links for 2007-05-10
May 09, 07 by ed-
The charismatic branch of the Catholic Church is alive and well down in Brazil. It goes to show that the Holy Spirit must accompany sound theology.
Archive for May, 2007
links for 2007-05-09
May 08, 07 by ed-
Funny and a great commentary on American religion and consumerism.
-
This illustrates the disconnect between the church and people. Many people would never want to attend a church. Why not invite them over to your home?
-
A major archaeological find near the Herodium, a very neat place.
For Mother’s Day
May 08, 07 by edEvery mother should view this wonderful comedy sketch by Barats and Bereta on Mother’s Day. The video can be found on page two.
The timing is fantastic. I was laughing after my third time through it. While you’re at it, the “Just Wonderful” video is pretty good as well.
Technorati Tags: mother’s+day
Upside-Down Blessing
May 08, 07 by edI was blabbering through grace, thanking God for all of his wonderful blessings of late–a new house, functioning plumbing, family, satellite internet–when I realized that my conception of blessing my be skewed.
Here’s what Jesus had to say about blessings:
Luke 6:20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God belongs to you.
6:21 “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. NET Bible
That’s not to say that everything I listed above is not a blessing. I believe that God has a plan for us and our home, we just haven’t figured it all out yet.
The problem is that I look back at my own times of mourning or on people who are mourning and think of these moments as the opposite of blessing. If this house didn’t close in time, which it almost didn’t, and we were homeless, I wouldn’t feel too blessed.
And yet Jesus confounds us with these packed little sentences. His currency is not recognized in this land. His perspective comes from angles and dimensions we cannot glimpse.
The word I’m looking for is hope.
There is so much more going on than our homes, plumbing, or even satellite internet. God’s Kingdom is coming into this world, offering hope and healing wounds.
Technorati Tags: Kingdom+of+God - Jesus - Hope
Living It Up
May 04, 07 by edWe are officially hooked up now.
A satellite dish has been planted in our back yard at significant cost. The internet connection is fast enough and we’re chugging along with a wireless connection.
The dish washer at our place needed to be replaced, so we bought one last Sunday, I set out to change it over on Monday, only to find I was missing the correct kind of connection pipe. That meant a trip to the hardware store. A second try yielded wires that were too short. Another trip to the store.
While working on the dish washer the hot water line decided to burst, so that led to an attempt to replace that line. Unfortunately the faucet connected to that line was ancient, so we couldn’t replace the line without replacing the faucet. Trip number three to the store.
I banged, clanged, and fiddled until the dish washer was done last night. Then I set to work on the sink, burning out about half way through. I contemplated calling a plumber.
Julie walked into the room and offered to help. She had the rest of the lines disconnected in five minutes. I know it would have take me longer than 30 minutes. Apparently the threat of calling a plumber motivated her.
With all of our grunt work done last night, we settled into bed. I breathed a sigh of relief and then my ears perked up at the sound of “ka-plump” up in the attic. Familiar scratching followed.
It wasn’t our bunnies scaling the walls. It was a stupid squirrel. Shoot. I returned to the hard ware store today for a trap.
links for 2007-05-04
May 03, 07 by ed-
The Africa Bible Commentary.
When Bad Things Happen to Gullible People
May 03, 07 by edThere are all kinds of gullible people in the world, but few realize that we can be gullible for bad theology. It seeps into our minds, lodges itself into conventional wisdom, and promptly pushes us off course if we take it too seriously. Bad theology takes many forms, but it often entails attributing the wrong things to God or believing the wrong doctrines related to God.
One example of bad theology is a black and white, clear cut classification of prosperity as blessing and misfortune as judgment. John 9:1-3 tells the story of a blind man whom the apostles assume was guilty of some sin. Why else would someone suffer from blindness?
Jesus doesn’t just answer their question; he sets up a whole new system. “‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.’â€
That doesn’t quite give us the answer we want. “Oops, my mistake. That should never have happened in the first place,†probably sounds better to our ears. But in the very least Jesus reveals that blessings and curses are far more complex than we could have ever imagined.
