My Top 10

10. I probably like it mostly because i think I'm very Irish. It's a bit over priced, but good occasionally. I really like the black and tan at Crickets when they mix it with Bass.



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9. The best stout beer Oregon has to offer. Deschutes Obsidian Stout.

Obsidian Stout gets is inspiration from one of the world's largest obsidian flows at Newberry Volcano--just a few miles south of the brewery. "The Big Obsidian Flow," as they call it, covers more than 700 acres with shiny black obsidian.



8. The New Belgium has to offer. I can't drink more than two a day though, very filling.

1554
Phil Benstein, our resident rumpled professor, stumbled onto Zwartbier in an 1888 tome creatively named “Popular Beverages of Various Countries.” He had trouble convincing brewmaster Peter Bouckaert that such a beer existed back in 16th - century Belgium, so the pair made two trips to Belgium to research this obscure style in the archives of Belgium’s specialty brewers. The oldest reference to these black beers that our dynamic duo uncovered was in the year 1554.

Other than being dark in color, 1554 has little in common with Porters or Stouts. The beer is fermented at relatively high temperatures using a European lager yeast that imparts a refreshing, zesty acidity. Chocolate and coffee tones in the nose give way to a surprisingly clean finish. With 1554 our staff hoped to create a beer similar to what folks enjoyed nearly five-hundred years ago without ignoring five-hundred years of technological innovation.We hope you’ll agree that 1554 is the delicious result of a lot of well-spent library time.



7. Great bear to drink around a camp fire. Probably some bias bein' from Wiscow.

Spotted Cow

Cask conditioned ale has been the popular choice among brews since long before prohibition. We continue this pioneer spirit with our Wisconsin farmhouse ale. Brewed with flaked barley and the finest Wisconsin malts. We even give a nod to our farmers with a little hint of corn.

Naturally cloudy we allow the yeast to remain in the bottle to enhance fullness of flavors, which can not be duplicated otherwise.

Expect this Ale to be fun, fruity and satisfying. You know you’re in Wisconsin when you see the Spotted Cow.




6. I remeber the first time I had this. It was the Sunday after spring break last year and Valerie, Singletown, Silly-O and I went to Crickets. Steves-easy gave us some complimentary chips and salsa. It was the first time I met Paul, yet I took his recomendation. Granted it was my third beer of the evening I remember commenting that it I tasted a hint of butter. It has become my nightcap beer.


Spaten Oktoberfest Beer
Our Oktoberfest Beer, created in 1872, is the world's first Oktoberfest beer, brewed for the greatest folk festival in the world. Every year, over and over again, countless Oktoberfest visitors share their enthusiasm about this beer.
Flavor profile: Amber in color. This medium bodied beer has achieved its impeccable taste by balancing the roasted malt flavor with the perfect amount of hops. Having a rich textured palate with an underlying sweetness true to tradition.




5. I was wary of adding vanilla to any beer, but this is a great porter. Again, probably something you can only drink 1 or a 2 a day.

Breckenridge Brewery’s Vanilla Porter
Who would have thought deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea and Madagascar grew the perfect ingredient to build an extraordinary Porter in Colorado? An ale that has all the chocolate and roasted nut flavor of a classic Porter, with an enigmatic surprise thrown in for good measure, real vanilla bean. Breckenridge Brewery’s Vanilla Porter. A vanilla kiss in a rich, dark sea.



4. some of you may be surprised to see shiner so high, but I think it is a great beer and my choice for a long day of beer driking. Great taste!

Shiner Bock is a distinctive, rich, full-flavored, deep amber-colored beer. Its handcrafted brewing process creates an inviting smooth taste without the excessive bitterness that characterizes many micro, specialty and imported beers.



3. Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest. From America's best beer microbrewery, this is far and away my favorite Oktoberfest beer.

Leinenkugel's® Oktoberfest
We brewed our first Oktoberfest in 2001 to celebrate the fall season in true German fashion. Available in September and October of each year, our traditional Märzen-style bier is brewed with two-row Pale and Caramel and Munich malts. Tettnang and Perle hops provide the aroma for this well-balanced, smooth, festive lager.



