The Psychology Of The End (3)

A Different Kind Of Look At Eschatology

Many "ends" have come in the history of man. Many groups have predicted the end of the world. Other ends have been postulated, such as Y2K. People's behavior has radically changed as a result. Although Y2K wasn't the "end of the world" per se, many people stockpiled arms in bunkers in Montana or Idaho in waiting for the collapse of the government following the global failure of computer chips. My church gained a few families from a church up the road because their pastor moved his family to a bunker in Montana in mid 1999 and closed down the church. In December, I bought several months of canned goods to protect myself "just in case." In the year 999, people feared the end of the world because it was a thousand years since Christ came to earth.

In 1994, my first church, led by Harold Camping, had quite a shaking up as a result of Camping's end of the world prediction. He first made his prediction public in 1992. Many people did strange things while facing the end. Some people quit jobs, some people cancelled bible studies, some people out of jobs delayed getting new ones, some people gave huge sums of money to Camping's ministry - even entire life savings - to "get the gospel out" at the last minute. Although I wasn't at that church until the week after the prediction date, I heard plenty of stories about odd things. Just two days earlier, their church picnic had people giving tearful goodbyes to one another. Church leaders were up late at night answering phone calls from terrified parishoners. Some people dropped out of life after the end didn't occur.

In the bible, Paul warns Timothy that men named Hymenaeus and Philetus were teaching that the resurrection already took place and that it was upsetting the faith of some believers. The end has a powerful affect on people, so it should come as no surprise that one's view of eschatology can greatly affect how people live in the here and now.

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Why Is There So Much Evil In The World?

Because God lets each one of us do what we want to do. It's just that simple.

The Psychology Of The End (2)

A Different Kind of Look at Eschatology

In my first post, I looked at how people change their behavior - sometimes even radically - when the end of a thing is approaching. Each of the examples I gave was for things where the timing of the end was generally known at the beginning. There are also things for which the end can come suddenly or unexpectedly. In life, we generally are born, go through childhood, become grownups with our own life, engage in a career, plan for retirement, retire, then eventually die. But a diagnosis of a terminal disease part way through life will change somebody's behavior radically. Some people quit their jobs to be with their families. In baseball, rain can threaten to bring the early end of a game. The team that is leading will hurry to get an official game in by completing the 5th inning, while the losing team will delay. Then, once the 5th inning is complete, the teams reverse their roles. Behavior changes with an unexpected facing of the end.

With regards to the end of the world and the return of Christ, Jesus tells us not only that we won't know the day or hour, but that we will not even know the times or seasons. I believe that God is wise enough to know human behavior, and if man knows the time of the end, he will most certainly change his behavior - radically. This is why God doesn't let us know. God has a plan of normal, routine behavior for us, and He wants us to stick to the plan that He laid out. If we know the end (really, if we think we know the end), we will change our behavior accordingly so that in anticipation of the end, we will change our focus from obeying God to obeying what we think about the end. We will have ceased to obey God. We will have changed from walking by faith to walking by sight. Next, I'll look at how this has fleshed its way out in history, including my personal history, and how different eschatological viewpoints affect our behavior.

(1) . . . . . . . . (3)

The Psychology Of The End (1)

A Different Kind of Look at Eschatology

In sports, each team has a game plan. In football it might be to establish the run, then develop the pass, all the while controlling the line of scrimmage, field position and the clock. Following the game plan will result in victory. In baseball it might be to have the starting pitcher go six or seven innings, then turning it over to the bullpen to finish the game. In higher education, the student can have a game plan. Before the semester, he buys all his books. Then he studies hard, does all his homework and uses all of this to become familiar enough with the material to not only pass the midterm and final exams, but to get an "A." Living in a home with a yard might consist of mowing the lawn, painting and general maintenance. A game plan for these things consists of routine, repetition and consistency. But the game plan is best when it is a comprehensive one. One where all the situations are considered and can be addressed when faced. One that will not let small things grow into big problems.

But when the end of a thing is near, game plans and strategies change, sometimes radically. A team that is losing in the last minute of a football game will ditch all of its routine strategies and engage in acts of desperation, doing things it would never do at any other time of the game. With a runner on third early in a baseball game, the defensive team may concede the run to get an out. When it's the winning run in the 9th inning, both the infield and outfield are pulled in in a desperate attempt to get the out at home plate. A basketball team will purposely foul the other team in hopes that it misses the free throws in order to get the ball back. A hockey team will abandon its goalie for an extra offensive player to try to tie the game. A student will suddenly cram for finals. If a house is to be torn down to make way for a bigger project, the lawn won't get mowed. A graphics project with a deadline will result in long hours, plenty of coffee and scraps all over the floor at the last minute. Conversely, a team that is winning at the end of a game will be lazy and slow on purpose, substituting inferior players, etc.

The same things occur in real life with regards to eschatology. If somebody believes the end is really and suddenly near, life will be lived in a completely different manner, even if in desperation or laziness. In my next post, I will deal with this reality.

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Good Weather

There are usually those days in cold January where a short springlike weather spell sets in and there are 70 degree temperatures. Such was the case last year, but this year saw no such days. January was wet and cold and foggy. But last Friday, things warmed up and we've had several days in the 60's. Sitting in my car in the sun out at lunch is quite nice. It won't last forever, as it never does, and we'll have cooler weather sooner or later.

Spam and Telemarketing

Over the last few decades I've heard quite a bit of complaining about telemarketers. Over the last decade it's been about spam. There's an easy solution. If telephone numbers and email addresses were viewed as private property, an owner could post a "no trespassing" or "no soliciting" sign, and telemarketers and spammers could be held criminally liable for trespassing when they send their unwanted messages, with restitution owed the owner. Also, I'm surprised that phone companies and ISP's haven't taken to using passwords for everyday phone calls and emails. Maybe things are already this way and I haven't noticed. Or maybe phone numbers and email addresses really aren't private property after all. Anybody out there know?

Things Are Better Now?

I recently did a comparison of my life and living with that of my dad. The results are quite interesting and revealing of life in America today - or at least the San Francisco Bay Area.

He was 32 when he bought his current house. I was 40. He had what was considered a blue collar job, a cop. I am a senior level white collar professional, an architect. He started out as a traffic officer and never had a promotion. I started out on the low end and have had many promotions. He had a brand new three bedroom, two bath house built for him. I bought a 60 year old, two bedroom, one bath fixer upper. He got a single 30 year, fixed loan; I got two adjustable rate loans that are due to go market value in less than two years. I couldn't afford a fixed loan; it didn't matter anyway because I didn't qualify even though I have the highest credit rating anybody has ever seen. He lives in a more affluent community in central county in a peaceful neighborhood on a cul de sac; we live on the fringes of the county in a blue collar neighborhood two blocks from a major oil refinery. His house has twice the market value mine does, is already paid for and has a tenth of the property taxes.

I'm not so sure America is better off than it was forty five years ago.

Survey Results: Eschatological Anarchy

Thanks to all who replied to my survey on eschatology. I had no idea I would get the varied responses I did. A few observations are in order.

With one exception, each of the respondants had either some doubts or uncertainty about future events. I find it odd that many people I've known in my Christian life have reserved their most dogmatic sentiments for eschatology - for things that haven't even happened yet! Billy Goat admits switching positions, and Gene is looking into another view. Abu plays it safe with a historical creedal summary of givens. Me, personally, I'm on my fourth (or fifth depending on how you count them) different view of eschatology. I've held to dispensational pre-mil, a-mil (two varieties if you count Harold Camping's a-mil as different from traditional), historic pre-mil and now a variation on post-mil.

Bruce is very correct in stating that where one begins determines where one finishes. What is God's purpose for creating the earth and putting man here is a question whose answer will greatly affect one's view of eschatology. But a warning: the opposite is just as true. One's view of eschatology, if that view is putting the cart before the horse, can gravely affect one's view of life and purpose for living. It can even be greatly destructive. I have personal experience with such a view, and hope to soon share some of the important aspects on this blog.

Eschatology Survey

I'd like to survey my readers (regular or drive-by) as to which view of eschatology you hold. Are you Pre-Millenial? Amillenial? Post-Millenial? Preterist? Partial Preterist? Other? Combination? If you are Pre-Mil, are you dispensational (rapture, 7 year tribulation, 1000 year earthly reign) or historical (no tribulation, but Christ returns for 1000 year earthly reign)? I'd like to know. Thanks!

