Attack With Love

I no longer blog here. 
Now I blog at blogger. 

He reminds me of the young Leonidas in 300. I love it!

They were cowboy and cowgirl for Halloween.

The Early Fathers
As with many issues, the first three centuries of the Christian church do not give us great insight on this question. In the absence of any doctrinal controversy about it, the position of the early church is hard to pin down. There are many references to election, and to free will.

The Pelagian Controversy
The church was forced to define terms when she had to respond to a clear heresy on the subject. This was supplied by a British monk named Pelagius. Pelagius reacted to a form of fatalism in the church which sought to justify sin. He did so by teaching there is no original sin — each man sins each time entirely by choice.

He was challenged in this by Augustine, who provided the church with the first great systematic presentation of the biblical doctrine of grace.

Augustine won, and Pelagianism was condemned as heresy. But after Augustine died, the church drifted into something which is now called semi-Pelagianism. Augustinianism said that unregenerate man was dead. Pelagianism said he was alive and well. Semi-pelagianism says that man is sick and needs help, but that salvation is a cooperative effort between God and man.

Gottschalk
In the 9th century, Gottschalk was imprisoned for maintaining these doctrines of grace.

Wyclif and Hus
Those who came before the Reformation can be included among those who affirm the total sovereignty of God. This would also include the Waldensians.

The Reformation
All the Reformers were united on this point. For example, Luther said this to Erasmus, “Moreover, I give you hearty praise and commendation on this further account — that you alone, in contrast with all others, have attacked the real thing, that is, the essential issue. You have not wearied me with those extraneous issues about the Papacy, purgatory, indulgences and such like — trifles, rather than issues . . . you, and you alone, have seen the hinge on which all turns, and aimed for the vital spot.”

The Council of Trent
The Roman Catholic church responded with a series of anathemas to the Reformation. In their condemnation of the Reformers’ doctrine, it can be clearly seen that the Catholic church adopts the semi-Pelagian position, while condemning the Augustinianism of the Reformers.

The Remonstrance
A Reformed pastor in the Netherlands named Jacob Arminius came to reject the teaching of the Reformation on these points. At the same time, he did not return to the Catholic church. After his death, his followers presented a “remonstance” to the Dutch parliament. The result was the Synod of Dordt, which met for many months to respond to the “Arminian” position. They did so by condemning it, and by laying out five articles — “the five points of Calvinism.”

From Doug Wilson’s blog.

The retaining wall is finished and looks good. We should finish the outside work (fill-in dirt behind the wall, haul off remaining stone, clean up, etc.) this week.

The tile work in the bathrooms is finished. This is a shot of the walk-in shower in the master bath.

The concrete counter tops are finished. They are installing the hardware and appliances this week.

He will do great things.

“The drama of the book of Job is a vigorous, artistic invitation in Israel to rethink in radical ways the theodicy explanations that over time were undoubtedly reduced to moralistic clichés. Over times Israel had become too familiar with God, too much able to predict and control, so that ethics was programmed into a series of prepackaged consequences. The massive artistic, intellectual effect of Job is to undermine such certitudes and to reopen life with God to slippage and wonder and risk. In the end the truth of God is amazingly large, mysterious, stubborn, and elusive and cannot be reduced to a safe set of moralisms that are calculating and controlling. The student thus is invited to reflect upon theodicy settlements in Proverbs and theodicy crisis in Job as a format from which to consider the moral certitudes (religious and secular) in our own time and place, and the ways in which lived reality continually erodes the authority of such absolutisms.” B. Birch, W. Brueggemann, T. Fretheim, and D. Petersen, A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament (2005), 403.

“About the hair, the following seems right. Let the head of men be shaven, unless it has curly hair. But let the chin have the hair. But let not twisted locks hang down from the head, gliding into womanish ringlets. For an ample beard suffices for men. And if one, too, shave a part of his beard, it must not be made entirely bare, for this is a disgraceful sight. The shaving of the chin to the skin is reprehensible, approaching to plucking out the hair and smoothing… The hair on the chin is not to be disturbed, as it gives no trouble, and lends to the face dignity and paternal terror.” Stromata, Anti-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, p. 286.