2. this wold probably be number 1 if the chocolate flavor didn't make so sweet. This is a fantastic dark beer. I owe Adam Horton a hat tip for the discovery of this one.

Warsteiner Dunkel
Style: Dunkel
Origin: Germany

This is a lighter style of German dunkel. It is very lager like in body and bitterness; the darker malt flavors really come though once it warms up. You should really let it heat up to about 55 degrees to fully appreciate what this beer has to offer.

Drum roll...



1. Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark. the best kind of beer from the best beer company. If I was authoring "Revelation" today and looking for a striking metaphor, it wouldn't be streets of gold, it would be rivers of Creamy Dark.

Leinenkugel's® Creamy Dark
Available year-round and aged slowly, our winner of 6 awards in American Dark Lagers (Bronze 2004, Gold 2002, Silver 2000 World Beer Cup®; Silver 2002, Bronze 2004, Gold 2005 Great American Beer Festival®) has the full, deep blackish-brown color of a stout, without its bitterness. Don't let the color fool you. This is a tasty, smooth brew with a nutty, crisp finish, handcrafted since 2000 from a rich blend of six malts and Cascade, Cluster and Mt. Hood hops

A Hybrid

Now that I've written this I'll offer a bit of a disclaimer. This post is mostly about my parents and I so if you think you'll be bored, then you're probably right. But I bet my family will like it:).

It's funny how we are different people in different settings. Recently I've come to terms with how I am in the home setting.

Undoubtedly, I look like my dad. Like my grandma and my dad, much to my wife's dismay, I will end up with the Carney jowls (don't worry dad, Lindsay thinks your a good looking guy). I share most if not all his mannerisms and my vocational interests have thus far led me to a similar place. So I must be him...Right? Not according the last two days of self discovery.

It turns out that in our home, I'm much more like my mom. Two days ago our chaplain meeting was with Baylor's Jim Marsh (most of UBCers may remember him coming to the hub to speak to us about dealing with grief). Anyhow, in our meeting he talked about panic attacks and its close cousin Severe Anxiety Disorder. I first became alarmed when he mentioned the type of things these people worried about, but when he described the symptoms and the process of the disease, I knew. My intuition was confirmed by his response to my question which as it turns you only know to ask if you've had some experience with this problem. It's not all bad though. I'm a better money manager and student because of it.

Today I discovered the positive side of my mothers genetic inheritance. Saturday I worked at UBC cutting trees and brush to help prepare for the new parking lot. As it turns out my two day dormant poison ivy showed up on Tuesday morning which warranted a trip to the doctors office. Disclaimer if you hate conceit, this is where I brag about myself. Well it turns out our scale is about 10 lbs. heavy. Not only that, my blood pressure is 117/73 and my heart rate is 48 beats a minute. Thanks mom.

The role Lindsay has to play at the house is probably close to my dad's. She is the level headed, easy going, voice of reason that often comments, "don't worry there is nothing you can do about it anyhow." She is the type of person that has the uncanny ability to fall asleep in two minutes cause she usually doesn't have a care in the world that would otherwise keep her up. I don't know if it goes with the personality, but like my dad, her love language is physical touch. That one is really tough for me. Cuddling is about as much fun as playing defense in any kind of sport...I'm just usually not interested. It's probably that I just don't have the time to cuddle, because I can't sit for more than five minutes due to my next project, be it homework, work, or the National Geographic channel..ooohhh that last one is a dad characteristic.

There is one place that I'm still exactly like my dad. Everywhere else besides my house (apartment). I like to think of myself as a bit of a ham. I try to be the center of attention and often get a little distraught if I'm not. I crack the corny jokes or are they carney jokes...see what I mean:). I seem like an extreme optimist and do a good job of mining people's personalities with a series of good questions. Thanks Dad.

I guess I am a bit of a hybrid. Maybe someday I'll post about how I'm the product of my three older siblings.

