ruminations

Thoughts on Communion

2010-02-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

We (singles at Northwest - aeffect) have just started a 12 week-ish series on liturgy, which is not to say that Matt is going to talk for an hour every week about stuff other churches do that we don't, but we are actually changing the format of our service for the next few months. The desire is to connect with God (not cause were extra spiritual), connect with our heritage as believers, and grow in our understanding, love, appreciation for the communion, baptism, the body of Christ, the richness of our faith, the thoughtfulness of the ancients, etc.
last night Jonny spoke on communion, which inspired a few thoughts. I first started thinking about all the laws in the books of Moses, the monthly, yearly, routinely, daily rules one had to abide by. then i remembered that we westerners think very little of all those laws, but the jews didn't. the sacrifices, and observances were expressions of worship, they (ideally) were done in love, in a way, God made it easy for His children to express their love for Him. When has someone you loved ever told you "I feel loved, when you ... " and you thought to yourself, this sucks, now i have to do it or they'll think i don't love em! hell to the no, we humans love the opportunity to express our love to those we love, and it is so much easier when we know that it'll be received as such. this was the relationship the law held between YAHWEH and the Israelites.
so... today we have communion and baptism, the only things God specifically told us to observe, and yet His grace envelopes these commands, first when he says to be baptized - He says do it after you become a believer, rather than giving a time frame. and for communion He says, "as oft as ye do it" meaning He leaves it up to us to decide how much we get to enjoy the Lord's supper.
I see the Lord's supper as a command similar to the laws of moses, but created in an age of grace (this is not to say there was no grace from YHWH). I see the Lord's supper as an opportunity for us to express our love to Christ in a way that we know He loves, and with the body of Christ. finally (sorry its wordy) I see communion as maybe the most sacred worship a believer can participate in - it is communal, commanded, expressive, tangible, memorable, available, and often hopefully.

One of my favorite quotes by CS Lewis

2010-01-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is... A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. - CS Lewis

book review, enjoy?

2009-12-01T18:33:00.000-08:00

I wrote a book review, sorta-ish

YOU ARE NOT SAVED

My spirituality brings all the boys to the yard,
And they're like
It's true-er than yours,
D**n right it's better than yours,
I can teach you,
But I have to charge.
In the evening they will examine thee in love. – John of the Cross
I have recently completely wrecked my copy of the book Seeing God, Jonathan Edwards and Spiritual Discernment, because of my vigorous underlining, impassioned note taking, and coffee spills. This author of this paper intends to give a biased description of the book based on what stuck out to him the most, and how it impacted him the greatest.
The authors’ (Gerald R. McDermott) intended thesis in the book: to help people determine whether or not they be elect, and to live accordingly in awe and worship of the beauty of Gods holiness. The subtitle happens to be Johnathan Edwards and Spiritual Discernment so it should be noted that the author also intends to help the believer be spiritually discerning in their appraisal of their own salvation, your salvation, her salvation, etc., and be able to make wise choices as a believer by being able to sift the filth of the worlds theology and know only what is the pure the Word of God, with the assumption that Jonathan Edwards also espouses similar philosophies.
The author of this paper feels compelled to mention that while the author of the book in question has a stated purpose in writing this book, it is not evidenced in the writing of said book. In fact, based on what is considered (by the author of this paper) to be the result or actual purpose in the printing of this book, the reader might agree as well, regardless of their deep and heart felt respect for Johnathan Edwards and those who study his works, there is no good reason. The following three statements seem to be the sum of McDermott’s view and purpose in this book:
“The only man who has a right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Jonathan Edwards said that there are two reasons lax saints have a difficult time finding assurance. First, there is little grace in such a person’s life, and whatever grace is present is mixed with abundant corruption.” – Gerald R. McDermott
And finally, “It is no wonder that a negligent saint will be plagued with guilt and fear, unable to find the peace and joy that come with assurance of salvation.” – Gerald R. McDermott
I must admit, I do not find these sentiments in scripture, nor do I find that they are justified by any of the theology popular among men.” – Author of paper

In the Introduction to the book McDermott gives reasons for what he considers to be “Spiritual Confusion” (or disgust) in our world, which is valid in its application to both believers and non-believers alike. He goes on to explain that spiritual confusion is what is wrong with the world of Christians and the world of those who might be or would be Christians. He mentions “Declining trust in religious leaders” as the first reason for a decline in our God awareness, he goes on to cite what were at the time considered to be the 4 most trusted people in industry in order of most trusted to least: Pharmacist, College Teacher, Engineer, and Religious Leader. This list is fairly amusing in that the last 15 years have changed things quite a bit, from Pharmacist being associated with pharmaceutical companies who are considered some of the least trustworthy in the industry, to engineers, who are pretty much on no one’s raider and finally religious leaders, who are almost always suspect, at least in the media anyway. This does not take away from his point though I see a number of his examples as being what once was, and maybe I have had to break out the micro-fiche a little bit when reading him, but otherwise not all is lost.
The second trend that lends our culture to spiritual idiocy is “Disenchantment with organized religion.” I have no idea what was going on back when he wrote this book other than Jim Baker was having sex with someone who didn’t have big pink hair, and that was bad. This point is probably more obvious than it was even then. It seems in America there are more church plants and emerging churches, and entrepreneurial churches popping up than Starbucks. I imagine that this is because they are unhappy with what they see at church and they have an idea of how it could be done better, so they start their own church or find another and another and another. Protestantism in this country maybe going crazy, we seem less like the body of Christ and more like the Schizophrenia of the Christ.
“A third cultural pressure causing spiritual confusion is Religious Pluralism.” I can think of nothing more prevalent, but it seems this is becoming more and more a part of our Christian culture. I am not overly concerned about the broader culture espousing pluralism, though it does seem to make things more difficult. I am more bothered by the amount of friends I have grown up with over the years who have decided that Jesus was good, but not great, and that there are many paths that lead up the mountain side. I might find this point most troubling in that it has affected those I love most the most. I think that as believers who no longer think so highly of God and His word it is not enough for those who love them to console ourselves in saying, “well, at least they’ll be in heaven” I am truly broken by the relationship they are missing in Christ.
Finally, well, not quite yet, I should mention that the reason I spent so much time on these four points is that I found them not only interesting but also very helpful is discerning our culture, and in thinking about how our culture can be better aided. “Intellectual Autonomy” is defined as “…the attitude that I (an individual) am not intellectually mature if I permit other persons, or particularly the institutional church, to influence my thinking” or “all spiritual truth and wisdom is within me.” I do not really understand what he means here in that I don’t really know people who would resonate with that thought necessarily. But I would like to say that if he meant that people like to find their own way, while at the same time not submitting to anything they do not prefer, than I would say yes absolutely. This is certainly a problem of spiritual discernment but also an issue of allowing God to be God, and recognizing that we are not – which is almost impossible for our culture. McDermott ends with, “…they (Christians) don’t know how to judge between different Christian groups, leaders or teachings (concerning competing Christian claims)” while I would add that the world chooses not to.

Explanation of key arguments:
The author spends a great deal of time arguing for a distinction of True Spirituality which is what the author refers to as one’s Salvation, with a ring of assurance.
If you have a “religious experience” or what McDermott considers to be a religious experience and then you peter out, or fall on hard times spiritually – you weren’t really a Christian in the first place. To any individual reading this, regardless of whether they read the book, the above statement is going to sound over the top and biased, but it’s not. Ninety plus pages into the book the author spends a paragraph telling the reader that they should not be discouraged if there not perfect, and then back into the onslaught of stories of fallen “saints?” I’m not sure if I’ve made my point clear yet, but my take on McDermott’s book is that he says he is trying to help people be spiritually discerning, and he illustrates this by telling countless stories of people he knew who called themselves Christians and then stopped calling themselves Christians and behaved in an un-Christ-like manner, which always always left him concluding that they were not saved. Here is the tale end of one such story, “I was not surprised to hear a year later that she had gone back to the ways of the world, and that she had been sleeping with a male song leader while serving our prayer group.” This is what he wrote of Jean who “spoke in tongues and enjoyed the ‘Jesus jollies’ in their prayer group.”
McDermott writes, “I have been trying to argue that true spirituality is rooted primarily in an attraction to God and his works in and of themselves and not because of the benefits he brings.” He goes on to go so far as to say that “the person inhabited by the Spirit will gradually become holy. This is the chief reason that saints have a sweetness and beauty about them…” I believe McDermott’s view of what can take place in the believer’s life completely blocks out the millions of examples of people struggling to walk well in their faith. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be great if our faith always smelled like roses, but as the great philosophy somewhere said, everybody’s got faith holes and they all stink. (at least a little, right?)
In a word, I think McDermott romanticizes Christians (Which is different from Christ), and in doing so he tends take the focus off of God. This is an excerpt from his book where he describes someone who has been saved“… he was overwhelmed by the beauty of Jesus’ suffering love for his own sin-sick soul. This experience left him with a fear not of eternal damnation but of wounding the heart of the beautiful Savior who suffered for him.” This story, I think is in the book because he wants believers to think of something like this when they think of their “salvation experience” and I don’t think that that sort of experience is true to a lot of believers. Of course McDermott might not have been writing to such a skeptical audience and brutal honesty was certainly not a thing of the eighties, otherwise hair and clothes would not have been so baggy. Though in romanticizing the living out of our faith he draws stark and impossible contrasts between those that have faith and those that “clearly” do not. I should make it clear that I do believe that Christ does a transforming work in us, and once we have become a new creation in Him we are no longer dead to sin, and fortunately now alive to living in righteousness in Christ, but I don’t think we cease to stink, because we are still tainted, we got a little taint on us.
In Summary of his key arguments, I understand him to suggest that basically Christians persevere to the end because of their grasp (any grasp at all will do) of the beauty of God’s Holiness, and thus living as such.
Discuss personal and ministerial application of this material
It seems that from a ministerial perspective there is much to be learned from McDermott’s book concerning culture/people and how we can help them.
I went to an independent Baptist college in my undergrad, and as I sat in church twice on Sunday and again every Wednesday night (three to thrive) I listened to the pastor say some horrible things lots of times. I began to wonder how in the world I could bring my unsaved friends to this church (it had to be that church because we were not permitted to go to another church) when I knew they would never hear the gospel before first hearing how awesome being a republican is and how horrible democrats are. You would be correct in assuming that they were all democrats, but probably not because they weren’t Christians, I digress. Anyway, so as I sat in church week after week I began taking mental notes of what not to do, I have filled steno note pads. I tell this story, though it is extreme, to explain how even though I said a lot of negative things about McDermott’s book I was still able to gather much.
I also should mention that there was lots of very good stuff in the book, I just feel like some of the other stuff he said was a lot louder. I think that for believers the spiritual disciplines that he mentions are important and can be quite helpful as long as we do not think that we can become holy by becoming more disciplined and rigid.
I believe as he does that “the unexamined life is not worth living” and so we must not only examine ourselves, but examine ourselves specifically for whether or not Christ be in us and working in us. Though I do not think that while this can be quite discouraging we should conclude that we are not children of God because of our many many acts of indiscretion.
Finally, I feel the book can be helpful if he would cut out 99% of the illustrations, the emphasis on who is not saved, and the first half of the book.

