Christian Disciplines in Model Rocketry: Lesson 1 - Discipline of Study

• What is the "hat-rack" approach? To gain understanding of the spiritual through understanding the natural world. Through studying the disciplines of model rocketry one gains some understanding of the spiritual disciplines. As adapted from "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster

• What is model rocketry?  - A fun and educational way to understand the science of rocketry

• To play with it or not to play with it - On a recreational level, model rocketry is just fun, but exploring and understanding model rocketry deepens our understanding of the natural world.

• To know it is to love it, or learning can be fun

• The “Jeopardy Question” - A scientist and believer in Christ, his discovered Laws of Motion affect the design and characteristics of model rocketry.

• “He’s Issac Newton, kids! Ain’t he cool? And Captain Ghillie looks just like him too!”

• 1643-1727 Brilliant English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist

• Although the laws of motion and universal gravitation became Newton's best-known discoveries, he warned against using them to view the universe as a mere machine, as if akin to a great clock. He said, "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done."

• Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

• The law of inertia

• What’s with the big words? - sometimes you need the words to help understand what's being communicated

• Objects at rest remain at rest; objects in motion remain in motion.

• Objects in mirror are closer than they appear - has nothing to do with anything except objects

• The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors (as indicated by their symbols being displayed in slant bold font); in this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.

• “What da…??” - What was all that?

• Acceleration is proportional to force. - Second Law put in simpler terms. The greater the force the greater the acceleration. The greater the mass the lesser the acceleration.

• A big honkin’ engine makes a faster rocket - 'nuff said

• The kiddies all say, “Geez, I want one too!” - Yeah, I need one like that for Atlanta traffic.

• For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

• Escape velocity and other Star Trek Enterprise NCC-1701 tricks - In order to escape the earth's force of gravity, this rocket must develop power (thrust) greater than that force upon it.

• Ain’t nothin’ pushin’ it up there. - Rocket engines don't push against something to move the rocket upward. Actually, that impedes its movement. Employing Newton's Second and Third Laws of Motion, the rocket engine expels enough mass with enough velocity to propel it.

• Because we can understand what makes rockets work - Through study we can learn of the world around us.

• Because we can have bigger, higher, faster, better rockets - The more we know the better we can use that knowledge.

• Because we apply ourselves to rocketry, not apply rocketry to ourselves. - Like the Laws of Motion, the principles of rocketry aren't changeable, just discoverable. Our understanding must change to use those principles.

• Because I know what you don’t - I've been "around the block" a few more times. Knowledge IS power.

• You will know the truth and the truth will make you free. - John 8:32 - If there is any one scripture to understand in all of this, it's this one. Memorize it.

• The mind will always take on an order conforming to the order upon which it concentrates. - From "Celebration of Discipline"

• Whuz zat mean? - Whatever we think about is who we are, or as scripture puts it...

• For as he thinks within himself, so he is. – Proverbs 23:7

• Repetition - Habits of thought because of conscious repetition. Think of it. - The more one thinks of something, the more ingrained it becomes.

• Concentration - Center and focus the mind on the subject; distraction is the enemy. Think on it. - In a world filled with distractions, concentration is disavantaged. Thinking on something moves us to not just see it but perceive it.

• Comprehension - The KNOWLEDGE of the truth; the “eureka” experience; dictionaries, commentaries, encyclopedias or other works of literature, help in our understanding. Think in it. - It is the knowledge of the truth that sets us free from the shackels of ignorance. To think in something is to know it from the inside, as in thinking "inside the circle".

• Reflection - Comprehension defines what is being studied; reflection defines its significance. Reflection brings perspective; God’s perspective. Think about it. - As if to daydream about it. Reflection gives meaning.

Biblical Youth Camp

Life happens where you live

It was a typical day over at the BCD Tofu house in Koreatown in Los Angeles.  I had taken the drive up to Los Angeles to meet up with Rob and Trinity who were on the west coast for a quick vacation.  We had a good dinner and were wrapping it up (getting ready to meet up with Meng Ning over at Ice Kiss) around 9:00pm when Joe entered into the restaurant.  I didn't notice him at first, but after a little bit it was impossible not to notice him.  Joe is about 6ft tall, medium frame, bearded, black, and homeless.  In tears he had wandered into the restaurant and planted himself  almost in the middle of the room.  Waiters and waitresses tried to ask him to move but were too afraid to physically get close to him.  It was there that he made his tearful plea to the patrons at the restaurant.

Michael Faraday and marriage

Atheists are funny: The Anecdotal Evidence

Atheist Christopher Hitchens, author of the new book, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," told CNN's Anderson Cooper last night he wishes there were a Hell just for Jerry Falwell. Asked if he thought Falwell were in heaven, Hitches, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, replied: "No. And I think it's a pity there isn't a hell for him to go to." In answer to the question of what stirred such vitriol in his heart, Hitches said: "The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing, that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called reverend. Who would, even at your network, have invited on such a little toad to tell us that the attacks of September the 11th were the result of our sinfulness and were God's punishment if they hadn't got some kind of clerical qualification?"