Disqus - Friends of ddhoffman83

Re: so…how is married life?

Joe aka #1 fan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:23:14 -0000

Mmm, thank you for this reminder. This is often something I want the other person in the relationship (platonic or romantic) to just "get" - if I'm hanging out with you obviously I care for you! Of course investing time is a key component, but it needs to be made clear in other ways as well.

PS. When is the s-e-x life post?!?

Re: identity…from the context of our parents

Joe aka #1 fan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:32:34 -0000

I like to let the media define me - it tells me I am beautiful, wealthy, and desirable.

... oh wait, it tells me I *need* to be those things. D'oh.

Re: praying for others and praying for self

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:59:55 -0000

Mmm, our Christian culture is so lame (and I the lamest) when we can't even ask for prayer for ourselves at Bible study for fear of looking unspiritual. Granted I empathize with the guys who aren't as spiritual looking as me cus it totally hurts their chances with the ladies. In fact I should go pray for them right now.

Re: attempts at ignatius and the prayers of examen

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:05:28 -0000

Great points; it really helps to stop and, as often as we remember (which I wish I could say was often for me), ask "Where is God in [this]?", whatever [this] happens to be. As you mentioned, re: work, when we notice a pattern of the answer being "I dunno," we find ways to make the answer "right here." Three cheers for intimacy!

Re: Disciples and Pilgrims

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:19:10 -0000

Mmm, I like the idea of a long obedience *in the same direction.* So often I'll try something and if I don't see immediate results, assume it was the wrong direction, and reverse, change course, try something else quickly, reverse, rinse, wash and repeat. In the end, I'll have tried nearly every direction, but in a microscopic radius, and wonder why I haven't found the "right" path.

Re: Repentance

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:30:40 -0000

Perhaps this sheds light on why the idea of repentance feels so offensive to non-Christians: it is the act of admitting that you're not God, as Peterson so eloquently puts it. To tell someone they must repent (not to us, of course), is to tell them to admit they're not God, or even god. The challenge becomes, how do we tell them in a way that they understand we're not spiteful of them (their lifestyle), or perhaps even jealous (having failed at being god ourselves, we've come up with a way to ensure no one else will be either). Hmm.

Re: A Home Gym Attempt

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:37:53 -0000

I still need to try those ankle/wrist weights, cus the ones I have suck. I like the perfect push up so much because it is just more comfortable for me - regular push ups aggravate my wrists after awhile, while I have no such discomfort with the PPU. Also I appreciate the twisting (and humming "Well I can mash potato... Well I can do the twist"*)

*Note: I have never hummed that song while doing pushups before. But I might start.

Re: How to find rest in a fast paced world

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:42:45 -0000

Hey I have a great story about making time for rest/God! Haha.

I'm reminded of the old adage... "We're human *beings*, not human *doings*." Cheesy but true.

Re: Living Covenants

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:47:03 -0000

We should definitely bring back the old school Israelite covenants - splitting an animal in half and walking through. As Pastor Matt says, he keeps trying to get people to do that for their wedding, to be more scriptural, but for some reason people refuse... haha.

It is cool though, that in the Old Testament, the blood of (dead) animals was used, but now it is the blood of (the living) Christ, which points to the life of the covenant we have with Him, as you've mentioned.

Re: Amazon 30-Day Post Order Price Guarantee

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:43:07 -0000

Do they not charge your card until it is shipped, so that if the price changes between purchase and shipment you get the lower price? What if the price *increases*? So many variables!

Re: The Three Column Approach

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:57:07 -0000

Dangit, but I always pride myself on being the smartest (hence holiest) guy in discussion, that is how I get the chicks!

Seriously though I love this model. I am always irritated by the "application" time that inevitably ends up being less than 15 minutes at the end of discussion because it is just so void of any value. Deep questions like "What is God calling you to do to help those less fortunate than you" (random example, you get the idea) end up getting responses like "We should love them." Of course you should love them, that is assumed! But *how* do you love them? What does that look like? And then the other issue there is the idea of "WE..."; the question is not asking how I should help them, or even how you and I should help them, but how should YOU help them. Yourself.

Ok, enough ranting, and I'll also add that it is tough, because the "small group" I am in right now is very transient, as it is not meant to be a small group, per se, but a community group, so it is difficult to go deeper... but yah. In conclusion, I like the model, thanks Tim (whoever you are).

