05 February 2007
Two True Coaches
Click on the title link to read an article about these two coaches, Dungy and Smith. It makes me want to play football . . . but only for them! :-)
01 February 2007
15
Below are fifteen favourite quotes from books I've been reading this month. I plan on leaving this post here for a while so please post your own comments. Thanks.
"Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers . . . Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." Hebrews 13:1-14
"Post-Christendom churches, freed from pretensions to kingship, recognize that the kingdom of God is an "upside-down kingdom," . . . They choose to be identified with the poor, the weak, the marginalized, those without voices or status. They adopt as their agenda for mission the Nazareth Manifesto: . . . to bring good news to the poor . . . [the rest of Luke 4:18-19]." Stuart Murray
"A paradigm shift will have taken place in our understanding and practice of evangelism . . . it is relational, contextual, humble, patient, and wholistic." Stuart Murray
"[it] goes where people are and listens, binds together prayer and truth, celebrates the goodness and complexity of life as well as judging the sinfulness of evil, and sees truth as something to be done and experienced as well as to be intellectually believed. It walks in humility." John Finney
"The baptized are those who willingly enter the suffering of all creation with the redemptive love of God." Mark Love
"In the New Testament, we encounter the church as the people on whom the end of the ages has come." Mark Love
"The thorniest issue for the church that resists the spirit of the age is wealth." Randall Harris
"As word spread about the dramatic changes that were taking place in people's lives, apartment managers began requesting that churches be started in their complexes as well." Randall Harris
"Luke stresses that the resurrected Jesus was no mere spirit but was tangible and could eat and drink with the disciples (cf. Luke 24:30, 37-39, 41-43)." Ben Witherington III
"The more I worried through this set of issues, the more I felt that any constructive Christian social ethic would have to find a way to recover a church with an integrity of its own rather than simply an institution designed to make "democracies" work better." Stanley Hauerwas
"For what we are, our sense of ourselves, rests as much on what we have suffered as what we have done." Stanley Hauerwas
"To learn to be God's creatures means we must learn to recognize that our existence and the existence of the universe itself is a gift." Stanley Hauerwas
"In New York freedom looks like too many choices . . ." U2
"Would you deny for others what you demand for yourself?" U2
"The more you know the less you feel . . ." U2
"Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers . . . Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." Hebrews 13:1-14
"Post-Christendom churches, freed from pretensions to kingship, recognize that the kingdom of God is an "upside-down kingdom," . . . They choose to be identified with the poor, the weak, the marginalized, those without voices or status. They adopt as their agenda for mission the Nazareth Manifesto: . . . to bring good news to the poor . . . [the rest of Luke 4:18-19]." Stuart Murray
"A paradigm shift will have taken place in our understanding and practice of evangelism . . . it is relational, contextual, humble, patient, and wholistic." Stuart Murray
"[it] goes where people are and listens, binds together prayer and truth, celebrates the goodness and complexity of life as well as judging the sinfulness of evil, and sees truth as something to be done and experienced as well as to be intellectually believed. It walks in humility." John Finney
"The baptized are those who willingly enter the suffering of all creation with the redemptive love of God." Mark Love
"In the New Testament, we encounter the church as the people on whom the end of the ages has come." Mark Love
"The thorniest issue for the church that resists the spirit of the age is wealth." Randall Harris
"As word spread about the dramatic changes that were taking place in people's lives, apartment managers began requesting that churches be started in their complexes as well." Randall Harris
"Luke stresses that the resurrected Jesus was no mere spirit but was tangible and could eat and drink with the disciples (cf. Luke 24:30, 37-39, 41-43)." Ben Witherington III
"The more I worried through this set of issues, the more I felt that any constructive Christian social ethic would have to find a way to recover a church with an integrity of its own rather than simply an institution designed to make "democracies" work better." Stanley Hauerwas
"For what we are, our sense of ourselves, rests as much on what we have suffered as what we have done." Stanley Hauerwas
"To learn to be God's creatures means we must learn to recognize that our existence and the existence of the universe itself is a gift." Stanley Hauerwas
"In New York freedom looks like too many choices . . ." U2
"Would you deny for others what you demand for yourself?" U2
"The more you know the less you feel . . ." U2
23 January 2007
Citizen-Slaves
In ancient Greece (Sparta to be exact), what class of people were neither citizens nor slaves?
Give up? The answer is below.
Anyway, I came across this word while reading Niebuhr, _Moral Man and Immoral Society_. (Why anyone would want to read this is almost beyond me.) Of course, I had to look up this word (among many others) using Google, and as soon as I saw the definition, I immediately thought back to a discussion at our poor friends' dinner table.
The husband, Jon, has been working three jobs lately. Two of them are blue collar jobs. One of them is a job as tutor. His wife, Sara, also works as a tutor, mostly in Spanish. Most of the kids are home schooled and many of them are incredibly wealthy. It struck me while we were eating together that they were essentially like slaves. They are barely able to keep making their humble house payment and keep diapers on their two little ones. Their struggles, for the most part, are unrelated to irresponsibility on their part. Tutors, like teachers, just don't get paid much. They're almost like slaves (although apparently it's not so tough that it drives them to write wonderful spirituals). And yet, who contributes more to the good of our communities than teachers and tudors? We entrust our children to them whether our children have an allowance of $3,000 per week or $1.00 per month, yet their pay is closer to the latter.
Well, here is the answer . . . the class in ancient Sparta that were neither citizens nor slaves were/are called *helots*. Certainly not an exact correlate to "tutor", but the definition of helots reminded me of teachers just the same. By the way, Jon and Sara laughed when I said they were almost like slaves!
Give up? The answer is below.
Anyway, I came across this word while reading Niebuhr, _Moral Man and Immoral Society_. (Why anyone would want to read this is almost beyond me.) Of course, I had to look up this word (among many others) using Google, and as soon as I saw the definition, I immediately thought back to a discussion at our poor friends' dinner table.
