophy, finding a horse stable in the Carlsberg brewery and intrepid voyages decided over a cup of coffee while assessing one's options. A successful few days, me thinks.

It all has to end and it sometimes does so in a thump, as in this case. Tomorrow is the day decided for returning to school to plan lessons for the new term. Sigh.

Caution: Mathematician Unwinding...

2009-02-08T21:21:00.003Z

As much as I love the jaunt into Oxford, I'm always left exhausted at the end of it, so this evening has primarily consisted of collapsing and not doing much. What has been my entertainment? Well, as a clue:

"We all use math everyday, to predict weather, to tell time, to handle money. Math is more than formulas and equations: it's logic, it's rationality, it's using your mind to solve the biggest mysteries we know."

Oh yeah. I love it, or at least I would love it more if it learnt that it's not math, it's maths (or maybe it's maz. Maybe I'm not the best one to point out the pronunciation here...)

The purpose of baptism

2009-02-08T16:27:00.004Z

I've just returned from Oxford, where I spend a little time in the company of Doug Wilson, including hearing him speak at a talk addressing the misconceptions that surround the Federal Vision. These talks were rather helpful, and have given some food for thought, but one question that I want to mention, although not at this point answer, is the following:

If we believe that we are saved entirely through faith alone (which I do), what purpose is there in baptism?

That is to say, is it the case that we either accept the first clause (we are saved sola fides) and therefore could replace baptism by a public confession (or at least would simply have to retain baptism just to be obedient for obedience sake, which is not necessarily a bad concept), and the alternative is to reject sola fides and turn baptism into a ritual which either has to be completed as part of salvation or indeed brings salvation in and of itself.

It is easy to guess that I am beginning to feel that the above option do not comprise a complete set, and indeed that there are alternative ways of thinking, but as I said, I am not planning to answer my question now, I simply leave it as a place holder for future thinking. Be assured that although my fingers are not yet working on this topic, the cogs of my thoughts have begun to turn on the issue...

So the snow dance was the problem...

2009-02-05T08:24:00.003Z

Finally!

The good news came on BBC Bristol this morning. As it is, I'm now writing this in bed...

Really? I hadn't noticed!

2009-02-04T21:42:00.003Z

You know, for all the talk I make about how silly and annoying pupils are for pointing out the bleeding obvious during lessons, as in "Sir, it's snowing!", the BBC News website top story for most the last week has had a similar inclination.

But then again, so has this blog. There's another severe weather warning for this evening. I'm putting away the snow dance, accepting the fact that it's a useless device. Still, here's hoping...

Sir, sir, it's snowing!

2009-02-02T20:55:00.002Z

Further to yesterday's post, snow did not happen in time and I went in as normal. Except it was the worst of two worlds, seeing that it was snowing (leading to kids generally spending more time looking out the window that listening to my lesson), but not enough to get time off work. Drat. To look for silver linings though, I did indeed not stay up for the Superbowl, but even then it appears I missed another classic. Maybe it'll snow in a sensible fashion for next year...

Still, BBC weather forecasts heavy snow for this evening and the Met Office is putting at 60% chance, so the snow dance continues.

Doing the snow dance...

2009-02-01T21:02:00.003Z

It's cold and there is snow predicted this evening. Now if only I could ensure that tomorrow was a snowday, then I'd be able to stay up and watch the Superbowl...

I'm really not going to take that chance though. It's a tough, tough couple weeks ahead and I'm predicting a perfectly natural sleep debt without adding to it from my own stupidity...

The numbers behind the music

2009-01-31T17:06:00.003Z

I've spent this morning tutoring at a Year 8 Mathematics Masterclass on "Mathematics and Music", for which I have to admit to only having competency in one half thereof, but in spite of that it was very interesting. Towards the end of the lecture, my attention was drawn to the existence of the Fibonacci Waltz, a composition based on the Fibonacci sequence of numbers. How it is composed is by assigning a note to each number, so 1 is C, 2 is D and so on. Sharps are not considered for the purpose of this (although if someone wishes to attempt further composition...), and similarly octaves are disregarded so number 8 corresponds back to C, essentially meaning running the Fibonacci sequence in a form of modular 7 arithmetic.

There are a couple of surprises in this piece, the first of which is that it is somewhat aesthetically pleasing! Mathematically though, I was surprised to see that it has a repeating sequence of 16 notes, and I'm now rather keen to see why. For a start, I would have probably expected the repeat to be some multiple of 7. Further to that, would the sequence repeat if sharps were included (turning it into a form of mod 11 arithmetic)? If it does, what about other modular bases? This is something that requires further investigation, I reckon, and I can already see an A-level class investigation brewing over this one...

The Great Wikipedia Race!

2009-01-30T21:54:00.006Z

Introduced by the top set Year 11s and now the new craze in the staff room. A game for 2 or more players:

Each player logs on to a computer and goes to the Wikipedia homepage. Choose a destination article (such as Isaac Newton, Sydney Harbour Bridge, etc), then each player hits the "Random Article" button. The aim is then to navigate to the destination article as quickly as possibly by using only links found in the articles you are viewing, starting with the random article.

