Wednesday, May 30, 2007

It's Vacation Time!

Just a quick note to all you faithful followers of my little sliver of bloggerdom, I'll be on vacation June 1-11. I'll still be checking and responding to new comments, but I won't be adding any new posts until after I get back. So feel free to stay engaged in any one of the several current running dialogues, and I'll see you in the second week of June.

Gob bless.

(Don't be deceived by the picture. The place we're going looks nothing like that, I assure you.)

posted by Sean Scribner @ 9:19 PM 3 comments links to this post
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Monday, May 21, 2007

To See His Face

I love a good debate. I enjoy taking hard lines. I savor the thrill of being opposed and then seizing the opportunity it provides to clearly articulate my position. This blog exists in order to create in the vastness of the World Wide Web a place for people to gather together and, through respectful dialogue, pursue that which is most true. It is for those who truly consider themselves philo-sophs, for those who sincerely love truth. But in the final analysis, no dialogue, debate, nor discussion can ever replace beholding face to face the One who is Truth.

I want to see him.

I want to know him.

I want to turn to him, behold him, be made like him.

Like Jacob at Peniel I want to see him face to face and be changed from the inside out (Gen. 32). Like David my desire is simple: "That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple" (Psa. 27). I, like Simeon, believe that in the face of Jesus we see our salvation -- not the one whose works offer salvation, but the one who by virtue of his very person is salvation itself. I trust Paul when he says that "when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed...and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (II Cor. 3). I believe.

The name of this blog is Truth Dialogue. But what difference does this blog make if it doesn't acknowledge that "God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Cor. 4)? For it is in the face of Jesus alone that we see the glory of God completely, clearly, precisely.

Oh, to see his face!

posted by Sean Scribner @ 10:13 PM 4 comments links to this post
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Thursday, May 10, 2007

Is Barney the Antichrist?

We all know and love America's favorite dinosaur. But few know of his secret Romanian heritage, multi-lingual skills, and massive investments in the rebuilding of the city of Babylon in modern day Iraq. Is it possible that Barney is the Antichrist? Take a look at the following proof and you just might be convinced...
Given: Barney is a CUTE PURPLE DINOSAUR
Prove: Barney is the Antichrist

The Romans had no letter 'U', and used 'V' instead for printing, meaning the Roman representation would for Barney would be:
CVTE PVRPLE DINOSAVR

CVTE PVRPLE DINOSAVR - Extracting the Roman numerals, we have:
CV     V     L    DI      V

And their decimal equivalents are:
100 5 5 50 500 1 5

Adding those numbers produces: 666.

666 is the number of the Beast.

Proved: BARNEY IS THE ANTICHRIST!
Didn't think I could do it, did you?

(I don't know who to credit for this since you can find it on about a billion sites on Google, so whoever is responsible for it, thank you.)

posted by Sean Scribner @ 10:26 PM 2 comments links to this post
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Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Can't Touch This!

One quick scan through my blog archives will reveal to you my true feelings about contemporary Christian music in the church. I'm one of those stodgy old souls who doesn't like rock or pop music in the church. I know -- "Boo!" I'm not here to debate that issue, per sé. I just want to reiterate a previous thought:

There is not a single contemporary song sung in the church today that can match a Wesley hymn.

More often than not, the new songs we sing are shallow, needlessly repetitive (probably stemming from its shallowness -- they can't think of more to write), emotionally-oriented, incoherent, and theologically questionable...and those are the songs that the words are even understandable. Now I'll admit, there's a newer song every now and then that hits a little closer to the mark. But place it next to a Wesley hymn and it still shrinks away like plastic in a flame. The Wesley's had their stuff together.

Take for instance, Hymn #256 of the old Methodist Hymnal, "Hail, Father, Son and Spirit Great":
1 HAIL! Father, Son, and Spirit great,
Before the birth of time
Enthroned in everlasting state,
JEHOVAH, ELOHIM!

2 A mystical plurality
We in the Godhead own,
Adoring One in Persons Three,
And Three in nature One.

3 From thee our being we receive,
The creatures of thy grace;
And, raised out of the earth, we live
To sing our Maker's praise.

4 Thy powerful, wise, and loving mind
Did our creation plan;
And all the glorious Persons joined
To form thy favourite, man.

