Let me tell you about a recent experience I had with Amazon and Fed-Ex
I ordered some books from Amazon on the 18th of August. There were 12 books in total. I chose the free super-saver shipping from Amazon. My books were to come in 2 packages, 7 in one and 5 in the other.
Both packages left Amazon's shipping facility on August 19th with an estimated delivery date of August 25th. On the 25th I received one package with the 7 books. When I looked online at the tracking information the package with the 5 books was last scanned at a Fed-Ex shipping facility on the 20th.
I called Fed-Ex to find out about the package in question. The customer service representative would only tell me to contact the shipper. No matter what question I asked him, that was his response. Finally, I said okay I guess I will contact the shipper and not use fed-ex anymore. He said thanks and don't use us! Unbelievable!
I then contacted Amazon and tried to explain the situation to them. They kept telling me my package was at the post office. I said I was just at the post office and there was no package. Then they said I already got the package, which is true, I got the package with 7 books but not 5 books.
After about 45 minutes of going back and forth and them calling fed-ex they decided to overnight be 5 more books. The 5 books were shipped in 4 packages and I received them on the 30th. Of course, the original package that no one could find also magically appeared on the 30th as well!
Unbelievable. If Amazon wants the 5 extra books they sent me they can come and get them.
September 09, 2010
September 03, 2010
Book Review
Adventuring Through the Life of Christ by Ray C. Stedman
This is a nice brief summary of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles.
Each chapter starts with a personal story or anecdote. Then an outline is given of the book. Finally, the author gives an overview of some of the significant events in the book and makes a few personal comments as well.
At the end of each chapter are several pages for notes. Personally, I think the note pages were just filler to make the book appear larger than it actually is. Without the note pages the book is less than 100 pages.
Overall this is a nice overview of the first five books of the New Testament. The author's brief stories and commentary fits in with the summary nicely.
This is a nice brief summary of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles.
Each chapter starts with a personal story or anecdote. Then an outline is given of the book. Finally, the author gives an overview of some of the significant events in the book and makes a few personal comments as well.
At the end of each chapter are several pages for notes. Personally, I think the note pages were just filler to make the book appear larger than it actually is. Without the note pages the book is less than 100 pages.
Overall this is a nice overview of the first five books of the New Testament. The author's brief stories and commentary fits in with the summary nicely.
August 18, 2010
Book Review
The Supremacy of God In Preaching by John Piper
This is an excellent book about how the focus of preaching should be God, not story telling or entertaining, or anything else. God should not only be the focus of preaching, but He should be the focus of our life. Whatever you do, do for the glory of God.
The book is split into two parts. Part 1 is about the supremacy of God in preaching. Part 2 is about Jonathan Edwards as an example of the supremacy of God. Personally, I had no interest in the life of Jonathan Edwards as far as this book is concerned.
While I thought the first part of the book is excellent, I am surprised that a book like this even needs to be wrote. Everything Piper wrote should be intuitively obvious to any preacher. Unfortunately, many preachers don't make God the focus of their preaching or ministry.
One of the things that I found helpful and interesting was Piper's method of preaching with the strength of God. He uses the acronym APTAT to remember and explain his process.
Admit that without God you are powerless.
Pray for help, insight, power, love, humility, etc.
Trust in God's promises in His Word.
Act in confidence that God will fulfill His Word.
Thank God at the end of the message.
I would recommend at least the first part of this book to anyone wanting a refresher or reinforcement of what the focus of preaching should be.
This is an excellent book about how the focus of preaching should be God, not story telling or entertaining, or anything else. God should not only be the focus of preaching, but He should be the focus of our life. Whatever you do, do for the glory of God.
The book is split into two parts. Part 1 is about the supremacy of God in preaching. Part 2 is about Jonathan Edwards as an example of the supremacy of God. Personally, I had no interest in the life of Jonathan Edwards as far as this book is concerned.
While I thought the first part of the book is excellent, I am surprised that a book like this even needs to be wrote. Everything Piper wrote should be intuitively obvious to any preacher. Unfortunately, many preachers don't make God the focus of their preaching or ministry.
One of the things that I found helpful and interesting was Piper's method of preaching with the strength of God. He uses the acronym APTAT to remember and explain his process.
Admit that without God you are powerless.
Pray for help, insight, power, love, humility, etc.
Trust in God's promises in His Word.
