Head-dibs

Preparing for this week’s worship service, I was studying Romans 15 which spun off the question, “What is the responsibility of the minister (or priest): to present God to the people or the people to God?”  Read the passage below and comment on topic: “ But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ .” (Romans 15:...

“ But the LORD sits enthroned forever; He has established His throne for justice, and He judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness .” (Psalm 9:7-8) Ever play that game where you say a word over and over and over again until it sounds like a different word,? The game involves a sort of a mind trick where the repeated word seems to lose its meaning. Say the word repeatedly until the mind sort of “clocks out” and the word sounds foreign. Children at that moment laugh when they realize what happened. I think this has happened with “forever.” What does “forever” mean? Well, the word as we know it has been around since at least the late 17th century, combining the concept of “before” with “at any time” or “always.” The Hebrew word is “o-lam” which carries the idea of “hidden time, long” or simply “ancient.” So how long has the LORD been enthroned? Since ancient hidden time. How long will He remain? Will He ever leave the throne? Lo...

We used to make the joke, “I’ll wait for the movie.” Now it seems that’s all that remains, the movie. Hard to imagine what life would be like without the movie. Steampunk imagines a fantastic world where technology never progresses beyond the steam age. What would we call the film-less world? Are we able to imagine such a world at all? Hard to believe there are some places in the world that remain cinemapunk (for lack of a better name). Some say that Fritz Lang’s 1927 film “Metropolis” set the stage for steampunk. Yes, a film started the sub-genre, but this may have been inspired by the controversial 1917 movie, “Birth of a Nation” which was set in the Civil War. What would our days and nights be without movies? I remember when going to the movies was a big thing. I stood in line that wrapped around the block in 1977 to see Star Wars. I returned to the theatre five more times to see it. I went to movies nearly three times a week (at least once on Wednesdays) for years. Now, I c...

"A man who makes it his business not to confess his sin, but to understand it and explain it, no matter how philosophical he may seem, is walking in darkness, and the truth is not in him." ( Scottish  Theologian, James Denney, 1856-1917)

"A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its every aspect. It is an attempt to find in its forms, in its colours, in its light, in its shadows, in the aspects of matter and in the facts of life, what of each is fundamental, what is enduring and essential--their one illuminating and convincing quality--the very truth of their existence. The artist, then, like the thinker, or the scientist, seeks the truth and makes his appeal." (Joseph Conrad's Preface to "The Nigger Of The 'Narcissus'", originally published 1897 )

It's nice to know there's a prison just 10 minutes from downtown Atlanta. Looks solid enough . . . The camera did this strange effect as I was driving by (the fence are fine. See above picture):

I know nothing about D.H. Lawrence other than getting him confused with T.E. Lawrence (of "Lawrence of Arabia" fame). Now I want to get to know this man. I came across a poem of his (D.H.) that I could not put down as I returned to it repeatedly throughout the day. The title is simply, " Snake ." Should I say the poem is striking is not to make a pun for it truly is striking, mezmerizing. Like a snake. It would do the reader great good to take in the entire work for himself or herself here before continuing. The more I read the poem, the more observations I made which in turn led to many questions. First permit a small notation for the remarkable rhythm of the piece in it's irregular stanzas: "A snake came to my water-trough On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat, To drink there." He meanders along his path to the water trough and brings the reader up short as if grabbing our arm to prevent another step. Two beautiful stanzas caught my atte...

Just one of the happiest places on earth.

“Waiting for Godot,” by the absurdist Samuel Beckett, is my favorite play. Exactly why this is may favorite is difficult to explain as the the play itself is difficult to explain; however, the explanation can be as simple as the play is simple. One must experience Beckett’s work here to fully appreciate this perspective. The play is absurd and it is simple. The play makes no sense, yet plunges deep with its themes into meaning, an agenda is clear. Beckett’s main character is an “invisible center” as in both acts (there are only two) two men pass the time in waiting for him. The main character never appears, is never heard and nearly nothing is known about him--even by Valadamir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) who wait for him for reasons unknown. Yet, they must wait. Other characters appear with their time on the stage: Pozzo with loyal Lucky (who, incidentally, delivers a fine-hatted speech) and a boy. Didi and Gogo are children at heart. They do what they are told, wit...

