February 2007

Review: Wild at Heart

Posted Sun, 2007-02-25 22:15
Book Title: 
Wild at Heart
Author(s): 
John Eldredge
Publisher: 
Thomas Nelson Publishers
Pages: 
223
ISBN: 
0785268839
Copyright Year: 
2001

Wild at Heart is a book written to encourage men to reconnect with their masculinity and to take joy in their identity as men. Eldredge's thesis is that men long for essentially three things: a battle to fight, and adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.

I found Wild at Heart to be encouraging to a certain degree. Society in general derides masculinity and either caricatures it in super-macho bravado or neuters it in pressing men to be passive and mediocre. I myself often fail to step up as a man and take initiative in situations requiring leadership. In this context, then, the challenge to live out my manhood with passion and energy, willing to take risk and put myself on the line in order to pursue the challenges that God has given me is presented effectively and forcefully.

I do have some concerns, however. When speaking of the need to be a risk-taker, Eldredge points out God as our example. Although he says that he is not entering the "open theology" debate, saying that God takes risks implies that even for God the future is uncertain. The application (that we men need to be risk-takers) is good, but the theology to get there is bad.

My other, less specific concern is with the book's Scriptural underpinnings in general. Verses are cited here and there, but the main idea seems to be supported at least as much by introspective intuition and cultural references as by the word of God. These elements are helpful in drawing things out that we see within ourselves, yet I would still have liked to see the book stick closer to the Biblical text.

Overall I would say the book was helpful, but I would like to find another book on this issue that handles Scripture more carefully and is more theologically sound.

Related Link(s): 
Review by Randy Stinson of the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Review by Tim Challies

Moving up in the world!

Posted Fri, 2007-02-23 13:58

Peak Power is expanding into the neighboring suite, so we'll have significantly more office space. That means that although I am penultimate in the seniority list, I still get to move from my cubicle to an office!

You can see our office layout and my move in this floorplan.

Meditations on the Cross

Posted Wed, 2007-02-14 08:26

Last week in the small discipleship group that I've been helping with we finished studying Luke by looking at the cross and what it means for us. So often we talk about the cross without remembering the agony of that death sentence. Jesus, even before he was betrayed, as he chose to drink that cup that the Father had given him, had in his mind the words of passages such as Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22--words that he had chosen centuries earlier to point forward to the pain of the cross and the reward that it would bring. The sermon Death by Love by Mark Driscoll in the first fifteen minutes draws out very powerfully the "shame of the cross".

Then Sunday morning at church we sang a contemporary arrangement of the hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. This arrangement by Chris Tomlin adds a chorus that repeats the phrase "oh the wonderful cross!". After having even discussed the cross, I found myself with difficulty singing that part. How can the cross, a brutal instrument of horrific torture, be "wonderful"?!? Indeed, if we look at the earthly side of the cross, there is nothing good about it. Yet when we see through the cruelty of the cross to God's purposes and Jesus' joy in the crucifixion, then it becomes "wonderful"--but for me it is a different kind of "wonderful" than the one we usually mean nowadays. Rather, it is the "wonderful" that means "of a sort that causes or arouses wonder; amazing; astonishing" [dictionary.com].

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. 1 Cor. 1:22-25.

Another Update

Posted Mon, 2007-02-12 13:36

I'm feeling much better today, but I don't think I can eat even another spoonful of chicken/turkey soup. Ugggh...

Good thing I didn't get it this bad....

Posted Sun, 2007-02-11 20:24

My symptoms changed and today instead of a headache and tiredness, I got an unsettled stomach. Fortunately I didn't get it as bad as my friend Harry here.... (The video may take some time to load.)

If you're on the edge of your seat wondering what comes next, this clip is from the classic film of my generation, Dumb and Dumber. As you might imagine, the next scene involves significant punishment of the stool.

NOTE: If you don't like potty humor, this movie is NOT for you. It rides the line between funny and annoying for me....

Under the Weather....

Posted Sat, 2007-02-10 12:27

I didn't feel exactly wonderful yesterday, but I hoped that with a good night of rest, when I woke up this morning I would feel better. Unfortunately it didn't work out like that, and I feel worse. My head aches lightly, and I'm tired and just feel like laying down all day. The cupboards were bare, though, so I had to head out and get some food. I decided to pick up a thermometer, too, so that I can actually know when I have a fever instead of guessing or pretending that everything is OK. Would you believe it? I got it home and the fool thing doesn't turn on, so I'll have to go back to Rite Aid and straighten it out. *sigh*

Whew! What a week!

Posted Sun, 2007-02-04 21:52

This last week was one of those very busy but very cool weeks! Here's what I did:

  • Meet with some friends who are planning to go to Antalya, Turkey this summer and talk about some culture stuff. I have been there twice, once as a student for four months and once on a month-long cultural program. I wish I could go, too, but I won't have vacation time built up by July when the trip is planned. Lord willing, I will be able to go later in the year...
  • Three days of tutoring high school algebra with Bethany. She had a ton of homework to get done plus a test last Thursday. I wish we had more time to review the basics, but patience wears thin.
  • Work has been intense since I have more things to do than I really have time to do them. I've committed myself to doing some design stuff that honestly I'm sure is only going to get done with overtime, but I know that I will enjoy it and it will be good for the company.
  • Bible study on Wednesday and a discipleship group on Thurdsay. We looked at some Psalms on Wed., totally improvised, and on Thursday we had some time for venting and then continued our study of Luke by looking at the chronology of the Passion and Resurrection. This week we'll finish!
  • Friday night through this morning I helped with a junior high/high school youth event with the church. I didn't realize going in that it was a stay-overnight-with-the-kids kind of event. I guess I should have looked over the material a little better and taken more initiative to get details. I just had to run back to my apartment and get all my stuff before bedding down. I was with a group of five eighth-grade boys and paired in leadership with a very good older guy. I'm not sure whether I was any actual help or not, but at least I drove the van around; that's something!

The focus of the weekend was service and caring for the poor, so we spent the day Saturday doing clean-up projects at an apartment complex where people are (I guess) just scraping by. For me, that was clearing the ice and snow off of their little basketball court. I think that ice had probably been there since the first snow in December, so it was hard and stubborn. I earned blisters on my hands and soreness in my arms, but I think that the work will make it a little bit nicer place for those guys to live and play.

I was reminded again of the passage in Luke 17 where Jesus says, ""Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' ". After doing work for "spiritual purposes" (isn't all work supposed to be Godward?), it is easy to feel like we've done something special and deserve to be appreciated. But are we not just unworthy servants, trying take care of the time and resources that have been entrusted to us?

Although youth ministry is not something I ever really wanted to do, I enjoyed getting to know these five guys a little bit, and it was encouraging to meet other people in the church and see them serving in ways that God has gifted them. I'm really glad that Brandon (one of the youth interns) asked me to help and glad that I said sure!

With everything going on during the week, I was already tired by Friday night, then tack on a weekend of meeting lots of new people and doing hard physical labor and sleeping on the floor, and I was really tired when I got home this afternoon. I found the SuperBowl on the radio and half listened and half napped. Congratulations to the Colts!

Now for meal planning and a run to the supermarket....