I am thankful. It was a a valuable & fun three weeks at home.

To start, immediately upon arriving home in the afternoon, I was taken to the Carson & Barnes Circus by the wife. I am not sure who had more fun- me, or my 2-year old boy. To anyone reading, I say this—if a Circus comes near to you and you fail to attend, you are WRONG. A true big-tent circus is one of the few awe and joy-inspiring entertainments to be had. (Carson & Barnes has been around a while. I recall seeing them in my youth. I believe they are the only big outfit left who still tours with a Big Top—the other famous circus only plays coliseums now.)

We undertook the unusual goal of attending some event out of town every single weekend. For the first, it was the increasingly excellent Austin Celtic Festival. Just recently recovering from several years’ worth of disastrous, bankroll-killing rainouts, the Austic Celts have rebounded and are now hosting talent such as Kevin Burke & Martin Hayes. And I got to session with the likes of Ged Foley and the best Austin fiddlers until the wee wee hours.

For the second, it was the always excellent Texas Renaissance Festival. Angus got to ride an ELEPHANT, as well as a Llama. He also got to gawk at Rennies all day, a worthwhile experience for an impressionable young person. I got to be with my loved ones all day, drink mead, and gawk at Rennies all day- worthwhile experiences for an impressionable person such as myself.

For the third, we accompanied Amy to a particular rural part of Texas to observe her participation in a foxhunt, a pursuit which she is growing more and more rabid about. No canids were killed, yet a great time was had by all (which is the usual affair of a foxhunt), despite a driving rain and swampy conditions. These people are quite mad, and I can see why they are so devoted to the pasttime. The horsemanship was impressive. Interestingly, this practice was just banned in the UK, so the best game afoot may be in the US, for a while (the politics behind all of that are fascinating to study.)

On the spiritual side, I finally became involved in a weekly men’s bible study hosted by my church, which meets Tuesday mornings at 6:45 AM. And, I finally met and was interviewed by my church’s equivalent of a “service placement counselor” (minister who reviews an informal personality survey you fill out, then pinpoints some areas of interest in which you may enjoy serving- everything from roles in worship service to prison ministry). This was interesting & productive.

And I revised my annual giving commitment to more accurately reflect the impoverished state of my spirituality, and failure to discipline my finances. Maybe next year I’ll work up to a tithe.

Increased fellowship with the people of God, more musical memories with wife & son, opportunities to support my wife in some much needed R&R activity (bonding with her horse). A productive and blessed field break indeed.

Yesterday morning I arrived safely onboard, despite tornadoes ravaging southeastern Louisiana, and several power outages at the heliport. God bless the men who designed the helicopters, and those who fly them.

Thanksgiving is today- our ship chef will kill the fatted calf, or more likely will fry the cajun marinated Turkeys. A huge spread will be spread. A bunch of oilfield people will enjoy a relaxed and fattening day of collegial fellowship, even without beer (none allowed here). Wife & son will celebrate with family at home, and I’ll miss them. But, I get Christmas off this year.

Joe Carter has a really good post with good comments.

XMLHead.com has a new look. I’ve moved off MT to Tinderbox.

I’ve also been doing some more recording

Oliver what did you do?

What a lot of uses we have for this word “universalist.”

There is the “universalist” who says that everyone is going to be saved because (in spite of sin and depravity) the death of Christ is efficacious for the salvation of everyone. (As far as I can tell, that’s Capon’s position.

Then there is the “universalist” who says that God was only kidding about all that damnation stuff in the first place.

It seems to me that the first universalist may be in error over the extent of the atonement, but he isn’t denying that there was a need for one or that Christ provided it. So he may be “wrong”, but he’s not a heretic. On the other hand, the other universalist is a heretic, because he’s denied exactly that.

For what it’s worth, and to give perhaps a less emotionally charged pair of examples, George MacDonald seems to be the first sort of universalist, while William Barclay seems (at least at times) to be the second. (Sorry, Angus, I didn’t mean to pick on the Scots…)

In the interest of full disclosure, let me admit that I’m 99.999% in the MacDonald/Capon camp on universalism every other day (on the alternate days, I’m a 5-point Calvinist; I’m right then, but no one can stand me.)

The following events happened to me and my wife and daughter last Thursday evening. I know this post is long, but PLEASE read it. You will no doubt be entertained.

1. We were on our way to Ohio to stay with the in-laws and for me to attend a conference when our alternator quit. That means no lights (not even hazard lights), and it was dark and raining and we were on the Western Kentucky Parkway, where the speed limit is 65 and people go 80. Many semi’s were blowing by.

2. I had my wife and daughter get out of the car in case it got hit, which put them on the side of the road (behind the guardrail, but still), at night, in the dark, in the rain.

3. I could not get a signal on my cell phone, so I could not call road service. A man stopped and offered us a ride. Fearing we would soon be skin-suits, we nevertheless took the ride, seeing no other options (we were nearly 20 miles from the nearest town with anything open).

4. I get in touch with road service, who agrees to let us ride in the tow truck back to our car. When we get to the site, the driver tries to turn around on the median. The truck gets stuck.

5. The driver tries to get unstuck, but only manages to get further mired. He gets out, and goes to the back to try to use the towing equipment as sort of a pry-bar to get us out of the muck. Everytime he pries the vehicle, we move, DRIVERLESS, a foot closer to the road. We are terrified.

6. We hear a huge “BONG!” followed by silence. I start to wonder if the driver got hit when I suddenly hear, “F—-!” So we at least know he is alive.

7. Driver comes to the door, says to me: “Could you do me a favor?” I say yes. “Could you go check on those people?” He points to the east-bound lanes, where I see a car facing west, against the guardrail. “Did they hit something?” I ask, fearing the answer I know is coming.” “Yeah,” he says, “they hit us!”

