Christ's Law

People who quote one or two verses at a time and casually read the Bible sometimes miss a basic truth. We do not keep the Sabbath or eat kosher for a reason. We are not under the Law.

I hear all the time by skeptics, "Why don't you follow *insert random law from Old Testament* anymore?" The answer is simple. I'm not under the law anymore.

Paul makes this quite clear through out almost all of his epistles:
"Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." -Romans 6:13-14

"Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law." -1 Corinthians 9:19-20

"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." -Galatians 5:16-18

This is why we do not follow the Levitical laws established in the Old Testament. Those are covenants with the Jews and I, personally, am not a Jew. I am not circumcising my child because it holds no value for him (Galatians 5:2).

We are now under a new law, Christ's law (1 Corinthians 9:20). In Mark 2:18-20, we find Jesus speaking of his disciples in terms of new wineskins with new wine. The most widely accepted interpretation of what Jesus is describing is his new disciples and his new message. The old Law could not contain what Jesus was bringing.

Grace is at the forefront of Jesus' message. An undeserved and unearned pardon from our crimes. In the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7), it is very clear that we cannot live up to God's law and perfection.

The Levitical law was not bad and anyone not under Christ's law is currently under the Levitical law's judgement, but the purpose of the Levitical law was to show us that we needed a savior. Christ's law is our salvation from the law that brings death.

At this point, I have generally given why we no longer live by the Law, but there is the other extreme that we should guard against as well. That is to sin all we want because we are not under the Law anymore. This was also never the intention of Paul's teachings.

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" -Romans 6:2

We should live by the Spirit of the law and not the letter of the law (Galatians 5:16-18). While all is technically permissible because of grace, not all is beneficial (1 Corinthians 6:12). At this point we are to study God's word and be transformed by it so that we are able to test and approve of what God's will is (Romans 12:2) without merely following rules.

Jesus said many profound things while he was here, but the one that relates to why we should not go on sinning is one of the simplest things he said. "If you love me, keep my commands." -John 14:15

He did not say, "If you want to go to heaven", or "if you want to look good in God's eyes" or "if you don't want to go to Hell", he simply says "If you love me..." and that is reason enough. If we love Jesus then we will bear fruit.

When confronted with the adulterous woman, Jesus had ever right under the law to stone her, but instead he chose grace and created new command. Only someone without sin can caste the first stone. Therefore, under Christ's law he did not get rid of any of the commands, but instead added to them. So we do not stone or kill anyone for breaking commands anymore because we ourselves deserve to be stoned as much as they do. We are all sinners who need a savior.

We are not saved by following rules. We are not saved by anything at all that we do. We are saved by the grace given to us by Jesus. And if we love Jesus and are grateful for that salvation, it can be seen in our following his commands.

How Programming has Strengthened My Faith in God

If you are not a programmer, becoming one might change the way you see the world around you. If you really get into object oriented programming you start see things in your own life as defined by variables, methods and functions. One thing I did not expect is that it strengthened my faith in God.

It hit me one time, playing around with an Unreal games code that it would be fun to play with the universes variables the same way you play with a games variables such as gravity and friction. Suddenly things start falling up instead of down with the mere flick of a boolean (true/false) variable.

Then the question arises. Who did define the variables of our universe? I have a hard time believing any programmer can say "no one" with a straight face. It is like me saying "who set the variables in this program?" and someone trying to convince me no one wrote the code and it just appeared out of thin air.

Anyone who has studied physics knows there are certain things in our universe that are constants. Variables that are always the same, such as gravitational constant or atomic mass unit or electric constant. These are all set values and equations. But when you ask how these variables got set, the subject might quickly change or be answered with "it just is the way it is."

But being a programmer, I know that nothing is ever just the way it is without someone setting it the way it is. Do you know what a program would look like without a programmer? Nothing. And you cannot build or compile nothing and come out with something.

An atheist recently tried to suggest that the big bang theory and evolution some how disproved an intelligent creator, but reality is, no matter what you believe about how the universe formed, you cannot get away from the simple truth that physical constants had to come from some where. The Newtonian gravitational constant is not 6.673(10) × 10⁻¹¹ m³ kg⁻¹ s⁻² just "because reasons." Someone made it that way.

In fact, learning physics seems very much like reverse engineering the universe to see how it is programmed. Some think that science can some how disprove God's existence or involvement. To me, science is the study of God's variables. If programming has taught me one thing, it's that it takes a lot of effort to get anything at all to happen and to suggest that the variables of the universe are just so for no reason makes about as much sense as code inserting itself into my text editor.