Our trip to Colorado

the river our cabin was on and the cabin itself

Linds sking (top right)

playing cards

me sking a black diamond..ooohhh

Movie Night

Linds and I working in the Kitchen

Lindsay and I in the care

Me and Chris on top of Purgatory

Prayer for my dad

My dad called me tonight to ask specifically for this prayer. His cell count has been brought down to .001 percent and is now back up to .006. Considering all he is doing remarkable. He and my mom would really, really like to go home, but they are prohibited from doing so because of a recent fever that has been lingering in his system. Obviously with such a weak immune system he cannot leave. Please pray that his fever breaks so they can go home.

Here is a picture of my dad and my foxy niece from about weak ago.

More on belonging and believing...

I wrote on this some time ago, but I think it is a theme worth revisiting. Probably because I ran across this quote by Lewis in “Miracles” p. 144: “The materials for correcting our abstract conception of God cannot be supplied by Reason: she will be the first to tell you to go and try experience—‘Oh, taste and see!’.”

I’ve never really been comfortable with the logic behind Romans Road. Not that I don’t believe people are converted on the sheer power of the gospel, but more often then not I think the step or steps towards Jesus by and large follow some experience. My friend John recently took a trip with his old youth group to Panama City, Florida with the purpose of offering rides to those too drunk to drive home and then to subsequently share the gospel with them. He shared the anecdote about a West Point cadet who proceeded in step-by-step fashion. The group picked up a Hindu student. The cadet ploped the Bible on his lap pointed to Romans 3:23 and asked, “What does that say?” The Hindu replied that it wasn’t even a proper sentence. That’s at least worth chuckling at.

I wonder what the cadet would have done if in response the Hindu would have plopped the Koran or the Upanishads on his lap. When I was in my own youth group some years ago, I remember when a domestic missionary who worked in the French Quarter of New Orleans came and spoke to us. The point of his talk was, “what if the world doesn’t privilege the Bible as an authoritative source.” I guess that seems pretty obvious to most of you, but at the time a bright light bulb was lit inside my head.

Kyle preached a sermon, actually a pair of sermons, last fall on re-evangelism. I think they were probably my favorite. The main point I took away from the sermons was that people need a sense of belonging before they can have a sense of believing. People need to experience the vibrant community God before they can commit to this Jesus character. More simply, the proof must be in the pudding.

The one thing I’m dogmatic about is Christology. I do think Jesus is the power to save and change people. But for better or worse he’s chosen to use the church. So most often, if people are going to come to Jesus, they are going to do so through the church. So as Lewis points out, reasons tells people to go taste and see. I pray that our church continues to recognize this and be a place of good experience so that those who don’t know this Christ can grow comfortable before asking, “Who is this Jesus?”

Poker Night!

My poker friends...only 6 hours till I start taking your $.

A Question for Calvinists

So I’ve often wondered this. In November 2003, I attended the annual meeting of Evangelical Theological Society to see if they would vote affirmatively to kick out both John Sanders and Clark Pinnock on charges of denying infallibility on grounds of, what those brining the charge believed was, a necessary denial of prophecy.

I happened to pop in and hear John Piper present on the theme of “joy” in the works Jonathon Edwards, which was his portion of the Jonathon Edwards forum. At one point Piper passionately remarked that Edwards was one of his two favorite theologians. The other, he exclaimed, was C.S. Lewis. I guess this didn’t really blow me out of the water at the time. I’d seen Piper quote Lewis in places and I admit that I’ve see monergistic themes or at least a Piperistic approach to theodicy in “A Grief Observed.”

Yet as time passed I became more puzzled. Lewis has some pretty radical views of hell and soteriology. Granted he throws out the caveat at the beginning of almost every work explaining that he is not a theologian, still Lewis pushes the comfortable limits for most evangelicals, if you take the time to figure out what he is really saying.

So why? I wonder is something like Boyd’s open theism, a doctrine about the nature of the future, a call for a heresy trial while Lewis’ liberal approach hell and soteriology are not. I’ve heard Piper explain the limited atonement with the efficient and sufficient argument and much of the reformed camp refer to the “precious blood of Jesus.” How can Lewis approach these themes in such a seemingly haphazard manner and still be considered one of Piper’s favorite theologians. And he’s an Arminian for that matter. Isn’t it strange that one of his two favorite thinkers is an Arminian?

Kyle's Film

Hey I don't know how to do the link thing and I'm not going to take the time to figure it out, but go to my "Harris Happens" link and click the link to Kyle's Film.

Hebrew Salvation

Sorry about the white-out today! My only guess is that I changed something and forgot to republish my blog. I’m not sure that would have created the apparent problem though. My other guess is that Patagonia was aggravated that I used some of their material without permission and thus contacted the U.S. government who then subsequently shut down my site.

I borrowed that penguin movie from the Dugan’s. It was pretty good. I also watched Elizabethtown this weekend. That was good too. Here’s one thing about my ability to review movies though. I can’t! I’m too generous. I like them all. I purchased Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. I guess there have been a few movies that I would truly called terrible. I really didn’t care for Birth starring Nicole Kiddman. I didn’t really like History of Violence all that much. And for some reason Butterfly Effect rubbed me the wrong way. You’d think I like that one bein’ an open theist and all. I’ve heard Boyd use the Butterfly effect to argue some points in support of open theism.
Anyhow, I’ve thought of a number of things to post about the last several days, but today’s winner is the Psalmists conception of salvation. Sheol is a foggy concept at best in the Old Testament. It’s difficult to talk about the Hebrew conception of heaven and hell and the afterlife for that matter. We know that they viewed the self much more holistically than Platonists and thus the west have. The Nefesh can mean breath and quite often life. Ernest Lucas writes:

“the psychosomatic unity of the human person in Hebrew thought is evidence in the way that various parts of the human body are used to refer to aspects of the human personality. A literalistic translation of Psalm 26:2 is, ‘examine me, O Lord, and test me, judge my kidneys and my heart.’ The Good News Bible translation gives the right sense of the second line when it says, ‘judge my desires and thoughts’.”

Given this ambiguity of the afterlife and complexity of the human nature we get some interesting comments about death from the Psalmist. In elaborating on the “afterwards” of Psalm 73 and two other Psalm Lucas comments

“If these interpretations are correct, the thread that runs through all these three psalms is the psalmist’s sense that his relationship with Yahweh is so real and deep that not even death will be able to end it.”

I love this last line probably because I’m Lewisian in my soteriology. Harris pointed out to me last semester, that the only definition of eternal life comes from John and it means simply: To know God. I see something similar here. I love the idea that salvation is a journey and that it is most fundamentally about our relationship with God. This projection of salvation moves us beyond the simple “moment of salvation,” into an intense relationship with Jesus Christ. Certainly this calls for an ontological moment of being cleansed by Jesus blood, but it also pushes us into a continued friendship. You want saved from hell and thus yourself? Then get to know Him!

I suppose there is a bit of irony here too. For those of you who love Romans Road and the epistemological nature of the gospel, this understanding of salvation is draped in knowledge. It’s a different kind of knowledge though. Not just knowledge of the head, but rather knowledge with our entire being. It changes the way we understand knowing Jesus.

Patagonia

This is from Today's Patagonia Catalog:

"Your purcheases have helped fledgling organic growers support their families - and to plant more acreage without the use of harmful chemicals. Your purchases have influenced other clothing companies to use organic cotton content (often without fan-fare), and that too helps validate and encourage organic farmers who are still a vast minority in the scheme of worldwide agriculture...

Cotton may be natural, but it's one of the most toxic crops on the planet soaking up more than 10 percent of the pesticides and nearly 25 percent of the insecticides used worldwide. Some of the chemicals used were originaly formulated as nerve gases for warefare. As much as a athird of a pound of these toxins goes into producing a single pound of fiber...

We tip our hat to the following companies who now use varying amounts of organically grown cotton in their clothing: Hanna Anderson, Marks & Spencer, Mountain Equipment, Co-op, Nike, Nordstrom, Norm Thompson, Prana, Stewart+Brown and Timberland....

