Safe Haven

A few suggestions, if I may, for the troubled but proud Kansas City Royals baseball team: 1. Trade Mike Sweeney. This in no way impugns Sweeney, but he makes too much for this team. Even if the trade value is low due to his injuries and age, the money saved will be worth it. 2. Re-acquire Jeff Suppan. He's the kind of pitcher the Royals need: always keeps his team in the game. And since his stats aren't that impressive, he won't break the bank. 3. Hire a great pitching coach. Dave Ricketts or Leo Mazzone (masterminded all those Braves division titles) can't be that attached to their new jobs. 4. Keep Reggie Sanders. The guy wins wherever he goes. It's clubhouse chemistry. That is the beginning of winning: a clubhouse full of guys who like each other. 5. Don't trade any minor-league prospects, ever. Even if St. Louis offers Pujols, don't do it. Most especially not pitchers, ever. 6. Stop making excuses. Oakland and Minnesota are consistently good with similar...

Does anyone read this? Does it matter to me? Why or why not? Do ladies read this, like eligible, attractive ones? Is my secret crush reading this right now? Does she know of her status? Does she care? Do I care? I don't know. Should I set it aside to "focus on God"? How do you tell if someone is attracted to you? Do ladies cover it up in spiritual encouragement like guys sometimes do? In a way, I hope so. It makes me feel not as alone in my stupidity (idolatry, ahem). What does 'tradition' mean in the letters to the Thessalonians from Paul? Did Paul have a last name? Did he write 'apostle' on everything next to his name? Was he a bishop? Was he a presbyter? Was he a brother who led the congregation in singing once a month? Or a pulpit minister? (That one's for you, misguided congregationalists.) Was there anything remotely close to Coca-Cola in first-century Judea? Did they advertize? What did Judas Iscariot do for fun? Did he drink the first-century C...

If you ever find yourself in Columbia, Missouri, there's more than a few things you ought to do. For instance, your trip would be more complete if you stopped at CJ's on 7th and Broadway for some chicken wings. Or a morning of worship at Christ Our King Presbyterian could change your world on a quiet Sunday. But I want to tell you about a man named Robert Collins. He's a history professor at our quaint University, and he's bleeping incredible. As a friend noted, he actually defends his positions during lecture. The stereotype of a professor filling young minds with his unsubstantiated (usually un-American) opinions doesn't apply to Collins. When I took his History of the 1960s, sure we dealt with the dominant liberalism of the time, giving it a fair airing. Then we critiqued it! Our class had to read Radical Son right alongside The Things They Carried. He even said some nice things about Nixon (which, even from my right-wing perch, takes some doing.) Collins will n...

I agree with Martin Luther; Scripture is the final authority because its main subject is God, reconciling all men to Himself through Christ. You’d better come up with a better answer than “just because” when an unbeliever asks why he or she should believe the Bible. This is the real reason why Protestants call the Bible the Word of God. But how many know that? Not too many, I’d judge. It’s not that I’m so smart, but reality’s contours are marked by this: a personal God revealing Himself in history. The Ten Commandments are useless if they weren’t written by God, and a reflection of His character. Seriously, what use does anyone have for manmade rules? Press some fake right-winger about this; you’ll see that they’ll blather on about ordering society, preserving the Republic, and saving families. But equally as obvious will be that noticeable lack of contrition, (repentance) and personal extension of the forgiveness of sins. Such a person doesn’t know Jesus; he is a means to an end. Law ...

It all began when a friend asked me to look at a book (nice phrase, 'look at a book') for his class--what Mizzou was calling Religious Studies 104 at the time--"The Many Faces of Christology" (the study of interpreting Christ and His work). The introduction struck me, because the author said that he had wrestled through doubt in his twenties, proclaiming himself a Marxist. Yet, he continued to receive Holy Communion, saying that it eventually became a confirmation of his identity. The discovery was union with Christ, and it had never been broken truly. (Marxism in truest form is openly hostile to the gospel; incidentally, so is the humanistic basis of some forms of libertarianism, e.g. Objectivism) As I realize that the plain offer of the gospel is manifest in the bread and cup, it is also apparent that the eucharistic celebration is the confirmation of my identity, of my place in the body of Christ, and the heart of our mission. We cannot make disciples if we do not...

The dumbest rap song I've heard in the last hour: "I'm in Love with a Stripper," by some guy. The best one: "When I'm Gone," by Eminem. If Christians stop moralizing for five seconds and actually listen to what people say, we'd love them like Jesus does. There's real life and real pain in this guy's songs. I want to preach to him and hug him every time I hear one of them. My advice is to listen past the bad words, and remember that a real person wrote this whole thing. (And in this case, they tend to be very autobiographical.)

