Random Thoughts From a Person in Pursuit of God

Thoughts on the Nicene Creed

2010-06-04T10:30:00.003-04:00

Sorry, these aren't my thoughts. A friend of mine posted a link to this on facebook and I thought it was good enough to post here (although it's not like I've been doing a lot of posting lately). The author of this post thinks that how we view the Nicene Creed reflects our theological heritage and beliefs. Read through the post and see what you think. I think the author is pretty dead on with

The Feast of The Annunciation

2010-03-25T15:35:00.002-04:00

This is a repost from what I wrote last year on this day.Today the church exhorts us to join in a great paradox of feasting even in the midst of our Lenten fasting since today is the feast of the Annunciation. Today is the day that we celebrate and remember that glorious day when the Angel Gabriel came to the Virgin and proclaimed:Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you...Do not be afraid,

More Thoughts on Youth Ministry

2010-03-09T11:38:00.003-05:00

I have read a couple articles recently that I wanted to share in light of the last post about some of the problems in youth ministry. Both of these articles are by a guy named Mike Yaconelli. Mike, is considered by many to be the "Father of youth ministry" as we now know it. He was the founder of Youth Specialties, one of the largest youth ministry companies out there. Mike passed away some

Entertainment or Ministry

2010-03-01T11:14:00.005-05:00

A little over a week ago I took a group of students from our church on a ski trip to WV. As I stood in the parking lot I saw streams of teenagers file out of bus after bus. Some of the busses were chartered and others clearly had the church logo and name painted on the side. As I stood, waiting for our rental agent, I realized that you couldn't tell there was a recession going on in this

New Lenten Blog...Kind Of

2010-02-18T11:14:00.004-05:00

I'm doing something different with our youth group this year during Lent. Instead of handing out costly paper devotionals I'm jumping on the trendy-train and doing a daily Lenten blog for my students. Maybe they won't read it (like the devotionals I handed out last year) but I thought I might as well try. Unfortunately this idea just struck me the other day so I didn't develop a long-term plan

Lenten Quote

2010-02-15T13:15:00.002-05:00

I just read this quote from St. John Chrysostom in a book I'm using for Lent and I thought I'd share it. I know it's not Lent yet, but this starts earlier than Ash Wednesday. When the fast begins, let us get ready and polish our spiritual weapons; as cultivators, let us sharpen our sickles; as sailors, let us order our thoughts against the waves of extravagant desires; as travelers, let us set

By the Waters of Babylon

2010-02-11T16:18:00.004-05:00

Lent, my favorite time of the year, is quickly approaching. I think I love the season of Lent so much because it places my sin, my weakness, my mortality, and my deep need for God at the forefront of my mind. The fasting inconveniences my life and challenges me to think of God at every turn and helps the increased devotional reading pierce my soul in ways it normally wouldn't. I really do love

The Feast of Transfiguration

2010-02-03T16:13:00.003-05:00

I think this marks the end to one of my longer absences from this blog. It's been over two months since my last post and while I've intended to come back multiple times before now I have been consumed by a plethora of other things. While I'm not promising I'll be back in full-swing yet, I will try to post more regularly and try to finish up the series on the Filioque as well as post some other

Vampires, Romance, and Monasticism.

2009-11-18T11:01:00.007-05:00

It seems like only in the world of youth ministry could there be a blog post written that encompasses vampires, romance, and monasticism. Or maybe it could only happen in my mind - I'm not sure. Anyway, I was over on Anna's blog (here) and she posted something about the new Twilight movie coming out. I intended to post a quick comment about an event from breakfast this morning and it ended up

Why I Do Not Profess the Filioque: Part 1

2009-10-26T14:30:00.006-04:00

I came across this article the other day via my friend Chuck's blog (here). In this article Ben Myers defends Protestant use of the filioque in the Nicene Creed. Over the next few posts I will attempt to defend my position as to why I do not profess the filioque as a Christian.Although I'm sure I'll address some of Myers concerns I don't think I'll spend much time picking apart his arguments.

Tactile Inspiration

2009-10-24T11:06:00.007-04:00

I was just sitting here watching ESPN's College Gameday and they had a special spot on how most of the high profile college football programs have an inspiration object that they touch for motivation before they run onto the field. This spot chronicled teams such as Notre Dame who has touched their "Play Like a Champion" sign since the Lou Holtz era in 1986 and Texas who touches a pair of long

More Football

2009-09-14T14:57:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure why I've written so many posts on football and sports lately but here is another short one. I promise I'll get back to posts about theology and ministry soon.While I opposed the Vikings' signing of Brett Favre on many, many levels there was one reason that seemed to rise to the top of the list. I knew that if Favre signed with the Vikings it would no longer be the team that was

