The Alan Zone…

by Alan on November 11, 2018 at 8:45 pm

Mac Davis Anyone familiar with Mac Davis? Mac Davis is a songwriter, singer, and actor who was most popular in the 70s. Although his biggest hit, based on how high it charted, was “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” perhaps his most fun song is “Hard to Be Humble”…whose chorus goes like this: Oh Lord […]

by JegErAlan on October 30, 2018 at 4:22 pm

I just signed up for this brand new Python course…might be even the first student! 🙂 Courses from the SuperDataScience team are always a great purchase on Udemy. You can get this course for only $17 for 48 hours using this link. I’m a beginner with Python, which I find painful to say because I […]

by JegErAlan on October 22, 2018 at 3:06 am

Tonight I began Matt Dancho’s course, “DSB4B 201-R: Data Science for Business with R.” Even though I’ve only done the intro section, I am already glad I invested in the class. Clearly a well thought out, professional offering. Now to hit Matt up on the course’s Slack channel to see if my coming up short […]

by Alan on October 21, 2018 at 8:19 pm

20 There are over 7 billion people on our planet. What percentage, when they wake up, do you believe think to themselves, “Today is the day I am going to die”? If you aren’t a soldier heading into a hopeless battle, on death row and today is your execution, or are at the end of […]

by JegErAlan on October 20, 2018 at 9:19 pm

If you use Excel as a tool, this video about its future dynamic arrays functions is worth a view (it’s pretty exciting): I was hoping the trick she showed at 3:30 in would already work: But, alas, it didn’t on my Macbook Pro nor my Surface Go… Seeing Leila be able to access the upcoming […]

by Alan on October 15, 2018 at 11:32 pm

Okay. Please set aside your political leanings. Pretend you have no clue about what these folks are potesting: If you are a Christian, should you have been part of this protest? Why or why not? Now, let’s just stipulate that it is for a genuinely good cause. To support the downtrodden. To right a major […]

by JegErAlan on October 15, 2018 at 2:00 am

I have never felt so inadequate… …were my exact words during lunch today…three quarters of the way through the 2018 DataScienceGO conference here in San Diego. I am working a lot with data, but the #DSGO2018 training and presentations made this 25+ year IT veteran feel like a newbie. So many concepts, approaches, and tools […]

by Alan on October 7, 2018 at 7:55 pm

18 Years 10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed […]

by Alan on September 23, 2018 at 7:00 pm

Late Night Thoughts Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night…have an inspiration…go back to sleep… And when you wake up, only really recall you had an inspiration…and no matter how much you torture yourself to remember…you cannot clear your foggy memory? Well, this sermon is based on one of those situations…where […]

by Alan on September 9, 2018 at 7:30 pm

Hate If you are on social media and you see the acronym, TDS, what does it mean? Trump Derangement Syndrome. Now…don’t worry…this is not going to be a political sermon. However, Trump Derangement Syndrome came to mind after I recently read the story of Lazarus. However, before we review a portion of that… What is […]

by Alan on April 29, 2018 at 7:53 pm

Introduction Has anyone here ever been friends with someone very long…close friends… And then, one day, they ask a question or make a statement that makes you scratch your head, turn to them, and ask… “You’ve known me this long, and you say that?” They should know better than that! If you’ve ever been in […]

by Alan on April 22, 2018 at 8:25 pm

PowerPoint Presentations As part of my work, I often have to put together PowerPoint presentations. One rule for effective slides is to show some data…for instance, a graph…and then make three points or conclusion. Not two points. Not four points. Definitely not ten points. But three. It’s like a golden number. And it is effective. […]

by Alan on April 8, 2018 at 8:05 pm

Karen Carpenter Is there anybody else who, when they hear a song from a certain group or artist…no matter how much they enjoy it…cannot help but feel some sadness because of what happened to someone involved with the tune? For me, this is true when I hear a Carpenters hit. Are you familiar with that […]

by Alan on March 26, 2018 at 4:16 am

Today, I unhooked from the Matrix. It is disorienting, but I needed to take the red pill. […]

by Alan on March 25, 2018 at 9:54 pm

In the Beginning “In the beginning…” Are there any more famous words than “in the beginning”? Let’s turn back to “in the beginning” and look God’s handiwork: 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the […]

