A short step down from thought provoking

Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir of Sorts.

2011-11-01T14:06:00.000-05:00

Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me by Ian Morgan Cron is a fantastic read. In fact, I read the whole thing in one day, I simply could not put it down.

Cron leads us through his journey with his family, through riches and poverty, through alcoholism and family struggles. This is not a book that paints a false, and rosy picture of what it means to live for Christ, but because of that it invites the reader into real struggles, and healing. It is amazing to read the way in which Christ is at work in both Cron's life, and ours as well.

Forgive the cliche, but this book will make you both laugh and cry. It is marvelously written and is one of my favorite memoirs in a while.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review; the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Unleashed - McManus

2011-05-17T20:03:00.000-05:00

Let's get one thing out of the way. This is McManus' book "The Barbarian Way." If you have read that book, you will be greatly disappointed when you buy this. Thomas Nelson just re-released the book with a more female friendly title.

That said, this is a simple, but challenging book. The basic premise is that we as Christians are not called to a domesticated religion, but a passionate faith in Jesus that will lead us into all sorts of crazy and exciting places.

One of the things I appreciated most about the book was the way in which McManus talked about raising his children in the faith. By not giving them a domesticated religion, but rather introducing them to a wild untamed relationship with Jesus. It is certainly worth pondering how to raise our children in a way that unleashes them to follow Jesus.

I thought it was a great little book. The biggest problem with the book is that it is much easier to read than to put into practice.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Sacred Meal Review

2011-04-11T01:50:00.000-05:00

In "The Sacred Meal" Nora Gallagher shares her thoughts on the Eucharist (Lord's Supper, Communion, Sacred Mean etc). She walks through three steps of taking communion the "waiting," "receiving," and "afterward." Each had a few interesting reflections and insights that flesh out what we are doing when we come to Communion.
Over all I was really hoping for something great out of this book. I had never thought of Communion as a Spiritual practice, so I was interested to hear what Nora Gallagher was going to say. Unfortunately this book was a disappointment. While there were a few new insights that will enhance my participation in the Lord's Supper in the future, most of the book was lacking in any depth. Perhaps most frustrating to me was her side comment that she supports an open table, but then failed to offer any theological or scriptural support for her position. So far of all the books I have read in this series this was my least favorite. I have to seriously wonder if Nora was the best choice for this book. Surely there is someone else who could have had more theological, and biblical insight into this ancient practice. Instead all we are left with is a few reflections that feel weak and aren't really worth reading.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Guest Post

2011-03-03T14:32:00.005-06:00

Hey friends. I know I haven't blogged in forever. But if you still check this from time to time. Head over to the Pangea blog and check out my guest post there. Link is below.

The End of Theological Discussion

100 Books in 2010

2011-01-04T10:22:00.001-06:00

So last year I took up the challenge of reading 100 books in 2010. I am sad to announce that I didn't make my goal. In the end I only read 80. Of course there were hundreds of pages of parts of books that I read, many many dictionary articles, and over 100 articles that ranged from 10-55 pages each. But actual books that I read start to finish, 80. I have decided that this years goal is 101 books for 2011. I enjoyed keeping track of what I read and being able to look back over the list. Most of these books were well worth the time to read.
For those who care here is my completed 2010 list:
1 Religious No More - Mark Baker *
2 Thirteen Moons: A Novel - Charles Fraizer
3 Interpretation First Corinthians - Richard Hays *
4 Take This Bread - Sara Miles
5 Justification - NT Wright
6 The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture - Shane Hipps *
7 Free of Charge - Miroslav Volf
8 Paul a Very Short Introduction - EP Sanders *
9 Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform - William G. McLoughlin *
10 A Wind In The Door - Madeline L’Engle *
11 The Gospel According to Lost - Chris Seay
12 The Art of Reading Scripture - ed. Ellen F. Davis and Richard Hays *
13 The Souls of Black Folk - W.E.B. Du Bois *
14Double Take -Tim Geddert *
15 All Right Now - Tim Geddert *
16 Jesus Matters - ed. James R. Kraybill and David W. Shenk
17 A Multi-Site Church Road Trip - Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, Warren Bird
18 Drops Like Stars - Rob Bell
19 Ungodly Women - Betty A. DeBerg *
20 The Story of Christianity Volume 1 Justo L. Gonzalez *
21 The Story of Christianity Volume 2 Justo L. Gonzalez *
22 Canadian Evangelicalism in the 20th Century - John Stackhouse Jr, *
23 The Burning Land - Bernard Cornwell
24 St. Patrick - Jonathan Rogers
25 Texts Under Negotiation - Walter Brueggemann *
26 Different Eyes: The Art of living Beautiful - Steve Chalke and Alan Mann
27 The Little Book of Restorative Justice - Howard Zehr
28 The Little Book of Biblical Justice -Christ Marshall
29 The Act of Bible Reading - Edited by Elmer Dyck
30 Reading Scripture with the Church: Toward a Hermeneutic For Theological Interpretation - A.K.M Adam, Stephen E. Fowl, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, and Francis Watson. *
31 Between Two Horizons - Edited by Joel B. Green and Max Turner *
32 Sensual Orthodoxy - Debbie Blue
33 A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada - Mark A. Noll *
34 The Moral Vision of the New Testament - Richard Hays *
35 The Nature of Atonement - ed. James Beilby and Paul R. Eddy *
36 Mark: the way for all Nations - Willard Swartley *
37 Inca Gold - Clive Cussler
38 Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross - Ed. Mark Baker *
39 Christus Victor - Gustaf Aulén **
40 The Smell of Sawdust: What evangelicals can learn from their fundamentalist heritage - Richard J. Mouw.
41 Recovering the Scandal of the Cross - Joel Green and Mark Baker *
42 The Nonviolent Atonement - J. Denny Weaver **
43 Flickering Pixels - Shane Hipps
44 Listening For the Heartbeat of God - J. Philip Newell
45 Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites… and Other Lies You’ve been told - Bradley Wright.
46 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone - JK Rowling
47 Believers Church Commentary: Mark - Tim Geddert *
48 I’m a Stranger here Myself - Bill Bryson
49 Let the Reader Understand - Robert Fowler *
50 Harry Potter: and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling
51 What does the Old Testament say about God? - Claus Westermann
52 The Drama of Scripture - Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen **
53 Models of God - Sallie McFague*
54 Against the Tide - Miroslav Volf **
55 Restless Gods - Reginald Bibby *
56 Rethinking Christ and Culture - Craig Carter *
57 Exclusion and Embrace - Miroslav Volf **
58 Harry potter and the prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
59 The Sacred Canopy - Peter Berger*
60 Brands of Faith - Mara Einstein*
61 Beyond Opinion - Ravi Zacharias
62 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling
63 Holy Trinity Perfect Community - Leonardo Boff*
64 Harry Potter and the Order of thee Phoenix - JK Rowling
65 Pornland - Gail Dines
66 The Openness of God - Clark Pinnock*
67 Can God be Trusted - John Stackhouse*
68 No Future without Forgiveness - Desmond Tutu*
69 The Gospel According to Jesus - Chris Seay
70 Free of Charge - Miroslav Volf (yes I read it twice)**
71 The End of Memory - Miroslav Volf**
72 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - JK Rowling
73 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow - JK Rowling
74 Embodying Forgiveness - L. Gregory Jones
75 The Magicians Nephew - C.S. Lewis
76 Celtic Prayers from Iona - J. Philip Newell
77 The Fort - Bernard Cornwell
78 Fasting - Scot McKnight
79 Practicing our Faith - Dorothy Bass *
80 Open Secrets - Richard Lischer *

I was asked after I posted this what my top five were. In no particular order I think

The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture - Shane Hipps
Free of Charge - Miroslav Volf
The Moral Vision of the New Testament - Richard Hays
Models of God - Sallie McFague
The Sacred Canopy - Peter Berger

Honorable Mentions go to

Take This Bread - Sara Miles
Fasting - Scot McKnight
Open Secrets - Richard Lischer
Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform - William G. McLoughlin
Mark Commentary - Tim Geddert

* Means that it was a required reading for school
** Means that it was not a required reading for school, but was directly related to school I was doing.

Fasting - Scot McKnight

2010-12-20T17:07:00.000-06:00

Scot McKnight is a fantastic author. I greatly respect him, and so I was thrilled at the chance to review his book for The Ancient Practices Series on Fasting. McKnight does not disappoint. This is certainly one of the best books on fasting I have ever read. He suggests that, "Fasting is the natural, inevitable response of a person to a grievous sacred moment in life" (xviii). There are simply times when we are confronted with situations (our own sin, sin of a nation, death, etc.) That we need to bring our bodies into line with our prayers, emotions, and spirit. Fasting is a whole body act. McKnight shows that fasting is not an A to B resulting in C activity. If we fast we are not guaranteed that our prayers will be more effective or that we will meet God in a special way, but rather that as we respond to A with B we may discover C in ways we didn't expect. McKnight also calls for Christians to rediscover the practice of regular fasting as well as fasting before baptism, communion, and other important days in the church calendar. This is a great book. A must read.

I received this book free from the Thomas Nelson Publishers "Booksneeze" book review program. I was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

The Gospel According to Jesus

2010-12-01T10:40:00.001-06:00

I first heard of Chris Seay through his book "The Gospel According to Lost." That was a great book with interesting insights into how faith and pop culture meet. So I was excited to read his new book "The Gospel According to Jesus." Seay's primary question for us is, "Is it possible that we have ignored Jesus - our wild, messianic King - and chosen to re-create Jesus in the image of the Pharisees themselves? Seay got the Barna Research Group to do some studies on how Christians define "Righteousness" the result was that MOST people do not actually know what it means. But here's the problem. Seay does a poor job of explaining what it does mean. As a whole I felt like the book falls flat. With a title like "The Gospel According to Jesus," you would expect it to rock your socks off, but it doesn't even come close. That said, it is not a bad book. There are a few very interesting comments and lines. So if you have extra time, a few extra bucks, and you like Chris Seay it is worth getting. Just keep your expectations low.

I received this book free from the Thomas Nelson Publishers "Booksneeze" book review program. I was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

Are you an average book reader?

2010-11-19T16:14:00.003-06:00

My brother-in-law posted this on his blog. I thought I would pass it on.

According to a recent study done by the BBC the average person has only read six out the one-hundred books on the list below. Most are classics but a few modern literary works are included.

The titles highlighted in ORANGE are the ones I have read.And PURPLE I may have but I can't remember for sure.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (More times than I can count)

3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (Honestly I am not quite done the series, but close enough to say I have done it)

5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (Listen to Q debate about the over hype of this book here)

6. The Bible

7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (I haven't read them all, but I have read

All's Well That Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew (I really liked this one), The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Hamlet (many times), King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet (Also more than once).

15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (Again, more times than I can count)

17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20. Middlemarch - George Eliot

21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (Do I need to even say that I have read all of them repeatedly, sometimes a whole book in one day).

34. Emma -Jane Austen

35. Persuasion - Jane Austen

36. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis (Why is this here... see #33)

37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell

42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (HIGHLY overrated)

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50. Atonement - Ian McEwan

51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52. Dune - Frank Herbert

53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (I think this is one of Dicken's best).

58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville (I've started it, but never finished. I think that is about par for the course).

71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72. Dracula - Bram Stoker (Also stared but never finished).

73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75. Ulysses - James Joyce

76. The Inferno - Dante

77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78. Germinal - Emile Zola

79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80. Possession - AS Byatt

81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87. Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (not sure if I have read this)

93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94. Watership Down - Richard Adams

95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (one of my all time favorite books)

98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (I can't remember if I have read it or not)

In the end I have read 28, with a few more (like the Shakespeare's books) and a few that I can't remember if I have actually read it or not. There are a couple here that I would still like to read, and a few that are actually some of my all time favorite books (Three Musketeers, Tale of Two cities, Brave New World, 1984 to name a few). I do have to admit though, that much of this is my mother's doing. I am as well read as I am because of her. A number of these books (read anything that sounds girly or is by Dickens) I have not actually "Read" as much as my mom read them to me. But that reading to me sparked a love for books and good stories that I have continued on my own.

The Strategically Small Church

2010-10-25T14:45:00.000-05:00

We can't all be mega-churches. In fact only half of one percent of churches qualify for that prestigious title. Yet they influence nearly all of the church growth and strategic planning material that is consumed by the other 99.5% of pastors and churches. The ironic thing is the effort and resources that those mega-churches put into trying to be like a small church. The Strategically Small Church is a must read for pastors. It sets out to encourage pastors and church leaders to view a new way of doing ministry. It sets out to destroy the myth that bigger is better, and that growing numbers means a successful ministry. I think that it is a very encouraging book for pastors of small churches, and should encourage a paradigm shift in the way that we think about our churches. O'Brian will undoubtedly be criticized for not giving enough steps for small churches to practice what he has talked about, but that is the point. The Strategically Small Church is not a how to manual. It is a book that should encourage pastors to seek new ways of serving in the church they have, not the one they wish they had. It is a book that will challenge many pastors, but one that is well worth the time to read. I give it 5 Stars!

Confessions of a TVholic

2010-10-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

I love TV. I watch lots of TV. Probably more TV than I should. I am pretty sure that there are better things that I should do with my time, but I don't. However, that aside, the last two weeks have been premier week. All the studios have released their new shows for us TVholics. I remember a few years ago when I discovered the high attrition rate of new Television shows. You find something you like and then two weeks later it has been canceled and replaced with something else. That said there was one new show that I watched this last week that I liked. No Ordinary Family is the story about a family that is falling apart and no longer connects with each other. While on a family trip to try and 'reconnect' and build a stronger family they end up in a plane crash and all receive super powers. Think The Incredibles but as a live action show. As a TV show it is alright. It isn't great... maybe slightly above average. What I found most interesting is the portrayal of the Dad. Dad's are not liked by mainstream television. Think Peter from Family Guy, Hal from Malcom in the Middle, and by far the funniest, but also maybe the worst father, Phil from Modern Family (This is just a snapshot, the list goes on forever). It isn't just comedies either. Shows like Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy also tell stories of fathers who have been absent from their children's lives and are completely clueless. This is where No Ordinary Family is different. It is the father character who has been holding the family together. It is the father who knows what is happening in the kids lives. The father in No Ordinary Family is a genuinely good guy who loves his family and wants them to be together. It is refreshing to see a good father on TV. I really hope that this is something that we will see more of and that this show isn't canceled next week.

