Alright here we go. This is my 100th blog post! Yay! Aren't you so excited to hear more of my insightful, possibly life-altering, certainly culture-defining opinions? But really, if you have been reading the whole time I've had this blog you understand that my opinions on certain matters have changed drastically over time and my life is quite a bit different than I would have thought when I started this blog.
I guess I'll say a few things in this regard. I started this blog because I would get ideas and opinions in my head, and they would fester in my mind to the point where I would be thinking about the same issue for a week. I would tell different people my opinions, and I always felt like I would simply be ranting at them. So I decided a blog would be an easier way to get my thoughts out. I had torn my ACL once, was ever so committed to attending Pacific University, and would never have touched a v-neck, much less dawned one.
I won't bore you with looking back for too long, I guess I am just in the mood since I finished my first year of college and have noticed a few differences in life than I would have thought in high school. For those of you that haven't heard, unless something drastic changes, I will not being trying out for the basketball team at George Fox next year. I sort of always thought that I would try out until I made the team at a school, just because I like playing basketball so much. And I still do, buuut studying takes a lot more time than it did in high school... I have a feeling Organic Chemistry will not be so supportive of my athletic career.
Okay, so this was an interesting year. It was great, but it definitely had its unpleasant moments too. Well I felt like I wanted to say something insightful, but anything talking about how the school year went just sounds lame. So sorry if you wanted to hear about it. You can text me, or not.
In other news, Courtney and I have been dating for over 4 months! This may sound corny, I don't really care, because I am thoroughly blessed by her, and am thankful that God has led me to her. I'd say a whole lot more, but I am more of the kind of person who likes to compliment their date personally, rather than writing it all over the Internet for all to see and slightly despise me for. I mean, who doesn't love to read an almost stranger's love letters written as facebook statuses... Anyway, point is that our relationship is going well.
So, I'll say a little something more than talking about daily events. Even though I haven't watched this weeks sermon yet, the last two weeks at Solid Rock had really challenging sermons on Philippians, and I greatly enjoyed it. I really like the history that John Mark, the pastor, has gone into. Philippi was a Roman colony, so their job was to spread Roman culture to the surrounding regions. Caesar would send messengers to the colonies, and they would stand and declare the gospel, that Caesar is King. This sort of gave the message of Philippians a new light to me, because as it talks about being lights in the world, and really what it's saying is that Paul wants Philippi to be a colony for Christ. He wants them to spread Christ, and to proclaim the gospel that Jesus is the ultimate King. I don't know, that sounds pretty basic writing it down, but I guess I just don't always think of myself or my community like that. So much of Christian culture nowadays is blending in, and don't get me wrong, becoming all things to all people is marvelous, but at what point are we colonies of Christ? At what point do we forget what culture is telling us, stand up, and declare that Jesus is the King in our lives? Don't get me wrong, the church will always change certain things in certain cultures, but when does the church stop only being defined by the culture, and when does the church start to redefine the culture? I don't claim to know all the answers, these are just questions I have. Maybe you think they have simple answers, maybe you think I'm missing the bigger picture, but I can't help but wonder. I'd love to hear your thoughts, but I'm done writing for now.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Do Not Conform
Hey it hasn't been another 3 month break! Well I have some wonderful stuff to cover tonight, hopefully some of it will surmount to something though provoking and uplifting, that is really the goal, so I'm sorry ahead of time if it sounds like a rant at points...
However, I will start with a bit of current events. Last weekend I went to the beach with my dad, mom, sister Danae, and then Courtney, Patty, and Sam. It was soo great to get out and relax for a while, we even saw some sun for a bit at the Oregon Coast (I know, shocking). We wandered around the beach, Lincoln city, and just chilled at the nice beach house we rented for the weekend. I really enjoyed seeing everyone get along. It's not a weekend I will soon forget.
Sooo I had some qualms with several things in George Fox theology this week. The first topic is actually not Fox's fault, it just the students having differing opinions. If you go to Fox, you probably know what I'm talking about. There's been a huge debate about how to make this a safe campus for the LGBT community. Several groups have popped up, OneGeorgeFox and Common Ground, that seem to support this idea, all the while condoning homosexuality. Now I have been very clear on my stance on homosexuality in previous blogs, love the sinner hate the sin. Sure we should have a "safe" campus in that it's not right to persecute or insult people struggling with sin, but it should not be a "safe" campus in that we overlook this sin as if it is okay.
All of that should be obvious, but my point is more at the type of argument that went on. 1. People are really ignorant sometimes, and just make dumb remarks sometimes. So don't talk if you don't know what you are talking about...that should be obvious too. 2. People just started throwing out random verses, some that were applicable and some that seemed just super random, like John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." Now that's a fine verse, but it doesn't seem to fit, and is in no way allowing homosexuality, which is sort of how it was placed in the context of conversation...
