Theological Liberals and Theological Conservatives have no ability to dialogue because they speak contradictory languages. Purely Secular people (like journalists) have no ability to understand theological people whatsoever because they cannot even read the dictionaries (though they could be trained if they tried). This is one reason why we have such political animosity and misunderstanding concerning the evaluation of founding documents like the Constitution of the United States. The founders wrote with a dictionary in hand. Many today use something else to read the same words and come up with a misunderstanding that was unintended. Postmodernism is not all bad when it is used to help us with understanding. It is all bad when it is the basis of understanding (or not understanding as the case may be).
I was reading an article the other day about Al Mohler and the effects of the Conservative Resurgance on Southern Seminary. The article was not unfavorable to Mohler, but mostly dwelled on the lingering whispers of controversy, stating that his work "has brought criticism and suggestions of intolerance."
What struck me were the repeated references to Mohler's "strict ideological stands" on issues such as women in the pastorate and how he "fervently opposes gay rights and abortion." There was even a quote by a former faculty member who stated that what now exists is "a Baptist version of the Taliban." Only one small reference to the infallibility of Scripture.
This is what gets me. I, of course, cannot speak for Al Mohler. But as for me, I am not against women in the pastorate. I am not against gay rights. I am not against abortion, or liberalism, or rampant immorality, or any combination of all the sins. Have at it. Do what you want. Intercourse with anything that has two legs, or four. I, as one properly educated by liberal secular public institutions do not have the mental ability to tell you that you are wrong to desire any of these things. I have no authority whatsoever. But I do believe in Scripture.
See, it is not that I am against anything. I am for Scripture. Any evaluation that gets this order incorrect is flawed. I am for Scripture. Scripture is against homosexuality. Scripture is against abortion. Scripture is against exploiting the poor. Scripture is against women serving as pastors. Therefore, turns out that I am against those things.
I suppose that in the end it turns out to be the same thing, but my liberal secular public education taught me to understand the positions of those who disagree with you before you assume the right to criticize. Most who criticize Conservative Christians have no idea what non-secular people are really talking about. They assume that we are all starting on the same track and do not realize that we are in different stadiums.
In the course of my research, I found that a lot of people were surprised by IE6's ability to render style sheets. It also seems that people using NS4 will not see the boxes and fonts as I desire. But, it looks like I've achieved acceptable for the latest generation of browsers and I've spent too much time on it already, so I do not plan to tinker anymore unless there are still big problems (other than my writing). I did well on the Greek exam, but alas, Hebrew always awaits...
Let me know if the format looks o.k. in your browser (and what browser you are using).
Crazy. I want to apologize to all of my readership. I did not know that Internet Explorer 6.0 and up displayed cascading style sheets so poorly. The huge space you see above you does not show up in my earlier edition of IE, any Netscape, Yahoo-enhanced IE, or Opera. I faced this problem long ago with javascript vs. Jscript. Whatever. I will try to fix my site and conform to "the machine" at least as much as will get my postings the proper perspective. Thank you for your patience.
Tonight I was ordained as a Baptist Deacon. It is a position of service in the church in keeping with Acts 6:1-6 and 1 Timothy 3:8-13. I feel different. It was a very humbling experience. I pray that I will serve Christ and my church to my best abilities in this office. Everyone should have a place of service in their local congregation. I hope that my election is a reminder to those who see me in action that God can save sinners and do amazing things in their lives. I was dead in sin and he gave life to me. How can I do anything but serve him? How can we stand to ignore his pleas and serve our own ends after understanding what his death and resurrection mean? I cannot but serve.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all children here below.
Praise Him above you heavenly hosts.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
I almost can't believe it....Britney Spears has dropped off the Yahoo! top 5 searches list. She is still in the top 20, but is at 8 and falling. Turns out to be another object lesson in conforming to the world. The "kiss" generated buzz for a time, but now Britney has lost the "innocence" that characterized her image. Parents don't like her and she is just not as fun for teen boys to fantasize about now that she is just another whore. Her image, that is. Britney may be just as sweet as ever, but she is getting bad advice and does not have anyone to help her along the way. Even a deflowered super pop-star with a lesbian past can come to Jesus. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. All the sinners are welcome. Take heed of the lesson - conformance to the world never ends up as you would imagine, but don't write off this young lady. God is not finished with her yet either. Pray that she would receive everything that her Maker has designed for her.