PNG & peaceful penetration

2009-11-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

I have just begun reading this book about Papua New Guinea, it was published in 1969. Though I do not see this as the most up to date information, I do think it will still be helpful in many senses.
Here is a paragraph from the first page...

"Papua-New Guinea would be one of the last countries in the world - perhaps the very last - where genuine exploration still goes on. This is done according a unique form and tradition. The idea of 'peaceful penetration' has been applied so strictly in the territory that an officer who shoots a native, even in the extremities of self-defense, must expect to be charged later and brought before a court."

a hobbits course

2009-11-28T09:44:00.001-08:00

We borrowed this from the alamo draft house movie tavern in austin, and today we celebrate great food, ale, friends, and film...

First Breakfast 10:30
Fresh Hens eggs, nice crispy bacon, grilled mushrooms and orange slice
Irish Coffee

Second Breakfast 11:15
Strawberries and Cream
Cristalino Brut Rose Cava Spain

Elevensies 12:00
Seared-housemade lamb sausage and tomatoes with cheeses, cabbage and pickles
A glass of fine Mead

Luncheon 2:00
Syrah braised spareribs with mashed taters, roast baby carrots
Craggy Range "Te Kahu" New zealand Meritage

Afternoon Tea 4:00
Local baby greens with garlic blackberry vinaigrette, chevre-herb galette cookies
Tea (optional grandma's tea with a shot of whiskey)

Dinner 6:00
Stewed coney with taters, carrot, leek, and fresh garden herbs with crusty bread
Les Jamelles Pinot Noir, Vin de Pays France

Supper 7:30
Swirl of tomato and spinach soups wild mushroom crouton, apple pie
Willm Riesling, Alsace France

Lembas bread as needed

Concerning Bapism

2009-11-19T17:28:00.000-08:00

The early church had books of instruction in righteousness and practice as well as certain NT manuscripts available to them., on of these "books" was the Didache...
Concerning Baptism
Now concerning baptism, baptize as follows: after you have reviewed all these things, baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in running water. But if you have no running water, then baptize in some other water; and if you are not able to baptize in cold water, then do so in warm. But if you have neither, then pour water on the head three times in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. And before the baptism let the one baptizing and one who is to be baptized fast, as well as any other who are able. Also, you must instruct the one who is to be baptized to fast for one or two days beforehand.
from the Didache 7.1-7.4

for more on the didache
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didache

Why I love Steinways

2009-10-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

I have recently started attending a small bible study group via northwest bible church - i got plugged in with about 12ish guys, and they split the week i joined. So the group i'm in is about 5-6 strong, we begin like every other bible study bs-ing about whatever, but then we go into the other room where there is a baby grand. the guy whose house we meet at teaches piano out of his home all day, so we have the privilege of being led in worship by a concert pianist, and i love it. we just sing hymns, but for now it is my favorite corporate worship experience that i get to participate in.
his piano really isn't a Steinway, i can't remember the name, but it doesnt matter.

I will have these bookshelves

2009-07-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of convincing Bryan to make these for me with my meager assistance.

the greatest lights ever!

2009-05-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

i love this idea, i wonder if we could incorporate this in mexico during mission trips and such, i'm gonna send this to amore ministries.
i wonder how i can do this in tx, i wonder if brandon and jennie could use this ...

I love bbq

2009-05-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

and i love helpful tips since i don't have a wealth of experience at my fingertips. I have thought that the best way to learn really great BBQ tips was to hang out with rednecks, and while that still may be true, there may be easier ways like reading... http://lifehacker.com/5264724/top-10-skills-to-master-your-grill (via john jones) which includes the tip i'm about to impart to you as well as 9 others.
I always have a hard time knowing the when meat is done, chicken, fish, steak - i mean once i cut it open six or 7 times i got it figured out, but that is not ideal, here is a helpful little chart explaining how all you have to do is touch to check.

by pressing the thumb and finger associated with meat readiness you can deduce how ready the meat is based on how similar it feels to your thumb muscle...

Judges: Beware of Women

2009-04-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

The purpose of the paper is to introduce you to different women in the book of Judges and their story in relation to how God was using women in different ways than is normally assumed. These women are heroic, exploited, lovely, and sacrificial. Their stories are amazing and horrible and do not fall into the stereotypes of biblical women. Our Goal is to understand God’s purpose in giving us these stories, and how they are to fit into our understanding of God and there place in our lives.
The first lady is Achsah, who would be Caleb’s daughter. She is brought onto the scene by the announcement of her father to give her away to the one who defeats and captures Kiriath-sepher. This might seem like a horrible thing by our understanding of how things happen today, but this was actually rather normal for leaders to give their daughters away to other leaders, champions, heroes, etc. if nothing else, it insured that the giver’s daughter married a great man of some sort. So Othniel, Caleb’s younger brother, according to the text is the one who arose to the challenge, thus becoming Caleb’s brother and son-in-law. The Talmud argues that Othniel was Caleb’s stepbrother, while others argue still that Caleb and Othniel’s father were brothers, while I don’t care, because there seems like a little too much inbreeding back then anyway.
Achsah’s story is not over; Achsah encourages her new husband to get some land from her Father. It seems kind of odd that she asked her husband to ask Caleb for the land because she was the one who went and asked for it anyway, maybe she was just letting Othniel know what was going on, or she wanted him to think it was his idea. So she went to Caleb and he immediately knew she wanted something so he cut to the chase and asked what she wanted, so she said, “Give me a blessing since you gave me some land, oh and I want a natural spring to.” Caleb gave her a blessing and two springs instead, this seems like a really sweet story to me of the relationship between a father and daughter, it reminds of the verse that says if a father is happy to give his children gifts, how much greater it is for your heavenly Father to give to His children.
In Judges 4 and 5 the story of the Judge of Israel Deborah unfolds, she is introduced to us as the Judge during a time of oppression for Israel, because of their wickedness. Deborah got her experience from being the go to person for advice while she was in Ephraim, the text actually says that she sat under a tree and people came to her to get judgment calls.
By the way, Deborah is also referred to as a prophetess, which probably explains why the first thing the text tells us she did was tell someone what God wanted them to do. She summoned a man by the name of Barak from Kadesh-Naphtali and told him, "Behold, the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, 'Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. 'I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.'" I love Barak’s response to this, maybe because like I said earlier I think we have an off impression of how God views women, but his response is basically, “I’m not going, unless you go with me” so she does. Deborah goes on to tell him that though God will use him to help gain a victory for Israel, the victory will not be his, but a women’s.
So through some semi-elaborate plan the Canaanites were drawn out, and beaten, chased down, and beaten again, and everyone died, except their commander Sisera, who got away. Sisera fled on foot to some woman’s tent by the name of Jael. Sisera thought he would be safe because these people had the same allies as his people. So Jael fed him and took care of him, and then he took a nap, and while he was napping Jael ran and got a hammer and nailed his head to the floor, so he died. Barak showed up some time later from tracking Sisera, and when Jael saw him she told him that she knew where Sisera was, and then she took him to where he was. Which is exactly what was prophesied by Deborah.
The next woman in Judges is unnamed, but her role is not. The story is about a man by the name of Abimelech who was not nice. Abimelech was the son of Gideon, and he had 70 brothers, Abimelech thought that he should be ruler rather than all 70, so he devised a plan and killed them all except one, and then became ruler. The thing was that Abimelech did not have a rightful claim to that position since his mother was a concubine. As the story goes Abimelech terrorized the people and the land going to and fro destroying everything in his path.
Abimelech reigned three years and near the end he and his men entered into a campaign to take the city of Shechem. During the fighting, a woman through a millstone down onto Abimelech’s head, thus crushing his skull. Abimelech had the presence of mind to ask his armor barer to stab him so that it would not be said that Abimelech was killed by a woman, so he did. Unfortunately for Abimelech we know the real story which is that he was in fact killed by a woman, loser.
The fourth woman is probably actually a girl, a daughter to be more precise. Her story comes out by way of a man named Jephthah. Like other men in Judges who find their life intertwined with “the women” of Judges, he is a valiant warrior, and also the son of a harlot, which seemed important back then. So important that Jephthah’s step brothers kicked him out of the house of their father once they were old enough to do so. So Jephthah went and hung out with a rough group until one day the house of his father called him back to become their leader in a defensive against the Ammonites. Jephthah responded as pretty much anyone would, and said, “first you kick me out, and now you want me to lead you?” and they said, “yeah, sorry about that.” So Jephthah started corresponding with King of Ammon as the leader of the army of Israel to try and reconcile the issue. Jephthah plead his case and the King of Ammon decided he wanted to attack the people and take their land anyway, so he did.
The Lord had blessed Jephthah in battle and on the eve of fighting the Ammonites he vowed to the Lord to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house upon his return home, if God would give them the victory. God did give them the victory, and the first thing out of Jephthah’s house was his daughter, oops! So Jephthah gave her some time, and then he killed her, but she was commemorated after that. Someone else noted that it is interesting that in the beginning of Judges we see Caleb blessing his daughter and near the end we see Jephthah cursing his.
Then we have the story of Samson and his many foreign women that led him further from God, and then finally his penultimate demise was brought about by Delilah. Delilah sold out Samson for a few bucks, while Samson sold himself out for some sex, and God used this.
Our final women in Judges is introduced by the unfortunately common and boding phrase, “Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel…” the story of this last girl is tragic, she was the concubine of a Levite (whats up with that?). So the Levite and his harlot were traveling and at nightfall they had to make a decision as to where to stay. They decided it would be better to stay with people of their own country than with foreigners, so they stayed in a territory owned by the Benjamites, in an old man’s house. Later that night some of the men of the city came to the house and requested that the Levite come out so that they may sodomize him, he said no thank you, but you can use my concubine, so they did, all night. When the Levite awoke he found the girl dead at the foot of the door, so he threw her on his donkey and continued on his journey. When he got home he cut her up into 12 pieces and sent them to the twelve tribes of Israel. The men of Israel decided that they should kill all the Benjamites, and whatever Benjamite was not killed would not be able to copulate with any of the other tribes ever, thus ending their existence. So Israel killed 25,000 Benjamites, leaving only 600 to hide out in the rocks. Well Israel felt kind of bad about that, and they thought it would be a shame to have only 11 tribes, so they went to a nearby city and killed everyone who was not a virgin, and then kidnapped the remaining 400 virgins to give to the Benjamites. But they men in charge of Israel’s fighting men felt bad because there were 600 Benjamites and only 400 virgins – do the math. So they told the Benjamites about a party in Israel were all these virgins were hanging out so that they could go kidnap them and make them the mothers of their children, and they did. Thus the tribe of Benjamin was saved.
As you can see from the book of Judges the role women play is varied they are heroes sometimes, mail other times, and sometimes they are just wombs. I have to admit Judges leaves me a little ill, and by a little I mean violently and deathly. I suppose it is good to note that when these wicked things were perpetrated on the women, it was because, “Israel did what was right, in their own eyes” rather than follow God. I appreciate that while amidst the wretchedness of Isreal’s men, there were wise and godly women who led Israel to victories, and who followed God.
There is more to note, and that is that God does whatever He wants, and uses whomever He wants. God does not fall into a system or a theology, He is not predictable, but He is consistent with His nature. I walk away from Judges thinking that all there is to do is serve God, and beg Him to sustain me through whatever trial He leads me through.

