If you've ever played, coached or watched a game of T-Ball, you understand why I love this photo.
Thanks to my friend Eric who snapped the picture. I stole it from his website.
22.5.05
20.5.05
Creation, Redemption, Baseball & The City of God: An Introduction
Will we play baseball in Heaven?
This question was recently posed, I believe at least partially in jest. This is understandable, as it seems absurd to us. We have difficulty reconciling such an earthly, and seemingly insignificant pleasure like baseball with the concept of Heavenly, eternal, spiritual life spent in communion with the Triune and Almighty Creator God of the universe. Won't such physical and earthly preoccupations as baseball be transcended at that point?
If such a question seems absurd, it is only because our understanding of God and the world is warped, unbiblical, and ultimately sub-Christian. There is good reason to believe that we may perhaps play baseball in Heaven. This is good news. This is Good News- capital G capital N.
Here's what I intend to demonstrate: Creation is good and though fallen, stands to be redeemed by the victory of Christ. The develpment of culture, though mediated by mankind, is a legitimate and important part of God's creation. Thus cultural forms also stand to be redeemed by the victory of Christ. This redemption ultimately culminates in the coming of the City of God in it's fullness. This City, and this Redemptive Climax is not merely spiritual and heavenly, but is physical and earthly as well. This new city, this coming age of glory, represents not only a discontinuity with the world as it exists now (for instance in it's falleness and rebellion against God) but also (and this is the whole point!) continuity with the world as it currently exists as well (for instance in it's beauty, and it all of it's God pleasing cultural structures, and many of it's people, which will at that point be entirely freed from sin). As the nations bring their treasures into the new city we may in fact see the sport of baseball ushered into this new age and offered up for the glory of God as a demonstration of the faithfulness of God and the obedience of man to "image God" in being a sub-creator of good things. In which case, yes there would be baseball in Heaven. And God would like it. Even more than he does now. Which is a lot. I'm not joking.
Obviously, demonstrating this will be a somewhat lengthy endeavor. I will therefore write in installments.
Some of you may be asking yourselves at this point if I am serious. I am. Others will be asking if I am making this stuff up. I am not. I am deeply passionate about this aspect of the Christian faith. This is the Gospel. It is my only comfort in life and in death.
Why do I say this? Becasue ultimately, for the Christian, the question "will there be baseball in Heaven" is not a question about baseball, or even heaven. It is a question about the nature and scope of the victory of Christ.
This may be difficult reading. Please please please post comments, ask questions etc etc. as you need clarification. I am a pastor and teacher at heart and nothing brings me more joy than questions. And beer. So if you don't bring me joy, then bring me beer and we'll call it even.
This question was recently posed, I believe at least partially in jest. This is understandable, as it seems absurd to us. We have difficulty reconciling such an earthly, and seemingly insignificant pleasure like baseball with the concept of Heavenly, eternal, spiritual life spent in communion with the Triune and Almighty Creator God of the universe. Won't such physical and earthly preoccupations as baseball be transcended at that point?
If such a question seems absurd, it is only because our understanding of God and the world is warped, unbiblical, and ultimately sub-Christian. There is good reason to believe that we may perhaps play baseball in Heaven. This is good news. This is Good News- capital G capital N.
Here's what I intend to demonstrate: Creation is good and though fallen, stands to be redeemed by the victory of Christ. The develpment of culture, though mediated by mankind, is a legitimate and important part of God's creation. Thus cultural forms also stand to be redeemed by the victory of Christ. This redemption ultimately culminates in the coming of the City of God in it's fullness. This City, and this Redemptive Climax is not merely spiritual and heavenly, but is physical and earthly as well. This new city, this coming age of glory, represents not only a discontinuity with the world as it exists now (for instance in it's falleness and rebellion against God) but also (and this is the whole point!) continuity with the world as it currently exists as well (for instance in it's beauty, and it all of it's God pleasing cultural structures, and many of it's people, which will at that point be entirely freed from sin). As the nations bring their treasures into the new city we may in fact see the sport of baseball ushered into this new age and offered up for the glory of God as a demonstration of the faithfulness of God and the obedience of man to "image God" in being a sub-creator of good things. In which case, yes there would be baseball in Heaven. And God would like it. Even more than he does now. Which is a lot. I'm not joking.