Evidently, the driver (who had two little girls in the car with her) had tried to avoid the two equipment that was sticking out in the road behind us, had been unsuccessful in avoiding it, and had instead clipped it, which thre her into the guardrail of the west-bound lanes, which sent her careening across the median into oncoming traffic, where she miraculously did not hit anyone and came to rest, facing the wrong way, against the east-bound guardrail.

Mother and daughters were okay, thank God, just shaken.

8. We have to wait for the police to get there to take our statements, so we spend a few hours inside the truck. I ask the tow company to pay for a hotel for us, since the parts store is now closed (before all the drama, we had had plenty of time—over an hour—to get to an open establishment). The company refuses. Later, as we are on our way to Elizabethtown to get a room and drop our car at a gas station to be fixed in the morning, I ask the driver to see if the company would at least waive the fee for the extra tow miles the road service did not cover. The boss’s answer? “Negative! It’s not our fault the damned woman decided to hit us!”

9. While I go to drop the car and pay the tow charge, my wife and daughter check into the Budget Hotel (note: no matter how tired, desperate, or destitute you are, never ever in a million years stay at this hotel). The hotel demands pre-payment, and my wife, tired, frustrated and not a haggler by nature, does not have the heart to protest when the clerk overcharges her $20-worth.

10. I return to the hotel (which has strange people roaming the parking lot, trash surrounding the exterior, and a sign out front reading “Pets Welcome”), knock on our room’s door, and my wife says from inside, “Take a deep breath before you come in!”

And boy was she right: I don’t know which smell was stronger in the room: cat urine, or dried blood and semen. It was SO nasty. There were crumbs and pubic hairs in the bed, the bathroom was filthy, the door looked like it would pop open if a drunk came along and leaned on it, and the Styrofoam drinking cups were used. Also, as I was about to drift off to sleep, the window above the bed started leaking—no, streaming—onto the bed.

We slept with our clothes on and left as soon as possible.

11. In the morning, I paid $235 for an alternator and 20 minutes of labor. I walked funny as I left the shop.

The moral of this story? I have no idea. But oh what a night!

I’m off to see Alexander the Gayet.

I may comment when I return. I may not. It’s going to be a wonderful weekend.

I Thank God for giving us His Son, the world in which we live, the ability to love, the ability to heal, Germany and their automobiles, the Bible so we may learn His will, dinosaurs which power my vehicle, beer, airplanes, family, pizza, beer, NASCAR, Pepsi, and imagination.

Feel free to list what you are thankful for :)

We thought we had a skunk under the house. Turns out we have a cat in the house recently sprayed by a skunk. Ugh!

Dennis Prager interviews a guy I saw on Faith Under Fire, Sam Harris. Very articulate atheist with an excellent point: religion is the problem. Now how do Christians respond to that one?

I’ll be gone today till late Friday night. We will worship with Noel’s church family at Tate’s Creek Presbyterian tonight. Have a good Thanksgiving everyone…even you people who have the audacity to disagree with me. (jn)

Last night I attended my first Calvin and Hopps. The Reformed are so nifty. It’s almost like the BHT only with real beer.

>Tom has a long track history of being contrary to Michael on everything.

I vote we rescue that line from the toilet. Yes, Tom and I agree on some things. But Tom, really…..you have a long history of disagreeing with me on almost everything, and it’s one of the more predictably interesting things about the bar. Like my explosive arrogance, PW’s withering wit, Jim’s sarcasm and Bill’s curmudgeonly yankee opinions :) Embrace your dark side. Become a whole person. (jn)

A history is nothing to be ashamed of. I am trying to develop a long history of disagreeing with Joell about his whacked view of Calvinism. (jn)

Reading the discussion of our discussion on betterment over at Thinklings our discussions get discussed!- I would amend my thoughts on being a better person:

1. Regeneration can be a term used for the whole Christian experience; in fact, even for all God is doing in total. But I was responding to it as the first event in that part of the chain that goes: regneration-faith-justification-sanctification. Therefore, YES, I was relating it to justification which declares us righteous when we are not.

2. I am pretty Lutheran on all this sin/righteousness stuff. I think he got it right.

3. I really do believe younger men- that’s most of you- will change your mind about how much “better” you’ve gotten as you get older. My endeavor is to be honest, and honesty compels me to say that all I have lived since coming to know Christ is a tribute to my continuing wretchedness, and not to my improvement. Romans 7 Romans 7 Romans 7.

4. I do fear that the emphasis on being “better” as a Christian buys into the theology of Glory Luther warned against, Arminianism (Wesley’s idea of love perfected as a motive,) Catholicism’s view of grace infused, Pentecostalism’s emphasis on spiritual fruit and the New Puritan’s emphasis on visible evidences of election. I join Luther….Look at the cross and see yourself in THAT. It is not your improvement you will see there.

5. Just speaking for me, the day I tell myself I am better is the day my pride rises up and I sin all the more callously. Only the Gospel of the Cross can penrtrate this predictable cycle.

And on Schuller- When I hear Jesus made into a monkey for some idealogy, I do not tend to say “Well, what is still OK about what this fellow is saying?” I get mad, and I blog things that offend some people. Schuller did a Ph.D on Calvin. He knows the Gospel and rejects it. He is an Apostate with a capital “A.” Osteen is ignorant. Schuller is not.

I think this is a good discussion topic, even though I won’t presume to make it a QotD. If a preacher or teacher in some way departs in some degree from strict orthodoxy, doing so with the best of intentions (in other words, I’m not talking about phonies or obvious ripoff artists), even using Scripture to bolster their position, are they in danger of eternal damnation? Examples: Robert Schuller, who I would say preaches more of a “self-help” message than the pure gospel, much in the line of Norman Vincent Peale would be one example. Another would be “openness” theologians who sincerely believes the Bible supports their position. We could even throw my liberal seminary profs in there, many of whom I know personally are very sincere about their relationship with God even though they use critical scholarship. And how about all those Rhema students running around everywhere? Will they possibly burn in hell for eternity? How would this square with someone like Capon, who seems to think just about everyone will be in heaven? (And I know we have some big Capon fans here, so that’s why I ask).

