Currently reading…
Finished in 2010…
What I read in 2009
- The Pillars of the Earth
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- Nineteen Minutes
-
The Stranger
- A High View of Scripture?
- The Blue Parakeet
- The Great Brain
- Introduction to the Bible
- Jesus Wants to Save Christians
- The Natural
- The Old Man and The Sea
- Candy Girl
- Fight Club
- Starship Troopers
- The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
- World Without End
- SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World
- SuperFreakonomics
- No Country for Old Men
- Where the Red Fern Grows
- The Pillars of the Earth
Saturday, March, 29, 2008
Posted at: 12:30 am
I’m preaching tomorrow and I’ve been staying on top of school during this new quarter, so I am really far behind in blogging. I hope to begin catching up this week. Anyway…here’s some stuff I came across this week.
1. lament: wartime ! rejoice: easter 2. Are Christians against sexual freedom 3. My trust in my Lord by Anne Rice 4. A wedding gift 5. A study that notes the difference between High Context and Low Context cultures 6. The story of the 4,000th American death in Iraq 7. A star 7.5 million light-years away explodes (but if nobody gets out of bed to see it, did it really explode?)That’s all I’ve got…have a great weekend.
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Saturday, March, 22, 2008
Posted at: 12:30 am
I pulled an all-nighter last night to finish up school. I’ll be catching up on my blog, finishing a sermon, and starting my next quarter class this coming week.
Here’s some stuff I came across this week…
1. Easter as the new Day of Atonement from Marc Driscoll 2. Mikhail Gorbachev admits he is a Christian 3. A little info on Maundy Thursday for us non-ritualistic types 4. Words as idols 5. An excellent post on the pronouns we use for God 6. What can the church (continue to) learn from Starbucks 7. The postmodern theology of the movie “Wag the Dog” 8. Julie Clawson disagreeing with Chuck Colson 9. David Mamet rethinks the efficacy of liberalism 10. A story of inhumanity (warning: this is intense) 11. Falling Slowly 12. Divorce that helps children (a lesson in incentives) 13. Farewell to Brett Favre we’ll miss you old boy…Have a great weekend!
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Saturday, March, 15, 2008
Posted at: 12:30 am
Some stuff I came across this week…
1. One entry in an amazing series on Francis S Collins’ book “The Language of God”. 2. The desire for un-boring Christianity3. A healthy response to John Piper.
4. Samson by Regina Spektor
5. The last surviving US veteran of World War I.
6. “Why I feel suddenly old.”
7. Traffic light timers (read the stats at the bottom)
Have a great weekend!
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Friday, March, 14, 2008
Posted at: 8:14 pm
This is the last week of my quarter at school, and I’ve been playing that wonderful game known as catch-up. I will be posting again early next week if all goes well.
In the mean time, I had a conversation today and a lyric from “Advice, like youth, probably wasted” (one of the best prose poems of the 20th century) ran through my brain, so I thought I’d post that as a blast from the past. A newspaper column by Mary Schmich, published by the Chicago Tribune on 01 June 1997.
—
Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out, some world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on life to young people who’d rather be Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never be invited to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns, but there’s no reason we can’t entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for Graduates.
I encourage anyone over 26 to try this and thank you for indulging my attempt.
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ‘97:
Wear sunscreen.
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Saturday, March, 8, 2008
Posted at: 12:30 am
Just some stuff I came across this week…
1. A Pastoral Response to Illegal immigration. 2. Moses was the first Jeff Spicoli. 3. A Baha’i Sunday school (I don’t know how this makes me feel). 4. Tony Jones swapping Emergent Village for Smurf Village (warning: this is satire!). 5. Thoughts on Obama’s economic advisors… 6. The economics of the HD format wars. 7. If you say the word recession enough times it becomes meaningless. 8. An homage to Gary Gygax. 9 Gender swapping in Second Life (and WOW; probably DnD as well). 10. Look quick or you might miss the game. 11. Schwarz-Christoffel formula updated to be applicable to complex shapes. 12. Top 10 grammar tips… 13. Infamous last words: “I didn’t realize that crocs were so aggressive.”Have a great weekend.
