For all my brothers and sisters who have ever felt the burden of false guilt (a.k.a. everyone)

"As we come, week after week, to confess our sins, we need to learn to make certain fine distinctions. In one direction is the peril of a false scrupulousness, and in the other we see the error of rejecting that, and settling in complacently to substandard Christian living.

We don’t want hyper-scrupulousness of conscience, but not because it is too sensitive to sin—that would be impossible. We reject this error because it is not nearly sensitive enough, and constantly charges off after the wrong thing. It insists on feeling bad for sins that were not committed, and neglects those sins which were. Hyper-scrupulousness is usually little other than a life-long exercise in changing the subject. So we don’t want that. But this does not mean the alternative is callousness.

Spirit-led sensitivity to sin is always and everywhere a good thing. To notice the first stirrings of pride in ordinary conversations is a good thing. To mortify lusts when they have just begun to stir is nothing but a blessing. To refuse to live in the suburbs of sin is all to the good.

So as we come to confess our sins, make sure to confess the minor industry of false guilt that so easily springs up in our hearts. And at the same time, confess the breezy disregard of what God describes as actual sin, real sin, whether or not it has made it out of your internal attitudes yet. Guard your hearts. Guard your hearts really. Don’t be distracted by an external Advent penitence. Confess your sins, and make sure they are the real ones."

This is a post from Doug Wilson over at his blog.

“But if, as some affirm who are without God – that is, unbelievers – he [(Christ)] only seemed to suffer (but it is they who only seem to be!), why am I a prisoner, and why do I even long to fight with the beasts? In that case I am dying in vain." – Ignatius (bishop of church of Antioch in Syria, martyred in Rome ca. 110)

"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." - 1 Cor 15:17-19

I love the idea of the resurrection of Christ being God's "Yes" to Jesus. The resurrection was God validating the life and even death of Christ, God's divine stamp of approval that Jesus was not just another insurrectionist stirring up trouble in the empire. If the resurrection isn't true, then it's all pointless. Jesus' teachings, his miracles, his death. It's all pointless. The resurrection is a message of hope - the hope that the kingdom ushered in by Christ is growing, and it will continue to grow until Christ returns to make all rulers and authorities subject to himself. The resurrection is proof that our labor is not in vain.

its the reincarnation of raekwon in an apron

Currently Hearing: Road to Till the Casket Drops by The Clipse
Currently Reading: The Theology of the Book of Revelation by Richard Bauckham
Currently Glad That: I Got to Drink Baja Blast Mountain Dew Tonight by Taco Bell
Currently Watching: Fringe and it makes me lose my mind
Currently Contemplating: How to Become a Famous Rap Producer

WARNING: The thoughts of this blog post are being improvised.

With that being said, I shall now begin.

These days I feel like things make sense and things don't make sense. Does that make sense?
In other words, i am realizing that this is probably how I will feel for the rest of my life. I operate as such: it seems like at least 85% of my thought life is consumed by thinking of God or something spiritual. It seems like I am always trying to figure out how something works out in your faith. And, I am glad (most of the time). My brain basically is always looking for answers, and I don't think it will ever stop. So, this means that I have to be confident in myself and my convictions while understanding that my life is one of development and growth. This is uncomfortable sometimes, because I basically would love to have a really good answer to every question that comes up in my mind. However, this seems impossible (at least, this is what my experience has taught me thus far in my life). I have such deep appreciation (and a dash of envy) for people who are so adamant about the theological systems to which they "adhere." I don't mean to say that I really love people who are arrogant or elitist or judgmental towards those who don't think the same way they think. I do mean to say that I love to see the devotion and confidence that I see of those ministers and scholars who I respect. I guess that is a confidence that comes with much prayer and study. As usual, those are the key ingredients of being "successful" in any spiritual endeavor.

How Do You Feel About This?

“The Stories of our Youth”

From their windows, all the young girls
see midnight’s white confetti
when it’s flung against the sky
like pebbles down a well.
It is here they make their wishes, and
dream dreams of raising children;
they reach their fingers towards
the heavens as if to touch a tiny face.

In the alleys, all the young boys
hurl insults at each other
and put on faces like their fathers
as they learn to act like men.
It is here that their reflections
will age in dirty puddles;
they stretch their hands out to
the ladies who forgot about the stars.

Thanks, Doug

I just read this over at Doug Wilson's blog, which you can find on the right hand column of this page if you feel like checking it out (go to the one titled Blog and Mablog or click here). I love this guy:

"Not a person in this room has to struggle with the temptations that other people have. And every person in this room does in fact have to struggle against the temptations that present themselves, daily, to you.

