When I visited my home church over the weekend I was surprised to find out how "Reformed" this church has gotten. The John Piper video was a dead give away.
Anyways, in case people from my home church find their way to my blog, here is a helpful explanation of Orthodoxy written specifically to Anglicans, Lutherans, and Reformed Christians:
http://www.tserkovnost.org/reformation/index.html
Hopefully that will answer some of the questions of my Protestant friends.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Churchlands
This semester I am taking a dreaded class in the Philosophy department at SEMO: Mind, Meaning and Value. It is a course that explores current neuroscience which basically reduces all of our human-ness to brain activity, doing with away with any dualistic concept of some non-physical entity which drives the body and which could, possibly, survive death.
First of all, it should be stated that setting parameters that only observable (i.e. physical) evidence should be used would end in a thoroughly materialist conclusion. What else could they come up with? It is interesting, however, that contemporary physicists and astronomers can postuate the existence of undetectable objects, dark matter, and alternate universes without an apparent contradiction with the tenets of science.
Also, as I hear often that Orthodoxy is less dualist or even not dualist at all, I wonder how the Orthodox Church would view it if science reduced humanity to brain patterns, chemicals, and electric charges.
Any ideas? Please comment.
First of all, it should be stated that setting parameters that only observable (i.e. physical) evidence should be used would end in a thoroughly materialist conclusion. What else could they come up with? It is interesting, however, that contemporary physicists and astronomers can postuate the existence of undetectable objects, dark matter, and alternate universes without an apparent contradiction with the tenets of science.
Also, as I hear often that Orthodoxy is less dualist or even not dualist at all, I wonder how the Orthodox Church would view it if science reduced humanity to brain patterns, chemicals, and electric charges.
Any ideas? Please comment.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Eric, Wade and me at the reunion.
We all went to Gull Lake Bible Camp together the summer after our senior year. Sweet!
Almost every time I go to Michigan I have to visit Georgio's in East Lansing, which is the home of the best pizza in the world!
Michigan in August
This past weekend we made a trip to Michigan for my 10th class reunion. What a trip! First of all, it is just over nine hours of driving to get to my mom's house, so we drove almost a day to spend just a day and a half there. Oh well.
The reunion was lots of fun. One friend in particular was thrilled that my family and I are converting to Orthodoxy.
Another friend offered to put me on the prayer list at her church. Hehehe.
I'll post a few pictures fromt the reunion and trip soon.
Craziest reunion moment: a girl who I was fairly good friends with in high school, but lost touch with within a few years after high school walked up to me and said, "you look so familiar..." I stuck my hand out and said, "I'm Levi Hadley." She said, "Oh, no you're not!" and gave me a big hug. Man, see if I ever gain a 80 pounds in 10 years again. Gosh.
I spent a lot of the time at the reunion either drinking beer with Eric or explaining to my Protestant friends why I no longer consider myself Protestant. The offer to put me on the prayer list resulted from both, I believe. The funny thing is, she still goes to the church we grew up in.
So, if anyone from the reunion is checking in to see why the heck I am turning Eastern Orthodox, read it all. If you need some more info, I recommend checking out Our Life in Christ, which is an internet radio show which is done by two Protestant Evangelical converts to Orthodoxy and gives an apologetic for the things that we do in a non-confrontational kind of way.
I'll probably have to post some more this week as I think more about this weekend's trip.
Blessings.
The reunion was lots of fun. One friend in particular was thrilled that my family and I are converting to Orthodoxy.
Another friend offered to put me on the prayer list at her church. Hehehe.
I'll post a few pictures fromt the reunion and trip soon.
Craziest reunion moment: a girl who I was fairly good friends with in high school, but lost touch with within a few years after high school walked up to me and said, "you look so familiar..." I stuck my hand out and said, "I'm Levi Hadley." She said, "Oh, no you're not!" and gave me a big hug. Man, see if I ever gain a 80 pounds in 10 years again. Gosh.
I spent a lot of the time at the reunion either drinking beer with Eric or explaining to my Protestant friends why I no longer consider myself Protestant. The offer to put me on the prayer list resulted from both, I believe. The funny thing is, she still goes to the church we grew up in.
So, if anyone from the reunion is checking in to see why the heck I am turning Eastern Orthodox, read it all. If you need some more info, I recommend checking out Our Life in Christ, which is an internet radio show which is done by two Protestant Evangelical converts to Orthodoxy and gives an apologetic for the things that we do in a non-confrontational kind of way.
I'll probably have to post some more this week as I think more about this weekend's trip.
Blessings.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Weekend
Did I mention that last weekend (7/22) Amy and I went to see one of the final performance of the National Company of Les Miserables? Now, I'm not exactly a big fan of the musicals. I get really distracted by the way they keep breaking into song. Couldn't we do something about that?
Anyways, the show was amazing. And almost as amazing was the Fox Theatre in St. Louis,
where we saw it. Unfortunately, they don't allow any pictures to be taken in the theatre. None at all. So, we didn't even get a picture of us all dressed up for the show. Unfortunate. We were stunning. Especially my wife.
