Absolutely Absolute

Imagine a Mystical Limpet--C. S. Lewis

2006-03-07T07:07:00.000-05:00

Why are many people prepared in advance to maintain that, whatever else God may be, He is not the concrete, living, willing, and acting God of Christian Theology? I think the reason is as follows. Let us suppose a mystical limpet, a sage among limpets, who (rapt in vision) catches a glimpse of what Man is like. In reporting it to his disciples, who have some vision themselve (though less than he) he will have to use many negatives. He will have to tell them that Man has no shell, is not attached to a rock, is not surrounded by water. And his disciples, having a little vision of their own to help them, do get some idea of Man. But then there come erudite limpets, limpets who write histories of philosophy and give lectures on comparative religion, and who have never had any vision of their own. What they get out of the prophetic limpet's words is simply and solely the negatives. From these, uncorrected by any positive insight, they build up a picture of Man as a sort of amorphous jelly (he has no shell) existing nowhere in particular (He is not attatched to a rock) and never taking nourishment (There is no water to drift it toward him). And having a traditional reverence for Man they conclude that to be a famished jelly in dimensionless void is the supreme mode of existence, and reject as crude, materalistic superstition any doctrine which would attibute to Man a definite shape, a structure, and organs

--From Miracles

This Weeks segment from Scripture is 1 kings 22:1-40. Pay close attention to what seems to be God sending a decieving or lying spirit. What does all this mean?!

Religious Freedom?

2006-03-01T06:57:00.000-05:00

There is an interesting column by Charles Colson on Religious Freedom and Charities in Mass. Check it out.

Also, going back to my experiment in community biblestudy, this weeks passage is Mark 2:13-17.

Blessings

Thanks for the insights...Lets keep it up

2006-02-17T14:40:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all who posted with insights to the scripture. This, I hope, will continue to be a place where we as a community of believers can post thoughts on the Word of God. Spread the word and check back on monday for the next passage.

Peace

My so called life...

2006-02-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

4 Jobs I Have Had In My Life

1. Dishwasher/cook
2. Video Rental superstar
3. Youth Minister
4. Senior (really student) Pastor while attending Seminary

4 Goals I Set for This Year

1. Weigh 180 lbs. by Dec. 31
2. Spend more time loving my wife
3. Start a Book on the Transformation of the Church/or on Why Star Wars is the greatest movie of all time
4. Be successful in Greek

4 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over

1. Star Wars Saga
2. Lord of the Rings Saga
3. Matrix Saga
4. Goonies

4 Places I Have Lived

1. Lake Park, GA
2. Valdosta, GA
3. Hazlehurst, GA
4. Danville, KY

TV Shows I Love To Watch

1. 24
2. American Idol
3. Law & Order
4. CSI

Places I've Been On Vacation

1. Cancun, Mexico
2. NY, NY
3. Montana
4. Texas

4 Websites I Visit Daily

1.Hollywoodjesus.com
2. RZIM.org
3. www.biblegateway.com
4.Townhall.com

4 of My Favorite Foods

1. Chinese
2. Steak
3. Hamburgers
4. Chinese

4 Places I Would Rather Be Right Now

1. At home with my wife
2. Anywhere reading my Bible and a good theology book
3. In the mountains
4. At the beach

Acts 6:8-7:53

2006-02-14T00:13:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting idea I had. Please read this passage above and write down any ideas that come to your mind about this passage. Please refrain from commentaries and other writers, unless the author(s) is intrenched in your thinking and you feel your thoughts are in line with the author. The idea I have is that I want your pure, unadulterated, exegetical minds to look at this scpriture and tell me how you interpret it. What Truth was God revealing for the church at the time of this letter and what truth is God revealing to us now. I don't want a dissertation just ideas. Your can post them for all to see or email them to me at brettmaddocks@yahoo.com. Thanks, This should be fun and you may end up in a sermon near Lexington KY.

P.S. Christie and Rick, If you want to get your amigos in on this as well that will be cool. I need some good reformed theologians to help me see all sides of the central Truth of this passage.

Peace and happy hunting.

PPS: The reasoning for this is from a suggestion of a Prof. He said that good biblestudy involves the community at some point. I want to see how this works and see if it can help the community in preaching/teaching/reforming the body of Christ and the world.

