I read the bible front to back. Really. I know a lot of people have daily reading plans, morning and evening readings, random flip-to-a-page readings, Old Testament plus New Testament readings, bible-in-a-year readings, etc. But I read it front to back.

The Bible is a Story

Many people don’t realize that the bible is a story. The bible has a beginning, middle, and end. It has a characters who experience conflict and growth, plot and subplots, a climax, resolutions, and an ending. The bible is a book of history but it’s also a story.

So, because the bible is a story, you can read it front to back, and you will gain so much more insight than random readings.

What My Reading Looks Like

When I sit down to read, in the morning, lately, I sit in a comfortable living room chair, with a coffee in hand, a lamp to my left, my phone on my right, and my bible on my left. My phone is where I have a bible app, but I don’t read from it (I used to but don’t anymore), instead I use it for bookmarking my exact position in the bible, whereas bible ribbons or physical bookmarks can only tell you the page.

What I actually read is two chapters per day as I read through the bible, front to back, and one chapter of the wisdom books, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, to focus on wisdom and to provide variety in the reading. I skip over the wisdom books as I read front to back so I’m not repeating myself.

It Seems Too Simple?

Simple’s not such a bad thing. Consider how often you might get pulled away from reading the bible because it’s too long or too complicated. My dad once told me, never make something you enjoy into a chore. Perhaps it’s a little bit of self-righteousness that makes us think we need to slog through the bible even if it becomes unenjoyable. It shouldn’t be like that. Give yourself a break and read it in a sustainable and enjoyable way.

So Get Reading The Bible!

Start reading the bible today. Just start. And keep it simple so you can keep it up!

Tip: How I Read The Longest Chapter In The Bible

Psalms 119 is the longest chapter in the bible, at 176 verses. It really is a long slog to read the whole way through. Instead, as it is broken up into twenty-two stanzas, I read two stanzas per day. Here’s the note from the NLT version (see footnote) that may help explain what I mean:

This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; there are twenty-two stanzas, one for each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight verses within each stanza begins with the Hebrew letter named in its heading.

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I remember two cases of would-be suicide, which bore a striking similarity to each other. Both men had talked of their intentions to commit suicide. Both used the typical argument – they had nothing more to expect from life. In both cases it was a question of getting them to realize that life was still expecting something from them; something in the future was expected of them. We found, in fact, that for one it was his child whom he adored and who was waiting for him in a foreign country. For the other, it was a thing, not a person. This man was a scientist and had written a series of books which still needed to be finished. His work could not be done by anyone else, any more than a person could ever take the place of the father in his child’s affections.
– Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

This existential vacuum manifests itself mainly in a state of boredom. Now we can understand Schopenhauer when he said that mankind was apparently doomed to vacillate eternally between the two extremes of distress and boredom. In actual fact, boredom is now causing, and certainly bringing to psychiatrists, more problems to solve than distress. And these problems are growing increasingly crucial, for progressive automation will probably lead to an enormous increase in the leisure hours for the average worker. The pity of it is many of these will not know what to do with all their newly acquired free time.
– Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.
– Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

It is one of the basic tenets oflogotherapy that man’s main concern is notto gain pleasure or to avoid pain but ratherto see a meaning in his life. That is why manis even ready to suffer, on the condition, to besure, that his suffering has a meaning.
– Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.
– Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

Most important, however, is the third avenue to meaning in life: even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change, may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself, and by so doing change himself. He may turn a personal tragedy into a triumph. Again it was Edith Weisskopf-Joelson who, as mentioned on p. 118, once expressed the hope that logotherapy “may help counteract certain unhealthy trends in the present-day culture of the United States, where the incurable sufferer is given very little opportunity to be proud of his suffering and to con­sider it ennobling rather than degrading” so that “he is not only unhappy, but also ashamed of being unhappy.”
– Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

Backup Link: Man’s Search for Meaning

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The normalization of gender as distinct from biological sex is psychologically harmful as it further polarizes body and mind making it more difficult to reconcile and provide healing for those with gender dysphoria.

Extreme suicide rates for full transitions support the hypothesis that we are not helping those people.

The government should take the lead on re-enforcing and encouraging the psychological reconciliation of people suffering gender dysphoria.

Also my StatsCan Census 2021 response for the final comments question.

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Originally a Twitter thread, posted here for posterity. See Full Context, below. This isn’t a case of a homophobic Christian randomly hate sniping tweets.

[God] says it’s ok to be gay as long as you never ever find love and happiness and don’t even think about living your truth. But it’s ok to be gay.

I’ve struggled with this question as somebody with conditions that make it hard to find love. My conclusion is the Fall has resulted in this and now the cold, hard fact of natural selection and survival of the fittest are playing out.

But I’m no more special than the child who will die before their tenth birthday who will also never experience these things. It is pride and selfishness to idolize these things and think that I am more worthy of these things than others who will never even have the chance.