Note: I’m not being contrary, I’m just asking. I will say, in my opinion, God’s grace spreads a lot wider than we sometimes think, and I really think I will see some of those liberal professors and some of those deluded Rhema students in heaven with me. But that’s just me.

JS: I’m a PK.

how did [do] you get kids to adulthood in Christianity without ruining them?

As someone who was “ruined” by this, let me offer the following:

Be transparent about your failings. Children tend to idealize (and idolize) their parents. People in ministry often feel a burden to demonstrate “righteousness” in terms of both their actions and their attitude. One of the basic steps in moving to true success in ministry is to come to a place where your own brokenness is out in the open. This is a necessary prophylactic against the destructive self-righteous patterns.

Be one person. Please, please, please never adopt a “public persona” that is in any way at odds with who you really are, if for no other reason than this: your kids know who you really are, and if they detect any inconsistency between that and who you are in the pulpit, they just got proof of a message they have been tempted with all their life: “it’s only for show, it’s not real.”

Be realistic. Don’t expect your kids to be “better” just because you’re a minister, and never communicate that their misbehavior has any special significance because of your leadership role. Doing so will cause them to resent your ministry and reject your faith, I guarantee it. In fact, don’t ever call your kids “PKs”. You are the preacher. It was your choice, or calling or whatever. You found the burning bush. They are kids, plain and simple; the fact that their parents are in ministry is an “accident of fortune.” Whether the accident proves to be a happy one or a sad depends a great deal on how you handle this.

Be forgiving. Once a week, get together with your wife and read the parable of the prodigal son out loud. This is the absolute model for biblical parenting. Period. Everything else is just technique and details; get the message of the prodigal and you’ll be a great parent regardless of how your kids turn out; miss the message and it won’t matter even if you memorize Love Must Be Tough.

Jim,
I’m not being contrary and I’m tired of being pegged that way because it’s not accurate. I agree with Michael about a hell of a lot more than I disagree with him, OK? It’s just when I do agree it’s just not very memorable apparently. And I wasn’t necessarily disagreeing with him here, so you can take that “history” and flush it down the toilet. Thanks.

Should we start a category called “Shameless Personal Blog Plugs”?

I had some personal thoughts on Days of Elijah that I posted on my personal blog of all places. I could of posted ‘em here, but I need the hits.

Re: PK’s. If you made me hang around a church that much I’d get pretty pissy too.

Question: I finally figured out that “Laguna Beach” must be a TV show. Don’t laugh at me, all we get is CBS and Prairie Public, which is why I’m very thankful Mr. Rather got the axe. When I was a kid the real Laguna Beach had a pretty big gay community, is that what the show is all about? (We used to shoot trap over by the 405 freeway and there were cool art places in Laguna Canyon, I’m sure that’s changed.)

I suppose this is the book I ought to write. I’ve worked with teenagers for 30 years, half that as a full time youth minister, 12 years of it at a boarding school for grades 6-12. I’ve been around PKs into the triple digits, I’m sure. I’ve been around Christian families and Christian kids that turned out everything from Billy Graham to Marilyn Manson. I’ve raised one to a college sophomore and one to a high school junior, and they are both believers with a serious commitment to Jesus that I can see in their lives.

Let me say that if MTV’s cameras followed me for a week- and I let down my guard- I’d be done as a minister. So I don’t think I’m better. (And to the brother who said that maybe I am more aware of my sins…yes, that’s true, but my sins are also worse. They are not the sins of youth, and they are not the sins of ignorance. They are worse. My sins against my wife are worse than they were when we were younger, and the list could grow. I should sin less, but I keep right on sinning, and while they are more distasteful to me, I also wonder with Paul why they still have such a hold on me? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord who has promised to get me out of this mess sooner or later.)

Back to kids. I wrote about this here in “How Christian Parents Royally Screw Up Their Children.”

As for my own….

1. We waited seven years to have them. We grew up and we needed to grow up.
2. I never made my kids do anything at church besides Bible Study and worship. Noel goes to both today and always has, including when she was at governor’s scholar and was probably the only kid out of 700 going. She goes at college, and that speaks for itself. Clay goes to the youth group of a local church every Sunday evening. He chooses to be in the school choir. But we never made them do anything at church beyond the minimum. Very occasionally their mother will ask them to do something in drama or creative ministries here at school because of their talent, and they have said yes and no to those requests.
3. They saw that the ministry is painful and difficult. They saw serious marital problems because of the ministry. They saw depression that was primarily ministry related. They heard a lot of tears and saw a lot of anger. Most of that, they shouldn’t have seen, and I don’t know why they still love Jesus.
4. I removed them from as much revivalism as I could, given where we were. We went to the liturgical church in town, and they both thank me for it. The hothouse atmosphere of invitational, revivalist, Arminian services made my daughter cry. (No joke.) I decided it would not be their heritage. Noel just joined the PCA. Clay says he will be ECUSA. Fine with me.
5. Denise and I never went overboard with our faith, but it is the center of what we do, who we are and how we live. The kids got to figure it out from there.
6. My wife catechised both our kids from the Shorter Catechism over about 2-3 years.
7. We have a lot of cool Christian friends.
8. We took them to selected Christian events. Not too much, but enough that they appreciated it.
9. Oneida. Oneida. Oneida. Oneida. At the end of the day, living and growing up in a Christian community surrounded by people who make $5k to be here, worship together every day, hear the Word every day….it has an effect. A good one. Almost all our staff kids turn out well in the short and long term. Christian community is a wonderful thing, and I don’t mean the average church. I mean intentional, mission oriented, service oriented community, where Christian values are up front.
10. We didn’t shield them from the world. We introduced them to it through our Christian understanding of it. Movies, Music, etc. They never had a lot of forbidden fruit. We’ve had a few conversations about lyrics, but very few. They figured it out on their own.
11. God was gracious to allow us to be involved in the lives of our kids. By being at OBI, we spent hundreds more hours with our kids than other people do. That was the best thing. When we are off, they are off. We know their friends, are here for all activities, etc. (Yes, we have staff openings now. www.oneidaschool.org :-)
12. I think my kids listen to my preaching, and I hope it’s done them good.
13. God’s grace. Other Chrsitian adults. Clay’s weeks at camp. Noel’s terrible year. Things I don’t know about. I have no idea all that God did. We prayed every day for them. We did our best. I was a lousy dad, Denise is a great mom, God is a wondrous God.

