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May 31, 2006
a news story Billions Change Religious Views Over The DaVinci Code "Why didn't we listen?" religous leaders lament. Cincinati, OH-- Church attendance all over the country dropped dramaticaly this past weekend, causing some to speculate that the Ron Howard directed movie starring Tom Hanks, "The Davinci Code," may be to blame. "Things were going along just fine until this movie came out, and then this past weekend, our attendance dropped in half," said Mort Jones, a local pastor. The DaVinci Code was based on a fictional book by Dan Brown, however Brown claimed that many of the religious elements of his book were based on research that he found to be accurate. Many church leaders were concerned that people would be swayed by Brown's claims, while others simply dismissed it as a sensationalist peice of fiction. "Why didn't we listen," exlaimed Roland Byers, another local pastor. "We totally dismissed the potential danger of this book, and now we are losing members because of it." Some still aren't alarmed. "They'll be back this Sunday," claimed Kevin Orlando, yet another local pastor. When asked how he was so certain of this, he simply said, "It happens all the time." posted
by Unknown @ 3:55:00 PM May 25, 2006 things i'm wondering What grade would my last five sermons (the ones at FOCUS since I came back last year) have gotten in my preching class? Am I smart, am I talented, or do I just have a unique willingness to try and figure something out myself? Why is being shy a bigger sin for a guy than being a jerk when it comes to dating? Why did I want to become a supervisor? Will dry weather and free time ever occur simultaneously so that I can mow my grass? Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals? I'm actually going to turn 30 in 2 months and 1 week. Will I get a job after I graduate? Why did this blog go from being extremly goofy to extremly serious? Is it because I'm getting old? Will the OC even be remotely watchable next season? What about 24? Or CSI:Miami? Is this post even remotely working? Does anyone even read this blog anymore? I don't. I am getting old. I should do something about that. posted
by Unknown @ 11:35:00 PM May 21, 2006 the streak Today I went to a wedding. At the reception, I caught the garter belt. This is the 4th time I've caught it, over a span of 12 year, proving that this has no actual magic powers. Not that the guys try to catch it for that anyway, we just like competitions where we try and catch stuff. But, then it occured to me . . . This is the second wedding reception in a row that I've caught this thing. That's right, I have a streak going. And, I think I have 4 more weddings this year, which means I could get this thing up to six before 06 is done. Which begs the question, what is the record for this? I think my record proves that I am the man to pull this off. It's not easy being this awesome. (Note: We may have a technicality here. The third one I caught, which would be the first one in this streak, is technically credited to Luke Wentz. See, at this particular reception, as I headed up for the tossing, Shannon stopped me and asked me to take Luke up there, which I was happy to do. I put him up on my shoulders, and was still able to catch it. But, since I was up there with a small child, I of course had to hand it to him like he caught it. Five minutes later, he was wearing it on his head. Since I actually caught it though, I think it's part of the streak.) posted
by Unknown @ 1:22:00 AM May 20, 2006 the party killer Sometimes I really am the life of the party. There are now 2 occurences of bachelor parties at Dave and Buster's that I was supposed to go to, but for some reason or another I was unable to attend. Dave and Buster's has a rule that if someone in a party is under 21, then there must be someone over 25 in the party. Each time, there was someone under 21, but there was not someone over 25. Each time, I would have been the one over 25 who would have allowed to party at D&B's to take place. The moral of this story: I need some friends my age. posted
by Unknown @ 1:48:00 AM May 16, 2006 what do i know I'm the guy who knows the answers. I'm the guy who knows what to do. I'm the guy who can fix it. I've found myself in that situation a lot lately. Much of it at work, but it also spills over into other aspects of my life. Lately, I've wondered how much of it is the expectation of others and how much of it I project upon myself. It's true, I have a bit of a messianic complex. That's interesting, considering my level of self esteem (although as Mel pointed out one night, I'm like dental fillings, which is another post for another time.) Then again, maybe my lack of confidence is rooted in having expectations of myself that are unattainable. Only I meet these expectations quite often. I don't define myself by my failures, I define myself by my fears. Which takes me back to my personality being a paradox rather than a logical progression. I know I am my own worst enemy. Along my journey it is my shadow self that I must defeat. Yet I wonder if that is where my fears actually lie. My point is this: I see a major situation coming up. I know there are a bunch of voices that want to be heard. I can't figure out if I am the one to speak for them or not. I feel like I am the one who is supposed to be the one to fix this, but I wonder if this is something that I have projected on myself, or if I truely am the go to guy. Or, are these doubts merely doubts in myself. Am I afraid of failure, or am I just afraid. And yes Ed, the crisis of faith montage music has been going through my head throughout this entire post. posted
