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 - Endorsed - Indifferent - Contested
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| The Nashville Statement
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Name:Daniel
Home: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
About Me: I used to believe that evolution was reasonable, that homosexuality was genetic, and that people became Christians because they couldn't deal with the 'reality' that this life was all there was. I used to believe, that if there was a heaven - I could get there by being good - and I used to think I was more or less a good person. I was wrong on all counts. One day I finally had my eyes opened and I saw that I was not going to go to heaven, but that I was certainly going to suffer the wrath of God for all my sin. I saw myself as a treasonous rebel at heart - I hated God for creating me just to send me to Hell - and I was wretched beyond my own comprehension. Into this spiritual vacuum Jesus Christ came and he opened my understanding - delivering me from God's wrath into God's grace. I was "saved" as an adult, and now my life is hid in Christ. I am by no means sinless, but by God's grace I am a repenting believer - a born again Christian.
My complete profile...
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Daniel's posts are almost always pastoral and God centered. I appreciate and am challenged by them frequently. He has a great sense of humor as well.
- Marc Heinrich
His posts are either funny or challenging. He is very friendly and nice.
- Rose Cole
[He has] good posts, both the serious like this one, and the humorous like yesterday. [He is] the reason that I have restrained myself from making Canadian jokes in my posts.
- C-Train
This post contains nothing that is of any use to me. What were you thinking? Anyway, it's probably the best I've read all day.
- David Kjos
Daniel, nicely done and much more original than Frank the Turk.
- Jonathan Moorhead
There are some people who are smart, deep, or funny. There are not very many people that are all 3. Daniel is one of those people. His opinion, insight and humor have kept me coming back to his blog since I first visited earlier this year.
- Carla Rolfe
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| Tagged,... |
Susan tagged me the other day with a five random questions meme, her questions are as follows:
1. If you could own your own business, what would it be?
2. What was the best job you ever had?
3. What was the best book other than the Bible you have read?
4. If you could interview anyone other than Jesus – alive or dead – who would you interview?
5. What are your views on eschatology? No? Okay, how’s about if you had time and resources to write a book on any area of theology, what would it be?
I like memes, so I am glad she tagged me (Thanks Susan.)
Here are my answers, given off the cuff as my time is limited, which is to say that given more than the time it takes to type this out (which is pretty quick for me), I might have done better, or had less typos...
1. If you could own your own business, what would it be?
Um, ... "Google" or possibly "Oracle".
Seriously though, I presume the question is meant more along the lines of "what type of business" and presumes that you don't want to own some pre-existing business - that is, what sort of business would you start up if it were somehow feasible for you to do so?
I have thought about this more than most people I suppose.
Whatever it was it would have to be a way of making a profit without [1] ripping anyone off, [2] taking up too much of my time, or [3] catering to the corrupt world system.
Something service oriented and honest, but low key so that I am not so tied to the business that I haven't the time for my family and my church. A Christian book store owner maybe, or perhaps owning a four season retreat/camp/resort or something like that.
2. What was the best job you ever had?
The most pleasant (paying) job I have ever had, that is, the most satisfying, was teaching in the adult education program at a local community college. I taught "Java". I enjoy teaching immensely. Financially speaking however, teaching is not as lucrative as other things. My current job is far more lucrative, but less rewarding.
I think pastoring would be the best job in the world however. I know the hours are long, the pay is poor, and the responsibility is unparalleled, but I can't see myself happy in much else to tell you the truth.
3. What was the best book other than the Bible you have read?
Hmm. Best for what? When it comes to tying knots, my old scout manual was pretty decent, if I am trying to make a homemade curry dish, some cookbooks are better than others, if I am learning how to program a computer in the latest paradigm, again, some books are better than others.
I am a book "learner" - that is, I get more out of reading a book about a thing than I do sitting in a lecture, or a series of lectures. (Did I mention that I was a rather horrible student at school?) So when it comes to instructional materials, I prefer well written, and thorough works as opposed to superficial "managerial level" works. When it comes to style, I like biographies, as far as fiction goes, I like epic stories with detailed characters who are believable, with a story line that isn't fluffy, predictable, or jarring for the sake of being different. I can read a cliched plot if the characters are worth it, and the story is good.
Which is to say, I couldn't pick just one.
4. If you could interview anyone other than Jesus – alive or dead – who would you interview?
The apostle Paul, hands down.
I didn't even have to think about that one.
But if I were restricted such that I could not interview any of the writers from, or persons described in scripture, that would be a much more difficult question. There is no modern personality that would interest me. Perhaps I would interview George Whitefield, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards or Charles Spurgeon? Frankly, there is quite a long list of people I should like to sit down and interview, though many would be people in scripture - Pontius Pilate, The Governor Felix, Claudius Lysias, the men who were with Paul on the road to Damascus, Caiaphas, Ananias, I would pretty much interview everyone in the new testament.. ;-)
5. What are your views on eschatology? No? Okay, how’s about if you had time and resources to write a book on any area of theology, what would it be?