The Regina and I have also been wrestling with baby names. What will we name our little man-child? Here is a link to the most popular baby names of 2002. Is yours on there? [You know you want to look. Go ahead, it's o.k.] Bible names are making a big comeback. I like the name Elijah and was surprised to see it at #47. Not more surprised than #72 - Jesus. Makes you wonder if they included the illegal aliens in their tally. No matter, I will not name my child with the name that is above all names. I like to respect that one and keep it holy. J-s-s and all that. But we are getting closer to settling on the one. This is your (the entire internet community) last chance to get in some suggestions before the die is cast. What would you name the baby Rex?
I feel a lot better about my week after today. My Hebrew professor said that I was performing well in class and if I kept it up, I would be very pleased. (the grades are entirely subjective) Now he is a prof and very pleased to him may mean a B-, but it does mean that I am not doing as poorly as I thought.
Also, Greek prof today deflated my idea that I would have a 30 verse passage to translate on Thursday's exam. Turns out, we will have three 2 verse passages - and we get to carry our lexicons! Ha! I can translate 6 verses of anything in an hour with a dictionary. This week is looking up.
Last night the Regina and I went out to a national department store chain to register for baby stuff. Two people who have never been parents deciding what they will want/need to raise a child with minimum stress so that people who are parents and have already been through the experience will know what to get for us as presents. Hunhh? Got me, but we have to do it.
We didn't actually get around to registering for anything, because we spent two hours reviewing the different baby travel systems. Yes, the little Rex is going to be riding in style - air, land, or sea - after we settle down with the deluxe carry all system (don't forget the baby) that the post-Christian self-serving Eddie Bauer materialistic is good upper middle class yuppie culture is forcing upon us. We cannot (I repeat cannot) purchase a safety device without going whole hog on one of these things. For my pedia-challenged readers, the system is something like this. We selected the Comfort Dimensions system. It was lighter than the Graco systems and seemed to have more overall features in a value system. But, the Regina will have to double check Consumer Reports. How did we ever survive childhood?
It is ridiculous to have so many Bible translations. The more translations we have, the easier it is to stay divided along denominational lines. Of course, I blame Liberal theologians. They sold out the faith by making religion compatible with society instead of making the Gospel relevant to culture. There is now no bridge that can unite us (Liberal vs. Orthodox). The Liberals have denied God and they have no hope. Please note that when I use the term "liberal" in relation to theology, I do so in a technical sense and do not necessarily refer to orthodox-minded Christians who vote for social programs to serve the poor, etc.
But back on to Bible translations. I would be willing to meet on a standard if others would be willing to compromise and meet together to make an effective translation. We would all have to give something up, but I think we could find a middle ground if we were honest about serving one another. I could go for some neutral revision of the RSV. Not the NRSV with its liberal interpretive phraseology and not the ESV with its conservative reformed interpretive phraseology. Forget the gender-inclusive stuff. Forget reform theology. Forget the "majesty of the King's English." Translate based on what the text says and not what you think it means. Context is king. Strive for what the writers meant. Yet, even with this "middle of the road" idea, I still betray a theology that is incompatible with Liberal-minded theologians and culture worshippers.
While I am on the subject, the ESV is a horrible bible. The translation is good - but don't be fooled by the "essentially literal" stuff - Yes, the translation is better than most, but they do their fair share of interpreting text "in order to make it easier for the modern reader to comprehend." What I really mean by "horrible bible" is that Crossway Bibles, A Division of Good News Publishers in Wheaton, IL apparently has very low quality standards. I have two copies of the ESV (one hardback classic reference edition and one bonded leather thinline edition) and both have broken the spines in a matter of months. It won't take long before pages are falling out. No, I did not stuff a year's worth of bulletins in them. They are just low quality books. Also, the formatting is goofy so that the cross-reference bible with no study notes is as large (larger in some cases) than, say, the NIV Study Bible (with the most information ever). The thinline is as large as other version's cross-reference bibles. I am very disappointed in the quality of this company's work. They must not have had any focus groups or market research, but merely relied on the "we are right, so we must be right" mentality of so many Christian conservatives. Yes, by having crappy merchandise, and claiming that it is the best stuff that the best Christians should have, they harm the gospel message. God, please save us from ourselves.
The actual layout has not changed much, but I like the colors and font better. I am still working on getting a few of the link colors to match up. Tell me what you think. If you have ideas on a universal font, that would be o.k. too.
...I want to be like the person described here.
Requires Real Audio
Looke here. A Catholic that actually believes the Bible.
