Calvinism That Tickles The Ears

...For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Okay, disclaimer up front. This post is not about whether Calvinism is true or not. I'll just assume for the sake of argument and all Calvinists out there that it is. Now, what if the above passage of Scripture could apply to the system known as Calvinism?

Notice something about the passage. It never says that the desires they satisfy are false desires. It never says that the myths they turn aside to are false beliefs. The myths could be false ideas about truth. The desires they have may just be the act of hearing the truth. Part of the truth.

What if the above passage were fleshed out like this: "We're getting tired of hearing about things like resurrection to newness of life, visiting the orphan and widow in their distress, etc. Instead, we want to hear all about the five points, every week, in church, in bible study, in our chatting on the church steps. Our sermon recordings, our books, our YouTube videos will be from all the best Calvinist pastors and speakers out there. Nothing else will matter except the best of the best. That's what will ensure our salvation."

I know from personal experience how easy it is to rely upon feeling good about what we hear, and how easy it is to rely upon our desires to have certain things preached to us. May we listen to all of the important things and not just the choice pieces (read: our choice pieces), over and over.

Friday Night Potpourri

A week of sun, cars, sand and finding sand everywhere:

• We started out our trip south last week with loading the car with the kids and stuff. When we got in, I turned the key and click, click, click. The battery was dead and the battery terminal was corroded to beyond use. We had a three hour delay getting on the road.
• Note to the Outback Steakhouse next to McDonald's off the interstate: You need a drive-thru.
• Last Saturday night we were at Petco Park in San Diego to watch the Padres lose to the Orioles, which helped out our Giants in their race with the Padres. For more info, and pictures, see my baseball blog here.
• A 500 mile drive back on Sunday with three kids in the car wasn't as bad as it might seem. Portable DVD players make the day, and week.
• Unpacking from a beach trip? Need I say more?
• Traffic out in the middle of nowhere on the interstate can be really challenging, especially with two different speed limits, one for autos at 70, the other for trucks and trailers at 55. With several times as many vehicles in the fast lane doing 75+, trucks driving 56 would pull out into the fast lane and slow everybody down for miles, taking minutes to pass other trucks doing 55, then pulling back into the right lane. Irritated drivers in the left lane would use the huge gaps between vehicles in the right lane to sling-shot past everybody, then cutting back in line when blocked by a truck, making things worse. There were many stretches for miles where driving at any speed was futility.
• It's totally unbelievable that the maximun speed limit used to be 55, even on highways out in the middle of nowhere. I wonder what people were thinking back then.

How Friends Slip Away

Julie Neidlinger has a way with putting words together so that they result in good writing. On her blog Lone Prairie, she often shows how life really works in the real world, really. It can be painful. She writes from the human side of theology. And when she writes one like her very recent How friends slip away, I advise you - if you're human and alive - to read it. Then, read this next.

Friday Night Potpourri in San Diego

From my laptop in the sand:

• San Diego is one of our favorite places on earth. Mrs. Scott and I each loved it so much separately before getting married that we didn't even discuss where to go on our honeymoon.
• We're on a budget few-days-away with the kids. Sand and boogie boards. Experts advise against mentioning vacations on social media sites, but when you've got somebody from a law enforcement family with numerous hours in at the shooting range house sitting for you, it makes it a bit easier.
• I'm not much of a basketball fan, and a Lakers-Celtics final is a yawner for me. As I was walking out last night to pick up something on the beach bum main drag, I noticed a dozen or so bars and restaurants that had game 7 on within a few blocks. I could tell which venues had cable or satellite setups with that dreadful 7 second delay. A big cheer behind me was echoed by a big cheer around the corner a bit too late. Live? Huh!
• Cheap, hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints have the best food, either side of any border.
• We were in the flight path of the San Diego airport. Scores of 737's went straight over head the last couple of days. A number of them ran their shadows right through us. It tailed off as the night got later.
• I've noticed the night life is over here at about 3am.
• Okay, so it just goes with the territory.

Problems With Asking Questions

Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church asks good questions about asking questions, and wonders why some people who hear your questions create false dichotomies out of them. Quoting:

When I ask if the church should meet for worship or for edification, it’s sometimes assumed that I don’t think Christians should worship. Why is that?

When I question the validity of the modern day office of pastor, people often ask me why I don’t like leaders. Why?

When I ask why we put so much emphasis on the sermon (i.e., a unidirectional monologue), I’m occasionally asked why I don’t appreciate Scripture. Are they the same?

So, I think asking questions is very good. But, when you’re asking questions, sometimes your questions are misunderstood.

Sometimes much explanation doesn't do any good either. Now, why is that?

Mere Churchianity Shipped

I received notice that my new copy of "Mere Churchianity" by Michael Spencer, aka the Internet Monk, has been shipped. I can't wait to read this one, and I emailed Michael before his death that I would review it here on From the Pew. As soon as I read it, I will commence the review.

Friday Night Potpourri

A week of gittin' 'er done:

• Hanging most of our pictures up - a big honey do - makes the house feel much more like home.
• Why is it that plants look so much better when you water them? Especially in hot weather? I'll have to remember that.
• Took our eight year old to the open space again. We saw two king snakes within a couple minutes of each other. What a treat. Then with the other kids we saw a turtle crossing the road. I had to go slow to miss it. Kids just love nature and its critters.
• Our garden hose exploded so I needed a duct tape fix. Late at night it was good to find that the drug store (open til midnight) carried it. Of course, it happened while watering the plants.
• Our five year old made the pee-wee all-star team and plays a couple of games this week. All the other kids are older and bigger, but we'll see if that makes a difference.
• As I type this, I'm listening to an entire LP in original song order using eight Windows tabs, each linked to the YouTube clip for each song. Am I some kind of geek? Maybe I'll reveal which album another time.
• This song was played over the PA system at Oakland A's games back in the early 80's when the visiting manager took the pitcher out. No other reason than I remember it.

Beerean Spirit Still Here

Greg Qualls at thebeerean.com is posting again after a year and a half "pause." He has tens of Christian readers who like beer. Maybe if you are a Christian who likes beer, you can read him so that he has elevens of readers.

Adding Progress

I'm adding Eric Carpenter's A Pilgrim's Progress to my blogroll. Eric is the pastor of a small church and asks many good questions about the church and how we relate to it. Give him a read.

Rotated Subtitle

From the Pew:
Because "From the Row of Interlocking Chairs" wouldn't make any sense to anybody.

Solomon The People Watcher

For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, and I saw among the naive, and discerned among the youths a young man lacking sense, passing through the street near her corner; and he takes the way to her house... Proverbs 7:6-8

One of the things I have taken great affection to over the years is the realization that Solomon was a people watcher. When the Lord asked him what he would receive, Solomon replied with wisdom as his choice over wealth and fame. Wisdom does not come without the ability to understand both other people and human nature. And understanding others does not come without watching them, taking note of how they live and act. Wisdom also does not come instantaneously, as can knowledge, but is the ability to apply knowledge to life. It is an acquired trait that takes much experience.

Wisdom is knowing the difference between answering a fool according to his folly and not answering a fool according to his folly (Prov. 26:4-5), because wisdom knows both what kind of fool is acting and with what kind of folly. Wisdom is the epitome of anti-one-size-fits-all. Without it, we should die.

Friday Night Potpourri

Uhhhh... yeah.

• I found a number of sites showing dimensions for an official baseball diamond. They were far from unanimous in all the dimensions, and most all sites contained at least one error. So much for standards, eh?
• I remember hearing a few years back that the internet was going to run out of the ability to handle all of its activity in the year 2010. Has that happened yet?
• June is here, and we're finally getting some pseudo summer weather.
• Have you checked out Freecycle on Yahoo Groups? It's like Craigslist, but everything is recycled and free. Er, um, Freecycle. Get it? Mrs. Scott picked up some pretty nice chairs, and we're thinking of putting some old kids' toys up.
• Some BP Logo redesigns over at Grain Edit. Actually, amidst its oily reputation, I'm hoping to go into the same industry. Oil, that is, not graphic design. I appreciate much of both.
• My folks are taking a bunch of 30+ foot Italian Cypress trees out of their back yard. I climbed up and hacked a number of the 17' branches down. Tim-ber! Well, all but one fell into the yard. The odd one out fell into the neighbor's yard in the opposite direction that I prophesied, but was caught by their redwood and lemon trees before doing any damage. Whew!
• Way groovy hair metal feedback version of a classic, man. Far out.