On this Schuller mess, a few points:

Reality TV isn’t reality. If you believe it is, you’re a hopeless idiot and deserve to be ruled by Democrats. Whether you call such shows “scripted” or not is immaterial. Things happen when the cameras are rolling that wouldn’t happen otherwise, and producers of “reality” programs routinely coach the casts to incite behaviors they want for the programs. If Schuller’s granddaughter was on MTV acting like a little angel, you’d all suspect it was a put-on. Why don’t you think that now? You saw Hollywood portray a PK in a stereotypical way, and you are surprised? Face it, the fact that we are even discussing a crappy “reality show” from a “music television” station that seems to not actually play music anymore (Yes, I’m old enough to remember when they did; when I was growing up, Michael Jackson was still black) is proof that the producers of this are good at what they do. Why don’t we just get a list of advertisers from the program and put them on the masthead here? We might as well – at least maybe some of them have an affiliate program, so we could see some money for giving them free publicity.

I know where Michael is coming from on Schuller, and I can appreciate it. The content of his stuff isn’t really all that far off from Osteen. Schuller is a lot like Oral Roberts, except he has better hair and doesn’t claim to heal anyone. Anyone who wants to defend Schuller against the charge of watering down the gospel has a tough project ahead of them, and nobody is going to agree with you just because Michael’s words seem a bit harsh. I suspect the basic problem Tom has is that Michael is right about this; Tom has a long track history of being contrary to Michael on everything.

Unlike Michael, I’m a pragmatist; my problem with Schuller is, his theology doesn’t work. It doesn’t save, and it doesn’t make anyone better. “Put on a happy face” and march forward to your death, because, well, smiles are more pleasant. Sorry, I’m not buying it.

Who’s picking on pastors’ children (PKs) these days? Is anyone else here other than me a PK?

Yeah, that behavior is pretty revolting, but I can’t say that I don’t know another half-dozen PK from my parents old church who would do the same, or almost the same. I think that this is an occupational hazard of being in the ministry: your children will grow up to be annoying little punks and despise the church. I managed to escape with my soul intact, but not without a blistering cynicism about everything charismatic. I note that the children of the director here at the Suceava Bible School are much the same: cynical quasi-Calvinists with huge distaste for pocaitzi.

Actually, this is on my mind these days as I’m getting ready to marry and facing the fact that I will have children in a couple of years. Since I also intend to spend my life in some kind of ministry, how can I avoid this fate for my children? Imonk and others who are ministers/parents, how did you get kids to adulthood in Christianity without ruining them?

Looking material on Schuller, I found this interview with Michael Horton.

Tom: Niebuhr’s definition of liberalism applies to Schuller and the rest of the positive thinkers: “a God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.”

You know, Tom, if I can get you to defend Schuller just because I criticised him I will qualify for some sort of award.

Reading some of the comments in the Christina Schuller story, I though I might clarify a couple of things from my perspective.

I join Joshua Claybourn in wondering how this got onto television, given the potential for embarassment to one of the largest television ministries in the world. It’s not at all unusual or surprising to me that a PK is on this two-faced wave-length.

Face it. Most children brought up in church present this same kind of behavior. One of the reason I really have no interest in a “church-centered” youth ministry model is the inevitability that young church members will “play the game.” I don’t see that as an issue of church discipline. (BTW- Schuller’s church is hardly orthodox. The Gospel is denied and Christ is mocked every week, so the possibility of actual disciples of Jesus in that operation is pretty small.)

I’m mostly amazed that this kid is up in front of the church, singing. Entertainment is of such a major value in today’s church that really the only things that matter are her appearance and her voice. Her mockery of the whole thing goes right along with this. How many young people go down this same road with all kinds of applause in the wings? Who actually cares about the person’s daily Christian walk? As Noel said, only actual mentoring can deal with this situation. As long as Christian kids live in their insulated subculture within the subculture, it will be more of this.

Young people will be young people. What makes me cynical is the church’s preference for entertainment over substance.

TBN is running their version of American Idol this week. If you can stand it, you’ll see what evangelical young people are seeing as the highest calling: entertainment with lots of “worship words” on the surface.

Michael—thanks for putting Walker Percy on the banner. The Moviegoer was one of those eye-opening books for me. The whole concept of “everydayness” struck me then, and I’ve never become unstruck (yes, I made up that word in honor of Percy).

The Schuller daughter/grand-daughter does the family proud. Since my daughter loves Laguna Beach, I’ll call this a BHT Must Read. (Hat Tip Joshua Claybourn) But I’ll also say these are the evangelical kids I worked with my whole ministry. Rarely do they rise above this. Hence my cynicism. (Call this the “Not Better” File.)

Mr. Manson comes to class.

National Geographic asks the question, “Was Darwin Wrong?”

CT does U2.

Faith in Christ makes us better already, but not quite yet.

That fine young man who is training to become iMonk II has a good piece at his blog.