Just found out tonight that my friend’s husband kicked her out of the house. We’ve been praying for her for weeks because we knew that she was in the process of a divorce, but her sense of shame has kept her from including us in her life at this point. She is working overtime trying to make ends meet without her husband’s income and is currently homeless. The story is that she came home from church one night and Husband said, “It’s over. We’re getting a divorce. Get out of my house.” If he shows his face around me, I will place my collar aside and kick his living ass.
Alas, it feels good to say it, but I will not do it. Ours is a way of peace and understanding. But understand this, Husband. You are not innocent, you are not a “good” person. On God’s Scales of Good vs. Evil you will tup way over on one side and find yourself on a major slide to Hell. Take note - all the “good” people of the land - You are sinners. You are sinners in a fallen world and this big mudball and all its “feel good” philosophies only bring misery and death. There are no “victimless crimes,” there are no “innocent victims.” All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You are going to Hell. You deserve it.
But my friend has the gift of faith. Confessing Jesus Christ as her Lord and believing that He rose from the dead has reformed, renewed, rejuvenated, and redeemed her. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has paid-in-full her bill of iniquities. As such, Jesus Christ will never leave her nor forsake her. My friend, this hurtful thing is happening to you and you feel sad, and scared, and shamed. But there is no condemnation in Jesus Christ, my child. There is only love, forgiveness, and understanding. Read the words in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” There is no shame in Christ Jesus. There is no shame in a community of faith. We will love you, we will help you, and we will stand firm in the faith with you until that final day. Accept our arms as the arms of the Savior. Accept our love as an extension of His love. Accept our comfort as His compassion for your soul. There is healing in Christ, my child. Healing and love. It is hard. No one can take away your pain, but there is one who will walk with you through it. You already know him. You have already called his name. His name is Jesus. Walk with him now and feel his love. Let him guide you in our community of faith. Let’s get through this together.
[See "Tuesdays" post below first]
Tilde - "expect" is a double-termed word. In one (1) sense it indicates that we think a certain thing/event will happen. In another (2) sense, "expect" also has a connotation of a standard to be fulfilled.
I do not expect(2) that Christians will act in a way that dishonors Christ. In fact, I expect(2) that Christians will conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel (Phil. 1:27). However, I also acknowledge that all have fallen short of the glory of God, all have sinned, none are righteous, etc. So, I expect(1) that there will be problems, abuses, and idiocy in any church filled with sinners (read: all of them). We always strive to achieve the Holy, perfecting ourselves in Christ, but we also must realize that when we don't - it's o.k. That is one facet of forgiveness. We are called over and over again in scripture to give our hearts to God - to humble ourselves, to practice forgiveness, to serve one another. We are to be a community of faith. We are to be like a fisherman's net - strands woven together in a way that makes all stronger. It is the hardest thing in the world to begin. In fact, when you add in that you can't kick out the losers it becomes impossible to work together as God intended. But we do not do this alone.
As those who have been redeemed by Christ, called as a called out people who have had the blindness of sin removed from our eyes, we have been given the power to achieve in Christ what God created us to be. We will often fail. I expect(1) that. But I think the distinction is important. My dream for the church - everything I train and work for - is to fulfill the expect(2)ation that we will live by the Spirit of Christ in a fallen, but redeemed, community of faith.
Last Tuesday (Sept. 9), I posted on the Ockhamist a shout out to a conversation that was occuring about how people who suffer from the Church's faults engage with the institution and people involved. [Yes, I know this is a bit of reframing. It's my site] This post is below. I will follow my post by selected comments by my new friend ~gauche. My next post, which you probably read before this one, will be a continuation of this line of thought.
Blandus : "The hard truth is that you don''t get to sit on the sidelines if you are a disciple of Jesus who is the Christ. You must go to church and bless and be blessed by the others in your local congregation - that''s part of the faith.
"How do you get over being dissatisfied with your wife? -You love her. What if she has not earned your respect or cultivated your devotion? -You love her anyway. You don''t have a choice, God hates divorce. You submit to His will and love your wife with everything you''ve got.
"Same with the church. Church done you wrong? -You love her. Church not met your needs? -You love her. Church filled with a bunch of idiots who don''t know the difference between transfinalization and transubstantiation? -Tough, you love her anyway with everything you''ve got.
"Christianity is not about feeling loved by others or getting needs met. To know Christ is to love others and serve them - even if they kick you in the face or crucify you. This ain''t sacchrine-sweet simplicity, baby, it''s the real deal and the kind of radical Jesus discipleship we are called to engage. The kicker is, the heaviest responsibility lies upon those of us who realize it and have the gifts and gumption to do something about it.
