Posts
I'm still tinkering with the site here, and have added a guestbook and am working on a site feed. The feed is live, but all I get is the title of the articles, not the text of them. Still trying to figure that out.
Also I am currently enjoying "Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall" I am still a novice when it comes to most jazz past the swing era, but I am beginning to emerge from the "I may not know much about jazz but I know what I like" stage. From what I have read, this recording is a lost record of a famous partnership that had previously not been adequately documented. Monk and Trane played together at the Five Spot Cafe for a short period of time, and it was while playing with Monk that Trane found his voice and was able to go on to make such legendary recordings as "Giant Steps" There were a few recordings made of the Blue Note appearances but they are poor quality and don't do the pair justice. This is a very good quality recording made from a charity appearance at Carnegie Hall in 1957 and is a very good listen.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Religion of Peace?
The following is an interesting account of an interaction between Rick Mathes, founder of Mission Gate Prison Ministry and a Muslim at a prison training session in Fulton, MO. In the article the gentleman is introduced as an Imam, but it was later revealed that he was just a Muslim inmate pressed into service. Whether or not it happened exactly like this, the succinct summing up of the difference between Christianity and Islam is well done.
By Rick Mathes
Last month I attended my annual training session that's required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the training session there was a presentation by three speakers representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths who explained their belief systems. I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say.
The Imam gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam, complete with a video. After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers. When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Imam and asked, "Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad [Holy war] against the infidels of the world and, that by killing an infidel, which is a command to all Muslims, they are assured of a place in heaven. If that's the case, can you give me the definition of an infidel?"
There was no disagreement with my statements and without hesitation he replied, "Non-believers!"
I responded, "So, let me make sure I have this straight. All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith so they can go to Heaven. Is that correct?"
The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He sheepishly replied, "Yes."
I then stated, "Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to imagine Pope John Paul commanding all Catholics to kill those of your faith or Pat Robertson or Dr. Stanley ordering Protestants to do the same in order to go to Heaven!"
The Imam was speechless.
I continued, "I also have problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me. Let me ask you a question! ...Would you rather have your Allah who tells you to kill me in order to go to Heaven or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I am going to Heaven and wants you to be with me?"
You could have heard a pin drop as the Imam hung his head in shame.
Chuck Colson once told me something that has sustained me these 20 years of prison ministry. He said to me, "Rick, remember that the truth will prevail."
And it will!
What about though, comparing Christianity from the time of the Crusades to Islam of today? There are some fascinating parallels. According to some accounts, in Saladin's day literature, medicine, and some sciences were more valued in the Muslim world than in Europe, where much classical literature and philosophy would have been lost had it not been for the diligence of Irish monks. The Church of that time is famous for persecuting not only great thinkers, but anyone who didn't march in lockstep with the Pope. You could get killed by the Church for something as simple as possessing a Bible in any language other than Latin.
I think it is worth remembering where we as a faith have come from as we seek a way to reach the Muslim world, which is, in my mind, the foremost challenge of the Church today.
By Rick Mathes
Last month I attended my annual training session that's required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the training session there was a presentation by three speakers representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths who explained their belief systems. I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say.
The Imam gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam, complete with a video. After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers. When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Imam and asked, "Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad [Holy war] against the infidels of the world and, that by killing an infidel, which is a command to all Muslims, they are assured of a place in heaven. If that's the case, can you give me the definition of an infidel?"
There was no disagreement with my statements and without hesitation he replied, "Non-believers!"
I responded, "So, let me make sure I have this straight. All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith so they can go to Heaven. Is that correct?"
The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He sheepishly replied, "Yes."
I then stated, "Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to imagine Pope John Paul commanding all Catholics to kill those of your faith or Pat Robertson or Dr. Stanley ordering Protestants to do the same in order to go to Heaven!"
The Imam was speechless.
I continued, "I also have problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me. Let me ask you a question! ...Would you rather have your Allah who tells you to kill me in order to go to Heaven or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I am going to Heaven and wants you to be with me?"
You could have heard a pin drop as the Imam hung his head in shame.
Chuck Colson once told me something that has sustained me these 20 years of prison ministry. He said to me, "Rick, remember that the truth will prevail."
And it will!
What about though, comparing Christianity from the time of the Crusades to Islam of today? There are some fascinating parallels. According to some accounts, in Saladin's day literature, medicine, and some sciences were more valued in the Muslim world than in Europe, where much classical literature and philosophy would have been lost had it not been for the diligence of Irish monks. The Church of that time is famous for persecuting not only great thinkers, but anyone who didn't march in lockstep with the Pope. You could get killed by the Church for something as simple as possessing a Bible in any language other than Latin.
I think it is worth remembering where we as a faith have come from as we seek a way to reach the Muslim world, which is, in my mind, the foremost challenge of the Church today.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
The Transmission of Christianity
Just about my favorite C.S. Lewis book is God in the Dock. It's a compilation of essays from different sources mainly on theology and ethics. I was reading one entitled "On the Transmission of Christianity" It is actually the reprint of a preface Lewis wrote to a book by B.G. Sandhurst called "How Heathen is Britain?" (London, 1946) but it sounds like it could be written today. The book is a study of a group of young men and their attitudes about God with emphasis on the impact the education system had on them.
