It is interesting how history progresses... no changes. Israel is actually requesting German troops... odd that.
Peace,
Chris
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The 9/11 report in comic book form on slate
I know, the concept sounds horrible, but it is done so very well. If you are not using dial up check this thing out. It is really good.
Peace,
Chris
Peace,
Chris
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Candidacy Committee
Yesterday I put on my old High school debate power-suit, went to Denver with my dad (I was so nervous for this meeting that I forgot my shoes and had to duck into a Goodwill once we got to Denver to find a pair of shoes) and was re-interviewed by my Candidacy Committee. They thought I’d worked through my "issues" related to my heart surgeries and some other things really well. That said they felt like my going to Cambridge to do an M.Phil. was a really weird way of telling them I’m serious about ordination. So they told me to go to Cambridge, throw myself into academia and suck the life out of it, and, if I still feel called to be a Pastor the door will still be open for another interview next August 18th.
I’m a little disappointed, but the Bishop and the rest of the Committee handled things with tact and dignity, so I’m going to go ahead and take their advice and push all thoughts of Parish Ministry out of my head for a year… I’m a little worried that will be like a polar bear convincing itself that eating tofu is natural, but we’ll see.
Peace,
Chris
I’m a little disappointed, but the Bishop and the rest of the Committee handled things with tact and dignity, so I’m going to go ahead and take their advice and push all thoughts of Parish Ministry out of my head for a year… I’m a little worried that will be like a polar bear convincing itself that eating tofu is natural, but we’ll see.
Peace,
Chris
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Sermon: In Christ there is always hope
In Christ There is Always Hope
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight O LORD
Amen
Today Elijah is in despair. He has found himself in a shallow middle place between a powerful past and a glorious future, and is sinking down in despair to the point of death.
YESTERDAY he stood in contest with the prophets of Ba’al. He watched as that whole angry host danced for their deity, mutilated themselves for their deity, worked themselves into a frenzy for their deity, and failed. Then he asked God for an answer and a sign to come to the people in the form of flame. And the LORD did that mighty work there, and the prophets of Ba’al were dispatched.
TOMORROW he will climb the mountain and be in the presence of God. The LORD will pass by him. A great wind will tear at the mountain making it a mound of pebbles. An earthquake will agitate those pebbles, grinding them to dust. A fire will come and lap at that dust until it is ash. But as it says in scripture God will not be in the wind, in the earthquake, in the fire. God will at last come to Elijah in the Still Small Voice. And there Elijah will find his calling and his help.
But we’re not talking about yesterday, or tomorrow. We’re talking about today, and today Elijah is in despair. Today he is living with the perplexing fact that his God has won, the people have seen that the LORD is the true God. Yet, Elijah, now a proven prophet, is still persecuted and hunted. Jezebel wants him dead. Elijah, in his moment of victory, is faced with death.
So Elijah, weighted down by the disturbing problem of sweet success tainted by bitter failure, throws in the towel. He slumps down against a tree and asks God to end his life. He believes that the best days are behind him/ that the path he is on is a road to oblivion/ that the status quo is here to say. He is a man without hope.
But as we see in today’s Psalm ours is a God who “answers, hears, saves, delivers, and is a refuge.” God comes to this shallow spot Elijah is in and raises him up. God sends help to the hopeless in the form of an angel who provides him sustenance not once, but twice, that he may make his journey.
This disconnect that Elijah feels is nothing new. Simply look around. This Garden God gave us was, at least in blueprint form, perfect, paradise, Eden as they say… Yet things are all messed up. There is strife in the garden; there is murder in the garden. The garden is sick with pollutants and man is polluted with the sickness of sin. And because of this disconnect we become cynical. We don’t heed the voices of the visionaries and the prophets of the ages. Zechariah tells us to look forward to a day when every bell will ring out the words “Holy to the LORD,” and every scrubbing pot will be a holy vessel of worship, but we hear only the dull clanging of pots. John the author of Revelation tells us, “There shall no more be anything accursed,” and all we can do is let out an expletive. Isaiah tells us, as is recorded in today’s gospel, that “They shall all be taught by God,” yet too often God’s instruction does not touch our ears or our heart.