PERFECT CHOKE!

In the single most devastating loss in NFL history, the New England Patriots fell short of the greatest season ever by the smallest of margins. Yet it was the greatest of margins. In an 18-1 season, there is only one game that is impossible to lose and the Patriots did the impossible. Their glory was reduced to an insignificant blip on the radar of the 2007 season. Congratulations to the New York Giants, wild card team that played every one of their playoff games on the road.

All the talk for two weeks about Tom Brady equaling Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana will be put off for at least another year. All the talk about the Patriots being among the greatest dynasties will fade for a while. It should never have been brought up. They are a full two Super Bowls and one hall-of-fame quarterback short of the 49er dynasty of 1981-1995. The 49ers won five Super Bowls and had two hall-of-fame quarterbacks, Joe Montana and Steve Young.

It was a great game down to the last play, which made the game worth it by itself. On a side note, I wasn't sure who I wanted to win before the game. But with the opening kickoff, I started cheering for the Giants. I'm tired of the wrong Giants winning a championship. Pitchers and catchers report soon.

All About Me

Here's all about me that I want to show on this blog: [updated 02-03-08]

Steve Scott is a first and last name, not two first names.

There are fully a third as many Scotts as Joneses in the phone book.

I am almost 44 years old.

I have blond hair and blue eyes.

I am married with three boys, the first two adopted and the youngest born to my wife.

We have been married seven years, but first met in 1983.

I was born, raised and live in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. I have moved 14 times, yet never more than a few miles from my birth place.

I was born with a tooth, had it pulled when I was one day old, and had the same dentist for the first 40 years of my life.

My parents still live in the house I was born into.

I am a European mutt, a quarter German-speaking Swiss, then English, Irish, German, Swedish and pre-Soviet Lithuanian.

I am a direct descendant of a slave in the colonial South. A Swedish ancestor, servant to the king of Sweden, studying in London in the late 1600's was kidnapped and sold into the American slave trade. (Am I a prime candidate for reparations?)

I attended college at UC Berkeley in the early 80's, majoring in chemical engineering. I dropped out during my fourth year.

I am now an architect with 20 years experience with no formal schooling.

I converted to Christianity in 1994 when I was 30 years old.

I attend a non-denominational church which claims to be baptistic and Reformed.

I served as a deacon for four years.

I am a lifelong baseball fanatic, a fan of both the San Francisco Giants (life) and Oakland A's (until '95).

I like the Oakland Raiders (life) and San Francisco 49ers (until their fans became "phony whiners" shortly after their first Super Bowl win.)

I played Little League and high school baseball.

My favorite movie is Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

My favorite place to visit is my wife's favorite place to visit - San Diego. We didn't even discuss where to enjoy our honeymoon.

[Updated 02-03-08] I jog two miles every day.

My favorite cuisine is Mexican. I like Indian, too, but seldom get to enjoy it. I use hot sauce daily.

I love beer. My favorite is Guiness Stout.

I live in Martinez, California, birthplace to Joe DiMaggio and the cocktail known as the Martini.

Blogger Spell Checker Disabled?

Any others who use Blogger have their spellchecker stop working in the last few days? How about the ability to attach an image?

Stupor Bowl

I'm trying to ignore as much Super Bowl hype as possible. It makes it easier to enjoy the game once it appears. When I was younger, we used to use the halftime show as an opportunity to go outside and toss the football around. My oldest is now six, so maybe I could start a tradition with him (my three year old can join in) and play football during halftime.

I'm torn on the outcome of the game. I usually want the underdog in such a situation, but there's also an opportunity for the Patriots to supplant the vocal members of the 1972 Dolphins team. I don't like the football Giants so that might help me in my decision. I'll let my emotions decide once the game has started. I'd like a close game, unlike most of the Super Bowl routs in the past several decades. The Super Bowl is the last hurdle before pitchers and catchers report.

Too Tired To Think Straight

I had several ideas for posts lined up for tonight, but my brain went into standby mode. I wanted to add some comments to my last post as well as plop something down on eschatology. My eyelids are heaby now, (that's heavy) and I'm off to bed in a minute. I just ate some chips that I shouldn't have eaten (tortilla chips). I just brushed my teeth, too. Can I get away with not brushing after eating chips? I already took the garbage out and it's cold again tonight after several weeks of rain. My wife and three boys are sleeping and I'm off to join them. Five-thirty will come early tomorrow. It takes me about 45 minutes of snooze alarms to finally get out of bed. It's not that I'm not a morning person, but once I'm up, I stay up. Aw, nevermind. Zzzzzzzz.....

I Love Mexican Food

Mexican food is my favorite cuisine. My favorite restaurant is actaully two restaurants. El Tapatio and La Tapatia. Family owned for 25 years, there were three El Tapatio locations in my area. One was sold to another owner. They kept the same menu and added bean dip along with the tomato based salsa and jalapeno salsa. They changed the name of the restaurant by changing the gender to La. The La variety just opened a new restaurant in my neighborhood. It is wonderful. I order the Tapatio or Tapatia special every time, with a chicken enchilada.

It is such a family favorite, we had our wedding rehearsal dinner there before we got married. It caught fire a few years ago and has since been remodeled. Can't wait to eat there again.

More Favorite Songs

Some more favorite songs of various groups/artists:

Van Halen: Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Eruption, Dance The Night Away, Hot For Teacher, I'll Wait

Journey: Stone In Love, Patiently, Winds Of March

Foreigner: Long Long Way From Home, Blue Morning Blue Day, Women, Starrider

Boston: Peace Of Mind, Don't Be Afraid, Something About You, Long Time

My Favorite Barry Manilow Songs

My wife likes my sense of humor.

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 17)

Read the entire series of posts here.

Continuing from the same quote, in Parts 14 and 15 of my series, from Part 2 of Pulpit Magazine's article on church membership with regards to pastors' responsibilities:

Elders can shepherd the people and give an account to God for their spiritual well-being only if they know who they are; they can provide oversight only if they know those for whom they are responsible; and they can fulfill their duty to shepherd the flock only if they know who is part of the flock and who is not.

There is a large assumption here. A Christian can be a regular attender (regular assembler) of a church, obey the leaders, obey God, obey the bible, love all their brothers and sisters, and yet not be considered a member by the leaders. Because this Christian is looked at as a non-member by the leadership, they assume that God will not hold them accountable for that sheep. They feel free to ignore that sheep. And I have had elders tell me this personally.  This is scary.

Part 16 . . . . . . . . Part 18

My Favorite Sunday of Football

Tomorrow is my favorite day of football for the entire season. The conference championship games. Playoff games are a war with life and death consequences. It is late in the season with quite a bit of inclement weather. It is supposed to be 0 degrees in Green Bay tomorrow. The snow game last week was awesome.

I don't like the Superbowl because of the following reasons:

• It's a neutral site.
• There's too much media hype.
• Too many people show up that have no real interest in either team.
• Real fans aren't as plentiful as at the playoff games.
• The halftime show usually sucks and is a lot longer than usual.
• I don't like warm weather football in January.

I Love The Fog

It was very foggy this morning. It's supposed to be foggy all week. I love the fog. Visibility was just a few blocks. For some reason, the fog creates a cozy, comfortable feeling. Sound is dampened. This is the thick ground fog as opposed to the overhead San Francisco type of fog.

I grew up between two ridges in a little "valley." Fog would sit in this valley and take longer to burn off during the day. I remember times it was so foggy in my neighborhood that I had to drive with my head out the opened driver side door in order to see the dashed line on the road. Tomorrow morning should be another nice day for weather.

Pulp Fiction

I just watched Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction for the first time. I had no idea what to expect, as the 90's was kind of my lost decade and didn't pay much attention to cultural things back then. Aside from the f-word being used in two out of three words, it was difficult for me to figure out what the point was. But it was definitely one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. My favorite line was when Harvey Keitel said to Travolta and Jackson, drenched in blood and not realizing that they needed a change of clothes, "You look like a couple of guys who just blew somebody's head off." I haven't laughed that hard in months. If anything, I can now say that I've seen the movie.

Saddam Hussein Flocked His Christmas Tree

Vache Folle pointed out in the comment section that my last post had a Saddam Hussein label. I'm sure this was a mistake, but I now realize that it applies. I just read an article that traced the roots of the Baath party in Iraq to the Eastern Orthodox church. They celebrate Christmas. So, I'm sure that Saddam flocked his tree.