by Alan on March 11, 2018 at 6:00 pm

“These Boots Were Made for Walkin'” Ideas for sermons come from all kinds of things…although I’ll admit I especially like it when folks ask for me to preach on a topic. However, music is often what puts a topic into my head, although sometimes it is tangental to the subject of the song itself. This […]

by Alan on March 4, 2018 at 7:25 pm

AC/DC Who remembers the album that caused the Australian group, AC/DC, to finally explode in America? That’s right…”Back in Black.” I remember it because I was a normal rock-and-roll loving, 16 year-old teenager when it came out. Nothing like it ever was released before and, I would argue, nothing equal has come out since…even from […]

by Alan on February 25, 2018 at 8:19 pm

Faith, Hope, and Love This is sermon three of three based on a wonderful verse in the Bible. Let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 13:13: 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Although it is the third in the series, it is second in that list. We […]

by Alan on January 28, 2018 at 8:49 pm

The Beatles I can’t say I was ever much of a Beatles fan. They broke up before I started really enjoying music…and, other than a few of their tunes like “Hey Jude,” “Yesterday,” and “Come Together,” none were my favorites. However, they did one song that is fitting for this sermon: Love, love, love Love, […]

by Alan on January 14, 2018 at 7:32 pm

He Allegedly Did It Again I want everyone to know that I actually decided on the subject of this sermon before President Donald Trump allegedly decided to use an obscene word to describe some countries. I find it interesting that so many in society that warranted this talk are now acting so aghast at his […]

by Alan on January 2, 2018 at 8:37 pm

Beware of overconcern for money, or position, or glory. Someday you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are. The new year is here. Neil deGrass Tyson may be right and it “is a cosmically arbitrary event, carrying no Astronomical significance at all,” but […]

by Mathematician on January 2, 2018 at 4:40 am

Who says math isn’t fun?! Well, actually, lots of people do. 🙂 However, that just means they haven’t had a chance to play Mind Your Numbers by Kitki. I was lucky enough to learn about the game during its Indiegogo campaign, and grabbed two copies. Good news is it is now available through Amazon, so […]

by Mathematician on January 1, 2018 at 9:21 pm

Happy New Year! Well, 2018 has officially arrived…and so has Winifred, our new, beautiful Bearded Dragon. We here at Math.Promo not only love mathematics…we are also pretty fond of a bunch of critters we have running around the house. Winifred joined our small zoo today and is already bringing joy to the clan…although Chewie isn’t […]

by Alan on January 1, 2018 at 7:29 pm

Happy New Year! We enter the new year with a new family member, Winifred. Augie did his research (which included creating a PowerPoint presentation) to learn about how to care for Bearded Dragons, so mom and dad allowed this beautiful girl to join our household. (A big thanks to our friend Dave, who not only […]

by Mathematician on December 31, 2017 at 11:25 pm

Well, I should have been spending this Sunday afternoon hanging out with family, but Math.Promo wasn’t going to publish itself! 🙂 What you see on this page is the book that is going to bring me back into the mathematics fold. As of January 8 I’ll be a student at Indiana University East, getting a […]

by Alan on December 31, 2017 at 7:24 pm

Right after the 2016-2017 school year started, the Strasburg Church of Christ opened its doors. It has been a blessing, at least to me. The congregation has remained pretty steady at three to five families (depending on how you count), although not all the same ones from the beginning. Today, however, was just this minister, […]

by Alan on December 8, 2017 at 4:57 am

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by Alan on December 4, 2017 at 12:47 am

Hot off the presses! […]

by Alan on December 4, 2017 at 12:37 am

An awesome addition to our playlist starting this year!: […]

by Alan on November 26, 2017 at 8:17 pm

“The Secret Scripture” Back in 2016, based on a novel of the same name from 2008, the movie “The Secret Scripture” was released. I have not seen it and don’t plan to, but I did see its trailer on Vudu. Within that trailer there was a statement that seemed so appropriate for the modern age: […]

by Alan on November 19, 2017 at 9:16 pm

Eight Eight. That is the number of women who have accused senate candidate Roy Moore of wrongdoing. It was actually hard selecting the right word for the accusations since they vary from true crimes to a creepy affinity for dating younger girls. This sermon is not to tell you what to believe about the allegations, […]

by Alan on November 12, 2017 at 10:10 pm

Crowning Someone King This morning let’s hop right into God’s Word by turning to John 2:23-25: 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all […]

