partsofspeaking

 Why does the United States always look to Europe for models and ideas?  Is there some kind of inferiority complex? Do we believe their prejudices against us, that we are shallow, materialistic, uneducated, too religious, and crass? After going to Europe six times, for which opportunity I am very thankful, I am even more thankful to be a U.S. citizen.  

I am not giving in. I have gotten the impression I am supposed to. Not directly, but subtly. But I won't. I will retire before I have to let students submit AI generated assignments, passing them off as their writing and original work.  Forgive the Fox News reference, but this is funny, sad, and informative:  https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/seinfeld-star-julia-louis-dreyfus-used-ai-write-acceptance-speech-mistaken-for-julia-roberts  Point: AI gets it wrong. Really wrong.  I have had a number of students try to pass off AI generated text (I don't call it writing--that is a human act, more on that below), and they do it in two ways:  Wholesale, in that they don't bother to edit or even look at what has been generated; they just put it in a Word document, label it their appropriate assignment, and submit, thinking I am too stupid to notice that 1. It doesn't address the assignment or prompt, 2. It reads blandly and inhumanely, 3....

(My Life Group Lesson for Sunday, Nov. 26)   Main idea: The Lord Jesus Christ is the King who has conquered, is conquering, and will conquer, not for power, but for the redemption of the human race and created order.   This aspect of theology is one we do not think about or teach about much. We spend a lot of time on “Jesus died for my sins so I can go to heaven theology.” As I have matured as a Christian, I tend to think of that as a 101 class versus the full reality; it’s the first door, but we tend to stay there.   John Calvin says God speaks to us in baby talk ( “God, in so speaking, lisps with us as nurses are wont to do with little children” [ Institutes , 1.13.1] . https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-precious-gift-of-baby-talk   Paul says we now see through a glass darkly. The writer of Hebrews (6:1-20 says we must go on: “ Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying ag...

 I saw one today: Climate Change will kill us all.  Really?  No car wrecks, cancer, infectious diseases? Same car: I believe in choice.  I don't believe they really do.  Not really.  My choice is to not be afraid of climate change (although I believe it exists).

The really heavy set girl dancing around singing about a drug for diabetes.  Do they not get the irony? Do they not realize most of us are either perplexed or laughing? The woman on the Nexium commercial (hawked by a guy I used to like, Mike Huckabee) with her husband and she starts crying. Women who are one step away from tears always annoy me anyway.  Then she says, "I now know this man differently than I knew him before." What in the world is that supposed to mean? Don't they realize how this sounds? As in not appropriate. This on top of Martha of Medicare.  Obviously I see these on a certain station..... And my most recent favorite, AARP members can get a discount for their Rolling Stones concert tickets.  Now that's funny. 

This morning in the "contemporary service" we had four baptisms. When a Baptist is baptized, they get totally wet.  And it's a wonderful thing to see. I think it's one of the best things to see in a church. The convert climbs in the tank, someone who has spiritual care over them asks them to confess Christ, calls them their sibling in Christ Jesus, and literally dunks them all the way down, not a bit of skin or clothing dry, and pulls them up sopping. And we all applaud in joy.   As it was the contemporary service, there was no permanent baptistry in the meeting place, so it was a bit awkward. In most evangelical churches that perform believers' baptism, the audience only sees the pastor, the candidate, and the water, and the candidate rushes off stage. Today, there is climbing in and out, there is a towel offered, there is drying off, there is a walking off and even some shivering. I loved it. It's more like the old days at the creek--organic. The candidates ...

I have conducted a study of the psalms, formerly referred to as the Psalter, over the last several months. Obviously, that is not enough and only a wading experience rather than a deep dive. It’s highly possible I will take the same journey again, as I would like to continue my series on “The Gospel According to ….” with one about the psalms.     The last few are about the theme of praise, which is not exactly hard to figure out since the words leap out at you from the page.   To focus on 150, the very last, there are six verses and thirteen instances of the word “praise.” I will let it speak for itself, and I will type it myself rather than cut and paste from good old Bible Gateway:   Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament. Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timb...

The Crucifixion in Luke’s Gospel, 23:26-49. Lesson for November 12, 2023   When I realized I was teaching a lesson about the cross, I had to search my soul. How does one teach this? As a teacher you want to bring something fresh, and I decided that was, for me, too much about me and not about the text and the gospel. "Fresh" was too close to "clever," and if there is anything we teach about that does not need our cleverness, it's the cross. I confessed my egotism to God. So I just started reading, word by word, line by line, verse by verse. And that, and God's help, something arose   Years ago the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article by three prominent doctors, one from Mayo Clinic, about the actual physical cause of Jesus’ death. I wanted to find it, but couldn’t, and I have access to the whole University System of Georgia library database I did find the abstract: Jesus of Nazareth underwent Jewish and Roman trials, was ...