My Fantasy Football Team

2009-09-03T13:58:00.004-04:00

Ok, here is my fantasy football team for our 12 team keeper league. QBKurt WarnerChad PenningtonRBMaurice Jones-DrewDerrick WardReggie BushFelix JonesWRBernard Berrian (you know I had to go with a Viking)Marques ColstonDonald DriverEarl BennettPatrick CraytonDomenik HixonBryant JohnsonRobert MeachemKRyan LongwellDSTChargersMy keeper from last year was Michael Turner (RB) and I had the 10th pick

Novelty

2009-09-01T18:18:00.005-04:00

A worship service works best when, through long familiarity, we don’t have to think about it… The perfect church service would be the one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God. But every novelty prevents this. It fixes our attention on the service itself; and thinking about worship is a different thing from worshipping… Tis mad idolatry that makes

Going Old School - an ode to krispy Kreme

2009-08-20T09:18:00.007-04:00

Sitting here in our church lobby surrounded by the "great cloud of witnesses" that is 1,908 Krispy Kreme doughnuts for our youth group fundraiser (a very easy and profitable fundraiser, by the way) I was just reminded by a friend on facebook of the poem I wrote in college about these wonderful cake and glaze objects.Irresistible Grease- by Ben HowardIKrispy Kremes Drenched in GreaseClogging my

Morality and Sports Part II: The Part where Morality is Thrown Out of the Window

2009-08-19T09:49:00.004-04:00

First off I want to thank many of your for your kind words and your condolences. Yesterday was indeed a dark, dark day in my life as Brett Favre signed a contract with the Minnesota Vikings. Honestly even typing those words makes my heart sink a little. Since this has happened I've gone through a couple stages of grief (denial and anger) but I think I might stop there. It is at this point

Morality and Sports

2009-08-16T15:16:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite blogs on the net is a blog called Pacifist Viking. Not only is this blog incredibly well written (the author is a college English prof) and full of solid logic, but it also combines a love for the football (especially the Minnesota Vikings - a love I share) with interesting philosophical discussions. The reason I bring this up is that I just finished reading an interesting

Youth Ministry 101

2009-08-10T18:26:00.004-04:00

Some things they just don't teach you in seminary and, I suppose, to be fair most of those things you just have to learn on your own. Last week I encountered one of those moments. Our youth group had planned a trip to the local water park a few weeks ago and before we went I was thinking through a list of things to bring while walking around Wal-Mart when I came to sunscreen. As I thought about

Debaptism?

2009-07-22T15:33:00.002-04:00

In a moment of distraction today I stumbled upon this article in the USA Today religion section. The article is about the atheist mock rite of debaptism. If you were wondering debaptism is exactly what it sounds like - a rite where former Christians forsake their baptism. This is truly saddening indeed.

Quote for the 4th

2009-07-04T10:09:00.004-04:00

For some reason a quote came to my find today and figured that it was worth re-posting here, especially given that this one of the most patriotic weekends of the year. This quote is from the Epistle of Diognetus which is a very early christian apology (probably 2nd century). I first heard this quote in a sermon at Asbury given by Dr. Bauer and then later found it in Raniero Cantalamessa's book

The Ark, the Ethiopians, and the Monophysites

2009-06-26T10:43:00.006-04:00

I just read an article from WND again and it goes into more elaborate explanation and actually talks about some "experts" in the field. It's worth a read. You can find it here.Honestly I feel like I'm one of those trashy newspapers you see at the grocery store check-out because I keep posting all of this. In fact, until it hits real news I think I'm gonna lay off of it. It's great and

The Ark of the Covenant!

2009-06-25T14:56:00.004-04:00

If you grew up in the church, read the Old Testament, or even seen the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Ark you know about the Ark of the Covenant. The container of Aaron's staff, the Ten Commandments (not the movie), and some manna is said to have disappeared a long long time ago.There have always been rumors that the Ark made its way to Africa in the time of King Solomon and the queen of

Political Sainthood?

2009-06-24T11:21:00.002-04:00

I was just reading my friend Paul's blog (here) where he mentions that the canonization process is in place for Julius Kambarage Nyerere the African ruler who brought about the creation of Tanzania.Paul links to an article from the Sunday Monitor which provides some details. Click here for that article.I find this potential canonization very interesting. While I do not know a whole lot about

Thoughts from a Friend

2009-06-19T10:05:00.002-04:00

My friend Ed is an Orthodox Christian who is currently writing a series of bulletin inserts for his congregation. While I love almost everything Ed writes on his blog I thought his latest bulletin insert was especially noteworthy. It is evident by this post that Ed shares many of my thoughts on Christian martyrdom. It seems the difference between us is that Ed explains his thoughts in a

Have Faith!

