No more … for now

Alright, yes, this title is a little more dramatic than it needs to be.

This is also less meaningful, perhaps, than that hiatus that I didn’t really take.

I started this blog,  originally, to address some issues with which I thought people were, simply, wrong. As someone who truly believed in certain principles, I wanted to see them applied properly. My focus has wandered, and I’ve sunk into mere current events in a lot of ways. I don’t like that.

The first reason why I don’t like this is the way that current events are discussed lately.

In college, I was an outspoken and pretty far-right Republican. I often debated with a particular young woman, the founder of the College Democrats on campus. However, I knew who she was. I knew her interests, we had other conversations, etc.. We’re still in some level of contact. (Alright … we’re friends on Facebook!) At no time did we actually hate each other. Online, it is too easy to hate each other, and I’m afraid that this has become how the conversations are coming — faceless entities are belittling other faceless entities.

For now, I’m out. No more particularly-current-events. Partly, this is because I have little good to say. I think that the administration is behaving absurdly, but the loudest voices of opposition are no less so. A case could be made that I should for that very reason not stop. However, I don’t want to be committed to that kind of work. That isn’t, ultimately, why I do this.

I want to talk about God. The ins and outs of economic models and theory aren’t what really matter to me. (Yes, I have a degree in economics, and I actually understand these models that people use … so what?) There are books about which I want to write — some of them religious in nature, others not.

There are several series of Biblical studies I want to do, and some of those will relate to broader, more philosophical political issues. That’s a different creature entirely.

I promised my wife that I’m done with talk radio for a while. I haven’t yet defined “a while,” but it’s more than a couple weeks, anyway. The only reason I listened to Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, or Savage was in case they might give me some material. Always, by the way, to blast them.

This is focusing on the negatives. This is not what I want to do. I’ve let myself get caught up in it, but I’m drawing a line … now.

In my off-blog life, I’m certainly not walking away from awareness and discussion of politics. Here, though, I’m going to spend at least a few months focused on the things that matter more and which really excite me.

Not just the ones that irritate me.

Points well made …

These are several of the blog posts that I’ve read lately that have made very good points about how a lot of discussions are going. In most of these cases, I’m saddened that they even have to be said … Still, I’m glad that people are saying them.

This might fly in the face of what I’m going to say in my next post, but we’ll deal with that in a moment or two …

First of all, Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion asks “Are We At the Bottom of the Barrel Yet?” in regards to Joseph Farah and his latest libelous escapade at World Net Daily.

Bartholomew also brings to us “The Conspiracy On the Buses,” about a YouTube video that shows why YouTube should not be considered a definitive news source.

PJMiller at Sola Dei Gloria has several articles for this list:

“The Ugly Side of America” has a heartbreaking video, really. I’ll leave it at that.

“Fear Tactics in America” refers to the people who are showing up at Pres. Obama’s events carrying weapons. PJ and I also mention there the fear he and I have discussed about the possibility that inflammatory, hate-filled rhetoric will actually lead to its natural next step — an assassination attempt. Given the incident in Portsmouth, NH, it isn’t that much a flight of imagiantion.

PJ also tells us about how a “US Christian Radio Station Spreads “Obama’s Grandmother was his Mother” Theory.” Sure enough, Joe Farah shows up in that one, too.

This may be all I have to say about the birthers on this blog … seriously, I think it’s all been covered. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Polycarp, at The Church of Jesus Christ, asked “Friday’s Question of the Day: Most Important Biblical Doctrine“

Ronnica, at Ignorant Historian (really rather a misnomer, but it’s a Jane Austen quote, so what are you going to do?), makes “A Case for Civil Discourse” that is much needed. See above posts for details.

Alfie at In2theFray brings a cheery note about how many lobbyists are involved in the health care debate in “In2 Lobbyists and Healthcare Reform.”

On a cheerier note, Amy at Walking in the Spirit has some thoughts about “Christian Faith vs. Christian Religion.”

Lastly, to put some fun in this post, you should check out Tom Angleburger’s post at GeekDad, “Rock, Paper, Sith Lord.”

There are two main problems with Rock, Paper, Scissors. First problem: how does paper beat a rock? Yes, it can wrap it up, but does that make it any less of a rock? Second problem: not enough Star Wars

The man’s a genius, and that’s all there is to it.

Christian Carnival 290

I know, it’s been nigh-on forever since I’ve mentioned the Christian Carnival. It’s been about that long since I’ve participated, too. However, I did this week. It’s up at Fish and Cans, and you should probably go check it out.

Five Words from OneMom

This game looked kind of fun, so I took OneMom up on her offer to give me five words (or phrases, it turned out) about which to write.

She gave me Common Sense, Worship, Babies, Music, and Mystery.

So, here we are. What do I think about these things?

What’s a Nazi, again?

(Warning: I use images in this post. The title mentions Nazis. Consider this your warning.)

Since the term is being thrown around these days like nothing, I thought it was worth taking a moment to remember what the word “Nazi” means and why people like me cringe whenever it’s used casually to describe one’s political opponents.

The Nazi Party was a German political party that took power in the 1930’s, amidst some very crazy times after World War I. The National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP in German, nicknamed Nazis from there) stood for a number of particular programs that should be borne in mind when we’re discussing who is and isn’t a Nazi.

“Your Jesus Is Too Safe” blog tour

First of all, I’d like to thank Jared Wilson for including me in this blog tour and for sending me a copy of his genuinely great book, Your Jesus is Too Safe.

