If you’re interested in resurrecting the Dakins thread, there is a new comment and some question on the post “The God Delusion – Part 2″.
January, 2009:
Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968)
Merton was born on this day in 1915… a couple of my favorite quotes:
“Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can say no more…Faith does not destroy reason, but fulfills it.”
“One of the paradoxes of our age is that millions of men who have found it impossible to believe in God have blindly submitted themselves in human faith to every charlatan who has access to a printing press, a movie screen, or a microphone.”
“or a blog,” I think Merton would have added.
25 Things
1. I started dating Anne Marie when I was just short of my 15th birthday
2. I married Anne Marie when I was just short of my 20th birthday
3. In between those two dates, I didn’t always treat Anne Marie as well as could have. I hope I do a lot better now.
4. I get annoyed with people’s idiosyncrasies, and my own as well
5. I sometimes exclaim: “Man, I am SUCH a freak!”
6. I don’t think Johnny Cash really made that great a contribution
7. I demand too much of my little girls sometimes… but much was demanded of me when I was little and I’m now thankful for it
8. I haven’t written many new songs in the last few years and I sometimes worry that the gift is gone. If it is gone, it found it’s way to Shane. Shane writes good songs.
9. I can sleep anywhere… and it doesn’t have to be quiet either
10. I have wasted many years at my current job. I plan to fix that problem in the next couple of months
11. I once took too many free balloons from the grocery store. My mom made me take them back. I was frightened and humiliated and that day I learned a valuable lesson
12. Some things that I think are funny are actually mean (peace out Shane)
13. I sometimes shamelessly promote my blog
14. I cry almost every time I hear Counting Crows “Miami”
15. I cry when I watch that cheesy “You… complete me” scene in Jerry Maguire
16. I cried for about 10 minutes – actually I wept – after watching Charlize Theron in “Monster” http://www.imdb.com/title/
17. I can’t find or imagine finding another family as knit together or unique as the Krahns.
18. I have three daughters and no desire to have a son
19. I don’t fear aging, in fact I’m looking fwd to it
20. A few years ago, I almost converted to Roman Catholicism. I still consider Thomas Merton a mentor.
21. I like books
22. Sleep is a necessary evil
23. Jack Layton makes me nauseous
24. I have a lot of hope for Barack Obama, although I wish he’d change his views on abortion
25. If anything goes wrong in the USA, Jack Bauer can fix it with threats of violence… and violence.
NBC Rejects Obama Pro-life Super Bowl Ad
NBC has reportedly rejected the following ad, saying that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving “political advocacy or issues.”
What do you think?
Send feedback to NBC to: victoria.morgan AT nbc.com
Do Christians Believe in Global Warming?
I was asked the following question by a friend this morning: “In your experience do Christians believe in global warming?”
In the interest of a lively discussion, I’ll throw the question out here.
Go ahead, have at it. The guy who asked the question will be taking part in the discussion so feel free to ask him clarification questions.
Wrestling or Cursing? Some Thoughts on “The West Wing”
When it comes to television, I’m a bit of a Luddite – and I like it that way. We have rabbit ears, that’s it – no cable, no satellite. There are only two shows we keep current on: 24 and LOST.
The West Wing is a show we’ve been watching recently and we just finished season two. This is a show that went seven or eight seasons and is already wrapped up. The writing is superb and so is the acting. It stars Martin Sheen as a Democratic President and chronicles the life of a US President inside and outside the White House.
There have been a few touching moments, more than a few humorous moments, and some sad moments as well, but the finale of season two is something I’ve been thinking about for a few days now since I watched it. I just went and grabbed the clip below off of YouTube and got a chill again as I watched it.
You have to know some of the backstory to understand this fully, but this is President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) at a low point emotionally and spiritually. He is in a cathedral for the funeral of a loved-one, he is about to announce to the American public that he has a degenerative disease, and he refers to a couple of tragic incidents from the past two years, and because of these things he feels completely betrayed by God.
