Here and Now...and Yet To Come

Thanks to all of you who sent a card or called and wished me a happy birthday. I am blessed to have all of you in my life.

Why do we hurt those we love the most?

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com


Not sure this is particularly accurate.

[HT: Matthew]

Dustin and Los have started a new community blog called SpitBox. This type of online magazine runs in the same vain as TheOoze or Relevant but with a much faster turn around of articles. Seriously...it's like gettin' fish slapped in the face every 15 seconds. It's great that they peruse themselves and don't rely on "submitted" content, though I am sure that they are hoping to move in that direction. Finding good articles takes time time and more time. Go check it out...you won't be disappointed.

...That I hate being a Christian!

That's it! I have had it! The retail market for furniture sucks. More poignantly, dealing with people who sell furniture sucks...It's been over 11 weeks since we have ordered our furniture and it still hasn't arrived.

I received a call from the manufacturer representative today. Apparently the retail store passed the buck. Since I was at work I let the phone go to voice mail. He leaves a message...It goes something like this...

"Good morning Adam. My name is [insert name]. I am a representative of [insert furniture company]. I understand that we have had a bit of a mix up in getting you your furniture. I just want to let you know that we are doing our best to get you your furniture by this coming Friday. We appreciate your business and are sorry for any inconvenience that we have caused. Please give me a call back so that I may discuss further details with you. Have a nice day and shalom to you too."

My response: "I can't believe that it is going to take 4 more days...Shalom too?"

I'd been caught. He found me out. I hate that...This guy is familiar with the meaning of the word shalom. This word means peace...But not just a shallow peace...It is the most deep peace that can only come from the rest of God. Just when I want to do nothing more than bellow at this guy for not giving satisfactory service and he pulls the "shalom card" on me. It's times like these that I hate being a Christian.

I know that's probably not the most popular thing to say and I am sure that my mom is shaking her head right now, but it's true. These are the hard times. I wanted to rip this guy a new one, but I knew the moment he said the words "shalom to you" this voice on the phone became an actual live person with feelings, dreams, hopes, and aspirations. Who knows, he might even have a wife and kids and a dog named scruffy. It made him tangible. Real and alive.

I didn't want him to be a person...I wanted him to be the lifeless voice on the phone from whoknowswhereville so that I wouldn't "feel" bad for laying into him, but he wasn't.

It's funny how God uses the frustrating times in life to humble us and remind us whose we are...

For instance...

That one time when you walk into Wendys only to realize that a bus full of touring seniors on a day trip to the cheesy Longaberger Basket plant in Ohio pulled in two minutes before you and the wait is going to be like 20 minutes plus and all you want is a freakn' 99 cent frosty!

or...

You sit down to get a haircut and in the course of the conversation the lady asks you what you do for a living and you want to lie and say that you work at Chucky Cheese but you know you can't and you have to tell her that you work at a church but when it's all said and done it's the worst haircut you have ever recieved in your life but she already knows that you work at a church and it's time to tip her! (h/t Mustoe)

It's these moments that God calls us to rise above our fallen nature and use the grace that has been bestowed upon us to bestow on others. We're called to be a blessing right?

O.k. I know what your thinking. "Would he have acted differently if the mysterious voice on the other end wouldn't have picked up on the blessing of shalom?" Honestly, I don't know. I don't know how I would have responded. I hope that it would have been with honesty and integrity and that I would have been a good representation of how a Christian should act. In the end I don't know...Here's what I do know. I've learned a valuable lesson. Perhaps a lesson I should have learned a long time ago.

Hebrews 13:2 and 1 Corinthians 13:5

"God, help me to be a Christian even when it is inconvenient. Help me to love the unlovely. Help me to see all people as the Child of God that you have made them to be. Give me patience and grace."

Shalom be with you.

Go HERE

Which is a bigger deal?

