I stole this idea from a friend, who stole it from a friend and so forth… Here are some links that I have come across in my web browsing…
Ecto: Weblogging software that I am now using.
Ikon: One of the "emergent" worship gatherings I attended at the Emergent Convention.
Alternativeworship.org
Skype: Talk online for free
Random Shirts: A great way to waste 10 bucks…
USATODAY.com - Nearly 700 Shiites die in stampede spurred by bomb rumor:
I don’t know what to say…
With several blogs going, I wonder where is the appropriate place to post some of my thoughts, so I will do both. It’s so exciting to be reading a book for a seminary class and actually enjoying, perhaps a better word is appreciating, the content. Here’s a quote…
Christian faith prompts inquiry, searches for deeper understanding,
dares to raise questions… Authentic faith is no sedative for
world-weary souls, no satchel full of ready answers to the deepest
questions of life. Instead, faith in God revealed in Jesus Christ sets
an inquiry in motion, fights the inclination to accept things as they
are, and continually calls into question unexamined assumptions about
God, our world, and ourselves…Faith is a relation to the living God
and not to a dead, manipulable idol. In Jesus Christ the living,
inexhaustibly rich God has been revealed as sovereign holy love. To
know God in this revelation is to acknowledge the infinite and
incomprehensible depth of the mystery called God. Christians are
confronted by mystery in all the central affirmations of their faith:
the wonder of creation; the humility of God in Jesus Christ; the
transforming power of the Holy Spirit; the miracle of forgiveness of
sins; the gift of new life in communion; the call to the ministry of
reconciliation; the promise of the consummation of God’s reign. To the
eyes of faith, the world is encompassed by the mystery of the free
grace of God.
(Faith Seeking Understanding, Daniel Migliore, pg. 2-3)
ESPN.com - MLB - Palmeiro, mired in post-suspension slump, benched: “”
This is just sad…
USATODAY.com - Robertson issues a denial, then an apology: ""
This might be what we were talking about the other night at Mosaic. Why does this guy get to speak for the Christian faith?
Robertson ignited controversy Monday on his program, The 700 Club. That day, he noted that Chavez has said the United States wants to assassinate him. "If he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him," Robertson said, "I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war." He said the United States should "take him out."
A non-Christian’s perspective on Robertson’s latest quotes
The silence from our moderate religious leaders about the excesses of the Christian Radicals is as deafening as a rocket taking off in a baby’s ear. What will it take before our Christians start denouncing the Christian Radicals who are giving Christianity a bad name? Where are the sane Methodists and Lutherans and Episcopalians? Why don’t they say something? Why aren’t there moderate Christians who are as famous and oft-quoted as Pat "let’s-kill-for-Christ" Robertson?
Back to school… I must confess, I actually like the first day of school. Most people feel overwhelmed on the first day, especially in graduate school, at all of the readings, papers, tests, and other requirements that are given out… But for some reason, it doesn’t bother me a bit. I always start out with such idealistic expectations.
In a few weeks, I will wake up to the reality of all that I have to do in the next few months to be 8 hours closer to a goal that still seems so far away. But for now… I see a 4.0 coming…
Some things that made me think today…
marko talks about trusting teenagers
I know I don’t do this well enough, but I want to do this better. I think I believe it, but my actions may say otherwise.
marko talks about crappy theology
Marko shares an interesting experience of listening to a speaker at a large Christian gathering sharing very weak and damaging theology. It reminded me of hearing Rob Bell talk about wanting to flip the breakers in the convention hall at a pastor’s convention once because of the unbiblical message that was being preached that day. ("If your church isn’t growing, you’re probably not called to ministry!") We talked about destructive theology at Mosaic the other night during our closing small group time, and many shared some great thoughts on the subject. It was refreshing to know that I am not alone in my concern. Dan Kimball’s blog also shared a great excerpt from Henri Nouwen on the subject of "forgiving the church."
"When
we have been wounded by the Church, our temptation is to reject it. But
when we reject the Church it becomes very hard for us to keep in touch
with the living Christ. When we say, "I love Jesus, but I hate the
Church," we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too.
The challenge is to forgive the Church. This challenge is especially great
because the Church seldom asks us for forgiveness, at least not
officially. But the Church as an often fallible human organization
needs our forgiveness, while the Church as the living Christ among us
continues to offer us forgiveness.
It
is important to think about the Church not as "over there" but as a
community of struggling, weak people of whom we are part and in whom we
meet our Lord and Redeemer."
And by the way, today is the 700th anniversary of William Wallace’s death. Source: Wikipedia
If you are interested in checking out another weblog, we have started one as an extension of our new young adult worship gathering, Mosaic. You can check out what we are doing at Mosaic and this new online community experiment by clicking here.
We are hoping that this weblog will be a place where members of our community can share their own thoughts, reflections, readings, and study with other members of our community. We also hope to incorporate those in our gatherings on Monday night at Mosaic. If you would like to be a author on this weblog, come to Mosaic, or send me an email.
Starting next week, our lives will finally return to some sense of normalcy. We are moving to Mansfield on Thursday. Anna has started Preschool. Stephanie is getting settled in her new job and classroom. I will be back at school on Wednesday. Today is Anna’s first day at Preschool here at the church, and I love knowing that I can take a break at anytime and "spy" on her for a bit. It refreshes me to know that she is safe… having a great time… making friends… learning… I love watching her grow…
And I have to tell you something that my wife did that I thought was really thoughtful. We are getting new mattresses when we move on Thursday, so my parents took our old queen set home with them yesterday. I wanted to save my parents another trip so they took them a few days early and I figured Steph could sleep on the air mattress and I would sleep on the couch. I got home late after a great Mosaic and saw that the cushions on the couch were missing. I walked into our bedroom to find a nice pallet that my wife had made for me on the floor next to her. Little things mean so much to us don’t they! It was a wonderful reminder to me that of all the stuff we are going to be packing up and moving this week… if somehow all of it was lost… as long as I had a place next to her… that’s enough…