2009-06-13T15:46:00.006-04:00

That was the charge of many of the graduation speakers, salutatorians, valedictorians that I have heard speak at the three graduation ceremonies I attended over the past week or two. If this wasn't the specific charge it was nevertheless an essential piece of almost every speech that was given. The students were exhorted to keep the faith, have faith, and reminded that it was by faith that they

Passion Narratives with Ehrman

2009-04-25T10:43:00.003-04:00

This post is long overdue but that's never stopped me before.I had the chance a couple of weeks ago to see arch-heretic and blasphemer Bart Ehrman's appearance on the Colbert Report. For those of you who don't read much in the field of biblical studies Ehrman is a New Testament scholar who has turned away from the faith and has been publishing books about the Bible is unreliable and is full of

Christos Anesti!!

2009-04-14T12:10:00.004-04:00

Christ is Risen! Indeed he is Risen! Amen!I feel a little bad posting this a couple days after the great Feast of the Resurrection, but I guess late is better than never and my excuse is that I was too busy celebrating the feast to blog. Glory to Christ, he is Risen indeed!I know that if I write too much of my own thoughts on this it would be shamefully disjointed and wouldn't do this glorious

Glorious Feast!

2009-03-25T09:25:00.008-04:00

Today the church exhorts us to join in a great paradox of feasting even in the midst of our Lenten fasting since today is the feast of the Annunciation. Today is the day that we celebrate and remember that glorious day when the Angel Gabriel came to the Virgin and proclaimed:Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you...Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now you

The Ladder, The Watchmen, and The Saint of Ireland

2009-03-17T11:08:00.002-04:00

As I've noted before Kristy and I are reading St. John Climacus' The Ladder of Divine Ascent as a Lenten reading and let me say that even though we're still slowly working our way through the introduction by Bishop Kallistos Ware the book is well worth your time. Just like I stated about the SVS Press edition of St. Athanasius' On The Incarnation (here) this book is worth your time for the

Finally!!

2009-03-05T10:51:00.002-05:00

I finally received my copy of St. John Climacus' Ladder of Divine Ascent. So what if Lent already started, I guess I'll just have to catch up a bit. I'll try to keep some regular posts coming on this.Also if you haven't read or just ignored the comments I encourage you to check out the post entitled "Thoughts from Sunday School Prep." There is a good conversation going on there between my

Street Fighter the Lengend of Chun-Li

2009-03-02T14:51:00.005-05:00

Usually when I talk about movies on this blog it's because the movie spurred some theological pondering or something of that sort (like the half written post on penance in light of Seven Pounds and Gran Torino that I'm still trying to figure out how to finish before I post.) While my response to Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li doesn't really fit the mold I couldn't resist writing a quick

Thoughts from Sunday School Prep.

2009-02-26T09:43:00.003-05:00

I've been teaching my 8th grade confirmation Sunday school class about the Trinity the past two weeks. I've really enjoyed it even if I was sad that I don't have enough time to really dig deep with them on this issue. There is one thing that I've been thinking through that has really bothered me the last few days. As I prepare for Sunday school I try to think through various issues the kids may

Ash Wednesday

2009-02-25T15:35:00.004-05:00

Today, marks the beginning of Lent for those of us who follow the western ecclesial calendar. Today is a day that we receive ashes on our foreheads to remind us of our mortality. From dust we were created and one day to dust we will return. Unless our Lord returns beforehand we will all die. While it may be considered morbid by some to think on our looming death it is actually a long standing

By the Power of Grayskull!

2009-02-23T17:33:00.003-05:00

Yes, I did just quote He-Man. I used to love He-Man so much, in fact, that according to my mom I used to run around the house shouting "By the power of Grayskull!" I guess this is only fitting that I now work in Castle Grayskull. The other day I was riding in a car with our Associate Pastor and our Director of Contemporary Arts and mentioned off the cuff that our church building sort of looked

In preparation of Lent

2009-02-16T14:12:00.005-05:00

Yes, Lent is right around the corner. For those of us who follow the Western church calendar this years lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday on February 25. This past week it was my turn to write a brief article for our church newsletter. Below is what I wrote to encourage our congregation to begin looking towards lent even though it is a week or two off."Acquire a peaceful spirit, and

What?

2009-02-09T11:55:00.003-05:00

My friend JD (here) recently posted a youtube video of a fashion show in Britain for church ministers. I watched the short video and it made me sad. Not only did the whole fashion show deal make me sad, but the comments made by the deaconess interviewed couldn't be any more contrary to what vestments and worship is all about. If you watch the video (here) listen to the comments that the

Text Messaging: My arch-nemisis!