Of course it seems like it would have been so much easier to put our trust in these words in Jesus’ day. Each heavy footstep he took from Galilee to Jerusalem left a footprint of prophecy. If the rocks and stones themselves could sing why not bells? If this Holy man could touch a menstruating woman how could anything be called accursed?
And this Jesus who fed the 5,000 and walked on water said that he is the bread of life. He in fact attached the name I AM to himself. This name is the name God identified Himself with to Moses in the desert when He appeared to him in the burning bush. This name is a paradoxical name. It is a name that suggests that God does not need a name to put in relation to reality, for the act of reality itself is of God. And this Jesus who taught before them, who claimed heavenly descent, said, “I AM the bread of life.” He called himself by the name that the high priest could only whisper once a year inside the Holy of Holies, the centre of the LORD’s temple.
It is easy to trust the words, “you shall be taught by God” when He feeds you and 4,999 of our closest friends, arrives from the sea by foot, and proceeds to teach you.
But we’re not talking about yesterday; we’re talking about today. In the words of Luther since the first Easter we have been, and are, living in “The Already Not Yet.” Christ has already came; The I AM was manifest, but he has not yet returned. To use an imperfect analogy the difference between the already and the not yet is like the difference between D day in World War 2 and VE day that ended the war in Europe. Jesus’ resurrection created a permanent beachhead, but sin still thrives.
This paradox that pulls at the heart of the Church can be seen since its inception. In the earliest Christian writing, Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, we see it’s author wrestling with the problem of “the already not yet.” In this case Thessalonian Christians were worried by the fact that some of the people of their community have died before Jesus had returned.
As long as we live in the “already not yet” we will have to deal with the same insecurities and hardships, the same paradox and perplexity, and the same despair, that Elijah did. We will ask the same questions. And they are hard questions to answer.
The Church over in England is struggling with these questions as it sees itself becoming irrelevant to the society it finds itself in and emptied of members. Only 4 percent of English children attend church. Only 25% of UK citizens are members of a world religion. 55% of Britains do not believe in a higher being.
Hard facts, a definite discontinuity between the triumph of Easter and the present situation they find themselves in. Yet everywhere I go I hear the same trusting words. They say, “When the church ignored the poor God sent Francis of Assisi. When the Church needed reform God sent Martin Luther. When the church became too disconnected from the common people God sent John Westley. When the Church became blind to racial injustice God sent Dr. King and Bishop Tutu. And now again we have lost our way, and now again God will act, again God will do something with his church, again God will send someone.”
I believe these churches, in their dark twilight hour have blindly struck up against something fundamental to the Christian faith. They have realized that God himself searches out for those who are in need and loves them. They have found hope.
And really this should be no surprise. Is this not the heart of the Gospel? This “bread of life” was first a grain that had to be buried to become a shoot of wheat. The wheat had to be crushed, to be made into bread. The bread had to be broken, to be shared and multiplied.
Therefore we have hope in the great I AM. We have hope in the Bread of Life. And in response to all this we live in hope. We hope for resurrection while being swallowed up by death, deliverance in fear, a voice in poverty, salvation in trouble.
And when we cling to hope we live into our calling as Children of God. As imitators of God we try to live a life of kindness, we try to be tenderhearted, we try to forgive, to be full of truth, to be charitable, and most of all as imitators of God, as Children of God, we love.
In doing this, in joining with God in His creative act of redemption, we may even reverse the disconnect that Elijah, and Paul, and all of creation, feel. We may truly begin to be lifted up by the wings of angels and travel forward from the deep swampy middle that we find ourselves in and continue on our journey up the great and glorious mountain. We will stop our paralyzed line of questioning where we constantly ask Eden why it is as it is? Instead Eden will start to ask us why we are as we are?
By this I do not mean that we take an immolating leap into the diabolical machine that is “the world” and stop its mad motion by forcing it to crush our bodies. No! Creation is of God, and so imitation of God involves embracing creation with love and hope. Our work is not that of a mechanic martyr, but that of a nurturing gardener.
