Movie Meme

Erin tagged me for this new movie meme. So here it goes:

1. One movie that made you laugh
Life of Brian

2. One movie that made you cry
Schindler’s List

3. One movie you loved when you were a child
Bad News Bears

4. One movie you’ve seen more than once
Fight Club

5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it
If people don’t share my taste in movies they can suck radishes.

6. One movie you hated
Snake Eyes

7. One movie that scared you
Poltergeist 2

8. One movie that bored you
A Room with a View

9. One movie that made you happy
Babette’s Feast

10. One movie that made you miserable
The Fog of War

11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see
None.

12. One movie character you’ve fallen in love with
Arwen in Lord of the Rings.

13. The last movie you saw
Alvin and the Chipmunks (with my two daughters)

14. The next movie you hope to see
Indiana Jones 4

I tag Sara, Garth, and Erik

In case you were wondering what to get me for my birthday

Here's a good place to start.

If Jesus Had a Blog - via LFCK

So this one religious guy walks up, and he's got this rep for knowing all the rules. And he goes all like, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

So I said unto him, "What is written in the law? How readest thou?"

And he answering said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself."

And I said unto him, "Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live."

...and lo, he was not cool with that. At ALL.

Posted 1:34 p.m. in Category "Check Me Out I'm Talking in Elizabethan English"

16 Comments

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COMMENTS

Can't say I blame the guy. You just wrote off studying scripture, being baptized, repentance, the church -- the whole works -- as worthless.

Maybe he was hoping for someone to actually help, instead of a simplistic sound bite.

-- savedbygrace313

I usually like your blog.

But you totally had a chance to seal the deal with this guy, and you just gave him an answer you knew would upset him. You could have prayed the sinner's prayer with him, could have showed him the chart-thing with the two cliffs and the stick figure on one side and God on the other and how the cross would bridge the gap, but instead you do this, knowing he'd be ticked off. I don't get it.

-- phillyphan22

And how are we supposed to quantify "love"? How do I know I'm saved then?

How is this answer supposed to help? How do I check this off?

I'm with "savedbygrace". Instead of being simplistic, why not just give him the right answer?

-- studytheword111

Wow...just wow.

-- i_always_say_wow_just_wow24

this is neat because i love GOD a LOT an d i cant do much right sometimes so i love that you said that

-- jess

Sure, it's really neat that a carpenter from backwater Nowhere can wipe out 2000 years of theology in one blog post.

Seriously, do some reading before you make up simplistic answers to eternal questions.

-- theophilus_phd

This is why I LOVE this blog. You tick off religious people, and make people like me feel like God loves me. God actually *loves* me. That is so wild to think about sometimes!

-- marymags123

Jesus Christ, I don't know where you get this stuff.

I realize it's "hip" and "emergent" now to say it's all about love, blah blah blah, but there IS such a thing as the Bible, and we do have rules about the Truth, and it's not just "love". Sorry.

Jesus, it's amazing what people will believe when we get away from solid teaching.

-- rootedintheword1972

I think what Jesus REALLY meant to say is that this guy wasn't particularly loving, so he needed to love. He did everything else just fine, like tithing and keeping the Sabbath, and love is just another one of the things you're supposed to do.

That's the way I look at it. Jesus was just saying love is another thing to check off the list, and this guy was doing a good job on the list, and so it's just one more thing. Right Jesus?

-- sallyann

No, Jesus REALLY means that you have to take this in context with all of the Bible. Jesus knew that guy would eventually have a New Testament, so he could understand that Jesus didn't really mean that eternal life wouldn't really be based on loving God with heart, soul, strength mind, and loving neighbor. God knows it's not that simple. If it were, I could preach in less than 35 minutes.

-- RevBoy22

No, what Jesus REALLY means is that God has a wonderful plan for your life, and you need a daily quiet time like NOW or else you're really blowing it, big-time, and you need to start witnessing more fervently, and memorizing The Word.

