Friends,

In a recent email conversation, with a person who shall remain anonymous, I was treated to a ‘My job and the role God has given me is to defend His truth, to stand against error and shine HIs [sic.] light into the darkness” blast. That’s fine.

Last night, while reading through chapter 1 of Eugene Peterson’s newest book Tell it Slant, I read this fine quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne:

“His instruments have no consciousness of His purpose; if they imagine they have, it is a pretty sure token that they are not his instruments.”

It is terribly hard to have a conversation with someone who has been hand-picked by God to do anything. In the end, so said Gamaliel, we end up ‘fighting against God.’

Have a nice day.

jerry

Friends,

This is just in: Christians Must not laugh.

James was right after all: “Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.” (James 4:9) Must be why Luther rejected James as canonical.

Thanks to the ADM culture for reminding us of this sobering truth.

(See also: Post)

Said the ‘editor’:

Yeah, this scenario is side-splittingly hilarious: God creates mankind who rebels against the most loving Being there could ever be. They become so deluded they actually think their Creator is their enemy. In an act of grace and mercy, which is beyond words God comes into His Own creation as one of them.

Because of His perfect justice these rebels could not dwell with Him. So to show these helpless creatures that deserve nothing but to be destroyed how much He loved them, knowing they would never understand or even want Him, God – in the Person of His Son – allowed them to brutally torture and kill Him.

Yeah, that’s the funniest thing we’ve ever heard.

Actually, if you think about it, it is hilarious–in an ironic and disturbing sort of way. What sort of a god is so silly that he would rather die than to allow his creation to? There is something terrifically absurd about it, isn’t there? I mean, honestly, absurd!

16“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17” ‘We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge
and you did not mourn.’ 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ‘ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

Seriously. Now Christian comedy is off limits. Before long, it will be against the Bible to breathe the air that God made.

Joy, which was the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian. And as I close this chaotic volume I open again the strange small book from which all Christianity came; and I am again haunted by a kind of confirmation. The tremendous figure which fills the Gospels towers in this respect, as in every other, above all the thinkers who ever thought themselves tall. His pathos was natural, almost casual. The Stoics, ancient and modern, were proud of concealing their tears. He never concealed His tears; He showed them plainly on His open face at any daily sight, such as the far sight of His native city. Yet He concealed something. Solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists are proud of restraining their anger. He never restrained His anger. He flung furniture down the front steps of the Temple, and asked men how they expected to escape the damnation of Hell. Yet He restrained something. I say it with reverence; there was in that shattering personality a thread that must be called shyness. There was something that He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth. (GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy)

Amen.

jerry

PS–feel free to contribute jokes to this thread, you know, the sort of stuff that might make our pouty faces of concrete crack, crumble, and reveal.

(or Cutting off your face just to spite your nose )

In the comments of my recent post, Rick Frueh made a very good observation:

I find that many legitimate points are sometimes raised by men like [name deleted], but the method and tone with which they raise them, as well as these non-issues, obscure any thoughtful addressing of these same issues.

Rick reminded me of a post that I wrote a couple weeks ago over on my blog.  I’m re-posting it over here, given the level of relevance that Rick raised.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

While I will name “victims”, I’m not gonna name the offenders:

1. It’s not relevant.
2. Why would I give them free publicity?
3. I’m old and can’t remember 2 of the 3, anyway.

Illustration 1

Some time ago, a well-known pastor released a video series on the problem of the Bible not being taken seriously enough and/or the Bible being twisted in these days. As part of his defense of this topic, he played audio clips of “preachers” that illustrated his point.

Among his issues was the alleged irreverence of using humor. And yes, if your church has a two-drink minimum, then maybe there’s something wrong. But among the clips played was one of Ken Davis. For those of you not familiar with Ken, he isn’t a preacher; he is primarily a — wait for it — comedian. Ken uses his comedy to segue into issues of a serious nature.

Apparently, this pastor has a problem with a comedian being funny. Or at least, if he’s also a Christian.

Hezekiah 2:43
Whatever you do, in word or deed, do all to the glory of God. That is, unless, it’s being funny.

So, with such a silly thought, how am I supposed to take any of what you say seriously?

Illustration 2

During one of Rob Bell’s recent “tours”, a blogger who adamantly disagrees with him attended his city’s stop on the tour. While the blogger spun his response as simply a report of what occurred, it was an obvious fisking.