The Search For God and Guinness

Jason at Pilgrims Pub embeds a fascinating YouTube clip about author Stephen Mansfield's new book The Search For God and Guinness. I'm thinking this would be a good read, and the time to read it would be even better if that were possible. I'll keep an eye on being able to get a copy. While drinking a Guinness, of course.

Friday Night Potpourri On Monday

Musings and amusings for half a fortnight, belated:

• You know you're a redneck church if "Power" is a one-syllable word (pahr) and "Glory" is a three-syllable word (guh-LOH-wree)
• I'm still using the Norelco rotatract razor my dad gave me when I was 16. Of course, with me having blond facial hair I don't get a five o'clock shadow, so I don't have to shave every day.
• Our driveway edges - made of scalloped concrete brick on one side and bendable edge board on the other - seem to be targets for vehicles in maneuvering mode. Hmmm. What to do.
• Our kids catch crawdads in the creek behind us. I remember doing that as a kid at a local creek. Of course, they catch and release. We have a crayfish festival up the river in the delta that draws a big crowd every year. Need to go sometime.
• This morning I installed a pull cord for the side gate latch. Ingenious invention that I found at the hardware store. It's got a spring return and a large loop for the kiddies to grab. Now we can rest knowing our kids can get into the back yard from the front.
• It's almost June, and that means one thing. It won't be May anymore.
• This weekend is traditionally the first weekend of the summer season. So, there's nothing better than the summer sound to make it seem like summer. Love this stuff.
  

Friday Night Potpourri on Friday

Well, whaddya know, a potpourri back on Friday:

• Martin Luther and the Turks: hey, that would make a good name for a band.
• What ever happened to signal lights that were programmed to be successively green as long as traffic went the speed limit? I could sure use those kinds of lights in modern suburbia.
• I was surveying the trees over the back fence and in the neighborhood of our new place. It looks like there will be quite a few that will turn some great colors in fall.
• Our two year old has learned the auto manufacturer emblems for almost all the major manufacturers. "Hey, daddy, there's four circles together. It's an Audi!" "Hey, daddy, there's the Chevy dealer. There's the Honda dealer. There's the Nissan dealer." Really cool.
• Late May and it's cold and windy. What kind of summer will we have?
• It feels great to get back on Friday track for Potpourri.
• Been a long time since most of us have done this, fer sure. Oooh, baby, baby.
  

Rotating Subtitles?

I've thought about displaying rotating subtitles to this blog to capture a broader picture of what this blog is all about. So, starting today, I'm picking a new one, and will change it every week or two as they come to mind. The latest is "Because theology is everybody's task."

[Update: here's a running list as I add new subtitles]

Because for too long it has been coming mostly from the pulpits, seminaries and denominations.
Because theology is everybody's task.
Because "From the Row of Interlocking Chairs" wouldn't make any sense to anybody.
Because sometimes that's where it needs to come from.
Because it's my turn to talk.
A layman and his keyboard...it's a beautiful thing.

Weekend Potpourri

It's been a few weeks, and the Friday Night Potpourri hasn't been on Friday night for a while:

• Because Fridays have been real crazy?
• Because Fridays have been so tiring that I fall asleep too early?
• Because Fridays mean that Saturday comes too early?
• Because I forget it's Friday?
• Because when you kid's getting sick all night you gotta do the laundry over and over again?
• Another cold rain storm is on its way. It's been nice having so much rain this year, but without as much flooding as usually comes with lots of rain.
• So the closet doors fit in the rafters after all. Much easier to get to the clothes and shoes. I really don't like those sliding bi-pass closet doors. Much prefer the standard doors.
• The bank and the post office always seem to be on the same errand runs. The kids know it by heart.
• Okay, so next Friday I hope to be back on Friday.
• A good 80's pop number. Dig the crazy styles and the uniforms.

"Your Church Is Too Small" Is Here

Today I received my much anticipated copy of my friend John Armstrong's latest book, Your Church Is Too Small. I have been aware of his project in writing this book for some time now. My hope is to do a review of his book here on From the Pew in the near future. Stay tuned.

What's In A Potpourri?

A week blazing by at lightning speed:

• Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Okay, more than a week.
• It's funny, but not too long ago, a six megapixel digital camera was top of the line. Now it's a laugher.
• Two of my three kids have fallen in to the duck pond in the last couple of weeks. Not completely covered, but enough to get clothes wet above the knee. What kids won't do with a piece of bread.
• No song this week in an abbreviated Potpourri, but I hope to catch up next week.

Life And Life And Blog

"There comes a time in every man's life, and I've had plenty of them." - Casey Stengel

Things are pretty thick right now with life and job hunt and school and a number of other things. So, blogging is on the downside. I'm not sure when things will calm down enough to allow a back to normal blogging experience, but when that happens, I want to take advantage of it. In the mean time, I'll simply post when I'm able to do so. Keep checking back.

A Man Without A Movement

Andrew Sandlin writes a timely piece about movements and the pros and cons of being part of such. Christianity is not immune from such movements that create "inside circles" and "unenlightened outsiders." There are many within the church. Whether it's weight loss programs, homeschooling movements or theological movements, there are good and bad elements to each. Being on the outside has its pros and cons as well. As Sandlin states, though, "Being part of a movement may be comforting, but some of us are more interested in liberty than comfort." If it's liberty vs. expected conformity, which would you choose?

Late Weekend Potpourri

Little time to think to myself, so I went to the freezer:

• The kids found the box of Crayola chalk in the back of the car and proceeded to cover the entire back patio with drawing. Then it rained. Washed away chalk dust and wet chalk crayons.
• It finally happened. I took my oldest son to the open space and it wasn't going very well until a gopher popped out of his hole a half dozen times. Then the godsend... the ever elusive California king snake crawled backward out of a hole. He found it and showed me. It changed his week.
• After we left the open space, I went to the pizza place to pick up the order. I knew absolutely nothing about it except Mrs. Scott's name. I ate it, though. Yum.
• After moving, we've been unpacking. Found the espresso machine for that homemade brew. Sorry, Starbucks, I'll be a bit tardy until times come around again.
• The side gate scrapes the concrete sidewalk. Solution: slice the bottom 1/4" off with a jigsaw.
• Spring, spring, go away, come again another day. Today it was 85, the hottest day of the year so far with rain and cold coming tomorrow for a few days.
• A yellow tupperware container for a certain product needed a refill, so I put in my car as a reminder. Somehow it made it to the back seat, where our two year old threw it past the face of our five year old, out his window and across traffic. I saw this unidentified flying object in my rear view mirror. It caused a global crackup in the car as I swung a U-ee to go pick it up. The trick was to open the door and pick it up as it appeared under the door without running it over.
• Hat tip - no, hats off to Mr. Escalante for this gem.

Remembering The Resurrection

Somebody on my blogroll - I can't remember who, and I've searched a bit for it - posted something around Easter time about the resurrection. It went like this. We have one day per year dedicated to the resurrection: Easter. We hear a good sermon about Christ rising from the dead, which of course is important stuff. But, how often do we think about the resurrection the rest of the year?

Okay, I'll give my devalued 2 cents. Probably a lot less than necessary, yet probably a lot more than some people realize. I recently read an interesting observation. Muslims meet on Friday, Jews on Saturday and Christians on Sunday. And Christians meet on Sunday because of the resurrection. Two women went to some tomb somewhere looking for something that wasn't there and then went and told a bunch of people that they couldn't find it. And that is why we meet.

And just what is it about the resurrection that is so important? Well, starting with the crucifixion, Christ paid for sins. That's good by itself, but it leaves us with little hope beyond that. See, condemnation was averted, and I'm not downplaying that at all. But if being released from prison is great, it doesn't mean much more if it is at 5:30am in Northern Minnesota in January with nothing but the tank top and sandals you were arrested in way back in July. What is needed is that limo parked at the curb that takes us to the airport on our way to the beach in Hawaii. Crucifixion is death to sin; resurrection is newness of life.

Sometimes it's at times that life seems hopeless because of never ending personal failures. Having a body that will do things without stumbling is something to look forward to. A body that won't get old in a few decades. A body I know will be able to eat fish as opposed to floating around in some spirit form forever staring into some bright light. Sometimes I think about the resurrection on days where it seems like that's the only hope there is. And maybe that's true.

