The most brilliant use of foreshadowing. And you still won't see the end coming. I didn't!
Friday, August 17, 2012
Defending Jacob: Three-Sentence Book Review
The most brilliant use of foreshadowing. And you still won't see the end coming. I didn't!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Thoughts of an Evangelical Christian After Her First Mary-Centered Mass
Even though I've been raised in and attending Evangelical Christian churches all my life, I've still been to my fair share of Masses. I've gone as part of religion courses; I've attended out of curiosity in Kansas City; I've even been to Masses held in Spanish (Sevilla) and French (Belgium and France). But this morning, I attended my first Mass that focused on the role the Blessed Virgin plays in the Catholic faith.
At all other Masses I've attended, I've come away with a feeling of, "This is a different form of service than I'm used to, but the basics were all the same." There's been liturgy instead of prayers of praise, an organ instead of a worship band...but really, that can be said about a lot of Baptist/Methodist/Lutheran/etc churches. All in all, the only big differences between Catholic Mass and the services I attended was that at Catholic Mass, we crossed ourselves and didn't say the last part of the Lord's Prayer.
But today, at the Catholic school where I'm working, we went to Mass to celebrate the Assumption of Mary. And man: do the Catholics view Mary differently than I do!
The man giving the homily started by asking the students what BFF meant. Best Friends Forever, right? Then he asked what qualities you look for in a BFF. After gathering the ideas from the students, he listed them: someone you can trust, someone who cares for you, someone you can talk to at any time, someone who will listen, someone who loves you. He asked, "Who is the BFF of all of us in this room?" A student answered, "Jesus!", and I tell you, I thought that was the right answer. I don't know why I was so stunned when the homily-giver said, "Well...yes, but who's our real BFF? Mary!"
I'll be honest: it made me a bit uncomfortable. This highlighted two aspects of Catholicism that I don't really get: one, that we cannot speak directly with the Trinity, so saints (including Mary), must intercede for us. Two, that Mary is equal with Christ. According to today's liturgy, she is "Queen of Heaven, seated at [God's] right hand, arrayed in gold."
I don't want to disparage Catholicism or Catholics. I simply don't agree. Mary was a woman. She was a great woman, certainly! She was a devoted mother who stayed with her Son through His death. She was a faithful girl who accepted God's plan for her life. She was, presumably, one of the first Christians! (Although I'd have to check the Bible on that?) But it makes me uncomfortable to sing her praises. We don't sing Paul's praises. We don't sing Peter's praises.
This was the first time I have seen so clearly the difference between Catholics and evangelicals. Do I think Catholics are going to hell? Do I think they're a cult? No. But do I agree? Nope.
At all other Masses I've attended, I've come away with a feeling of, "This is a different form of service than I'm used to, but the basics were all the same." There's been liturgy instead of prayers of praise, an organ instead of a worship band...but really, that can be said about a lot of Baptist/Methodist/Lutheran/etc churches. All in all, the only big differences between Catholic Mass and the services I attended was that at Catholic Mass, we crossed ourselves and didn't say the last part of the Lord's Prayer.
But today, at the Catholic school where I'm working, we went to Mass to celebrate the Assumption of Mary. And man: do the Catholics view Mary differently than I do!
The man giving the homily started by asking the students what BFF meant. Best Friends Forever, right? Then he asked what qualities you look for in a BFF. After gathering the ideas from the students, he listed them: someone you can trust, someone who cares for you, someone you can talk to at any time, someone who will listen, someone who loves you. He asked, "Who is the BFF of all of us in this room?" A student answered, "Jesus!", and I tell you, I thought that was the right answer. I don't know why I was so stunned when the homily-giver said, "Well...yes, but who's our real BFF? Mary!"
I'll be honest: it made me a bit uncomfortable. This highlighted two aspects of Catholicism that I don't really get: one, that we cannot speak directly with the Trinity, so saints (including Mary), must intercede for us. Two, that Mary is equal with Christ. According to today's liturgy, she is "Queen of Heaven, seated at [God's] right hand, arrayed in gold."
I don't want to disparage Catholicism or Catholics. I simply don't agree. Mary was a woman. She was a great woman, certainly! She was a devoted mother who stayed with her Son through His death. She was a faithful girl who accepted God's plan for her life. She was, presumably, one of the first Christians! (Although I'd have to check the Bible on that?) But it makes me uncomfortable to sing her praises. We don't sing Paul's praises. We don't sing Peter's praises.
This was the first time I have seen so clearly the difference between Catholics and evangelicals. Do I think Catholics are going to hell? Do I think they're a cult? No. But do I agree? Nope.
Monday, August 13, 2012
We have a wonderful Daddy!
Among the many things I moved to Georgia, you'll see in this picture a medal (on the right) and a trophy (on the left). Daddy gave me the trophy when I was real little, "just because he was proud of me," and he gave each of us a medal when I was a little older. The back of the medal says " you'll always be a winner in my eyes. Love, Dad." I've kept them for all these years, and they mean a lot to me.
We have a great Daddy!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Church Review #1
So the last time I had to find a church, I was in England, and my primary concern was finding a place where people under 82 actually attended. I guess that's still near the top of the list as Robert and I look for a church in Macon, but there are a few other things that are key this time around:
1. This time, there's another person! And I guess Robert's opinion counts, too.
2. We'd like the preacher/pastor/minister to have a good preachin' based on the Bible.
3. We'd like to get involved and serve somehow.
4. We want to make friends and connect in a small group.
5. No way am I wearing a hat to church.
So, we tried our first Macon church today. We'll call it NW Macon church...because it was in northwest Macon. Also because its initials are NW. Anyway.
