A classic Chandler rant...

So true...

(On single people in the church)

So you're single and you can't seem to find a godly woman, you can't seem to find a godly man. You know you're supposed to be steadfast and okay with your singleness, but it just seems to war on you and it's not what you really want, but in church and in group you say that's what you want because someone has lied to you and told you that as soon as you become content, that's when you'll get the other deal. And so, they feel overwhelmed.

- From Ecclesiastes series part 16.

The TV tells us how to live

This is a very interesting quote I just read:

"Television is our culture’s principal mode of knowing about itself. Therefore—and this is the critical point—how television stages the world becomes the model for how the world is properly to be staged"—Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985).

I don't know the full context within which this statement was made, but it appears to be saying that the way we think and the way we know things (in other words, our epistemology) is being shaped largely by the television.  And I think this is deadly accurate.  No longer do we read books and go to the library or to a university to hear professors and philosophers tell us their theories (I assume that's how they used to do it), we now just flip on the TV and have our worldviews handed to us via entertainment.  Watching TV is more of a philosophical journey than we may give it credit for, I don't think it's solely just entertainment.  It's a very interesting notion...what do you think?

HT

A good quote, one I could learn from

"No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it."

-Alexander MacLaren (1826–1910), Scottish preacher

4 things to define a Christian

Matt Chandler gives our culture's definition of a Christian (around 26:20):

1. I attend church regularly

2. I don't cuss in front of you.

3. I have some scripture memorized that I can quote in certain situations.

4. I can give you moral advice.

If I can do those 4 things then I am a godly man or woman in our culture.

I would add any number of things to this list including: I don't drink alcohol, I only listen to Christian music, I only wear cool clothes, or I only wear really nerdy/ unattractive clothes for that matter.  The possibilities are endless. 

But doing those things do not at all exemplify what I believe scripture teaches is the characteristic of the truly converted, that which he describes as one dealing with the dark places in the heart and being obedient not to the arbitrary rules of religion but actually having communion with God, a relationship with the divine for which we were created.  

I know I suck here.  I haven't always, but always more than is acceptable.  I suppose anything lacking is unacceptable since I don't see where you could draw the line and say "I'm alright now," since that would be making arbitrary religious rules too.  Funny how that works.

A good quote I heard recently

"Sorry this report is so long, I didn't have time to make it short."

Sometimes it takes more effort to make something simple than to make it complex.

And sometimes it's okay to be a nerd and notice these things and write a blog post about it.  I can smell the comment coming from my wife :)  You know you were thinking it.

Good quote

If there is a sound downstairs during the night and it might be a burglar, you don’t say to her, “This is an egalitarian marriage, so it’s your turn to go check it out. I went last time.” And I mean that–even if your wife has a black belt in karate. After you’ve tried to deter him, she may finish off the burglar with one good kick to the solar plexus. But you’d better be unconscious on the floor, or you’re no man.

- John Piper, This Momentary Marriage

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