This “does it make us better?” conversation just seems odd to me. I mean, it is the kind of conversation that we Christians have with each other all the time, but when we have to cite scripture, we have to make adjustments. Example:

1 Timothy 1:12-16 12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

Now, I’m not ignorant of the fact that it was an improvement to stop killing and imprisoning people for being Christians, and this is the guy who said his life before Christ was “dung,” but the whole tone seems to be, “There is nothing about me that gives me reason to boast, but I can boast in who Jesus is and what his Gospel means in my life.”

I remember this student making a rather big scene one day over a preacher who said Christians were happier than non-Christians. He was sick of hearing it, and he rejected it. In fact, he was offended at the whole idea of someone saying their religion made them better/happier than those who chose not to believe it.

I tend to agree with this student. The point of faith is the mercy of God. It doesn’t give us the message of “Look at how much happier and better I am than I was when I used drugs!” even thought that is absolutely undeniably true. The emphasis is always on Christ, and the truth of the Gospel, not on the results.

This is why I resist all the church ads that promise happiness, moral reform, better marriages, moral and well behaved kids, etc. if a person will just go to church, get saved and take notes. We may be able to see the tangible results of conversion, but is it consistent with our faith to announce them comparitively? Especially when things like divorces, suicides, depression, etc are all too common among believers.

I’m back at work… back in action. Yippee….

Don’t know if you’ve heard yet, but Gunga Dan is going the way of the Dodo, apparently to go to work full-time with the Communist Party, USA.

Best Swordfights: Captains Courageous, Captain Blood, Robin Hood w/ Basil R… Modern flicks have come close: Empire Strikes Back, Jedi, Phantom Menace, etc. Princess Bride’s swordfights were more humorous than actually skilled. But the best I’ve seen have come from Asia… Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero… Kill Bill, Vol. 1 was workable.

Which movies have the best sword fight sequences?

My votes: Princess Bride, Star Wars: Phantom Menace, Highlander: Endgame

Larry King is a moron. Rick actually did pretty well with that nutcase popping up with specious comments every five seconds.

Rick Warren says I can’t believe in Jesus and Elvis, that they are mutually exclusive. Now I’m ticked.

He also got the story of Jairus daughter wrong.

You just don’t like him, do you?

I think if he worked here, I’d like him. I think if he were my pastor, I’d probably be in his corner on most things, but in his office on a lot of others. If he were my neighbor I’m sure we’d be on friendly terms. But we would have some matters to debate.

You’re jealous, right?

Absolutely. The fact that anybody sells 500,000 books before the book is published makes me jealous. Since I can’t find a way to write anything longer than 10 pages, I am jealous. I’m more concerned about his influence than jealous, but sure, I’m jealous. I’m also jealous of lots of people I like and recommend. So what?

No, I mean the big church. That bothers you because you are a loser.

Uh…..no. Not at all. Do I wish my church were bigger? Sure. Do I begrudge him the success of Saddleback, Inc.? That’s ridiculous. There are plenty of big church pastors I love and promote. Size doesn’t matter :)

But the fact he has a big church and is into church growth is why you harp on him.

It’s why I critique him. Big church pastors did something to make the church big. They tell the rest of us what we ought to do. That means you should examine and ask questions. They are influential, and usually get a free pass because Americans love success. I don’t think that’s how scripture urges us to look at leaders. If something is wrong or questionable, you should say so. Warren has said a lot about his church growth methods. That invites criticism or approval. He’s also got a whole ministry telling pastors what to do, and I think that invites even more scutinty, because what he does at his church is their business, but what he tells the rest of us we must do is our business and the business of the church as a whole.

But listen to the guy. He’s a solid evangelical Southern Baptist. What’s your problem?

Solid? Not too solid. Pretty hard to pin down. He’s not a theologian. He’s like Bill Bright more than anyone else. He’s like Billy Graham in other ways. These figures influenced evangelicalism away from it’s reformation foundations and towards a fuzzy Arminianism and unquestioning pragmatism. As a (bad) Calvinist and a Reformation Christian, I don’t find those developments positive. There is a message and a method in scripture. It’s not up to me to define either as it suits me. Listen to Warren on Larry King. He is right on the boundary line between evangelicalism and a total muddle. He lives on that line and he sells that approach as the moel for the rest of us. Every theological statement is soft, every church growth statement is hard. As the major influence on the future of the church, he doesn’t impress me. Sorry. Does that make me a bad person?

So you just don’t like to be told what to do? It’s your “only child” syndrome.

Thanks for the diagnosis, but…Yes! And I don’t like Christian publishers telling me what MUST happen in my church or who I MUST read in order to hear God’s voice. I don’t like the fact that on Pastors.com and in PDC, Warren has become this combination of trite and authoritative, and I am supposed to recognize his wisdom and leadership. He’s mediocre as an author and unoriginal as a preacher. That’s not hating on the guy. He sells books. That’s his great quality.

why we bluestaters are better than you redstate hicks. (no, not better because we’re regenerate)

Here you go, Joell. The interview is gone, but hang this on the wall.

Theologically, I am a monergist and firmly hold to the five solas of the Reformation. It’s pretty obvious from the book that I believe in foreknowledge, predestination, (see chapter two, “You Are Not An Accident”) and, especially, concurrence—that God works in and through every detail of our lives, even our sinful choices, to cause his purposes to prevail. Proverbs 19:21 (NIV) is one of my life verses.

In some ways I’ve grown since becoming a believer, mostly in the context of hard work in my intimate relationships. I’m more aware of how fundamentally wrong I am as time goes by.

Wasn’t there a quote from our Patron Saint not too long ago regarding this issue (quotemeister Michael, please help!)? I’m afraid I didn’t file it, something to the effect of “God reaches down and saves us but does not leave us alone”?

I ran across this quote about the “postmodern church” in Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz Sunday evening.

