:: in.a.mirror.dimly :: A theology and culture blog with the Bible in one tab and a news feed in the other.

The incarnation doesn’t receive enough attention from most Western Christians. It needs to work its way more prominently into our concept of salvation. Maybe if we got a better handle on the significance of the incarnation, Christmas wouldn’t be a fat commercial blob of a season that gorges itself on consumerism and showing off what you can buy. Maybe it would be the starting point for a new kind of Christian? Sounds like a best-selling title to me . . .

Scott over at theopraxis has some amazing thoughts on the incarnation and its relevance to suffering. I absolutely hate the question of God’s sovereignty in the midst of suffering. Somehow the Jewish people made it through centuries of warfare, oppression, exile, and restoration, and they seem pretty attached to God. Why do we get so hung up on the problem of sovereignty when it comes to suffering? Scott has some insight into this:

“Even Christians, who hold the incarnation and the person of Jesus Christ to be the penultimate revelation of God’s self to humanity, often fail to start with that self-revelation in considering the question of loss. Often we instead begin with the question of sovereignty, and extrapolate our thoughts of incarnation as the derivative consideration. This, on some level, is actually profoundly un-Christian…So what does this mean for the Christian? It is my opinion that what is challenged most forcefully by this recognition is western Christianity’s conception of power. We are a culture that has the power to remove much of our suffering.”

Read the rest.

technorati tags: incarnation, suffering

Listening to classic books in the car is my new campaign. Since our small library has quite a few classics in the audio book section, I should be set up for a little while. Their selection of WWII books and history lectures were quickly exhausted. And so I branched out into the world of fiction.

Fahrenheit 451
The first book that I listened to was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I have been meaning to read this book forever, and I have heard so many good things about it. Not only was it a fascinating book, but it was also incredibly insightful. For being published in 1953, Bradbury has wide screen TVs, sophisticated bombers, and other elements in his world that reveal amazing insight into where the world was going.

The story is gripping, but more than that, Bradbury has something to say about knowledge, books, power, and subversion. What are the implications of leaving our past behind us? What have we lost when we ignore books and the accumulated wisdom from history? While it has a bit of sci-fi feel at times, you certainly do not feel trapped inside a strange sci-fi world. Another highlight of the book was the interview with the author that followed the story. Bradbury is very humble about his foresight and tells his own story as an author with wry humor. “Fahrenheit 451″ became the title after he called the San Francisco fire department and asked them, “At what temperature does paper burn?” He comments in the interview, “I’m glad that guy was right.”

Dune
Having done well with a book close to the sci-fi genre, I decided to give Dune a chance. It’s THE sci-fi book apparently that all are measured against. And for good reason. Frank Herbert creates a very believable world with a fragile alliance of planets, a world of sand with a rare spice, and scheming families who all fight for power.

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On Friday around 11 am, wind gusts of 60 mph knocked over a bunch of trees around us. Nearby power lines were sent crashing to the road, closing down 7a and putting us in the dark . . . and cold. Fortunately we have a nice Kerosene heater, blocked ourselves up in the living room, and got that one room up to 87 degrees (F). Not bad. We then heated up the bedroom and tucked in the for the night.

Of course we turned off the heater before going to sleep. We woke to a 45 degree (F) house. Wow, that’s quite cold for a house, especially when your water is cold too!

We got the heater going again and the temperature clawed it’s way up to the 50’s. Out of desperation, I called our plumber to find out if the heater in the basement had a manual start up button (it didn’t). As soon as the phone rang with his call, the power came back. Before he spoke, the heater pumped on.

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<%image(20060218-bunnyhomecoming 005 smaller.jpg|300|229|bunny1)%> Today we followed through on plans that have been in the works for a good year, put on hold for some time by our move. We have adopted . . . rabbits.

That’s right, we now have two wonderful little Rex bunnies. We adopted them through the Upstate New York House Rabbit Resource. Names are coming soon.
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If you check out my del.icio.us tags, you will see that I have been on a tagging rampage. I am in the process of collecting links on a few topics and figured that del.icio.us would be the way to go. Once I tagged a few web sites, I went into my account and found out who was linking to the same sites. This virtually opened a Pandora’s box of options and I was off.

I literally had my Mozilla tabs so full of open web sites that they all could not fit! Here are some interesting sites that may have to make their way over to the sidebar at some point.

Blogs
802 Online: VT media, general interest, and a great blog list. 802 is the Vermont area code in case you were wondering.
CandleBlog: Voted VT’s top blog by somebody.
PoliticsVT: a great service!
Mike Beganyi: One of those artistic, minimalist blogs that has so little and looks so good.

Other Sites to Check Out
Seven Days: VT’s alternative web weekly.
iManchester: I wish this site was more up to date. Nonetheless, it’s the town I hang out in. Well, I actually just hang out at the Northshire Bookstore and the Spiral Press Cafe there.
iBennington: the other town near us. If there was no Bennington, there would be no Home Depot or Aldi, and alas, my life would be so empty.

