The Matrix

For a movie about perception of reality, I had not realized how much the movie spoke about destiny. Seriously, the film is filled with it.

I found it interesting that there are several competing "destinies" for Neo. Most obviously, there is the one believed by Morpheus, that Neo is The One, who will be the salvation of mankind from The Matrix. There is also the destiny that the machines have in mind for him. In their consciousness, Neo is an anomaly, a problem who's only ineveitable end is eradication at their hands.

Throughout the story, these two destinies conflict and converse, as Neo himself seeks to find out what he is destined to be, or even if he can or ought to make his own destiny. Neo says that he doesn't believe in fate "because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life," but

"You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

And then there's the part where shortly after being introduced Morpheus says to Neo: "You see, you may have spent the last few years looking for me, but I've spent my entire life looking for you." If that's not the gospel, I don't know what is. The only difference is, where Morpheus was looking to Neo for salvation, God is looking to us to give salvation. But the pursuit is definitively his to begin with.

Conversational Hilarities

I don't remember when these quotes were made, but I just found this posts in my drafts. Enjoy.

"Joy: it's just like syphilis."
--Joel/Me

"They weren't Jews, they were pre-Jews! Kind of like a pre-view, except it was a preview of the Jewish people."
--Me, speaking of Abraham and Sarah

We, The Theologians

From the first chapter of his new book, Dug Down Deep. It's not a new concept, but it's one well worth repeating. Reminds me of an A.W. Tozer quote: "The most important thing about a person is what they think about when they think about God." Says Harris: "Theology matters, because if we get it wrong, then our whole life will be wrong."

Bathroom Towel Graffiti

I found this little gem over at Marc Johns' Blog. There are more there for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

One Republic -- "Secrets"

While I have heard of One Republic before, I've never really listened to them. Found this video through Matthew Paul Turner, and thought it was pretty good. The song is catchy too. Enjoy, tell me what you think.

Rooting For A Serial Killer

To tell the truth, I had never even heard of the TV show Dexter before I moved into the Testosterhome and several of my roommates had started watching it. Maybe that was because I had never had the luxury of Showtime as a channel option.

Since that first contact, I have definitely become engrossed. Granted, I have only seen probably 70% of the first two seasons, but I am trying to get around to more. Maybe I'll even catch up with where the show is now?

When I started to get involved in the show, I had to ask myself "Why are you rooting for a serial killer?" It would be easy to play the "he only kills bad people" card, but that's not his goal. Dexter doesn't kill because he wants bad people gone, he kills because he is screwed up and needs to satiate his desire for killing in some semi-socially-acceptable manner.

I have been thinking about this for a while, and a recent Paste article essentially coalesced my thoughts. I like Dexter because he's jacked up in the head. In one sense, I like him because he's more obviously jacked up than I am, but we are both really screwed up and really fallen.

Sure, my brokenness isn't manifested in a life-long systematic murder rampage, but what about a life-long systematic lust binge? Or my repeated instances of pride and anger. Or my ignorance of those in need around me?

I like Dexter (the show) because while it places a semi-psychotic serial killer in the position of protagonist and therefore the position of favor, the show never attempts to glorify, deify or in any way support his killing habits. Dexter himself wonders if he is a monster, if he should bring an end to it, if he can bring an end to it.

I like Dexter, the man, because he shows me a lot of myself. What does an seemingly insurmountable urge inherent in a man's psyche do when it is given full control?

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil is right there. I enjoy what God has decreed as right (his law) in my heart and soul, but I see in my flesh another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that lives in my flesh.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Sound familiar?

This Man Gatsby

I am beginning to realize why The Great Gatsby is considered a classic:

"He smiled understandingly--much more that understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. Precisely at that point it vanished--"

--Nick Carraway, pages 52-53

A Reason For Children

There are many reasons why I am anticipating fatherhood, among the list of tax deductions, free labor and impressionable minds is this little gem:

He looks so proud that his son is so defiant of the laws of gravity...and reason.

I imagine he is thinking "look what I made."

These are both shots of Abraham Piper with his offspring. I am definitely going to follow suit with my own.

Says Abraham: "What is it about the human (male?) psyche that makes us completely confident doing things we would never trust others to do?"

Ex Post Facto

I have had the uncomfortable pleasure of being incandescently happy, earnestly hopeful, devout, depressed, irrevocably frustrated and horribly convicted all within the past 18 or so hours.

Serious Skubala

Today on 22 Words, Abraham Piper put up this post:

To believe that all swearing is wrong, you also have to believe that our culture is right.

Social customs define what’s taboo. Therefore, saying taboo language is uniformly sinful implies that our social customs uniformly align with God’s will.

Now I have heard plenty of people getting really ticked on both sides of this argument. There is the fact that Paul used the Greek for shit, skubala in Philippians 3:8. But does that mean God condones or advocates the use of foul language?

I think Abraham brings up a good point here. We cannot disavow all cursing just because it is socially wrong. That would mean that our society has precedence over God's Law, which it doesn't.

By the same merit, we would need to accept the sexual license our culture advocates, and while the church's members have seemingly done that anyway, no one is going to start saying it is an honest, good idea.

I like absolutes, a lot of people do (even though the good postmodernist in them will say they don't), but I do not think that cursing is one place where you can form an absolute. It is definitely a matter of the heart and personal conviction.

I know many times, I am cursing out of anger, with impure intent. Sometimes, I am not. Is one wrong, and the other right?

One person commented on the 22 Words post with this quote: “He who forbids what God allows will soon allow what God forbids.” – R.B. Kuiper. I am not sure how that is exactly applicable, because I know for a fact that God didn't say "Go say whatever f*cking word you want!" or something similar. I suppose he could be referring the passage by Paul I mentioned earlier? I'm not sure.

I think there needs to be some universal dialogue in the church on this matter. More on this topic later.