by Alan on October 8, 2017 at 9:04 pm

Cloverton Although I know some of you couldn’t make it because it was on a school night, the Lord really blessed many (and will bless many more) thanks to the Cloverton concert this past Tuesday to benefit the CARES Food Bank of Strasburg. Right Deb and Michelle? 🙂 There were three churches involved. We sponsored […]

by Alan on October 1, 2017 at 7:23 pm

Sinking Ships I am not one to really want to travel on vacations, but one experience I do want to have is to go on a cruise. Anybody else here never done that, but want to? Now, let’s imagine together that I get my wish and I, and a whole bunch of other people, are […]

by Alan on September 24, 2017 at 6:28 pm

Do You Regret? Do you ever regret something you said or did? Or something you should have said or did…and didn’t? I think any human with a conscience regrets over time…hindsight has a way of ensuring that. We are not like Adolf Eichmann, a major player in the Holocaust, who (while on trial in Israel), […]

by Alan on September 17, 2017 at 6:32 pm

Humor When you think of family, what comes to mind? Does it cause you to break out in a big smile? A sad face? A grimace? Comedian Richard Lewis said: We had a depression fair in the backyard. A major game there was Pin the Blame on the Donkey.1 Is that your family? 🙂 Or […]

by Alan on September 10, 2017 at 8:32 pm

Catching Up Welcome to “Anthony’s Sermon on Why and How Is God…God (Part 3).” Before we wrap up this three part series, we need to review what we learned about God in the previous two installments. Do you recall the multi-syllable words we discussed to describe God? Uncaused cause — God was not created; He […]

by Alan on September 3, 2017 at 9:02 pm

Last Week Last week’s sermon was too long for one aimed at children, so I’m going to try to behave this week and limit this one to just three characteristics of God. Before we can do that, however, we need to quickly remind everyone of what we learned about the Most High in part one […]

by Alan on August 27, 2017 at 6:00 pm

Text Messages I think I may have mentioned before that I am never quite sure if it is Augustine or Elisa who is texting me when a message comes from their family. 🙂 Maybe after church today I’ll write down each of their phone numbers and put them in my iPhones contact list so it’ll […]

by Alan on August 25, 2017 at 4:39 pm

A continuing debate about interfaith dialogues on Twitter often hinges on whether a full gospel declaration was provided. For my undergraduate degree at Liberty University I wrot a paper, “The Gospel Message in the Sermon of Acts,” that first had to define what is in the gospel. If you click on the title, you can […]

by Alan on August 20, 2017 at 1:23 am

Why I Voted for Trump Before I get into the meat of this piece, I’ll admit I hesitate to say I “support” Trump. During the primaries, he was not my top choice (far from it). However, in the end there were only two real choices, both deeply-flawed. Yes, something like Trump’s disrespectful and demeaning comments about […]

by Alan on August 13, 2017 at 8:04 pm

Last Week Last week’s sermon, “Your a God,” taught three things: We are not gods Something isn’t Christian just because it sounds like it The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not Christian I also mentioned that I wasn’t trying to rag on the Mormon church…however, they are a denomination that actually believes […]

by Alan on July 16, 2017 at 9:10 pm

Although it doesn’t have much info yet…I found a couple railroad and train pages connected with Strasburg that are worth a read…and I used them to start a “Railroads and Trains” page here on Strasburg Rocks! So, please click on the link in the paragraph and check them out…and…of course…if you have any suggested items […]

by Alan on July 9, 2017 at 6:54 pm

Insults A couple weeks back I asked you what the best compliment you were ever given was. Today, and let’s stay with nothing too cruel, what is the best insult you’ve ever heard? What comes to mind for me is one that, perhaps incorrectly, was attributed to Winston Churchill. Per the Quote Investigator, Consuelo Vanderbilt […]

by Alan on July 4, 2017 at 9:36 pm

Here is our Happy Independence Day wish to all of you! Oh, and this video was not taken in Strasburg, but was taken on the way home from Jackson Lake today… Hope you are all having an awesome 4th! […]

by Alan on July 2, 2017 at 6:00 pm

Expository Preaching I believe I have noted before that I am a topical preacher…meaning I choose a topic and create a biblically-based sermon around it. Many other preachers are expository…meaning they go through books of the Bible verse-by-verse. Which is better? Depends who you ask. 🙂 I’ve seen expository ministers act like it is the […]