Though the fig tree does not bud, and the vines are without grapes;
Though the olive trees disappoint, and the fields produce no food;
Though the flock is removed from the fold, and the cattle disappear;
Yet I will rejoice in YHWH! I will rejoice in the God who saves me!
YHWH, O Adonai, is my strength! He has made my feet like the hind’s feet;
He lets me walk on high places.

Click here to learn more about The Voice.

Billiard Factory delivered our pool table today. Very exciting. Looking forward to many fun nights above the garage!

Travis Reed, Blake Quimby, and I went to the Ryan Adams concert on Thursday night. Good times all around.

Ryan and his Cardinals seem as dysfunctional as the Brian Jonestown Massacre. But, man, can Ryan sing!

PS: Ryan’s shirt read: Tell Your Mom To Stop Texting Me.

This blog highlights a horrific reality: “the exploitation and abuse that can occur in government-run orphanages, especially those in poverty, disease and war-ravaged countries where accountability is non-existent and corruption is extreme.”

I am physically ill from reading this story and seeing these images, but this revulsion should provoke us (God’s people especially!) to action. Please read Paul Myhill’s story, link it to your blogs, tell your churches and communities, and pray.

Please click here to read more.

New Radiohead. Pay what you want. Click here to learn more.

Click here to read more.

Here is (a good guess at) a list of books I’ve mentioned so far as we’ve journeyed through the Gospel of John (in no particular order):

1. The Light Has Come, L. Newbigin
2. God Gave Wine, K. Gentry
3. Celebration of Discipline, R. Foster
4. Peculiar Treasures, F. Buechner
5. The Message of the Psalms, W. Brueggemann
6. John, J. Calvin

I’ll try to keep this list up to date.

“Akiva ben Joseph was born in the Judean lowlands in 50 C.E. He was illiterate and despised scholarship; he worked herding sheep. Then he fell in love with a rich man’s daughter. She agreed to marry him only when he vowed to devote his life to studying the Torah. So he did. He learned to read along with their son.” Quoted from Annie Dillard’s For the Time Being.

October 1st came and went. Still not in the house. But we do have some very nice wood floors to look at. Things are coming along nicely, albeit slowly.

Our first fair as Washington Co. residents.

At Chuy’s in Austin.

The funny thing is, I hadn’t even said the word “cookie” to her. She saw me putting them out on racks to cool and headed over. I told her “No, hot.” A couple of minutes later she managed to get one down and was walking toward me holding it, covered in chocolate, saying “Cookie! Cookie!” and grinning from ear to ear.

Here is a video of Jonas reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

Christ Church had its first service last night. It was a beautiful time of worship, prayer, hearing God’s word, and communion. I look forward to a lifetime of weekly worship with this newborn community.

This Sunday, September 9, 2007, will be the official public launch of Christ Church. Please keep us in your prayers.

Click here to learn more about Christ Church.

Here are a couple of pics of the house. Estimated date of completion: October 1, 2007. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

This is my brave wife getting her nose pierced. We highly recommend Sacred Heart for those living in/near Houston.

“The Protestant cleric who used to look down on the manipulation and forced emotionalism of the old-time tent revivalist does not shrink from using modern liturgical gimmickry such as balloons, dance, clowns, drama, and contrived gestures of intimacy to induce various emotional states in his own congregation. ‘Anything to shake them up a bit’ was a justification given by a pastor recently after subjecting his congregation to a forty-minute barrage of taped screams, slides of malnourished children, and his own ‘prophetic’ sermonic scoldings. The use of worship for managerial ends and cheap emotional highs is not new in Protestantism. Utilitarian, pragmatic, motivational manipulation of people during Sunday morning worship is as old as Charles Finney’s ‘New Measures’ in revivals for prodding people down to the altar. As C. S. Lewis said, ‘The charge is feed my sheep not run experiments on my rats.’ When worship is reduced to a pep rally for the pastor’s latest crusade or to a series of acts that contain the minister’s own hidden agenda, our concern for worship is called into question.” - William Willimon, quoted from Jeffrey J. Meyers’ The Lord’s Service.

I dropped my iPhone on the sidewalk this morning as I stepped off my front porch. (Notice the hairline crack across the front.) This is a very sad day.

“Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God” - Karl Barth

Betty Rose has matured. She got a new car seat this week and now faces forward. She loves it!

We found this beautiful nest in a small cedar tree right by our front porch. Each night we sit on the porch and watch dozens of Cardinals hover across our front yard.

Jonas and I went on our daily errand of gathering eggs from our two hens. Usually, I just open the door, look to where the hens lay and get the eggs. Jonas, however, puts his whole head in. We opened the door to the hen house, no eggs. We thought it odd that the chickens hadn’t laid any eggs in 2 or 3 days. Jonas peaked in. “Oh! A scary snake!” he said. I looked in. Coiled in the bottom tray was this snake. I called the family together. I got a hoe, pulled out the tray, and chopped at the serpent! I missed. I struck again. Missed. He started to get angry (hissing) and was slithering away at this point. I chopped once more. Hit! Now we’ve hung him on our fence for the others to see. This is what happens when you take our eggs!

* The serpent measures just over 6 feet.

What else can you do for a first birthday?

“Look, mom, I’m Mr. Potato Head.”

My two beautiful girls!

This girl loves the beach.

“I have a beard like you, daddy.”

This is the inside of my office. Note the very cool orange lockers. You’re welcome to visit any time.

The best album of each decade since the 50’s:

1950s: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (1959)

1960s: Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde (1966)

1970s: The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street (1972)

1980s: Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska (1982)

1990s: Radiohead, OK Computer (1997)

2000s: TBA

Last night marked the end of an era.

“Made in America”, the 86th and final episode of the beautiful HBO series The Sopranos, aired at 9PM (central), but I still have no closure. We don’t have cable TV at our house in Chappell Hill so I’ve spend the last nine Sundays at our other pastor’s house with my second favorite family: The Sopranos. Unfortunately, last night my friend and his family were out of town so I had to watch the finale alone. The thought hadn’t bothered me until I found myself alone, sitting in my friend’s dark house while my wife was at home with our sick baby. I felt like Tony: alone, separated from my friends and family, exiled because of my vice. I started to feel sick.

But I decided to take the plunge and sink to the depths. I left my friend’s house (I got there twenty minutes early so I wouldn’t miss anything.) and went to gather as many things as I could to viscerally connect me to the story of criminal activity, anti-depressants, sexual deviancy, and priceless comedy. I drove a few blocks to the Brookshire grocery store and left with a bottle of cheap cabernet, a package of sliced hard salami, and a $.65 cigar (terrible!). I got back to the house just in time.

The episode was unremarkable until the last scene; even then it wasn’t the “scene” that was noteworthy, but the missing piece. In the last scene Tony, Carmela and AJ are eating onion rings in a 50’s diner waiting for Meadow (who is unsuccessfully parallel-parking outside). Possible hitmen roam the restaurant. Meadown walks in… and the screen goes blank. I thought the electricity had gone out. My cell rang. My dear friend and fellow addict, Chris Seay, was calling in. I picked up.

“My cable just went out!” he panicked. At that moment the credits started rolling in silence.

“No it didn’t. That was the last scene. It just went black.”

“No way. [a long pause] Two words: Feature Film.”

I started to feel angry. Please tell me this artful masterpiece did not just end like a predictable Lost episode: a cliffhanger to solicit viewers for the next show.

I felt set up.

All this for a lousy push for some two-bit movie, a promotional episode. I felt betrayed, like Tony after Big Pussy turned government witness.

