Hehe… You know, it is not terribly hard to amuse me and make me happy. I do it quite a bit all by my lonesome. However, the kind of smiles that warm you up and remind you that while all may not be right in the world, there are great people standing in the gap… well, those moments aren’t quite as common. So imagine my surprise when the phrase “embarassed to be an evangelical” leads me, on its first entry, straight to my dear friend, the Right Reverend Benjamin D. Dubow :)
Ahh, Ben. The kind of Christian that reminds us of the power of faith in one man and steadies my hope in the promise of the Church. Men like Bonhoeffer, Chesterton, Rich Mullins, Pastor Marc Wolff… and Ben.
After the smirk faded ever so slightly, I read Ben’s post and remembered why I love him so. After laying out some background on the scandalous title (well, ok, it’s not scandalous to me), he ends with a thoughtful list of affirmations on true evangelicalism. It’s worth a read. (or 20)
-We affirm that the Bible is in fact authoritative and inerrant, though we are not arrogant enough to suggest that we are authoritative and inerrant.-We affirm that Jesus is in fact divine and the one, true savior–and we let him speak for himself when he says “I am the way, the truth and the life.”-We affirm creedal, Orthodox, historical Christianity.-We reject tendencies towards anti-intellectualism and fundamentalism.
-We affirm the unique worth of every human being on planet earth as created in the image of God–regardless of race, ethncity, gender, religion, creed, sexual orientation, or anything else.
-We affirm that all truth in God’s truth, whether found in the sciences, philosophy or anywhere else.
-We affirm that seeking justice and mercy in the world is a Christian duty, commanded by Jesus and found throughout the scriptures.
-We reject the notion that “behavior modification” and “sin management” are the goals of Christianity. We equally reject the notion that it is our job to force Biblical morals on people who are not following Christ.
-We reject spiritual litmus-tests that make debatable matters into essential ones and draw strong distinctions between “who is in and who is out” theologically.
-We affirm that every person has the right to hear about Jesus Christ and to make their own decision about how to respond to him.
I feel much better now =)
Google Mars
After, what, 16 seasons or something of unique intro credits for The Simpsons, they’ve finally made a live-action version. Marge needs bigger hair. Why is Lisa twice as big as Bart? Why is Maggie on the wrong side of the car? (it’s british). Not all I’d have hoped for, but still fun. Here’s the 