Friday Night Potpourri

Too much thinking to think:

• I've seen more ducks this last couple of weeks than I have in my entire life.
• Last week I got my year's worth of basketball fix. I was listening to the Opening Day baseball coverage on the radio when I heard that there was a minute left in the NCAA final game. I turned to the station covering it. A three point shot at the buzzer to win the national championship hit the rim. Must have been a good season.
• Then, with two minutes left, I tuned in to Don Nelson's record breaking win for all time winningest coach. I turned into the driveway, ran in and watched the last 3 seconds of the Warriors' win. Can't wait for next year.
• Our verbally advanced two year old explained to me after turning right at a red light (after coming to a complete stop) how I needed to wait for the light to turn green. At what age do kids start learning about exception to the rule?
• Such a short, yet intense, song.

Two Books Added To The List

There are two books out (or close to being out) that I am looking forward to reading and blogging about. The authors of these books have had a relatively large impact on my thinking and views of Christianity.

The two books are Your Church Is Too Small by John Armstrong (already out), and Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer, aka the Internet Monk (coming out in June).

Five Year Blogiversary

Today is the five year mark for this blog. Wow, five years blogging. In dog years, that's pretty long. Maybe blog years are even more lengthy than dog years. So, at five years, I'm kind of an old timer, middle aged at least.

Anyway, I hope for many more at From the Pew, and I hope to provide better writing, better thinking and better blogging in the future. Thank you to the readers for all your support.

Friday Night Potpourri - Where Are You?

A day late, that's where:

• I needed to get some jogging in, but had all my boys with me. The youngest fell asleep, so I parked at the park, let the two older ones play on the swings while I jogged within car's view. Perfect.
• Our new house is situated kitty-corner with relation to a major intersection I grew up near. All the left turn lanes and U-turns and ways to get to stores have been totally revised to include those that I've never used. I quite often drive past turns I need to make, etc, only to realize a lifetime of hard-to-break habit reinforcement.
• I think I like electric lawn mowers for small lawns. Just don't run over the cord.
• Julie Neidlinger gets a new computer.
• Nevermind the pit bull, Mr. mailman, we found a wasp's nest in our mailbox.
• Wii Baseball has a mercy rule. Which will come in handy when I play against my five year old.
• We're baaaaaaack. Oh, what a good week.

House Cleaning and Beating the Rug

You may have noticed something different about From the Pew lately. Well, numerous things are going on in the background with my blog. Let's just say there's some house cleaning and a bit of remodeling going on. The cat is gone, but the fleas laid eggs. Y'all know how that goes. Oh, and it's time to beat the rug over the back rail.

Michael Spencer, aka Internet Monk, 1956-2010

Michael Spencer, aka the Internet Monk, has passed away. I'm over a day late in hearing the news as yesterday was a busy day with no internet surfing. I never met Michael, though he's one for whom I would have made the attempt if I were travelling to or near Kentucky. Michael had one of the top read Christian sites on the internet. He was brutally honest about his ideas and feelings about many topics, and wasn't hesitant in the least about stirring the pot that contained the evangelical status quo. He was always an advocate for the marginalized within Christianity; the misunderstood, the neglected, the smoldering wick, the bruised reed.

My journey with him started several years ago as I stumbled across his blog. He was linked to by a few others that I read. At first, I only checked him out occasionally, and often didn't know how to think about him. Some things resonated with me, others were a turn off. Somehow, my connections to his blog from others' links increased, and I became a regular reader.

Not too long afterward, I started commenting on his blog. His comment sections were alive with a cross section of views and opinions. Much sparring and many threads started, Michael often being the one who stirred the comment pot. What I noticed about my comments is that they were rarely replied to by others, and almost never by Michael himself. I felt like a "comment failure" there.

But then one day about a year ago, completely out of the blue, I received an email from Michael. He said he had been reading my work for a while and was a fan of mine. He invited me to submit, if I wished, occasionally to his blog, and he would publish it. He wanted me to have a wider audience, thought I was a good writer, and thought we were on the same page about much of evangelicalism. I created an intro post which he published, but personal issues kept me from putting the finishing touches on a second one. A few months later, Michael was diagnosed with cancer. Then only a few [much too] short months later, he was gone.

Sympathies and prayers to his wife Denise, and his family. I'm hoping in the future to glean from his blog's archives, and I'm certainly planning on getting Michael's soon to be released book, Mere Churchianity. Getting his book would also include reading it and blogging about it. May God rest Michael's soul.

Friday Night Potpourri

Brain freeze this week:

• In school I learned that a Slurpee is a slurry. Any connection, marketing wise? Would the 7-Eleven crowd get it?
• Wood. 'Round my parts, there are many subdivisions built in the 60's and 70's where many/most of the street names end in "wood." Almost any thinkable word is placed in front of wood to create a street name. What's "Thornwood?" "Ironwood?" "Maplewood?" Isn't maplewood just maple? Maybe Gene has an idea.
• Hey, you got your Easter egg in my cream cheese! And you got cream cheese on my Easter egg.... Okay, I'll quit while I'm ahead. I was co-opping in pre-school today. Yum.
• Last week it was 80. A friend reports snow on the mountain yesterday. Only in spring here. And as I understand it, it can snow in Denver in the summer.
• Opening Day in baseball is on Monday. Well, I know there should be a game Sunday night on national television, but I haven't checked the listings. Play Ball!, I say.
• When you make four trips to the hardware store to buy variations of the same thing with the same crew on shift, you feel like an idiot. Not to mention broke.
• When music was a little more innocent than today. One of my faves from the decade of my birth. Note: this song at 3:00 was the long, unedited album version.

Is There Something Wrong With This Picture?

I have something I'm trying to get at with this post, and I'll reveal it later. Imagine a two bedroom apartment with two people living there, one in each bedroom. They have different jobs, working different schedules, have different friends, different hobbies and passions and likes. They come across each other's paths only occasionally, but they are friendly and cordial to one another.

Their differing schedules make it seem, for the most part, like each lives there alone, unbothered by the other's quirks and oddities. They are on good terms with each other, generally, and have no outstanding problems with each other. They have no problem sharing the fridge space, and common living areas are never a point of conflict. They can have their own friends over without bothering the other because their schedules are so different. They each pay their fair share of the rent.

Looking at this, it seems like a good roommate relationship. Each can live their own lives unhindered by the other. It seems almost living there alone most of the time. Their differences are actually beneficial to the other.

Now imagine if the situation I've described is not between two roommates, but two people who are married to each other. Suddenly red flags raise all over the place. I would think it not an ideal situation at all, but rather, even worse for some very good reasons. Such a relationship between married people could seem just as good as the roommate relationship, but for me, there would be great pain because of what a marriage should be like is missing. Many expectations of marriage are not being met. Since this situation is not like that, there is added grief and despair. More later. [Disclaimer: this is not about my own marriage, but something else I'm getting at. It's just an analogy]

Back On-Line

Okay, connected to the internet again, although not without it's own issues. Full use won't happen for a couple more days, but blogging capability is now back. I should post something shortly.

Temporary Blog Interruption

I'm in the middle of a blog-out, as living arrangements have changed and I won't have internet at home until Tuesday. So, if I blog, it will be from a remote location, like a friend's house or cafe. Until then, have a few good days.

Friday Night Potpourri

Hyper extended thoughts on steroids this week:

• I was rear ended yesterday in a low speed parking lot incident, leaving me half way into a traffic lane. There was only license plate paint transfer as damage. But the excuse the other driver gave was drug induced to be sure. "When I step on the brakes, the car just doesn't stop! And these Toyotas and all their brake problems recently." Yeah, uh-huh.
• The tree pollen count has been very high the last few weeks. Our cars are yellow with pollen dust.
• While exiting the park with my kids the other day, I saw a very nice restored 1969 Camaro at a stoplight where we were going to cross the road. The driver of the car next to him was spinning his fingers as a suggestion. The Camaro driver did close to a power stand and put a significant amount of rubber down. We were about ten feet away. My kids got to see something rare that used to be common place when I was young.
• My dad took his pickup to the gas station. The tanker truck was there filling the underground tanks. One problem. It was the driver's first day on the job and he accidentally filled the unleaded tank with diesel. My dad's tank was full of diesel. Six cars were immediately towed away by the gas station to a place to purge them of diesel fuel. One poor guy started his car and started to drive away. He only made it about 20 yards. I'm sure there's a job opening for a tanker truck driver.
• I love Indian food. The spices in the curry are wonderful.
• All the Harold Camping talk this week. The Mayan calendar coming to an end. Other eschatology talk. Please turn in your hymnals to #666.

