Disqus - Latest Comments for Bryan L

Re: Give a Title for This Quote

Bryan L — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:33:04 -0000

Man I can't think of a quote but I just feel sorry for that lady and her family. That must be really rough. I live in the hood and I know a lot of what she's feeling but she seems to have it pretty bad. Who steals someones steps?!! I hope they can find a way out. Even just moving into a cheap apartments sounds better. Sorry I'm probably ruining the humor of this aren't I?

Either way I thought it was funny that there was so many abbreviations in such a long paragraph. It reminded me of that cell phone commercial where everyone is speaking in text messaging. If she wanted to be briefer it seems it would be easier to just say less than try to abbreviate random phrases and words. Maybe she text messages a lot and is used to writing like that.

Anyway...

Bryan

Re: Faith Like a Child?: Experience Precedes Existence

Bryan L — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:04:42 -0000

Do you think it is too much of a jump to try to take an atheist from belief in no god to belief in god? I think maybe intermittent steps might be good, like first trying to show evidence that there is a spiritual reality or something more than just the material world that you can test in a lab.

Then I guess the next question might be what would constitute evidence for the spiritual. The miraculous maybe, or ghost or spirits or even the demonic. From then I don't know that you can prove God's existence but you may be able to push them towards faith in a god or gods, and then maybe to monotheism and then possibly even Christianity.

What do you think? Either way I think it might be too much to ask to prove God to an atheist but maybe you can push them in that direction so that eventually they decide to make the step of faith.

Blessings,
Bryan

BTW your last question is one that I was asking the other day. Personally I don't think that I would be a Christian (at least not in any committed sense) were it not for experience. You?

Re: Everything Must Change. Capitalism? Not So Much.

Bryan L — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:52:48 -0000

"Does anyone else have this same intuitive sense that Emergent is just marketing masking itself as something radical within the church;"

Yes!! To be honest I am sympathetic to much of what they're saying and even to many of their practices and ways of being the church and carrying out the kingdom. But I can't stand all the marketing and conferences and panel discussions and new books and...

It makes it just seem gimmicky and about selling stuff and their most venomous critics in the fundamentalists circles are the ones that are feeding right into it helping them do this.

I don't believe they started with this intention but it seems like all they've been about lately is trying to promote themselves but there is nothing really solid to promote since it's a conversation and a re-evaluation so it's ambiguous enough to keep the machine going and keep coming out with more and more "resources".

So yes emergent does seem to be something that feeds off the marriage of Capitalism and Christianity which makes sense I guess when you take into account its postmodern roots and what Halden said recently about the link between postmodernism and capitalism.

Thanks for saying exactly what was on my mind and I hope emergent does take this into consideration with how they move forward from here (but it will be hard because it sells and publishers like books that sell).

Blessings,
Bryan L

Re: What Does It Mean that Scripture Forbids Homosexuality?

Bryan L — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:59:20 -0000

"And this last point is also important. We choose to employ different hermeneutic lenses for different reasons."

I think the whole debate really hinges on the particular hermeneutics employed. Unfortunately people with different horizons will never agree on the particular hermeneutic to use and it's not easy to prove or show which is the right one or which is more justified. Richard Hays does take that into account in his NT ethics book though.

Blessings,
Bryan L

Re: Sally Kern’s Hate Speech

Bryan L — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:10:39 -0000

What would the speech sound like if it were something we all tend to disagree with? What if you put "Nazis" in there or Radical Fundamentalists or something similar? Would it be considered hate speech then?

To be clear I do disagree with the speech. But how do you differentiate hate speech from when it is ok and guarded by free speech laws and when it is hateful and harmful to a group of people? After all, I see a lot of what could be considered as hate speech taking place on blogs, even Christian biblioblogs but it's acceptable because everyone agrees it's ok to hate and slander and tear down a particular group of people.

Blessings,
Bryan L

Re: Sally Kern’s Hate Speech

Bryan L — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:34:31 -0000

I guess the point is when we find something we disagree with and think is wrong, is it ok to speak against it? You brought up homosexuality and many people will agree that it is not a choice to be homosexual that same people are just born that way. But they will disagree whether people have a choice as to whether they act on their desires and wants.

I mean I'm sure we can think of all kinds of predispositions that some people are born with that everyone can agree are not good (something like alcoholism maybe)and we wouldn't fault someone for being born with those predispositions. But would we excuse them for acting on them? We might have more understanding as to why they do but do we say it's completely fine for them to do that if we don't agree that it is ok?

Blessings,
Bryan L

Re: Sally Kern’s Hate Speech

Bryan L — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:51:44 -0000

Drew,

You said, "it is clearly not Christian according to the demeanor that Paul beseeched the communities of his day with which to conduct themselves."