-- goterrapins1990

No, what Jesus is REALLY trying to say here is that we've lost a sense of right and wrong, and especially kids these days. Which isn't surprising, because we don't even pray in schools! Pass this on to ten friends if you love Jesus!

-- huckafan2008

huckaby sux

-- blinkrulz

I think what Jesus is REALLY saying is that he's freaking nuts.

Imagine if we really started believing this stuff. All we have to do is "love" God, "love" our neighbor as ourselves, and we live eternally in the Kingdom of God. So everyone who doesn't "love" God, even if they tithe, pray, preach, evangelize, memorize, all that stuff -- won't be in the Kingdom?

Is that what you're saying? So I guess we can just do whatever we want then. Neat. Hellooooo chaos.

-- disappointed_with_this_blog

Hey "disappointed"...if you don't love God here, why would you even *want* to go somewhere where He's FULLY in charge? Think about it. Maybe people who don't love what He's about here would really hate heaven anyway.

-- hunterboy99

i like ur blog jesus and i love you lots!!!!!!!!!

-- horsegirl1999

Sermon: Easter 7 - Year A

I don’t know about you, but for me, Jesus’ prayer in the garden is a powerful challenge. Yes, it’s important to strive for Christian unity. Being unified in the gospel is a tremendous witness to God’s love in action in a constantly fragmented world.

But I get tired just thinking about it. For me, Christians getting together is like the family reunion that you dread. There’s Aunt Peggy who smells like Windex and talks to you like you’re in kindergarten. Uncle Joe is pounding back his sixth scotch and it’s only 2:30 in the afternoon. Your cousin Jim is still nursing the grudge from 20 years ago when you gave him ex-lax and told him it was a piece of chocolate. And you know it’s only a matter of hours before Aunt Sheila and Grandma Jones will start their yearly screaming match. If you have family reunions, you know what I’m talking about.

Christian unity, to me, is a lot like that. When Christians get together I know what most of the conversation will be. From the United Church, I’ll be asked to defend Martin Luther’s involvement in the Peasants’ Rebellion of 1524. From the Anglicans I’ll be teased about our “fixation” on Martin Luther. The Roman Catholics will try to make pleasant conversation, not really knowing what to talk about, like the introverted uncle who sees you only once every five years. And the evangelicals will natter on with a curious mixture of superiority and inferiority. At least that’s how I experience it.

Then there are the voices that are NOT there. Other...(whole thing here)

Alan Shore (Boston Legal) on Euthanasia

Sermon: Easter 6 - Year A

Do you remember the day when you received your driver’s license? How did it feel? Wasn’t it a glorious day?

I didn’t get mine until I was 19, and until then, I was content just taking the bus everywhere. Living in a city where the transit system didn’t suck, I got where I needed to go in good time and got a lot of reading done along the way.

But then my feet started to twitch. No matter how hard I scratched them, the twitching never stopped. I didn’t like being at the mercy of the bus schedule. I didn’t like having to carry around change, worrying they’d fall through the holes in my pockets. I didn’t like always having to remember to but new bus tickets every couple of weeks. I wanted to go where I wanted, when I wanted. I wanted my freedom.

Freedom. It’s how we define ourselves. We are free people. We live in “the true north strong and free.” If our freedom is intruded upon, we fight back. If our freedom is threatened, we resist.

Freedom is a right. It was hard won. Our fathers and mothers, our grandmothers and grandfathers, and even some of you, paid an incalculable price for our freedom. And we honour that sacrifice.

So we say our freedom is sacred. Putting a Christian colour on it. Something to respect, and rightly so. Freedom, after all, is a Christian virtue.

But then again, do we really know what “freedom” is? Has some of it’s biblical shine worn off?

What our culture means by “freedom” and what the bible says “freedom” is may be two very different things. Our culture talks...(the whole thing here)

Mir ist so wunderbar

Why Krister Stendahl read the Bible

Stendahl passed away a week ago and left a rich theological legacy. Here's a small taste.