Another iMonk Update; Dying And Knowing It

Michael Spencer, aka the Internet Monk, is discontinuing his chemotherapy and is now receiving help from a hospice. The family asks for prayer for Michael to pass with minimal pain and in peace.

We read or hear so often today about people who fight until the end, but not as often about people who accept death willingly, or even embracing it. Of course, there's nothing wrong with fighting for one's life and hoping for a miracle. But I have a good deal of respect - and even admiration - for the person who knows it's coming - soon - prepares for it, expects it, and can receive it. God bless you, Michael Spencer.

Friday Night Potpourri

Items of thought this week:

• Not the national news story to brag to your friends about. We've known for years the aunt, uncle and cousins of the high school pitcher in a coma after being hit with a line drive. Hoping for a quick and complete recovery.
  
• How much stress do you have? Take the Life Stress Test and determine how likely you will be to getting a stress related illness. This test rates the amount of stress certain life events places upon somebody. A score of 300 means highly susceptible. I scored 704 with only one box to fill in for each. Adjusting for multiple occurrences for the same thing, I tally 1025. I'm still alive.
  
• We've secured a new place to live. We should be moving here shortly.
• Spring weather was in the air this week, with temps reaching the 70's and even 80 today. But that just means lots of bugs and other insects. I jogged without my sweat jacket for the first time this winter.
  
• I'm teaching our two year old all the auto maker symbols on the backs of cars. He loves cars. "That's a Chebby, daddy!"
• Life's been so hectic this week we've had to put off our St. Patrick's Day dinner until Saturday. Mmmm. Corned beef and cabbage, with Guinness. Of course, the rest of you are probably sick of leftovers by now.
  
• From The Godfather.
  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I'm part Irish, I'm wearing green, my favorite beer is Guinness Stout and I am a Christian. With St. Patrick using the shamrock, according to tradition, to explain the Trinity to the king of Ireland, all these things go together for a good holiday to celebrate. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Is Forgiveness Based On Repentance?

I've been thinking over something for a while on the relationship between forgiveness and repentance. I'm going to write this here off the top of my head, using general but not specific references to Scripture. We often hear about forgiving others, and how it is a Christian virtue. But do we forgive others for wronging us as if nothing ever happened? Do we completely overlook a transgression? What role does repentance play in forgiveness?

In Jesus' story about the servant who was forgiven a great debt, then went out and strangled another servant who owed him a smaller amount, I remember that each debtor begged for mercy and asked for time to repay his debt. Each was asking his creditor for a chance to repent of his unpaid debt. Also, does God forgive us our sins without requiring repentance? Does this forgiveness extend to a complete lack of regard for owning up to our sin? Didn't Zaccheus offer to pay back fourfold any amount he took unrighteously? In Jesus' story about the tower of Siloam, doesn't he say, "unless you repent, you will likewise perish?"

Then again, in Matthew 18 on "church discipline," a sinning brother is to be confronted. If he refuses to listen to one, then two or three are brought to witness as to his sin. If he refuses to listen to them, it is told to the church. If then he refuses to listen, he is to be treated as a heathen. Where is forgiveness here? Is it not in his repentance? Isn't this what happened to the man in 1 Corinthians 5 who slept with his father's wife? He was put out of the church, but when he repented, Paul instructed the church in 2 Corinthians to forgive him and receive him.

Any thoughts on the relationship of forgiveness and repentance? Is forgiveness supposed to stand on its own?

iMonk Update

Michael Spencer, aka the Internet Monk has been given six months to a year to live, according to his wife, Denise, in a recent post. His cancer is too advanced and aggressive to expect a remission. He hasn't posted on his blog in a few months now, and I wonder whether he will again.

I must admit that I am fairly speechless about this revelation. I simply don't know what to say. I've never met Michael Spencer, but I have read his blog for several years, and commented there as I got to understand his message. We've had several email exchanges which surrounded a completely unexpected occasion. One day, there was a personal email in my inbox from Michael announcing that he had been reading my blog for a while and was a fan of my writing. He invited me to be a guest blogger at Internet Monk, posting something once a month or so. I was excited and deeply humbled at the same time.

I've only made one post there, as my own situation over this last year just hadn't seemed to allow that certain "groove" necessary for me to be in to write a second one. I started a few things, but never finished. So it is with a bitter reality - a shocking one - that I received the news. It's like I was on the cusp of entering somebody else's world, yet never making it quite in, then having that world close. Of course, my stake in the matter isn't what's the most important, it's just the only part of it that I've experienced.

I hope nothing but the best for the Spencer family, and short of "that miracle" that probably won't come, I know that he has family and friends that will be able to help him through to the end. Michael's writings have had a pronounced effect on my views of the evangelical church and its people, and I hope to highlight some of that here in the near future.

Friday Night Potpourri

Brain waves for this last week:

• We think we found a house to move into. It's larger than our old house, and we think it should take care of our needs for the next year, and hopefully beyond.
• One of my school textbooks warns to not point power tools at other people. I wonder why?
• Next week is St. Patrick's Day. Of course, this means corned beef and cabbage and Guinness Stout. Hey, I'm part Irish. I forget which part, but I'm pretty sure the Irish part married the Lithuanian part. Don't know what Lithuanians do.
• Speaking of being part something, I'm part German Swiss, English, Irish, German, Swedish and Lithuanian. That's all I'm aware of. Typical Euro mutt.
• Denied! This was the funniest part of the movie. Anybody familiar with the rock scene and music stores knows that this is the song every guitarist wants to play in the store. I was with three other people who knew it was funny, but the whole theater was filled with twelve year olds and their parents who didn't get it. We were the only ones busting up, and everybody else thought we were goofing off and turned around to scorn us. Kids those days.
  
• Washing your two year old's security blanket is a challenge. About 1am is the only time he is asleep enough to not notice it's missing.
  
• Sometimes another song on the album is better than the radio hits.
  

Friday Night Potpourri

A week in mental exercise:

• We've been looking for a home to rent for a few weeks now. Quite a varying group of places from which to choose. Some are old and rundown, badly in need of repair. Some are bright and cheery. Where's the one for us?
• All the rain this winter has made the early blooming tree pollen quite bad. Achoo!
• A recently scheduled "date night" between Mrs. Scott and me was ditched an hour before the babysitter showed up as a result of a 104 fever in one of our kids. As a Plan B, we each did takeout from one of each our favorite restaurants. Italian for her, Mexican for me. It wasn't quite the same as eating out because there was no refill on chips or jalapeno salsa. But we still ate together, which was good.
• Our eight year old is slated to have a photo shoot in one of his favorite places, our local open space preserve.
• Ad free cars: For some reason, I've never had a bumper sticker, advertisement or even a license plate ring on any car I've ever driven. For some reason.
• "For best results, squeeze tube from the bottom and flatten as you go up." Best results? You mean fewer cavities are the result from the way I squeeze the tube?
• Note to the US Congress and the President: You can no more reform the laws of economics via legislation than you can reform the law of gravity. So quit trying. You look like morons. Not to mention you are morons.
• Yet another song from my youth in the 70's. This one was easy to like.

Martin Luther Plus Semper Reformanda Equals More Martin Luthers

Martin Luther was a hero of the Protestant faith. His beliefs that the church was engaged in theology and practice that was not biblical led to its reforming; hence the Protestant Reformation. One of the rallying cries of the Reformation was "Semper Reformanda," or "always reforming."

Today in "Reformed" circles, this slogan is not given near the weight that the five solas are. Sola Gratia (grace alone), Sola Fide (faith alone), Solus Christus (Christ alone), Sola Scriptura (scripture alone) and Soli Deo Gloria (to the glory of God alone) are champions of the day. In my opinion there seems to be a line of thinking in Reformed circles that the Reformation was a one-time thing that solidified everything to be believed for all time. All reformation stopped at The Reformation.

