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May 24, 2007

Technology and the Bible.....

Last week I had the privilege of being the guest lecturer for the class Using Media Technology in Ministry in the school of theology for Fuller Theological Seminary. I really enjoyed teaching and we spent the two and half hours talking about the use of blogging and social networking in ministry. I'm not super high-tech (obviously), so we mainly talked about the theory and practice of it. But I'm not here to talk about that, rather I'm here to tell you what I was able to take part in today because I taught the class last week.

Today I was invited to go with the class to visit UCLA's Visualization Portal as we were walked through the Second Temple. It was unbelievable......that's all I can say.

Bel Air Presbyterian attender and UCLA Chair for the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Bill Schniedewind was our host, as he walked us through the Second Temple. In just that short time the Bible was brought to life for me in ways that I could not have imagined. I have been to Israel, Syria and Jordan before, but even being there in person didn't compare to walking through the Second Temple in practical "virtual reality." Dr. Schniedewind also walked us through Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls which was also very, very fascinating.

What an amazing teaching tool they have there at UCLA! I hope I can check it out again some other time.


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Posted by rhett at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2007

Heroes' Season Finale...

LOST had been my favorite show for the last couple of years. And though I've been wanting to cling to it, it's official....Heroes is the best. I loved tonight's season finale.

It's amazing to me that every great story points to the ultimate reality of someone giving their life away to save others.

I will have to post more about tonight's episode in the next few days. I think Heroes makes some interesting statements about free-will, salvation, love, sacrifice, etc, etc.


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Posted by rhett at 12:41 AM | Comments (1)

May 18, 2007

A return to Catholicism for a major Evangelical leader

This is such a fascinating article.
Evangelical Leader Returns To Catholicism
HT: Brent Thomas

It's fascinating to me on several fronts:

1) I have several friends considering leaving the Protestant Church in favor of the Catholic Church.

2) I'm seeing a growing "trend" or "desire" among young people to integrate/merge their Protestant faith with the Catholic Church (i.e. historic church).

3) Many Protestants have become disullioned with the lack of some form of ritual or liturgy in the Evangelical Church.

4) Our college ministry is comprised of many schools, but two of the bigger schools are UCLA and Loyola Marymount University. So we have a great mix of both Catholics and Protestants in our college ministry. It can be challenging on some fronts, but I feel like the mix has added to an overall wholeness to the ministry as we are all learning from each other.


Beckwith says:

"At the end of the day, the reason for the Reformation was the debate over justification. If that is no longer an issue, I have to be Catholic," Beckwith said. "It seems to me that if there is not a very strong reason to be Protestant, then the default position should be to belong to the historic church."

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Posted by rhett at 10:41 AM | Comments (1)

May 04, 2007

Eugene Peterson and U2....Classic

This excerpt is taken from Relevant Magazine's latest issue, which is an interview with Eugene Peterson. So classic I think.


How big of an ego-kick was it to hear that Bono was quoting you on U2's Elevation tour? He quoted your version of Psalm 116 to introduce the song "Where the Streets Have No Name."
I have to confess that when my students told me that this was happening, I had to ask, "Who's Bono?" They were astounded because this was the biggest thing that had happened to them. I have since come to realize that he is a person who uses his celebrity status in a committed, compassionate, socially Christian way. We don't have many people like that. A lot of celebrities do benefits. That's not what he's doing. He has a broad strategy for AIDS and does his best to involve world leaders. He's not afraid of the word Jesus.


Didn't he invite you to Chicago to hang out with them for a weekend?
Yes. They wanted to do a kind of spiritual retreat with me. I had to turn them down.


Are you kidding? Why would you do such a thing?
I had some deadlines my editor wanted me to finish up.


You may be the only person in the history of the world who would make the decision to please an editor over hanging out with U2.
Perhaps.


Awesome......


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Posted by rhett at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)

Relevant Magazine's article on social justice and consumerism

I was thinking about my last post (American Idol stuff) and wondering if I really articulated clearly what I was thinking and feeling. Probably not. But I feel like I'm in a place of tension. That tension: Knowing that charity tied to consumerism is a good entry point for many, but in the end it needs to be more. Tension, also because I'm that guy who is trying to move in my own life to a place where I'm more socially active and being transformed, rather than sitting on my couch eating my potato chips.

I was thinking about Donald Miller's interview with Relevant Magazine and their current issue Laying It Down: Learning to Live with Less in a Culture of Excess. In the article Miller says, "A lot of people get involved in social justice concerns for fashion reasons," Miller says. "I think that's fine. I think that's a great introduction to social justice. Fashion reasons won't motivate you in the long haul; something has to change. But who cares how we're introduced to the issue? Hopefully our hearts will begin to change as we begin to get into it, but I'm convinced we find God in those places."

Pick up the magazine because it's a great article with interview with Shane Claiborne, David Goetz, Tony Campolo, Donald Miller.

I loved what Will Samson had to say about American Idol Gives Back. Here he is speaking of Simon Cowell and American Idol: "And to see him use his huge bully pulpit to bring awareness to issues of justice? I cannot think of a better thing. This is very Matthew 25, using the resources he has at his disposal to help the least of these."

My prayer is that as I'm introduced to more and more issues of social justice, and whether it be through fasion, media, consumerism, the Church, etc....that it wont stay in those places, but that it will move more and more towards the heart of God and that I would be transformed through that process.


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Posted by rhett at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)