Friday, March 20, 2009

Costco Hot Dogs

Costco has to be one of my favorite stores/businesses around. My good-old American consumerism and natural thriftiness just thrive as I wander the aisles. When I was single, I often committed to enter without a cart, so I could only buy what I could carry. (I had enough self-control to not buy a $300 set of kitchen knives, so it was a pretty good strategy.) Now, married with kids, I’ve got both kiddy seats occupied, unending graham crackers, juice, and a quick hand to break up any fights—how come they don’t have an electric fence between the seats on the cart? Not to mention my cart is fully loaded down with multiple gallons of apple juice, dozens of eggs, cheese by the pounds, and enormous diaper boxes down below which are strategically placed at shin level for anyone who gets too close. Throw on a couple of cases of soda and I’m like a Sherman tank—unstoppable. But I digress…

Back to my original post—those Costco Hot Dogs. I could eat one a day. And I’m not really a hot dog eater. That whole business about Hebrew National answering to a “Higher Authority” thing must be for real. But to be fair, it’s also got to be connected to the Costco business model—how much can we lower the price for our customers? A buck fifty for a hot dog and soda? I’d eat most anything (well, if it tastes good) for $1.50.

But the other day, I had this inkling that $1.50 was a little too good to be true and I should look up the nutritional content on those little guys. To say the least, I’ve had to cut back! My aspirations to live a long and healthy life don’t agree with this (includes bun, ketchup, mustard, onion, and relish):

costcohotdog

32 grams of fat and 75% of my daily sodium intake!

Maybe once a month…

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Myth of Certainty

Some of you may know the name Ben Witherington III. He's a New Testament scholar at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky. I discovered and started reading his blog a number of months ago. I actually had a book of his from a Early Christian History class at UCLA, but I recently sold it on Amazon because I knew I'd never read it again! (I may not have read it or much of it for my class either...oops.) Most of his blogs are far too long to read (in my opinion), but every so often the time needed to read a long entry is very worthwhile.

This post is one of those gems. He communicates much of what I've thought (and so much more) about Calvinism and even more importantly, our tendency to avoid the uncomfortable tension between faith and intellect. More specifically, this post is centered on John Piper’s defense of Calvinism and also how Calvinists tend to relate to people and their view the world. Of course, Piper is a “poster-boy” for Calvinism and has many committed followers around the world. I’ve seen him speak and have repeatedly been impressed with his depth, passion, and ability to mobilize Christians for reaching the lost. But also, I’ve had regular negative experiences with followers of his who have tendencies to do things such as: dismiss contrary views as weak or even wrong, adopt his view on most any matter, and gobble up every book he’s ever written. I’ll come back to this after giving the Prof some props on some well written thoughts.

After you’re given a chance to hear an audio clip of Piper, Witherington makes his case. Here’s a sampling of his take on Piper and Calvinism/Calvinists:

What he does not add, that could have been added, is that, for whatever reason, Calvinism seems to feed a deep seated need in many persons for a kind of intellectual certainty about why the world is as it is, and what God is exactly like, and how his will is worked out in the world, and most particularly how salvation works and whether or not one is a saved person.
And all too often, the apparent intellectual coherency of a theological system is taken as absolute and compelling proof that this view of God, salvation,the world must be true and all others be heresy, to one degree or another. But it is perfectly possible to argue logically and coherency in a hermeneutical or theological circle with all parts connected, and unfortunately be dead wrong-- because one drew the circle much too small and left out all the inconvenient contrary evidence. This sort of fault is inevitable with theological systems constructed by finite human beings.

I don’t know about you, but I find that compelling, effective, and even comforting. My natural tendency for certainty doesn’t have to always be satisfied. Living with uncertainty is reality and even a necessity for authentic faith. I believe our human nature (and living in a fallen world) longs for certainty and clarity. Certainty is a great thing to have. But the gray areas of life are many and there is great danger in turning a gray area into something black and white, or even the appearance of it.

So, back to my thoughts on leadership that struggles with ambiguity…

Something I've experienced over the years is how consistent people respond to pastors, teachers, professors, or any leader-types who tend to hold controversial views that are heavy on the "certainty spectrum”. What I've seen is that the listener/follower tends to put (whether they intend to or not) this person or doctrine on a pedestal and can't quite seem to muster up real openness to other views. Not only have I seen it with Piper, but with other prominent leaders as well. I’ll refrain from naming names, but I bet you can come up with a few yourself. I don’t doubt the hearts of these leaders at all. What I do doubt is their ability to grasp how their teaching, teaching style, and even delivery is received and integrated into the hearts and minds of their listeners. For example, I don’t mind when Piper gets excited, emphatic, and dramatic…but when that crosses over into areas that deserve a little more reservation, he doesn’t seem to self-adjust. And if a mature leader doesn’t do that, should we expect their follower to do any different?

The tragic part is that this white-knuckle grip on "truth" seems to guarantee that you'll eventually prove to only have half-truths or all-out errors in your hands. And the fallout bleeds into far more than theology—relational and personal dynamics produce impasses, tension, and frustration. All of which are sadly unnecessary.

So, my thanks to Professor Witherington III for a courageous evaluation and confidence to keep the “theological circle” appropriately wide.

My continued learning points are: (1) let gray areas be gray and (2) remember that twisting inherent uncertainty into certainty will produce a culture that becomes rigid, uninviting, and even destructive.

Interested in your thoughts…

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

YOU HAVE BEEN SCAMMED

I just received this email. Gotta love it. The scammers are getting creative, but still as stupid as ever. Of course, these scammers must still be in business because of common gullibility and ignorance, but come on, do you really think “contactbritishhighcommission03@gmail.com” is a legit email address?? Here’s to reverse psychology and innovation…

 

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION 
Metro Plaza, Plot 991/992 
Zakari Maimalari Street 
Cadastral Zone AO, Abuja. 
TEL: +234 8057550284
E-MAIL:   contactbritishhighcommission03@gmail.com

Attention,
The BRITISH High Commission in Nigeria,Benin Republic,Ghana and Bokinafaso received a report of scam against you and other British/US citizens and Malaysia Etc. The countries of Nigeria Benin Republic, Bokinafaso and Ghana have recompensed you following the meeting held with the Four countries' Government and various countries' high commission for the fraudulent activities carried out by the Four countries' Citizens. Your name was among those scammed as listed by the Nigeria Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU).A Compensation has been issued out to all the affected victims and has been already in endorsement to all the victims. Yours was among those that was reported unpaid as at on Friday and we wish to advise you to see to the instructions of the Committee to make sure you receive your compensation immediately.
We advise that you do the needful to make sure the NFIU endorse your payment on Monday. Contact the office of the consular for an advise on how your recompense will be effected to you  contactbritishhighcommission03@gmail.com . Be advised that you should stop further contacts with all the fake lawyers and security companies who in collaboration scammed you. Contact immediately to check if the endorsement date suits you.
Yours in Service,
Robert Scott Dewar