Of course, reforming for the sake of reforming isn't in mind, as Michael Horton points out in this piece about the real meaning of the slogan. The original phrase was, “The church is reformed and always [in need of] being reformed according to the Word of God,” indicating that the reformation in view is passive; the Holy Spirit working in reforming the church. Horton also points out:

As Calvin argued in his treatise “The Necessity of Reforming the Church,” the Reformers were charged with innovation when in fact it was the medieval church’s
innovative distortions of Christian faith and worship that required a recovery of apostolic Christianity. Rome pretended to be “always the same,” but it had accumulated a host of doctrines and practices that were unknown to the ancient church, much less to the New Testament.

Now for some questions. Could the same thing be said, at least in some things, about the Reformed church? Did the Reformation deal with every single problem with Rome? And if Martin Luther led the way for the church to be reformed, couldn't we say that along with the slogan of Semper Reformanda there should arise even more Martin Luthers?

Baseball Is On The Radio!

As many of you know, I am an avid baseball fan, which is probably an understatement. Six minutes ago, the first radio broadcast of a Spring Training baseball game (my Giants vs. the Seattle Mariners) started. Newly elected Hall of Fame baseball announcer Jon Miller called the first pitch. The first baseball game of the year to be on radio is one of my favorite days of the year.

It's My Birthday And I'll Cry If I Want To

I'm 46 today. Yay. As my post title states, it's my birthday. Well, I don't anticipate crying, but I can certainly fall asleep on the couch, wake up, and post this at 4:11am on my way to bed. Dang the toys in the hallway and the burnt out nightlight in the bathroom. Good morning.

Friday Night Potpourri

This week went by waaay too fast:

• I remember when I was 15 wondering why they didn't let 15 year olds drive and why I had to wait to be 16. When I was 17 I wondered why in the world they would let 16 year olds drive.
• A local radio station has a programming feature every weekday at 10, called "Ten at ten." Ten songs from one year are played (sometimes there is a special theme other than year.) Each of the five weekday plays are repeated Saturday morning in succession. Great music and fun every day. For a peek at the most recent song lists, click here.
• Yet more rain. The letups in rain we've had have lasted only a few days at most, and rain seems to the be norm this winter. Our five year old has baseball practice in an hour, but it's been raining all night, and is right now.
• The hills all around us are green, due to the rain. Unlike much of the rest of the country, grass doesn't die here in California during the winter; it grows. Summer is when grass dies because there's no rain. That's why it's called the Golden State.
• Sock oddity: My feet are shaped such that the first time I wear new socks, they are permanently right- and left-footed socks. I can never mix them up, otherwise the stretched out toe will end up scrunched up under my smaller toes, making wearing them uncomfortable. So I code them with a Sharpie, left or right. I fold my own socks, too.
• Last week's Potpourri song was inspired by Mrs. Scott's attendance at the Los Lonely Boys concert while I was writing the post.
• Another well played radio hit from the 70's. I never learned what the song was about, but do you really need to know?

A Crappy User Agreement

[Disclaimer: Fundamentalists and ultra-conservative Baptist types read at your own risk. This post and its links discuss human functionality using several slangfully descriptive terms considered taboo by many. You have been warned. If you can get past the lingo, it might serve well in understanding how the world works with respect to your personal infirmities.]

Leave it to Vache Folle to opine about usability of public commodes. Although some might consider such a topic to be left to the locker room, the locker room itself is the source here. Since I have considerable professional experience - a twenty year career in the building industry to be exact - with the root causes of VF's dilemma, I will expound upon that experience with authority. Although I gave a content disclaimer at the head of this post, it is nonetheless something that affects each one of us as we try to live life on this planet.

He directs user comments toward the designers of toilets. But these comments will fall upon deaf ears and here's why: You, or any other user, is not part of the equation. The crappiest user agreement of all is the one where the user is not part of the agreement. And that's how quite a bit of our lives are lived in modernity.

You see, architects place potties in their designs based upon which toilet models will fit into a stall size with the required space left over according to the building code. If space is tight, it's almost guaranteed the toilet will be functionally truncated. Also, design parameters in public restroom layouts have everything to do with accessibility and nothing to do with usability. It doesn't matter if somebody in a wheelchair can use the dang thing, just as long as they can wheel into the stall and transfer from the wheelchair to the throne using the grab bars provided.

Builders buy hoppers in bulk and look for the best deal. Nevermind if the can can be used as long as it meets the architect's design, meets code and can save money. It needs to be shipped on time and the construction crew needs ease of installation, and it needs to satisfy the examination of building inspectors. Toilet manufacturers tailor their products to how well they do on the showroom floor of builder's conventions, and to environmental regulations that target water use.

Now for another major concept. The majority of potties are designed, produced, shipped and installed without the user being the direct customer. Everybody in the toilet chain is not a direct end user of the product they handle. Pretty much a private homeowner who needs to replace a toilet is the only direct customer. Maybe somebody who designs and builds their own custom home as well. When is the last time you took your significant other out to look at new home models and were asked, "What kind of toilet to you want?" Or in your office orientation on the first day of a new job?

And last, but not least by any means, is the lack of being able to test drive the product. I can test drive a new car, play with a new computer, order the appetizer sampler plate, try on new clothes. How does one find the toity that's right for them? Vache Folle, the only advice I can give is to say, "jiggle the handle." Other than that, have a crappy day. :(

Exams Trump Blogging, I Guess

This week has been one of study and taking of exams and general life decision making. Blogging has been on the back burner or attempted at times while too tired. Hopefully I'll be able to write a bit more than usual in the next several days, and see what I come up with.

Individualism Both Allowed and Condemned - Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 33)

In a recent post, Chaplain Mike Mercer (filling in for ailing Michael Spencer at the Internet Monk) asks some questions after reading evangelical megachurch pastor Rick Warren's article at the Christian Post, titled Following Jesus Means Belonging to a Local Congregation. After identifying Warren's thesis, "When we're called to follow Christ; we're also called to belong to the body of Christ," Mercer notes his idea that pastors today have as one of their biggest hurdles, "it is hard to convince people who attend church to commit themselves to the church family and become members."

Mercer then moves to Warren's placing of blame: '“today’s culture of independent individualism.” As a result, we have many “spiritual orphans who move from one church to another without any identity, accountability or commitment.”' Warren concludes his article with an exhortation:

We must remind those who fill our buildings each Sunday that joining the membership of a local church is the natural next step once they become a child of God. You become a Christian by committing yourself to Christ, but you become a church member by committing yourself to a specific group of believers. The first decision brings salvation; the second brings fellowship.

But then Mercer asks the following questions of Warren's argument:

■It seems, right from the start, that Warren is conceding the point that one can belong to Christ without being a member of the church. Membership in the church
is a second “step” in the Christian life—important but ultimately a matter of choice on the part of the individual Christian. Is this disjunction between belonging to Christ and being a member of the church biblically and theologically sound?
■To what extent is “independent individualism” not just a cultural problem, but also an outgrowth of the kind of gospel we preach and the kind of churches we create in evangelicalism?
■Couldn’t one logically conclude from this approach that, in the final analysis, for evangelicals the church, though important, is ultimately optional?

Mercer's last statement here has been a point of mine all along in this series. The "formal membership" systems that many churches construct ultimately place the duty of becoming members in the hands of the sheep. The two class system both allows the so-called individualistic non-member status to exist, and condemns it at the same time. If a house divided against itself cannot stand, what does this say about the membership system that many churches construct? I think it creates the very thing it is designed to prevent.

There is also the assumption that fully committed Christians who obey all the commands of God with regard to church and yet who have not signed on some dotted line somewhere are somehow deficient and neglectful of God's commands. Warren contradicts himself in his last statement. Committing yourself to a group of believers and joining the membership are two different things. One can do the former without doing the latter. But since membership is something that God does, and not we ourselves, members in God's eyes can be wrongly labeled non-members in man's eyes. This is the problem with the membership that so many men have created. Telling people that they're wrong by simply obeying God isn't going to get everybody to sign on the dotted line, and isn't a very good tactic.

Read the entire series here.

