“A world, and a church, which is hooked on novelty like some cultural equivalent of crack cocaine needs the cold, cynical eye of the historian to stand as a prophetic witness against it. And make no mistake, when it comes to my approach to trendy evangelical claims to epoch-making insights, beneath the cold, cynical exterior of this particular historian beats a heart of stone.”
-Carl Trueman, Minority Report (Scotland: Christian Focus, 2008), p. 26


this quote is so...how do you say...for me personally...just...devastatingly refreshing. ahhhhh.

almost on the floor laughing

so i found this new blog team(yes they have shirts, freeeking awesome!) and one of the members blog wrote about how rediculeeeeso the apple store is. you know the ones that look like your walking into the insane assylum in 12 monkeys, all white and crap. well...its freeking hilarious. seriously please read this.

hopefully...

...this will inspire/piss-off you to know what an why you believe it. this is awesome. make sure to find the emergent church motivational posters. ouch.

good blogs

i read two blogs today that were really awesome

the first one is by Stephen Nichols on Reformation21 about being selfish with the gospel. it really provoked me as it climaxed an illumination that had been working in my soul as of recent. Please read any of his books. they are like really, really, really, good.

the second one is by Gene Edward Veith about Islam and Christianity. He presupposes Islam ruling the European continent and what its effects would be. This volcano creates flowing magma of thankfulness to live in the west.

these blogs are both linked on my blog, they are awesome because they read a lot of dead guys.

Observations.

This is a continuing article from the vein of Mike Neglia who I have had the privilege of being connected to through the umbilical cord of Christ since 2005 (I think). Please read his latest blog to understand how frivoliciously pivotal our continual thought on everything is. Thanks.

My current observation which I am ridiculously indebted to one Buell Newman for this is that... V-Neck t-shirts are Polo shirts minus the respectability.

Let me explain how I came to this thought. I was meandering in my thoughts away from the usual current theological preoccupation with Deut 6:4(seriously who really understands that verse?) and found my brain residing in the pool of thought around how much I love V-Neck shirts. Then I realized that Polo shirts have the same neck gap when the buttons are not buttoned (who really buttons those anyway? they are impossible to get the shirt on if the buttons are in use).

For sake of argument let me define what I mean by Polo Shirt. 1) It is made of a heavier cloth which for the most part is more course, 2) 3 buttons descend from the top of the neck, and not all the way down the shirt, 3) it has a collar, if you could call it that which starts where the buttons end then proceeds to wrap around the neck in a fashion similar to a noose, 4) Usual camouflage consists of the a pastel array, 5) They most commonly reside in Yacht Clubs with their cousins, the infamous Deck Shoes.

So then why is a V-Neck a Polo without the respectability?
1) More lightweight and flexible cloth is used for the body piece making it much more useful for combat missions. And you are not respectable if you go on combat missions, you are tuff.
2) Permanent neck opening allows for easy removal of shirt in case of emergency.
3) It has no collar which immediately makes you working class, thus you are not an office worker. Collars are also a universal sign of respectability, if you don’t believe me try to get a job at a bank without one.
4) It has no buttons therefore it has no pomp, no show, no gaudy appeal and therefore no respectability.
5) They NEVER come in a pastel array with a man on a horse on the breast, and if they ever do, its a joke not something to be taken serious like your cricket score against the Scottish.
6) Nic wears them all the time with much honor and has full consent to authorize this opinion due to the distribution of the authority of Buell Newman.


For sake of argument let me define what I mean by Polo Shirt. 1) It is made of a heavier cloth which for the most part is more course, 2) 3 buttons descend from the top of the neck, and not all the way down the shirt, 3) it has a collar, if you could call it that which starts where the buttons end then proceeds to wrap around the neck in a fashion similar to a noose, 4) Usual camouflage consists of the a pastel array, 5)They most commonly reside in Yacht Clubs with their cousins, the infamous Deck Shoes.

So then why is a V-Neck a Polo without the respectability?
1) More lightweight and flexible cloth is used for the body piece making it much more useful for combat missions. And you are not respectable if you go on combat missions, you are tuff.
2) Permanent neck opening allows for easy removal of shirt in case of emergency.
3) It has no collar which immediately makes you working class, thus you are not a office worker. Collars are also a universal sign of respectability, if you dont believe me try to get a job at a bank without one.
4) It has no buttons therefore it has no pomp, no show, no gaudy appeal and therefore no respectability.
5) They NEVER come in a pastel array with a man on a horse on the breast, and if they ever do, its a joke not something to be taken serious like your cricket score against the Scottish.
6)Nic wears them all the time with much honor and has full consent to authorize this opinion due to the distribution of the authority of Buell Newman.

... And the Angel is Overcome.

