08/22/10
So I was talking to a guy who asked me what it was about Christianity that appeals to me. I found it more difficult to answer this question than I thought I would. To answer it honestly anyway. This is what I came up with for him.
I see the world this way – the rich and powerful use their wealth and power to maintain their position at the expense of the poor and helpless. We don’t use our advantages to help others, but rather we live at the expense of others. And institutions that have been setup to do good, don’t.
Something inside me tells me this is wrong. It misses the mark. It’s the opposite of the way it should be. It’s a world that needs to be turned upside down and given a good shake. I think that’s the appeal of a T.V. show that MaryEllen and I enjoy. It’s called Leverage. It’s about a bunch of crooks that have turned their powers to helping people. There’s the ringleader, the computer genius, the con artist, the cat burglar, and the violent guy. The tag line is “The rich and powerful take what they want. We steal it back for you. Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys.” And it’s fun to watch the weekly mark get what they have coming. Seeing their face fall when they realize they’ve been had – it’s great.
And so given that – the story of a god – the most powerful being in the universe - who comes to the world to set it right appeals to me. But our god doesn’t come as those of us frustrated with a corrupt and hurtful system would like him to come – like the violent guy from Leverage – making things right with his fists. Instead he shows up as a helpless infant of questionable parentage, poor, far from home, in a cave, in a backwater province of the Roman Empire. When this boy grows up, he wanders and preaches and spends time with the weak and helpless outcasts. And the triumphant climax of this god’s making the world right – turning it upside down – is to get himself tortured, killed, and propped up as a symbol for all to see what happens when someone tries to mess with the way the world is.
I like the story of a god who comes to shake things up and gets shaken and broken just like us. A god that turns the world upside down by turning upside down our very notion of what a powerful god is. A god who shares our frustration with the state of the world, who calls for us to set it right, and who suffers with us when we suffer in out efforts.
08/13/10
Plain View #115 - June 14, 2010
Rough week
Maly's coolness
Party Down
Dexter
Bunch o Movies
Busking
Kid Stories
If you miss the links in the notes, let me know, otherwise, they're gone.
subscribe
to this podcast!
05/07/10
Plain View #114 - Holiday Special
It's Christmas in July in June on the Plainview. Just unearthed, another lost episode. Ho Ho How do we continue to be so unorganized. I guess that's why we're Missouri's oldest continually running podcast. So light a fire, pour a mug of hot cider, and enjoy.
subscribe
to this podcast!
03/22/10
Plain View #112 - January 26, 2010
Rough week
subscribe
to this podcast!
02/08/10
Plain View #111 - Post Christmas, 2010
The winter was a dark one.
Wolves howled.
Small fires flickered.
And men huddled together in caves.
But in the midst of the cold and darkness a small light shone.
And that small light was the once thought lost Plainview episode 111.
Just a part of it.
But perhaps that small part is enough to keep mankind safe and warm though his long cold winter.
subscribe
to this podcast!
12/18/09
12/02/09
11/25/09
Sorry about the bad link.
Plain View #108 - October 3, 2009
11/13/09
Plain View #108 - October 3, 2009
Halloween
Black Foxes party
Will's Baptism
subscribe
to this podcast!
10/27/09
Plain View #107 - part 2 - September 8, 2009
10/23/09
Plain View #107 - part 2 - September 8, 2009
social studies
Dr. Chang
Obama
Will
subscribe
to this podcast!
10/20/09
10/12/09
Plain View #106 - part 2 - August 11, 2009
Girl Talk
Cousins and Gray Wolf
Fulton
Reclaiming the Real
subscribe
to this podcast!
09/16/09
Here's the real link. Thanks Dee.
Plainview #106 - part 1 - August 11, 2009
09/13/09
Plain View #106 - part 1 - August 11, 2009
Will to Dentist
Summer over
So You Think You Can Dance
Leverage
Film Rant
subscribe
to this podcast!
09/07/09
Plain View #105 - part 2 - August 4, 2009
Doug Benson - I Love Movies
Facebook Etiquette
Top Books
Slumdog revisited
subscribe
to this podcast!
08/11/09
08/04/09
07/29/09
Plain View #104 - part 1 - July 15, 2009
Kids Reading
Projects: Shed & Jerky
VBS
Swimming Lessons
subscribe
to this podcast!
07/21/09
Plain View #103 - part 2 - June 11, 2009
Summer School
Graduation
Chicago
subscribe
to this podcast!
07/14/09
Plain View #103 - part 1 - June 11, 2009
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Oh, and Robert Downey Jr. was not in Pretty in Pink. Maybe I was thinking of Weird Science, Back to School or The Pick-up Artist, none of which are really much like Pretty in Pink.
subscribe
to this podcast!
06/27/09
My Firsts!
I got tagged on facebook with this, but I'm think I'm phasing out my facebook activity, and I can't find my notes on there, so I put it here.
1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
Lisa Shea
2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
I can't even remember her name. Little cutie from kindergarten.
3. Who was your FIRST love?
see above
4. Who was your FIRST kiss?
Lisa Shea?
5. What was your FIRST car?
'67 Oldsmobile Delta 88 - wish I still had that baby
6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
No one
7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
MaryEllen
8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Mrs. Boliger
9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
New Orleans?
10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk?
Mark Morris & no, not much
11. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
Mark's? How can an old man remember all this stuff?
12. Who woke up and thought of you FIRST today?
MaryEllen? Mom?
13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
Mine, I think
14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
did some reading in a small room
15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
Steve, Bob and Rich - The Rainmakers
16. FIRST tattoo?
made it through the above New Orleans trip w/o a tattoo. If I get one now it should just read "Mid-life Crisis" and of course have a skull, snake, bikini woman and ace of spades.
17. FIRST piercing?
dart in my thumb
18. FIRST foreign country you've went to?
Mexico
19. FIRST movie you remember seeing?
Song of the South - Uncle Remus - the only Disney film they are keeping in the vault
20. When was your FIRST detention?
1st grade after school for talking, for like 3 minutes, I was mortified
22. Who was your FIRST roommate?
my brother counts?
23. If you had one wish. What would it be?
world peace
24. What is something you would learn if you had the chance?
To speak a foreign language fluently
25. Did you marry the FIRST person to ask for your hand in marriage?
No one has asked me yet
26. What was the first sport that you were involved in?
t-ball
27. What were the first lessons you ever took?
swimming?
28. What is the first thing you do when you get home?
talk to my kids, or do the dishes
06/23/09
Plain View #102 - part 2 - March 1, 2009
New cat
Hair cut couth
Communion med
Grad speech
Park and Rec
subscribe
to this podcast!
06/11/09
Plain View #102 - part 1 - March 1, 2009
Will: Oreo and The Spy Who Loved Me
subscribe
to this podcast!
:: Next >>
Matt's Media
XML Feeds