Part 32 ... Part 34

Friday Night Potpourri

It was painful to think this week, so here's the result of my pain: :)

• A Scantron 882-E has 100 questions to fill in. I bought a box of #2 pencils, too. And some good erasers. Now I are a kollege studint.
• We had a few days of weather that was sunny and in the 60's. We haven't had that for months, so I took advantage and wore shorts, a t-shirt and sandals. This only lasted until late afternoon each day before the chill came with dusk.
• Okay, I eat right (mostly), jog every day and generally stay in good shape. But a half hour of soccer in the back yard with my kids is murder.
• "No" has become the favorite word for our current 2 1/2 year old. This extends the streak to three consecutive 2 1/2 year olds.
• Last weekend I changed the oil for the first time on my present car. It was easy. When I looked at the drain plug I thought, "that looks like about a 14mm bolt." Then, I looked at it again and thought, "that looks too big for a 13mm bolt," then again, "that looks too small for a 15mm bolt." Putting those three observations together I deduced that it was a 14mm drain bolt. It was a 14mm drain bolt. I'm available for hire.
• I recall a very elderly driver from out a work window back in the late 80's. White knuckles and blue hair. Every day. She drove an oxidized green '66 Opel wagon with a stick shift. She'd rev that thing up to about 3000 rpm before popping the clutch into 1st gear. She had really bad judgment of oncoming traffic, but not bad enough to pull right out in front of somebody. She gave them just enough time to swerve out of the way and hit a telephone pole or something. She probably caused more accidents than anybody ever, yet had a "perfect" driving record. I don't know why I thought of this, but I did. Moral of the story? I don't have a clue.
• Not at all from my childhood, but this song has a few personal and immediate reasons for making the potpourri.

Pitchers And Catchers

Today, pitchers and catchers report for duty down at Spring Training. I'm a big baseball fan, so for me this marks the soon coming of baseball on the radio. I'm looking forward to seven good months of listening.

Friday Night Potpourri Song List

Here's a running list of Friday Night Potpourri YouTube songs:

July 31, 2009 - ABBA; Take A Chance On Me
August 8, 2009 - Three Dog Night; Joy To The World
August 14, 2009 - Mungo Jerry; In The Summertime
August 21, 2009 - David Dundas; Jeans On
August 28, 2009 - A-ha; Take On Me
September 4, 2009 - Surfaris; Wipe Out
September 11, 2009 - Katrina & The Waves; Walking On Sunshine
September 18, 2009 - Alice Cooper; School's Out
September 26, 2009 - Deep Purple; Smoke On The Water
October 10, 2009 - Three Dog Night; Eli's Coming
October 16, 2009 - Quiet Riot; Cum On Feel The Noize
October 23, 2009 - Brownsville Station; Smoking In The Boys' Room
November 6, 2009 - Three Dog Night; The Show Must Go On
November 13, 2009 - Roger Daltrey; Free Me
November 23, 2009 - Rolling Stones; Neighbours
November 27, 2009 - Grand Funk Railroad; The Loco-Motion
December 5, 2009 - "Weird Al" Yankovic; I Lost On Jeopardy
December 11, 2009 - Led Zeppelin; Hats Off To (Roy) Harper
December 19, 2009 - "Weird Al" Yankovic; Christmas At Ground Zero
December 25, 2009 - Peanuts Christmas; Linus Christmas Monologue
January 1, 2010 - U2; New Year's Day
January 8, 2010 - Yes; Mood For A Day
January 15, 2010 - Looking Glass; Brandy
January 22, 2010 - Journey; Don't Stop Believin'
January 30, 2010 - Leo Sayer; When I Need You
February 5, 2010 - Gary Wright; Dream Weaver
February 12, 2010 - Gerry Rafferty; Baker Street
February 19, 2010 - Los Lonely Boys; Heaven
February 27, 2010 - Boz Scaggs; Lido Shuffle
March 5, 2010 - Commodores; Easy
March 12, 2010 - Foreigner; Blue Morning, Blue Day
March 20, 2010 - James Brown; Night Train
March 26, 2010 - REM; It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
April 2, 2010 - The Who; The Kids Are Alright
April 10, 2010 - John Fogerty; Centerfield
April 16, 2010 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; I Need To Know
April 25, 2010 - Lisa Hannigan; Lille
May 17, 2010 - Dire Straits; Walk of Life
May 21, 2010 - Van Halen; Dance The Night Away
May 31, 2010 - Dick Dale; Misirlou
June 4, 2010 - Blue Cheer; Summertime Blues
June 13, 2010 - Johnny Paycheck; Take This Job And Shove It
June 18, 2010 - The Rivieras; California Sun
June 25, 2010 - Sammy Hagar; I Can't Drive 55
July 3, 2010 - The Proclaimers; 500 Miles
July 9, 2010 - Electric Light Orchestra; Telephone Line
July 16, 2010 - Rolling Stones; Far Away Eyes
July 23, 2010 - Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds; Don't Pull Your Love
July 30, 2010 - The Beatles - Birthday
August 6, 2010 - Janis Joplin - Summertime
August 13, 2010 - JB Robin performing - JS Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor BVW565
August 20, 2010 - Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
August 27, 2010 - Atlanta Rhythm Section - So Into You
September 3, 2010 - Ten Years After - Slow Blues In "C"
September 10, 2010 - Soft Cell - Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go
September 17, 2010 - The Beatles - And Your Bird Can Sing
September 24, 2010 - Rodrigo y Gabriela - Diablo Rojo
October 2, 2010 - Wings - With A Little Luck
October 8, 2010 - Baha Men - Who Let The Dogs Out?
October 15, 2010 - 10CC - The Things We Do For Love
October 22, 2010 - Booker T & the MG's - Green Onions
October 29, 2010 - Journey - Don't Stop Believin'
November 5, 2010 - Queen - We Are The Champions (San Francisco Giants!)
November 12, 2010 - Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
November 19, 2010 - Rainbow - Since You Been Gone
November 26, 2010 - U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name
December 3, 2010 - Tommy Tucker - Hi Heel Sneakers
December 10, 2010 - Jefferson Airplane - Good Shepherd
December 17, 2010 - Cheech and Chong - Santa Claus and His Old Lady
December 24, 2010 - Bing Crosby - Silent Night
December 31, 2010 - Kool & The Gang - Celebration
January 7, 2011 - The Eagles - Already Gone
January 15, 2011 - Beach Boys - Fun, Fun, Fun
January 21, 2011 - Modern English - I Melt With You
January 29, 2011 - Jimi Hendrix - Red House
February 5, 2011 - Electric Light Orchestra - Do Ya
February 11, 2011 - B-52's - Love Shack
February 18, 2011 - The Beatles - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
February 25, 2011 - Santana - Treat
March 4, 2011 - Coldplay - Life In Technicolor ii
March 11, 2011 - The Rolling Stones - You Gotta Move
March 18, 2011 - Alan Parsons Project - The Tell Tale Heart
March 25, 2011 - AC/DC - It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll)
April 1, 2011 - Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People
April 8, 2011 - Van Morrison - Into The Mystic
April 15, 2011 - The Beatles - Taxman
April 22, 2011 - The Doobie Brothers - Jesus Is Just Alright
April 29, 2011 - The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
May 6, 2011 - Boston - Peace of Mind
May 13, 2011 - Zager and Evans - In The Year 2525
May 20, 2011 - The Doors - The End
May 27, 2011 - The Temptations - Papa Was A Rolling Stone
June 4, 2011 - Huey Lewis and The News - Workin' For A Livin'
June 10, 2011 - Gipsy Kings - Montana
June 17, 2011 - George Strait - She Knows When You're On My Mind
June 24, 2011 - Bob Seger - Old Time Rock and Roll
July 2, 2011 - Poison - Fallen Angel
July 9, 2011 - Tower of Power - You're Still A Young Man
July 16, 2011 - John Mellencamp - Small Town
July 30, 2011 - Frank Sinatra - I've Got The World On A String
August 5, 2011 - A Flock of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song
August 26, 2011 - Beach Boys - Catch A Wave
September 10, 2011 - Adele - Rumour Has It
September 24, 2011 - Average White Band - Pick Up The Pieces
November 6, 2011 - The Beatles - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
.

Friday Night Potpourri

A week full of thoughts:

• The opening ceremonies of the winter Olympics were spectacular. Way to go Vancouver.
• I saw an ad that was very masculine in nature for the new Dodge Challenger, yet most of them I've seen on the road have been driven by women.
  
• I plan to change the oil in my current car for the first time tomorrow. I've had it for a while now, but had it done at an oil changing place. I've been changing my own oil since I was about sixteen.
• It's been a very gray winter here, with little sunshine and much rain. I think I've gotten used to it, but sometimes a little sun might help the lack of a tan.
• Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints and The Who; neither of you looked too bad.
• The grocery store my mom shopped at during my youth was turned into a Staples just a few years ago. Now that we're back in the same neighborhood, I visited that store for the first time. It was weird trying to imagine a grocery store in that space, one that I had visited many hundreds of times before.
• And who could forget this radio staple from 1978?
  

