Alternative Christian video games….what do you think? I am entirely convinced that video gaming is by no means a “value neutral” activity. The games that are, literally, awash with gore and mayhem do inculcate a value system in those who play them. They are entirely engrossing and mesmerizing. They draw the player into an alternate reality and when that reality is antithetical to the Faith that is indeed a problem. Is this a solution? I have mixed feelings. But…to all you parents out there who might not be familiar with how degraded many video games are wake up and pay attention.
Ever been so sick….?
Ever been so sick every inch of your body aches, you feel like crawling under about twenty wool blankets and just groaning to yourself, your head feels like it is going to explode, and you feel just on the edge of being sick to your stomach, your nose is clogged, chest is sore, and neck hurts… and you are running a 101-102 temperature? Welcome to my world. I’m waiting for a ride to the doctor’s office. Blogging won’t be too high a priority for the duration. And just in time for Christmas! Oh, the good news is that I got my flu shot last week.
No to Theological Thugs
Michael Spencer of Boar’s Head Tavern has done the right thing and declared a ban on interaction with theological thugs who prowl the Internet. I commend him for it. Having had just a taste of the treatment one suffers at the hands of such, I applaud Michael for his decision.
Link: Boar’s Head Tavern: Goodbye Cruel (TR) World: Out of the Kitchen and Onto The Back Porch.
Shying Away from Jesus
This is something for us all to be aware of. Military chaplains are being “counseled” to shy away from praying in the name of Jesus.
Woops
I want to know if anyone on the plane yelled out, “Do not lay hands on God’s annointed!”
Link: Wife of Joel Osteen Asked to Leave Plane – Yahoo! News.
Duct Tape
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, and a dark side. It binds everything in the universe together.
– a bumper sticker I saw recently
Comments Are Open
I’ve been encouraged to open up comments on my posts. My reason for not opening comments has been twofold: First, I do not have time to moderate them carefully before they are posted. Second, there are those who might try to take advantage of the commenting option for nefarious purposes. But those concerns notwithstanding many have asked for the ability to comment.
Please let me explain several “ground rules” for commenting. First, I will not respond to comments or questions posted in comments. If you want to direct a question to me, please send me an e-mail. Second, I will immediately ban anyone using vulgarity. Third, I will not allow this blog site to become a forum on political issues in my church. Fourth, comments should deal with the issue of the blog post. Off-topic remarks are subject to deletion and continuing to post off-topc remarks will result in banning.
Please understand that I will not hesitate to ban those who will not conform to standards of common decency, courtesy and Christian charity. So, with those provisos in mind, feel free to offer comments.
Mental Reservation
This is a big story….one of the top officials in the Vatican is going to be on the hot-seat to explain how, or if, he applied the Roman doctrine of “mental reservation” when answering questions in earlier child molestation cases against Roman priests. This is going to be interesting.
A Sane Voice in What Seemed a Pretty Wacky Calvinist Reformed World
I’ve just made a new Blogosphre friend, Michael Spencer, of both Internet Monk and the Boar’s Head Tavern. He helped me understand that Dispensationalist Fundamentalist so-called “Reformed Baptists” attack-dogs like James White and others like him do not represent Reformed theology or Calvinism. I find this a relief, to say the least. Here is what Michael had to say over at Boar’s Head Tavern about my post on Calvinism.
Link: Boar’s Head Tavern.
Paul McCain on Calvinism
Paul McCain- Lutheran Blogger and recently in a fracas with Hays and White- posts his concerns with Calvinism: The Calvinist doesn’t have Jesus at the center of his “system.” It’s a serious charge.
While I wouldn’t write Paul’s essay exactly as he has, I think no one will be surprised that I sympathize with much of what Paul is saying and feeling, and it is part of why I no longer call myself a Calvinist. There is an issue here- an issue that even my Calvinistic friends in the BHT have to deal with. How many footnotes have to be inserted in our “Calvinism” to keep Jesus Christ- rather than some theological point in the mysterious nature of God- as the center point of our faith? If you choose to live in the “house of Calvinism” these days, how much time do you have to spend explaining that you aren’t like the people burning heretics in the back yard?