A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of church in America—about the postmodern church. He says the new church will be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and the human struggle. I don’t think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing.

I just ordered this from Discerning Reader, winter is coming…(my reading time).

Yesterday was a slick one on the way to work, we’re coming up on the time of year during which you sometimes need to look out your side windows to see where you’re going. November has been mild so far but the temps are dropping this week. Some of our news is from the Twin Cities, and the postal hunter story is a big one, second only to the temperature drops.

The evangelical Pope appeared on Larry King tonight. It’s the second half of this transcript.

When you are a preacher, it is painful to hear all of your cliches quoted by someone who just sold 10 million copies of them.

Rick does about what Rick always does in this context. (Talking to pastors you get the other personality.) Simple, almost simplistic. Accomodating almost to the point of compromise. The Gospel is there….muddled, and barely recognizable, but there.

Rick really does morph to his interviewers, which is probably why he is a good communicator, and I am typing on this blog :-)

Larry King’s comments and questions are hilarious. Absolutely nonsensical. The best thing Rick does is ignore most of them.

I suppose we better get this out of the comment thread. :-/

There are people on this blog who claim regeneration makes us better people.

Unless you are playing word games, that’s Roman Catholicism.

Regeneration changes the will so that we trust in Christ. What kind of blue state heresy is loose on my blog?

Defend your sophism or own up to your Catholicism. (jn)

Mohler on the latest sex and dating advice.

Her mother Gina Boyer says, “She was definitely protected by God, because she should have been dead. If those packages hadn’t been there, they said she would have died from that fall.”

Seems God used Santa and consumerism to save this little girl.

How can I not be cynical in a world like this? Someone give me a reason to hope in the human race apart from those who God regenerates.

Touchstone Blog finally has a word to say about the bastardizing of “Celtic Chrisitianity” by the New Age movement, and suggests a more appropriate “Celtic Way” for those truly interested.

Like most of Christendom for most of Christian history—if you want real “Celtic Christianity,” when the sun sets, pray the proper psalms at vespers. When you retire pray the compline pslams. If you rise during the night, rather than raid the refrigerator and watch Conan, pray a brief midnight office; when the first light of day appears, pray the psalms of matins. After dawn pray the first hour as you begin your working day. Pause at the third hour to remember the hour of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the birth of the church. At the sixth hour, noon, remember the crucifixion of Our Saviour for our sins. At the ninth hour, His death upon the Cross and His promise of paradise to the Good Thief. The life of prayer is connected to the daily life of creation as we experience it. It’s not all that new, or profound, or exclusively “Celtic.” But it’s what Columba and the others did.

Friday night, I heard fans utter the same thing. Our house! Our house!

Get over it. The Palace isn’t the fans’ house. The Palace isn’t the players’ house. The Palace is a place of business where customers and workers are rightfully expected to follow rules and demonstrate restraint. Who would behave like that in their own house anyhow?

Only fools who are deluded about “respect.” That word is not something you lose when someone does something you don’t like, and it is not something you gain with a fist. Respect comes by behaving respectfully.

Under that measure, nobody earned any Friday night. And just as a black eye discolors the boxer’s face, the deed now spreads across the landscape, and we’ll be paying for it, sadly, for years to come.

If you havn’t seen it, you’re missing out.

On what? How is this a possible question? My entire Jr. and Sr. High School experience, whaddaya think! GOSH!

You’re just jealous because I’ve been making some sweet moolah with uncle Rico all day.

Seriously though, if you want a glimpse into the Idaho small town, check this out. And if you want to laugh, check it out. And if you like Ligers and cage fighting, check this out. It’s SWEET!

That special Kentucky touch in a new sub chain.

How long do you have to be a millionaire before it begins to occur to you that anything you do to another person- ANYTHING- is going to cost you huge amounts of money? How long does it take before Kobe knows that sex with anyone but his wife- concensual or otherwise- is probably going to cost him millions, either in legal fees or in damages? How long before guys like Artest and Jackson understand that when you go into the stands and punch people, you might as well be standing over a shreddrer shredding millions of dollars?

If I wind up winning $50 million in the lottery, I will go to the beach and hang out. If a drunk bothers me, I will laugh, go to the phone, call the mob and order a hit. It will cost me maybe $10k, and be far more efficient than storming into the stands.

Speaking of decadence, this tribute to the Hardee’s Thickburger is truly stunning. The picture caused me to gain 5 pounds.

Another note for Ted Rall. Paradise lost in Camden, New Jersey.

Today remember JFK and CSL.

Here is the story from the reporter who videotaped it.

Wesley Blog puts out a ten point agenda on how to change the UMC. Interesting. I really enjoy this blog and hope you are stopping by.

Robert Alter has been a great help to me as a non-Hebrew reader/thinker. I am not sure the critics understand what he is doing. That nuance to Gen 1:1 is well known to any serious student.

This is a 2.5 day week at school. Half the students will stay here for Thanksgiving, while the other half will go somewhere. All of us will go a little nuts as the students refuse to do anything productive, and who can blame them? We are travelling Wed-Fri. Actually leaving Wed afternoon and returning Friday night (so I can get to a football game.) We will worship on Wednesday with Noel’s congregation.

The new Derek Webb cd is excellent. Webb is going to be around for a long time, writing significant, wide-ranging music. This is a real step up in sound and subject matter. I am glad he can keep his prophetic edge, but broaden out as well. I am also glad to see he keeps at least one song on the cd that will offend about half of the Christian book sellers in town.

I found the Donald Miller mp3 to be…..somewhat insightful, but so undisciplined in form as to be distracting. I have this feeling that someone is saying “off the cuff, extemporaneous cute talks = pomo preaching.” I could offer 2 pages of ways to make that “talk” better without losing the pomo edge. He’s a writer. Write. (And thank God for editors.)