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Thursday, March, 6, 2008
Posted at: 10:00 pm
Wordpress lost my original post and I’m not re-typing the whole thing (it was the longest post I have ever written for this blog). What follows is the basic idea.
There are three primary reasons God subjects us to times of discomfort: to discipline us, to protect us, to prepare us. How is God using the discomfort you are experiencing in your life? (The original was better.)
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Wednesday, March, 5, 2008
Posted at: 10:00 pm
There was no water for the people to drink and they again began to complain about where God had brought them. The people complained that at least in Egypt they had not died of thirst. The Lord instructed Moses and Aaron to take the staff from the tabernacle and go to a nearby rock and command the rock to pour out water. Instead Moses struck the rock with the staff and asked the people, “Must we bring you water from the rock?” The Lord was displeased with Moses actions and said that neither he nor Aaron would lead the people into the promised land.
A while later Aaron dies and joins his ancestors. The Lord then leads the people in victory over the Canaanites. However, on their journey the people become restless and again complain. God sends poisonous snakes into the camp. The Lord instructs Moses to craft a bronze snake on a pole; if the people look on the snake they will be healed. The Israelites continue on their journey and God leads them to victory in battle.
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Tuesday, March, 4, 2008
Posted at: 10:00 pm
Korah and a couple of his buddies incite a rebellion against Moses. When they approach Moses, Moses does not argue, but instead tells Korah and his 250 recruits to come and burn an offering before the Lord and God will decide who is in charge. The Lord destroys the tents of Korah and his two friends and all of there family and possessions. God then destroys the 250 leaders offering an unacceptable burnt offering at the tabernacle. The incense burners become holy objects because they have been touched by God. Aaron turns these bronze burners into a cover for the alter which will serve as a warning to all future generations.
Aaron is then shown to be God’s true high priest. God asks Moses to place a staff from each tribe before the tabernacle. The staff which buds will be the one God has choosen. Aaron’s staff not only buds but also has sprouted almonds. The passage ends with God instructing the Levites that they must give a tithe to God on the tithe they have received from the people.
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Posted at: 12:30 am
Basketball
My Jayhawks just beat Texas Tech by 58…that’s right…they won 109-51. That’s a Texas Tech team that just knocked of Texas.
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Monday, March, 3, 2008
Posted at: 11:19 pm
Recently I have been very disappointed with the teachings of John Piper. Given, I am not Reformed and so we would naturally be at odds, but it seems to me that Piper has taken to creating unnecessary walls within Christianity. A few months ago it was over the issue of Baptism. Piper, Grudem, Dever and some other got into a discussion of who is allowed to partake in communion and how this relates to church membership. Overall the conversation was fairly civil, but I fail to see the need to create these divisions with the goal of protecting the sanctity of God(as if God could not protect his own sanctity).
Last Tuesday at the Resurgent 2008 conference. John Piper gave this lecture, which in my opinion marks his first open frontal assault on Arminianism. Piper advocates the removal of any teacher or preacher who disagrees with his understanding the gospel.
I believe that I will never fully understand the Truth that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that it is my responsibility to have faith in Christ, to strive to move closer to the example of Christ, and to follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit. Those are the three things about which I truly care. I do not care if my theology matches the theology of the people with whom I worship or do ministry. In fact, I believe a diversity of theology is beneficial to the kingdom of God as long as it is centered around and grounded in the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
My impression of John Piper is that he believes he knows the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that all other people must come to his understanding or they are not true disciples of Christ. I would argue that there are plenty of true disciples of Jesus Christ who are not disciples of John Piper.
