Interesting observations Zach makes in light of some ways blogging can be counterproductive to the Christian community:

1. Practice writing. Writing is a skill just like anything else. The more you do the better you get. The ability to formulate ideas and thoughts in a concise and understandable way is a foundational facet of our civilization that I seek to improve in. The truth is though I don’t have that many great things to say (if ever), so I usually point to great things that others have said. But when I do choose write my own thoughts I find that this a valuable process to hone the skill of writing.

2. A place to document my thoughts. Oftentimes I don’t know how I feel about an issue until I actually articulate it in a way that someone else could read and understand (as I am doing right now). It forces me to think specifically and concretely about something as opposed to just have this amorphous blob of thinking about an issue rolling around in my brain. In terms of documentation, I also have a blog all about my kids that tracks their development. It functions like a baby book but better because I can upload pictures, videos and write out quickly and easily things that they said or did that we’ll want to remember in 20 years. For certain, grandparents who live hundreds of miles away greatly value this blogging.

Read the rest.

(There’s a link for you Zach )

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For all you Americans who watch to many Bond films, here is the real deal:

“I am English. And if you’re reading this blog, it most likely means you’re not. A 86.36% chance to be exact (I checked the blog statistics ). So just so we’re on the same page, I thought it might be fun to give you my run down on the 6 things I find people get wrong about the English. I do apologise to any English readers that might be offended by falling into any of these spiffing categories. Tally ho!

1. All English people drink tea. Don’t get me wrong, I love tea! And so do most English people… but you rarely find any non-adult drinking it, it’s more of an aquired taste. Think of it like vegetables! Oh, by the way, Tea doesn’t come from England .

2. Our favourate food is fish and chips. Surprisingly enough we eat more curry than fish and chips. It’s just so much more interesting and exotic that way! By chips I of course mean ‘fries’.

3. We all speak either like John Cleese or Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins. Don’t get me wrong there are some (not that many) who speak like this. But for the most of England we have too many different accents to count. I come from a town called ‘Darlington’ (which, by the way, invented railways and trains) with a population just over 100,000 and I wouldn’t be able to count the amount of different English accents on one hand… never mind the fact we have plenty of Polish, Indian, Asian, Irish, Scotish, etc. people living here aswell.”

Read the rest.

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Darrel Bock, New Testament Professor at Dallas Seminary, has written an interesting piece on his blog about emerging Christologies. It is worth taking a look at. While impressed with the emerging communities general affirmation of the Trinity, he is alarmed about the “revisionist” approach of many emergers who do not respect doctrinal development in history (many Emergents). Bock is very balanced and reasonable.

In conclusion he writes:

“Before we go challenging theological expression hammered out over centuries of reflection, let us take pause to see that sometimes theological propositions do matter and do well summarize key themes in Scripture. Understanding and appreciating why such expression is there and people cared to express this way might actually help us in our own desire to walk in the ways of God, even as fresh ways of thinking might also help us grow.”

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Billy Graham answers:

A: Let me ask you a question: If you broke your arm in an accident, do you think your friend would claim it was a sin for you to have a broken arm, and all you needed to do was pray? I doubt it.

Neither is it a sin for you to seek treatment for a chemical imbalance in your brain. The Bible says that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) - and it’s true: Our bodies and minds are very complex. Although doctors can’t solve all our problems, we should be grateful that God has enabled them to understand more about our bodies and minds, and has given them new ways to overcome many of our problems. Don’t feel that you are somehow sinning by seeking treatment for your depression; it would be wrong for you not to seek treatment.

Don’t misunderstand me, however. God has given us the gift of prayer, and prayer should be an important part of your life as you struggle with this problem. Through prayer we draw near to God, and the closer we get to Him, the more we will realize that He loves us and wants to help us.

Make sure of your commitment to Christ, and then ask Him to guide you as you seek treatment. In addition, let God’s promises saturate your mind and heart. The psalmist wrote, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? … Put your hope in God” (Psalm 42:5).

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I went and saw Iron Man this weekend (ahem . . . three times). Now, you all know how I am about superheros (they are totally awesome), so I never have an objective take. But this is different, please believe me. Please?

Iron Man is one of the best superhero movies ever made. I kid you not. Most of you have never heard of Iron Man, I know. Think Batman, just funny and cocky. Tony Stark (Iron Man) has all the money of Bruce Wayne (well, that is debatable), but transfer the brains of Bruce (yes, I am on first name basis, so?) from the detective sphere to the technical genius sphere. Now you have Tony Stark, ready to be a superhero.

The special effects were out of this world, but they were different. They focused on the suit of Iron Man as well as the computer technology used to build the Iron Man suit. You will be impressed.

The layout of the movie is genius. There is nothing overdone, and the story is laid out perfectly, helping you to understand everything you need to know about Tony Stark and why and how he becomes Iron Man. This movie has enough of the chills/this-is-so-cool-I-think-I-am-going-to-cry-factor that you will say, “And why didn’t I know about Iron Man?”

This movie was almost too believable. I really think if this pastor/theologian thing does not work out I will become Iron Man. Seriously.

As of today, it is experiencing the pleasure of being the highest fan rated movie EVER at Boxofficemojo. Incredible!

Seventy times seventy stars.

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Maybe they saw Stein’s movie.

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Interesting observations Zach makes in light of some ways blogging can be counterproductive to the Christian community:

1. Practice writing. Writing is a skill just like anything else. The more you do the better you get. The ability to formulate ideas and thoughts in a concise and understandable way is a foundational facet of our civilization that I seek to improve in. The truth is though I don’t have that many great things to say (if ever), so I usually point to great things that others have said. But when I do choose write my own thoughts I find that this a valuable process to hone the skill of writing.

2. A place to document my thoughts. Oftentimes I don’t know how I feel about an issue until I actually articulate it in a way that someone else could read and understand (as I am doing right now). It forces me to think specifically and concretely about something as opposed to just have this amorphous blob of thinking about an issue rolling around in my brain. In terms of documentation, I also have a blog all about my kids that tracks their development. It functions like a baby book but better because I can upload pictures, videos and write out quickly and easily things that they said or did that we’ll want to remember in 20 years. For certain, grandparents who live hundreds of miles away greatly value this blogging.

Read the rest.

(There’s a link for you Zach )

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!