The part that I thought was profound was this observation as to why young men of his time weren't inclined to be Christians:
If we had noticed that the young men of the present day found it harder and harder to get the right answers to sums, we should consider that this had been adequately explained the moment we discovered that schools had for some years ceased to teach arithmetic. After that discovery we should turn a deaf ear to people who offered explanations of a vaguer and larger kind - people who said that the influence of Einstein had sapped the ancestral belief in fixed numerical relations, or that gangster films had undermined the desire to get right answers, or that the evolution of consciousness was now entering on its post-arithmetical phase. When a clear and simple explanation completely covers the facts, no other explanation is in court. If the younger generation have never been told what the Christians say and never heard any arguments in defense of it, then their agnosticism or indifference is fully explained.
This simple logic cuts through all the palaver about what is wrong with the youth of today. There is no need to blame pop culture or video games for corrupting our youth if they have never been exposed to Christianity. Granted, kids should be protected from negative influences, but if they have no positive ones to begin with, then they haven't really gotten anywhere, have they? It's no wonder our society has taken the direction is has, with Christianity removed from most aspects of our public discourse and relegated to the four walls of the Church.
Our mission therefore to be salt and light requires us to be mixed up with the world, not piled up in the salt shaker.
The part that I thought was profound was this observation as to why young men of his time weren't inclined to be Christians:
If we had noticed that the young men of the present day found it harder and harder to get the right answers to sums, we should consider that this had been adequately explained the moment we discovered that schools had for some years ceased to teach arithmetic. After that discovery we should turn a deaf ear to people who offered explanations of a vaguer and larger kind - people who said that the influence of Einstein had sapped the ancestral belief in fixed numerical relations, or that gangster films had undermined the desire to get right answers, or that the evolution of consciousness was now entering on its post-arithmetical phase. When a clear and simple explanation completely covers the facts, no other explanation is in court. If the younger generation have never been told what the Christians say and never heard any arguments in defense of it, then their agnosticism or indifference is fully explained.
This simple logic cuts through all the palaver about what is wrong with the youth of today. There is no need to blame pop culture or video games for corrupting our youth if they have never been exposed to Christianity. Granted, kids should be protected from negative influences, but if they have no positive ones to begin with, then they haven't really gotten anywhere, have they? It's no wonder our society has taken the direction is has, with Christianity removed from most aspects of our public discourse and relegated to the four walls of the Church.
Our mission therefore to be salt and light requires us to be mixed up with the world, not piled up in the salt shaker.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Widgets
I have recently been introduced by Carter's blog to a cool little desktop utility that allows one to do lots of little tasks from the desktop that usually require opening a web browser. The program is called Yahoo Widgets and the Widgets engine runs mini-apps on your desktop (or always on to of what you are doing if you wish) that save a lot of steps. The standard apps that come with the program are things like an analog clockface, a weather forecast for your area, and a search bar. The one widget that I have actually found myself utilizing the most is a desktop search bar for Thottbot, which is a service that collects information about World of Warcraft. If I'm playing the game, and I need to know where a certain NPC spawns I can tab out of the game and type in the weasel's name from desktop, saving a couple of steps. I have also loaded up a birthday reminder program that reminds me 7 days before all of those birthdays I can never remember. I also like the widget that blurts out random quotes from "The Family Guy"'s Stewie
Of course I realize there's a chance I am the last soul on the North American continent who wasn't familiar with Widgets, but I'm a sucker for pretty apps like this.
I quit taking the local Houston paper (really just a reprint of the NY Times with local sports scores) several months ago, and really the only thing I miss is the comics. Well there is a widget that lets me pick from 128 or so different comics and downloads them for my perusal. Very cool.
So, any fave Widgets out there, or do you perhaps use Google Toolbar instead?
Of course I realize there's a chance I am the last soul on the North American continent who wasn't familiar with Widgets, but I'm a sucker for pretty apps like this.
I quit taking the local Houston paper (really just a reprint of the NY Times with local sports scores) several months ago, and really the only thing I miss is the comics. Well there is a widget that lets me pick from 128 or so different comics and downloads them for my perusal. Very cool.
So, any fave Widgets out there, or do you perhaps use Google Toolbar instead?
Introduction
I have begun this blog in an effort to flex my long-dormant writing skills, and to take advantage of the fact that it doesn't take movable type or a satellite feed to have a voice anymore, so please indulge me as I find my voice and regale you all with what will probably be a wide range of topics ranging from my latest music discoveries ( my wide ranging interests scare me sometimes) to computer gaming, coming to grips with my growing disillusionment with the state of affairs in our government and our role in the mess, spiritual pondering, be they reflections on a sermon, or the profundity of C.S. Lewis or Francis Shaeffer. and interesting meals I have eaten. My wife Donna and cat Cleopatra will probably make appearances as well. I will post as often as the muse strikes me, as often as I can. So let the experiment begin!
Patrick
Patrick
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