The husband, Jon, has been working three jobs lately. Two of them are blue collar jobs. One of them is a job as tutor. His wife, Sara, also works as a tutor, mostly in Spanish. Most of the kids are home schooled and many of them are incredibly wealthy. It struck me while we were eating together that they were essentially like slaves. They are barely able to keep making their humble house payment and keep diapers on their two little ones. Their struggles, for the most part, are unrelated to irresponsibility on their part. Tutors, like teachers, just don't get paid much. They're almost like slaves (although apparently it's not so tough that it drives them to write wonderful spirituals). And yet, who contributes more to the good of our communities than teachers and tudors? We entrust our children to them whether our children have an allowance of $3,000 per week or $1.00 per month, yet their pay is closer to the latter.
Well, here is the answer . . . the class in ancient Sparta that were neither citizens nor slaves were/are called *helots*. Certainly not an exact correlate to "tutor", but the definition of helots reminded me of teachers just the same. By the way, Jon and Sara laughed when I said they were almost like slaves!
17 January 2007
Adventures in Babysitting
Well, I fell off the folate wagon today (still having spinach and kale in the fridge--thanks, Noel) . . . but I did perform an amazing feat (for me). I was changing Joshua's diaper this morning and (no offense, Joshua, but it was pretty nasty) I touched some poop with my right hand by accident while trying to keep his left sock and hand out of it. Joshua was squirming and I had to get the sixteen buttons of his overalls buttoned back together while he was trying to crawl all over the place. I eventually laid on my back with the one-year-old on his stomach on my chest and proceeded to button while he kept trying to crawl over my face. I said, "It's like I'm on Fear Factor," and Joshua laughed. It was pretty funny . . . and dirty.
Here are some "older" pictures of Joshua when I was feeding him an Iguana we caught out back.
16 January 2007
I'm Popeye
Need more folate? It is amazing how much better I feel whenever I eat folate-rich foods on a regular basis, especially daily. Thankfully, organic spinach was on sale the other day so I bought three big bunches of it. It's great! I've had it in enchiladas. I've steamed it with carrots. There are other great sources for folate, though. I read here that liver, asparagus, spinach, okra, and beans are also high in folate. Does anyone know if kale is high in folate? It's good steamed with carrots, too, but it smells like a fart while cooking.
15 January 2007
MLK Jr Day
I'm posting an excerpt from a speech by MLK Jr and hoping you folks will comment on it knowing that I value hearing dissenting voices from my own . . . and even my heroes'. In the sermon up to this point, King has given strong reasons for protesting violence. Then he points beyond the Vietnam more and even beyond "the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism" to what he hopes has the last word: God's love. I, too, hope that God's character rules in the End.
Now there is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in Vietnam. I say we must enter that struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing.
The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality...and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing "clergy and laymen concerned" committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end, unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy.
And so, such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God.
In 1957, a sensitive American official overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. During the past ten years, we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which has now justified the presence of U.S. military advisors in Venezuela. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counterrevolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. It tells why American helicopters are being used against guerrillas in Cambodia and why American napalm and Green Beret forces have already been active against rebels in Peru.
It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken, the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments. I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
-----
To read more or listen to King's sermon, "click here".
Now there is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in Vietnam. I say we must enter that struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing.
The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality...and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing "clergy and laymen concerned" committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end, unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy.
And so, such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God.
In 1957, a sensitive American official overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. During the past ten years, we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which has now justified the presence of U.S. military advisors in Venezuela. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counterrevolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. It tells why American helicopters are being used against guerrillas in Cambodia and why American napalm and Green Beret forces have already been active against rebels in Peru.
It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken, the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments. I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
-----
To read more or listen to King's sermon, "click here".
13 January 2007
A Brother and a Sister from the Caribbean
Okay, this is a picture from during finals week last semester that I only just now got around to posting. Alson (the tall guy) asked us several months ago if his friend, Jehann (also pictured), could stay with us for several days. We said, "Sure." It turned out to be a wonderful blessing. Alson's story is pretty amazing. Everyone should hear it, but I'll make it brief here. He is from St. Vincent in the Caribbean. Before he became a Christ-follower, he worked in the drug market (St. Vincent has better quality ganga than Jamaica even . . . just in case you were wondering). He used to be afraid of being caught by the authorities, but now he only has a healthy fear for the Lord. Alson's convictions about following Christ are clear to the people around him. His attitude and his presence here at Harding Graduate School of Religion (HUGSR) are testimonies to God's providence. God is certainly active in Alson through trials. He is getting a degree in counseling and interning/apprenticing for the Norris Road Church of Christ. One more note . . . he's very good at soccer and has a Christ-like attitude when he plays it. We had a great time, too, while his friend, Jehann, was in town. She is also from St. Vincent, but she lives and works out of St. Kitts, another Caribbean island. She's hoping to get into a PhD program (in the U.S.) related to human community economic development or something like that. She's wicked smart dude! And fun to be around. Woman barely sleeps! She works hard and is so kind! My sister loves her, too! Thanks for coming, Jehann! Man, we really had some sweet fellowship even in such a short time of being together.
11 January 2007
Spiritualizing Away
I originally drafted this on 8/8/06. I'm probably wrong about it all, but have rarely found a dialogue with anyone about it except for with Dave Bland and Jordan Coss. I've talked with Shawn Griffith about it, too. And Nicole has heard me preach on about it. Anyway, I hope you don't get bogged down in me tediousness, but that you'll have something to comment. I won't take offense if you don't. :-)
--------
I heard the phrase again recently (I think it was in a book or something):
"Don't spiritualize it away!"
This applies in the context of Jesus feeding a whole crowd of people (two occasions of which are recorded and at least one of them has been recorded multiple times although I don't think the Da Vinci Code or the Judas' writing even refer to these crowd feedings). Jesus feeds people physical, tangible, edible food. I think it was usually bread and fish. I don't know any other details. But usually church people call the crowd stupid for not realizing that the food was really merely spiritual. Stupid crowd? Not this time. They were actually cared for physically, tangibly, and edibly. And Jesus probably taught them with words, too. I know at least one account records that.
But was the crowd stupid for not recognizing "the spiritual"? I don't know what to think of this. I think I must be more backward than the crowd. The crowd at least recognized that Jesus had fed them. I usually 1) ignore the fact that Jesus actually fed them with tangible nourishment, and 2) contradict my confession that Jesus lives within me. If he is alive in me, wouldn't the poor in spirit be coming to me? I have yet to see crowds of people coming to me to be fed and taught.
