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

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-

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?

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.

 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.

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

The $254 Million Man

I just posted this on FB (to the tune of Admiral Halsey by Paul McCartney)-

We're so sorry, uncle Albert,
We're so sorry that you've caused us any pain.
We're so sorry, uncle Albert,
But there's no one left at home
And I believe I'm gonna scream!

We're so sorry but we just heard you signed with them,
We're so sorry, uncle Albert,
But if you can't get any pitching
We sure won't give a dang!

It could have been better, but I was in a hurry.  Feel free to suggest more lyrics. 

Two hundred fifty-four million dollars, for swinging a big stick.  Who'da thunk it?

Black (and Blue) Friday

Google the phrase, 'black friday incidents' and start reading.

Gun control? I think shoppers should have to attend a two-day training course, sort of like a hunter-safety course, but for shoppers.  Maybe we could cut down on the injuries and criminal behavior.  It might be safer to go hunting with Dick Cheney than to go to Wal-Mart on black friday.

Sheesh!

Weird Al is Not Only Appropriate, He's Necessary

I mentioned to some of you that Wednesday was double-Palindromic Day (11-1-11 and 11-02-2011); the second only occurs every twenty thousand years, I've heard.

What I forgot to mention was one of my favorite Weird Al videos.  Fellow blogger Pete Scribner posted a link to the video on his blog...go watch it. It's funny, if you like ironic humor.

So Weird Al is necessary to fully enjoy the double-Palindrome day!

(I might add- Weird Al often bases his songs on oldies and recent pop hits...this one is no different.  For those of you under the age of about 40, he's spoofing a 60s singer named Bob Dylan.  Here's the video of the Dylan song that Weird Al took 'Bob' from.  Here's the video of a Dylan song that sounds much like Yankovic's Bob.)

You may not appreciate Weird Al's work as much as I do, but you can't deny he's a creative genius. (Each of these link to a video on YouTube.)

Weird Al as MJ in 'Eat It'-

Weird Al as 'Gump'-

Weird Al as a contestant in, 'I Lost on Jeopardy'-

Weird Al as Obi-Wan Kenobi in 'The Saga Begins' (one of his most creative works)-

Weird Al as an Amish in 'Amish Paradise'-

Weird Al as MJ in 'Fat'-

A Better Way to Handle The Question

I've lampooned Joel Osteen here several times, most recently over his mishandling of the question of Mormonism.  But I haven't given an alternative, mostly because I hadn't seen one in the media that was worth mentioning.  I still haven't seen one in the US media (imagine that!), but thanks to the Ref21 blog, I found a pastor doing a pretty good job of it in the British media.

Here's the link.

I especially liked his comment that we (humans) won't be going to heaven or hell in groups.  Our eternity depends on what we do with Jesus' question in Matt 16:15, "Who do YOU say that I am?" (emphasis mine)

A Thousand Words (Give or Take)

This is a blog post without much text.  I'll let the following pictures make their own statements.

On politics-

On TV- (HT: Dan Phillips)

On sports-

On sacrifice-

On culture-  (HT: Tim Challies)

Two Views of October 31- One Thoughtful, One Fun

Today is both Reformation Day and Halloween.  In honor of the former, and in retrospect of the latter, here are two YouTube videos.

John Piper on Halloween.

Piper is introspective and balanced...well worth hearing in you have radicals on either side of the issue screaming at you.


Manic Monday Luther.

This one is just fun, but it is very much historically accurate.

HT: Dan Phillips, DG Blog

A Funny Feeling

Why do I get the funny feeling that the level and depth of theology in this book-

is no different than what's found in this video, which may or may not be of similar title by coincidence?

He Opened His Mouth

Sometimes adversaries are clever; one has to do his homework before he can find evidence of wrongdoing.  On the other hand, there's Joel Osteen.  It appears that no one need do any digging at all; in fact, all that needs to happen for there to be empirical evidence that Osteen has no clue what the gospel is, is for him to open his mouth.



I'm not looking for a fight here, but there's a serious problem when the pastor of the largest church in America is teaching something other than the gospel.  My Sunday School class is going through the book of Galatians right now, and we are just starting chapter 2.  We've seen something important in chapter 1, particularly with regard to getting the gospel right.

