Currently Reading Heretics of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 5) By Frank Herbert see related

Today I was bitten by a squirrel.

Should you ever see a squirrel that will allow you to get close enough to touch him, when the thought pops into your stupid head, "Hey!  He let me get this close to him, I wonder if he'll let me touch him.  He looks fluffy, docile, and cute"...ignore that thought.  They look cute, but they turn into ninjas when you touch them...fluffy little rodent ninjas.

On another note, wouldn't fluffy little rodent ninjas be a good name for a punk band?

Oh, and I went to DC today to meet one of the girls I'm going to be serving with in Ukraine, so that was a lot of fun...and I got some really good pictures while I was in the city.  Expect a Facebook album soon.

Remember, stay away from the squirrels.

Pax et Bonum

I got my Peace Corp placement today!  I'm going to Ukraine on September 27!

Pax et Bonum

Currently Watching Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5 (Episodes 10-20) By Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell see related

Here's an interesting thing that happened to me at church today:

I have been going to Grace Lutheran Church since I've gotten back to Virginia because for me, it's the perfect combination of spiritual elements for a church.  Anywho, it is a much more politically diverse congregation than I am used to; there are conservatives there, but also a significant number of liberals.  Now, you have to keep in mind that I was raised by Dr. Dobson to believe that liberals were the bane of society and that anyone who didn't support George Bush was going to hell in a handbasket...or maybe a dump truck because that's a lot of people.  Keep in mind that I am still a conservative; I voted for Bush and although I don't think he's made terribly wise choices of late, I don't think he's the "WORST PRESIDENT EVER" as one often sees on shirts, signs, etc. and I tend to regard with suspicion those who emblazen themselves with such a message.

All this to say that the guy who was sitting in front of me at church today had a keychain with a little digital display that said, "Bush's countdown--until our national nightmare is over!"  Although I've seen stuff like that all over the place, to see one on a churchgoer was a completely new experience for me.  I realized that, although I try not to be, I am incredibly prejudiced against the type of people that I "expect" to see in church and (as judgmental as it is) there's a little shock of, "I can't believe that THEY are a Christian!" when I see something like that.

What happened next though is what really blew my mind.  In the Lutheran church, as with any highly liturgical service (Catholic, Episcopal, etc.) there is the tradition of "passing the peace" where you turn to the people around you, shake their hand (or kiss them on the cheek if you're into that sort of thing), and say "peace be with you" or something to that effect.  Well, that point of the service rolled around and this Bush-hating liberal turns around and I extend my hand, we shook, and I wished him the peace of Christ...and somehow God's love cut through all the haughty crap that I surround myself with and I really meant it.  I was struck by the incredibly diversity of the Body of Christ...that there are those who love Christ with all their heart, soul, and mind and yet still vote against the things that I vote for or see things in a different light than I do.  It was just a little thing, but it was a metanoia experience for how I regard the church--something that I had come recently to know in my head but which had not yet translated to my understanding.

Peace be with you.

Pax et Bonum

Currently Listening Seven Swans By Sufjan Stevens see related

Recently, I have been reading the book Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell, one of the pastors of the Mars Hill church.  I was initially suspicious on account of the fact that I am not a fan of pop spirituality (Your Best Life Now anybody?) but I'm glad that I picked it up; it offers a lot of insight on Christianity that I've never quite been exposed to before.  Anywho, the following passage really hit me pretty hard and I thought I'd share it with all of you out there who actually read what I have to say in the hopes that it might perhaps hit the same nerve or awaken something within you as it did me; if it doesn't, no biggie, just take this as another testimony as to what God is doing in the lives of his children.  Unfortunately, I can't copy the entire chapter here, but I'll try my best to make a respectable hack job with excerpts:

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"When people use the word hell, what do they mean?  They mean a place, an event, a situation absent of how God desires things to be.  Famine, debt, oppression, oneliness, despair, death, slaughter - they are all hell on earth.  Jesus' desire for his followers is that they live is such a way that they bring heaven to earth.  What's disturbing then is when people talk more about hell after this life than they do about hell here and now.  As a Christian, I want to do what I can to resist hill coming to earth.  Poverty, injustice, suffering - they are all healls on earth, and as Christians we oppose them with all our energies.  Jesus told us to....For Jesus, this new kind of life in him is not about escaping this world but about making it a better place, here and now.  The goal for Jesus isn't to get into heaven.  The goal is to get heaven here....Jesus wants his followers to bring heaven, not hell, to earth.  This has been God's intention for people since the beginning.  Jesus is not teaching anything new for his day.  God walked in the garden, looking for Adam and Eve.  God told the Israelites to build a tabernacle so he could live in their midst.  King Solomon built a temple, God's house, so God could live permanently among his people.  And when Jesus comes, he's referred to as God "taking on flesh and dwelling among us"....The entire movement of the Bible is of a God who wants to be here, with his people.  The church is descibed later as being the temple of God.  And how does the Bible end?  With God "coming down" and taking up residence here on earth.  True spirituality then is not about escaping this world to some other place where we will be forever.  A Christian is not someone who expects to spend forever in heaven there.  A Christian is someone who anticipates spending forever here, in a new heaven that comes to earth.  The goal isn't escaping this world but making this world the kind of place God can come to.  And God is remaking us into the kind of people who can do this kind of work.