Whaddaya Gonna Do?

Our bodies return to dust.
Gen. 3:19; Acts 13:36

Our souls return to God.
Luke 23:43; Eccl. 12:7

The souls of the righteous are received into glory and wait for the redemption of all things (including their bodies).
Heb. 12:23; 2 Cor. 5:1-8; Phil. 1:23; Acts 3:21; Eph. 4:10

The souls of the wicked are cast into hell and wait for the great judgment of God.
Luke 16:23-24; Acts 1:25; Jude 6-7; 1 Pet. 3:19

On the last day, the righteous souls are changed; the dead are raised and receive new bodies.
1 Thess. 4:17; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; Job 19:26-27; 1 Cor. 15:42-44

On the last day, the righteous souls are raised to honor; the wicked souls are raised to dishonor.
Acts 24:15; John 5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:43; Philip. 3:21

From the Westminster Confession of Faith (XXXII-XXXIII)

This is my new office building.

This is the view from my office.

FROM THE VOICE PROJECT

Psalm 77

[According to Jeduthun]

A psalm of Asaph; For the Choir Director.

1 My voice called to God;
he heard my voice and listened.
2 In my dark days, I sought Adonai.
At night, my hands were stretched to get his attention.
My soul grew numb and refused to be comforted.
3 Then I remembered God and I groaned.
I meditated and my spirit gave out.

Selah.

4 Though I try to sleep, you keep my eyes open.
I am disturbed, speechless.
5 My troubled mind gave way to thoughts of ancient days.
6 My music kept me company at night.
My heart meditated and my spirit was curious.

7 Will Adonai reject forever?
Will he never be pleased again?
8 Has his loving-kindness ceased?
Have his promises come to an end?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has his anger blocked His compassion?

Selah.

10 Then I said, “This is my deepest wound: the right hand of the Most High has turned against me.”
11 I will remember what Yahweh did;
for I remember your ancient wonders.
12 I will meditate on all of your work;
indeed, on all of your deeds I will meditate.
13 Your way is holy, God. What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders.
You have made your power known among the nations.
15 Your strong arm redeemed your people:
the sons of Jacob and the sons of Joseph.

Selah.

16 The Water saw you, O God.
The Water saw you and trembled.
Indeed, the Deep quaked.
17 The Clouds split open. The rains fell. The Sky howled.
Indeed, your lightning arrows traveled as they pleased.
18 The voice of your Thunder spiraled down.
Lightning ignited the earth.
The whole Earth trembled and shook.
19 You made a road on the Seas.
You carved a path through the great Water.
Yet your footprints were unknown.
20 You led your people like sheep,
by the hand of Moses as well as Aaron.

This is me angry.

“Texas native Blake Quimby’s debut album, Received, is a beautiful offering by a noteworthy independent artist. Soulful pop. Thoughtful lyrics. Very listenable. Quimby works extensively as an itinerant worship leader and also as worship leader to a new congregation in central Texas, Christ Church Brenham. With deep local roots and far-reaching connectedness, his music is the result of time in community, a clear articulation of the prayers of the people. Received is almost entirely original music, but Quimby selected just a few well-picked covers. His minimalist rendition of Edward Mote’s 19th century hymn On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand is tender and poignant, soft vocals with a humble confession, an album highlight. Expect more great albums soon from this prolific singer/songwriter.” - IndependentBands.com

Click here to purchase. Enjoy.

Yes, that is a permanent Sharpie marker.

This is quintessential Brandi: in the chaise, on her Mac, holding Betty Rose, eating chocolate. I love her.

Ryan Adams and his Cardinals have a new gift for us all, Easy Tiger, in stores June 26th. Click here for more info. Or go to Ryan’s website.

“Thy look is Thy being… I am, because Thou dost look at me… if Thou didst turn Thy glance from me, I should cease to be.” – Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464). Quoted from C. Taliaferro’s Contemporary Philosophy of Religion (Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1998), 106.