The Future of the Play Store

Back in March of 2012, Google decided to change the Android Market to the Play Store. At the time, it made a great deal of sense to do what they did. It was pretty clear they wanted their media to be on every device and not just Android. Google Books, Movies, and Music just did not make sense to only be in the Android Market.

During that time, I thought maybe they would try to make their apps cross platform and they did a little bit by playing with Android apps running in Windows, but nothing ever official. The demand and the interest just was not there because of how superior PCs were. It was pointless to use watered down versions of programs on a PC.

Now, we are seeing a different story. The Tegra K1 processor has shown mobile can run full blown Unreal Engine 4 games and with every company trying to prove they can be as good as the Tegra, ARM processors have reached PC level performance. So now that the processors can do it, we will soon see the programs catch up.

Enter Android Runtime. Right now Google is starting slow with it, much like the Chromecast API. Chromecast started out being available for select apps, but then they opened it up and it exploded with apps. The same thing will happen when Android Runtime is opened up.

This means good things for Chrome OS. We will start to see many more stand alone apps for Chrome OS and hopefully full blown programs like Inkscape and Blender.

But Android Runtime does not have to be limited to Chrome OS. Like Java, it can be made to run in any OS. So if they do release an Android Runtime for say other Linux distros, Windows, or OS X, suddenly the market for the Play Store has become massive!

I believe this was the ultimate intent for the Google Play Store. Not just media across devices but apps as well. Doing this means buying a program once and it running on all your devices regardless of what OS you use. Though, let's be honest, Apple would never allow such a thing on iOS and will probably push to eliminate OS X to rectify the problem.

This is a very good move by Google because it safeguards their Play Store. If sometime in the future another OS begins to dominate the market, Google will have lost very little as all they would need to do is make Android Runtime for it and now all the people invested in Play Store apps will not have to re-buy anything even though it is a different OS. Not only that, but they could continue to buy from the Play Store even without an Android device.

It is pure business genius.

Nexus Player Review

I have had my Nexus Player for a few days now and have been able to see the pros and cons of the device. I do not regret my purchase but there are certainly some cons to consider.

First of all, if you are considering getting the Gamepad for Nexus Player, do it! It is a great controller and feels good in the hands. I have a Moga controller but it is about to get sold to buy another Nexus Gamepad. It has weight to it so it feels good in the hands. It has the look of an Xbox controller with the layout of the Playstation controller (which has always been my preferred layout).

Gamepad for Nexus Player

The stock controller however, has a lack of volume buttons which means I have to keep all three of my remotes near to operate everything (tv remote to turn the tv on and off, receiver remote to turn the volume up and down, and Nexus remote to operate it). Honestly, I could eliminate the other remotes if it simply had a volume button that changed the volume of the system. Luckily there are already people out there making their own remotes for Android TV and I'll certainly be looking into them as they become available.

Stock Nexus Player Controller

Android TV itself works pretty great right now. It is pretty easy to get around and see your apps. The top bar has recommended shows from almost any media app on the machine, which is really cool. Seeing the latest episode of Flash from Hulu popup at the top without me going into the Hulu app is super convenient. It also has the YouTube playlists that my daughter watches constantly right next to it so again, that top bar is a huge plus for Android TV.

My critique right now though, is not necessarily a current problem but I can see it being a problem in the future. Right now, they basically have rows going across the screen to select apps and media and right now it works pretty good, but when I think of six months from now when they have 200 some apps, they had also better have a way to scroll through them better than hitting the right arrow 200 times.

It seems very geared toward not having a lot of content right now and I am sure they have plans to optimize this for larger content base down the line. So my only critique of the the OS right now is really a non-issue unless it is not changed later.

Lastly, the Nexus Player itself works good. It handles the graphics of Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 5 very well. However, I cannot tell if this is a Gameloft glitch or a Nexus Player over heating issue but at the end of a race, occasionally it will reboot the Nexus Player. I cannot tell if it is because the processor overheated or if something in the game glitched. My initial thought was overheating because it reboots the system but I physically felt the system and it did not seem that hot so I am not sure. And it only just started doing it yesterday after playing the same games on it with no issues two previous nights.

The space is also an issue. My dream is for a Nexus gaming console and that is what I have turned it into. Problem is, it is very limited on space. I installed Asphalt 8, Modern Combat 5, Beach Buggy Racing and then it would not install Dungeon Hunter 4 because of lack of space. So this weekend I will be looking for a way to install apps on a small external hard drive.

Bottom line on the Nexus gaming console dreams, space is limited and it might have an overheating issue. Probably worth it to wait for Razr's Tegra K1 Android TV to be released soon, but feel free to stock up on Nexus Gamepads. They are worth it.