Regardless, in the midst of a theological analysis of the evening, the blogger felt it necessary to note that several of the men in the audience looked similar to Bell, particularly in hairstyle and glasses. He made the declaration that obviously, these guys were idolizing Bell, further “proving” his point that things were amiss.

(It was pointed out that Bell is somewhat fashionable, and if others are fashionable as well, there’s a good chance of overlap, rather than idolization. No response was made to this rebuttal. I was shocked, shocked.)

So, let’s take a serious theological questioning about Bell’s teachings, and throw in a judgment-passing, divinely-revealed analysis of others’ actions, that Bell has no control over, and probably wasn’t true in the first place.

But I’m supposed to buy your larger points?

Illustration 3

Someone email’d me what turned out to be a copy of a blog post. The thrust of the post was intended to be critical of Rick Warren shortly before the forum in which the presidential candidates participated. In passing, the Democractic nominee was referred to as “B Hussein Obama”.

The implication was clear — let’s focus on Obama’s Muslim heritage. Such silliness obfuscates any legitimate arguments that one might have, drowning them out by those who simply dismiss you as a xenophobe.

Now here’s the kicker

1. Much of what the well-known pastor teaches is spot-on, IMHO. Even in that series.
2. There are some major theological differences that I have with Bell, some of which were highlighted by the anti-Bell blogger.
3. If you know me at all, you know that I’d rather sit next to David Dukes at a Jeremiah Wright sermon than see Obama in the White House. And with the kind of goofballs that he hangs with, it would not surprise me to find out that Obama is overly-friendly with those he should not be, who happen to be Muslim.

In short, on a lot of issues, and sometimes even in their main thrust, I agree with all three of the unnamed men that I have decried here. But in their passion to dismantle those that they oppose, they are all three perfectly willing to use any and every issue that they disagree with, regardless of its accuracy or relevance to the main point.

And so the main point gets totally clouded over and ignored. And for those that don’t know better (and that’s more than you might think), everything that that person says gets ignored. For the guy in “illustration 3″, it’s political suicide, as he drives more people over to his opponent’s side or further affirms those that are already there.

But when you start mixing personal opinion (and/or gross stupidity) with Scripture, then you’re driving people away from God — a much more serious offense — “two-fold the child of hell”, “millstones around the neck”, and all that stuff.

Quite often, commenters here ask the question why we even care about what the various Armchair Mafia sites write, or why we spend time debunking their attacks.  It’s a valid question.  It’s something I ask myself, and honestly, sometimes I think it’s probably better to just let a fool go off into his or her folly.  But then I see something they write, and it’s so much in error, I feel that it needs a response.

Take for example, this rant.  Now at the start of the post, we are told,

The Right Reverend Nick Baines, Bishop of Croyden, has said that Beatles songs are as likely to explain Christianity as the Bible which he calls, “banal.” Rock songs, he says, are more effective at explaining Christianity.

That’s a pretty serious charge.  I would be concerned if a minister actually called the BIble “banal”.  So I follow the link to the original article, and what do I find?  I see that the Right Reverend Baines actually said nothing of the sort.  What he actually said is the following:

“The Bible is an amazing collection of books that we’ve allowed to become banal. For many people it is a closed book and asking them to read it is a lost cause, which is a tragedy.”

That is a very different statement than calling the Bible “banal”.  The Right Reverend Baines is simply stating that the Church has not done a good job at communicating the truths of Scripture to modern generations, and it’s tragic.  The truth is that many people see the Bible as little more than an obsolete book, and to them it has become “devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed“.  So perhaps a secular songwriter, playwright, or poet will happen to ask questions that are really on people’s minds.  And perhaps we as Christians can take those questions and point to the narrative of Scripture that gives answers or comfort for those questions.

Actually, isn’t a primary job of a minister to listen to the questions people are asking?  Isn’t a true shepherd responsive to the calls of the sheep?  Perhaps the reason so many people have little use for the Church is that what was meant to be a vital and engaging relationship has turned into a one-way conversation.  Throughout the Gospels, Jesus never looked down upon someone with a genuine question.  He took time to respond to those whom society shunned.  He didn’t let religion dictate what the right questions were.

So perhaps instead of insisting we have the answers for all the questions that nobody is asking, maybe we should take a moment to listen.  We might be surprised what we hear.