I have to confess that we have enough wealth to feed crowds. Honest. I haven't examined our budget lately, but I know it's true that we spend less money on food than we do most anything else. I wouldn't give up our travelling expenses to see family and friends. But what if we sacrificed some of our possessions and freedoms? What if we opened up our home to homeless people to come over any time to get food. At first, our capacity to feed others would run out after about two or three weeks, after probably hundreds of homeless and poor people would have come to receive. By then, I bet some wealthy folks would see what was going on and try to stop us before we become poor, too. But, really, has anyone ever gone poor that way? (I heard Willie Nelson did, but besides him, no one.) I think the wealthy folks would start supplying us with food to aid in our ministry to the hungry. I'm sure God would be so happy to see that. He loves cheerful givers, both physically and spiritually.
Then, inevitably, some Gnostics like Dan Brown or maybe a local Christian would come by and say, "You're physicalizing away the Good News by what you're doing!"
I think, though, that the Good News is spiritual and physical. If it was one or the other, it wouldn't be *good* news.
At least not to me. Unlike many other Christians, I feel hungry sometimes (for up to 30 minutes at a time). I'm pretty sure God created me that way and gets pleasure out of seeing my stomach and brain, etc. do their work. I also wonder about the unseen direction of my life--am I going toward Satan or God? I hope that he has a plan to redeem not just the unseen parts of life, but the seen parts as well. He created both. I think he has purpose for both. At least, that makes sense to me right now.
Don't get me wrong. I want to grow spiritually as well as physically (in the sense of *healthy* not *obesity*). But, if somehow the scientists proved that all we are is chemicals, I would say, "Praise God! God is the only one who can create chemicals from nothing and raise them from the dead after they've been dead and decomposing." I think the promise of resurrection is a greater one than the gnostic one: " . . . like a bird from prison bars has flown . . . I'll fly away." I would rather see God redeem the world he created, resurrect the creation after it dies, re-create it after it decays. Wouldn't that be better than escaping as a spirit into another "immaterial" world that doesn't remember this one?
If the gnostic promise is better, then Jesus was being deceptive when he healed people of mental and physical diseases and when he fed the hungry. I've heard people say, "We have to meet their physical needs so we can get to spiritual needs," but I don't feel comfortable saying that; maybe I should. If I should be eager to leave this body to enter a spirit world, should I assume that God made flesh by mistake or in order to deceive us? I look forward to eating with Jesus someday in the new creation. So I won't spiritualize him away.
--------
I heard the phrase again recently (I think it was in a book or something):
"Don't spiritualize it away!"
This applies in the context of Jesus feeding a whole crowd of people (two occasions of which are recorded and at least one of them has been recorded multiple times although I don't think the Da Vinci Code or the Judas' writing even refer to these crowd feedings). Jesus feeds people physical, tangible, edible food. I think it was usually bread and fish. I don't know any other details. But usually church people call the crowd stupid for not realizing that the food was really merely spiritual. Stupid crowd? Not this time. They were actually cared for physically, tangibly, and edibly. And Jesus probably taught them with words, too. I know at least one account records that.
But was the crowd stupid for not recognizing "the spiritual"? I don't know what to think of this. I think I must be more backward than the crowd. The crowd at least recognized that Jesus had fed them. I usually 1) ignore the fact that Jesus actually fed them with tangible nourishment, and 2) contradict my confession that Jesus lives within me. If he is alive in me, wouldn't the poor in spirit be coming to me? I have yet to see crowds of people coming to me to be fed and taught.
I have to confess that we have enough wealth to feed crowds. Honest. I haven't examined our budget lately, but I know it's true that we spend less money on food than we do most anything else. I wouldn't give up our travelling expenses to see family and friends. But what if we sacrificed some of our possessions and freedoms? What if we opened up our home to homeless people to come over any time to get food. At first, our capacity to feed others would run out after about two or three weeks, after probably hundreds of homeless and poor people would have come to receive. By then, I bet some wealthy folks would see what was going on and try to stop us before we become poor, too. But, really, has anyone ever gone poor that way? (I heard Willie Nelson did, but besides him, no one.) I think the wealthy folks would start supplying us with food to aid in our ministry to the hungry. I'm sure God would be so happy to see that. He loves cheerful givers, both physically and spiritually.
Then, inevitably, some Gnostics like Dan Brown or maybe a local Christian would come by and say, "You're physicalizing away the Good News by what you're doing!"
I think, though, that the Good News is spiritual and physical. If it was one or the other, it wouldn't be *good* news.
At least not to me. Unlike many other Christians, I feel hungry sometimes (for up to 30 minutes at a time). I'm pretty sure God created me that way and gets pleasure out of seeing my stomach and brain, etc. do their work. I also wonder about the unseen direction of my life--am I going toward Satan or God? I hope that he has a plan to redeem not just the unseen parts of life, but the seen parts as well. He created both. I think he has purpose for both. At least, that makes sense to me right now.
Don't get me wrong. I want to grow spiritually as well as physically (in the sense of *healthy* not *obesity*). But, if somehow the scientists proved that all we are is chemicals, I would say, "Praise God! God is the only one who can create chemicals from nothing and raise them from the dead after they've been dead and decomposing." I think the promise of resurrection is a greater one than the gnostic one: " . . . like a bird from prison bars has flown . . . I'll fly away." I would rather see God redeem the world he created, resurrect the creation after it dies, re-create it after it decays. Wouldn't that be better than escaping as a spirit into another "immaterial" world that doesn't remember this one?
If the gnostic promise is better, then Jesus was being deceptive when he healed people of mental and physical diseases and when he fed the hungry. I've heard people say, "We have to meet their physical needs so we can get to spiritual needs," but I don't feel comfortable saying that; maybe I should. If I should be eager to leave this body to enter a spirit world, should I assume that God made flesh by mistake or in order to deceive us? I look forward to eating with Jesus someday in the new creation. So I won't spiritualize him away.
