I will now outline for you what gave Parker the edge.
It was not his right-ness or wrong-ness.
First, he was clear and concise, as well as concilliatory.
Second, he groveled. Groveling is a highly respected tactic on this blog.
Third, he did something unusual for him...he commented twice. (Others of you did, too, but it is not unusual for you...it is for him).
Fourth, he works at the same place I do (Christian radio, heard on the web at www.kingdom.fm). I could not bear to look him in the eye today if he did not win after working so hard. Besides, he is young and could easily beat me up.
For your information, the runner up was Darlene, who was the only one willing to run at all. She ran over with the pail of water. Her theology was very fluid.
There is a serious element to all of this. Several of you either hit on it or danced around it.
Theology has a tendency to get WAY too thick and its practitioners too stuffy (one might use the term 'stiff-necked').
It is important to know what you believe, but it is more important to know who you believe in.
His name is Jesus. He prayed for us to be unified (check out John 17).
To be unified, we MUST, MUST, MUST turn from this attitude of "I know more about this than you do." "I'm right and you're wrong." "I'm more spiritual than you."
It's all a part of dying to self. If we do not die to self, we cannot be responsible followers of Him.
In short, we must decrease and He must increase (I read that somewhere).
Thank you for participating, whether as a participant or a spectator.
Now, if you call yourself a Christian, go out and love others more than self. Think of others more highly than you think of yourself. Be willing to lay down your life for a friend.
Jesus showed us how. All we have to do is follow Him.
19 comments:
Joe,
AMEN!
I'm working on it, thanks:-)
brother John
and my hopes were so high...
Congrats Parker (!@#!~%$^&*) (hehe)
I'm dissappointed that Darlene didn't win but I understand that judging is a difficult task at best and given the circumstances, well. ;-)
All kidding aside we are in total agreement on the serious element.
Congratulations to Parker!
Alright! I'm honored. And on that note, I hereby give my coveted Calvenia to "forgiven," who in his last comment hit the nail on the head much more squarely than I.
But only under the condition that he keep the funky green label with my name on the trophy, lest I be forgotten. :-P
I'm very impressed with all of you, proud to see that a group of Christians from all walks of life can come together to argue doctrine and not tear each other to shreds; even more impressive is that y'all seem to get the big picture instead of being hung up on petty details.
Congratulations, you're all winners in my book.
Hi Joe
Brother Parker Cogratulations...
May the Lord bless the rest of your day with His Grace...
Your foot washer
Doug
Ok Joe, I sense some partisan politics here? Was there perhaps some bribing of the judges? :)
Thanks for the reminder that Jesus only, Jesus ever; He is more than enough.
Good points there.
Hey, don't I even get an honourable mention for being the only one WILLING to tell the TRUTH about Paul not being a camper in the first place. It's true you know. He DIDN'T BELONG to ANY camp.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
tink: OK, Ok. HONORABLE MENTION GOES TO TINK.
So...there you go.
Personally, I thought I grovelled enough to win. Maybe on your next contest you can get Paula Abdul or Simon Cowell to be a guest judge. (Or maybe not)
Seriously, this was fun. Congratulations Parker!
i think I have missed something, I better get caught up.
Oh, ha...he could beat you up...LOL...that's a good one Joe.
Do you really think your bonnie would let someone do that to you....well before you answer that...Have you been good lately?
jim: Bribing the judge is as time honored tradition here are groveling.
Hi Joe, I forgot you live in the deep south where all the good ole' boys are. :)
I'll make sure to slip you a 50 next time for better success.
God bless,
Jim
jim: I look forwrd to it. You can make that payable in raccoon skins or possum livers.
Congrats on your shiny green trophy, Parker!
I wish I could have entered, but I surely would not have won. I'm a bit, uh... well, unorthodox.
I''d like to see a discussion about Open Theology, but so many people get antsy when we discuss it...
Joe, this was on my mind so much yesterday in fact I was reading John 17. Did you know that Jesus asked five times for unity in that chapter? Just hours before His death, the burden upon His heart was unity. This is the premise of CWO magazine because it's been a burden of mine for about five years. Five years ago I came out of a very legalistic attitudal stretch. I studied to know more about God. Now I study in hopes that I might lend an encouraging word to someone in need. God doesn't need our knowledge, He wants our love--both to Him and to others. Jesus said I pray that they all may be one even as we are one, "so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me"
Perhaps the world doesn't believe because we are so fragmented.
I liked this post alot.
darlene: Unity of the body is one of the great themes of scripture, OT and NT. One Lord, one body, one Spirit, one baptism, etc.
I plan to do a post on it...maybe my next one, if I can get the cob webs out of my head.
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