But if she were speaking against something that we all saw as clearly wrong, like racisim, oppression, etc. would it then be Christian? Does what makes the speech so wrong and unchristian the lying and untruth; the meanness? I mean where does the definition of Christian come from? Does it just mean being nice?

James (in the Bible) has some pretty harsh, even hateful word to say towards the rich people that oppress the poor. Paul has some pretty harsh words to say to the Judaizers causing trouble in Galatia. Jesus has some pretty harsh words to say toward the pharisees who load up burdens on the people but do not lift a finger to help them. Don't even get me started on the prophets : )

In that context we all see it as ok and even appropriate given the thing being denounced (at least I do). How would you convince someone that this is different if they do in fact see homosexual practices (not orientation) as wrong and even potentially harmful for their others (or even their country)?

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you I'm just asking out of interest and for the sake of discussion. I am sympathetic to much of what you are saying it's just if I were to adopt your position I would want to make sure I had a solid answer for potential objections or questions that might come my way.

As far as your 2nd and 3rd paragraphs that is probably a discussion for another time.

BTW you know what might be helpful Drew? If you were to rewrite that speech (but from that particular side's point of view) taking out everything that you see as hateful and untruthful and either rewording it or replacing it. It would be helpful to see what is a proper was of speaking out against something that you truly disagree with and even see as potentially harmful, that would not be considered as hate speech. I know you probably don't have the time for that kind of thing but I know I would find it valuable. : )

Blessings,
Bryan L

Re: Twitter Updates for 2008-03-22

Bryan L — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 07:53:31 -0000

My wife and I have never seen a single episode of Lost although we actually want to. My sister who is not a Christian and does not believe in God likes it and thinks that I'll like it because it has a lot of biblical themes.

I've also never seen Heroes which I really want to and I've never seen 24 which I wouldn't mind checking out the first 2 seasons.

Bryan

Re: Top 10 List: 20th Century Thinkers I Wish Could Blog

Bryan L — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:04:03 -0000

Any books you would recommend by Niebuhr? Doesn't/didn't he have a brother?

I'm a big fan of Stark but I was wondering something. Is he legit? By that I mean does he actually have some real cred. and are his books taken seriously and his scholarship solid, or is he kind of off doing his own thing and nobody's paying attention. I've just wondered whether it'd be wise for me to recommend his books to others but I don't want to do that if he is easily getting proved wrong or dismissed by other scholars.

Thanks,
Bryan

Re: Top 10 List: 20th Century Thinkers I Wish Could Blog

Bryan L — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:04:48 -0000

Thanks Drew. I was just curious. I really liked the books I've read of his (especially "For the Glory of God") and I recently acquired "The Victory of Reason" and just wanted to make sure before I tell people about his work that he wasn't some cooc.

I'll have to check out Niebuhr. I was watching that interview with Cone and he was raving about one of the brothers and whichever one it was sounded really interesting.

Bryan

Re: The Friday Rundown: Blogging, Death, Learning, and Urine

Bryan L — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:30:19 -0000

Drew,
You pointed out the lack or responses to your theodicy post and then mentioned how the not so deep posts get more responses and then you go on to ask "What grabs your attention and holds it?"

Speaking for myself, short posts are generally what grab my attention. When I get up in the morning and there are 40 new posts in Google Reader I quickly scan through them all. I will stop and read the shorter ones and scan through most of the rest that are longer. If I find one that is long but looks like it might be interesting then I will mark it so that I can come back to it later when I have more time. In the case of your theodicy post this is what I did. Unfortunately I don' always get back to the longer posts or by the time I do I feel too much time might have passed or the blog owner might have moved on (this is especially the case of the blogger posts rather frequently) so I don't end up commenting

I think with the longer more serious posts, sometimes it might be better to split them up and post them in parts and have some discussion take place and then posts the next part. I think this helps to keep the topic of discussion a lot more focused like a laser instead of broad like a shot gun (I remember in learning about preaching that some focused on this technique of making things more laser focused). I know when there is a long post sometimes I don't know where to begin commenting and so I just don't.

Also I find that when I'm looking at a long post it sometimes helps to have certain catchwords or provocative statements in bold that will catch my attention. That way it makes it easier to find out if I'm interested. I try this sometimes on my blog but I don't know how other people view it of if I go over board with it.

Anyway those are a couple of things that I think I will do in the future with my blog since I figure some people who read it probably have short attention spans like I do (I think I have ADD : )

Bryan

Re: Do We Blog For Fame?