07 January 2007
Photos Galore: 9 in all
Last breakfast at Perkins Restaurant before my Mom, Dad, Sister, and Brother drove back to Abilene, TX. Melissa is working on walking over three miles at one time. Stephen and Nicole and I are preparing for 13.1 miles on April 28 in Nashville, TN. I don't like country music; I'm going for family. :-) Well, I do like Johnny Cash to some degree (maybe that's rockabilly) and some other old stuff. Who is that woman who sang the "Sorry" song? I like Anne Murray, too, but she is Canadian. One time my family drove to Washington D.C. in a two-door '77 Volvo 242 DL listening to two cassette tapes: "Folk Hits of the Sixties" and "Anne Murray's Greatest Hits". Life used to be so simple. (sigh)
For lunch the day before New Year's Day Rouen and her son, Erick, and Ralph and the kids he picks up for church, John and his sister, Brittney, came over and helped us eat. It was good and we had help heating up the leftovers. The kids were hopped up on energy so I had them help me carry containers of refrigerated food over to the Griffith's apartment (I had the key) to use their microwave oven. Then I said, "Hey, run around the oak tree three times." They raced off immediately. They came back out of breath and said, "We had a hard time finding it." I said, "It's just right there. Go do it again." They said, "Oh!" and ran as fast as they could. After lunch, Erick and John read a book (in stereo): _The Story of Ruby Bridges_. That was really cool!
Nic and I went to Bonne Terre Bed & Breakfast in Mississippi, about 30 minutes from 201, for our fifth anniversary. We are still very much in love, probably more so.
We got back from Bonne Terre and went for a four-mile jog. The weather was peculiarly warm so we took a photo.
06 January 2007
Neurology Anomaly
Is One Foot Really Smarter Than the Other?
This is an interesting physiogical neurology anomaly that can help you have a phenomenal parlor trick at your next party.
Here are the steps:
In a sitting position, lift your right foot off the floor and, then, make clockwise circles with it.
While making circles, draw the number 6 in the air with your right hand.
Your foot will change directions and there is nothing you can do about it.
29 December 2006
X-mas Photos
I read an essay (via link from Dan and Angi's blog) on "being poor" One statement that struck me was: "Being poor is hoping you'll be invited for dinner." Our friend, Ralph, picks up John and Brittney (pictured above) and brings them to church with us. Smart kids! One time they came over afterwards and had pizza with us. They loved it and we played a couple of card games with them, one of which was "Memory", and we walked down by the creek. John thinks salamanders are the coolest creatures. Unfortunately, we didn't see any salamanders, but we had a great time anyway. I think Ralph and John are coming over for lunch tomorrow.
This other photo is of my sister, Melissa, after she and Mom and Dad and brother, Stephen, went to the National Civil Rights Museum. It is built into the Lorraine Motel, where MLK Jr. was shot April 4, 1968. This was my fourth trip, I think. I could go several more times if you'd like to go with me. :-) I think it's free on Mondays and closed on Tuesdays. There is a booth next to the Museum (seen in the background to the right) where a black woman will tell you how the museum exploits the civil rights movement or something like that, I haven't actually spoken to her. (I think that is a run-on sentence.) I plan on speaking to the woman the next time I am in that area of downtown Memphis. Wanna' go with me?
X-mas Photo
The "X" in "X-mas" stands for the Greek letter "chi" which stands for "christos" which means "anointed one" and of course "the Messiah" and refers to the baby Jesus' birthday in this case. But of course this photo doesn't seem to have any direct relationship to Xristos. Still, I think the lighting and the snowman is a reminder of the seasons created and sustained by the Father of the Christ child. So I will call it a X-mas photo. Stay tuned for more X-mas photos . . .
19 December 2006
Song Sun
Last night (Monday) our friend, Song, died. He had lived 44 years and committed his life to Christ since 1996. When his daughter, Stacy, came home from school yesterday she saw him through the bedroom window. She broke a window to get in, called 911, and attempted CPR. Stacy's 6th grade brother, Jeffrey, and their mother, Tonya came home when they heard the news.
Stacy had called Honey Rogers who then left a message on our answering machine. Honey was sobbing. Later, when Nicole and I got there we were greeted by about 20 people. Tonya came out the door and hugged Nicole and was crying. We went in and Stacy and Jeffrey came and hugged us and Stacy was sobbing. I think we were there for a couple of hours. We were struck by how articulate Stacy and Jeffrey were about their grief. Jeffrey said he had been crying a lot and he cried several times while we were there. He said, "I usually spend Christmas with Ms. Anita . . . It's going to be a sad Christmas." Stacy showed us a picture and we asked if we could try to enlarge it and frame it for her. She said she would appreciate that. She cried on Nicole's shoulder and said, "I didn't get to say goodbye."
Eventually, the patriarch of the family (on Tonya's side) and his wife came (and their other children, Sokha, Sokhom, and Sop'ol). He is 97 years old! I had been looking forward to meeting him for a long time because I had heard his daughter, Sokha, and also Song talk about him. Song periodically sought wisdom from this man (I still don't know his name). He and his wife embraced Nicole and I as well as most everyone else in the house, especially Stacy and Jeffrey.
Mostly Nicole and I sat on the floor with the children. (Kun and her six-year-old, Jonathan, were there, too.) We cried. We laughed some. We talked about what they would do this week. Stacy has final exams this week. (She's 15.) Her three best friends since diapers were with her for most of the time while we were there. Jeffrey helped Jonathon with his homework.
I know that my own grief is very little compared with Stacy and Jeffrey. Still, I loved Song. Nicole did, too. He was my friend, especially for the past year and a half. Last year I often went to Song's house and we would talk for over an hour. He came to Bible class and church services every week. Miss Honey picked him up because he was legally blind due to diabetes. Still, he would bring his large print Bible and magnifying glass. I have so many good memories of talking with Song. He loved hearing Jesus' parables and I think he understood them better than I did. He had already heard many of them before, but sometimes there would be a new one. One time we were reading Luke 6:17-49 in Bible class. This was before he got a big print Bible so he took the paper home that had the verses on it and later that week asked Stacy to read those verses again. Song always rejoiced when he heard Jesus' teachings, even the hard ones like this one:
"Why do you notice the small piece of dust that is in your friend's eye, but you don't see the big piece of wood that is in your own eye? You say to your friend, 'Let me get that little piece of dust out of your eye.' Why do you say this? Can't you see that big piece of wood in your own eye? You are a hypocrite. First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to get the dust out of your friend's eye."
