Lincoln, Luther, and King

Have you taken a DNA test? Have you looked at the results and wondered what they mean?  What is a centimorgan? Why do you and relatives share them? Is a DNA match your great aunt or your evil twin brother? The calculator chart at the end of this article will help you narrow down the possibilities. Is a DNA match your 2nd cousin, or your 4th cousin twice removed? What does twice removed even mean? The calculator chart will help you visualize the relationship. Simply type in the shared centimorgans (cM) of a DNA match, and the calculator will show you how you're likely related. Here's a picture of the chart with no relationships highlighted. To use this solely as a reference chart, you can download it as a pdf at this link . But to use this chart as a dynamically-highlighted calculator, keep reading... The calculator is based on the Shared cM Project data, version 3.0 dated Aug 2017. This data is a compilation of data from volunteers who input their shared centimorgans ind...

Are you dealing with a chronically dry and bleeding nose, and not just during the dryness of winter? Do you have recurring sores inside your nose? Do you have whiteheads on the outside of your nose that seem to correspond to sore areas inside your nose? That was me. Let me tell you a story of how I found a cure that worked for me. I share this in case it may help you. Please note that I am not recommending a course of self-treatment. You must take responsibility for the results or complications if your following this or any other course of self-treatment. I am offering it only as a consideration for those out there who, like me, could not be even slightly helped by a medical professional (ENT), even after paying almost $350 of my hard-earned after-tax money. You see, medical professionals are not God. They do not know everything, and they may not know what will work for you. Consult with God before trying this. I am not responsible for you, your treatment, or any complications you ma...

People quote Ephesians 2:8-9 all the time yet they gloss over what it literally says. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: "by grace you have been saved THROUGH FAITH . And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. "   [Yes, I left out the first word "For" at the beginning of Ephesians 2:8. I left it out because after hearing these two verses ripped out of their context and presented as a stand-alone statement perhaps 100 times before, we are probably not too concerned that "For" means there were preceding arguments that led to the conclusion being quoted. Therefore there is no compelling reason to quote the word "For" at the beginning of Ephesians 2:8. It would be like walking up to an acquaintance and saying, "That's why you'll never have any real long-lasting friendships" and then walking off. It makes no sense to start with "For", just for the sake of starting the quot...

UPDATE: As of Dec 2018, Google has released an update to Chrome OS that includes the native ability to connect to SMB file shares like a network hard drive. However, this feature is wholly undocumented  and so it's up to you to figure out how to get your network hard drive set up. I had mixed results. No longer do we need to install the Chrome extension "Network File Share for Chrome OS" and put up with its frequent time-outs. We can use Google Chrome OS' new built-in "SMB File Share" service. Set up To mount a network-accessible SMB file share on a Chromebook, do this: 1. Go to the Files app and click on the three dots in the upper right-hand corner, and select "Add New Service". 2. Select "SMB File Share" 3. Fill in the 4 fields, which are "File share URL", "Display Name (Optional)", "Username", and "Password". Filling in the fields Let's break down all 4 of these f...

Injustice in America takes many forms. Often it takes the form of when justice is not administered by the legal system. "Don't be corrupt when administering justice. Never give special favors to poor people, and never show preference to important people. Judge your neighbor fairly." - The Bible Sometimes crime pays handsome dividends due to ridiculously light court sentencing. This is the story of how Anthony (Tony) Shaw, an Army acquisition manager at the US Army Tank Automotive Life Cycle Management Command (TACOM LCMC) in Michigan, used kickbacks from an Army contractor to bail himself out of personal debt. Tony ends up being the winner, despite being ordered to pay restitution and serve almost 4 years in prison. In an episode that reminds us of the government bailout of AIG, Shaw personally benefited from taxpayer funds that bailed him out of over-leveraged real estate investments in the aftermath of the 2008 recession. Thanks to Tony's light court sentence, ...

God is calling every one of us out of darkness and into his wonderful light.  We understand that Jesus has commanded us not to blithely blend into this world's darkness, but to be different so we can shine a li ght into the darkness. It's easier said than done. We need to be reminded of our calling often, because it's a lifetime endeavor, and we all wrestle with what it really means to get out of darkness. The Apostle Peter reminds us: "...you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who  called you out of darkness into his wonderful light ." (1 Peter 2:9) Should we as Christ-followers celebrate Halloween? The question bears asking. Let me start by saying my purpose here is not to call anyone out on the carpet, or to judge your Halloween practices. The purpose of this examination is to ask ourselves the question of whether the celebration of Halloween is truly innocent fun? I don...

The world’s most misapplied and ripped-out-of-context snippet of scripture may very well be Jeremiah 29: 11. Believers love to quote this verse as if it applied unequivocally to their lives without condition or qualification. The verse famously says,  “For I know the plans  I have for you,” declares the  Lord , “plans to prosper  you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)   One should understand from the very first word, “for” that this is not a stand-alone statement! But how many people who quote this verse even know what went before? How many know who God was giving his promise to? Or what it truly implies, given its context?  Funny. How come believers never quote Jeremiah 18:11, indiscriminately assuming that it applies to them too? “This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you.” (Jeremiah 18:11) It appears that believers assume they will be the rec...

Every radiometric dating method assumes (and therefore asserts) that God did not create the material being dated. Very few people ever ask the cross-examining question, “If this material was created supernaturally by God in the beginning, what would its radiometric ratios be?” Truth, is, that question is just as unanswerable as the question, “How old did Adam appear to be in the first moments after his creation?”

One of the things I regret seeing in the Christian tradition is the dumbing down of children’s/youth groups, reducing them to mere entertainment instead of focusing on making disciples of Christ. Though we can certainly use an entertaining approach at times, we have turned it into a mandatory approach that supplants all else.  If we were to superimpose such an approach on any of the scenarios described in the Bible, they would seem ludicrous. Can you imagine Jesus looking up at Zacchaeus in the tree and belting out a stand-up one liner about short people to make everyone laugh? Or Paul and Silas chained up in jail with their whipped backs bleeding and singing “Jesus is the rock and he rolls my blues away, bop-shoo-bop-shoo-bop, wow”?   I remember many times in junior high or high school where our youth groups did silly things that had no tie-in whatsoever to spiritual matters. I remember singing “Whose side are you zodding on? Zodding on the Lord’s side. Izod Izo...