This is a continuation of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

I'm down to the last "one" and we've reached the One. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:4-6) Interestingly, this One is actually mentioned three times. God is called by three names, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19) Each name identifies a person in the Godhead. In this passage, "one Lord" identifies the Son as Jesus is most commonly referred to as our Lord, i.e., "the Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 1:2) Also, "one Spirit" clearly refers to the Holy Spirit. Paul completes the passage on ones with the master of the Godhead, with "one God and Father."

One God and Father. This really brings up the concept of trinitarian doctrine. This doctrine was not directly enumerated by the Bible, but was established by believers in two of the early church councils (Nicene in AD 325 and Athanasian in AD 500). Essentially, we know that God is one. It is a clear teaching of all the Bible that we do not worship multiple gods, but only one God. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5; Mark 12:29; 1 Corinthians 8:4; James 2:19)

Yet, with the coming of Christ, we find that God is revealed through multiple persons. Jesus said to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19) Perhaps the clearest demonstration of the tri-unity of God occurred at Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:16-17: "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, `This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.`" Jesus was baptized, visited by the Holy Spirit, and then the Father spoke to Him. From many scriptures we know that each is God, but that they are each the same God revealed in three different ways. I believe trying to explain this much further delves into the realm of speculation. It is my opinion that this is simply a truth that can't be explored too deeply by the Christian. I don't really fully understand it, but why should I expect to understand an infinite God in only the few years I've lived on this earth? However, it does seem clear that this is what God is getting across through out the Bible.

The Father is the master of the Godhead. However the Godhead works, the Father is the one described as knowing the dates and times of the final eschaton (end-times) (Mark 13:32), of having chosen who would be called to salvation (John 6:37), He is revealed by the Son (Luke 10:22), and is the One Christ serves. (Matthew 26:39)

Christians exist to serve God and worship him. We worship God through a number of actual acts, but the Bible is consistently interested in correct motives. That is, worship can only truly happen when it wells up within a Christian from inside himself—ultimately, the source of true worship is from God Himself working within us.

And now we come to the four "all"s. I don't want to start discussing the principle of unity through the Father until we explore all of the final parts of this statement. Each of these four phrases refer to one principle relationship God has with his children. It is my belief that just as this whole set of verses, 4 through 6, is concerned with unity within the Church that each "all" refers to the "all the members of the Church." I think that each might have a wider application, but I do not think that this is Paul's purpose. He's making a specific remark about the relationship God has with his own chosen people.

One God an Father of all. This relationship has to do with creation. Paul is stating that God is our Father, our Creator. I believe this holds in a couple important senses: (1) He created us as part of general creation and is therefore the Father of all (Genesis 1:26-31; Job 10:11-12; Psalm 139:13), and (2) he "recreated" us in our new birth through faith in Christ. I believe the second sense is the important sense for this passage. All people can claim that God is their Creator, but only Christians can claim that God is the father of their second birth.

I think this second sense is best illustrated in Jesus' discussion with the Pharisee Nicodemus,

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."

Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?"

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I say, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." – John 3:1-8

This is, of course, where evangelicals get the turn "born again." Though, I'd say the term is tossed around a bit too lightly. The reality is that God chooses those He will save and reaches out to them through the proclaimation of how Christ died to save his people from sin. This rebirth culminates in a specific event that most Christians retell as their "testimony of faith." My wife was "saved" when her mother came to faith out of a deep depression and saw her older brother come to faith as well. My salvation was wrought at a Bible camp when I discovered that my fellow high schoolers weren't performing a ritual by rote, but discovered that Christianity is about life, not rules.

All Christians are united in the second birth. Some Christians now the precise day of the event and possibly even the time down to the second. I can pinpoint my experience to a week during the second week of June between my Sophomore and Junior years of high school. Some Christians can't say for certain when the experience is because they can't remember life being any different, they've always just loved God. However it works in each life, all true Christians have experienced this rebirth. This separates us from unbelievers for whom God is not the Father of the new birth, but the Righteous Judge they must one day face to be sent from His presence to hell.

One God and Father who is over all. This is the relationship God has over us as Master and Sovereign of our lives. In a general sense, God has an ultimate plan for all of history unfolding, "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place." (Acts 17:26) We know that this plan is specifically for the good of those who believe in God and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

This sense ties in closely with the sermon that Dan Stipp gave today. That sermon was taken from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." The specific sense this passage is trying to get to is that immorality is not for believers. Committing sexual sin such as viewing pornography, having sex with prostitutes, or engaging in any other form of sex outside of marriage is simply wrong.