Obviously, demonstrating this will be a somewhat lengthy endeavor. I will therefore write in installments.
Some of you may be asking yourselves at this point if I am serious. I am. Others will be asking if I am making this stuff up. I am not. I am deeply passionate about this aspect of the Christian faith. This is the Gospel. It is my only comfort in life and in death.
Why do I say this? Becasue ultimately, for the Christian, the question "will there be baseball in Heaven" is not a question about baseball, or even heaven. It is a question about the nature and scope of the victory of Christ.
This may be difficult reading. Please please please post comments, ask questions etc etc. as you need clarification. I am a pastor and teacher at heart and nothing brings me more joy than questions. And beer. So if you don't bring me joy, then bring me beer and we'll call it even.
Baseball in Heaven: Part 1?
Will there be baseball in Heaven? Well, before we launch into a theological exposition of this question, let me submit this photo as evidence that there will certainly be basketball in Heaven.
This kind of evidence is conclusive. There will be basketball in Heaven. Now, I will soon address the question of baseball in heaven.
The answer may surprise you. Seriously.
This kind of evidence is conclusive. There will be basketball in Heaven. Now, I will soon address the question of baseball in heaven.
The answer may surprise you. Seriously.
19.5.05
I'm back.
Hey, all. Sorry it's been so long since I've offered up new and exciting content for your consumption. I've been out of town and without computer access. But today your despair will come to an end. I have returned home. As a peace offering, I submit to you this photo, which I have titled "drunken greek with exploding afro". I hope it means as much to you as it does to me. >sniff, sniff<
16.5.05
If you comment, he will blog.
Reposting this at the top so some of you can give your two cents. Please let me know what you think. Thanks to those of you who have already commented here.
Much like the whispery voiced ghost of baseball's boys of summers past in their spooky quest for a place to play, I the not-so- whispery funky presbyterian put forth a similar request to you, my beloved family, treasured friends and valued readers. Post here and tell me to what topic you think I should devote some blogging time:
1. Why I believe in God (and still consider myself to be at least somewhat reasonable).
2. Is there a sensible way to be a Christian in a post-modern culture?
3. What should we think about evil, suffering and injustice?
4. Or give me another topic of interest... whatever.
You tell me which topics you'd find most helpful or interesting. So post here and let me know. When I have a number of votes (10-15) I'll call for a tally and we'll see what develops. I'm especially interested in hearing from people who are not already on the Jesus bandwagon. I value your perspectives whatever they be and would like to facilitate further discussion, thought and dialogue about spiritual issues. Thanks people.
Much like the whispery voiced ghost of baseball's boys of summers past in their spooky quest for a place to play, I the not-so- whispery funky presbyterian put forth a similar request to you, my beloved family, treasured friends and valued readers. Post here and tell me to what topic you think I should devote some blogging time:
1. Why I believe in God (and still consider myself to be at least somewhat reasonable).
2. Is there a sensible way to be a Christian in a post-modern culture?
3. What should we think about evil, suffering and injustice?
4. Or give me another topic of interest... whatever.
You tell me which topics you'd find most helpful or interesting. So post here and let me know. When I have a number of votes (10-15) I'll call for a tally and we'll see what develops. I'm especially interested in hearing from people who are not already on the Jesus bandwagon. I value your perspectives whatever they be and would like to facilitate further discussion, thought and dialogue about spiritual issues. Thanks people.
birthday cd's
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals- Cold Roses
Weezer- Make Believe
I am a kid in a candy store.
Weezer- Make Believe
I am a kid in a candy store.
31
Here's a rundown if you're just joining us:
6 months I remember getting a family picture taken.