Okay the second problem I had was in Bible class. Surprise! I disagree with something basically every day, just because I have a much more conservative theology than my professor. Okay so this week we talked about God as a mother. I won't get into the argument, my bottom line is that God is revealed as Father in Scripture, the Lord's prayer is just one of many times, so since that is how he is revealed, that what we ought to worship Him. Clear enough?
Oh I guess I have to get a bit into the argument to make my overarching point. Basically the references to father and this idea of God as a father were written off as just in a cultural context, since the Israelite culture was strongly patriarchal.
Now I can get to my main point, combining both of my problems this week. At some point, we as Christians have to stop questioning the wording of every single verse, and take what the Bible says at face value. I am fully aware that not everything is going to directly apply to today, some of the Israelite laws are just strange, but not everything in the Bible needs to be dissected to be properly understood. When Jesus says in Matthew 5:48 "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect," He really means you should try to be perfect. And he really means to say Father, but that was actually just a happy accident that Father was in that verse, I didn't think about it before using the example. Anyway, it becomes a dangerous path when you start to rule out what the Bible says as true. You start taking Creation or Jude as a complete parable, and what says Jesus' resurrection isn't a parable? Just because someone had an abusive father as a child does not give them the right to call God "mother." If anything, he should be more inclined to call Him Father since God is the perfect, redeeming father. At some point it becomes a very sketchy path to conform God to what we want. God's name is "I AM WHO I AM." We need to be careful not to conform Him to our vision of Him. This can quickly become conforming Him to the pattern of the world, which leads many astray, and as Romans 12:2 says, we are to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Hopefully that was up building somehow, I'd love to hear your thoughts. That's all for tonight.
However, I will start with a bit of current events. Last weekend I went to the beach with my dad, mom, sister Danae, and then Courtney, Patty, and Sam. It was soo great to get out and relax for a while, we even saw some sun for a bit at the Oregon Coast (I know, shocking). We wandered around the beach, Lincoln city, and just chilled at the nice beach house we rented for the weekend. I really enjoyed seeing everyone get along. It's not a weekend I will soon forget.
Sooo I had some qualms with several things in George Fox theology this week. The first topic is actually not Fox's fault, it just the students having differing opinions. If you go to Fox, you probably know what I'm talking about. There's been a huge debate about how to make this a safe campus for the LGBT community. Several groups have popped up, OneGeorgeFox and Common Ground, that seem to support this idea, all the while condoning homosexuality. Now I have been very clear on my stance on homosexuality in previous blogs, love the sinner hate the sin. Sure we should have a "safe" campus in that it's not right to persecute or insult people struggling with sin, but it should not be a "safe" campus in that we overlook this sin as if it is okay.
All of that should be obvious, but my point is more at the type of argument that went on. 1. People are really ignorant sometimes, and just make dumb remarks sometimes. So don't talk if you don't know what you are talking about...that should be obvious too. 2. People just started throwing out random verses, some that were applicable and some that seemed just super random, like John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." Now that's a fine verse, but it doesn't seem to fit, and is in no way allowing homosexuality, which is sort of how it was placed in the context of conversation...
Okay the second problem I had was in Bible class. Surprise! I disagree with something basically every day, just because I have a much more conservative theology than my professor. Okay so this week we talked about God as a mother. I won't get into the argument, my bottom line is that God is revealed as Father in Scripture, the Lord's prayer is just one of many times, so since that is how he is revealed, that what we ought to worship Him. Clear enough?
Oh I guess I have to get a bit into the argument to make my overarching point. Basically the references to father and this idea of God as a father were written off as just in a cultural context, since the Israelite culture was strongly patriarchal.
Now I can get to my main point, combining both of my problems this week. At some point, we as Christians have to stop questioning the wording of every single verse, and take what the Bible says at face value. I am fully aware that not everything is going to directly apply to today, some of the Israelite laws are just strange, but not everything in the Bible needs to be dissected to be properly understood. When Jesus says in Matthew 5:48 "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect," He really means you should try to be perfect. And he really means to say Father, but that was actually just a happy accident that Father was in that verse, I didn't think about it before using the example. Anyway, it becomes a dangerous path when you start to rule out what the Bible says as true. You start taking Creation or Jude as a complete parable, and what says Jesus' resurrection isn't a parable? Just because someone had an abusive father as a child does not give them the right to call God "mother." If anything, he should be more inclined to call Him Father since God is the perfect, redeeming father. At some point it becomes a very sketchy path to conform God to what we want. God's name is "I AM WHO I AM." We need to be careful not to conform Him to our vision of Him. This can quickly become conforming Him to the pattern of the world, which leads many astray, and as Romans 12:2 says, we are to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Hopefully that was up building somehow, I'd love to hear your thoughts. That's all for tonight.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wow its been a while
Okay, so I haven't written a blog in 3 months, I think I need to at least write a little something. I'm not completely giving up on this blogging thing, I've just been super busy/ just haven't gotten around to sitting down to write. So here it goes, I don't know how much I am going to write.