Hours of amusement, and good use of the random tidbits and connections connected as a quizzer!

Oh yes, and I have indeed lost the game.

The Path of Least Expectation

2009-01-29T20:56:00.003Z

It's been a while since I've posted. This is due to finding out first hand that January is a rather long month in the teaching profession (typified by the question asked by one of the science teachers when he asked if I could come up with a mathematical explanation of why August never drags by January always does...), but for the sake of providing at least one post a month, I'll offer this poser...

I get quite annoyed when classes ask to change their seating plan, so my response to a question of "when are we changing the seating plan?" is "when you least expect it", pointing out that because they asked, they must have been, to some extent, expecting me to cave and allow it to happen that day. Now this is just to annoy them (hey, I'm allowed...), but here's the thought:

If I'd said to them instead, "Sometime this term, but when you don't expect it.", would there be a time available in the term to change the seating plan? To demonstrate this, imagine that we got to the last lesson of term and I still hadn't changed the seating plan. In this case, to keep my word, I would have to change the seating plan. But the pupils, if they remembered my original statement, would be expecting it, because it would be my last chance so I wouldn't have fulfilled the condition in my statement. Now, think if I got to the second last lesson. In this instance, because I know the pupils would have to expect my change if I left it to the last lesson, and so to avoid my pupils' expectation I would have to change it this lesson. Of course, I teach some bright cookies, and they too would figure this out in the second last lesson.

This logical process can be applied to every lesson of the term by continuing the iteration to the third from last, fourth from last and so on, so my pupils have to resign themselves to the fact that I simply can't fulfil my statement and the seating plan seems doomed to stay. Or does it? Is there a flaw in the logic, and why/why not?

Test results poser

2008-12-28T23:00:00.004Z

I've got to the point that I get really excited about interesting maths problems (this might not be a new issue, but being a teacher allows me to unashamedly embrace the inner geek), and I came across this one a couple of days ago:

A disease has broken out in the world, which infects on average one in every 1000 people. The onset has no physical symptoms in the early stages, but medics have developed a test that is able to detect the disease with an accuracy of 95%, or more precisely, the test will return positive with 100% accuracy if the person tested is infected, but will return a false positive (i.e. will say the person is infected when in fact they are not) 5% of the time if the person is not infected.

You take the test, and the result is positive. What is the probability that you are infected with the disease? Is it:

(a) 100%

(b) 95%

Answers on a postcard (or a comment, if you must) with explanation. I'll reveal the answer some time in the future...

There may not be a God, but ostriches definitely exist

2008-12-26T22:29:00.002Z

Earlier in the week, as I was travelling up to a friend's, I picked up a copy of The Guardian (it seems I've become like that...) to pass the journey, and stumbled upon this article by Polly Toynbee. Now it's this sort of article that could spawn a thousand blog posts (and for all I know, already has), but I shall limit myself to comment on the slogans the British Humanist Association has decided to print on buses:

"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

I'm guessing the intention to be a counterbalance to the bible verses put up by the Trinitarian Bible Society, a nice little message to not get caught up in all this "religion" and to get on with life in the present. Except I don't think it really gets there - after all, this is meant to be a counterthrust to those who claim there is a God who is worth bothering about, and moreso that:

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
Hebrews 10:31

Now, if that's the two arguments, I really, really do not want the word "probably" to still be there before I "stop worrying and enjoy my life". The phrase "smile, it might never happen" seems a little patronising and lacking in comfort when the worry is about some variety of minor stress, and I am a little astonished to see the British Humanist Association using an equivalent to casually pass over matters of eternal significance.

I want to stop before I start to sound like I'm presenting some form of Pascal's Wager, or making Christianity sound like all it has to offer is a psychological feeling of security, both of which I feel does not do justice to the truth and beauty of the message gospel, but it is simply interesting to note that the offering of the leading "freethinking" society in this country is that we can't be sure but let's not worry our pretty little heads about such lofty things...

For unto us a child is born

2008-12-25T00:00:00.003Z

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:10-11

Great news! Wishing you all a very merry Christmas, a Saviour has come!

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1-4

Signs that I'm still a not from round these parts, no. 1 - The Trains

2008-12-23T09:50:00.003Z

I've figured out that I really don't understand the ticketing system for National Rail. I've been checking prices of tickets to go up to Durham (those with ears to hear...), and was under the assumption that the further you book in advance the cheaper it would be. So as a test, I entered a date for 12 weeks away, and was quoted a price of £70ish - not ideal. It was only then that I realised that that was for an "anytime" ticket, and it hadn't offered any advance tickets. So I knocked the date back a month, and got quoted £25ish - much more reasonable.

So to get the right fare, do you book in advance, but not too much in advance? Why is this starting to feel like buying something on eBay?

