To the crud in my face/throat/lungs,
GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!Â? I’ve been miserably sick (but not sick enough to ditch work) for three days now and I’d like to actually be able to breathe, talk, and taste food again.
Author Archives: Jen
I Am Still Alive… Really I Am
OK… another week with no updates.Â? Blame lack of time due to work.Â? 🙂
My parents are in town until tomorrow.Â? This has meant good food, fun times, and being spoiled.Â? I took today off and got some crocheting done.Â? The last crocheting I did fetched $65 at the church auction/dinner on Sunday.Â? Go me!
And for Grey’s fans, what happened after the cut into the scene with Lexi crying last Thursday?Â? My idiot DVR cut off at that point.Â? I also want to slap Meredith for saying those things to her.
OMG!!! An Update After A Week!!!
Yes… it’s been a week with no updates.Â? Keep in mind that I commute 110 miles a day for work, get home exhausted, and often crash within a few hours so I’m lucid for the next day.Â? Work is VERY good though.
-My parents will be here in a week.Â? YAY!!!!!!
-I ditched church this morning to sleep and try to stave off a sinus infection for as long as possible.
-I’m eating WAAAAAAY too much Subway.
-CSI’s this week:Â? duuuuuuuude, especially CSI where Sara does live.
-Grey’s was…. I dunno… not what I expected.
-I actually watched “Private Practice” and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
Massive Faith Questionaire
Blame Lauren and Pisco for this:
Everyone:
1. What is your general religious background? Cathepiscobaptilutheran.
2. Have you read the Bible in its entirety? I probably have come close if I haven’t already.
3. Do you think it is absolutely necessary for a Christian to have read the entire Bible? Why?Â? I think every Christian should but I think it’s a lifetime goal kind of thing.
4. Do you think it is necessary for a Christian to memorize scriptures? Why? I think one should know key verses and what they say as a means of apologetics.
5. Do you personally enjoy the New Testament or Old Testament more? There are parts of both that I enjoy though I have to admit that I’m much more familiar with the New Testament.
Christians: (Your questions are hard; I am such a mean person. Good luck.)
1. What branch and/or denomination do you affiliate yourself with? ELCA — Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the hippie Lutherans)
2. Do you regularly memorize Scripture? Depends on the Scripture
â???? Do you memorize well-known verses or anything at all?Â? Yes… if only because I used to force my Confirmation kids to do it.
3. Are you familiar enough with the Bible to find something if you need to, or point someone to what they need?Â? I’m so good that parishioners just stare at me.
4. Do you know the general differences between orthodox and evangelical Christianity? (I use the terms fairly loosely in this context, but Protestant vs. Roman Catholic, or Non-denominational vs. mainstream Protestant, for example.)Â? I know them intimately enough to nitpick when one tries to kvetch about how the other isn’t Christian enough.
5. Are you familiar with scriptural texts that may not be included in your personal Bible? (i.e. apocryphal or deuterocanonical books.)Â? Probably not as familiar as I should be, given my theological education.
â???? Should they be in your Bible?Â? Yes.
â???? Did you know the criteria for Biblical canon centered around two main categoriesâ???? whether the book was inspired by God or whether it was useful to the church? So, in theory, some books may have been inspired by God, but were found useless, so not included in canon. Does this fact bother you?Â? In terms of the Apocrypha, no.Â? In terms of the Gnostic gospels, I feel that they didn’t pass the litmus test because the Holy Spirit hasn’t used them for the last 1950 years to enlighten and guide the church, not to mention many of them have some doctrinal issues.
6. Do you trust that your personal Bible is sufficient for study, either based upon translation, or based upon trusting the people who put together canon? (If youâ????re Protestant, you have less books than Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches. Do you trust that? If youâ????re Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, you have books in your Bible that were not accepted by the early church. Do you trust this?)Â? I do.Â? Again, my belief is that the Holy Spirit has used the canon to guide and illuminate the Church for 1950 years and I can deal with that.