The worldwide demand for organically grown cotton, like that for organic food, is booming. It has tripled since we made the switch in 1996. Our own business has grown at a modest but steady rate, and we couldn't have done it without you. so thanks again. there are many ways to create change in the worlds, but voting with our dollars is one of the most effective."

save a bunch of people with a telephone!!!

http://www.one.org/blog/

we got one!!!

A Groaning Creation

People often cite Romans 8 when arguing that the whole earth groans for redemption. I sure hope this is true. All but three verses suggest that the new heaven and new earth are going to be here, on this earth. It would be one thing for God to do an extreme makeover on the earth alone, but truth be told, the whole system has got problems. An upcoming advertised program on National Geographic is all about how someday the sun will do one of those physics star blowing up deals. That means the earth will be annihilated. Something has got to change folks. I heard one theologian say that Satan is responsible for the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. Entropy. Lewis commented on it in “Miracles,” but most Christian authors that dream up utopias deal more with social behavior than they do cosmological conditions for the everlasting earth. So…as Third Eye Blind asks I similarly wonder, “How’s it gonna be?”

Well let me tell you about two places that I think give me small insights. This summer, when I had the luxury of spending my summer in one of my favorite places in the world, Tomahawk, WI, I would bike the two miles to Prairie Rapids and make my way down the river, pull out my pocket size Bible and read a Psalm or two. The background noise to my reading was the rushing sound of the river of over the rapids. You know the sound. If I had to pick something to sound like God’s voice, that would be it. As I would pray and listen I could hear God speak to me…”Be still and know that I’m God.” The river whispered.

My second example comes from this last spring break. My friends, wife, and I spent a week in Durango, CO. Our cabin was located in the mountains next to a river that flowed not more than 20 ft. from our bedroom. Amazing. On our last day there, my friend Chris and I spent some time sitting on some rocks on the river’s bank. After discussing some Bruggeman and Kafka we got the Pantheism discussion. As we gazed at the top of the mountains in front of us and listened to the river before us Chris commented that, “I know that sometimes people comment that this world is fallen, but man…there doesn’t seem much fallen about this.” I couldn’t agree more. It was gorgeous.

If these are only glimpses I can’t wait.

Going, Going, Gone

Hey all,

I'm off to CO, to ski!!!

Hear you next week.

Carney

Does God exist???

I’ve always been wary of scientific arguments for the existence of God, or any arguments for the existence of God for that matter. In fact I think they do more for those who believe than they do for those who don’t believe. Seldom do I hear a conversion story that includes a moment when someone just knew God existed because Bill Craig’s version of the cosmological argument became overwhelmingly convincing. In fact I think that the most compelling argument contains no scientific data at all, the anthropological argument. I suppose it’s more of an existential appeal and probably the reason I like it a little better. I think that makes sense though. Faith is more existential than it is scientific.

Yet, tonight as I was watching the National Geographic Channel I’m reminded of the power of the anthropic argument. On Naked Science, they are examining the possibility of finding life elsewhere in the galaxy/universe…whatever the correct technical nerd term is. One point they made, traveling at the speed of light, it would take a message from the other side of our galaxy, 100 million years to get here. Imagine that. Light travels around the world 7 times a second. At that speed it would take that long just to get across the universe. Makes even the travel speed of the Millennium Falcon seem inadequate.

Anyhow, back to the power of the anthropic argument. Caveat here, I’m not going to check these numbers, but rather guess what they are based on memory. The factual numbers almost serve as hyperbole in and among themselves. Ergo, corroborating their accuracy is not necessary. When you add together all the factors that go into creating not only a perfect planet, but also galaxy etc. to sustain life you come up with some obnoxious number like 1 x 10 to the 120 power. To put that in perspective there are 1 x 10 to the 70ish power electrons in our universe. Keep in mind how exponents work. That isn’t like double the number. Every time you move up an increment in an exponent you account for everything previously and then double it (I think)…any calc. nerds out there to verify that one? That’s freakin’ incredible.