Eschatologically speaking, I believe that both the world that we presently live in and even the heavens themselves will be dissolved, being on fire, and pass away with a great noise; I believe the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up - melted with fervent heat -on that last day- the day of judgment.
The rest is pretty much up in the air for now (hehe... that is an eschatological joke you see...). Seriously, I see problems in pretty much every eschatological system out there, and what I have seen in scripture doesn't line up perfectly with anyone else's belief system. I should like to draft it all out some day, but regard other pursuits as being more edifying for both myself and the church at the moment.
If I had the time and resources to write on any area of theology I would chose two areas: the first would be the atonement. I do not think the substitutionary atonement model is as precise as it could be, or should be, and I feel that a right understanding of the atonement is a boon to any walk with Christ. The second would be on the hypostatic union, as again, I believe that many people say that Christ was 100% human, but in practice they really mean that genetically speaking the flesh that housed the divine intellect was 100% human, but the intellect itself was 100% divine, making the flesh a "shell" for the divine rather than making Christ actually human.
I would tag others, but I expect they will get tagged soon enough.Labels: memes tags |
posted by Daniel @
12:22 PM
17 comment(s)
 
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| Seven Things. |
There is some monumental "100 things about me" tag going around, which Bugblaster was tagged with, and mercifully summarized into 7 general categories before tagging me with it. Without further ado, allow me to play in kind:
1. Sibling info: I have an older sister, two younger sisters and a younger brother. My sisters were all named after songs that my parents like, my brother and I were both named after television characters (I was named Daniel because "Daniel Boone" was on the tube when my parents were trying to name me.) I once contributed muchly to the breaking of my younger sister's arm (I convinced her it was okay to jump out our window. When I was five, my mom let me help cook lunch. We were always told to stay away from the stove when someone was cooking because they might get burnt. We were making lipton chicken noodle soup, and my younger sister (then three) refused to move away from the chair that I was standing on, even though I told her that my place at the stove was a current privilige that she was too young to enjoy, so when my warnings to move away from the stove (ostensibly because she would likely get burnt if she didn't) were ignored, I took it upon myself to take a spoonful of boiling soup and drip it on her. The ensuing screaming from my sister brought my mom back into the room, and my explanation of the event didn't win any sympathy. I think that was the first time my mother wondered what kind of monster she had given birth to. Not to worry, I didn't stay cold and calloused. I just started off that way.
2. Athletic Things... I was always coordinated, fearless, and strong as a young fellow. I could climb the tallest tree and sit on the most "bendy" thin branches at the top without much trouble, but I couldn't run to save my life. I played football, soccer, baseball, basketball, and even lacrosse, but I wasn't terribly good at any of those. I did win third place in a provincial wrestling tournament, and took second place in the city for my weight group, but I never really was encouraged in this direction. I learned to skate just enough to play hockey.
3. Farming things... My mother's parents had 160 acres of farmland, but they were both in their seventies when I was born. By the time I was old enough to help out around the farm, their livestock consisted of a couple of cows, the occasional pig, and the hen house. One of their sons (my uncle) lived a few hundred yards away, and he had horses, geese, etc. too, so I was exposed to a few farm animals growing up. Mostly the farm work involved getting the cows, and bailing hay. We spent pretty much every weekend on the farm, and I began to stay out at the farm for the whole summer when I was thirteen or fourteen. My grandpa died when I was fifteen, so that ended that.
4. Numbers and whatnot Math, Physics, and chemistry were my favorite subjects at school. I liked that there was no grey area, it was either right or wrong, and demonstrably so. I seem to be able to remember numbers quite easily, and have something of a phonographic memory - that is, I hear a thing, and can listen to it again later when I have the time to think about it. That annoys my wife a lot too, since she will sometimes interrupt me in the middle of a thing, say something, and although I hear her I don't process the information yet, I just put it aside until I can give it my full attention - then I "hear" it as it were. I don't know what kind of freak that makes me, but I was reminded of it because we did this thing once where you listened to a string of numbers and had to repeat them back. Apparently most people can do that with 7 numbers, but after that it thins out pretty quickly. I was -very- good at it.
