So I've got a Xanga. You're welcome to check it out if you like. Just click here. However, I've noticed something. When I post fairly deep things, the comments and eprops seem to drop off. (What exactly is an eprop, anyway? Someone answer me that.) One would think that Xangans have a natural aversion to intellectual stimulation. I once observed to a friend, "I made the little Xangans think... And it killed them."
I don't have a very high opinion of Xanga's target crowd, in case you hadn't noticed. I do have some friends on Xanga that will engage on that level, but for the most part, a random post about my goldfish dying will get more comments than a post regarding the oft-unconsidered questions of everyday life. Ah, well. Let 'em have it.
They can have my dead goldfish, too.
I copied this post from my Xanga. While it may not get comments here, I know people will at least read it, engage it, and take something from it.
(And if you don't... Don't tell me. I'd rather not know.)
*commence posting*
So I started reading philosophy again... The flavor of the month is "Fear and Trembling" by Soren Kierkegaard. In this work, Kierkegaard talks about Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac. Why did Abraham do it? What could he possibly hope to gain? What good could possibly be done for anyone at all? He is sacrificing his only son... It isn't likely that he'll have another. No one benefits by Abraham doing this. And yet... We remember Abraham and respect him. Even if the ram hadn't shown up, and God hadn't spared Isaac's life, we still would remember Abraham as a patriarch, a hero of the faith. Why? Here is what Kierkegaard says... May we learn from Abraham's example.
"No one shall be forgotten who was great in this world; but everyone was great in his own way, and everyone in proportion to the greatnesss of what he loved. For he who loved himself became great in himself, and he who loved others became great through his devotion, but he who loved God became greater than all. They shall all be remembered, but everyone became great in proportion to his expectancy. One became great through expecting the possible, another by expecting the eternal; but he who expected the impossible became greater than all. They shall be all be remembered, but everyone was great in proportion to the magnitude of what he strove with. For he who strove with the world became great by conquering the world, and he who strove with himself became great by conquering himself; but he who strove with God became greater than all. Thus there was strife upon earth: there was he who conquered everything by his own strength, and he who conquered God by his powerlessness. There was one who relied upon himself and gained everything, and one who, secure in his own strength, sacrificed everything; but greater than all was the one who believed God. There was one who was great in his strength, and one who was great in his wisdom, and one who was great in love; but greater than all was Abraham, great with that power whose strength is powerlessness, great in that wisdom whose secret is folly, great in that hope whose outward form is insanity, great in that love which is hatred of self."
9.15.2006
MY Results
Here it is... Hopefully I won't be cast out of the community.
You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
Coleridge on Reading Your Flippin' Bible
The following is taken from a volume of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's works, specifically Volume 6 of his Collected Works, entitled "Lay Sermons." This work is addressed to the upper class of his time, the intellects, the elders, the statesmen, the so-called "smart people." The people who have the Bible, can read the Bible, and at the same time do not. Even though written in 1816, it is still remarkably applicable today. How many people do we know that have a Bible, call themselves Christians, and rarely touch the Word of God? That describes me all too often. Here we go... Hang onto your hats, kids.
"Alas!-the main hindrance to the use of the Scriptures... lies in the notion that you are already acquainted with its contents. Something new must be presented to you, wholly new and sholly out of yourselves; for whatever is within us must be as old as the first dawn of human reason. Truths of all others the most awful and mysterious and at the same time of universal interest, are considered as so true as to lose all the powers of truth, and lie bed-ridden in the dormitory of the soul, side by side, with the most despised and exploded errors. But it should not be so with you! The pride of education, the sense of consistency should preclude the objection: for would you not be ashamed to apply it to the works of Tacitus, or of Shakespear? Above all, the rank which you hold, the influence you possess, the powers you may be called to wield, give a special unfitness to the frivolous craving for novelty. To find to contradiction in the union of old and new, to contemplate the ANCIENT OF DAYS, his words and his works, with a feeling as fresh as if they were now first springing forth at his fiat-this characterizes the minds that feel the riddle of the world and may help to unravel it! This, most of all things, will raise you above the mass of mankind, and therefore will best entitle and qualify you to guide and controul them! You say, you are already familiar with the Scriptures. With the words, perhaps, but in any other sense you might as wisely boast of your familiar acquaintance with the rays of the sun, and under that pretence turn away your eyes from the light of Heaven."
*coughs*
Um... I'm gonna go read my Bible.