God the Idiot: Part 2

2010-09-27T09:51:00.000-05:00

In the previous post we looked at some of the characteristics of God as portrayed in Family Guy (Click Here for part 1). Today we are going to ask how to respond.

What is the Christian response to the “Family Guy god”? For some it is simply to call it heretical and blasphemous, and boycott it. While I understand and sympathize with those feelings, we then miss the opportunity to respond to and correct the picture of who God is. Instead we must respond by correcting the images that are out there.

    First, it is important for evangelical Christians to reaffirm the truth that God is neither man nor woman. God is portrayed in the Bible as being personal and involved, but never male or female. “Indeed, the Old Testament avoids attributing sexual functions to God, on account of the strongly pagan overtones to such associations” (McGrath, 2007, p. 204). Sallie McFague has said that, “God is she and he and neither” (Kraus, 1991, p. 96). Norman Kraus also says, “To think of God exclusively in masculine gender turns him into an idol” (Kraus, p. 96). Kraus goes on to argue that in each context it is important to find the right metaphors to use when talking about God (Kraus, p. 96).   However, because of the predominance of male language about God, I wonder if North America would benefit from more feminine language about God. The Bible is full of this language (Hos 11:3-4,13:8 Deut 32:18, Isaiah 66:13, 49:15, 42:14 Mt 23:37 Lk 13:34, 15:8-10). God is described as one who gives birth, nurses, has a womb, and is like a mother bear. In fact, when one begins to search the Scriptures for feminine language of God it does not take long to find an astounding number of verses.1 I once heard a prison chaplain who talked about how a card company gave a bunch of Mother’s Day cards to the inmates in a prison. It was a huge success. All the cards were taken and sent to the mothers of these inmates. Because of the overwhelmingly positive reaction, the card company decided to do it again for Father’s day. The result was the exact opposite. Not a single card was taken by the inmates. In a culture full of fathers who are absent, abusive, or both, there is value in recognizing and using the feminine language of the Bible to talk about God. In the book, The Shack, William Young does this exact thing. Because of the main character’s own problems with the word “papa,” God chooses to be self-revealed as a black woman. The “Family Guy god” reveals the need for us to more clearly articulate our belief that God is she and he and neither.

   Secondly, what do we mean when we talk about God’s omnipotence? C.S Lewis stated the problem well, “If God were good, he would wish to make his creatures perfectly happy, and if God were     almighty he would be able to do what he wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either the goodness, or the power, or both” (McGrath p. 216). It seems that this is part of what drives the “Family Guy god.” If God is powerful, why is it that we are not all supermodels? Why are some children born with malfunctioning hearts? The answer lies in a better definition of what omnipotence means. While the literal definition of omnipotence is that God has all the power and can do anything, the Christian understanding is different (Kraus, p. 81). When we follow this first meaning of omnipotence we are quickly led to ridiculous questions about whether or not God can make a rock so heavy that he can’t lift it. Stanley Grenz writes, “In contrast to such misguided discussions, to say, ‘God is omnipotent’ is to acknowledge that God is able to bring to completion the divine design for creation” (Grenz, 1998, p. 98). Kraus points out that God’s omnipotence means that God is not locked into God’s created system. “God is not limited to the causality of the so-called natural process” (Kraus p. 81). Perhaps one of the most important things we can say about God’s omnipotent power is that it is exercised, “though self-limitation and defenselessness of the incarnation.... God in his own freedom     chooses to accomplish his goals through our freedom of response to him. He joins with us in the struggle to overcome death and evil in such a way that his victory will also be our victory. His power is for us. It is not independent and exclusive of us, but inclusive of us” (Kraus, p. 82). God has self-limitation of power, which gives us freedom. At the same time, God still retains the power to see that creation is brought to its final goal. God chooses to join us in the struggle and share power with us. Perhaps the “Family Guy god” is not a poor reflection of God doing a sorry job of creating things, but of Christians failing to respond to the structures and sin in the world that dehumanizes and devalues those in the world. Instead of wondering why God does not simply make the world a better place, perhaps the world should be asking what has the Church done lately to make the world a better place? God will one day rule fully in all power and nothing will be able to stop this plan. However until that day God has chosen to be self-limiting and to work primarily through those who respond to God’s call.

    Finally, the “Family Guy god” is disinterested in humanity; he is an absent god. It is vital for Christians to speak up and remind all who will listen that God has not abandoned humanity. Rather, God cared so much about this planet that the Divine became human. God has suffered with humanity, so that God could restore humanity. In the midst of all the difficult things that happen in life, God is the relational Being whose presence can be known. When I think back to the bar scene, I know that God is, in fact, present in the bar, but God is present in a fundamentally different way than MacFarlane sees it. MacFarlane sees God torching the place and running, whereas the incarnation shows me that God is in the bar suffering with those who suffer. God has not left the world to burn. God is present in it and will one day fully restore it into a new earth.

    The “Family Guy god” is nothing like the Christian God. However, it does seem that the “Family Guy god” character is created from a number of misunderstandings and assumptions that are drawn from the language we use as North American Christians. God is not a bumbling idiot who chases women, uses his power poorly, and fails to take an interest in the world he created. Rather, God is she and he and neither, at the same time, God is personal! God is actively involved in the lives of God’s creation. God limits God’s power so that people can freely respond to God, and then God shares that power with us. In the incarnation we see that God chooses to suffer with humanity, sharing our pain and sorrow. We know that God is working towards a goal that will be accomplished. I believe that, as Christians, it is important for us to respond to the “Family Guy god” in a way that carefully corrects these misrepresentations of God. As Christians, we must watch the language we use about God. We must take action and use the power God has given us to alleviate the things that are wrong in the world. And we must continually remind people that God deeply loves humanity and the world, so much that God took on flesh to be among us.

God the Idiot: Part 1

2010-09-23T11:34:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I had to write a paper using a "cultural" text to talk about our understanding of God. For my paper I chose the portrayal of God in Family Guy. What follows is some of my thoughts about both the portrayal of God and ways that we should respond.

Recently I was watching the highly popular cartoon “Family Guy.” The son, Chris, is talking about how he is afraid to try and do homework because there is an evil monkey living in his closet and says that he has proof that it exists there. Peter responds, “You’ll have to do better than you did on your science exam, or than God did when he left the iron on too long on Ellen Barkins face.” The scene cuts to a clip of God, distracted, ironing a lady on an ironing board. He looks down and the conversation goes as follows:
God; “ Oh *$%#.”
Ellen; “How is it?”
God: “Get in the van we’ll put you in the 80s where you’ll pass for hot” (Family Guy Hannah Banana season 8 Episode 4 Two minutes in).

“Family Guy” is no stranger to insulting God. In season 3, there is a scene where God is trying to pick up a girl at a bar. He uses his finger to light her cigarette and a second later he makes the same motion and sets the girl on fire. Then he proceeds to run away, leaving the girl and bar to burn down. Most of the time I was just offended by these clips. However, when I started to put them together, I noticed something about the way that God is portrayed in these clips. Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy,” portrays God as old, male, pudgy, balding, and completely inept. In fact, one could call MacFarlane’s god a bumbling idiot.

What leads a person to picture God this way? How do I as a Christian respond to MacFarlane’s portrayal of the God I love? As I reflect on these clips, three things seem to me to be a driving force behind the “Family Guy god.”

First is the idea in western Christianity that God is male. For the non-believer, is it understandable that the logical path leads to gods being womanizers? This was certainly the case for the Greeks, Romans, Ancient Mesopotamians etc. In those cultures the gods were always sneaking around having sex with women. As the culture in North America has shifted, it is little wonder that our predominant language of talking about God as male has led to a view of God being more like Baal or Zeus than like the God of the Bible.

Secondly, I wonder how much of the Christians’ belief in God’s omnipotence plays into MacFarelane’s view. If MacFarlane grew up within any proximity to Christianity, he would have heard about how God has all the power in the world; that God is able to do all things. Yet, when one looks at the world, it is clear that things are not all good. If God is all-powerful, why is it that some people are born with physical defects that will go on to limit them in life? Children are born all over the world with abnormalities and diseases. If God is the creator of all these lives, why would he not do a better job?

Finally, there is the idea that God is absent and disengaged from the world. In the clip, “god’s” flippant remark to Ellen about getting into the van indicates that God can’t be bothered to fix his mistake. Or perhaps an even better example is the scene of “god” setting the woman on fire with his finger. His reaction is to run out of the bar after setting her on fire. Our very language sometimes seems to indicate that this is the case. When a hurricane or flood hits we call it an “act of God” and are then left asking “where was God in this?” Did God just set the world in motion and then leave? The world spirals into disaster and God can be seemingly absent. In brief, the “Family Guy god” is a jumble of distorted images that come from the language we use to talk about God the Father.

God is Love: and the Flannel-graph

2010-09-17T16:06:00.000-05:00

I saw this video today and I thought it was pretty sweet. Perhaps best of all the video was constructed using felt. The flannel-graph makes a come back! What do you think?

Brrr....

2010-09-15T11:21:00.001-05:00

It's cold. It feels like winter. I really can't believe that I am not going to be in California when the snow starts to fly here. These are my hobo mitts that I am wearing in the house. I had Niki cut the tips of so that I can type, but at least the rest of my hands stay sort of warm. In case you care, the book is Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf. It is incredible! One of the best books ever written. If you have never read Volf, you need to.

Beyond Opinion

2010-09-06T22:57:00.001-05:00

Beyond Opinion is a mixed book. Since it is only edited and not written entirely by Ravi Zacharias some chapters are better than others. The chapter by McGrath on a response to Atheism is by far my favorite chapter in the book. On the other side the responses to Post-modernism and Youth Culture were not very good. I also really unsure what to do with the chapter on Islam. We already live in a culture that has so much misinformation on Islam, and I am not sure if this chapter adds to this or clarifies things.
All in all this book was pretty good. If you have a chance pick it up and give it a read.

**Disclosure of material connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishing as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Man vs. Toddler

2010-07-21T11:17:00.000-05:00

I think when McBaby comes I will have to do something like this :D

Gonna Read Something...

2010-07-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

I decided to read something just for fun. Well actually I have done a lot of reading just for fun over the school year (a lot more than most of my seminary friends). In fact 19 out of the 45 books I've read so far this year were for my own pleasure not for school. That said, I decided to read something easy, something fun, and something that is not related to religion, society, or technology... or maybe it is related to all of those. I realize that I am 13 years late getting onto this bandwagon, but this week I am going to crack open Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Hard to believe that all this Harry Potter craziness began while I was still in high school. But as the old saying goes, "better late than never."

Christians are Hate-filled

2010-07-18T17:11:00.000-05:00

Right. Now that I got your attention. The book, "Christians are Hate-filled Hypocrites... and Other Lies You've been told" by Bradly Wright is not for everyone. In fact it is hardly what I would call a page turner, unless of course you are a big fan of statistical information. Wright, is trying to correct what he sees as some dangerous inaccuracies about the state of Christianity in the United States. On nearly every page he calls into question the findings of the Barna Research group. In fact Christianity is doing very well in the United States, and many of the popular statistics you have heard (e.g. Christians are just as likely to get divorced, we are losing our young people, etc) are false. Why would you want to read this book? Wright makes the case that if we are putting our energies into fixing problems that don't really exist we will miss the problems that really do matter. Rather than worrying about the coming generation, or the divorce rates among Christians we need to look at the more serious problems in evangelical Christianity. What are those problems? Racism, and intolerance would be two of the greatest failings of evangelical Christians. This is an alright book definitely worth a skim if you are interested in statistics and the state of Christianity in the United States.

BookHunter

2010-07-08T12:08:00.000-05:00

I have a lot of books. I love books, the way they feel, the smell, the look. I have also lost a few very good books. When I was working at the church I loaned out a few and they never did get back to me, and I forgot who had them. A few months ago I discovered this program call Delicious Library that keep track of all my books. The problem was it costs about $40. There was just no way I was going to spend that kind of money on a program that only tracked my books and looked pretty. But I have found the solution to my problem, and if you have the same problem hopefully to yours as well. It is called BookHunter (Download HERE). It looks just like itunes, it is simple to add your books, and best of all it is totally free. I am loving it, and it's nice to know that I have an easy way to keep track of my books from now on. Yeah, for BookHunter!

Dawn Treader

2010-07-06T17:49:00.000-05:00

I am pretty excited about this. I hope it's better than the last one.

Make mine on the Lego.

2010-07-01T11:57:00.000-05:00

Cool idea for your Canada Day (or in a few days Independence day celebration).

I found this on The Toy Zone and thought it was a pretty cool idea. I would have never thought of this, but I can't wait to try it now.

Here is what they said:
"These are an extremely funky way to add fun to a party. However, if you haven’t got any friends you can add them to your glass of whiskey and revel in your retro funk.
To make these all you need is some old LEGO bricks and a slab of modeling clay. Insert each LEGO piece into the clay and remove – bake, fill with water and freeze."

The Sacred Journey: "Let's Go for a walk together"

2010-06-24T23:37:00.000-05:00

In his book "The Sacred Journey" Charles Foster argues that our spiritual lives are like water. "If water stops moving, it gets foul (p. 36)." For our Christian lives to stay vibrant we need to learn the art of pilgrimage. There are a number of really good sections of this book. I really enjoyed chapter three "Bias To The Wanderer" and I think he nailed it. Chapter 7 "Where To? Thin Places" was another one of my favorite chapters. Fosters' book is certain to challenge the reader. Either you will be challenged by his use of many non-Christian pilgrims, monks, mystics, gurus and you will give up on him. Or you will grasp the message that he is trying to give and will be challenged by your complacent lifestyle. Not every pilgrimage requires leaving and going somewhere new. Pilgrimage can also happen on your daily commute our your trip to Starbucks. There is a challenge in this book to go, and do it with new eyes. While this is hardly the best book I have read, it is certainly a valuable book. It is good to be reminded of the value of going, of pilgrimage, and for that reason if you find this book in a used bookstore one day make sure you pick it up.