“For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others–and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. ” Matthew 19:12

I hate this. I hate this to the bottom of my soul and I believe righteously so but the anger is only righteous with the right understanding that it was not meant to be this way and God will make all things Good again and make them even better than you can imagine.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration…” Roman 8:18-20a

“…not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:20b-21

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Romans 8:17

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Soli Deo Gloria

Full Context

Some people might assume my tweets were just a homophobic Christian sniping a random tweet on twitter but that’s not it at all.

Visit this tweet and scroll back up through the history to the “Listen to our interview…” tweet and then read down.

Some rando posted an audio interview with a member of one of my favourite Christian bands, when I was younger. This band had been putting out signs for a year or two that they were going woke. Truth was they had always held these woke beliefs but weren’t exactly clear about that due to their Christian labels and the music industry being what it is.

So, I wrote a tweet lamenting that my favourite band had gone woke. The original rando then wrote a tweet that was liked by the band. Being a trouble maker, I added a “Yikes” tweet about their possibl theology. Another person, @Dallonntm, commented we should give them the benefit of the doubt. The band replied to that comment. And that’s when all their followers saw it and it broke wide open.

There’s a lot of comments underneath the original tweet but it eventually got down to the one I quoted above and replied to as I did.

@Dallonntm and I replied to many comments in an apologetics style hoping to provide some biblical truth.

Eventually, the tweet I quoted came up. I’ve seen the argument before: Only homosexuals are denied love. At this stage in my life, I found I could finally identify with those people, from my own situation, in the hopes I could show them the biblical perspective on denying one’s else and that, yes, other people have to go without.

That’s it. That’s the context. It was very personal for us fans of the band so I can understand if few understand why this merits a blog post.

The following was originally a YouTube comment, posted here for posterity.

As someone with a deformity, even I can recognize that all of these differences that fall on a spectrum are the result of errors: mutations, copy mistakes, etc.

The study of genetics shows a clear intention of the DNA to produce one or the other sex, and all deviations from this indicate a goal to strive toward and not a result to reinforce.

For the best chance of reconciliation with ones own body and mind, we should strive to realign body and mind with one’s original intended biological sex, either male or female.

The extremely high suicide rates for full transitions support the hypothesis that when we don’t work towards our original intended biological sex we effectively work against ourselves and further divide body and mind.

Originally a YouTube comment, to the video “There Are More Than Two Human Sexes“, and also a Twitter thread.

“For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
– John 3:16, Holy Bible. Visit selah.ca/free-gift to learn more.

Welcome to Secrets of the Simucube 2 Pro where I will be recording my experience, tips, tricks, resources, and other helpful information as I get to know it.

I upgraded in 2021 from a SimXperience AccuForce Pro V1, which I had since 2015, and before that a Logitech G27, which I had for 4-5 years. You can read my experience with the AccuForce in my post Secrets of the SimXperience AccuForce Pro.

Secrets is a series of blog posts I started with Secrets of iRacing and which has grown to include Secrets of GTR2, Secrets of Race 07, Secrets of GT Legends, Secrets of Automobilista, Secrets of rFactor 2, Secrets of the SimXperience AccuForce Pro, and Secrets of Project Cars 2. The “secrets” part is a little dramatic but there are quite a few tips and tricks I think new users will find very valuable and interesting.

Update 2021-06-10: Added Tips and Tricks> Rim Hard to Remove from Quick Release

Update 2021-05-13: Added Issues > Use Low FFB Effects Level in Old SimBin Games.

Update 2021-04-30: Added sections for Resources, Community, added Issues > DirectInput Friction Biases Wheel Center On Some Games

Older updates are archived at the bottom under the Updates section.

What is the Simucube 2 Pro?

The Simucube 2 Pro is a force feedback steering wheel system used mainly for sim racing on PC.

From the Simucube 2 Pro product page,

Are you ready to be known from jaw-dropping maneuvers in Sim Racing eSports scene? If so, don’t let mediocre simulator equipment tame you down. Unleash your predator like driver skills with Simucube 2 Pro Direct Drive wheelbase.

25 Nm of torque is enough to give you deep immersion with any track, car, and condition. With Pro, one might easily forget they’re in a simulation. High torque reserve enables the driver to receive all the detail simulator and car has to give.

Combined with exceptionally high torque response rate Pro motor, the sharpest kinks will be delivered at a clarity not seen in the Direct Drive scene before. The torque response rate is adjustable to the driver’s preferences.

Simucube 2 Pro is destined to set the new golden standard for high-end class Direct Drive wheels.

And here’s a promotional video to show it a little bit,

Getting Started

In Secrets, I try to focus on the non-obvious or unintuitive so I won’t be covering basics like acquiring or installing, unless there is is something of note to comment on. You’re probably beyond that yourself so I’ll focus on the more obscure and non-obvious things.

