Branded

By resisting a brand, churches brand themselves. Here is an example from the belief statement on the website of Jacob's Well Church in Kansas City:

"The Apostles' Creed gives a summary of the doctrinal commitments of this community. However, we do not think the best way to know what we believe is to read it off a page. We believe the best way to determine what someone, or some group of people, believe is to watch them -- or better yet, join them and discover it from the inside. When we are handed a sheet of paper or click on a link with a list of statements, we believe that something vital is short-circuited. More than that, we become a brand: "Oh, you're 'that' kind of Christian/church." We are a brand culture. We don't want to be a brand church. We are a community of people seeking to follow Jesus in faith and freedom."

It doesn't take much of an imagination to figure out how this church--despite their objections to being branded--is branded.

Wallpapers

I made a wallpaper. I am sharing it with you.

Just click on the image, click "download", and then save the image...

Also check out the Don't Waste Your Life wallpapers. Those are cooler than mine.

This Week in Chapel

The Chapel services here at SBTS this week were particularly strong. I would highly recommend both of them.

Firstly, Dr. James Hamilton gives a stern warning concerning sexual sin in the life of the believer drawing from the transgression of David in 2 Samuel 11.

Secondly, Pastor David Prince discusses the importance of looking at the believer's role in the Christian community properly using 1 Peter 2 as his primary text.

As we say in Kentucky, both men cleared a spot and pitched a fit.

Acceptable Words and Meditations

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

-Psalm 19:7-14

How does one ensure that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart are pleasing to the Lord? By grounding himself in the Word of God.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

That's a real sentence. No joke. Wikipedia and William J. Rapaport say so. And I believe them.

Clear Off A Spot

Apparently a popular idiom in the South is "clear off a spot and pitch a fit," although I am unaware of what context such a thing would be said.

If you have some insight a comment would be greatly appreciated.

I Don't Watch the Show, But...

...the final segment of Community is worth a trip to Hulu to watch.

You Can Be Plural

Why do so many people feel like they must indicate the plurality of the second person pronoun "you" when referring to groups?

You guys, you all, y'all.

Just "you" is perfectly acceptable.

And don't get me started on the possessive form.

Your guyses? Y'all's? Really?

English Language Day

I am quite upset that I missed out on English Language Day. It was yesterday.

The English language has such a rich and diverse history; I encourage you to read about that which was arguably the most influential event in our language's history: the Norman conquest of England in 1066. If you are interested further, check out The Stories of English by David Crystal.

Kevin and Jill vs. Jim and Pam

No offense to the folks who thought this up; it's incredibly creative. Personally though, I thought it was really lame.

Then I watched this rendition and I cried.

Facebook Photo Album Titles

Titles of Facebook photo albums commonly exhibit these qualities:

• Excessive Punctuation: this usually is manifested in lots of exclamation points. For example: "Fun!!!" or "Wedding!!!" Less frequently, but not uncommon, is only punctuation with an occasional letter. Ex: ";) ;) ;)" or ":P :P :P"
• Country Music Songs: "Days Go By" seems to be used most frequently, but other titles like "Ring of Fire" and "Wide Open Spaces" can be stumbled upon.
• Loaded Words: "Amazing" and "Adventure" are used quite a bit. A quick perusal of the photos will indicate that the captured moments are neither amazing nor an adventure.
  
• Unorthodox Capital Letter Usage: this tactic is employed to spice up uncreative titles. For example: "hOMecoMiNg '09" or "iOWa TRiP."
• Uncatergorized: often times albums are labeled "Random" or "Misc," but upon further inspection they prove to be people taking 279 pictures of themselves and one or two other people sitting on a couch or lying on a bed making strange faces in celebration of the new digital camera they bought online and probably overpaid for. Usually people who are not actually in the photos are tagged because the photographer wants to subliminally say "wish you were here" without entirely offending the other parties in the photograph by making them think they are no fun. This often times leads to an escalating series of events in which the subjects submerge themselves in the morally relativistic culture and fall into the trap of naming future facebook albums using the aforementioned techniques.
  

Foreword Thinking

The easiest way to get your name on the cover of a book is to write a foreword. And you don't even have to be an expert on what the book is about; you just have to say some nice things about the book and its author then shamelessly plug your own work.

I am going to make business cards that say:

Caleb Drahosh
Foreword Writer

Maybe I'll win some free lunches along the way.