And when we do this we can listen with fresh ears to the words of hope that we have. Every bell WILL ring out the words “Holy to the LORD” every scrubbing pot WILL be a holy vessel. “There WILL no more be anything accursed,” and “we WILL all be taught by God.”
There was a time during this last year of mission when I was asking myself why I was in England. Frankly I was homesick. And then one Sunday at Abbey Lane United Reformed Church I heard some distinctively America… more than that distinctively southern, voices. After the service the English folk were ecstatic at being able to introduce me to some Americans who were visiting the church. I was introduced to Bev and Jack, who instantly treated me like a grandson. At one point Bev gave me a collection of American poems as a way to combat my homesickness. One of those poems, Lift Every Voice and Sing, by James Weldon Johnson exemplifies the nature of the hope we have in Christ.
Lift every voice and sing,
'Til earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on 'til victory is won.
There is anguish yes, after all we do live in these in between times, yet there is also hope; in Christ there is always hope! And we will faithfully preserver. A+A
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight O LORD
Amen
Today Elijah is in despair. He has found himself in a shallow middle place between a powerful past and a glorious future, and is sinking down in despair to the point of death.
YESTERDAY he stood in contest with the prophets of Ba’al. He watched as that whole angry host danced for their deity, mutilated themselves for their deity, worked themselves into a frenzy for their deity, and failed. Then he asked God for an answer and a sign to come to the people in the form of flame. And the LORD did that mighty work there, and the prophets of Ba’al were dispatched.
TOMORROW he will climb the mountain and be in the presence of God. The LORD will pass by him. A great wind will tear at the mountain making it a mound of pebbles. An earthquake will agitate those pebbles, grinding them to dust. A fire will come and lap at that dust until it is ash. But as it says in scripture God will not be in the wind, in the earthquake, in the fire. God will at last come to Elijah in the Still Small Voice. And there Elijah will find his calling and his help.
But we’re not talking about yesterday, or tomorrow. We’re talking about today, and today Elijah is in despair. Today he is living with the perplexing fact that his God has won, the people have seen that the LORD is the true God. Yet, Elijah, now a proven prophet, is still persecuted and hunted. Jezebel wants him dead. Elijah, in his moment of victory, is faced with death.
So Elijah, weighted down by the disturbing problem of sweet success tainted by bitter failure, throws in the towel. He slumps down against a tree and asks God to end his life. He believes that the best days are behind him/ that the path he is on is a road to oblivion/ that the status quo is here to say. He is a man without hope.
But as we see in today’s Psalm ours is a God who “answers, hears, saves, delivers, and is a refuge.” God comes to this shallow spot Elijah is in and raises him up. God sends help to the hopeless in the form of an angel who provides him sustenance not once, but twice, that he may make his journey.
This disconnect that Elijah feels is nothing new. Simply look around. This Garden God gave us was, at least in blueprint form, perfect, paradise, Eden as they say… Yet things are all messed up. There is strife in the garden; there is murder in the garden. The garden is sick with pollutants and man is polluted with the sickness of sin. And because of this disconnect we become cynical. We don’t heed the voices of the visionaries and the prophets of the ages. Zechariah tells us to look forward to a day when every bell will ring out the words “Holy to the LORD,” and every scrubbing pot will be a holy vessel of worship, but we hear only the dull clanging of pots. John the author of Revelation tells us, “There shall no more be anything accursed,” and all we can do is let out an expletive. Isaiah tells us, as is recorded in today’s gospel, that “They shall all be taught by God,” yet too often God’s instruction does not touch our ears or our heart.
Of course it seems like it would have been so much easier to put our trust in these words in Jesus’ day. Each heavy footstep he took from Galilee to Jerusalem left a footprint of prophecy. If the rocks and stones themselves could sing why not bells? If this Holy man could touch a menstruating woman how could anything be called accursed?