So, this week was a long one of lots of hours spent at the package center.
Today we're taking the kids camping, hopefully at the state park about 25 minutes from here. This will be our first attempt at camping as a family. In fact, even though Amy and I both loved camping growing up, we haven't ever camped as a family. We bought some new camping gear yesterday- hopefully we will camp more now.
Anyways, the show was amazing. And almost as amazing was the Fox Theatre in St. Louis,
where we saw it. Unfortunately, they don't allow any pictures to be taken in the theatre. None at all. So, we didn't even get a picture of us all dressed up for the show. Unfortunate. We were stunning. Especially my wife.
So, this week was a long one of lots of hours spent at the package center.
Today we're taking the kids camping, hopefully at the state park about 25 minutes from here. This will be our first attempt at camping as a family. In fact, even though Amy and I both loved camping growing up, we haven't ever camped as a family. We bought some new camping gear yesterday- hopefully we will camp more now.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Israel-Lebanon Pt. 3
John, your comments have been well-thought out and genuinely challenging, so I thought I would copy and paste yesterday's in a post and respond to you line by line (or paragraph.)
Yes, Israel is attacking Lebanon, who has a military that is unwilling or unable to contain Hezbollah. Hezbollah initiated this recent round with the firing of rockets and kidnapping of Israeli soldiers.
I understand why the war started. I understand that Hezbollah instigated it. However, if Israel is destroying the infrastructure in Lebanon, doesn't that lessen the Lebanese Army's ability to contain or disarm the Hezbollah militia? This makes absolutely no sense.
In war, innocent people suffer. If we used the logic that we have to make sure no innocent people get bombed or killed, Hitler would have won World War II. The nature of war is that innocent people will die.
Yes, in war innocent people die, which is why when war must be waged it must be contained within standards of decency to keep the number of civilian deaths to an absolute minimum.
The problem is Hezbollah blends into the local population - and the local population seems to let them. They are doing everything they can to win and they are using the local population as their shield.
There is no way that Hezbollah's blending into the local population is the local population's fault! How could they be blamed for submitting to Hezbollah for fear of their lives?
Israel has to get to them one way or another. So if you want to blame anyone, blame Hezbollah who has vowed the destruction of Israel.
Hezbollah may have vowed the destruction of Israel, but the damage to Lebanon is disproportionate to the amount of damage to Israel. Also, thanks to US military support, Israel definitely has the power to remove Lebanon from the planet. Hezbollah does not have comparable power.
I am definitely Zionist in my leanings. In essence I am not going to stand in the way of God's covenant with Israel and I take very seriously the word of God which was to Abraham, I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you.
Yes, I understand biblical prophecy, and all that. I hope you're not one of those who sees letting Israel attack its neighbors as a way to bring about the end times.
The truth is, from the very first centuries of the Church, the Apostles and Fathers have seen the Church as the rightful children of Abraham. Children by faith and not by circumcision. In Lebanon there are many many Orthodox Christians who are being attacked in this current conflict, in fact an Orthodox Christian monastery was destroyed (perhaps their having a dome was their fault for looking like a mosque). Siding with Israel (God's people) in deliberately targeting innocent Lebanese Christians (God's people) or Muslims is a betrayal of the values which Christ expressed in His life and ministry.
Yes, nations have a right to defend themselves and their people against attacks. What concerns me is the western world's silence in the presence of what is obviously an overly aggressive display of force on Israel's part.
And, you're right, I don't know what Israel can do. They, of course, sustaining more damage from Hezbollah now than before the starting bombing Lebanon. And now they've ensured that Hezbollah will have no shortage of recruits for years to come. How does that acheive the goals of peaceful coexistence in the region?
But then, Israel's (and American Ziongelicals') goal isn't peaceful coexistence, is it? It's the eradication of all the Arab people within the boundaries of the Promised Land. And that's why the world should stand up and prevent the Israeli military from attacking Lebanon.
Yes, Israel is attacking Lebanon, who has a military that is unwilling or unable to contain Hezbollah. Hezbollah initiated this recent round with the firing of rockets and kidnapping of Israeli soldiers.
I understand why the war started. I understand that Hezbollah instigated it. However, if Israel is destroying the infrastructure in Lebanon, doesn't that lessen the Lebanese Army's ability to contain or disarm the Hezbollah militia? This makes absolutely no sense.
In war, innocent people suffer. If we used the logic that we have to make sure no innocent people get bombed or killed, Hitler would have won World War II. The nature of war is that innocent people will die.
Yes, in war innocent people die, which is why when war must be waged it must be contained within standards of decency to keep the number of civilian deaths to an absolute minimum.
The problem is Hezbollah blends into the local population - and the local population seems to let them. They are doing everything they can to win and they are using the local population as their shield.
There is no way that Hezbollah's blending into the local population is the local population's fault! How could they be blamed for submitting to Hezbollah for fear of their lives?
Israel has to get to them one way or another. So if you want to blame anyone, blame Hezbollah who has vowed the destruction of Israel.