Act in confidence that God will fulfill His Word.
Thank God at the end of the message.
I would recommend at least the first part of this book to anyone wanting a refresher or reinforcement of what the focus of preaching should be.
August 04, 2010
Book Review
I finished reading "Confronting the Controversies" by Adam Hamilton last night.
The author is a pastor who took a sermon series on controversial issues and turned it into a book. The author claims to describe both sides of the controversies and then look at them from the biblical perspective.
The book deals with the following topics:
For example, with the death penalty, the author provided about 1 page on the "for" side and about 3 pages on the "against" side.
The only two topics that I believe the author did present sufficient information about both sides of the controversy was with abortion and homosexuality.
On some of the issues I believe the author is just plain wrong with his conculsions and several statements. For example, the author seems to agree with the basic principles of evolution and believes that there is no danger in teaching it to our children. The author even alludes to mankind as being an experiment of God's! I am not sure what Scripture he twisted to come up with that interpretation.
Another example is the church-state separation issue. He tells people when praying publicly not to pray in Jesus' name so we don't offend anyone! The purpose of praying in Jesus' name is certainly not to offend people, but we are to pray to God in Jesus' name as described in Scripture.
I do agree with the author about prayer in school somewhat. I do not believe it is the school's job to raise children, especially in the faith. The responsibility to teach children about right and wrong comes from the parents, the family, and the church.
Overall this book seems to fail at providing an independent look at both sides of these controversies. In some cases I believe it even fails to look at them from a proper biblical perspective. Therefore, this is one book that can be skipped.
The author is a pastor who took a sermon series on controversial issues and turned it into a book. The author claims to describe both sides of the controversies and then look at them from the biblical perspective.
The book deals with the following topics:
- Evolution
- Church/State Separation
- Death Penalty
- Euthanasia
- Prayer in School
- Abortion
- Homosexuality
For example, with the death penalty, the author provided about 1 page on the "for" side and about 3 pages on the "against" side.
The only two topics that I believe the author did present sufficient information about both sides of the controversy was with abortion and homosexuality.
On some of the issues I believe the author is just plain wrong with his conculsions and several statements. For example, the author seems to agree with the basic principles of evolution and believes that there is no danger in teaching it to our children. The author even alludes to mankind as being an experiment of God's! I am not sure what Scripture he twisted to come up with that interpretation.
Another example is the church-state separation issue. He tells people when praying publicly not to pray in Jesus' name so we don't offend anyone! The purpose of praying in Jesus' name is certainly not to offend people, but we are to pray to God in Jesus' name as described in Scripture.
I do agree with the author about prayer in school somewhat. I do not believe it is the school's job to raise children, especially in the faith. The responsibility to teach children about right and wrong comes from the parents, the family, and the church.
Overall this book seems to fail at providing an independent look at both sides of these controversies. In some cases I believe it even fails to look at them from a proper biblical perspective. Therefore, this is one book that can be skipped.
July 19, 2010
Schick Injector Razor
As noted in my previous post, the Schick Injector razor experiment was not going so well.
After only 4 shaves I decided to abandon this razor. It was pure torture.
The razor itself was not comfortable to use. Part of the problem could be the fact that the blade was a cheap private label version.
The razor would not cut close at all even on my cheeks. But somehow it would cut me. It was not a fun process.
My rating is 25% - that is about all that it would cut - it just didn't work.
I switched back to my old Bic Comfort 3 that I still haven't thrown out (yeah the dull used one) and it worked 10 times better! I will be switching to the final Bic Comfort 3 that I have for the rest of the month and will pick up in August with a new 5 blade razor! Now that sounds dangerous.
After only 4 shaves I decided to abandon this razor. It was pure torture.
The razor itself was not comfortable to use. Part of the problem could be the fact that the blade was a cheap private label version.
The razor would not cut close at all even on my cheeks. But somehow it would cut me. It was not a fun process.
My rating is 25% - that is about all that it would cut - it just didn't work.
I switched back to my old Bic Comfort 3 that I still haven't thrown out (yeah the dull used one) and it worked 10 times better! I will be switching to the final Bic Comfort 3 that I have for the rest of the month and will pick up in August with a new 5 blade razor! Now that sounds dangerous.
July 14, 2010
Old Fasioned Safety Razor
My next adventure in shaving involved an Old Fashioned Gillette safety razor using a Wilkinson Sword Blade.
