partsofspeaking

I read on the Internet that a famous preacher and son of a famous preacher has gotten himself in hot water again for saying that Christians should basically ignore the Old Testament. Being a famous preacher with a big church (ironic here--the church only belongs to Christ) doesn't mean you are a good theologian. There is no understanding of the New Testament without the Old, the Hebrew Bible as it's now called (not sure on that, but I'll let it pass--it's not just for the Jews, and calling it that diminishes its importance to us). On the other hand, it's possible to get a lot of bad doctrine from the "Older "Testament. We live the New Testament in every way, but we understand it in the context of the contemporary Roman Empire, the millennia before its time as recorded in the tanakh, the Greek language and literature, and of course, mostly, its own testimony about Jesus. I am a firm believer that all Bible study must start with contextual understa

A member of our family has recently come to Christ after many, many years of struggle with a variety of things.  There has been an amazing transformation in this person. It has caused my husband and me to reflect on being a new Christian. This person calls us frequently with Bible questions, some hard, some fairly easy.  Today this person asked, based on something heard on the radio, if Abraham was a bad guy.  My husband tried to help. Back in the day (sorry, I really don't like that cliche) it was the responsibility of the local church to disciple a new convert. That was my experience in the '70s as a teenager.  There were other organizations that could help--the Campus Crusade, the Young Life, etc.--but it was the church that did it.  There was less media intrusion, and fewer crazed voices with prosperity gospel or other misinterpretation of conservative traditional Christian theology. The pastor was the primary discipler, for better or worse, and they used to preach at l

"Not keep a journal! How are your absent cousins to understand the tenour of your life in Bath without one? How are the civilities and compliments of every day to be related as they ought to be, unless noted down every evening in a journal? How are your various dresses to be remembered, and the particular state of your complexion, and curl of your hair to be described in all their diversities, without having constant recourse to a journal? My dear madam, I am not so ignorant of young ladies' ways as you wish to believe me; it is this delightful habit of journaling which largely contributes to form the easy style of writing for which ladies are so generally celebrated. Everybody allows that the talent of writing agreeable letters is peculiarly female. Nature may have done something, but I am sure it must be essentially assisted by the practice of keeping a journal."

Baptists, arise. Paige Patterson deserves a pension.  He worked for many years.  Golden parachute, maybe not. He shouldn't preach at the Annual Meeting, and messengers will have to take a stand if he doesn't have the decency to stand down.  And he probably should not get free rent for the rest of his life. 

I rarely get hooked on a show any more, but I can't recommend THE CROWN highly enough. Addendum:  I wrote that a while back.  The first season is better than the second.  The second devolves into too much soap opera.  The writers seem bent on making Philip a philanderer, on making us like Margaret (or feel sorry for her).  These are highlight reels.  These episodes have little to do with the day-to-day actions of the Queen, who apparently never spoke to her children after giving birth to them.  So take the rest of this original review with a caveat.   All the episodes are wonderful--thoughtful, informative, supremely well acted and of the highest production values--but the one I watch most recently is still in my mind. Verangkeit weaves the stories of the Queen meeting Billy Graham, having been interested by his crusades in England in 1957, and the attempted return of the Prince of Wales to public life in England, and the exposure of the Marburg Files. One can watch this ep

I read books about leadership, most of them geared toward leadership of large organizations.  The topic of failure comes up a lot in these books.  Some employers want to know if the candidate has failed to see how he/she dealt with it.  Failure is framed as a good thing. Failure happens because a person takes risks.  Failure teaches. Sure. There's a lot of truth there.  Failure is inevitable, so we might as well have a positive frame for it.  But I'd just as soon not fail in the first place.  I wonder if some failure is due to imprudence, not just the inevitability of failure. In reframing failure, let's not treat it like a high value.  So I think, what are my big failures?  I've never lost a million dollars in a big business deal.  My failures are all little in comparison.  The succumbing to temptations, the hasty words, the shortcuts that pay back in spades.  No, these are not little, and they are failures.   They affect people.  

Great article by Dr. Mohler.  https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/may-web-only/al-mohler-humiliation-of-southern-baptist-convention-metoo.html Judgment must begin in the house of God.  Always.   However . . . not sure how I feel about aligning our repentance with that movement.  There are two different dynamics going on. Hollywood still wants women to be sexual "free."  We want (I hope) holiness.  We affirm sanctity of life and dignity of all at all stages and stations of life.  Hollywood, well, not so sure. I'm in a flurry of blogging and Tweeting today.  Not so much on Facebook.  All my friends are there!