What is inerrancy? What do people mean when they say the word? Does it mean the Bible is an instruction manual? What can we say about a specific text’s application to our lives? Does submitting to the Bible as the only authority lead to an unreasonable doctrinal subjectivism? Do we all become our own popes? Is it good to have one authority (a pope)? Why do we trust the Scripture? Why should we? Is it possible to believe in a Great Tradition of Christian Orthodoxy while holding Scripture paramount? Is there healthy, responsible non-Catholicism out there, or should we all just submit to the Vicar of Christ, and repent for following the man who ‘trampled the Lord’s vineyard’? Am I scaring anyone yet? Am I scaring myself? Yes. Why do “restorationist” (or New Testament) churches scare me more than the Roman Catholic? Why do I feel as though I will never preach or teach anything good that hasn’t already been said? Am I OK with that? Absolutely. Why do I love authority, legitimately constitut...

Baseball According to Me Baseball is the greatest sport ever created. Baseball fans don’t have to hear the debate on this; they know I’m correct. Briefly, let me say why. Baseball transcends itself as to be more than the game in all its beauty (but that is indeed formidable). At key moments in our lives, many people can point to a baseball game as the backdrop, or the fulcrum for a memory. Think of ‘Good Will Hunting’, a film that communicates part of its central message through baseball. I won’t give that away; watch for it the next time you view the movie. One of my favorite movies, Field of Dreams, communicates both the majesty of the game and its possibility for serving as a vehicle for meta-narrative. It is not simply old men waxing poetic when they speak of baseball as a cohesive force, uniting friends and family. That sentiment is entirely true. James Earl Jones delivered perhaps the greatest monologue in a movie that wasn’t about Jesus in ‘Field of Dreams.’ Even speaking the co...

I'm not good at this blogging game. Thoughts worth writing about are as transient as the sunlight these days here in Missouri. It's been rainy and cold 5 days in a row. I know what they say: Keep writing! But I've never been able. Maybe I have the mind of the quintessential professional writer; I'm too proud to write only for myself, and too worried about others' opinions to write even when it sucks. I'm going to say 'sucks' on a Christian blog, and I dare the word-fascists to get angry about it. I care about holiness too. But that's the kind of silliness that makes the world around us think we're nuts, and we deserve it on that one. God's not an old man in the sky keeping score on a clipboard. If you censor your own language believing that a minor alteration in speech will in any way hide your true feelings from God, or improve your standing with Him, then you are misguided indeed. Certain situations are good times for self-censorship, other...

This piece was meant to answer whether radicals in the 1960s were victims of circumstance, or whether the beliefs contained internal contradictions that made for failure. Thanks to David Horowitz for his autobiography Radical Son: A Generational Oddysey, which provided the backdrop for this response. JK What Happened to Liberalism? Radicalism itself (whether from the left or the right) is by definition the suggestion that ordinary electoral means are inadequate to achieve desired goals. To be radical in the truest sense is to hold that the United States cannot redress the grievances of its people in any form, or that it in no way represents the people it governs. It cannot be equated with liberalism, because the United States was being governed during the most relevant part of the 1960s (1961-69) by liberals. One could possibly claim that those Democrats were not authentically liberal; however, Kennedy began the rudiments of the Great Society right away, and Johnson oversaw the biggest...

It was a bitter loss in sports for me, just 45 minutes ago. The Lady Vols of Tennessee, making their 16th trip to the Final Four in the last 31 years, went down to the Michigan State Spartans, 68-64. Tennessee was amazing on the offensive glass, building a 16-point lead in the second half. The Vols' shooting cooled off at the outset of the run by MSU, and the inside post players started making plays. Shyra Ely will likely be partly blamed, as she had another mediocre night in a huge game. Let's digress from this game, and let me talk about legendary coach Pat Summitt. Coach Summitt has been the chief in Knoxville for 31 years, the first as a player-coach at the age of 22. She has captured 6 NCAA titles. She currently is the all-time leader in wins in college basketball, men's or women's, passing the great Dean Smith of North Carolina. Including tonight's loss, Tennessee is 882-172 (.837) under Coach Summitt. Rumors fly at this very moment that the iconic coach may j...

Sometimes, academics really get on my nerves. I've been in college 7 years, so we're not talking a few isolated experiences here. Anyway, have you ever had an instructor or teaching assistant who was more attuned to what he or she didn't want as an answer on an essay exam, rather than a satisfactory answer? And they say things like, "If you write x, I'm gonna get mad." Pray tell, what would make you happy? They don't know. And neither do I. I've gotta go. Terry, I got all your e-mails; I'm sorry I didn't reply. You're not missing much.

I've been away for awhile. Here's what I've been working on, called "The Institutional Biases Against Foreign Policy Expertise in Congress." It recommends a great political book; go find it at a library. The second Iraq war was among the most controversial events in the Bush presidency, and it will remain so. The political dynamics of how the war came to pass are fascinating, and the issue is another colorful chapter in the history of allegedly acrimonious relations between the executive branch and Congress. I say “allegedly” because as we will see, Congress neither as a body nor as individuals has any interest in increasing its power to influence foreign policy decision making. Congressional acquiescence in these matters serves Congress well, as active participation threatens its true goal: the reelection of its members. This assertion is the central thesis of David Mayhew’s work, Congress: The Electoral Connection. It is wise for us to examine some key component...