It’s funny though. As crazy and wow-factor as that is, we are the type of beings who are conversely more puzzled by the deep wounds of death and the absurdity of things like the tsunami. I guess that goes back to the existential thing. No one really gives a rat’s ass how complex the universe is when a loved one is sick or their social structure is rattled by an external factor. Maybe that’s why God did the cross thing and not the spell it out in the clouds thing.

Update on my dad

Hey all,

I'm not sure who of you that read this, know about my dad. Anyhow he has a form of plasma cancer. this week he has been at mayo clinic in Rochester, MN. he is undergoing a procedure whereby they harvest stem cells from his body, clean them and then he undergoes intense chemo. After this they re-insert the stem cells to regrow. Pretty amazing! The harvesting process requires a daily shot in the stomach that cost $3,000. Thus the message in the following e-mail is really good news. thanks to those of you who have been praying.

just a quick note. I'm pretty busy this week...so I might not be able to post again to till friday.

Greetings! I tried six times last eve and this morning to e-mail you all,
and each time the computer would lock up or shut down. I was beginning to
get a complex. Anyway, Ter harvested 4.92 million stem cells on Monday and
7.75 million today. So step one is complete in just two days. PRAISE THE
LORD! Now we are in a holding pattern as they can only do two transplants a
day, so they have to schedule us from here on. So, praise and thank God for
the quick collection. Pray we don't have to wait too long to get started on
chemo. Pray also for my health. I'm being bugged by a really sore throat
and don't want to have to leave, but can't be around Ter once he goes
through chemo if I'm sick. Kristin came down to visit today and brought her
usual bubbly joy in the door with her. Thank God for her husband who kept
the five little ones and allowed her to come. We do appreciate each and
every prayer. Will keep you posted. Bless the Lord who forgives all our
sins and heals all our diseases!
Expecting a miracle, Karen

Crash the National Dance

This has nothing to do with the quality of the films, but can I tell you I absolutely love the fact that the Academy selected Crash over Brokeback Mountain. Here’s why. Last year was the first time I watched the critic’s choice awards. I was really annoyed because Sideways kept winning. As far as I could tell, all this did was corroborate my theory that people on the inside, try to pick the most esoteric unpopular films so that they can seem high society. At the shows conclusion they selected their choice for the year’s best film, and they were sure to throw out this caveat, “and what we’ve chosen so has the academy for the last five years.” Well guess what? The academy choose Million Dollar Baby, suckers. So this year, the critics let their true colors shine through with this caveat before their announcement, “and the film we’ve chosen, the academy has chosen the last five out of six years.” Suckers got wrong again. I hope they do the same thing again next year and bolster the appearance of “wanna be.” I have no idea why I care so much about this type of thing or why I get so much satisfaction out of it, but I do.



On a different note, God continues to poor out His pre-exilic Divadic/Zionistic type of blessings on me. As it turns out Grande communications has added the National Geographic Channel to its line up. First, Tivo makes regular T.V. viewing available in surround sound, now this. I wonder what I have done to bring this kind of blessing upon my life. It must be all the time and money I give to the poor. It’s sweet to be chosen by Him. I might have watch out though. The ark of the covenant, a seemingly good thing, killed a guy who was trying to keep it from falling. In the same spirit, this blessing of the National Geographic Channel could end up cursing my G.P.A.




I really liked Gideon’s message of the full expression of God’s love this morning. I think it is one of the most under preached themes, which desperately needs to be heard today. Specifically I love how he compared the miracle working wondrous part of Jesus three-year ministry with His full expression of His love through the cross. He gave the contemporary example of caring for the paraplegic. I that thought was a good one. When so much of love is expressed as this enamoring, easy, effortless journey, we would do well to see movies like Nick Spark’s the Notebook. Sticking by the side of one who is now gone, retelling a story a hundred times for three minutes of occasional parachoresis. This is also why I like the endings of movies the Shall We Dance. After several months of working with the sexy Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere makes this incredible choice to remain committed to his wife, Susan Sarandon. There is an expression of the fullness of love. Yes when everything else in our self screams no. Yes for the sake of the other.