I'm now waiting to see Imhotep on the exam papers...

2008-12-21T15:22:00.003Z

As it was the last week of school, I was taking a laid back approach to my classes, taking time to watch some videos and generally relax before the end of term. I decided as a bit of a joke to show this to some of my classes, not letting on the genre:

At the end of the class, I asked my Year 11s:

"OK, you can admit it, how long did it take you to work out it was a spoof?"

To which they responded:

"A spoof, sir?"

Oh dear...

Home, where my thoughts escape me...

2008-12-21T14:34:00.006Z

Well, I'm now back in Belfast after surviving my first full term, feeling somewhat shattered and ready for a rest. To aid in this, I have brought exactly no work home with me, and I don't have much reason to feel guilty about having done so, so what lies ahead for the next few days is one of rest, a little personal study and reading, and meeting of old friends. Should be fun.

As all good things do, it won't last forever, travel back is before New Year and there is moving and preparation to be done, but that can definitely wait for a few days...

If he was a candidate eight years ago, who knows...

2008-11-15T10:48:00.004Z

"Well, I've been sleeping like a baby - sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep two hours, wake up and cry..."

John McCain on Jay Leno, in response to being asked how he's been doing since Election Day

Sir is always right, even when he's wrong, he's always right...

2008-11-14T19:45:00.003Z

Some days, my mind does not seem to come even close to working. This is demonstrated by my activities in a lesson this morning explaining how to factorise quadratic equations. I'd warned the class beforehand that the method was quite difficult, and I think my actions showed that...

Firstly, I'd point out that I'm an engineer by training, and therefore a somewhat lazy mathematician. The result of this is that if I need to solve an anyway tough looking quadratic (that is, one with a co-efficient of x squared greater than one...), I'll shove it straight into the quadratic equation without even thinking of factorising. This means that I'm less than fluent when it comes to factorisation. It should have been less of a surprise then when I ran through my example and soon found it didn't factorise. D'oh, not to worry though, I just made another one up. The unfortunate thing is that not only is my factorising pretty rubbish, so is my mental arithmetic, and so my second example also didn't work...

Third time was the charm, but I think I was long past the attention span of my class. Maybe next lesson I'll get it right...

Sin and Boredom

2008-11-12T21:39:00.004Z

I've been reading some of Dale Ralph Davis's commentaries on the Old Testament history books (which incidentally, I would struggle to recommend highly enough), and I've been struck by his highlighting of the "boringness" of sin. Particularly noticeable in Judges and the books of Kings, the reports of the sins of the nation of Israel soon become repetitive and boring. Think of the refrain in the epitaphs of the Kings of Israel in I and II Kings, such as this example from I Kings 15:33-34:

"In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all of Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned for twenty-four years. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin."

It's same old, same old. New guy comes in, and does the same thing as the first king of Israel did as he made the nation sin. I picked this example because that's the first passage my bible opened at, I could have taken my pick from a number of others. Similarly, the book of Judges has a similar pattern of boredom, the phrasing at the beginning of chapter 4 says much:

"And the people Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died."

There's a sense of frustration in the tone, "after this guy died, they just went back to what they did before...". Davies's claim is that this is very deliberate, there is no creativity that arrises from rebellion against God, just a lukewarm rehash of what has come before.

As I've been studying Romans recently, part of what I was reading in Romans 7 resonated with this feeling from the Old Testament:

"What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness."
Romans 7:7-8a

These verses give me the mental picture of me wanting to rebel, but not being able to think of a way to do so. In the end, my sinful nature has to wait until I hear the law before I can find a suitable way to be rebellious! Sinfulness can't think for itself - it needs to react to something good, such as God's law, before it can get inspiration to rebel. There is no originality, sinning is going to be the same old, same old.

Davis goes on to point to show that the real points where the narrative gets exciting in the history of Israel is when we encounter characters living in God's service, thinking of episodes such as Joshua's initial conquest of the land, the often intriguing and exciting saving actions of the Judges and the reigns of the Godly kings of Judah such as Jehu. This shouldn't be surprising, to follow the creative God, the God who brings all things into being, is inevitably going to be exciting, yet if we rebel against God how can we expect anything other that creativity to flee from us? In the words of Jesus,

"The thief comes only to steal and destroy. I come that they may have life and have it abundantly."
John 10:10

Dates in the completion of an Engineering Degree...

2008-11-11T22:09:00.003Z

6th October 2002: Arrive in Oxford as a first year undergraduate.

19th October 2002: Matriculate as a member of the University of Oxford

17th June 2006: Finish exam in Engineering Mathematics, bringing an end to my studies for the degree of Master of Engineering.

And now...

23rd May 2009: Date set to graduate and receive the degree of Master of Engineering.

It's better late than never, I suppose. It's particularly amusing that I've completed a post-graduate qualification before I've been accredited with my undergraduate one...