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Posted at: 10:00 pm
At the report of the scouts the people begin to weep and complain. They are fearful of going into this land and decide that they will select their own leaders and return to Egypt. The Lord says that he will destroy the people, but Moses intercedes and asks that the people be spared. God tells the people, “you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy,” and declares that they are to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and that none of that ungrateful generation will see the promised land with the exception of Caleb and Joshua. The 10 scouts who stirred up the trouble are struck down with a plague. The Lord tells the people to go to the wilderness, some disobey and attempt to enter the promised land; these people are killed by the Amalekites and the Canaanites.
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Posted at: 12:30 am
(I finally got caught up on my Bible reading, now if I can get caught up on school, and writing out some book reviews I’ll be all set.)
Today was one of the best trips to church that we have had in a while. We didn’t have to wrangle coats and trudge through snow. It was a beautiful day and the kids were ready to go. It amazes me how much easier it is to enter a spirit of worship when nobody is throwing up, and everybody wants to go to church.
Today we had a group of men who had been at a men’s conference in Chicago speak. One of the things that no body said but struck me was that sometimes we are called to go somewhere for somebody else. Some of these men were not called to go to this conference for their own blessing, but so that God could use them to bless others. I am excited that they were all willing to follow God’s leading and take a weekend to travel, fellowship, disciple, and worship.
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Sunday, March, 2, 2008
Posted at: 10:00 pm
The people complain to Moses that they do not like the food God is providing for them; they remember the better tasting food they used to get in Egypt. God becomes angry and sends fires into the camp, Moses prays for the people and God removes the fires. 70 leaders are then commissioned by Moses. God responds to the peoples complaint and sends a great flock of quail.
Miriam and Aaron become jealous of the standing of Moses before God and demand that God speaks to them as well. God becomes furious the Miriam and curses her with leprosy. Moses prays for Miriam and God heals her. God then instructs the Israelites to explore the land of Canaan. Moses sends 12 scouts into the land; one from each of the 12 tribes. The scouts report that the land is filled with great produce, but it is also filled with giant adversaries. One of the 12 scouts, Caleb, encourages Moses to enter the land, but the other scouts fear that they will be destroyed if they attack.
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Posted at: 12:30 am
God of new beginnings,
Thank you for this new season of life. Thank you for not leaving us in the cold and the dark forever. Thank you for the turning of the seasons and the wondrous beauty I take for granted because I expect it. Thank you for working in normal ordinary ways to bring about normal ordinary events; thank you for not waiting until we notice we need you to be here with us.
Keep my eyes open to the amazing work you are doing in my life and the life of those around me. Keep my ears open to listen to your leading. Keep my hands ready to heal and comfort and forgive. Keep my feet moving toward you day after day. Make my mouth an instrument for you to use and play a beautiful song.
Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You
Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You’re my God
You’re altogether lovely
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me
King of all days
oh, so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came
To the earth You created
All for love’s sake became poor
Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You’re my God
You’re altogether lovely
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me
Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Thank you God, Amen.
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Saturday, March, 1, 2008
Posted at: 10:00 pm
The Lord gives instructions on how a Nazarite covenant with God is to be consecrated. Aaron is also instructed on how to bless the people with the words, “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”
Finally the Lord gives instructions on how the Silver trumpets are to be made. These trumpets will signal the people when to gather, and when to depart. With those instructions the Israelites leave Sinai and start their journey to the promised land. When the people are to leave a place the cloud which signifies the presence of the Lord moves out from over the Tabernacle and travels ahead of the people.
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Posted at: 12:30 am
Some stuff I came across this week…
1. To be a good theologian… 2. Who would the Samaritan woman be today? 3. Blood-Free transplants for Jehovah’s Witnesses. 4. The saints of the yellow fever. 5. Anne Rice to return to vampires. 6. This American Life’s take on testosterone. 7. The player in today’s NBA who plays most like Larry Bird is…Kevin Garnett?!?!?! 8. Phillies punk Kyle Kendrick. 9. Why right is not always best. 10. 1% of the Wikipedia population generates 50% of the content. 11. Why did the chicken cross the road?Have a great weekend.
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