Disqus - Latest Comments for JoshuaD

Re: St. Patrick's Breastplate

JoshuaD — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:47:18 -0000

I remember one summer when I would pray this prayer every morning when I woke up. It was a very powerful experience for me.

Re: The greatest show on earth ... NOT!

JoshuaD — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:08:33 -0000

The first one gives the song "Drop Kick me Jesus" a whole new meaning.

Re: On the lookout?

JoshuaD — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:17:49 -0000

Thanks, I've got a few hours free this evening, and this should fill in some of that nicely!

Re: Jim & Casper go to church

JoshuaD — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:12:13 -0000

does it really matter what the unchurched think and feel when they enter our churches?

Yeah, I think so. Anyone who walks in is going to feel like an outsider, that's just a fact of life. But the difference is whether or not they feel like people are interested in helping them to become insiders if they want to. If that makes sense.

Isn't the Gospel always "foolishness" to those who don't have the Holy Spirit?

Yes, and I would say that it's foolishness to a lot of people who do have it. But generally not in the way that we tend to think of Christianity being foolish today. I think it's more about the Gospel being so sacrificial and selfless that it seems like foolishness in the world's eyes to give when you might(will) get nothing in return.

To what degree should we or should we not adapt to the culture surrounding us in order to communicate the Christian message more effectively?

You can some, and I would think it's arguable you could do it in ways most people aren't comfortable with (for instance, Paul uses mystical love poetry about Zeus in Athens to describe YHWH.) But it's also clear that certain cultures have so saturated the gospel they've warped it; such as the Franks and English during the crusades that embraced violence as a path to salvation, or the Americanized Gospel of today that has combined the American Dream with the Gospel.

Re: Open mic: male gender identity

JoshuaD — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:37:20 -0000

I do think that men want to rescue a beauty. But I think that there is also an element within each man that cries out to be rescued too, or perhaps I'm only speaking from my own experience there. I'm not sure.

Jesus is the perfect portrait of a man, but I can't help but wonder if he doesn't embody an example of maleness so much as an example of humanness. I say this because if Jesus is the example for men, then who is the example for women?

Re: Open mic: male gender identity

JoshuaD — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:42:41 -0000

Men are supposed to be strong, powerful, ripped muscle dudes. Right?

I think David is a decent example of a man. A lot of people think of him as this tough warrior who can take beat the crap out of anyone. The Psalms paint a different picture though. David was scared for his life a lot. He was terrified. He felt like his life could be swallowed at any moment sometimes. He wasn't a fake tough man. He was real, he was emotional. And he relied on God when things looked like they couldn't get any worse.

You've got a man here who on one hand killed Goliath single handedly, and we talk about that a lot and how that's a model of a Christian man. We seldom talk about the time he pretended to be insane and frothed at the mouth in the City of Akon so the King of the City wouldn't kill him or hand him over to Saul if he found out who he was though.

There's more to being a man than the image Mark Driscoll and John Eldridge present. Not that I'm completely knocking what they're doing, because to an extent what they teach is a part of what it means to be a man (more in the case of Eldridge than Driscoll imo.) But for every man that these guys hold up as epitome of biblical "dudehood" I can show you something that that each character did that was definitely not what Mark and John think of as manly.

Re: Idolizing

JoshuaD — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:57:15 -0000

It's too easy to idolize someone, we are practically built to. And it's a lot easier to Idolize humans we can see than a God we can't (Christ not withstanding). I know that I have a tendency to Idolize St. Francis, but if we ever met in person here, he'd probably condemn me for not submitting to the Roman Pontiff. Likewise, I have some friends who idolize Luther and Calvin. Although the irony of that is most of them have no idea if they were magically transported back in time to meet either of them, they'd all be condemned for dis-believing in Infant Baptism, among other things.

It really is true that God is more gracious and merciful than men. Although he's a lot more challenging too in his own way,

Re: And the Oscar for best church performance goes to ...

JoshuaD — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:08:19 -0000

I'm sure there are some pastor's out there that could use a little appreciation, and there are others who have too much already as it is. I've never seen an appreciation month for Janitor's either though, and that does bother me too. IMO the Janitor's job is in some ways more vital than the Pastor's. I will sometimes jokingly say that if the pastor goes on vacation for two weeks the congregation hardly knows he's gone, but when the Janitor goes on vacation for a week he finds the church in shambles when he gets back.