Halloween & Reformation Day

October 31 is notable for two very different "holidays." One is Halloween, a term that is shortened for the day before (or evening of, if you will) All Hallow's Day, now known as All Saint's Day. The origins of Halloween can be traced back to the pagan festival called Samhain, celebrated in Great Britain and Celtic Ireland. Because of the pagan background of Halloween and the modern-day association with many things considered evil (vampires, witches, ghosts, spirits, etc.) about the holiday, a number of Christians decide to have nothing to do with Halloween and don't allow their children to participate in trick-or-treating. There are, however, a number of Christians who do participate. I am such a one, and I rather like Tim Challies' explanation as to why he is one as well.

The other significance about this day is that it is Reformation Day. 490 years ago, a monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Although there were some rumblings within the church before Luther picked up hammer and nail (timeline), this day stands as the recognized beginning of the Great Reformation. After years of believing that he had to do penance to earn his way to Heaven, Luther realized that it is by faith in Christ alone - sola fide - that he is made justified in God's sight.

I want to direct your attention to a few sites that are discussing/honoring Reformation Day:

• LaShawn Barber
• Gary Held
• Jared Nelson
• Of First Importance
• Dan Phillips: last year and this year
• Michael Spencer

Added: Challies has his annual Reformation Day Symposium, which offers many more links.

And: The Reformation Polka...

(HT: Timmy Brister)

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health."

That's Representative Dennis Kucinech, talking about the president's recent statements about Iran and the possible use of nuclear weapons. It's funny that Kucinech would make a statement like this, given that he believes he saw a UFO. I also think we have to question Kucinech's mental health if he really believes he can obtain the Democratic nomination after spectacularly failing to do so in 2004.

I'm so healthy

I'm drinking soy milk in my coffee instead of some sugar-coated creamer. Is that healthy, or what?

are we in a post-gay society?

Perhaps so, given that so many are moving out of the neighborhood, presumably into yours.

"unChristian"

My nephew-in-law first made me aware of this book - unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity... and Why It Matters. David Kinnamen and Gabe Lyons are the authors. The book has its own website, and received a mention in Time magazine. Publishers Weekly says the following about the book:

Kinnaman, president of the Barna Institute, was inspired to write this book when Lyons (of the Fermi Project) commissioned him to do extensive research on what young Americans think about Christianity. Lyons had a gut-level sense that something was desperately wrong, and three years of research paints exactly that picture. Mosaics and Busters (the generations that include late teens to early 30-somethings) believe Christians are judgmental, antihomosexual, hypocritical, too political and sheltered. Rather than simply try to do a PR face-lift, Kinnaman looks at ways in which churches' activities actually may have been unchristian and encourages a return to a more biblical Christianity, a faith that not only focuses on holiness but also loves, accepts and works to understand the world around it. It would be possible to get lost in the numbers, but the authors use numerous illustrations from their research and life experiences and include insights at the end of every chapter from Christian leaders like Charles Colson, John Stott, Brian McLaren and Jim Wallis.

Many people are talking about this one, including the following:

• Tom Gilson
• Dr. James E. White
• AJ Vanderhorst
• Scot McKnight has a series about the book entitled "Is Image Everything?" - parts 1, 2, 3

I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on anything the authors specifically say. That being said, however, I want to express some concerns that I have.

1. The book seems to have quite a few folks from the emerging-church/religious-left/trendy-Christian perspective, like Dan Kimball, Brian McLaren, Andy Stanley, and Jim Wallis. Why are we not hearing from anyone like David Jeremiah, John MacAthur, John Piper, or Chuck Swindoll? Were any of them asked to participate (did they decline if they were?), or do Kinnaman and Lyons think they have nothing to say (or that what they say is irrelevant)?


2. Who is actually guilty of creating these stereotypes? Paul & Jan and other creeps on TBN, or the Lutheran pastor down the street? Who is to blame?


3. Do Kinnaman and Lyons see any "negative perceptions" as being unreversable? For example, Jesus sounded like He was making any exclusive claim by saying, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father, but by me." Do Kinnaman and Lyons think that Jesus was being exclusive, or is following Jesus just one of many paths to God?


4. What do Kinnaman and Lyons think Jesus meant when He said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand?" What should we repent of?

Here lies Fred - once alive, now dead

Just in time for Halloween, BBC History Magazine has unveiled the winners of an unusual contest: the search for the "most suprising, enigmatic or bizarre epitaphs" on gravestones. The runner-ups can be found here.

(HT: Metafilter)

this is a moderate post

It balances the Left and the Right. Do we have anything out there like this for us moderates? Let me know if there is.

(HT: Joe Carter)

Christian politics, or the politics of Christianity

David Kirkpatrick writes about the Evangelical Crackup. Denny Burk thinks Kirkpatrick's assessment is "deficient," (although Burk doesn't say how) but he's right about Giuliani being an unlikeable candidate for evangelicals.

Related: Michael Nwadiuko preaches the gospel in NYC. Which is, you know, what Jesus wanted us to do when he said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:19)

Added: I see Denny isn't the only one writing about Kirkpatrick's article. So are Joe Carter and Terry Mattingly.

Reformation Sunday 2007

My blogging friend Mark Daniels has written an informative post on Reformation Sunday.

He was born in November, 1483, in the German principality of Saxony. His father was a one-time coal miner who, through hard work, had risen to middle class status, the owner of several mines. His mother, who would exert so much influence over the boy was, in the custom of those times, a full-time housewife and mother.His name was Martin Luther. From an early age, he exhibited great intelligence and many talents. As time passed, he would become an extraordiary preacher, theologian, and musician.