Hezbollah may have vowed the destruction of Israel, but the damage to Lebanon is disproportionate to the amount of damage to Israel. Also, thanks to US military support, Israel definitely has the power to remove Lebanon from the planet. Hezbollah does not have comparable power.
I am definitely Zionist in my leanings. In essence I am not going to stand in the way of God's covenant with Israel and I take very seriously the word of God which was to Abraham, I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you.
Yes, I understand biblical prophecy, and all that. I hope you're not one of those who sees letting Israel attack its neighbors as a way to bring about the end times.
The truth is, from the very first centuries of the Church, the Apostles and Fathers have seen the Church as the rightful children of Abraham. Children by faith and not by circumcision. In Lebanon there are many many Orthodox Christians who are being attacked in this current conflict, in fact an Orthodox Christian monastery was destroyed (perhaps their having a dome was their fault for looking like a mosque). Siding with Israel (God's people) in deliberately targeting innocent Lebanese Christians (God's people) or Muslims is a betrayal of the values which Christ expressed in His life and ministry.
Yes, nations have a right to defend themselves and their people against attacks. What concerns me is the western world's silence in the presence of what is obviously an overly aggressive display of force on Israel's part.
And, you're right, I don't know what Israel can do. They, of course, sustaining more damage from Hezbollah now than before the starting bombing Lebanon. And now they've ensured that Hezbollah will have no shortage of recruits for years to come. How does that acheive the goals of peaceful coexistence in the region?
But then, Israel's (and American Ziongelicals') goal isn't peaceful coexistence, is it? It's the eradication of all the Arab people within the boundaries of the Promised Land. And that's why the world should stand up and prevent the Israeli military from attacking Lebanon.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Statement by the Antiochians
Mind you, I attend an OCA parish, however the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America has published a statement on the current Israel-Lebanon war, which I can heartily agree with.
Appeal For Intervention In the Middle East
It is a worthy statement, even if it might overstate the number of Antiochian faithful in North America.
Lord, have mercy on us all.
Appeal For Intervention In the Middle East
It is a worthy statement, even if it might overstate the number of Antiochian faithful in North America.
Lord, have mercy on us all.
Israel-Lebanon Pt. 2
In answer to a well-thought, if a bit extremist in his zionist leanings, comment from John Lunt:
Yes, God is the God of Israel. Sure, I'll give you that. However, many of the civilians being killed and maimed in Lebanon are Christians, those who have received the Jewish Messiah.
Any Covenant God has with Israel does not negate their responsibility to behave in the international arena in a way which recognizes standards of war and the Geneva Conventions.
Are we to assume that because God has a covenant with Israel guaranteeing them the whole of the majority of the Middle Eastern world, that we (the U.S. or Western Christians) should support them in military efforts against their neighbors?
Yes, Israel has endured a lot of terrorist attacks against innocent civilians. However, to decry the wrongness of those attacks and avenge through more attacks against innocent civilians is not only irrational, it undermines the moral highground the victim nation could be said to have had in the first place.
Israel's problem is not with the elected government or the civilians of Lebanon. It is with Hezbollah.
It's interesting that you used the example of "what if Canadians were shooting rockets into US cities? Wouldn't we retaliate?" Under the current administration, that's exactly what we'd do.
However, if we were to use the full force of our military (the world's largest) against the whole of Canada for the acts of a terrorist group, the world would be outraged and rightly so.
Israel, with one of the world's largest and most advanced militaries (thanks to the US) is currently attacking a nation whose military power totals to all of 35,000 infantry.
In the current conflict, 10 times as many Lebanese civilians have died as Israeli.
The fact is, the best definition of terrorism is any deliberate act of violence (state-sponsored or otherwise) against innocent civilian bystanders in or out of a time of war. If the aggressor nation was any but Israel, the western world would be outraged. Apparently, terrorism is acceptable when it is the tool of American foreign policy in the Middle East.
Forgive me. May God forgive us both.
Yes, God is the God of Israel. Sure, I'll give you that. However, many of the civilians being killed and maimed in Lebanon are Christians, those who have received the Jewish Messiah.
Any Covenant God has with Israel does not negate their responsibility to behave in the international arena in a way which recognizes standards of war and the Geneva Conventions.
Are we to assume that because God has a covenant with Israel guaranteeing them the whole of the majority of the Middle Eastern world, that we (the U.S. or Western Christians) should support them in military efforts against their neighbors?
Yes, Israel has endured a lot of terrorist attacks against innocent civilians. However, to decry the wrongness of those attacks and avenge through more attacks against innocent civilians is not only irrational, it undermines the moral highground the victim nation could be said to have had in the first place.
Israel's problem is not with the elected government or the civilians of Lebanon. It is with Hezbollah.
It's interesting that you used the example of "what if Canadians were shooting rockets into US cities? Wouldn't we retaliate?" Under the current administration, that's exactly what we'd do.
However, if we were to use the full force of our military (the world's largest) against the whole of Canada for the acts of a terrorist group, the world would be outraged and rightly so.