The other day I was lamenting how I would love to sit down and write again. My writing has fallen by the wayside and I am nearly bursting to contribute by means of pen to paper, or by choking up the blogosphere with more head-dibs. Simultaneously I was lamenting my problem concerning reading: I can’t seem to get it done. So many good books, so little time. I’m not one of those who can sit and flip through and say I’ve read it. I am one of those “consuming” readers--I need to process. Making matters worse, I like to read nearly anything and if it has a study guide . . . well, there goes my life. Some of us categorize ourselves as readers and others would say they are writers. The truth is that readers should be writers and writers should be readers. The two compliment each other, so there is really no doing the one thing in preference over another. Reading should be done with pen or pencil in hand. Writing should be done with books open. That’s why margins exists (ok, perhaps no...

Last week, a close friend died. He was 29. His last words were “God is good.” Yes, Stu. God is Good. I certainly don’t corner the market on grieving here, but am surprised by how I am responding to our loss, his gain. This is a gain for Stu because he is not suffering and He has all of Jesus and a glorified body to boot. Just before going to the hospital he posted “Prayers for real answers and healing are appreciated.” This is loss for us because, well, that’s what death does. Death is a loser. Death gets nothing in the end, when its' all over. I was sitting in a faculty meeting when my wife called. I texted, “in a meeting, call you later.” She texted right back to call immediately. I did and she gave me the news. Death has a peculiar characteristic striking those close to the departed with deafness and blindness. I heard her call, loved her, hung up, returned to my seat in the meeting and heard nothing and saw nothing for the rest of the morning. Or the rest of day for t...

Vending machine outside our favorite Mexican Restaurant:

1983-2013

My tee-shirt says, "I'm Training To Be A Cage Fighter", pictured with Napoleon Dynamite's brother. My favorite workout shirt. My Workout of the Day (WOD) was a 4 mile walk carrying 45 lbs (any object). I put a 40 pound dumb-bell into a heavy-duty backpack and set to walking. One feature of walks like this is when the brain kicks in and you really start to think. My blood gets flowing as I get on the road, climb the gentle incline, round the curves then start up the hill. I realized that at a total weight of 260 lbs, I am carrying 7 pounds more than when I started Spark People in 2011 [note: down to 219 at the time of this writing]. The happy thought came about half-way through the walk (Dream Theater pounding in my earphones) that when I get home, I am going to remove the backpack and drop 40 pounds in an instant. I imagined myself lighter already, picking up speed--and sure enough--the moment I came around to the backdoor, I removed the pack and felt my body n...

Ephesians 4:11-16 helps me think differently about church growth.  Here in Ephesians 4 Paul is discussing the body of Christ; that is, the church. The true church of Christ is distinguished by unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (4:3), with one Lord, hope, faith, baptism, one God and Father who graces through the gift of Christ. Within this body are found other kinds of gifts given by God: some who are called to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Verse 12 explains the purpose of these gifts of God, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”  Here we find a way that Jesus grows the church. The saints are to be equipped for the work of ministry by those whom God has appointed as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Since the local church is the microcosm of the true, universal (“catholic”--to use an old term) church, those who walk in the manner worthy of their calling (the...

Reading through the life of Christ, I returned to the biblical account of what happened that day in the Garden of Eden  and was caused to reflect on the events of that day as it relates to the necessity of Jesus (Jesus makes sense when His life is viewed as His-tory). Let’s set the stage: God caused “to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food” (Gen 2:9a). Man was to receive his sustenance from the ground by means of nurturing and delicious trees found within the garden. Now let’s follow Adam and Eve’s attention as they are directed to notice two specific trees found among all the trees of the garden. We find “the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:9b). Two questions: 1) What command does God give concerning the tree of life? 2) What command does God give concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Genesis 2:16 says “from any tree of the garden you may eat freely.” G...

Here upon this graduation as I write congratulations upon my laptop like a homework chore; I think back to those books and reading, finding lessons in flour kneading doing math till eyes were bleeding-- You can say to High School, “nevermore.” We’ve reached the end, though weak and weary (the world’s your oyster now, my dearie) and your brother’s not quite Soph-o-more; It’s time to put to use that learning, go on to college if you’re yearning, or perhaps a living, earning-- But you can say to High School, “nevermore.”