2009-02-06T12:19:00.005-05:00

I hate text messaging, and may even go so far as to say it is the bane of my existence. Sure it has it's purposes and if you looked at my cell phone bills (or rather my parent's bills because ashamedly I was still on their plan in seminary) you would see a moderate usage of text messages.But now I am thrust into the world of youth ministry and for my middle to upper-middle class kids text

Post Super-Bowl Thoughts

2009-02-03T16:34:00.003-05:00

Contrary to what the title may convey, this post is more about theology and popular piety than it is about the Super Bowl.For the past three years up until I moved to NC I attended an Orthodox church. In this church I've been fed and nourished in the faith. I have come to love Orthodoxy very much (even though I don't have any current plans to convert) and I believe that those of us who belong

Long Time

2009-01-09T15:36:00.002-05:00

It's been a long while since I last posted. Ashamedly I missed Christmas, well not really, but I had somethings that I was going to post and I neglected to post them in a timely fashion. Who knows, maybe I'll post them anyways. This quick note is just to say that I'm still alive and although I've been absent from blogging for a little over a month I should be back soon. I've been busy with

A Small Bit of Humor From the Job Search

2008-11-17T16:07:00.002-05:00

I was looking for jobs today and I came across something that made me laugh a little bit. I saw a posting for a "Spanish speaking pastor" and the mildly humorous part was that it was for a pentecostal church in California. My first thought was "huh? Don't Pentecostals believe in speaking in tongues anymore?"I'm not intending to belittle Pentecostals or the gift of speaking in tongues. All I'm

Eccumenical Awesomeness!!!

2008-11-06T10:02:00.004-05:00

His Eminence Bartholomew, ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, delivered the linked address to the synod of Catholic bishops at the Sistine Chapel on October 18, 2008. I love how the Catholics and Orthodox continue to dialogue about unification. Remember that they have been separated from each other since 1054 AD. (Some scholars debate the dating of this schism but we'll allow it to stand

More thoughts on the Celebration of All Saints Day

2008-11-05T12:19:00.006-05:00

As I continued to think about my previous post on All Saints Day and why I think Protestants need to celebrate it, I started thinking through possible resistance to this idea that I assume many low-church/fundamentalist Protestants would have. What I'm speaking about is not those who are merely ignorant of the Christian practice of All Saints Day, but those who would oppose it as irreligious,

Why Protestants Should Celebrate All Saints Day

2008-11-03T14:05:00.005-05:00

This may be a day or two late, but I figured it was probably still something worth posting. Many protestant churches have their harvest parties, chili cook-offs, and other fun gatherings this time of year and yet ignore the explicitly Christian feast of All Saints Day. The reason for ignoring this holiday probably has many reasons including the extremes of mere ignorance and anti-Catholic bias.

Soup, Stews, and Chili - an Ontological Discussion

2008-11-02T16:01:00.004-05:00

I went to a Wesleyan church this Sunday in order to hear a friend preach and I ended up staying for their annual Chili Cook-off. On the way back from church I mentioned to Kristy that I'm not a huge chili fan, but that I love the recipe I have for "White Chili" (courtesy of Jennifer Lucrezio). This began a discussion as to what makes a chili different from a stew and what separates a stew from

Singleness and Ministry

2008-10-08T13:56:00.004-04:00

The first time it happened I shrugged it off, the second posting I saw I ignored, but the trend that I've noticed while browsing pastoral job postings online came to a head the other day when I called about a position and was told not to apply because I was single.I can understand if these churches were looking seeking a pastor only for unwed mothers or for some other small microcosm of the

I'm not dead yet....

2008-08-26T15:41:00.003-04:00

Don't worry, even though it's been over a month since my last post I haven't disappeared. I would like to offer some wonderful excuse as to why I haven't blogged in a long time, but basically it comes down to me being lazy and having a super crappy internet connection at the apartment in which I'm living. Some updates: - Still no job. Yep, unemployed life is starting to suck real bad. Honestly

Sports update

2008-07-14T15:53:00.007-04:00

There has been a lot of talk as of late that the iconic Brett Favre has asked to be released from the Green Bay Packers and that if he was indeed released then his most likely landing spot would be with the Minnesota Vikings. If you know me at all then you know that I am a die-hard Vikings fan and that I have been such since 1st grade. However, if somehow this abomination took place and Brett

Final Ichthus Thoughts

2008-06-17T15:16:00.005-04:00

I know Ichthus has been over for a few days, but I figured I'd give some final closing thoughts. I spend my first two posts lamenting the poor audio quality but I do have to admit that the third day of the festival showed major improvement. The main stage was vastly better than the previous days. Not only was the audio tolerable and not painful, but it was actually quite good. I have a few

Dispassion, worship, and an Ichthus update

2008-06-14T10:47:00.006-04:00

In case you didn't see the link in the comments my friend Nathaniel posted a response to my questions on dispassion over on his blog. It is worth checking out if I confused you or if you have been thinking about this issue for a while like I (and apparently Kyle) have. Here is the link to Nathaniel's post.There is also an interesting discussion about the over emphasis of music in Protestant