by Unknown @ 12:55:00 AM May 13, 2006 Jesus the politician: part 1 During the time leading up to and during Jesus' life, the Jewish people were living under Roman occupation. One of the difficulties they has with Roman occupation is that it was difficult to be a montheist and live in the Roman empire. For most of the empire, the occupied people were allowed to keep their own religious beliefs. This was to prevent people from revolting in order to keep their religious faith. However, in order to create unity throughout the empire, they were also required to worship the emperor as a deity. In most of the occupied territories, this was not an issue. There were few who had a worldview that didn't allow for many deities, and even fewer religions had issues with at least pretending to worship another god. So, the Jewish people were somewhat unique within the empire. Their God demanded that worship only be for Him, that one doesn't even pretend to worship another god in order to fit in. In their scripture they have stories of people such as Daniel and his friends standing up in the face of this kind of persecution, even willing to die for it, and being miraculously saved. In their history they had stood up during the Greek occupation over religious beliefs, and had even regained their own sovereignty as a result. So, for the Romans, they were facing a volatile situation. They were facing a group of people who would potentially rise up if the religious situation was not handled properly. An empire the size of Rome was difficult to occupy, so they liked to keep uprisings as few as possible. So, the Jewish people were given an exemption: they were allowed to not worship the emperor as a deity. Regardless, Roman occupation was not well liked by the Jews. The Romans were a little too pagan for their liking. And, as hard as they tried, the Romans never quite understood what the Jewish people were all about, resulting in many misunderstandings that angered the Jews. So, during this time, the people expected the deliverer that the prophets had promised them, the Messiah, to rise up at this time. Under this political climate, at least 4 "parties" arose, and each of them had different expectations of the Messiah and how to get the Messiah to rise up in the first place. It is interesting to see how Jesus fit into and did not fit into the expectations of the various groups. The first group, and the most powerful at the time were the Sadducees. The Sadducees were the party of the temple. They were mostly made up of the priests, and had control over the temple and the sacrifice system. They made up at least half of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, in which they had the presiding member, the High Priest. They did not believe in the Messiah, in part because they only counted the Torah, the books of the law, as scripture. Also, they were loyal to Rome, likely due to the fact that under Roman occupation, they kept most of their power. Jesus fit in well with the Sadducees. Jesus had high regard for the temple. As a child, he hung around the temple after his family had started back to Nazareth, referring to it as "His Father's house." He paid the temple tax. Then again, he didn't get along with the Sadducees all that well. He made a big scene at the temple, driving out the merchants and the money changers, a big source of income for the temple. He told them to tear down the temple and he would rebuild it in three days. The gospels never mention him making a sacrifice (which doesn't mean he didn't, but it's interesting to note). He taught from the prophets and the writings (the 2 categories that make up the rest of the Old Testament). He claimed to be the Messiah, and was defiant of the priests during his trial. Maybe Jesus wasn't a Sadducee. The next group was the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the teachers, the Rabbi's (and predecessors of the modern day Rabbinic system). While not as politically powerful (though they made up the other half of the Sanhedrin), they may have been more influential with the people. In their view, the way to get God to send the Messiah was to follow the law perfectly, and only then would he deliver them. So, in order to to assure this, they began to "put a hedge" around the law. In other words, they would make a more strict law, and if you did not break that that meant that you were nowhere close to breaking the law of Moses. Take keeping the Sabbath as an example. It's somewhat vague. What exactly is "work." So, to make sure that nobody worked on the Sabbath, they created a system of rules to ensure that. You could only walk 3/4 of a mile on the Sabbath, for example. What happened is that these rules became a law unto themselves, and most common people couldn't keep it all straight. Jesus was one heck of a Pharisee. People even called him Rabbi. The Pharisees tried really hard to get him on their side. He was a great teacher, knew the scriptures inside and out. He was quite pious and charismatic. Of course, he and the Pharisees didn't get along at all. Jesus just wouldn't quite conform to them. He healed people on the Sabbath, and that's work. He let his disciples pick some grain on the Sabbath as well. He wouldn't let them stone the woman caught in adultery. See, for Jesus, while he upheld the law, he wasn't into such a rigid interpretation of it. He kept talking about what the purpose of the law was, that there was something living behind it. It was more than a code. He was way too loose with the law. I guess he wasn't a Pharisee either. The