waterboarding

2009-04-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

I hate waterboarding...

nice one

2009-04-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

an audi dealership in LA went and bought an add on a billboard next to a bmw dealership (see board in back) so then bmw took one out. oops

Saturday Night Live

2009-04-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

SNL usually sucks and pretty much rarely has had good material, maybe in like 30+ yrs of stuff they could put together one good DVD, whatev. Anyway the last two weeks have been worth watching, here is one of my fav new characters ...

this is just as fun to repeat later in conversations - if not funnier

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

2009-04-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

Watch the Trailer looks good to me

# of Pirates killed by Presidents

2009-04-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

This should clear things up

i found this at http://www.vetocorleone.com/2009/04/number-of-pirates-killed-by-each.html

plug in your X

2009-04-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

When I woke up this morning i was dreaming that I was speaking with the X and I was disappointed in her for not recharging the night before, you know like plugging herself in, like I do with my phone, ipod, laptop, bluetooth, etc. I think my present and past worlds are crossing. thats prolly not that wierd right?

i suck at blogging

2009-03-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

meaning i do it very little and about very boring stuff, i can't even imagine that the 1.5 people that read this are interested, so i'm gonna try to transfer some of the stuff i find interesting into a neat and concise blog more often.
first, i thought i'd share an email that someone sent me about a month ago. I've known this person for pretty much ever, but over the last couple of years our relationship has changed, not better or worse, just changed. anyway, we dialogue about theology, i try to promote doubt in his mind. not doubt in god or anything, but doubt that everything your heard growing up in church and everywhere else is suspect, and needs serious study, basically i want him to see what the scriptures actually have to say. I try to do this with everyone i graduated high school with, or anyone i used to go to church with when i was under my parents roof. i think it works sometimes. so anyway, here is the email he sent me last:
I would love to know the detailed truth about

Heaven

Hell

Hades

2nd death

Lake of fire

Paradise

Etc.

i didn't really respond right away to this, partly cause i don't think i'm supposed to be the bible answer guy, not to mention i can't, but i do intend to direct him to some reading, and maybe talk about how to study the bible some.

peace,
s

Levirate Law in Genesis

2009-02-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

Levirate laws’ first mention in the Old Testament was in Genesis 38 concerning Judah and Tamar, Tamar had married one of Judah’s sons and then God killed that son, so Tamar then married her bereft husband’s brother, as was her right. The new husband was also smited by God, so naturally Tamar requested Judah’s last son, which gave Judah cause for pause. Judah was afraid that the woman may be cursed, so he maintained authority over her as she was supposed to be perpetuating heirs. However, Judah withheld his third son in the interest of saving him, but at the expense of defrauding her. Tamar then skipped a step in the Levirate Law process, when she slept with Judah and got pregnant. She did this by posing as a prostitute, apparently she knew Judah had an appetite for desert prostitutes, and she ensnared him into fathering her child. (Because Judah was an honorable man he left some of his belongings to assure her of payment)… When Judah found out she was pregnant he ordered that she be brought up on charges, but when she revealed that he was the father (by showing him his stuff) he referred to her as “more righteous than he,” and had the charges dropped. Through this strange process, Tamar was given justice, and Judah owed her no more, specifically his other son.

Levirate Law

2009-02-15T06:51:00.000-08:00

I'm more interested in the Old Testament this year than i have been since I was 8. I think one's theology is deeply lacking if it is not heavily influenced by the OT. Though Levirate Law does not contain the deepest insights into God, it like other seemingly insignificant stories/laws in scripture help us see Yahweh from different angles, ultimately giving us a more complete pic. Anyway, I'm going to blog about Levirate Marriage this week with a focus in Ruth 4, these are the topics ...

Levirate Law in Genesis
Levirate Law in Deuteronomy
Possible Evolution of the Levirate Laws
Theological Explanation for Levirate Marriage or Property and Progeny
Ruth 4
Ruth and the Go’el

and today is...

THE BROTHER IN LAW LEVIR LAW

The purpose of this paper is to outline Levirate Marriage as it pertains to the book of Ruth. This paper will discuss the social context of laws surrounding widows, the evolution of Levirate law and in so doing mention some of the practical aspects. As previously stated, this paper will discover what is unique in how the Levirate laws were carried out in Ruth as well as traditions and customs that came into play ultimately allowing Boaz to redeem Ruth and an heir through whose genetic line would ultimately take part in producing the One through whom the world could be saved.

broken

2009-02-14T15:34:00.000-08:00

shayna and i broke up and its horrible, i just removed her from speed dial, and that was horrible.

drama queen?

2009-02-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder If I'm a drama queen. not like i turn stuff into drama, but i operate (?) my life in a way that produces/creates drama...

How to be loud

2009-02-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

How to section...

How to be the loudest person in the world.

1. learn a second language, but not the accent - make up for it with volume
2. stick tooth picks in your ears until permanently deaf
3. do not distinguish between what you know consider normal talking volume and a whisper
4. whisper in church. :) is that rude?

2009-02-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

I was in Austin this weekend, which was fun and also very important, you see Blue one of the two cats my roomates own, died this weekend. It is important that i was out of town, cause i could definitely see myself being investigated for giving the cat a urinary tract infection...

2009-02-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

When i heard that somebody from Grapevine, TX broke the Guitar Hero III Guinness Book of World Records, I was sure that they meant Corinth, TX - I fully expected to see Byron on this Video...

http://www.dfw.com/117/story/92560.html

2009-02-04T09:54:00.001-08:00

I listen to the Diane Rehm Show sometimes, its got good stuff sometimes. todays was this bit...
11:00John West: "The Last Good Night" (Counter Point)

John West tells why, and how, he assisted his parents with their suicides.
He offers a first-hand account of the decision no child wants to face and explains why he followed through on his parent’s desire to choose death with dignity.
Guests

John West, has a law degree from the University of Wisconsin and lives in Los Angeles.
I became interested when they wondered aloud if he could be charged with anything, since a. he admits in assisting and b. he lives in CA, where it is still not legal to euthanize your folks, not to mention he is a lawyer - all things that make this slightly more interesting.

