Most meaningless court order of the week: Former trader Jerome Kerviel, convicted in a trading scandal that lost billions and almost sunk his employer, a French bank was sentenced to three years in jail by a Paris court and ordered to pay the French bank 4.9 billion euros ($6.8 billion). At a eruo a minute, he would have it done in about a thousand years, once he gets out of jail.
Things Americans worry about that make the rest of the world shake their heads: SunChips, a pretty tasty salty snack made by Frito-Lay, got too many complaints about how loud the bag was and will go back to a traditional bag. Too noisy. We trust that the universe will be restored to order once the quieter bags are in use.
My wonderful alma mater, the University of Georgia, introduces a new bulldog mascot this month, perhaps in time to turn a dismal season around. The cute English bulldogs are known for being unhealthy tubs of lard and the last mascot lived to be all of four years old…but cute counts in pets and the dogs are so cute laying on a ten pound bag of ice at the football games.
Eye roll-of-the-week: The chairman of the International Mission Board presidential search committee, Jimmy Pritchard says of the not-yet-found new IMB president, “This is the most crucial position that a man can hold on the face of the planet…” Uh, Jimmy, thanks for taking the search seriously, and, please, you guys take all the time need to get it right, but God decides who and what is important and who and what is not, not Southern Baptists.
You can find my local YMCA’s mission statement, “To put Christian principles into practice…” right underneath their literature promoting a gambling fundraiser. A clause about pragmatism and Christian principles might clarify what some might see as a conflict. The raffle, for a house no less, will undoubtedly raise a lot of money to put some Christian principles into practice. No ticket for me.
No joke: before my plane took off last Monday a Renaissance man two seats over had recounted to a cute girl next to him how much he had done in his life, a stream of incredible accomplishments. Made Al Gore look like a piker. Thankfully, it wore him out and he slept most of the flight.
God is good. Jesus is wonderful. Bless His holy name.
18 comments:
Couple randoms?
What did your Renaissance man think of Nancy Pearcey's take on art and how will that play with Tim Keller and Joe Scarborough.
See my latest at SBC Trends at Baptistlife.com
And as Roundups go, Religiondispatches.org has a great one this week on MRI and W 43 reading Bonhoeffer.
As for Renaissance people of faith, one strong sign is whether they are aware of and will read by years end Marilynne Robinson's Absence of Mind.
If not that, then Ron Rash short story in Burning Bright, The Corpse Bird.
Hoping things otherwise are well.
I got to go with Derek tomorrow over the Dawgs. Whatever happens Dooleys continue to reign.
William, do not discount the importance of the SunChips thing. My wife bought a bag of those. Wow! I went to get a few chips and neighbors four doors down were calling to complain about the ruckus.
Dave, I recommend a bag of SunChips at boring SBC meetings for entertainment rather than gastronomical purposes.
William: You can find my local YMCA’s mission statement, “To put Christian principles into practice…” right underneath their literature promoting a gambling fundraiser.
Norm: Right up there with the Christian principle of marginalizing brothers for having a differing theological perspective. You did, however, buy that ticket, William. But hypocrisy, even if variously understood, abounds ... in me, too.
Norm, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed and benefited from your comments on my blog but it is neither necessary nor helpful for you to point out that I am fallen humanity. Why not we both presume that and move on? I hate to see you back in a mode that does neither of us any good.
God bless you.
William: ... neither necessary nor helpful for you to point out that I am fallen humanity.
Norm: But such is fine for you to point out such in others?
Either drop it or go elsewhere, Norm.
Thanks.
William: Either drop it or go elsewhere, Norm. Thanks.
Norm: Coming from one fly-in-the-ointment to another, I find this a rather curious statement, William. For some time you have written about NAMB situations pointing out inconsistencies and absurdities of its behavior, most recently the choice of Ezell for its leader. And people have cited you in a positive light for the role you were playing. Perhaps your response might have been “aw, shucks, I just do what I can.”
William, you are smart, funny, and have important insights about what it means to both Christian and human, but you are blind to certain aspects of self and not beyond criticism or inconsistency in thought and behavior. None of us are, me included. I was under the impression that the SBC Plodder blog would be about pointed observations and assessments of religious life instead of serving as your fan club, which “[e]ither drop it or go elsewhere” provides evidence for the latter.
We both know that part of being baptist is sometimes being a fly-in-the-ointment to those that offer assessments or serve as leadership. We are sometimes a contrary people, not for such state of being to be an end, but rather as a means to something else, that is, that we would be more consistent, as determined by the need of a particular context and situation. We look for the better way, not that I have much to offer on that front, however. I don’t ask you to diminish your voice because I don’t like the language, assuming a fair comment, and I don’t expect you to ask me to diminish my voice, either, when I have made a fair comment.
Message is evaluated on several levels and determining the credibility of a message on one level concerns the standing of the messenger when one assesses the evaluation, offered either directly or left implied, of the messenger. While the message may stand alone independent of the messenger, absent qualification there needs to be high congruence between the message and the messenger, otherwise the messenger exposes him- or herself to just criticism. You offered no such qualification. You opened yourself to criticism. Justly so.
I have not violated the terms set forth by Google, either by the letter or by the spirit of the letter; my comments have been measured and fair, and they have been pointed. They have not been mean or offered with a spirit of meanness. They represent one person’s assessment and are themselves open to criticism, as I am for my inconsistencies in offering such assessments. Again, if you wish a fan club, then tell me; I will move on. But I will not accept that I must be a ‘particular’ thing that you, yourself refuse to be, or another way, I will not relinquish a fly-in-the-ointment role, that you, yourself, take seriously, because you do not like the outcome. I am not suggesting that you and I tear into each other, but neither am I suggesting that we ignore glaring inconsistencies. I am not sherlocking the web or searching for networks looking for things William in which to use against or for you; my evaluations of your comments are based on SBC Plodder and BaptistLife, the only fora that we share in common in our lives. And absent poor form on your behalf to ban me from this blog, I will continue to use this knowledge, and I hope that you do the same, in our assessments of religious life in that we might shed more light on it and hopefully on ourselves as well as we attempt to walk in less darkness.
"....but God decides who and what is important and who and what is not, not Southern Baptists."
This is true. Jesus prayed for the Father's will to be done above His own during the most critical hour in human existence. If Jesus submitted to what God decided was most important, it stands to reason Southern Baptists should do the same. And it seems to me that being the president of the IMB is not the most crucial of that which is important to God in all of this world.
Norm, that's one of the most reasonable posts you have ever made and I am hopeful that you recognize what I object to here, even if you think it unreasonable for me to make the objection. If you don't I will respectfully ask that you go elsewhere poor form or not. In the several months I have blogged I have welcomed your stuff, save for just a couple of posts.
I would like to avoid the lengthy back and forth here that we used to have elsewhere.
Let's leave it at that, please.
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