After being rebuked for starting a blog and never posting, I wanted to
write a quick post.... a teaser if you will.
This weekend, I drove to San Francisco w/ 13 of my nearest and dearest in
Holladay Baptist Church's van (which seats 15). Just hop on I-80 and
you're there (in 11-14 hrs depending on stops & traffic in CA). We went
for Golden Gate Theological Seminary's Missions Conference. The theme was
spiritual warfare on missions.... and there was a seminar on demonic
posession amongst other interesting topics... made all the more
interesting by the fact that this was an SBC (southern baptist convention)
conference. My wife was hanging out in NYC w/ her mom, sister, and
aunt.....she was supposed to go for a med school interview, but as it has
been determined that we are off to Houston, and she already had bought
tickets... they all went and had a good time....w/o me.... I've never been
to NYC.
Meanwhile, back at Wayne Manor:
Interestingly enough, most of the seminars were by people who had nothing
to do with the seminary. The seminary is located in Marin County, just
north on 101 from the Golden Gate Bridge... and it was very green and
lush. I shacked up with Erin's brother Josh for the weekend.....his wife
will despise him, as Josh worked on perfecting his boxing out techniques
whilst he was asleep....
The guys successfully sabotaged the girls through a variety of cloak and
dagger-esque manuevers including the use of (but not limited to): pillows
(bed and couch), couch cushions, 1 bucket o' water, 3 half-naked men, and
mild hallucinations of llamas.
I don't have time to get into my thoughts on the conference just yet.....
So I'll post a question - the subject of my next post and you can leave
your thoughts:
If someone asked you - What's God doing in your part of the world....
What would you say?
grace and peace
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
No Stairaway? Denied....
So this is what's on my mind lately......
After going through Ryle's Holiness I've found myself getting really frustrated....like really frustrated w/ the church and myself.
Our world is swamped with relativistic notions.... and in a christian worldview, we say that's incorrect, that truth is absolute.... yada yada yada.
Yet somehow, once we get inside modern christendom, I think it becomes apparent that everything becomes relative once again..... instead of truth being relative for the pursuit of self-serving ends, we now have truths that are relative for perceived God-honoring ends.
For example:
We don't want to "argue" over doctrine, let's just embrace the things we all accept, and the Holy Spirit will sort us out.....
This kind of unwillingness to think and search out truths drives me nuts, and I have to constantly remind myself of my own woeful condition, just to right my sinking vessel of pride and indifference.
As I was reading Ryle, and sharing with the brothers at men's group, it became clear that a biblical view of justification is an absolute necessity to pursue biblical holiness..... what a stumbling block our flesh is already, and to try and wage war on sin and live for the kingdom, what an almost hopeless situation to go into when not equipped with the sword of the Spirit. Rather, most christians I fear run headlong into battle equipped with the dull pacifier of emotion. After all, it's served as a worthy crutch to get through so many other situations.
Where is the assurance and confidence that Paul exudes to be found in a person who has an improper understanding of justification by faith alone?
This has really burdened me lately. How does the church tackle this? How should we communicate to the self-help church that has the ear of the masses and encourage them to speak forth truths that cut us to the quick rather than pander to an audience for the sake of numbers & "opportunities" which will materialize at a time to be named later.
Do you see what I'm saying? Why is it that if a man kills another man in the heat of battle it's called heroic, but if that same man kills another man in the heat of passion... it's called murder....
Sorry....
Why is that truth is not relative outside of the context of christianity, but once inside, we're willing to say that almost everything is subjective..... and what's more we're OK with that.....
Well I'm new at this whole blogging thing, but I needed to get that off my chest, so I'm sorry if it's incoherent....
peace out.
After going through Ryle's Holiness I've found myself getting really frustrated....like really frustrated w/ the church and myself.
Our world is swamped with relativistic notions.... and in a christian worldview, we say that's incorrect, that truth is absolute.... yada yada yada.
Yet somehow, once we get inside modern christendom, I think it becomes apparent that everything becomes relative once again..... instead of truth being relative for the pursuit of self-serving ends, we now have truths that are relative for perceived God-honoring ends.
For example:
We don't want to "argue" over doctrine, let's just embrace the things we all accept, and the Holy Spirit will sort us out.....
This kind of unwillingness to think and search out truths drives me nuts, and I have to constantly remind myself of my own woeful condition, just to right my sinking vessel of pride and indifference.
As I was reading Ryle, and sharing with the brothers at men's group, it became clear that a biblical view of justification is an absolute necessity to pursue biblical holiness..... what a stumbling block our flesh is already, and to try and wage war on sin and live for the kingdom, what an almost hopeless situation to go into when not equipped with the sword of the Spirit. Rather, most christians I fear run headlong into battle equipped with the dull pacifier of emotion. After all, it's served as a worthy crutch to get through so many other situations.
Where is the assurance and confidence that Paul exudes to be found in a person who has an improper understanding of justification by faith alone?
