30 septiembre 2005

thought one: re: evangelism of muslims:
all souls are of equal value, but not all souls are equally strategic.

thought two:
i still cannot (for the life of me) tell the difference between ô and ä. does ANYBODY hear a difference between the "ough" of OUGHt and the "a" of fAther? there IS no difference.... somebody's being reeeaally mean to a bunch of 1st graders.

thought three: (its a long one!)
I was looking through some Child Evangelism Fellowship materials today... very interesting: it had "how to lead a child to Christ" ("show him his need," "show him the way of salvation," "lead him to receive salvation," "help him find assurance of his salvation" and "encourage him to confess Christ to others") and emphasized that the child should demonstrate understanding and pray himself, which i thought was good. then i noticed at the bottom, a little seperate section entitled, "how to lead a child in consecration."

i was kind of confused... there, it said to "#1: question the child relative to his salvation, giving him opportunity to confess Christ to you. If he does not show clarity, he is not ready for consecration. Go over the steps for leading a child to Christ."

Then it said, "#2. If he is clear on the reality of his salvation, lead him to give himself to God by fully obeying what he knows God wants him to do. (Rom 12:1, 1 Cor. 6:19-20)"... "#3 Show him that the Holy Spirit, who lives in him, will make known through the Word of God what he wants him to do each day..."

#4: "Lead him in a prayer of dedication: 'Dear Lord Jesus, today i give myself to You. I want You to take control of my life. Help me live each day to please You. Help me be faithful in reading Your Word that i may know Your plan for me. Thank You for taking control of my life. Amen.' "

#5 "Help him to see that it is a sin to again take control of his life an that when he sins, he should confess it to God, trusting Him to forgive. he should then allow God to once more take control of his life (1 John 1:9, Prov. 3:5,6)."

ok, so i do all that every day, RIGHT?! is CEF really presenting "salvation" and "surrender" as two different things?!?!!? i thought consecration WAS what happened when somebody was saved... i sure didn't want my life anymore... Christ could have it. is it that wrong for CEF to split it up like that? am i being weird theologically?

29 septiembre 2005

fôniks

thought one:
come now, is it REALLY necessary for the English to have 44 phonemes? and, allowing all those monsters, why on earth should we limit ourselves to 26 letters? I mean, come on... this is AMERICA... since when do we scrimp on something as important as this?! we need to "economy size" our alphabet. free trade... make some big deal with russia in exchange for a couple of their letters. we can share... the cold war's over... and think of how much the state would save on remedial reading, IEPs for the learning disabled, health insurance for teachers... i'd vote for it.

thought another:
walking in the Spirit is NOT our default mode.

thought three:
~CRAFT ACTIVITY~
 4 October 2005

OBJECTIVE:
The students will consider the craftsmanship of God as Creator by hearing and discussing the biblical Creation account and comparing it to their own clay creations.

PROCEDURE:
~The students come in and take their seat with a ball of clay in a Ziploc bag in front of them.
~They can take it out of the bag and play with it as I (and/or some of the students) read the story of Creation from a picture book.
~As we read, we will discuss the ingenious beauty and unrivalled excellence in Creation, by giving examples (e.g.: sunsets, mountains, the ocean, fingerprints, zebras, etc) and comparing them to man’s creativity.
~We will then attempt to make faces with the clay and discuss how God fashioned man out of clay and breathed life into him.
~We will consider how we place worth on that which create and spend a lot of time on and consider the worth that God places on each person He created. (Psalm 139:1-18 or at least vv. 13-17)

28 septiembre 2005

hmmmm..

thought one:
we had an interesting brother today in chapel... Tony Campolo, very compelling message on reaching out to the poor. he made excellent points; i was impressed. but how bout this:

"Campolo in his book Its” Friday but Sundays Coming writes the reason Jesus saved us. [....]“When Jesus saved us, He saved us for a high and holy purpose. He saved us in order that He might use us to meet the needs of others. He saved us in order that He might begin to transform His world into the kind of world that He willed for it to be when He created it. … When Jesus saved us, He saved us to be agents of a great revolution, the end of which will come when the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our God”(Tony Campolo, Its” Friday but Sundays Coming, p.106)" http://www.letusreason.org/Popteac27.htm

how does that square with the whole "the world is dying, Christ is coming to burn it and start all over" thought?