**Disclosure of material connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishing as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Books I've Read in 2010

2010-06-22T12:57:00.000-05:00

So my friend Erica decided to try and read 110 books in 2010. I thought it sounded like a good idea and so I've been keeping track of everything I've read so far this year. Here it is

1) Religious No More - Mark Baker
2) Thirteen Moons: A Novel - Charles Fraizer
3) Interpretation First Corinthians - Richard Hays
4) Take This Bread - Sara Miles
5) Justification - NT Wright
6) The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture - Shane Hipps
7) Free of Charge - Miroslav Volf
8) Paul a Very Short Introduction - EP Sanders
9) Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform - William G. McLoughlin
10) A Wind In The Door - Madeline L’Engle
11) The Gospel According to Lost - Chris Seay
12) The Art of Reading Scripture - ed. Ellen F. Davis and Richard Hays
13) The Souls of Black Folk - W.E.B. Du Bois
14) Double Take -Tim Geddert
15) All Right Now - Tim Geddert
16) Jesus Matters - ed. James R. Kraybill and David W. Shenk
17) A Multi-Site Church Road Trip - Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, Warren Bird
18) Drops Like Stars - Rob Bell
19) Ungodly Women - Betty A. DeBerg
20) The Story of Christianity Volume 1 Justo L. Gonzalez
21) The Story of Christianity Volume 2 Justo L. Gonzalez
22) Canadian Evangelicalism in the 20th Century - John Stackhouse Jr,
23) The Burning Land - Bernard Cornwell
24) St. Patrick - Jonathan Rogers
25) Texts Under Negotiation - Walter Brueggemann
26) Different Eyes: The Art of living Beautiful - Steve Chalke and Alan Mann
27) The Little Book of Restorative Justice - Howard Zehr
28) The Little Book of Biblical Justice -Christ Marshall
29) The Act of Bible Reading - Edited by Elmer Dyck
30) Reading Scripture with the Church: Toward a Hermeneutic For Theological Interpretation - A.K.M Adam, Stephen E. Fowl, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, and Francis Watson.
31) Between Two Horizons - Edited by Joel B. Green and Max Turner
32) Sensual Orthodoxy - Debbie Blue
33) A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada - Mark A. Noll
34) The Moral Vision of the New Testament - Richard Hays
35) The Nature of Atonement - ed. James Beilby and Paul R. Eddy
36) Mark: the way for all Nations - Willard Swartley
37) Inca Gold - Clive Cussler
38) Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross - Ed. Mark Baker
39) Christus Victor - Gustaf Aulén
40) The Smell of Sawdust: What evangelicals can learn from their fundamentalist heritage - Richard J. Mouw.
41) Recovering the Scandal of the Cross - Joel Green and Mark Baker

If you need something to read here are the best I think from the list

Best Sermons
#32 Sensual Orthodoxy - A nice collection of sermons. Debbie is an incredibly gifted writer/preacher. While sometimes it seemed like she stretched a text a bit it was a great read, and very nourishing.

Best book on Ethics
# 34 The Moral Vision of the New Testament - What can I say, Hays is amazing. This is a must read.

Best book on Forgiveness
#7 Free of Charge - This is the book that really got me thinking about my Thesis, so obviously a favorite.

Best book on Electronic Culture
#6 The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture - Hipps blew my mind. If you want to think about church and the place of technology within it, you need to read this one.

Best Commentary
#3 Interpretation First Corinthians - An amazing commentary on 1 Corinthians. I gave it to my mom and she used it for teaching her sunday school class. It is both scholarly and accessible, a beautiful combination.

Best Biblical Interpretation book
#12 The Art of Reading Scripture - A great collection of essays written by a bunch of different men and women (Hay's 3rd contribution to my list). One of my favorite parts is at the end when they take all the tools they have given you and work them into sermons. Very powerful and great reading.

Best History Book
#9 Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform - McLoughlin looks at the social factors that surrounded the great awakenings and revivals in the United States. It is an incredible book that shows some of the other factors that influenced the outbreak of these revivals. It is a must read for pastors and those who work in the church, it explains so much about why the church is the way it is, and why it is that some people resist change, even when it is a good thing. I have to say that also #19 Ungodly Women was a great book. It is especially helpful in understanding some of our fundamentalist roots as evangelicals.

Most Controversial
#4 Take this Bread - I loved it. But I am sure that there are many people who will just be downright offended by this book. It is a radically different look at the Lords Supper and what Jesus means when he says eat my body.

Best by a MBBS Faculty
Ahhh... you caught me... I have to say all of them #1 # 14 #15 #38 #41 all worth the read. If I could only pick one though I would choose #1 AND #14

So far I have been blessed to have read a lot of books this year. I am already a good way through numbers 42 and 43 and have a few more lined up to go. I'm not sure if I'll make my goal or not, but I will give it a try... if only some of these books weren't 600 pages or more life would be a lot easier :)

Contemporvent!

2010-05-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

ht: Dan Kimball

My Thesis Proposal

2010-04-28T17:32:00.000-05:00

For those interested in what I am going to be studying for the next year, here is my now approved Thesis proposal

A Theological Exploration of Forgiveness, Judgement and the Wrath of God
Nathan McCorkindale

Introduction/Rationale
We live in a world that likes the idea of peace and love, but is unwilling to seriously look at the issues that cause people to be alienated from each other. Perhaps one of the greatest causes of alienation in our society today is a lack of forgiveness. This lack of forgiveness is just as evident within the church as it is in the broader society. Forgiveness is a necessary action if any community or society is to live together. For people both in and out of the church, there is a growing assumption that to forgive someone is to let them go, free of consequences, and to forget the wrong that was done. These ideas are what drive the popular saying, “Forgive and forget.” However, is this really what forgiveness is? How can we “forgive and forget” when something truly terrible has happened to us? And is this what God has actually done with our wrongdoings? If so, how can God be a God of justice?
    On the opposite side of this spectrum is the idea that, before I can forgive, you must pay for your wrongdoing. Popular culture shows us this picture in sitcoms where the wife will not talk to her husband until proper penance has been paid. In this case, forgiveness has a retributive cost. The husband is forced to discover the right action or word that will release him from the hold of his wife. While on television, this is played up for laughs, but when this actually happens in marriages the results are anything but funny. Rather than forgiveness and reconciliation between the married couple, bitterness and resentment grow. Sadly, this sort of thinking about forgiveness has seeped its way into our theology of the cross. In a current popular sermon, a preacher has God saying to sinners,
    "Do you know what your forgiveness cost me? Don’t you know God the Father beat me     to pieces? He obliterated me beyond recognition, He took the cup of wrath that had your     name on it and splashed it onto my perfectly sinless and bleeding face and what it is     worse is that God did this to me with a smile. It pleased Him to crush me for you, that is     what your forgiveness cost me."

Does God’s forgiveness really mean that God’s wrath must violently be poured out on Christ this way? If God is all-powerful, why does God not choose to simply forgive? How do we understand God’s wrath in relation to God’s forgiveness?
    Growing up as a child in the church, I was often confronted with a dual vision of God. The first was of Jesus dressed in white holding a lamb. The other was of the terrifying God of the Old Testament who brought wrath and judgment on sinners. However, the trouble with these images is that it pits two gods against each other, rather than being sufficiently Trinitarian. The Biblical story of God’s forgiveness is not one of simply letting sinners off the hook for their wrongdoing. The Biblical story of forgiveness is a powerful one because our forgiveness was not cheap. The trouble is that, for many in Christian circles, the cost of forgiveness has become associated with retribution or punitive justice. This understanding of punitive justice is one that stands in contradiction to the worldview in which the Bible was written. The Biblical authors wrote of God’s forgiveness, justice, and wrath from a Hebraic judicial model.
    Recently, in one of my seminary classes, there was another student who would often make comments about how we need to take God’s wrath, or anger, or judgment seriously. I often wondered what he meant by this. Later in the semester, I began to read Miroslav Volf and his understanding of forgiveness. I have also read bits and pieces of L. Gregory Jones and Chris Marshall. All of these men have been influencing my thinking about forgiveness and justice. I am interested in bringing these men into conversation with what the Scriptures teach us about forgiveness, wrath and justice of God.
    It is my thesis that embracing a relational Hebraic sense of justice and a biblical understanding of forgiveness will challenge common punitive notions of wrath and justice with the resulting discovery that God’s wrath is restorative and not punitive.

Methodology    The majority of my research will be library research. I will read widely on issues of forgiveness, atonement, and wrath. I will also be taking a class on the Theological Understandings of Jesus.

This paper will start with a definition of what Hebraic relational justice is and how it is different from our current Western judicial lens. I will then look at both the Old and the New Testaments in places where our understanding of God’s forgiveness, justice and wrath may have been misinterpreted because of the lenses we were using. Finally, I will try and formulate a better understanding of God’s forgiveness, justice, and wrath.

Expected Conclusions I expect to find our previous notions of God’s wrath to be challenged by a theological understanding of forgiveness. We will find that forgiveness does not soften the challenge of God’s wrath, but will help us see that God’s restorative initiative is to bring forgiveness to the world. I also expect to find that, as we think about God’s forgiveness and wrath, we may find that the restorative justice movement in our society today can help us better understand God’s forgiveness and justice.

More on Heresy

2010-04-26T13:45:00.000-05:00

Here is a little quote from Donald Miller's blog. I thought it was pretty interesting and relates a bit to some of the other things I have said recently here. Just some more food for thought.

"We commonly believe that the Evil One wants us to teach bad theology, and I suppose he does. But what he wants to do more is to have us teach right theology in a way that devalues human beings, insults and belittles them, and so sets them against the loving message of God.
So if we teach right theology in a way that is condescending, we are just as guilty as being heretics. That’s why the Bible spends as much or more time talking about love as it does about doctrine. My guess is we love doctrine because it makes us feel superior, but neglect love because it calls for personal sacrifice and vulnerability." - Donald Miller (read the rest here)

The Rewards of Simplicity - Book Review

2010-04-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

Can you give a book zero stars? No? Ok then it gets just one. I think I can sum up my dislike for this book like this: There is a difference between Simplicity and just being Simple. The book is written poorly with meaningless rabbit trails and stories about their family that don't add to the book. There is a constant equation of this happened and then we found this that is just too formulaic to be any help. I just found the whole book frustrating. There are a few nuggets in chapters 3 and 4 but not enough to be worth picking up the book for. We need good books about simplicity! I appreciate that the Pierece's were trying to write a book that looks at the spiritual side of this important topic, but my feeling was that they didn't succeed. In summary: I feel that the book is poorly written with a serious lack of content. Please go and find a different book on simplicity to read.

I was given a free copy of this book by Bethany Publishing House for reviewing purposes.

Perhaps a Model?

2010-04-14T18:12:00.000-05:00

In the 1600s there was a man named Georg Calixtus. He was a man who believed that Luther's interpretation of scripture was the best. This was his theological stream. But he was also uncomfortable with the rigid dogmatism and rigidity that was surrounding the Lutheran scholastic world at the time. Here is a little bit of what he thought.

"Everything that is in Scripture has been revealed by God, and ought to be believed; but not all is of equal importance. Only that which relates to salvation is fundamental and absolutely necessary. The rest is equally true, and is also important, for otherwise God would not have revealed it. But it is not essential for being a Christian. There is a difference between heresy and error. The former is the denial of something that is essential for salvation. The latter is a denial of another element of revelation. Both heresy and error are evil, and should be avoided. But only heresy is of such gravity as to keep Chrsitian from communion with each other... (There is more about how to tell what is essential for salvation and an example of Justification by Faith as something which is Biblical but not essential for salvation) Therefore, although it is important (Justification by Faith), it is not to be required by all, as if any who reject it were heretics. Luther was right in affirming this doctrine, and Lutherans are also right in insisting on its truth. But this does not mean that Catholics are heretics. And the same can be said regarding the differences between Lutherans and Calvinists on the manner of the presence of Christ in communion. Although Calvinists are in error, they are not heretics."
(Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity Vol 2. NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1985) p. 177-178

I like this idea. Though it does need to be said that originally Calixtus accused of being a syncretist (which doesn't really makes sense since that wasn't what he was doing but....) All of this is to say after my last post, I think that we need more people who are like Calixtus. Who are willing to have strong theological convictions, who believe that they are right, but also very concerned that Christians stay in communion with each other. Even Christians who really really disagree with each other (Like Luther and the Catholics)

A Plea

2010-04-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about theology, heresy, and orthodoxy. Look, the reality is that we don't agree. I don't even agree with my wife about everything theological. Maybe it's just me but it seems that things are just getting crazier. I don't know. I just watched a video in which Driscoll talks about the emerging church. It kind of bothered me. Mostly his tone, he has a bit of a sarcastic ring when he talks about those who disagree with him (to be fair it's a pretty typical tone for us younger people). Then I was just reading some stuff on John Piper's blog. Apparently he has invited Rick Warren to speak at his conference and people are going off the handle saying all sorts of crazy stuff about both Piper and Warren's beliefs. I have been in a History of Christianity class, and there was this whole period of time when the church was so consumed with theological controversies that they forgot about the poor around them. People became marginalized and exploited. Then in one of the far off corners of the world where there was this mix of Judaism, Christianity, and tribal religions, this man had a vision and Islam rose to great prominence. In my reading of History I have become convinced that one of the great attractions of Islam was that it didn't have the theological baggage of Christianity. I am a little concerned that Christianity as a whole is losing a lot of credibility with the incredible divisiveness and tone of our current theological debates. It seems that our current point in history is very similar to this point of Church history. I am all for theological debate. I totally think that we need to have strong theological beliefs. I realize that perhaps at the moment Brian McLaren is not the best person to use to make my point (Especially since his newest book has come out), but I encourage people to pick up Generous Orthodoxy and read the first chapter. The reality is that the church is incredibly diverse. Reformed theological beliefs are absolute miles away from my Anabaptist beliefs but I will never say that John Piper is not a Christian, or even a false teacher. What I am trying to say is this: Have your theological convictions, hold on to them, but lets watch the tone we use, and be very slow to cast any final judgments. As a side note. If I can be like anyone in the current theological debates it is like Dan Kimball. I don't know a lot about him, but I love reading his blog, but most of all I love the tone that he has. He is one of the best voices for loving dialogue and careful theological thinking currently out there.

