My Writings. My Thoughts.
The God Debate: Science and Religion
// March 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // church
Going Beyond the Argument
// March 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // My Communties, church, random
This concept of going beyond the argument is a really important part of our God Debate series. Arguable (irony intended) the most important part.
The sexy part, the part I’m personally really looking forward to most, is having Dr Lamoureux down to talk about Jesus + Evolution this Sunday night because I really feel there are far too many people who see science and evolution as some kind of barrier to exploring the Jesus story. For those of us that not only accept, but are fascinated by, and find beauty in, a concept like evolution, I think it’s important to acknowledge that this doesn’t have to be a barrier to spirituality. I may write some more thoughts about this later but the ability to move past the argument and past sound bites is, in my opinion, the more important concept for us to understand as a community, because the skill with which we do that will determine our ability to engage in meaningful dialogue regardless of where we personally stand on the “issues”. Without that we run the risk, in a very real way, of missing the point.
If you didn’t get a chance to be with us last week, listen to the audio catch up or subscribe to the podcast through iTunes
or
What I Really Listen To
// March 9th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // random
According to Last.fm (which I have given access to pretty much everything I listen to) these are the top ten artists I have listened to in the past (aprox) 3 years. Some make sense (no. 1 and no. 2 obviously) but Linkin Park at number 3… that’s kind of embarrassing… and Dashboard Confessional at number 9, I have trouble believing that since I haven’t been able to stand them since I stopped being a teenage girl.
Anyway, my Top Ten
1 Ryan Adams
2 Pearl Jam
3 Linkin Park
4 Fiona Apple
5 U2
6 Switchfoot
7 Oasis
8 Tegan and Sara
9 Dashboard Confessional
10 Weezer
No mention of Death Cab, Band of Horses or TV on the Radio… all of which I would put ahead of numbers 3 through 10 today.
What I believe
// March 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // church, theology
Part of what we need to work towards at Westside is a statement of faith. I have been reluctant to work towards definitive statements for myself in the past because they are far too often used in a negative context to exclude rather than as a center of gravity to pull people together.
The problem is without that centering idea, it’s tough to give context to decisions and their impact in community.
So here’s the language I’ve been using for the past year or two in my own mind to understand Jesus.
Jesus is God, stepped into history (for me this is about the divinity of Jesus – it’s what makes sure my faith stays Christian and not just Jesus-based enlightenment)
To save us from ourselves (this is about sin, but trying to understand it not as a list of taboo actions or ideas but as worst tendencies inside me. It’s about the hard edge of Jesus teaching – you’re way is death)
To show us a new way to live (this is enlightenment for me. Jesus is not just religion, Christianity is not just mental ascent to ideological principles. The Jesus way is a new way to live and grow and become)
To dismantle the infrastructure we’ve built between ourselves and God (this is about religion. Jesus comes to help us step over it, to move from the life we’re living directly towards the life we were meant to live)
And invite into relationship with our creator (this is about experience for me. My faith is logical and rational but never completely defined by empirical evidence. There is, always will be, and must be, the personal non-transferable relationship that exists between myself and God)
Still needs work…
Oscar Picks
// February 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // films
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Micky Rourke for The Wrestler
Best Actress: Kate Winslet for The Reader
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz for Vicky Christina Barcelona
Animated Feature Film: Wall-E
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