Re-Thinking Church Membership (Part 32) - Alan Knox on Scriptural Language of Membership

Alan Knox contends in a recent post that the biblical passages on membership can be misunderstood due to connotations carried by the English word "membership" that don't occur with the Greek word:

The Greek term translated “member” is closer to the English terms “limb” or “part”.
What’s the danger? Well, someone can become a “member” of a group by decision of either the individual or the group. However, a “limb” (i.e., arm or leg) does not decide to become part of a body, nor does a body decide that a “limb” is now part of it. The “limb” is part of the body by definition… identity.

In fact, this is exactly what Paul is teaching in the passages above. If you read the context, you’ll find that [we] are “members” of one another – we do not have to choose to become “members” of one another. We find that God through his Spirit makes us “members” of one another, the group does not decide that someone may become a “member”. While this language of choosing and deciding is applicable for the English term “member”, it is not applicable in the Pauline usage of this concept.

Thus, we cannot translate the scriptural language of “members of one another” into an organizational concept of membership, in which either party can choose or decide to become a member of a group.

I have reached the same conclusion without going to the Greek. It is understood by Paul's words that the "members" he has in mind when describing the church are limbs and organs and not paying country club participants whose membership can be revoked by the board or by themselves. I am my brother's brother whether we have dinner together at my house or his in-laws' house. Membership in Christ's body doesn't change based on our location on this planet. When we gather, we are members of one another.

Read the entire series here.

Part 31 . . . . . . . . Part 33

Back To The Drawing Board

Okay, not really. Different drawing board, with pun intended. My twenty year career in residential architecture was indefinitely put in jeopardy last year when my firm of fourteen years laid me off. I specialized in upscale subdivision homes for large developers. With the housing crisis and all the foreclosure fire sales, builders simply cannot compete by building new homes. So, they (if they still exist) aren't hiring architects (if they still exist). After a year of looking, I finally found the first job that came close to my job description. Three thousand miles away and several requirements beyond my credentials, I didn't qualify for the job. My former boss would, but not me.

In the mean time, I'm taking night classes with an eye to career change. My wife and three kids think it might be a good idea. I've still been looking for day jobs (I left days open by taking night classes), but there just seems to be a dead end everywhere. So, I are a kollege studint agin. I'll be trying to break in to the petrochemical industry through a local community college program to get a job operating some huge oil refinery (or similar) somewhere. I'm three semesters away, and we'll see what the results are.

Artificial Panic Demand For Jobs

We are in a period right now of an artificial panic demand for jobs. I read an article in the newspaper yesterday telling how people are starting to solve their job crisis situations by not looking for jobs anymore. They've spent so much time and money looking for jobs that don't exist that they're realizing no return on their investment.

The article claimed that the applicants per available job ratio is quadruple what it was during the last three recessions. People are sending their resumes out everywhere in a frantic drive for a job, and employers are being flooded with applicants. This is an artificial supply of applicants, which does nothing more than drive low wages further downward. In addition, businesses are not creating new jobs. Even though there are signs of the economy improving slightly, why would anybody in this economy hire somebody when they can take care of the extra work load by working overtime for more money? The refusal to create new jobs I think is helping to drive the panic.

The artificial panic demand for jobs is similar to the artificial panic demand for homes just a few years ago. As lenders were becoming more loose with lending standards, more people qualified for home loans. So many people were making offers on homes that were rising in price due to the demand that people started making more multiple offers on homes in order to score one acceptance. If an area had 1200 people looking for 1000 homes, it would be one thing if people were making one offer on the home they liked. It would be another for 1200 people to make 10,000 offers on 1000 homes. Each individual home seller would see a flood of offers on his home, and can the price accordingly.

Friday Night Potpourri

Brainwaves for the week:

• When it rains here, or rain is a threat, Oakland airport changes its flight paths for approach. Planes fly over my town for hours sometimes. The engines are cut back during approach, so it's not very noisy, but there are low flying planes to watch every couple of minutes. Very cool - if you like planes.
• I think we're having what's called a wet winter here. Rain, rain and more rain. We need it after several years of drought. A rain a day keeps the water rationing bureaucrats away.
• The sole of my boot just separated from the boot at the toes. I wear those "hiking type" walking boots. You know, they look like hiking boots, but not quite as tailored to hiking as serious hikers like. Anyway, these are my second pair since 1995. The first pair lasted eight years, these seven. I'd call that quality.
• Another brief update from ailing Michael Spencer, aka the InternetMonk. May he be granted full recovery.
• I want the Saints to win the Superbowl on Sunday simply because of their team from their city. Makes for a good story, too. Hurricane Katrina is still on people's minds, as is decades of bad football turned around. Nothing against Manning or the Colts other than they've been there recently. I just hope it's a good game with a close finish.
• I'm taking a couple of night classes at a local community college, along with a lot of nineteen year olds. I can't decide whether I feel old or older.
• This song from my youth was totally cool, and had some awesome space age affects that made it seem like a dream.

Christian Divorce Rate?

This last week was one in which the reminders that the divorce rate among Christians is the same or greater than non-Christians came more frequently and from an extra number of sources. I've wondered about this many times, but only today am I moved to post about it. The divorce rate is supposed to be about 50% for both Christians and non-Christians. But I have a question. Where is this divorce rate happening among Christians?

It's not happening very often in the churches that I have attended. Here's a quick figgerin': I've been attending church for over 15 years. The sizes of my churches added together are at least a thousand people, maybe two, counting people that have come and gone. I've known four divorces. One was between a Christian and an non-Christian with the divorce as a result of the non-Christian deserting the marriage. The other three fall into a category of divorce for cause - causes that fall into the "accepted" divorce debate amongst conservative evangelicals. Not a single divorce for "we just don't get along" or "God is leading us into marrying somebody else" or things like that.

I've attended many weddings over the years, and the divorce rate is zero there. I've also known church-attending Christians in other areas of life, like work and sports activities for kids, etc. I can't think of any there, either.

Contrast this with extended family and other non-church attending people or non-Christians I've known. Divorces everywhere. So, the rates are the same? Maybe they are, but I haven't experienced it, or maybe the way I figure statistics is skewed. Just curious. Any thoughts?

Haiti And Adoption

When Mrs. Scott and I were first married, we had discussed adoption as a possible course our family would follow. We decided to pursue adoption in addition to the possibility of having biological children. One could say that adoption was "Plan A" for us.

The first website we ever visited while looking at international adoption was a site called God's Littlest Angels, an orphanage in Haiti. We have supported them in the past and Mrs. Scott has been an ardent follower of their ministry ever since. The cost of international adoption was prohibitive for us in the early years, and our two oldest children are adopted, but from the States. Adopting from Haiti has been on our radar screen ever since that first website visit, yet the means have never materialized.

Now with the earthquake disaster in Haiti, adoption has been thrust into the media light. Just a few nights ago, a GLA representative was on Larry King Live to discuss the state of adoption from that battered nation. Adoption has been closed, with the exception that the adoption processes for children currently being adopted at the time of the quake were expedited. Many mass grave burials have prevented unaccounted for children from being easily adopted. Child trafficking has reared its head. Haiti needs a great deal of patience as they wait for things to stabilize.

Please pray for, and support, God's Littlest Angels.

Friday Night Potpourri

I'm sorry, what happened again this week?

• After 11 straight days of rain, we had a one day in a row break. It started again yesterday.
• Rain here in San Fran means snow in the mountains.
• The winter of 1982 saw 25 feet of snow in the mountains. Two feet of my friend's A-frame cabin were visible. They had to dig 15 feet down to the upper floor balcony to get in through a window.
• James: Ten Years After had three hit songs. I'd Love To Change The World was their biggest, then I'm Going Home (it landed both on the Woodstock Soundtrack and in the movie documentary), and Love Like A Man.
• Nice church, St. Nick! John Armstrong writes about a Russian Orthodox church in France that was ruled by a French court to be the property of the Russian government.
• Boomerang balloon. Our kids accidentally let a balloon go, and it went over the back fence into the neighbor's yard. Hours later it appeared in a front yard tree.
• Chicks and 5th graders dig it.

Internet Monk Update

As some of you may know, Michael Spencer (aka the Internet Monk) has been battling cancer. Today he posted an update on his condition. Pray for a complete recovery, and being able to make things work in the meantime.