"Alas!-the main hindrance to the use of the Scriptures... lies in the notion that you are already acquainted with its contents. Something new must be presented to you, wholly new and sholly out of yourselves; for whatever is within us must be as old as the first dawn of human reason. Truths of all others the most awful and mysterious and at the same time of universal interest, are considered as so true as to lose all the powers of truth, and lie bed-ridden in the dormitory of the soul, side by side, with the most despised and exploded errors. But it should not be so with you! The pride of education, the sense of consistency should preclude the objection: for would you not be ashamed to apply it to the works of Tacitus, or of Shakespear? Above all, the rank which you hold, the influence you possess, the powers you may be called to wield, give a special unfitness to the frivolous craving for novelty. To find to contradiction in the union of old and new, to contemplate the ANCIENT OF DAYS, his words and his works, with a feeling as fresh as if they were now first springing forth at his fiat-this characterizes the minds that feel the riddle of the world and may help to unravel it! This, most of all things, will raise you above the mass of mankind, and therefore will best entitle and qualify you to guide and controul them! You say, you are already familiar with the Scriptures. With the words, perhaps, but in any other sense you might as wisely boast of your familiar acquaintance with the rays of the sun, and under that pretence turn away your eyes from the light of Heaven."
*coughs*
Um... I'm gonna go read my Bible.
9.04.2006
The "Christian" Plague.
So I was sitting with my mother at a restaurant yesterday. We were discussing TLC and various events, and I mentioned that Spence was going to be playing at a coffeeshop later this week. And Mom asked me the following question: "Is it a Christian coffeeshop?"
Normally, I wouldn't bat an eye at such a question. Not even give it a second thought. But for some reason, this stuck in my head.
A "Christian coffeeshop?"
What the deuce is that supposed to mean?
Is it for Christians only? Is it owned/operated by Christians? Will John 3:16 be stamped on my coffee mug? Will someone hand me a tract with my scone? Is it a place where the name of Jesus is lifted high? Does a church meet there? Will Benny Hinn be expertly crafting my iced caramel macchiato with extra whipped cream? Who says it's Christian anyway? Does someone just arbitrarily make these decisions?
And on the flipside, just to be fair, are there "Heathen coffeeshops?" Do the pagans have a place they can feel comfortable? Gotta be fair, ya know...
It seemed to be a silly distinction to make. True, there are Christian establishments. I'm thinking specifically of bookstores, though other places do exist. Car dealerships. Financial institutions. Consulting firms. You get the idea.
But it's just the concept that kinda bugs me. If there are Christian establishments that deserve to be patronized simply because of their religious affiliation, what logically follows?
There are non-Christian establishments that should be avoided because of a differing religious affiliation.
"Whoa, Seth, hang on. You can't mean that!"
Think about it. I used to take my car to a place called Christian Brothers Automotive. They play KXOJ in the lobby, have Christian magazines on the coffee tables, an IXOYE fish on the wall, etc. Somehow, I feel good about taking my car there because I'm putting money "back into the Kingdom."
Except for a single problem. I was putting a lot of money into the Kingdom, if you catch my drift. The repairs didn't last; the mechanics missed obvious problems. So I started taking my car to a heathen garage. And whaddaya know. Things stayed fixed. I wasn't charged rediculous sums of money for them to just take 15 minutes, look things over, and tell me what was wrong. May I highly recommend Cartec Automotive at Harvard and the BA. Those pagans do good work. They only work on domestics though; and since I now drive a VW, I had to part company with Jerry and his crew.
Jerry did recommend another sinner to me, though; and since Jerry had always been fair, and never steered me wrong, I followed his advice. My car now goes to Mike's Auto Haus. There's no Mike there; it's all done by a guy named Ralph. And if Jerry was a sinner, Ralph is a reprobate. Cusses like a sailor, has a girlie poster hanging in his garage, cracks all manner of crude jokes, and listens to classic rock all day long. It doesn't faze him in the least that I'm an ORU grad that majored in New Testament. "Sh*t, that's great, man!"
And you know something? Ralph does good work. He doesn't cost an arm and a leg. He calls it like he sees it and he tells me how it is. I feel that I can trust this guy. I'm more comfortable giving him my money than re-re-reinvesting it "into the Kingdom."
I like Ralph. He's a good man.
So why do we differentiate between "Christian" and "secular" establishments? What makes a coffeeshop "Christian," anyhow? Are they roasting Jesus beans? Does the espresso pray in tongues?
Who cares?
And if we start separating our bookstores and coffeeshops from those dirty pagans, what's next? Supermarkets? Restaurants? Gas stations? Banks? Residential areas? I get emails from Christian associations all the time urging me to boycott certain things due to certain coroporate decisions to support a certain cause. If I followed the counsel of these fellow believers, I would be boycotting Disney, Paramount, New Line Cinema, ExxonMobil, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, GM, Ford... Sheesh, I'd be boycotting the world! Which wouldn't be bad, since I can get everything I need from Christian sub-cultures anyway.