Like I said, I've been busy with school work, doing far more studying than last semester, but no one really wants to hear about my school work. However, I am a science major, and I would like to state a pet peeve about science classes now and then. Now, I am fine with Chemistry labs, its my major, and they aren't always very exciting, but I like doing titrations more than cutting up fish. That said, are Lord of the Rings and Star Wars soundtracks really necessary in the lab? I mean, I like music and would frankly love some music in labs, but we are simply combining every aspect that could possible make us nerdier than already being science majors!! I am fine with Lord of the Rings, and I like chemistry, but let's keep the two subjects separate. That's all I have to say about that.
Oh so I suppose I should cover that I am dating Courtney now, and have been for a few months although we just got around to putting it onto Facebook. I don't really know how much to say, since I really don't know how much people want to hear about this subject. But there are people who will read this who haven't met her, so I'll just say that Court is godly, smart, funny, and pretty darn good looking. She is a joy to be around, helps me vastly in my pursuit to be like Christ, and I'd say we work quite well together. I'm sorry if I'm really bad at telling people about her, but if you are actually interested you can text me and I can try to tell you more haha.
It's George Fox pet peeve time. Stop focusing on women in ministry!!! There are so many topics that are more important than that, and even if you want to talk about it, can we please do it without bashing males? It's very frustrating. I have my personal beliefs on the matter, but I really don't want to argue right now. Can we all just agree that this debate can go on without insulting anyone? That is absolutely not the point of the Bible, no matter how you view this one issue. I shouldn't have to listen to 15 minutes of bashing on Adam just sitting in the garden of Eden, and how dumb that shows guys are, and how now some women are taking on both the curse of man and woman, without hearing anything about the sins of omission and commission. We can reconcile all parts of the Bible, and that does mean 1 Cor 14, 1 Timothy 2, and the story of Deborah. And it is fine to debate stuff, that is a great way to learn, but let's refrain from tearing down the body of Christ in our discussions.
That's all for tonight, hopefully I'll post again before it's been another 3 months...
Like I said, I've been busy with school work, doing far more studying than last semester, but no one really wants to hear about my school work. However, I am a science major, and I would like to state a pet peeve about science classes now and then. Now, I am fine with Chemistry labs, its my major, and they aren't always very exciting, but I like doing titrations more than cutting up fish. That said, are Lord of the Rings and Star Wars soundtracks really necessary in the lab? I mean, I like music and would frankly love some music in labs, but we are simply combining every aspect that could possible make us nerdier than already being science majors!! I am fine with Lord of the Rings, and I like chemistry, but let's keep the two subjects separate. That's all I have to say about that.
Oh so I suppose I should cover that I am dating Courtney now, and have been for a few months although we just got around to putting it onto Facebook. I don't really know how much to say, since I really don't know how much people want to hear about this subject. But there are people who will read this who haven't met her, so I'll just say that Court is godly, smart, funny, and pretty darn good looking. She is a joy to be around, helps me vastly in my pursuit to be like Christ, and I'd say we work quite well together. I'm sorry if I'm really bad at telling people about her, but if you are actually interested you can text me and I can try to tell you more haha.
It's George Fox pet peeve time. Stop focusing on women in ministry!!! There are so many topics that are more important than that, and even if you want to talk about it, can we please do it without bashing males? It's very frustrating. I have my personal beliefs on the matter, but I really don't want to argue right now. Can we all just agree that this debate can go on without insulting anyone? That is absolutely not the point of the Bible, no matter how you view this one issue. I shouldn't have to listen to 15 minutes of bashing on Adam just sitting in the garden of Eden, and how dumb that shows guys are, and how now some women are taking on both the curse of man and woman, without hearing anything about the sins of omission and commission. We can reconcile all parts of the Bible, and that does mean 1 Cor 14, 1 Timothy 2, and the story of Deborah. And it is fine to debate stuff, that is a great way to learn, but let's refrain from tearing down the body of Christ in our discussions.
That's all for tonight, hopefully I'll post again before it's been another 3 months...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)