No Flocking and Trash Day

This year we got a flocked Christmas tree at the request of our six year old. Never again. It made a mess of the house, mess of the yard, the garbage company's tree pickup policy doesn't allow flocked trees. So I had to cut it up and put it in the greens can. Too much time. It still smelled good, though.

Thursday is the hallowed day in our neighborhood. Trash day. The last two weeks it was Friday because the garbage company gave its employees Christmas and New Year's off. So I had extra space in the can this week to throw unconventional stuff. Can't wait for next Thursday!

Mrs. Scott

I am married to Mrs. Scott. She cooked a mean dinner tonight for my dad's birthday party. Oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes and a tasty green bean dish with caramelized onions and almond slivers, homemade biscuits. The chocolate birthday cake was delicious. She's a great cook.

But the even better thing is that she's a graduate of the prestigious, world famous California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, with certificates in baking and pastry arts. She worked a number of years as a professional baker before we married. And, yes, it tastes as good as it sounds. I am blessed.

More On Singleness

Thanks to each who commented on my recent post on singleness. My good friend Shelly wrote some about the expectations of others and the difficulty in dealing with that. During my singleness as a Christian, I also had to deal with the expectations of others in the context of all the various doctrines of marriage/divorce/remarriage, some of which are rigid salvation-dependent doctrines. I had friends who expected that since I was previously divorced that I was to remain single. Others thought it okay to remarry. Still others thought it my duty to remarry. Yet others thought I needed to pursue and reconcile with my ex-wife. Several close friends even told me that if I decided to remarry, since I was married previously, that they wouldn't attend my wedding because that would be giving a blessing to adultery. As "Christians" they couldn't bless adultery.

Also, since internet dating was in its infancy, reactionary conservative Christians had yet to consider the possibility of God allowing it as not sinful. Additionally, I had read Joshua Harris' book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" and fell into the trap of viewing his book as "the biblical" way to look at dating instead simply his own personal convictions. I hurt several women as a result. I then kissed "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" goodbye. There are those who advocate the "courtship" system (man-made system, no less) and condemn those who "date," even if they do so without sin. Some who "date" actually unknowingly follow the courtship system, but since they don't know that there are self-appointed priests of relationships out there that christen the system with the name "courtship", they are condemned.

With all the talk about contentment during singlehood, I think the least content people are the ones who place the expectations on singles. They are not content to leave the lives of others alone. They don't believe that singles can discern God's will from reading the bible. They manufacture doctrines and condemn those who don't fit with their religious utopias. How would they know what I have to deal with on a day to day basis? Job's friends, they. Jesus said to his disciples that some were born eunuchs, some are made eunuchs by men, and some make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom, and that not everybody could accept such a statement. Yeah, Jesus, I know.

Now for a clarification on my first post. I don't have a problem with matchmaking or matchmakers (yes, Steve Schlissel has a matchmaking service) or with friends helping out by suggesting somebody special, as long as the person they "help" is okay with it.

Drive-By Shootings In The Blogging World

"He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him." Proverbs 18:13

I have noticed with the technology of blogging, combined with Google and other search engines, that it is easy to search for one's favorite pet peeve topic, find somebody's blog who mentions it, get royally pissed off, leave a flaming comment, then go away for ever. Or until the blogger responds, then an argument can start. Many blogs I've read over the [few] years have had such a problem with this that they've had to radically alter their comment sections - or even blogs - to avoid this. Many bloggers don't mind comments that oppose their viewpoint, as long as it's done civilly. Some blogs even offer a topic and encourage debate in the comment section. I don't have a problem with this, but my concern here is with the anonymous flaming.

I've had a few drive-by's from anonymous strangers. It's just a part of the blogging world we live in. But to avoid doing this myself, I've learned to read any blog new to me for a while to get the flavor of the blog; to get to know the character of the blogger; to get to know the blogger in a more personal way. Often, drive-by's miss the point, miss the context, miss the opportunity for good interaction. So, get to know what you're responding to before you respond.

Neither Rain, Nor Snow, Nor Sleet...

I am a daily, morning jogger. Occasionally I miss a day because I'm behind schedule or due to illness. Overall I average over six days per week. In 15 years, I have never once missed a day of jogging due to the weather. Until today. I have jogged in rain, storms, snow, slush, below freezing temps, etc. But the west coast has been hit with a monster storm. There are 40 mph winds with gusts to 60 mph. Rain, flooding. Above 1000 feet in elevation there are hurricane force winds, with areas in the mountains near Lake Tahoe that are being hit with category three hurricane gusts of 140 mph. Driving to work today was a fun one and I was reassured that I made the right decision to not run. I can't wait for the drive home.

The Gift of Singleness?

I came across this article at Better Bibles blog about the idea of singleness being a gift from God. A Carolyn McCulley book on women's singleness is looked at (along with a linked critical review) in light of a mistranslation of the bible to give the impression that singleness is a gift from God. It brings back some memories of being single and observing the lives of other singles.

I don't believe singleness is a gift in the biblical sense, like tongues or prophesy. Singleness is often a grave difficulty for those who desire to be married. I should know, I was single for a number of years. But there's a problem because there are often blame and guilt games being played by people who think they have the final word on the subject. Some wallow in self pity. Some blame the church. Some blame women. Some blame men. Those blamed blame back. Some just drop the "God is Sovereign" bomb and demand contentment from others. The critical review in the link I provided blamed the flight of men from our churches as to why so many women are single.

In my experience, there is a shortage of women in the churches. But that's only because I have attended doctrinally oriented Reformed churches that place a high emphasis on analytical theology. Women aren't drawn to doctrinal zealots. In my first church, the single men outnumbered the women by 10:1. And the women were beyond homely. But the men were just as weird. My next church had a few women, but their potential for being my wife was obscured by a neo-puritan prairie muffin Little House on the Prairie type of aura. Some of my friends needed to recruit good looking, socially normal women from large Arminian or Charismatic churches and convert them to being Calvinists. Some engaged in "missionary dating" with attractive unbelievers. Then there are the giddy married women who act as self-appointed matchmakers who don't always produce good things. There are plenty of teachings about dating and courtship, the internet, arranged marriages, all in competition.

Contrary to those who harp on God's sovereignty in providing a wife from within one's own church, I went outside as well. I don't envy those Christians who are single and having a hard time finding a mate, but I have little sympathy for those who play the blame game. I'm glad I didn't marry one of those. Singles should be encouraged - to whatever they can be, either as single or married - but not condemned for dating or internet matchmaking. We have enough legalists without issues of singleness, dating and marriage being added to the forbidden list.

My Favorite AC/DC Songs

Okay, this goes waaaay past worldly. This is strictly forbidden in fundamentalist circles.

My faves: It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll), Sin City, Bad Boy Boogie, Dog Eat Dog, T.N.T., Beating Around The Bush, Girls Got Rhythm, Shoot To Thrill, Hell's Bells.

Honorable mention: Highway To Heck (Baptist re-mix)

College Football: Rankings, Bowls and BCS

I like college football. I'm not a fan, but I like it. I like bowl games in general, but don't watch much of the regular season because most of it takes place before the World Series is over. My loyalties are simple; I attended the University of California, Berkeley. In NCAA terms, they are known as "California" and "Cal" and are officially the "Golden Bears" but mostly known as the "Bears." So, I hate Stanford, our bitter rival. We are the ones that lateraled a kickoff five times through their marching band in the greatest football play ever.

I don't like the current BCS bowl system. But I have some problems with the traditional rankings system, too. I don't mind rankings, but question the method the polls use in moving teams up and down during the season. A team's record seems to have more bearing on their ranking than whether they are a better team. For example, let's say sometime during the season there are six teams that are undefeated and ranked one through six, and number one plays number two. If number one wins by one point, it is likely that number two will fall below all other teams below them, and maybe even below some one-loss teams who they are now in competition with. But if number one and number two play, number one should win, but not by much. So if number two loses to number one by one point, which they should, they should still be the number two team because they gave no evidence that they are suddenly inferior to other teams below them. Those other teams never played the number one team.

Many argue that a playoff system is best. I happen to like the pre-BCS traditional bowl system and debate over number one. Does the division 1-A (or whatever they are these days) need a playoff system and a national champion? There are over a thousand college football teams, so it's more complex than the NFL. In any case, the BCS seems to combine the worst of the old system with the worst of a playoff system. I would prefer either the old system or a playoff system to the BCS.