And this Jesus who fed the 5,000 and walked on water said that he is the bread of life. He in fact attached the name I AM to himself. This name is the name God identified Himself with to Moses in the desert when He appeared to him in the burning bush. This name is a paradoxical name. It is a name that suggests that God does not need a name to put in relation to reality, for the act of reality itself is of God. And this Jesus who taught before them, who claimed heavenly descent, said, “I AM the bread of life.” He called himself by the name that the high priest could only whisper once a year inside the Holy of Holies, the centre of the LORD’s temple.
It is easy to trust the words, “you shall be taught by God” when He feeds you and 4,999 of our closest friends, arrives from the sea by foot, and proceeds to teach you.
But we’re not talking about yesterday; we’re talking about today. In the words of Luther since the first Easter we have been, and are, living in “The Already Not Yet.” Christ has already came; The I AM was manifest, but he has not yet returned. To use an imperfect analogy the difference between the already and the not yet is like the difference between D day in World War 2 and VE day that ended the war in Europe. Jesus’ resurrection created a permanent beachhead, but sin still thrives.
This paradox that pulls at the heart of the Church can be seen since its inception. In the earliest Christian writing, Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, we see it’s author wrestling with the problem of “the already not yet.” In this case Thessalonian Christians were worried by the fact that some of the people of their community have died before Jesus had returned.
As long as we live in the “already not yet” we will have to deal with the same insecurities and hardships, the same paradox and perplexity, and the same despair, that Elijah did. We will ask the same questions. And they are hard questions to answer.
The Church over in England is struggling with these questions as it sees itself becoming irrelevant to the society it finds itself in and emptied of members. Only 4 percent of English children attend church. Only 25% of UK citizens are members of a world religion. 55% of Britains do not believe in a higher being.
Hard facts, a definite discontinuity between the triumph of Easter and the present situation they find themselves in. Yet everywhere I go I hear the same trusting words. They say, “When the church ignored the poor God sent Francis of Assisi. When the Church needed reform God sent Martin Luther. When the church became too disconnected from the common people God sent John Westley. When the Church became blind to racial injustice God sent Dr. King and Bishop Tutu. And now again we have lost our way, and now again God will act, again God will do something with his church, again God will send someone.”
I believe these churches, in their dark twilight hour have blindly struck up against something fundamental to the Christian faith. They have realized that God himself searches out for those who are in need and loves them. They have found hope.
And really this should be no surprise. Is this not the heart of the Gospel? This “bread of life” was first a grain that had to be buried to become a shoot of wheat. The wheat had to be crushed, to be made into bread. The bread had to be broken, to be shared and multiplied.
Therefore we have hope in the great I AM. We have hope in the Bread of Life. And in response to all this we live in hope. We hope for resurrection while being swallowed up by death, deliverance in fear, a voice in poverty, salvation in trouble.
And when we cling to hope we live into our calling as Children of God. As imitators of God we try to live a life of kindness, we try to be tenderhearted, we try to forgive, to be full of truth, to be charitable, and most of all as imitators of God, as Children of God, we love.
In doing this, in joining with God in His creative act of redemption, we may even reverse the disconnect that Elijah, and Paul, and all of creation, feel. We may truly begin to be lifted up by the wings of angels and travel forward from the deep swampy middle that we find ourselves in and continue on our journey up the great and glorious mountain. We will stop our paralyzed line of questioning where we constantly ask Eden why it is as it is? Instead Eden will start to ask us why we are as we are?
By this I do not mean that we take an immolating leap into the diabolical machine that is “the world” and stop its mad motion by forcing it to crush our bodies. No! Creation is of God, and so imitation of God involves embracing creation with love and hope. Our work is not that of a mechanic martyr, but that of a nurturing gardener.
And when we do this we can listen with fresh ears to the words of hope that we have. Every bell WILL ring out the words “Holy to the LORD” every scrubbing pot WILL be a holy vessel. “There WILL no more be anything accursed,” and “we WILL all be taught by God.”
