Leona's Eternity Mansion

Leona Helmsley thinks she is going to be spending eternity here.

She bought this for 1.4 million dollars. 1,300 square feet! What a steal!

She left another 12 million dollars to her dog! But she left out two of her grandchildren from the will "for reasons they know." Ouch!

This is one of the more ironic, sad, and misinformed things I've read for a while.

Other than Ron Artest (of all people) coming to Michael Vick's corner to comfort and support him. I'm telling you Michael, this is an offer that will NOT help your public image!

Speaking of Michael Vick, this is funny.

Opening Sept. 21

Into the Wild. A film adaptation of Jon Krakauer's book about Christopher McCandless, a college student who gives up everything to try to survive in Alaska on his own during the winter without any provisions or telling anyone else what he was doing. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that he obviously didn't make it. The book is a sad account of what happened as Krakauer retraces McCandless' steps and explores why a college student would spend his life savings to end up dying alone. It is truly a gripping and tragic read and I'm hoping that it will be a good re-creation of it on the big screen. I'm very excited to see this! I highly recommend reading the book.

Last Sunday

This past Sunday at Evergreen I preached on Psalm 8 which is one of my favorites, talking about wonder and awe at the power and creativity at God's creation, our role in it and how Jesus fulfills it.....

I showed this video as an example of God's creativity. This is truly amazing...


Throughout our series through the Psalms this summer our more creative types have been putting together a tree (which somehow we managed to NOT get a picture of?) as a way to express their worship to God creatively.


And what do you know but someone actually created a bird of paradise to put on our tree!

I've seen this popping up a lot lately so I thought I would give it a shot. I hate putting these things on my blog because I feel like I'm being a little narcissistic to think anyone would care what my personality type is but I usually throw them up there when I have nothing to say so there you go. Like when people post 10 bulletins a week on Myspace of their answers to 100 question long surveys! Drives me nuts!

Quote of the Week

“I could fully believe, completely repent, truthfully confess and be baptized on Easter Sunday in the Jordan river by Ed Young and it would mean absolutely nothing without the grace of God to enact my salvation.”

Congrats John V!

The Restoration Movement

Recently I received an email from a woman with a few questions about how I left things with the Independent Christian Church/Churches of Christ or also known as the Restoration Movement. When I was in high school the first church I went to was a Christian Church and then I went on to go to a Bible College that was associated with Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. Anyway, at one time back in 2004 I posted some thoughts which I honestly cannot find on my blog anywhere but remember writing in which I'm sure will keep me from ever getting a job at a really hard core Restoration movement church. Anyway, the email pertained to this so I wanted to post the email and my response because this is something I have thought about quite a bit.

"Dustin, I was raised in a denominational church with their myriad of rules and regulations that were not biblically based, even though they attempted to make the scriptures support their beliefs. For the last few years, I have attended and joined the Church of Christ. I ran across this statement in one of your Blogs from 2004, "That is not the Restoration Movement I read about in class. That actually seemed like a cool thing, how I am seeing it play out is not anything I want to be a part of. I wish you could just start a church and not have to play the bullshit denominational games because that is all it is. In the long run I doubt God is going to care who was Baptist, who was Independent Christian Church, who was Presbyterian." My questions are, do you still feel this way about the restoration movement or since this was posted a few years ago, have your views changed? If your views have changed, why do you leave it on your Blog and why have you not printed a retraction? Thanks for your time"

My Response:

Wow! This post is a blast from the past! I’ve got so many posts on the blog that it’s almost impossible to remember all of what I have written. What I can say about this one in particular is that I was extremely frustrated at the time with the political garbage that comes along with being a pastor and a part of a denomination (even if it was technically “non-denominational”). The reason I haven’t retracted this is 1. because I have so many posts that I could never read back through them again and correct all the ways I have changed over the past 3-5 years. 2. because this still sheds light and is a good record of what I was feeling in 2004.

But as far as the Christian Church/Churches of Christ I have much respect for this non-denominational “denomination” and have had great experiences with this network of churches. I found Jesus in a Christian Church, went to a Restoration Movement Bible College, and to this day most of my friends whom are fellow-pastors are a part of this network and I am very proud of the work they are doing within their church community. Today I work with a church in Portland Oregon that has no denominational ties and this is working well for us! As a pastor it gives you the freedom to minister to the people and do the work of the Lord without the denominational encumbrances that being a part of a denomination so often involves. Now, when I say that, I’m not even sure I’m talking about “non-denominational” churches having these encumbrances because they typically don’t. Looking back at the time of this post I was more upset at a specific incident which involved a “Restoration Movement” publication that was ripping apart my Mission Organization that I was working with in New York City for paying my salary to work at a Southern Baptist Church to help get it started. They railed them pretty hard and it upset me at the intolerance that this movement would exhibit when they claimed to be about unity! It was a total contradiction to everything I had been taught. That is where I see some of the older Christian Churches/Churches of Christ headed. To be honest though, those are far and few between and I realized quickly that this was a minority fringe group within the Restoration Movement that I should not even concern myself with! All that to say, I love the Christian Church/Churches of Christ and I love the freedom that they have and the principles that the movement was founded on. I could definitely worship and serve at a Christian Church again in the future, but at this point in my life I don’t really feel the need to label myself a specific brand of a church! I truly want to be non-denominational and have a great network with Baptist, Presbyterian, and Christian Churches and their pastors. They are all of my brothers in Christ and I want to treat them that way. Doing what I do now allows me to do that without focusing on the minuteau that we (Christians) so tend to get caught up in and distracted by.

