Thursday, June 29, 2006

Extremity

Kelly Shea needed to get gas and I needed to get gum so we stopped off at the old gas station on Washington and Gartner. I walked in and was wearing my S.W.A.P shirt.

The guy behind the counter asked me what it meant and I told him it was an acronim for Serving with a Purpose. We ended up getting into a conversation about what that meant and who Community was and he told me that he actually attends A.A. meetings on Friday nights at the yellow box. He then told me that the guy who owned that gas station actually goes to CCC with his six kids. Crazy huh?

I finally just gave him my email and told him he should come and check out our small group.

The only problem is that I forget to tell him my name, and I forgot to get his. So the no named gas clerk hopefully will email me and I can learn his name.

Whoops. I'll update later to tell what happens.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Being offensive on the offense.

I was talking to my old stucopastor, Shawn Williams, this guy is a huge influence in the realm of multiplying student leaders and student worship locations. He is also a personal influence in my own life and has shaped me as a leader and as thinker. To all of the Lincolnites who consider my thinking anylitical it is mainly because of this guy.

So we were talking about the terrorists who were planning to attack the Sears Tower. I was asking him how we can live out our lives as Christians and still interact with these men and women who are just as devout in their faith.

Shawn took a different angle, as usual, and looked at Christ and the disciples lives as a map to how we should interact with different faiths. He stated that these men were on the offense, they never reacted to anything. Their cause was bigger than they were. However, they offended people left and right. They proclaimed the gospel on the offense but they proclaimed it in a way that was offensive.

We then continued to talk abou the fact that we can live morally right lives but that isn't going to change lives. Even pagans can live morally right lives and still not proclaim Christ. It comes down to a conversation.

So is there a balance. My generation is being fed the emeregant church bit. That relationships are essential. But then there is this old idea hanging there. Which is diolouge. The idea of offending someone is highly out of the question, but why? When did we get so concerned about what other people think.

So in essence, how do we proclaim the gospel on the offense yet live it out in a way thats offensive?

Friday, June 16, 2006

House-sitting


I am house sitting/dog sitting this week for my very good friends the Plassmans. Their dog is awesome but gets up at butt early in the morning, which means I get up at butt early in the morning. So to waste time until I actually have to do something I watch the news, because I love the news, and the best part is that they have the BBC channel.

Well, I was watching the news the other day and the top story was the fact that Bush went over to Bahgdad and hung out with the prime minister. Then he came back and spoke to our American reporters about why he went, ect. Some things I noticed about his public speaking were this;

1.) He stuttered when he read...he went to an IV school right?
2.) He spoke and read his speech like he had never heard of any of the ideas that he was supposed to have helped create.
3.) He used the word 'wise' a lot, which I commend him for.
4.) He mocked a blind man?

So I was thinking while watching Bush give his speech what the Biblical view of the war should be. I actually brought it up to my small group last night. What is the Christian view saying versus what Christ says. What is the essence and being of War? What is the essence and being of this war, if you can call it that? What is going to happen when Bush gets out of office? Is there a vision? I think that, the Presidency is flawed in that way. We elect a president who has a specific vision for our country and then four to eight years later we elect a different president who has a completley different vision.

Well that's all I'v got to say about that.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Addiction


So I'm addicted to caffeine, and I'm going through withdrawal right now because I figure if I am reaming my brother on smoking I shouldn't be addicted to caffeine. Yesterday was my first day since I hadn't had any and it was awful. I was tired, irritable, I was nauseas, and my body freaked out. By the time I went to bed I couldn't sleep because I felt awful. I woke up with the same headache I went to sleep with.

Oh did I mention that I work in a coffee shop. Yea, that helps. Today I'm drinking decaf, hoping that the placebo effect will occur. I almost gave in this morning but fought the urge.

Taking it day by day.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Alchemy

" What is the alternatvie to religion as we know it? As it turns out, this the wrong question to ask. Chemistry was not an "alternative" to alchemy; it was a wholesale exchange of ignorance at its most rococo for genuine knowledge. We will find that, as with alchemy, to speak of "alternatives" to religious faith is to miss the point"- Sam Harris, The End of Faith, Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason

You control the conversation by asking the right question. Science doesn't get rid of a theory even if it sucks. Look at phlogiston. How do we ask the right question....

Friday, June 02, 2006

Promise Kept

"And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthath, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised;

who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned into strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

Some faced jeers and flogging, while others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated-

They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them recieved what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

Hebrews 12:32-40