In a more general sense, this repeats a common theme throughout the New Testament, that we have been freed from the bondage of sin to become truly free, which also means that we know have God as our master. "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28) "You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men." (1 Corinthians 7:23) "If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:18-19) "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves." (2 Peter 2:1) "And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." (Revelation 5:9) We are owned by God.

This is a unifying principle because the slaves of one household wouldn't work against each other even if they all had different tasks set before them. We must seek to honor our Master and to do as He wills. Because God speaks to us indirectly through his word, we sometimes are confused as to what He wants and frequently insert our own desires into what He wants, but when we find that two believers are at odds with one another, they should find agreement. They should work out the difference however they can because God seeks for unity.

One God and Father through all. I understand this sense to mean that God is working out his plan through his people. Really, this is a continuation of the last principle. As our Master, he delivers instructions that we are to carry out certain tasks for his glory.

Frequently, the slave system of Bible times is compared to the corporate system of today. That is, slavery of Christ's day was frequently less a way of being stuck in bondage and a way of learning trades, getting out of debt, or bettering oneself. To be sure, this ideal didn't really hold as often as it should have, but that was part of the justification for it in that day. My point is that if we think of being a slave as being akin to being a part of a corporation, or most organizaitons, you typically subjugate your goals to the goals of the company. Corporations in America are legal entities with most of the same rights that any person has, but that the "person" here is merely a logical entity created for the sake of grouping the employees work together as a whole. If an employee has an idea and implements that idea for the company, the company takes credit for it. For example, my dad works for Glaxo SmithKline, a large pharmaceutical company. One of their products is AquaFresh. Some team of chemists put together the concoction that is AquaFresh, but do we see any of their names on the label? No. We see the "gsk" logo for the company.

This is a good analogy for the ideal Christian life. If we're really to live our lives to God, all of our actions to be credited to God. We work to glorify Him. This is especially appropriate because He works through us to do these good works in us. We find unity in the fact that we all are working to glorify Him in our lives and through His work within us.

One God and Father in all. Paul finishes by touching off the statement that not only is God our "ReCreator" and Master and that He works within us, but that He lives and takes up resident within us. One strong assurance for the believer is that there is a nagging desire from within to know God and do what He wants. While this desire is generally discolored by the fact that we usually want to use God to fulfill us and do what we want, true belief is exemplified by the fact that we want to know and glorify God simply for the sake of doing so. That is where true assurance comes from.

"What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said, 'I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'" (1 Corinthians 6:16) "Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us." (1 John 3:24) "No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of teh world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." (1 John 4:12-15)

Each time I've found that the in-dwelling of God's Spirit is discussed it seems to be paired with a discussion of obedience to God's will. I mentioned above that the major reason I initially experienced Christ is because I discovered that Christianity isn't about the rules. That's very true. It's about God and a relationship with Him. However, a consequence of belief is a desire to do the right things and avoid the wrong things. It also means that even if I do screw up, it doesn't count. I admit to a continually strong temptation to view pornography and to think about sexually immoral things. Yet, my desire to know God works within me to help me say, "No, God has a better plan than simply satisfying my personal cravings." I am not perfect and I do indulge myself in sin from time-to-time, but because of my relationship to the Father through Christ the law cannot condemn me to death and punishment anymore.

In this final bit, all Christians find unity once again because God's own Spirit rests upon us and spurs us toward unity. Unity is a part of glorifying God. "By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother." (1 John 3:10) Unity within the Church is a natural consequence of belief in God.

All in all, this has been a very interesting study for me out of Ephesians 4. I plan to continue this study on through the rest of the chapter. As a dear brother in Christ often says when he shares, "It's been hard, but it's been good." I don't know if I've really taken my own lessons to heart very well, but I'm going to keep hammering away at these things and publishing my studies in the hope that someone might benefit even if I tend to be too stubborn to change much. Cheers.

This is a continuation of Part 1 and Part 2 of this study.

I do really intend to finish this even though I haven't come back to it for quite sometime. I got hung up on "one baptism" a while back and then things got a little crazy at home and work and I've not been doing any in-depth Bible study. Well, now I'm back at it again, as I always should have been...