My question: is this a legitimate wrestling with God or is this blasphemy?
(I think it’s the Latin that gives me the chills…)
Let’s hear your opinions first and then I’ll post the text of this monologue and some thoughts from series creator Aaron Sorkin.
Mark Driscoll on ABC’s Nightline
A couple of weeks ago, Driscoll was in the New York Times, now it’s ABC’s Nightline. (*UPDATE: here is a direct link to the segment or watch below)
Driscoll is getting a lot of attention because of his recent sermon series on The Song of Solomon called “The Peasant Princess” (see series website) in which he preaches on and discusses issues of sexuality.
The characterizations in the recent wave of media attention are somewhat dated in that they focus on Mark’s reputation as a punchline-loving jock. This is still true to an extent, but if you are a member of Driscoll’s church or a regular 
listener you know that such characterizations are more representative of an earlier version of Driscoll.
Unfortunately, the old title “Cussing Pastor”, made famous in Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, still gets thrown around, even though what may have led to this title happened a decade or more ago and no audio of Driscoll actually cussing has been delivered. His language can be harsh, and has occasionally been unnecessarily offensive, but a label such as “Cussing Pastor” is misleading.
Driscoll has repented of things he’s said before, and he’ll probably give himself occasion to do so again. But listen to a more recent sermon – you’ll hear the heart of a young, fiery, maturing pastor who is more concerned with evangelization and tending his flock than with delivering punchlines.
Download and listen to a recent Driscoll sermon called “
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” or listen to it below.
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The ABC writeup does include this quote from Driscoll at the end of it:
“I think, to be honest with you, humility is something that, by God’s grace, I’m learning,” he said. “I would not pretend to be an expert in humility.”
For those familiar with Driscoll, this quote is where the real story is.
Rick Warren: In the name of “Yeshua, Isa, Jesus”
For those of you who don’t know, Rick Warren was asked to pray at Barack Obama’s inauguration. He closed his prayer “I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life—Yeshua, ‘Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus—who taught us to pray:” followed by The Lord’s Prayer.
Contrary to this report by Daniel Cordell which seems to be making the rounds, I spoke to a Muslim immigrant friend this morning and posed the question “Who is Isa?” Without hesitation, his immediate response was “That’s Jesus in Arabic. That’s the word used for Jesus in Arabic countries.”
This deserves more research, but one to one I think I’ll take the word of an observant Muslim immigrant on the issue.
In Arabic countries, Isa is the name for Jesus and Allah is the name for God. Without prompting, my Muslim friend also said that Christian preachers in the mid-east commonly use Isa and Allah to refer to Jesus and God, and when they do this their meaning is clear to both Christians and Muslims.
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Here is Mark Driscoll’s take on Warren’s Prayer.
What do you think?
Tony Jones Finds Audience, Loses “Religion”
Since blog posts questioning gender roles and the doctrine of original sin have been so popular, Jones has decided it’s time to “question everything.”
“The change in the demographic of my audience has allowed me to explore just how deep the rabbit hole goes,” Jones said this morning when interviewed on the front steps of Solomon’s Porch, the “church” whose “pastor” is Doug Pagitt, a co-Emergent and close friend of Jones. Pagitt’s take on Jones’ plan was predictably affirmative: “Listen, all Tony and I are trying to do is show people what A Christianity Worth Believing looks like.”
Jones, a pioneer and central figure in what is known as the “Emerging Church” movement, stepped down as National Coordinator of Emergent Village late last year amid fears that one person coordinating a national organization might lead to too much organization – a predicament those in the Emerging Church movement are keen on avoiding.
“Mark Driscoll can have the New York Times and Nightline – I’ll take Beliefnet over those shows any day!” Jones added with some swagger, making reference to former Emerging Church kingpin Mark Driscoll, who has made two high-profile appearances in the national media in the last month.
(FYI – this is a satirical examination of events, some of which are fictional…)