ajmaonline.com

Bibles and Verses Used at Presidential Inaugurations

Andrew Ma — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:32:55 GMT

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting page which shows the Bible and the verse that was used to inaugurate previous Presidents.

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123188831919978953.html#articleTabs%3Dinteractive

Personally, out of the 16 listed, I like the one Ronald Reagan used.

ESV Study Bible

Andrew Ma — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:24:00 GMT

I got my ESV Study Bible ordered. This video gives some details on what's included in the bible and includes some endorsements. Also, Tullian Tchividjian says his name so know I know how it's pronounced.

Website: http://www.esvstudybible.org/

Theological Issues for young Christian Leaders

Andrew Ma — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:08:33 GMT

J.I. Packer and Mark Driscoll discuss what young Christian leaders should study in order to be prepared for the next 50 years. The post is pretty short, so head over there and read the 4 points in detail: http://theresurgence.com/node/1091

The 4 points consist of: Regeneration, God-Centered Theology, Godliness Beings at Home and Trinity.

Rabbits on chairs painting

Andrew Ma — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:39:29 GMT

Over on Flickr, there's an artist who likes painting rabbits on chairs. A couple weeks ago, I was asked if it would be ok to paint this picture:

Here's the result:

Happy Canada Day 2008

Andrew Ma — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:59:00 GMT

Courtesy of Nolen Lee.

Hungry Hungry Bunnies

Andrew Ma — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:39:00 GMT

Howdy Stranger

Andrew Ma — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:28:00 GMT

These are my bunnies in the backyard. They look like they're strangers and they're confused.

Graffiti CMS

Andrew Ma — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:53:00 GMT

I'm swapping my blogging engine one more time. Community Server was getting overly complicated. All I really needed was blogging engine. I didn't need any media manager or forums or rss rollup aggregation. I found out that the company that makes Community Server also makes an application called Graffit CMS. It's a basic content management system which I'm using as the blog engine. It may be basic, but it's got all the basics done well. The installation was super easy (simply copy some files onto my webserver and go, no sql setup). Migration of my old posts were pretty simple too. There's a tool which helps me move all my old posts to this new system. I did run into a problem with titles that have ellipsis (...) in them. I had a couple which I updated and then the migration of them went fine. I hope to write more in here since it's easier to use. I've also created a photolog category which I'm hoping to populate with the new Canon 40d camera I got (I finally upgraded from the 20d).

Have they heard your message clearly?

Andrew Ma — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:17:00 GMT

"The biblical message, the good news, is a good news of content. It is here that feedback is important in regard to the style the artist chooses. Let us say, for example that you are playing in a Christian rock group, making an art form of rock. Suppose further that at the same time you are going into certain coffeehouses and using rock as a bridge to preach the Christian message. That’s fine. But then you must be careful of the feedback. When you finish playing you must ask whether the people who have heard you play have understood what you have been saying. Have they heard your message clearly because you have used their modern idiom, or have they simply heard again what they have always heard when they have listened to rock because you have used their form?"

- Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible, c. 1973 by L’Abri Fellowship, 23

I was reading Andy Farmer's document on Important Values for Christian Artists, and I ran into this quote which caught my attention. Music used at church has dramatically changed over the years and does indeed resemble secular music (in style). This is a question that can be asked not only about musical form but also about how we run programs and build buildings (churches look more like business offices now and less like the cathedrals of before).

Are people hearing our message because we used their modern idoim or are they hearing what they always hear in their form? I certainly hope it's the former.

Punching Pandas

Andrew Ma — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:05:00 GMT

For those of you know Nolen Lee, he's been on a blog posting splurg the last couple of days. You can find his blog here: http://www.nolenlee.com/

He's been posting up a lot of his artwork. It's worth a look.