New Year's Resolution

This year, I'm keeping my traditional New Year's Resolution of not making any at all. It keeps me safe from failure and frustration. I won't feel guilty, either. I just reckon I'll change things when they need to happen.

California Weather

The weather here has been generally on the cold side (okay, James, VF, Gene, Bruce and VS, I know you people are laughing) with lows near or slightly below freezing. Several days of cold, foggyish, misty, dewey, rainy days. Not just rain, but gray weather. I love foggy weather, and it won't get here in full force until January. Jogging in the morning is getting harder.

My Favorite Ten Years After Songs

Who? No, not The Who. Ten Years After. For those who don't know them, or don't quite remember, Ten Years After is (was) an English blues/rock group that entered the music scene during the second British Invasion (1967). They are led by guitarist Alvin Lee and had only a few hits. I'm Going Home became popular as they performed it live at the Woodstock festival, then the 1972 FM radio hit I'd Love To Change The World, which can still be heard occasionally on classic rock stations. Anyway, I became a huge fan, collected all their albums and still listen.

Here they are: Woman Trouble, Spider In My Web (studio version as a never previously released bonus track on the remastered Alvin Lee & Company album), Going Back To Birmingham, Portable People, Once There Was A Time, As The Sun Still Burns Away, Working On The Road, Help Me (both the studio and live versions)

Seasons of Life

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven..." Ecclesiastes 3:1

My family is going through what I'll call a distinct season of life. We have added three children to our household in the last four years or so. We are so busy with family stuff that other areas of life like church are placed in a different category of importance. We have trouble making all the church meetings and functions like we used to. Most of the mid-week bible studies we can attend aren't able to accommodate our children, and we can't afford baby sitters to do this. We're mostly home bodies these last few years. We don't hang out with the same people anymore and if we do, it isn't at the same places.

Most other families we talk to share the same experience. It's a phase - or season - of life. As a Christian, I did completely different things before I was married. Then after marriage, we did different things yet. Then after having children, different things yet. Others tell us that it will change yet again after our children grow older.

It is difficult for me to get this, but I know I shouldn't judge my spirituality - or "walk" - by my past experiences. Seasons change every few months, and they do in life as well.

A Starbucks Christmas

A west coast grocery store chain - the recently renewed Lucky chain - was open on Christmas Day from 8 to 5. Mrs. Scott needed some chocolate chips for a cheesecake glaze, so I went to the store to get a pack. There were many people there. I noticed many people coming out of the store with those bright red and green Starbucks coffee drinks. Once in the store, there were many more people drinking Starbucks. Only later did it occur to me that all Starbucks stores were closed on Christmas and that people were using the Starbucks stand inside the store to get their Starbucks fix.

Tis The Season To Be Slow About Blogging

This is the season to be slow about blogging. Last year most of my blogroll was slow. I presume everybody is with famliy to celebrate Christmas. Maybe I'll lighten up on my heavy themes in my blogs this next week and post some fluff and human interest stories. If I get a theology brainstorm, maybe I'll just save them for later. Who knows?

My Favorite U2 Songs

My faves: absolute #1: Where The Streets Have No Name. (One of my all time faves from any group)

Others: Sunday Bloody Sunday, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, I Will Follow, Gloria, Bullet The Blue Sky, Vertigo, A Man And A Woman

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 16)

Read the entire series of posts here.

I'm taking a slight detour from the train of thought on pastors' responsibilities and commenting on a very important bible passage that I included in Part 15:

The Apostle Peter exhorts church elders and says, "...shepherd the flock of God among you, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:2-3.)

The phrase "those allotted to your charge" is vitally important in establishing the who and how of pastors' responsibility, but most important of all it establishes how membership is established and Who establishes it. Notice very carefully the grammatical structure of this phrase. "Those" are the sheep. "Your" is a possessive pronoun that indicates that it is the elders (pastors) who have the charge . "Allotted" is the verb that ties the sheep to the shepherds' charge.

Now, it is not possible from the grammar - as the elders of Grace Community Church wrongly claim when they say, "those who have submitted themselves to the care and the authority of the elders" are the ones they have responsibility over - it is not possible that the sheep are the ones who do the allotting. The sheep are allotted to the charge of the pastors. The allotting is passive - it is done to them. If it were the sheep that did the allotting, as the Grace elders claim, then the verse would read, "those who have allotted themselves to your charge." It doesn't say that. The sheep are not the ones who allot, they are the ones who have been allotted.

Also, it is not possible from the grammar that the pastors/elders are the ones who do the allotting. Otherwise the verse would read, "those whom you have allotted to your own charge." It doesn't say that either.

The only possibility from the grammar is that the object that does the allotting is neither the sheep nor the shepherds. So Who is the one who allots?  The bible tells us:

"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body..." (1 Cor. 12:13)

"But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired." (1 Cor. 12:18)

"But God has so composed the body..." (1 Cor. 12:24)

The answer is God. He allots sheep to the charge of shepherds. This He does by assembling the sheep. It is God's assembly, not the shepherd's assembly.  The elders of GCC have made a large mistake in how they view relationships in the church.  Their teachings on the matter are widespread.  It is no great task, then, to realize that large problems can result from large problems in how one views the church.

Part 15 . . . . . . . . Part 17

Rock Anthem Burnout

About 15 years ago I got burned out on the rock anthem songs. You know those long, signature songs by various classical rock groups that were endlessly played on the radio? Stairway To Heaven, Free Bird, Won't Get Fooled Again, Carry On Wayward Son, Hotel California, Light My Fire, Bohemian Rhapsody. You know? Man? Dude? Dude!

Slight Format Change

I have a list of ongoing blog series in the left margin. For some of the series I have taken each post and collected them into one post. I have found that this is difficult, time consuming and frustrating. Blogger's post editor isn't quite what I need for this task.

In light of this, I am now going to use labels exclusively for entire series. The existing collection posts will still be available in the margin, but at the end of each I will put a link to the series label for to access the continuation of the series. I know of at least one link to a series from another blogger, so I want to keep the collection post. I hope this doesn't cause problems for any readers who access them.

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 15)

Read the entire series of posts here.

Continuing from the same quote, in Part 14 of my series, from Part 2 of Pulpit Magazine's article on church membership with regards to pastors' responsibilities:

Elders can shepherd the people and give an account to God for their spiritual well-being only if they know who they are; they can provide oversight only if they know those for whom they are responsible; and they can fulfill their duty to shepherd the flock only if they know who is part of the flock and who is not.

The Apostle Peter exhorts church elders and says, "...shepherd the flock of God among you, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:2-3.) The elders of Grace Community Church seem unsure who God's sheep are that they need to shpeherd. But the bible says that they are to shepherd those who are among you. If the sheep are there, they are to be shepherded. All it takes is for an elder to be among them for them to receive shepherding. It doesn't require the sheep's initiation. If a sheep is assembling with other believers, he is to receive shepherding. It doesn't first require the activity of placing himself on a list or having the elders do it for him.

Part 14 . . . . . . . . Part 16

My Favorite Who Songs

I used to be a huge fan of The Who in high school and college. That waned some, but I still like them. Here are my favorite Who songs:

Faves: Bargain, Blue Red and Grey, Summertime Blues (Live at Leeds), I Can't Explain, The Kids Are Alright

Next level: Substitute, Young Man Blues (Live at Leeds), Boris The Spider, I'm Free, Join Together, The Real Me, Heinz Baked Beans jingle

My Favorite Beach Boys Songs

I was born and raised in California, have blue eyes and blond hair, go to the beach several times a year, really like the Beach Boys, but just aquired my first album at age 43. Here are my favorite Beach Boys songs:

Faves: I Get Around; 409; Surfin' USA; Fun, Fun, Fun; Help Me Rhonda; Barbara Ann

Next best: Surfin' Safari; Little Deuce Coupe; Sloop John B; When I Grow Up To Be A Man; Catch A Wave; Kokomo

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 14)

Read the entire series of posts here.

Again from Part 2 of Pulpit Magazine's article on church membership with regards to pastors' responsibilities:

Elders can shepherd the people and give an account to God for their spiritual well-being only if they know who they are; they can provide oversight only if they know those for whom they are responsible; and they can fulfill their duty to shepherd the flock only if they know who is part of the flock and who is not.