The message is unity. We are unified through all thing things mentioned in the "ones" of the Ephesians 4:4-6 passage and for all the "alls" of the passage. As a brief aside on the subject of unity. This summer has been a terrific test for Terri and I. We've been challenged to hold to our church despite the fact that we disagree with a great many things our church practices. I won't really go further than that since it would just be vague hints without really going into it. However, I will say it has been a very tough challenge for us to stay optimistic and see what God is doing even when the people we disagree with don't seem to even comprehend our point of view. This study has helped me stay a bit more optimistic than I might otherwise have been about this.

One baptism. The hang up I had with this two word section is that it isn't completely clear whether Paul meant one dunk-under-the-water or one encouter-with-the-Holy-Ghost. Looking through my various commentaries, I found that the consensus splits pretty well down the middle.

One argument for Spirit-baptims is that Paul is talking about unity in the body and the Spirit is definitely a strongly unique gift to the believer. Another commentary argued that it was probably water-baptism because he's already mentioned "one Spirit" and there's nothing about Spirit-baptism anywhere else in the context (not that there's anything about water-baptism either so I wouldn't really give credence to the latter argument). A third possibility (given by my friend Brent) is that Paul's referring to water-baptism as a way of saying, "It doesn't matter who baptized you, just that you were." (You can read here for my refutation of Brent's statement.)

Naturally, the proper solution to this is to assume that he could have meant either (and even possibly both via a word-play that appears to work as well in English as in Greek, though I'm hardly a Greek scholar, so I wouldn't even take my own word for that. ;) So, let me cover both bases:

Water-baptism. Water baptism is commanded in Jesus' famous "Great Commission," which can be found in Matthew 28:19-20:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age."

Jesus even states in Mark 16:16 that "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." This passage, amongst others, has led some Christians to take the stance that water-baptism is required to enter heaven (particularly at my one-time alma mater, Manhattan Christian College). However, I would disagree with going that far, but I would say that as the first act of obedience, it's something not to hesitate over. If you claim to believe, but aren't willing to be baptized, I would be skeptical of your faith. New believers tend to be refreshingly enthusiastic and "sold out" rather than hesitant about these things, in my experience.

This baptism is an experience which represents the fact that we are unified in Christ's death and resurrection. A pretty common liturgy accompanying submersive baptism is to paraphrase Romans 6:3-4. As the pastor lays the baptizee back into the water he says, "We are buried with Christ into death" and as he lifts him back out, "And raised with Him again to walk in the newness of life." To me, this is what baptism is about, the outward sacrament that demonstrates our faith visibly.

Finally, if Paul means water-baptism, then he means to state we find unity in it. Specifically, all Christians are baptized regardless of race, experience, status, class, or sex. Galatians 3:23-28 says, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." It is clear that this sacrament is performed on all and demonstrates the unity of all.

Application: All believers should be baptized. If you have asked Christ to come into your life and have not been baptized, you should talk to your pastor and ask him to baptize you at the next opportunity. I have actually been baptized twice. When I was in junior high, I took a catechism class at my church and then was baptized. However, I did not then believe. I still thought that I was just doing what I was supposed to do in order to go to heaven after I die. However, at the age of sixteen, I realized that I couldn't win myself into heaven and that Christianity wasn't just some set of "holy don'ts," but a living, breathing relationship with the God of the universe. However, I had already been baptized, so I was never sure if I should be baptized again. When we joined New Hope, one of the rules for membership was that you'd been baptized after you'd been "saved." So, the associate pastor of the time, Jeff Smith, baptized me in the pool at the Holiday Inn here in town.

Spirit-baptism. Okay, I tend to lean this direction. Basically, water-baptism is really a common ritual among many beliefs, cults, and other sects. Even during the time of Christ baptism predated the practice of Christians and John the Baptist. It was already a practice used by several Jewish sects of the time for various reasons and (if my memory of this is correct) I believe it was even practiced in general as a preparation of Jewish grooms before going to get married. Therefore, this seems like this practice would tend to give unity between Christians and a lot of others, which as I mentioned in Part 1 is the key to Christian-unity—i.e., unity is between believers and excludes unbelievers.

Spirit-baptism is something all believers experience, but no unbeliever experiences. "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12;13) "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of works odne by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior." (Titus 3:4-6)

However, Spirit-baptism is an event that occurs at the moment of redemption. As the Bible Exposition Commentary noted, "We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, but we are never commanded to be baptized with the Spirit." Therefore, all believers are immediately and, therefore, forever baptized by the Holy Spirit. It is after this point our goal to "fill" ourselves with the Holy Spirit after our baptism. Ephesians 5:18 puts it, "do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."