Now as we all seek to establish our walk with Christ, one of the perennial temptations will be to evaluate ourselves based upon our relative freedom from the snares that have caught others. All of us could be hanging upside down, every ankle ensnared by the devil’s traps, and all of us gently bobbing, and our temptation would still be to think, "Well, at least I wasn’t caught by a gray rope like he was." Or "at least I wasn’t caught by a three/quarter inch rope." Well, good job all around! Shall we have prizes?

The lustful man tells himself that at least he is not proud. The proud man tells himself that at least he is not lazy. The vain woman is pleased that she is, at least, not a slattern. The diligent woman despises the one who keeps a low tone.

Now there is a standard that applies to all. The realization for us ought not to be a relativistic one. But the standard that applies to all is the holy Scripture, as interpreted and applied by Christ. And there is no way to place anyone else under that standard without coming under it yourself. There is a way to quote snippets out of the Bible, about lust or laziness, covetousness or pride, whatever the other guy is doing, in order to manufacture a convenient standard that has the veneer of holiness all over it. So as we guard our hearts against this, remember that we must bow before Christ, and He is not a territorial god. He is the Lord of heaven and earth."

Tay In a Win

I can't not laugh at this:

Is that Toto I hear?

Whenever I feel inadequate about my intellectual capability or anything in general, I know the one thing that can make me feel better. Without a doubt, this one thing is "Garfield Minus Garfield" comic strips. Here is the description from the website:

"Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb."

worship the empire much?

Stuff like this literally makes me sick.

Oh, hello there.

I'm glad I am not the only one who thinks that small groups can be really awkward.

Here's what Jon Bloom (Desiring God) has to say:

"Small groups should never be confused with the deep, organic fellowship we have with our closest friends. Small groups are simply bite-sized portions of a larger church where we seek to carry out the one another commands with other believers. We ought to expect some awkwardness in them because, like any church, they should include some people we would likely never choose as our intimates, but who still need to be loved and cared for, especially the needy who we naturally shy away from. And we need something in our lives to put us near to them because those people require a kind of sanctifying love from us that is rarely if ever called out of us with those with whom we share a natural chemistry. SG’s can be hard because loving one another can be hard."

A new way

I read this story today for one of my classes here. It was cited in the book Kingdom Ethics by Glen Stassen and David Gushee, and is unbelievably touching. In this section, the authors are discussing the need for transformation in society that can come through spirituality, and it comes from the chapter entitled "Sowing the Seeds of Peace."

"Robert Coles tells how an eight-year-old black girl's faith in God transformed a violent situation to one of peace:

I was all alone and those [segregationist] people were screaming, and suddenly I saw God smiling and I smiled.... A woman was standing there [near the school door], and she shouted at me 'Hey you little nigger, what you smiling at?' I looked right at her face and I said, 'At God.' Then she looked up at the sky, and then she looked at me, and she didn't call me any more names. (Hampton et al., Preventing Violence in America, 124-27)"

Happy Birthday

Currently Hearing: Dear Science by TV On the Radio
Currently Sitting: At My Desk in My Apartment
Currently Writing: A Paper Explaining the Problem of Evil from the Perspective of Process Theology
Currently Waiting: For My Macaroni to Cool Down

Today, ladies and gentlemen, is the birthday of Stephen Crane, a wonderful author, and one of my favorite poets. He died when he was only 28, but obviously did not die without making literary waves. Here are a few of my favorite Crane poems for you to enjoy:

Should the wide world roll away,
Leaving black terror,
Limitless night,
Nor God, nor man, nor place to stand
Would be to me essential,
If thou and thy white arms were there,
And the fall to doom a long way.
------------------------------
Supposing that I should have the courage
To let a red sword of virtue
Plunge into my heart,
Letting to the weeds of the ground
My sinful blood,
What can you offer me?
A gardened castle?
A flowery kingdom?

What? A hope?
Then hence with your red sword of virtue.
------------------------------
A slant of sun on dull brown walls
A forgotten sky of bashful blue.
Toward God a mighty hymn
A song of collisions and cries
Rumbling wheels, hoof-beats, bells.
Welcomes, farewells, love-calls, final moans,
Voices of joy, idiocy, warning, despair,
The unknown appeals of brutes,
The chanting of flowers
The screams of cut trees,
The senseless babble of hens and wise men-
A cluttered incoherency that says at the stars:
"O, God, save us."
------------------------------
Ah, God, the way your little finger moved
As you thrust a bare arm backward
And made play with your hair
And a comb a silly gilt comb
Ah, God - that I should suffer
Because of the way a little finger moved.