Jesus said, "Shepherd My sheep." (John 21:16). He did not say, "Shepherd those who you have decided for yourselves are your sheep." Jesus assumed that His sheep were discernible to His shepherds. The pastors at Grace Community church have admitted that they don't know who to shepherd. So instead of shepherding all Christians who assemble, they shepherd only those who both assemble and who come forward to submit themselves to the man-made "formal" membership created by the pastors.

It should be noted here that I am not singling out Grace Community Church and their elders. Their exact teaching is very widespread throughout evangelical churches. It just so happens that they posted an article right after I started this series that contains a great deal of points that I will be writing about. I plan to give many more examples from other sources in future posts.

Part 13 . . . . . . . . Part 15

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 13)

Read entire series in one article here, or as a collection of all posts here.

Quoting from Part 2 of Pulpit Magazine's article on church membership with regards to pastors'/elders' responsibilities in shepherding God's sheep:

The specific duties given to these elders presuppose a clearly defined group of church members who are under their care...Those responsibilities require that there be a distinguishable, mutually understood membership in the local church. Elders can shepherd the people and give an account to God for their spiritual well-being only if they know who they are; they can provide oversight only if they know those for whom they are responsible; and they can fulfill their duty to shepherd the flock only if they know who is part of the flock and who is not.

As I've already shown, a "distinguishable, mutually understood" membership in the local church means those Christians who are assembled. This is very simple, yet the authors of this article, along with the elder that interacts in the comments section, have the idea that pastors have no idea who God's sheep are. Their solution is to create a scheme where the sheep are burdened with the responsibility to come forward and submit themselves to these men. Only those who do so are deemed worthy of shepherding. Continuing with their thought process:

The elders of a church are not responsible for the spiritual well-being of every individual who visits the church or who attends sporadically. Rather, they are primarily responsible to shepherd those who have submitted themselves to the care and the authority of the elders, and this is done through church membership.

It must be noted here that sheep are sheep, prone to wander. Sheep may not even know to "come forward" or if they do, they may be in such a difficult spot in life that they aren't even able to. Jesus spoke of the shepherd who left the 99 to go after the one straying sheep. With the Grace Community model of church from this article, the pastors might not even know that a sheep is missing. A comment from JackW in the comments section really brings light to the issue:

Jesse, Is it possible that this formal membership deal came about because Elders wanted to define their own responsibility and accountability? An Elder should have a pretty close relationship with the One who builds His church and knows who His sheep are, right? An Elder should have the discernment to know who is under his overview, right? … or have they exchanged discernment for a list? Will the Elder not be accountable for all the goats that are on his list as well as the sheep that are not? If the Lord builds His church by sending a sheep your way, are you not going to provide accountability or minister to him because he is not on your list? “… all of this necessarily entails membership.” Sorry, that’s not making sense to me.

Here JackW hits the nail on the head. Many pastors are defining their own responsibility and accountability, ignoring what God already wrote on the subject, and as a result they can't even see God's sheep. They have blinded themselves.

Part 12 . . . . . . . . Part 14

300,000 Miles for Mr. Mileage

Today my car turned the 300,000 mile mark. I bought my 1990 Honda Accord brand new in early '90. It was the first year of a new model line, which is supposed to be the worst year, but this one is no lemon. I've been through a few clutches and a few timing belts, maybe an oil filter or two. I have no reservations recommending Honda to anybody. Beats the American stuff I've driven any day.

I have a knack for getting mileage out of all kinds of things. Shoes, boots, sandals, computers, T-shirts and other articles of clothing. My hairdresser, dentist, razor. My wife is cracking up right now as she's feeding me examples. I've had my razor since I was 16. Still going. Records, CD's. Furniture. My sandals lasted 10 years, my boots 8, my new boots are going on four. I have T-shirts that are 10 years old. I'm on my second pair of jogging shoes in the last 12 years, and I jog several miles every day. I had my last computer for 8 years.

My Favorite Rolling Stones Songs

Beatles and Zeppelin down, now for the Stones. My faves:

Top tier: Far Away Eyes, Factory Girl, Love In Vain, Neighbors

Next level: Street Fighting Man, Gimme Shelter, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Midnight Rambler, Paint It Black, Gomper, Dear Doctor.

My Favorite Led Zeppelin Songs

I recently listed my favorite Beatles songs. Now for Led Zeppelin. There's only one song I don't like, Sick Again. Here's the fav's:

Top tier: Hats Off to (Roy) Harper, Boogie With Stu, Hot Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I've Been Loving You.

Next to top tier (really close): Rock and Roll, Battle of Evermore, Lemon Song, That's the Way.

Coming soon: Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, The Who, U2.

A Different Kind of Conspiracy Theorist

It just occurred to me that there might be a different kind of conspiracy theorist than the ones we read about. First there are the conspirators. Those who engage in conspiracy. Then there are the conspiracy theorists. Those who make up wild stories about supposed conspiracies, but who have little or no evidence readily available.

A different kind of conspiracy theorist would be one who takes the truth [of a real conspiracy - edit 12-07-07] and twists it so that it appears like a mere theory, one that looks bogus enough that nobody will believe it, and makes anybody who does believe it look foolish.

We Love You, Vianna

The lady that has been cutting my hair for the last 20 years - her name is Vianna - is retiring at the end of the month. Today was our last time in the chair. The rest of my family kind of joined her client list as they became my family.

I first came to her through a now ex sister-in-law. Later that year, my dad retired. She was at his retirement dinner. We saw each other and asked what each was doing there. Well, it was my dad, so that's why I was there, but I didn't know that her husband was my dad's boss. Anyway, through 20 years, the gossip and chit-chat has been wonderful. We wish you well.

My Favorite Beatles Songs

My favorite songs from the Fab Four include: Number one is Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da; number two is And Your Bird Can Sing; number three Your Mother Should Know. The others in no particular order: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, Day Tripper, Norwegian Wood, Helter Skelter, She's So Heavy. I also like some of the odd songs like Rocky Raccoon, Good Night, Yellow Submarine, Maxwell's Silver Hammer.

When Do My Ideas Become My Ideas?

I have a mild interest in, but have thought little about, intellectual property laws, patents, trademarks and copyrights. A nagging question is, "when do my ideas become my ideas"? If use somebody else's work as my own, it might be called plagiarism. But what if I came to the same ideas independently? Or what if I learned many things from many people, then used what I have learned as my own? Where is the line drawn?

If I think the same thing as somebody else, an idea for a product for example, and the other person receives a patent a day before me, then my idea becomes, in essence, his idea, even though I thought of it independently. Isn't that theft? He uses state law to force me to not use my idea, and if I do use my idea, he can collect damages. How is this not theft? Thinking out loud.

Why Take The Chance?

Toll House recipe chocolate chip cookie dough is great. When we were kids, we used to try to get away with eating as much of the dough as mom would let us. But the purpose of the dough, she always said, was to make cookies. Today, things have changed. The dough rules. It makes sense. The dough is great, every time. But if you try to bake cookies from it, there's a chance it will not come out right, even though the cookies are great too. You could burn them or underbake them. Since the dough is always perfect, why take a chance on the cookies not turning out perfect?

End Of Weekend Potpourri

Okay, here's just some random stuff.

• I've seen thousands of women put their makeup on in the mirror on their way to work in the morning. But for only the second time (in the last six months) I have seen a woman apply makeup at night while it was dark. Both times she used the compact mirror on the underside of the sun visor, with the small light to guide her mascara while she was driving.
• Today I found out what a turkey Caesar salad was.
• On occasion my wife has asked me who my favorite female celebrities are in terms of beauty/looks, etc. She keeps the list to celebs because there's no danger of them running off with me! Okay here goes. Number one, and classic, Geena Davis. Then, in no special order: Angelina Jolie, Selma Hayek, Catherine Zeta Jones, Scarlett Johanson, Nigella Lawson. Okay, maybe nudge Nigella Lawson up to number two. Halle Berry? Some people claim she has the perfect face. But I think that's the problem. No character uniqueness. Brittney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Aniston, Paris Hilton, Janet Jackson? Yuck!
• I'm done with the last cabinet shelf in the kitchen remodel. My dad's making rollers for the drawers and I'm on to painting and finishing the scalloped molding before re-installing.