Israel, with one of the world's largest and most advanced militaries (thanks to the US) is currently attacking a nation whose military power totals to all of 35,000 infantry.
In the current conflict, 10 times as many Lebanese civilians have died as Israeli.
The fact is, the best definition of terrorism is any deliberate act of violence (state-sponsored or otherwise) against innocent civilian bystanders in or out of a time of war. If the aggressor nation was any but Israel, the western world would be outraged. Apparently, terrorism is acceptable when it is the tool of American foreign policy in the Middle East.
Forgive me. May God forgive us both.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Israel-Lebanon
Okay, so I'll admit. I'm pissed about Israel's attack of Lebanon in retribution for the actions of a terrorist group. Their argument is with Hezbollah, not the government of Lebanon and certainly not the innocent civilians of Lebanon.
Lord, have mercy.
Meanwhile, the American government is refusing to push for a ceasefire. How many civilians do the Israelis need to kill before a ceasefire is necessary? Is state-sponsored terrorism somehow justified in their 'war-on-terror' foreign relations agenda?
Here's a link to a site with pictures of the damage in Lebanon and a petition. Warning: these are real pictures of war. Some images will be disturbing.
God the Father of orphans and Caretaker of widows, protect these innocent ones from the acts of an aggressive nation, and the inattentiveness of an apathetic world.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Meanwhile, the American government is refusing to push for a ceasefire. How many civilians do the Israelis need to kill before a ceasefire is necessary? Is state-sponsored terrorism somehow justified in their 'war-on-terror' foreign relations agenda?
Here's a link to a site with pictures of the damage in Lebanon and a petition. Warning: these are real pictures of war. Some images will be disturbing.
God the Father of orphans and Caretaker of widows, protect these innocent ones from the acts of an aggressive nation, and the inattentiveness of an apathetic world.
Lord, have mercy.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
War
I'm concerned with the current situation in Israel. I don't know about the prudence of attacking a nation in retaliation for the acts of a terrorist organization. Of course, I'm not in the position of making such important decisions.
May God protect the innocents in this current conflict. Lord, have mercy.
May God protect the innocents in this current conflict. Lord, have mercy.
Friday, July 14, 2006
One month since my last post
Well, I have been a busy guy, and my blog has suffered for it.
What have I been doing? Let's see, I have gone to Young Life camp in Michigan, bought a car, started catechism at Nativity of the Virgin Mary Church and worked a lot at UPS.
Other than that, not a whole lot. I guess I've read some.
Timberwolf Lake was awesome. It was a little sad, as it was most likely my last ever YL camp trip, as this fall I will be too busy in the evenings to be involved in Young Life.
I had a great time. Our cabin of guys were some of the nicest and most open guys with whom I have ever shared a week of camp. Plus, it didn't hurt that the camp was in Michigan (my home state and the most beautiful in the 50).
We finally bought our new car. It's very nice. I'm glad we waited and waited and waited for it. (We borrowed someone's minivan for over a month!) Anyways, it's a fairly low mileage car, so it should be nice and dependable for the next few years.
Saturday we had our first meeting with Fr. Tom. It was great, and to top it off he is hilarious. I never heard more funny stories in all my life. It was especially funny to hear his stories from his days at St. Vlad's- his impersonation of Fr. Alexander Schmemann is really funny. All in all, Amy and I are excited to be moving forward in our journey to the true ancient Christian faith.
Work has been pretty good. It has rained a lot lately, so the mosquitoes are really bad at the center. I hope I don't get West Nile Virus or something worse. That would be bad.
Reading? Lately, I'm re-reading Fr. Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World, which is a great introduction to the integrated worldview of Orthodoxy. Very meaty read. Also, I got the new Again issue on Orthodox Unity in North America. It has articles highlighting the situation here in North America where there exist 15 canonical jurisdictions, instead of one united Orthodox Church of North America. The authors were hopeful that restoring Orthodoxy to its united state here in North America (which it was prior to the Bolshevik revolution in the 19-teens) would assist in efforts to evangelize the continent.
Mostly, I have been adjusting to my new job and figuring how to spend time with my family, so blogging has been a ways down on my to-do list. No apologies for that.
I included lots of links, so everyone who reads here can follow them and find out more what's going on in my life. Check out MY myspace.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Doing it for the kids
Well, I got a job at UPS. I'm not actually loading trucks like I thought I would be. I'm in some sort of manager/supervisor role.
The pluses are:
Good pay
Good benefits
Part time hours
So, I'll be able to keep this job in the fall when classes start again. It'll be really nice to have a decent paying job now and the insurance won't hurt either.
I'll be working every evening (Mon-Fri) at the package center supervising and doing paperwork-type tasks. Not too hard.
Along with this change, I have decided I will have to totally step out of Young Life involvement. Obviously, if I'm going to be working every evening Mon-Fri I won't have time to be at Young Life club. So, I will go to camp in a couple of weeks and then that's it for me, as far Young Life goes.
