Category: General

More Calls for Reformation

Here’s a quote from my most recent textbook:

The more one studies contemporary evangelicalism, the more one senses the profound frustration that grips many of its leaders. The statistics say we should be powerful and influential, and we are not. The intellectuals think they should be followed, and they are largely ignored. The entrepreneurs and media stars act as if they will bring in revival, and of course they don’t. The culture is hell-bent to discard the Judeo-Christian outlook that once predominated, and a lot of conservatives feel cheated. Theologians and historians and pastors alike continuously expand the definition of evangelicalism, but instead of drawing in a wider circle they are gutting what is central. The level of frustration is high

But not, I fear, the level of brokenness

D.A. Carson, The Gagging of God (p 489)

A New Voice

KB and I are in the process of combining our websites and he’s been encouraging me to post something. I was hoping to wait until I finished the new banner, but I don’t think it will be done before I go on Christmas break. Mostly what I tend to write leans towards what’s going on in my life (i.e. sr. year of college, med school applications, annoying car repairs and the like) because it’s the best way for my family to keep in touch with me. Sometimes I do, however, post things that I like to call “Thoughts to Ponder” on the site I am currently running, which range from something cool I read in one of my daily studies to the scientific importance of salt in the body and its relationship to being the salt of the earth.

Yesterday at church, I sat down and started writing. Yeah I know, I should have been listening to the sermon but something that I saw disturbed me and I completely zoned out and just started writing for about an hour or so. So without further ado, here’s what I was writing.

Continue reading “A New Voice”

John Ashcroft Resigns

I’m sure you all knew that, didn’t you?

This man has had some pretty nasty things said about him, some of which, for all I know, may be true. It’s interesting, though, to read his letter of resignation, and see the insight it gives into the Bush administration.

Despite the appearance of being secretive and stonewalling, the air I get from the people who are actually involved (as opposed to bitter journalists) is not one of conspiracy, but of respect. I have not heard one person speak, who worked directly with the president, who did not give him the utmost of honor, far exceeding what is nominally due the head of the US government.

Ashcroft’s letter is no exception. It is clearly not a forced resignation. I thought it was especially thoughtful that he wrote the letter by hand *so that* there wouldn’t be any leak. Secretive? Yes. But not for the sake of being secretive, but for the sake of a smooth transition. Ashcroft’s resignation was coordinated with the announcement of his replacement.

Of course, for certain parties, the new guy is worse than the old, minority status or othewise. But for all the whining, he seems like a good man. And if Ashcroft’s horrid countenance produced the statistics cited in his letter, may the terrible visage of Alberto Gonzales bring more of the same.

Ouch

Went to the dentist today. That’s not what the ouch is about. It’s been 10 years. **That’s** what the ouch is about. I’d been putting it off until I had money, or barring that, insurance. Well, I don’t got money, but I got this here dental card when I started working full-time. I figured it was time for a visit. The co-pays are going up in January, so I’m trying to get my visits in ahead.

The news is bad, but not so bad as it might have been. Continue reading “Ouch”

Revival

Our devotions speaker spoke on revival this morning–a subject dear to my heart. One of the things he did was to read some articles on the Welsh revival (1904-05) and a similar one I had never heard of in Korea (around 1907).

The Welsh revival is one of my favorite stories, just because of the dramatic change that occurred there in such a short time. In 2 months, over 70,000 people were converted. Factories shut down and major sports events were cancelled so people could attend church services until 2:00 in the morning. The horses in the coal mines had to be retrained because they didn’t understand commands sans cursing.

One of my (many) dreams is to write historical novels that tackle these kinds of revivals. I’d like to write an epic centering around John Alexander Dowie. For the Welsh revival, a teen romance might be a more gripping story, since 90% of the leaders of the revival were under the age of 22. Probably some kind of long-term saga would be best to cover the Pentecostal movements that swept through the United States around that same time.

The thing that always frustrates me about these things, though, is how little time they last. Continue reading “Revival”