Update: After a few weeks it has become clear that it is an overheating issue. Almost any game will cause the system to reboot after less than an hour. With Goat Simulator it takes about 5 minutes before it reboots. It even overheats on non-graphically intense games.

My advice is to wait for a Tegra K1 Android TV as the Intel chip they chose for the Nexus Player was clearly not ready for this.

Who made God?

As a Christian, whether one subscribes to creationism or evolution, ultimately we believe that God created the universe. This attestation to a skeptic is usually followed by the standard "who made God?" Many Christians have simple answers to this question, but I have never been one to be satisfied by simple answers.

This is partially answered when we understand what time is. If you study time dilation in relation to the space-time continuum, we start to see that time is a component in and of itself. If you take two identical watches that tick at exactly the same time and put one into space and one on earth, when you bring the two watches back together they will have different times. Essentially this is evidence that time is not only real but dependent on different variables. Time is a force of itself.

Therefore in the Christian world view, time itself was created by God. Once this is established and we semi-understand that time is not eternal, the phrase "I am the beginning and the end," starts bring a whole new understanding. The words "beginning" and "end" deal with time measurements. God existed before and after time and He created time, therefore He is not limited by the concepts of time.

As opposed to all the things in our universe that have a cause, God is uncaused and is the cause. In the philosophy of the "first mover," God would be the first mover. Unlike all other things in our universe, God does not require a creator as He is separate from His creation and therefore does not follow the same laws that apply to it. This is much the same as a programmer who is not bound by the parameters of the program he creates. Everything in the program is bound by the rules established by the programmer, but the programmer is not in any way restricted by the program.

So while the simple answer to the skeptics question is "no one," I hope I have explained this answer a little better.

HP Chromebook 14 with Touchscreen Review

For PC builders like me, laptops have always been struggle. I know exactly what I want, but with

HP Chromebook 14 in action

laptops, it's not always easy to put everything I want into one laptop. Long story short, the HP Chromebook 14 is the laptop I would build if I could make a laptop.

When they first announced Chromebooks with Tegra K1 processors, I knew that's what I had to have. PC processing power with the battery drain of an ARM processor? Yes please! Not to mention the gaming potential with it's ability to run the latest Unreal Engine 4 games.

There are different versions of the HP Chromebook 14 and the entry level ones were tempting with the $299 price point but with only 2GB of RAM and just below 1080p resolution, the extra $120 was worth it for me. The touchscreen was not even on my radar. It was nice but almost seemed gimmicky and who knows if anyone will actually use its potential, so honestly, if they had a 4GB version with 1080p and no touch screen I probably would have bought it... But that would have been a mistake.

Since I first started using it, I figured since I had a touchscreen, I might as well use it. Now, I am hooked. I love the touchscreen and am glad I sprung for it. Not every site is optimized for it but it is still usable on them. And if you are hooked into the Google media sphere as I am, Google sites and apps are optimized for making touch screens easier to use.

The battery life is what you would expect from an ARM processor system. It lasts forever. I am on day four of my charge right now. I am trying to run the battery out but it may not be tonight.

Aside from it being super light, it is paper thin. It made my poor coworker's Macbook Air seem like a hulk.

It is only just bigger than my cutting board.

With Google Drive offline, I'm able to take notes at work when WIFI is not available. Which just does not seem possible this day in age, but the company I work for is a little overboard on security and sees WIFI as a risk. Everyone is worried about Chromebooks offline capabilities but I have not had any problems.

With Chrome Remote Desktop and a good connection, I have access to my non-Chrome OS software like Inkscape, Gimp, Blender and such. I look forward to having them natively some day, but until that day comes Chrome Remote Desktop streams it seamlessly.

I am loving the new Android apps that work in Chrome OS. They are limited right now but I look forward to the selection exploding once the API is released to the public.

This thing is screaming fast too. No issues loading anything and honestly I wish I could give it more of a challenge. I know I am not even scratching the surface of what this thing is capable of.

The other thing I like is the potential. Right now, as is, the HP Chromebook 14 is great, but nVidia and Google have plans for this Tegra K1/Chrome OS combo. A couple months back they announced an initiative to stream any software to Chrome OS eliminating the OS compatibility issues. I do not know when that will come to fruition but when it does the K1 laptops will be the first to get it.

Anyone that has seen the demos of what types of games the Tegra K1 is capable of knows it was built for gamers. With Google pushing out this new Android app capabilities and showing that with only three weeks of effort, Direct X11 games can be ported to Android, this laptop could be doing some serious gaming very soon.

It is a $420 gaming rig laptop with crazy long battery life. It was a no brainer and after having it for a while now, it feels like an even better decision now than it did when I first ordered it.