2006-02-07T07:05:00.000-05:00

I start back to school today for Spring Semester.

Here are My Classes:

Christian Formation: Kingdom, Church, and World
IBS: Matthew
History of Methodism
John Wesley's Theology for Today
Basic Christian Doctrine

I'm Off to the Races.

Praise God

What I am currently Reading

2006-02-01T23:21:00.000-05:00

N. T. Wright is one of the most brilliant yet readable scholars I have ever read. This book has made me take all my thoughts of Jesus, ball them up, and shoot a three-pointer for the trash. Great book for those wh want to know who Jesus was and is.

Ps. The "look inside" is from Amazon.com.

Moving on Down...

2006-01-24T06:19:00.000-05:00

I'm moving on down,
To the petite size,
To a smaller pair of jeans in my life.

I'm moving on down,
To the Petite size,
I've finally pushed away my piece of the pie. ("sing to the tune of the Jefferson's)

I have lost 10 pounds.

Also...

A word from C. S. Lewis:

It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. "Look out!" we cry, "it's alive". And therefore this is the very point at which so many draw back--I would have done so myself if I could--and proceed no further with Christianity. An "impersonal God"--Well and good. A sujective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside out own heads--better still. A formless life- force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap--best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband--that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion ("Man's search for God!") suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meat it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?

--From "Miracles"

Lastly...

This weekend Jess and I saw two movies that are worlds apart. The first was a movie about "race" called "Crash." The second was the comedy "Fun with Dick and Jane." I will be writing a review of these movies later this week. But in the mean time check out Hollywood Jesus' review of Crash and Fun with Dick and Jane.

The Weight is over

2006-01-17T06:32:00.000-05:00

I have started a serious diet to loose about 80 pounds or so. This diet consists of an overhaul of my eating habits, exercise, and trust that God will help me stick to this. Already, I've lost five pounds. I will be updating my blog with my success so that everyone who reads will give online accountability.

First Semester...could have done better but will take it!!!

2005-12-22T22:32:00.000-05:00

So I go my grades from my first semester, And they are...

Church History=B-
Polity=A-
Intro. To New Testament=A
Pastoral Care=B-

I am proud that I did not make a C. However, I see that I could have done much better.

I am taking a class on worship in January. I'm pulling for an A.

Did Jesus take finals?

2005-12-12T18:25:00.000-05:00

This week is one of pain and suffering. No, I am not talking about Holy Week. I am talking about Finals week. Asbury's Finals are going strong so I will not be able to communicate with the outside world untill I turn in my Church History Final on Thursday afternoon. The following is a list of my finals.

Monday: Polity and Discipline for UM Church-In class Essay
Tuesday: Pasoral Care and Counseling-In class Essay, Fill in blank
Thursday: History Take Home Final due-5 essays 3-5 pages each essay

Done: Intro to New Testament: Reflection paper on Acts 1:1-11

I covet your prayers

Let it Snow?!

2005-12-08T05:46:00.000-05:00

Becaus I am from Valdosta, GA, the only snow I have ever seen is when ice cubes fall out of my hand on to the floor. It is supposed to snow a couple of inches today. I am excited about the white stuff and I am a little afraid. This means I have to drive in it. Well it should be fun, especially when Jess and I build our Frosty the Snowman.

Merry Christmas

Brett, the blizzard, Maddocks

Last minute Gift Ideas and other news

2005-12-06T06:09:00.000-05:00

1. Are you done with your Chrsitmas shopping? If not, check out this list.

2. For all you Youth Ministers out there, Rick and Christie, here is a neat fundraising idea.

3. Next Fall on NBC, Al in the Faimily.

Have fun!

The only 22 year old in the house

2005-12-01T14:27:00.000-05:00

Ok! I confess that I do not keep up with my blog as much as I need to. I probably should make a better habit of putting my thoughts on this thing if I am going to say, "Hey, I have a blog."

Now that I have that time of confession off my chest, here is some fodder for thought.

The other day I was meeting with my friend David for Bible study and prayer. We were reading the birth narratives of Jesus and seeing how they spoke to us today more than 2000 years later. We came across something that intrigued us both.