I’ll be honest right up front — I didn’t burn $325, er um, I mean 72 minutes to listen to the podcast that readers are encouraged to consume on the blog post that I wish to address. Having said that, I do have to completely agree with the author on the title, so much so that I named this entry the same thing. Problem is, I kinda doubt that how I see the difference and how the author sees the difference are the same. I could probably confirm this if I was willing to waste over an hour of my life, but I’ll just express how I see the difference.

For what it’s worth, the term “Christian” appears 3 times in Scripture (at least that’s all in the New King Jimmy):

Acts 11:26 — And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Acts 26:28 — Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

1 Peter 4:16 — Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

The term means simply “little Christ”.  And so, used properly, it’s a good term, and I would readily identify myself as a Christian.

History tells us that the term, as it originated in Antioch, was actually used as a term of derision.  Even if this is true, Peter’s use of the word shows that he considered it a badge of honor (see also Genesis 50:20).

While I can’t say this definitively, I would imagine that the author of that other post is big on literalism.  So, what does “Christ-follower” literally mean?  I’m thinking something like “follower of Christ”.  Seems like following Christ would be a pretty good thing — Matthew 10:38" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=10&verse=38&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">at Matt 16:24" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=16&verse=24&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">least Matthew 19:21" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=19&verse=21&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">Jesus Mark 8:34" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=48&chapter=8&verse=34&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">seemed Mark 10:21" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=48&chapter=10&verse=21&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">to Luke 9:23" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=9&verse=23&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">think Luke 18:22" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=18&verse=22&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">that John 10:27" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=50&chapter=10&verse=27&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">was John 12:26" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=50&chapter=12&verse=26&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">the John 21:22" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=50&chapter=21&verse=22&version=50&context=verse" target="_blank">case.  And so, used properly, it’s a good term, and I would readily identify myself as a Christ-follower.

OK, now let’s look at how our society views the two terms.  The last time that the term “Christian” meant anything meaningful in Western society, Warren G Harding was president.  To most non-believers (ya know, those people we’re supposed to be trying to reach), “Christian” means “not Jewish, Muslim, or Bill Maher”.  The term has become little more than a label, and has no active sense to it.

On the other hand, “Christ-follower” has a very active sense to it — the Christ-follower is following Christ.  It very much identifies the person with a very specific Person, and strikes me as a very good example of living Romans 1:16" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%201:16;&version=50;" target="_blank">Romans 1:16.

Now, are there those who have misused the term “Christ-follower”, perhaps to associate it with beliefs that aren’t Biblical, or to affiliate it with a political cause?  Probably.  And perhaps these are the people with whom the author has a beef.

Are there those who have misused the term “Christian”, perhaps to associate it with beliefs that aren’t Biblical, or to affiliate it with a political cause? 100%, beyond the shadow of a doubt, no way you can deny it, definitely.

So if we must abandon the term “Christ-follower” because of misuse, then we must abandon the term “Christian” also.  Yet the author clings to the latter while deriding the former.

Can someone explain how exactly that works?

A recently intercepted letter from the Armchair Mafia to Compassion International:

Dear Friends at Compassion International,

This letter is to inform you that Erika (pictured here) will not be receiving sponsorship funds for the next 10 months.

The money was, instead, spent on attendance at a conference. And not just any conference, but the recent Reveal Conference at Willow Creek. Please know that the “Super Early Bird” registration was used. Had it not been, Erika would’ve been left out in the cold for a year instead of just 10 months.

More important than this fiscal responsibility, the attendee extensively fisked the conference here and here. As an added bonus, you will also find the occasional critique of the church in general or the divining of motivations by conference speakers. Some may see these as unnecessary and irrelevant, but they are actually very important in getting the point across.

I think it’s obvious that “revealing” that which we have already decried for years is much more important than feeding some random 7-year-old.

Sincerely,

Your Friends at [a prominent Armchair "Discernment" Ministry]

P.S. Our sincere apologies for what seems to be praise for Hybels in the first post. We are now counseling with Chris regarding his poor discernment shown by attributing something positive to one of our enemies.

