Archive for October, 2007:
rest the rest
I love to water ski. I was a kid when my Grandma first taught me how to ski. Don’t laugh, she’s pretty tough, and she herself was skiing well into her 70’s. I hope I am like that when I am that age.
Anyway, with water skiing, she taught me that there are all sorts of rules to follow to keep from falling. Keep the front of the skis pointed a little inward. Don’t pull on the rope. Keep your knees bent a little bit. Don’t lock the elbows. Don’t lean too far back or too far forward. Don’t try to do too much.
But the most important tip in water skiing was to rest on the skis, and let them do their work for you. They’re meant to support you.
I think about this every so often, resting on those skis. There’s a unique feeling in graduate school, and I suspect, in the remainder of life as well. We can all relate to the feeling that even if we could foresake sleep for days on end, working nonstop on different projects and challenges, we would still never be finished. It never ends.
Ever.
God’s Story: An Artistic Representation (Panel 1)
You may have seen the header for this site change once again, this time showing a four stage depiction of a tree. This is the digital print of a massive painting done by David Arms, an artist from Franklin, TN. The painting was commissioned by Pastor Scotty Smith of Christ Community Church, as a fulfillment of seeing a dream of his come true. That dream was to have a single painting depicting the whole of “God’s Story, as it progressively unfolds in the Bible, history and in broken hearts.” We have thumb-nailed the picture (above) to be displayed on a new page because it is too large to fit here without losing important details.
This next multi-part series will divide Scotty Smith’s explanation of this incredible work of art. The full explanation and article can be found here, but for the sake of introducing this work of art to commentary and discussion, I will divide it up into 4 parts. Each part will be dedicated to a separate panel in the painting.
Dane Cook on Atheism
OK, so my wife and I were browsing youtube for some entertainment (we’re cheap and don’t have cable) when we decided to look for some Dane Cook. We came across this video (ironically) at the same time that I was having an interesting conversation on de-Conversion on a post called “Where was God on 9/11.” I won’t lie, the conversation had a me a little perturbed to have my Christian beliefs dismissed so quickly as illogical, silly, “twisted,” “pathetic,” etc. I don’t care if you disagree with my conclusions, that’s fine! But to be so quickly dismissed and labeled was more than a little frustrating. It was kind of ironic that it is Christians that are often (rightfully) seen as judgmental or lacking empathy and understanding for the beliefs of others.
Anyway, considering that conversation, this video made me laugh hysterically. Dane Cook is irreverent, but hilarious, and he uses humor to make a really really good freaking point about atheism (or at least some versions of it) and the kind of assumptions we carry with our beliefs. It kind of puts the shoe on the other foot, so to speak. Holy crap… so funny… Enjoy!
(Disclaimer: The following video is meant to be humorous. It is not intended to make sweeping generalizations or disrespect anyone’s personal beliefs.)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wts-dntnyh4]
God in a Box
This last week I was talking with a friend, and several paradoxes about God came up. We hit on free will and God’s sovereignty. We conversed on how Christians are free from the law, but still told to be holy. These questions lead us to wonder if there are nice systematic answers at all. To this, I pointed to the doctrine of the trinity (the concept that God is three persons, each person is fully God, and that there is only one God). Although these statements may not be contradictory, we have to admit that our finite human minds cannot fully understand them. Another friend wondered if God exists in three persons just to make us realize we cannot fully know God. That reminded me- we cannot fully know God, otherwise he ceases to be God.
Check out what God says to Isaiah: Read more »
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