I guess I would add one more thing that I thought about today. My friends who are pastors as Christian Churches (I believe) could care less about the actual "non-denominational" denomination. I'm not sure any of my friends read The Restoration Herald and I'm almost positive none of them could name more than three people involved at the beginning of the movement, or their major sayings (such as "No Creeds but Christ!" etc. Well, I imagine Jeff Gentry could, but that's because he's nerdy smart like that (no offense). Brad, Nick, Josh, Jon? Prove me wrong! Seriously though, do you have some heart-felt loyalty to the Restoration Movement that I don't know about? My belief is that you work there because it's how you grew up, there's not a lot of the denominational baggage, you enjoy the people you work with, not because you feel some kind of loyalty towards the movement etc. I don't even think you work at a Christian Church because you are completely sold on baptism being absolutely essential for salvation (by the way, that's another reason I'm truly non-denominational/I don't feel my theology fits in with the Arminian/baptism-crazy theology of the Disciples.)
Any thoughts?

Sovereignty vs/and Freedom

I'm about half-way done with Bruce Ware's defense of the compatibility between God's meticulous/exhaustive sovereighty and human freedom (which is defined freedom of inclination as Jonathan Edwards put it). I find this to be the strongest case so far that I have read. The Four Views book turned out to be a little dissapointing. It is clear now that a majority of their discussion on God's foreknowledge leaned towards more philosophical (Greek) leanings and influence than on theology.

Bruce Ware on the other hand establishes his Scriptural case for meticulous and exhaustive sovereignty and works from that premise on what human freedom looks like instead of the other way around (he makes a case that Arminians and their "step-child" open theists like to start with human (libertarian) freedom and then craft a model for divine providence based on holding on to libertarian freedom).

The crux of Ware's argument is the idea of "freedom of inclination" rather than libertarian freedom.

“Human beings perform our choices and actions out of what we desire in our hearts. That is, what we want most, what our natures incline us most strongly to-this is the pool out of which the stream of our choices and actions flows.” Pg. 79

If, as Arminians propose, our freedom consists in the power of contrary choice, then quite unlike what Jesus has taught us, regardless of our hearts and characters, we are always free to choose either good or evil. But Jesus indicated just the opposite: that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” Pg. 79

“But it stands to reason that if we choose to do what we want, then at the moment of that choice, we are not “free” to do otherwise.” Pg. 80

“If, as we’ve argued here, our freedom consists in our choosing to act according to our strongest desires or inclinations, then it stands to reason that we can change our behavior only when our strongest desires and inclinations change. Character transformation is the key to behavior modification. And, of course, this is why Scripture is so consistently concerned with the renewal of our minds, our hearts, our characters, and our inner persons.” Pg. 81

I think Ware makes a strong case of both meticulous sovereignty and human freedom and a solid argument against libertarian freedom. That being defined here as

“Libertarian freedom proposes that at the very moment of choice, we are free in making that choice if (and only if) in choosing what we do, we could have chosen otherwise. So we are free when choosing A if, at the moment of this choice, we could instead have chosen not-A, or B. And if this is not the case, then we are not genuinely free.” Pg. 63

I think "freedom of inclination" makes much more sense than libertarian freedom and is much more compatible with the sovereignty of God as revealed in Scripture.

Wow! I'm siding with Bruce Ware. I never thought the day would come!

Chew Toy

Get your Michael Vick dog chew toy!

The Onion is just TOO funny as of late.

'Gays Too Precious To Risk In Combat,' Says General

I love the matter-of-factness of the "general".

Churchgoer Tips God For Excellent Week

Views

Divine Foreknowledge: Four Views

I'm about half way done with this and I've got to say for those who love theology, this is a fantastic book! I love this series, I've read four of these books in the last year, I think I could read every book that has been made that has four or five views or whatever. I find them extremely helpful in understanding and appreciating other people's viewpoints on theological issues. It has gotten very specific though which I think is funny like "Four Views of the Warnings Passages in Hebrews." Really? There are four views on that?