Harmony of the Gospels and Bible Contradictions

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it." Luke 22:7-8

I recently came across a blog (and I can't find the link, but wish I could remember) that noted supposed contradictions between the four gospels as to the day of Christ's crucifixion. The contention was that the four gospels don't agree on which day Christ was actually crucified. I have come across a number of supposed contradictions in the bible before as put forth by skeptics of the faith. I have also seen a number of supposed answers to these contradictions by well-meaning Christians - some of these even in error. But one thing that I find in many of these cases is modern thinking people who try to force technical standards of modern thinking and scientific research onto ancient storytelling. It doesn't always work. Another error is to place standards of technical writing onto verbal storytelling without realizing that we moderns speak the same way.

I don't recall from the blog whether the above Scripture reference was one listed, but it should be obvious from reading Luke 22 that the two sentences in the quotation above are from two different days. Luke mentions the Passover day, then skips backward in time in the very next sentence to describe getting ready for that day. An analogy would be the following: "I had a good Thanksgiving Day. I flew home, and my mom and kid sister met me at the airport. They took me home and the whole family was there. We spent all morning watching football and talking about life, then had a great turkey meal." It might be obvious to anybody who knows the narrator that he skipped back to the day before Thanksgiving to tell of his travel and meeting his family, then skipping forward to talk about the day itself. He doesn't need to warn the reader because the reader would know that he had to travel before the holiday. We moderns, even though we pay extreme attention to technical detail in formal writing, often verbally violate these rules when we speak - and think nothing of it. We then use it against people of other times and cultures.

Another group of supposed contradictions arise in Kings and Chronicles where the number of years which certain kings reigned or the ages at which their successors' births occurred don't agree. This is because the cultures of the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, came to count time differently. In one kingdom they counted partial years as whole years and the other counted only whole years. (Thanks to Harold Camping here for his research) In our modern world, the same "contradictions" occur. This is why when the US team plays the Taiwan team in the Little League World Series that our twelve year olds play their thirteen year olds. The kids are the same age, but in the Taiwanese culture, the nine months of pregnancy is counted as a year. So their kids are one year old upon birth, whereas ours are one year old a year later. Another example is the way days and nights are counted in the world of vacation travel by travel agencies. The day you fly there might be counted as part of the vacation time. Judgment Day will be interesting when God debunks all the false claims made against the faith. He may even use technicalities to do so.

Software Update Woes

I avoided it like the plague for over a year. I kept getting reminders in the bottom right corner of my screen. I endured having to click the thing off every time I logged on because of what I knew. I knew it would be stupid. But somehow I forgot, or at least ignored what I knew would be reality. But I did it. I clicked on the idiot button that urged me to update my Microsoft Internet Explorer from version 6 to 7.

Nothing can ruin a weekend more than trying to install or update software. Our family had one of the best Thanksgivings ever, but this morning I just blew it. I tried to update. Of course the new version did anything at all except explore the internet. No access. No ability to access. Denials that it even could have access. Mrs. Scott, who is better at dealing with tech supports than me, picked up the phone. Three hours later, after speaking to people around the world, some nice man in the Philippines finally solved the problem.

Why software installation or updating never, ever, ever works is totally beyond me. It seems only reasonable that a software company could cause its own software to update automatically. Despite all the promises of smooth installation at the click of a button. It's not like they haven't had an opportunity to make it work. Millions of people call their tech support with problems. Do they listen? It's not like I have tons of weird other stuff going on, just other basic Microsoft stuff like Windows, Excel, Word and Internet Explorer. After many apologies on my part, Mrs. Scott finally realized how my mistake will affect the rest of our weekend.

I'm A Six Point Calvinist

I'm a six point Calvinist. If you're theologically ignorant enough to not know what the sixth point of Calvinism is, it will obviously be a waste of my time explaining it to you.

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 12)

Read entire series in one article here, or as a collection of all posts here.

This topic is very complex for me, as there are many interrelated points to consider. How to arrange them and order them is difficult, so I'll take this post to state some basics, to keep myself on track. This is for both me and anybody who might be reading.

My basic premise is that church membership is not something that man has to create, i.e. establish a "formal" church membership through a process where "regular attenders" can become "members." Church membership is an already existing reality for all believers since it is God who places us in Christ's body. Since "church" (ekklesia in the Greek) means "assembly," membership is realized through assembling, not through making a covenant with others, not by fulfilling a list of items created by church leaders, not by meeting man-made standards by a group of church people.

No covenant needs to be made with all others in the church because all relationships, duties, love and actions required of Christians are already part of the New Covenant in Christ's blood. There already is a covenant. Whenever church leaders or groups of people in churches create a list of requirements or standards by which Christians can become members, there are always standards or requirements not included in the bible. Because of this there will always be Christians who because of the way God created them or because of their obedience to God will fail to meet these standards, they will be wrongly treated by the churches as if they were sinning or deficient. Even if the only requirement is that one must become a formal member by doing something to get on the membership list, this requirement is in addition to what the bible requires.

I have a number of experiences with church memberships and how simply being faithful to God is viewed as falling short by those who hold to "formal" memberships. I have also talked with many other people and they have shared their experiences with formal church memberships as well. I hope to deal with some of these. I also hope to provide actual policies (many are ridiculous) on church memberships from looking at church constitutions, by-laws and statements of faith that are readily available on-line simply by going to church websites. There are even those out there who hold so strongly to a man-made formal membership that those who regularly attend a church and who appear to be obedient, faithful Christians in every respect are viewed as unsaved simply by their failure to become formal members.

I also hope to look at the authority of pastors/elders and their responsibilities before God, and compare what the bible has to say with what they think their responsibilities are and what they think God will judge them for on Judgment Day. Stay tuned, or maybe even set up your TiVo.

Part 11 . . . . . . . . Part 13

John Elway's Greatest Last-Minute Comeback: Nobody Remembers It

John Elway is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play football, maybe one of the three greatest. The one thing that Elway did best, he did more often than anybody else: the last-minute comeback. He had 50% more miracle endings than the second best, Joe Montana. Yet what is perhaps Elway's greatest comeback of his life (I found an amazing YouTube clip), nobody even remembers it.

It occurred in -what else - the last drive in the last minute of the final game of his senior year in college. I remember it so well because he did it against my school in my freshman year. I doubt a quarterback has ever had more pressure. Not only would it be the last time he touched the ball in college, the game had much more meaning. It was his rivalry game. And not just any rivalry, one of the six or seven greatest rivalries in college history. He also needed the victory because a bowl game berth was hanging on it. So was his personal quest for the Heisman Trophy and the eye of the scouts who would decide his NFL future.

The odds were stacked against him. With 4th down and 17 on his own 13 with less than a minute to play and down by two points, he needed to drive his team down the field and score. And he did it. How could John Elway pull out a miracle in his last college game over his rival to get into a bowl and win the Heisman Trophy and nobody remembers it?

It's because he also made what could be the biggest blunder in football history. In calling the final time out to set up the win, he neglected to look at the clock before calling it and left some time on the clock after the game winning score. The consequences were so unbelievably devastating and of biblical proportions that they overshadowed his miracle. See if you can pick up on why Elway's drive is forgotten in history. View his amazing feat - and tragic undoing - in this YouTube clip.

A Glimpse of Eastern Orthodoxy

Abu Daoud at Islam and Christianity posts a series about Eastern Orthodoxy as written in an article by Frederica Mathewes-Green. This is a fascinating read for an ignorant Protestant. [Update: Oops! I forgot the hat tip: Erik Twist]

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 11)

Read entire series in one article here, or as a collection of all posts here.

Continuing on in my examination of the articles at Pulpit Magazine, here's a quote from Part 1 of their series, from the section on the early church as an example:

In the early church, coming to Christ was coming to the church. The idea of experiencing salvation without belonging to a local church is foreign to the New Testament. When individuals repented and believed in Christ, they were baptized and added to the church (Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; 16:5). More than simply living out a private commitment to Christ, this meant joining together formally with other believers in a local assembly and devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42).

If coming to Christ meant coming to the church - and I have no problem with this - and joining with other believers in assembly, devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer, why would anybody today who was already doing these things be considered a non-member of that assembly? Only in adding requirements not found in the bible could such an idea be possible.

Part 10 . . . . . . . . Part 12

Mickey Mouse Lived Here

I'm slowly progressing on my kitchen remodel that was supposed to be done two Christmases ago. I've got a few other projects going on and I keep running into Mickey Mouse work that occurred sometime in the past. This leads me to believe he lived here at one time.