1-3 don't remember a lot. I remember blue and green carpet. And a clown face that hung in the Dr.'s office. And a kid named David who ate raw potatoes and carried around a naked baby doll.
4 decided to follow Jesus. Think I saw a ghost.
5 a big year. Kindergarten.
6-7 same as 5 but a little taller and better reasoning skills
8 sucked. Moved and had to change schools. Got beat up at recess by Todd Sloan and Kent Keller.
9 a little better. But my toe nail fell off.
10-12 Good years. Started hanging out with Edsall, Maynard, Forney.
13-14 Junior high. Started wrestling. Locker next to Matt Birt's. Would remain that way for a long long time.
15 Freshman. Sat next to Edsall in nearly every class. GPA takes a hit.
16 Driver's license. Purchased a 1978 mustang 2 for $600. Begin to excell at wrestling. No correlation to mustang 2. This is the year of the legendary party at Debbie Daloney's house.
17 Good wrestling record, begin to get scholarship offers.
18 massive shoulder injury, miss senior season. Scholarships rescinded. But a great and eventful senior year
18-19 Off to Taylor U.
19-21 Got the heck out of Taylor U. Transferr to Miami U. Begin dating Charity Harder.
22 A good year. Marry Charity harder. Graduate from Miami.
23 Off to seminary in St Louis
25 A good year. Jack is born. I'm a daddy.
27 Take a call to plant a church in Columbus Ohio & graduate from Seminary.
27-29 Prepare to plant church.
29-30 Plant church. Sam is born. Foster parent two little girls while planting church. Hardest year of my life since the third grade. Also a very rich and rewarding year.
31 Drive to Tim Horton's for coffee. Come home and type entry on blog.
Now you are all caught up.
6 months I remember getting a family picture taken.
1-3 don't remember a lot. I remember blue and green carpet. And a clown face that hung in the Dr.'s office. And a kid named David who ate raw potatoes and carried around a naked baby doll.
4 decided to follow Jesus. Think I saw a ghost.
5 a big year. Kindergarten.
6-7 same as 5 but a little taller and better reasoning skills
8 sucked. Moved and had to change schools. Got beat up at recess by Todd Sloan and Kent Keller.
9 a little better. But my toe nail fell off.
10-12 Good years. Started hanging out with Edsall, Maynard, Forney.
13-14 Junior high. Started wrestling. Locker next to Matt Birt's. Would remain that way for a long long time.
15 Freshman. Sat next to Edsall in nearly every class. GPA takes a hit.
16 Driver's license. Purchased a 1978 mustang 2 for $600. Begin to excell at wrestling. No correlation to mustang 2. This is the year of the legendary party at Debbie Daloney's house.
17 Good wrestling record, begin to get scholarship offers.
18 massive shoulder injury, miss senior season. Scholarships rescinded. But a great and eventful senior year
18-19 Off to Taylor U.
19-21 Got the heck out of Taylor U. Transferr to Miami U. Begin dating Charity Harder.
22 A good year. Marry Charity harder. Graduate from Miami.
23 Off to seminary in St Louis
25 A good year. Jack is born. I'm a daddy.
27 Take a call to plant a church in Columbus Ohio & graduate from Seminary.
27-29 Prepare to plant church.
29-30 Plant church. Sam is born. Foster parent two little girls while planting church. Hardest year of my life since the third grade. Also a very rich and rewarding year.
31 Drive to Tim Horton's for coffee. Come home and type entry on blog.
Now you are all caught up.
15.5.05
The Wrath of God
Preaching tonight on the wrath of God (Romans 1:18-32). Not cause I wanna, but cause the text dictates. That's the value in preaching through a text. It makes you confront topics you'd rather not. Lot's has been written about the difficultY in reconciling "God is Love" with a God who is also wrathful. Interestingly, the very passage of scripture which teaches "God is love" (1John 4:8-10) also teaches that Christ was a propitiation for us. Propitiation is the appeasement of God's wrath against sin. So at the cross the love of God and the wrath of God meet. A fearful thing.
