WHAT!?

Check this story out.

So these are the questions that I keep struggling with as this whole episode comes to an end. (I hope).

1) What does this say about our culture?

2) More specifically; what does this say about our values?

3) When someone famous dies, why do they become an instant "saint" and we want to celebrate their lives? (for lack of a better term)

4) What does the rest of the world think about us when they see stuff like this?

5) How many homeless and low income families could have been fed with the money it cost the city of LA?

6) How much longer are we (mainstream Christianity) going to hold on to this rediculous idea that we are a Christian nation?

Just my quick answers as I observe the last few weeks...

1) We are SHALLOW.

2) Our value system is SO relative its scarry. Morallity and goodness are subjective and relect the shallow nature of our culture.

3) None of us want to be held accountable for our lives either... We hope people will let us off the hook too.

4) No idea, but I can imagine its not positive...

5) Let's say it cost an average of $20 a family... thats 70000 families

6) I hope we give this up sooner than later. I think the amount of damage that is done to the name of Christ when we fall short personally is about the same as when we try to claim that our nation is a Christian nation. (Or that it ever really was) Do we really want to associate Christ with this?

Have a great day!

Been a long time

But I actually think about posting quite often, just never when I am actually at my CPU. Plus I have a son now, and that takes up a ton of my time. So just to fill you in on whats new with me.

- I have a son name Emmory William Steenback. He goes by Boo, Boo Boo, and Emo. He is the 2nd most precious earthly gift that God has given me. (Shawna is by far #1)

- Baseball is over for the year, which is another reason why I have time to think about blogging again. Once again, I have learned a ton from my experiences this season. I am blessed with the opportunity to coach those guys.

- I really need to finish my thesis... I am a LOSER!

- My birthday is coming up in a few weeks and i turn 29... I don't feel old, but its starting to sound old. 30 is scary

- I tried to watch the NBA again, and still think the way the game is called by officials is killing it. I also tried watching the NHL again and I'm back! They're letting em play again!

So like i said there have been a lot of things i have been thinking about that i wanted to blog on, but there is one that keeps sticking with me.

I have been reading the book "Total Truth" and its got me thinking a lot about world views and such, and i began to think through the evoultionistic/green/secular world view and thinking it all the way out to its logical ends. (i don't think there are many people who put their faith in evolution that are doing that... but alas i don't think there are many Christians doing that either)

So anyway see if you can follow this line of reasoning, and feel free to respond...

One of the many things that evolution teaches us is that the weak and unfit will be weeded out through the process of natural selection. If this is the case then I have two questions for those who hold this world view.

1) Why do you care about the thousands of people who are dying off in places like Darfur and other places around the world? I honestly don't mean to sound crass or uncaring. I do think that it is terrible what is going on there, but then again my world view allows me to understand and condemn it for what it is. EVIL. But if you hold a secular/natural world view, then how else can you explain such terrible events other than saying it is the process of the weaker being weeded out by the stronger. How ever it is that the stronger got that way doesn't matter, by subscribing to the natural selection dogma you must admit that what is going on is the same process that wiped out our missing link cousins.

2) What do you do with homosexuality? If it is a genetic issue as seems to be the popular argument, then (if you really want to say you believe in evolution/natural selection) you have to admit that any genetic mutation/condition/creation that produces a type of organism that is unable to procreate/perpetuate itself is a weaker organism destined for extinction.

Am i missing something here? Give me feed back... especially if you actually have placed your faith in evoultionistic secularism. How do you explain these issues from your world view without making a fundamental change in your belief construct?

World View people! You HAVE to take your belief system and follow it to its logically end in every situation. If it cannot explain or help you understand something that you encounter in this world then your world view is incomplete or flawed... Not good

He Finally Came!!!

Just a few pics of our son for those of you who wanted to see him!

LINKY

Romans 7:24

Romans 7:24

The longer I live and the more I read and study the Word, the more I understand this verse. The thing is I am not sure how good a thing that is. I mean obviously on one level it is good. But at the same time, it really does bother me just like it bothered Paul.

This may be a shock for some of you, for others you couldn't agree more, but I am a vile rotten, worthless man. I still shake my head in disbelief that God has chosen to save me and use me.

The crazy thing is that the more i feel this way, the more i realize how much more there is to my fallen nature than i even realize now. (You might have to read that twice, but you'll get it) It's like the most terrible ice berg in the most terrible dream that wont end; either one of them. the more that is exposed only show just how much more is still to be exposed.

This is why we can call the Gospel, the Gospel (literally "the good news") The Bible paints a terribly bleak and hopeless picture of man after the fall and w/o Christ, so the good news of the Gospel comes as SUCH a relief when you've finally come to grips with the reality of our situation.

The one thing that this understanding also does for me that I am so very encouraged about; is that it makes Heaven so much more sweeter! It makes the coming reality of perfection and rest from sin so wonderful! (Even as i sit here and try to come up with words to describe it, they fail me, its too wonderful an idea)

Once we've realized our wretchedness, given up our foolishness, and embraced the graciousness of God's goodness and mercy there is sweetness even in something as bitter as knowing how nasty i really am.

Really guys... How awesome is that, that even something as depressing and terrible as understanding our sinfulness can also be a source of encouragement and hope.

YHWH is GOOD!

A Couple of Pictures from the last year of my life. (Which is about to change in ways I don't even know)

This is the state I spend most of my life in... "HUH?!"

My Sister-in-Law's wedding day. Can you tell how much I enjoy being dressed up? My wife is soooo hot!