Misc. Thoughts from Ichthus: 1

2008-06-12T23:59:00.003-04:00

Searching to quench the boredom from being unemployed I volunteered to help Ichthus ministries out today and my reward was a free weekend pass to the festival. For those of you who don't know, Ichthus is the oldest of the Christian music festivals complete with Christian rock bands, speakers, and all the standard fun. Tonight was the first night of the festival and here are some thoughts

Ramblings from an unemployed vagabond

2008-06-06T10:35:00.002-04:00

One would think that I would post more now that the rush of finals week is done and the semester is finally over, somehow that has not been the case. Hopefully in the next week or so I'll get a few more of my thoughts worked out enough to post some stuff on here. Until then here is a short update on what's going on in my life:1. I am now a Master of Theological Studies...or at least that's what

On Tradition

2008-04-14T13:55:00.004-04:00

As you should know by now I'm a huge baseball fan and as such I found myself spending my Sunday afternoon watching the Pirates vs. Reds game on tv and watching the Orioles game via mlb.com gamecast. During the telecast on FSN one of the announcers began to discuss baseball tradition and the important role it plays in helping teams and the game. The announcer also made the point that it is

Glorious Feastday!!

2008-03-25T14:53:00.004-04:00

In case you were wondering I didn't miss Easter. My church follows a different calendar than most in the west and so our Easter will take place in a little over a month. Today is, however, a very important holy-day no matter which calendar you use. Today is March 25, and it is on this day that we remember that the angel visited Mary and announced to her that she would bear with child, to which

It's getting to be that time of year

2008-03-21T12:08:00.003-04:00

It is fast approaching the start of the baseball season and thus this is the time of year where I make my kierkegaardian leap of faith and jump headlong into the belief that the Baltimore Orioles can, should, and will indeed, win the World Series.Last year I took this leap and it was fun for a while but eventually I fell flat on my face as the Orioles ended the season with a losing record (yes

"Liturgical" Dancing

2008-03-12T12:35:00.003-04:00

Today in chapel there was what people like to call "liturgical dancing." By this I mean 4 people wearing white went on stage and danced to a song with the intention of conveying theological meaning. As we were gearing up for chapel my friend Chad and I were wondering about the development of dance in the liturgy. I confess that I haven't really researched it but it seems to me that this must (

More Lenten Thoughts

2008-03-06T15:36:00.003-05:00

If my recent post entitled "Approaching Lent" provoked some thoughts then check out my friend Nathaniel's blog entry (here). He, being Orthodox, does a better job than I in describing the Orthodox approach to lent. His post is short and thorough so pop over there and hopefully that will give you a little better understanding of what I'm talking about.- Ben

On the Untenable Nature of Calvinist/Predestinarian Theology

2008-03-04T12:30:00.004-05:00

As I've mentioned before I'm taking an independent study in the historical and theological development of Eastern Christianity. I find that as I read through books like Jaroslav Pelikan's The Spirit of Eastern Christendom that I am learning not merely about Eastern Christian thought and theology, but that I am finding a much deeper grounding in the holy orthodox doctrines of the entire Church.In

Approaching Lent

2008-03-03T19:50:00.005-05:00

I know this post may be a little late (seeing as how most of you who are reading this blog have been in Lent for the past 2-3 weeks) but I've been pondering this for a while and figured late is better than never.A little over a month ago I was in New Orleans on my way back from Mexico and my friends and I decided to take in a Mardi Gras parade (don't worry there was none of the stereotypical

Great Minds Think Alike

2008-02-28T14:31:00.004-05:00

Apparently I'm not the only one with thoughts along the line of my last post. Check out my friend Isaac's blog post (here). He takes a slightly different approach in that he's more calm and probably nicer about it, but either way here is a slightly different perspective on the same issue.And I don't think he read my post before he wrote his.Enjoy.- Ben

Why I don't Like Protestant Worship Music

2008-02-27T15:23:00.006-05:00

I'm trying to catch up on some reading for classes so I can't write a long post, but I wanted to jot down this thought before I got distracted.For my independent study I've been reading the second volume of Jaroslav Pelikan's wonderful church history set entitled The Rise of Eastern Christendom. Since Pelikan's work chronicles the history of theology and thoughts I am finding that it's a

Reading the Fathers

2008-02-25T14:05:00.002-05:00

There has been a lot of talk lately about protestants embracing their roots and turning to the Fathers of the Church for wisdom and guidance. If you need some evidence of this pick up the latest issue of Christianity Today or any one of magazines/journals that deal with the theological trends within protestantism. This marked interest in patristic reading (reading of the Fathers) is especially

What a wonderful holiday!!