This weekend we rented a car (since we still haven't bought another one) and spent the weekend in St. Louis. Saturday we went to the zoo in Forest Park (it's huge, spectacular, and free!) Then, Sunday we went to Liturgy at Nativity of the Virgin Mary, which I guess has become our church home over the past few months. I talked to Fr. Tom about finally starting catechism. He said, "Good," like he's been waiting a while for us to ask about it again.
Amy and I have been talking and we're ready to start preparing to be received into the Church. It's pretty exciting, but since we'll only be able to go up every other week, our catechumenate may last a really long time.
Well, that's about all that's going on.
The pluses are:
Good pay
Good benefits
Part time hours
So, I'll be able to keep this job in the fall when classes start again. It'll be really nice to have a decent paying job now and the insurance won't hurt either.
I'll be working every evening (Mon-Fri) at the package center supervising and doing paperwork-type tasks. Not too hard.
Along with this change, I have decided I will have to totally step out of Young Life involvement. Obviously, if I'm going to be working every evening Mon-Fri I won't have time to be at Young Life club. So, I will go to camp in a couple of weeks and then that's it for me, as far Young Life goes.
This weekend we rented a car (since we still haven't bought another one) and spent the weekend in St. Louis. Saturday we went to the zoo in Forest Park (it's huge, spectacular, and free!) Then, Sunday we went to Liturgy at Nativity of the Virgin Mary, which I guess has become our church home over the past few months. I talked to Fr. Tom about finally starting catechism. He said, "Good," like he's been waiting a while for us to ask about it again.
Amy and I have been talking and we're ready to start preparing to be received into the Church. It's pretty exciting, but since we'll only be able to go up every other week, our catechumenate may last a really long time.
Well, that's about all that's going on.
Friday, May 19, 2006
A Job
Yesterday morning someone from the church next door called me to let us borrow a car for a while. What a blessing!
The wheel did NOT fall off this one.
Then, in the afternoon I was relaxing at the house watching the Geisha movie with my wife when I got a call for an interview with UPS.
I wasn't offered a position yet, but if I get that job, it would be nice. $9/hr. Part time. Benefits. How many part time jobs do you find with benefits? The part time-ness is key because that means I can keep the job come fall time when it's time to go back to class. And that will be nice. And then when I graduate if we're seriously going to move back to Nebraska I probably can transfer and get a pretty good job with UPs in Kearney. Sounds awesome. Please pray that I would get that job or find a different, better one.
The wheel did NOT fall off this one.
Then, in the afternoon I was relaxing at the house watching the Geisha movie with my wife when I got a call for an interview with UPS.
I wasn't offered a position yet, but if I get that job, it would be nice. $9/hr. Part time. Benefits. How many part time jobs do you find with benefits? The part time-ness is key because that means I can keep the job come fall time when it's time to go back to class. And that will be nice. And then when I graduate if we're seriously going to move back to Nebraska I probably can transfer and get a pretty good job with UPs in Kearney. Sounds awesome. Please pray that I would get that job or find a different, better one.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Unbelieveable
Consider this an addendum to this morning's short post.
So, yesterday we started borrowing Young Life's car- a 1987 Mercury Marquis wagon. It's not pretty, but it was a relief to our lack of transportation in a town where public transportation is unheard of and pedestrians are discouraged. We went around a bit so I could look into some jobs and apply at some places. At one point we were driving this behemoth wagon grocery-getter on the interstate at 70 mph. After all that driving we were returning to our house and had slowed down for a light and all of a sudden, boom!, like the back end had busted and the rear end of the wagon bounced off the highway (the busiest four-lane blvd in Jackson). While we're sitting there wondering what the heck happened people are driving by waving, saying, "you should get your kids out of there" and "dude, your car's on fire!" Needless to say, we promptly removed the kids and their carseats down onto the lawn of the business in front of which we were parked.
I looked at the wheel. There was still a bit of axel left on the hub. The axel had apparently been wearing for a while and had broken off. The heat generated also started the fire. A highway crew stopped behind us right away and put the fire out. I paid $50 to get Young Life's car off the road to a towing garage.
We need more prayers now than we did this morning.
Amy said, "I'm sure there's something we need to learn here besides, 'Become Amish'."
I'm sure there is, too.
So, yesterday we started borrowing Young Life's car- a 1987 Mercury Marquis wagon. It's not pretty, but it was a relief to our lack of transportation in a town where public transportation is unheard of and pedestrians are discouraged. We went around a bit so I could look into some jobs and apply at some places. At one point we were driving this behemoth wagon grocery-getter on the interstate at 70 mph. After all that driving we were returning to our house and had slowed down for a light and all of a sudden, boom!, like the back end had busted and the rear end of the wagon bounced off the highway (the busiest four-lane blvd in Jackson). While we're sitting there wondering what the heck happened people are driving by waving, saying, "you should get your kids out of there" and "dude, your car's on fire!" Needless to say, we promptly removed the kids and their carseats down onto the lawn of the business in front of which we were parked.