So it got me thinking about how i might ought to be thinking about assisted suicide, especially when John West said that He knew he had to do what was right regardless of the letter of the law. Something about that phrase struck me, the words in that order are words i can hear christians say about, anything they want to do basically - usually i disagree with them.
My initial thoughts on AS (Assisted Suicide) went something like this, well there are a lot of painful ways to day, that can be ultimately drug out endlessly, causing strain on number 1 the patient (aka the most important person in the room - consensed by all) - it will be a strain on them physically, emotionally, mentally, and then also whatever it is that allows you horrid lucid moments reminding you that you crap yourself, you can't remember/recognize/acknowledge your children, your personality for some reason is now what it always was and you don't seem to be able to much about it (meaning you have no idea who you are and are dealing with identity issues as well), and finally, i don't know how else to put it, there is pride at stake - combine all that i have just put before you, and see if you want the rest of your pathetic existence punctuated by that.
but... there are other things to consider as a christian, our life is not our own (ICor. 6:19) course you may argue that at that point the above detailed situation is not the life of anyone's but the drugs and disease - which is valid, however, at that point the person in question does not have the presence of mind to make to many decisions of importance - probably another topic...
anyway, back to you are not your own, meaning as a believer God can still work in your life, you can still be a testimony, more specifically, you can look past yourself and reach people that others cannot reach (because of your situation) not only that but you can remind people, by your testimony that their life does not suck, especially compared to yours (you being the one in the predicament).

I don't know that this is any more than opinion, maybe conviction, so the next question is, would i ever assist someone with their suicide - i think i can answer pretty definitively concerning an unsaved person - no, reason, they are unsaved, or more to the point, they are not saved yet. but what about a christian? i don't know, even after i pointed them to this blog, i still don't know...
i mean i would rather someone not blow their head off, and i think i would rather throw them a big end of their life party first and then you know... the thing - rather than a phone call that we had been waiting for, i guess, as you can see, i'm still mulling it over.
What are your thoughts

2009-02-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

This Lamborghini looks pretty awesomed - it was sharpee'd to death

check out the rest of the pics at
http://www.lamborghinimiami.com/sharpie_car.htm

2009-01-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

This is sorta a test blog, but i got some fun pics to, i haven't figured out how to make my individual blog layouts do exactly what i want, like the right text under the right photo.
first photo will be of a sign in a thai restaurant i like to go to near the seminary...

I might also add that i've been running about 3 times a week (supposed to be 4)and here is a typical end of run stat pic

On Sundays i teach a sunday school class for little kiddies, i dress up like a doctor, and tell them a story about how jesus healed a paraplegic, i take cues from house and martin - you know berate them and such, they say, "thats not a real stethoscope!" - i say, "and your dads not your real dad!" or something to that effect.

2009-01-29T08:57:00.000-08:00

I've reading through Genesis lately, and am rather enjoying it - i think it gets a bad rap for being in the OT, but there is some crazy stuff in there. Two sets of twins being born a generation or so apart - when the first set was born, esau came out red and nasty all over, no sooner had he come out that jacob his younger brother reaches his arm out of the vaginal canal and takes hold of esau's leg, and of course it was symbolic, but only God knew what it meant so he told 'em it meant that the older will serve the younger. the second set of twins born from Tamar - you know, the daughter in law who posed as a hooker, cuz her two previous husbands (who were brothers) were killed by God cuz they were bad and stuff, mmm-k. anyway, she posed as a hooker cuz her father in law wouldn't give her his youngest and maybe last son (wonder why) and he (Judah - the father in law) noticed that her red light was on so he got some, but not before negotiation, to which she bargained for some of his personal effects. Which came in handy cause 3 months later when judah found out she was prego - he was like, off with her head, but she was like, its your baby - and here's your boxers and staff back, so obviously the next words out of judah's mouth "she is more righteous than i..." but "i ain't never sleepin with you again" (thats prolly what he said) and he didn't.
anyway, so she had judah's twins - and when they were born, one stuck his arm out the VC (not viet cong) and the midwife tied a red ribbon around his arm so as to know which was older - cause you can't imagine how important that was -(where do you get red ribbon in the desert?) , but then the little man pulled his arm back, and the other child came out first, but no symbolism this time, i think.

2009-01-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

chris and allison got baptized yesteray, the volume is jacked up for some reason, it plays on my comp, but when i upload the video it sounds well.... anyway, here they are.

2009-01-26T09:53:00.000-08:00

and allison...

2009-01-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

I'm post crazy today...

Yesterday I was at kroger and as I was being wrung up the bagger boy asked what i had planned for the weekend - i said, reading. He said, reading what? I paused and internally smiled and said, 4 Views on the Canaanite Genocide. He said, o. I thought, exactly - not cause he's stupid or anything - but i imagine that besides its extreme unpopularity among westerners, and feel good sermon preachers - it probably also has relatively low interest even among students of scripture, because it makes no sense to us. I was previously included in this group, but in recent years i noticed it popping up plenty in liber, emergent, and non-christian discussions frequently, so i became mildly curious, but only to the point where i thought about it sometimes - and acknowledged that we must be more complete in understanding and thinking of God by being more complete in realizing who He is and what He has done to distinguish Himself - and only then being able to more fully worship Him as such or more fully reject him as such. I did take the next step up becoming interested in this subject when i realized that i could write on the subject for a paper this semester, so i'm taking the opportunity to do so. I'll post my findings prolly in a week or so, when i write the paper, but i have a feeling deeper grasping of one's personal theology is base to this discussion, you can't just walk into the middle of a conversation and expect to understand what and why is being said until your caught up in the story and the characters. one more thing, as i turns out, there are a lot more instances of Yahweh War than i thought.

2009-01-25T12:13:00.001-08:00

Shayna sent me this video the other day - right now she is spending some needed time in charelston with her fam... i'm not exactly sure what message she is trying to send me, but i think this video says plenty about our relationship :)

2009-01-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

I've been throwing caution to the wind lately, meaning i've been staying up past midnight, its a big deal. i have no work and no school yet this year so i just watch lots and lots of hulu and other dvd's that the front office at my apartment offers me for free. as you can imagine it has affected my dream sequences. I dreamed something i can't remember about my girlfriend, i think it was that she left me or something, and then i dreamed about britney spears... I recently watched her mtv documentary
http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/britney_spears_for_the_record/series.jhtml

and as i watched either shayna or i pointed out that it seems all her friends are paid staff. and i like bebo normans song a lot, i think its a very appropriate christian perspective humans - even one's who are such easy targets. (link below) so anyway i dreamed she came to some new years party with me and amy and john and that we were all just being sweet to her and showing her the love of christ, her children weren't at the party though. shayna thought it was a funny dream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn6Hi6Jq0lM

2009-01-01T12:52:00.000-08:00

From the new Gay Bible, cheers...

"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Aida, and she slept: and he took one of her ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from woman, made he another woman, and brought her unto the first. And Aida said, 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of me. Therefore shall a woman leave her mother, and shall cleave unto her wife: and they shall be one flesh.' And they were both naked, the woman and her wife, and were not ashamed."

2008-12-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

To Tina:

All of his books are good
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=david+sedaris&x=0&y=0

also – not reading material but – get on itunes, find “This American Life” Podcast, and listen to that – its incredible.

Check out the New Yorker and the Atlantic magazine – they usually have at least one really great article a month. Here are two fantastic and long articles.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_colapinto

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_bilger

read ben franklin’s autobio – its sounds stuffy its not, its great.

Stay away from titles with the word “LIFE” in them 

And finally The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West...Again – you know again, this book has a bad title, but it is a fantastic read – even for people who have no inclination toward what the title suggest, again do not judge the book by its title.
http://www.amazon.com/Celtic-Way-Evangelism-Christianity-West-Again/dp/0687085853/ref=pd_bbs_sr_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228406552&sr=8-10

enjoy
s

2008-12-04T06:43:00.000-08:00

Below is Acts 3:1-10 NIV followed by the SPV (Stevo Paraphrased Version)

Peter Heals the Crippled Beggar

1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter and John were out for a stroll one day heading toward the Temple in Jeruselem around 3pm when they were accosted by some homeless person. This homeless person was up there pretty much every day, every day that he could get someone to carry him that is, you see he was also crippled. Ironically enough this pathetic looking creature lay under a gate called “Beautiful” and it was here that he encountered what he thought would be just two more people with the potential to feed him.
When the homeless crippled man asked Peter and John for money, they gave him their full attention and requested his as well. Right off the bat they conceded to not having what he wanted – money. They didn’t then tell him to get a job or stop wearing the underwear on the outside of his pants so that he could get a job, they didn’t say we’re not giving you money because you’ll probably just spend it on hookers and booze. No, they said that though they don’t have money, they will give him what they do have, which was Christ, so They healed him in the name of Jesus Christ, and then helped him stand up. Now, you would have thought that atrophy would have set in and seriously destroyed any muscles he could have had, so much so that even healing him of his ailment would not have allowed him to walk, but God thought of that to (He’s kinda a specialist on that sorta thing). The bum’s illness, bones, muscles, and whatever else would have been medically relevant were healed as well, which allowed the cripple to stand up and to a little jig, which he did for Jesus, amen!
Now everybody new who this homeless, cripple bum was, because he asked them all for money like a thousand times each, probably so much so that they ran out of excuses for him and just ignored him as best you can ignore a disgusting looking cripple dude laying all contorted in the street. So, when they saw him walking around, obviously some were like, “I new that dude was faking it the whole time!” and they were so glad that never gave him any money, but for the most part it blew everybody’s mind and they wanted to know what happened.

2008-11-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

I keep wanting to ask people if their kids are autistic... kinda like when i was riding my dirtbike through utah - i kept wanting to ask everybody if they were mormon - they were. but unlike in utah, i would hate to be wrong were i to ask these parents. I see a kid, doing something like coloring and being very concentrated while at the same time talking to me in a way where it would not matter if i were there or not - and i assume he's autistic. Maybe its from watching to much house, which btw i thought that it was interesting that the last house and the last 30 rock episodes (last according to hulu) were both about agoraphobes. I have to wonder if that were in any way planned. Does it seem to you that mental disorders get real popular (via media) and then... like schizophrenia was maybe the last popular disease - that maintained its popularity (gws and pts are kinda in and out, but never with any pop) for a while, and probably peaked with fight club, its interesting that ed norton played one in fight club, and played a character who was playing a schizo in primal fear. remeber oceans 13? spoke of agoraphobia in an almost condescending way - if you (as the audience) had never heard of it, it was a funny scene none the less. was howard hughes an agoraphobic?