I must say shaving with this type of razor is very different than the usual razors that I am used to. I was impressed with the very first shave or at least part of it.
It shaved the sides of my face (cheeks) very close and smooth. The rest of the areas of my face were not so good. I tired various angles and directions, but none seemed to help very much. I was constantly cutting my face.
I think the problem was more the razor than the blade. The head was too big and it didn't seem to want to get into all those tight spots and groves without hacking away chunks of my skin.
Needless to say it wasn't a fun experience, so after 7 days of that I had to move on. It was like torture.
The blades are about $5 for 10. The razor was given to me, but from what I can tell it is about a 1930's model that currently sells for about $25.
The razor also had an "old metal" smell that I didn't particularly like.
So my grade is: 50% - it just couldn't pass my rigorous testing methods.
Up next is a Schick Injector razor - SPOILER - after only 3 days it doesn't look good either.
July 01, 2010
Bic Comfort 3 Advanced Razor
My first attempt at a close, smooth, clean, easy shave was two months of using a disposable razor. I had a pack of the Bic Comfort 3 Advanced razor, so I thought I would see what happened.
To be honest I wasn't expecting much from a "cheap" disposable razor, however, I was a little surprised. The razors cost about $1.25 each. You can often times find coupons to lower the price even more.
My goal was to shave with this type of razor for two months and evaluate the results. Again, part of my evaluation involves using the same razor or blade for the entire month before changing razors or blades.
The first week of shaves for both months were kind of painful, lots of cuts. The razors seemed to be super sharp or something. The middle two weeks were actually not too bad. There were minimal cuts and the shave was pretty close and comfortable. The final week got a little rough again. The blade was tugging at the hairs and the blade seemed dull or something.
Overall, I would rate the razor with about a 70%. They worked okay for the price, but it wasn't too enjoyable the first and last week for me.
Up next is an old fashioned safety razor.
To be honest I wasn't expecting much from a "cheap" disposable razor, however, I was a little surprised. The razors cost about $1.25 each. You can often times find coupons to lower the price even more.
My goal was to shave with this type of razor for two months and evaluate the results. Again, part of my evaluation involves using the same razor or blade for the entire month before changing razors or blades.
The first week of shaves for both months were kind of painful, lots of cuts. The razors seemed to be super sharp or something. The middle two weeks were actually not too bad. There were minimal cuts and the shave was pretty close and comfortable. The final week got a little rough again. The blade was tugging at the hairs and the blade seemed dull or something.
Overall, I would rate the razor with about a 70%. They worked okay for the price, but it wasn't too enjoyable the first and last week for me.
Up next is an old fashioned safety razor.
June 30, 2010
Book Review
Three Simple Rules - A Wesleyan Way of Living by Rueben P. Job
This is a small book and a quick read, less than 100 pages, that briefly looks at the three simple rules of living by Wesleyan standards. There are also guidelines for daily prayer at the end of the book.
The three simple rules are:
The author attempts to back up the rules with Scripture and episodes from the life of Christ. However, the author does not go into enough detail to fully develop his practical application of the three simple rules.
I also noticed a couple of "liberal" ideas slipped into the book.
For example, on page 27 the author writes, "Yet, even a casual reading of the gospel suggests that Jesus taught and practiced a way of living that did no harm."
Really? When I "casually" read the account of Jesus and the demon possessed man in the country of the Gadarenes I see Jesus casting the demons into a herd of pigs which all run off a cliff and drown in the water below.
The pigs were obviously harmed, but beyond that the farmers lost their livelihood. Yes, I know Jesus didn't "harm" the pigs or the farmers and I am familiar with the permissive will of God. My point is that a casual reading of the Gospel probably will find Jesus doing "harm." Jesus was/is not the nice guy that many liberals teach that He was/is.
Another sentence I have issue with is on page 31. "To do no harm means that I will be on guard so that all my actions and even my silence will not add injury to another of God's children or to any part of God's creation."
Again, I say really? Is this how Jesus lived? I know Jesus served fish, even for breakfast one morning. I don't know the details about how he prepared it, but I suspect harm did come to the fish.
If I remember correctly, and I do, Jesus also spoke some harsh words to the Scribes, Pharisees, and others.
