Weekly Meanderings, 7 November 2015

Last updated on: November 7, 2015 at 6:38 am by Scot McKnight

Weekly Meanderings, 7 November 2015 2015-11-07T06:38:06-06:00 Scot McKnight

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Want a church in Vancouver? Save your money.

Congregations looking to buy a place of worship are losing faith in Vancouver’s hot real estate market.

“To buy a church in Vancouver right now you have to spend at least $2 million,” said Leonardo di Francesco, with Church Realtors.

He has been selling places of worship for the past 20 years.

He says it’s a seller’s market right now with very few options out there for those looking to build a church, temple, mosque or synagogue in Metro Vancouver.

“It is really hard to find large places,” he said, “We have some churches that will spend $15 million on the Vancouver West Side, but we can’t find anything. It is very, very difficult right now,” he said.

di Francesco believes some owners are holding on to their properties because the market is so hot right now.

“About 15 years ago, we’d have six or seven churches on the market on at one time. Now they’re for sale but not as many,” he said.

Teachers, what do you do with cell phones in class?

That’s weird — Mary Bowerman:

Marriage means giving yourself to another person, right? A Canadian man took that ideal literally and proposed to his fiancée with a custom ring made out of his wisdom tooth.

Yes, sink your teeth into that one.

Carlee Leifkes and Lucas Unger met at a music festival in Canada earlier this year, and got engaged in California on Halloween, ABC reported.

Our President, losing his cool chill with kids.

Speaking of kids, Hayley Tuskayama:

Teens are spending more than one-third of their days using media such as online video or music — nearly nine hours on average, according to a new study from the family technology education non-profit group, Common Sense Media. For tweens, those between the ages of 8 and 12, the average is nearly six hours per day.

The Common Sense census was designed to set a new statistical baseline for research on teen and pre-teen media use, said Jim Steyer, the group’s executive director. Even as someone who spends all day looking at these issues, Common Sense Media executive director Jim Steyer said he was staggered by the amount of time that young people are spending consuming media — and how little the government has done to explore what that means.

“Where is the research?” Steyer said. “We’re conducting the biggest experiment on our kids — the digital transition — without research.”

YIKES… nine hours?!

Quite the post, by Karina Kreminski:

As it turns out God did catch me and more. He provided for me in a way that was beyond what I could have imagined. But after I shared my story it was met with a hesitant pause rather than joy. Genuine questions followed from my friends: How could I be certain that God had provided uniquely for me? Why does God show up for some people but not others? Wasn’t I endorsing a form of prosperity theology which abuses the Scripture, “Ask and you shall receive”? What developed was a lengthy discussion around God’s interaction in our world and our individual lives. We all believed that God was our good heavenly Father but could we trust him to provide for us in the reality of our day to day lives?

It was a good conversation which gave me a lot to think about. However, as I walked away from that meeting I couldn’t help but feel a growing sense of sadness. When I thought about it some more, I realised I was sad about the “hermeneutic of doubt” that had pervaded the dialogue that day.

I have noticed recently that among many of my friends be they Evangelical, post-Evangelical, Progressive or any other label we might use, this hermeneutic of doubt is a framework that is being increasingly used to assess experiences with God. On the one hand I am grateful for a healthy skepticism which helps many Christians grow out of a glib expression of faith which unthinkingly reinforces a private, consumeristic and, individualistic embodiment of Christianity. Sometimes Christians can sound embarrassingly patronizing, condescending and too heavenly-minded to be able to relate to anyone. Often, a more mature faith emerges as a person experiences a faith-crisis. This has happened to me and it caused me to seriously question for a season whether there was a God who was interested in me. When we grow up in an environment where we are told that we have our very own personal Jesus, it comes as a huge blow when we inevitably experience a disastrous event in our lives which causes us to question that. We realize that the whole world does not revolve around us but instead around God’s story. We have a choice then; Do we go deeper into our faith or do we farewell it?

