Archive for March, 2008:
On Heart-Guarding…
To finish up the series on heart-guarding where we have sought out the help of ninja-men like Chuck Norris and looked to novels by Jane Austen, I’d like to mention a woman who has influenced me a lot through her books and also another more contemporary writer and see what we can understand.
A school of thought that perhaps supports the sensible side of things in Austin’s novel is from Elisabeth Elliot. I have gleaned from reading her books Passion and Purity and Quest for Love that a woman should “keep her own counsel” and “aim first at loving God.” Ms. Elliot encourages gentlemen to be forthright with the women to whom they are attracted and encourages women to keep quiet with her feelings until “after the proposal.” This doesn’t seem to leave much room for exuberance, but it does kind of make room for a quiet adventure—kind of like Miss Dashwood experienced I’m sure. It seems a little extreme to some and I’m sure Miss Maryanne would find Ms. Elliot’s ideas absurd; however, I would consider Ms. Elliot’s advice to be somewhat a bit of a heart-guarding experience, although, honestly, to me, it just doesn’t sound like any fun. I like to gush, and so that is why I was attracted to the next author!
Epistemology and the Nature of Scripture
I once read in a book by a Christian author that he had no use for the “red letter Bible” (the ones that have all of Jesus’ words in red) because “every word in the Bible is from God!” I used to think along these lines. I thought God had dictated the Bible to the authors, making God the real author. But is this view is really necessary for the Bible to be considered true, and does it really matter?
Certainly the Bible is of vital importance. After all, through it we come to know God made the world and everything in it. We come to know that mankind blundered and became corrupt, and thus also corrupted creation. We also come to know that Jesus came into the world to redeem it and will in the end be victorious. The Bible is certainly important, but is every word in it literally a word from the mouth of God?
“Give Him Your Cloak (Coat?) As Well”
OK… so for a red-meat eating dude with a background in military and law enforcement, I found this NPR article both humbling and convicting. Here’s an excerpt:
But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn. He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife. “He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go,’” Diaz says. As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, “like what’s going on here?” Diaz says. “He asked me, ‘Why are you doing this?’” Diaz replied: “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.
My wife and I just moved into the city from suburban St. Louis… Read more »
Dead Man Walking
For Holy Week, my church put on four worship services to illustrate the story of Jesus’ last week on earth. The Wednesday night service was organized by the pastor and church plant leadership team we are preparing for in St. Louis city (Mike and I are on that team). The pastor and the worship leader are incredibly artistic men, and instead of the usual worship-preaching-worship model of service, they crafted several short videos that were interspersed with music played by the “Soul Expedition Band.”
The evening’s theme was “The Sweat of a Son,” telling the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying before he underwent torture and crucifixion. To communicate the stark intensity of this struggle, the video showed some blunt video imagery. Clips from the movie “Dead Man Walking (the scene where Sean Penn’s character is executed by lethal injection) were inserted to help contextualize Jesus’ impending execution. The following short video utilized clips from “The Passion,” with frequent flashes of the previous video, to connect and contextualize Jesus’ prayer in the garden with the struggle of knowing he would be executed.
Now, I explained all this because we’ve received some interesting responses after this worship service. One response in particular was noteworthy. Read more »
What Do You Want?
Well, we here at COAS have written on several different topics that have all generated some good discussion. I guess at this point since several of us are wrapping up on-going series, we are curious what topics regarding Christianity you all want to hear. What questions most vex you? What ways do you most appreciate seeing your questions answered (biblical, theological, philosophical, personal, historical, etc.)? Keep in mind that you dont have to just pick one, you can ask as many questions and enjoy being responded to in as many ways as possible. We just want to make sure that we are sensitive to the issues people are dealing with.
Spring Break at COAS
Our production of articles has been a little lackluster the past week or so because we were in midterms and are now taking some greatly needed rest. But the whole concept of a Spring Break got me thinking this very important question “If you could go anywhere and do anything for a week, what would you do?” (And bear in mind there is a G-Rating for this thread)
Why I Do Care
In response to the article I wrote called “Why Do I Care,” it became clear that for many, a generic answer to why someone should follow God left out a crucial aspect: Love.
This was truly a keen observation, as the logical chain I constructed focused primarily on God as creator and enforcer. Yet that is not all.
Read more »