In conclusion, this book does provide some good material, but not enough to make it a recommended read. If however, you are looking for something quick to read and think about then this would be an okay book.
This is a small book and a quick read, less than 100 pages, that briefly looks at the three simple rules of living by Wesleyan standards. There are also guidelines for daily prayer at the end of the book.
The three simple rules are:
- Do no harm
- Do good
- Stay in love with God
The author attempts to back up the rules with Scripture and episodes from the life of Christ. However, the author does not go into enough detail to fully develop his practical application of the three simple rules.
I also noticed a couple of "liberal" ideas slipped into the book.
For example, on page 27 the author writes, "Yet, even a casual reading of the gospel suggests that Jesus taught and practiced a way of living that did no harm."
Really? When I "casually" read the account of Jesus and the demon possessed man in the country of the Gadarenes I see Jesus casting the demons into a herd of pigs which all run off a cliff and drown in the water below.
The pigs were obviously harmed, but beyond that the farmers lost their livelihood. Yes, I know Jesus didn't "harm" the pigs or the farmers and I am familiar with the permissive will of God. My point is that a casual reading of the Gospel probably will find Jesus doing "harm." Jesus was/is not the nice guy that many liberals teach that He was/is.
Another sentence I have issue with is on page 31. "To do no harm means that I will be on guard so that all my actions and even my silence will not add injury to another of God's children or to any part of God's creation."
Again, I say really? Is this how Jesus lived? I know Jesus served fish, even for breakfast one morning. I don't know the details about how he prepared it, but I suspect harm did come to the fish.
If I remember correctly, and I do, Jesus also spoke some harsh words to the Scribes, Pharisees, and others.
In conclusion, this book does provide some good material, but not enough to make it a recommended read. If however, you are looking for something quick to read and think about then this would be an okay book.
June 25, 2010
Quest for the Perfect Shave
A couple of months ago I decided I was finally fed up with my electric razor. I would shave every morning, but by lunch time it would look as if I didn't even shave for the day. My face was never smooth.
It just so happened around the same time, when I got my money Money magazine it had an article about shaving in it. The article was simply a reference to a blog about shaving. Of course, the blog recommended shaving with an old fashioned safety razor.
I decided to start my own shaving experiment to see what the best option is to get the closest comfortable shave. I figure I'll give each razor a two month trial. I also expect the blade to last about 1 month. I figure I shave 6 days a week, so that is maybe about 24 or 25 shaves, not unreasonable in my opinion.
I have several razors that I will be testing out:
Check back in a couple of weeks for the first review of the Bic Comfort 3 Advanced disposable razors.
It just so happened around the same time, when I got my money Money magazine it had an article about shaving in it. The article was simply a reference to a blog about shaving. Of course, the blog recommended shaving with an old fashioned safety razor.
I decided to start my own shaving experiment to see what the best option is to get the closest comfortable shave. I figure I'll give each razor a two month trial. I also expect the blade to last about 1 month. I figure I shave 6 days a week, so that is maybe about 24 or 25 shaves, not unreasonable in my opinion.
I have several razors that I will be testing out:
- Bic Comfort 3 Advanced
- Mach 3
- Sensor
- Old Fashioned Safety Razor made by Gillette
- Gillette Fusion ProGlide
- Schick Hydro 5
Check back in a couple of weeks for the first review of the Bic Comfort 3 Advanced disposable razors.
June 23, 2010
Book Review
The Holy Bible - New Testament - ESV
isbn: 1-4335-1052-9
This is an inexpensive "give-away" Christmas edition New Testament Bible. While the print is pretty small in this Bible it does make a nice gift. This is the English Standard Version (ESV).
This Bible does have some nice features including:
Typically, I use the New King James Version for reading in Church and the New American Standard for a literal translation. I find myself using the ESV more and more for quick lookups now.
isbn: 1-4335-1052-9
This is an inexpensive "give-away" Christmas edition New Testament Bible. While the print is pretty small in this Bible it does make a nice gift. This is the English Standard Version (ESV).
This Bible does have some nice features including:
- a reflection reading for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
- a "Where to find help when you are ..." guide
- a "What the New Testament says about ..." guide
- a 30 day reading plan
- a 6 month reading plan
- a section that describes "God's plan to save you"
Typically, I use the New King James Version for reading in Church and the New American Standard for a literal translation. I find myself using the ESV more and more for quick lookups now.
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