When A Way Becomes The Way

Sometimes there's a way to do something. It's not the only way. Maybe that way is biblical, but not the only biblical way. A way to do something can easily become the way to do something. Because it's biblical it can easily be looked at as the biblical way to do something. Then when somebody does something else biblical, but not according to the way of doing things, that individual or group is accused of doing things in an unbiblical manner. Beware of letting a way become the way.

The Proverbs 31 Woman's Husband

"She rises also while it is still night, and gives food to her household, and portions to her maidens." Proverbs 31:15

Maidens? Plural? Something to consider for those rigid literalist husbands who demand more from their wives than they are capable of doing. Have they given their wives more than one maid? Hmmm?

I Love Lists

I love lists. Many kinds of lists. The top 100 movies of all time. The top selling albums or groups of all time. The top 500 rock songs of all time counted down and played. The top 25 college football rankings. David Letterman's top ten list. And of course my love for baseball throws any and all baseball lists in here. Many of these lists are other people's opinions, many are statistical facts. But I love lists.

Catholic Rightness vs Protestant Rightness

Roman Catholics think they're right, and so do Protestants. But in reading much about what each group says when they talk about truth, it seems that Catholics tend to talk about the church, where as Protestants seem to talk about doctrine. In general, Catholics believe that they are the true church, and they are right because they are the true church. Protestants believe that they hold to right doctrine, and because of this they are the true church. In short, Catholics believe they are right because they are the true church and Protestants believe that they are the true church because they are right. Just an observation.

Questioning My Faith

I'm returning to the post Society VS (new website for his blog) made regarding growing in the faith. He guesses that it can be likened to processes in human life. The four steps he listed are these:

1) Child - where we are told what is true
2) Teenager - where we know all the answers
3) Young Adult - where we question what we thought we knew
4) Adult - maturity that is a partnership with God

I must admit I've been questioning my faith over the last so many years. Step three. Actually this has been going on since the beginning of my faith. But I need to make a distinction here. The faith I've been questioning is not the faith - that faith handed down once for all - but my faith. I have been questioning what I thought I knew; what others have told me what the faith is.

I've been almost exclusively within Protestant/ Evangelical/ Reformed circles since my conversion. Yet within this, I've been taught what the faith is by legalists, fundamentalists, dispensationalists, covenant theologians, premillenialists, amillenialists, moralists, neoplatonists, neopuritans, neotraditionalists, political conservatives and a host of other isms, ists and knowitalls. Each of these has been content to set up a box containing all reality. Their boxes are limiting and force falsehoods upon us. I have dared to break out of boxes and tried to look at the world with the idea of God's purpose in mind; not man's knowitallism.

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith. ( 1 John 5:4)

Number Nine: Yankee Announcer's Voice on Beatles' White Album

I'm convinced that the voice saying "number nine" repeatedly in the Beatles' White Album song "Revolution 9" is none other than the Yankees PA announcer Bob Sheppard. The White Album was put out in '68, so I'm guessing that the voice is an audio clip from Sheppard announcing a Roger Maris at bat sometime in '66 or earlier.

I Googled and surfed to find some confirmation of this. I did find a YouTube clip of him announcing a game in '06. At about 0:41 on this clip you can hear him announce a Texas Ranger player who wears uniform number nine. Forty years later, it sounds just like the White Album. After my discovery, I found this on Wikipedia.

Records, Tapes, CD's and The Holy Trinity

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. Ephesians 5:1

And now for something completely different. I am a Trinitarian, and unashamedly at that. I believe in One God in Three Persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe the bible teaches the Trinity, but I'm a bit more tolerant these days of Christians who have a hard time grasping this doctrine.

I also believe that God has built the concept of the Trinity into His creation. When man applies the concept of the Trinity to God's creation, he can reap benefits far greater than if he doesn't. Take music recording for example. Prior to the digital revolution, music was recorded on phonograph records. A needle cut the groove in a piece of vinyl, and the groove reflected the sound of the music. The vibrations that cut the groove made the groove a mere analogy of the original music. This is why conventional means are called analog. There is a point at which all analogies fail. With each successive playback of the record, wear and tear are introduced until major flaws are realized. One oops with the needle and the record itself (and thus the recording) would be damaged. Corruption in the vinyl is unforgiving.

On the other hand, when digital technology is used, the music is broken down into very small pieces that can be quantified, with each piece being equal in essence. The one piece of music is represented as many parts, whereas in analog music, the one original piece of music is represented with another one piece. This digital representation is a reflection of the nature of God. He is One being, but three (multiple) persons. He is the One and Many, the Unity and Diversity, division of labor, checks and balances. When the music is broken into small pieces, each piece has a relation to its neighboring pieces, that when combined forms something very close and almost indistinguishable from the original music. Now, here's the beauty of digital music. When one piece is corrupt, let's say from a "pop" or "hiss", it's neighbors (following a smooth curve of the music) can be looked at to determine where that corrupt piece should be. The program that plays the music back can make this correction and eliminate the corruption. In theory, the music never deteriorates, just as God lives forever and never changes.

Digital technology has greatly enhanced our lives. This is because the nature of God is applied to living. We now create things to imitate God. Many Christians have questioned whether Christians ought to be caught up in digital technology. A better question is why Trinitarians weren't the pioneers.

A Christian Halloween

Okay, so the author is Catholic, but his list Top Ten Things to do for a Catholic Halloween is as Christian, Protestant and non-Fundamentalist as it is Catholic. (Hat tip to Chad Toney) Why (some) Protestants are horrified of Halloween is weird. Because of the cross, none of the forces of darkness have any power over them. Yet their fear gives them all the power they need.

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Parts 1-10)

. . . . . . . . (Click here for Newer Entries, Parts 11-20)

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 10)

Read entire series in one article here, or as a collection of all posts here.

Continuing on in my examination of the articles at Pulpit Magazine, here's a quote from Part 2 of their series. It is in regard to Christians committing themselves to other believers in a local assembly.

The Exhortation to Mutual Edification [biblical "one anothers"] :...Exhortations to this kind of ministry presuppose that believers have committed themselves to other believers in a specific local assembly. Church membership is simply the formal way to make that commitment.

This is interesting. Church membership (as the elders at Grace Church define it!) is the formal way to make a commitment to other believers? I have a different understanding of commitment to other believers. A commitment to other believers is included in the New Covenant of Christ's blood. One does not commit to other believers by jumping through the hoops of a man-made church membership, one commits to other believers by obeying Christ with respect to loving others. The formal way to commit one's self to others is by actually committing one's self to others. It's that simple!

Part 9 . . . . . . . . Part 11

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 9)

Read entire series in one article here, or as a collection of all posts here.

Last month, Reformed Catholicism [Update: link no longer in use] posted (long post) with the following question: Did the Apostle Paul regard all the baptized as members of Christ? (and related questions for Calvinists). [Update: link no longer in use] While, in general, the question was framed within the context of all believers regardless of denomination or tradition, I related it to "formal" church membership in the comments section. The quotes offered in the article pointed to the apostles' treatment of all baptized believers as members of the body. My application to limited "formal membership" was taken by two of the RefCath regulars as a good point of how fleshing out systematic theology can butcher biblical theology.

Part 8 . . . . . . . . Part 10

From The Front Porch

One of my other blogs is titled From The Front Porch. I thought I'd include a picture from there.

Halloween and Christian Conscience

The annual debate in Christianity over Halloween is here again. There are scores of articles on the internet claiming that Halloween is a holiday with pagan roots, devil worship and the like, and should be avoided by Christians at all costs. All kinds of historical data is presented. There are also articles claiming that Halloween has always been a distinctly Christian holiday in which Christians should participate. All kinds of historical data is presented. Regardless, the whole debate is complex.

But this probably goes to show that there is no clear cut answer to whether a Christian should participate. Is a child putting on a mask and asking for candy a distinct act of devil worship? One article I read a few years ago traced the wearing of costumes back to the biblical idea that the devil and his angels were defeated at the cross. A little kid with a sheet over his head and saying, "boo", isn't going to scare anybody. Which is exactly the point. The principalities and powers were disarmed. They no longer have any power, and masquerading as a defeated demon can show Christ's triumph.

I now tend to look at Halloween from this last view. I was taught, from the first Christian circles I was in, that all of Halloween was necessarily evil. I was frightened by the idea of little children ringing my doorbell. So I hid in darkness and acted like nobody was home. My next Christian group was also frightened by Halloween, and they created an alternate activity safely within the four walls of the church. But I now see each of these as the opposite of freedom.