Indications of being a geek

2008-11-10T21:21:00.007Z

On an afternoon in Paris, wondering what to do, you look at a map of the metro looking for inspiration, you see La Défense and think

"Oh, I can go and see that three-dimensional projection of a four-dimensional hypercube!"

followed by some sort of justification along the lines of

"That would be cool!"

I have to admit, I was genuinely excited. As it was I had more reason to be so than just my mathematical geekery - it is a rather impressive structure. I'd known it was big (La Grande Arche de la Défense being a bit of a give away I suppose) but I wasn't quite prepared for quite how colossal it was. There's something rather breathtaking about huge, yet very simple, structures.

All of this was marginally before I then got swept away by being impressed by Parisian city planning (it only goes from bad to worse), as I turn round to find L'Arc de Triomphe lined up exactly, with the Champs Élysées running along the line between the two arches. It's been pointed out to me that my amazement would have been lessened if I'd went to the length of research that involves looking at a map, but as I commented on Sunday, looking at a map lessens the excitement that can come from these sort of things...

No Condemnation

2008-11-08T16:51:00.003Z

I am rather amazed that, until it was pointed out to me, I'd never appreciated the present tense in the following:

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Romans 8:1

I'd always seen the aspect that related the to the future. At one point I faced condemnation, now through the death of Christ I, through faith in him, no longer fear condemnation at that last day. I got that, and found comfort in that. But there's more to it than just that.

In Christ, I face no condemnation. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever. I know that when I stand before judgement that I will face no condemnation, but actually when I go through hard times and dark periods, at the times when I can't understand what's happening or why I feel the way I do, I can be assured of this, it is not God's condemnation for me. This is a glorious truth, because it means that in those hard times, my refuge and my comfort is still my God. I don't have to run from him in the hard times, in fear that I have invited his judgement, but I can continue, with trembling, to throw myself on His mercy as the one who forgives and comforts sinners, such as myself.

At the end of a week where I've felt lonely, ill, disquiet and guilt, I am able to remind myself that there is no condemnation for those in Christ, and the God who answered my call for His mercy all those years back is still the same comfort now as He was for me then. Amen.

These thoughts come off the back of listening to this sermon by John Piper.

The planning, it would seem, doesn't stop...

2008-11-06T21:25:00.002Z

No longer does take a day off sick mean having a day off - I've just spent an hour sorting out potential cover ready to e-mail off in case I don't recover by tomorrow, as well as figuring out whether my lessons can be planned for Monday. Joy.

It's a good incentive for not taking spurious leave I suppose...

Fun at the Concert Hall

2008-10-10T23:24:00.003+01:00

On other news, I took my first trip to the Colston Hall last night to hear the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (who were excellent, although I was a little tired last night and I'm not sure I appreciated as much as I could have). They opened with a piece by George Enescu, someone I'd never heard of (although that's not massively difficult, given my knowledge of music), but it was a wonderfully enjoyable tune. I can't comment on its technicality, but I enjoyed it, and thought I'd share for those who might be interested:

The happy result, and the final end to the PGCE...

2008-10-10T23:16:00.002+01:00

I am now the possessor of 60 masters credits in Education. The mark for my dissertation has come back, and although 51 is hardly a comfortable mark, it is still a pass at masters level. This means I am entitled to a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education, as opposed to the Professional Graduate Certificate of Education that I would have received otherwise.

As so draw an end to this stage of University education (possibly not the last chapter, after all, I've another 120 credits to amass before a Masters in Education...) My student card has expired (as of the 30th September), and I've received all my results. I suppose I'm in the real world now...

Sorkinesque

2008-09-16T21:50:00.002+01:00

In the semi-comatose state that I exist in most evening returning from school, I'm working my way through all 7 series of The West Wing, which now reside in my room in Bristol. It's as great as the first time I watched it, and I keep coming across the most fantastic lines, like this one when Toby is arguing with a congresswoman about the National Endowment for the Arts:

Congresswoman: Here's a woman who gets naked, covers herself completely in chocolate and sings. Does that appeal to you?

Toby: By and large, I'm not wild about musicals...

And there are many more. Aaron Sorkin is a genius.

A shout into the Aether

2008-09-13T23:15:00.003+01:00

I'm realising that I'm becoming my usual uncommunicative self - I've been known to be a little hard to get information from when at a distance, mainly due to my heavy dislike of long telephone conversations and lack of patience in writing e-mails lasting more than a couple of lines. Rectification is in order, and another doomed resolution for change will probably follow.

For the time being, I'm still alive, the first week of teaching has been successfully completed and I'm actually quite enjoying it (although I've had a few moments of panic when contemplating the volume of work!). Settling into Bristol is also coming along, although it can still be a bit lonely at times. Most of the time, though, I'm very busy, and it's true to say that there have been a large number from school and from church that have made me feel very welcome indeed.

Hopefully, there'll be more personalised correspondence in time. One lives in hope...

