A minor

Deep Thoughts from the Shower
by Jon Amos

I've been trying to think of a way to describe the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) to Episcopalians and others whose only exposure to Presbyterians has been mainline. It occurred to me in the shower today that the PCA could be understood as, "what you would get if you bred the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) with the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC)." A self-conflicted offspring, no doubt.

As the actual, relative sizes of the SBC and REC would indicate, this offspring's overall ethos would more resemble "conservative, popular evangelical" (SBC), but with a hint of "separated catholic" (REC). As I see it, the SBC has come to epitomize conservative, American evangelicalism, and the REC - traditional, liturgical Protestantism that wants to retain some catholicity despite a separatist history and identity. I think it's fair to say that most of the PCA wants to be known as evangelical in a baptistic (but not Baptist) sort of way, and a smaller part of the PCA wants to be evangelical in a catholic (but still separated) sort of way.

Hey kids, try other denominations in this equation! For example, EFree + OPC = CRE?

It's kinda sad when my toddler son (who can't even read!) gets more emails per day than I do.

Happy birthday, honey. You're the best husband and daddy we could ever ask for. Well, unless Ethan Hawke was available.

We love you!
Hollie and the boys

Quotes from Ware

Father Powell loaned me his copy of The Orthodox Way, by Bishop Kallistos (Timothy) Ware. Here are a couple quotes I read this morning, both on page 14:

1. "Quoting Psalm 8:1, 'O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is thy name in all the earth', St Gregory of Nyssa states: 'God's name is not known; it is wondered at.'" (Footnote source: Commentary on the Song of Songs xii. This one's for Toby, if he's still out there.)

2. "Having made an assertion about God, we must pass beyond it: the statement is not untrue, yet neither it nor any other form of words can contain the fullness of the transcendent God." (I wish confessionalists could remember this.)

Environmental Stewardship

Well, I finished the case study. My research took me elsewhere, though, as I narrowed my scope - I didn't use Zizioulas, Beisner (except inasmuch as he was a signer of the Cornwall Declaration), or Polkinghorne - but I think my five-page paper was better for it. I ended up dealing with more applied versions of faith-based environmental stewardship. Here are some Internet sources I used:

The Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship and Interfaith Council on Environmental Stewardship (Note: Our own George Grant was also a Cornwall Declaration signer, as were several well-known conservative evangelicals. Who knew these guys like to hobnob with liberal interfaith types?! Kidding.)
Global Anglican Congress on the Stewardship of Creation
"Anglican Observer at United Nations will preach, lead forum as Republican National Convention events begin in New York: New book 'Healing God's Creation' takes up environmental issues"
"Christian Leaders Chastise President Bush's 'Clean Air' Policy as Immoral" (April 22, 2004)
"Scientists and Religious Leaders Issue Letter on Climate Change" (May 19, 2004)
"Faith-based Stewardship and Conflict Resolution" (Contains links to other valuable sources.)
The Regeneration Project, Episcopal Power & Light, etc

If anyone cares to see the finished paper, just let me know.

Ode to Chick-fil-A

In the words of Sinead O'Connor...
Nothing compares, nothing compares to you.

Our two year old hates to get his hair washed. He loves to take baths though. In fact, he'd stay in the tub all day if I let him. Problems only arise with the mention of shampooing his hair. It's not that he is just being ornery. There is some crazy irrational fear involved. He will cry and shake uncontrollably. The past few times he has even thrown up. I have never seen anything like it. Any suggestions on how to overcome this phobia?

Matt Harper's Prayers

I really appreciated this comment from Matt/Heathcliff:

This is how I am praying:
1. That ECUSA publicly repents for not only the ordination of an unchaste bishop but for decades of impurity and failing discipline.

Short of that . . .
2. That the break between orthodox Anglicans and heterodox Anglicans is clear and tidy. No long drawn out court battles over church property. No orthodox US parishes debating what to do. Make it clear. ECUSA has no claim to being Anglican, and the Anglican Church worldwide recognizes an official branch of the Anglican church in the US. I don't want to see this split render the faithful in two. I won't feel at peace being in ECUSA if ECUSA is kicked out of the worldwide communion. But I don't want to leave ECUSA unless all the other faithful Anglicans do the same.
Pray for peace and justice. And for humility, especially for folks like me and Elizabeth.

Amen.

Swoops - not a fan. Don't be fooled by the commercials where everyone is singing and enjoying their candy. After a taste test, I didn't even have the slightest urge to join in on the chorus of "Swoop, there it is." In fact, my first inclination was to spit this cheap chocolate garbage out of my mouth.

UFOs, on the other hand, are scrumptious.

On Labor Day, we took our two boys to the zoo. I have to say that for a smaller city, Monroe has a decent zoo. They have recently opened a new Louisiana Purchase exhibit with an adorable black bear. I'm such a little kid when it comes to the zoo. I ooh and ahh the whole time. There is just something so amazing about all these creatures. I'm fascinated by the enormous size of the hippo, the majestic posture of the lions, the hooting of the monkeys. All my life I have dreamed of working with great apes. Many hours were spent pouring over National Geographics. I had posters of my favorite gorillas who communicated via sign language. How cool to "talk" with the animals. That was gonna be my life. I just knew it. When I would ask my dad for a chimp or orangutan, he'd say they stink too much. Like THAT was going to stop me! Now, years later, I have two little "monkeys" of my own who sometimes stink too much. But I still hold on to those posters and think that someday I'll blow off all the dust and finally get my chance.

I tinkered around with our church website today. Part of my job entails being the church's webmaster, an area in which I'm quite the novice. At any rate, I think the site is starting to look better. I welcome any suggestions or critiques.

I'm planning to soon create a new page within the site and also to revamp the awful youth page (which pre-dates my employment at the church). Eventually, I hope to get it looking like a well-designed, professional church site. I'm not shooting for GraceCathedral.org, but somewhere in between would be nice.

Come on, all the cool kids are doin' it! Click here if you would like to sign up for a free iPod and help me get one, too.

The only downside is that you have to sign up for one of several offers. I decided to go with Blockbuster's new spinoff of Netflix. But I can cancel it in two weeks, and I probably would have tried it sooner or later anyway just for the free rentals-without-the-hassle-of-dealing-with-real-live-morons-at-Blockbuster.

Program in World Anglicanism

This study program at Regent College, Vancouver, looks ideal.

A few nights ago I dreamt that I had to choose between a hunky football/soccer player from my old high school and Jerry Seinfeld. (Like in many dreams, I wasn't really me so I wasn't married to Jon or anything.) The details are all rather fuzzy but in the end, I ended up with Seinfeld. Weird, very weird. I pick the horse face over the hot guy? What does that say for you, Jon? Heh, just kidding, honey. Really.

Case Study: The Christian Faith & Environmental Science

I am working on a brief case study for an environmental science course and am looking for sources. I'm planning to cite the work of (Orthodox) Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergmon and (PCA) Dr Cal Beisner of Knox Seminary, and I'd like to find a few other sources, such as an Anglican author and/or organization. If you can suggest some sources or point me in a good direction, I'd be grateful.