There was a time during this last year of mission when I was asking myself why I was in England. Frankly I was homesick. And then one Sunday at Abbey Lane United Reformed Church I heard some distinctively America… more than that distinctively southern, voices. After the service the English folk were ecstatic at being able to introduce me to some Americans who were visiting the church. I was introduced to Bev and Jack, who instantly treated me like a grandson. At one point Bev gave me a collection of American poems as a way to combat my homesickness. One of those poems, Lift Every Voice and Sing, by James Weldon Johnson exemplifies the nature of the hope we have in Christ.
Lift every voice and sing,
'Til earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on 'til victory is won.
There is anguish yes, after all we do live in these in between times, yet there is also hope; in Christ there is always hope! And we will faithfully preserver. A+A
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Wedding
I was at a friend's wedding today. I had never realized wedding services could be so short. 15 minutes and they were done. After that we went to her husband's parent's house for the reception. Good fun. I caught the garder... watch out women of the world.
Peace,
Chris
Peace,
Chris
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Terror/flying
Just wanted to say those bloody terrorists are forcing me to go to the airport early. This means I have to leave all my loved friends here in Eugene early.
Peace,
Chris
Peace,
Chris
Monday, August 07, 2006
John Piper's time at Tyndale House
John Piper, an evangelical I briefly met at Tyndale House in Cambridge, writes about his time there.
Peace,
Chris
Peace,
Chris
The Control Room
My good friend Kevin recently invited me to watch him in action. He works as a director at Kval, the CBS TV station in Eugene. It was amazing! Everything is timed out to a second and all the different graphics that appear on the TV are done live. They even know how fast the various reports read from their teleprompter! Kevin was in control, giving cues into microphones, switching all kinds of knobs, and being in control in general. It was neat to look behind the curtain ala Oz.
Peace,
Chris
Peace,
Chris
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
One day left
I leave the UK at 10AM tomorrow morning. Right now it's 3pm. Not that long to go.
Peace,
Chris
Peace,
Chris
The One Book meme
I saw this over at LutherPunk
The One Book
1. One book that changed your life:Wiesel, Dawn
2. One book that you’ve read more than once:Card, Ender’s Game
3. One book you’d want on a desert island:Aescyus, The Orestrian Trilogy
4. One book that made you laugh:Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff
5. One book that made you cry:Gipson, Old Yeller
6. One book that you wish had been written:Voltaire and Rousseau, Our Christian Faith or alternatively Calvin, Against Systemization
7. One book that you wish had never been written:Hitler, Mein Kampf
8. One book you’re currently reading:Caspi, Take Now Thy Son: The Motif of the Aqedah in Literature
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling
The One Book
1. One book that changed your life:Wiesel, Dawn
2. One book that you’ve read more than once:Card, Ender’s Game
3. One book you’d want on a desert island:Aescyus, The Orestrian Trilogy
4. One book that made you laugh:Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff
5. One book that made you cry:Gipson, Old Yeller
6. One book that you wish had been written:Voltaire and Rousseau, Our Christian Faith or alternatively Calvin, Against Systemization
7. One book that you wish had never been written:Hitler, Mein Kampf
8. One book you’re currently reading:Caspi, Take Now Thy Son: The Motif of the Aqedah in Literature
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Permanent Net License Essay
Using sources obtained with your temporary Net license provide a coherent narrative of the History of Man. This essay will join the Net Compendium of Knowledge.
From Earth to the Stars
By Alexander R. Flint
"The History of man is the history of struggle."
Mankind was born on the planet Haeretz tens of thousands of years ago. As soon as man knew what property was he fought for it, and when weapons and willpower were great enough there came the three wars for Anglo-American Hegemony. The alliance created in these conflicts became the seeds of what would become the Colonists. After subduing Europe, Eurasia, and the Near East these proto-Colonist governments turned their attention to the Far East, and to the stars.
In the midst of the fourth war for hegemony the Alliance woke up a new enemy. This enemy was unlike the humans they had previously faced, who "struggled earnestly, grappled well, and admitted defeat." This new enemy from the stars, the Aliens, was a cunning and manipulative race.