"As someone who has been on the fringe myself (and is now working to refine the center) I can only say that the answer lies not in mournful criticism, but obedience. Simple. Complicated. Whatever. You''ve got to love her anyway."
~ Says : "You are right about not sitting on the sidelines, but I do find a delicious irony in the undertone of your attitude toward the church. You seem to think, and I agree in theory, that will face tribulation from within as well as without, that we ought not expect the church to treat us differently than the world does; that is, your own disclaimer notwithstanding, you seem to agree with the Ockhamist that the church is quite likely to be a place of decay and a source of friction. You seem to expect that the church will fail to meet a believer''s needs, that it will hurt the believer, that its members may be undereducated in the faith. That it may, like the world, kick the believer in the face or crucify him. If this is your conclusion, (and I think that a realistic, hard-nosed look at the church''s behavior supports it,) then you give strange encouragement indeed.
"In principle at least, I agree with you, but it seems to me a strange position for a protestant to take. More on this later, if you''re interested."
I find this site interesting and funny. Nice to see a RUSH fan not be a flaming libero-socio-secularo-schitzo-humaniso-naer-do-well-in-progressive's-clothing.
I am soon to be a proud new papa. Truth is, I'm pretty proud now, and I'm trying to learn all I can to be the best dad I can be. So where else do I turn for advice but the internet? In the course of my surfing, I came across this article about spanking that demonstrates why I am not going to take any of these people seriously. Michele Borba, EdD, is a former classroom teacher and an internationally-renowned consultant and educator who has presented workshops to more than half a million participants. She is the recipient of the National Educator Award and is the author of 18 books. However, she does not seem to have read the ONE book that has spoken to, and helped, more than all the half-millions Borba could reach in her lifetime. Her strategies and reasons are the same get-along-without-God claptrap that makes Christians so suspicious of psychologists (or EdD's who pose as psychologists).
She is not alone in making the fundamental mistake of assuming that our humanism renders God obsolete, that we can go it alone if we just have enough data, comparisons, and "scientific" research. Any time we remove God, we limit our ability to understand the real issues, psychological or physical, that confront mankind - especially when we are dealing with raising children.
By titling her article, "Spare the Rod" she begs for the biblical comparison. Proverbs 22:15, 23:13, 23:14, and 29:15 are all quite clear regarding the benefits of physical discipline. Some Bible readers will go off the deep end at this point and beat their kids senseless. They should be locked up with the other criminals and deviants. If we really believe that all truth is God's truth, then we, as Christians, will be informed by what research demonstrates to be true (which is not necessarily the same as the conclusions drawn by secular do-gooders). We will remember the sage advice of Ephesians 6:4. "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Wise men will temper their discipline to be developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant. This does not mean that we will chuck God for all of Dr. Borba's secular-utopia theories. But we will hold fast to the unchanging word of God and allow His wisdom to guide and shape our lives and (parenting) choices. To do any differently is to pass our insecurities along to future generations who must deal with the fallout of our unwillingness to take a stand and do what is right.
We been here for years, baby. 27 - 17
Roll Tide, Roll
Well, its official. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America has released its list of the country's top 50 fall allergy cities. Turns out, 4 out of 5 of cities I've lived in are on the list. (3), (16), (19), and (30). Thing is - I have never suffered from allergies. This further confirms my thesis that I am an ubermensch among the mortals. Cool.
Can anyone tell me how to get the Klink family to stop putting a "s" after the numerical count of posts to "Respondus!"? The [ 2 ]s thing looks a little silly. That is, if anybody plans to actually continue to read any of this....what is it about the internet, modern culture, or maybe just blogging that brings out the bitter and cynical in people? There are a lot of blogs with just angry people. Weird. I will post something that feels better later today or tomorrow.
Todd Andrew Barnett is a member of the Libertarian Party of Macomb County, Michigan, the Libertarian Party of Michigan, and the national Libertarian Party. He is also a practicing Aridian Wiccan, and a staunch defender of unrestricted religious, personal, and economic freedom for all. Is it any wonder that he completely misunderstands [see Th 9/11/03] the political situation in Alabama that gave rise to the current tax controversy? What a dufus.
And yet, the witchdoctor is not the only one that is way off base here. My good buddies at the Western Recorder also think that a massive controversial overhaul of the tax system is a better expression of godliness than the 10 Commandments. As critics and pundits put their spin on recent events in Alabama, it is clear that none of them have actually ever been there.