Let me help the newsguys with this headline: “Marines Kill Insurgent.” Period. End of sentence. End of thought. End of discussion. Insurgent=dead man. We absolutely have no idea what this story does to endanger our warriors. It makes me sick.

Cool quote from Derek Webb here.

Dear Mr. Rall,

I think I will reconsider my plans to move to your paradise in the Northeast.

Finally…someone who said exactly what I feel about the media in Iraq: Aid and comfort to the enemy. Plain and simple.

Shocking photos from Iraq.

The war in Fallujah. Take some time and read this, and remember the young men and women who VOLUNTEER to be United States Marines.

Everything about the Bush incident in Chile.

Michael: I read some of the articles you posted. The guy seems pretty fair. The problem I see with the traditional lowfat diet is that it is typically high in carbs and low in protein, both bad things. The weight loss is muscle loss (this charge is also made against lowcarb diets) and the insulin response is nasty.

What both camps should be saying (and some in both camps are) is that whole food is the way to go. Real meat, fruits and vegetables. Whole grains. Good fats and oils.

(don’t I sound wise? Just don’t get between me and a milkshake)

Should anyone be interested, Don Miller is involved with Imago Dei which is in Portland. It seems he preaches occasionally and there are mp3’s available.

I caught my hint from the bar owner, I need your names by November 28, SEVEN DAYS, don’t be a Scrooge or we’ll have to beat the Dickens out of you. (Horrific pun intended, please don’t tell my wife…)

Michael, Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz is partially responsible for unleashing the creative side (my photography & writing) of me that’s been in hiding since I became a confessing fundapente. My copy spent the last 10 months with a friend and I’m re-reading it right now. I really can’t say enough about Don’s ability to weave the stories that come from his own experiences into a casual “this is what I learned about God and me” sort of spiritual communication. From Don (among others [including you]) I learned (and am learning) that I didn’t have to conform to evangelical, political, programmatic mess that lies out there in order to be a follower of Jesus.

A flame was also lit inside me that burned with the truth that God created me to be a photographer, and that it wasn’t a selfish hobby, it was part of my call. He doesn’t let go of Christianity, he only lets go of what some have turned it into (for profit).

When I followed your link to Amazon I placed an order for Don’s book, I hadn’t read it yet, and I filled out my order to get my shipping discount with other wish list items from Brian McLaren and Brennan Manning. I suggest you blow off the PoMo label, in many ways I believe it’s one segment of the church’s way of shocking the establishment, and read some of Pastor McLaren’s and Don Miller writings. You and Pastor McLaren likely have some common ground in YE vs. OE beliefs. A lot of people in the PoMo/Emerging church movement simply want to be freed from this dominating cloud of evangelicalism hanging over us that says that it’s not good enough to follow Him, you also need to be a ________.

Some people are going to hop on the PoMo thing in the same way that others have hopped on the PDC/PDL or the charismatic or the fundamental or the Republican thing. Some seem to have a need to worship labels rather than creators, Paul wrote about this in his opening salvo to the believers in Rome. It seems we’ve talked about something like this at the Tavern, don’t we usually call it “Jesus and ________”?

The Nationals? Ugh.

It has been brought to my attention that last year someone signed up for the BHT Christmas, received a gift, but didn’t send a gift.

That sucks, to say the least. Don’t do that. Yes…I’m pointing at you, Scrooge.

I’ll let the elf in charge tell us the cut off for sending in ourt names.

On another front, I am going to drop some names of perennial non-posters- probably today. Ho ho ho. I have one new guy wanting in, and he wants your room.

I hope to open up the BHT menu again in December, so look for some good recipes.

Thanks for the encouragement, Bill. I agree with almost all of your points, though I don’t think baked potatos are the devil.

Here is Stamford in ‘03, when some of the pro-Atkins research first came out. You will get his basic critique, and I think you can see where he eventually preferred South Beach to the original Atkins. His point about high protein turning into high fat, and eventually into high fat, high sugar weight-regain is correct. I’ve lived it.

Here is Stamford in ‘04, and he’s pretty tough on Atkins. And here is a pro-Atkins article that quotes Stamford commending the South Beach Diet.

Stamford also says a lot of realistic things about body types and individual metabolic reactions to food. 10 days out of 12, I eat very modestly. Why that has brought me to the place I am now is really a puzzle. Stamford says that we may be in a kind of transitional phase where some humans have metabolisms that have adjusted to the abundance of food in our culture, while others have not. They have a genetically predisposed “hoarding” metabolism.

I have a few thoughts on weight and loss also. Like Michael, I lost weight very quickly doing a locarb plan (about 45 lbs). I fell off and gained some of it back, but I still think the principal is sound. Some observations:

Most locarb plans (even Atkins now) recommend that protein come from lean sources of meat.
Sugar is evil. White flour is evil. Don’t eat them and you have 85% of any diet mastered.
Frequent small meals are the way to go. I never mastered this completely.
Most locarb plans are effective because they also end up being low calorie, assuming you don’t go nuts with the fat.
With the exception of potatoes, go nuts with vegetables. There is a caricature of locarb as meat-only. I have never eaten so many vegetables as when on a locarb plan.
Weight training. Do it. Twice a week. Lift heavy with good form. You will see amazing results very quickly (in strength). The guy Michael posted is also a fan of weight training.
Water. This is where I differ with practically everyone. Every diet I have read wants you to gorge yourself on water. I just don’t buy it. Drink when you are thirsty.

I haven’t read this guy Michael posted about. Sounds like he has a balanced approach although I am curious why he would be critical of Atkins and not South Beach. Most Atkins critics oppose a caricature of Atkins which says that you can eat 46oz of bacon at day and drink the grease and still lose weight. Atkins used to be like that but no more. South Beach does differ in that it allows moderate amounts of whole grains so that is probably why he likes it better.

