Safe Haven

2010 FIFA World Cup (TM) USA vs. Slovenia: 10th Minute: USA looking aggressive but a little sloppy, 0-0. 13th Minute: Birsa, Goal, 1-0 Slovenia. Seriously. 43rd Minute: Goal, Slovenia, 2-0. Half-Time, 2-0 Slovenia. 49th Minute: GOAL!!! Landon Donovan, 2-1 Slovenia. 82nd Minute: GOAL!!! Michael Bradley, 2-2. 85th Minute: 3rd US goal disallowed for no reason, 2-2. Full-Time: 2-2.

When Marty is right, he's right : "I am not of the opinion" said Luther, "that through the Gospel all the arts should be banished and driven away, as some zealots want to make us believe; but I wish to see them all, especially music, in the service of Him Who gave and created them." Again he says: "I have myself heard those who oppose pictures, read from my German Bible. … But this contains many pictures of God, of the angels, of men, and of animals, especially in the Revelation of St. John, in the books of Moses, and in the book of Joshua. We therefore kindly beg these fanatics to permit us also to paint these pictures on the wall that they may be remembered and better understood, inasmuch as they can harm as little on the walls as in books. Would to God that I could persuade those who can afford it to paint the whole Bible on their houses, inside and outside, so that all might see; this would indeed be a Christian work. For I am convinced that it is God...

The Day is Mine! Academically, there was nothing to fear. A 2.44 GPA never looked so good. [You lost one of your ready-made excuses for being a papist.--ed.] I know. I don't think I was trying to torpedo myself. I think there was one assignment too many for me in one case, and I was inattentive in a little thing, which became a big thing. [But you did really well on that exam, which never happens.--ed.] I know. Just think what I might have done with more time to prepare. [That was a closed-Bible exam, no?--ed.] Hmmm. I didn't know my editor was Larry Feingold. Yes, it was. [You are blessed to remember Scripture like you do.--ed.] In my defense, it helps to read it fairly often. [Yeah, well, you just read Colossians 2 days ago, and you intended to read it for 3 weeks.--ed.] Guilty. But, God-willing, I'll read Ephesians and maybe Philippians [sp.?] today. Editor's Note: I stole the fictional editor concept from blogger and author Mickey Kaus. Too bad on that Califor...

OOOF! My school allows us to see individual assignment grades before the final grades come out, and it is ugly at points. I can't do math, but I think it'll be OK. I'd like to say that I am a real person, not a robot, and one with a physical disability at that. If you give me what amounts to "busy work," I have to make a choice. One thing I'm really proud of is the work I did in my Hebrew in Exegesis class on a word study paper (97) and the individual exegesis paper (88). I had already been aided by a 96 on the group exegesis paper, having teamed with "Deano" and "Exegetical Michael Jordan." I needed those, because that's the very class which worries me. Then again, I think now all I fear is the term GPA; if it was below 2.25, that will be the end of my studies. [There might not be any point in finishing.--ed.] Well, I've not decided to become Catholic, hermeneutical and ecclesiological doubts aside. [But it surely affected you--ed....

Note to Robin Thicke : Your massive awesomeness cannot be overestimated. Though I can abide the occasional semi-slinky line here and there ("Lost Without U," looking in your direction, and I am a Babyface/Marvin Gaye fan after all) I must call biblical shenanigans on an album entitled "Sex Therapy." And it has a warning label! So I picked up "The Evolution of Robin Thicke" instead. (Fred the Fundie: But it says 'Evolution'! Oh, heavens to Betsy! Whatever shall we do?) There must be a happy medium somewhere. I figure it's this: If your pastor can't affirm something in a song as reflective of marital love as God intends without firing himself, it's wicked. [Is it a bad time to mention that every time you attend a marriage/dating/sex seminar, you hear "Whip Appeal" in your head for the next three hours?--ed.] Look, I'm not gonna play it for the youth group, OK? But I think we should congratulate the songwriters in that ca...

No, I Cannot Pray and Chew Gum at the Same Time, Thanks for Asking I found myself praying for a buddy just now, forgetting that I had a piece of gum in my mouth. It's not that I couldn't do it; it just felt a bit unserious. Father or no, this is still Almighty God we address. I barely wanted to type that. [Oh, smeg, here comes an anti-evengelical rant!--ed.] Have you gotten the distinct feeling you were in a place where people were talking about God in worship, but not to him? 94% of the time, it's not even intentional. But no wonder we're all confused: it seems like everything in evangelicalism I have seen is geared toward some nebulous "seeker" I have never met, or to his comfort and non-offense. And not that this is bad; I want the people who don't yet know Christ to come; I want the people who could know him more deeply (that'd be all of us) to come, too. But if we're not us as Christians, to what or to whom are we drawing these people? If it...