Anyway, this one is really well done so far. The critiques of each others views are not necessarily harsh but very strongly worded as compared to some of the other "views" books. And it's funny because this is one of those things that (I would hope) no one's salvation is riding on yet you can tell it's a very passionate subject. Gregory A. Boyd's chapter (who is an open theist) was interesting but not very compelling. I honestly think Open Theism is a "fad theology" kind of like Moltmann's Theology of Hope or Process Theology. It's interesting for a while and it's new and kind of hip to believe but there's not much there beneath the surface (my honest opinion) but I do appreciate that they are thinking through what a relationship with God looks like and looking for other ways to explain suffering and evil. That is admirable. I would like to give it a fair shake however (as I think I am) and read John Sanders "The God Who Risks". I like John Sanders and Gregory Boyd and certainly count them as Christian brothers. I have much respect for them, but I just can't find anything compelling about this view. This is a solid book though and I believe our view on God's foreknowledge has a lot of practical implications for how and why we pray and really what we do with human suffering. I think the doctrine of God's foreknowledge is immensely practical in our lives and I'm glad that people are writing good books and helping us think through how we view what happens in our world (especially with all the craziness that is going on).

I also recomment "God's Greater Glory" by Bruce Ware (for an exact opposite view than Open Theism) and Terrance Tiessen's "Prayer and Providence" which I have only skimmed so far but look very valuable. Paul Helm has written a book simply called "The Providence of God" and this would also be a good example of the Calvinist/Augustinian position or rather that of "Meticulous Providence". I find the idea of "Middle Knowledge" espoused by Molina very interesting and would like to read more about that but I'm not really sure besides William Lane Craig (who is almost too smart to understand) writes about it.

Right now (although I know views change) I am a compatiblist meaning that I believe God's foreknowledge and sovereignty are compatible with human freedom but I'm not exactly sure of the how yet. I think middle knowledge provides a good answer but I need to read more.

Anyway, I have just totally nerded out here and I know some people will probably never read my blog again but hey, this is what interests me so BACK OFF! Just kidding, kind of.

A Perfect 10 out of 10!

I'm only pages from the end of The Brothers K by David James Duncan and I've got to be honest; I've read A LOT of books in my short 27 year life, but this might be the most enjoyable novel I've ever read. This is a book you never want to end! It's funny..I actually laughed out loud in places which is very rare for a book. It's suspensful, the storyline is gripping, the characters are unusually developed, and the social and religious commentary is spectacular. This might be the perfect novel! I cannot say enough about this book. I have a feeling that everything else I read this year is going to be disappointing after reading this.

Although, Kelli and I just ordered our copy of Atlas Shrugged yesterday so we're pretty excited about that too!

Anyone else reading anything exciting right now?

Human Head Found In Hamburger

An Internet Fast

I think i'm going to take a break from non-work related internet things for the next week or so. That means, no checking the news pages 10 times a day to see if anything freakishly weird or seemingly important happened. No checking baseball scores throughout the day to see if the cheater has broken (by technicality) the record yet or my cubbies are headed into first. No checking bloglines to see what all my friends have to say about whatever (no offense!). No checking Myspace (which sucks anyway, not sure why I have a desire to check it). No checking Pitchfork reviews, no checking to see what new albums leaked, no checking my fantasy sports team three times a day to see who's going on the DL.

You can waste so much...ok...I can waste so much time on this stupid thing that you can start to live in a virtual dreamland where you waste hours a day looking at almost entirely worthless stuff and stop living real life. I'm not saying that I'm not living real life, but i'm just tired of the media telling me how to feel about stuff or what to get excited or sad or angry about. So, i'm going to go this next week without caring what pitchfork, cnn, myspace, or blogs have to say about anything and everything. For as fun, entertaining and enlightening the internet can be, sometimes I wish it would have never have been invented. Stupid Al Gore! Anyway, we'll see how it goes!

In other news, I had a nice Sabbath on Saturday and read the book of Exodus in one sitting. I've never really done that before and it always seems like it would be a hefty task but honestly it only took like 2 hours! There is something so refreshing about seeing the big picture of a book like that all at one time. It's hard to read two chapters, put it down, come back two days later, read two chapters, etc. and really get it. I've never felt that Scripture was so alive as I read through the entire narrative and was able to experience the highs and lows of the Israelite community throughout their struggle. I suggest it! Give it a shot sometime.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Finally, someone knows how to end a trilogy!

Go, now and see this. Seriously, go. Get off my blog and go to the movie theatre.

For those of you disobeying my direct command...
My favorite parts were 1) the fight scene with the Moroccan dude (one of the assets). 2) the car chase in NYC. 3) I enjoyed how the movie backtracked into stuff the last movie left out and then came the point where the last movie ended with him talking to (can't remember her name) on the phone in New York.

Finally, has anyone read the books??? This is one of those adaptations that I haven't heard one person say, "the books are so much better." I've never known anyone that has read them. Anyone???? Are you out there?

Quote of the week!

"It's got to be the last days, bridges are falling down, toys are being recalled...."

----Kelli

For something completely different...

Thirteen Cities by Richmond Fontaine (whom I just learned is based in Portland, OR) is Americana at it's best. Brilliant song-writing, story telling, and creative sounds make this one of the best records of the year.

You can check it out at www.myspace.com/richmondfontaine