hmmm.. can we be effective change agents if we DONT think that we will win ultimately? he talked about cynicism and how deadened america's youth are... cynics don't transform the world. i'm not sure they make great evangelists, either...

thought two:
What I am trying to say is that Jesus who incarnated God 2,000 years ago is mystically present and waiting to be discovered in EVERY person you and I encounter” (A Reasonable Faith p. 171)

he said something along the same lines today, actually speaking of the "sacrament" of Christ being revealed in the eyes of others. Christ says, "I was hungry and you fed me not," but i think he was maying a point, not being quite literal....

thought three:
"I am saying that there is no salvation apart from Jesus, that’s my evangelical mindset. However, I’m not convinced that Jesus only lives in Christians.”

so. he's intense, and intensely wrong on somethings. was LeTourneau right in having him come? on one hand, his message was GOOD, in that it addressed the materialism and apathy within the american church. LeTU is a instution of higher education and supposed center for contemplation, so maybe it's not their responsibility to *censor* out speakers for rightthought. i wonder...

thought twelve/thirds:
In 2004, LeTU made $42,643,565... Alvin O. Austin is listed as "CEO." i'm not making ANY comments about facility services... but only by sheer will power.

thought the one after the one before:
so lemme see if i get this straight... compassion internat'l has these schools and sponsors children. you donate to their ministry and get a photo and letters in return, right? hmmmm...

i'm off for coffee and educational politics

26 septiembre 2005

yes siree... the thoughts are back, but none too impressive lately...

Thought one:
"All terrorism is narcoterrorism."

Thought two:
my nephew is a genius. theologically...

Thought three:
Somebody else's blog

20 septiembre 2005

19 septiembre 2005

i know i rarely read poetry on others' blogs, but i couldn't resist:

~The Three Enemies~

THE FLESH
"Sweet, thou art pale."
"More pale to see,
Christ hung upon the cruel tree
And bore His Father's wrath for me."

"Sweet, thou art sad."
"Beneath a rod
More heavy, Christ for my sake trod
The winepress of the wrath of God."

"Sweet, thou art weary."
"Not so Christ:
Whose mighty love of me suffic'd
For Strength, Salvation, Eucharist."

"Sweet, thou art footsore."
"If I bleed,
His feet have bled; yea in my need
His Heart once bled for mine indeed."

THE WORLD
"Sweet, thou art young."
"So He was young
Who for my sake in silence hung
Upon the Cross with Passion wrung."

"Look, thou art fair."
"He was more fair
Than men, Who deign'd for me to wear
A visage marr'd beyond compare."

"And thou hast riches."
"Daily bread:
All else is His: Who, living, dead,
For me lack'd where to lay His Head."

"And life is sweet."
"It was not so
To Him, Whose Cup did overflow
With mine unutterable woe."


THE DEVIL
"Thou drinkest deep."
"When Christ would sup
He drain'd the dregs from out my cup:
So how should I be lifted up?"

"Thou shalt win Glory."
"In the skies,
Lord Jesus, cover up mine eyes
Lest they should look on vanities."

"Thou shalt have Knowledge."
"Helpless dust!
In Thee, O Lord, I put my trust:
Answer Thou for me, Wise and Just."

"And Might."--
"Get thee behind me. Lord,
Who hast redeem'd and not abhorr'd
My soul, oh keep it by Thy Word."

***ms. rossetti... you're awesome.***

15 septiembre 2005

pondering one:

"In addition to launching frequent verbal attacks on U.S. "imperialism," Castro and Chavez have deepened a trade agreement that brings 90,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude to the communist island a day - at rock-bottom prices and on relaxed payment schedules.