The premise of this book is exactly what the title says: We each have made a Jesus for ourselves, and those Jesuses — our Jesuses — are too safe.

“God created man in His image. Ever since then, man has sought to return the favor.” – I’ve seen the comment attributed to Mark Twain, to George Bernard Shaw, and (my favorite) St. Augustine. In any case, the statement holds true in light of how many of us view Jesus.

Most of us are comfortable with some parts of who Jesus was and is. Maybe you like that He was open about letting women hang around with His disciples and spoke to them like they were important. It’s great that He let the children come to Him. He saved the life of the woman caught in adultery. But Mr. Nice Guy Jesus then picked up a whip and chased money-changers out of the Temple. I’ve heard people try to argue that He didn’t really use it, He just held it to scare them. I’ll be honest with you … I don’t think so. Jesus didn’t just stand there and beat His chest, He picked up a whip for a reason. Someone got a lashing that day, and it came from the Jesus who said that we’re to turn the other cheek.

Maybe you’re comfortable with whip-lashing Jesus and the Jesus that calls self-righteous teachers “whited sepulchers” and such. This is the Jesus who pointed out to the Israelites that they made a habit out of killing prophets when God sent them along, and went so far as to tell the people who’d watched him grow up that a prophet is always without honor in his own home. In-Your-Face Jesus, though, also says to forgive without limits. He tells us to remove the specks from our own eyes before going after someone else’s.

Jesus has many traits. No one of them defines Him or His ministry in its entirety, and if we ignore any of them, then we’re missing something very important. We’re missing no less than a part of Jesus.

My wife the mathematician (seriously … she teaches calculus) would note that when you divide infinite things, you tend to wind up with many infinite things. Jared defined twelve Jesuses that are each part of the whole, real Jesus in this book. If you decided to skip, for example, Jesus the Forgiver, then you’re missing 1/12 of infinity. That would be infinitely important.

This book runs deep. The twelve chapters each deal with a category of who Jesus was and is, and then explores ways that we need to consider it and ways that we let it slide — Jesus the Promise, Prophet, Forgiver, Man, Shepherd, Judge, Redeemer, King, Sacrifice, Provision, Lord, and Savior are his foci. Certainly, there are chapters in which I felt pretty good about myself and how my head is wrapped around these concepts. Other times, I have to admit, I was pretty far short of the mark.

Although the book runs deep, as I said, it certainly does not read as most theology books. There is no liberty taken with what is sacred, and Jared isn’t making jokes about God in this book. However, he also doesn’t regard every conversation about God as having to be boring and stuffy. Rather, the book is very light-hearted at times. I think, by the way, that Jesus would approve.

Just to take an example, this is the footnote in his retelling of the story about Abraham offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Jared remarked that Isaac, on seeing the ram, probably kissed it on the lips. The footnote reads:

Which, for the ram, had to have been the strangest thing ever to happen to him. And as they were slitting his throat a few minutes later, I bet he looked at Isaac and was like, “What the heck?”

Many of us claim to follow Jesus. The question Jared is raising is: What Jesus? Have we decided to follow a Jesus who fits in neatly with our lives the way we want to live them? A Jesus who doesn’t challenge our lives might be comforting, but He certainly isn’t the real one. Remember the rich man who came to Jesus and asked what he lacked in order to be saved. Jesus told him quite simply: sell everything that you have and give all the money to the poor (Luke 18:18-29).

He didn’t tell anyone else to do that, so why this guy? That’s easy … because we have to give up the easy things in this world. If we’re following Jesus, then we can’t be following our own whims and comforts. Jesus said that in order to follow Him, we’d have to take up our own crosses and be crucified. Surely that didn’t mean selecting a comfortably-compatible philosophical view.

When it’s all said and done, I’d recommend this book. Read it a time or two, and spend some serious time reading your Bible during and after it, focusing on what part of the Gospels you might have overlooked. It’s an interesting confrontation, coming to terms with those things that I’ve let slide in my attempts to reconcile my Christian life.

Thanks again to Jared Wilson, and enjoy!

To follow the rest of the blog tour, just click here or on the picture of the book above.

Two Blog Tours

First of all … I’m a part of the blog tour next week for Your Jesus Is Too Safe by Jared C. Wilson (who blogs at The Thinklings and The Gospel-Driven Church).

This is a fascinating look at how we look at Jesus as compared to how we should. I’m reading it the second time through now and getting my thoughts together. I’ll post links to the whole blog tour schedule shortly so that you can see everyone’s thoughts on the book. It looks to be a big and exciting project.

Second … My father-in-law’s second young adult fantasy novel this year has been released — Stolen Magic by Cindy Davis and John Richters is out. (John, of course, is my father-in-law, not Cindy.) In celebration of that, and to help publicize, I’m pulling together a blog tour for the first book of the Desert Magic trilogy — Healing Magic. I reviewed the book here, so you can see what you’re in for.

If you would like to participate in this blog tour, please shoot me a message at wickle(dot)blog(at)gmail.com. I have copies of the book to send out, and I’d love to pull this together.

Thanks.

I’d say this is third, but it’s more of a PS: Andrew Peterson’s North! or Be Eaten! is coming out shortly. This is the second in the Wingfeather Saga. I reviewed On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness before. I’m hoping to get in on a blog tour for this one. Andrew Peterson posted contact information here.