2008-11-06T06:37:00.000-08:00

Chapel

I like it, it seems like a lot of work is put into picking the speakers and they are usually very good and inspiring. this week dr. phil parshall is here to talk about islam. it is evangelism week, so i thought... well he's not doing what i thought he would do, he is spending a lot of time giving us the perspective of muslims around the world, as well as informing us of what the koran and islam really says - that last line probably makes some role their eyes. If he were reading this blog and someone else speaking in chapel he would roll his eyes as well. He believes (pro bably accurately) that we don't know what we are talking about when we talk about islam, so he basically made it his mission to dispel as many of the myths about islam we as evangelicals have been gravitating toward since, i don't know, 9/11. this includes not only holy scriptures of islam, but also stats and facts about terrorist and their connection to islam(and saudi arabia for that matter). He asked how many of the terrorist on 9/11 were from Afghanistan? answer - 0. so, lets invade afghanistan. (they were all saudi's) He went on to say that terrorist who usually associate themselves with islam are on the fringe - if your a christian think of it like this, the wacko's who call themselves christians and blow up abortion clinics and say really, really stupid @#$*, those are the terrorist of islam. oh yeah, one last thing, he mentioned obama's middle name having muslim heritage, he also went on to say how ridiculous it is to think that obama is a muslim. It was informative, but also disconcerting, we are seminary students - not the fringe - we know a lot of this stuff, and his assumption was a bit insulting, oh well. i'll post the link later when the dts site is working. oh, yeah - he also differentiated between folk islam and traditional islam - a distinction worth knowing.

2008-11-04T06:40:00.000-08:00

I have lacked the ability interest myself in my own blogs, but i thought i might blog anyway today. Last thursday David Gibbons pastor of http://www.newsong.net/ came and spoke in chapel, and then after chapel we had a "brown bag" (he talks and answers questions in a classroom - while we eat lunch) with him. he spoke a lot of reaching out to the "Fringe" of society - defining fringe as basically the people nobody wants to talk to/deal with - or minister to. He said this is the new thrust of his life as of yet. The other thing he spoke of was "3rd Culture"

http://3culture.tv/ 3rd Culture people being defined as people who have spent the majority of their life in a country or two countries that is not their home. He sees this group of people as highly unreached - they are a people with no home. I do not understand the plight of third culture, because it is not my experience, but i spoke with someone in one of my classes this morning who was born in China, raised in Portugal, attended UT o A and is now here, he said that reaching out to 3rd culture is extremely important - like they are a group of people who need to be understood and ministered to accordingly. I'll blog about Eric Mason as soon as I can find his video.

2008-11-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

Is there any talk anywhere about power becoming wireless in a similar way that my internet connection is. I ask cause most importantly i could stop carrying around my power supply, and secondly we could like end the global warming issues over night if our cars were all generated by wireless electricity?

2008-10-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

enjoy this cracka'

23 Oct 2008 01:21 pm
McCain, Socialist

An exchange from 2000:

Responding to a question from a girl who wants to know why her her father, a doctor, pays a higher tax rate than people who earn less:

McCain: "I think it's to some degree because we feel, obviously, that wealthy people can afford more."

Doctor's daughter: Aren't we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?

McCain: "Here's what I really believe. When you are, reach a certain level of comfort, there is nothing wrong with paying somewhat more."

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/mccain-socialis.html

2008-10-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

Chris,
I underlined a line you kept repeating at the cigar shop 6 or 7 months ago (you kept saying vessels prepared for destruction). I would like to suggest that maybe this verse is not what you intended it (a proof for God doing things completely inexplicable other to say that I AM God) but rather a verse about judgement, it indicates that the vessels to be destroyed were actively incurring God’s wrath, while He patiently waited. This is obviously a different thought than God makes some clay pots and smashes them because He can and He makes others and uses them in a productive manner also because He can. I’m not saying we are to understand why God does everything, but the way we think about God is important. If we think of Him as the cosmic brat breaking his toys because he can, what is then to become of our theology. This is the God of animism, whose worshipers only understand him through random and violent judgement. Understand that I made no pronouncement on Gods judgment, only the view in which God judges without cause or reason. Judgment for the sake of judgment is not judgment, this is the god that some ascribe to, this is the god I spoke of. The point of judgment is for correction.

Romans 9:19-24 (New American Standard Bible)

19(A)You will say to me then, "(B)Why does He still find fault? For (C)who resists His will?"
20On the contrary, who are you, (D)O man, who (E)answers back to God? (F)The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?
21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?
22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much (G)patience vessels of wrath (H)prepared for destruction?
23And He did so to make known (I)the riches of His glory upon (J)vessels of mercy, which He(K)prepared beforehand for glory,
24even us, whom He also (L)called, (M)not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

2008-10-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

HOW SHOULD WE THEN BREATHE

To say what is, is, and what is not, is not, is true. And to say what is, is not, and what is not, is, is false. – Aristotle

All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that we (believers) would be well equipped for every good work. When researching the ancient creeds and confession that have been preserved and affirmed for over a thousand years, one will rarely find any mention of doctrine or theology as it relates to this verse. Was it the most obvious and understood tenet of the Christian faith or simply not an issue in those times? Concerning famously historical creeds, it was not until the Westminster Confession in 1646 that the topic of the inspiration and inerrancy of scripture was considered notably creed worthy. Interestingly enough, after a millennia and half of silence during confession, the doctrine of inspiration appears at the top of one of the most famous confession of the Christian faith in Article I.

Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation; therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his Church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.

II Timothy is a letter written by the Apostle Paul as a prisoner in a Roman prison, to Timothy a pastor in Ephesus approximately AD 62-66, just before Paul died. II Timothy is a letter in a group of letters known as the Pastoral Epistles, which address issues of pastoral duties, defending the faith especially against false teachers while also strengthening the believers, and encouragement.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…
It is hard to imagine that such a seemingly obscure verse in the middle of a letter to a seemingly obscure pastor could be the keystone for modern Christian theology. The first step is to understand what the verse is saying by understanding what the words in the verse mean. There are three Greek words or compounds that we will look at first: Pasa, graphē, and Theopneusto.
Pasa - does it mean all or every, and what is the difference? I am not a Greek Scholar so I will not attempt to answer the question, but just relay to you that Paul Feinberg makes a short and simple case for use of the word every over all indicating that every part of the graphē is the subject of the verse.
Every Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…
The next word is graphē which is used over fifty times in the NT and is always found to mean the one thing – the sacred writings. Though the verse in question does refer to both the New and Old Testament, it is likely that initially when Timothy thought of sacred writings he thought of the Law of Moses.
Every Sacred writing is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…
Theopneustos is the compound of two Greek words, Theos (god), and pneo (breathe), which is usually translated, inspired or god-breathed. So what does pasa graphē Theopneusto then mean? Are we to understand that every sacred writing is god-breathed and therefore profitable or that every sacred writing that is inspired is profitable? And what does god-breathed mean regardless of the correct wording? To clarify, it is the words of scripture, and not the authors that are God-breathed, which is like saying that the words of scripture that God breathed is like the speech of God. Second, though it may sound redundant the text is saying that every sacred writing/scripture is inspired, which is quite different than saying some sacred writings are inspired and some are not. It must then follow, that if words were precisely given/breathed by a Holy God, then it is reasonable to believe that they are true and perfect and thus authoritative. So then the question of what is scripture is the next appropriate question, because as one can clearly see the canonical texts that are available are certainly not perfect, but the original Autographa were, which we no longer have. Knowing this, what authority does the “Bible” now retain? I will deal with this thought quickly, but not extensively, while the original texts were inerrant, preservation of the text was not. This is not to say that the text is negated, in fact, textual criticism has been a friend to those who view the Bible as a thoroughly retained document, still allowing it to be considered authoritative and wholly true.
Every Sacred writing that God breathed into is literally the speech of God, which is to say that every word in Scripture is His, and since God is Righteous, His word is perfect and is therefore useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…
As Christians we can be confident that we do have access to the words of God, we can be confident that His word is in fact righteous and useful, and excellent for correcting and instructing us as we walk with Christ. It is reasonable, as believers, for us to believe that though we live in a fallen world, God has revealed to us through His Son and His Word all that we require for this life. It is right for us to rest in Him and breathe easy.

2008-10-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know of a reporter or someone like that who has actually gone into mexico and then attempted to cross illegally via a coyote, and wrote about it, or something like that?

2008-10-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt from today's New york Times at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/us/03omaha.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

its kind of amazing.

OMAHA — The abandonments began on Sept. 1, when a mother left her 14-year-old son in a police station here. By Sept. 23, two more boys and one girl, ages 11 to 14, had been abandoned in hospitals in Omaha and Lincoln. Then a 15-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl were left.

The biggest shock to public officials came last week, when a single father walked into an Omaha hospital and surrendered nine of his 10 children, ages 1 to 17, saying that his wife had died and he could no longer cope with the burden of raising them.

In total last month, 15 older children in Nebraska were dropped off by a beleaguered parent or custodial aunt or grandmother who said the children were unmanageable.

Officials have called the abandonments a misuse of a new law that was mainly intended to prevent so-called Dumpster babies — the abandonment of newborns by young, terrified mothers — but instead has been used to hand off out-of-control teenagers or, in the case of the father of 10, to escape financial and personal despair.....

