Found at http://www.theotherjournal.net/:
"I’m not mad at liberals who want to perform some procedural form of democracy. What I am upset about are Christians who think that is their primary task in the world in which we find ourselves. And I want them to remember that our first task is to be the church of Jesus Christ, that’s our politics. " - Stanley Hauerwas
"Evangelicals tend to turn the gospel in a system of belief rather than a body of people through which we are embraced through God’s salvation that makes us different." - Stanley Hauerwas
"There's a big argument right now as to whether American Flags should be in churches... I don't have any problem if you put the flag of every nation in the world in the church, but to single out one nation is to say that this Jesus that we worship calls us to loyalty to one nation above all others? Because I've got to tell you, I am committed to justice for all people, not just for Americans. And I am committed to all of humanity, not just to Americans. I think that Jesus calls us beyond our identity as nationalists and calls us to be internationalists." - Tony Campolo
"Well, I think that what he called the 'Defense of Marriage Act' is ridiculous because I've got news for you-- it's not the gays that are getting divorced, it's the heterosexuals. If you want a defense of marriage bill, you will begin to put some restrictions on who can get divorces and how they get divorces. The problem with American families right now is not that the homosexuals want to get married, it's that the heterosexuals are getting divorced." - Tony Campolo
"When somebody tells me he's a Methodist, Baptist, or Presbyterian, it doesn't mean a thing. I want to know whether this person has a personal relationship with Jesus, whether he believes in the doctrines of the Apostles' Creed, and whether he takes the scriptures seriously." - Tony Campolo
Friday, January 28, 2005
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Dang it!
I just wrote a fairly lengthy entry and then it got lost. So I'm a little upset about that. Oh well.
Instead, here's some quotes from Kenda Creasy Dean in the latest round of articles from youthspecialties.com. Interesting stuff. It's worth reading the whole article.
"In other words, instead of winning teenagers' trust for the sake of presenting a Christian message (think, playing crazy games with teenagers for an hour before hitting them with a God-talk at the end, or hanging out at a skate park to gain enough street cred to invite skaters to church), we befriend teenagers for the sake of Christian friendship, because this is a time-honored way Christ chooses to reveal himself to us (Matthew 18:19)."
"Is our theology lithe enough to stretch across many different frames for ministry and many different forms of Christian life? Do young people experience God as synonymous with particular people (like their small group) or a particular practice of ministry (like singing with a praise band) or a particular context (like camp)? Or have we helped them develop a repertoire of faith practices supple enough to take Christianity beyond any single faith experience?"
Instead, here's some quotes from Kenda Creasy Dean in the latest round of articles from youthspecialties.com. Interesting stuff. It's worth reading the whole article.
"In other words, instead of winning teenagers' trust for the sake of presenting a Christian message (think, playing crazy games with teenagers for an hour before hitting them with a God-talk at the end, or hanging out at a skate park to gain enough street cred to invite skaters to church), we befriend teenagers for the sake of Christian friendship, because this is a time-honored way Christ chooses to reveal himself to us (Matthew 18:19)."
"Is our theology lithe enough to stretch across many different frames for ministry and many different forms of Christian life? Do young people experience God as synonymous with particular people (like their small group) or a particular practice of ministry (like singing with a praise band) or a particular context (like camp)? Or have we helped them develop a repertoire of faith practices supple enough to take Christianity beyond any single faith experience?"
Monday, January 24, 2005
No promises...
I had something that I wanted to write about, but as I logged on to do it, I totally forgot about what that was. So, in attempt to jump-start my thinking, I'm just going to write. If this goes into nowhere, I'm sorry. But, since no one reads this anyways, I'm only wasting my own time.
A great opportunity has come my way in the past week. Last Tuesday, I found out that two out of my three internship possibilities that I considered as a "good" chance at getting officially fell through. The last one might as well be over as well. The youth pastor doesn't seem to be a very personable guy (or maybe he just doesn't return phone calls or emails). Then the next day, I got an email saying that there is a church about 30 minutes from here that needs a youth pastor. I went and visited with the pastor and am going back in a little over a week to teach wednesday night as a sort of "trial" run. If all goes well, I should have a part-time job until the semester is over and then a full-time job for my internship. God is good.