2008-02-14T08:37:00.004-05:00

That's right, today is the day that pitchers and catchers report to spring training! While there still isn't really a whole lot to watch or get excited about yet (i.e. no games are being played yet) this still means that baseball season has officially begun. Soon enough our waiting and anticipation will be over and the regular season will be upon us, but until then we can fill our baseball

Book Review: "Three Treatises on the Divine Images" by St. John of Damascus

2008-02-11T16:31:00.000-05:00

This will be the last post before the semester starts. Hopefully that doesn't mean that my blogging will drastically decrease, but it does mean that I have to assess the amount of success (or in my case failure) to actually finish the books on my reading list for break.I'm not sure if I have reading ADD or what, but instead of finishing the three books I wanted to finish before the semester I

A Quick Non-Theological Post

2008-02-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

Since today is Super Bowl Sunday, I've decided to allow myself an obligatory football post, though it's not about the Super Bowl. If any of you are fans of the Minnesota Vikings (in reality the only reader who is is probably my dad, but it's my blog so whatever) you are likely sitting in disbelief that Chris Carter got passed over for a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection. Yep, that's right.

The one where I write about a lot of different things

2008-01-10T08:30:00.001-05:00

This one might be a long one as I've been intending to post on some of these topics since before Christmas. I'll try to section off the topics so you can easily scroll ahead if you find one of the topics to be boring, but then again chances are you might find all of these topics, if not the whole blog in general, to be rather boring. Nevertheless here it goes.********Happy Birthday Jesus*********

Rejoice!

2007-12-25T00:10:00.000-05:00

I find that with all the holiday-ness and end of the school year stuff surrounding Christmas I have trouble rejoicing in Christmas the same way I do Easter. While for Christians, Easter is the chiefest of holy days Christmas is still a day to rejoice in, for Truly God is incarnate and our salvation is now at hand in the form of a babe!I picked up a book while I was at the monastery and though I

Shared Experiences

2007-12-19T16:35:00.000-05:00

Much of what is below is still a work in progress (especially given I just started thinking about this about 3 minutes ago) but I wanted to throw it out there before I forgot it (as I usually do).I was just youtube-ing at work since the student center is completely empty and I have another hour and a half to work, and I came across a sweet video via my friend Tegan's blog. I promptly sent the

In Response to a Weekend at a Monastery

2007-12-17T14:26:00.001-05:00

I just spent my weekend (Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday until lunch) at St. Gregory Palamas Monastery in OH with a few guys from church. Although I came out of the weekend very tired, I also think that it was a great 'retreat' and would do it again in a heartbeat. We arrived at the monastery around 11:30pm on Friday. As we settled ourselves we noticed a sign that informed us that the

Christmas Break Reading List

2007-12-13T03:21:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I just made it through the semester! I think 14 credits of graduate level work (if you can call some of it that) is a little much for me, but I made it through and I only had to pull about 4 or 5 all/most-nighters. Now that I'm done with the semester (after I turn in the paper I just finished) I've got a little time on my hands to do some reading that I want to do. While I plan

The lighter side

2007-11-19T09:12:00.000-05:00

I mentioned last time that I would try to post something that is a little lighter and possibly not as theological just for a change of pace. Out of a sense of obligation I post this knowing that it may be equally boring, but nevertheless I continue.Since I have a ton of work to do and there is no end in sight for the amount of papers I have to write before the semester ends, Luke and I figured

Quick Update

2007-11-14T13:15:00.001-05:00

If you were wondering how the reader situation described the post below ended up I got an email today that said they were opting to strike the Nestorian Liturgy quote but keep the Origen quote.I'm not thrilled with this option, but it's a little better and I have to live with it. Personally I think that both should have been taken out of the reader, but I'm not in charge and I can't make those

Does anyone care about Christian orthodoxy anymore?!

2007-11-13T09:22:00.000-05:00

I should be reading for class right now so I'll try to make this quick. As a few of you probably know, I have spent my last few semesters here working on a couple devotional readers for the seminary for use during the seasons of Lent and KingdomTide (a season created in the 60s or 70s during the season commonly called Pentecost or proper time). I recently finished the Lent/EasterTide reader for

Flippancy with Orthodoxy

2007-11-06T16:18:00.000-05:00

I'm writing a paper this semester on the addition of the "Filioque" clause (for a more detailed explanation click here) in the Nicene Creed. While this may seem like a really nerdy project, and indeed it probably is, the reason I've elected to write on it is because this is a topic that is historically important but also one that I find to be very important for personal piety - especially if I

The Feast of All Saints Day

2007-11-01T13:31:00.000-04:00

For those of you in the west today is All Saints Day, the day that we remember the dead in Christ who will rise first at the coming of our Lord. It is good for us to remember those in the faith who have gone before us and to remember that death has no power over those who are in Christ Jesus. This is my first All-Saints Day since I first experience the death of some one close to me. And so the

On the Eucharist

2007-11-01T00:34:00.001-04:00

I'm lying in bed tonight and I just can't sleep until I post this so it'll be quick. As I was lying in my bed I couldn't help but think about the day and how it was a great day. While it may be the great weather, the fact that I didn't do anything, or any combination therein, I firmly believe it is because today I had the Eucharist for the first time since the summer in Duluth. Surely God must

Misappropriating the Incarnation?