5. Mormon thing... Um,... Okay, strange heading. Once some mormons came to our door, and I mistook them for Jehovah's Witnesses - which was quite funny. Anyone who has done any apolgetic work with cults will find that amusing. At one point I figured it out, but it was too late. The other time that was funny was when I was waiting for a bus. This very pretty young lady kept trying to catch my eye, and whenever she did she smiled at me. At first I thought she had mistaken me for someone else, then I thought for sure she was flirting with me, and when she came over I was all ready to inform her that I was genuinely flattered by her attention, but quite happily married, only then did she reveal her mormon agenda. I guess I could be taken aback by the thought that the local mormon church was sending out pretty girls to "flirt" men into mormonism - but seeing evangelical Christianity chase after "seeker sensitive" methodologies, I would have to admit that even evangelicalism is not immune to trying to woo people into church.
6. Desk things. I changed desks today at work - trading up to a larger desk in a larger area. All around me are pictures of my kids, and front and center is a picture of my wife and I on our wedding day. At home we have a cheesy little half desk thing that the computer is on - it barely fits. I have faded sign taped to the wall with a list of stuff that isn't supposed to be piled on the computer. Every item on that list has been ignored. I keep it up to remind me that all things are futile. Last year my parents gave me the desk I used all through my years growing up. It has sentimental value to me, but pretty much is a lame, lame desk.
7. Education things. I went to university to get a computer science degree (Math). I dropped out in the second year because I didn't have enough money to keep going, and I couldn't get a student loan because I was too young to get one in my own name, and my father refused to give the government any of his own financial information (needed for the student loan). Eventually I went back to school, but this time I went to a trades college and took electrical electronic and computer engineering technology. I finished about half of the course (with honors), but began to see that the only job I might get out of such an education would be as an electronic repair guy, or possibly I could become an apprentice electrician. I pretty much could do those things already, so I got a job installing home alarms. Eventually I decided I could program computers, and since the money was good, I went back to school and picked up a two year diploma for computer programming. I have toyed with the idea of finishing off my degree, but family life gets in the way. I love school and education in general. I would be in seminary right now if it were financially feasible.
That is my compilation of useless information about me. I am not going to tag anyone on this because I don't really have that much time.Labels: memes tags |
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posted by Daniel @
1:16 PM
5 comment(s)
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| 11 February 2007 |
Fifty nine days ago, on the 11th of February 2007, some guy named Ilker (the thinking blog) started the "five blogs that make me think" meme, and because recipients of the meme get to put a prestigious looking award on their site after being tagged, it seems to have really taken off.
I don't read Ilker's blog for two reasons, first, until I saw this "thinking blog award" I never knew there was a thinking blog, or some guy named Ilker behind it - and secondly, and perhaps most relevant now that I know there is a thinking blog and some guy named Ilker blogging there - I find that the material on his blog is a little too "racy."
I first noticed the "thinking blogger logo" award on Frank Turk's blog on April 4th. I couldn't quite make out what was pictured in the logo - a baby with a mark on its head or something - but Ilker describes the logo as a "thinking alien fetus" - and that probably says enough right there.
Now, it is not that I am not a fan of Internet viral marketing - I am, but I would hesitate to say that I am an indiscriminate supporter of it. Which is not to suggest that playing along with the meme is [1] supporting ilker's blog, or that playing along with the meme [2] anyone who plays along with this particular meme is being indiscriminate - good gravy no! I am not suggesting that.
All I am saying is that I am not going to continue that particular meme here. I am honored to have been considered for it by Gayla and JD (Even so), but I have something else in mind as my next post will show.Labels: memes tags |
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posted by Daniel @
2:19 PM
1 comment(s)
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| Me! Me! Er, I mean Meme. |
I was reading over at Garry Weaver's blog today and saw that old book tag thing - you know, where you follow some rules abou the book closest to you and share what it says. The rules were as follows:
1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123; go down to the fourth sentence.
3. Post the text of the following three sentences.
4. Name the author and book title.
5. Tag three people to do the same.
I grabbed the book closest to me off the shelf next to my desk, and found that it was simply infected all over with a disgusting looking black mold. I have no idea how long I have been breathing these mold spores, but I was quite thankful to have noticed it, and hereby credit Garry with likely saving my life from spore induced death.
Anyway, I got rid of that book pronto because I didn't even like to be touching it. I kind of cheated a bit on my answers, because the closest book to me was my bible, and I didn't want to look like a Christian keener, so I grabbed the mold book - and put that aside too. So here you have it, third times the charm will of God - page 123, sentences four, five, and six from "A Christianity that really works" by Ron Marr -
That is why the life that is in Christ is so repugnant to many Christians and neglected by many teachers. Die they will not! While initially attractive because of all the promise it holds, when the Christ-life demands our death, all that is of the old man rises up in rebellion.
Garry didn't tag me btw, but I tag Tim Challies, who has never visited my blog ever, James White, who likewise never visits my blog, and Steve Camp, who also doesn't visit my blog. Surely they will sense this challenge and become regular posters here.Labels: memes tags |
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posted by Daniel @
9:26 AM
5 comment(s)
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