These pursuits were far from his father’s intentions for young Martin. Hans Luther wanted Martin to become a lawyer in order to care for him and his wife in their old age.That, in fact, was the trajectory on which Martin’s life was moving when a shattering experience intervened.

What was the experience that so affected Luther? You'll have to jump to the link to read on....

When you're done reading Pastor Mark's post, come back and watch some classic Steve Green singing Luther's most famous hymn while sporting classic 80's hair:

Eloi and Morlocks

Apparently, this is where human beings will be in 100,000 years.

pretty young psychiatrists

I have the television on right now, tuned to the American Movie Classics channel. Monsterfest is going on right now, so AMC is playing horror/suspense movies for the last ten days of October. At this hour, Gothika is on. If you haven't seen it, the film is about a psychiatrist (played by the beautiful Halle Berry) who finds herself to be a patient at the very hospital where she works, accused of murdering her husband. While in the hospital, she experiences what appear to be visions of a young girl whom Berry learns had died four years earlier.

The media can be an important source of information, whether it be distilled through news programs, fictional books, movies, or TV shows. However, the media often shows those who suffer from mental illness in an unreleastic light. Countless films have portayed persons with schizophrenia as little more than psycho killers who enjoy indulging their "fantasies." I won't go into it here, but much has been said and written about accuracy in the media's portrayal of mental illness.

I bring up this all up because Gothika has two glaring problems.

1. Berry's character winds up a patient in the hospital where she worked. This would never happen in real life. If a mental health worker (psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor, psychiatric nurse, or other professional) were to have a breakdown severe enough to require inpatient care, she would not be hospitalized in her place of employment. There are too many ethical issues for that to happen, beyond the fact that the persons treating her would know her personally.
2. In my years of working in the psychiatric field, I have never seen a psychiatrist as beautiful as Berry. Never. I'm not saying she isn't out there. I'm just saying I haven't seen her.

a fall day

My oldest daughter had the day off school, so we paid a visit to Stuckey Farm in Sheridan, not too far from where we used to live in Westfield.
We took a ride out to the pumpkin patch. That's my wife and youngest daughter in the distance. As you can tell, most of the good pumpkins were already gone.


Back at the main building, there were bins full of gourds. I couldn't tell if they were from Stuckey Farm grounds or not, but they sure looked pretty.


There were some unusual squash and pumpkins as well. Martha Stewart would have loved these.

Who hearts Huckabee?

Matthew Anderson, Joe Carter, and Justin Taylor support Governor Mike Huckabee for the Republican nomination. They've written a letter together in his support, which you can read here.

When it comes to politics, we three are pragmatic idealists. We are dedicated to the pursuit of noble principles and goals while never forgetting that politics is the "art of the possible." Because we are idealists we are choosing to endorse a candidate who most aligns with our principles and values and is most worthy of our sacred trust. Because we are pragmatists we are choosing to endorse the one candidate who we believe is most capable of defeating Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Governor Huckabee's site can be found here. Like so many of us, he has a blog.

What do you need to know about Huckabee that you can't find on his campaign site? You might find it here.

who's the biggest spender since LBJ?

Yep. This president. And they say Republicans want a smaller government...

dusk in an Indianapolis neighborhood

This is how the day ended last night:

It appears as a fire, but it's only the sky.

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the Indiana sky can be exquisitely beautiful and haunting.

"Korean newspapers report this with shock, horror, and Confucian righteousness."

There's a lot of talk in America about keeping up with the Jones's. This is the idea that if your neighbor purchases a new vehicle or vacations in an exotic locale, you must do something similar to be seen as even with them. In South Korea, this concept has apparently been taken to a different level.

In the Korea of old, before Seoul was a steel-and-glass jungle and a major exporter of TV dramas and breakdancers, most weddings were humble affairs. Marriage was seen as a union between families, cemented through an exchange of modest gifts like clothing and blankets. These days, however, South Koreans lament that weddings have become symbols of greed and waste, as families try to outdo each other with extravagant offerings. Houses have replaced housewares, while fur coats are now standard presents for new mothers-in-law.

"It's become ridiculous," says Kyeyoung Park, an anthropology professor at UCLA. "Now it's all about who is winning the game." The race to the top has gripped South Korea's upwardly mobile and competitive society. For much of Korean history, two traditional values—Confucian moderation, and the need to gain face—balanced each other out, but today, the latter has acquired the upper hand. "Traditionally you would exchange gifts of clothes among the extended family," says Tony Michell, a business consultant who has lived in Seoul for decades. "These days, people are talking about apartments and cars."

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

You've heard this saying before, correct? It appears someone - a woman, not a man - took it literally.

A painting stolen 20 years ago was found lying in trash along a street, and now it could fetch up to $1 million at auction.

Elizabeth Gibson didn't know anything about the brightly colored abstract work she spotted on her morning walk four years ago on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Sotheby's auction house will be selling the work next month for the now-widowed original owner.

"I would say it was an appointment with destiny," Gibson said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I just knew it meant something. ... It was extremely powerful, and even though I didn't understand it. I knew it had power."

It turned out that it was a 1970 painting titled "Tres Personajes" (Three People) by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo, whose work has soared in value in recent years.

the Internet Church

So, Christendom is taking advantage of the Internet age by developing this? No need to get out of bed, get dressed, gather your family together (if you have one), and go to church. All you need to do is log on, and you're at a "worship service."

Did Paul consider this when he said, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together?"

Tom Hanks

He's on Myspace. At least, I think he is. You can never tell, nowadays.

submission

Challies has a post on husbands, wives, and submission. Ochuck has a response.