BSOD

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Steve Picray

The adoption took place in July of 2006. I brought my bundle of joy home on a sunny afternoon and immediately my life was changed. I couldn’t believe how different things could be.

Everything went fine for a few years, but then the sickness started. At first it was little things. Slow to wake up, general signs of unhappiness. Every now and then something would happen that would point to bigger problems.

Then the surgeries started. One part after another began to fail, but I was in denial. I knew it couldn’t last forever, but each new day we had together was a victory. Until today.

My computer has finally died. This morning I turned it on and after a few minutes of work, the dreaded “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD) appeared. I restarted the computer, and immediately started to make sure that my important files were backed up to my backup hard drive. That being accomplished (thank you, Lord!), I started to work the problem.

I tried a system scan for virus infection, on the off chance that this was a virus telling my computer to crash. The scan wouldn’t function, because the computer crashed.

Then I put my OS disk in the drive and told it to restore my PC to the last install point, which was a week ago. It did so, and then it crashed.

I resigned myself to reformatting the hard drive, and reinstalling the OS. I started this process, but before it could get very far, it crashed.

I finally looked at the details in the BSOD. The words “hardware error” leapt out at me like the death knell of a bell. Looks like it’s time for a new computer. I’m headed to Fry Electronics to purchase parts. There may be a ceremony later, when I have scavenged whatever parts I can from the dead PC.

Goodbye, old friend.

HP PC

Posted in computer | 1 Comment

An Open Letter to Robert Jeffress

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Steve Picray

JeffressThis morning I watched a clip of the Bill O’Reilly show from last night’s broadcast. I was shocked to hear a pastor that I trusted stating something that goes directly against the Bible. Here is a link to the video , and my response to him:

Dr. Jeffress,

I have listened to your podcast for the past few years, because I understood you to be a man who bases his life on the teachings of God in the Bible. There are four men that I listen to their preaching in a consistent fashion: my pastor, Ravi Zacharias, Alistair Begg, and you.

I saw a video of you on the Bill O’Reilly show (broadcast on 03/06/2013). I understand that you have a very limited amount of time when you are on these types of shows, certainly not enough time to answer Mr. O’Reilly’s questions in anything approaching a complete manner. However, that means that every word you DO say is crucial.

There were several questions that you answered as well as you could have, given the time allowed and Mr. O’Reilly’s constant interruptions. But there was one question that he allowed you to answer that I was saddened to hear your response.

• Mr. O’Reilly: You have to reject the science of carbon dating, and evolution and all of those things
• Dr. Jeffress: No
• Mr. O’Reilly: It’s kind of incompatible with science, or am I wrong?
• Dr. Jeffress: No I think you’re wrong on this one, Bill. You’re usually absolutely right, but I think you’re wrong on this one. The Bible does not contradict true science. It may contradict the passing fads of scientific theory that are always evolving. For example, it used to be thought that the cosmos always existed. But then we had Sir Frederick Hoyle who named the Big Bang Theory that said guess what: the universe had a beginning 13.7 billion years ago. Again, Frederick Hoyle, a Cambridge mathematician said the chance of inanimate matter….
• Mr. O’Reilly (interrupting): Do you believe that? Do you believe that the universe started 13.7 billion years ago?
• Dr. Jeffress: I do.
• Mr. O’Reilly: You do?
• Dr. Jeffress: I think it very well could have been. One of the things that fundamentalist Christians mess up on is they try to say the earth is six thousand years old. The Bible never makes that claim.

You are correct when you say the Bible never says that the earth is “six thousand years old,” however, this is a straw man, and I’ll tell you why: even if the events of Genesis 1 and 2 happened six thousand years ago, the Bible was completed about 1900 years ago, so it would be ridiculous for any Christian to say, “The Bible claims that the earth is six thousand years old” as you falsely claim that fundamentalist Christians state.

The real question is: do you believe that God created the universe in six, literal 24 hour days? This is a solid line that a man of reason cannot straddle. You either believe that man was created six days after there was nothing, or you believe evolutionary thought which states that man came into being some 200,000 years ago. This would put the “creation of man” (according to theistic evolution) at 13,699,800,000 years after the creation of the universe. How do you reconcile these beliefs?
There are two specific places in Scripture that clearly state God created the world in six days:

  • Genesis chapter 1 uses ordinal numbers to refer to the days of creation (“the first day” “the second day”). This means they were 24 hour periods. If you say they were longer than 24 hour periods, then how do you explain the recorded order of creation: the sun, moon and stars were not created until “the fourth day.” If these “days” were billions of years, then how did life exist on earth for the first three periods of time when there was no sun to warm the earth? Why would God create plants (which require the sun for photosynthesis) on “day three” if they wouldn’t see the light of the sun for a billion years or so?
  • Exodus 20:11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” That pretty much sums it up: God made the universe in six days and rested on the seventh, and that is why He told the Jews to work for six literal 24 hour days, and then rest on the seventh.  If the days of creation aren’t literal 24 hour days, this verse makes no sense.

