January 31, 2010
I thought I’d try something new and introduce five artists at the end of each month for you all to try out. I will list the artist and one of my favorite songs by them. But, you should really listen to more than just that song. Enjoy!
Amos Lee — Jails and Bombs
David Bazan — Please, Baby, Please
Elliot Smith — Say Yes
Man Man — English Bwudd
Stars — My Favorite Book
December 23, 2009
I do realize I may receive some ridicule for this post. Nonetheless,
I loved the movie ‘Avatar’.
I could probably write about this movie for a long time, so I will try to condense.
It is impossible to watch this movie and not have your breath taken away by the absolutely gorgeous scenery of Pandora, the planet on which the movie is based. The waterfall, high tree-top acrobatics, and flying across the landscape on some weird dragon-bird thing will have your mind racing. The interesting thing about the animation, combined with the length of the movie, is that it messes with your brain. I remember thinking to myself, if a large blue alien walked through the door right now, it would look exactly like it does on that screen. The realism of everything is so extravagant that I immediately compared Pandora to the New Earth. The Earth that is coming, that will be recreated when our savior Jesus returns. The thought that kept popping into my head was, “When creation comes to fruition and recreated, if the outcome is beyond ANY human imagination (including the designers on the Avatar team), how amazingly beautiful will this New Earth be? And how wonderful will it be to see God declare his glory once again, this time perfectly, in his creation?
Please take my word for it when I say that this movie is absolutely worth seeing. Go see it.
December 4, 2009
Although I’m still jealous of Joey’s blog and the traffic his gets, I was pleasantly surprised to find that in the month of November there were 204 views of my blog. I surely hope that I haven’t subjected a large number of people to my cynical worldview.
Just kidding.
December 2, 2009
I admit it. I browse my friends’ facebook pages every once in a while. To do this might be fundamentally creepy, but I feel that browsing is what profiles really are meant for. I’m going somewhere with 
this I promise.
One interesting thing I like to look at is how people respond to the ‘religion’ region on their ‘about me’ section of their profile. Because I go to a Christian university, many of my friends simply put ‘Christian’. I take it a little bit further by replying, ‘Christian Hedonist,’ but I won’t go into that right now.
Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship.
I am not sure who originally proposed this idea, but it is this statement that I’d like to talk about. First let’s examine the word ‘relationship’. I would define a relationship as an ongoing interaction with someone or something. It is true that once we enter into allegiance with God and recognize the authority of his son Jesus, that a relationship inevitably occurs. But if we are to call ourselves Christians, is a relationship with God the sole definition of our faith?
Now let’s talk about religion. I cannot say how many times in my life I have heard about the ‘dangers of religion’. Works righteousness, strange rituals and orders, tribal drums, and suicide bombers all naturally leap into our mind when the word ‘religion’ is uttered. Modern Christians have implemented the principle of ‘religion is bad, Christianity is good.’ I believe also that Christianity is not considered a religion by Christians because we have this idea in the back of our brains that religion is false. Relationships are real, tangible things that we can think about. Religion is a set of complicated rules and everything I mentioned in the first sentence of this paragraph.
Here, however, is the good news: Christianity is not just a relationship, but a religion, defined by a relationship with God. A religion offers many things a relationship does not: social and ethical guidelines, organized progression, distribution, and defense of ideals, as well as a community of believers. Christianity is all of these things.
Many people want to limit their relationship with Christ as just a relationship. Perhaps what this country needs is less privatization of our religion and more public discussion. If America is going down the tubes it isn’t because we are talking about Christianity too much, it is because we are so preoccupied with our Jesus and our relationship that we fail to recognize that our interactions with God are happening everywhere. It is the cumulative sum of humanity’s relationship with the true Judeo-Christian God that is the Christian religion.
Please don’t feel I’m hating on your facebook page.
Also, I am not advocating pluralism, that’s another blog post for another day.
November 12, 2009
Trust is a word I believe is overused.
I say this because I believe I have perhaps not fully understood what trust is. I believe if there is one thing college has taught me, it’s the difference between basic knowledge and experiential wisdom.
Perhaps i will never completely get it, but I believe I am starting to get a clearer picture. Grad School, my career choice, my summer trip to Germany, and my financial concerns for paying college bills are all up in the air, and I have no idea what is going to happen.
I feel like I am following my calling. I realize the word ‘feel’ is a touchy word these days, as we are extremely cautious of venturing into that oh-so-secular realm of postmodernism. But honestly, I feel like I am where I am supposed to be, doing what God wants me to do.
Taking one day at a time is tough. Relying solely on God and not on my own skewed wisdom is tougher. God give me wisdom and teach me to actually trust you.
November 9, 2009
I suppose most of what I will be saying will be my own opinion, but that’s what a blog is for, right?
Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the hieghts beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates inf ront of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man, O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools learn sense.” — Proverbs 8:1-5
I believe there is a great lack of wisdom in myself. Daily, my goal is to grow in knowledge, character, and wisdom, relying heavily on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance. The reason that I do this is because I need to. 1 Corinthians 2 explains explicitly that with the Holy Spirit comes a secret and hidden wisdom from the rest of the world. We yearn for understanding, knowledge from God.
But sometimes, God doesn’t always give us this wisdom right away. He puts us through trials of every kind in order to purify us. As much as we might feel we understand this, we don’t.
Which brings me to my point. What I have noticed from some of my friends is this strange conclusion that we must must go.
Go where?
Doesn’t matter. Just go.
Why?
To better serve and honor God.
This is what frustrates me: the idea that we must go somewhere and abandon everything in order to best serve and please God. Where does this idea come from? I’m positive it isn’t biblical at all. There are those who are called to go and there are those who are called to stay. There are those who are called to walk down the block and those required to go to Sri Lanka. Remember those talks at Bible School so many summers ago?