There is a cultural mindset in Alabama that has been deeply influenced by deep South Christianity, cultual conservatism, and shotgun economics. The "good ole' boy" network is strong and most folks don't really give a d-mn what you think about it. "Son, you'd best just learn to get along." Amid all the negative press and confusion I miss something - where are the appreciate-all-cultures liberals who don't like me to share the gospel with a third world tribe but don't mind oppressing and actively seeking to eliminate all vestiges of one of the most culturally rich areas of our great country? I'll tell you where - anyplace that requires crushing cultural mindsets they cannot control. Fascists.
Plenty of bad things you can say about 'Bama. But the people there like it there and they like the way things get along. How can anyone who has not first sought to understand their culture provide any reasonable commentary on their situation? Why do you think that because you went to college you have any understanding at all of the deeper issues for this people group?
Civil war in my lifetime....man, I hate to say that.
Look for a rise in outbreaks as the people of San Francisco deal in black market smallpox.
This is what a mother told me once about the slutty fashions passing for style these days. She also thought that her daughter might really like the fashion statement of a belly ring. I asker her if she knew that a belly-ring symbolized sexual titilation. She just thought they were cute. The kids are on the slide, not because of "changin' times" so much as irresponsible parenting. I swear that I am not going to link to Mohler everyday, but I was going to post about Abercrombie soon anyway and I can't say it much better than him, so I'm going to allow him to carry the ball on this one.
Britney Spears has been the hottest thing on Yahoo! searches for months (years?), so I thought I should add my commentary on this {ahem} pressing cultural force. Poor Britney turned her back on the very thing that gave parents the ability to relax about her influence on their kids. "It's o.k. if our girls dress like sluts, they can still make good choices, like Brittney." When Justin split and her career took a dive, she held to her fame and fortune and began the climb into the deeper pits of what passes for modern American entertainment. This, of course, includes lesbian kissing. Why wouldn't it? Don't misunderstand. Britney is not really a lesbian. She just plays one on t.v. and actually has very high standards regarding who she makes out with. When does this maddness end? Even the properly promiscuous British think Britney went a little far on this one. Unlike the British educational establishment, I think the answer is better parenting. We can blame media (and should), society (rarely helpful), liberals (always fun), and education (tsch, tsch) - but ultimately the responsibility for children stands with the parents. I am about to have my first child (actually I delegated that to my wife) and I hope to raise him well in the ways of the Lord. With parents like Britney's as examples, I know what parenting mumbo-jumbo to stay clear of. I will trust in the words of Proverbs 22:6 : "Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it."
Today, France agreed to a settlement deal with Libya for the 1988 downing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. France threatened a veto of the lifting of sanctions unless Libya coughed up more than the $2.8 billion they had agreed to pay to the families of the victims. France once again displays its rear-end by implicitly claiming that 270 predominantly French bodies are worth crushing a nation and starving a people group, but 3,000 American lives are not worth a regime change. At least with our plan, the people of Afghanistan and Iraq will have a shot at a better future. Libya is still stuck with Gadhafi. I'm the first to admit that I don't know much about how it all works in the lie, cheat, and steal world of international politics - but the French just continue to tick me off lately. Whatever.
Paul McDonald had a commentary on local NPR today. He was giving some good thoughts about 9/11 until the end when he began telling the public all of the things he was disappointed with in how Americans have responded. He said he was troubled by the "self-appointed cultural monitors who have simplified the nature of terrorism by reducing it to a particular religion whose founder, himself, was a terrorist."{as best as I can remember his exact words} This blew me away. You could tell that his voice took on an edge because he was really bothered by the "monitors." Contrast this with Albert Mohler's blog today.
This just shows that though we can come together as "Americans" and be upset about fanatics murdering thousands of our people on our soil, it is a false union. It is like -5 and 5 hooking up and being proud that both of their absolute values is [5]. They might talk to one another, but if they actually came together, they would be exact opposites. In the practical, day to day life of numbers, they will never get along.
Same way with the horribly divergent dominant worldviews of Americans. One side sees an attack on our nation and very existence. The other simplifies the issue to one of a just response by a poor people to the evil empire and just wants everyone to forget about it so we can move on with extreme reality-denying liberal progressivism. There will be civil war in my lifetime.
Hebrew is hard. Re-learning Greek while learning Hebrew is hard. School is hard, work is hard - that's what you get in a fallen world.
Been learning a ton about cascading style sheets lately. I got out of web programming right when they were about to be mainstream, so I never really got into them, but you need them these days for a good blog (I'm not that old. Really)
Here is another attempt at a test link.
Well world, here I am. First post. New blogger. Hope I've got something to say. First real posts to follow after I learn a few more things about how blogger works. Want it to be quality and e'rythang, you know. Word.