I looked at the wheel. There was still a bit of axel left on the hub. The axel had apparently been wearing for a while and had broken off. The heat generated also started the fire. A highway crew stopped behind us right away and put the fire out. I paid $50 to get Young Life's car off the road to a towing garage.
We need more prayers now than we did this morning.
Amy said, "I'm sure there's something we need to learn here besides, 'Become Amish'."
I'm sure there is, too.
The Semester Ends With a Bang
Well, my semester is over.
My grades:
Religion & Violence A
Modern Philosophy B
Spanish III A
Symbolic Logic II A
I slacked off a bit, and that's what I get.
Anyways, before I could end my semester I had the foresight to wreck our car (and only means of transportation). Driving home from the University on Wednesday in the rain I was a little bit distracted by the kids in the back seat. I ran into a pick up at a redlight. By the time I noticed the car I didn't have time to stop sliding. I slid right into the pick up, taking off his bumper and pretty much totaling my car. I checked into getting it fixed at a body shop. Just driveable, nothing fancy. It was $1800. The other shop I took it to for a second opionion quoted me the same and said it wasn't worth fixing since its Blue Book value is only ~$2400.
Then... my summer classes got messed up, so here I am taking no classes this summer. I'm registered for 15 hours in the fall, and it'll probably end up being 18.
So... I need to find a car and a summer job.
Pray for me.
My grades:
Religion & Violence A
Modern Philosophy B
Spanish III A
Symbolic Logic II A
I slacked off a bit, and that's what I get.
Anyways, before I could end my semester I had the foresight to wreck our car (and only means of transportation). Driving home from the University on Wednesday in the rain I was a little bit distracted by the kids in the back seat. I ran into a pick up at a redlight. By the time I noticed the car I didn't have time to stop sliding. I slid right into the pick up, taking off his bumper and pretty much totaling my car. I checked into getting it fixed at a body shop. Just driveable, nothing fancy. It was $1800. The other shop I took it to for a second opionion quoted me the same and said it wasn't worth fixing since its Blue Book value is only ~$2400.
Then... my summer classes got messed up, so here I am taking no classes this summer. I'm registered for 15 hours in the fall, and it'll probably end up being 18.
So... I need to find a car and a summer job.
Pray for me.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
I'm excited about the paper I'm writing for my Religion & Violence class, so I wanted to share a bit on a couple of the resources I'm using:
The first is a fairly short and readable biography of St. Innocent of Alaska. It's very encouraging, as far as a godly example and as an understanding of the Orthodox Church in mission. Even many non-Orthodox view Alaska as one of the most successful evangelism efforts in the history of the church. Along those lines I'm also readin Fr. Michael Oleksa's Orthodox Alaska. Which is exactly what I needed, an established, successful instance of the evangelization of a people in which the local culture and religion is respected, maintained and complemented. This is exactly the kind of evangelism needed in our contemporary postcolonial pluralistic world.
Anyways, that is what I'm up to. I just finished writing my modern philosophy paper and now I'm going to go back to reading for the R&V paper.
Grace and peace to all of you.
The first is a fairly short and readable biography of St. Innocent of Alaska. It's very encouraging, as far as a godly example and as an understanding of the Orthodox Church in mission. Even many non-Orthodox view Alaska as one of the most successful evangelism efforts in the history of the church. Along those lines I'm also readin Fr. Michael Oleksa's Orthodox Alaska. Which is exactly what I needed, an established, successful instance of the evangelization of a people in which the local culture and religion is respected, maintained and complemented. This is exactly the kind of evangelism needed in our contemporary postcolonial pluralistic world.
Anyways, that is what I'm up to. I just finished writing my modern philosophy paper and now I'm going to go back to reading for the R&V paper.
Grace and peace to all of you.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
School
So, I wanted to brag that I wrote an in-class Composition Monday without any notice and got a 99. Woot.
Yeah, I should be working on my paper(s) right now, but I'm blogging.
Yesterday there was a fundamentalist Christian street preacher on campus. It caused quite a stir. I shouldn't call him a fundamentalist, but it seems that would be a good description of the beliefs he was stating. The worse part was how he was yelling at people, apparently telling they were going to hell. In my religion & violence class we talked a lot about how people respond to that.
I said that it seems to me that if we have relativism except for one thing (the fact that everyone has to be a relativist) then we're being internally inconsistent. Another way I said it was, "So, to prove to someone that they're not right in trying to dominate other people we'll dominate him into realizing he's not right. Doesn't sound right to me."
Anyways, by the time I got there there was quite a crowd. The man wasn't really saying much of consequence. Mostly he was being harassed by students who weren't even listening to him. Maybe religious tolerance will one day have to include the religiously intolerant. I don't know. This guy was probably going about it in the wrong way, looking for trouble, but they weren't exactly respectful in return.
Now, I must put my creative energies to work on my paper.
Yeah, I should be working on my paper(s) right now, but I'm blogging.
Yesterday there was a fundamentalist Christian street preacher on campus. It caused quite a stir. I shouldn't call him a fundamentalist, but it seems that would be a good description of the beliefs he was stating. The worse part was how he was yelling at people, apparently telling they were going to hell. In my religion & violence class we talked a lot about how people respond to that.