It’s a particularly good point to be made as we approach Christmas. I call myself a Christian Humanist because I meet God not in a theology text’s discussion of the attributes of the Divine Being, but in the point-in-time, historical, human person of divine infant in Bethlehem, fulfiller of all God’s promises made in God’s auto-biographical story of Israel and revealer of the God who is wholly other. Nothing is more admirable about Luther than his commitment to the quest to make Christianity a meditation on Christ Incarnate, Christ Crucified and Christ Reigning.
In my opinion, what McCain has experienced and read in some quarters of the Reformed blogosphere is the outworking of theological hubris that puts the theology of the adherent in far too prominent a place. It runs the constant danger of not being a confession of simple faith in Christ alone. In some versions, it seems to be the gospel of presenting a commitment to a system, some of which goes beyond the “revealed God” of the incarnation to the “mysterious counsels of God” deduced by the theologian’s ruminations.
What I would say to McCain is that his experience of internet Calvinism can be very deceptive. The Barney Fife’s make a lot of noise while they are nipping everything in the bud. The Tim Keller’s and the Michael Horton’s don’t spend their time gutting bloggers for trophy. When you calmly survey the entire reformed web, and don’t give too much place to the camp that sees dispensational independent Baptist fundamentalism as the only proper heirs to Reformed Theology, you will see a more balanced- and Christ centered- picture.
Internet Calvinists themselves know this. The lines in the PCA are clearly there to see, as well as many other places. Many Calvinists (see Founders.org for instance) are warmly Christ-centered, and put theology in its proper, helpful, but not central, place in the Church’s life.
Personal Trivia
I’ve been “tagged” by a friend of mine to divulge things people may not know about me and then to answer several other questions. Well, here goes:
1) I earned money for college working summers as a photographer for the U.S. Navy at N.A.S. Pensacola for the Naval Air Rework Facility that was there. I was a photographer for the Public Affairs Office and had the run of the navy base in a cool electric cart. Talk about your dream job during summers in college. [My secret dream was to be a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy or an Egyptologist].
2) I attended a Roman Catholic High School and won “best religion student” my junior and senior year. I was told it was the only time a Lutheran won “best religion student,” let alone twice.
3) I worked as a member of a land surveying crew during summers in High School. Lots of outdoor work. Hard work. Hot work. But very satisfying.
4) I spent many summers as a kid puttering around the Bayou down the street from my home in Pensacola, Florida, in a very small boat with a 2.5 horsepower motor. I fished nearly every morning from 6:00 to 10:00 but don’t remember catching much worth frying.
5) Given the fact that I’m a fairly “bookish” person [geek, nerd] it was shocking to me and many others that I married a very athletic and talented high school and university cheerleader, and was married before my senior year in college! She’s the greatest human being on the face of the planet as far as I’m concerned. We have three great children. She does all our home repair. In fact, as I type this, she is fixing our garbage disposal. I have no more mechanical ability than one of our hamsters.
6) My children are all very gifted musically. Son #1 plays trumpet very well and won state honors; Son #2 plays violin wonderfully; Daughter [only] is an accomplished piano player. I took piano for two years. I love music. But I don’t know where they get all this musical talent.
FOUR JOBS YOU’VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE
Dishwasher
Member of a surveying crew
Janitor
Photographer
FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN
Luther
Lord of the Rings
The Right Stuff
Pirates of the Caribbean
CITIES/TOWNS YOU HAVE LIVED IN
Pensacola, Florida
Chicago, Illinois
Defiance, Ohio
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Waverly, Iowa
Saint Louis, Missouri
FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH
Iron Chef
Law and Order
History Channel
COPS
FOUR PLACES YOU’VE BEEN ON “VACATION”
Northern Ontario, Canada
Grand Tetons, Wyoming
Bahamas
Golf resort in Northern Minnesota
FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY
MyYahoo
Bloglines
Drudge Report
Google News
FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS/BEVERAGES
Medium Rare beef — Prime grade — any kind
My mom’s fried chicken
My mother-in-law’s rice dish
My wife’s turkey stuffing
FOUR PLACES YOU’D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
I’m in my favorite place right now — at home in front of the fire with family.