I respectfully ask anyone reading this blog to keep Travis Tamerius, my pastor at Christ Our King Presbyterian Church, in your prayers. He left on the 14th of September for South Africa and Zimbabwe. I did not know anything about Zimbabwe until about a year ago. I'll sum up: It's not a good place to be right now. That dictator, Robert Mugabe, is not a friend of humanity. Predictably, the 'international community' (Europe and the UN) seem to like the guy. Figures. Anyway, the folks at City Presbyterian in Bulawayo are courageously contending for the faith, and trying to shed the light of Christ on the humanitarian situation there. Please pray for them as well.

Just yesterday before noon, we were experiencing some of the best weather that Columbia, MO has ever seen. It was in the 80s, a touch warmer than it has been in the entire state since summer began. And that occasion is extremely strange in itself, if you know anything about Missouri in the summertime. From mid-April through September, the temperature could be classified as Hot, Hotter, and Less Hot. Usually. Anyway, I was walking around campus, looking at all the freshman moving into the dorms with their parents, those concerned looks on all faces, and I thought, "This is where I need to be. No, this is where I want to be." Maybe I'm scared of what comes after this, I'm not sure. But I do know that I've found a place, where I'm wanted and even needed. Perhaps we're all just being selfish, needing a place in the world, but really needing affirmation from others in some fashion. I'd like to think I don't live for the approval of others, but it's...

Holy Communion is always going to be one of my favorite topics. There are excellent theological treatments on the subject, such as Robert Letham's The Lord's Supper . It has few weaknesses, and I'll probably review it here sometime. But I want to relate what Communion has been experientially, and maybe if I'm truly lucky, my experience will line up with something biblical to let me know I'm not crazy. It seems to me that Communion is a uniting act. I am united with Christ (just as in baptism) in his life and death. I see the scenes in my head, like I was there. I'm also united with all those other people in the room. Have you ever looked over at someone while taking communion? Look into their eyes. There's something about that moment that says, "No matter what else happens, you are family." Because at that moment, they're not the big powerful investment banker, or the preacher with a dozen published books. They're just a little kid, comin...

Hey Everybody, Check this out: http://www.johnharmstrong.com/Viewpoint/7.8.04VP.pdf . A most fascinating treatment of how we arrive at theological conclusions today, elevating our own theological systems as a Judge or a prism through which we read the Word of God, especially in fundamentalism*, though not exclusively. Particularly interesting is a tendency to make core issues out of theological disagreements whose battle lines were drawn by our theological paradigms themselves! John Armstrong says that God quite naturally is above our understanding. Not unknowable, mind you, but that we should take confessional positions with caution and humility, because our understanding is not the benchmark for the truth of the Word of God. We must be willing to accept mystery, he says. (Paging Rev. Tamerius!) A lack of clarity indeed, for the sake of unity. All this bleeds into this week's Weekly Messenger from John, chronicling the interesting debate within the Southern Baptist Convention co...

Previous posts on feminism now lead me here: to say just where feminism has been a credit, and where possibly the body of Christ has allowed its witness to be marred by cultural concerns. I do not do this lightly. I am well aware how fashionable it is to criticize the church. Any time a Christian speaks of the church, he or she should speak with respect and love, as these are the people Jesus loved (and loves) so much that he died for them, and will return for them again. So much hostility toward the church masquerades as a kind of prophetic correction that is nothing more than self-guilt somebody wants to share with the whole body of Christ. That's a post for another day. When I wonder about feminism and how to assess it, I ask one question: "Is there anything true about what is being said?" That question is the essence of seeing Christ in culture, which is not only a point of view or a disposition, but the first part of making all things captive to the Lordship of Chris...

On June 28, I directed everyone to go to instapundit.com because there was an interesting story there. Might I even say extremely consequential story. It involved Justice Antonin Scalia reminding everyone that American citizens have a right to know with what they are being charged, even if they are suspected terrorists. Compelling for the possible impact on our daily lives, and interesting that Scalia would dissent from the other "conservative" members, the details are worth checking out at the archives of Instapundit, or the Volokh Conspiracy (legal affairs blog).

OK, I'm profoundly annoyed today. John Armstrong's Weekly Messenger is getting too political. Why is it important to find a chuch that is politically balanced? Why assume there's some sort of problem if the congregation votes overwhelmingly for one party/philosophy? That simply is a reflection of our political culture in the last 25 years. Take a solid base subgroup of one political party, then stipulate that such a party has been growing. I wonder then, what will be the results? People need to stop haranguing the churches for things that are not our fault. I will do the best I can to make a person feel at home no matter what they believe politically. Is John Armstrong the type of man who would stay in a church that did not share his poltics, and encourage others to do the same? I hope so, but the last few Weekly Messengers made me wonder.