third group was the Zealots. We don't see much about them in Scripture, but we pick up a bit from Josephus and some other sources. The Zealots were the militants. In their view, the way to deliverance was to get the revolt started, and then through that the Messiah would rise up and lead them to victory. They had started a few uprisings, each of which was defeated. It is speculated that Barabbas was a Zealot leader. Jesus was a Zealot. He kept talking about this new kingdom, the "Kingdom of God." Surely that meant that God was about to bring Israel back to sovereignty and that he was going to rule over them again, just like it had been planned prior to the monarchy. However, Jesus' plans didn't quite fit in with what the Zealots were doing. He seemed to be a bit of a pacifist, telling people not to retaliate, that if they were struck, then let the person strike you again. Or, if a Roman made you carry his stuff, go even farther that you are required. What kind of revolutionary is this? Maybe Jesus wasn't a Zealot. The last group is the Esscenes. The Esscenes are not mention in the Bible, though it is speculated the John the Baptist was one, and even if he isn't, he seems to be characteristic of one. The Esscenes had decided that Jewish society was too corrupt. So, they left, and settled near Qumran, close to the Dead Sea. They were sort of a mix between puritans and hippies, starting a commune that was obsessed with moral purity. They were fairly intelligent, writing the Dead Sea Scrolls. They believed that if they were pure enough, God would send the Messiah who would restore the Jewish people to their proper purity. Jesus was an Esscene. He went out in the desert all the time and prayed. He himself was pure, living without sin. Then again, he wasn't into the separation thing. After some time in the desert, he would go back into society and get his hands dirty, hanging out with the impure, trying to make a difference there. Clearly, Jesus could not have been an Esscene. So, Jesus was not a Sadducee. And, he was not a Pharisee. He clearly was not a Zealot, nor an Esscene. And, he definitely was not their Messiah. posted
by Unknown @ 1:46:00 PM May 8, 2006 the heart of a lion As 99.99% of you know, the Wizard of Oz is about 4 characters seeking out a wizard to help them with their great dilemmas. One just wanted to go home, but the other three needed help with a perceived character flaw. The Scarecrow needed a brain, the Tinman needed a heart, and the Lion needed courage. As the story progressed, without realizing it, the Scarecrow was the one who would come up with the plan in a time of crisis, the Tinman was the one who would show the most compassion when thing weren't going well, and the Lion was the one who stood up courageously when things were on the line. At the end, the wizard pointed out that each of them had what they sought all along. Over a year ago, during a moment of crisis, I found myself almost in tears praying over and over, "I don't want to be afraid anymore." I wanted God to take away my fear. I now know that that was the wrong prayer. Over the past few weeks, I have found myself in a series of "no-win" situations. Some have been the kinds of things where you have to come up with the "less wrong" solution. Others have been the kind of thing where no matter how hard you try or what you do, it's not enough. And, in all of these events, at one time or the other, I have found myself doubting whether or not I have brains, a heart, or courage. What I have learned in all of these events is that I don't need to seek a wizard for any of this. In fact, I need not even seek any of these items. It's not about brains, heart, or courage. It's about faith. I say the right words when I don't know what I'm talking about. It's not my brains. My heart breaks when I can't fix everything. It's not my heart. But in those two areas, I've known that for a while. Courage is something I've not had a grasp on. I thought courage is a lack of fear. It's not. I've learned that you can be totally terrified and still be courageous. Fear is an emotion. Courage is an action. The two can co-exist. In fact, there is no courage without fear. So, I've learned that I've had the brains all along. And, I've learned that I've had a heart all along. And now, I know I've had courage all along. It's because I have faith in the one who brings me home. posted
by Unknown @ 11:35:00 PM May 6, 2006 i guess the internet doesn't have everything If you go to google and type "hippies eating corn" and do an image search, NOTHING comes up. Don't ask me how I know this. posted
by Unknown @ 11:21:00 PM May 4, 2006 sometimes you gotta be careful what you wish for And sometimes, you just gotta enjoy the ride. Ever since Sleuth TV and my DVR teamed up to give me an endless supply of A-Team reruns, something has become abundantly clear: Mr. T. needs to be working again. This is something I have been lamenting lately. In fact, I even told me roommates that I would watch Mr. T. in just about anything, even if it were a show on Lifetime. Well, It turns out that I don't have to watch Lifetime after all. Because Mr. T. is getting his own show. And that show is going to be on TV Land. I heard this rumor on the radio this morning, and became quite excited. So, when I got home, I googled it, and sure enough, it's real. Here's the deal: It is going to be a reality show where he goes out and helps people. I'm not sure what kind of help it's going to be, but I'm sure it will be awesome. And here's the best part: The title of the show: "I Pity The Fool." I can't wait. source posted
by Unknown @ 11:46:00 PM |