Like most things, it seemed like a good idea at the time

2008-09-06T16:33:00.002+01:00

I played basketball for the first time in years last night, resulting in a rather large about of limping today. This is mostly due to take a tumble and twisting my ankle, although my poor judgement shone through as this tumble was 10 minutes into an hour and a half session.

Was good fun though...

State of the Union

2008-09-04T20:48:00.002+01:00

Good news (possibly): The chances of being Union Rep at my school are quite high.
Bad news: I'm likely to be representing myself, and myself alone.

Third largest teaching union finds it's first member at SMRT. I even found someone who didn't know it existed...

The end, of sorts

2008-09-01T09:33:00.002+01:00

This is sort of a transition now. By one definition, I've left studenthood (for the second time...) by handing in my resubmission of my dissertation. This is definitely the last piece of work for PGCE, it is now done - although I suppose I've still to wait for it to be marked, and my student card claims I'm still a PGCE student until the end of September.

Still, this is the last time (for now at least) that I'll be in Oxford with a specific role. Future visits will render me merely a visitor. And scariest of all, this means that studenthood is being left behind and the real world awaits. Work starts on Wednesday... :S

September approacheth

2008-08-31T01:13:00.003+01:00

I'm looking at the time and realising that you'd probably never guess that I have an early start tomorrow. Taxi at 7am to get to the airport to check in for an 8.40am flight. Urgh, I thought I'd learnt not to go for early flights again. Annoyingly as well, the earliest bus into Oxford isn't for two and a half hours after I land, so I'll be hanging around the wonderful London Luton Airport. Fun.

Anyway, it shall be a flying visit to Oxford as I take time to resubmit my dissertation, then off to Bristol lunchtime Monday, ready for work to begin afresh on Wednesday. The nerves are starting to build again, it feels so long since I last taught (possibly because it is - mid-June if my memory serves me) and now I'm a "proper" teacher, responsible for classes and stuff. Eek.

Right, I think bed is in order, it's looking a long day tomorrow...

Northern Irish geography can be difficult

2008-08-21T21:31:00.005+01:00

A great comment came up on BBC Radio Ulster. At the end of last week there was quite heavy rain causing significant flooding. Thankfully, Radio Ulster was around to pass on phoned in travel advice on how to avoid the flooded areas:

"I've been told there's heavy flooding in the area between Warrenpoint and Omeath, so be careful if you are travelling in that area,"

The comment from many further people phoning in was something like:

"Yep, it's called Carlingford Lough..."

This narrowly beat Hugo Duncan's comment about a tagline for Newry City (in line with "New York, New York, so good they named it twice" or "See Naples and die"):

"See Newry and Mourne"

Possibly a little local for general consumption, but made me smile...

It's all about breakfast...

2008-08-12T10:37:00.002+01:00

This morning I had a couple of rounds of wheaten bread followed by a piece of fruit soda. With coffee.

This may not mean much, but I think I'm nearly home... :)

Impulse (advance) travel purchases

2008-07-21T20:30:00.003+01:00

I've decided to try and commit myself to my jaunt to Switzerland in October half-term (especially considering I've just found out it's two days longer than I thought it was) by booking plane tickets from Bristol to Geneva. As yet, without return. I'm still hoping that I'll be able to organise cheap-ish TGV/Eurostar tickets for that. This may serve to show I have no clue what I'm doing...

Searching for fun and games in Bristol

2008-07-19T23:00:00.002+01:00

I'm now starting to think about what other random stuff I can do in Bristol to meet people. Top of the list is joining a book group (which will probably be interpreted as a rather head-long rush into middle-aged-ness...) or trying to start up a killer pub quiz team. The second one is obviously very appealing, although the chances of it being a killer team is reduced as for me to be on it, it would involve me being on it. I'm sure we can overcome this...

YouTube Download

2008-07-18T19:55:00.003+01:00

Seeing that most schools put a block on YouTube, this extension for FireFox is just fantastic. Download clip, show in classroom. Brilliant. I can definitely see this being quite helpful for organising tutor time.

I'm sure that there are several points in this post that show that my transformation into a teacher is probably close to complete...

Still not in Belfast, right first letter though...

2008-07-14T22:20:00.003+01:00

Just a quick update on how things are going, I've now been in Bristol for just over a week and I'm starting to feel a little settled, which is good. Particular highlights so far is that I've settled into a good church, and I've been made to feel very welcome there, and I'm starting to feel like I know what I'm doing at work. It's still a bit of an odd time at the moment, I'm working but I'm sort of not - I don't start actual teaching until September, so these few weeks will involve planning for next term and having a rather large amount of information downloaded upon me.

I'm just recovering (I hope...) from a bit of a rough weekend, I've had a bit of a fever and sore joints over the end of last week, and that manifested itself in a rather impressive headache yesterday morning that completely threw off any plans I might have had. It still wasn't completely sorted today, which led to me leading a rather zombie-like existence today. The purchase of some ibuprofen seems to have got it under control, so hopefully will be in better shape in the morning. Just as well, I've got quite a bit of admin to get through in the next few days.