I would say that my best success came when I was eating lo-carb and low fat. Low fat as far as total grams, not percentage. Hopefully I can get back on track. Good luck Michael, and to anyone else trying it! Especially at this time of year.

Jack Black and William H. Macy

Since weight and diet are frequent topics here on the blog, I thought I would update the group that I have reread and have decided to make a second attempt at the low-fat eating plan advocated by University of Louisville professor Bryant Stamford, Ph.d.. If you google Stamford you will find a lot of his material, particularly on exercise. He is a major critic of Atkins, but writes approvingly of South Beach. His Weight Loss Reader is required therapy for anyone who did the high protein thing- as I did, losing 60 pounds in 14 months- and wound up heavier than ever. Stamford has been writing for the Louisville Courier-Journal and then for Gannett for years now, and he’s changed his mind on a number of things. He’s very down to earth and has stuck to his guns through a lot of fads. I especially apperciate all the inter-disciplinary knowledge he brings to the subject of weight. He reads everything, and critically assesses it for the ordinary reader. Plus, he’s an old guy. Read his account of a recent Grand Canyon hike.

Here’s some of his columns, mostly on exercise and health:

Beware of the Season!
Five Reasons Diets Fail
Responsibility and Eating Choices
Weight Training basics
Weight Loss Wisdom from Ordinary people
Cholesterol

Read it. Think about it. Remember REALITY. Then get down to the business that matters.

Leithart on Waldron on Calvin on Paul on Faith and Obedience. I would like to quibble with Waldron’s reading of Calvin and with Leithart’s reading of both- but not much. This gets about 98% of the distinction/relationship right, and gets close to the problem I believe confuses the New Puritans (of whom Waldron would be a representative.)

On the one hand, Waldron argued in an ETS paper, Calvin does teach that faith is obedience, not only inseparable from obedience but actually IS obedience. He quoted from Calvin’s comments on Romans 1:5 to support the point: “Faith is properly that by which we obey the gospel.” (iMonk note: That is clearly NOT saying faith is obedience.) On the other hand, Waldron argued that it was not AS obedience that faith justifies. He concluded his paper with this quotation from an article by Stanford Reid on Calvin’s doctrine of justification: “While Calvin is prepared to recognize that faith does work by love, he also insists that ‘it does not take its power to justify from that working of love. Indeed it justifies by no other means than by leading us into fellowship with the righteousness of Chirst. . . . And then that faith is reckoned as righteousness solely where righteousness is given through a grace not owed.’” It is not in its character as obedience that faith justifies. Faith works through love, but it is not this “working-through-love” that makes faith the instrument of justification.

Faith does lots (sp) of things (as the Westminster Confession notes). Faith trembles at God’s threats, faith obeys God’s commands, faith sings with the Psalmist, and so on. But the ACT of faith that makes it the instrument of justification is the act of trusting God’s promise in Christ.

Randy Quaid….and Greg Kinear.

Search Inside the book? I never knew about this. Wow.

And this! Google SCHOLAR.

Pomo Musings seems to be a pretty intelligent and readable blog from the PCUSA/Princeton Pomo side of things. Same with Odyssey.

This book is being heavily promoted around the big bookstores I visited in Lexington. Is it the Pomo “40 Days?”

I’ve got an idea about losing weight. I’m going to research it and think for a while. It’s premised on the radical idea of eating less.

Marine rushes home after wife is shot.

What’s odd is the response of the marine. At least the quote. Is that forgiveness maybe?

Better to be an honest unbeliever than pretending it’s easy to believe: Spencer’s Ten Point Argument for Faith Revisited.

CT covers the Evangelical- and multi-cultural, multi-ethnic- renewal that is taking place in New York City.Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Chiurch (and its 100 church plants) gets plenty of ink. Here’s their purpose statement.

“To spread the gospel, first through ourselves and then through the city by word, deed, and community; To bring about personal changes, social healing, and cultural renewal through a movement of churches and ministries that change New York City and through it, the world.”

What’s happening in Iraq, from an excellent site: Strategypage.

American troops now control all of Fallujah and have found extensive evidence of terrorist and criminal gangs using the city as a headquarters. Evidence was found of torture chambers, and video sets used for filming the execution of kidnap victims. Moreover, the body of a woman, thought to be foreign aid executive (Care International) Margaret Hassan, was also found in Fallujah. A video of her murder was recently released by her killers, and it appears that the killing was done in Fallujah. Without Fallujah as a “safe area” for keeping hostages, killing them, and getting away with it, the terrorists have to do their dirty work in cities where there is a strong police presence, and nearby American troops. That’s what’s happening in Baghdad, Mosul and other cities right now. The gangs are trying to control neighborhoods in these cities, and are not succeeding.

Joe Carter’s take on the Tom Delay business mentioned by Bill.

The monthly DVD picks over at Ain’t It Cool are always worth perusing.

Michael, I’m with you on the background check thing. Most of my jobs have required a fairly thorough search, I just got the letter back for my most recent job a few days ago.

I think that some organizations only do the searches on individuals who’s job requires direct contact with vulnerable persons, not seeing the danger of proximity. I also see that a lot of ministries drop the ball on this one, I did the research for our local CPC when they realized that they needed to shore up this gap.

I know when I applied for a security clearance back in the 70’s that I had to go to the local FBI office, I heard later that they talked to past neighbors and school teachers. Why don’t we give such diligence to checking out those who come in contact with our children?

Story you won’t hear.

The only thing that Christmas and Hannukah share is that they both occur in winter, syncretism is taking place as we speak.

What is funny to me is that most who wear WWJD bracelets pull up short when it comes to holiday observances, after all Jesus came to the temple to celebrate it’s dedication (Hannukah), check out John 10:22,23. The Maccabean revolt is quite the interesting story…

What contemporary actor has had the strangest career or the least likely success?