All Christians are linked by this Spirit-baptism. We all have the "power of the Spirit" working in our lives. This is the power that works in us to help us to become better Christians.

Application: We are all linked in this way and should work to strive to hear the desires of the Spirit. In general, this just means reading the Bible, meditating upon it, and praying that God would reveal his specific will to us. As a form of unity, we should be encouraging fellow believers to do the same. We should be pouring ourselves out on each other and by doing so by relying on the strength from the Spirit rather than our own weak striving we share and build unity in the Spirit. The actual "how" for this is difficult for me to explain because it's more about motive and attitude than action. If we want to serve God we need to do it without taking ownership of that service, but rather seeking to administer the service which belongs to God.

I guess my final remarks on this segment of the study is that while I tend to lean on the latter "Spirit-baptism" interpretation, either are fine interpretations and Paul might have really been suggesting both. In any case, both are vital to the Christian life. As recorded by John 3:5, Jesus said it, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

To be continued... I will, eventually, finish this study. :)

This is a continuation of the study I started in Part 1.

Unity is a virtue for Christians between Christians. I suppose, in a more general way, unity is a virtue in all places in life, but it is vital to the Christian community. I think Christians have succumbed to believe too much in science and see their local church as a semi-random gathering of people who want to know Christ better. No. God has hand-picked each of the believers in that place and each has a role and a place to serve there, if they will do so.

No one is out of place in a local community. No one is there without a purpose.

One Lord.The "one Lord" is Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God. This plays out in many versus where Jesus is described as Lord. (Acts 2:36, 10:36) We live to Him and He is Lord of both the living and the dead. (Romans 14:8-9) Jesus is the Lord to all who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:2) Jesus is our Lord and not a human leader. (1 Corinthians 1:13) All things exist through our Lord. (1 Corinthians 8:6) We are all given various gifts to serve our one Lord. (1 Corinthians 12:5) Everyone will confess Jesus' Lordship. (Philippians 2:11) Nothing is as important as knowing our Lord. (Philippians 3:8)

Of course, the word "lord" has not nearly the depth of meaning that it would have had to someone living in the Roman empire in the first century. The dictionary defines "lord" as someone having influence or power and a master or ruler. A lord is someone to whom you show respect, honor, and obedience. Jesus is "the King of kings and Lord of lords." Such titles have been given to many men now dead, but Jesus lives on and is really the "the King of kings of kings and Lord of lords of lords." There is no higher power.

This gift separates us widely from the unbeliever. No one but a believer serves the one Lord. Many unbelievers claim to serve Christ, but they will change Christ's definition so that they serve a different Christ or their claim will be empty, followed by inaction. James stated that it might be possible for a believer to have faith without works, but he didn't understand it. How can one believe in Christ and not be driven to obey and serve? His implication is that, perhaps, such a person doesn't really believe, though only God can see through a person's facade into their heart and know.

As a for of unity, it is clear that if we all have the same commander-in-chief it makes no sense to act in civil war. Yet, this is what so man "Christians" do. If you disagree with someone in the Church, you don't have the luxury of writing them off and going separate ways, a mistake that the Apostle Paul and fellow missionary Barnabas made, but eventually reconciled. We should be reconcilers, not dividers, at least within the Church. If we disagree, let it be in love. God will surely straighten each of us out in the end.

Application: I think it should be obvious. Honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. We do this through obedience to his commands. This includes making Him our highest and most important priority above spouse, children, work, friends, school, hobbies, and anything else (i.e., the First Commandment). This includes fulfilling our desire to know him by reading and meditating on His word and sharing our hearts and listening through prayer. We do this by reaching out and sharing our message with others whenever we can.

One faith. If there is a word in this passage that has been corrupted by American culture, it's this one. Typically, when an American says the word "faith," she is referring to the fact that a person has spiritual or religious convictions of some kind. In a sense that's not a misuse of the word itself, but to read this word in that sense is a mistake. Another definition for the term that's even more sinister is presented by many of the modern televangelist ministries, those that fall under the "Word of Faith" movement. In this movement "faith" is used as some sort of magic power that if one can build up enough of it and leverage it, he can get God to do things for him, like make his work successful or get some job he wants. This isn't much different, in my eyes, from the Wiccan who believes that by living in harmony with nature she can gain enough psychic power to do essentially the same thing. Both are superstition and sorcery as far as I'm concerned.

