Safe Haven

Late-Night Haiku XXII (On John 1:14) The highest glory, The noblest of those who rule Got dirt on His feet.

I found this as a Facebook status of a friend: "I have no faith in human effort... especially my own. True strength comes from Jesus Christ, and Him alone." Discuss.

Late-Night Haiku XXI (On Colossians 1:15-20) Lord, giver of Life And all things seen and unseen, Make peace here with us.

Here you go. I can't let you off that easy, Mr. Hays. Let's zoom in; let's talk about the formation of particular denominations, with particular distinctives. By what authority does such a body come into existence? What processes or means make the conclusions drawn by such a group authoritative? If it is but a part of the Body of Christ, let's say, who or what defines the relations to the wider whole? You might say one group's conclusions about what the 'Church' is are good, but how and why? What makes those suppositions any more true than any other group of people? Hey, I'm just working under the assumption that the Church is invisible, as the Reformers believed. There seems to be a whole lot of reliance upon the Holy Spirit to guarantee individual interpretive decisions, which would be great, if John Q. Methodist or Bob F. Lutheran didn't do the exact same thing. (To say nothing of Susie Mormon, who noone desires to listen to. But you should get j...

Late-Night Haiku XX (On Luke 19:9-16 and Hebrews 1:1-3) Thrust aside in wrath By a stiff-necked people proud, The Son triumphs true.

Late-Night Haiku XIX (On Luke 19:41-44) Jesus, remind me Thou didst love and announce wrath As a prophet, no?

Late-Night Haiku XVIII Quick feet and fast hands, That made the fights mythic art. Respect The Greatest.

There are a few things that inspire me to want to raise eleventy billion dollars. Because throwing money at most actual problems doesn't work, you can safely assume I'm not talking about anything serious. Anyway... Remember when pop music wasn't horrible? Not long ago. Less than 20 years ago, even. [Shut up, you like Lady GaGa.--ed.] Gotta love that 5th Amendment, y'all! I digress. I was in one of my "George Michael is awesome" phases again, and I heard a song of his I didn't know. Amazed, my brain struck gold. Would you not sell your house to pay for the studio time to hear Michael Buble sing this ? And then, it turns out, he did . That figures.

Yes, the Iowa Straw Poll is only slightly less pointless than the Iowa Caucuses, but I told you so; the first establishment finisher on the list is Pawlenty. Pawlenty will be your nominee, I'm telling you. You don't have to be a centrist, you just have to look like one. No matter what my sympathies with the Tea Party, the label screams, "I'm not centrist!" Winning politics is about appearing balanced and sensible. Bachmann can't do this. Cain can't, either. (And, Obama ruined Black prospects for president for at least 4 elections; sad but true.) The Catholics will do in Romney; the cafeteria ones will vote Obama; the orthodox won't vote for a Mormon. Bonus: Pawlenty is a tad "fallen-away," if you will, but he's socially conservative, and he fell away because his wife is an Evangelical (and so is he). Political gold, friends. It's not just because I like him; he's a perfect general election candidate. Just watch, he'll get th...

Late-Night Haiku XVII My soul wants manna; Bread of Heaven, descend soon. We are perishing.

Late-Night Haiku XVII Hello, Kenneth, friend; Yours is the soundtrack of days. The love symphony.

Late-Night Haiku XVI.2 You are the reverse To all the others I know; Your name I shorten.

Safe Haven, Foreign Computer Edition: The comments on the 'My wheelchair was nearly destroyed by a car' post have been great fun. Let me deal with one argument commonly advanced against Rome's reckoning of the Ecumenical Councils: "It wasn't truly a council, because the Orthodox were not present." I can't be polite, here, sorry. What? Are you going to invite the Arians, too? Do you need the unanimous consent of all humanity before a Council of the Church becomes so? Don't hear what I'm not saying. I don't believe that Orthodox and Arians are in the same boat. Blessedly, they're not even on the same lake. But you see the flaw in this argument, don't you? You could choose any group of dissenters, and by the fact of their non-participation, call the Council invalid. Frankly, this is a bad argument. On the earth right now are 2 and only 2 candidates for Visible Church Founded By Jesus Christ. Other communions either have broken the physical...

Late-Night Haiku XV (replacement) I shall be away; Weep not, dearest relations; Haiku abides still.

Late-Night Haiku XIV Truth and error mix; If the Church errs unceasing, What does Christ protect?

Late-Night Haiku XIII I’d miss you, baby; Let me be wrong, lovely girl. Say you adore me.

I hereby apologize if any of the previous lacks in the winsome manner for which I am reputed. [You've never been mistaken for winsome.--ed.] Just work with me here, OK? I do approach these questions with an intensity for which I surely am reputed. Anyway, I would like to say that I think Mr. Timothy Butler will a great PCA pastor, who will serve his people with love, honor, and distinction. Be nice to the FV hippies among you, Timothy. True, they may be nothing more than papist spies, but I promise, the first few waves at least, I had nothing to do with. If you serve there near your home, you must get to know Father Kevin Schroeder [shrayder] as long as he's there. Hilarious. He's our kind of papist, Comrade. [All papists are your kind of papist.--ed.] Not true; just the good ones. [Good with respect to what?--ed.] My editor is Captain Jack? What? That would be awesome. [If I was Captain Jack, you might actually listen to me.--ed.] Not likely! Speaking of things I learned f...

5 More Inconvenient, Perhaps Offensive Thoughts Or Questions 5. Which community of Christians ought I to join if Catholic claims to be the Church Christ founded proved false? Does it matter if none that I'd join bother to claim it? 4. If councils may err, why hold a council at all? 3. If people may err in interpretation absent a charism of the Holy Spirit, why would simply increasing the number of people help? Why should anyone trust an ecclesial community that wasn't infalliable? 2. If the answer to (3)b is, "You shouldn't," are you saying I should trust myself? 1. If we are imperfect, the hermeneutical process is imperfect, and the Church (however conceived) is not infalliable, how do we arrive at the truth of revelation? Are you at all bothered by the fact that godly people using the same means and process cannot agree on the precise content of that revelation?

Late-Night Haiku XII I’m a high-brow dude, But let it not be doubted: Stupid is funny.

5 Uncouth Thoughts on Authority and History 5. I'm still waiting for Calvin to tell me who the "true bishops" are. 4. If the New Testament is so plain, how come no one can agree on what it says? 3. Some people (attempted to) trained me to exegete the Bible in the original languages. Oddly enough, my confidence in its perpiscuity was destroyed. (Good thing faith in Jesus Christ doesn't rest on the perpiscuity of Scripture!) 2. Nevermind; I'm not waiting for Calvin to tell me anything, because his opinion on this matter means precisely squadoosh. 1. Being neither a saint nor a Protestant , I'd like to say that, well, nearly everything I believe is on the basis of the Magisterium's teaching.