Mustoe's Hairiness

or

Dustin's Dorkiness

This World is not Conclusion.
A species stands beyond-
Invisible, as Music-
But positive, as Sound-
It beckons, and it baffles-
Philosophy-don't know-
And through a Riddle, at the last-
Sagacity, must go-
To guess it, puzzles scholars-
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown-
Faith slips-and laughs, and rallies-
Blushes, if any see-
Plucks at a twig of Evidence-
And asks a Vane, the way-
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit-
Strong Hallelujahs roll-
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul-

Emily Dickinson

Go Here. I recommend the Antique Store.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_zANGuZ4Ck

Don't tell anyone...it's a secret! SSSSSHHHHHHHHH

I Stole this off of Dustin's Flickr.

These are pictures of the Kingdom in action baby. My father's place of work has been sponsoring a Habitat House. He was telling me about it over the phone and I thought I would share it with y'all.

Way to go Pops!

Matthew 25:34-40

What is Sanctification?

A few days ago my Brother-in-Law Dustin wrote a post reflecting on marketing in the church. He pesented some good insight and some great questions. As I was reading for class tomorrow I came across this section in Clapp's A Peculiar People. Perhaps it will shed some light on the subject.

"Today's evangelism is marketing, and today's pastor is expected to be a marketer. The marketer-pastor appeals to desires that already exist among the unevangelized. As usual in Constantinianism, their Christianity is present, if latent now in the form of "felt needs." Notably, the Constantinian God is always tamed, always domesticated. When evangelism is marketing, God is nothing more than the guarantor (yes the sponsor) of whatever the market has already determined is good and valuable. Accordingly, adopting marketing conceptuality and methodology turns the church into an instrument for enforcing prevailing American standards-or, in an increasing pluralistic America, adopting one or another group's perception of what should be prevailing American standards."
-Rodney Clapp

Perhaps that is why groups like this exist.

Since the news that North Korea successfully tested a nuclear bomb underground I've been thinking a lot.

This past week during chapel we had two opposing view points on Just War and Pacifism. These talks were delivered by two members of the faculty. (One of them being my philosophy professor.) It's interesting to note that the week directly after these talks were presented, North Korea announced their test.

Flash forward to this morning. Chapel was based soley around this issue. The speaker was a well known business man who "encountered" the true message of Jesus late in his life. (I say the "true message" simply because he denounced, in so many words, the American dream being linked to the Gospel. I.E., this quote.) This transformation began in 1993 with an opportunity to work on the front lines during the war in Bosnia. I can see how that experience could change someone's life.

For the past nine years he has been making trips to North Korea to help with humanitarian aid. So he told his story. A story of a dark land with seemingly no hope. A story of a propaganda driven government intent on keeping its citizens in the dark. A story of a land whose economic structure has collapsed causing 3 million people to die of hunger in the past three years.

This man's call was not a call to arms however. It was not a "war cry" of injustice, but a word of prudence and caution. He urged and pleaded not to "demonize" the individuals in North Korea, but to remember first and foremost that there are 24 million "people" that live there. People who laugh and cry as we do. Sons and Daughters...Mothers and Fathers. It is very easy to allow fear to set into out hearts. To immediately condemn.

This man continued his story of North Korea. It's true that yesterday there were rumblings underground. Rumblings of a destructive sort, but it is also true that there is another type of rumblings. The underground church has been present in North Korea for over 60 years. "The closest thing to the New Testament church that I have seen," he proclaimed. An underground explosion of another kind where scripture is read, prayers are said and songs are sung to the tunes of military marches but with different lyrics meant to subvert the current empire.

So we prayed. We prayed for prudence and caution. We prayed that justice would be done. We prayed for our enemies and peace to reign. We prayed and were present.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbors and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love you enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his rain to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more then others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as you heavenly father is perfect."
--Matthew 5:43-48

The Ins and Outs article has been posted at www.theooze.com if you want to check it out. I realize my writing has much to be desired and I am working on that, but I think the content is good none the less.

I'm starting a new segment for each week. It's simply called "Question of the Week." To start things off, we are going to begin with a doozy.


What is Salvation?

Which Theistic Argument do you appeal to?

Teleological Argument
or
Moral Argument
or
Cosmological Argument
or
Ontological Argument

Keep in mind this is an unofficial poll.

It truly is a great time to be a Buckeye fan!