Different Eyes: The Art of Living Beautifully (another book review)

2010-04-12T12:17:00.001-05:00

Different Eyes by Steve Chalke and Alan Mann is an awesome must read for anyone who is interested in Christian ethics. Rather than write a book which argues a position on an ethical topic and tries to convince the reader that this is what they should believe, Chalke and Mann write in a way that should inspire the reader to try and live differently in the world, or as they say live beautifully. There are no answers on what is right in this book. There are however, many suggestions on how the Christian life is to be lived, which should help you make the "big" ethical decisions.

The book is made up of four parts. The first two sections work on explaining what it means to live beautifully in the world and laying out the foundation for us in what God has done and how God has worked in the world. At the end of each part there are two letters written by people on opposing sides of an ethical issue with some discussion questions at the end. Chalke and Mann never come out and take a clear position on any issue (although I think that for most of them you can guess what they think). This may be frustrating for some readers, but I found it refreshing. This would be a great book for discussing in small groups, Sunday school, or with some friends in a coffee shop.

Part way through reading the book I had to stop and find our what theological stream these guys were writing from, I honestly thought that they might be Anabaptists, *sigh* this is not the case, but there are certainly some similarities to be found.

If you are looking for a scholarly work on Christian ethics, this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for something that is short, easy to read, and a great way to start thinking about ethics than this book is a must read.

If you are interested just click HERE for a sample chapter.

(A free copy was given to me by Zondervan for the purpose of reviewing. I was under no obligation to write a positive review... The book just kicked butt)

New Kicks

2010-04-10T12:35:00.000-05:00

It was time for new shoes. I have had my last pair for a long time now. They were old, and getting pretty disgusting, and they were starting to fall apart. So last night Niki and I were walking around Riverpark and I found myself a sweet new pair of kicks. Best of all they were 50% off so I only paid 20 bucks for them. Here are some before and after shots.

Dreams... not the good kind

2010-04-09T13:18:00.002-05:00

I don't dream. Or at least I never remember my dreams. There are those who are much wiser than me that tell me that you always dream when you are asleep, but I can honestly say that I never remember what I dreamed about in the morning. That is, until I learned about Baby McC. In the last week I have had two dreams about babies that I remember vividly the next morning. The first was one where I was very excited about having a baby, I would touch the growing belly of my wife, I would talk to the baby, I would tell it all the things we were going to do together... the problem was.... Niki wasn't the mother! In fact there was this really awkward tension between us. It was so awkward to try and talk into the belly when you didn't really know the person, and weren't at all sure how you felt about them. Which sort of makes me wonder why people touch random pregnant ladies bellies... HELLO! That is just weird (unless you know the person well and ask permission). Anyway, I just felt weird when I woke up after that one. And then the other night I had this dream where Niki and I were camping somewhere, and this raccoon climbed into our babies graco crib and started to eat our baby, ~~picking the flesh off it and stuff~~.... Terrifying! I actually woke up, told Niki about it, and swore that I would never take my child camping! I also decided that I wouldn't watch Bones before bed anymore. All of this is to say. How do you parents do it? My child hasn't even been born yet, and I am having these crazy dreams. Yikes! Niki may have the changing body, but these dreams are starting to make me feel like I'm crazy. Ok, enough sharing, back to my Bib Inter paper.

Gonna Be A Daddy

2010-04-01T10:43:00.002-05:00

Nope this isn't April Fools, though the day of announcement is intentional because it makes me laugh :)
But I am going to be a dad! For the whole story check it out on Niki's Blog HERE

St. Patrick

2010-03-17T21:47:00.000-05:00

Fact: St. Patrick did not bring Christianity to Ireland.
Fact: St. Patrick was not the first Bishop of Ireland.
Fact: St. Patrick did not lead all the snakes out if Ireland.

Now, if you are all worried that all the things you love about St. Patrick are just a bunch of myths then I encourage you to pick up St. Patrick by Jonathan Rogers.

It is a great book which looks at both some of the myths and the facts of the life of this great Saint. I know that this is a pretty silly thing to mention in a review, but I loved the quality of this book. It felt wonderful in my hands, and it looks great.

It is a small book, only 102 pages plus the appendixes, but packed with information. One of the great things is the appendixes at the back which include all the actual writings of St. Patrick, so after you read what Rogers says about St. Patrick you can actually go and read his Confession and his letter.

This book is an excellent primer on the life of St. Patrick, and the beginning of Celtic Christianity in Ireland. I highly recommend picking up this book and reading it next St. Paddy’s day.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

A Multi-Site Church Road Trip

2010-03-08T11:07:00.001-06:00

I just finished reading A Multi-Site Church Road Trip by Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird.

In this book they look at a number of different churches who are functioning as Multi-Site churches. In many ways it reminded me of the book Treasure in Clay Jars, by Lois Barrett. It gives a new look at different ways that churches around North America are functioning and dreaming about what it means to fulfill the great commission.

As someone who is new to the whole, multi-site movement this was a good book to get a feel for some of the benefits and hindrances of starting up your own multi-site church. They seem to offer some really good insights for any leadership team who is considering this proposal.

It is also a book that made me think a bit more about this issue. There are a number of really great positives that I see for this model. It can lower costs, it would certainly be cheaper than building a new mega church. It can also create close tight communities while at the same time having the resources a huge church. While a church of 200 may not be able to sustain a full time missionary by itself, 1 church with 10 sites of 200 people could. It also allows for pastors to be a little more specialized. Instead of having to be a preacher, counselor, and administrator, you only need to be one or two of those.

This specialization of pastoral work can be troubling as well. Does this model bring about a cult of personality? What happens when the teaching pastor decides to move on? At the end of this book there is a chapter that tries to deal with some of the criticisms that multi-site churches face.

However, they did not answer one of my biggest concerns, and that is, how does technology change the message that is being sent? The very mode that we receive our message through, shapes the message. There seems to be great rush to move churches into multi-site, because of the seen benefits of this technology, but what are the downsides, and who is talking about that? And I have to say I totally disagree with any one who thinks internet campus‘ are a good idea. I didn’t think that Mark Driscoll and I would have much in common, but on this one we are definitely together. My biggest problem with them is that it is an individualistic experience, and I firmly believe that the church isn’t at all about my experience. I believe that internet campuses are a prime example of churches foolishly rushing into a technology that will shape the church, without fully weighing the costs and damages.

All in all it is pretty good book, worth picking up if you are interesting in starting a multi-site church or just interested in knowing more about it.

Biblical Interpretation (Don't worry it's funny)

2010-03-06T20:05:00.000-06:00

Perhaps you wonder what it is that a M.A. Theology student spends so much money to learn. Well I thought I would share with you some of the tools in Biblical Interpretation that a true scholar like me learns. To do this, let us talks about how you exegete a Stop sign.

Suppose you're traveling to work and you see a stop sign. What do you do? That depends on how you exegete the stop sign.

1. A postmodernist deconstructs the sign (knocks it over with his car), ending forever the tyranny of the north-south traffic over the east-west traffic.

2. Similarly, a Marxist sees a stop sign as an instrument of class conflict. He concludes that the bourgeoisie use the north-south road and obstruct the progress of the workers on the east-west road.

3. A serious and educated Catholic believes that he cannot understand the stop sign apart from its interpretive community and their tradition. Observing that the interpretive community doesn't take it too seriously, he doesn't feel obligated to take it too seriously either.

4. An average Catholic (or Orthodox or Coptic or Anglican or Methodist or Presbyterian or whatever) doesn't bother to read the sign but he'll stop if the car in front of him does.

5. A fundamentalist, taking the text very literally, stops at the stop sign and waits for it to tell him to go.

6. A preacher might look up "STOP" in his lexicons of English and discover that it can mean: 1) something which prevents motion, such as a plug for a drain, or a block of wood that prevents a door from closing; 2) a location where a train or bus lets off passengers. The main point of his sermon the following Sunday on this text is: when you see a stop sign, it is a place where traffic is naturally clogged, so it is a good place to let off passengers from your car.

7. An orthodox Jew does one of two things:  
1) Take another route to work that doesn't have a stop sign so that he doesn't run the risk of disobeying the Law.
2) Stop at the stop sign, say "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast given us thy commandment to stop," wait 3 seconds according to his watch, and then proceed.  

Incidentally, the Talmud has the following comments on this passage: R[abbi] Meir says: He who does not stop shall not live long. R. Hillel says: Cursed is he who does not count to three before proceeding. R. Simon ben Yudah says: Why three? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. R. ben Isaac says: Because of the three patriarchs. R. Yehuda says: Why bless the Lord at a stop sign? Because it says: "Be still, and know that I am God." R. Hezekiel says: When Jephthah returned from defeating the Ammonites, the Holy One, blessed be He, knew that a donkey would run out of the house and overtake his daughter; but Jephthah did not stop at the stop sign, and the donkey did not have time to come out. For this reason he saw his daughter first and lost her. Thus he was judged for his transgression at the stop sign. R. Gamaliel says: R. Hillel, when he was a baby, never spoke a word, though his parents tried to teach him by speaking and showing him the words on a scroll. One day his father was driving through town and did not stop at the sign. Young Hillel called out: "Stop, father!" In this way, he began reading and speaking at the same time. Thus it is written: "Out of the mouth of babes." R. ben Jacob says: Where did the stop sign come from? Out of the sky, for it is written: "Forever, O Lord, your word is fixed in the heavens." R. ben Nathan says: When were stop signs created? On the fourth day, for it is written: "let them serve as signs." R. Yeshuah says: ... [continues for three more pages]

8. A Pharisee does the same thing as an orthodox Jew, except that he waits 10 seconds instead of 3. He also replaces his brake lights with 1000 watt searchlights and connects his horn so that it is activated whenever he touches the brake pedal.

9. A scholar from Jesus seminar concludes that the passage "STOP" undoubtedly was never uttered by Jesus himself, but belongs entirely to stage III of the gospel tradition, when the church was first confronted by traffic in its parking lot.

10. A NT scholar notices that there is no stop sign on Mark street but there is one on Matthew and Luke streets, and concludes that the ones on Luke and Matthew streets are both copied from a sign on a completely hypothetical street called "Q". There is an excellent 300 page discussion of speculations on the origin of these stop signs and the differences between the stop signs on Matthew and Luke street in the scholar's commentary on the passage. There is an unfortunately omission in the commentary, however; the author apparently forgot to explain what the text means.

11. An OT scholar points out that there are a number of stylistic differences between the first and second half of the passage "STOP". For example, "ST" contains no enclosed areas and 5 line endings, whereas "OP" contains two enclosed areas and only one line termination. He concludes that the author for the second part is different from the author for the first part and probably lived hundreds of years later. Later scholars determine that the second half is itself actually written by two separate authors because of similar stylistic differences between the "O" and the "P".

12. Another prominent OT scholar notes in his commentary that the stop sign would fit better into the context three streets back. (Unfortunately, he neglected to explain why in his commentary.) Clearly it was moved to its present location by a later redactor. He thus exegetes the intersection as though the stop sign were not there.

13. Because of the difficulties in interpretation, another OT scholar emends the text, changing "T" to "H". "SHOP" is much easier to understand in context than "STOP" because of the multiplicity of stores in the area. The textual corruption probably occurred because "SHOP" is so similar to "STOP" on the sign several streets back that it is a natural mistake for a scribe to make. Thus the sign should be interpreted to announce the existence of a shopping area.

14. A "prophetic" preacher notices that the square root of the sum of the numeric representations of the letters S-T-O-P (sigma-tau-omicron-pi in the Greek alphabet), multiplied by 40 (the number of testing), and divided by four (the number of the world--north, south, east, and west), equals 666. Therefore, he concludes that stop signs are the dreaded "mark of the beast," a harbinger of divine judgment upon the world, and must be avoided at all costs.

And that my readers is how it is done. :)

Thanks to Tim Geddert for introducing me and Tim Perry for this http://www.calvin.edu/~lhaarsma/hermeneutics_humor.html

Love Your Enemies

2010-03-03T11:20:00.000-06:00

WARNING: This is a long post, but I don't have time to write something shorter. I'm pretty busy here with family, but I wanted to post something since it's been a while. This is a short sermon that I had to write for my Discipleship and Ethics class. I think it's worth reading if you have a bit of time.

