Our pastor was ranting about how we(the church) have blindly followed whatever happens to be the prevailing mindset in our culture. And yeah, I’m sure that happens. Consumerism and individualism, particularly in the US, are two examples that have schlepped their way into the way we live our lives.

But pointing fingers at what’s happening “out there” only gets you so far. And quite honestly I think it’s a safety mechanism to keep us from examining our own practices a little closer. What have we absorbed from the Evangelical sub-culture? What do we take for granted as necessary for “good” and proper church? I’ll start :

• Youth Group/Events
• A church building
• A gym (oops, Family Life Center)
• Paid pastors
• Sunday morning preachin’ (you know what I mean)
• Wednesday night Bible Study
• Pledge cards
• Revivals
• Traveling quartets
• Marriage seminars
• Men’s business meetings
• Ladies’ Day
• Children’s church

I’m sure there’s more. Add your thoughts in the comments if you like. I think I’d like to do a post next time on what makes a good and proper church member.

I’m gonna ease back into blogging this week by posting the weekend video on Monday. The video thing was something I said I was gonna do, then stopped doing, and now I’m doing it again. So goes my life.

This week it’s the amazing Nickel Creek in a clip from a documentary a few years ago :

If you’re not aware, Nickel Creek is doing a final round of touring before going their separate ways for a while. Check out their tour schedule and catch ‘em if you can. You won’t be disappointed.

HT : Katiekind

My lovely wife read this at church last week. Emphasis is mine - I think you’ll notice a theme.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:3-14)

How do I - an outsider watching the details trickle into newsrooms in disbelief - begin to deal with the indescribable events that have occured at VT? Questions form exponentially. I have absolutely no personal connection with anyone on campus, but in my mind it is much to easy to transplant the chaos at VT to the college in our own town. The emotion is mind-boggling. And I am as far removed from the trauma as an American could be. What must these families be experiencing? Calls for healing seem to be echoing from all around, but can “healing” from events such as this happen on command?

Life is this frail. Evil is this real. And it’s a shame that it takes horrific events like this to remind me. But God is still good. And I trust that He holds VT in His hands today. If today we are all Hokies, even more so, we are all God’s.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

(HT to Foolish Sage for the logo)

I think it’s interesting that we(i.e. Evangelicals) use the following verses as support that God commands spanking as a means of disciplining our children :

Yet these verses don’t get near the press :

Is there some criteria I’m not aware of which make the former set more applicable than the latter?

The nets have been cut and Dick Vitale is already looking forward to the Great Alaska Shootout. But for now we have to pause a moment and congratulate JLove for pulling out the 1-point victory over Jenn.

We didn’t have an official prize in mind but it seem like there should be one. What’ll it be J? A freezer full of Mayfield’s finest? A new iBook? (heh heh) A DIY home-repair library? We’ll spare no expense!

Oh, I can’t help mentioning that my dear wife actually had the most number of games correct! Maybe next year we go with 1 point per game. Or some structure that favors picking teams to lose by one point. I think I might do ok that way.