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Here’s a little something to get your hump day started off well.
Micah as a book isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. His message was at time devastating, and he pulled no punches when exposing the sins of Israel. However, there are reminders of current and future hope throughout. The books ends on this note in Micah 7:18-20, and it has been an incredible encouragement to me today -
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities under foot.
You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
Now this is just plain weird. Don’t worry, it’s a short one.
Have a good weekend wherever you are.
Some verses have haunted my thoughts the past few days like nothing has in a long time. This is from Hosea 11:8-9.
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my burning anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man,
the Holy One is in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.
And from Micah 5:4-5,
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.Finally… just in case you were wondering. I really have a hard time liking this whole idea of Valentine’s Day.
Ran across this today. It may be the most foolish and errant thing I have read in quite a while. Someone remind me to scratch Candler School of Theology at Emory University off the list of possible places to further my education.
Luke Timothy Johnson, New Testament professor at Emory University, has openly admitted what few liberal Christian defenders of homosexuality will: “I think it important to state clearly that we do, in fact, reject the straightforward commands of Scripture, and appeal instead to another authority when we declare that same-sex unions can be holy and good. We appeal explicitly to the weight of our own experience and the experience thousands of others have witnessed to, which tells us that to claim our own sexual orientation is in fact to accept the way in which God has created us.”
HT: JT
Does this seem absolutely unacceptable to anyone else? Or am I just crazy?
I’m not a huge fan on the quotes on Starbucks cups. They seem like a waste of space to me, and most of them are rather lame. I’d prefer to have a cool piece of art to gaze at while I sip some hot tea. But, I did see this one last night and it scared me just a little bit.
Just in case you can’t make that out (sorry for the fuzzy camera phone picture) it says, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” It came from Former Secretary of State, Madeline Albright. She scares me too. I think this man would be forced to help her if she looked at me like that.
P.S. – I have the Chocomint gum in my possession. A video of the taste test will be produced and posted in the near future. Maybe three months or so.
I was at Wal-Mart late the other night we a few friends buying some ice-cream for a movie night. I’m standing in line, minding my own business, when I noticed one of the nastiest looking packages of gum I have ever seen. First of all, it’s called Chocomint. Seriously?! The name alone sounds disgusting. Then, to make matters worse, they came up with one of the worst visual explanations of the gum. It looks like the Dentyne has explosive diarrhea with little ice cubes in it.
There is no way on earth you could ever make me put this in my mouth. Ever.
I like cooking. I wish that I had more time to cook on a day-to-day basis. One of my favorite things to do every few weeks is experiment with a new dish – either from a recipe or something I just invent off-the-cuff.
Last night, I called my mom and told her a list of things I had sitting around the house that I needed to use sometime soon. She suggested stuffed bell peppers and gave me some rough directions over the phone. So I trusted her, gave it a shot, and this is what I came up with. Not sure if this is what stuffed bell peppers are supposed to look like, but they sure as heck tasted pretty good. I was impressed.
Do you like cooking? If so, what’s a favorite recipe or something new you’ve tried lately?
This is crazy. Check it out here.
I finished the first book of my “Thirty Book Challenge of 2008.” I’m just a little bit off pace, but it’s better than not starting at all. Here’s my take on Greg Boyd’s “The Myth of a Christian Nation.”
The book is based on Boyd’s argument that the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of heaven are fundamentally juxtaposed with the former exercising “power over” its subjects and the latter demanding “power under” by serving those both above and below us. The book is built around the argument that the church’s quest for political power is resulting, and has historically resulted, in little but destruction and dissension. He would say that the modern church’s hunger to place like-minded folks in leadership positions so that we can have a “Christian nation” is a perverse form of nationalistic idolatry.
In short, we will forever fall short of our purpose as the body of Christ if our primary focus is a legislative push to ensure that the world’s political systems agree with our value systems instead of loving people and “replicating Calvary” to the world.
The Good
The book is very easy to read. Sentences are short, and the vocabulary is probably somewhere around a high school reading level. I could read it anytime of the day without having to focus incredibly hard or re-read lengthy sections.
It is backed up by extensive historical evidence of periods where the quest for political power has caused trouble for the church. There are also insightful biblical references. One of the best, in my opinion, was a discussion on the relationship between the disciples Matthew and Simon. Boyd observes that Matthew, a tax collector, would probably be classified today as a liberal. Simon, a zealot, would best fit into the conservative political label of today. However, the two were able to exist peacefully and lovingly under the headship of Christ. Boyd pleads for a political atmosphere where followers of Christ are able to follow a biblical model and unite under the common banner of the Good News.
The best quote I found in the book is one from Soren Kierkegaard that says, “The worst form of apostasy the Christian faith can undergo is to have it become simply an aspect of culture” (115). This comes in the middle of a lengthy discussion on the nature of Christianity as America’s civil religion.
The Bad
Boyd is overtly biased in some of his arguments. The book is not so much an open discussion of the role of politics in religion as it is a layout of what Boyd himself thinks. It is difficult to keep reading if you find yourself disagreeing with Boyd as he is quite forceful and exclusive in some of his arguments. (Ex: The final chapter on Christians in the military.)
The book is entirely too long (and it’s only two hundred pages!). Points that could be made in two paragraphs drag on for pages on end. It feels almost as though Zondervan refused to publish the book until Boyd reach a certain length, so that he just elaborated on old stuff instead of coming up with new evidence.
The outline Boyd follows is confusing with sub-point after sub-point. By the time you finish a chapter, you have forgotten where you began. The overall argument is not made in a tight or concise way, which makes it frustrating in places where the subject matter is, in fact, enjoyable to the reader.
Verdict
Boyd is continuing an important discussion – especially in an election year. Some insights are worthy and items which I will definitely remember and use in conversation. However, the book is too poorly organized and far too biased to create any widespread discussion. Check it out if you’re interested in politics and/or American religious history. Otherwise, leave it on the shelf.
Grade C+