My Tolkien Friends

My good friend, Singleton, recently said that (paraphrase), “every theologian needs to read more literature.” I guess I kinda got to agree. If I think about it, my theological conclusions (which I hang on to loosely) are informed by literature as much as they are by historical/systematic theology and philosophy. In fact two guys that impact how I think about things more than most are J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

One thing the gigantic story, LOTR, has helped me understand is how to deal with all the different phases of my life. One of the things I love about the story is how there are so many characters and so many plots that run alongside one another, yet all belong to the same story. So as I am forced to move from one phase of my life to the next, I say good bye to parts of my life. Yet I know that all the characters in my life belong to the same great story and participate in who I am becoming.

I always thought the best way to pay all these people a compliment, would be to write my own gigantic narrative and let the significant people be the voices and personalities of my characters. As I meet people and develop relationships, I always think about how they would inform the story.

There was the youth-group phase, and then the high-school phase, then the college phase, and now the seminary phase/UBC phase. Some day I’ll put this all together and the characters will all participate in the story I compose.

funny

my new thing is clikcing on the "next blog" link. I found this.
for more great theology and laughs visit
http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/churchsigns.php

A title that tells you nothing about the following post...

Some have commented that the most absurd thing about monergism and/or Calvinism is that God would predestine something like the Holocaust. I disagree. They seem to offer a pretty straightforward answer to that one. Something along the lines about needing to display all His attributes including wrath for all eternity, or maybe that in a beautiful picture depicting nature there are still ugly shades of brown or I’ve even heard that a surgeon needs to cut people in order to cure them. Take your pick they’ve got a five minute solution for that one. I think the most absurd thing God has done if it true is to first, predestine that He would reveal Calvinism as reality and secondly, predestine Arminians or Open Theist for that matter. Think about it. If Calvinism is true for some reason God has predestined me to write this on my blog right now, with the assumption that I’m doing it with my own will. Why would He be doing this? And why would He have just predestined me to ask that and why….and you get the picture. It is just absurd. If it is true He should have just kept it a secret. At least than experience would match reality. There would be some sort of existential fit to my experience.

I understand Paul Helm when he says that I choose according to my greatest desire, but come on, who really thinks that there is no possible way they could be doing other than what they are right this instant. Every decision I face is a decision precisely because I can choose to do other than what I actually do end up doing.

O.K. enough about libertarian freedom though.

On a different note. Let me tell you about how much I like UBC. People we spend the most time with Dugans(UBC). One of the biggest highlights of my week, ANKC(UBC). My favorite lunch days, Monday and Friday because I eat with Shea, Poala, John and sometimes Alberto (UBC). I see more friend on Sunday morning than I do on Saturday night. Why? (UBC) Most of my internet time and thus a good majority of my day…blogs and discussion boards both pertaining to (UBC). I also have made this observation. My church is the only place I can wear my beer shirt. Seminary wouldn’t do anything about it because they can’t, but people would be offended. And I’m prohibited from wearing it on Baylor’s campus as an employee. UBC is the one place I can be fully me. I can use my kind of humor, be honest about what I like to drink, swear occasionally, and have conversations that do more for my faith than my masters degree does.

Now for my disclaimer. If you happen to a Calvinist and stumble upon this post…please don’t comment unless you are from UBC. Even if your thinking to yourself, “yeah, but I have something to say that will totally prove him wrong,” or “yeah, but you didn’t say that correctly, actually…” that’s nice, but post on your own blog and put a link to mine so people can see what your responding to. It’s not that I don’t respect you or think I don’t have anything learn from you…it’s just that I lived with Jonathan Edwards my junior year and John Piper my senior year so I know enough to know your comment won’t blow me out of the water. And if you’re still really pissed, just remember, according to you, I wrote exactly what I was going to write from before the foundations of the earth. Maybe this is your chance to refrain. Maybe God’s predestined this moment to develop some patience in you.

My second disclaimer. I realize at this point I might be sounding a bit elitist with the whole UBC thing. Well pray for me then damn it! And quit judging me, Mr. Plank in your own eye.