Imagine a Mystical Limpet--C. S. Lewis

Why are many people prepared in advance to maintain that, whatever else God may be, He is not the concrete, living, willing, and acting God of Christian Theology? I think the reason is as follows. Let us suppose a mystical limpet, a sage among limpets, who (rapt in vision) catches a glimpse of what Man is like. In reporting it to his disciples, who have some vision themselve (though less than he) he will have to use many negatives. He will have to tell them that Man has no shell, is not attached to a rock, is not surrounded by water. And his disciples, having a little vision of their own to help them, do get some idea of Man. But then there come erudite limpets, limpets who write histories of philosophy and give lectures on comparative religion, and who have never had any vision of their own. What they get out of the prophetic limpet's words is simply and solely the negatives. From these, uncorrected by any positive insight, they build up a picture of Man as a sort of amorphous jelly (he has no shell) existing nowhere in particular (He is not attatched to a rock) and never taking nourishment (There is no water to drift it toward him). And having a traditional reverence for Man they conclude that to be a famished jelly in dimensionless void is the supreme mode of existence, and reject as crude, materalistic superstition any doctrine which would attibute to Man a definite shape, a structure, and organs

--From Miracles

This Weeks segment from Scripture is 1 kings 22:1-40. Pay close attention to what seems to be God sending a decieving or lying spirit. What does all this mean?!

Religious Freedom?

There is an interesting column by Charles Colson on Religious Freedom and Charities in Mass. Check it out.

Also, going back to my experiment in community biblestudy, this weeks passage is Mark 2:13-17.

Blessings

Thanks for the insights...Lets keep it up

Thank you to all who posted with insights to the scripture. This, I hope, will continue to be a place where we as a community of believers can post thoughts on the Word of God. Spread the word and check back on monday for the next passage.

Peace

My so called life...

4 Jobs I Have Had In My Life

1. Dishwasher/cook
2. Video Rental superstar
3. Youth Minister
4. Senior (really student) Pastor while attending Seminary

4 Goals I Set for This Year

1. Weigh 180 lbs. by Dec. 31
2. Spend more time loving my wife
3. Start a Book on the Transformation of the Church/or on Why Star Wars is the greatest movie of all time
4. Be successful in Greek

4 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over

1. Star Wars Saga
2. Lord of the Rings Saga
3. Matrix Saga
4. Goonies

4 Places I Have Lived

1. Lake Park, GA
2. Valdosta, GA
3. Hazlehurst, GA
4. Danville, KY

TV Shows I Love To Watch

1. 24
2. American Idol
3. Law & Order
4. CSI

Places I've Been On Vacation

1. Cancun, Mexico
2. NY, NY
3. Montana
4. Texas

4 Websites I Visit Daily

1.Hollywoodjesus.com
2. RZIM.org
3. www.biblegateway.com
4.Townhall.com

4 of My Favorite Foods

1. Chinese
2. Steak
3. Hamburgers
4. Chinese

4 Places I Would Rather Be Right Now

1. At home with my wife
2. Anywhere reading my Bible and a good theology book
3. In the mountains
4. At the beach

Acts 6:8-7:53

Here is an interesting idea I had. Please read this passage above and write down any ideas that come to your mind about this passage. Please refrain from commentaries and other writers, unless the author(s) is intrenched in your thinking and you feel your thoughts are in line with the author. The idea I have is that I want your pure, unadulterated, exegetical minds to look at this scpriture and tell me how you interpret it. What Truth was God revealing for the church at the time of this letter and what truth is God revealing to us now. I don't want a dissertation just ideas. Your can post them for all to see or email them to me at brettmaddocks@yahoo.com. Thanks, This should be fun and you may end up in a sermon near Lexington KY.

P.S. Christie and Rick, If you want to get your amigos in on this as well that will be cool. I need some good reformed theologians to help me see all sides of the central Truth of this passage.

Peace and happy hunting.

PPS: The reasoning for this is from a suggestion of a Prof. He said that good biblestudy involves the community at some point. I want to see how this works and see if it can help the community in preaching/teaching/reforming the body of Christ and the world.

I start back to school today for Spring Semester.

Here are My Classes:

Christian Formation: Kingdom, Church, and World
IBS: Matthew
History of Methodism
John Wesley's Theology for Today
Basic Christian Doctrine

I'm Off to the Races.

Praise God

What I am currently Reading

N. T. Wright is one of the most brilliant yet readable scholars I have ever read. This book has made me take all my thoughts of Jesus, ball them up, and shoot a three-pointer for the trash. Great book for those wh want to know who Jesus was and is.

Ps. The "look inside" is from Amazon.com.

Moving on Down...

I'm moving on down,
To the petite size,
To a smaller pair of jeans in my life.

I'm moving on down,
To the Petite size,
I've finally pushed away my piece of the pie. ("sing to the tune of the Jefferson's)

I have lost 10 pounds.

Also...

A word from C. S. Lewis:

It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. "Look out!" we cry, "it's alive". And therefore this is the very point at which so many draw back--I would have done so myself if I could--and proceed no further with Christianity. An "impersonal God"--Well and good. A sujective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside out own heads--better still. A formless life- force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap--best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband--that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion ("Man's search for God!") suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meat it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?

--From "Miracles"

Lastly...

This weekend Jess and I saw two movies that are worlds apart. The first was a movie about "race" called "Crash." The second was the comedy "Fun with Dick and Jane." I will be writing a review of these movies later this week. But in the mean time check out Hollywood Jesus' review of Crash and Fun with Dick and Jane.