They came down to Haeretz and offered "miracles that were manacles and cures that were curses." Many readily accepted this alien technology, but at a price, the capitulating governments had to agree to the Alien’s terms, the halt of all space exploration. The first government to agree to the Alien’s terms was China, fresh off its defeat in India.
The Chinese government became a puppet to the Aliens, and the 4th War for Anglo-American Hegemony became "a proxy war between man and menace." Then ensued a great twilight struggle to see if humans could be "masters of their own house," or if they would be dominated from afar. Tragically after the EMPing of the West Coast of America President Tracy was forced from power and replaced by the traitor Henry Stevenson, who sued for peace.
In a last desperate act of defiance President Tracy called on those closest to him who had not yet succumbed to the Alien threat to come together and form the Colonists. He dedicated the organization "to the principle that man’s destiny is in the stars." The Colonists confiscated space transports throughout Haeretz. A new era in the history of man was ushered in on the day of the Great Launch. 8 million men women, and children were transported to three dozen planets deep in space beyond the clutches of the Aliens.
For the next three hundred years the Colonists spread from planet to planet planting colonies wherever they went. Many a story of these brave pioneers and their struggles and triumphs could be told. There are so many tales in fact that they could fill the whole Net time and time again. Since my aim here is to give a general and panoramic view of our history, I will simply say courageous things were done that will never be forgotten and always will be lauded. In the year 300 GL there was found a planet populated by non-Colonist people, controlled by the Aliens, who had manipulated the belief systems of those people to a point where they understood the Aliens to be deities. In the year 301 GL President Abraham Robertson re-dedicated the Colonists to a grand new mission, the liberation of Man from all Alien influence.
I remember my grandfather telling me of the day he heard of the incineration of Ur-Kaldez, the Alien’s home planet, in that memorable year 598GL. I can still remember what I was doing when the liberation of Haeretz began to take place in 662GL. Our war of liberation has become an act of cleaning out the remaining pockets of resistance through psychological operations, wearing down the remaining Alien forces, and winning the hearts and minds of those who remain under the boot of the Aliens. Many see the wiping out of the Aliens within our lifetime! As President Robertson’s call is being fulfilled before our eyes Colonial society can now look forward to a third age of man. An age filled with the pursuit of recollecting the classical learning of Haeretz, the compilation of narrative histories of man in the NCK, and the integration of non-Colonist humans into Colonial society.
(Any clue how to put footnotes on Blogger as that makes this much more fun)
From Earth to the Stars
By Alexander R. Flint
"The History of man is the history of struggle."
Mankind was born on the planet Haeretz tens of thousands of years ago. As soon as man knew what property was he fought for it, and when weapons and willpower were great enough there came the three wars for Anglo-American Hegemony. The alliance created in these conflicts became the seeds of what would become the Colonists. After subduing Europe, Eurasia, and the Near East these proto-Colonist governments turned their attention to the Far East, and to the stars.
In the midst of the fourth war for hegemony the Alliance woke up a new enemy. This enemy was unlike the humans they had previously faced, who "struggled earnestly, grappled well, and admitted defeat." This new enemy from the stars, the Aliens, was a cunning and manipulative race.
They came down to Haeretz and offered "miracles that were manacles and cures that were curses." Many readily accepted this alien technology, but at a price, the capitulating governments had to agree to the Alien’s terms, the halt of all space exploration. The first government to agree to the Alien’s terms was China, fresh off its defeat in India.
The Chinese government became a puppet to the Aliens, and the 4th War for Anglo-American Hegemony became "a proxy war between man and menace." Then ensued a great twilight struggle to see if humans could be "masters of their own house," or if they would be dominated from afar. Tragically after the EMPing of the West Coast of America President Tracy was forced from power and replaced by the traitor Henry Stevenson, who sued for peace.
In a last desperate act of defiance President Tracy called on those closest to him who had not yet succumbed to the Alien threat to come together and form the Colonists. He dedicated the organization "to the principle that man’s destiny is in the stars." The Colonists confiscated space transports throughout Haeretz. A new era in the history of man was ushered in on the day of the Great Launch. 8 million men women, and children were transported to three dozen planets deep in space beyond the clutches of the Aliens.
