7.31.2008

Shorty get down, good lord, baby got 'em open all over town


It has been a while since I have been around anything considered theology so it was with some hesitation that I viewed this video from a recent Veritas Forum at UC Berkeley. Featured was Tim Keller "noted pastor and author" and his general stance seems to be that thinking people can have faith in Jesus. Please note: the clip is long and the best part, in my opinion, is the Q & A section that starts around minute 50 or something. 

Keller was recommended to me by Brent Gudgel and if Brent recommends something, by God, you should listen to him. Here are my thoughts on what Keller says:

1.  I appreciate his willingness to believe and think.  This is a rare combination to find today.
2.  I appreciated his take on the societal birth of religion argument, that is, that if religion is born out of society, so is atheism, essentially negating the strength of the argument.  Doesn't necessarily negate the argument itself, but what are you gonna do?
3.  He polarizes too much ("Either Jesus did this, or he didn't...") which doesn't allow for my favorite area:  the gray.  (What if Jesus did do that, but not that way?)
4.  He's incredibly self-deprecating, which is disarming.  Love it.
5.  He doesn't engage in most of the undergrad doublespeak which academia loves.  He ignores it (see 1:11 - 1:19)
6.  He cites Lewis several times, which irks me, because it Lewis has fallen out of favor with most thinkers.  Sure, Lewis had a time and place, but I can't canonize him the way a lot of people can.
7.  I don't see him addressing the applicability of "the grace narrative" as he puts it.  Sure, it works out a nifty way to not just have the same old religion but in my mind there is a huge discrepancy between his interpretation of the text and life in the 21st century.

To quote Blackstreet:  "That's just me.  And that's how a player's got to be."

what it all boils down to my friends...

A video of my dog Sammy obeying me. Rumors continue to persist that I will replace the Dog Whisperer but I simply cannot confirm or deny those rumors.

7.26.2008

And I ran, I ran so far away.



This tiny little box above this picture is supposed to be a fancy panorama from Barack Obama's visit to Berlin a couple of days ago. It's amazing to me the expression on people's faces and the concert like atmosphere. Makes me miss Bushstock '91. Follow this link for the experience that is this picture.

7.24.2008

All I want is your understanding...

Stephen and I busting our tails to please the masses. Also, trying to fully understand life.

Mobile updates

That's right, kiddos, Daddy just set up his mobile updates.

Note: The above picture was taken at the otter tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I am not there now.

7.23.2008

Psycho Killer (cont.)

(This is a continuation from an earlier post. It is an open letter to people I wish I had said things to but didn't for whatever reason.)

Bernard Depperschmidt - I still feel guilty about your broken window but I swear it wasn't me even though you saw me walking around with my BB gun.

Kim Schaefer - Thanks for always believing in me. Or at least letting me include swear words in my poetry notebook freshman year. That was cool.

Mr. Schafer (no relation) - I know you were trying to stand up for Katie when you pulled me out of class to yell at me but seriously, you were scary and it didn't change the fact that we were not making fun of her.

Katie Bustamante - We were NOT making fun of you.

Drew Baumgartel - You got married.

Danny Spoelma - I wish we had tried harder on that science experiment. I really think we could have gotten it to work. Somehow, hooking a battery to a piece of tin and hammering it onto a roof doesn't seem like we were capturing the spirit of the project.

Mr. Peterson - Why didn't you get more mad when I kicked out your window?

Corie Sutton - Still feel bad about the email thing...

911 Operator who answered phone when I "tested" the payphone at the Elks Lodge in Loveland, CO - It wasn't an emergency so you didn't need to call back and get me in trouble.

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw...

Here is a list of the top 7 things you could do while you visited me in Gilbert, AZ:

1. Go to the park.
2. Get some ice cream.
3. Visit the farm.
4. Take a walk by the canal. Yum!
5. Watch me play Halo 3.
6. Listen to music.
7. Fly home.

Yeah!

7.04.2008

I just don't know what to do with myself


I think I'm going to nursing school in the near future. And by near, I mean at least the next 2 years, and by future, I mean not the present. Why, you ask? To become this---