I am Joshua Poehls. Say hello Archives (not so) silent thoughts

Serve the LORD, Fear Not

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:1

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; …2

If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God:3

Continue reading

Delighting in the Trinity

“It is not to be expected that we should love God supremely if we have not known him to be more desirable than all other things.” So wrote the great hymn writer Isaac Watts. And of course, he was quite right, for we always love what seems most attractive to us.

But what kind of God could outstrip the attractions of all other things? Could any unitary, single-person god do so? Hardly, or at least not for long. Single-person gods must, by definition, have spent eternity in absolute solitude. Before creation, having no other persons with whom they could commune, they must have been entirely alone.

Continue reading

A Simple Way to Pray: A Letter from Dr. Martin Luther

Introduction

Early in the year 1535, Peter Beskendorf, a barber and an old friend of Luther’s, asked Dr. Luther for suggestions concerning prayer. Luther responded with an open letter titled, How One Should Pray, for Master Peter the Barber. This letter is as follows.

Paraphrased introduction from Paster Wolfmueller of Hope Lutheran Church, Aurora, CO. 2006.

Luther and Friends Pray at the Bedside of Melancthon

Luther and Friends Pray at the Bedside of Melancthon

Continue reading

Resources for PowerShell users

This is a list of resources that should help anyone interested in PowerShell.

Editors and IDEs

Articles

I few articles I’ve written to help you get started.

Continue reading

Reading Day One journals in Go

Here’s a little gift for my fellow Day One aficionados who also happen to use Go.

A Go package for reading Day One journal files!

Source   ⭑ Documentation

It’s as easy as:

import "github.com/jpoehls/go-dayone"

j := dayone.NewJournal("/Users/{me}/Dropbox/Apps/Day One/Journal.dayone")

err := j.Read(func(e *Entry, err error) error {
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// Do something with the entry,
	// or return dayone.ErrStopRead to break.
})

if err != nil {
	panic(err)
}

I’d like to add support for creating and editing entries in the future. Contributions welcome, just hit me up!

Drone Strike Terrorism

Have you read The Intercept’s article on US drone strikes and the media’s coverage of them in the US? If you are an American, you should.

Let me be clear; I’m horrified. There is so much that is completely wrong here that it is hard to begin.

Read the article. Read it twice.

On Target Selection

It has been more than two years since The New York Times revealed that “Mr. Obama embraced a disputed method for counting civilian casualties” of his drone strikes which “in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants . . . . unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.”

Continue reading

The MMA Hour - 249 - Renzo Gracie

Renzo Gracie on MMA Hour Episode 249

Renzo Gracie on MMA Hour Episode 249

I listened to the Renzo interview on MMA Hour this morning; an amazing interview. Renzo seems like a great person and several of his comments really touched me. Lots of great stories and true respect as he talks about various people and competitors. Getting exposed to people like this is one of the reasons I love BJJ. There is a strong sense of honor and respect in the community that I don’t see in my own everyday life. It’s an inspiring influence.

Continue reading

The World's Loudest Sound

Krakatoa

Krakatoa

The sound made by the Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883 was so loud it ruptured eardrums of people 40 miles away, travelled around the world four times, and was clearly heard 3,000 miles away.

This is the most amazing thing you’ll read today.

David Rumsey Map Collection

I just hit the cartography jackpot. This collection has well over 37,000 maps in high-resolution glory. I’ll see you in a few hours…

Comparative Mountain Heights in Germany and Switzerland (1851)

Comparative Mountain Heights in Germany and Switzerland (1851)

Ocean Floors and Land Relief (1976)

Ocean Floors and Land Relief (1976)

London Underground Transport (1933)

London Underground Transport (1933)

Languages Are Beautiful

If you ever see me doodling, odds are that I’m drawing letters and numbers of some kind. I’ve always found alphabets, notations, and writing systems in general to be facinating. Typography is beautiful. Typography in foreign languages, even more so.

Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God

Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God

Continue reading