There were people in Song's life who made it difficult to forgive. I asked Song, "How can you forgive them?" He said, "I had a lot of sins in my life. God forgave me. So I have to forgive others." He took Jesus' teaching about "the plank in your own eye" seriously and knew that it didn't come naturally for him to obey God.
I have another memory I want to share. Last year just before Thanksgiving I took Song to the emergency room. He had severe pain and his blood sugar level was super high. I sat in his room while they waited (I guess for his bsl to decrease). I mostly just listened to him talk. He had so much to say even though every once in a while he would wince from the pain. Eventually they took him to a room in ICU. That was more comfortable, but we couldn't spend as much time with him. He had quite a few visitors, though. At the time, one family member was worried about money, if Song would die. Song told her, "Why do you worry about those things? Money can't make you happy." When we were alone I asked Song, "Are you happy?" I don't know why I asked it. I've never really known what to do to comfort people. But Song said, "Yes, I am happy." Before I said anything else Song told me at least five things he was thankful for. He said he was thankful for me. I can't remember the rest, but I'm sure his children were on that list. I can't tell you how much encouragement Song gave me.
Last night (Monday), Sokha wanted us to pray before we left. She is the only Christian left in the family now that Song is gone. There were about ten of us in a circle. I know some people couldn't understand what I was saying, but we all held hands. I don't remember all of the prayer, but one part I felt compelled to say was something I had been thinking about since as soon as I heard the news of his death:
"I know that Song is right with you, God. And I believe that you will send your Son on the last day and that Song and all the dead will be raised. Then, Song will live forever because he believed in you and followed your Son." My hope for Song isn't based on wishful thinking. It's based on Truth. I have read Scripture all my life. I know what a disciple of Christ is and what obedience from a pure heart looks like. I also knew Song well. So I have confidence in God's will to raise Song to eternal life on the last day.
Stacy had called Honey Rogers who then left a message on our answering machine. Honey was sobbing. Later, when Nicole and I got there we were greeted by about 20 people. Tonya came out the door and hugged Nicole and was crying. We went in and Stacy and Jeffrey came and hugged us and Stacy was sobbing. I think we were there for a couple of hours. We were struck by how articulate Stacy and Jeffrey were about their grief. Jeffrey said he had been crying a lot and he cried several times while we were there. He said, "I usually spend Christmas with Ms. Anita . . . It's going to be a sad Christmas." Stacy showed us a picture and we asked if we could try to enlarge it and frame it for her. She said she would appreciate that. She cried on Nicole's shoulder and said, "I didn't get to say goodbye."
Eventually, the patriarch of the family (on Tonya's side) and his wife came (and their other children, Sokha, Sokhom, and Sop'ol). He is 97 years old! I had been looking forward to meeting him for a long time because I had heard his daughter, Sokha, and also Song talk about him. Song periodically sought wisdom from this man (I still don't know his name). He and his wife embraced Nicole and I as well as most everyone else in the house, especially Stacy and Jeffrey.
Mostly Nicole and I sat on the floor with the children. (Kun and her six-year-old, Jonathan, were there, too.) We cried. We laughed some. We talked about what they would do this week. Stacy has final exams this week. (She's 15.) Her three best friends since diapers were with her for most of the time while we were there. Jeffrey helped Jonathon with his homework.
I know that my own grief is very little compared with Stacy and Jeffrey. Still, I loved Song. Nicole did, too. He was my friend, especially for the past year and a half. Last year I often went to Song's house and we would talk for over an hour. He came to Bible class and church services every week. Miss Honey picked him up because he was legally blind due to diabetes. Still, he would bring his large print Bible and magnifying glass. I have so many good memories of talking with Song. He loved hearing Jesus' parables and I think he understood them better than I did. He had already heard many of them before, but sometimes there would be a new one. One time we were reading Luke 6:17-49 in Bible class. This was before he got a big print Bible so he took the paper home that had the verses on it and later that week asked Stacy to read those verses again. Song always rejoiced when he heard Jesus' teachings, even the hard ones like this one:
"Why do you notice the small piece of dust that is in your friend's eye, but you don't see the big piece of wood that is in your own eye? You say to your friend, 'Let me get that little piece of dust out of your eye.' Why do you say this? Can't you see that big piece of wood in your own eye? You are a hypocrite. First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to get the dust out of your friend's eye."
There were people in Song's life who made it difficult to forgive. I asked Song, "How can you forgive them?" He said, "I had a lot of sins in my life. God forgave me. So I have to forgive others." He took Jesus' teaching about "the plank in your own eye" seriously and knew that it didn't come naturally for him to obey God.
I have another memory I want to share. Last year just before Thanksgiving I took Song to the emergency room. He had severe pain and his blood sugar level was super high. I sat in his room while they waited (I guess for his bsl to decrease). I mostly just listened to him talk. He had so much to say even though every once in a while he would wince from the pain. Eventually they took him to a room in ICU. That was more comfortable, but we couldn't spend as much time with him. He had quite a few visitors, though. At the time, one family member was worried about money, if Song would die. Song told her, "Why do you worry about those things? Money can't make you happy." When we were alone I asked Song, "Are you happy?" I don't know why I asked it. I've never really known what to do to comfort people. But Song said, "Yes, I am happy." Before I said anything else Song told me at least five things he was thankful for. He said he was thankful for me. I can't remember the rest, but I'm sure his children were on that list. I can't tell you how much encouragement Song gave me.
Last night (Monday), Sokha wanted us to pray before we left. She is the only Christian left in the family now that Song is gone. There were about ten of us in a circle. I know some people couldn't understand what I was saying, but we all held hands. I don't remember all of the prayer, but one part I felt compelled to say was something I had been thinking about since as soon as I heard the news of his death:
"I know that Song is right with you, God. And I believe that you will send your Son on the last day and that Song and all the dead will be raised. Then, Song will live forever because he believed in you and followed your Son." My hope for Song isn't based on wishful thinking. It's based on Truth. I have read Scripture all my life. I know what a disciple of Christ is and what obedience from a pure heart looks like. I also knew Song well. So I have confidence in God's will to raise Song to eternal life on the last day.
