The easiest way to find out what people think of you is to ask them, and usually after some prying, you can get it out of them if they’re friends enough. This was the scenario today.
Since almost all my co-workers are fellow seminarians we get into all kinds of deep theological questions like matters concerning the problem of evil, the rationality of hell, determinism, and whether we would let our kids marry shortly after puberty as is well-nigh the argument of a below-tagged New Testament professor here at Southeastern. Of course, none of us have kids, but we like to speculate equally on this subject as we do on others of which we have none, like sovereignty. So, what most naturally arose during this conversation on raising children to be mature adults by foregoing this recent phenomenon “adolescent” (cf. The Myth of Adolescence) except homeschooling.
In the course of the discussion it came out that two of my friends and coworkers with whom I’ve now been acquainted for approximately a year both thought I was homeschooled.
“What, so you really thought I was homeschooled?!”
“I had to ask.”
“Gandhi.”
No, I was not homeschooled! I reckon my mom would have killed me and my older brother by now had we been homeschooled.
Charles Latham in his antifolk songMy Perfect Church offers this bit of truth-in-jesting cynicism concerning spirituality:
I pray from my toilet seat, “Make my holy life complete”
My god hears me when I speak, can yours say the same? My god lets me have my way, I can pray for it not to rain today, I can chant cars off the motor way when I’m late for work. My god grants financial miracles and the rules are always flexible, my god watches my vehicles when they’re parked in the street.
My perfect church is built only for one: where I am the priest and the congregation, my one regret is that no one can come, it’s gonna be awful lonely in this private heaven.
My god likes human sacrafise, his services demand a price and mine’s the only blood he likes, no virgin’s will do. He can’t heal me should I go blind, he can’t burn a bush or absolve my crimes, he can’t turn my water into wine but he can point me to the bar.
My perfect church is built only for one, where I alone experience salvation. My one regret is that no one can come; it’s gonna be awful lonely in this private heaven.
He gives me no creation myth, the commandments end with the fifth, the prophesies are pretty hit or miss but I don’t give a damn because every day’s a holy day and you can’t work on a holy day, my god wants me at home to pray, begging for more things.
My perfect church is built only for one, where I am the priest and the congregation, my one regret is that no one can come, it’s gonna be awful lonely in this private heaven.
There’s an MP3 of the song available on what looks to be a legit (i.e., not illegal) site.
The Sirius-XM satellite radio merger is set to go in effect tomorrow. Until today I was really excited about the merger. I had heard XM was going to add an a la carte service whereby subscribers could pick the channels they wanted on their plan much like you pick what you want on your plate at Bob Evans. Also, the companies were assuring that everyone’s radios would continue to work. After all, who wants to have to buy a new unit or worse yet, have their built-in dashboard XM or Sirius stop working while the two satellite giants are merging to supposedly offer better service to subscribers! No I said the audiophile.
So, with these hopes high in heart, I checked out the details of the merger offering which goes in effect tomorrow. I was well disappointed by my findings. The main push is for XM users to upgrade their plan for $4/month to get “the best of Sirius.” “The best” being the best and sounding the best to potential clients includes the following channels: two Howard Stern channels, NFL play-by-play, NASCAR, Martha Stewart and Playboy. To be blunt, I’m going to go with more of a no than a yes.
Out of all the offerings of Sirius they pick these? There’s got to be a money issue behind this; either that or marketing statistics which say that an overwhelming number of satellite radio users are men, but that doesn’t really explain the Martha choice. I don’t imagine too many truckers toggling between NASCAR, Playboy and Martha Stewart.
Additionally, what about family subscribers? Driving on the way to the beach for the family vacation with the toddlers car-seated like fighter pilots listening to Stern and bunnies. This seems to be a question they’ve preempted with a FAQ:
What if I don’t want some of the content (i.e. channels with frequent explicit language)? XM offers two “family-friendly” options that will not contain any of the “XL” channels that contain frequent explicit language, and these packages will be offered at a discounted monthly rate from that package’s standard monthly rate.
As to what the “family-friendly” packages are have yet to be revealed. More Martha Stewart and another NASCAR? Let’s hope not. How ’bout some music please.
Overall, the merger seems disappointing and I haven’t even told you about the need to buy a new radio receiver if you want to get the rumored a la cart service. I guess just plain old XM will have to suffice for the time being (which I love by the way). =)
We pay all our bills online. And, to be honest, going paperless for many of our accounts was less about creation care (i.e., saving trees) and more about having less clutter. It’s pretty sweet that going paperless not only provides for less clutter but also in a real way saves trees. So consider the below and consider switching whichever accounts permit to paperless in order to have less clutter and more trees.
On another note, isn’t Citi bank one who’s on the verge of going the way of Fannie Mae? The paperless, tree initiative might be the least of their worries. Nonetheless, woo-hoo trees!
Thanks to Citi Cardmembers like you who’ve enrolled in Paperless Statements, we’ve taken a giant step toward helping the environment. Through our relationship with the Arbor Day Foundation, a tree was donated on behalf of each cardmember who switched to Paperless Statements from January 2007 through September 2008. Here’s a look at what we’ve been able to accomplish:
• Planted 1.8 million trees
• Saved 6,800 trees
• Helped make 14 national forests greener
In addition to our Paperless Statements initiative, Citi has been fully committed to improving the environment by planting trees in local communities and visiting schools to teach children about the benefits of trees.
Thank you for doing your part to help the environment by switching to Paperless Statements. Together, we will continue to make a difference by saving even more trees – one less paper statement at a time.
Thursdays in the chapel services here at Southeastern we pray for North American missions, and today the gentleman who was asked to lead in prayer started by saying, “Sweet Jesus…”
I wouldn’t recommend starting this way given the cultural connotations.
Mark Driscoll interviews “indigenous missionary to the hip hop culture” Lecrae about his background and hip hop music in order to showcase his new album, Rebel. This is a guy I’ve been listening to for a while. It’s great to see he’s getting exposure and getting interested in Reformed theology (surprised to hear that he’s been influenced by Piper?). Amen and amen.
These comments by DJ Chloe Harris make up what has got to be the most blatantly ad hominem, unintelligent critique of a political candidate one’s likely to come across. [N.b. extremely coarse language; you've been warned.] It’s rightfully categorized on the earworm blog under “Random Drivel” and “Rant.”
What’s encouraging is that numerous commenters have seen through the lack of charity in the diatribe and offer rebukes. What it all comes down to is that she disagrees with Palin’s views. Unfortunately, her manner of expressing her dislike reflects poorly on her and draws attention away from the issues she seems to care so much about.
My name is Mr. Song Lile, i am the credit officer in Hang Seng
Bank, Hong Kong. I have a business proposal in the tune of
$19.5m, after the successful transfer, we shall share in ratio
of 30% for you and 70% for me. Should you be interested, please
contact me through my private email(songlile_hk31@yahoo.com.hk),
so we can commence all arrangements and I will give you more
information on how we would handle this project.
Please treat this business with utmost confidentiality and send
me the following:
(1)Full names
(2)private phone number
(3)current residential address
(4)Occupation
(5)Age and Proffession.
I'm Drew Maust, a masters of divinity student at Southeastern Seminary (SEBTS) in Wake Forest, NC. Reading and writing are fun; that's why I practice here and about things that interest me.
The true heirs of the King James translators are those who continue their task today, not those who declare it to have been definitively concluded in 1611.
בשׁם יהוה אקרא