2007-10-29T08:52:00.000-04:00

I'm not really in the mood to blog right now, so this post (as have so many others) may be lacking in coherence and a well formulated argument, but I will post it nevertheless because it helps me to process things verbally (or in this case through typing).We recently had Kingdom Conference on campus which is basically the Seminary's attempt at a four day mission conference nestled in the "church

Cynical?

2007-10-16T17:55:00.000-04:00

Given my (and a few of my housemate's) cynical attitude toward the seminary one of them posed the question."Is it cynicism if we're right?" So that's the question I offer up to you. If our percieved cynical attitude is right are we really cynics or just the only ones that can see reality? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments. Have at it.

Christ Our God?!?

2007-10-10T11:50:00.000-04:00

Over the past few weeks there has been one phrase from church that has been constantly on my mind - the phrase "Christ our God." This phrase is repeated numerous times during the Divine Liturgy and is very clear in it's meaning - namely that Christ is our God and we worship him.For some reason over the past few weeks this phrase has stuck out to me more than usual and thus I have been forced to

Unitarian Universalists

2007-10-04T08:55:00.000-04:00

I went to a Unitarian Universalist Church the other day and it was an interesting experience. No, I am not converting, I had to go to another religious movement/cult for a class and they were the easiest to figure out when they met. I would write a total review, but I'm kinda lazy so I won't. I did however run into my friend Ed at the church (surprising because he goes to St. Athanasius as

When paradigms collide

2007-09-16T00:31:00.000-04:00

As most of you know I spent the summer living in Duluth, MN working for an organization called Youthworks. While you probably know from a previous post that I spent the summer facilitating short-term missions for Jr. High students, I do believe that I forgot to mention that every Tuesday we would take the groups that came to our site to a 'soup kitchen' to dine and fellowship with the people who

Final thoughts from a great summer

2007-09-01T21:15:00.001-04:00

Let me start this post by saying that the summer I had in Duluth working for Youthworks was wonderful. I loved the work that we did and even more I loved the 3 people that I worked with every day. If I was guaranteed having a staff like the one I had this summer I would sign up for Youthworks again in an instant.With that in mind I've been wanting to post for a while what I think is the most

The Crucifixion

2007-07-31T01:17:00.000-04:00

I've been meditating on the cross of Christ a lot lately, especially in light of leading weekly short-term mission trips that are primarily social action initiatives. I think upon the cross because I believe it is in the cross that Christian servanthood is defined. As the Holy Apostle Paul says in Philippians:do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one

Summer Thoughts part II

2007-07-05T18:49:00.000-04:00

For church on Sunday I decided to go visit the Greek Orthodox Church of the 12 Holy Apostles across town. While I love the church I'm staying at and will attend there most of the time during the summer I wanted to check out this Orthodox Church across town. Although some of the service was different from what I'm use to (a lot more Greek) it was pretty much the same liturgy. Despite saying and

Summer thoughts

2007-07-01T00:55:00.000-04:00

Before I jump into the heart of the post (which as usual will be an assortment of randomness) allow me to do a quick update on my life. I'm not four weeks into my summer job with Youthworks (www.youthworks.com) in which I am the Site Director for their Duluth, MN site. This means that I manage a site staff of three college students (who are all awesome by the way) and together the four of us

One for the Road

2007-05-28T01:20:00.000-04:00

I don't' know when I'll get the chance to post again and since it's 1:20am and I leave for the airport at 3:45am I thought that I would write a post instead of getting some sleep. As is usually the case with my longer posts, you'll have to forgive a lack of structure as I just string together a bunch of things I've been thinking about lately.-----------Today in church we sang a hymn that said "

Summer Reading List

2007-05-06T18:07:00.000-04:00

I've got a couple of things I want to post about but I'm not sure if I'll have time to put them up until after finals are over. But it is time for me to start developing a summer reading list. Just like last year I would love input from you all. Below is a list of a few books I want to get through please add some suggestions in the comments section. It seems like I always create a huge list

Where, O Death, is thy sting??

2007-04-26T14:38:00.000-04:00

I found out this morning before chapel (4/26) that my Grandpa Howard (C. Dean Howard) passed away either last night or this morning (prayers for my family are much appreciated). I'm sure a lot of different thoughts ran through my mind. I thought about my grandpa and as a good protestant I thought about his salvific state. I knew my grandpa well, but he was a very quiet person. He didn't talk

Did Easter really happen?