2008-10-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

What McCain Didn't Know About Sarah Palin:

MARC AMBINDER does a good job of showing a little bit about little bit. He shows what sort of process Kerry's campaign went through in deciding edwards as a running mate, and then reveals a bit about McCains campaign thought process and what was not part of their thought process.
enjoy.

They did not know that she told a television interviewer this summer that she did not fully understand what it is that a vice president does

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200808u/mccain-palin

2008-09-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

3 more movies:

Bella was good and sweet, but i think i missed the point, its about a nice guy and something bad happens to him, and it changes his life and he "fixes it" - at least thats what i think the director would have us to think.
Before the Devil knows your dead(may you spend 30 minutes in heaven... before the devil knows your dead) - philip seymore h. always a great actor, didn't do much in this movie in the way of what he usually brings to the table, except in one scene, where he is assisted my marisa tomei, he is upset about the relationship he and his father have, it think it was one of the most emotional scene's i've ever scene in my life, i did not cry, but i should have, its truly amazingly heartbreaking, hmm.
Burn after reading - its good, its even pretty good, but not great, Brad Pitt's character is great, but he's great at playing those types - 12 monkeys, fight club, etc. Clooney's good to, his character kind of reminded me a little of o brother..., which made me smile.

2008-09-18T06:14:00.001-07:00

Things are admirably arranged: God likes forgiving sins, and I like committing them” - German poet, Heinrich Heine

2008-09-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

couple things:
first, i saw matt chandler strolling around campus today, well i should say i hear him first, then i saw him (he has a distinct voice). i thought about saying something stupid, literally stupid - not funny or clever, just stupid, i thought about asking him to sign my pocast. this is my fallback. there is such a thing as being star struck, the problem is, i don't think of him as a celebrity, but all my friends do, so its kinda like i wanna say something jerky just so i can tell them what i did to their hero...
second, I'm glad that while emotions or feeling my come through in people's writing, halitosis does not.
third, this summer i started reading the shack (semi spoiler alert) and never finished it, partly cause its not great, intriguing but not great, and partly because i ran out of time. plenty of christians love the book, and the rest hate it. God the Father is presented in the "Flesh" as a mami type mad black woman - seriously - anyway - i was having a conversation with someone about this, sorta, when they said that God is not a big fat black woman, to which I appropriately quipped, "yes he is!" i mean jeeze, everyone knows that, they don't call him king of kings and syrups to for nothin.
finally, Howard Hendricks, he recommended a book in class today called English Grammar for Language students, i went to the book store a couple of hours later to pick it up, and as i described to the staff they snickered a little, i asked if everyone was asking for it and they said yes. On this campus Hendricks = Oprah

2008-09-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel behind…like sometimes I wanna quite everything to focus on one new thing, some new thing I must know thoroughly, or some times I feel I must concentrate thoroughly on some old thing, some old thing I feel I should have known thoroughly. Like right now I just wanna drop everything and spend all my time and energy learning English – I mean everything. I stink at English, I often wish I had majored in English, though I hated it, and new nothing of it. In fact I failed English 102 in college 5 times, the teacher just gave me a c the sixth time, I was thankful to be rid of en 102, but in hindsight I would have rather learned English.

2008-09-15T13:07:00.001-07:00

Enjoy :)

2008-09-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

I really like intelligent women (pause) sometimes (longer pause) of course I like stupid ones to. - Picasso

2008-09-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

i think i've spent a lot of time developing my theology without ever cross-referencing scripture...

2008-08-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

first day of orientation is over. remember when i said people act strange at orientation, well this morning they couldn't even remember how to stand in a line.
We were greeted a boisterous white haired old man, who goes by the moniker "chaplain bill.' Chaplain bill is the type of man who listens with his mouth agape. C.B. introduced us to the code of conduct section of the handbook by referencing howard stern and victoria's secret, to which he admitted wasn't much of a secret, hmm, anyway, when a strange silence came over the group of young and fresh seminarians, he added, "Just because there is snow on the roof, doesn't mean there isn't a fire in the hearth!" which i assume got him the response he was looking for. i guess the moral of the story is old dudes (72 year old dudes) still get...?
anyway today was kinda exciting, even for an orientation, i was however, a little disappointed that none of the big name professors weren't there, and might not be there this year because they are on sabbatical.

2008-08-21T05:26:00.000-07:00

I got up at 6 am for my first day of orientation, being orientated has always been kinda awkward cause there is a lot of standing around with people and nobody knows what to do. anyway, i got up early, showered, made my coffee, and left by 6:30. I wanted to beat the dallas traffic, and i did, i arrived at 7, an hour before orientation starts. so i spent 30 minutes wandering around campus. I saw two signs pointed in two different directions that said new student orientation this way. as i was wandering i suddenly remember my tattoos on my arms, this morning as i was picking out a shirt, my first thought was long sleeve, but i dismissed it cause the one i was looking at i didn't like. its not like i don't love my tattoos, i just think they might be a little louder in this place that i would like to be on my first day.
Last night i dreamed that my student loan request was rejected.
this morning on the way here i listened to the Viva La Vida, i like the title track the best so far, it has a nice emotive sound for me.

2008-08-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

in texas, only texans can rob banks. - calvera in the magnificent seven

2008-08-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

school starts a week from tomorrow. Me starting school at dts is something that i've wanted for some time now, in fact I was rejected twice based my lack of academic excellence, and was told that they were not convinced that i could do graduate level work, so i did some somewhere else, they agreed it was at sufficient enough to let me in. so orientation is on the 21st and class begins the 25th, but right now i kind of have other things on my mind and am not enjoying the moment. and the moment is the opportunity to be taught the word of god from men who have lived and studied it well. I wonder if two or three things are getting in the way of me being really really excited to start school, the first being my prior history with knowledge of god, thats all its been just a thinking/book knowledge, not an intimate relationship, the second being the thing i do with it personally, do i use it to help people-to help myself rightly think of god, or do i just walk around trying to convince people that i know a lot of @#$t about the bible, amen! the third would be that i really have no need for seminary at this point, but more of a need to learn business skills so that when i do get to open i coffee shop it doesn't close down in a year. either way i am excited and looking forward to starting school next week.
here are my classes
Bible Study Methods and Hermeneutics - Hendricks
Spiritual Life - Kuruvilla
Spiritual Formation I
Introduction to Theology - Blount
Cultural Dynamics in Ministry - BruceKL
Ministry Multicultural America - Pocock

2008-08-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

You can always tell a small mom and pop shop by the bathroom set up. I was in an antique store today looking for vintage cigarette case, like have been for the last couple of weeks, and all of a sudden breakfast and the 3 espresso's hit me, i found the the bathroom and almost cried i was so happy, but then i saw the out of order sign. I truffle shuffled to the counter to ask the owner if she had any cigarette cases and a public bathroom. she said she might have one case but they sell pretty quick, she was wrong, but the toilet did work. As i sat there contemplating life's small town mysteries i noticed that there was a fridge, as in a refridgerator where people keep there food, in the bathroom. So while sitting there i opened the door, there were a bunch of lipton green tea bottles and some leftovers. I don't know why someone would keep a fridge next to the toilet, especially after what i was doing to it. I mean i'm sure it seems like a fantastic place to have a snack, i mean your already s(h)itting, but come on, its gross. then i thought of this tobacco shop used to visit, they always kept all the surplus pipe tobacco in the bathroom, i mean the bathroom smelled great as you can imagine, but those leaves aren't like non-absorbant... I guess I just wonder how someone comes to the conclusion that it is a really great idea store things that they put in their mouth in the toilet. did this practice originate on construction sites, men who didn't want their lunch stolen simply stoed it on the back of the toilet, until finally refridgeration came along. I guess I just don't like to mix oral with anal.

2008-07-29T10:37:00.001-07:00

A couple of months ago i wrote this little journal entry while on a plane from dfw to atl to chattanooga...
Today I'm flying from dfw to atl to go see shayna. theirs something interesting about airports not just all the people or all the kinds of people. for instance i'm standing in the ticket cheking line, cause like an idiot i didn't print it out online at home, and me and a zillion people are in this long line snaking around the whole airport, and in the line next to me is the line for first class customers. now there is nothing special about these people that i can see, but that doesn't stop me from gauking at them. i can't help it, one of them was even wearing her sunglasses inside. anyway, then when you board the plane they're already there not looking at you while i again gauk. I know when i take my seat i stare everyone walking by but no first class customer has ever looked up at a 2nd class customer in the history of air travel, i think. i sit in my seat waiting, hoping, praying for a good "single serving" seat partner. 1 man walks down the aisle by himself with no carry on's (who has no carry on's?) anyway, he's a big boy, he tucks his arms in front of him like a penguine in order slide down the aisle. I step aside, he slides in, we don't speak. I pick my donald miller book back up and continue reading. It occurs to me that little donnie miller is large, probably even obese, and i think if he were the fatty next to me i'd be happy to chatt 'em up, but instead klenny is next to me. Lenny has been visiting his mom and is headed home where he cleans airplane engines for the company currently transporting us. We experience some turbulence and instead of leaning over i turn to him and say, "seems like someone didn't clean the engine very well."

2008-06-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

I was in a chick fil a the other day and apparently vacation bible school (vbs) had just gotten out cause there were about 900 children in XL neon green shirts running around. i always feel kinda wierd around children of people i don't know cause in my mind society has created this stigma that pretty much says all single males are pedophiles, especially if they like hang out at chuck e cheese to drink beer... anyway i didn't get any dirty looks or anything i just felt very uncomfortable. something else about kids, they have no concept of space, while i was standing in line to order, 5 kids came up and stood in front of me close enough for me to smell there vbs smell. have you ever noticed you have to be between the ages of 8 and 12 to work at chick fil a?