Luke 12:54-56 (ESV)
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Read the Whole Chapter

It’s not enough to read the Bible, we must also read the times. No, not the New York Times.

New York Magazine has a really interesting article related to the popularity of blogs and the earning possibilities of blogs. In light of the latest technorati report on the state of the blogosphere, it’s interesting to compare the two reports. I hope to read both reports closely and post some comments soon. Here are the links:

Blogs to Riches
The State of the Blogosphere

<%image(20060215-balloons.jpg|135|90|balloons)%> Happy Birthday Inamirrordimly!!!

OK, it’s actually belated. The offical birthday was on February 12th when Josh finished building the site and made the first post back in 2005. Dang it, I missed it. So today is actually a belated celebration.

This blog was born over breakfast at the Golden Dawn Diner II in South Jersey. From there it has migrated to living rooms, telephone lines, and e-mails. Though Josh is too busy these days to do a lot of posting, he really is the one who made this blog happen. God only knows what kind of lousy thing I would have churned out without him. It’s also great to work with someone else on a blog. I really value Josh’s insights and comments, some that are posted and others that are discussed via e-mail or the telephone.

In honor of our first year on the web, I have compiled a little list of favorite posts. (insert Casey Kasem voice) To start us off with our countdown of the past year, I wanted to paste in Josh’s original post that started it all:

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

We hope that this can be a place that houses thoughts that resonate with you and your journey. Please visit often and comment freely!

There it is in all it’s glory from February 12th, 2005. Shortly after that I put up my first blog post on February 15th on Relational Theology.

Excluding the current month of February, here is my list of highlights from the past year.

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The other day I checked out inamirrordimly with Internet Explorer and was surprised to see that the site looks a bit different. The Del.icio.us tags have the arrows next to them and other buttons on the side bar have the arrows as well. Hmmmm. I didn’t realize that. Apparently 35% of this sites users are on Internet Explorer.

Well if you’re using Internet Explorer, I will be updating the site to make it look a bit cleaner for you, but there is another way . . . I recommend using Mozilla’s Firefox web browser. It’s safer to use than Internet Explorer and blocks way more pop-ups. What I have come to love about it are:

tabbed browsing
bookmarks on your toolbar
every search engine built into your toolbar

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<%image(20060213-luther.jpg|125|125|luther)%> Protestants throughout the United States are foaming with rage and signing petitions faster than you can click “forward” in light of the latest acting scandal. As if it wasn’t bad enough that missionaries Steve and Nate Saint were portrayed by a gay actor in “The End of The Spear,” it has now surfaced that Joseph Fiennes, the actor who portrayed Martin Luther in the hit movie “Luther” (2003), is Catholic.

“If you’re making a movie about the prophet Muhammad, you wouldn’t hire a Christian actor. If you’re making a movie about Jesus you wouldn’t hire an atheist actor. I don’t see how this is any different,” commented Jimmy Jones, director of the Institute for the Preservation of Christianity in America. “This is a blatant attack on Protestants everywhere and a sin against God. Believe me; He will judge the filmmakers and Catholics all over the world for this.”

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Too much time spent on the computer. Too little time spent reading.
Too many dishes. Too little snow.
Too much whining. Too little gratitude.

Just life lately. I’ve realized that over the past week life has been out of balance to a certain degree. I’m feeling the need to get out more, clean up the house a bit, and read more. It’s all too easy to open up bloglines and get lost in a world of linking, reading, commenting, browsing, etc. I think for the next week I need to limit my computer time to the morning. Once the evening hits I could just sit on the couch for hours with my lap top and fritter my time away.

Of course there have also been some major highlights in life:

Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers : Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table
<%image(20060211-moosewood.jpg|132|160|moosewood)%>
Simple Suppers has been my salvation as of late. First of all, Julie has been really happy with this cookbook. She has a chance to cook after a long day at school, but the recipes are not very hard or time consuming. Secondly, we are both eating very well. It sure beats Chinese, pizza, and deli food!

At the mercy of the library: Fawlty Towers - The Complete Collection
<%image(20060211-fawlty.jpg|119|160|fawlty)%> We have been at the mercy of the library lately for entertainment. It’s free and you can keep the videos longer than the one at the local convenience store. Fortunately the BBC has established a beachhead at most libraries, our tiny one included. Fawlty Towers is one of those series that Josh always told me about, but I never was able to find it. Now we have endulged ourselves and it has been wonderful. It’s quite possibly some of the best stuff John Cleese has ever done. Believe, we’re suffering through the Flying Circus now and it doesn’t even come close to Fawlty Towers.

technorati tags: moosewood, fawlty+towers, bible

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Just a quick thought on discussing and debating issues. I have noticed in evangelical circles these days that a major hang up is: who gets to frame the debate. Once you have established the parameters, it suddenly becomes impossible to take a position outside the prescribed boundaries. For example, once we know what a liberal and a conservative looks like, you cannot mix the two, lest you pollute one or the other.