Why always must we fight? What is so worth keeping on? Why not just give up. No fancy words here, just simply when life is hard, when bank accounts shrink, friends abandon you, despair creeps in and continually leeches your soul the substinence of a raisin, why keep on?

A man not so long ago, fought with a man in great vehemence in similar fashion to how we fight with life, with the curse of this world. One came from out of the night overtaking the other in the quiet fog of an ambush. The second came from dark hopelessness, he was separated from his family, certain that his brother would come with the sword, hoping to wet it on his neck. So in the midst of this the two men engage in hand to hand combat. Nothing makes men what they are like the rawness of struggling against another’s hands that are encircling your neck to strangle you to death. One not letting go of the other, the two are gripped in desperate struggle. Sweat pussing from their pores like blood from a scrape. Two fumbling shadows camouflage in and out of the grass as dusk lurks upon them with the silence of an alligator upon the Nile. The first man, seeing sun upon the horizon, realizing the end of the night is come, reaches down and with a mighty hand striking the hip from the other, crippling him, and voiding any future attack. Helpless the second man falls to the ground, all is lost except one thing, his grip upon the other man. Iron clad he will not let go. Hands gripped as if a curse upon a villain at the end of a fairy tail. From the canyon of a throat dry from the drought of exasperation emits the final word, “Bless me.” Dusk has ended, the sun has risen, leaving one broken, beaten, blessed man.

This is the situation that Jacob, “the deceiver” found himself in at the end of Genesis 32. The twilight of his life seemed to embark upon his prosperous reality as Esau his brother had come with over 400 men to do who knows what to him and his family. Knowing the danger Jacob splits up his family for safety so that his attendance would not attain their demise at the revelation of Esau. How would one feel, knowing that you are going to die within the night, alone without one to speak to for comfort. The cold must have been creeping into his bones with tremors of frigid temperature cutting his marrow and seizing his ambition and strength. And then he is attacked by another man, and they wrestle. But the thing that we must pay more attention to is that Jacob realized one important thing, that this man was greater than him, and he could not let him go, for as the author the Hebrews eternally inked, “It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior” or better yet, as Bono says, “Jacob wrestles with the angel, and the angel is overcome.”

Do you wrestle? Im not talking about physical wrestling, cast that image of Nacho Libre out of your head, however funny the movie really is. Im talking about in life, is it hard? Do you forget the promises of God. That he has ‘overcome the world’ (John 16:33), that you will ‘see God’ if you are pure in heart (Matt 5:8), that ‘all things’ are given to us for continually relationship with him (2 Pet 1:3)?

I think its because when God ambushes us with trials, we don’t fight, we give up, we don’t hold on, we let go because if we did hold fast, we would have to let go of our agenda, our schedule, not his agenda, his schedule, his kingdom, his will.

“Test everything; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess 5:21)

I think this anecdote from the life of Jacob could be here to tell us in this pluralistic world that scorns any type of conflict, that its okay to fight, its okay to struggle. In fact as a follower of Christ, you are supposed to, and its usually how you grow. So take heart in that.

Jacob tested the strength and integrity of this man he wrestled with. Saw that he was greater than him, knew the promise of God, and held fast until the promised blessing came. Do you? Do we? Its worth it. The blessing of God is only given to those who hold fast. Is God good, then hold on we’re in for a wild ride, and like John G. Patton says, we’re “Immortal until our work is done.” Think about that next time you hesitate for sake of fear of man at obeying the Lord. Be strong, because he has made you that way, and has given all things for your good, especially the fist fights. Be like Jacob, don’t let go of God until you see the cold blooded reality of his blessings.

ahhhh...siblings

so i was at my fathers house yesterday because now two of the 4 lazz clan progeny are casualties of providence by a great right hand of God pulling the strings of heaven in the means of Job instead of Abraham. My little bro broke his ankle, trying to tre-flip a four stair and Iris destroyed her knee on a rail. So my little bro recently made the national volcom team, yes he is on the website, WOOT WOOT HOLLA HOLLA and decided to deck me out with volcom gear. Little did i know of the pride destroying alligator that was lurking beneath the surface of this supposed kindness. i gripped a sweet pair of pairs out of the air, tossed with the utmost accuracy by my non-team sports killing it little bro only to realize that they are a size 32. The alligator suddenly spring from beneath the muddy waters sinking its teath into my tan, smooth olive skin. Yes, my little brother is now bigger than me, i wear a size 30 in my pants.

i knew this day was coming, when the awesomness of my siblings would over take me in physical size, i just had no idea it would be 16 of July 2008.

Joelle my second little sister(lazz clan progeny #3) comes home in 10 days after being in Thailand for a year, and apparently she is fat and cant fit into her pants that she brought there. i am hoping that she will be so fat that she will only be able to fit into the Thai fisherman pants! oh man she might never hear the end of this one.