Continue reading “Secrets of the Simucube 2 Pro”

Our deepest insights must—and should—appear as follies, and under certain circumstances as crimes, when they come unauthorizedly to the ears of those who are not disposed and predestined for them.
– Beyond Good and Evil

Briefly and regrettably, they belong to the LEVELLERS, these wrongly named “free spirits”—as glib-tongued and scribe-fingered slaves of the democratic taste and its “modern ideas” all of them men without solitude, without personal solitude, blunt honest fellows to whom neither courage nor honourable conduct ought to be denied, only, they are not free, and are ludicrously superficial, especially in their innate partiality for seeing the cause of almost ALL human misery and failure in the old forms in which society has hitherto existed—a notion which happily inverts the truth entirely! What they would fain attain with all their strength, is the universal, green-meadow happiness of the herd, together with security, safety, comfort, and alleviation of life for every one, their two most frequently chanted songs and doctrines are called “Equality of Rights” and “Sympathy with All Sufferers”—and suffering itself is looked upon by them as something which must be DONE AWAY WITH.
– Beyond Good and Evil

He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.
– Beyond Good and Evil

A man’s estimates of value betray something of the STRUCTURE of his soul, and wherein it sees its conditions of life, its intrinsic needs.
– Beyond Good and Evil

Feature Image Credit

The following are comments I wrote on the YouTube video, Silence – The Deconstruction of Faith, a great video essay, itself, where I lay out my frustrations with the film. I have recorded them here for posterity and access.

This film was frustrating for its lack of biblical knowledge that would be directly relevant to the moral choices.

Christian martyrs don’t “die for their priests” they stand firm because Christ Himself told us to take up our Cross and follow Him, and Christ Himself also said “he who denies me before men I will also deny before the Father.”

This film displays a lack of respect for the material and the real, recorded lives of Christian martyrs who gave and give their lives still to follow Christ and love their neighbor.

See the Jesus Freaks books for modern tellings of both past and present martyrs, young and old.

@conan263 See the book of Matthew ch 10 the context makes it clear it’s literally a life and death choice. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10&version=ESV

 

@conan263 Show off, flaunt, no. That’s the problem with the film, it’s based on a book, a work of fiction, rather than the source material of both, both historical records of martyrs and the Christian Bible. Scorsese and the book have an agenda, a message they wanted to deliver. They accomplished that at the sacrifice of truth.

In 2020, I decided to take a few months and update my skills with some online courses from Coursera, Udemy, EdX, etc. I started with Coursera but quickly ended up finishing 35+ courses in about 5 months, mostly Udemy courses. I quickly discovered that I was repeating myself when writing course reviews and decided to formalize it a bit.

Here’s my online course checklist. I hope it helps somebody in picking quality courses and in writing their own helpful reviews.

• Overall
  • Overall valuable course.
  • Overall okay course.
  • Overall not a valuable course.
• 1080p Videos
  • Good – Has 1080p videos.
  • Improve – Include 1080p or higher videos.
• Volume Levels
  • Good – Consistent volume levels.
  • Improve – Inconsistent volume levels.
• Audio Quality
  • Good – Clear audio quality.
  • Improve – Inconsistent audio quality.
• Vocal Speed
  • Good – Vocal speed fast enough at 2x.
  • Improve – Vocal speed at 1x is too slow resulting in 2x being too slow.
• Has Transcripts
  • Good – Has transripts.
  • Improve – Include transcripts.
• Has Captions
  • Good – Has captions.
  • Improve – Include captions.
• Has single PDF of course notes slides
  • Good – Has single PDF of course notes slides.
  • Improve – Include single PDF of course notes slides.
• Has single zip download of all resources
  • Good – Has single zip download of all resources.
  • Improve – Include single zip download of all resources.
• Quiz Pacing
  
  • Good – Quizzes paced nicely.
  • Improve – Quizzes are can sometimes be too frequent.
  • Improve – Quizzes are can sometimes be too spread out.
• Quiz Length
  • Good – Well sized quizzes.
  • Improve – Quizzes sometimes too short (recommend 5-10 questions).
  • Improve – Quizzes sometimes be too long (recommend 5-10 questions).
• Minimal distracting visual or audio effects
  • Good – Minimal visual/audio distracting gimmicks.
  • Improve – Reduce visual/audio distracting gimmicks.
• Minimal reading material – Should be in video format for flow
  • Good – Minimal reading material (uses video to cover most topics).
  • Improve – Reduce reading material (use video to cover most topics).
• Minimal intros/outros to reduce time waste
  • Good – Minimal intros/outros to reduce time waste.
  • Improve – Reduce intros/outros to reduce time waste.
• Intros/Outros Lack Substance/Value
  • Good – Intros/Outros provide just enough substance/value.
  • Improve – Intros/Outros do not provide enough substance/value.

I simply copy&paste the appropriate Good or Improve bullet points in order to create my reviews.

Course authors may find this list helpful as a checklist of what to look for in their coursea and what to include or not include when planning out courses.

PS. If Udemy happens to read this, the Rating descriptions provided are confusing. For example, “Good / Amazing” is confusing. Something might be “good” but far from “amazing”. Many times I chose “Good / What I expected”, instead. This kind of confusion and non-objective descriptions may be hurting your ratings system.

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