Update--January 8, 2010: This
is a very personal article, because it recounts a major aspect of the
almost 36 years I have spent in seeking the Lord through the means of
these churches. It isn't hard to imagine the ups and downs, and I know
that many will have a very different viewpoint of what I'm talking
about here. But I feel blessed to have a perspective that allows me a
broader view of it almost from the very start, and of all the positives
and negatives that worked together for my good. Some of you have
probably started feeling nostalgic already.
All caricature art appears courtesy of Philip Hatter at Thistledown Puppets: www.thistledownpuppets.com
I recommend Firefox as the best of the available free browsers.
Internet Explorer tends to make my site look a little different
than I would like it to look; while Firefox brings it up the way I intend.
Try it!
Looking ahead:
I am still working on a few other little things, such as a piece on why
we should take the time to study Christian history and the way that I
have found to approach it for the maximum benefit. I've also been
taking a fresh look at the issue of role models, and also at the
"five-fold ministries."
December 6, 2009: It recently ocurred to me that I had not put a proper conclusion to the Bible Study Template series--when I begin a study I do not go through the levels as listed. So this will give some idea of how I really do go about it. Give my method a try; you might just be surprised.
November 12, 2009: So
it's been four months since I last uploaded anything; thanks for
hanging in there. "Sniper" is my way of illustrating how the
growth of big government is related to the reckless tendency to take
over and completely rework something rather than simply addressing the
core of the problem and fixing that. "Urban Retardation" may seem
a bit harsh, but a blog can be a constructive way of expressing
frustration and of creatively seeking a way to positively affect
behavior.
July 4, 2009:
I really didn't intend to write such a long article about
Calvinism, but the more I
read and researched, the uglier the whole concept looked to me, and the
more wrong-headed objections I foresaw. I also wanted to
re-stress the point about how the presentation of the faith should not be
cheapened to the level of philosophical debate, and to present the idea
that God's "godlikeness" is not compromised because He allows us
certain latitudes, but to make once again the point about good
parenting being about boundaries rather than control, which was a point I made in "Dow."
May 5, 2009: I
have been feeling the need for a while now to streamline the
front page so that it loads faster (without all those jpg banners), and also
to answer the concern that a few have brought up about the apparent
contradiction between having humorous art and all those little comments
and pop culture references as part of a presentation of suppposedly
serious subjects.
March 7, 2009:
FINALLY I have the book list up. It's really been a major
task to choose the books that I feel are of that standard of quality
that makes them classics, and to get all the pertinent data
together and organized. I also included several books that I
don't really care for myself, but are nonetheless important for one
reason or another and that you should still know about--pretty
much all of these are significant in some way. I included two
versions in smaller, printable formats via links for those who would like a hardcopy
without weeding through all the annotations, etc.; I hope that helps.
June 29, 2008 I'd
been intending to do an article on the plain and clear meaning of "free
exercise of religion" for some time now, but when the observation
struck me about the Biblical view of the immature being the ones prone
to offense, I just had
to throw that in and put it all together. The hard decision for
this one was: should I put it in the political section because that's
the intended audience, or in the Christian section because of the heavy
Biblical references? Either way, you'll find it.
May 20 I
have finished the "Top Ten List;" and to get the section on the word
"love" the way I wanted it, I ended up borrowing from my own material
in "OK , I Admit It." There is a lot of overlap, but that is the
intention, because I feel strongly that they both should stand alone;
yet I have tailored each to its purpose. The change in "OK"
begins with the section on "Understanding love," and I took the
opportunity to strenghten my case in the sections following; it'll be
worth another look. Actually, my favorite part of the top ten list is number two, the word sin,
which has a humorous section comparing sins to hurricanes. I only
wrote the results of the word studies, I didn't take you through all
the steps as I did in the Template--that might have meant doing ten
different articles instead of just one!
April 14 OK,
I had a heck of a time getting the citations page to look like it was
supposed to. I think that now it finally does; I use an HTML
editor program that doesn't always seem to want to do what it's asked
to.
Initial upload--June 28, 2007
Finally, this thing is off the ground! The upload contains
all of the NHC files, a couple of good representative essays for the
political and the general Christian articles, and a start for the Bible
study template of the intro and the first three levels. Even if
some parts of this site weren't finished, I wanted to go up when I
could get enough done that would make sense standing alone.
Meet the church staff (as described in the articles The Sucessful Pastor Dialogues and both of the Discussions):
(Note:
this group is not the same group of ministers that was described in
"The Parable of the Buses" or in any other illustration in these pages.)
Successful Pastor
-- the senior pastor of a would-be mega-church, he appears sagely
and profound (because he's concerned about his image), and mostly
speaks in platitudes and bumper stickers. Mainly, he only trusts
other pastors, and decided a long time ago that his status puts him above
correction.
Associate Pastor -- the
senior pastor's "pit bull," he is a little bitter, and wants to be in
charge. So don't rock his boat; he's a real "company man."
Youth pastor -- Mr. Hip, Mr. Cool, Mr. Trendy--he's usually the first to crack a joke, but the last to get one.
Elder-at-large -- he
genuinely wants to help out, but thinks you're stupid. He's
also a "company man," since six generations of his family have been
leaders in the denomination.
Worship Pastor -- trying
to be objective and "with it," but doesn't want to lose his status
in the church; he's smart, cocky, and always concerned with appearing
professional.
* * * * *
I postponed creating a way to e-mail here because, frankly, I am aware that some of
you would use the opportunity to abuse the ideas expressed here, and
possibly aim at me personally. I'm not the kind of person who has
much use for small talk, nor do I take well to brain-dead idol worship.
On the other hand, I also know that many of my readers will have worthwhile input which will be well-reasoned and certainly not a waste of time. So I've made two different e-mail addresses for two different purposes.
Know that if you decide to e-mail, if your message gives me any reason
at all for suspicion, I won't open it. Period. So please be
very specific in the subject line and put something there that will
help me know what I'm getting into; better yet, name an article
you want to discuss or a quote from something. I can pick up on any vitriol or other bad
attitude that you exhibit, and I probably will ignore you if I see
evidence of it. I also know a thing or two about how to spot a
hAcKeR, a spammer, a 1337 wannabe, or others who are merely up to
something "phishy," so all of you criminal types can just forget it.
If your comment involves something technical, such as a mistyped word or a bad link, use this e-mail address: admin@beholdtheblog.org
If your comment concerns the content, use this address: comments@beholdtheblog.org
-- Jim Morris, Charlotte, NC, USA
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