Do you know what this means?

Jordan & Kobe

"We're never seeing another Jordan, just like we're never seeing another Brando or Lennon. It's just not happening. They might compare statistically and stylistically, but Jordan could command a room of 10 people or 20,000 and get the exact same reaction: Every set of eyes trained on him for as long as he was there. His personality, his charisma, his aura, his passion ... indescribable. Like nothing I have ever seen. Nobody remembers this now because he hasn't played in awhile, but Jordan was always the coolest guy in the room. Without fail. He was like Doctor J. crossed with Sinatra. Remember those dopey ads when somebody said, "My broker is E.F. Hutton," and everyone else in the room froze? That was what happened to an arena when Jordan walked in. You would freeze, and you would hear screams, and then it would be a sea of lightbulbs. And everyone was saying the same thing, "I get to say I watched Michael Jordan."
Kobe always wanted people to feel that way about him. He shaved his head, made music videos, jumped cars for viral videos, changed his number, stole MJ's fist pump, created that creepy face where he stuck his bottom two teeth out ... none of it worked. He will never command a room like Jordan did. Sorry."

--Bill Simmons

Developing a Trinitarian Mind

I really appreciate the theological work of Robert Letham, and am highly anticipating his forthcoming book on union with Christ. This week I read a great article called, "Developing a Trinitarin Mind," that is about three pages long. For you, is the Trinity "merely an abstruse mathematical puzzle, remote from experience?" If so, let this article move you to think, meditate, and study to know our Triune God in a deeper way.

I have been amazed this week at the amount of time grown men, preparing for the ministry, spend on Facebook during class lecture. I guess they get so self-consumed that they forget that there are people sitting behind them who can see their computer screens. I wonder what Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Turretin, Bavinck, and Van Til would say to their 'students' if they knew how much time they were spending on such waste in their classrooms? I have a feeling Luther would cuss. Anyway.

How Much Do You Have to Hate Somebody to Not Proselytize?

Today in Personal Evangelism class, the prof showed this video of an atheist's take on evangelism.

the Way

"They walk in all humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them, and they love one another. They despise not the widow, and grieve not the orphan. They that hath, distributeth liberally to him that hath not. If they see a stranger, they bring him under their roof, and rejoice over him, as it were their own brother: for they call themselves brethren, not after the flesh, but after the spirit and in God; but when one of their poor passes away from the world, and any of them see him, then he provides for his burial according to his ability; and if they hear that any of their number is imprisoned or oppressed for the name of their Messiah, all of them provide for his needs, and if it is possible that he may be delivered, they deliver him. And if there is among them a man that is poor and needy, and they have not an abundance of necessaries, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food."

--Aristides, writing around A.D. 125.

Thinking about a PhD?

I'm not, but if you are, you may find this post, this post, this post, and this post helpful.

Getting to Know the Church Fathers

This week I finished Bryan Litfin's ( a Moody prof and self-confessed "dispensational, conservative, born-again fundie") book, "Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction." I highly recommend it! The book is ten chapters, and each chapter covers Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Perpetua, Origen, Athanasius, Chrysostom, Augustine, and Cyril of Alexandria. It was a very refreshing read. It is good to be familiar with those who have gone before us, particularly the church fathers. Here is a CT interview with Litfin concerning the need to reclaim our heritage. Here is a quote:

"Our focus must be on the future. And yet our focus on the future must take into account the grand story of which we all are a part. If we would only wake up and take a good look at our surroundings, we would notice that our motion is not being imparted merely by our own efforts in our local churches in twenty-first-century America. We are small figures inevitably carried forward by the weight of the holy catholic [very imp. lower case 'c' meaning universal] church, whose sails are filled by the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine work. . . . To understand your solidarity with the fathers of the church - and indeed with all the heroes of church history - is to be lifted up from the mundane trivialities of the everyday world, and to conceptualize your life as a grand odyssey with your companions in Christ. So go ahead. Think of yourself in this way. Start running after the cloud of witnesses who have already run the race will. Fix your eyes on Jesus, just as they did in their day. Embrace your inner catholic, and see where it will take you!" (264-5)