12.5.05
Take that, Hume!
Next to the Bible, this may be the most important book I've ever read. I really do think that a hundred years from now, church historians will be writing about this man and this book.
This book solved all my epistemological crises. It also does much to resolve the tension Christians feel as the culture around them becomes increasingly post modern. Every emergent so and so should read this immediately. So should anyone who wrestles with certainty or asks if truth is knowable at all.
I better stop typing now. You all have got some reading to do.
This book solved all my epistemological crises. It also does much to resolve the tension Christians feel as the culture around them becomes increasingly post modern. Every emergent so and so should read this immediately. So should anyone who wrestles with certainty or asks if truth is knowable at all.
I better stop typing now. You all have got some reading to do.
The earth is hard, the treasure fine.
My wife recently alphabatized our cd collection (which is no small feat) and so I've had the renewed pleasure of browsing through my own forgotten treasures. I thought perhaps I'd feature a forgotten classic or two from time to time.
This album is so good, and has such a special place in my heart I can't even find the words to describe it. It is simply a masterpiece. Many of you who hear it for the first time may disagree. I fully admit that I cannot divorce the memories formed around this of this album from the music itself. So I will not try. The two are fused forever in my psyche. If you don't own it, don't bother looking for it. It's been out of print for years and anyone who has it is not likely to give it up.
If anyone remembers this album, please leave your comments. I'm interested to know how your opinion of it has changed over the years. I'll be surprised if even two of you out there have ever listened to it.
Gene Eugene, Adam Again's lead singer and songwriter helped engineer Over the Rhine's third album "Eve" and is listed in teh liner notes under his real name, Gene Andrusco. Here's part of an essay about Gene.
"Gene's music was intensely personal, and this combined with genius is what turned many of his listeners into fanatics. I am convinced that Adam Again fans were Adam Again fans at least in part because to some degree they identified with his struggles, disappointments, and rare glimpses of peace and joy. His embrace of fragile humanity, with its many faults, led to extremely sensitive and insightful work. He may not have been a friend, but to many of us, he was a comrade, a fellow traveler who understood our tough journey more than many of our personal friends ever could. He saw what we saw; he knew the earth is largely an open sore. Like Mark Heard, he faced much rejection for painting pictures of the world as he knew it, not as he wanted it to be.
Some find this depressing. Fine. Some see a nicer place outside their window, and Gene's music is a grim intrusion upon that view. For most of us, however, Gene inspired in ways 'inspirational' music is impotent to inspire. Gene sang of our stupid, useless world, its loveless limits, and its wounded citizens that wound in return for past pains (ourselves included), yet Gene also had the courage to declare that he wasn't going to simply sit back and watch it all crumble around him. He was going to dig for something of value under the dung around him. This die-hard determination, and yes, this faith that something of value MUST lie underneath the ruins, this is what I believe inspired so many of us fans and lifted us like so little could.
As I mentioned, his death was about a year ago Tuesday. Adam Again is still much too obscure to even be considered a cult band, and most of their recordings are now out of print. It is probable that history will march on over Gene's grave without even noticing his headstone.
It's our loss."
And here are some lyrics from Dig...
I had a big idea, I had a lazy eye
I broke the sacred seal, I told a crazy lie
I've had my conscience bent, I've had my patience tried
I've been down in the desert and up by the riverside
Will the eagle fly if the sky's untrue?
Do the faithful sigh because they are so few?
Remeber when I cried? Remember when you knew?
Remember the look in your eyes? I know I do
And count the stars to measure time, the earth is hard, the treasure fine
To the sea I'll crawl on my knees
Feel it coming in, Feel it going out
Water covers sand, blood covers doubt
So I begin again, Again the healing bow
There was a time I might have surrendered, but not now
To the sea I'll crawl on my knees
To the sea I'll crawl on my knees
At the sea, I'll wait on my knees.