I said that it seems to me that if we have relativism except for one thing (the fact that everyone has to be a relativist) then we're being internally inconsistent. Another way I said it was, "So, to prove to someone that they're not right in trying to dominate other people we'll dominate him into realizing he's not right. Doesn't sound right to me."
Anyways, by the time I got there there was quite a crowd. The man wasn't really saying much of consequence. Mostly he was being harassed by students who weren't even listening to him. Maybe religious tolerance will one day have to include the religiously intolerant. I don't know. This guy was probably going about it in the wrong way, looking for trouble, but they weren't exactly respectful in return.
Now, I must put my creative energies to work on my paper.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Paschal Homily
CHRIST IS RISEN!!
Oh, and, by the way, among the many things that I loved about Pascha and will reflect upon in the coming weeks, was St. John Chrystostom's Paschal Homily (which, if you didn't know, is read in all Orthodox parishes every Pascha). So, here it is:
If any man be devout and loveth God,Let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast!If any man be a wise servant,Let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any have laboured long in fasting,Let him how receive his recompense.If any have wrought from the first hour,Let him today receive his just reward.If any have come at the third hour,Let him with thankfulness keep the feast.If any have arrived at the sixth hour,Let him have no misgivings;Because he shall in nowise be deprived therefore.If any have delayed until the ninth hour,Let him draw near, fearing nothing.And if any have tarried even until the eleventh hour,Let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness.
For the Lord, who is jealous of his honour,Will accept the last even as the first.He giveth rest unto him who cometh at the eleventh hour,Even as unto him who hath wrought from the first hour.And He showeth mercy upon the last,And careth for the first;And to the one He giveth,And upon the other He bestoweth gifts.And He both accepteth the deeds,And welcometh the intention,And honoureth the acts and praises the offering.
Wherefore, enter ye all into the joy of your Lord;Receive your reward,Both the first, and likewise the second.You rich and poor together, hold high festival!You sober and you heedless, honour the day!Rejoice today, both you who have fastedAnd you who have disregarded the fast.The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously.The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.Enjoy ye all the feast of faith:Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
Let no one bewail his poverty,For the universal Kingdom has been revealed.Let no one weep for his iniquities,For pardon has shown forth from the grave.Let no one fear death,For the Saviour's death has set us free.He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it.
By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive.He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh.And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry:Hell, said he, was embitteredWhen it encountered Thee in the lower regions.
It was embittered, for it was abolished.It was embittered, for it was mocked.It was embittered, for it was slain.It was embittered, for it was overthrown.It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.It took a body, and met God face to face.It took earth, and encountered Heaven.It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.
O Death, where is thy sting?O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is risen, and thou art overthrown!Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!Christ is risen, and life reigns!Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.For Christ, being risen from the dead,Is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be glory and dominionUnto ages of ages.
Amen.
Oh, and, by the way, among the many things that I loved about Pascha and will reflect upon in the coming weeks, was St. John Chrystostom's Paschal Homily (which, if you didn't know, is read in all Orthodox parishes every Pascha). So, here it is:
If any man be devout and loveth God,Let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast!If any man be a wise servant,Let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any have laboured long in fasting,Let him how receive his recompense.If any have wrought from the first hour,Let him today receive his just reward.If any have come at the third hour,Let him with thankfulness keep the feast.If any have arrived at the sixth hour,Let him have no misgivings;Because he shall in nowise be deprived therefore.If any have delayed until the ninth hour,Let him draw near, fearing nothing.And if any have tarried even until the eleventh hour,Let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness.
For the Lord, who is jealous of his honour,Will accept the last even as the first.He giveth rest unto him who cometh at the eleventh hour,Even as unto him who hath wrought from the first hour.And He showeth mercy upon the last,And careth for the first;And to the one He giveth,And upon the other He bestoweth gifts.And He both accepteth the deeds,And welcometh the intention,And honoureth the acts and praises the offering.
Wherefore, enter ye all into the joy of your Lord;Receive your reward,Both the first, and likewise the second.You rich and poor together, hold high festival!You sober and you heedless, honour the day!Rejoice today, both you who have fastedAnd you who have disregarded the fast.The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously.The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.Enjoy ye all the feast of faith:Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
Let no one bewail his poverty,For the universal Kingdom has been revealed.Let no one weep for his iniquities,For pardon has shown forth from the grave.Let no one fear death,For the Saviour's death has set us free.He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it.
By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive.He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh.And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry:Hell, said he, was embitteredWhen it encountered Thee in the lower regions.
It was embittered, for it was abolished.It was embittered, for it was mocked.It was embittered, for it was slain.It was embittered, for it was overthrown.It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.It took a body, and met God face to face.It took earth, and encountered Heaven.It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.
O Death, where is thy sting?O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is risen, and thou art overthrown!Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!Christ is risen, and life reigns!Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.For Christ, being risen from the dead,Is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be glory and dominionUnto ages of ages.
