I have finally decided to begin a Master's Degree! I want to begin a Masters in Religion within the next year, hopefully next fall. We won't be moving, so I am looking at some online programs. I am pretty excited, though.
Thanksgiving in a couple of days and a five day weekend...phew.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
The Internet
Sometimes, the internet is a very dark place, as though the veil of propriety were tossed aside and you have a vision of man in all of his fallen ugliness. It's as though we have abandoned the hard work of forming meaningful relationships and retreated into the security of the computer screen. It rather depressed me today.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
I'm Back...and so is Baldacci. Sigh.
Despite the very disappointing results from yesterday's election, I have two thoughts on which to cling:
1. Romans 13: God places rulers and gives them authority.
In every situation, we may learn one thing or see one, two, or twenty ways God may be working, but our minds are so finite and short-sighted. In every situation, God is working and doing a THOUSAND different things which we know NOTHING about. Our faith must fall hard upon that sovereign thought.
2. The work of the church is missions.
As citizens, we are called to give to Casesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. My primary purpose as I strive to glorify God by enjoying him forever is to participate with the church in the work of missions. When I say missions, I mean working so that every nation, people, tribe and tongue might come before God in worship. I give Caesar my taxes, and my votes, but the church's offering to God is the nations. We must never confuse "taking the government for God" with a thoroughly Biblical theology of missions through the church.
1. Romans 13: God places rulers and gives them authority.
In every situation, we may learn one thing or see one, two, or twenty ways God may be working, but our minds are so finite and short-sighted. In every situation, God is working and doing a THOUSAND different things which we know NOTHING about. Our faith must fall hard upon that sovereign thought.
2. The work of the church is missions.
As citizens, we are called to give to Casesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. My primary purpose as I strive to glorify God by enjoying him forever is to participate with the church in the work of missions. When I say missions, I mean working so that every nation, people, tribe and tongue might come before God in worship. I give Caesar my taxes, and my votes, but the church's offering to God is the nations. We must never confuse "taking the government for God" with a thoroughly Biblical theology of missions through the church.
Monday, August 21, 2006
"I have sought thee, sung thee, dreamed thee"...Man of La Mancha
Last night the Freeport Community Players closed its production of Man of La Mancha, the broadway musical story of Cervantes' Don Quixote. It was my great privilege to be a part of the Players and the musical as Antonia Quijana. It was a visual and auditory masterpiece. Since school is getting ready to begin, however, I am glad to have some rest. As I was driving home thinking about the relationships I had formed with quality, talented people and my new-found niche in the community theatre world, I thought about Christian cultural impact once again.
Or rather, how we don't impact the culture. Now I know there are, and have been, many Christians who say thet are fighting the culture wars. They write articles and give speeches (mostly to fellow Christians) and feel good about themselves. But so far, talking and writing (articles, at least) has not made a difference. Partly, non-Christians don't care what we say when we speak in Christian platitudes. We are losing the culture war.
Why? We don't make good art. We don't participate in good art. Unknowingly, the world is enjoying and imitating the beauty of God's natural revelation and the gift of his creative image in man while we are settling for pale reflections that we think are safe and modest.
Now I realize that the "academic discussions" are important in the culture war, but even more important, in my opinion, is that these talking heads, as well as Christians everywhere, take part in the creation of good art. When we excel or in the least, appreciate what is reflective of God's glory in good art, that's when the non-believing world takes notice. We need to be more incarnational and less rhetorical. These are talented people in the culture, for the most part, and we need to match their skill with skill, not verbal abuse.
And form relationships. Christians have a hard time forming realtionships with the unbelieving world, and most often hide behind articles, rallies, speeches and 80s hairdos. If I have learned anything in the past year, it's that relationships matter, perhaps more than anything else. We want to believe, wrongly, that choices and outcomes have to do with ability above all. But take our most important relationship- our relationship with God. If there is an functioning ability binding us, it is Christ's merit, but he did not merely perform a function for us. He restored our relationship with God. Think about all the time that business people spend netoworking or that law students spends interning. They need skill to land that job, but more than is often acknowleged it is important that there is relationship established. We need to establish a good relationship with the art world and those in. We need to learn from them and participate in good art with them, and beginning producing our own.
Or rather, how we don't impact the culture. Now I know there are, and have been, many Christians who say thet are fighting the culture wars. They write articles and give speeches (mostly to fellow Christians) and feel good about themselves. But so far, talking and writing (articles, at least) has not made a difference. Partly, non-Christians don't care what we say when we speak in Christian platitudes. We are losing the culture war.