“Simon son of John, do you love me” (John 21:15)? Here is the haunting question of Jesus as recorded by the Apostle John. For me, the scene is a powerful one. Jesus and Peter are standing beside the lake and Jesus asks the question that has been burning in His heart. “Do you love me?” Is it really such an odd question? Peter: the Son of Thunder, the Rock, the man who recognized Jesus as the Christ, within the inner circle of Jesus disciples, betrayer of Christ. Where was Peter as Jesus suffered and died on the cross? He was not there; he was not beside Jesus’ mother to comfort her. No, Peter has betrayed Christ and fled. “Do you love me?” There is an invitation in those words. It is the invitation to respond and return the love that is offered. It is an invitation to the one who betrayed the Christ to come back into relationship.
    Not long before this scene, Jesus was sharing a meal with his disciples. John sets the stage with heavy foreshadowing as he writes that the devil has already worked his way into Judas’ heart and that Judas has already made the decision to betray Christ (John 13:2). Jesus, fully aware of what Judas is planning (John 13:21, 26), gets up from the table and takes on the posture of a servant. In a humble act of service Jesus washes the feet of His disciples. The important point is that Jesus washes all of the disciples feet, even the dirty feet of the one who, in a few hours, will walk down a dusty road to betray him.
    Sometimes it is hard for us to know what we mean when we talk about loving our enemies. Is it the nation my nation is at war with? While there is no doubt that we should seek peace and we certainly need to express love towards those people, they are often an abstract concept for us. What is not abstract for us are those who have betrayed us. We can all remember the promises that have been broken, and the lies that have been told. There is nothing abstract about the pain we feel when we have been betrayed, and we have all been betrayed. Many of us have had friends who are no longer our friends because of real or perceived betrayals. Our closest friends can become our enemies when hurt is left unchecked. When bitterness, anger, and revenge are allowed to fester in our minds, even those we are close to can become our enemies. It has happened to me. I have lost friends because I have not lived a life of forgiveness. Has it happened to you? When the Pharisees asked Jesus what the most important law was, he replied that it was to love God and your neighbor, that this was the whole law. To illustrate the neighbor, Jesus picks a Samaritan, a despised, heretical enemy of the Jews. This is what it means to love your neighbor. It means to love your enemy as well as your friend; that is the law.
    In his own life, Jesus saw those close to him betray him and become his enemy. For Peter, the betrayal was not the end. Rather Jesus sought out the one who had betrayed him and extended his love. One can only think that if Judas had been able to fight his demons for just three days, Christ also would have extended love, forgiveness, and a second chance to him as well. What a beautiful scene this would have been, to see Jesus walk across the field and kiss Judas on the cheek and to hear the words, “Judas, I love you. You are forgiven.”
    Brothers and sisters, Jesus is not just an example of how to love our enemies, our betrayers. No, in the actions of Christ we can see the actions of God for us. In the person of Jesus, God has taken on the form of the lowest servant. Jesus came to serve, not to be served. G.K. Chesterton writes, “There has fallen to earth for a token, a God to great for the sky” (G.K. Chesterton, Gloria in Profundis). God is the mighty one. The one who is too great for this world to contain. God the creator, has come to earth for us, a token. God’s heart was betrayed by Adam and Eve in the Garden. God has been betrayed countless times since by us. Yet still God comes hurtling towards us. God’s grace, mercy, and love are like a volcano that explodes forth with unstoppable power and force. Nothing can stand in front of this torrent. We are engulfed and carried away in God’s love. God comes not with judgement or anger, but with a question, do you love me? Romans 5:8-11 says,

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. In deed, rarely

will anyone die for a righteous person - although perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

This verse reminds us that we have been the enemy of God. We have stood in combat with God and we have fought against our rightful Lord. However, our rebellion, betrayal, enmity, will never be enough to dissuade God from loving us and creating a way to be brought into God’s family. God’s most earnest desire is that you be reconciled; brought into the family of God through Jesus Christ. God is love, and God’s love for each of us is such that God will not allow us to remain his enemies. God’s love overcomes the barriers that hold us apart. Forgiveness is extended, adoption into the family of God is offered. Betrayals are set aside and Jesus walks towards us, kisses us on the cheek, and says, “I love you. You are forgiven.”
It is with this, the deluge of God’s love, in the forefront of our minds that we return to Jesus’ command to love God, and to love your neighbor, even your neighbor is an enemy. Any action of love that we make towards those who have hurt us, betrayed us, will only flow out of the love we experience from Christ. Only as we experience the resurrection power of love and forgiveness will we find the ability to also love our enemies. When we learn to love our enemies, we will find that our world is opened; we are freed from our grudges and hateful burdens. Life is better lived when we are at peace with our neighbor. I also believe that in learning to love our enemy, we will also learn to love God more. We love our enemies by learning to forgive as God has forgiven us. We can learn to forgive by releasing our bitterness, anger, and grudges. It can seem like an impossible task to love our enemy. How can I forgive someone who has hurt me so deeply, but we never learn to love our enemies alone. None of us walk this path alone. Rather, we are the reconciled community of Christ. We experience the power and support of others as we learn to love our enemies. As a justified community of love, we practice what it means to forgive, to extend grace, to live in peace, to disagree without breaking fellowship, and to be patient. Learning these virtues with our brothers and sisters will better enable us to live a life of loving our enemies, betrayers, and neighbors wherever we are. We seek to live lives that obey the command to love our neighbors and our enemies. And when we fail, we acknowledge that God’s kingdom has not yet been fully established on earth and we pray with Jesus, “Your kingdom come” (Matt 6:10).
So may we be grasped once again by the amazing story of how God moves towards those who have betrayed him. May we be moved by the great God who, in grace and love, rushes to embrace those who have warred against him. May we recognize our own betrayal of God and reach out to hear God say, “I love you. You are forgiven.” And then, in turn, may we reach out to our own enemies and betrayers and pass on the words that we have heard. “I love you. You are forgiven.”

That Was a First

2010-02-24T21:12:00.000-06:00

I had this really odd experience this morning. It was about 5 Am and for some reason I woke myself up laughing. I had this hilarious dream (which I sadly can't remember anymore) and I just couldn't stop laughing. I can honestly say that has never happened to me before. I wish I could say the rest of my day was that good, but... well it wasn't a bad day, just not as funny as my dream.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? What was your funniest dream?

Community

2010-02-22T10:42:00.000-06:00

I had this sort of "ah ha!" moment last night reading Brueggemann. He was writing about the challenges of Biblical Interpretation in an increasingly pluralistic society, and in a post-modern world where, "a perspective has the power to makes sense out of the rawness of experienced life, even though it cannot be 'proven' or absolutely established" (Texts under Negotiation p. 10).

So I am reading this and I come to his line, "In Christian faith, the specific form faith takes is of a certain ilk, practiced from a certain perspective that one embraces in the face of other, rival perspectives.... This posture does not claim to be objectively true, but it claims to be a position where one will stand at cost and at risk, so that in the end, the test of its validity is non longer logic or fact, but the expenditure of one's own life, which is the only thing that has final worth" (p. 10)

My first thought as I read this was, "This is why the witness of the ~~believer~~ Believing Community is so important." Yes folks, I caught myself half way through the word believer, and realized that it is not about how well I live out the Christian life on my own. It is all about how I live out my Christian walk in community. I really can't think of a more Anabaptist thought. For me this marks a bit of a change. Not that I haven't thought that community is important, but as I read more and more I am being reminded that when the Bible says "you" it usually means the church, not the individual.

Wishing

2010-02-20T16:53:00.000-06:00

I want to go snowboarding. Watching the Olympics hasn't helped. Even if I can't pull a Double McTwist 1260... or even make it down the hill without snowplowing the whole way, I am still inspired by it. I want to go down a mountain on my board. The worst thing is we are actually pretty close to some really good mountains. However, due to space we left all our boards and boots in storage, and we just don't have the money for lift tickets and rentals. *Sigh* So instead I will just look at these pictures of what Niki and I could be doing instead of homework.

Beer Butt Chicken

2010-02-20T00:41:00.001-06:00

So today I made supper on the BBQ. When I was working at Cargill the guys all talked about how this is the absolute best way to have chicken. So I bought a Foster fresh chicken and turned on the BBQ. I have to say, it was the best chicken that I have ever had. The skin is crisp and tasty, and the meat is incredibly juicy and moist. So if you are interested here's how to do it.

1) Get a can of beer, or in my case I used a Pepsi can and just filled it half way. (the other day I found some Molson Canadian in the store so I used that. I've heard that you can also use Pepsi... and a Dr. Pepper could be really good as well)

2) Use a can opener and cut off the top of the can.

3) Make a nice dry rub. Today I used some brown sugar, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, parsley, Montreal steak spice. I mixed it all together and then put a few scoops in with the beer in the can. Use the rest to rub on the chicken. It is also important to remember that the skin won't let a lot of flavor through so you have to rub it in between the skin so it is right on the meat. It is messy but pretty fun. Once you have done that, sit the chicken down on top of the can.

4) Preheat the BBQ to about 300 place the chicken down on a pan and start cooking with indirect heat. Today it took me just over an hour until it was done.

This is what it looked like when I was done. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!

You can see the can inside of the meat. It was so much fun to come out and look and see how it was bubbling and sizzling. I highly recommend this as a new way to cook your chicken.

Brew, Books, Bikes

2010-02-15T23:54:00.000-06:00

I bought a new blend today. It is a seasonally available coffee from Mexico. On the bag it says that it has a Milk chocolate and Hazelnut. I am very excited to make myself a pot tomorrow morning. Today was a great homework day. I finished reading The Art of Reading Scripture - by Davis and Hays and All Right Now by Tim Geddert. So much reading to do this semester finishing a book is always a good feeling, and two makes me feel like I am doing really well. Tomorrow will be another day of work, but maybe I'll try my hand at writing something as well.

Today I also headed over to the DMV (since it was closed) and did some riding around their motorcycle test track. I'm doing a little practicing so that I can get my full license. Good times, I love riding on a warm sunny day.

Not that I have time...

2010-02-09T17:25:00.000-06:00

Not that I have any time for reading right now, but went to a book sale to day and found four great books that I bought... only cost my 5 bucks for them all.. There were a few more that looked interesting so I might go back for them later... but for now this is what I picked up.

The Epistle to the Philippians - Karl Barth

The Upside Down Kingdom - Donald B. Kraybill

Jesus Matters - Ed. James R. Krabill and David Shenk

Christ and Culture - Richard Niebuhr

Oh Canada!

2010-02-07T23:36:00.001-06:00

The other day in my North American Religious History class we were discussing the differences between Canada and the United States (of which there are many). As the sole Canadian in the class I thought that the best way to explain the differences was like this...

February

2010-02-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

February! Did you know that February means spring in California? It's true, the trees are budding, the flowers are starting to bloom, and the fruit trees are producing like crazy. February is a wonderful month to be living down south. February is also a great sports month. First there is the Superbowl which means a great party with friends, and the night before the Superbowl is the start of Nascar season. Also this year the Olympics are on this year, although with all my homework I am just hoping to catch a few of the hockey games, and maybe some snowboarding.

February is also Valentines, so gentlemen... you've been warned. The question is how much to do? Niki and I are going to stay pretty low key. One of the results of struggling with infertility as a couple is that it makes Mother's day incredibly difficult. As a result we are more aware of the pain that some of these holidays can cause on those who don't have a special someone in their life. So I'll probably try and do something for Niki, but nothing to big. May 14th... that's the day to go big!

Very Funny Video

2010-01-28T14:02:00.000-06:00

Here is a great clip from Sesame Street with Elmo and Ricky Gervais

How American Idol Brings Out My Worst

2010-01-26T22:56:00.000-06:00

Sadly I am watching American Idol... Nothing else on, and I'm not really feeling the Church History this evening. Anyway I am watching the people who have been rejected walk out crying and all I can think is that if I could have any job on American Idol I would want to be the camera guy who follows them out and sticks the camera in their face and follows them out as they cry. I know, it's cruel. But seriously I think that would be one of the funniest jobs on the show. Honestly though, I can't believe that I am watching this show. I really hate it. Too commercial, too specific, and there is no room for original singers. People like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, and George Young (AC/DC) would definitely never have made it past the auditions. And I think there would be some question if Gordon Downie (The Tragically Hip) would have made it. However, all of these men are incredible singer songwriters who deserve all the fame they have earned. Finally, if we need any more proof that American Idol is totally fake and stupid. Katy Perry was a guest judge????? Didn't she sing on AI last year? If I remember correctly I she was brutal (*sigh*)

First Day of Class

2010-01-25T13:23:00.000-06:00

So today is the first day of class for the semester! I have just 1.75 hours left of freedom! In just under two hours I will receive my first (of many) Syllabus. Of course since I've had almost two months off, I have done some reading and I am sitting in a pretty good place for the start of the semester. And I am actually pretty ready to get back in the class room. Sitting around is nice, but it will be good to be busy again. However, I can tell already that Monday's are not going to be my favorite day of the week. Class all afternoon, just enough time to work out and grab a quick something to eat, and then class until 9, and then work for an hour or so cleaning the school.

Fortunately I was able to finish reading all the books I bought from Amazon with my Christmas money. I had to read pretty fast the last two days to finish Miroslav Volf's Free of Charge, but I finished it this morning and now I am ready to just read school books for a while. Free of Charge was excellent. Because pretty much everything I read I relate to the subject of God's wrath, there were a few things that I wonder about. However, if you are looking for an excellent book on the topic of giving and forgiveness this is a must read. In church on Sunday they were talking about giving money and that sort of thing, and I kept wishing that the person preaching would have read this book. It would have offered so much to his sermon. Anyway that's all for now. Peace

The Wrath of God

2010-01-22T19:33:00.000-06:00

So I spent a good portion of today in the in the Library doing research for my Thesis. I read a number of different books and authors on the subject of the wrath of God. I found some stuff that I found really helpful. Also some stuff that I thought was totally bizarre. Did you know that Martin Luther was obsessed with his personal guilt? There is one account of him spending six hours confessing all his sins from the previous day. He was so consumed with personal guilt and fear of God that it affected everything he did. As I have studied the wrath of God I feel that it is very important that this issue be addressed. There is still too much of Luther's fear and Marcion's belief that God of the Old Testament was different than the God of the New. All in all it seems that is we are going to speak of God's wrath it cannot be divorced from the person of Jesus. Right now I am thinking that my Thesis will combine the issue of wrath of God expressed in the person of Jesus, and how to reconcile our call to be nonviolent with the violent images of Jesus the lamb in Revelation... or something like that. I'll need to figure out exactly how this will work. I have a few ideas, but it needs to be fleshed out a little better. So to sum up, Thesis will combine non-violence, Jesus, wrath, violence....... my head hurts.

Anyway I did do some reading by Heschel from the book Prophets it is incredible! Here are a few great quotes about God's wrath from him.

