Safe Haven

5. Apparently, you weren't allowed to do a soft rock album without a cameo by Michael McDonald. 4. This Christopher Cross dude definitely doesn't suck. 3. When we culturally recapture the '80s, we tend to grab onto the latter part. The early to middle part was a lot like the '70s. (Not that I was there for the '70s, but style doesn't change that fast.) 2. I fell asleep reading St. John Paul the Great again. I am a bad person. 1. You will be addressed as "Cardinal Sparky" until you repent of your heresy. It's for your own good.

Of course, Audrey Assad is coming out with a new EP, and of course, she likes John Donne! I have no idea what I'd have to do to covet my neighbor's wife, but seriously, William, you won the lottery. Like 5 times. Honestly. Anyway, I haven't loved a Christian pop artist this much since Rich went to be with the Lord. My friend Sam said he thought Rich was just meh, and after I spent 15 seconds or so mentally wondering if he was insane, I realized that Rich has a special bond with deeply wounded people (whether he would have appreciated that or not) and I realized I should be thankful my friend doesn't really "get it," because then he'd be as screwed up as all of us. (Of course, we're all screwed up, but there are definitely levels, and I'm thankful some of you don't reach them.) Peace.

5. No, really. We actually think the Council of Trent was correct. 4. That's what Ecumenical Councils do; it's a Holy Spirit thing. 3. Actually, I love the Council of Trent. That's not just popish cheerleading, mind you. Certain things about about participation in a theological sense would be much hazier without it. 2. What sort of brass ones do you have to have to say that an Ecumenical Council was wrong? I never even realized how crazy this suggestion was. Or, you could just call God unfaithful. Same difference. 1. Nothin' like sittin' down with Pastor Challies and enjoying a nice, cool glass of begging the question . [Vaguely Biographical Love-Rant] I can remember when I started to see the differences between the paradigms of Protestants and Catholics. Every time someone Reformed would stake out a different position than the Catholic Church, I could appreciate that; after all, if you thought it was correct, you'd go with it. It's your heritage. ...

If I were to take a broad brush to our political conversation as a nation, it would seem that we have at one and the same time an intrusive federal government, whose interests and activities are legitimately and really injurious to socio-economic self-determination, and a substantial group of people who have no access at all even to the limited gravy-train serving up goodies to large firms in union with said government. You've got people who look at this and say, "They've 'assisted' quite enough, thank you, and perhaps it was never licit to try." That is, the adverse economic outcomes resulting from attempting to provide for the general welfare are not only obvious, but lacked legitimate sanction from the start. Others (like myself) point out that an unstated premise is that a contract entered into mutually by two or more parties is per se morally licit, and contributes (albeit indirectly) to the common good of all. This is false on the face of it, as a contra...

5. I thump the Bible in the general direction of people who post dumb, self-congratulatory memes about their moral superiority to Bible-thumpers. 4. I want to get one shirt that says, "I'm With Frank, The Hippie Pope," and one that says, "Meet The New Boss; Same As The Old Boss," and wear them alternately, to annoy people for whom being a child of the Church isn't good enough. 3. The next time someone asks me what I think of President Obama, I'm going to say, "Not bad, except for the 'killing people for no defensible reason' part" and roll away. 2. What if the next-worst part about the triumph of Obama (after "KPFNDR") is the death of neoliberalism ? 1. GO, SPURS, GO!!!

5. From a glory standpoint, God doesn't need us, but He wants us. 4. It seems to me the heart of the gospel is, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 3. I do not touch the heart of the gospel, the heart of Jesus, if I believe there is someone for whom Christ did not die. 2. Grace can be refused. 1. Thus, there is nothing universalistic about the offer of salvation.