If you look at the combination of Paul's writings and information found in the gospels, it is easy to conclude that we are much better off preaching the right gospel with the wrong motives than we are preaching the wrong gospel with the right motives.  On the one hand, when the gospel is preached by those seeking gain, the apostles praised God, saying, "The gospel is preached!"  On the other, the purveyors of the wrong gospel are clearly in danger of condemnation to hell.

Here's more, if you need it:  Al Mohler's Blog

Barack Obama is not nearly the threat to the church in this country as is Joel Osteen.

Where's the Gospel in Hater Vids?

Stephen Furtick, a 'pastor' of a large culturally-relevant gathering called Elevation Church, posted this video a while back.  It's as full of, if not more full of, hate than anything said by those he accuses in the video.

Finally, Frank Turk posted this video response.  It is tremendous.  Watch it, even if you choose not to watch the first one by Furtick (which really isn't bad advice).

"Romantic Pornography"

Catchy title, not what you think.

The Gospel Coalition blog ran this article by Betsy Hart today.  It was a very interesting look at another way culture tries to influence our children, particularly our girls, away from the biblical model of dealing with one another gracefully.  Yes, we know how culture pulls at boys.  But are we aware of the ways it tries to influence our daughters?

Here's a quote-

"Mainstream culture tolerates this insidious expectation for men to act like women. Any doubts? A married couple goes to a counselor, Christian or otherwise. The husband is steeped in sexual porn and dissatisfied with his wife. Is there a chance the counselor is going to encourage the wife to act more like the women her husband finds attractive online? Of course not.

Now let’s say she’s steeped in romantic films and dissatisfied with her husband. There’s an almost 100 percent chance the counselor will encourage the fellow to be more romantic and sensitive. Which might be a fine thing, except that typically it will be “sensitive” according to his wife’s definition, even if that’s not what he is wired for."

That's just a teaser...read the whole thing...it is worth the time.

More, "I Feel..."

I just read this blog post over on Housewife Theologian.  I wish I had it a couple days ago when I was writing the first installment of, "I Feel...".

Dorothy L. Sayers

Read Amiee's post, and pay particular attention to the Dorothy Sayers quote in the middle.  It is a good synopsis, though written before much of the I Feel movement, of why I Feel doesn't cut the mustard.

Good stuff.

"I Feel..."

I've noticed a trend lately (past few years or so) that is a reflection of our society, and not a good one, I fear.  While it isn't all that new a phenomenon, it may be growing.  I was grading position papers (essays, essentially) for one of my online courses, and noticed an uptick in how often the word 'feel' is used when cognitive processes are intended.  Instead of writing, "I think..." or, "I believe...", the students more and more write, "I feel...".

Now some of you might find this innocuous and my pointing it out to be a bit picky.  But it is a reflection of how our society emphasizes emotionalism over rationalism; pleasure over principle.  I read a recent survey (sorry, lost the link) where a bunch of folks were given an ethical dilemma and asked how they'd solve it given no other information.  A large majority picked, "the solution that would make them happiest".

I've heard some complain that this is a symptom of what they call, "The Chickification" of culture.  Maybe, maybe not.  Its true that women express emotion more readily and more often than men (in general).  But its not true that men are without emotion.  I don't find in general that women are less likely to use cognitive processes to solve problems, though I can't say I always understand the cognitive process they do use. (I hope I'm not being unfair to my wife here!)  What I find to be true is, certain people use emotions to make decisions and certain people don't (at least, not as much).  In other words, our ability to think and reason, and how we are taught to do these things, is more important than our gender, though gender has an effect.

Emotions always have some impact on decisions, and indeed are a necessary part of the cognitive reasoning in coming up with a solution.  But when logic is disregarded in order to do what feels best, poor decisions are often the result.  This is true whether the decision maker is a man or a woman, even when the display of the emotions are handled differently.  Emotional considerations are important in making decisions, but facts are critical.


As for my students, I've considered posting in my grading rubric that I'll take off a point every time the word 'feel' is used (unless it is referring to a sensory input, of course), but that might be too harsh.  I don't know if I have time to comment on it every time it happens, or if I did, how much a difference it would make in society.  I suppose every little bit helps.  I've always believed (not felt!) that part of my job as a professor is to teach people how to think, not just what to think, and to teach people to communicate what they think effectively.  (Say what you mean, mean what you say, etc.)