Bryan L — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:48:42 -0000

I'm sure some blog for fame, even if they are hesitant to admit it. As for myself I try not to. I try to remain somewhat anonymous. I don't have my last name nor lots of personal pictures (or even my city listed), nor do I allow search engines to go through my blog. I don't want a lot of people coming to my blog who will just comment and then never return or who wouldn' be accountable for their comments. That's not the kind of fame you want where you get a lot of negative or shallow traffic.

Really there is nothing that special about internet fame anyway. It's completely transitory. You could have the greatest blog and 100,000 visitors a day, but the day you stop blogging for good you are just a memory. Nobody goes reading somebody's archives for fun or going remember the good ol' days when so and so blogged. What's in the past is in the past on blogs. Blogs are a what have you done for me lately type of medium and when you stop, people move on (I've noticed this a lot over the 3-4 years I've been reading and interacting on blogs).
Of course it's nice to have an average and steady amount of readers and visitors that way you can interact with various people on topics that interest you, but to shoot for fame and numbers just seems pointless. I mean have you ever been on one of those highly read blogs where each posts gets like 300 comments and the blog owner doesn't even really respond and nobody is really talking to each other beyond insults? Those blogs seem like such lonely places to me, unlike the blog that might get 6 or 7 responses on a good post but there is quality interaction and accountability.

I look at it like churches. Would I rather be part of one of those big mega-churches where no one knows each other or has any meaningful interaction or relationships, or would I rather be part of a smaller average size church where you're like a big family. Personally I would choose the latter not only in a church but in blogs too.

Sorry I blabbed for so long.

Bryan

Re: Fr. Pfleger Flummoxes Fox’s Foibles

Bryan L — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:40:11 -0000

That video was great. That reporter sounded so ignorant and amateur. It's amazing his boss is still on TV.

Bryan

Re: Todd Bentley is a Sad Loser

Bryan L — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:37:40 -0000

You know I feel pretty sad about what is happening to his relationship. I don't know whether the revival that he has been a part of was genuine or not. It is possible that the Spirit was moving heavily in those meeting, however when God does show up then some bad things in us are going to be revealed and things that were kept secret are going to come to light. God is serious about his church and those who lead it in any way are held to a higher level of accountability by him. I don't know if that's the case here but if the Spirit was genuinely moving in those meetings I wouldn't be surprised.

Bryan

Re: I Am Just Not Interested Anymore

Bryan L — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:19:16 -0000

LOL!

You should put some videos up of you on the drums jamming to Tool or Deftones. That would be awesome!!

Bryan

Re: Does Palin Balance the Equation?

Bryan L — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:53:31 -0000

#4 was a really interesting question that I hadn't thought of. It's easy to see what Biden brings to the table for Obama but what does Palin bring for McCain?

Bryan

Re: Evangelicals Say Palin’s Daughter Won’t Be an Issue

Bryan L — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:42:18 -0000

The problem is they (not the Democrats) have been making her family and issue from the beginning of the announcement of her as the Republican VP candidate. They've been gushing over the fact that she has 5 kids, that she chose to keep her fifth child who has down syndrome and what all of this says about her and her values, and how he son is going to Iraq, etc.

They want to capitalize on the picture of her family and what it says about her yet when negative things come to light it's off limits. Well if it's off limits then they should shut up about it and leave family out of this period and not just when it's inconvenient.

I don't know that I really feel any sympathy for them any more. It's all politics and nobody's innocent.

Bryan L

Re: When are The Fundamentals of the Economy Weakened?

Bryan L — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:36:07 -0000

Man, it's painful listening to him give a speech.

Re: Obama Does Not Want to Tax You and Go On a Spending Spree

Bryan L — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:35:02 -0000

It's class warfare!!!!
; )

Re: Dick Morris: Palin = Reagan

Bryan L — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:15:44 -0000

Wow those guys are idiots and Dick Morris really is a dick. What world do they live in? Seriously. How do people watch that network?!

Bryan L

Re: Ayers Bit is a Pathetic Smear

Bryan L — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:36:31 -0000

I wasn't aware that Chicago gave Ayers Citizen of the Year. That's the thing about Ayers. By the time Obama got to know him he was already a professor at the University of Illinois and a well respected in Chicago. This is someone who the mayor of Chicago gets educational advice from (which seems to be Obama's link to Ayers).

I'd like to see them pull more guilt by association with all of the people Ayers knows and worked with. I'd be interested in seeing how many there really are and how many are really upstanding and respected people.

Bryan L

Re: Limbaugh vs. Fox and O’Reilly on McCain

Bryan L — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:52:56 -0000

I really looked at O'Reilly differently after that Obama interview (I looked at Obama differently too). I'm starting tho think he may really be his own man and that when he told Obama he had no friends he may have really meant it.
Thanks for posting that.

Bryan L