First thing I noticed: there were three HUGE video screens. First thing Robert noticed: the band members had in-ear monitors. "This church be rolling in greenbacks," is what he (more or less) said. Between the giant TVs and the earpieces, the service was pretty polished and professional. There were well-made videos before the service and before the sermon, and during the worship, there was concert-like video of the band.
We sang four songs: one by Kristian Stanfill, one by Eternal somebody, and two by Chris Tomlin. I love hearing their songs on the radio! But this band...the songs sounded exactly like they do on the radio. Phrase-for-musical-phrase, note-for-note, etc. And that's just...fine, I guess. Not my thing. I like personality, not imitation. Also, I like more singing.
And I like the singing to connect to the sermon! You know what the link between these songs was? Jesus. I mean, His existence. Or His power. His love. But really just the word Jesus. You know what the link between the songs and the sermon was? Um...God. I think. Where is the continuity?
One thing I did like A LOT was that on the PowerPoint with the lyrics, they included a verse that the lyrics applied to. Like, "light of the world forever reign" and "The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.--Exodus 15:18." I think all churches should do that.
Another thing I noticed was that the communication card spiel was the exact same as the one at FBC-NKC. Maybe pastors are given a list of phrases to use, like, "we'd love to have a record of your attendance," and "we commit to pray for you during the course of the week." The only difference is that this pastor had a Southern accent. And, let's be real now, he didn't have an iPad with News and Notes like Spencer Stith does.
The people at NW Macon church were nice enough. Maybe this was the Sunday when everybody new came, or maybe we sat in the new-people-only section, because no one seemed very involved in the service or interested in the other people around them. The pastor's sermon was well-presented, but maybe didn't quite dig in enough for us to be inspired or challenged. And, not to be blunt here, but we liked this: the church wasn't all white. Holla!
So, NW Macon church seemed like a good church. I don't think we'll go back, but not because they did anything wrong. We just weren't engaged by it. We're not polished people, so the polished service felt weird for us. That's my theory, anyway.
On the upside, we passed like eight churches (not kidding) on the 15-minute drive to NW Macon church, so we'll have plenty of options. Next week, Robert gets to pick the church! Update to follow.
1. This time, there's another person! And I guess Robert's opinion counts, too.
2. We'd like the preacher/pastor/minister to have a good preachin' based on the Bible.
3. We'd like to get involved and serve somehow.
4. We want to make friends and connect in a small group.
5. No way am I wearing a hat to church.
So, we tried our first Macon church today. We'll call it NW Macon church...because it was in northwest Macon. Also because its initials are NW. Anyway.
First thing I noticed: there were three HUGE video screens. First thing Robert noticed: the band members had in-ear monitors. "This church be rolling in greenbacks," is what he (more or less) said. Between the giant TVs and the earpieces, the service was pretty polished and professional. There were well-made videos before the service and before the sermon, and during the worship, there was concert-like video of the band.
We sang four songs: one by Kristian Stanfill, one by Eternal somebody, and two by Chris Tomlin. I love hearing their songs on the radio! But this band...the songs sounded exactly like they do on the radio. Phrase-for-musical-phrase, note-for-note, etc. And that's just...fine, I guess. Not my thing. I like personality, not imitation. Also, I like more singing.
And I like the singing to connect to the sermon! You know what the link between these songs was? Jesus. I mean, His existence. Or His power. His love. But really just the word Jesus. You know what the link between the songs and the sermon was? Um...God. I think. Where is the continuity?
One thing I did like A LOT was that on the PowerPoint with the lyrics, they included a verse that the lyrics applied to. Like, "light of the world forever reign" and "The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.--Exodus 15:18." I think all churches should do that.
Another thing I noticed was that the communication card spiel was the exact same as the one at FBC-NKC. Maybe pastors are given a list of phrases to use, like, "we'd love to have a record of your attendance," and "we commit to pray for you during the course of the week." The only difference is that this pastor had a Southern accent. And, let's be real now, he didn't have an iPad with News and Notes like Spencer Stith does.
The people at NW Macon church were nice enough. Maybe this was the Sunday when everybody new came, or maybe we sat in the new-people-only section, because no one seemed very involved in the service or interested in the other people around them. The pastor's sermon was well-presented, but maybe didn't quite dig in enough for us to be inspired or challenged. And, not to be blunt here, but we liked this: the church wasn't all white. Holla!
So, NW Macon church seemed like a good church. I don't think we'll go back, but not because they did anything wrong. We just weren't engaged by it. We're not polished people, so the polished service felt weird for us. That's my theory, anyway.
On the upside, we passed like eight churches (not kidding) on the 15-minute drive to NW Macon church, so we'll have plenty of options. Next week, Robert gets to pick the church! Update to follow.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
The Baker's Daughter: Three-Sentence Book Review
A bit slow in the beginning, but the characters are engaging. The weaving of Nazi Germany and illegal-immigration Texas is interesting and thought-provoking. This book probably shouldn't work as well as it does.
One Day in September: Three-Sentence Book Review
An incredibly well-written account of this tragedy and results. Reeve doesn't get bogged down in unimportant details or emotion. Instead, he factually and compellingly explains the before, during, and after of the event.
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