gdp's Comments

Spiritual Discourse : Excuse Me, Your Exclusion is Showing

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:57:33 +0000

Thanks for allowing us to repost this, Cory. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts here. I think it's unfortunate that 9/11 has been vastly perceived as a Muslim act. The truth is that the perpetrators of 9/11 would have still carried it out if they weren't Muslim. This was not an attack on Christianity, or any other religion, it was retaliation against our government and our nation's lifestyle. Many suffered, regardless of religion.

Spiritual Discourse : God's Demand for Glory: Loving or Egomaniacal?

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:21:34 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts, Todd. I have a problem with the idea of God being lonely. Which I guess is directly related to a problem I have in general with why would a complete God create. And if God was incomplete, as you suggest, what does that say about a view that holds God as eternally complete. If you believe in the trinity, then God was never ever alone. Ever. God was always in perfect communion as the trinity. So opening that up to share with another being could never be considered an act of self-fulfillment as you seem to suggest.

Spiritual Discourse : Celebrate the Season of Giving by Receiving

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:54:49 +0000

I plan to test this exercise with the ugliest sweater I can find.

Spiritual Discourse : Review: Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:26:16 +0000

I just finished Miller's newest book which talks about the process of turning Blue Like Jazz into a movie script. He was approached by Steve Taylor (yeah that Steve Taylor) who wants to make a movie of the book.

Spiritual Discourse : Obesity: The New Racism

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 16:21:04 +0000

The more I thought about this, the more it wasn't sitting well with me. Why is being overweight a sin? Unhealthy, yes, but a sin?

Spiritual Discourse : Obesity: The New Racism

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 03:10:40 +0000

Kudos for the most left field post to date! I'm sure you saw the news last week where a flight attendant supposedly took a photo of an overweight passenger, because his inability to sit safely in the seat raised safety concerns for himself and other passengers.. http://bit.ly/6ESFfA It's definitely an issue. As someone who feels cramped enough on an airplane without having more of that space encroached upon, I feel it's something that really needs to be addressed by airlines. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it's the new racism though. Though some studies show that obese people are likely to get paid less for the same job as others, it is a direct product of one's own actions. Unlike racism, which is simply discriminating against someone for who their parents were. There is something truly cathartic about shows like "The Biggest Loser" where you watch someone who has battled obesity emerge from it. It's rarely simply just a matter of liking food too much. Most people that get to that point have deep-seeded emotional issues. Many feel lonely and ostracized for their weight, which only feeds the cycle further. Studies also show that obese people are less likely to get married. If obesity is in fact the result of sin, it's one of the few sins whose manifestation is so painfully obvious. I read a tragic story about a man who died recently. He had undergone emergency knee surgery, and didn't have health insurance, so the hospital couldn't allow him to stay. They took him home, and he asked to be sat in his recliner. He was already a heavy man, maybe close to 450lbs, and the firefighters who helped him in told him not to sit in the recliner, or he'd never get up again. But he insisted. And there, over the course of the next months, he sat as his flesh bonded with the seat. His wife sponged bathed him and brought him food. He was a former pastor, and he kept in touch by posting to Christian forums. Finally, his weight became too much for his lungs to bear, and he stopped breathing. When the paramedics arrived, they had to cut the recliner to pieces to remove it from his skin. Police carried him to the ambulance and estimated his weight to be near 800 lbs.

Spiritual Discourse : Is \"Christmas-friendly\" the Message We Want to Proclaim?

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 21:13:40 +0000

I want to highlight some of the comments shoppers have made on this site. Not really to make fun of them, well somewhat to make fun of them, but more to punctuate what terrible thinking this represents.

it will be wise and prudent shoppers who honor Christ as the reason for Christmas and will choose to not spend their money where Christ is not welcomed

Starbucks Coffee located in Barnes & Noble sells "Christmas Blend" coffee, not just "Holiday" Blend, which I really appreciate.

Rating: Christmas-Offensive --" If there was no Christmas, then there would be no need to shop and spend all kinds of money in there store!!!!! Christmas is the reason people are shopping and spending money."

Rating: Christmas-Friendly--Comment: "I was buying a giant inflatable Santa with my kids, and the check out clerk sang "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" while scanning our stuff!!!!!"

