It's A Festivus Miracle!

For those of you in the know, the season of Festivus is upon us. Referenced in the most amazing Seinfeld episode, Festivus has now become a full-blown holiday. If you can't create your own Festivus Pole, this company makes them for you. Just another sign that the holidays are becoming too commercial (which is the whole point of Festivus, anyway). Once the pole is in place, the other Festivus traditions (the Airing of Grievances and Feats of Strength) can begin. Happy Festivus to us all.

NT Wright at ATS

I had the priveledge of seeing New Testament scholar and Anglican bishop NT Wright at Asbury Seminary last week. Each chapel was packed out and many came from colleges and churches in the area to see the bishop. I was impressed with the number of college students who have taken an interest in biblical scholarship. I know that when I was in college, I wouldn't have made the trip out to Middle of Nowhere, KY to hear an egghead biblical scholar with or without the British accent. The guy next to me travelled 6 hours from Ohio for the day just hear Professor Wright.

I know for myself that his book, The Challenge of Jesus radically changed the way I read the Bible. He actually proposed that we look at the cultural, social, historical and yea, political context of the Ancient Near East to interpret the Bible. Radical. It actually does change our reading. I realized that I had been looking at the Bible through North American 20th century eyes my whole life and that I had been missing a lot.

He started off on Tuesday and Wednesday morning with a lecture on politics and the Bible and how the right and left love to use it to meet their needs. He discussed liberation theology and the theology of the current religious right. Both have good points and negative ones. But they both fall way short of the message of the Bible. The central question we need to ask ourselves and those that govern, he said is "If God were in charge right now, what would things look like?" If we challenge ourselves to answer it, we will find that we have misused and misread the Bible in regards to politics. That was the main point of his lecture.

Wednesday night was your "basic" exegesis of Acts. The whole thing. In an hour. Again, another challenge to the church as to what the church should be doing in relation to "the authorities" and each other. This was followed by a great Q and A time. He challenged a couple of students when they challenged his view of the end times, and specifically, the rapture. Pretty much he said that its going to happen, just not the way that Tim Lahaye thinks it will. Fact is, we don't know and probably never will, so don't worry about the specifics. Just get your heart right with God and you'll be covered, so to speak. He also challenged our reading of Paul and his use of symbols and images. We can't take them literally. If we did, we'd go crazy.

All in all, brilliant stuff and well worth it. You can go to the ATS site here to listen to the sessions. It energized my commitment to the study of the Bible and teaching.

Best Denomination Names Ever

During my research for work, I have come across some very...uh...interesting names for denominations. Now, some of these groups don't exist anymore or they may have changed their names (how unfortunate). I need to say that I am sorry if your particular denomination is mentioned. I am in no way commenting on the nature of the group, just the name. Actually, I am. Let's be honest. Anywho, here's the list in no particular order (except at the end):

Defenseless Mennonite Church Who's attacking the Mennonites? What did they ever do to you?
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Broke from the disorganized church
American Ethical Union Later changed name to Hall of Justice
Ledeboerian Churches
Swedenborgian Church Did not like the name, "Ledeboerians"
Bible Standard, Inc. I tend to shy away from churches that end with "inc"
National David Spiritual Temple of Christ Church Union (Inc), USA I have no idea what's going on here
Latter House of the Lord for All People and the Church of the Mountain Apostolic Faith
Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth
House of God Which is the Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth
House of God Which is the Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth Without Controversy (Keith Dominion) Apparently there was some controversy somewhere
Pentecostal Fire Baptized Holiness Church
Fire Baptized Holiness Church (Wesleyan) They really liked the name, just not the pentecostals

Holy Ukranian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in Exile
General Six Principle Baptists Which are...?
Regular Baptists Broke away from the irregular ones; some sort of fiber controversy
Two Seed in the Spirit Predestinarian Baptists At least they're not too particular

UM Reporter Article

I was interviewed recently for an article in the UM Reporter. The article is about the link between Asbury Seminary and

The Monastery at Gethsemani. Omar Al-Rikabi, Maxie Dunnam, Reg Johnson and Bob Mulholland are also interviewed for the article. I also get to do a retreat there the first week of December.

New Car Post

I have recently purchased a "new" 2005 Corolla. This replaces my "old" 1992 Corolla which can now be viewed at a gas station at the Waddy/Peytona exit on I-64 just west of Frankfort, Kentucky. Here are a few things I like about the '05:

1. It starts.

2. It doesn't smell (yet).

3. No cracks in windshield.

4. All four doors open from the outside (as opposed to just one).

4a. I can open the driver's side door to get in the car (as opposed to the passenger door).

5. All four speakers work (very well).

6. The AC button isn't just for looks.

7. All four tires match (so far).

8. The door to the gas cap is still in tact (in other words, I haven't punched it/broken it to get it open).

9. Shocks.

10. I don't have to wait for rain, puddles or rubbing snow on the windows to get them clean. Apparently, they've invented a device that holds fluid inside the car that washes the window for you.

11. Lining that actually stays on the ceiling. There's also a large portion of lining missing due to the presence of a moonroof.

12. No Christian identification affixed to the rear of the car, thus enabling me to drive as crazy as I want.

13. I can name that mileage using 5 digits (as opposed to 6).

As soon as I am able, I will post another list about the top things I will miss about my 1992 Corolla (R.I.P.). If anyone has any idea of what I will miss, let me know.