Why? We don't make good art. We don't participate in good art. Unknowingly, the world is enjoying and imitating the beauty of God's natural revelation and the gift of his creative image in man while we are settling for pale reflections that we think are safe and modest.
Now I realize that the "academic discussions" are important in the culture war, but even more important, in my opinion, is that these talking heads, as well as Christians everywhere, take part in the creation of good art. When we excel or in the least, appreciate what is reflective of God's glory in good art, that's when the non-believing world takes notice. We need to be more incarnational and less rhetorical. These are talented people in the culture, for the most part, and we need to match their skill with skill, not verbal abuse.
And form relationships. Christians have a hard time forming realtionships with the unbelieving world, and most often hide behind articles, rallies, speeches and 80s hairdos. If I have learned anything in the past year, it's that relationships matter, perhaps more than anything else. We want to believe, wrongly, that choices and outcomes have to do with ability above all. But take our most important relationship- our relationship with God. If there is an functioning ability binding us, it is Christ's merit, but he did not merely perform a function for us. He restored our relationship with God. Think about all the time that business people spend netoworking or that law students spends interning. They need skill to land that job, but more than is often acknowleged it is important that there is relationship established. We need to establish a good relationship with the art world and those in. We need to learn from them and participate in good art with them, and beginning producing our own.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Untitled.
I don't post as much as I want to. We don't have internet right now so I use the library. Lots of exciting things are going on in our lives right now, but it's Friday and I am going home. Be back soon, I promise.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
The Beauty of a Child's Mind, Part one
I love the way that children think. So often it just blows my mind completely. For instance, the kindergarten teacher just told me today about an incident in her classroom. She was relating to them the story of Abraham and God's promise when she asked, "How could Abraham count the stars?" With exuberance one student cried out, "By tens!"
One of my professors used to tell us that the goal of higher education, as he saw it, was to retrain the "adult," "mature" mind into something more childlike. He did not mean behaviors or content as much as he meant that curiosity and inquisitiveness that so represents the child's mind. Only by asking good questions and having an open mind, he maintained, could you really continue learning. Calvin, from the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes, happened to be his favorite theologian/philosopher. The kid had something going, that's for sure.
We, and I mean adults, tend to work off of so many assumptions that we hardly question or perhaps even acknowledge. Increasingly, through teaching, I am confronted by questions in class such as "why?" or by the need to explain further the way things are related. Children, especially in the grammar stage, need those concrete explanantions, which has challenged my own thinking.
While we may feed on meatier stuff than milk, we must not, in academic pursuits or heavenly pursuits, lose that childlike awe that brought David to his knees before God or that questioning spirit that raised up reformers in the 15th century. Just something I was thinking about one day....
One of my professors used to tell us that the goal of higher education, as he saw it, was to retrain the "adult," "mature" mind into something more childlike. He did not mean behaviors or content as much as he meant that curiosity and inquisitiveness that so represents the child's mind. Only by asking good questions and having an open mind, he maintained, could you really continue learning. Calvin, from the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes, happened to be his favorite theologian/philosopher. The kid had something going, that's for sure.
We, and I mean adults, tend to work off of so many assumptions that we hardly question or perhaps even acknowledge. Increasingly, through teaching, I am confronted by questions in class such as "why?" or by the need to explain further the way things are related. Children, especially in the grammar stage, need those concrete explanantions, which has challenged my own thinking.
While we may feed on meatier stuff than milk, we must not, in academic pursuits or heavenly pursuits, lose that childlike awe that brought David to his knees before God or that questioning spirit that raised up reformers in the 15th century. Just something I was thinking about one day....
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Paul, Joy, Leadership
One of the main responsibilities I have with my 5th and 6th grade class is both to model Christ to them and to teach them to love Christ, and in so doing, know how to serve him. It's such a huge and overwhelming task! We were going through 2 Philippians today specifically to talk about considering others above yourselves and about not complaining. I read the opening verses with just new personal insight, though. Paul asks the Philippians church to be like-minded and love one another to "make [his] joy complete" and asks them not to complain so that he would not have '"labored in vain." Bam! The feeling with which he made those statements just struck me so forcibly. I am sure that parents and pastors and others in like situations feel the impact of these verses, but I had never before. Now I have this class of students, and as sinners and children, they complain, argue and bicker. And I know how deeply I want to see them grow in Christ and how much joy I would have to see them loving and serving each other in a Christ-like manner more and more. Paul, while recognizing the strengths of the Philippians wants them to abound more and more. And that is my prayer and hope for my class. Partly, I think it is such a difference for me now to be on the leading and giving end in the classroom, as opposed to the recieving end. It's such a blessing, though. Praise God!
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