“To the prophets, we have noted, God does not reveal himself in an abstract absoluteness, but in a personal and intimate relation to the world. He does not simply command and expect obedience; He is also moved and affected by what happens in the world, and reacts accordingly. Events and human actions arouse in Him joy or sorrow, pleasure or wrath. He is not conceived as judging the world in detachment” (223/224)

“God’s pathos was not thought of as a sort of fever of the mind, which disregarding the standers of justice, culminates in irrational and irresponsible action. There is justice in all His ways, the Bible insists again and again.” (225)

“Whatever man does affects not only his own life, but also the life of God insofar as it is directed to man. The import of man raises him beyond the level of mere creature. He is a consort, a partner, a factor in the life of God. (226)

“As long as the anger of God is viewed in the light of psychology of passions rather than in the light of the theology of pathos, no adequate understanding will be possible. (282)

“There is an evil which most of us condone and are even guilty of: Indifference to evil... All prophecy is one great exclamation; God is not indifferent to evil! ... This is one meaning of the anger of God: the end of indifference!” (284)

It is impossible to understand the meaning of divine anger without pondering the meaning of divine patience or forbearance. Explicitly and implicitly, the prophets stress that God is patient, long-suffering, or slow to anger (ex 34:6, Num 14:18, Jer 15:15, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, Nah 1:3, Pss 86:15, 103:8 145:8 Neh 9:17). Patience is one of the ‘thirteen attributes of God,’ yet never in the sense of apathy, of being indifferent. Contrary to their thinking was the idea of a God who submits to the caprice of man, smiling at the hideousness of evil. The patience of God means His restraint of justifiable anger. One must not mistake divine forgiveness for indulgence or complacency. There is a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a blessing.... The Lord is long-suffering, compassionate, loving and faithful, but He is also demanding, insistent, terrible, and dangerous.” (p 285)

“The call of anger is a call to cancel anger. it is not an expression of irrational, sudden, and instinctive excitement, but a free and deliberate reaction of God’s justice to what is wrong and evil. For all its intensity, it may be averted by prayer (Deut 9:19, Ex 32:7-11). There is no anger for anger’s sake.” (286)

The Voice

2010-01-20T15:55:00.000-06:00

I was very excited when I heard about The Voice. A Bible that is aiming to catch the narrative and meaning of the Bible in a fresh expression is something to get excited about. The thing that needs to be mentioned right away is that this is more of a paraphrase than a literal translation. I think that people who enjoyed Peterson’s The Message will also really enjoy The Voice. If you didn’t like the liberties that Peterson took you will hate this version. One of the things that I really liked was the way that they formatted this Bible to feel like a screenplay. It helps break up the different voices of the Bible and to find the feel for what is going on. This is especially true when you look at 1 Corinthians 6 where the conversation between Paul and those in Corinth comes across to really capture what is happening.

The Text boxes in the Bible I had no use for. I found they added very little insight or help. On the other hand in this Bible there are many italicized portions where the translators have added text to try and more fully capture the original meaning of the text, or give us some insight that would have been obvious to the original audience.

When I read Colossians I was a little disappointed with The Voice. I felt that some of that some of the italicized portions were adding more of the translators own views than Paul’s. I also thought that language of an NLT or The Message would be easier to read and understand.

However, I then read Galatians and 1 Corinthians and there I really fell in love with The Voice.
Recently there has been debate within Scholarship about how to translate “dia pisteos Isou Cristou” in Galatians 2:16. The question here being, are we made righteous by faith in Jesus or by the faith of Jesus. For various reasons I find the later position more compelling and I was excited to see that the translators of The Voice agreed with me. I think that they also did a great job of getting the feel of Galatians.

I have also just finished reading Richard Hays’ commentary on 1 Corinthians and I found that for the most part The Voice really echoed Hays’ commentary. I think that they did a good job of capturing Paul’s meaning in this book. They really captured the sense of community and moved away from an individualistic reading of Corinthians.

For the most part I really enjoyed The Voice. I was occasionally disappointed because I felt that the translators stuck with a more traditional interpretation on some passages (Like 1 Cor 11) but was pleased with the way they pushed on other passages. If you read The Voice beside a literal translation of the Bible you may wonder if you are even reading the same book. Some of the additions do add a lot to what we traditionally have read. The best advice I can give is to read The Voice alongside a good commentary. This will help you decide for yourself how the translators have done. All in all The Voice is a good devotional book, something to give you some fresh insights into the scriptures, but not a book I would ever take into one of my seminary classes.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Truth From A Child

2010-01-18T11:59:00.000-06:00

“There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”

- Calvin

Yosemite Pictures

2010-01-17T13:30:00.001-06:00

We had the chance to go and see Yosemite this weekend. It was so beautiful. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

She Says She Loves Her Life

2010-01-16T15:23:00.000-06:00

Niki always tells me that she loves her life with me. So I thought that I would show you what that life looks like. Here is a normal day in our house! Reading, internet, homework!

And yes that is Karl Barth Church Dogmatics IV.1 on the shelf.

Holy Darkness

2010-01-14T12:53:00.000-06:00

As I was driving the other day I heard Rufus Wainwright cover Leonard Coehn’s Hallelujah. Rufus changed a few of the verses from the original and one of his new lines goes “Remember when I moved in you; the holy dark was moving too, and every breath we drew was Hallelujah” As I heard the line “The Holy Dark was moving too.” I stopped. What does it mean? Holy Dark? I don’t think that these are two words that we put together very often. But why not? Maybe I am just reading too much of the Book of Job, but doesn’t the idea of a Holy Dark make perfect sense when trying to understand God?

So often when I think about God and the way he works I think BRIGHT and PASTEL colors. But I am beginning to think that isn’t the way God always works. Often He works in the Dark. The dark is scary, we don’t understand the dark. We bump into things in the dark and we can’t see past our noses (the reason I stubbed my toe last night). And there are times that life seems very dark. Where is God for the barren woman? or the Woman who loses her child in birth? Where is God when men go to war? Where is God when all our plans are smashed on the rocks? Life seems to be filled with a lot of dark.

This is where. for me, the idea of a Holy Dark comes in. I have faith that behind the darkness there is a God who cares for us and is moving behind the scene. Maybe instead of imagining it as a black darkness, we should think of Holy Dark as a deep blue, like the night sky as it gives away to dawn. Personally I believe that the scriptures tell us we have a God who cares for us, who can guide us through the pitch, and a God who defends and pulls for us.

I don’t know what this all means. What does it mean when we can’t see God moving? How does someone having cancer fit with this idea? I don’t know, I don’t have all the answers, but in my own moments of night, I will keep having faith that behind the darkness God is moving, so it’s not just a dark that envelopes me, it is a HOLY dark.

I forgot how much I missed this (and other randoms)

2010-01-13T15:20:00.010-06:00

I really had forgotten how much I like to blog. I actually have to hold myself back so I don't post all the time. So I started reading Shane Hipps book The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media shapes Faith, the Gospel and Church yesterday, and I finished it less than 24 hours later. All I can say is WOW! This books is incredible. In fact Shane Hipps may just be one of my new favorite authors. He takes the best things of Neil Postman's and Marshal McLuhan's writings, simplifies them, and then applies them directly to the church today. I really think that this book needs to be on everyone's must read list. He really shows the way that "Media forms, regardless of their content, have a profound and subliminal power to shape the way we think" (p. 82). I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

In other news, school is still a ways off. However, I want to get my Thesis proposal written before school starts, so I have also been doing some reading on that. If anyone comes across anything about the wrath of God please pass it on to me. I'm not sure yet exactly what direction I am going, but I am pretty sure that the wrath of God in the scriptures is not quite what I have always pictured it as. More to come as I develop my thoughts on the subject.

I am also back to working out. After almost two months off I went a little too hard yesterday and was almost puking in the gym. So I'll be a little kinder to my body today. I also have a new workout partner which will be cool, we'll be doing some weights and then playing Racquetball after for some cardio. Should be good. I weighed myself and I discovered that I put on a few pounds over Christmas so unfortunately that means eating right again and being faithful to working out. Can anyone tell me, is it better to just work one or two muscle groups a day, or a full body workout every other? I would be really interested in your takes on this.

p.s. I should mention that it is beautiful outside in California today. Our front door has been open letting a nice warm breeze come through. What a great place to live in the winter!

THe Hidden Power of Electronic Culture

2010-01-12T15:00:00.004-06:00

So I just finished reading NT Wrights book Justification. I found it to be a terribly tough read. He probably needed an editor more like my wife... Someone who would make him rewrite his sentences so that they don't go on for two and a half pages (I exaggerate the length somewhat. And now at least I have someone to point to if my profs ever mark me badly on my run on sentences). I really liked the way he talked about how God has only had one plan to save the world through, and that is through the Covenant with Abraham. This is very much in line with what Gerard Lohfink wrote in Jesus and Community (an incredible must read). God has not abandoned the covenant that was made with Israel, and it is not put aside for the "era of the Church." Wright's book pushes on the topic of ecclesiology in a way that is sure to make some people uncomfortable. However it is very much in line with Lohfink. All in all I really enjoyed Justification. However, now I am really looking forward to something a little lighter. I am now starting The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture by Shane Hipps. I am just a few pages in and I think it is going to be fantastic!

I'm Back

2010-01-12T13:41:00.002-06:00

I don't keep office hours any more, and I know it's been years since I have blogged here. But I'm going to give it a try again. Stay tuned and we'll see what I can think of to say.

Seems sort of wishy washy but...

2007-09-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

ok... I know it seems a little bit like I keep changing my mind about what I'm doing, going private, not going private.... But I've decided to say good bye to blogging altogether. So the private blog is gone, and this one will just sit here as a reminder of all the fun things I've found and written. Thanks to all of you who have read, it has been a lot of fun the last two years.
To close it off I thought I would leave you all with a few of my favorite, and personally most meaningful posts.

Amazing Grace
Killer Squirrels
Why Grissom is like Jesus
Lennox
Grandma
Your Job
funniest video ever
My Fav Band
My Fav Book
In loving memory of Nate

So long blogging world!

Lot's of reading to do

2007-09-20T11:29:00.000-05:00

So I picked up my order from Amazon.. very exciting. Now I just need to curl up and read for a while. Here's the list of books I picked up!

This looks very cool

2007-09-19T10:42:00.000-05:00

Well life here is going well. Things are in full swing, meeting or youth almost every night this week. Not a bad way to kick off the year. And of course.... I'm preaching this week. It always happens that I have to preach on the same week I'm doing a Sr. AND Jr. Youth Bible study. But so far I'm loving youth, and I had a great meeting with some of the parents last night. So work is busy, but I find so much of it incredibly filling and meaningful, so you can't ask for much more than that. Let's see.... what else is new?

The other day I took a sip of church coffee, and I came to the realization that my palate has improved, and church coffee is not good enough for me.... So I've brought my press over and grind my own beans in the church, and the works.... Yes, I am a coffee snob... but if you drink my coffee you'll see that it just doesn't compare to the third rate tar that we have in the church. I figure there have to be a few indulgences I'm allowed.

Also I now run a legitimate youth ministry! Last week Thursday after our Jr. Youth some of the kids were running around the back alley and the police got two phone calls complaining. It sort of makes me mad, because they weren't doing anything destructive or even rowdy, in fact they are all great kids who wouldn't do anything bad, they just had a lot of energy and they needed to run around a bit. So anyway a few of the kid had a chat with one of our constables and me, and I think we'll stay away from the back alley now... that... or we'll all go back there for a really loud game... I haven't made up my mind yet. But it was nice, when I was in Charlotte last Christmas having a police complaint against your youth ministries was a sign that you are doing well. So I'll take it as a positive for our Jr. Youth ministry... good times. oh! and if you are a parent of a kid who was at Jr. Youth and this is the first you've heard of it. Don't worry about anything, they honestly didn't do anything wrong.

Hitting the Weights

2007-09-11T11:19:00.000-05:00

Well life here seems to be getting back into a routine! Youth starts up this week, and I have to say that this (our 3rd youth year in Altona) is shaping up to be my favorite! Speaking of shaping up... it is also that time of year, when you realize that all your big work out plans for the summer fell through, and that if you want to be in shape for next year at the beach it would be best to start now. So now I'm on this healthy eating thing, fruits, veggies, Rye bread... and such, and I've also started working out... and I've actually done pretty well in the last three weeks. I'm pretty stoked about it, and depending on what time of day I weigh myself, and how much is in my pocket it looks like I've already lost around 5 pounds. Maybe the biggest difference though is this time I have set a goal for myself. I want to lose another 30 pounds and weigh 165... which I don't think I have actually weighed since I was.... 16 maybe... anyway, that's the goal. I'm sure there will be more posts about this as the year continues.

But all this thinking about shaping up and working out and stuff has made be very aware of eating habits and other people who are in shape. When I see someone who is totally ripped I ask myself, "I wonder what he does?" But there is one thing that I saw this weekend that sort of bothered me.

On the MTV VMA's on Sunday there was a lot of hype about the return of Britteny Spears, which was basically a disaster. She looked drunk on stage, did a horrible job of lip syncing, and basically the performance was a dud. But what bothers me most is how many pictures I have seen of her in her tiny little outfit with the caption "Out of shape Britteny Spears."

What bothers me most about the whole thing is not her tiny outfit and how she promotes a life style of sex and promiscuity that we just don't need in our society, and let me be clear, that does bother me. What bothers me most is how every commentator is calling her flabby and out of shape, when really in those pictures she looks to be a healthy weight. No she doesn't have rock hard abs, but neither do most people. The media is big on telling us that we put too much emphasis's on how we look. Tyra Banks has been positive spokeswoman for models that aren't a size zero, and has encouraged people to be healthy, but also to feel comfortable and beautiful as they are. And yet... here is the same media telling us that Britteny is "fat", "flabby", "dumpy", and out of shape, when she clearly is not.... she's just not a size zero. It bothers me the images that we feel we must live up to, and I can only imagine the anguish that a young girl must go through hearing these thing said about Britteny and realizing that she isn't even in as good shape as her. It is just plain wrong! And so that is my rant, I hate the way the media has dumped on Britteny, and the way that the media is two-faced, on one side saying that it's o.k. not to look like a size zero model, and on the other blasting anyone who doesn't meet their standard. I hope that today if you are reading this you realize that you are a beautiful/handsome person and you do not need to aspire to the false concept of beauty that the media feeds you.