Referreeing is going well. I am starting to feel really comfortable on the court and confident in my ability. It's really fun and I make some decent money doing it. I can't complain.
Noah preached a good sermon on pride the other night. Which got me thinking... pride is not saying "I'm good at X" but instead saying "Because I am good at X, I am better than person Y" or something to that effect. At least, that's what popped into my head. I need to look at it some more, but it's interesting. Pride is either a result or a cause of one demeaning the value of the grace of God, I can't decide. But someone who realizes the utter infinitude of the grace of God must understand their total human depravity and therefore cannot have pride within them. Given that we are all prideful, it just goes to show that none of us can even come close to fathoming the grace of God. Which makes it even all the more amazing.
We need to sing more hymns in church. Some hymns are terrible, just like a lot of our contemporary songs, but lots of hymns are really good. And I mean really good. The words are usually just so powerful. We sang a few in chapel Sunday, but the third verse of "It is Well with My Soul" God to me, I teared up a little bit. Here's the words:
My sin... O, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul.
If more of us would keep those words in the forefront of our minds, then we'd be living a lot less pridefully and conforming a lot more to the image of Christ. Simply amazing. It doesn't get any better than that. It's amazing how much of Christian life, Christian theology, Christian thought, Christian practice, Christian anything can be traced back to the Cross. We should find ourselves there more often.
A great opportunity has come my way in the past week. Last Tuesday, I found out that two out of my three internship possibilities that I considered as a "good" chance at getting officially fell through. The last one might as well be over as well. The youth pastor doesn't seem to be a very personable guy (or maybe he just doesn't return phone calls or emails). Then the next day, I got an email saying that there is a church about 30 minutes from here that needs a youth pastor. I went and visited with the pastor and am going back in a little over a week to teach wednesday night as a sort of "trial" run. If all goes well, I should have a part-time job until the semester is over and then a full-time job for my internship. God is good.
Referreeing is going well. I am starting to feel really comfortable on the court and confident in my ability. It's really fun and I make some decent money doing it. I can't complain.
Noah preached a good sermon on pride the other night. Which got me thinking... pride is not saying "I'm good at X" but instead saying "Because I am good at X, I am better than person Y" or something to that effect. At least, that's what popped into my head. I need to look at it some more, but it's interesting. Pride is either a result or a cause of one demeaning the value of the grace of God, I can't decide. But someone who realizes the utter infinitude of the grace of God must understand their total human depravity and therefore cannot have pride within them. Given that we are all prideful, it just goes to show that none of us can even come close to fathoming the grace of God. Which makes it even all the more amazing.
We need to sing more hymns in church. Some hymns are terrible, just like a lot of our contemporary songs, but lots of hymns are really good. And I mean really good. The words are usually just so powerful. We sang a few in chapel Sunday, but the third verse of "It is Well with My Soul" God to me, I teared up a little bit. Here's the words:
My sin... O, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul.
If more of us would keep those words in the forefront of our minds, then we'd be living a lot less pridefully and conforming a lot more to the image of Christ. Simply amazing. It doesn't get any better than that. It's amazing how much of Christian life, Christian theology, Christian thought, Christian practice, Christian anything can be traced back to the Cross. We should find ourselves there more often.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
I'm the worst blogger ever
Random thoughts:
- So, it's been 2 months now since my last blog, pretty bad if you ask me. I really need to work on that.
- I can't believe some people's blogging habits (or should I say addictions). It seems like all they do is read stuff on the internet and write stuff for their blogs. Do they get paid for this? Some people write stuff that's fit for a journal article, not a meaningless blab on a blog. Maybe one day I will be as cool as those folks.
- I'm only taking 14 hours this semester, but it seems like I've got just as much work as before, which stinks.