So it seems there are just a few basic criteria for a retailer to be "Christmas friendly": 1) Play Christmas carols over the speakers (any one will do, but religious ones get you over the top) 2) Have your employees say "Merry Christmas" to everyone who comes in or leaves the store 3) Advertise all sales as "Christmas Sale" 4) Allow the Salvation Army to ring a bell outside your front door

Spiritual Discourse : Is \"Christmas-friendly\" the Message We Want to Proclaim?

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 04:02:51 +0000

Bravo.. well said. I'm sick of the fight for Christmas. Let's face it, the holiday is no longer about Christ. Very few of the key symbols of Christmas are remotely connected to Christ. Many, like the Christmas tree, are based on pagan holidays that coincide with the winter solstice. But what is funny is that Christ is so offensive, that even the watered-down version of a holiday that bears His name, has been edited out. This year especially I have been struck with a sense of awe over how cheap Christmas has become. Almost every bauble and trinket that is Christmas related was manufactured in China, in a factory where the workers are paid less than 1% of what you pay for it here to manufacture an item that represents a holiday that they know absolutely nothing about. They don't know what our fascination with trees and Santa Claus is all about, but they sweat on a factory floor, melting PVC down to make greenery. A fake Christmas tree made in a Chinese factory costs about $10 to manufacture for the owner of the factory. That includes paying for the labor, utilities, supplies and all. He then sells it to a distributor for $12. Then they ship it all the way across the globe, and Wal-Mart puts it out on the floor and sells it for $120. And as long as they say "Merry Christmas" then God is honored, right? I agree with you. It's a show, and we are owned by it.

Spiritual Discourse : Science Roundup

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:45:10 +0000

Interesting.. Walton's views almost seem gnostic. The whole de-emphasis on the material origin, and more of a focus on what is essentially a spiritual origin, seems very close in line with gnosticism. I'm only 4 pages into the review, but it's a fascinating approach.

Spiritual Discourse : 150 Years of "Origin of the Species"

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:03:43 +0000

I don't really think a trump card is necessary. Faith pertains to that which is unknown, science to that which is known. If one holds by faith that the earth is flat, and science proves it to be round, then only through self-delusion can faith trump science. I think it is the very notion that one trumps the other that is causing such a pseudo-war between science and faith. If you are a believer in science, and a person of faith, then you shouldn't have to choose one or the other. Maybe it's just that your faith is in the wrong thing.

Spiritual Discourse : Review: Stockholm Syndrome by Derek Webb

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:57:14 +0000

Here's the lyrics to the song the title comes from: Black eye from staring through a keyhole at my lover I swear it's not from his fist This stockholm syndrome comes to where they're keeping you You never know what time it is Black eye is all it's gonna take for me to love you It's written in my constitution If you go you know I'm coming with you I'm blind bound by love Time is no friend to the ones who wait For daylight to come Time looks the same at the ones who hate And the ones that do nothing Black eye is where I'm gonna paint for your protection To cover the tracks that you're leaving I misplaced my face so we can be together And red lips change how you're perceiving Time is no friend to the ones who wait For daylight to come Time looks the same at the ones who hate And the ones that do nothing -------------------------------- So I don't think this necessarily is antithetical to Webb's earlier views. He still expresses that he is "bound by love". I didn't mean to imply that he was attempting to "free Christians from the church".. but I think he is representing a situation where an individual feels both love and abuse from a captor. I read an interview with him about it, and he is not direct about who the captor or captive represents.

Spiritual Discourse : Review: Stockholm Syndrome by Derek Webb

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:59:08 +0000

I'm not sure I agree with the assessment that the Stockholm Syndrome reference here is in reference to the church's love affair with the world. I think Webb is talking more about Christians who are enslaved to the church rather than to Christ, in so much that they justify every action the church takes, or political view or social stance. As I said, much of the album deals with the church treatment of the gay community. I think the song "Black Eye" from which the title of the album comes, is from the perspective of someone who has been kept captive by dogma.

Spiritual Discourse : Review: The Message of 1 Peter by Edmund Clowney

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:05:43 +0000

Can you give any highlights of 1 Peter that might make it more compelling to read? What I mean to say is.. if one were to sit down and say.. Ok, I'm going to read a book of the Bible today.. what's the best argument for making it 1 Peter?