This album is so good, and has such a special place in my heart I can't even find the words to describe it. It is simply a masterpiece. Many of you who hear it for the first time may disagree. I fully admit that I cannot divorce the memories formed around this of this album from the music itself. So I will not try. The two are fused forever in my psyche. If you don't own it, don't bother looking for it. It's been out of print for years and anyone who has it is not likely to give it up.
If anyone remembers this album, please leave your comments. I'm interested to know how your opinion of it has changed over the years. I'll be surprised if even two of you out there have ever listened to it.
Gene Eugene, Adam Again's lead singer and songwriter helped engineer Over the Rhine's third album "Eve" and is listed in teh liner notes under his real name, Gene Andrusco. Here's part of an essay about Gene.
"Gene's music was intensely personal, and this combined with genius is what turned many of his listeners into fanatics. I am convinced that Adam Again fans were Adam Again fans at least in part because to some degree they identified with his struggles, disappointments, and rare glimpses of peace and joy. His embrace of fragile humanity, with its many faults, led to extremely sensitive and insightful work. He may not have been a friend, but to many of us, he was a comrade, a fellow traveler who understood our tough journey more than many of our personal friends ever could. He saw what we saw; he knew the earth is largely an open sore. Like Mark Heard, he faced much rejection for painting pictures of the world as he knew it, not as he wanted it to be.
Some find this depressing. Fine. Some see a nicer place outside their window, and Gene's music is a grim intrusion upon that view. For most of us, however, Gene inspired in ways 'inspirational' music is impotent to inspire. Gene sang of our stupid, useless world, its loveless limits, and its wounded citizens that wound in return for past pains (ourselves included), yet Gene also had the courage to declare that he wasn't going to simply sit back and watch it all crumble around him. He was going to dig for something of value under the dung around him. This die-hard determination, and yes, this faith that something of value MUST lie underneath the ruins, this is what I believe inspired so many of us fans and lifted us like so little could.
As I mentioned, his death was about a year ago Tuesday. Adam Again is still much too obscure to even be considered a cult band, and most of their recordings are now out of print. It is probable that history will march on over Gene's grave without even noticing his headstone.
It's our loss."
And here are some lyrics from Dig...
I had a big idea, I had a lazy eye
I broke the sacred seal, I told a crazy lie
I've had my conscience bent, I've had my patience tried
I've been down in the desert and up by the riverside
Will the eagle fly if the sky's untrue?
Do the faithful sigh because they are so few?
Remeber when I cried? Remember when you knew?
Remember the look in your eyes? I know I do
And count the stars to measure time, the earth is hard, the treasure fine
To the sea I'll crawl on my knees
Feel it coming in, Feel it going out
Water covers sand, blood covers doubt
So I begin again, Again the healing bow
There was a time I might have surrendered, but not now
To the sea I'll crawl on my knees
To the sea I'll crawl on my knees
At the sea, I'll wait on my knees.
Hound Dogs's
This past week a good friend of ours packed up and moved off to New York City to pursue her dream of designing with the big wigs. She's quited talented and landed a job right away. Her significant other threw one heck of a send-off at Hound Dogs (which just happens to be my favorite eating-drinking-music listening establishment in the whole wide world). Here's a picture of Molly and Charity under the big Hound Dogs mural. The rest of the photos below are from the same evening. You shoulda been there. Maybe you were.
11.5.05
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIRTY!!!!!
Hey everybody. Click the title of this post to dart on over to birty's blog and wish Mr. Birt a happy birthday. He's 28 years old today (as far as you know). He's been my friend for about 20 years. First guy I told when I bought Charity's engagement ring. First friend I called when we found out we were with child for the first time. Sat next to him in nearly every class from seventh grade 'til graduation and then even went to the same undergraduate institution. Happy birthday, Birt. You da man.
BB vs LXX
Today I killed a bumble bee with the septuagint.
I bet I'm the only person who ever said that sentence.
I bet I'm the only person who ever said that sentence.
8.5.05
7.5.05
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