Amen.
Easter/Pascha
Man have I been busy these past twenty days in which I have not posted on here. Shame on me.
This year we did Easter in our protestant church and Pascha in our Orthodox church. (Mind you, we haven't even been received as catechumens at Nativity of the Virgin Mary yet.)
It's funny because our kids have been saying "Happy Easter 2!" a lot since we celebrated them both to varying degrees.
Pascha at Nativity of the Virgin was awesome. How joyous! One of the choir directors asked me what I thought of it during the feast and I said, "It was both more celebratory and more solemn than I'm used to."
On a sidenote, my wife and I commented on the bell-ringing at 12:30 or so during the procession and later during the gospel reading (at 2 AM). Man, if I lived in that neighborhood...
Anyways, we're very busy lately.
I'm racing towards the end of the semester for college. I have two ten-page papers due in the next week or two. The title for my paper for Modern Philosophy: "Leibniz: Infinite Divisibility, Infinite Regress, and the Ultimate Reality of Things".
For my Religion & Violence class I'm working on a paper on non-coercive/violent evangelism, particularly in a cross-cultural context. I'm looking at some good cases- the Anglican conversion of the Moru people in Sudan and the Orthodox evangelization of native Alaska, especially St. Innocent of Alaska.
So, that's what I'm doing, in case someone checks this blog. Blessings on all of you. I'll post more after my classes wrap up.
This year we did Easter in our protestant church and Pascha in our Orthodox church. (Mind you, we haven't even been received as catechumens at Nativity of the Virgin Mary yet.)
It's funny because our kids have been saying "Happy Easter 2!" a lot since we celebrated them both to varying degrees.
Pascha at Nativity of the Virgin was awesome. How joyous! One of the choir directors asked me what I thought of it during the feast and I said, "It was both more celebratory and more solemn than I'm used to."
On a sidenote, my wife and I commented on the bell-ringing at 12:30 or so during the procession and later during the gospel reading (at 2 AM). Man, if I lived in that neighborhood...
Anyways, we're very busy lately.
I'm racing towards the end of the semester for college. I have two ten-page papers due in the next week or two. The title for my paper for Modern Philosophy: "Leibniz: Infinite Divisibility, Infinite Regress, and the Ultimate Reality of Things".
For my Religion & Violence class I'm working on a paper on non-coercive/violent evangelism, particularly in a cross-cultural context. I'm looking at some good cases- the Anglican conversion of the Moru people in Sudan and the Orthodox evangelization of native Alaska, especially St. Innocent of Alaska.
So, that's what I'm doing, in case someone checks this blog. Blessings on all of you. I'll post more after my classes wrap up.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
God protect Caruthersville
Yesterday I took the afternoon off from classes and drove down to Caruthersville, MO to visit folks. Probably everyone has seen Caruthersville on the news as the site of a really big tornado that destroyed a lot of town. Well, if you have read my blog much you realize that Caruthersville is the town where I was doing Young Life until December. We're now living about an hour and a half north in Jackson, MO.
I parked at a friend's house on the very edge of the damaged zone. The damaged zone itself is blocked by state police and National Guardsmen (who happen to have machine guns on them), so I figured it would be best to walk into the zone to check on people. I walked down to the high school, where I took this picture.
This is the high school where I have so many memories of meeting my high school friends.
The whole experience of walking around (I probably walked two miles all together) the damage zone was a bit overwhelming. Even after watching all the videos I could on the Cape News website (www.kfvs12.com) I was blown away by how much of the town is just missing. I got disoriented a couple of times because I was walking along and everything looked the same in every direction: houses, trees and cars busted up and destroyed.
I walked through the east side of town, which is the poorer, mostly black, part of town. It was a ghost town. On the main street of town, Ward Ave. lots of people were out helping people. On the east side barely anyone was doing anything. I guess a lot of the houses on the east side are rentals and landlords haven't gotten to them yet.
Please pray for Caruthersville a lot in the coming months. I don't know how long it's going to get "C-ville" back to normal, if ever.
I parked at a friend's house on the very edge of the damaged zone. The damaged zone itself is blocked by state police and National Guardsmen (who happen to have machine guns on them), so I figured it would be best to walk into the zone to check on people. I walked down to the high school, where I took this picture.
This is the high school where I have so many memories of meeting my high school friends.The whole experience of walking around (I probably walked two miles all together) the damage zone was a bit overwhelming. Even after watching all the videos I could on the Cape News website (www.kfvs12.com) I was blown away by how much of the town is just missing. I got disoriented a couple of times because I was walking along and everything looked the same in every direction: houses, trees and cars busted up and destroyed.
I walked through the east side of town, which is the poorer, mostly black, part of town. It was a ghost town. On the main street of town, Ward Ave. lots of people were out helping people. On the east side barely anyone was doing anything. I guess a lot of the houses on the east side are rentals and landlords haven't gotten to them yet.
Please pray for Caruthersville a lot in the coming months. I don't know how long it's going to get "C-ville" back to normal, if ever.
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