Going Dark until June 15

Hey blog family.

I’m taking a pretty intense load of seminary classes in the month of June. From June 1 – 12, I’ll be taking two classes that are each worth three credits. My first class (Sys. Theo. 1) lasts from 8:am till noon. Then my second class (OT Theo) goes from 1:pm till 5:pm.

Now for the kicker — Because they are three credit classes, I need to work three hours out of class for every hour in class. So, 8 hours of class X 3 credits = 32 hours of school work each day. I guess I’ll have to sleep in class.

The good news is that I received one syllabus early (Thank-you, Dr. Wittmer) and I’ve worked ahead. Of the 1600 pages of reading, I’m through about 1000 and have a huge jump on my paper that’s due the second week.

The bad new is that my other teacher has not yet completed his syllabus. He did, however, assign a five-page paper due on the first day of class. I got that done already, but am flying dark about what’s coming next.

On June 15th, I’ll start my third class (Sys. Theo. II). I’ve got a good jump on some of that reading already, and it should be nice to have only one class at a time. However, that’s the time I’m doing two weddings and that concert with the Holland Symphony orchestra.

So, pray for me. Pray for my family. Pray for my brain.

And, NO BLOGGING for a bit. Please come back?

A moment of smooth silence

WNUA, the champion of smooth jazz (instrumental pop), has fallen.

Read the story here.

[ht: BCL]

Memorial Day in the Blogosphere

Lots of interesting blog posts on Memorial Day.

Kevin DeYoung’s
Why Memorial Day is Worth Remembering. His points are:

1. Being a soldier is not a sub-Christian activity. . . .

2. The life of a soldier can demonstrate the highest Christian virtues. . . .

3. Military service is one of the most common metaphors in the New Testament to describe the Christian life. . . .

4. Love of country can be a good thing. . . .

5. This may be controversial to some, but I believe the facts of history will demonstrate that on the whole, the United States military has been a force for good in the world. . . .

James MacDonald’s “Happy Memorial Day.” His ends with:

Most importantly. I believe today is a very difficult day for families whose children are serving in a war they may or may not agree with and certainly have many legitimate issues to object to. Nothing touches us like the lives of our children do, and I pray for every family with an empty place at the table today, especially for those facing a future where that place will never again be filled.

And I love different versions of the Star Spangled Banner. This year, the winner is. . . the Cactus Cuties. [ht: Reformissionary]

Ultrahang with Chris Potter

Who’s the greatest living saxophonist?

Yeah, that’s right, Chris Potter.

He’s got an album coming out June 1 entitled “Ultrahang.”  And I’m stoked — you should be as well. Check out a bunch of stuff about the album at his ArtistShare site.

Listen to an unmixed track from the new albumcalled “RUMPLES.”  It’s amazing.

You can make anything gummy.

My friend Zach Vinson and I were talking yesterday about how much stuff is gummy.  Sure, you know about gummy bears and gummy worms, but how much other stuff can you gummy?

The answer: lots of stuff.

The insect world has given us gummy bugs, realistic gummy bugs, and gummy butterflies.

Gummy cows make gummy burgers, but be warned — they’re sour.  Chickens give us gummy fried eggs and there’s gummy peach penguins.  The gummy pig can produce gummy hotdogs or even gummy bacon.

The gummy sea has given us gummy sharks,  gummy octopi, Turtles, Dolphins, Fish, and Seahorses.

Humans can dress their gummy army in gummy Mexican hats and feed them some gummy pizza.  Healthy humans can have gummy vitamins and sick humans can have gummy cough drops.

And for cannibal humans, we have gummy eyes and an anatomically-correct gummy heart.

Memorial Day Open House

Hey Cornerstone students and those of you cool enough to hang with Cornerstone students:

You’re invited to drop by the Wester-home (see what I did there?) on Monday from 2pm until 8:pm.  GOOGLE MAP THE HOUSE.

We’ll have some food, music, fun . . .

You bring: you and whatever.  I was once at a party where a guy brought over laundry.  It was awesome — bring laundry.

A Christian winning American Idol means . . . huh?

Mark Joseph, in his blog post entitled “Kris Allen’s ‘American Idol’ Victory Marks the Return of People of Faith to American Popular Music” basically writes that Kris Allen’s victory on American Idol marks the return of people of faith to American popular music.

While his title may be clear (gotta love blogdom for this), I’m not sure it is the encouraging sign that it is being construed as. American Idol (despite it’s horrific name — seriously, think about it) has been pandering to people of faith long before they sang “Shout To The Lord” TWICE in the same evening. Josh Harris provided some good perspective on that particular occurrence.

Bob Kauflin very thoughtfully (no surprise there) considered some upside and some down side of the phenomena and wrote:

There’s something paradoxical about worship songs being sung [EDITOR: AND PEOPLE OF FAITH CELEBRATED] on prime time TV . . . Does the world see any difference between what’s taking place on American Idol and what we do on Sunday mornings? Has worship become part of the entertainment culture? It’s unsettling when Christian songs or worship leaders are acclaimed by the masses. Jesus said in Luke 6:26, “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” He also said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mt. 15:8). Both verses temper my unbridled enthusiasm.

American Idol, for all the good the show is seeking to do, will never be a platform for worshiping a crucified Messiah. The Gospel has to be gutted of a bloody cross to find a place on prime time TV.

Erickson on the Trinity

C.S. Lewis once famously said:

‘For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that ‘nothing happens’ when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand’.

That was my experience this morning. I was reading Millard Erickson’s Christian Theology and read through his section on the Trinity.  It was soo good for my heart, mind, and soul. No, I didn’t have a pipe in my teeth (I had an iced coffee instead) or a pencil in hand, but I did have my computer on, and I typed up these notes for you/me.

Yeah, No, Yeah.

Have you noticed this new form of speech that has entered the American vernacular?  It’s called the “Yeah, No, Yeah.” 

Examples:

Q1: “Are you dating that girl?”
A: “No. Yeah, no. Yeah, no.” Translation: NO.

Q2: “Do you think you failed that exam?”
A: “Yeah. No, yeah.” Translation: YES.

I think it is in response to inarticulate questions.  For example, find the difference between these two questions:

1) “Aren’t you going to ask her out?”  and 2) “Are you going to ask her out?”

If asked like example number one, the correct answer is “Yes, I am going to ask her out“ as well as ”No, I am going to ask her out.“  

And so, we are left with “Yeah, No, Yeah.  No, Yeah.”

It’s a great chance to point you toward a great Taylor Mali poem.  Totally worth watching.

Food for Ears and Eyes: May 20, 2009

Every once in a while I like to find out what everybody else is reading or listening to.   Suggestions?

Here’s my current fare: