Celtic Odyssey

The Last Word: Well, it's not me. This book is rather dense. I am about a third of the way through it and I find myself stopping and re-reading a section or reading it out loud and/or reading it rather slowly. The one thing I am certain of is this, the claim of the Bible is that 'all authority' is from god and that the phrase 'authority of Scripture' must be shorthand for 'god's authority exercised through scripture'. How this works is what I'm trying to find out. The Bible, therefore, is not a rule book (although it does contain rules) that we can go to for looking up a verse for a particular question. That is, it is not an 'answer book' (although it does contain answers to some of life's questions). I am finding out that there is a lot more to the Bible than we, in the USA, have given thought to. I think we have, for a while now, at least since the supposed Enlightenment , misunderstood it. Of how to 'use' it. Of it's place...

Simply Christian: Just finished this wonderful book. If you haven't purchased a copy of it yet, stop reading this post and go to Border's and pick up your copy. It is quite a good read -- not too hard or soft, just right (or is that Wright :) ). I really enjoyed what Bishop Wright had to say in it. He addressed a lot of issues that needs to be explored further, but did a grand job by just 'scratching the surface'. Again, get this book! I am going to start The Last Word again. I read it in its entirety before starting Simply Christian and want to read it again. This book is very dense (or I am. I haven't figured that one out yet). It is about the 'bible wars' and tries to come up with a better understanding of 'the authority of Scripture' and what that actually means, practically. Again, I will be starting this book tomorrow. OVIS: I think this db is going to work after all. It just needed someone who used the last one to put it through i...

Last night with the guys was great! We went to Henry Hudson's Pub (Jim and I came up with 'Hank' - a shortened version of 'Henry' and 'Red' - another river. Thus, 'Hank Red's Pub') right after work and stayed until after eight. The roster was only Jim, Joe, and I. We discussed a couple of things: Women in ministry and the UN as well as Joe talked about some things he had been reading (Joe has just become a Christian rather recently). The women in ministry conversation went very well. Jim (aka Pinball) got it. Basically, all I did was go over what I had written here on ' From my old blog...03.15.06 '. He got it. The UN was a 'horse of a different color' as the saying goes. Jim is very much against the UN. He sees it as communism plain and simple. I can see where he is coming from but I don't agree whole heartedly. I think that the UN in principle is a good thing. But, there is no way to 'police' it. No one ...

Mac : I like my iBook greatly. Doesn't that sound weird? I used to say 'I love my iBook' but now I try not to say 'love' regarding 'things'. I love YHWH, Jesus, Mahina, Sumi, my parents, my pets (especially Maddie), nature, etc., but not things. However, when it comes to my Mac -- the hardware as well as the OS -- it's really, really hard not to say it. This is the best computer experience around. Period. If you don't have one . . . what are you waiting for!!! I'm sure I have told you about it already. You have gotta get one of these things, I'm telling ya. It will be the best computer experience you have ever had. But that's just me. Maybe you like getting spyware and viruses. Maybe you like having to always update those things (and if you aren't, you really should be). With the Mac, you don't have to worry about it. Anyway . . . Bible : I have been thinking a lot lately about the Bible and it's pla...

Anniversary: Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Mahina and I after we had a New Beginning last year (obviously). I love this time of year. It is all about New Beginnings! New Creation! It is marvelous. Every day with her, though challenging, is a blessing. She pushes my buttons and the envelope all the time -- in a good way. It helps me think more globally, the way I feel Jesus would have me to think. I learn new things from her all the time. She is my best friend. My lover. The mother of our daughter. My wife. I know it's cliche', especially for us since it used to be 'our song', and, I suppose, to a certain degree it still is (how can you have a different 'our song'?!) but I do really 'love her more than I can say'. That is, when it comes to expressing my love for her in words, I am at the edge of language -- uncharted territory. I have to come up with new words, to go along with New Creation. Rain: YEAH!!! It has rained for about t...

Women leaders in the church The message board I'm associated with has been have a couple of good discussions regarding this issue. There are those who think this is / has been / should be allowed and those who do not. Both groups (like so many in debates) find support for their positions biblically. I hold to the former view (but haven't always). It seems to me that what I read in the Bible has a lot to do with the over arching story of god and creation and the relationship between the two. It seems that people rebelled and turned the world, the cosmos; i.e. god's 'very good' creation, into a tail-spin. The rest of the story is about god rescuing creation. We find that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus started the 'new creation' that the Jews longed for but didn't look like the thought it would. Part of this new creation is the up-lifting of women. That is, Jesus called women the 'daughters of Abraham'. He had women disciples (who, like t...

I gotta go to work. It really stinks. Today is Saturday and from the weather forecast, it should be a nice day. But I'm gonna be stuck in a building all day. Training class for the new db we are implementing. And that's another thing, it's going to be a massive undertaking. There are too many errors with the conversion (we imported our old db to the new one and a lot of it didn't transfer correctly). My suggestion will be that we have a handful of people to do nothing but data entry for a while, and then they should train the rest of the staff on the way we use the db. However, the CEO is adamant about everyone using it on March 1st. She will be there today, maybe she will see the insanity of such an idea. May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. +OD

New Name . . . It was there the whole time and I just didn't see it. 'Odysseus'. From whence I took 'Odyssey', from Homer's Illiad and Odyssey . Odyssey is the story of Odysseus and his journey home after fighting in the Trojan War. Basically, he yearns to get home but is sidetracked along the way for pretty much the entire journey. That is the way I feel a lot of the time. I long to follow Jesus wherever he leads, but I find myself sidetracked. Tossed, as it were, with every wind that comes along, while all the while I yearn for simple, holistic, balanced faith. I get knocked off course (pretty much by my own doing) and struggle to get back on course. Furthermore, according to Homer, Odysseus means 'pain'. And I have experienced that on many different levels (who hasn't). It also reminds me of The King of Pain by The Police, though I wouldn't classify myself with such a title. I'm sure there are plenty of people that would wear that crown....

Well, it happened. I was bitten by a dog. And not just any ol' dog, one of the ones I own! The situation went down like this: Got home from picking up a few groceries with my daughter. My wife was in the kitchen fixing dinner and was waiting on me for the final touches. I walked in to the kitchen with some bags and the dogs followed (as usual). When I turned around, the Jack Russell went under the legs of the Golden Retriever -- and it was on. The Golden Retriever (Zooma) just lunged at the Jack Russell (Maddie). Maddie being on her back tried to defend herself as best she could but it wasn't working out too well for her. Instantly Terry (my wife) and I were trying to separate the two -- I was pulling on Zooma and she was helping with Maddie. Well, it was right then that I got bit. I pulled Zooma off of Maddie, or so I thought, because either Maddie still had a hold of Zooma or Zooma still had a hold of Maddie. I had a hold of Zooma with my right hand and was pulling her away w...

Right now, I am working through some books by N T Wright (if you are one of my close friends, you already know this. If not, stick around.). I just finished What Saint Paul Really Said and The Last Word . Great books! Highly recommended. I am continuing his book The Resurrection of the Son of God (very thick and dense book) and the small Following Jesus . I want to get his latest book on Paul, Paul: Fresh Perspectives . All of these books have been challenging and enlightening. They have been crucial in shaping (or rather, re shaping) my faith. Oh, I'm also reading books from his '...for Everyone ' series. These are little books on the New Testament. I currently have three -- Luke , Romans Part 1 (1-8) , and Paul: The Prison Letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon) . Just a couple pages left in the latter book. He really hit on something that I find intriguing. In is letter to Philemon, which is about Philemon's slave Onesimus (Own-ee-si-mus), he st...

Well, here I go again! Another 'blog' address for me (I do hope I get the hang of all this stuff). From time to time, you can come by and see what I'm musing about. I can't promise how often I will post here. But, it can give you an idea into what going on in my head. What I will probably do is post some of the stuff I posted in other places. We'll see. May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. +OD