15 December 2006
Not much time left
Sunday Nicole said, "Not much time left," as she took a picture of the setting sun and then went to talk to some friends about coming over for some pumkin pie later. It just struck me again that I am mortal. I've heard people say, "The soul is immortal." I don't have a good reason to believe that. I think that without God's breath of life, my "soul", whatever that is, will perish with the rest of me. On the other hand, I think that since I have God's breath of life, I can expect eternal renewal. I don't have my Bible with me at the moment, but I recall some words from 2 Corinthians 4: "Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day." A verse just prior to this one makes it clear that one day we will be outwardly what we are with the gift of the Holy Spirit inwardly. It is only because of God. We have no eternal breath of our own to make our "material" or "immaterial" existence exist. We are completely dependent on God for life now and forever. I don't know if I would appreciate the reminder of our vulnerability and the brevity of the seasons of our lives except for this greater hope given by God.
On a completely other level, I must say that we haven't had internet access from home lately--bad router--until now. It seems as though we are back in business, so even though I ought to be writing or studying, I'm blogging. Here are some pictures of late:
On a completely other level, I must say that we haven't had internet access from home lately--bad router--until now. It seems as though we are back in business, so even though I ought to be writing or studying, I'm blogging. Here are some pictures of late:
10 December 2006
Niccum's Top 25
I took this post from Kurt Niccum's blog from a year ago. It makes me laugh.
-jason
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Thursday’s Top 25
This semester has proved to be the second most productive in my teaching career. Having sufficiently scared a large number of students, I walked away with over eight pounds of chocolate (actually about 6.5 after I finish eating lunch). My record still remains 10 lbs.
As you will see, the weight of the sweets does not nearly compensate for the amount of poorly written and poorly conceived material I must slog through. I love to teach, and I often mention that I would teach for free. I am not paid enough, however, to grade.
Of course my students, to a person, argue that I have created my own monster. If I would just choose not to make assignments and give tests, my life would be so much better. I would have to agree. On the other hand, I do prefer having hard evidence of the failings of the American educational system.
Still, this proves fascinatingly ironic. Of the 250 million surfers of the net in America, only 2% will be able to identify errors in the snippets below; even less will appreciate the humor. This number still exceeds the number of those who attempt to read my blog; so perhaps I should give up measuring student capabilities and composing blog entries. Until I decide… welcome to my blog all you foreigners! I hope you enjoy my tribute to America’s future.
We begin with what I lovingly call the “duh” files. Students, afraid that I might not catch the fine nuances in their writing, often leave me explanatory notes. Here are just a few:
“Now we must examine who these people were. They were real people who came from somewhere and were going somewhere and most definitely were on a mission.” (Always remember: wherever you go, there you are.)
Second Peter 2:17 is in a portion of Peter’s second letter.
Peter is the last of the apostles, and with this in mind, we can come to the obvious conclusion that after Peter’s death, there will be no more letters from the apostles. (Excellent logic. Unfortunately, faulty premises and untrue “facts” are the bane of all excellent logic.)
This is the reason I do not seek to be an elder in a church, because I don’t care for or like a lot of people. (Sounds like he needs to be a Bible professor instead.)
Kids are just like people, only littler. (It’s not the size that endears kids to me; it’s that they don’t write bad papers.)
The structure of Romans 12:9-13 is a structure itself, within the whole structure of Romans.
Paul’s letter to the Romans is obviously in the form of a letter.
Service is a great way to serve God and other people.
And now for my top 25 student errors:
25) “The lesson I have learned that teaches me in Matthew is that you should not let kids suffer in school.” (Could we change that to “should not let professors suffer in school”? Please???)
24) “She is an outdoors woman that has fun hailing hay with guys.” (I just want to know if the hay ever responds.)
23) “She asked me what I was studying and I told her Psychology and I lighted up.” (Ditto. Or is that Zippo?)
22) “The floor and the ceiling cannot take your stamen and falling.” (It’s such a stigma to be caught bringing a pistil into Horticulture 101.)
21) “Like these women one needs to step up even if they are in the right and end this corral before the whole church ends up in hell.” (Women should never be allowed near rodeos.)
20) “Without God doing this we would not be able to have entrails life.” (It took a lot of guts to write that.)
19) “I went to him shortly after in an attempt to make immense with the person who had been offended.” (Proof that obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S.)
18) “If the other person dose not fully understand what you are saying then it was not an affective discourse.” (Obviously doctors with really thick accents and overly exaggerated gesticulations make for better communicators.)
17) “One should not presuppose that he foresaw the intuitional church.” (So, will the real clairvoyant please stand up?)
16) “In the NIV it says ‘witch is no gospel at all.’” (Perhaps the NIV should start translating for the third grade reading level)
15) We have a three way tie for biblical sports fans: a) “A phrase worth studying more in the Letter to Laodicea is ‘golf refined by fire,’” b) “The religious claims being made are ‘the Lord is God’ and ‘Ball is God,’” and c) “They were to take a pure white lamb without any sports or blemishes.”
14) “If people really followed it, the quality of our community would improve incomprehensively.” (It’s true! The same thing occurs with my student papers.)
13) “All of God’s profits were being killed.” (Talk about huge overhead – those heavenly hosts are expensive to keep up, and the Pension plan is humongous.)
12) “Misplacement does not mineralize its importance.” (I think this was about the prophet Mica. He was always taken for granite.)
11) “In the Greek manuscripts the periscope does not appear until after A.D. 900.” (So now we know which came first – the periscope came before the submarine.)
10) We have a two-way tie for reading oneself into the text: a) “Jess’s dying on the cross was so important,” and b) “The Children of Israel were promised an Inheritance in the land of Canaan just as Christina is promised a home with God in Heaven.”
9) “I saw my friend there helping the student with her reading and spelling and since I am pretty good at English so I asked if a boy could do some heavy lifting while I help with what I’m good at.” (I couldn’t have said it better myself, at least while heavily sedated.)
