"The mature worshiper is easily edified." When hearing lackluster (even if biblical) preaching, immature worshipers will typically not listen to the message because they wish the messenger was more exciting. Conversely, mature worshipers eagerly receive the truth as it is proclaimed, even if it sounds like the preacher is reading a phone book.
- Steve Burchette
06 January 2012
04 January 2012
2011 Buzzwords
Here are Time's top ten (or eleven) buzzwords from 2011. As Challies suggests, that's a good reason to stop using them. The list is a bit underwhelming as it is.
1. Occupy
2. Winning/Winner
3. Planking
4. Carmageddon
5. SuperPAC
6. Cone of Uncertainty/Haboob (weather words...a tie)
7. Arab Spring
8. Man- as a prefix
9. Hacktivist
10. Leading from behind
1. Occupy
2. Winning/Winner
3. Planking
4. Carmageddon
5. SuperPAC
6. Cone of Uncertainty/Haboob (weather words...a tie)
7. Arab Spring
8. Man- as a prefix
9. Hacktivist
10. Leading from behind
If Ephesians 5:12 Had Never Been Written
Watching the flurry of posts recently on Driscoll's new book on marriage, I rather enjoyed this quote by Carl Trueman on the Ref21 blog-
Would it?
I have often in the past stood with those who laughed at what we regarded as the ignorant, unsophisticated taboos of the older generation. But now I worry about the ease with which the rising generation talks explicitly of 'the fruitless deeds of darkness' in the name of cultural engagement, fear of being thought passé or simply a desire to slough off the legalisms of their fathers in the faith. You can, after all, get to heaven without ever having seen an R-Rated art house movie or having enjoyed a spectacular love life.
Here's a question: would it make any difference to you, any difference at all to the way you talk, to what you watch, to the wayyou 'engage culture', if Eph. 5:12 had never been written?
Would it?
03 January 2012
Retractable Roof?
Based on my previous post today, I had to pass this one along, as it is going around the interweb. This is the proposed retractable roof for Cowboys stadium, according to Cowboys fans-
If'n God's Name Was 'Jerry'
Living in Texas, one can be overwhelmed by the amount of football in the culture. It's certainly not all bad, and I enjoy a great deal of it, especially the nicer side of 'Friday Night Lights' (the high-school football world) and college football.
The whole high school football culture here (yes, it is a culture: when I was in high school, the coaches said, 'There's only two sports in Texas...football and spring football') is fun. Small towns of a thousand people have stadiums that seat three thousand, they they are full every Friday night. The backroads, sometimes thirty or forty miles between towns, are bumper-to-bumper at 5pm and again at 10pm on Fridays. It's a sight to see. (Yes, there are some bad aspects, but for the most part, sanity reigns and it is a lot of fun.) The Class 4A state championship game was played in front of over 43,000 fans!
College football in Texas can also be fun. Texas is different than many other states, as there are more Division I programs here than most states can boast. Some of the best are less than a hundred miles apart (shoutin' distance in Texas), much like the 'golden triangle' of basketball near Raleigh, NC. The most recent brouhaha with Texas A&M leaving the Big 12 for the SEC has certainly upset some of this, and mostly for the negative for Texans, but that's another story.
Pro football, on the other hand, isn't quite so much fun. The Houston Texans have finally made the playoffs, which is great, but they'll go in without some key players and likely won't last long. In any case, the Texans will always play second fiddle to the team in Dallas.
As Matt Chandler once put it, the largest pagan temple in America sits in Dallas. Every other Sunday, a hundred thousand people show up to worship there. People that would be loathe to put $20 in the plate at their 'other' church will throw down six- or eight-hundred bucks at their worship service at Cowboys' Stadium. Those who would complain about sitting through a 15- minute sermonette will sit for four-plus hours absorbing the sex and violence before them at the pagan temple. If you've ever been to Jerry's house, you know that the scantily-clad Cowboys' cheerleaders on the largest TV screen in the world does indeed qualify as, 'sex'. I'd tell you what my 12-year-old daughter said about it, but this is a family venue, and I'd be embarrassed to print it.
All that's to say, I've gotten a pretty big kick out of the angry rhetoric coming out of Cowboys' fans the past few days. The 'Pokes lost to the Giants and will miss the playoffs. People are angry at Jerry, the god they seem to worship (follow the money!), for not stepping back and letting a GM run the team. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold, albeit with a bit of an amoral slant. His team just gets worse. (They still make him a fortune, though.) If Jerry Jones is really interested in fixing the Cowboys' woes, he needs to treat himself just like he treated Tom Landry back in 1989 (he fired him unceremoniously).