Context is key. Knowledge is key. Every situation is different. But if we can agree that wisdom is what we’re yearning for, rash decision making is not the answer.
The plans of the diligent surely lead to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. –Proverbs 21:5
Patiently seek wisdom friends. Apologies for the hodgepodge post.
October 16, 2009
There trudges one to a merry-making
With a sturdy swing,
On whom the rain comes down.
To fetch the saving medicament
Is another bent,
On whom the rain comes down.
One slowly drives his herd to the stall
Ere ill befall,
On whom the rain comes down.
This bears his missives of life and death
With quickening breath,
On whom the rain comes down.
One watches for signals of wreck or war
From the hill afar,
On whom the rain comes down.
No care if he gain a shelter or none,
Unhired moves one,
On whom the rain comes down.
And another knows nought of its chilling fall
Upon him at all,
On whom the rain comes down.
–Thomas Hardy
October 10, 2009
I love good discussions. Last night at Hardee’s (of all places), my friends and I had a good talk about culture, theology, and how Christians should engage the two. A statement was made by myself that I thought The Dark Knight is more edifying for Christians our age than Veggie Tales. I later revised this statement to The Dark Knight is just as edifying for Christians our age as Veggie Tales. My problem is that I am not a good talker and I rarely can express exactly what my brain is thinking through my mouth. So I thought I’d write it.
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” 1 Timothy 4:1-5
God created man in his own image; so it is through the creator God that we receive such intellectual properties such as reason, morality, language, a capacity for relationships governed by love and commitment, and creativity in all forms as art. Originally, all of these resemblances of God were very good. The fall, however, distorts it all. Everything we do, say, act like, watch, or think about is, somehow, not as perfect as God originally created it to be.
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” Romans 8:29
Veggie Tales, then, is imperfect. We all know that The Dark Knight is imperfect. So should these not be considered equally fallen, and equally edifying? I don’t believe that anything on earth is less fallen. Both Veggie Tales and The Dark Knight contain aspects of truth, just communicated in different ways. Looking at them as If I were an unbeliever, I myself would probably dismiss Veggie Tales as silly and childish. The verses that pop up wouldn’t seem to mean anything to me, and the stories being told (which may or may not be accurate representations of actual events) might challenge the mind of a seven year old, but I wouldn’t see myself engaging the simplicity of the stories.
The Dark Knight on the other hand had me thinking deeply even as a Christian. I could see myself enjoying the movie for its action sequences and exciting plot line, but I believe I would be asking myself some serious questions after the movie:
“If evil exists, that means goodness exists. What is goodness?”
“Humanity seems to constantly be looking for a heroine, a savior of some kind. Do we really need one?”
“No matter what Batman does, the city of Gotham will always have its problems. Why?”
Now, this is just how it is for me. As my Dad said to me frequently growing up, “Different strokes for different folks, son.” Now, do not interpret this to mean there is different truth. Truth remains constant, ways to arrive there are infinitely different. My final point is this: if we are to receive everything created by God with thanksgiving, and everything created by God is good, than we do not need to gauge holiness by what we deny ourselves or give up. Rather, we enjoy the art that the Spirit of God teaches us to create, and decipher what is truth by filtering it through the Word.
September 19, 2009
What an amazing jump Freshman year to Sophomore year is. I knew this in high school, but I didn’t really expect it in college. After all, in college we really are a big mesh of post high school adults. Seniors can date freshman and nobody thinks to question the legality of the relationship. But, as I have found out, you are trusted more as a Sophomore.
Let me explain. When I was a Freshman I took 15 hours and 16 hours for my first two semesters, respectively. Most of these courses were core classes that really had little bearing on my majors. I realize that our dean would beg to differ, but that’s another story. When I was done with classes I would go to work with a shovel, rake, or my personal favorite, a leaf blower. Second semester, I used a vacuum. Don’t get me wrong, these were great jobs! I loved getting to know new people and my bosses Beaver and Maria were among the most influential people of my first year at school. But this year, it’s a whole new story.
This semester I am living in a new dorm, I am taking 18 hours (including Greek and the dreaded News Writing I), I’m a TA for one of the biblical studies professors, and soon I will be tutoring for an Old Testament Survey class. When I’m not doing homework, I feel like I am sinning.
Maybe I should have taken the year off and gone to Ireland. : )
September 14, 2009
Over the past year or so I’ve had a recurrent theme squished into my skull:
Being a Christian is the most important thing you can do with your life. But really, really what you should do is be a celibate. And really, really what you should do is sell everything you own and enter into a ministry of poverty and help the poor.
What a noble cause, right? What better ministry than to experience the most dreadful thing that we Americans can imagine–poverty? I’ve realized is that idea of thinking is all wrong.
My great professor Dr. Brisben has taught me that this idea of thinking is better known as western duality. It has stemmed from the Greek philosopher Plato; except he didn’t call it duality, he called it form over matter. The form being the spiritual ‘side’ of life and matter being, obviously, matter. This thinking never existed before Plato penned these words, but it made its way into Christian thought. Augustine adopted Platonic Dualism and the effects rippled through church history. Although Augustine taught the goodness of creation, he still accepted a view of the immaterial over the material.
So today we still have this problem. We separate the sacred and the spiritual aspects of life. God loves it when we go on mission trips and have bible studies, but hates it when we play baseball or take walks, because we could be going on mission trips and having bible studies. This way of thinking is not biblical nor is it conducive to our different callings. We all have a ministry.
This ministry is called our life. Micah 6:8 says,
“He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?”
Businessmen, Architects, Pastors, Missionaries, School teachers all have a calling–and they don’t need to dwell in poverty to live out the Christian life.