How do you do this?

2007-09-10T16:21:00.000-05:00

I love it... I wonder how you do this

I LOVE WAKE BOARDING!!!!

2007-09-04T09:59:00.000-05:00

After literally hundreds of tries... I am so happy to say that I officially wake board! Now all I say is "I love wake boarding!!!!" So much fun... not that I'm good or anything, but man I love to carve in the wake... goood times! Can't wait till next summer so I can go again!

It's started

2007-08-27T09:14:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we started ripping the siding off our house... not too bad actually... we got all the wood siding off and insulation around about half, and then we called it a day. Niki and I now have enough fire wood for us to have a fire every night until it is too cold to be outside. It was actually a pretty fun day. Roger and I started in the morning and decided we had two options. 1) we could work off the boards and keep as many intact as we could or 2) we could just smash those boards and rip them off... we went with option 2 good times breaking stuff.

The Church Office

2007-08-23T11:21:00.001-05:00

I love the TV show The Office. It is weird, funny, and just plain odd. If you've seen it then you might enjoy these Simply Youth Ministry Videos called The Church Office. I really think that the youth pastor in them catches the Clueless(ness) of Mike.

Episode 1 (Here)It isn't as good as Episode 2

Pics from Holidays

2007-08-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

We had a lot of fun at CanadInn in Grand Forks with the Neufeld family. Can't wait to go again and use those six free passes we got!

LOOOOONG TIME!

2007-08-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

yes! I am quite aware that it has been a long time.... but I have two good reasons! Reason 1: St. Laurent DVBS a week away from the internet. Reason 2: Holidays, a week of sleeping in staying up late, shopping, water park, and more... good times! So anyway now I'm back in the office trying to remember what it is to put in a 8 hour day, and catch up on everything I didn't think about for two weeks... good times. Anyway here are some pics from St. Laurent... it was so sweet!

Coming Soon

2007-07-31T11:52:00.000-05:00

In Loving Memory of Nate

2007-07-24T09:48:00.000-05:00

Sometimes life doesn't make any sense to me. And the question why is brought to the forefront of my mind. On the weekend I heard that a friend from Bible School, Nate Toews, was killed in an accident. Nate and I shared a instant connection when we first met at Bethany. We were both P.K's, we were both Nate's, and our birthday's were even close together. But on my part I just wanted to be associated with Nate, there was an infectious quality about Nate. He was one of those people who you meet and will never forget, who leaves a permanent mark on your life and soul, who was the presence of Jesus to many many people. I loved Nate, I loved to be around him, life was never boring in the dorm with him around. I always felt inspired and loved after a time with him... oh and my sides usually hurt to from laughing, and soaking in the joy that radiated from him. After Bethany we sort of lost touch, but a two summers ago when we were at Redberry Bible camp he and his brothers came through and did the chapels at camp. And it was so good to pick up again and hear about the things he was up to and such. Once again I was struck by his passion and love for God, and his incredible Joy! But a tragic accident has robbed us far to soon from someone who brought so much joy, robbed us of a husband, friend, and disciple of Jesus.

My prayers are with Rosanna as she grieves the loss of her husband, and with the rest of his family. And my heart grieves with them. There are no words to explain how my heart reaches out. I want to say something... but I can't... I don't know where to begin.

And we are all left with a why? I cannot except simple answers, pat answers. "God had a plan", "It was time for him to go", these answers do not answer the pain that is left, and only cause me to doubt the goodness of God. How can a good God leave a young widow to mourn? How could a good God rob us of such a holy inspiring man? How could... And yet... I do believe that God is good, and I believe that his love and comfort know no boundaries, so while I cannot believe that God caused this tragedy, or even wanted it to happen, I do believe that God is good, and will work destruction into beauty, will work tragedy into celebration, and will work death to life. I don't understand the why and don't believe I ever will, but I put my trust in the good and loving hands of Jesus and trust that he will turn our mourning into dancing.

ht: thanks Trev for the great picture from our freshman year missions trip

Thanks

2007-07-23T16:20:00.000-05:00

Hey I just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who prayed for me while I was speaking at camp. I think things went really well, it was fun, we had a good time, did lots of screaming and jumping around, and I believe God spoke to the kids. So thanks. Here are a few pics from Thursday night (thanks Erin)... if you look closely you can see the sweat pouring off my face... yuck!

Cool Verse

2007-07-20T11:01:00.000-05:00

Mmmmm Goood!!!

2007-07-19T09:36:00.000-05:00

You are looking at a 1983 Suzuki GS550.... oh so beautiful! Now I hear what you are all saying, "Nathan, you don't have your motor bike license." ... details, details. No, I haven't bought a bike, however right now I am in the process of begging Niki to "Please, please, PLEASE make the budget work to fit this little beauty into our garage!" Well here's some crossed fingers and hoping that one day I will fly free across the Manitoba countryside. In case you are wondering I caught the bike itch when I was in my second year at Bethany, and Rich Friesen took me on a ride from Circle and 8th Mall back to Bethany, ever since that oh so cold ride, I have longed for the freedom and joy of my own bike... and now it's there.... just within grasping distance. So once again I put out my plea to you my loyal readers, if you want to donate to the "Buy Nathan an uber sweet bike fund." Leave a comment and I'll send you my Mailing address. Thanks so much!

Off to WBC

2007-07-16T15:02:00.000-05:00

I'm off to Winkler Bible Camp this week.... I'm working here in Altona during the days, but in the evenings I'll be driving out to speak at their chapels.

Mild mannered youth pastor by day,

and super camp speaker at night!
Well I'm looking forward to it, I'll hang out with some of my youth that are there, and I'm going to bring a few along from here when I'm speaking, so that will be cool. Anyway if you feel like praying for me during the week, that would be sweet. I always know when people are praying. Thanks a lot

Think Gas is expensive???

2007-07-12T14:15:00.000-05:00

Think a gallon of gas is expensive?

Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 - $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Iced Tea 16 oz $1.19 - $9.52 per gallon
Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 - $10.17 per gallon
Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 - $10.00 per gallon
Brake Fluid 12 oz 3.15 - $33.60 per gallon
Vick’s Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 - $178.13 per gallon
Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 - $123.20 per gallon
Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 - $25.42 per gallon
Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 - $84.48 per gallon

And this is the real kicker…

Evian water 9 oz $1.49 - $21.19 per gallon! $21.19 for WATER and the buyers don’t even know the source. Evian spelled backwards is Naive.

Ever wonder why printers are so cheap? It’s because they have you hooked for the ink. Someone calculated the cost of printer ink at ( you won’t believe it, but it is true )
$5,200 a gallon.

So, the next time you’re at the pump,be glad your car doesn’t run on water, Scope, or Whiteout, Pepto Bismol, Nyquil or God forbid, Printer Ink!

Just a little humor to help ease the pain of your next trip to the pump.

ht: Dan

THE IMPORTANCE OF "TODAY"

2007-07-11T10:59:00.000-05:00

I'm doing some sermon prep for Sunday, and I'm preaching on Luke 4:14-30 and I found this really interesting word study on the word Today as used in Luke. I really like it, but I'm not sure how much of it I can use, so I thought I'd post it here. For all the context and study check out here. Otherwise just enjoy this little article.

"Jesus' quote from Isaiah contains the same kind of good news and bad news for us. He is talking about social and economic justice for the poor and oppressed. The good news: You can start now. You can start today. The bad news: You'll never finish. A commitment to justice for all people -- in fact, for all of creation -- is a never-ending struggle.

Today is an important word for Luke. It occurs 12 times in Luke and only 9 times in the other three gospels combined. It occurs in such familiar passages as: "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you." "Today you will be with me in paradise." And twice in the Zacchaeus story: "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay in your house today." And, "Today, salvation has come to this house." And in our text: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

For Luke today is a moment of radical change.

The shepherds come and see the savior born in Bethlehem. They return rejoicing and praising God. They had been changed.

After Jesus' visit with Zacchaeus, he is changed. He says: "Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

We can suppose that the eternal life of the thief on the cross was radically changed by Jesus' words. He is promised eternity in paradise.

In our Gospel Lesson, there is a change in the people who heard Jesus. At first they are proud of their hometown boy. They boast to one another about knowing his parents. But the more Jesus talked about God's grace -- even for non-Jews, another reaction came forth from the people. Luke tells us, "All the people in the synagogue were filled with rage." They try to kill Jesus by throwing him over a cliff.

Today is a time of change brought about through an encounter with Jesus. The change may involve attitude -- rejoicing and praising God; or, wanting to kill Jesus. The change may involve financial priorities -- giving rather than getting. The change may involve finding comfort and hope in the midst of despair and death.

However, we often avoid the changes of today. Some try to continue to live the past. "Remember the good, old days." They may remember all the good times way back when. They may remember and talk about all the things they used to do. What are they doing to make today just as glorious?

Or they may look back at the rotten past and blame all their troubles on their hated history. What are they doing today to change that past?

History is important. We constantly need to look back and learn from our mistakes and successes. But we can't live in the past. We live today. It has been suggested that the greatest threats to congregations today are past successes that no longer work well in the present. (We tend to drop past failures, but what worked for us back then, we may hold onto past their usefulness.

At the same time, I heard a speaker state that congregations that forget their past and traditions are like people with amnesia or Alzheimer -- they don't know who they are.

On the other hand, we can also avoid changes of today by dreaming of the ideal tomorrow. Someday the prisons will be empty. Someday the oppressed will be set free. Someday poverty will be ended. Someday all people will have heard the gospel. God will do all that someday -- so we don't have to do anything today to help the oppressed out of their plights.

Someday I'll loose weight. Someday I'll quit smoking. Someday I'll start exercising. Someday I'll take a college course. And we do nothing today to help make that future come true.

For Jesus' listeners, and for us, the word today is terrifying. On one hand, Jesus is not who they expected. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they ask. If today is the day of God's great salvation, what's this Jesus doing here telling it to us? If today is the great day, where are all the miracles? If today is such an extraordinary day, why don't I see some extraordinary things happening? Jesus, the boy raised in that town by Mary and Joseph, simply spoke to the people. No flashing lights. No voices from heaven. Jesus saying a few words in the synagogue. "Immanuel" -- God with us -- is Jesus coming in a few words.

Yesterday can look glorious. Tomorrow can look so glamorous. But today is so ordinary. So many of us get into a routine, a rut. Today is just another day. Was Jesus just another home-town boy? Were his words just another teacher's words? The great, saving event of God comes in common, ordinary ways. Sometimes we may even miss them. Today is an extraordinary day -- God is with you today.

Today is a terrifying word because it calls you to action now. "I don't know what to do?" You might complain. "I don't want to make a decision now," you rationalize. The call of today shakes you out of your complacency. Just as "the Spirit of the Lord" was upon Jesus, so that same Spirit is upon each of you. You will make some wrong decisions, God promises to forgive those -- and who knows how the Spirit will use your mistakes! You will make some right decisions and you know that the Spirit will use those. You will become a better person, a better believer, and this world will be a better place for some people.

We are to be radical community on earth. We are called and empowered to work for the release of people who are bound -- the rehabilitation of prisoners, the freeing of people wrapped in their shells of self-doubt and self-pity.

We are called and empowered to work on behalf of the poor and oppressed. How can we help the poor in our county? How can we help the elderly? How can we help single parents? What about the oppressed around the world? Those in Central America? Those in Namibia? Those in the new nations that used to be part of the Soviet Union?

"Those are idealistic and impossible dreams," you can say. I would agree with you. But that is why that word today becomes so frightening. Jesus is saying that the impossible is happening today. The good news is: You can start now. You can be part of those miracles today. The bad news is: You'll never finish. If you answer the call to start -- it is a lifetime commitment. There will be great, wonderful moments along the way, but there will always be more that needs to be done.

Brian Stoffregen
Faith Lutheran Church, 1000 D St., Marysville, CA 95901
e-mail: b.stoffregen@comcast.net

Throwing stuff off the bridge

2007-07-10T14:25:00.001-05:00

Just got this pic from my friend Brad (aka Potty) Yup, this about sums up the good times we have! ... and yes, we did throw all those pieces of wood off the bridge!!

Convention

2007-07-06T12:43:00.000-05:00

So here we are back in Saskatchewan.... I mean seriously, how much more are we going to be driving out here. Two oil changes in a month = too much driving. But I guess it's still nice to be hanging out at Bethany, seeing some old friends and cooling of in Jerry's office since it's very nice and air conditioned. So far convention is a convention. Lot's of meetings and lot's of people talking, some good stuff, some that is a little less interesting. Yesterday we had a class on Divorce and remarriage so that was pretty awesome, I liked the whole academic schooling type thing again. This morning I put Lennox outside at my mom and dads, and when I let him back in this morning his face was covered in golf ball sized bites. So we're thinking it is mosquitoes but if anyone knows different I'd love to hear from you. The bugs are unbelievably bad here.
Well that's all for now.

Canada Weekend

2007-07-03T09:29:00.000-05:00

So after preaching on Sunday, Niki and I packed up and headed out to Pelican Lake to spend Sunday and Monday at our Friends Cabin, a beautiful two days of boating and relaxing in the sun. I continued my quest to conquer the wakeboard... but as you will see in the pictures, I still haven't made it happen. Niki on the other hand got up on her second try..... oh well, the quest continues, I haven't given up hope yet! It was a great weekend, but just so you can see how great here are some pictures.

This is as far as I ever got up.

Jer clearly had a bit more luck
than I did.

Getting ready for a nice evening cruise

beautiful

what's Canada Day without fire works??

Mudfest Round III

2007-06-29T10:30:00.001-05:00

I know these are super late... oops, but here are some sweet pics from Mudfest!

Not much New

2007-06-28T09:41:00.000-05:00

Haven't had much to say this week. Things have sort of slowed down since we got back from Saskatchewan. It's kind of nice to have a few free evenings in a row. I got a nice round of golf in with the youth pastors here in town. One of them (Mark) is done at the end of the month so we had to give him a good 'ole farewell. I even didn't do too bad.... I really have gotten better since the first time I went. Anyway that's all for now. Going to the Miller grad this afternoon so that should be pretty sweet.