This one of my favorite things about our house. We see sun sets like this all the time from our kitchen.

My favorite place in the upstate.

I love to do this, my dog hates it, and my wife is usually yelling at me to put him down. :)

Guess which one is mine...

Christmas Cheer!!

It actually SNOWED!! That is our leaning snow man... He was going to be a pregnant snow woman, but then my hands got cold.

I really like all the cool things i can do with our new camera. I dont know how well it turned out here with it being scaled down, but this shot was about a 2 sec exposure of huge snow-flakes.

And now for my theological content...

Why did Christ hang out with sinners and people of ill repute? The obvious answer is so He could minister to the sick and those who knew they were in need of spiritual help. But do you think He also knew that it would really tick off the religious establishment and help to polarize the pride of false/man-centered religion. And where is the balance between making sure we aren't offending our brother or sister in Christ and following the example of our Lord.

Quote of the...

...Day, Week, or however long till i post again. You've got to love it for so many reasons! Yay Government!

"If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed,"

-Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina

discernment... see how yours is working

Read here


One Question: "What do we learn about this person's faith from this speech?"





Comment please

At least once a month... (I wish I could Blog like Jim)

So this is one of those update/random things I've been thinking/learning.

Baseball is rolling now, so i have way less time, but I don't mind. I love being out there with my players! It's a blast! I have a great team this year. We are a small team, but i think we're gonna be dangerous. Most of all I hope that God is honored with our effort this spring.

Speaking of baseball I have to make a comment about the latest admission of guilt to cheating/illegal activity in the MLB. I'm not gonna lie, i thought ol' A-Rod was the last clean superstar left to make a run on the HR record that has already been broken by a guy who cheated like a champ. At first i was really disappointed, but the more i think about it the more i realize it was bound to happen, and I can't blame them for doing it. They are HUMAN. That means they are fallen and will only make a mess of things. I can't point fingers. I've done really stupid things and made really bad mistakes. I am human too ya know. It has ruined MLB for me... don't know how much I'll continue to follow or watch it. This is that final nail in the coffin that was started with the strike.

I have been listening to a lot of the band Cake lately. They rock! I mean they are so random and good! It really does my post-modern side some good to kick it to their talent.

I have been reading in Judges the past few days. While there are some really deep lessons about what not to do and faithfulness to God and following His commands carefully, the one observation i want to make here is shockingly superficial... ha! Anyway I think that my standard response to people who talk about how terrible it is to watch any movie that has violence or worldly things like drinking or sex in it, will be "Read Judges lately?" NOW DON'T GET ME WRONG!! I am not saying to rent some nasty R rated movie that has naked ladies running around and all that. But I don't think the "stick our head in the sand" approach is gonna really work either. I mean what do you do with a book like Judges? It's pretty much all a bunch of stories about murder, killing, lying, sex, and intrigue. It puts every modern soap opera to shame! Just think about it people! Why are those stories in there? There is a reason! God has a purpose for every Word that He has revealed to us! Some of that stuff is R rated at best. Honestly I am still working thru the application of that. Any thoughts would be welcome on that...

My wife's belly is getting really big!! I have a son!!! HOLY CRAP!! Lord willing I will get to meet him in about 10 weeks. This is scary, exciting, happy, fun, weird, and other things like that.

I am a vile sinner... i realize this so often... guess thats because i sin so much... shocked? You need to read your Bible more if you are.

And finally... "When you sleep, where do your fingers go?"

Hail to the Chef

That was on purpose btw. I thought i would get on here and share some of my thoughts about the swearing in of the new messiah... err i mean president. Overall im not really that happy with it, but it's not because of who won (this election was a choice between who i disliked the least). But there are 2 big issues that i have with it that make me uneasy to the point of blogging and if im honest, being physically uncomfortable.

before i jump in here let me just say for the record that i hate politics, i generally lean toward small government with isolationistic ideals. partisanship is continuing to weaken a strong country that i love and would die for

with that said... the two issues are (anyone still reading?)

1) The amount of hope that has been put into this man by this country. You are hoping in a fallen human being! You are hoping for change from someone that has been produced by the system that you want changed. But most of all you are hoping in a man! He will let you down. He will fail you! He will make mistakes, and except for the GRACE OF GOD ALMIGHTY in heaven he will make things worse! And out of the two options of success or failure, i don't know which one scares me more. Imagine what happens to all the hope that has been placed in him if he fails? What does it turn into? How will people react? How far will the pendulum swing? OR What happens if things do get "better" (what a relative and nasty term that is... Jim, blog it out will ya?) More hope is poured into a man that is fallen, depraved, and evil. JUST LIKE YOU AND ME!!!!

2) I truly understand for the first time in my life that I am a minority in this country, and apart from God's gracious intervention in the affairs of men, my family would be the target of countless hate crimes. (And I have strong doubts things will remain as they are in the long term) Yeah I am a white male and so there are a lot of us... but race, sex, and class have nothing to do with the minority i am in. I don't really have a ton more to say about it other than I really understand that now... and I am about to have a son that is going to grow up in a culture that is going to be increasingly hostile toward his family. Scares the crap out of me!
Now i could have written this 8 years ago when Bush was elected too... the religious right thought we were gonna be a theocracy within 3 years and all evil would have been stamped out by now... but again, it was a fallen man that their hope was put in.

All that to say this... I still find hope, I still have joy, and I still live in peace because I know this to be true.

Oh and by the way for those of you who reside in the minority with me... don't forget to pray!