However, when a healthy skepticism perhaps also mixed in with an unresolved faith-crisis, turns into a hardline hermeneutic of doubt, this can encourage Christians to embrace a philosophy that I think is perhaps more dangerous than opting out of Christianity altogether. Christians can become functioning Deists.

From Justin Taylor’s interview with Doug Sweeney about his new book about Jonathan Edwards:

Even though Edwards didn’t write a hermeneutics handbook, you argue that he primarily used four methods: (1) canonical exegesis, (2) Christological exegesis, (3) redemptive-historical exegesis, and (4) pedagogical exegesis. Could you explain what these are and how he used them in his quest to glorify God, understand divine revelation, and serve the church?

Sure, but, again, let me emphasize that Edwards did not write about this in a systematic way. This four-fold schema does not represent methods used intentionally by Edwards in an overall plan to interpret holy writ in a four-fold way. They simply organize and summarize the exegetical practices reflected in his writings.

Canonical exegesis (interpreting Scripture in light of Scripture in a pan-canonical way) showed him how the Bible cohered.

Christological exegesis (interpreting even the Old Testament in view of Jesus Christ and His work of redemption) showed him how it all centered on the love of God for the saints (the mystical bride of Christ).

Redemptive-historical exegesis provided a spiritual metanarrative that made sense of individual texts in light of the storyline that tied them all together.

Pedagogical exegesis gave him rules for faith and life, helping Christians play their parts in the story of redemption.

He thought that all four approaches should begin with a study of the text’s grammar and history (which he taught alongside them but did not often feature as an end in itself). He also thought they overlapped and even built upon each other to provide people of faith with a grand vision of God, His relation to the world, and the meaning of His Word. Taken together, these methods yielded a robust, thoroughgoing biblical theology that governed Edwards’ other, more occasional—and far more famous—publications.

Good story from Mark Black:

Artistic talent has no limits, despite what preconceptions might exist in the world. That is the case with photographer Geoffrey Mikol, who has Down syndrome. Mikol’s natural talent as a photographer is evident to those viewing and purchasing his artwork at art fairs around the Chicago area.

The 21-year-old Palatine photographer has been serious about photography for the past seven years. He took photography classes at Walt Whitman High School, outside Washington, D.C.

Solitary confinement? Kevin Johnson:

Craig Haney, a psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who has long studied the effects of prolonged isolation, said the conditions of confinement represent “the most extreme example of how far our incarceration policies have gone in the wrong direction.”

“It benefits no one,” he said.

Last month, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether solitary constituted cruel and unusual punishment even for those awaiting execution. The court declined to consider the case, yet JusticeAnthony Kennedy has raised serious questions about the practice.

“Research still confirms what this court suggested over a century ago: Years on end of near-total isolation exact a terrible price,” Kennedy said in a June opinion on another case. “The judiciary may be required, within its proper jurisdiction and authority, to determine whether workable alternative systems for long-term confinement exist, and if so, whether a correctional system should be required to adopt them.”

In March, Kennedy offered an even more blunt assessment. “Solitary confinement,” the justice told a congressional panel, “literally drives men mad.”

Getting kids to bed early makes for a healthier mom:

Children who get to sleep early are more likely to have better health but – perhaps even more importantly – also much happier, healthier mums, according to new Australian research.

Research to be presented at the Australasian conference Sleep DownUnder 2015 in Melbourne today has found that getting kids to bed early may be even more important than simply ensuring they have a long sleep.

The study questioned 3600 Australian children three times during their first nine years of life. It is the largest study of its kind and the first to decisively show how crucial it is to get littlies nodding off earlier.

“This is valuable information for parents, many of whom will know about how important it is for their kids to get lots of sleep overall but not much about how significant the bedtime itself is,” says lead researcher Dr Jon Quach, of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The University of Melbourne in Melbourne.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 6, 2015

Orthorexia?

Next Post

November 7, 2015 Pulitzer Prize Winner Interview

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Isaiah Elijah Jonah Elisha