8) “What would stop someone from saying, ‘Hey everyone, Thor now indwells my rubber ducky!’” (Apparently from Bert and Ernie’s Big Note Song Book of Germanic Mythology)
7) “So God had Moses have the children of God wander around in the dessert until every fighting man of that generation had died.” (What a way to go! I personally hope to die in a bathtub filled with chocolate.)
6) “Jesus identified the beard with his body and the cup with the new covenant.” (Maybe that’s why the denominational world call’s the Lord’s Supper the Whischarist.)
5) Another two way tie; this one for cannibals: a) “We are individualistic and survival-minded people, who carve and starve for respect,” and b) “She told of eating pizza in an Italian Chicago family.”
4) “As much as making money and martial possessions for your family is important….“ (Nothing says I love you like a pair of handmade nunchucks.)
3) “I expected to see all the people being rude or depressed, but, to my surprise, they were actually contempt.” (There’s nothing like actually exceeding one’s expectations.)
2) “Every one in this story, living and not, was excited about the birth.” (It’s the first time Uncle John, bless his soul, has shown any excitement since the funeral!)
and 1) “I went to install hurricane clamps to the raptors.” (That must have been particularly dangerous. Without training I’m sure the result would be a lot of Tyrannosaurus wrecks.)
I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas! (And if you are a student of mine, I look forward to you retaking my classes.)
-jason
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Thursday’s Top 25
This semester has proved to be the second most productive in my teaching career. Having sufficiently scared a large number of students, I walked away with over eight pounds of chocolate (actually about 6.5 after I finish eating lunch). My record still remains 10 lbs.
As you will see, the weight of the sweets does not nearly compensate for the amount of poorly written and poorly conceived material I must slog through. I love to teach, and I often mention that I would teach for free. I am not paid enough, however, to grade.
Of course my students, to a person, argue that I have created my own monster. If I would just choose not to make assignments and give tests, my life would be so much better. I would have to agree. On the other hand, I do prefer having hard evidence of the failings of the American educational system.
Still, this proves fascinatingly ironic. Of the 250 million surfers of the net in America, only 2% will be able to identify errors in the snippets below; even less will appreciate the humor. This number still exceeds the number of those who attempt to read my blog; so perhaps I should give up measuring student capabilities and composing blog entries. Until I decide… welcome to my blog all you foreigners! I hope you enjoy my tribute to America’s future.
We begin with what I lovingly call the “duh” files. Students, afraid that I might not catch the fine nuances in their writing, often leave me explanatory notes. Here are just a few:
“Now we must examine who these people were. They were real people who came from somewhere and were going somewhere and most definitely were on a mission.” (Always remember: wherever you go, there you are.)
Second Peter 2:17 is in a portion of Peter’s second letter.
Peter is the last of the apostles, and with this in mind, we can come to the obvious conclusion that after Peter’s death, there will be no more letters from the apostles. (Excellent logic. Unfortunately, faulty premises and untrue “facts” are the bane of all excellent logic.)
This is the reason I do not seek to be an elder in a church, because I don’t care for or like a lot of people. (Sounds like he needs to be a Bible professor instead.)
Kids are just like people, only littler. (It’s not the size that endears kids to me; it’s that they don’t write bad papers.)
The structure of Romans 12:9-13 is a structure itself, within the whole structure of Romans.
Paul’s letter to the Romans is obviously in the form of a letter.
Service is a great way to serve God and other people.
And now for my top 25 student errors:
25) “The lesson I have learned that teaches me in Matthew is that you should not let kids suffer in school.” (Could we change that to “should not let professors suffer in school”? Please???)
24) “She is an outdoors woman that has fun hailing hay with guys.” (I just want to know if the hay ever responds.)
23) “She asked me what I was studying and I told her Psychology and I lighted up.” (Ditto. Or is that Zippo?)
22) “The floor and the ceiling cannot take your stamen and falling.” (It’s such a stigma to be caught bringing a pistil into Horticulture 101.)
21) “Like these women one needs to step up even if they are in the right and end this corral before the whole church ends up in hell.” (Women should never be allowed near rodeos.)
20) “Without God doing this we would not be able to have entrails life.” (It took a lot of guts to write that.)
19) “I went to him shortly after in an attempt to make immense with the person who had been offended.” (Proof that obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S.)
18) “If the other person dose not fully understand what you are saying then it was not an affective discourse.” (Obviously doctors with really thick accents and overly exaggerated gesticulations make for better communicators.)
17) “One should not presuppose that he foresaw the intuitional church.” (So, will the real clairvoyant please stand up?)
16) “In the NIV it says ‘witch is no gospel at all.’” (Perhaps the NIV should start translating for the third grade reading level)
15) We have a three way tie for biblical sports fans: a) “A phrase worth studying more in the Letter to Laodicea is ‘golf refined by fire,’” b) “The religious claims being made are ‘the Lord is God’ and ‘Ball is God,’” and c) “They were to take a pure white lamb without any sports or blemishes.”
14) “If people really followed it, the quality of our community would improve incomprehensively.” (It’s true! The same thing occurs with my student papers.)
13) “All of God’s profits were being killed.” (Talk about huge overhead – those heavenly hosts are expensive to keep up, and the Pension plan is humongous.)
12) “Misplacement does not mineralize its importance.” (I think this was about the prophet Mica. He was always taken for granite.)
11) “In the Greek manuscripts the periscope does not appear until after A.D. 900.” (So now we know which came first – the periscope came before the submarine.)
10) We have a two-way tie for reading oneself into the text: a) “Jess’s dying on the cross was so important,” and b) “The Children of Israel were promised an Inheritance in the land of Canaan just as Christina is promised a home with God in Heaven.”
9) “I saw my friend there helping the student with her reading and spelling and since I am pretty good at English so I asked if a boy could do some heavy lifting while I help with what I’m good at.” (I couldn’t have said it better myself, at least while heavily sedated.)
8) “What would stop someone from saying, ‘Hey everyone, Thor now indwells my rubber ducky!’” (Apparently from Bert and Ernie’s Big Note Song Book of Germanic Mythology)
7) “So God had Moses have the children of God wander around in the dessert until every fighting man of that generation had died.” (What a way to go! I personally hope to die in a bathtub filled with chocolate.)