HT: A Little Birdie…

Friends,

We have been working on a series of posts that deal, primarily, with   learning to listen to what people are saying in their music or art or films. Some rules do exist and were summarized by Chris L in his previous post:

1. To listen to what is being said by the “voices crying out in the wilderness” of the world

2. To discuss what they are saying – not their state of salvation

3. To discuss how best to connect to people with these thoughts/feelings

In this installment of the Learning to Listen(C) series I am exploring a song by the band Metallica. The song, Master of Puppets, is, simply put, one of the best songs available for discussing one of the most prevailing ailments facing our culture: Addiction. We talk about addiction in our culture as long as the addiction is tobacco, drugs, or alcohol. I remember one time popular CCM artist Carmen even mocked those who were addicts by recording a song called A2J (Addicted to Jesus). Rarely is addiction discussed when it comes to other things that we find ourselves addicted to: sex, blogging, television, attention, etc. I think Metallica did a masterful job in this song and I’d like to explore it a bit with you and listen to what they are saying.

[Content warning at 2:39. Also, this is not the best version of this song. The studio track is much better and cleaner. But back then, Metallica didn't make videos for their music.]

Master of Puppets

End of passion play, crumbling away
I’m your source of self-destruction
Veins that pump with fear, sucking dark is clear
Leading on your deaths construction

Taste me you will see
More is all you need
Dedicated to
How I’m killing you

Come crawling faster
Obey your Master
Your life burns faster
Obey your Master
Master

Master of Puppets I’m pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can’t see a thing
Just call my name, ’cause I’ll hear you scream
Master
Master
Just call my name, ’cause I’ll hear you scream
Master
Master

Needlework the way, never you betray
Life of death becoming clearer
Pain monopoly, ritual misery
Chop your breakfast on a mirror

Taste me you will see
More is all you need
Dedicated to
How I’m killing you
Come crawling faster
Obey your Master
Your life burns faster
Obey your Master
Master

Master of Puppets I’m pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can’t see a thing
Just call my name, ’cause I’ll hear you scream
Master
Master
Just call my name, ’cause I’ll hear you scream
Master
Master

Master, Master, where’s the dreams that I’ve been after?
Master, Master, you promised only lies
Laughter, Laughter, all I hear or see is laughter
Laughter, Laughter, laughing at my cries
Hell is worth all that, natural habitat
Just a rhyme without a reason
Neverending maze, drift on numbered days
now your life is out of season
I will occupy
I will help you die
I will run through you
Now I rule you too
Come crawling faster
Obey your Master
Your life burns faster
Obey your Master
Master

I’m Your Source of Self-Destruction

When I was a teenager, if you listened to Metallica, you were considered a devil-worshiper. Of course, I grew up in the days of the pre-ODM culture when ODM’s were called the PMRC and headed up by the wives of some Washington senators who had nothing better to do with their time but censor the culture. Of course, as with the Israelites in Egypt, the more they persecuted, the more they pushed, the more the headbanging culture prospered and multiplied. Nowadays, it is actually rather sickening to see little teenaged cheerleader types wearing Metallica shirts and ‘banging their heads.’ Where were they when we suffered the PMRC? I liked it better when Metallica was so rebellious that they wouldn’t even make videos for their music. But I digress; I’m an old-school headbanger.

Metallica, for all the vilification, actually wrote great music. (I don’t listen to much of their new stuff so I cannot comment much, but their old stuff was simply beautiful lyrically.) I think back to the Ride the Lightning album and the songs were amazing. They wrote of cultural problems like the death penalty (Ride the Lightning); drew lyrics straight from the Scripture (Creeping Death); talked about taboo subjects like teen suicide (Fade to Black); the search for true life (Trapped under ice); sang of the horrors of nuclear holocaust (Fight Fire with Fire); and drew lyrics from Hemingway and Donne in writing of the stupidity of war (For Whom the Bell Tolls). Ride the Lightning was a masterful exploration of the faces of death; death from every conceivable point of view. Death is one of the main topics of the Bible. Metallica explored its depths, but ultimately their laments provided no way out as is suggested by the title ‘trapped under ice.’

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Addiction, Chrstians, Freedom, Jesus Christ, Metallica, NT Wright, Romans, slavery

In this election season it seems appropriate to post this excellent article by frequent commenter and new friend Chad Holtz. Enjoy!

Every week I get to hear lectures from Dr. J. Kameron Carter in Christian Theology. It has been a tremendous blessing. Below you will find a sort of summary of much of what I have been digesting in this class. I hope it blesses you and inspires you as it has me. Peace.

An Election worth Voting For

Who is Israel? According to Exodus 4:20-23 Israel is the “Son of God.” Yahweh calls upon Pharaoh to “let my son go so that he may worship me.” So who is Israel? They are the world’s first glimpse at incarnation. What is incarnation? It is the total union and identity between the God of Israel and the Israel of God. It is the union between the God in whose name itself cannot be pronounced (YHWH has no vowel points – it is unpronounceable) and the one in whom this unpronounceable name is given (Jesus).