Musical Chairs Football

This is traditionally my favorite weekend of football all year. I love playoff football, and the intensity of the conference championship games is better than any other week. I like these games better than the SuperBowl for a number of reasons. There's a home team with frenzied fans, and a visiting team trying to shut those fans up. The SuperBowl is a neutral site game with fans of all teams present, usually those with the most money to spend on the place to be seen. I couldn't care less about half time shows and all the hype, and what kind of cookies each player's grandma made as a kid.

Anyway, with the AFC game over, I hope the NFC game falls short of its explosive offense hype. I don't like shootout football. I like defense with well developed offensive strategy. It's one thing for a great game to end with one team trying to score and the other's great defense trying to stop them; it's quite another thing for a game to end with each team scoring at will with the game decided on who has the ball last when the clock runs out. Musical chairs football takes the drama out of the game.

Friday Night Potpourri

Thoughts after a great meal:

• Pee-wee tryouts are tomorrow for player evaluation. Our four year old can't wait. It's been raining like crazy this week and the fields are sure to be soaked. But can a kid hit with the ground being wet?
• Bob at Wilderness Fandango writes that sometimes he sees an older man who he thinks looks like his departed father.
• Four days of rain flooded the garage and made things messy. Difficult jogging weather.
• Two weeks ago I stated that it had been years since I've heard a song by the group Yes. The next week I heard three. Okay, let's test this out. It's been years since I've heard a Ten Years After song on the radio besides I'd Love To Change The World.
• Why do eyeglass commercials show the ugliest eyeglasses?
• Unemployment is now over 12% in California. It's no longer considered shameful to not find a job.
• My high school class of 1982 theme song. It gets better with time.

The Good Old Days

I got to thinking about the "good ol' days" recently and what made them good. Often we look back on times of lesser means as better somehow, yet I wonder if it's because we forget about the bad things. Here are a few things from my good old days.

The cars I drove were a '69 Firebird (a good car), an interim '76 Pontiac Sunbird (gutless), then a '75 Camaro for quite a long time. My next car was the complete lemon. A 1980 Plymouth Horizon hatchback. Beige, with a gray primer left quarter panel. The device to hold up the hatchback was one of those air cylinder pressure things. It didn't work, so I had to carry a pair of vice grips to hold it steady. Sometimes the hatchback would collapse on my head while getting groceries out. The car had its share of mishaps. Once, the inside door handle broke. So, I had to roll down the window and use the outside handle to open it. No sooner than I got it fixed, the outside handle broke. I could now exit the car without opening the window, but had to get in from the passenger side, and climb over both the stickshift and hand parking brake. I bought it for 500 bucks and sold it two years later for the same amount. The steal of the century. This gave way for my best car ever, a '90 Honda Accord. I had that for 18 years and put over 300,000 miles on it.

The first job I ever had was maybe the most fun. I worked at a wrecking yard in high school that also had an auto parts, towing and scrap yard built in. I got to run the car smasher. A 17 ton iron lid lifted by an inch and a half steel cable, pulled up by a car engine. I would raise the lid up, the fork lift would put a car in, and I would step off the brake, and wham!, a 60's Cadillac or Lincoln would be about 12" thick. It was a dirty, oily, gritty, low paying job, but being able to pick up a brake drum and smash it through a junk car window was a humorous release of energy. Or picking up a car ten feet up in the air with the fork lift and dropping it to the ground. We had to take gas tanks out of cars before they were crushed, and with a gas filtration system we rigged up, I didn't buy gas all year.

Good old days? or pathetic moments worthy of laughter?

Protestant Traditions Not Found In The Bible - Followup

My recent post Protestant Traditions Not Found In The Bible received one of the highest site visit counts I've ever had. I'm wondering the reason. Is it because so many people are interested in the topics of church and tradition? Is it because I also happened to leave a higher than usual number of comments on other large readership blogs and gained clickthroughs from my comments? Probably a bit of both.

In any case, I created the list to make a few observations. One, Protestantism has its traditions, too. I often hear criticisms from Protestants about the traditions of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Many of these criticisms are not necessarily about the specific traditions themselves, but that RC and EO have them at all. We should be careful about criticising others who hold to traditions if we ourselves do as well. Some of the Protestant traditions I listed are rock solid foundations of some people's faith, and to question them is to suggest one's own apostasy.

Another observation is that some of these traditions not found in the bible are so central to church that things that are found in Scripture aren't observed parts of those traditions. For example, I recently added "going to church" as a tradition (thank you, Judy). Hebrews 10:24-25 is so heavily relied upon as a command to go to church (funny, it isn't even in the imperative) that the other traditions like the Sunday meeting being a "worship service" crowd out what the passage actually says about what we're supposed to be doing in church, if in fact we take not forsaking the assembling together meaning we need to go to church. Where is stimulating one another to love and good deeds and encouraging one another as mentioned found in our worship services?

I don't have a problem with tradition as long as it neither contradicts Scripture, nor crowds out things that Scripture says we must do.

Friday Night Potpourri

Thinks:

• I helped some friends move last weekend. In a drawer I found one of those yellow plastic 45rpm-to-record changer adapters. A college student that was there helping had no clue what it was. Her dad and I had some fun with that. "It's an adapter...you know, for 45's...so they can be used on the record changer...you know, vinyl..." No clue. (image: photobucket.com)
• Small world gardening: The owner of the house we're temporarily in has a gardener. We've known him for years. Our friends that we just helped move have a gardener provided by their new landlady. They've known him for years, too. Not only is he the same gardener, he does each of our houses on the same day, one right after another, yet in different cities. But wait... it gets better. It was after our gardener's wedding nearly ten years ago that Mrs. Scott and I (who both attended) had our first date. We went out to dinner after the reception, and were married later that year. The gardener married my best man's mother.
• While job searching, here was an interesting ad I found: freelance editor for a Korean slang book. I could do it with a little bit of improvisation.
• There's no better way to secure your checked luggage than to carry a gun. So says Cory Doctorow. (HT: Lew Rockwell.com for the link)
• One of my favorite types of weather is dense fog in the winter. It's like being blanketed in, muted sound, kinda cozy. Fun to jog in, too.
• Speaking about dense fog, I remember a number of times where it was too dense to drive. A couple of times in my neighborhood I had to open the car door and drive with my head out to see the dashed lines. Only in residential neighborhoods would I do that, of course. Once, the line ended and I was on my own, not knowing how close to the center of the road I was. A silhouette of a mailbox appeared in front of my hood. I guess I veered off center slightly, so I backed up and steered a bit left. I'm alive today so I estimate that I made it to where I was going.
• Another classic childhood radio song memory. So many one hit wonders, so many good songs.

Friday Night Porpourri

The week in whatever:

• It has been a long time since I've heard a song from the group Yes on the radio. Even the classic rock stations aren't playing this staple group from the days of album oriented rock. Why not? Have the rock radio gods gone crazy?
• The winning Christmas presents for each of our kids: our two year old loves his three story parking garage for Matchbox cars. Our four year old loves his new Nintendo DS. Our eight year old loves his radio controlled helicopter.
• In an attempt to create widespread (no pun intended) breast cancer awareness, women on Facebook were urged to enter a one word color on their Facebook status (the color of the brassiere they were wearing at the moment), with no other explanation, and to pass this cause on to other women. To the complete exclusion of men. Of course, there are no secrets on Facebook, and the guys soon became aware of why numerous women were dropping colors on FB. I don't know whether it is the nature of men to do this, but humorous, sarcastic and dirty-old-man comments appeared all over. Of course, some women weren't wearing any, and commented thus. In the end, awareness of breasts beat the awareness of cancer, hands down, in my estimation. Boys will be boys. You go, girls!
• YouTube is also a great place to listen to music.
• Fog, overcast, dense fog, sunshine, overcast, heavy rain, dense fog, rain, fog, sunshine, overcast. Just a day of driving around the Bay Area with its varied microclimates.
• I've been walking with the boys in our region's "open space" areas quite a bit lately. We've seen deer, hawks, ground critters, snakeskins, dead things and yesterday a coyote. Oh, and oak trees.
• My hair feels much more wiry than in past years. I'm told it's gray hair that just can't be noticed in all the blond.
• Haven't heard this guitar piece in years.

[Update: Mrs. Scott pointed out that I made a mistake spelling "Potpourri"]