The Hsu’s Views

Good news: the fuel injectors came back and I got everything re-installed, and the van started on the first try!

Bad news: It didn’t fix the problem.

Good news: I know exactly the problem now.

Bad news: Don’t know if I should replace the engine, perform additional testing, or what.

Bad news: Easter Sunday, while the van was in pieces, the brakes went out on our ‘92 Honda

Good news: Replaced the master cylinder successfully.

Bad news: The starter began acting up in the Honda. I had already replaced the starter in the van last month.

Good news: Replaced that last night.

Bad news: Though new, it might be bad. It makes an ugly sound.

Bad news: While under the hood discovered a bad seal on the valve covers which leaves my spark plugs sitting in a pool of oil.

Sigh…

UPDATE:  Everything is up and running and now I’m known at my local auto parts store.

I stumbled upon Alan Hirsch’s comment on the phrase “missional” and felt that it communicated some of the same tensions I feel when people use the word missional as if it were just another contemporary term for outreach or missions. That usage bothers me because I don’t want to see an excellent idea get distorted.

Hirsh suggests that we don’t just get rid of the word, but to give is a much deeper and fuller meaning. He suggests:

“So a working definition of missional church is that it [is] a community of God’s people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of God’s mission to the world. In other words, the Church’s true and authentic organizing principle is mission. When the church is in mission, it is the true Church. The Church itself is not only a product of that mission, but is obligated and destined to extend it by whatever means possible. The mission of God flows directly through every believer and every community of faith that adheres to Jesus. To obstruct this is to block God’s purposes in and through his people.” (Alan Hirsch at his blog)

Read the whole thing.

I was in New York this past week, helping the folks. I’m glad I went.
- new doorknob
- two new outlets
- fixed dining room dimmer switch
- familiarize folks to broadband, digital HD cable tv, voip
- fixed a toilet
- replaced border around a garden planter
- updated McAfee antivirus
- installed software for digital camera
- cancelled old ISP
- ate really, really well
- watched HD TV, very cool.

So, I’m on my way to India. I’ve stopped in Amsterdam for a brief (22 hour - but I saved a lot of money) layover. I took a train into Amsterdam from the airport and found the right tram to get to the Anne Frank Museum.

It was very interesting. I was amazed to get insight into the time of Jewish persecution. It was especially amazing that a young teenager was able write with such insight. Here are a few photos.

OK, so I’m hoping this will be the last time I’ll have to re-engineer a blog site. I’ve been testing various content managment systems over the years. Everytime I get up and running, various “security holes” are found necessitating upgrades and … well, the upgrade never goes well.

One more try.