For the next three hundred years the Colonists spread from planet to planet planting colonies wherever they went. Many a story of these brave pioneers and their struggles and triumphs could be told. There are so many tales in fact that they could fill the whole Net time and time again. Since my aim here is to give a general and panoramic view of our history, I will simply say courageous things were done that will never be forgotten and always will be lauded. In the year 300 GL there was found a planet populated by non-Colonist people, controlled by the Aliens, who had manipulated the belief systems of those people to a point where they understood the Aliens to be deities. In the year 301 GL President Abraham Robertson re-dedicated the Colonists to a grand new mission, the liberation of Man from all Alien influence.
I remember my grandfather telling me of the day he heard of the incineration of Ur-Kaldez, the Alien’s home planet, in that memorable year 598GL. I can still remember what I was doing when the liberation of Haeretz began to take place in 662GL. Our war of liberation has become an act of cleaning out the remaining pockets of resistance through psychological operations, wearing down the remaining Alien forces, and winning the hearts and minds of those who remain under the boot of the Aliens. Many see the wiping out of the Aliens within our lifetime! As President Robertson’s call is being fulfilled before our eyes Colonial society can now look forward to a third age of man. An age filled with the pursuit of recollecting the classical learning of Haeretz, the compilation of narrative histories of man in the NCK, and the integration of non-Colonist humans into Colonial society.
(Any clue how to put footnotes on Blogger as that makes this much more fun)
Friday, July 28, 2006
What do EMP's have to do with Jesus?
So, the Christian Worldview Network, generally a pro-republican, anti-emergent, UFO contemplating newsletter provider, has now decided issues of national defense are part of a Christian Worldview.
Hmmm.
Peace,
Chris
Hmmm.
Peace,
Chris
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Coming or going?
The paradox resting itself as both a crown of diamonds and of thorns upon my mind is a question of place. It could be called topical maybe? Geographical, certainly.
I’m coming home. At least to a form of home. I’m leaving home. At least a form of home.
What bags that I packed will be waiting for me when I return? What bags will have mysteriously been packed by others and left behind?
They will say welcome back when I still am saying goodbye. I will say its good to be back when they say goodbye.
And this is not a one-time proposition. Movement is part of who we are. Stasis is not possible. Abraham was told to get up and go; Moses wandered for 40 years; Ruth went and joined Naomi; Jesus left, face toward Jerusalem; Luther hid from the Pope’s thugs; Kierkegaard made a leap of faith.
That’s just it. We go from one place to another. We change and are changers. We move again. That changes things too.
We return sometimes. God’s people end up back in Egypt more often than anyone expected; they also returned from Babylon; Luther returned to the deep well of scripture; Jesus is promised to return.
Returning everything is the same, but fuzzy and different. A friend has a paunch. A cinema has more screens. And some are gone. They too have moved.
And once you wrap your head about this, it is all very exciting. I’m both coming and going!
I’m coming home. At least to a form of home. I’m leaving home. At least a form of home.
What bags that I packed will be waiting for me when I return? What bags will have mysteriously been packed by others and left behind?
They will say welcome back when I still am saying goodbye. I will say its good to be back when they say goodbye.
And this is not a one-time proposition. Movement is part of who we are. Stasis is not possible. Abraham was told to get up and go; Moses wandered for 40 years; Ruth went and joined Naomi; Jesus left, face toward Jerusalem; Luther hid from the Pope’s thugs; Kierkegaard made a leap of faith.
That’s just it. We go from one place to another. We change and are changers. We move again. That changes things too.
We return sometimes. God’s people end up back in Egypt more often than anyone expected; they also returned from Babylon; Luther returned to the deep well of scripture; Jesus is promised to return.
Returning everything is the same, but fuzzy and different. A friend has a paunch. A cinema has more screens. And some are gone. They too have moved.
And once you wrap your head about this, it is all very exciting. I’m both coming and going!
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