On My Mind #1

-
Most of my posts have topics. Anything titled 'on my mind' will be more like ramblings, lists, stuff I'm reading, random thoughts, whatever. Its like a journal entry which, if you possess the fortitude to venture into such untamed wilderness, you can read.

So whats on my mind?

Reason and faith, science and religion, and the impassibility of God. What do those have to do with each other? Nothing, except that I am reading a book on the first and last, and going to a conference on the middle one (but not until may). "Reason and the Reasons of faith" Excellent book; or at least most of the essays are. "Does God Suffer?" by Weinandy; just started. Regent pastors Conference; my first one, hope its good (Alan Torrance is one of the speakers, I'm excited).

ICON Olympics this Friday. I wish I knew how to do video editing, or had time to learn before tomorrow, or had time to get someone to help me. Was going to ask on Tuesday night's prayer meeting, but I had to leave early so I didn't get a chance.

Preaching in 2.5 weeks on John 8:12-20 "I am the Light of the World" 2nd 'I Am' saying. So rich... Same week, on the 19th, I will be sharing at our 3D outreach event 'Open the Doors'. Busy, so I'm preparing for my sermon already, which is why its on my mind.


Oh, and these quotes:

The 'scandal of philosophy' is not that this proof has yet to be given (proof for the existence of things outside of ourselves; anti-solipsism so to speak), but that such proofs are expected and attempted again and again. Such expectations, aims, and demands arise from an ontologically inadequate way of starting withsomething of such a character that independently of it and 'outside' of it a 'world' is to be proved as present-at-hand.
Heidegger, Being and Time, 249 (brackets are my own insertion)

Reason is a capability endowed in human persons for the making of covenant. It enables us to transcend precisely our self-centeredness, to remain individual selves without being locked within those selves. To put it another way, it enables us to maintain the integrity of our own being while being truthful to the true nature of that which is other than ourselves... Reason as it should be has its focus on the attainment of communion and unity in the Logos.
Carver T. Yu, "Covenantal Rationality and the Healing of Reason" in Reason and the Reasons of Faith, 237


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forgiveness: A Hard Word From Luther

-
"Those who follow Christ grieve more over the sin of their offenders than over the loss or offense to themselves. And they do this that they may recall those offenders from their sin rather than avenge the wrongs they themselves have suffered. Therefore they put off the form of their own righteousness and put on the form of those others, praying for their persecutors, blessing those who curse, doing good to the evil-doers, preparing to pay the penalty and make satisfaction for their very enemies that they may be saved. This is the gospel and the example of Christ." - Martin Luther (Quoted by Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge, pg. 161-162)
Read more

A Good Tree Bears Good Fruit....

-
Image
"Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." - Matthew 7:17-18 "One of the most powerful ways to influence the behavior of a system is through its purpose or goal. That's because the goal is the direction-setter of the system, the definer of discrepancies that require action, the indicator of compliance, failure, or success toward which balancing feedback loops work. If the goal is defined badly, if it doesn't measure what it's supposed to measure, if it doesn't reflect the real welfare of the system, then the system can't possibly produce a desirable result. Systems, like the three wishes in the traditional fairy tale, have a terrible tendency to produce exactly and only what you ask them to produce. Be careful what you ask them to produce." - Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems. 
Read more

A Gracious Reading of Rob Bell

-
The Journey So Far The controversy rages on over Rob Bell's upcoming new book. No matter what happens now, this controversy has effectively guaranteed that 'everyone who is anyone' will need to read this book. Either to find out what is wrong and bash it, or because someone we generally disagree with also disagrees with the book so it has to be good stuff! Then, because 'everyone' is reading it, people like me will 'have to' read it to. After all, I am a pastor, and if many of my people are reading and being influenced by a book, don't I need to know what is going on as well?  Or so the reasoning will go... and perhaps I will read it, who knows. In the meantime, none of this will stop me from continuing to join this fray which I probably ought to have stayed out of in the first place. Onwards, Christian... :) The Latest Salvo The latest salvo has been fired by DeYoung  claiming that not only do we not need to talk with Bell but, more importantly, it...
Read more