If somebody wants to refrain from Halloween as a matter of conscience, they can do so. But to place the limits of their own consciences on others and make a claim of sin is an attempt to stifle the very liberty of others for whom Christ died.

Resurrection Kids

Last night I overheard our six year old describe the resurrection to our three month old. "Everybody's going to die some day. I'm going to die, you're going to die, our brother's going to die, mommy's going to die, daddy's going to die. But it's okay because God will resurrect us and give us new bodies so we can live forever."

New Link - Anti-Positivist

I'm adding a new link to my sidebar, Jim Fedako's Anti-Positivist. Jim writes on the topic of free market economics and some Christian issues. He also writes extensively on absurdities within his local Olentangy School District in Ohio. He's linked me, and I'm returning the favor.

Growing In Faith - Figurative and Literal

Read this very good short piece from Society VS. Rarely have I seen our faith explained in such a realistic way. Our faith is a very concrete thing.

Hermeneutics and Theology as Community Tasks

Here's an interesting post I came across at Heralds and Peregrines. One of the authors, who it appears was raised by Anglican missionaries in Chile, gives testimony to the blessings that occur when hermeneutics and theology are undertaken as community tasks. This is in contrast to the American tradition of letting the pastor figure everything out (or his seminary) while the dumb sheep sit on their hands and watch. We seem to let others (i.e. experts) build the box we live in, and are blind to the fact that God the Holy Spirit actually makes all of us the experts through the gifts He gives us. I don't think I'm moving to Chile anytime soon, but we here could use a dose of community as I think God intended.

RIAA's Lazy Man Payoff

Today in America it seems that the lazier the slob, the greater the payoff in so many ways. The RIAA case against music downloader/sharer Jammie Thomas is one such example. Thomas was sued for $222,000 for sharing 24 songs in "violation" of copyright laws protecting music as intellectual property. The basic premise is that this is theft.

Let me use an analogy to show how absurd this is. Suppose I have a new car, with a car alarm, and I park it in my garage at night, with a house alarm. Somebody breaks in to my house, disarms both the house alarm and the car alarm, and makes off with my car silently while I sleep. Would this be a crime of theft? Of course. Would you feel sorry for me? Of course, because I took every reasonable precaution to make sure my car wouldn't be stolen. Now suppose I left the new car in a dark alley in the worst neighborhood in town with the windows rolled down and the keys in the ignition, and somebody took it. Would it be theft? Still, yes. Would you feel sorry for me? Of course not, because my lack of responsibility for my own property invited the theft. You would tell me that it was the most stupid thing I've ever done. Now let's say that in the first case I demand a replacement car from the thief, plus a bit extra for the problems it caused, as a matter of justice. This is reasonable. Then in the second case I demanded several million dollars. This is absurd.

But the second case is the way the music, movie and software industries work in the eyes of the law. Brilliant marketing has placed music and software in every place, easily accessible with common electronic devices, with easy buying access for almost anybody - third parties completely unknown to the "owner" of the product. This has led to unbelievable profits. But this has also led to copying of music at an unprecedented rate. Decades ago, it would have been cost prohibitive to copy music because it would have taken top of the line equipment. Today, such copying is as cheap as anything there is, and it is much easier to do than get in a car and turn the key.

Along with the ownership of private property comes the responsibilty to protect that property. The recording, movie and software industries have done nothing to protect their own property, yet demand the most unjust punishment. I heard a quote from Thomas' attorney on the radio saying that 24 songs at about 99c per song should demand damages at about $24. He's not far from the truth. The bible demands restitution for theft according to what is stolen. Anywhere from 20% above cost to five times cost for an ox. Even if you view her actions as theft (and there is doubt even of this within intellectual property theory debates), Thomas' damages should be about $30.

Mass electronic piracy is the heavy price being paid by the recording insustry for decades of the irresponsible marketing of their own "private property." They refuse to take responsibility, yet demand that others be responsible for their own property at exponentially higher expense. Quit whining, RIAA, and take it like a man.

Going Postal

We're in the midst of an almost unbelievable mishandling of our mail by the post office. Almost unbelievable only because I've experienced it so many times before. We're getting numerous pieces of our neighbors' mail mixed in with ours. We're getting mail from other people with the same house number but on the next street over. Today we received a big pile of our next door neighbor's mail - but none of our own.

Years ago I lived in a place where botched delivery was the norm. I got mail that was not mine. Another person who lived in my apartment (there were hundreds of units) had my same initials and last name. I got her mail. Sometimes things took weeks to get to their destiny. I even got letters with a different address on a different street in a different city with a different zip code - but the same apartment number - all the time. I've always been diligent to forward others' mail to them, by hand delivery if necessary. The scary thing is that it usually never happens in return.

One time I saw a doctor for some tests. Without telling me, the doctor performed a biopsy, and although the doctor was on my plan, the lab wasn't. The bill was routed through a branch of the closest hospital, but my address (four digits, three words plus a three digit apartment number) was too many characters long for their computer to print on the letter. Their printer truncated the last character of my apartment number. Despite living there for years, the post office didn't deliver it to me. I finally found out about the biopsy when a collection agency called.

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 8)

Read entire series here.

Continuing further in my examination of Part 1 of Pulpit Magazine's article on church membership, I'll now look at a statement in their next section on the basis of church membership.

Although Scripture does not contain an explicit command to formally join a local church, the biblical foundation for church membership permeates the New Testament.

Later on in the comments section, a comment by JackW appears:

I am committed to attending and ministering in a local church to which I am not a “member.” When I’m asked about it, I reply with the question, “How am I not a member?”

This is answered by Jesse Johnson, who appears from all I can tell to be an elder at Grace Community Church:

If you were at Grace Church, the answer to your question, “how am I not a member” is this: you are refusing to follow the leadership of the elders... If you refuse to do that, my question would be, “why not follow the leadership of the elders” (Heb 13:7, 17)?

Boiling this all down, the article states that there is no command to be a "formal" member of a church. JackW isn't a formal member, so therefore hasn't sinned in not being a formal member. But Jesse then says JackW refuses to follow leadership. This would then be a sin because it violates Hebrews 13. But formal membership, not being commanded by Scripture, is required by the elders at Grace Church. So, according to Jesse, elders have the authority to add to God's word and call a violation of their commands a sin. His answer has placed elders on the same authority level as God! Elders are co-equal with God at Grace Church, even if unwittingly.

[Update Oct. 10: In all fairness, I should have worded these last two sentences differently. They should read, "His answer indicates that the elders have added requirements that God's word doesn't require. This gives themselves authority that only God has; to define sin."]

Part 7 . . . . . . . . Part 9

Down In Monterey

Every year, as is now our tradition, we go to Monterey to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium to celebrate our oldest's birth and adoption days. He's six this month. Monterey is a world famous destination on the Pacific Ocean, a little over a two hour drive from here, and has one of the most reputable aquariums. They recently added a great white shark to their tank and this was a treat for our kids. We caught hermit crabs on the beach - catch and release style. Tupperware can be a six year old's second best friend.

Here's a great pic taken by Mrs. Scott of our son playing with a decorator crab at the aquarium's touch pool.

Driving Pet Peeves

I've decided to compile a list of pet peeves of mine from the roadways. No, I don't carry a gun in my car. Good thing.

• Merging onto the freeway at less than freeway speed. This is very dangerous and causes extreme traffic jams because slowing down to let somebody on the freeway makes everybody behind them slow down.
• Using the freeway, instead of the offramp, to slow down. Same problem as the first point.
• Tailgating
• Green right turn arrows that turn yellow as if it were about to turn red, only for the main light to turn green. This causes drivers to slow down or stop for no reason.
• DMV
• Cops that drive like jackasses
• When people have a fender bender and leave their cars right in the middle of the roadway or freeway until the cops show up. Get over to the shoulder so the thousands of people behind you can get to work.

Random Thoughts On Church

• Church people know how to cook. Potluck meals have always been wonderful. Even among staunch Calvinists who call them Pot Providence meals.
• I've never frequented a church with an organ. They've all had pianos.
• I like church building architecture from previous eras.
• I'd love to travel for a while and go to a different church every Sunday to see what's out there. Even if I stay home and go to different churches. It would be interesting.
• It's late and I need to get to sleep.