Speaking of podcasts, I recently listened to T his American Life' s podcast on Carlton D. Pearson. Pearson was an up-and-coming Pentecostal preacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and protege of Oral Roberts when he had an epiphany that there is no Hell and God didn't want us to preach about it any more, and to preach an inclusive gospel.  This is interesting on so many levels.  And wrong. Sorry.  I just like this meme. First, the podcaster kept calling him an evangelical, overlooking the distinction between Pentecostals and evangelicals.  I had never heard of the man.  Second, the gospel is inclusive enough already.  Whoever will may come.  It is we who are not inclusive in extending it to people.  He tells a touching story about a homosexual young man who was rejected by his Pentecostal family and drawn to a liberal Unitarian church that showed him love after his AIDS diagnosis.  Yes, the gospel is inclusive enough for him. Third, yes, I have issue with the doctrine of Hell

We are in the middle of Ramadan.  Well, we aren't. Our Muslim friends are.  Since the English as Second Language program at our church mostly involves Muslims, we do not have class during Ramadan, so I'm off for five weeks.  Last week we had a celebration luncheon and heard from a young woman, a Muslim convert, on her testimony.  It was magnificent.  She has been brought through so much and is a truly grace-infused person.  I have heard converts from Islam say how much their world and perceptions changed after conversion.  One even said she saw color for the first time.  One missionary to Muslims said that most would convert if it weren't for the ostracism, isolation, and persecution they would experience.   The thirty days of fasting by Muslims should be our cue to thirty days of intense prayer for them. My students are lovely people.  I am glad they are here in the U.S. and I do not fear them; I do want them to know God's love in Christ, and am not afraid to p

I have followed this situation over the last few weeks with dismay. It is sad that someone who served the denomination has been shamed.  However, his shame was largely self-inflicted. Public persons cannot be glib.  Their public pronouncements must be wise and guarded.  This gentleman's apparently were not.  The larger question is where women stand (or sit) in the Convention.  I am keenly aware that women's ideas are often devalued or marginalized.  While I remain in the Convention and am not troubled by the ban on women in senior pastoral leadership, I think most of the men approach the question of women's leadership as a false slippery slope argument:  if we let a woman be in leadership, the sky will fall and before you know it gays will be ordained.  My own church (although I think this will change) has one woman on pastoral staff and that is the children's minister.  There should be more; there should at least be a female associate pastor and deaconesses.  I a

Although conservative, we are not Trump fans.  If he really defunds Planned Parenthood, I will somewhat change my opinion.  However, this nonsense about the NFL standing/sitting/kneeling for the anthem is too much.  He should stay out of it.  He just makes it worse.  My husband has more empathy than I, and believe the players should be left to kneel because of the reality of what they are protesting:  treatment of black Americans by some police departments.  So he wrote an email to the White House and got a reply.  It had nothing to do with that matter.  In it the spokesperson for the President, posing as him, was going on about his trade policy and how great it is.  Insult to injury. 

For the last year I have become fascinated with podcasts, which I listen to in the car and when walking the pitbull.  (I walk at the local high school mostly, and call myself "the crazy pitbull lady.") Along with various conservative commentators (Jonah Goldberg, Ben Shapiro and his crew, Eric Erickson) I listen to Tim Keller, Beeson Divinity School, This American Life (see related post) and Radio Lab (these latter two are NPRish programs). I listened to the whole S-Town program (well done, didn't like it, way depressing) by This American Life .  I listened to the whole Another Kingdom b y Andrew Klavan (very good, despite the overdrawn George Soros character and the bad language).  I've been referred to this podcast, American Innovations .  Quite, quite good.  This iteration is about the development of DNA.  It added to my knowledge base, although my new understanding of genetics is not enough to move the needle, as the cliche goes.  I found it interesting t

This writer really says it like it is: https://themillions.com/2018/05/will-buy-book.html My response:  The way some people act about our novels is still rude. I've dedicated books to people who haven't read them.  I do go to other people's programs and I do read other friends' books. Don't give away books.  Expect at least your cost and a little more.  This was a massive part of your life--more than performing in a community theatre play.  Those who have not written a 300-page novel have no idea how hard it is. Still, our motivation must be to let the story out.

https://blog.rescuetime.com/communication-multitasking/

http://breakpoint.org/2018/05/breakpoint-too-few-women/?utm_source=Colson+Center+Master+List&utm_campaign=055a40c1f6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_06_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_84bd2dc76d-055a40c1f6-6584513 Most, by far, of the Asian graduates were male.  Hummm.