In Mat. 2 with the story of the magi/wisemen there was something that I know I have overlooked as many times as I have heard that story preached, taught, and read it myself. When Herod finds out that he was "tricked" by the Magi he gets mad and orders that all the baby boys in the region be killed hoping to find the messiah in the midst and to kill him. I have always read that and thought, "Ahhh. That's to bad. Oh good, Jesus made it out alive. Yippee!!!" Thank about that. Jesus was the only boy spared in the region. Thank about all the babies that died because of Jesus. Yes, a madman ordered the murder. But, he was looking for Jesus. Who knows how many died. Jesus came and died for humanity but, how many times to we think about the many who died to save Jesus or at least who died indirectly because Jesus was Born.

Just some happy thoughts for our holiday season.

When you see the clean, beautiful mangers this Christmas, think of the filthy manger that the baby Christ laid in. When you see the magi making their trek to the King of Kings, think about the sacrifices that were made for Jesus.

Christmas was not a beautiful event. The Life of Jesus was not a beautiful event. Christianity is not a beautiful belief. It is a belief that deals with pain, sorrow, brokenness. In conclusion, Christianity deals with Life.

Flight Plan soars

2005-10-01T21:42:00.000-04:00

Jessica and I went today and saw Flight Plan. I thought it was very good, suspensful, well shot, and just enough twist to make a good cocktail. The plot was interwoven with many ideas about truth, the mind, reality, and of course terroists. There are lately many movies that play to "Pscological Thriller" genre and some seem to try to force the issue of a big twist while others do it very toughtfully and artistically. FP does the latter in a cool setting a giant passenger plane. One interesting thought is I wonder if this movie would have worked so well in a pre-9/11 world? I don't think so.

Theology from 35,000 feet: In the movie, Jodie Foster is accused of not even having the daughter that she says is missing in the plane. She knows very well that Her daughter is real and is there and is missing or kidnapped. There is a point in the movie where she starts to doubt herself until she sees something (don't want to give it away). This object assures her that she is right and she continues on and we movie goers are very satisfied.

The world will pound in our heads that Jesus is dead, God is dead, we are all products of lucky mud that just happened to make to decide not to be mud anymore. They we challenge our intellect, sanity, even strength as humans. These accusations can hurt and even cause us to sometimes deal with doubt in our minds. However, there is an object that we can look at and know that they are wrong. To know that there is a need for us to get up and keep pushing forward. That object is the Cross. The ultimate image of God's love for us.

Challeng: Next time you feel down or beaten or even unsure about what ever, go to a church or online, or somewhere that has a crucifix (cross with Jesus on it) and stare at it for 5 or more minutes in silence. Then thank God that He is real and that He loves you.

The Tragedy of Julius...No.No. Anakin Skywalker

2005-05-18T14:21:00.000-04:00

It is here. The moment I have spent pretty much my whole life waiting for (Besides my wedding of course, I love you Jess). Anakin falls to the dark side and we see how. I will be traveling tonight from Hazlehurst to Valdosta, GA after Youth tonight in order to see the midnight showing of "Sith." Comments on the movies will follow.

The Gospel according to R2-D2

2005-05-11T11:21:00.000-04:00

I am a nerd! This fact is no more evident than in my fascination with the Star Wars movies. No matter what your mind set is about these movies the fact is they are full of spiritual insights that are relevant for today. The main point of the films is redemption. In the prequil (episodes 1-3) we see the steady decline of Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the force (Sin, death, darkness) because the power of the dark side seems stronger. It is important to realize that the dark side relys on giving into your feelings of hate, anger, and fear while the light side relys on you being mindful of your feelings and discipling one self to recognize the dark side and to flee from it. One of the reasons sin is so prevalent in our society today is lack of discipline. We do not like discipling ourselves because it is hard. Hebrews says, "No discipline seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yeields the peacable fruit of rightousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11) In the orginal trilogy we see the redemption of Anakin through the faith of his son. Luke Skywalker never gave up on His father. Do we give up too quickly on those who hurt us. Do we give up on the redemption of those "monsters" to sin who society says does not deserve forgiveness. I contend that if the Church would pursue the redemption of God's creation, then more would want to become God's Children. Star Wars is ultimately about how one so mired in evil could be redeemed because one believed so much in the power of Good. As Christians do we believe in the power of God's Spirit to redeem the lost in our community.