But I was commanded to go into the world. And not just that, but to preach the Gospel. And preaching takes time.
Honestly, Christians don't need the world; we can get along without "secular" things. And we take great pains to pat ourselves on the back for doing so.
But the world needs Christians. We've got something to contribute to the world. I can't deny the world a cure to a disease based solely on the assumption that they're not good enough for it. But all too many times, that's what our actions say.
So the next time you're craving a cup of joe, go buy it from your friendly neighborhood heathen. He'll appreciate your business.
Who knows... he may even appreciate you bringing Jesus into his world.
Normally, I wouldn't bat an eye at such a question. Not even give it a second thought. But for some reason, this stuck in my head.
A "Christian coffeeshop?"
What the deuce is that supposed to mean?
Is it for Christians only? Is it owned/operated by Christians? Will John 3:16 be stamped on my coffee mug? Will someone hand me a tract with my scone? Is it a place where the name of Jesus is lifted high? Does a church meet there? Will Benny Hinn be expertly crafting my iced caramel macchiato with extra whipped cream? Who says it's Christian anyway? Does someone just arbitrarily make these decisions?
And on the flipside, just to be fair, are there "Heathen coffeeshops?" Do the pagans have a place they can feel comfortable? Gotta be fair, ya know...
It seemed to be a silly distinction to make. True, there are Christian establishments. I'm thinking specifically of bookstores, though other places do exist. Car dealerships. Financial institutions. Consulting firms. You get the idea.
But it's just the concept that kinda bugs me. If there are Christian establishments that deserve to be patronized simply because of their religious affiliation, what logically follows?
There are non-Christian establishments that should be avoided because of a differing religious affiliation.
"Whoa, Seth, hang on. You can't mean that!"
Think about it. I used to take my car to a place called Christian Brothers Automotive. They play KXOJ in the lobby, have Christian magazines on the coffee tables, an IXOYE fish on the wall, etc. Somehow, I feel good about taking my car there because I'm putting money "back into the Kingdom."
Except for a single problem. I was putting a lot of money into the Kingdom, if you catch my drift. The repairs didn't last; the mechanics missed obvious problems. So I started taking my car to a heathen garage. And whaddaya know. Things stayed fixed. I wasn't charged rediculous sums of money for them to just take 15 minutes, look things over, and tell me what was wrong. May I highly recommend Cartec Automotive at Harvard and the BA. Those pagans do good work. They only work on domestics though; and since I now drive a VW, I had to part company with Jerry and his crew.
Jerry did recommend another sinner to me, though; and since Jerry had always been fair, and never steered me wrong, I followed his advice. My car now goes to Mike's Auto Haus. There's no Mike there; it's all done by a guy named Ralph. And if Jerry was a sinner, Ralph is a reprobate. Cusses like a sailor, has a girlie poster hanging in his garage, cracks all manner of crude jokes, and listens to classic rock all day long. It doesn't faze him in the least that I'm an ORU grad that majored in New Testament. "Sh*t, that's great, man!"
And you know something? Ralph does good work. He doesn't cost an arm and a leg. He calls it like he sees it and he tells me how it is. I feel that I can trust this guy. I'm more comfortable giving him my money than re-re-reinvesting it "into the Kingdom."
I like Ralph. He's a good man.
So why do we differentiate between "Christian" and "secular" establishments? What makes a coffeeshop "Christian," anyhow? Are they roasting Jesus beans? Does the espresso pray in tongues?
Who cares?
And if we start separating our bookstores and coffeeshops from those dirty pagans, what's next? Supermarkets? Restaurants? Gas stations? Banks? Residential areas? I get emails from Christian associations all the time urging me to boycott certain things due to certain coroporate decisions to support a certain cause. If I followed the counsel of these fellow believers, I would be boycotting Disney, Paramount, New Line Cinema, ExxonMobil, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, GM, Ford... Sheesh, I'd be boycotting the world! Which wouldn't be bad, since I can get everything I need from Christian sub-cultures anyway.
But I was commanded to go into the world. And not just that, but to preach the Gospel. And preaching takes time.
Honestly, Christians don't need the world; we can get along without "secular" things. And we take great pains to pat ourselves on the back for doing so.
But the world needs Christians. We've got something to contribute to the world. I can't deny the world a cure to a disease based solely on the assumption that they're not good enough for it. But all too many times, that's what our actions say.
So the next time you're craving a cup of joe, go buy it from your friendly neighborhood heathen. He'll appreciate your business.
Who knows... he may even appreciate you bringing Jesus into his world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)