You sir, have abrogated your responsibility to hold fast to the truth of the Word of God. By rejecting the literal account of creation in Genesis 1 and 2, you have stated that you do not believe the Bible when it says in Romans 5:12 that death entered the world through one man (Adam). If death did not enter the world through Adam, then why do we need a Savior? Why are we all sinners? It is a slippery slope you are on, sir. I will quote your comment near the conclusion of your interview with Mr. O’Reilly back to you, “If you start labeling these stories as fictitious or fable where do you stop?”

Where do you stop, Dr. Jeffress? I know where I stop: I stop listening to the preaching of people who do not preach the “whole counsel of God.” Please reconsider your position, sir. Until you do, I will no longer listen to your preaching.

In Christ,

Steve Picray

Posted in Bible, Preaching | 2 Comments

God is Good, All the Time

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Steve Picray

I was told I saved someone’s life last night.

It was the end of a three-day stretch at work for me. Since I work 13 hours a day, that means I hadn’t had much “non-work” interaction all weekend.  Last week was my mother’s birthday, and I was not able to connect with her on her birthday, so I decided to call her.  I got her voice mail (again…just like on her birthday), so I left a message.  I waited a few minutes to see if she would call right back, but she didn’t, so I decided to call my best friend Mike instead.  Thanks to the wonders of modern cell phone technology I knew I hadn’t talked to him in four weeks.

Here is me and my best friend Mike, getting ready to go to a Colts game when his family came out to visit us in 2007.

Here we are getting ready to go to a Colts game when his family came out to visit us in 2007.

I called his cell phone.  He answered, and said, “Hey, my battery is almost dead.”  I asked him “Do you want me to call your house phone instead?”  He said yes, so I futzed around with my phone for a minute (his cell is preset, not his home phone), and called his other number.  He answered.  We started talking about stuff that is important to us (probably not to you).

We talked for 49 minutes, according to my phone.  About 40 minutes into the conversation, he informed me that his wife just told him I just saved his life.  I said, “What do you mean?”  He said that before supper, he was working on his car, and he was underneath it. He came in to eat, and then he was going to go back out and finish.  I called, so he stayed inside talking to me.

His boys heard a loud noise from outside. They looked and saw that the car had fallen off the jacks, crashing to the ground. If I had not called him when I did, there is a good chance he would have been underneath the car. He could have been injured badly, or even killed. Mike is the pastor of a church, the husband of his wife, and the father of his six children ages twelve to six months. And he has been my best friend for the past twenty-two years.

I am convinced that God intervenes in our lives in miraculous ways almost every day, but we don’t get to see all the things He does because they are behind the scenes.  There has only been one other point in my life that I knew God miraculously intervened. I am convinced Romans 8:28 is absolutely true, in that God is working all things for the good of those who love Him.

I praise God that He orchestrated events so that my mother went to bed early last night (so I wasn’t talking to her).  I praise God that I got off work on time so I was free to make the call.  I praise God that Mike’s cell phone battery was almost dead, so he couldn’t talk to me while working on the car. I praise God that my friend is still alive today.

I know that tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us on this earth.  I know, as much as anyone can know about another, that my friend Mike will go to be with God when he dies. I know that if he had died, that I would see him again one day. I know that, even though we only see each other two or three times a year, one day we will not be separated by space and time.

I know these things because Jesus Christ came to earth two thousand years ago to die on the cross so that the penalty of my sin could be removed.  He died so that the debt of punishment I owed to God would be satisfied. And He rose again, to show that, if I trust in Him, I too will rise from the dead at the end of this age.  I know that when my time on earth is over, I will be with my brothers and sisters in Christ forever, worshiping God and praising Him for His goodness.  Do you know what will happen to you when you die?  If you don’t, please read the Gospel of John. Send me a message, because nothing in your life is more important than that.

Praise God my friend is alive and unharmed.  Praise God He saw fit to use me to protect Mike. God is good all the time.

Posted in Bible, God | Leave a comment

Malicious Email

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Steve Picray

computer-virus-alert-i3I just got an email tonight from “Manager Joshua Wagner” at FedEx saying they tried to deliver my package but I wasn’t home.  They said, “to receive your parcel, please, print this receipt and go to the nearest office.”  Then there’s a big button that says, “Print Receipt.”  The whole thing looks very official, with real FedEx logos and everything.

So did I click the link?  ABSOLUTELY NOT! Here’s why:

1.    First I noted the fact that I am not expecting a package.
2.    I know we were home when the email said that they tried to deliver the package.
3.    I looked at the actual email for “Manager Joshua Wagner” and it said, “client@lexington.us.” I’m fairly certain that if I get a legitimate email from FedEx, it would be from “Whoever@fedex.com.”
4.    The email provided a “tracking number.”  I opened up my web browser and typed in fedex.com. I entered the provided tracking number, and lo and behold: “No record of this tracking number can be found.”
5.    I did a Google search for “Fake fedex email” and found out that if I had clicked on “Print Receipt” I would have been the recipient of the Trojan.Smoaler virus.   I liked what Symantec said about this scam: “We should all know by now that the only unordered parcels we ever receive are gifts from Santa Claus.”

Moral of the story:  DON’T open emails from people you don’t know, DON’T click on links to known companies you get in email (go directly to their main website instead), and ALWAYS be cautious when opening anything in email.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Posted in computer, technology | 5 Comments