Instead, faith here is according to truth. One can't simply have some nebulous "faith" that gives them power, you have to have faith in something. To have faith in something you have to define that something. Therefore, the true key to having faith is good doctrine—i.e., having good definitions of what you have faith in. In the context of Biblical truth, faith is in Jesus Christ, our one Lord. Jesus Christ is defined pretty clearly in the Bible. There may be differences on minor points, but anyone who calls himself a Christian (literally, little-Christ) should be sure to get the core truths down.

We receive greater faith through "equipping" (i.e., learning more about God and preparing ourselves to serve him), according to a later verse in this chapter of Ephesians (4:13). Our faith is that which God uses to justify us. (Romans 3:30) There are different, false faiths (called "different gospels"). (2 Corinthians 11:4) These other gospels are false because they are worthless lies. (Galatians 1:6-7) Faith unites all believers regardless of background. (Galatians 5:6) Faith is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Faith belongs to God's elect. (Titus 1:14) We should imitate the faith of our godly leaders. (Hebrews 13:7) Faith is demonstrated through works. (James 2:18) We should fight for our faith. (Jude 1:3) We should build ourselves up in it. (Jude 1:20)

Certainly faith is unique to the believer. A true believer is one who has faith in the God and Christ defined in the Bible. A pagan might have a "faith" but it will be according to her own definition or according to a definition handed to her by a false teacher. We are separated from these different gospels. Obviously, focusing on a core of true beliefs will create unity within the body of Christ. We should not get too caught up in minor differences, but we should explore those differences lest we fail to equip ourselves when challenged from outside the Church. Remember, our faith is increased through equipping, we should fight for it and build ourselves up!

Application: That's it. Seek to know God as best you can. We should all study the Bible as often as we can. We can't spend all our times in seclusion praying and studying, but American Christians are far too distracted by career and family and fixing up the house and washing the car and playing video games. The Bible should be our primary hobby. Reaching out should be our primary task whenever we aren't studying. That's faith.

To be continued... I have five "ones" down and two to go, along with four "alls"...

Wowsers. Okay, I started working for the Department of Computing and Information Science in October of 2003. At that time, I started as a student employee and had my office in Nichols 118, where Diesel currently lives. At that time, I shared my office with four machines in my office, Kirin, Saru, Kuma, and Printserv. Kirin is the department's backup server. Saru was my workstation and one time application depot and firewall for the Linux lab—when Nichols 128 had need for such things. Kuma was the Unix print server. And Printserv is the Windows print server. Kate Adams became my office mate and a fifth machine moved in, Scorpion, which was her workstation.

After working for the department about two months, Tim Bower, the bossman, got offered a position as Assistant Professor in Salina, which he subsequently took. Seeing an opening for a real job I believed I was qualified for, I applied. This was an internal search for temporary position. They offered me the job and I took it. I then moved into Tim's old office, Nichols 116, and took Saru with me.

In Nichols 116, I no longer had a human office mate, but I shared the office with Achird, Zaurak, Oracle, Remote, and Saru. Achird was Tim's old workstation, which was used frequently by a professor via SSH. Zaurak was the recently (at that point) retired web server, but was removed very shortly thereafter. Oracle is the (since rebuilt) Oracle RDBMS server. Remote is the Microsoft Windows RDP server that acted as Tim's other workstation.

I don't hold to using servers as workstations, as was the wont of the previous administration, so I rearranged the office so that Remote was no longer a workstation. Oracle was in bad shape, so I replaced Oracle with Oracle2, which was a worse machine, but worked better than Oracle. Oracle was briefly put on sabbatical, but both remained in my office. Achird stayed in my office for a few months before I grew tired of it's presence and banished it to the Tower of Not So Much Power in our server room (which is growing to Biblical proportions). Saru, I'm sorry to say, needed a face lift and became Aldebaran, the prototype Gentoo Linux workstation in our department.

Back in my old abode, Cole moved in. He, briefly, shared space with Kate until the summer when we wished her a fond farewell as she moved on to bigger and better things. (Or perhaps more mundane, but better paying and closer to her real interests, according to her description...) Anyway, during this time, another machine was added to his brood, Seer. Seer is the Nagios and MRTG machine used to monitor our network and computer systems.