Yesterday my husband and I attended our son's graduation from Purdue with his master of science degree in communication.  It was a fabulous ceremony.  It was fabulous because the gentleman who read the names never missed a beat despite names that would have been an enigma to the rest of others. Why? Because I would say 75% or more of the names were Asian--Indian, Chinese, and Korean, and some from other nations in Asian.  My son's name is very American and fairly common, so it stood out for that.  Mitch Daniels, who should be President of the US instead of President of Purdue, gave an incredible speech which was a love letter and warning to his party.  It was on tribalism and its dangers and how the graduates should fight it.  I wanted to scream amen.  He also emphasized that Purdue graduates create wealth (not money for themselves) and solve big problems.  I like that practicality instead of "serve and give back."  Give back is such a cliche.  We did yell &qu

I find these facts fascinating and startling.  Of course, although the writer picks on Google, all Internet usage does this harm to the environment.  We waste so much electricity.  I like to turn lights off in my building since people notoriously leave them on, but that's a drop in the bucket. https://qz.com/1267709/every-google-search-results-in-co2-emissions-this-real-time-dataviz-shows-how-much/

Seriously?   https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/07/when-one-scholar%E2%80%99s-lame-joke-another%E2%80%99s-offensive-comment?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=ed94522879-DNU20180111&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-ed94522879-198482621&mc_cid=ed94522879&mc_eid=ab27a3f05f

Senator McCain has asked that Trump not come to his funeral and Barack Obama and George Bush speak at his funeral. Good for him.  Of course, some are calling him a traitor, a RINO, and blah blah.  I for one am tired of this defense of Trump, as if he is some kind of hero.  He paid his way into the race.  He called the better candidates childish, if not vile names.  He even said of Ben Carson he wasn't a great doctor.  He said McCain wasn't a hero.  The Republican party has sold its soul and I hope they can buy it back. 

My husband watches soccer--futbol.  Yesterday one of the British teams was "relegated."  That means they were kicked out of the contention.  What an interesting way to put it.  I'm not sure it's a euphemism or the opposite, an exaggeration/hyperbole.  

I'm teaching this tomorrow, so here is my lesson.  Perhaps this will help someone. Context is very important in Galatians; otherwise it can seem like a random rant.   All the epistles are “fly on the wall” situations.   Just as if we wrote a letter to a family member or friend, there would be things in it others wouldn’t get, there is background here that we have to know. The Galatians were mixed Gentile/Jewish congregation.   Actually Galatians were in the region of Galatia and Phrygia, which is somewhat inland of what we call Turkey today. This was a very Christian region until the Muslim period after 800 AD.   Paul and Silas went there in Acts 16 on first missionary trip, and planned to go further north but the scripture says three times that they were instead led to go to the West, to Greece.   They revisited the Galatians in Acts 18.   Not as much time was spent there, so they may have been susceptible to bad teachers.   Paul apparently did not go back there on later

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/kanye-west-and-why-the-myth-of-genius-must-die/ I post this link because I think it's an interesting take on this Kanye West debacle.  I wouldn't know a Kanye West song from, well, anything, and I tried to listen to some of them on YouTube before this post but there was something wrong with the streaming, so I read some lyrics and they wore me out with the profanity.  I read his "debate rap" with T.I. This is much ado about nothing.  Just like the students from Parkland are not heard of any more, Kanye's political philosophy will fade out of public mainstream media/social media visibility in a while.  He strikes me as as big a narcissist as the the President, so they have something in common. In fact, I think Narcissism is a new political party.

What is cultural appropriation?  It sounds like one culture oppressing and enslaving another culture or nation as an act of war.   Turns out it means wearing a dress similar to a fashion in another country.   Babylon Bee, my daily bread for humor,  looks at it this way.  The link has the title, but the article is hilarious. http://babylonbee.com/news/fighting-cultural-appropriation-from-now-on-taco-bell-will-only-serve-customers-of-mexican-descent/ I guess no more pasta, Kung Pow chicken, wool sweaters from Scotland (I'm ok there, though, and have the DNA test to prove it), Great Dane dogs, oh, well, the list could go on.  On the other hand, perhaps only non-Caucasian groups can have their cultures appropriated.       -->