2008-06-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

I watched 3 movies in a row last week that were pretty depressing/intersting, first was Wristcutters, then then Rocket Science, and then I watched the Savages with philip seymore hoffman. I was most excited about the savages, but the whole movie i just wanted it to be over, but it never was. before that i while i was watching rocket science i kept waiting for it to be funny and good, but that never happened either. on a whim i watched wristcutters, which actually made me laugh out loud, it was tom waits and other fun characters, not to mention that this movie is really cute. strange huh. so anyway i recomend wrist cutters but none of the others. oh yeah and i also finally saw prince caspian, and i don't think the movies are bad, but there not great, so i wish someone would get fired and the right someone get hired quick, i want these narnia movies to be as great as the books were when i was a child, i don't think that thats asking too much.

2008-06-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

i've been working in rockwall, tx lately on a big job, which happens to also be the new hometown/churchplant of joe mccormack. last tuesday night i spent an hour and a half pulling a cast iron tub out of the wall and five feet across the room, it was horribly back breaking. there is something neat about being in a new city by yourself, its like you feel invincible when your in a city where no one knows you. the cigar shops in rockwall give away free shiner on tap or jacob's creek cab/merlot, not to mention they are sooper cheap. supposedly rockwall is the richest city in texas. i notice that when the subject of my being in seminary or that i go to church comes up with my customers i notice that they become especially christian... for instance, with this last set of customers they were complaining that the tenets of the house that i'm now remodeling were korean (which in their mind explains all sorts of oddities and annoyances), so later it came up that i was a youth pastor at a korean church last year, and after that the bible verses that they were able to quote began-a-flowing. specifically when home depot didn't have the tile they wanted, they chalked that up to God closing the "door" i quickly reminded the customer that we were dealing with floors and not doors, he just walked off. the first night i was there i went to starb%$#@s to read but ending up chatting with a pakistani named basil for 3 hours about food, wine, and cigars (he was a chef). toward the end of the conversation he told me he was muslim, it occurred to me that maybe he had purposefully held this back for as long as he did, and might be in the custom of keeping his faith to himself, maybe to avoid prejudice types, which i thought was sad, but also so completely different from being a christian in this country. its so easy for me to say i'm a christian, for the most part it usually is greated with some version of relativity, but muslim of pakistan origin living in Texas, I could see why he might not be wearing a shirt that says..."muslims do it facing the east???" or something like that.

2008-05-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

here is a website that could potentially keep you informed of ramey's condition.
http://prayforramey.wordpress.com/

2008-05-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

Today i went out and did an estimate in irving at a presbt. church, and as i was driving out there i noticed that they were about a block from the area famous irving bible church, particularly in light of their most recent announcement this month. anyway i walked in to get some literature on their church and to see if they have anything published about their decision to be more inclusive of women in ministry (everything but elder). They did, it was in their periodic publication called "chatter" and it basically detailed a reason or two, and a very surface level conversational argument as to why, while maintaining a humble approach. anyway, good stuff, regardless of issue. http://www.irvingbible.org/index.php?id=1231 the church i was doing an estimate also had a brochure type periodical (it just looked like a church bulletin on crack) it is unattractive but slightly informative. I am also aware that the village church has a very good publication called "the village pub" and i found it worth while as well, particularly since they are just a local entity. anyway, i wonder if these attractive, informative, and interesting publications are helpful in attracting/keeping people my age... i'm really wondering why the back door at my church has recently been ripped off in the last year and half by people my age. i wonder if it has something to do with no pastor designated to young adults, or no direction from the elders, or the amount of thought not put into our group. i assure you this is not a rant, i have no desire to leave, my desire to find out whats up and then help solve the problem. i just don't really know what the problem is.

2008-05-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Nathan Vaupel passed away in a car accident in Indiana, i assume he was visiting his sister, nathan and i never hung out socially, except one time last year while he was helping me with a missions project. I met nathan my first year of college while i was helping set up for a halloween program our student body used to host. he, his sister, and i stayed out till 5am that night working, this was nothing for him, he was characterized by the giving of his time and talents to causes he thought would enrich the kingdom of christ. I am very sorry for nathan's family and friends, i loved many of them very much, nathan was a great man, and an excellent servant model for every christian.

http://www.fox28.com/News/index.php?ID=37295

2008-05-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

i've been watching some movies lately, and i just this instant finished the third one. i watched sleeper with woody allen, which was pretty stinking funny, i always appreciate his commentary. i watched lars and the real girl, which was also funny, but sweet and depressing at the same time. the golden compass, which is pretty much impossible to see that the church is the bad guy, unless you read the book, it might be obvious if you have a fairly decent grasp on church history, i dunno, but it was good to, slow to begin with but good. finally, the nines, an absolute must see by all, do not go into this film expecting anything, hold your breath, and you won't be disapointed. there is an excellent conversation at the end of the film between ryan reynolds(i know right?) and melissa mcarthy that just has an excellent theological perspective. i'd love to get into it, but i'm terrified of ruining the movie.

2008-04-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

Today I've decided to blog on the practical side of life, I have made an instructional video for you on how to change the oild on your bmw motorcycle, however, i think that this will regardless whether or not you own a bmw or a bike at all, enjoy. :)

my bike dropped a valve about 100 miles after i got back from chattahoochie, and the piston beat the living ba-jeebies? out of it, so i'm trying to part it out, i'm probably screwed :(

2008-04-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

My Trip to Chattanooga (to see my gorgeous girly):
Day 1
Well, On tuesday afternoon I was preparing my motorcycle and gear for my 700 mile stretch on wednesday (which by theway i was not looking forward to that bit - cause its a hard long boring stretch of asphalt). anyway, 8:30 rolls around and i am loathing the idea of leaving at like 5am. so i remember i have a friend who went to covenant college about 130miles away, on the way, so i call and leave a message, asking if i can stay with him for the night, and then i leave around 9pm. on the way to tyler, tx (where my ffriend jim knox lives), on the way there i explore the possibility of not being able to stay with him. i thought i might try to ride to shreveport and sleep in a ditch or something, which is ungodly far that late at night, but whatever. anyway, i got to tyler, and had a message from jim saying i could stay the night, so i went to his house and as i unpacked i was so stinking relieved that i was sleeping inside, in a bed, and i was exhausted. jim and i had a nice chatt,
Day 2
and then i left at 8am, and drove 600 miles to jeremy richters house. it was a beautiful day, and the only interesting thing that happend was, i saw 3 deer munching on some leaves on the side of I-20, a wasp flew into my helmet at a gas station, and 2 people in louisiana almost killed me by running me off the road, and then i got to jeremy's house and had to pee really stinkin bad. he let me in, went to his baptist church cause his pastor wouldn't let him skip, while i showered and entertained myself with a gentleman called jack. Jeremy eventually got home from church, we hung out, chatted, and then i had to crash.
Day3
Jeremy rode out with me this morning on his moto bike, and then i got in birmingham traffic, it wasn't bad, once i got going on the road, i was soon riding through the mtns on I-24, which are actually very pretty, i was stinkin freezin that morning, i eventually pulled over, took a wiz, and put on my winter gloves, and some more clothes. I rolled into chattanooga around 10:30 or 11am, i first rode to the new greenlife grocery store to pick up a beverage for shayna that tastes totally nasty, but she loves the crap out of it, plus it has .05% alchohol, so thats awesome. after that i went to greyfriars, where derick was standing outside of and waved at me, i went in, said some hello's had a double espresso, and then off to lunch with kevin woodruff at waly's. he wouldn't get on the bike so we walked. after lunch i rode to john whitely's house and showered, by then shayna was off work and on her way to pick me up.
Day6
I was suppossed to leave today, but by the time i was ready to go, it was like 1pm, so i stayed, instead shayna and i drove the moto up the mountain.
Day 7
I left my sweet shayna today, but at like 10 or 11, john made me this huge awesome breakfast, before i left, which came back to haunt me. I drove to fayetville, i think and pulled over for a honey's hamburger, i walked in with my gear on and was looked at like i was crazy, i got all my gear off and sat down at the bar, the old timer next to me asked where i was heading, and where i was coming from, and then chatted with me for a while, mostly about weather, then he asked if i knew his son, which i didn't. after he left the guy on my right chatted me up a bit, and by then i was finished, so paid and left. I drove up 24 toward nashville (cause i wanted to go a different way home) but turned left at Mt. eagle onto 41, which was a beautiful 15 mile stretch, which took me to highway 64 or davy crockett hwy, which was probably the prettiest country i've ever driven in. I took 64 for 300 miles and met some interesting people at the various gas and wiz stops, and only drove through a couple of hours of rain, but i stayed dry for the most part. that day was 500 miles, a little more than i expected, and ended in little rock, arkansas at a KOA cabin where my dad was waiting, actually he was waiting at the bar at an outback, which is where i met him, then we went to the cabin.
Day 8
today was suppossed to be one of the prettiest rides for hundreds of miles, but it was raining like crazy, and i was soaked to the bone, and scarred of the slick roads, so we stopped in hot springs, ar at this pastry/breakfast place. very cold and wet, i walk in, and the owner simply stares at me, he had the body of chris farely, i took off my helmet, and am still wearing something over my head that looks like something a ninja would wear, only my eyes are exposed, his eyes are still locked on me, i pull that off and order some coffee, my dad comes in a few minutes later and does the same, then chris farleyreally comes out of his shell, and talks to us for a solid hour. he even prints off picture of the radar to prove to us that all we are gonna see today is rain and more rain. we leave and get on i 30 and head for texarkana, and by that time i'm ready to just quit, but we stop at a starbucks, i change clothes completely, drink some coffee, and we leave for home.

its really interesting how when you are traveling on a motorcycle, it just invites people to talk to you, mostly in little towns i guess. its an experience like nothing i've ever had, its almost like traveling back in time, i imagine.