In April, the search for the permanent holder of the office of Systems Coordinator was begun. The search ended with two interviews, one with myself and one with another. An epic contest ensued and the two of us battled for days on end. In the end, my foe was vanquished and I smote his ruin upon the quad. Er...maybe the staff just decided that even though I might have been a little less qualified it was better not to change administrations again. Whatever happened, I was given the honor of staying with the department.

Since then, I rebuilt both Oracle and Oracle2 to make them a super-combo. That is, the computer formerly known as Oracle is now Catera. The computer formerly known as Oracle2 is now Cougar. These two machines together form the ultimate duo: Oracle Server and Oracle Client. Cougar keeps Catera happily hidden so we no longer have to compromise the quality of our Oracle server in order to keep from compromising security—which had formerly been the bane of our Oracle servers.

In addition to this, I created the initial framework (which Cole has since rewritten) which makes our fleet of Gentoo lab computers possible. In order to prove the concept, Saru, aka Aldebaran, had it's identity altered again to become, DUM-dum-DUM-dum-DUMMMMM, Silverado. I was tired of star names, really tired, really, really, really, really, really....really tired. Therefore, I decreed that henceforth, all CIS managed Linux servers and workstations shall have American automobile names.

Recently, Cole also built another machine, Montecarlo, to replace Kuma, who's age was really beginning to show. Ultra 5's are well beyond their prime. Kuma is an Ultra 5 and due for banishment with Achird, Zaurak, and dozens (literally!) of others.

Anyway, all of this to say, "Holy crap! We have a lot of servers in our offices!" I mentioned before that I don't hold to using servers as workstations. Well, I don't hold to keeping servers in offices at all. They belong in the server laboratory with all of their parallelepiped brethren. I have had the goal, since my start in October last year to get all these freaking servers out of our offices. Today, I have finally, mostly succeeded.

There was a mass migration of servers from offices into the server room. This migration was made possible due to the retirement of several unnecessary servers during the last week. Sarin, Hadar, Izar, and Clinton were all assassinated in the last week freeing up spots to move machines out of offices. Cougar, Catera, Kirin, Remote, Montecarlo, and Seer were all moved into our server laboratory today and yesterday. Awesome!

The mass migration is incomplete because Printserv has not been moved. Unfortunately, it is tethered to the wall in such a way as to make it's migration infeasible. However, it is also in a sorry state, very sorry. We worry for it's health and are afraid it may succumb to something akin to Alzheimer's disease soon. As printing is considered fairly important, we are going to replace Printserv with a brand spankin' new 1U rackmount when it arrives in another couple weeks. When that happens, Printserv will be unceremoniously nixed and tossed with extreme prejudice onto the Tower.

Once that is done, there will be no more servers in the office of any of the systems staff. As of this time, no more servers will be built within the confines of our offices. I will not encourage the breaking of the policy that servers belong in the server room. Humans and their own faithful workstations only belong in offices. Of course, this policy should not be difficult to enforce when I have another policy that states all new servers must be rackmount units. We don't have any racks in our offices, so a rackmount is really not very appropriate in our offices.

For one of my longest blogs ever, I wanted to say, "W00T! Victory is mine!" I am going to spend the evening doing the happy dance of joy rather than sleeping tonight...hmm...maybe I'll just dream about doing the happy dance instead. Cheers.

Wowsers. Okay, I started working for the Department of Computing and Information Science in October of 2003. At that time, I started as a student employee and had my office in Nichols 118, where Diesel currently lives. At that time, I shared my office with four machines in my office, Kirin, Saru, Kuma, and Printserv. Kirin is the department's backup server. Saru was my workstation and one time application depot and firewall for the Linux lab—when Nichols 128 had need for such things. Kuma was the Unix print server. And Printserv is the Windows print server. Kate Adams became my office mate and a fifth machine moved in, Scorpion, which was her workstation.

After working for the department about two months, Tim Bower, the bossman, got offered a position as Assistant Professor in Salina, which he subsequently took. Seeing an opening for a real job I believed I was qualified for, I applied. This was an internal search for temporary position. They offered me the job and I took it. I then moved into Tim's old office, Nichols 116, and took Saru with me.

In Nichols 116, I no longer had a human office mate, but I shared the office with Achird, Zaurak, Oracle, Remote, and Saru. Achird was Tim's old workstation, which was used frequently by a professor via SSH. Zaurak was the recently (at that point) retired web server, but was removed very shortly thereafter. Oracle is the (since rebuilt) Oracle RDBMS server. Remote is the Microsoft Windows RDP server that acted as Tim's other workstation.