6) “Jesus identified the beard with his body and the cup with the new covenant.” (Maybe that’s why the denominational world call’s the Lord’s Supper the Whischarist.)
5) Another two way tie; this one for cannibals: a) “We are individualistic and survival-minded people, who carve and starve for respect,” and b) “She told of eating pizza in an Italian Chicago family.”
4) “As much as making money and martial possessions for your family is important….“ (Nothing says I love you like a pair of handmade nunchucks.)
3) “I expected to see all the people being rude or depressed, but, to my surprise, they were actually contempt.” (There’s nothing like actually exceeding one’s expectations.)
2) “Every one in this story, living and not, was excited about the birth.” (It’s the first time Uncle John, bless his soul, has shown any excitement since the funeral!)
and 1) “I went to install hurricane clamps to the raptors.” (That must have been particularly dangerous. Without training I’m sure the result would be a lot of Tyrannosaurus wrecks.)
I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas! (And if you are a student of mine, I look forward to you retaking my classes.)
23 November 2006
Town of Allopath
I would like to hear how my friends and family react to this provocative "Town of Allopath" video at: http://mercola.com/
I don't think all of the intended analogies are exactly correct, but generally I think it is a good allegory. I think Americans tend to value the drugs that numb discomfort to the disciplines that maintain health. I would guess this might be provocative and my readers might wonder whether I am angry at doctors. I admire and respect many doctors. Our country's emergency care, I think, is excellent. However, the doctors and drugs cannot make us well. They might make us more comfortable in our over-consumptive lifestyles, but they cannot make us well. Wellness is a gift from God that we can either preserve or refuse. I realize that I have done more refusing than preserving, but I look forward to future positive change.
I don't think all of the intended analogies are exactly correct, but generally I think it is a good allegory. I think Americans tend to value the drugs that numb discomfort to the disciplines that maintain health. I would guess this might be provocative and my readers might wonder whether I am angry at doctors. I admire and respect many doctors. Our country's emergency care, I think, is excellent. However, the doctors and drugs cannot make us well. They might make us more comfortable in our over-consumptive lifestyles, but they cannot make us well. Wellness is a gift from God that we can either preserve or refuse. I realize that I have done more refusing than preserving, but I look forward to future positive change.
19 November 2006
More Fellowship Memories
A couple of years ago we had some good fellowship at Jan & Arthur's in Brisbane. It's always nice to be the center of attention. Is it possible for God to be the center of attention, so to speak, in the midst of fellowship?
15 November 2006
Fellowship, evangelism
We had some interesting conversations that night over dinner. We talked chopsticks, God, and worship, if I can remember right. We took a train from Circular Quay (pronounced 'key') to meet our friends there. Binh had organized dinner for us (Nicole and I and the Griffiths) near Cabramatta in Sydney, Australia in July 2005. This is a picture from after dinner in the Vietnamese restaurant. In the picture is, from left to right: Nicole (my beautiful bride of almost five years), Binh (a Christian friend from when I lived in Sydney, '98-'02. she used to have young adults into her apartment every Sunday for informal fellowship, bible study, and conversation). Next to Binh is her boyfriend at the time (an atheist), and his roommate at the time (a Muslim). Next to them is Andrew, a Christian friend of ours who continues to teach scripture and involve himself in the life of the church in Campbelltown. Then, I'm the goofy looking guy next to Andrew. Binh said to me that night: "Jason, you dress well now that you're married." Ha!Here's a question: When does a fellowship meal become communion? Can you just add a little sermon about God, a loaf, and a cup? Or is there more to it?
08 November 2006
Fellowship
Thinking back, I wish we had remembered Christ during the meal, the salvation we received through Christ. That would have made it perfect. It probably would have generated some good discussion and promoted the sense of unity and kindness and equality that was already there. Thanks, Binh, for inviting your Christian siblings and your friends and hosting this fellowship meal.
30 October 2006
Team Partners
The advice us men got was, "Your wife is your first team. You love her almost as much as Jesus. Your next team is your kids (if you have 'em). Then, you've got your team-team."
So I'm trying to understand my wife better and letting her express herself more before I try to correct her thinking or solve problems or simply talk over her. I think I'm doing a pretty good job.
Let me get psychological . . . there's a man I know who doesn't have much control in his life. Let's call him A. He is a man who has throat cancer. His wife makes him come to the church building while she teaches English and phonics to Vietnamese immigrants (after I get through with them--I've almost taught them North, South, East, West, Oklahoma). She is a sincere woman who is passionate about learning more about Jesus (though she is a nominal churchgoer). Let's call her B. She is a woman who has multiple schlerosis.
Well, A doesn't have much control in his life. He has been known to snap at people when they ask him how he's doing. "Terrible!" he says, "Tell them to stop asking me how I'm doing." In bible class he's been asked, "Would you like a bible?" "NO!" he says.
Honestly, I've observed, perhaps correctly, that Mr. A is a lot like me. I don't like it when other people take control away from me. For example, in bible class someone occasionally says, "Pray for [A] and his cancer." A says, "Don't pray for me! I don't believe in that kind of prayer!" If I were him I would want people to give me some control. If I want a bible I'll ask. (A has actually been seen looking over to read in someone else's bible.) If I want to request prayers, let me make the request. And why don't you tell me about your problems instead asking me about mine.
I don't know what makes me unique. I've heard that there are only seven or eight basic personalities. I don't know if "passive-aggressive" is one of them, but I tend to be that way. I am praying that I will be aware of my tendencies especially in our team dynamics.
Maybe you don't know what I'm talking about. It's like this. You want to help me with something. I say, "No, thank you." You say, "Are you sure?" I'm thinking, "Yes, even more sure. Let's talk about something else." If my wife comes to me and says, "Jason, let's go see a movie!" I get a this-is-the-first-I've-heard-of-this look on my face. I want to be the one who starts something (because I believe I can do it well and better than you), but since other people always beat me to it, I unintentionally resent them for taking the lead. However, basically, you can get me to do anything within your power, but I won't like it. I'm sorry. I'm working on dying to myself. I reckon I will make a better teammate then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
