Medicine of Immortality "It's a cold, and it's a broken, 'Hallelujah!'"

OuchPosted by Rick on January 24th, 2006

Either I’m a heretic, or they need to write their questions clearly.

big dayPosted by Rachel on January 24th, 2006

After I drove Rick to work this morning, I decided to put another couple coats of paint on the dining room walls. It’d better be good enough now! I think it looks much better. Kyrie was a doll and let me work uninterrupted as she slept in her swing. Shortly after I was finished with that project, she woke up to eat and then happily played on the floor with her new teething ring. Then we decided to go into her room to read a few stories. When she realized that I wouldn’t let her eat the books, she was done with storytime. So I put her in her high chair (one of her favorite places to be, I think because it’s high off the ground) and played my violin for her. It’s so nice to have a little audience, especially one that doesn’t criticize. She smiled through all my songs, but towards the end, she was getting antsy. It is, by the way, a beautiful day today, so I took Kyrie outside to our front yard to see what we’d find. Immediately, we saw a squirrel run up our tree and a robin hop around on the ground. I love our location: close to everything, but still fairly countryish.

Kyrie is getting more active and more interested in objects. Just when I was changing her diaper a few minutes ago, she was trying to roll over. She also grabbed onto one of the toys that hangs on her swing and turned it and studied it for a few minutes. Adorable.

That’s it for now.

Doug Wilson’s assumptions about Stanley GrenzPosted by Rick on January 24th, 2006

On his blog, Doug Wilson has posted a review of the first few chapters of Stanley Grenz’s “A Primer on Postmodernism.” In both of his posts, he makes a few comments that show that he’s looking for a fight with Grenz.

Mike Metzler’s already pointed out a few ways in which Wilson has been unfair to McLaren. Now, I’m not really interested in defending McLaren. But McLaren is useful for at least one reason. He is postmodernity’s Christian everyman. He speaks for a number of Christians. And many of those who would not claim him and might even speak out against him, have imbibed some of the postmodernity that he talks about. To some extent, anyone around my age or younger has, by nature of being born in post 1980 America, imbibed some level of postmodernity. We are barraged by postmodernity at every turn.

But Wilson assumes that Grenz is going to argue that this is a good thing.

In his first post, Wilson makes this comment: “Even so, there are some places where comments need to be made, because even though he [Grenz] is describing here, not promoting, the stage is being set for promotion. ”

Then, in his latest post, Wilson says, “My comments here are directed at postmodernism as here represented by Grenz, and not at anything Grenz is arguing for (yet).” Keyword: yet.

These are the sort of comments that have made Wilson intolerable to many ears.

For those of us who have read Grenz, we know that Grenz is not arguing for postmodernity, or even postmodernism. His argument is that postmodernism is here, whether we like it or not. His question is, “How then should we respond to the intellectual ethos of the emerging postmodern world?” (162)

I think this is where the emerging church is misunderstood. Many see the emerging church as saying, “Let’s accept postmodernism! Yay!” That’s not what it’s about at all. The emerging church is simply asking Grenz’s question with him.

Some of their/our answers to the questions of the postmodern philosophers are just plain goofy. Some are not so bad. Some are pretty good. But, hey, that’s the Church in general, right? The emerging church should not be a sect within the Church. The true emerging church is the Church in the emerging postmodern West.

Grenz’s answer to his question is that the postmodern philosophers are right in certain respects, most especially, that we must reject the Enlightenment project. I think that is something to which Wilson would agree. Grenz goes on to argue that postmodernism is good in certain respects, but he never says that we should embrace it.

Rather, Grenz argues, we should embrace the gospel in a way that is post-individualistic, post-rationalistic, post-dualistic, and post-noeticentric (167). But that is not the same thing as embracing postmodernism.

Against the postmoderns, we believe that there is a center, and His name is Jesus Christ. Against the postmoderns, we do believe there is a grand overarching metanarrative. Against the postmoderns, we reject that Christianity is one faith among many.

Curious GeorgePosted by Rick on January 24th, 2006

Last night, I caught a commercial for the new Curious George movie. I started thinking about the naughty monkey, and how I loved him so. I had a huge grin on my face as I was transported back in time. The next commerical started, and I was still grinning. Rachel looked at her grinning husband, then looked at the current commercial, laughed, and jokingly said, “Why are you smiling about a woman dancing in her underwear?”

Yummy FingersPosted by Rachel on January 23rd, 2006

Best BudsPosted by Rachel on January 20th, 2006

Adrian Monk, Postmodern DetectivePosted by Rick on January 20th, 2006

An odd thought just came to me. Perhaps one of the strongest characteristics of modernist literature is the search for truth. While the world is often fragmented in modern literature, there is always optimism that it can be set straight, that we will learn from some underlying truths that will show us how to fix the problems. As Stanley Grenz points out, one of the best representatives of modern literature is the detective novel. Without ever having enough clues, the detective puts together the seemingly fragmented world through his masterful logic and reason.

But our favorite detective these days is Adrian Monk. While Adrian can solve cases like Sherlock Holmes, he cannot fix himself. He is obsessive-compulsive. He has irrational fears. Heights…dirt…milk. And this is not just the result of Trudy’s murder. While Trudy’s murder may have magnified some of his problems, he was still very much OCD, even as a child.

Kinda funnyPosted by Rick on January 20th, 2006

A Chocolate New Orleans!

Four Survey: My TurnPosted by Rachel on January 19th, 2006

Four Jobs I Have Had:

Violin teacher
Babysitter
Camp counselor
Secretary

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over:

Zoolander
Singin’ in the Rain
It’s a Wonderful Life
Elf

Four Books I Could Read Over and Over:

Romans
Ephesians
The Runaway Bunny
The Hobbit

Four Places I Have Lived:

Chattaroy, WA
Liberty Corner, NJ
Monroe, LA
Spokane, WA

Four TV Shows I Watch:

24
House
American Idol
Conan O’Brien

Four Places I Have Been On Vacation:

St. Augustine, FL
Rockaway Beach, OR
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
NYC, NY

Four Websites I Visit Daily:

google.com
aminor.blogspot.com
clipperships.blogspot.com
peaceloveandpenguins.com

Four Favorite Foods:

Chicken Parmigian
Lasagna
Chocolate
Candy

Four Places I’d Like To Be Right Now:

Monroe, LA (where I am)
Spokane, WA (where I’ll be)
St. Augustine, FL (maybe again someday)
Positano, Italy (in my dreams)

Four Bloggers I’m Tagging:

Isaiah
Emily Hofstede
Kristen
Forrest

Blue SteelPosted by Rachel on January 19th, 2006