5 Again thou did'st, in council met,
Thy ruined work restore,
Established in our first estate,
To forfeit it no more.

6 And when we rise in love renewed,
Our souls resemble thee,
An image of the Triune God,
To all eternity.
I know it gets old hearing this same old argument from me. But seriously, read those words again. Forget for a moment that they were written in the 18th century, contain words like "did'st," and are commonly sung with -- horror of horrors -- AN ORGAN (gasp!). Don't even let the issue of style come into your mind. (And please don't go down the "Wesley's wrote their music to bar tunes" route. Take Jason Kranzusch up on that.) This song is amazing. The only new songs I hear that even start to head back in the direction of the depth of this hymn are the ones written recently by Dr. Steve Blakemore, former WBS prof and Executive Director of Third Millennium Faith.

I feel like I should exegete this song. Perhaps I may in the future, who knows. I just wish I could think as well as they wrote music. What a gift!

So my challenge to you is to show me one modern song that can match a Wesley hymn. Just one. I really am open. Try me.

And please keep don't berate me with your response. Let's have open, honest, respectful dialogue (if any).

posted by Sean Scribner @ 10:31 PM 34 comments links to this post
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Friday, May 04, 2007

Activists Want Chimp Declared a 'Person'

I find this incredibly hard to believe, and yet I don't. I can almost not even bring myself to type such an absurdity.

Check it out for yourself here.

Can a chimp be a "person"? If the answer to this question is yes, then what makes me not a chimp? This is nothing more than the inverted logic of Darwinism. The natural end of Darwinian evolution is that I am nothing more than an animal. Apparently the flip side to this is that animals are persons. Either way you look at it, there is nothing unique to human kind. The result is that you have chimps watching television and elementary kids committing suicide.

Oh God save us!

posted by Sean Scribner @ 3:28 PM 6 comments links to this post
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Thursday, May 03, 2007

Wesley on Stewardship

This is a quick follow-up to my recent post, The Bankruptcy of Prosperity. I thought it might be helpful to point out a thought or two concerning money from John Wesley.

First, here are his notes on the text in question from the other post:
2Co 4:7 - But we - Not only the apostles, but all true believers. Have this treasure - Of divine light, love, glory. In earthen vessels - In frail, feeble, perishing bodies. He proceeds to show, that afflictions, yea, death itself, are so far from hindering the ministration of the Spirit, that they even further it, sharpen the ministers, and increase the fruit. That the excellence of the power, which works these in us, may undeniably appear to be of God.
What a beautiful idea, that the very things that Prosperity Gospel (PG) gurus call evil can actually serve to further the work of the Spirit, sharpen ministers, and increase fruit. I think that what it all boils down to is that preachers of the PG want a crossless salvation.

Wesley also offered great advice concerning finances in his sermon #50, The Use of Money. If you don't have the time or interest in reading the whole sermon for yourself, check out my outline of the sermon here (PDF). (You can find other outlines for tons of Wesley's sermons and various works on my Interests page under "Theology.") Long story short, Wesley's point concerning money in sermon 50 is this:

1. Make all you can...(PG guys are all for this)
2. Save all you can...(PG guys begin to waver -- "What? No caddy?")
3. In order to give all you can...(PG are nowhere in sight)

One last point concerning Wesley's personal life as an example of true stewardship...

Before his conversion Wesley was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford University, where he was paid a healthy wage of 30 pounds a year. He made a budget and decided that he needed 28 pounds a year to live comfortably and responsibly and he determined to give the rest to the poor.

In his first year he gave 2 pounds to the poor. But his income nearly doubled the next year. What did he do? I know what I would have done: Doubled my living expenses, right? Not Wesley. He lived on 28 pounds a year and gave the rest to the poor. His living expenses did not go up with each successive raise, his giving to the poor did! By his fourth year he was making 120 pounds a year, yet he only ever lived on 28. He was keeping only 23% of his income and gave the other 77% away! He continued this pattern to his death, and at one point his 28 pounds amounted to only 2% of his income.

I challenge ANY PG preacher to give up his supposed "right" to wealth and follow Wesley's example. Would Creflo Dollar choose to live a modest life and give 98% of his income to the poor? Forget about it.

It'll never happen.

posted by Sean Scribner @ 8:25 PM 2 comments links to this post
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