Now, as crude prices soar, analysts say the preferential treatment Cuba receives from oil-rich Venezuela is providing a veritable lifeline - not only keeping the Cuban economy afloat, but also subverting tightened U.S. economic sanctions on the island. [...] "Without Venezuela, Cuba would have been forced three years ago not only to continue previously instituted commercial reforms, but to expand commercial reforms," [...]
That's frustrating news for the Bush administration, which had hoped to push Cuba toward democracy by choking off more than $500 million in annual tourism revenues from U.S. visits. Analysts estimate the market value of the Venezuelan crude sent to Cuba is more than twice that amount."

ouch. venezuela= 5th largest petrol producer in world

pondering two:
"Hemingway certainly helped to bury the notion, if anyone seriously held it, that the more you pile on the adjectives the closer you get to describing the thing. Refinement works against the object. The more adjectives one uses, the more precision is demanded of the description, and the more the grail recedes. [...] what it really demonstrates is that prose in itself does not describe at all. The words rely very much on what the reader brings to them. In fact, it is the associative power of words rather than their "meaning" that makes prose work on its ultimate level. It seems to me that Hemingway's achievement, whether calculated or instinctive, was to get his effects by making the reader do the work. "

it's called... it's associated with... i heard something about it one time in education... aiyiyi... constructivism?

pondering three:
"Hype can lead to cynicism."

pondering four:
Submission

pondering six:
re: femininity (which i cannot pronounce for the life of me) ... ahhh, will have to be pondered at a later date...

14 septiembre 2005

thought one (but not only!): (courtesy A. Ornstein in educational studies journal aug 2005)
"I doubt if students or teachers realize taht by 2015 more than fifty cities in developing countries will have populations of 5 - 10 million in which the poor (98% - 99%) of these city dwellers have no land, no businesses, no machines, no tangible assets to create wealth- only the labor or sweat on their backs to offer. Social and political dynamite is building up through out the 3rd world in front of our eyes. We still do not get it! There is nothing for the world's poor to grab on, to hope, except some totalitarianism or religious idea that provides some kinds of promise of a better world or better hereafter- and vents at the rich Americans for the cause of their plight."

13 septiembre 2005

mental rumbling one: (prompted from a comment on hno. "yae-son"s blog)
the media... entertainment wise and on the news MESSES us up to deal with reality. i remember watching the bombing of Baghdad in 10th grade and thinking, "wow, look at the pretty lights. looks just like firecrackers."

mental rumbling two:
i'm working hard not to forget my ignorance... but i think sometimes the Lord is working even harder.

mental rumbling three:
"Huichol native mobs in [Mexican] Jalisco state have driven Christians from their homes and threatened to burn them to death, according to news reports. The first wave of 70 Huichol refugees from the village of Agua Fria, near Mezquitic, fled on foot across the state border into Tepic, Nayarit, beginning August 14. The total number of refugees was expected to reach more than 300. Most arrived ill from the 20-hour walk. Town leaders insisted that if the Huichol Christians wish to return to Agua Fria, they must renounce their faith and return to native traditions and rites -- such as drinking liquor and using hallucinatory peyote -- which are practiced alongside Roman Catholic customs. "
Article
Map
Jalisco is sorta south central Mexico... not anywhere near Chiapas, which has received publicity for persecution of protestants. Of course, it was a convoluted mess there, involving liberation theology, cocky revolutionaries, and intense suffering on the part of God's people. This book tells all about it. For more information on the cocky revolutionary part, Gallery and Facts will help you out. (My, but what soulful eyes he has!)

06 septiembre 2005

hmmm... so having "thought"s may be considered too pretentious???

well then... musings? ideations? inklings? ruminations?

i like ruminations.

Rumination One:
"Mi'ja" (contraction: mi hija) is magical. Okay, magical is a kooky word. "special"? It's a very nice word. I like ... oh no... what are they called? terms of affection? tags? handles? appellations? there's some word in particular that is completely absent from my brain right now. i like living in the south. let's leave it at that.

Rumination Two:
This one is from Western Civ yesterday re: death in ancient civilizations:
Western society on a whole, particularly in America, does not have to deal with death on a regular basis. It comes up, but it is unusual for people to actually watch others die. The elderly are typically in nursing homes (is "typically" safe?) and other deaths usually occur in hospitals. Thus, the actual act and process are removed from the everyday environment we consider reality. "Back in the day," even up to the twentieth century, it was not so, and thus a person's mindset was much altered by the reality of death. Here, it's something we typically put out of our mind.

i know i sure do... it's like it used to be with snow: i've HEARD it exists, and seen it in movies and read about it in books, but quite honestly, in my life it hasn't.

Rumination Three:
Also courtesy western civ.:
So the ancient civs had their "flood narratives" and "creation myths" and even "redemption stories"... and even the occassional monotheist here and there... BUT...

Yahweh was holy. (rather, "is holy")

...and that makes all the difference.