900 Blog Posts: Last One
Ann Voskamp wrote a book I've blogged about, One Thousand Gifts. I'm one hundred behind her, with 900 blog posts. And this will be my last for quite a while.
I don't know who is reading my missives; I am getting a huge number of hits from some troll posting ads for Viagra, Ambien, Cialis, etc. The posts I was most proud of--the theological ones, the expository ones--occasionally get hits, but the most random ones get the most, specifically something I wrote about living for a week without cable and Internet after the tornadoes of 2011.
My career as a doctoral student, my position as a full-time faculty member (and possibly an administrator), my return to teaching Bible, my tenure as the vice president of a professional organization, and my status as the daughter of a cancer patient have made my life very complicated. The number of my new posts will become very negligible, maybe until Christmas. I need to work on my fiction and publicize my novels, which this blog is not doing very well.
For my last post, I would like to make some disparate reflections.
I really like NetFlix.
The 9/11 hijackers were not cowards. But that doesn't mean they weren't evil. Being a coward and being evil are not synonymous or mutual exclusive.
As I have gotten older, I have limited my number of non-negotiables of Christian spirituality, and they are stronger and more deeply understood:
I don't know who is reading my missives; I am getting a huge number of hits from some troll posting ads for Viagra, Ambien, Cialis, etc. The posts I was most proud of--the theological ones, the expository ones--occasionally get hits, but the most random ones get the most, specifically something I wrote about living for a week without cable and Internet after the tornadoes of 2011.
My career as a doctoral student, my position as a full-time faculty member (and possibly an administrator), my return to teaching Bible, my tenure as the vice president of a professional organization, and my status as the daughter of a cancer patient have made my life very complicated. The number of my new posts will become very negligible, maybe until Christmas. I need to work on my fiction and publicize my novels, which this blog is not doing very well.
For my last post, I would like to make some disparate reflections.
I really like NetFlix.
The 9/11 hijackers were not cowards. But that doesn't mean they weren't evil. Being a coward and being evil are not synonymous or mutual exclusive.
As I have gotten older, I have limited my number of non-negotiables of Christian spirituality, and they are stronger and more deeply understood:
- Lukewarmness, half-heartedness, is not an option. Failure might be, but not mediocrity of commitment. No "halting between two opinions" No "tossed about by every wave of doctrine." "Choose this day whom you will serve."
- It's a package deal; it's bundled, not a cafeteria plan. We can't take out some doctrines and commands we don't like. As the old diner sign says, "No substitutions allowed."
- In the Christian life, while full-heartedness is required, balance between the fruits of the Spirit, between the virtues, is also required. Faith balanced with love; love tempered by discernment.
- We live in the New Testament. This will make some people mad. The Old Testament is for background, not for character guidance. I Corinthians 10 clearly states that those OT stories are for our examples of what not to do. I see no reason to study the life of David or Abraham for some kind of moral direction.
- Jesus is who we worship.
- Do not judge another man's servant.
- We U.S. Christians are a spoiled, rarefied breed. Most real Christians throughout history have lived in a world of hostility.
- Why does the world fascinate me?
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