2007-04-12T12:29:00.000-04:00

I believe so, but if you attended a recent chapel at Asbury Seminary you wouldn't be able to tell. I've never been to services that are more void of joy in the weeks following Easter in my life. I'm not sure what the problem is but the services are dry and joyless. There is no excitement when the leader says "Christ is risen" and there seems to be even less excitement when the people respond "

Christ is Risen...Indeed He is Risen

2007-04-08T11:04:00.000-04:00

Hallelujah! I attended my first Orthodox Pascha (Easter) service last night from 11:30pm-3:30am and it was amazing. The beauty of sight, sound and smell, combined with the somber tone moving to extreme joy brought me almost to tears. I don't know if I've ever celebrated Easter this fully at any other church.From one of the Paschal Songs:Christ is Risen from the Dead, Trampling down death by

Thoughts After a Shane and Shane Concert

2007-04-02T11:00:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I ventured up to Cedarville, OH primarily to hang out with my friend Becca and also to see Shane and Shane in concert. Here are a few thoughts from the trip:1. Sugar-free Red Bull works as well and tastes just as good as regular Red Bull.Even though Red Bull is an essential part of my routine when I run sound at concerts, it was needed for this one as well. I ended up staying in

Bureaucratic Gnosticism

2007-03-30T00:12:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been thinking on and off about leadership and I coined the term "bureaucratic gnosticism" while conversing with a couple people on campus. While reflecting on leadership in general and on some current and past situations in which I've been involved I began to see a sort of pattern emerging from those that I would describe as "bad leaders" or at least "bad leadership." I'm not

Baseball starts in 8 days!!

2007-03-23T21:28:00.000-04:00

I know that I've tried to keep this blog primarily about faith, theology, and things of that sort but I would like to make a quick post about baseball so if you don't like sports then feel free to ignore this one.I know it's still spring training and I know that opening day is 8 days away but I am really excited about baseball this season. More specifically I am really fired up about the

Lent: Feasting During the Fast

2007-03-20T00:10:00.000-04:00

This lent has been interesting for me. Though I've not had a great many Lenten epiphanies to blog about I think that God is still teaching me good things. Probably the most significant thing I'm learning is how to feast on him while I'm fasting. The past week or two I've been fighting diligently against a constant bad/angry mood. It's all that I can do to keep from saying or doing something in

Ray Boltz is a heretic and other thoughts from church on Sunday

2007-03-12T10:23:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if anyone else even knows who Ray Boltz is, but he was a Christian pop singer in the early 90's that was quite popular with our parents generation. Ol' Ray had a sweet curly mullet sorta thing going on with a huge 'stache he was the archetype for the mid-life crisis wanna be "rock/pop star" for the Christian worldview. I'm very familiar (as I'm sure my sister is) with Boltzy

More thoughts on W

2007-03-10T00:58:00.000-05:00

I intended to post this a while ago, but never got around to it. Shortly after I posted my thoughts on W not being a vowel I noticed a lot of people venturing to my site from the site of David Black. It turns out that David Black happens to be the author of my greek text book and professor at Southeaster Baptist Seminary. I'm not sure how he found my page but nevertheless he posted a link to my

Zeal vs. Love

2007-02-25T22:59:00.000-05:00

About a week ago I began going back through my blog affixing labels to each post in hopes of categorizing my thoughts according to the list you see off to the right and I began to realize something. My blog has changed drastically in the past two years. Or rather, I have changed drastically in the past two years and it is exemplified in my blog. As I read back over the older posts I thought to

Lent I

2007-02-22T23:57:00.000-05:00

Today for my devotions I was reading a community reader that our seminary puts out each season and the entry really spoke to me. I would like to share that entry here. I don't want to appear pompous by posting the work I did, but I really liked today's reading. Yes, it has my favorite quote from one of my favorite fathers of the church but God really spoke to me through it today so I thought

Ash Wednesday - Lent Begins

2007-02-22T00:31:00.000-05:00

"O Lord and Master of my Life, take form me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of Chastity, humility, patience, and love to thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed are Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen" - Lenten Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian.

I have the language skills of a third grader!

2007-02-17T21:22:00.000-05:00

I know that I joke a lot about my poor writing skills but the other day in my Greek class I found out just how poor a grasp of the English language I have. I don't know why, but for some reason my professor was talking about the number of vowels in English and he said something like "We all know how many vowels we have in English." I confidently thought to myself: A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.

St. Valentine'(s) Day

2007-02-14T14:49:00.001-05:00

This is not one of those "hey i'm lonely and single so I'll rant against Valentine's Day" posts. I just started wondering who exactly St. Valentine was and so I thought I'd share my research here. Note this is not a defense for or argument against the celebration of St. Valentine's Day, it is merely a short post on who St. Valentine was.Since most of us follow the western church calendar and