- In addition to being a TA for 10 hours a week, my new job involves me refereeing 5th and 6th grade basketball for the local Boys and Girls Club. I really enjoy it and look forward to every saturday when I can go and make a few bucks doing something I consider fun.
- I got a lot of books for Christmas, which made me very happy, which makes me a nerd. A rundown of what I got: 1.) A 38 volume set of the Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series (a collection of writings that were important in the early church, from the apostolic fathers through around 400 or 500 AD I believe) 2.) Ethics by Deitrich Bonhoeffer 3.) Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry by Doug Fields 4.) Mere Christianity by CS Lewis 5.) The God-Bearing Life by Kenda Creasy Dean 6.) Practicing Passion by Dean and someone else, I forgot 7.) The Best Question Ever by Andy Stanley.
- My fiancee got me the TOP GUN collector's edition DVD for Christmas which rocks because it is the best movie ever. I've watched over 2 hours of the special footage thus far and am only affirmed in my believing in the superiority of this movie.
- I've read most of The Best Question Ever, and it's a decent book, it'll make good sermon material one day.
- I'm down to one option right now for my internship that is required for me to graduate. If this final option falls through, maybe I'll go out into the desert preaching and eating locusts.
- When Rusty and Noah and I start our church somewhere down the road, they have decided I will be designated the Pastor of Philosophy. What exactly that means, I'm not sure, but I think it has a lot to do with me reading lots of books and questioning everything the church does. Sounds like the perfect position for me.
- One of my life goals is to have a library as large as Dr. Johnson's and have actually read everything sitting on my shelf. I already am behind on my reading with the paltry library I currently have. Once I'm Pastor of Philosophy, I'll get to catch up.
- I love my fiancee. I wanna be married.
- So, it's been 2 months now since my last blog, pretty bad if you ask me. I really need to work on that.
- I can't believe some people's blogging habits (or should I say addictions). It seems like all they do is read stuff on the internet and write stuff for their blogs. Do they get paid for this? Some people write stuff that's fit for a journal article, not a meaningless blab on a blog. Maybe one day I will be as cool as those folks.
- I'm only taking 14 hours this semester, but it seems like I've got just as much work as before, which stinks.
- In addition to being a TA for 10 hours a week, my new job involves me refereeing 5th and 6th grade basketball for the local Boys and Girls Club. I really enjoy it and look forward to every saturday when I can go and make a few bucks doing something I consider fun.
- I got a lot of books for Christmas, which made me very happy, which makes me a nerd. A rundown of what I got: 1.) A 38 volume set of the Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series (a collection of writings that were important in the early church, from the apostolic fathers through around 400 or 500 AD I believe) 2.) Ethics by Deitrich Bonhoeffer 3.) Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry by Doug Fields 4.) Mere Christianity by CS Lewis 5.) The God-Bearing Life by Kenda Creasy Dean 6.) Practicing Passion by Dean and someone else, I forgot 7.) The Best Question Ever by Andy Stanley.
- My fiancee got me the TOP GUN collector's edition DVD for Christmas which rocks because it is the best movie ever. I've watched over 2 hours of the special footage thus far and am only affirmed in my believing in the superiority of this movie.
- I've read most of The Best Question Ever, and it's a decent book, it'll make good sermon material one day.
- I'm down to one option right now for my internship that is required for me to graduate. If this final option falls through, maybe I'll go out into the desert preaching and eating locusts.
- When Rusty and Noah and I start our church somewhere down the road, they have decided I will be designated the Pastor of Philosophy. What exactly that means, I'm not sure, but I think it has a lot to do with me reading lots of books and questioning everything the church does. Sounds like the perfect position for me.
- One of my life goals is to have a library as large as Dr. Johnson's and have actually read everything sitting on my shelf. I already am behind on my reading with the paltry library I currently have. Once I'm Pastor of Philosophy, I'll get to catch up.
- I love my fiancee. I wanna be married.
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