Spiritual Discourse : Honey, we\'re all resplendent

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:57:37 +0000

I agree about the last lines. I thought of this line as a stellar rebuttal to Bazan's question "Who did I betray?". I've always kind of thought of this song as a one-sided view of Job. Something about how he loses his wife and kid, can't seem to make ends meet as a farmer, etc. The anger, "howlin' fury".. the questions. Why me? I think the questions are either rhetorical, or meant for God, who is silent.

Spiritual Discourse : Desire: a critical component of choice

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:17:26 +0000

I think I am just trying to understand this theology of sin coming into the world. It's one I grew up with, so I should know it well, but I didn't give it much thought then, and now it plagues me. A large part of Orthodox Christian doctrine seems to hang on the notion that Adam introduced sin into a perfect world, and I just can't wrap my head around that claim. Who is the serpent? I've always been told it was Satan, but the Bible doesn't say that, it says the serpent was the craftiest of the wild animals. Then where does the notion of there being no death come from? There is nothing that I can see in Genesis that claims that animals didn't eat each other. Where does this idea come from? In fact, there was another tree.. the tree of life, that had they eaten from they would have gained eternal life, which implies they didn't have it from the beginning, meaning that there would be death.

Spiritual Discourse : Desire: a critical component of choice

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:17:36 +0000

So evil originated in heaven with Satan?

Spiritual Discourse : Desire: a critical component of choice

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:50:29 +0000

You said in your post "when sin entered the human race, the ability to choose righteousness was not lost but the desire was. " The implication here is that prior to sin entering, presumably when Adam and Eve ate from the tree, man had both desire and ability to choose righteousness... and yet did not. So, man must have also had desire and ability to choose unrighteousness, and where the desire to choose unrighteousness exists, sin already exists. If, as the old story goes, man did not know good from evil then there was really only one possible sin man could have committed, and that was to break the singular commandment "don't eat from THAT tree." And with a wide open world of possible righteousness, man chose the one wicked thing, thus man's heart was fallen from creation. I mean.. man didn't even enjoy a whole generation of righteousness.. we tripped and fell right out of the gate. To quote David Bazan (again) "when you ponder the weight of an apple compared with the mess that we're in" it just doesn't add up. You ask what my answer is, I believe evil is one of the "secret things" you spoke of. But I don't think it came from man and I don't think it came out of an apple. Not to mention I think the fossil record shows millions of years of death and decay long before Adam existed.

Spiritual Discourse : Desire: a critical component of choice

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 02:38:03 +0000

As always, a very dense post (not in a bad way). I'll have to read through a few more times to fully formulate any response, if there even is a response. Just a couple of questions to get us started though: #1 -- When did sin enter the human race? #2 -- How does a sovereign God allow any room for anyone to have a will other than his own?

Spiritual Discourse : The Limiting Power of Love, or Is God a Micro-Manager?

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 18:29:05 +0000

I think you and I have a different idea of what sovereign means. The question is, does God micro-manage/dictate man's will. The answer to that question does not in anyway confirm or deny God's sovereignty.

Is it possible for God to go back on a promise? Is it possible for God to blow the whistle, destroy everything and send everyone to hell? That's sovereignty. To hold the power and ability to do it, yet not do it, does not in anyway diminish the sovereignty.

Spiritual Discourse : The Limiting Power of Love, or Is God a Micro-Manager?

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 03:41:58 +0000

Limited sovereignty, in the context of God, is limited only by God's choice. That is, we don't establish the boundaries, He does. The Bible also doesn't explicitly explain the Trinity, but provides the foundation on which the concept is based. So that is not an argument valid against my post. The concept of the trinity is likewise brought to resolve tension between a monotheistic view that includes multiple personalities. Do you think that the Bible resolves every open issue about God? Does it paint a complete picture of God? Or are there things that are not revealed of God in the pages of the Bible? One way to look at the struggle between man's will and God's will, assuming man's will exists... Maybe God's will is for man to have a will. All living things, plants and animals, carry out their existence with no thought only instinct. But if men are created in God's image, what does that mean? It wouldn't make sense to have us carry out our existences in the same manner as a deer, a snail, or a pine tree.