do as i say, not as Jesus did

please observe one of the reasons i will not be planting a church within the baptist convention any time soon:

"Alcohol Use and the Believer: Theology-On-Tap"

it's a typical hack-job constructed of assumptions and moral superiority, as illustrated by this quote:

I am confident that many people who take and debate a pro-alcohol position have never had a friend or family member destroyed by alcoholism. If they have ever spent time around a serious alcoholic, they will realize the tremendous physical bondage the afflicted person has. After all, they don’t call alcoholic beverages “spirits” for no reason. When you drink, you are under the influence of a different spirit than the Holy Spirit. The “spirits” of alcohol will control you.

i am just as confident that many people who take and debate a no-alchohol position have had friends and/or a family member die of a heart attack caused by too many trips to the buffet and yet they continue to eat and even argue for the merits of a good steak. they happily lean back after a hearty meal and contentedly proclaim "i'm stuffed!"

at some point, you have to approach the Scriptures with humility and admit that mr. clippard's argument is weak at best.

ht: reformissionary

john piper on recent muslim outrage over pope's remarks

i found this recent article by john piper to be quite helpful in shaping a response to the recent outrage expressed by some in the muslim religion.

this point (point 8 in his article) was particularly encouraging to me:

Always be ready to die, but never to kill, for the sake of commending Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died for sinners and rose again as the Lord of the universe. Jesus promises to triumph through our accepting suffering, not our causing suffering. He died to save all who will believe—from every nation and religion. He calls us to follow him on this Calvary Road. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). This is not the death of a suicide-murderer. This is the death of one who loves his enemies and, as he dies, prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), and, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60)

ht: justin taylor

to rehash a bit...

here's nick canepa of the san diego union-tribune on the wild padres/dodgers game:

That 11-10 win has become the most celebrated, talked-about in-season game I can remember. Perfect games have shorter legs than that thing. But, with all the instant information available now, with talk radio and e-mail and blogs and glogs and slogs, it's hard to squeeze the life out of something like that.

So this was going to be the beginning of the end for the Padres and the beginning of a wild pennant run for L.A. Then they played the next day. The Padres beat Arizona. The Dodgers lost to Pittsburgh. Just like that, Monday night was over.

Last night in Petco, the Padres lost to Arizona 8-2. In L.A. the Pirates beat the Dodgers. On we go.

you can read the whole column here.

fainting goats

please enjoy this spectacular video:

absolutely the WORST post you have EVER read...at least for the moment

today i have been pondering the current tendency in our culture to state that whatever is most current is most important. i'm not real good at making grand sweeping statements about culture (at least accurate ones) but i will give it a shot.

this was all brought on by a baseball game, of all things. last night my beloved san diego padres were playing their rivals, the los angeles dodgers. the padres took a 4 run lead into the bottom of the 9th (at which point i went to bed) and it looked like the padres would be adding to their very slight lead in the nl west. improbably, the dodgers came back and won the game in the 10th inning. in doing this they took back the lead in the nl west and did it in dramatic fashion.

i listen to sports radio and read sports websites regularly and the dodgers comeback win was all over the place. they were talking about the "historic" fashion in which the game was won, that this was the "BEST" baseball game of the year, that this was "heartbreaking" for the padres and a "landmark win" for the dodgers. an example of this can be seen in eric neel's piece on espn.com.

granted, this was no ordinary win. this was a fantastic win. and i love neel's recounting of it, even as a padre fan. but i wonder...what does it matter now? tonight the padres beat the diamondbacks and the dodgers lost to the pirates. now the padres have moved back into first place. and tomorrow morning the talk will be all about the next hottest story, whatever that might be. and this "magical night" will be a memory that will fade faster than my backyard did this summer.

don't get me wrong, i'm not a dodger hater. but i grow tired of being treated like a child whose parent thrusts a shiny toy in their face once they have become bored with the last one. words like "fantastic", "epic", "historic"...they are all losing their edge in the name of ratings, sales, or attendance. and i'm not just talking about baseball or sports in general. it's on the news, when you hear breathless blondes talking about the latest "teacher sleeps with student" or you hear advertisements proclaiming their virtues via commercial or you see some reporter talking about the oncoming hurricane that will hopefully subside, but you know they really want it to be devastating, because then more people will watch.

i guess this is all my reaction to the fear that somehow i will lose that sacred ache that chills my bones and thrills my heart when i read the words of Jesus, or hear rachmaninoff's piano concerto no. 2, or see my daughter laughing or feel thunder booming over the ocean. i don't want to wake up every day and look to the television or a website or a newspaper for the BEST or WORST news i have every heard in my ENTIRE life.

as derek webb says in his song 'medication':

don't lie to me
tell me something true
'cause i'm only free
when i look at You

just tell me something true...not some hyped up hyperbole that occupies my mind for a moment and then vanishes as the next mirage appears.

tonight, these words from psalm 104: 31-32 encourage my heart:

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works,
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!

i pray that i would learn to look for those long enduring things and learn to tremble and rejoice rightly.

free derek webb

my friend joel hartse reminded me last night to share the free goodness that is at:

mayhem in no co

from espn:

"Northern Colorado backup punter Mitch Cozad has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing starting punter Rafael Mendoza in his kicking leg, and police said Wednesday the motive may have been competition for the first-string job. "

when i read stories like this, i wonder about the small, unmentioned details, such as:

1) was crazy mitch wearing a mask and gloves when he stabbed poor rafael?
2) what did he stab him with (my guess is a screwdriver)?
3) did he mistakenly stab the wrong leg first and then have to hit the other one after realizing his mistake?
4) do punters receive scholarships at universities?
5) if so, why is there still poverty?
6) did mitch say anything while he stabbed rafael, such as "nice hangtime in the last game!" or "your backup is WAY better than you!" or "punters named rafael SUCK!"?

it's sick, i know. but i am fascinated by stories like this. i mean, how in the world does someone (a punter!) get so desperate about starting in a football game that he would stab the guy starting ahead of him?

if you aren't sure what a punter is, let me explain. this is a punter:

fralines and fun

dallass and i spent saturday night dressed up as trendy europeans. our friends christopher and randi are having a baby any day now, and their baby shower (for the upcoming truman) had a "nursery rhyme" theme. we got so into it that we actually rented costumes and appeared as the grown up hansel and gretel (little known fact: hansel and gretel found out in their early twenties that they were, in fact, NOT brother and sister. based on the strong bond they had forged during their near-death experience with the witch, they decided to get married. and attend baby showers.). we had a great time and i can honestly say that i have never enjoyed wearing suspenders so much in all my life.

and by the way, if anyone needs a cough drop...i'm your man.