I don't hold to using servers as workstations, as was the wont of the previous administration, so I rearranged the office so that Remote was no longer a workstation. Oracle was in bad shape, so I replaced Oracle with Oracle2, which was a worse machine, but worked better than Oracle. Oracle was briefly put on sabbatical, but both remained in my office. Achird stayed in my office for a few months before I grew tired of it's presence and banished it to the Tower of Not So Much Power in our server room (which is growing to Biblical proportions). Saru, I'm sorry to say, needed a face lift and became Aldebaran, the prototype Gentoo Linux workstation in our department.

Back in my old abode, Cole moved in. He, briefly, shared space with Kate until the summer when we wished her a fond farewell as she moved on to bigger and better things. (Or perhaps more mundane, but better paying and closer to her real interests, according to her description...) Anyway, during this time, another machine was added to his brood, Seer. Seer is the Nagios and MRTG machine used to monitor our network and computer systems.

In April, the search for the permanent holder of the office of Systems Coordinator was begun. The search ended with two interviews, one with myself and one with another. An epic contest ensued and the two of us battled for days on end. In the end, my foe was vanquished and I smote his ruin upon the quad. Er...maybe the staff just decided that even though I might have been a little less qualified it was better not to change administrations again. Whatever happened, I was given the honor of staying with the department.

Since then, I rebuilt both Oracle and Oracle2 to make them a super-combo. That is, the computer formerly known as Oracle is now Catera. The computer formerly known as Oracle2 is now Cougar. These two machines together form the ultimate duo: Oracle Server and Oracle Client. Cougar keeps Catera happily hidden so we no longer have to compromise the quality of our Oracle server in order to keep from compromising security—which had formerly been the bane of our Oracle servers.

In addition to this, I created the initial framework (which Cole has since rewritten) which makes our fleet of Gentoo lab computers possible. In order to prove the concept, Saru, aka Aldebaran, had it's identity altered again to become, DUM-dum-DUM-dum-DUMMMMM, Silverado. I was tired of star names, really tired, really, really, really, really, really....really tired. Therefore, I decreed that henceforth, all CIS managed Linux servers and workstations shall have American automobile names.

Recently, Cole also built another machine, Montecarlo, to replace Kuma, who's age was really beginning to show. Ultra 5's are well beyond their prime. Kuma is an Ultra 5 and due for banishment with Achird, Zaurak, and dozens (literally!) of others.

Anyway, all of this to say, "Holy crap! We have a lot of servers in our offices!" I mentioned before that I don't hold to using servers as workstations. Well, I don't hold to keeping servers in offices at all. They belong in the server laboratory with all of their parallelepiped brethren. I have had the goal, since my start in October last year to get all these freaking servers out of our offices. Today, I have finally, mostly succeeded.

There was a mass migration of servers from offices into the server room. This migration was made possible due to the retirement of several unnecessary servers during the last week. Sarin, Hadar, Izar, and Clinton were all assassinated in the last week freeing up spots to move machines out of offices. Cougar, Catera, Kirin, Remote, Montecarlo, and Seer were all moved into our server laboratory today and yesterday. Awesome!

The mass migration is incomplete because Printserv has not been moved. Unfortunately, it is tethered to the wall in such a way as to make it's migration infeasible. However, it is also in a sorry state, very sorry. We worry for it's health and are afraid it may succumb to something akin to Alzheimer's disease soon. As printing is considered fairly important, we are going to replace Printserv with a brand spankin' new 1U rackmount when it arrives in another couple weeks. When that happens, Printserv will be unceremoniously nixed and tossed with extreme prejudice onto the Tower.

Once that is done, there will be no more servers in the office of any of the systems staff. As of this time, no more servers will be built within the confines of our offices. I will not encourage the breaking of the policy that servers belong in the server room. Humans and their own faithful workstations only belong in offices. Of course, this policy should not be difficult to enforce when I have another policy that states all new servers must be rackmount units. We don't have any racks in our offices, so a rackmount is really not very appropriate in our offices.

For one of my longest blogs ever, I wanted to say, "W00T! Victory is mine!" I am going to spend the evening doing the happy dance of joy rather than sleeping tonight...hmm...maybe I'll just dream about doing the happy dance instead. Cheers.