Rubik's Cube

I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube! Now it's a matter of speed. So far 3 minutes, 18.53 seconds is my personal best. Fascinating.

what do you think?

If you occasionally scroll my blog role and are particularly intuitive, you might have made the connection that my dad blogs! He is a pastor in Pasadena, CA at Bresee Church of the Nazarene. He has posted something over at his blog that is a particularly hot issue for a few people on the district with whom he is in conversation. He is asking for some comments regarding a quote that is of particular importance. So, head on over his way and help a pastor out! I have posted his post here, but comments there will ensure that he sees them in his email. It's real issues like these that make blogging particularly helpful. Thanks!

Wondering if anyone might respond to the following statement:

"A social justice that does not call forth repentance in persons is not the social
justice revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ."

Any feedback (pro or con) will be appreciated, as I am in an ongoing discussion with several people who wonder about the way the church is choosing to address issues that come under the umbrella of Social Justice. This quote came up the other day, and I really would like some feedback.

Thanks,
Rick

musica

What do you listen to when you study?

World?

I have been thinking about humanities relationship to sin as both victim and perpetrator. In my New Testament theology class we watch House of Sand and Fog, which was to serve as a way to see just how intertwined we all really are in this organic complex we call sin. The point of watching this movie was also to understand that sin as pride, or intentionally disobeying God, doesn’t come close to grasping the dynamics of sin in this world. I might post on the movie later, for now you just need to go watch. Ask yourself when the movie ends, “who sinned, this man or his parents?” You’ll understand when you get there.

Now, back to what I was saying about being a victim and a perpetrator. I just received an email from Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. It’s one they send out to everyone who is interested. This email stated the good news that the Church of the Nazarene has surpassed one million members in world mission’s areas. It’s good news the many are becoming followers of Jesus. However, I am concerned about the disunity inherent in the language. The “world” of “world missions” completely excludes the United States! I am not really going to go into this. I just wanted to point out that when we create statistic like this we further fuel our participation in this organic complex of sin. We create opportunities to be the victims of sins ripple effects. Likewise, we become the perpetrators that oppress those who are forced to identify themselves as the “world” of “world missions” by placing our selves (the U.S. Nazarenes) at the top as the ones who have all the answers, thus the one’s who can be missional.

I will hold my comments about the decline in U.S. Nazarene membership for another day.

The First Day of Spring

Today's poem is brought to you by my friend John Swanton. John has been a faithful part of Trinity Church of the Nazarene for a few years now. His faithfulness to God and the Church challenges me every time I think about him. I am grateful for his friendship. While he is a baseball fan, his desire to serve God much exceeds his love for the game. And he's from Boston! Note, this poem was penned yesterday, which applies to the context.

Todays the day, so splendid in deed.
The first day of spring, so to me heed.
Though snow may fly and cold be bitter,
so do report pitcher, catcher, and hitter.
It comes upon us quickly and did sneak
our calender so useless and oblique.
What say you all? It's February still?
I hear your doubts and pray that you will
Regard not that weekly ledger you keep,
but look towards the ballpark, what fortune it shall bring
For today is surely the first day of spring.

Indeed, John. Indeed.

non-profit's

As my last post indicated, I am taking a class on non-profit management. I thought it might be helpful/interesting to find what all my readers (ha ha) think in general about non-profits. So, what are the pros and cons of non-profit organizations? How do they inform our ecclesiology? How does our ecclesiology inform them? Are there underlying assumptions about participation in the state that is problemactic for the Church? Can non-profits become that which transcends state participation, thus becoming a witness to the state by subverting it's "power?" These are just some thoughts. Feel free to post another good question if you don't have any answers. I love me some good questions!

insomnia

I was in a class tonight on non-profit management where we were discussing Nehemiah 2:1-5, particularly that part about Nehemiah being sad in his heart. Our topic for the evening was on being passionate and purposeful. We considered a working definition of love as insight, or perception of the situation, anger/outrage at the injustice, and identification with those oppressed and marginalized. Our teacher asked us a question that I will now ask here.

"When have you ever had a sleepless night? When were you so angry/outraged that your whole being was affected?

So...

Big LOST Questions

LOST kicked off its fourth season on Thursday. I, however, decided that I had better not watch the first episode and attend the last day of class for my Spring module. Big decisions have to be made! So, I watch the episode today at a friends house which sparked a conversation about some of the questions that we had about the show and what we thought might happen in the end. The conversation made me wonder about the bigger, overarching questions that we all have about the show. I got to wondering just what are the questions people are asking that would need answering if the show was going to provide some sort of closure. Here are a few we came up with. Did I miss any? I'm sure I did.

What is the Island?
How do you get to the Island?
Who is Jacob?
What does 4 8 15 16 23 42 mean?

There are of course more poignant questions so feel free to ask those as well.

Who is Penny?
Did Desmond travel in time?
What does Lock really know?
Who is Ben?