So things are going well, and it's good to have this period of time to settle in, although I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into the teaching come September. Saying that, the thought of 120+ children's mathematics education lying in my hands for a year is more than a little daunting...

"Sir, why do we use letters?"

2008-07-04T13:15:00.004+01:00

There is something unusual about the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything:

Think of a number, any number. Add seven to that number, and multiply your answer by three. Subtract nine from that number, and double your answer. Add 228 to you answer and then divide that number by six. Finally, subtract the number you started with. What number are you left with?

Magic. At least enough to give me a good trial for witchcraft given the correct temporal context. But it only stays magic in the world of arithmetic, which is enough to baffle both my class (and possibly a reasonable number of adults) with a "how did he do that?" variety of wonder.

If we satisfy ourselves with just picking a number and trying to work through my problem over and over again, we will be left bewildered by why we get the same answer every time, no matter what number we pick originally. This is why we need to use letters, or algebra - the only way we will ever see what is going on is if we somehow do this problem for every number in existence simultaneously. This particular problem is nice because there is an initial shock when it first works, and somewhat impenetrable without generalising, but falls apart with a small amount of algebra:

Think of a number - x
Add seven - x + 7
Multiply by three - 3(x + 7) = 3x + 21
Subtract nine - 3x + 12
Double answer - 2(3x + 12) = 6x + 24
Add 228 - 6x + 252
Divide by six - x + 42
Subtract your original number - 42

I will concede that one disadvantage is that this feels like "unweaving the rainbow", there's a certain amount of fun in the "magic" that's a shame to lose, but it's a nice demonstration of why we do need to use letters rather than numbers some of the time.

Editted as there was a, ahem, 'deliberate' mistake. Once it was spotted, it would have of course been misleading to keep it there...

Enjoying classic quotes

2008-06-30T16:05:00.003+01:00

I really like Yes, Prime Minister. I feel this is worth pointing out...

Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; The Financial Times is read by people who own the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; And the Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.

Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read the Sun?

Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits.

Running for cover

2008-06-28T17:38:00.002+01:00

Hmmm, I'm starting to hear the bands start to warm up. It's probably going to get louder soon. I reckon it's getting to about the right time to make tracks before the ball starts up...

Well, it's not a conversion as such, it's still Mozilla...

2008-06-17T22:11:00.004+01:00

I'm now back on Firefox... I've been using Camino since getting my Mac, after finding Firefox 2.0 to look a little clunky on the OSX interface and Safari to be just a little bit, well, annoying. But now, Firefox 3.0 has arrived, and it looks very nice (I can tell I've been caught up in the Mac mindframe by the fact that this is very important...) and I admit in a rather sad fashion, I feel at home with it. Camino is cool, but Firefox is just that bit more customisable and robust.

So I'm back to my old ways. You may start to see this sort of thing more often:

but I'll try to keep it to a minimum...

The Strain on my Shelf

2008-06-14T16:39:00.003+01:00

I'm not sure how I've managed to do this, but I seem to, over the course of a year, acquired a relatively substantial library. I now have the problem of trying to transfer this to my new abode for next year...

I possibly need to stop buying books. But how have I done this in a city without anything comparing to a good second hand bookshop?

Actual New Music!

2008-06-12T16:34:00.002+01:00

Viva la Vida has arrived! :) First listenings now in progress...

It's been a year...

2008-06-11T22:12:00.002+01:00

As a bit of a one for remembering dates, today and tomorrow marks a bit of a personal anniversary. I left Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the afternoon of Monday 11th June 2008, arriving back in London Heathrow on the morning of Tuesday 12th June. Hence, today and tomorrow mark one year of leaving Malaysia and returning to the UK.

Maybe time for some reflection over the past year? Maybe, although despite the significance of the date it's probably not the most helpful act to indulge in. Maybe some other time...

New Word Alive 2009

2008-06-05T20:41:00.002+01:00

I've just seen the line up for New Word Alive 2009, and it is looking fun - line up includes Don Carson and Terry Virgo, with Vaughan Roberts speaking on week 1 and Liam Goligher on week 2.

Now I am planning to get a group to go on week 2 (as this is the only one that coincides with Easter break) and wondering if I can recruit people to start a group? If you are interested, let me know as soon as possible and I shall start to look organised!

CA3: No longer continuing

2008-05-29T10:36:00.002+01:00

It took half an hour in Green Café this morning before I gave up on trying to read through my first draft. Almost a new record. On the plus side, I did manage to add a new paragraph on implications of my study on my professional development, which has bumped the word length up to something more respectable. And most importantly, it means my final assignment for the year is now submitted. Wahoo!

Now, lesson planning, I think that can wait until tomorrow, it's such a nice day outside...

CA3: Continuing...

2008-05-28T17:44:00.005+01:00

First draft done. Might actually be a first draft rather than my normal lips service of intending on reading through and tidying up...