Re: Bruschetta Mushroom Omelets

Joe aka #1 fan — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:14:59 -0000

I'll take one with no mushrooms, please.

Re: The Power of Reviews

Joe aka #1 fan — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:16:47 -0000

I recognize the fairness in that, but it also fosters a "get it right the second time" mentality, if they are not afraid of negative reviews showing before they have a chance to fix it.

Re: “Living the Awake Life”

Joe aka #1 fan — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:25:51 -0000

That's funny, I was talking about success with a friend last night at PB group. I think this becomes even more interesting when we take a Biblical look at success, tying it to obedience with God's Word. At that point, if we take the "all or nothing" approach mentioned, we're basically saying because we can't be perfect, we won't try, and yet it is a forgone conclusion that we will never be perfect, and that is a perfect reason *to* try. Obviously I wish I put this "no fail" mentality into practice more than I do... haha.

Re: Psalm 121 - A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

Joe aka #1 fan — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:29:52 -0000

What the... I was reading this Psalm this morning!

Nice tidbit about waking Baal. "Their gods have mouths but do not speak, eyes but do not see..."

Re: Adobe Lightroom 2.0 - Initial Thoughts

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:41:00 -0000

Grr, I'm finally stumped for a comment.

Re: Psalm 121 - the hills in our lives

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:56:10 -0000

A friend at church likes to say that it's not how green the grass is on the other side, but how much you clean up the dog crap on your side. Cleaning up the crap of idols can really make a difference to one's outlook.

It's funny because I wanted to fight that filling in the blank of that question reveals our idols, and in a way I think it is overly simplistic (to want something is not automatically to make it an idol in one's life, IMO, and if I recognize a new job is a gift from God and praise Him for it, as long as I don't make my praise conditional (job: check, next: car), that can be positive, has a testimony value, etc), but I also think it is very telling - if I come up with a list of 10 items for that question, and they include house, car, job, spouse, etc, then yah I have definitely lost focus on God, and need to realize that and return to Him.

Phew, that comment was a little overly nested, haha.

Re: Adobe Lightroom 2.0 - Initial Thoughts

Joe aka #1 fan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:49:28 -0000

Ok I just can't hold it in anymore... I like the first one more! I like that the people feel more a part of the photo - I always prefer photos of people vs. photos of things (... that are not people).

Re: Searching craigslist efficiently with RSS

Joe aka #1 fan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:17:57 -0000

This is also helpful for job searches... if anyone happened to be looking for one, ya know.

Re: Triathlon training

Joe aka #1 fan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:11:22 -0000

Crap, after seeing that I'm too discouraged to even try - your before owns my after!

Re: Gesture and Posture from Culture Making by Andy Crouch

Joe aka #1 fan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:03:35 -0000

Crap, it is bad enough I have bad ergonomic posture, now I have bad Jesus posture!

I'm interested to hear about the artist and gardener; creator and cultivator. Do they eschew the 4 C's mentioned, or implement them in unique combination? I thought it was a thought provoking idea for us to consider which of the 4 C's are we "best" at, if best is the right word.

Re: Peanut and Photography

Joe aka #1 fan — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:01:03 -0000

I think the appropriate caption should be:

"Peanut for President!"

Re: waiting and listening to God

Joe aka #1 fan — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:32:51 -0000

"give me a heart that will ask and wait and listen..." "... even when my ipod breaks."

Haha. Great prayer.

Re: Open Invitation - A Message from Revelation 3

Joe aka #1 fan — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:13:02 -0000

Mmm, interesting. I think something I also struggle with, tied into your part 1, is not only to want the road of least challenges, but the road with the most accolades as well. Which is linked to the second point as well - my identify is the well-liked, well-thought of guy. Just need to remember... God's in control. EOF.

Re: the bcc’ing of success

Joe aka #1 fan — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:47:15 -0000

I recognize myself doing this often as well, especially as it relates to mentors. Oh you've been in a situation I'm in or about to be in, what did you do? How did you "win"? For better or worse though, there is no win button. As you say though, taking what was done and making it our own is of great value, rather than a mindset that favors the opposite extreme of assimilation: I will ignore what everyone else has done completely, even if they have wisdom to share about pitfalls, etc, and just do it *my way*!