This has really burdened me lately. How does the church tackle this? How should we communicate to the self-help church that has the ear of the masses and encourage them to speak forth truths that cut us to the quick rather than pander to an audience for the sake of numbers & "opportunities" which will materialize at a time to be named later.
Do you see what I'm saying? Why is it that if a man kills another man in the heat of battle it's called heroic, but if that same man kills another man in the heat of passion... it's called murder....
Sorry....
Why is that truth is not relative outside of the context of christianity, but once inside, we're willing to say that almost everything is subjective..... and what's more we're OK with that.....
Well I'm new at this whole blogging thing, but I needed to get that off my chest, so I'm sorry if it's incoherent....
peace out.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
First Real Post
My Manifesto:
Welcome to the blog of myself, Jake and my wife Erin.
She may post by the end of the millenia.
I've long wanted to get my blog on, but have been sidetracked by other things and general laziness.
Here's a little glimpse into my life:
Married: jan 3rd, 2004
I hope you enjoyed that glimpse.
My favorite sport is soccer (both to play and to watch).
I love the Denver Broncos, and the Univ. of Utah Utes.
Right now I'm reading:
The Mortification of Sin - Owen
This is the book we're going through for Men's Group at the Univ. of Utah
The Imitation of Christ - A-kempis
I'm starting this book for some accountability and dialog with my boy (and colaborer at ChevronTexaco) Paul.
Under the Banner of Heaven
This comes highly recommended by E-Pac
The Bible, Holy - The Triune God: editor in Chief
I'm trying to focus on bulk memorization - Erin and I are reading Genesis, and I'm kind of all over in personal study.
What I'm listening to:
With the occasional 80's rock mixed in, I'm generally listening to Derek Webb....that's pretty much it. I brake for ska, jazz, and GNR.
What I'm watching:
Erin and I have developed a mild obsession w/ Smallville.......
Friends online:
The blogs that I visit w/ some frequency:
www.firstfloorflat.com
This is the blog of my main squeeze: Jonathan Hays and his wife Sarah.
Jonathan is one of my best friends in the world (He lives in Scotland, so it's an appropriate expression). When Jonathan was in the SLC, it's safe to say that I've not had more continuous fun in my life - we have a really open relationship, and I appreciate his ability to be real with me about the roots of our mutual depravity. Sarah was one of my first friends at Salt Company and Jonathan and I were sharing a bed together at Glorietta (w/ Goldberg watching O'er us) the week Christ took over my life.
www.ginodean.net
You'll never meet a more genuinely nice guy (or shameless self-promoter) than the Bowlcut. Chris is also recently married (to Becky - who dances upon injustice for a living) and is a performer/promoter - he got Jars of Clay to play at our coffeehouse so you know he's got game.
If I were to sell advertising space on my forehead, ginodean.net is really the only cause I would consider worthy.
Yeah, that's it. I read James White's blog also: www.aomin.org
More to come.....stay tuned.
grace and peace
Welcome to the blog of myself, Jake and my wife Erin.
She may post by the end of the millenia.
I've long wanted to get my blog on, but have been sidetracked by other things and general laziness.
Here's a little glimpse into my life:
Married: jan 3rd, 2004
I hope you enjoyed that glimpse.
My favorite sport is soccer (both to play and to watch).
I love the Denver Broncos, and the Univ. of Utah Utes.
Right now I'm reading:
The Mortification of Sin - Owen
This is the book we're going through for Men's Group at the Univ. of Utah
The Imitation of Christ - A-kempis
I'm starting this book for some accountability and dialog with my boy (and colaborer at ChevronTexaco) Paul.
Under the Banner of Heaven
This comes highly recommended by E-Pac
The Bible, Holy - The Triune God: editor in Chief
I'm trying to focus on bulk memorization - Erin and I are reading Genesis, and I'm kind of all over in personal study.
What I'm listening to:
With the occasional 80's rock mixed in, I'm generally listening to Derek Webb....that's pretty much it. I brake for ska, jazz, and GNR.
What I'm watching:
Erin and I have developed a mild obsession w/ Smallville.......
Friends online:
The blogs that I visit w/ some frequency:
www.firstfloorflat.com
This is the blog of my main squeeze: Jonathan Hays and his wife Sarah.
Jonathan is one of my best friends in the world (He lives in Scotland, so it's an appropriate expression). When Jonathan was in the SLC, it's safe to say that I've not had more continuous fun in my life - we have a really open relationship, and I appreciate his ability to be real with me about the roots of our mutual depravity. Sarah was one of my first friends at Salt Company and Jonathan and I were sharing a bed together at Glorietta (w/ Goldberg watching O'er us) the week Christ took over my life.
www.ginodean.net
You'll never meet a more genuinely nice guy (or shameless self-promoter) than the Bowlcut. Chris is also recently married (to Becky - who dances upon injustice for a living) and is a performer/promoter - he got Jars of Clay to play at our coffeehouse so you know he's got game.
If I were to sell advertising space on my forehead, ginodean.net is really the only cause I would consider worthy.
Yeah, that's it. I read James White's blog also: www.aomin.org
More to come.....stay tuned.
grace and peace
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