â???? Letâ????s use Luther as a symbol for a moment. Luther was key to the Protestant Reformation and is credited as a symbol of Protestantism today. He, along with others, changed the Church. Luther questioned the authenticity of Hebrews, (absolutely crucial toward understanding current evangelical belief system) James, Jude and Revelations, probably because they were not accepted as canon by the early church. What do you think of this?Â? That he was trying to be faithful and discern what was necessary and what was adiaphora.
â???? How about the fact that Luther believed in the real presence of the Eucharist/Communion/Lordâ????s Supper? (And much of Protestantism does not.)Â? Given that the Lutheran Church did not magically descend from heaven in 1517 and we have a history with the ROMAN Church (sorry… I’m a small “c” Catholic because I’m all about the universal Church of Christ on earth), I’m chill that he believed that.Â? Luther was originally a Catholic priest and he DID pray the rosary daily.
7. Do you know the differences between modern English translations of the Bible?Â? Enough to nitpick.Â? 🙂
â???? What translation(s) of the Bible do you use?Â? It depends on what I’m doing.Â? To read Psalms, I love the KJV.Â? For most Scripture quotes, I use the NKJV or the NASB.Â? The Bible I have for study is the NRSV that I have left over from seminary.
8. Do you participate in liturgy? What do you think of Church Tradition compared to Scripture?Â? I LOVE liturgy and wish that Jon’s current parish was more liturgical.Â? Given that all parts of liturgy are based on Scripture and said Church tradition refers to the Didache which is seriously EARLY Church, I’m down with it.Â?Â? With regard to tradition, it depends on what the background of the tradition is.
9. Do you believe Christians today should study Church history?Â? YES –Â? both Eastern and Western Church History.Â? (Can you tell that I’m a Church historian at heart?)
Protected: Drama Llama Chronicles (VIII)
Protected: Hardened Hearts
Redux on the Installation of Bishop Jessica Crist: The Good, the Bad, and the Ecumenical
We just got home from Great Falls where we attended the installation of the new Lutheran bishop.? So… here’s the redux:
The Good
[-] the music — HEAVENLY and with appropriate brass on “Thine Is The Glory.”
[-] at LEAST 150 clergy in the procession.
[-] getting to schmooze with those who I wanted to see afterwards.
[-] seeing President Ramseth again and explaining that I’m using my Trinity education to teach Greek and Bible to inmates at the local prison.
[-] the good natured teasing from the pastors who were at FLBC with me during my adventures in yellowjacket stings
[-] the lovely lunch afterwards with Jon (we skipped the reception)
[-]$tarbucks after lunch
The Bad
[-] inclusivized hymns *dopeslaps those who changed words on “Let All Things Now Living”*
[-] inclusivized liturgy.
[-] the canned parts of the Presiding Bishop’s sermon as well as the parts which sounded like they were plagarized from an LDS fireside chat on evangelism.
[-] the fact that with 300ish people, it was bloody hot in the sanctuary.
[-] molasses bread for communion (I will *NEVER* get used to it)
The Ecumenical
[-] the Episcopal bishop coming in full ecclesiastical regalia. (I thought he was Catholic as I’d never seen a Piskie bishop in full regalia.? It finally hit me after I saw him take communion.)
[-] the service being held at the largest CATHOLIC church in Great Falls because no Lutheran churches were big enough.
[-] the vicar general/pastoral administrator of the Diocese of Great Falls/Billings offering greetings and reading the Gospel
[-] the number of clergy from other backgrounds who were there and in the procession.
[-] two members of the Jewish community taking part in the service (one offering greetings and one reading the first lesson).
[-] the Assinibone leader who gave a blessing in his native language before the service began as well as a tribal song before the blessing at the end.? (Montana has a huge Native American population and it was fitting that there be some aspect of that present at the service.? It was tastefully incorporated.)
The one sadness I have is that I don’t know that many people in Jon’s parish would have appreciated the diversity of people and faiths present.? Some asked incredulously why we were holding the installation in a Catholic church and others would have claimed worship was “too formal” or “too Catholic”. ? I’m really hoping that it’s something that can change with Bishop Jessica though I hate to say that I’m not holding my breath.