Incidentally, I mentioned yesterday that sanity was being maintained by old music. That's not the entirety of the truth - YouTube has also been helpful in letting me watch lots of stuff like this:

"New" music purchases

2008-05-27T21:49:00.002+01:00

On more positive notes, I've just received "Minutes to Midnight" by Linkin Park and "Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis Morissette. I don't claim to be cutting edge, but I'm enjoying the listening. Should keep me amused for the next few days...

Curriculum Assignment 3: This time, it's personal...

2008-05-27T21:44:00.003+01:00

It's the last one, that's what I keep telling myself. Gah. Really slow going...

1,750 words down. It's looking like I'm going to do my usual job of pushing my essay over the minimum while everyone else is trying to cut theirs to below the maximum...

Traveller's dreams...

2008-05-26T17:06:00.003+01:00

It is half term, which inevitably means time to write my assignment due the Monday back from holidays. At least this is the last one. I've had the normal first day of work for it, which in short is not much at all, which is leading me to think that I should probably give up and consider tomorrow a new day. In the meantime, I've turned my thoughts to next year, when these holidays, to the most part, will actually be holidays...

Last year, I was forced to take a holiday every three months due to the fact that my visa ran out and I needed to leave and re-enter the country to extend it. Oddly enough, I didn't complain too much about this - it was rather nice to take a few days away somewhere, relax and look around somewhere new. It also offered something to look forward to when work was tiring and I was feeling a bit stressed. I'm now being given advise that during my NQT year, adopting a similar policy would be wise - especially for the October half term and February Half Term (I've been told these are particularly rubbish times, which I don't find hard to believe given my experience this year). Hence, I've been joyfully making plans...

Here are some of my initial thoughts - any recommendations or willing co-travellers welcome!

October: Geneva, Berne and Zurich by train - was thinking about this for past February half term but it didn't work out.

Christmas: Weekend in Dublin before heading up north to Belfast for Christmas.

February: Back to Belfast and then travel back to Bristol from vaguely "up north" England, maybe Durham.

Easter: Hopefully Pwllheli for New Word Alive. Shall be looking for people interested in going on Week 2 in due course...

May: Probably few days in Oxford.

Should be enough to keep me busy. Most of it is laid around getting time to go back to Belfast and taking detours on the way there or the way back, but definitely a couple of big escapades to keep me amused...

A realisation...

2008-05-22T17:36:00.001+01:00

It's quite easy to order stuff from Play.com. Perhaps too easy. Hmmm.

It's quite cheap though...

Folly and the Criminal Records Bureau

2008-05-17T21:07:00.002+01:00

I'm just about to fill out another CRB form. From the amount I fill out you'd think they know something...

It's a rather silly system that you need to go through. Most places only require a CRB check every two or three years, so you'd think that it would be enough to go through the full disclosure once, and then be issued with a certificate to say that nothing has shown up. Then, if any role or job requires CRB clearance, you could just present the certificate. Simple.

But no, you need to go through a CRB check for every specific job. As a result, I presently have a full disclosure used to approve me for studying for my PGCE, I'm applying for another for the purposes of working at my new school and now I'm about to fill in a form to apply for yet another one so that I can clean toilets on a camp that children will be attending. Craziness...

Not as unusual as I'd like...

2008-05-17T14:41:00.003+01:00

My fellow maths teachers may be able to testify to how familiar this is...

From continued pondering about my accent...

2008-05-15T21:27:00.002+01:00

My kids are getting closer at least. Today I was asked whether I was Scottish by my Year 8s, which I would say is a good deal of improvement on the usual guess of American.

As it is I had one of those days that makes me think a bit more that maybe I've picked the correct career path. I'm teaching a bit more, and I'm more relaxed when I get into a classroom, the result being that I'm having better lessons. Praying this will continue, but considering I have a (probably unhelpful) tendency to write here when I'm discouraged about teaching, it's probably worthwhile writing at a time when I'm feeling a little more positive. :)

I'm sure they have some sort of survaillance watching me...

2008-05-13T22:07:00.003+01:00

This is probably a little to close to a diagram explaining why I'm often quite tired at school. Considering it has pretty much been the model for most of my time at university, this is somewhat unsurprising.

Thanks again to PhD Comic providing uncomfortably true commentaries on my life... I think I'm going to go to bed now, or maybe I'll just surf the 'net for a bit longer...

Maybe it is just for the good of my health...

2008-05-09T17:30:00.003+01:00

The TES magazine reports a Year 1 pupil's question to their teacher:

"What job do you do?"

Before you think that this sort of mistake is unique to 5 year olds, one of the teachers today reported that she'd left her payslip on her desk, and was asked by one of her Year 7 what it was. She explained that it was her payslip, and that she'd just been paid. The response,

"Oh, so what do you do then?"

It's hard to know how to respond to that...