2008-04-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

Lots have happened, I went to visit my beautiful girlfriend shayna in chatt town a couple of weeks ago on my motorcycle (which i'll put up a post later about the trip), she has agreed to move to texas in a month in a half, (a few days before amy gets married). my clavicle has finally healed, so i'm laying tile, sorta, not much work though, yet.

2008-04-11T16:24:00.000-07:00

From John 17
1 Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said:
Father,
the hour has come.
Glorify Your Son
so that the Son (A) may glorify You, (B)
2 for You gave Him authority
over all flesh; (C) [a]
so He may give eternal life (D)
to all You have given Him. (E)
3 This is eternal life:
that they may know You, the only (F) true (G) God,
and the One You have sent (H) —Jesus Christ. (I)
4 I have glorified You on the earth
by completing the work You gave Me to do.
5 Now, Father, (J) glorify Me in Your presence
with that glory (K) I had with You
before the world existed. (L)

2008-03-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

I watched The Brave One with Jodi Foster this week, the jist of the movie is she get hurt badly and then she goes vigilante and kills like 5 random bad people. there is a sense of this movie that is very gratifying, in fact i felt very pleased and satisfied with her sense of justice, that is taking the law into her own hands. however, there is something else in me, something i allow myself to follow, a guide or standard by which i am able to measure actions and feelings, something most important in times when something feels or seems so right that unless you have a prior standard..., no not prior, but greater, something greater than myself with which to measure, or be measured by, instead of having only my own feelings to guide me in what i believe. i guess what i'm saying is that while i felt good about the way her character behaved, i believe it was wrong, which is counter to my feelings.

2008-03-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

i wonder if a lot of us are going to be answering to our kids in 10-15 about what we blogged today, both for good and not. i'm sure technology will allow them to access websites and blogs not in existence, and the google in 15 yrs will be able to search things that once were, and by today standards, are no longer, ie your old myspace page where you ranted about everything (and then erased). and they will reflect on who you were (and maybe are) in light of the history that was written since then, and the conversations you have had with them about how they should behave, and how that is inconsistent with your written past. you should be fun. but i wonder if that might deepen the relationships, cause of the forced honesty, or estrange them, because they are our children. i know parents who keep plenty of their past hidden from their children, to protect them? what if your kids could go back in time and watch you grow up, or not grow up?

2008-03-21T07:25:00.001-07:00

"There are three species of mendacity, each worse than the one before - lies, damned lies, and statistics." - stephen jay gould quoting markin twain

2008-03-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

I eat at Taco Cabana 3-4 times a week, i always order two egg and chorizo soft taco's and ask for salsa and pico de gallo on the side (those condiments are free). anyway, one day i bought a new wallet and it hadn't streched enough to get all my old junk from my old wallet into the new one, so one of the things i left out was this 20% of card, that i'm able to use every time i go to taco cabana. and of course the day i go there with out it, there is a new window teller, i order my food, i tell them that i have a 20% off gift card like i always do, and when i get to the window to pay i realize i don't have it with me, i explain my dilema, she says nothing, gives me a dirty look, and then adjust the price back to the regular price. no biggee. the next day when i went to taco cabana, i made sure i had my card with me, i ordered and said i had a gift card to the microphone, and the teller says back to me in the most condescending way, "DO YOU HAVE IT WITH YOU???" i said yes, and you could hear my eyes rolling in my voice, i got my discount and now she doesn't ask anymore, in fact she refuses to even look at it, when i present it. Now she has decided to not give me pico de gallo, its her new way of getting back at me, the other day i did my usuall order thing, and when she handed me the bag, i didn't even check to see if it was in there, cause it always is. well when i got to the office it wasn't, so today when i ordered i checked, and again it wasn't in there, so i politely knocked on the glass, and immediately she produced a container of pico, she is amazing.

2008-03-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

i'm going to radonmly put out grievances with people who disagree with me on different issues, presbo's and baptists might enter the mix more than others, cause i have more experience disagreeing with them.
Perseverance of the Saints (P in the TULIP)

states that, if your a christian and you try really hard to be a good christian and you succeed, your a christian, but not with much certainty. Consequently, if your a christian and you try really hard to be a good christian, and you fail, your not a christian(and you never were), but with all the certainty the denomination can muster to convince you of this, and consequently treat you in the same way??? which is whole nother ting.

2008-03-14T09:24:00.001-07:00

For Dave:
i blog about gross things, cause i'm gross... yesterday i was in the car driving, and when i stopped at the red light, i noticed that the guy next to me was digging deep inside of his nose, so i starred. and continued to starre? anyway, he caught me catching him, and then it was his turn to stair, but he gave me a dirty look while doing it, so i smiled, and turned away. but then i looked back at him and he was still sterring at me, he looked like he wanted to kill me, i felt like being generous and picking my nose to so he would know that its ok to pick your nose in public, but i didn't.

2008-03-08T07:57:00.000-08:00

if i were solomon i would have said two things i love, a new haircut, and clothes worn yesterday that need not be washed for today. and two things i hate lousy drivers and overpriced beverages, but i'm not so instead i'm gonna talk about my childhood. It was strange, its like i was a total schizo, I mean i got in trouble a whole lot no matter who i was around, so that was a constant, but the degree of what i was willing to do was different. like i did and said stupid stuff while around my parents or while playing in the neighborhood, but always knowing that they weren't far away. but like at camps i would go to in the summer or stuff like that, where they were completely out of sight and out of mind, my level of stupidity was heightened to like code level orange or something, i just remember my time away from my parents at camp like a total blur of running and screaming, and thats pretty much it, no sitting still or acting calm. I remember one year i got into a fight with a kid at camp or something, which was stupid because he was about twice my size, so i charged him and while i was getting punched i just wrapped him up and bit, which was like his belly button (meaning thats how far i came up on him). i think another year i camp i put a fishing hook through a kids nose, they day we were leaving from camp, i mean everybody was already on the bus. that is actually pretty boring, but the point i'm trying to make is that getting in trouble with "other" people just pailed so much in comparison to getting in trouble with my dad it was like having a liscence to do whatever i want, cause he wasn't there to punish me. don't think that i was afraid of my dad, there is a difference between afraid and respect, on that level (not saying that that is what respect looks like across the board). i love(d) my dad and new he loved me, its just that pretty much everyone else getting upset or punishing me was a joke in contrast, here's the thing though, i didn't process this conscously, i think it just happened, but it is probably an explanation for my completely insane behavior while out of my fathers arm's reach. is that wierd?

2008-03-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

ps i work for my mom as of 1-08 (cause i broke my clavicle), and she has been trying to get me to put the lid down on the toilet after i tinkle, and for the most part i do, it just seemed like the 3 times i forgot she was the next one to use it. she even called me at home once to tell me to put the lid down, i'm surprised she didn't leave a note for me in the bathroom (she likes to leave notes). anywho, there is another dude now working at the office, and i notice that he now leaves the lid up, so now that she has me trained, its ... did i mention everyone in the office is a woman, except dude.

2008-03-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

I saw juno tonight with jon, amy, and my parents, it was great of course, but i stiffled my laughter when juno referred to pork swords, cause i was sitting next to my mom!

2008-03-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

This morning i woke up and sat on the edge of my bed racking my brain trying to think of where i could go to study. you would think that the phrase "coffee shop" would be the first thing to pop into my head, but alas i am only surrounded by barnes and nobles and starbucks, neither of which offer free wireless, which is at the very least on a level with waterboarding (not the aquatic sport). so i remember that there are actually two decent "local" coffee shops in denton on the square, so i go downstairs only to discover that i didn't really tivo lost, like i thought, so i just flipped through our 4-500 channels that are available for about an hour. anyway, when i got to the jupiter house(coffee shop) i order a small coffee and a bagel, which cost 4.25, plus a .75 cent tip with the hope that that would motivate him to actually give me the food i paid for, and it worked. as i paid i asked if there were free refills, i assumed there was since i paid so much, i was wrong, they're a doller! oh. i got my bagel which turned out to be some sort of mini-bagel, later when i went to get my one dollar refill, i asked about a cup of coffee someone was holding that said bottomless cup, he said that that cup of coffee cost 4.50, he must of read my mind or my body language (i did start kicking things), because he followed up with, "coffee's expensive!" then i remembered that i have some knowledge of the coffee world, and that at greyfriars it only cost us about 5.5cents to make a cup of coffee, so i figure it might cost them 10.

2008-03-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

Last night a kinda funny thing happened, i guess, i was walking out of wal-mart with newcastle(beer) and the girl scouts asked me if i wanted some cookies, and i did, cause i love thin mints and somoas (they only had thin mints). So i set my six pack on the table and paid for my cookies, and i thought, is this wierd?

2008-02-29T06:58:00.000-08:00

My first one. I have thoughts about this blogging business as it pertains to me, but i don't have the time right now to write them. so, i'll just jump right in. On thursday night I go to a bible study with some other people my age and right now we are reading through Ecclisiastes(i had to check how to spell it) at the behest of me(i like ecclisiastes, my best friend tim, said it was his favorite at one time). We were reading through chapter 5 last night, and one of the girls read from Eugene peterson's the message which says, " So what was the point of working for a salary of smoke?" and i wondered allowed if the 1/2 day i worked for the cigar shop last year, and received payment for my services(which consisted of ringing up a few customers, smoking more cigars, and reading book 5 of harry potter) in cigars was what ole solomon was referring to, or maybe that was the other part of the chapter when he says eat drink and be marry, and enjoy your life for what it is.

2008-01-28T20:38:00.001-08:00

Hello!