Objective v. Subjective

I was able to preach at my church recently and I mentioned something that I have received a number of questions about. I made a comment that we live in a society and culture that operates with a subjective and relativistic approach to life and morals. But what does that even mean?

I had hoped my comment would have been easily understood, and I think it was for the most part. But the questions that came to me were ones of inquiry. Many simply wanted to know the difference between an objective standard and a subjective one. And how does preference and relativity play into that?

To understand subjectivity you might need to have a basic understanding of what objectivity is. To be objective is to be uninfluenced by opinion, preference, or emotions. Supposedly, Judges are to be objective, teachers are to be objective in their grading, and umpires are expected to be objective in their umpiring. That is to say, Judges - whether for the Olympics or in Law - are expected to make judgments from the actual performance uninfluenced by their personal opinions, preferences, and emotions related to the athlete and/or their country of origin. In Law, the Judge is expected to rule based on the facts and not on hunches, feelings, opinion, or personal vendettas. In these cases objectivity is an adjective - something that modifies a noun.

Another way to look at objectivity is to

Longing for Home

For those readers that were at Kairos last night, you are probably expecting a blog about movie watching and the condition it puts your soul in. This is not that post. This post is simply about the meaning, feeling, and purpose of what we call "home."

I have had several homes throughout my life. When I say a statement like that it gives the impression that my family moved all over the country like what is common with most military families. Truth is, we moved twice - both times within the city limits of the same town. I really can only remember one house I ever knew as home. I remember the first time I went to the house when I was about 3 and how I was bit several times by fleas that were jumping around from the carpet. And I also remember the day when I was 16 and my parents got new carpet (they didn't wait that long to get the fleas out!).

Now that I am a grown up (which I know is still debatable) I "visit" my parents in the house that I grew up in. It's a strange experience. The reality is that the house I grew up in is not really what is important. What is truly important is the feeling of home you get no matter what

The Best Judgment Day Ever!

This past weekend Heather and I and a group of leaders from Kairos went on a houseboat trip to celebrate the past year of ministry. We had a very good time laughing and talking, reading and writing, eating and sleeping, playing and relaxing. One of the highlights of the weekend was having one of the leaders confirm that Saturday was, "the best Judgment Day ever!" Of course the Saturday that he was referring to was May 21st. He was tubing behind a ski boat when he was flung 20 feet across the water and landed in the frigid water, bobbing up and down waiting for the boat to retrieve him. Once he boarded the boat, the now famous line was emphatically delivered: "this is the best Judgment Day ever!"

What I find hilarious about this comment is the logical implications that come with it: 1) When he said "best", what other Judgment Days did he have to compare with that would lead him to think Saturday was the best? Very interesting question. 2) He thought the May 21st Judgment Day was silly, but what was not silly is being thrown across a lake full of snow run-off water at 25MPH...that was what made this Judgment Day the best.

I talked with a woman at Barnes and Noble about what didn't happen on Saturday. The conversation just sprang up as I perused the Christian Living section of the bookstore. She is a self-proclaimed "intellectual"; too smart for religion. Although she did so rudely, she asked, "Aren't you kind of embarrassed by the end of the world not coming?" Wow. So, I answered her in the most honest way I could: "not any more than you are."

On Reading Books

Currently, I'm reading a book about church planting from Crossway. The book is written by Darrin Patrick who is a church planter and is vice president of Acts29 Church Planting Network and is a close associate of Mark Driscoll. Perhaps these are names that you recognize, maybe they are not. What I want to write about has little to do with what the book says, or about the men who write them. The fact that my eyes scan across ink on paper, bound with glue and called a book, is amazing.

Over the years my mom has kept pretty much all of my report cards. I have them from 1st grade through high school. I think most are accounted for and for the ones that are unaccounted for, there's probably a good reason they are "lost." By and large they exist and they tell a story.

Thoughts on OBL

There has been some pretty dramatic changes in the world over the last few days. You would have to be living under a rock to not know what I'm referring to. So, because of the well known events that have transpired, there is no reason to recap. But a great many people have begun to talk and say what they think - or at least regurgitate what someone else thinks and pawn it off as their own thoughts. So here are some of my thoughts. Many will disagree, some might agree, but at least we're thinking.

• Osama Bin Laden is dead and that is good. It is good for terrible men to no longer be afforded the opportunity to continue in their terribleness and run the risk of others joining them.

Easter Week

This is Easter week. For many people this is simply "Spring Break" or "Spring Recess" or whatever other politically correct title. Whatever the schools and public institutions have agreed to call it, it is what it is and that is Easter week.

Easter is bizarre. Mostly it's bizarre because there are numerous chocolate bunnies, plastic eggs, and fake grass stuffed in baskets for people to purchase as they celebrate the resurrection of a dead man that said he was God and would prove that he's God once he was raised from death. No scholar can quite articulate how the bunny eggs and pastel wrapped candy corresponds to the reality that Jesus is still alive. The bizarre festivities associated with Easter will surely pick up as the week progresses. There will be

Take a Break

So, I haven't posted a blog entry in roughly 3 weeks. Considering that I started posting only a few weeks prior to that it might appear that I gave in and quit. Untrue. In reality what happened was a question that I have been rolling around in my head. The question is: are you consumed by things that don't matter? I asked myself that question at the beginning of April and I didn't know how to answer it. So I just kept asking until I got somewhere.

Where I got is important, but the way in which I got there is also important. The process started when I asked myself quite simply, "what do I value? what is important? what am I for?" I was caught off guard by these questions because initially I thought I should start to determine what are the things that don't matter before anything else. But once I started down that trail it lead me to begin to name just about everything. So, I learned that to define something in the affirmative by citing all the things that it is not, is a pointless waste of time and accomplishes nothing.