...let me share with you as a tribute to the Bible—and perhaps in a strange way—five "no" statements. It is usual when one is describing love to describe it in positive and glowing terms. But my friendship with the Bible gave me the joy, and the courage, to express my love in five statements of "not." The first is the one I have pointed at: It is not primarily about me. Second, it is not always as deep as we think. Third, even Paul isn't always totally sure. Fourth, don't be so uptight. And fifth, it is probably not as universal as we think.

It is perhaps odd to express my love in such negative terms. But it is also perhaps in the line of that wonderful word of Jesus in chapter 15 of the Gospel of John: I do not call you any longer servants, but I call you friends. Somehow I became friends with the Bible. In the biblical tradition, and in the Jewish tradition, to be called the friend of God, you had to be one who argued with God. Abraham, arguing about Sodom and Gomorrah, was called a friend of God. Job was called the friend of God. To me, Jesus is the friend of God, because he argues with God. And so, these five "no's" of mine I bring to you as a sign of love and friendship.

The first "no" is the one which became the watershed in my love story with the Bible: It is not about me. In Galatians 3 it says that the law became, as many people translated, the tutor unto Christ. And I had learned, in good Lutheran theology—and John Wesley was on that line, too—that the law was for the preparation of my conscience. The law was the tutor, and tutored me so that I could fully understand not only what I should do, but also that I couldn't live up to it, and hence needed a savior. The law was a tutor unto Christ, preparing, tendering my conscience, so that my need for forgiveness would become so great.

Then I...(read the whole thing here. Top to bottom)

Thanks to Brian Rude for sharing this.

Sermon: Easter 5 - Year A

So what do you think God looks like? If you could draw a picture of what God, what would God look like?

Would you draw a person? A bearded octogenarian with ripped abs scowling on a cloud, lightening bolt in hand?

Would you draw a nature scene, with radiant sunbeams shining luminously through soaring trees, with just the right mixture of light and dark to signify presence and absence, intimacy and mystery?

Would you draw a self-portrait, believing that since we are all created in God’s image, God looks just like each one of us?

Would you draw...(the whole thing here)

Planning for Earth Day - April 22

Here are some ideas to think about how you can make a positive impact for God's creation.

* Leave your car at home and reduce your automobile mileage by biking, sharing a ride, or taking public transportation regularly.

* Spring into green cleaning by using non-toxic household cleaning products with more natural ingredients and fewer toxic chemicals.

* Bring your own bags to the grocery store — it can take more than 1,000 years for a disposable bag to break down in a landfill.

* Support local farmers by buying locally grown food.

* Exchange your light bulbs for Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs in your home and work.

* Attend an Earth Day event in your local community.

Just a couple suggestions.

via

Debt Free! (almost)

Woo Whoo! I paid off my student loan at 11:46 this morning. No more monthly payments!

Also, no car payments (we paid cash for a second hand car that works AWESOMELY).

No credit card debt (we pay off the balance each month).

Only mortgage. But the good news is that our house as almost doubled in value over the past four years.

Just thought I'd brag a little. I'm in a smilin' mood today!

Sermon: Easter 4 - Year A

So what IS our relationship to the world? For me, that is a hard question. And I think part of the problem is that Jesus was giving us mixed messages.

Jesus turns over the tables in temple, driving out the money changers, wreaking havoc at the centre of Jewish life and faith. But he also healed the Roman soldier whose ear was chopped off while he was trying to arrest Jesus.

Jesus stood in obstinate silence in front of Pilate, suggesting unspoken hostility toward those pagan Roman oppressors, yet expressed amazement at the faith of the tyrannical Roman guard whose son Jesus had healed, a guard who was probably never going to renounce his Roman religion and become a Christian.