Thoughts on Baptism (possible first of many)

2008-05-05T16:11:00.002+01:00

This is quite possibly the first time I have written about this, so here goes. It seems that the most controversial view that I have held onto since arriving in Oxford concerns the issue of baptism. I have become rather widely know as a credobaptist (that is the belief that baptism should be conducted in adulthood post-conversion). The majority of my peers, not to mention the leaders whose teaching I sit under, believe in paedobaptism (otherwise known as infant baptism). Hence, much conversation has been exchanged to convince me of the error of my ways. I have thus far resisted - nearly six years now and counting.

My defence of my belief has always pointed to the simple reading of the New Testament. It suggests from the flow of the narrative is that apostles called for conversion, and baptism was administered in response to that. That would seem to suggest this to be normative, and it also seemed to be common sense. I do now realise that there are a few of problems with this approach. Firstly, the situation in Acts does not allow much insight into how infants were treated - the situation was that the gospel was going out for the first time and so we read of conversions of adults, and so it is rather likely that the examples we read of in Acts are shaped massively by the temporal setting of the activities. Another reason for not considering this argument to be a sure foundation is that it demonstrates a fallacy of treating a specific example as normative. An example of this approach elsewhere would be to take Daniel’s model for prayer in Daniel 6 and insist that proper prayer must be conducted three times a day and directed towards Jerusalem. To make such an application would be to read too much into the specific example, and in fact may lead to miss the teaching point of a passage. Basically, to make a sure conviction about an issue, we must base it on much surer theology than being backed up by examples.

It is in the spirit of searching for this surer theology that I may consider writing a little more about my present conviction on baptism. I shall give away the present state of affairs - I am still a credobaptist, and am as yet unaware of an argument to convince me otherwise. I am at the same time aware that my being a credobaptist has become a bit of a cherished distinction that I hold on to, and it may not be for entirely biblical reasons. Luther famously commented that “Ecclesia Reformata est semper Reformanda”, that is the reformed church is every reforming, and it is in this spirit that I do intend to carefully consider this issue.

I encourage my paedobaptist brethren not to start their celebrations yet though, they could well be premature. Expect further ramblings on this in due course...

The Countdown begins, so to speak

2008-05-04T22:30:00.002+01:00

I have realised that in two months tomorrow, my lease for my college room will have finished, and I shall have moved to Bristol. Scary.

My hope that admission and realisation of this fact will aid in the fight of sentimentalised feelings about Oxford in the run up to my move. Experience suggests that there is a fat lot of chance of that happening, but one lives in hope...

New music! For free!

2008-04-29T16:27:00.002+01:00

Coldplay are releasing a new album - how exciting. It's apparently going to be out on the 16th June, and I'll more than likely be purchasing it shortly after that...

Anyway, for anyone who were unaware of it, the first single of the new album, Violet Hill, is available for free download from the Coldplay website. Shall have to be enough to tide me by in the meantime...

Contemporary Bible Readings III

2008-04-27T22:14:00.002+01:00

This is a series continued from a previous blog, which focused on finding a certain turn of phrase found while reading the bible, and as a side point showing how the text can seem to take a rather different tone and meaning if removed from context. Essentially though, it is somewhat tongue in cheek.

The latest offering finds it's amusement value in the context of my present vocation. It comes from the end of Mark 5:35, in the story of the Jairus' daughter. In the story, one of the members of Jairus' household comes with news that the daughter is dead, and then asks the question:

Why trouble the teacher any further?

I think I'm going to have that printed and posted at the back of my classes...

A'm still frae Belfast, ye knae...

2008-04-25T19:32:00.004+01:00

Facebook assures me that I am indeed Norn Iron Born and Bred. Although there is no accounting for the accuracy of quiz in determining one's place of birth, it reassuring to know that the result of a 12 question quiz suggests that the effects of prolonged exile from the moarlan' are still limited.

I shall sleep easy this evening.

Constructive use of chaos (well, sort of...)

2008-04-24T22:09:00.003+01:00

There are some bit of pupil mischief that you feel bad for clamping down on. Today, as you may have heard on the news was the NUT strike. I'm not going to say much about that beyond commenting that it makes the chances of my joining the NUT next year fairly slim. Anyhow, my new school was able to open for uppers school (that is years 10-13), but years 7, 8 and 9 weren't in. Hence a letter was sent to the parents of pupils in year 7, 8 and 9 to explain that due to Industrial Action, they wouldn't be able to come into school that day.

This letter was apparently published on the school website. The staff meeting this morning there were reports that some of the year 10 pupils has downloaded the letter, edited it to read "years 7, 8, 9 and 10" then handed it to their parents to their parents to get a question-free day off.

This is clearly truancy, but at the same time, there's an extent that you don't want to trample on the ingenuity. I almost want to give them some reward for their creativity...

Oops...

2008-04-17T00:04:00.000+01:00

Hmmm, I think I may have turned down the BBC a little too rashly. Ah well, 'tis done now, and it's probably in the best interests of my credibility...