I'm sitting at my favorite local coffee shop working on Roundtables for tomorrow.
Two women sit down at the table next to me.
They talk about how stupid the people they spend time with are. ("I asked if they read fiction and they had only read one fiction book and it was stupid....and can you believe I was the only one watching the commercials during the SuperBowl? What else is it good for?")
When their meal comes, they pray for it. ("FatherGodwejustthankyouforthisfoodandthistimewhenwecanjustfellowshipwitheachotherandwithyouandjustpray...")
They gossip about the people in their church and their neighbors ("You know, the couple that came forward because they lived together before they got married.....And she's just kind of mousey and I never see her outside.").
They talk about how awesome Left Behind is. ("And he LIVES in Black Forest. Really? How wonderful!")
They complain how about noisy it is. ("They just keep running that machine over and over! It is so loud!")
They get up to leave and embrace.
In their wake is a pile of dirty dishes, an empty tub where they should be, and a bad taste in the mouths of their neighbors.
I'll start out by saying this: There are a lot of rabid Scot McKnight fans. I'm not one. I like Scot. I've seen him speak once and thoroughly appreciated his approach. I've read his blog a few times, but I don't get the RSS feed (generally, he is too much to handle for me). I haven't read Jesus Creed or any other book of his.
But the rest of this book keeps up with the first chapter, I may be doing all of those things soon enough.
Chapter One
On top of Scot's engaging and accessible writing, The Blue Parakeet gets at the heart of today's reactions to the modern church: how do we pick and choose what we are reading in the Bible? In modernism, the fight was between the right and the left, each with their own set of verses to wield. As the fight has gone on, many of us are left wondering if it is not Darth Vader versus the Emperor (and we're not totally sure which one is which).
I'm interested to see where Scot will go from here. The introduction leads me to believe he'll talk about being aware and intentional about how we read Scripture. I'm also hoping he gets into a third way, something more holistic. However, he seems to indicate he doesn't think it is possible. We'll see.
So far, so good.
Usually I'm right there with Jason Whitlock. His takes are nearly always right on: Carl Peterson, Royals ownership, Chiefs quarterbacks, Carl Peterson.
But he's got this one wrong. So much so that I'm not talking about incredible interception returns or the great play calling by the coordinators or the Career Builder commercial, which was by far the best of the lot.
The officals ruined what could have been one of the best SuperBowls of all time.
And it's not just the fumble at the end. It was debatable and the head official should have seen it. But at least it was a real call. The roughing the passer called on Karlos Dansby was a joke. The holding call against Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was one of the worst calls I've ever seen. I mean, this is the Super Bowl. No one wants officials calling ticky-tack penalties in the playoffs, let alone in the game that determines the NFL Championship. Let 'em play.
But if you're not, call it even. The holding no-calls on the Steelers were just as clear as the Cardinals holding calls. The personal foul on James Harrison was rendered 1/30th of its normal effectiveness. Dude got to punch a guy, stay in the game, and his team took a one yard loss for it. Some penalty. The biggest joke of them all came in the fourth quarter. The officials called defensive holding in the secondary (a penalty that happens while the receiver is running his route) after Larry Fitzgerald had caught the ball and had made five steps.
It wasn't just that the penalties were called more often on Arizona. It happens. It just seemed that, save the holding call in the end zone, the penalties were not costly for Pittsburgh. And they were devistating for Arizona.
I went in rooting Cardinals, but I would have been satisfied either way. But when the game was over, I felt animosity toward the Steelers for winning that way—like they were celebrating something they hadn't earned.
Congrats to the Steelers. You had a great season. But the best season? We'll never really know.
The Detroit Lions agreed to terms with Kansas City Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham to take the same role. Cunningham 
I like Gunther. I like his passion and his aggressiveness. Herm didn't care for his mouth, but I think a defensive coach needs a little of that (as long as he can back it up). His defenses under Marty Schotenhiemer flourished. Neil Smith. Derrick Thomas. James Hasty. Dale Carter. And those were just the big names. He had a whole host of defenders that played at a level even Steelers fans could appreciate. They were tough and fast. They were the defense that single-handedly destoryed Ryan Leaf's career forcing three fumbles and two picks in his third professional game. They were the defense that went 13-3 with Steve Bono under center. This was a defense that allowed the offense to be mediocre and still win tons of football games. And the whole time, Gunther was there calling the shots.
When he became head coach of the Chiefs, I thought it was a good move. After two seasons, he was 16-16 with no playoff appearances. The team seemed to lack the same fervor they'd had under Marty. Dick Vermeil was hired to rebuild the Rams offense in KC. But the defense was horrible, so they brought Gunther back to be the coordinator in 2004. Again, I thought it was a great move. "He was a bad head coach," I'd say. "But you can't argue with the defense he produced in the 90s."
Maybe you could argue after all. Since that time, his defenses have ranked near the bottom of the NFL. Since 2004, the Chiefs used eighteen draft picks on defensive players. Jared Allen is the lone superstar in this group. I'm so glad they've buil....what's that? Oh.
Save a few secondary players in the past two years, the player development has been an utter disaster has been an utter disaster. The first rounders (Hali, Johnson and Dorsey) each came in with great promise but have not developed in the slightest. The defensive line has been awful. The linebackers were worse and that's supposed to be Cunningham's specialty. The secondary is starting to come around, but when you're dead last in sacks, it's hard to keep the receivers covered.
How do you fix the worst defense in the league? You bring in the coach of the second worst defense. Good luck, Detroit.
How do you fix the second worst defense in the league? Hire that guy over to the left. I know he's not ready. But when he's ready, we better have the truck full of money waiting.
Regardless of who you voted for, or how you feel about him now, the swearing in of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States is cause for reflection.
150 years ago, African-Americans could be owned as property.
96 years ago, the President of the United States ordered that white and African-American federal employees work in separate offices.
46 years ago, the governor of Alabama was actively working to bar African-Americans from going to a state college.
Today, an African-American is being elected to the office of President of the United States.
Just think about that for a while.
A response to Patton Dodd's Text Messages blog about "Scripture Shock":
This sort of thing has happened to me on many occasions. One might say that if it hasn't, you're not paying attention. But it is a matter of perspective as to what shocks you as you read. As a very young conservative, I was bewildered and confused by passages about caring for the poor. "Shouldn't these people be made to work? Haven't they read 2 Thessalonians?" In more recent days,it is just the passages that Jeff mentions (especially Psalm 137) have made me uncomfortable.
My pastor, Bill Tibert, speaks often about how Jesus would disorient people then reoriented them. "You have heard it said, but I say to you" sort of thing. The parable of the late visitor and the audacious neighbor is a good example of this. The fact that these passages are still doing this today give me hope. I need to be reoriented. Passages like these keep me thinking, questioning and praying.
Ken Ham-Scot McKnight-Bart Ehrman sliding scale...what do you even say about that? :)
John Dunham over at Quibbling has written a nice reflection on the theology of Wall-E. I highly recommend the read as well as the movie. It was thoughtful, cute, and to a degree, silent. The character of Wall-E is not unlike having a completely non-threatening King Kong—love struck and hardly able to communicate verbally. The film was nearly flawless.
Nearly.
The opening scenes of this film portray earth as a giant landfill. This is primarily the work of Big-N-Save, an obvious shot at big box stores like Wal-mart. Humans have bought so much that the earth is full of trash. Wall-E's is there to clean up the earth so that humans can inhabit it again. After 700 years, Wall-E has made some nice sculptures, but not a lot of headway.
And here lays problem number one: 