I am 83% Addicted to Coffee

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

Ryan Leech

2007-06-19T11:24:00.000-05:00

Biker Ryan Leech is coming to Altona on Friday. Not sure what time but I'll let you know. You'll want to catch this. Check out what he can do... the part where he rides the chain is INSANE!!!! The 2nd video is rather mind blowing as well.

Grad Party

2007-06-18T11:09:00.000-05:00

Wake boarding, knee boarding, tubing, food, and sun. That is what our grad party was on Saturday. It was so sweet to get away with our grads and spend a day relaxing and hanging out. There were seriously moments as I was sitting in the boat ripping around the lake where I had to ask myself, "Am I really getting paid for THIS!" It was such a blast! And just so you can all be jealous of the great time we had, here are some pics (and for the record, no I never did actually get up on the Wake board... next time)

Circle and 8th

2007-06-15T11:05:00.001-05:00

Hey go and check 'em out! Circle and 8th!!!! Click here for some sweet tunes!

God On Mute (best book ever!)

2007-06-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Pete Greig's new book called God on Mute. Let me just say, if you don't know who Pete is and you haven't read any of his books you are missing out on one of the greatest authors in the market today. If you are a fan of the Rob Bell, Donald Miller style writing than his books are for you. But of all the stuff of his that I have read this one is the best. Actually I think I would go so far as to say that God on Mute is one of the best books I have ever read (and I do read a lot of books). And I would like to say, I'm not alone in this opinion. Brian McLaren says in the forward, "The book you are now holding is the most recent member of the B-List (there is no A-List. B in this case means, Best, Beautiful, Be-sure to recommend it to others." Elsewhere McLaren goes on to say, "Along with honesty, this is a book of theological depth. Pete draws from the Bible - not in a superficial proof-texty way, but reaching deeply and broadly into the Biblical texts, with a mature sensitivity to context. Not only that, but he draws deeply from his own circle of friends, and of course, he draws deeply from his own experience. One senses that, for all his honest confessions of doubts and confusion, this is a man who talks and listens to God, not just a man who speaks and writes books on how others should do it. Honest and deep. These qualities would be wonderful enough, but this book is also skillfully written.”

God on Mute is broken up into four parts
1) Maundy Thursday. How am I going to get through this?
2) Good Friday. Why aren't my prayers being answered?
3) Holy Saturday. Where is God when heaven is silent?
4) Easter Sunday. When Every prayer is answered!
Each section does an excellent job dealing with the problems and struggles that come from unanswered prayer.

On my part I have to say, I was blown away by his honesty and his willingness to deal with tough questions and face the doubts straight on. I don't know that I have ever read a book that is so honest, and adverse to pat and easy answers. So I say, if you are only going to read one book this entire year this is the one!

It's DONE!!!

2007-06-11T10:39:00.000-05:00

Before
After

cha-cha-Changes

2007-06-05T13:44:00.000-05:00

Take a good look at it!!! 'Cause tomorrow I start a couple days of holidays, and when I'm done the roof is gonna be a whole different color!!! Yup! Going to be a manly man this week and shingle my roof.

Pictures from the weekend

2007-06-04T11:20:00.000-05:00

So here are some pictures from my time at Cedarwood

The Lodge... or at least part of it.

A view from on top of a big rock, looking over the camp

The View from the lodge

During some of our free time we (Joel, Andrea,
and me) built some awesome forts out of pillows.

Me trying to fit into the awesome fort.

DONE!!!

2007-06-02T23:37:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to say, my actual speaking for the weekend is done. I did the last session at around 8:00pm and now I just get to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Should be good... only down side is I'll end up missing Dover..... Anyway, it was a great weekend. Thanks for all your prayers

At Cedarwood

2007-06-02T14:31:00.000-05:00

Right now I'm maxin and relaxin in my speakers suite at Camp Cedarwood. I'm speaking at the Winkler EMMC Sr. Youth retreat. So far I just have a few things to say.
1) Camp Cedarwood is one of the most beautiful camps I have ever been to. The lodge is unbelievable!!! It is so plush, I just couldn't imagine being a camper (or staff here). I'd heard good things, but words just don't do it justice.
2) I am constantly amazed at how the Holy Spirit just comes in power and uses a broken vessel like me. I find this every time. Whether I am preaching or speaking or doing a Bible study, I always get so nervous before speaking. I go over my notes a million times I think, well it's ok, but not great. And then when it actually comes time to share it seems like the Holy Spirit just comes and takes over. I love it when God does that. He is just beyond anything I can think or say.
3) I like being the speaker. It's really sweet not having to organize stuff or worry about the schedule or anything. I just speak couple times and then it's up to me how I spend the rest of my time. It's actually really relaxing.
4) I miss Niki like crazy!!! She went to Saskatchewan on Wednesday so now it's been 4 days, and I am officially at the point where I want to see her so bad it actually makes me almost hurt.
Well I guess that's all for now from beautiful Cedarwood. Thanks to all of you who are praying I really know that they are making a difference.

No Opportunity Wasted

2007-05-30T14:14:00.001-05:00

One of my youth leaders here in town is applying for the CBC reality show No Opportunity Wasted. It's a show where people take on their fears and see what can happen. Personally I think Dwight would be awesome for a show like this, I would watch every episode. Anyway one of the things he had to do was make a video of himself telling why he should be accepted. Well I would say this video shows all the reasons why!!!

Sex God

2007-05-29T14:08:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Rob Bell's new(ish) book Sex God. I have to say I was really impressed by it. There were a number of things that struck me, things that I had never thought of in that way before. Now I am a bit of a biased Rob Bell fan, I love his books and think he is uber smart. But seriously this book is unlike anything I have read before and it gets my two thumbs up (for what that's worth). If you want a real in depth review of it check out Ben Witherington's review (here). Or else just get it and read it, you won't be disappointed.

Bits

2007-05-28T14:01:00.001-05:00

So for today I just have a few random things. On Sunday I had a nice relaxing afternoon, watching movies, NASCAR and playing with Photoshop. Here are a few of my creations.

on a different note. If you happen to watch any of those entertainment shows (like ET) You would have noticed all sorts of stuff about Oceans 13... in fact it becomes almost nauseating how much they talk about these things. I am so sick of entertainment "news" but that is a whole other post. Anyway, my point is, George and the gang seem very open to doing another movie in the future, my suggestion to them is quit now, before this happens (see movie)

A Bad haircut

2007-05-25T11:18:00.000-05:00

So Niki and I took Lennox for his first haircut... he still hadn't lost his winter coat, and he was so hot in the warm weather that he would just lie around and not move that much. So we took a risk and took him to a person in town that was just starting out. Now the first problem, is that she thought that Lennox looked like a black lab, which he isn't. He is a Shepard mix, and really he looks like a black Golden Retriever. But this lady shaved the poor animal all over all the way. So he is no longer black (his skin showing through makes him look grey), no longer furry, and his shaved tail makes him look like a wet rat.... I honestly didn't even recognize him when I came home. He looks terrible!!!! It’s a good think Niki picked him up, because I can’t hide anything with my face. Now I know there is some good here. He has way more energy, he is happy and doesn't over heat like an old truck, we've noticed he is much more playful now than he was... but... yuck... he looks so... terrible... it's the only word I can think of. So does anyone know how long it takes for a dogs fur to grow back... PLEASE TELL ME IT ISN'T A LONG TIME!!! Anyway see for yourself (before and then after)

Finished IT!!!

2007-05-23T14:15:00.000-05:00

Well I finally finished reading Satan and the Problem of Evil by Boyd. It was a rather long read, and it definitely expanded my vocabulary. It also really got me thinking on a level that very few books have. It really challenges some of the concepts that we have about God. It raises some good questions about how much God chooses to know, about evil in the world, and about how we deal with evil in nature. In particular I found it interesting how he points towards Satan and demons as a major reason for evil in the world. I think so often in our culture we aren't very comfortable with blaming a hurricane or tornado on evil spirits, it seems too much like we are falling back into the dark ages. After all science has told us what causes these things. But, science doesn't explain the reason why these things happen at all. And we all know (even if we aren't comfortable with the thought) that there is another kingdom that is at war with the kingdom of God. Anyway it's a big book, it's a tough book to read, but it is well worth it. I would highly recommend it to those who are looking for something deep, and thought provoking.

YIKES!!

2007-05-22T11:43:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it's been a while... ooops by bad. There hasn't really been a lot going on though. Work and play, that about sums it up. On Saturday Niki and I went shopping. I got some sweet new threads... and tried on this hat, saw that my hair was disgusting, remembered what Scams says about my long hair and promptly walked into the hairdressers and got it cut. So now I look really nice and stylish. Yesterday was a very nice day off, I quite enjoyed it. My highlight was for sure washing Lennox (an adventure in itself) and then sitting outside on our step with Niki watching Lennox dry himself. There was just a peace and a calm about it. Sitting outside, warm watching our dog play in the grass... it was one of those moments that makes you say, yes.... this is perfect.
Oh yeah! On Sunday night I went and saw some of my youth/former youth play a show at the station, that was really awesome, if you weren't there you really missed out. (thanks to Ryan for the pics)

They Like Jesus but not the Church

2007-05-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting video from Chicago where random people are asked to give their views on Jesus and Christians. Sort of a difficult video to watch, and yet inspires me to make sure people see something different in me.

ht Dan Kimball

Atheists Debate Part II

2007-05-10T09:48:00.000-05:00

So the debate was last night... all said I wasn't too surprised. One of the most painful moments was when Brian Sapient and his partner Kelly totally destroyed the argument that Kirk and Ray had put forward. When the moderator asked Kirk or Ray if they had anything to say there was a very long awkward silence, and then they said, "No, we think people can figure it out." I was sitting there going WHAT!!!! They totally destroyed or at least seriously wounded the entire premise of your argument, and you don't do anything, or try and refute it!?? The other problem was that Kirk and Ray completely failed to do what they had set out to do. They said that they would prove completely scientifically without faith or the Bible that God existed, and they certainly didn’t do that. At the end of the day it wasn't much of a debate, I would say from all I've seen Kirk and Ray got hammered, but Brian and Kelly weren't exactly stellar either (in my opinion), and some of their “facts” weren’t fact at all. But perhaps the person who got the roughest time out of it was Ted Haggard (I'm not sure why he was mentioned so often, but I guess Brian and Kelly thought it was relevant).
I thought that the best part of the whole thing was when the moderator said at the end (My paraphrase), “Maybe it isn't about winning or losing, but just about opening the floor for discussion.” My feeling on the whole thing, is debates don't work, trying to defend your point of view will rarely win people to your side of any argument. But relationships and discussion… now we are moving in the right direction. So maybe in the end the whole thing wasn't so bad, because at least it opened up some discussion, and has people talking. See for yourself, watch here or go to YouTube and search Face-Off Does God Exist there are like 6 parts there.

Atheist Debate

2007-05-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

I don't know how much you've heard about the ABC Nightline debate that is coming up. But here's the run down, Actor Kirk Cameron and another Christian are going to debate with two Atheists about God, creation, and the rest of that. It's interesting, but I've noticed a lot about Atheism in the media the last little while. Maybe it has to do with Richard Dawkins' book the God Delusion.
Anyway I was up early this morning and I watched Richard Dawkins and George Stroumboulopoulos on the Hour. So after watching that (click here to see it) I'm really hoping that Kirk and his Christian buddy do better than what they did before (see video).

Now I am all for conversation and there can even be a place for all out debate (all though I think this sounds like ABC is going for a ratings grab). But I really would feel better about this if they had some of the right people there. I have this sinking feelings that this could be a real gong show. That banana logic is more than a little thin.

Sunday

2007-05-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

Well to be honest the adventure started on Saturday. Saturday morning I woke up with my eyes caked shut. No big deal right!? I mean who doesn't have I gunk in their eyes from time to time. But as the morning went on my eyes got worse and worse. Soon they were sore, puffy, and oozing snot... yellow guck that looked a lot like yellow boogers... disgusting. To make things worse, my vision was blurry and I couldn't see things that well. Yuppers, eye infection, in both eyes. Now normally this is no big deal.... I mean hey, it's a rainy day, I get to lie on the couch and my wife gets to take care of me... sweet deal. Except. I had to preach the next day. So Niki went and bought some eye drops and we promptly doubled the recommended dosage. On Sunday morning I woke up, eyes still a little crusty and very red and puffy, but MUCH better. So I was able to at least see my notes. People in the church were very kind. True there were a lot of comments like "You look terrible." "You looked hung over." And from those with a little more experience in the world, "You look like you're stoned." I knew I was in trouble when people at the back of the sanctuary are staring at me trying to figure out what's wrong. One of our youth just stared at me in foyer, until I said, “It’s ok! I know my eyes are super red and puffy!” Anyway, I explained to the church what was up, and then told them that I wasn't going to be shaking hands with them, because I had it on good authority that this is very contagious (hopefully Niki doesn't get it now). Anyway on top of that, on Sunday morning I had the beginnings of a cold, and an upset stomach. Not my favorite way to feel before preaching. Just before I went to speak for 2nd service, I remember praying, "God you're going to have to get me through this without falling down." Church finished and I went home and spent the rest of the day on the couch. I find it just amazing how God strengthens us in our weakness. As much as I hate being sick, and feeling weak, I do love to see how God uses that.

On another note, Kyle Busch came in 2nd at Richmond, so that is always a good time!!!

Camp Arnes

2007-05-01T10:07:00.000-05:00

ALRIGHT!!!! BACK FROM CAMP ARNES!!!!! Man what a sweet Jr. Youth retreat! There is nothing like getting away with 35 grade 7 and 8's for a rockin weekend. Some of the highlights were, late night games involving glow sticks and water guns, Spew, our speaker Dan, when the van broke down on the way home and had to be towed back ,and swimming in the lake... and yes... that is still all ice on the water. It was a great time and I really believe God spoke to a lot of youth... which is the whole reason we go! good times....