Christ the Lord

I have been reading Anne Rice’s “Christ the Lord” series of books. I just finished #2 and I believe it has had a very good impact on me. Jesus/Yeshua (I prefer Yeshua) is very much human in her books.. he laughs, cries, struggles with temptation. He is not a glowing being of omnipotence. He is very very real… and he is very lovable. He’s someone you want to be around… but you see his transformation to the full realization that he is God incarnate.. and so you go from lovable guy to worshippable God. I am enjoying her books and am looking forward to the next two.

Book Idea #2

I thought of this while listening to an NPR story about how Oregon is tearing down the mental health hospital that was used in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Apparently it doesn’t have a great history. Well, I was thinking a fun book idea would be if there was mental patient kept in a similar facility who had a mutation that kept his body from aging. Due to extremely poor book keeping and the fact that no one knew his real age he was kept in there for .. maybe.. 200 years before released (due to budgeting issues). This particular patient then goes out to explore the “future” but the reader never really knows what is real or what is just part of his psychosis. I am leaning towards satire vs. drama here.

After all.. we all have varying degrees of insanity.. and as virtual reality becomes more ubiquitous.. it’s only going to get worse.

Book Idea

I think it would be a good idea for someone to right a book about the rapture from the perspective of non-Christians. I think there would be lots of fun topics to cover.. like who has disappeared and why.. and who hasn’t… some people would be horrified and some would be thrilled at the idea of having all the Christians gone. I can imagine whole congregations arguing that the rapture could not have happened because they didn’t lose a single member… while many of the homeless population disappeared. But ultimately, I think it would be fun to see humanity suddenly wake up and realize that there is officially no meaning to life. What seemed like a good thing at first.. not having those horrible Christians around.. would slowly dissolve into weeping and gnashing of teeth as the world becomes a giant burning hulk of desolation.

At the very least.. it would be fun to research it.

Die Siedler von Catan

When you find yourself with many children getting out of the house isn’t as easy.. or appealing.. as it used to be. So one must find ways of entertaining one’s self and guests. When delightful conversation isn’t cutting it.. I suggest Settler’s of Catan. Here in Uh’merica board games are oft frowned upon.. mostly because they are considered nerdy or boring. To remedy this I suggest everyone check out Settler’s of Catan. The wife and I first came across this game in New Zealand.. it appeared to be a national pastime there.. right up there with possum slaughters and the eating of mutton sausage on white bread .

Here is an article in Wired about said game: http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/17-04/mf_settlers

If you are into trash talking your friends.. I highly recommend it.

The physics behind freewill

I often find my thoughts somewhere between theology and physics and I love it when I stumble across things that fall in the middle. Such as this: http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S23/75/58A30/index.xml?section=featured

“It’s not about theories anymore — it’s about what the universe does,” said Kochen, a professor of mathematics and the associate chair of the Department of Mathematics. “And we’ve found that, from moment to moment, nature doesn’t know what it’s going to do. A particle has a choice.”

The Cross

This is the description of a new documentary coming out about that “crazy” guy who walked the whole world carrying a large wooden cross:

“The Cross” is the story of one man carrying a twelve-foot wooden cross on a pilgrimage around the world. It is a mission of love, peace, blessings and Jesus. It is one man walking out his purpose and destiny one step at a time. This compelling story is an inspiration and an adventure of life on the roads of the world and the reactions of people to the cross and, more importantly, its life changing message. Arthur Blessitt’s story began with a simple act of obedience…making a large wooden cross to hang on the wall of ‘His Place,’ a Jesus coffee house he had started in Hollywood, California. Then in 1968, he began taking short trips with the cross along the Sunset Strip, giving out food to hungry hippies and telling them about Jesus. Soon, he began to feel Jesus calling him to carry the cross across America. He left Hollywood on Christmas Day 1969, beginning a journey that would see him walk across the entire country to New York and then on to Washington D.C. The next year Arthur felt called to carry the cross in war torn Northern Ireland. This kicked off what he soon discovered was to be a step by step, nation by nation, walk around the entire world. In 1988 he felt Jesus tell him to carry the cross in every nation. Ten years later, in 1998, he completed this mission, gaining access to North Korea through a series of incredible circumstances. Yet God still had more for him to do. And so he launched out to carry the cross in every island group throughout the world as well. In June of 2008, Arthur finally completed his mission with the faithful assistance with his wife Denise who has been with him in 291 of the nations and island groups he’s visited. Listed in the Guinness World Records for the ‘world’s longest walk,’ Arthur has carried the cross in 315 nations, island groups and territories and walked 38,102 miles, more than one and a half times around the globe at the equator. Arthur’s true joy, however, comes from sharing the Gospel and becoming part of the people groups he visits. For Arthur, the world is home and is his family. “I love God and I love people,” says Arthur, “I try to keep it simple.” As he carries the cross, he stops to speak with people about Jesus and prays prayers of blessings. He has gone into many wars and troubled areas of the world. Huge crowds have often greeted him yet most of the time he has walked the roads alone except for the Presence of God. He has met many of the world’s leaders yet is at home with the poorest people on earth. And yet, Arthur is the first to admit that he is the least likely of all for God to have chosen for such a calling. Thus beyond all the rousing adventures, beyond all the lives that God has used Arthur to touch, lies the true heart of this documentary – the story of facing life’s challenges and pressing on. It is about smiling in the most difficult times and bringing hope in the face of despair. It is about inspiring audiences across the country to step out of the theater and into the destiny God has waiting for them, walking it out one step at a time.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/thecross/

The weight of the world

Having cut myself off from the “Internet”.. I really don’t know what is going on in the world. I hear snippets from NPR on my short commute too and from work.. but I am no longer bombarded with the constant horrors that are happening all over. The other day someone sent me a link to something and on the page I opened I noticed two headlines.. one about a shooting in the US and one about a shooting in Germany. Pretty horrible stuff… lots of death, dying, suffering, loss.. it’s too much. I don’t think we were meant to carry the this load. You will either desensitize (as most do) or you will fall into despair.. as I seem to do.

Back in the days before rapid transportation (yes, even gridlock is rapid).. back when it took days to go to town.. news was limited and slow.. your world would have been your community.. family, friends, neighbors.. anyone within walking distance. Your concerns were you neighbors concerns.. there were still problems/sorrow/saddness.. but on a much smaller scale.

And.. most importantly.. you could actually do something about the problems. There is almost nothing I can do about anything I read in the news.. but if something happens to my neighbor.. I can help.

Anyway.

Molinism

I finally found a philosophical/theological home between Calvinism and Arminianism. It’s called Molinism and it makes sense to me. I really have never understood how Calvinist or Arminianists slept at night.

I won’t try to explain it in a sentence when there is a great wikipedia article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molinism

Basically.. it gives God sovereignty, human’s free will, and can be backed by the Bible (the whole Bible if you think about it..).

8 great years

The wife and I have been married for 8 years.. it’s hard to believe. I can easily say they have been the best years of my life (not that any of it has been bad).. but they have been truly wonderful. My wife continues to get more and more amazing… where as I seem to continue to both lose and gain hair… but she loves me inspite of that. What a great woman.

So, thanks wife for the great times we’ve had and the many we will have.

Stillborn

This is possibly my least favorite word there is. Some good friends of ours lost their baby recently.. it was “stillborn”. They got to hold their little baby boy just once. Our hearts are broken for them… there are no comforting words that will help them. There are no easy answers here.

I can’t even imagine what they are going through… they were so excited. Having three kids I can’t help but feel a bit guilty.. it doesn’t seem fair. Me and my three happy healthy kids.. they have none. Dear Lord, please  never let me take my children for granted.