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He's not saying here that there is no heaven or hell and that eternity does not exist (as it may sound out of context like I have presented it), but rather that, "life beyond this one is a continuation of the kinds of choices we make here and now."  To expound upon the logical thread of Mr. Bell, I would say that since this world fallen and the territory of the devil (You know, the whole "Prince of this world" thing...), I would say that the inaction of his people in bringing heaven to earth is the same as allowing hell to prevail.  Therefore, the pursuit of heaven is something that is very active and very dynamic--something that we have to get off our butts to do because, sure as hell, it's is not going to happen by itself.

Which brings me to my day today.  Yesterday and today, I watched a cumulative total of 8 hours and 45 minutes of television (mostly season one of Battlestar Galactica).  Yes, I realize that everybody needs to unwind and I'm not saying that TV is evil (although you all know I think that anyway, but that's a different story altogether ).  What I am trying to say is that I had a vast chunk of my time annihalated in the act of escaping the harder realities of this world--I chose to run instead of taking a stand for heaven.  It's not that I did anything wrong...I just didn't do anything right.

And hell got eight hours and forty five more minutes more to creep in over the world.

For the people reading this:  I am not trying to judge you for using your time badly or somehow tell you that you are a bad person for watching TV (like said, I know that everyone needs a break now and again).  I just want to point out something of which I have, personally, been convicted and show you what it is that I am struggling with right now.

Pax et Bonum

Ok, this reaaaally makes my blood boil...(Warning:  Do not read this entry unless you are in the mood to get seriously pissed off.)

I don't know if any of you have heard of Westboro Baptist Church, but they are the organization that has made the news for showing up to picket military funerals with their trademark "God hates fags!" posters.  Their rationale is that since America has become complacent in the issue of homosexual rights, God is punishing us by killing our soldiers.  Far out?  Offensive?  Theological absurd?

But this is mere child's play compared to what I found when I stumbled across their website.  When I had just heard about them on the news (concerning the military thing), it made me angry...but this is just beyond belief:

First of all, their website is www.godhatesamerica.com (if that's any indication).  I would encourage you to log on and check it out; it's infuriating, but a rather fascinating read.  When you first go there, you are welcomed with this text in huge bold letters:

"WBC will preach at the memorial service of the corpulent false prophet Jerry Falwell, who spent his entire life prophesying lies and false doctrines like "God loves everyone". 

There is little doubt that Falwell split Hell wide open the instant he died.  The evidence is compelling, overwhelming, and irrefragable.  To wit:

1.  Falwell was a true Calvinistic Baptist when he was a young preacher in Springfield, Missouri, and sold his soul to Free-Willism (Arminianism) for lucre.

2.  Falwell bitterly and viciously attacked WBC because of WBC's faithful Bible preaching -- thereby committing the unpardonable sin -- otherwise known as the sin against the Holy Ghost.

3.  Falwell warmly praised Christ-rejecting Jews, pedophile-condoning Catholics, money-grubbing compromisers, practicing fags like Mel White, and backsliders like Billy Graham and Robert Schuler, etc.  All for lucre -- making him guilty of their sins."

Oh, and to top it off, they end it with a nice little, "Falwell is in Hell, Praise God!!" or something of the sort.  Nice huh?  Keep reading.

Once you actually get into the website we find out that the following list of people are either burning in Hell or are going to burn in Hell (always with a nice little "praise God!" tagged on the end):

1) Any US soldier

2) Katrina victims

3) The miners killed in WV a few years back

4) The Amish (and especially the girls killed in the shooting a year or two ago)

5) Sweden

6) George Bush Jr.

7) Ronald Reagan

8) Gerald Ford

9) The VT massacre students

10) Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife

11) Pope John Paul II (or "The Great Pedophile Priest" as they have lovingly dubbed him)

12) Reggie White

13) The Columbia astronauts

14) Anyone who died during September 11

Oh yes, and for a exhaustively exegeted explanation of why Topeka is "Satan's seat" and "the most evil place on earth" I would highly recommend this rather amusing video:(http://animation.speakfree.net/video/sott/wbcvn/qt/20070620TopekaIsSatansSeat.mov)

It's about 11:00 long, but it's worth it.

Here is a very very good reason why we need to be careful about taking the Bible out of context; it is not some book that can just be opened and verses extracted to support an agenda.  Grrrrrr.....

Please pray for the congregation of this church; please pray that they will no longer be led astray by false teaching, or at the very least, that members will be extracted to an environment where they can experience God's forgiveness, mercy, and compassion instead of just His wrath.

Pax et Bonum