And when backed into a corner and asked point blank if it is lawful and good to pay taxes to that disgusting wretch, Caesar, whose god-like image was stamped upon every financial transaction, Jesus had the opportunity to lay it all out on the line where he stood in relationship to the powers of this world. Instead he gave a non-answer. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s” H’uh? You’ve muddied the waters so thoroughly that nothing seems clear.

So, which is it, Jesus? Are we to embrace the world or reject the world? Are we to be salt and light for the world or are we to challenge its idolatry? How do we remain faithful in a faithless world? Jesus doesn’t seem to know what he wants from us.

All he says is...(the whole thing here)

Betweeners

via

Another toy recall from China

An important reason...

...to listen to Al Gore.

Sermon - Easter 2

“Isn’t this whole peace thing just some left-wing nonsense?” one of my colleagues blasted at the presenter, a Mennonite theologian talking about the biblical understanding of peace.

“It seems that every time I hear someone talk about peace, it’s coming from some anti-American left wing hippie who hates rich people, who has doesn’t understand how the world actually works.”

I have to admit, I was both angry at his comments and embarrassed by his rudeness. But at the same time, isn’t that the cartoon the media presents in the news? Peace is a youthful ideal, but not terribly realistic. Especially in this age of global terror.

And so, we change the meaning of peace, At least the way we say the bible talks about it. When we think about the way peace is used in the bible we often think that peace means “peacefulness of heart” or “peace in our relationship with God.”

And while that’s true, that’s...(the whole thing here)

2nd Sunday in Easter

2nd Sunday in Easter

I sit in darkness
late at night
the kids are asleep
quiet now
--after a day of fun
oblivious to the adult world
--as we have made it
of war and hate
and children very much like themselves
loved very much like themselves
without enough
--of their share
--to survive
I want to venture out
To help in this world
--of too much
----and not enough
but I often find myself
----------hiding
here in the darkness
----------comfort
-------------safety
of my own walls
when
--into this sanctuary
--of my
------awareness fear
comes a voice
----(peace)
of disturbing comfort
that seeks to destroy
------------my little kingdom
-------of what
--------------can
------------------I
--------------------do
-----------------------anyway walls
I am heralded again
----(peace)
from that voice of life
----(be with you)
I long to
--but wish not
------------hear
peace
in the midst of your world
and because of it
as the words still ring
------in my mind
I remember the one who came
To make all things new
And I long
--for that contact
that would take me by the hand
and lead me
--down the path of what will be
lead me
----(as the Father sent me)
somehow to show
--that Christ lives
show it to others
------and myself
Help me Lord to do thy will
----(I send you)
today

- Pastor Dan

Overheard at church this morning.

Me: Didn’t the Easter Bunny come to your house today?

Young Boy: No, the Easter Bunny had to go to church today, too.

Sermon: Easter Sunday

Series: Living the Resurrection: Fruit of the Spirit: JOY

The women went to the tomb while it was still dark. That threatening time when Jesus performed his most notorious wonders. They’re in the dark, both literally and figuratively. We the listener might know what’s about to happen, but all they know is that they saw their friend and Lord horribly murdered. And they were simply going to take care of the body.

But you know the story. They found the tomb empty. Jesus stood alive in front of them.

Fear turned to joy. Grief softened to amazement. Terror melted into gladness. That’s what happened one Sunday morning.

They definitely did not see it coming. They had watched Jesus die. They put him in his grave. They said their good-byes and cried their tears, probably wondering if this guy had swindled them, conned them into thinking he was something he wasn’t.

But that morning, while it was still dark, they learned something new about God.

They learned that...(the whole thing here)

Maundy Thursday Sermon

Tonight, I would like to tell you a story. You may remember it from three years ago. It’s adapted from a novel by Graham Greene by Rebekah and myself.

It’s a Lenten story – a Maundy Thursday story. A story set in violent, war-weary Spain of 60 years ago, a story of a Roman Catholic priest and his atheist friend.

It happened this way (p.15). Father Quixote had told his housekeeper he should...(whole thing here)