by Alan on June 30, 2017 at 1:38 am

You should never be so busy you cannot take the time to admire a rainbow. 🙂 […]

by Alan on June 28, 2017 at 6:59 pm

I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done. Henry Ford […]

by Alan on June 25, 2017 at 10:05 pm

I am a shortwave enthusiast…although I don’t listen as much as I wish due to interference at my home. However, I was really excited when SWLing posted Alan Roe’s list of music on shortwave and it included our weekly live program! We broadcast every Sunday night (our time)…but in the shortwave world that is 0000 […]

by Alan on June 25, 2017 at 9:39 pm

Hi everyone… Really sorry about the silence on the site…we are really still here. Life has been busy, and I’ve gotta admit that it is so easy to post on Facebook we put a ton ‘o stuff there…so please be sure to like our Facebook page. However, I will get better at sticking stuff up […]

by Alan on June 25, 2017 at 9:06 pm

Jeff Beck Yesterday, Larry Pareigis, a music promoter I follow on Twitter, tweeted that it was Jeff Beck’s 73rd birthday.1 Anyone know who Jeff Beck is? Yes, he is a tremendously talented guitarist…famous for his own work…but also (in part) for what he did with singer Rod Stewart. When I read Larry’s tweet, the song […]

by Alan on June 18, 2017 at 6:00 pm

Best Compliment You’ve Ever Been Given? Think for a moment. What is the greatest compliment you have ever gotten? Positive words that would change any bad day to a good one? What was the compliment? When I was in my 20s, I really liked when, without prompting and based solely on my behavior, someone would […]

by Alan on June 11, 2017 at 6:56 pm

Birthdays and Twitter Friday was my 53rd birthday…sounds really old, doesn’t it kids? 🙂 However, Lord willing, it is a birthday everyone here…if they haven’t already…will experience. The number 53is special in one way…does anyone know what that is? It’s a prime number! 🙂 And I’ll have to wait six years until the next one. […]

by Alan on June 8, 2017 at 6:14 pm

From a post on my personal Facebook account: This article is especially troubling for two reasons. First, it implicitly establishes a religious test for a government appointment, which is unconstitutional. Second, Russell Vought is unable to flat-out say that you are lost without Jesus (although, in fairness to him, he does mention, multiple times, the […]

by Alan on June 7, 2017 at 2:33 am

Although I prefer a less caustic tone, this article about atheism, written by a non-believer is worth a read: “On Atheism” This part is especially interesting: Atheists will argue that atheism is the opposite of religious belief, but that’s what is called a gratuitous assertion. The atheist believes there is no superior being. They have […]

by Alan on June 4, 2017 at 8:17 pm

Intro Originally, I was going to call this sermon, “How Not to Repent.” However, as I did research for it, its final title, “Doing Wrong Is Like a Joke to a Fool” seemed especially apropos. We’ll see by the end of this talk if you agree. How to Repent We will still end up talking […]

by Alan on May 28, 2017 at 7:56 pm

David Let’s immediately open our bibles today and turn to 1 Samuel 13:13-14. Background is Israel’s first king, Saul, is being told by the prophet Samuel that he blew it: 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. […]

by Alan on May 21, 2017 at 7:50 pm

Westerns Good or bad, my favorite movie genre is action-adventure, but I also really enjoy another one quite a bit…can you guess what it is? Westerns. Often westerns are also action-adventure…but even when they aren’t…there is something about heading back to that day-and-age…and those locations…that I really enjoy. John Wayne is one of my favorite […]

by Alan on May 7, 2017 at 7:20 pm

A Painful Part of Scripture The recent daily Bible readings have been in a very painful part of Scripture for me as of late…and I’m not specifically talking about the lengthy genealogies in 1 Chronicles I just got past. 🙂 Instead I find the lack of good kings in Israel and Judah disturbing. Basically, after […]

by Alan on April 30, 2017 at 7:37 pm

A Tent and a Skunk Many years ago I was sharing a tent with someone…who will remain nameless to protect the guilty :-)…and outside on the campground we heard an animal making noise. I cannot remember exactly what the noise was from, but perhaps the varmint ferreting about in trash. So we peer out of […]