During Easter service at church an old lady, probably in her 80’s, had her cell phone go off. Usually that kind of forgetfulness irritates me, but the look of panic and confusion on her face as she tried her darnedest to retrieve it from her zipped purse and turn it off just made me empathetic towards her. She was so embarrassed.
First Baptist Dallas opened their new building yesterday. In this piece from the Dallas Morning Newsthe one quote from Pastor Jeffress that stood out was how God cares about architecture as opposed to our hearts and souls and how we should love Him and our neighbors, “This is a spiritual space. But I think God is a God of beauty. God cares about architecture. We wanted a space that reflects the beauty and majesty of God.”
I’ve always wondered why the Bible doesn’t detail the events and what Jesus said in more detail after the resurrection. If a man is the Son of God and has come back from the dead, you’d think it would worth while to record what he had to say before he ascending into heaven. I’m also puzzled why there isn’t anything documented on the reactions of Pontius Pilate and others after Jesus decided to hang around another 40 days.
I have a boil on my chest which is quite painful, I’ve nicknamed him Danny Boil.
I was in a shopping center parking lot when a woman ran out of a yogurt shop yelling what I thought was my name, so I stopped and made eye contact with her, and she immediately laughed and apologized and hurried towards a young boy (maybe 4?) who had his pants down around his ankles and was whizzing in the parking lot.
With the wife and kids gone for part of the weekend I got to sleep until 10:45 AM on Saturday morning and it was everything I thought it would be.
Late Sunday afternoon I turned the TV on to the Louisville/Duke game and saw there was some kind of traumatic injury, but I caught it so late that CBS was no longer showing the replay, but the buzz on Twitter was that CBS was showing it way too much. I stayed tuned for the half-time show to see the replay, but the halftime crew said out of sensitivity they weren’t going to show it again, so I had to resort to YouTube. But it turns out CBS only showed the reply twice.
Speaking of insensitivity and Twitter, someone decided to pose as the injured player by creating a fake Twitter profile and try to gain sympathy.
Speaking of Twitter and insensitivity, Erin Andrews got into some heated debates on the social media network after she criticized the lack of sideline coverage of the injury, and some dude got under her skin by mentioning the peep-hole video and she was irritated enough to actually respond.
Speaking of Twitter and sensitivity, Joe Theismann knows what it’s like to play in a game and have a compound fracture, and sent the following tweet.
I heard the bone actually broke the skin and stuck out about six inches, and that some of his teammates couldn’t handle the sight of it and vomited.
In case you haven’t seen the video of it, here you go. – Deadspin
If you want to see a close up pic of the bone sticking out, here you go.
I don’t won’t women’s college basketball and I question anyone that would unless a relative is participating, but that head coach of the Ken Starr Baylor Bears sure sounded like a sore loser in her press conference clip that Dale Hansen aired. When your team is down by 20 and your comeback isn’t enough, perhaps the refs aren’t the ones to blame.
Hansen also had a segment on a Mineral Wells runner/cyclist that qualified for the Boston Marathon. She was killed riding her bike over a bridge and the organizers are going to allow her daughter to run in her place. The segment focused a lot on that bridge, which happened to be the place where I got my very first speeding ticket.
An interesting segment on ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ about a 33-year-old Korean-American pastor that leads a predominantly African-American church in Washington, D.C. – Video. I think the part that stood out to me the most was the quote from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King when he stated the hour of Sunday morning worship is the most segregated hour in the U.S. It’s interesting how that is still the case.
My pastor is in his early sixties and made mention that he has preached over 1,400 sermons. He also stated that he still practices rehearsing his sermons out loud in an empty sanctuary, and that kind of surprised me. I kind of thought that after a while, pastors can kind of gather some notes and be able to just kind of preach as if it is second nature without any public speaking practice. But I guess I have to admire that at his age and as long as he’s been doing this, that he still takes it seriously.
I think Maple and Motor has one of the best burgers in the area, but I know a lot of folks don’t like the owner. Here’s an interesting piece on him and his new bbq joint. It was a bit interesting to find out he spend some time at ACU.
Remember those Vacation movies with Chevy Chase? A reboot is going to happen with Ed Helms, but in this reboot Chase and Beverly D’Angelo will reprise their roles, but I’m guessing in a limited fashion.
It seems like Jason Bateman plays the same character in every movie.
I’m not sure what I think of the season finale of ‘The Walking Dead’. They decided to ramp up the background music, but I was hoping for a little more suspense and was surprised there wasn’t a little tease left at the end.
The season finale of Walking Dead opened some doors I'm not sure we want to explore. Carl is on the fast track to being the Lil' Governor, Andrea is gone and The Governor has gone beyond rogue. If you read the novels a big character has been put in place for next season.
Jason Bateman DOES play the same character in every movie.
Churches all over the world are moving into a more relationship-based model of ministry, and yet First Baptist builds a shrine to church choirs, sunday schools, and 1950's way of doing church.
