The First Snow
Nov 30, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
You owe it to yourself to read this beautiful tribute to the first snow of the year.
Oh, the Sweet Irony
Nov 30, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
{ MOOD: Do you really want to know? }
To add insult to injury, it seems as if the towing company damaged my car. Yes, yes, it does seem that way. Now hopefully I can prove it.
Iraq Homeland Security
Nov 30, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
From The Onion, here is the Iraqi Homeland Security Terror Alert System:
Robbie
Nov 30, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
{ MOOD: Trippy | ITUNES: “World’s Most Handsome Man” – Robbie Williams }
“You can’t argue with popularity…well you could, but you’d be wrong.” – Robbie Williams
Fight Club
Nov 30, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
{ MOOD: Great | ITUNES: “Beautiful Addiction” – Audiovent }
Interestingly enough, I was watching “Fight Club” as I was working out last night and I heard this quote that I really resonated with. Then, on Jeremy’s Blog today that he quoted that same part! I felt it must have been a sign, so I am going to post it, as well.
“Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.”
Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) Fight Club
Yowza
Nov 30, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
{ MOOD: Overwhelmed | ITUNES: “Best Sides” – The Gold }
My email has been down since Sunday. It just kicked back in and I got a ton of mail from the messages this weekend. I don’t have time to respond to them all right away, so hopefully if you sent me a message you will read this and see that I am not intentionally ignoring you. Hmmm…I have an idea. I am going to print some excerpts here (without personal details) and let you faithful readers respond for me. This should be fun.
First Note
…I grew up in a pretty strict Baptist home; grandfather and great-grandfather were both southern Baptist ministers. I didn’t go to church very often during college, or for a couple years thereafter …During this period I met my current girlfriend (3 years and marriage a definite possibility). She grew up a strict catholic. We have been attending Riverview together; however, now with marriage on her brain, she wants to get back into the catholic church to make it an “official” wedding in the eyes of God (and, I suspect, in the eyes of her parents). She no longer attends Riverview.
I’ve always had a difficult time reconciling the doctrine of “grace by faith alone,” which I believe, and passages in James and 2 Peter, which you’ve talked about
over the past couple of weeks, seemingly dealing with good works as a
part of obtaining and/or retaining salvation – which is, in my mind,
probably the biggest difference between catholic and protestant theology.
Maybe there isn’t a crisp, clean answer, or I suspect there wouldn’t be different
interpretations…I thought this and some other catholic/protestant
distinctions fell pretty nicely in your “non-negotiable” message this
past Sunday, especially in light of theological conflicts that seem to be
making their way to the forefront in my life.
Note 2
…However, one of the things I’ve been wondering about, which you briefly acknowledged when you started the 2 Peter series a few weeks ago, is why Riverview does topical sermons. I’ve really really enjoyed the past few weeks of expository preaching – the church I was a part of in (EDITED) taught that way. I find it very enlightening; personally I think I learn topics more deeply when I study them in the context of the letter or book they are contained in – and I really appreciate the way that the Word has sprung to life (not that it wasn’t living before) as you’ve taught it. Praise God. :) I remember you also talking about your studies of the early church and explaining that Riverview attempts to operate according to the style of the early church. Does this have something to do with your (other pastors included) preference for topical teaching, or are there other persuasions behind it?
Note 3
…You said one thing on Saturday that caught my interest. What I heard you
say was something like: One of the characteristics of false teachers is
that they deny Jesus, which includes anything that Jesus said. I think you
specifically mentioned believing that there are other ways to heaven.
I guess I’ve generally seen a distinction between denying Jesus and
disagreeing with (or creatively interpretting) some of the things he
said.
For example, is it necessary to believe that Jesus is the only way to
heaven? Or merely for me to depend on Jesus for forgiveness of my sins
even if I believe that there are other ways that someone else might get to
heaven? Like open theism, I’m not suggesting these are trivial matters,
but wasn’t sure that all of Jesus’ teachings went in the small glass.
Note 4
…and some of my friends and I have been discussing the issue of “once saved, always saved.” I was wondering if you could offer any information and especially verses that pertained to this. There’s just some confusion about it.
That should do for now. Anyone who wants to answer these folks while I cram can feel free. I’ll pass on any good nuggets to them. Thanks for your help. :)
Open Theism
Nov 30, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
{ MOOD: Great | ITUNES: “Taking Over Me” – Evanescence }
A lot of people have asked me for more information on Open Theism since my message this last weekend. Here are two resources to help you chew on this topic:
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry has this decent page that is dedicated to Open Theism. It does a good job laying out the premise behind Open Theism, as well as a biblical response.
My friend Rob slapped this comparison up for y’all. It evaluates Open Theism in comparison with Classical Theism and Freewill Theism. This comes from “Does God Have A Future?: A Debate on Divine Providence” by Christopher Hall & John Sanders.
Hopefully these will help you out a bit.
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
Nov 30, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
{ MOOD: Cold | ITUNES: “I Can’t Be With You” – The Cranberries }
I finally watched Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind last night. I had started it on the plane in August, but never finished it. Great movie.
I loved the picture of flawed love. They had their problems and they were great enough to want to erase their entire relationshiop, but ultimately they decided that even a flawed relationship was worth it. It was interesting to see the relationship from the point of break-up backward. That would be a great exercise, really. To sit there and process your marriage, relationship, whatever in reverse order, finally landing on the things you were first attracted to.
And I continue to like Jim Carrey better in his serious roles. Just like Adam Sandler, Ashton Kutcher, and Robin Williams.
Taylor Mali
Nov 29, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
{ MOOD: Still Average | NOISE: Hummmmmmm }
A lot of people have wanted a copy of Taylor Mali’s poem I read this week at Riv. Here it is. Enjoy.
In case you hadn’t noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you’re talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you’re saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)’s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren’t, like, questions? You know?
Declarative sentences – so-called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true
as opposed to other things which were, like, not -
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don’t think I’m uncool just because I’ve noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It’s like what I’ve heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I’m just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?
What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we’ve just gotten to the point where it’s just, like . . .
whatever!
And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we’ve become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!
I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.
No Mail
Nov 29, 2004 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
{ MOOD: Average | IPOD: “Lake of Fire” – Nirvana }
AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I cannot receive any mail and my outgoing mail seems to be disappearing into the a black hole.
Oh well.