Throughout the Old Testament we find that this first union, this first incarnation between God and his Son Israel is anything but complete and total. God has chosen to bind himself to this people, to his Son – God has declared a “YES!” to Israel. This is scandalous. God does not engage with the world in any way we would like. No, God has chosen to interact with the world in this way – he has bound himself to this unfolding of his divine name. When Moses is given the task to go to Egypt to free God’s people, Israel, Moses asks for the name of the one sending him. It is at this moment that God gives Moses the name YHWH, the name that is unpronounceable and is his “name forever, [his] title for all generations” (Exod. 3:13-15). One of Moses’ chief objections to his calling is that he does not speak very well – he is “slow of speech and slow of tongue” (4:10).

Speech is what unites a certain people group together. Speech also divides. Speech is what we use to place ourselves over and against another. In Genesis 11 we discover the hazards of a group of people with one language who strive to “make a name” for themselves (see Gen. 11:4-6). The Tower of Babel holds a mirror up to our efforts to become for ourselves something other than what our Creator has made us for. Identity is not something we make for ourselves but rather something given to us by God. To remind us of this fact God confuses the speech of the people, scattering them abroad over all the earth, rendering them inarticulate to each other. But God does not confuse our speech without reason. The very next scene that unfolds is the nescient call of Israel via the call of Abram. It is out of this inarticulate land, Chaldea (one of the lands inhabited by the people scattered from Babel), that God calls Abram to leave the identity of his father’s world and follow God to “the land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). Remarkably, Abram goes. And in that going his identity is always out before him provided his continual obedience to the one who has called him out.

Read the rest of this entry »

Friends,

I feel like it has been forever since I had a meaningful post here. I need to write this morning, but in a non-connected sort of way. I have some rumblings I’d like to share with you from the past week or so.

First, I learned something interesting about ‘church’ this week. Tuesday night I went to visit a young couple who have been worshiping with our congregation. I was feeling rather pleased with myself when the husband said, “I really enjoy your preaching. It really gets deep and feeds me spiritually.” He’s a Catholic and he and his wife have been worshiping at what might be called a ‘PD’ Church and they are in their 20’s. Wow. Then Wednesday morning I went to FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at the local Middle School where I work. We were doing sort of a survey of the kids and one of the questions was, “So when you think of church, what word comes to mind?” My 7th grade PK spoke up, “Boring.”

I guess that just goes to show that no matter what sort of congregation one has or worships with not everyone will be pleased.

Second, I watched the latest installment of Rambo this week, Rambo. It was an interesting movie. It featured some Christian missionaries who hearts were bigger than their brains and, of course, a lot–I mean a lot–of bullets. Stallone raised some important questions about war, violence, justice, peace, and, I think, Christianity. The film was unbelievably violent. I didn’t know that the human body could be shredded in so many ways (I thought once I had seen “Saw” I had seen it all.) Stallone took it to a ‘whole nover level.’ The film wasn’t the best Rambo I have ever seen: the dialogue was full of cliche, too fast, too predictable. Furthermore, I tend to disagree with the idea that nothing changes–even though I have argued otherwise here and elsewhere in the past. But the violence and horror and blood: Oh, it was glorious!

I guess it just goes to show that no matter what the plot or how bad the dialogue I will tune in to a film where the bad guys get eaten up by .50 caliber machine gun bullets, in a variety of ways, and the hero lives (Oh, and where a once pacifist Christian grows a set and bashes in the head of a child of Babylon).

Third, it has been a long week. Last night, I had a huge ‘family discussion’ with my youngest son, who is in 5th grade, because he just refuses to do his homework. Then his teacher, a 20 something just out of college who knows all about raising recalcitrant and stubborn children and what is the best way to educate them, sends me email informing me of how my son is ’still not turning in his homework’ as if to say, “You freaking moron, why won’t you make your son do his homework. I have been over this with you a hundred times now. Are you dense.” I want to respond to her e-mail, but I let my wife instead. My son simply does not see the point of doing ridiculous math problems where he has to, and I quote, ‘interpret the remainder.’ What does that mean? I can’t blame him; I hate math too. He says, in an all too eerie imitation of his father, “I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Why do I need to do story problems?” Oooooohhh. I get it. I really do.