Brother Geeding – Your comment about Pastor Jeffress' quote on God's view of architecture is, in my opinion, very unfair. In reading the DMN article, Pastor Jeffress was not setting God's love of beauty in opposition to His love for people. Your comment seems to say that Pastor Jeffress believes the new facility at FBC Dallas is important solely because of its physical beauty, and that he was dismissing the heart of the gospel message. We believe – we hope and pray – the building is a tool God will use to reach people for His sake… people who might not otherwise visit a church. We also believe that even the architecture of a structure can point to the Creator – in its beauty, its design, its purpose.
I'm a member of FBCD and teach a Sunday school class for couples… I'd love for you and your family to join me and mine for a Sunday of worship at the church. I believe you've had some bad experiences with Baptist churches in the past, so I understand if you'd rather not. But I'm telling you this place is different… it's not the old-line Baptist stereotype it seems you believe it to be. I can promise you that no one will press you for membership… it might just be an interesting way for you to research a subject that 's a frequent topic in your blog (which I read every day!).
Thanks for being a daily reader and thank you for taking the time to leave a reply, one which I found was full of grace and respect. I spent some time at FBCD prior to Jeffress' arrival in the couples class with Steve Hardin and actually partook of some of the Nearlywed classes. I really appreciate you extending an invite, but I'm gonna decline for a few reasons. One, I'm an active deacon at my church and feel even if I came for 'research purposes' I wouldn't be treating my church home properly. And second, I've spent a lot of time researching church history and denominational differences, and from a theological perspective, there are certain things with evangelical churches that I simply don't align with, I'm a mainline kinda guy.
You're right, I harp on the Baptists often, some of it jovially, some of seriously. I get your point about what I said about Jeffress' quote on architecture. In an effort to be fair I did include his whole quote and didn't chop it up. I understand how God can be honored in architecture and how facilities can be used as a tool to bring in people, but it's my opinion his comment didn't focus on latter. It just seems like in his interviews his focus is on the beauty of the building and not in ministry to the heart, mind, and body.
In the future, I hope in his heart and that in his public perception, that Pastor Jeffress can show the grace and respect to others as you've done to me.
Thanks for your response, Keith… I appreciate your thoughtfulness and time.
We probably know a lot of the same people… Steve Hardin discipled and me and did our wedding. Keep on doing what you're doing… and keep us Baptists honest! Truth never need look for a place to hide.
The season finale of Walking Dead opened some doors I'm not sure we want to explore. Carl is on the fast track to being the Lil' Governor, Andrea is gone and The Governor has gone beyond rogue. If you read the novels a big character has been put in place for next season.
Jason Bateman DOES play the same character in every movie.
Churches all over the world are moving into a more relationship-based model of ministry, and yet First Baptist builds a shrine to church choirs, sunday schools, and 1950's way of doing church.
Brother Geeding – Your comment about Pastor Jeffress' quote on God's view of architecture is, in my opinion, very unfair. In reading the DMN article, Pastor Jeffress was not setting God's love of beauty in opposition to His love for people. Your comment seems to say that Pastor Jeffress believes the new facility at FBC Dallas is important solely because of its physical beauty, and that he was dismissing the heart of the gospel message. We believe – we hope and pray – the building is a tool God will use to reach people for His sake… people who might not otherwise visit a church. We also believe that even the architecture of a structure can point to the Creator – in its beauty, its design, its purpose.
I'm a member of FBCD and teach a Sunday school class for couples… I'd love for you and your family to join me and mine for a Sunday of worship at the church. I believe you've had some bad experiences with Baptist churches in the past, so I understand if you'd rather not. But I'm telling you this place is different… it's not the old-line Baptist stereotype it seems you believe it to be. I can promise you that no one will press you for membership… it might just be an interesting way for you to research a subject that 's a frequent topic in your blog (which I read every day!).
Hello Todd –
Thanks for being a daily reader and thank you for taking the time to leave a reply, one which I found was full of grace and respect. I spent some time at FBCD prior to Jeffress' arrival in the couples class with Steve Hardin and actually partook of some of the Nearlywed classes. I really appreciate you extending an invite, but I'm gonna decline for a few reasons. One, I'm an active deacon at my church and feel even if I came for 'research purposes' I wouldn't be treating my church home properly. And second, I've spent a lot of time researching church history and denominational differences, and from a theological perspective, there are certain things with evangelical churches that I simply don't align with, I'm a mainline kinda guy.
You're right, I harp on the Baptists often, some of it jovially, some of seriously. I get your point about what I said about Jeffress' quote on architecture. In an effort to be fair I did include his whole quote and didn't chop it up. I understand how God can be honored in architecture and how facilities can be used as a tool to bring in people, but it's my opinion his comment didn't focus on latter. It just seems like in his interviews his focus is on the beauty of the building and not in ministry to the heart, mind, and body.
In the future, I hope in his heart and that in his public perception, that Pastor Jeffress can show the grace and respect to others as you've done to me.
Keither
Thanks for your response, Keith… I appreciate your thoughtfulness and time.
We probably know a lot of the same people… Steve Hardin discipled and me and did our wedding. Keep on doing what you're doing… and keep us Baptists honest! Truth never need look for a place to hide.