More philosophically, I wonder how much less a political issue we'd have with things like government control of health care, or so-called gay marriage, or the reality of hell (as a recent hot topic) if people primarily thought instead of felt about the issues.

A Few Tidbits

This was a good summary of the CJ Mahaney 'fiasco' that occurred last week.

Here is a great synopsis of the decline in numbers in the Southern Baptist Convention in the past couple years.  I think it is spot on for the most part. Having been a member of several SBC churches in the past 20 years, some of which had some of these specific problems, I agree with the conclusions of the author.

Michael Kelly posted this picture of someone's re-creation of Middle Earth (Tolkien) in Legos.  I love Legos.

In the spirit of the 'Darwin Awards', here's one of the risks of being a copper thief.

The Christian and Education (Homeschool, Private School, or Public School?)

Tim Challies has written this post about homeschooling versus public schooling, and of course the post elicited quite a few responses, including some nasty ones.  A lot has been written on the subject of how Christians should see to the education of their children, and much of it has been polemic.

I think the solution to the problematic question is rather simple.  It goes something like this- if you raise your kids with mostly biblical imperatives and few biblical indicatives (in other words, with mostly the law and little of the gospel), sending them to a public school would be a very bad idea.  If you raise them focused on the gospel (the indicatives), not sending them to public school would be a very sinful idea.

I understand there will be exceptions based on locale.  Our own kids have attended both private Christian schools and public schools.  When they were in second grade in Rio Rancho, NM, and the secretary's lesbian partner came to the office and sat in her lap while they made out, we decided that private school might be important in that locale.  When we lived outside St. Louis, MO and here in Canyon, TX, the public schools have worked fine.  So in general, I think kids raised on the indicatives of the gospel will approach their secular world (still as sinners, of course) with the right attitude of being witnesses of their Lord and savior first rather than serving themselves.  Of course there will be mistakes.  But learning to live in a secular world will be fraught with mistakes no matter which direction you choose for them, and this way (living in light of the indicatives of the gospel) will give them a much better path and foundation to choose what is right based on what's in their heart rather than because it's the cultural thing to do.

 There's a spectrum somewhere between the tiger mom and the dad in, 'A Boy Named Sue' where raising kids works best.  But I don't think it's a narrow line nor hard to find.  I do think we are all prone to extremes one way or the other, however, and that's what makes raising them difficult.

Should Christians be Patriotic?

Yes, with a caveat.

When I hear stories about the corruption in our government or the evils apparent in our society, I feel ashamed for our country.  But when I hear stories of our soldiers using themselves as cover for civilians (often children) in Afghanistan, I can't help but feel patriotic. 

I've seen quite a few opinion pieces about this topic, and many of them were not very helpful.  However, one posted today was both helpful (in that he took a stance instead of waffling) and useful (in the the author has the credibility to speak on the subject...in my opinion of course).  This article can be found here.

I suppose this is a topic where anyone can make a point of their choosing with facts of their choosing.  This always seems to lead to either the idolization or demonization of America, however.  When we hold the state up as our god, that's the only route we have left to take.  But when we view the nation in light of God's revelation, we can see it for what it is in history a bit more clearly, good and bad.

I'll still feel patriotic this weekend, and sing the Battle Hymn and all that, but I'll also worship God in church on Sunday, in spite of the patriotic music.

Here's the caveat. 
  1. Worship God. 
  2. Be thankful for his providence in our national heritage. 

Don't reverse these two things and end up worshiping America and being thankful for God in our national heritage.  If you own one of those "Patriot's Bibles", you may have already done this.

Just sayin'.

Creating a Custom Reading List on Logos 4

Here's my first attempt at a training video.  Low-budget, no production experience, and all that.  It's an attempt to explain how to create a custom reading list in Logos 4.



This is more of an experiment than a finished product...I need a lot of work before I start putting these out for public consumption. But the way of things seems to be toward multimedia instruction, so I'd might as well get good at it now rather than be behind the curve.

The software I used to create this was free. It is called Jing, and can be found at techsmith.com.