I don’t think inerrancy does justice to the Bible
that doesn’t mean I think the Bible is full of errors

I think that the pro-life movement has lost its focus on the real issue of women who feel abandoned
that doesn’t mean that I don’t think unborn lives are sacred

I don’t think the homosexuality question is cut and dry, black and white
that doesn’t mean that I don’t think through the meaning of numerous Biblical passages and the testimonies of men who were formerly gay

I think the environment is a very important issue for Christians
that doesn’t mean I care any less about Jesus, or other people for that matter

I think that many American churches are largely ineffective in drawing people closer to God and his kingdom
that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on “the Church,” just one manifestation of it that has had its day

I think that Jesus, God the Father, and God the Spirit have more authority than the Bible and that the Bible means nothing without them guiding us
that doesn’t mean I leave the Bible on my shelf

Those are just a few issues, but I think they illustrate how those with the power to frame debates can limit discussion and keep us from confronting the complexity of issues.

I think of Jesus and his evasiveness. “Are you the Messiah?” “Should we pay taxes?” “Shouldn’t you keep the Sabbath?” He didn’t answer the questions posed to him within the framework imposed upon him. He redefined the Sabbath. It wasn’t a matter of simply following rules, it was a matter of rediscovering rest and bringing restoration. The Messiah wasn’t about something only religious or something that was only political, the Messiah came to bring in God’s Kingdom to the world, a whole new kind of order and influence.

<%image(20060210-Jesusteen.jpg|242|307|jesusteenage)%> I was browsing at a web page and came accross this link in the ad section:

Who was Teenage Jesus?

I sure as heck didn’t know, so I checked it out. Oh, my word, this was for real. I’m not sure what to make of this. I appreciate the attempt at contextualizing the Gospel . . . but Jesus, I mean teenage Jesus, looks like a “playa.” It is helpful to remember that Jesus was teenage once who confronted many of the same struggles that teens face today. The story behind the poster is really interesting, and The web site actually does have some good thoughts about raising teens and relating to them. This is not one of them:

“It is an image that is so cool and confidant that it almost guarantees space on the walls of their bedrooms, among the posters of rock stars, athletes and supermodels.

It’s the perfect gift for kids who would like a thought provoking image on their walls that is different from the traditional images.”

<%image(20060210-homestar.jpg|300|225|homestar)%> I mean, having Jesus as a role model is a very good thing. Right now I’d say that competition is pretty hot though with Homestar Runner, a well established name among teens. Homestar has his own web site and says goofy, if not unintelligible things. That’s a tough act to follow.

Update: So my question is, who’s cooler? Teenage Jesus or Homestarrunner???

I was sent an article related to the ridiculous controversy over the casting of openly gay actor Chad Allen to play Steve and Nate Saint in the End of the Spear. No other controversy has revealed just how obsessed the church is with being the moral police and trying to preserve its own pure image. Never mind that the Kingdom of God has come into our morally corrupt world, the church doesn’t want to go there . . . even though we’re stuck in it. Thankfully there are Christians speaking up for a more moderate approach to the situation.

Curiously enough, a movie about missionaries has prompted Christians to act quite unlike missionaries. Coming from the standpoint of a missionary, Jim Hendershot explains,

Okay, so once they [missionaries] understand the language and culture and have built relational bridges with the people, they begin to share the message of salvation. Now comes the interesting part—during this process, behavioral issues are very low in priority. Rather than being “sin police” the missionaries view themselves as ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). If they focus on behavioral problems, such as idolatry or sexual sin, it can be very counterproductive. (read the whole article)

Oh. So if homosexuality is an accepted practice of the tribe, you shouldn’t fight that??? But what would we do with ourselves then? : )

Remember, it would have been well within the interest of the missionaries to teach the natives not to murder, but they didn’t. The Gospel was far more important. If we can at least agree that murder is a bigger problem than homosexuality, then perhaps we have a new perspective. In the grand scheme of things, our role is to understand culture, minister to people where they are, and when God prompts us, we share our source of life and hope. We certainly can tell people when they are engaging in activity that will estrange them from God, but I think a relationship with God is the necessary first step.

Jim goes on to say:

Christians are willing to go to tribal people, and seek to understand their culture. At the same time, our general approach to homosexuals is to avoid them at all costs. When we do interact, it’s to tell them how wrong they are, rather than trying to understand what has brought them to the place they are in this life. Instead of building relationships and sharing the gospel, we shout rude slogans, and tell them they are all going to hell because they are gay. Instead of realizing we are in a war for men’s souls, we say we are in a culture war, and treat homosexuals like the enemy.

technorati tag: missionaries, culture
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