It’s enough to say that this world is fallen and broken, but God is working to bring healing and provide solutions, albeit never quite fast or thorough enough from where we sit.
Nevertheless, we are gullible to bad theology if we fall into the “prosperity equals blessing†trap and will ruin our lives trying to live good lives in order to keep ourselves from falling into misfortune. The same is true if we afflict ourselves with guilt whenever life takes a rough turn. Tragedy is woven into our world, and only makes a new creation under the rule of God look better and better.
Wedding Reply Cards: A Weakness Exposed
May 03, 07 by edWhen God joins a man and a woman together, he usually ensures that at least one of them goes postal. Wait–that didn’t come out right.
Let me start over.
When God joins a man and woman together, he usually ensures that at least one of them is proficient in all things related to the mail: notes, thank you notes, and returning invitations on time. There has never been a couple more bankrupt in this department than Julie and myself.
Wedding thank you notes were a six month trial, and I wonder if a few distant relatives on my list probably hate me because didn’t have the resolve to deliver just thanks. The mother of one friend called before the wedding, “Are you guys coming, we didn’t receive your reply card?”
My response: “Of course we’re coming, we sent the reply card months ago!” After the wedding we found it in our junk drawer of all places.
Today I vacuumed Julie’s car. With the understanding that her car only serves the purpose of transporting her to work–and it’s not a bad car, we just like our Subaru better–we have neglected interior maintenance.
I wanted to surprise her, so I cleared out trash and sucked up the gravel, dust, crumbs, and whatever else. On the floor of the back seat sat the reply card for her best friend’s wedding.
This card was going to change everything for us. I filled it out the day it arrived and proudly took it into the car so I could hand-deliver it to the post office.
I’m not sure what happened, but somehow the card ended up on the floor of the car. It was due on May 1st. The curse continues.
Julie is the maid of honor in this wedding, so I don’t think the mother of the bride or the bride worried all that much about the card. In my eyes it was the thought, the ceremony, the gesture. And I blew it. I blew it big time.
The card has been sent safely on its way for now. There’s another wedding coming up in August, and I’m training myself now to increase my mail box accuracy for the big event.
A Vermont Music Video
May 03, 07 by edCathy posted a link to the “802 Music Video,” and it’s pretty funny, touching on many of the peculiar qualities of Vermont. 802 is the telephone area code of Vermont for the uninitiated.
I’ve heard better rappers, but I’m not an expert on rap either. Regardless, the song is funny; I think everyone agrees that the best line is: “Our state capital might be 200 years old, but our dome is so blinging that it’s plated with gold.”
Montpelier is a funny capital if anything because there are woods right behind the capital building. I am constantly amused at the thought of a bear tearing out of the woods and scaring off the politicians. No harm intended, just a good scare.
Powered by ScribeFire.
links for 2007-05-03
May 02, 07 by ed-
Someone recommended this book. I think it’s worth a read. Wells has some good insights and from what I’ve read of him before, he seems to be a moderating voice when it comes to Christianity and Culture.
links for 2007-05-02
May 01, 07 by ed-
Though I’m sure JR and Todd would have found one another without my intervention, when JR told me he was moving to the Philly burbs, I knew he needed to meet Todd. I passed their e-mail addresses to each other, and Todd wrote me back saying, “Wait, who is
-
Joe’s ETREK class was the best class I’ve ever taken. No class has impacted my life more. Todd Hiestand designed his site and it’s very sharp and functional. Both of Joe’s books are worth double their cost, so you can buy them at “half” price today!
-
So many Christians live in the suburbs, so it’s only necessary to start talking about the burbs as a place for ministry.
-
An interview with the late Robert Webber.
-
A nice little post by TSK with some clever comparisons.
-
House church!
-
Jamie confronts the hard realities of spin in the media and the effort of one man to escape his past.