I guess it just goes to show that no matter ‘important’ the work to be done, there will always be someone who refuses to see its value or significance.

Fourth, I can’t pray this week. I don’t know why. I have prayed a little. I have been reading my bible.  But I just cannot seem to find the energy to pray. My dad lost his job again. My brother had to be evacuated from his house in CA due to fires. My mother, I am convinced, hates me. I fought with my sons yesterday and hurt my oldest son’s feelings. I go to bed early and can’t get up. My wife and I were getting along and then I snapped at her again this morning. One of the ladies wants me to, get this, hang curtains at the church building this afternoon. What? Is that why I’m around here? Is that what my degree prepared me for? To hang curtains? You’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t pray this week. I’m stuck in a funk. Plus, on top of that, I just finished reading Joshua. And for the first time in my life, the book of Joshua frightened and confused me.

I guess it just goes to show that no matter how much is going right in a person’s life there will always be enough wrong to sap the strength, the joy, and the communion. Rich Mullins said it best, “It’s hard, yes it’s hard. You know it’s hard to be like Jesus.”

Fifth, I’ve been lurking this week; reading; watching; listening. The world of the blog is a complex place. One day I think, “I’m done with blogging.” The next day, I get 200 hits on my blog and change my mind. What amazes me is the depths that people are willing to go to in order to be right. (It was my oldest son who confronted me with this hard truth last night. I won’t tell him, but he was right.) I have trouble living with myself just because I am, so I don’t know how some bloggers live with themselves when their sole purpose in life and writing is to destroy everything that is not of themselves. I have to admit that sometimes I wish I had never started blogging. It’s a terribly depressing place at times. I think I’ll start praying for a worldwide crash of the blogosphere. Nah. I’m too vain for that. Someone said to me the other day, “The problem is that some bloggers are more in love with theology than they are with Jesus.” Gawd, I hope that is never me. I love theology, but not at the expense of The person.

I guess it just goes to show that everything that is a blessing is also a curse. If we find some joy while we are here, perhaps there will be distress from some place else. Thankfully, Jesus can be found.

Sixth, and finally, the world is uh, messed up. I am frustrated because there is so much hate, so much greed, so much violence, so much fear, so much disaster, so much death. Really, this place is too much. I hate it here most of the time and yet I lack the necessary courage to constantly pray ‘maranatha!’ Really, this place needs some serious help because I’m just pessimistic enough to believe that it is not going to get better before it gets worse and with presidential elections looming, taxes likely to go up, the ever-present concern of when the next terrorist strike will come, the growing concern about how all the financial stuff will affect my salary (since it depends upon donations to the church)–well, that and more, my concern about the Steelers winning every Sunday and my disappointment with Jeff Gordon’s terrible, terrible year in NASCAR. Well, the world is messed up and I have just been thinking about whether or not I am doing enough one one hand, and on the other lamenting that I can only do so much, that I feel so helpless.

I guess it just goes to show that the world is in much bigger need of someone much bigger than I to solve the problems that this world is faced with just now. (I also seriously doubt that either presidential candidate is going lessen my anxiety.)

It’s only Thursday. I have band practice and a board meeting tonight. I have a wedding rehearsal tomorrow. I have prayer meeting and a wedding on Saturday. Somewhere in the midst of all this I have to write two sermons. I don’t know if I can write sermons this week. Maybe I’ll just watch some more baseball and hope that the Red Sox get clobbered again. One can dream, can’t he? Happily, on Sunday, I can worship with my friends. In the meantime, I’m glad to know you and happy you stopped by for a visit today. Perhaps some of my angst can touch you and point you to Jesus. I’m sticking with Jesus today. I hope you are too.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

I think I’m getting back into prayer shape. I hope you will join with me.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Apologists – are authors, writers, editors of scientific logs or academic journals, and leaders known for taking on the points in arguments, conflicts or positions that are either placed under popular scrutinies or viewed under persecutory examinations. The term comes from the Greek word apologia , meaning a speaking in defense.

Ministry – an influential, Grammy-nominated American industrial metal band founded by frontman Al Jourgensen in 1981.

Just a little Thursday fun! But c’mon isn’t that the image you get when you think of what some of the apologist “ministries” out there do. They wanna be like Ravi but in the end they only end up looking like an anti-establishment, angry, wanna be rocker, longing for the good ‘ol days. When they had thousands clamoring to hear their voice.