The irony is, these folks will still plunk down their kids' college-money to watch Jerry's team (and line Jerry's pockets) Sunday after Sunday. The level of commitment is staggering. Just imagine if Jerry actually did something good for them. It makes me wonder why we don't see the same level of commitment from those who claim to worship Yahweh, who has indeed done good for us. In fact, many who worship Jerry every Sunday are some of the same folks who claim to worship Yahweh, but if you look at where they attend fellowship on Sundays, and where they spend their money, it's hard to accept the claims.
I've stepped on enough Texas toes for now. We'll see how the off-season goes.
At least with the God I worship, He'll never need to fire himself to make things better.
Will Boren (my son), Canyon HS 2011 WR/FS
The whole high school football culture here (yes, it is a culture: when I was in high school, the coaches said, 'There's only two sports in Texas...football and spring football') is fun. Small towns of a thousand people have stadiums that seat three thousand, they they are full every Friday night. The backroads, sometimes thirty or forty miles between towns, are bumper-to-bumper at 5pm and again at 10pm on Fridays. It's a sight to see. (Yes, there are some bad aspects, but for the most part, sanity reigns and it is a lot of fun.) The Class 4A state championship game was played in front of over 43,000 fans!
Southlake Carroll Dragons- Class 5A State Champs
College football in Texas can also be fun. Texas is different than many other states, as there are more Division I programs here than most states can boast. Some of the best are less than a hundred miles apart (shoutin' distance in Texas), much like the 'golden triangle' of basketball near Raleigh, NC. The most recent brouhaha with Texas A&M leaving the Big 12 for the SEC has certainly upset some of this, and mostly for the negative for Texans, but that's another story.
Pro football, on the other hand, isn't quite so much fun. The Houston Texans have finally made the playoffs, which is great, but they'll go in without some key players and likely won't last long. In any case, the Texans will always play second fiddle to the team in Dallas.
As Matt Chandler once put it, the largest pagan temple in America sits in Dallas. Every other Sunday, a hundred thousand people show up to worship there. People that would be loathe to put $20 in the plate at their 'other' church will throw down six- or eight-hundred bucks at their worship service at Cowboys' Stadium. Those who would complain about sitting through a 15- minute sermonette will sit for four-plus hours absorbing the sex and violence before them at the pagan temple. If you've ever been to Jerry's house, you know that the scantily-clad Cowboys' cheerleaders on the largest TV screen in the world does indeed qualify as, 'sex'. I'd tell you what my 12-year-old daughter said about it, but this is a family venue, and I'd be embarrassed to print it.
All that's to say, I've gotten a pretty big kick out of the angry rhetoric coming out of Cowboys' fans the past few days. The 'Pokes lost to the Giants and will miss the playoffs. People are angry at Jerry, the god they seem to worship (follow the money!), for not stepping back and letting a GM run the team. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold, albeit with a bit of an amoral slant. His team just gets worse. (They still make him a fortune, though.) If Jerry Jones is really interested in fixing the Cowboys' woes, he needs to treat himself just like he treated Tom Landry back in 1989 (he fired him unceremoniously).
The irony is, these folks will still plunk down their kids' college-money to watch Jerry's team (and line Jerry's pockets) Sunday after Sunday. The level of commitment is staggering. Just imagine if Jerry actually did something good for them. It makes me wonder why we don't see the same level of commitment from those who claim to worship Yahweh, who has indeed done good for us. In fact, many who worship Jerry every Sunday are some of the same folks who claim to worship Yahweh, but if you look at where they attend fellowship on Sundays, and where they spend their money, it's hard to accept the claims.
I've stepped on enough Texas toes for now. We'll see how the off-season goes.
At least with the God I worship, He'll never need to fire himself to make things better.
29 December 2011
The Sunsets in West Texas
There are a lot of things about the weather in West Texas that can be rightly complained about, but the sunsets make up for most of them. Here's one, taken tonight from my back porch.
13 December 2011
What Really Happened to AF447?
This is a fascinating account of what happened to Air France Flight 447.
Rarely do the comments to an article offer anything of value. In fact, I almost never read more than a few anymore, as they are usually a waste of time. However, this article is different. Several experienced pilots and pilot trainers commented on the story, and this added a great deal to what I learned.
Fascinating. And scary.
Rarely do the comments to an article offer anything of value. In fact, I almost never read more than a few anymore, as they are usually a waste of time. However, this article is different. Several experienced pilots and pilot trainers commented on the story, and this added a great deal to what I learned.
Fascinating. And scary.
09 December 2011
I Think He Was Serious
Here's how to write a letter to the editor and make yourself look like a complete moron. The pic says it all-
HT: Richard Mann
HT: Richard Mann
08 December 2011
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