Reason # 3 why I am featuring this picture on my blog...
Onside Kick Jesus was the name of my first fantasy football team, based on what is arguably one of the most significant works of art in our generation. Lot's of people are familiar with the famous mosaic on the campus of Notre Dame known as "Touchdown Jesus", but less is known about the story behind this statue, which shows Jesus recovering an onside kick.
In fact, several art critics wrongly conclude that the work depicts Jesus executing a routine hand off. What they fail to realize is that football was not as fast of a game in the 1st century. Have you ever tried to run a power sweep with 11 guys in tunics? I didn't think so.
The statue captures the moment shortly after Jesus recovered the onside kick, and, with His keen sense of timing, He manages to hand off to a teammate before being tackled. The unidentified teammate "took it to the oikos" in a dramatic come from behind win.
Postscript;
Luchador's sermon wasn't posted on the gocornerstone.org website yet, so here is one from the archives ~ http://www.gocornerstone.org/media/sermons/Kingdom%20Growth.mp3
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
"Onside Kick Jesus"
So you were wondering about the significance of my home page Jesus football picture? Alas, they are legion...well maybe not legion, but I can think of at least three (I'm imagining myself saying that in a Conan O'Brien kind of way, but unfortunately, I have not yet mastered the fine art of inserting voice inflection into the blogosphere). By the way, why does my blogging program highlight blogosphere when I use spell checker (and why did I feel compelled to spell check "spell checker" just now)?
Well, back to the subject at hand...the first reason is no more dramatic than the fact that when I was putting together my blog for the first time, it just happened to be a picture that was on my hard drive, and I had no clue how to post something from the internet (even now I am sensing the mockery and derision of veteran bloggers like Eric Swanson emanating from the blogosphere).
Secondly, I consider the picture to be somewhat symbolic of the values of Dangerous RAT's...as if Dangerous RAT's has values...what an insanely vain idea for a blogger... ~ open your bibles to to Matthew chapter 5, today we will be discussing the values of Ken Miller's blog in the context of the Sermon on the Mount...can't you just hear John Piper preaching that sermon? This is only my 2nd posting, and already I am having delusions that my blog has "values"!
So maybe it doesn't symbolize values, but I do have some random connection going on in my cerebral cortex about how this picture of Jesus probably creates dissonance for non -autonomous thinkers. In fact, any day now there will a boycott of my blog by the Southern Baptists. (I'm not suggesting that Southern Baptists are non-autonomous thinkers, just that they are more skilled in the world of boycotting than some other denominations). My good friend and fellow elder at Cornerstone Church Brian Carlucci (or Luchador as Joe Cross aka J-Cro calls him) recently preached a sermon about the limitations of how we "picture" Jesus. During the entire sermon, I kept thinking that he should be using this picture... but he is young, and not as adept at inserting randomness into his preaching as I am yet...which is probaly why he is being asked to preach more often than I am these days.
Brians sermon;
One of mine; http://www.gocornerstone.org/media/sermons/KingdomPerspective_090306.mp3
{reason 3 will appear in "Onside Kick Jesus" part 2}
Well, back to the subject at hand...the first reason is no more dramatic than the fact that when I was putting together my blog for the first time, it just happened to be a picture that was on my hard drive, and I had no clue how to post something from the internet (even now I am sensing the mockery and derision of veteran bloggers like Eric Swanson emanating from the blogosphere).
Secondly, I consider the picture to be somewhat symbolic of the values of Dangerous RAT's...as if Dangerous RAT's has values...what an insanely vain idea for a blogger... ~ open your bibles to to Matthew chapter 5, today we will be discussing the values of Ken Miller's blog in the context of the Sermon on the Mount...can't you just hear John Piper preaching that sermon? This is only my 2nd posting, and already I am having delusions that my blog has "values"!
So maybe it doesn't symbolize values, but I do have some random connection going on in my cerebral cortex about how this picture of Jesus probably creates dissonance for non -autonomous thinkers. In fact, any day now there will a boycott of my blog by the Southern Baptists. (I'm not suggesting that Southern Baptists are non-autonomous thinkers, just that they are more skilled in the world of boycotting than some other denominations). My good friend and fellow elder at Cornerstone Church Brian Carlucci (or Luchador as Joe Cross aka J-Cro calls him) recently preached a sermon about the limitations of how we "picture" Jesus. During the entire sermon, I kept thinking that he should be using this picture... but he is young, and not as adept at inserting randomness into his preaching as I am yet...which is probaly why he is being asked to preach more often than I am these days.
Brians sermon;
One of mine; http://www.gocornerstone.org/media/sermons/KingdomPerspective_090306.mp3
{reason 3 will appear in "Onside Kick Jesus" part 2}
Friday, August 17, 2007
What is a Dangerous RAT?
The original inspiration for the title of Dangerous RAT's came from a posting by Jay Lorenzen entitled "The Danger of Non-Autonomous Thinkers",where he illuminated the dilemma of organizations that are overly focused on "creating team-players". It turns out that the desire to create team players might actually undercut the creative power of teams...The best companies (or movements) champion autonomous thinkers, who, while being part of a team resist being “team-players” in the organization.
My immediate mental image of an Autonomous Thinker was overwhelmingly positive....undoubtedly because (in my normal state of delusion) I would like to count myself among those who have an expanded capacity to think outside the mainstream. Ultimately, I recognize that very few people would concede that they are non-autonomous thinkers. But realistically, there is a continuum, and some people are more susceptible to groupthink than others.
So the question left begging is, "what is the antithesis of the non-autonomous thinker that Jay has correctly identified as "dangerous"? And is it possible that, in a different (good) way, autonomous thinkers are also dangerous?
The R in Dangerous RATS has at least three meanings. The first is random. Before you conclude that random thinking is all bad, consider the court jester. Although the role of a jester in medieval courts was partially to serve as comic relief, they in fact had a more serious role. In societies where freedom of speech was not recognized as a right, the court jester - precisely because anything he said was by definition "a jest" and "the uttering of a fool" - could speak frankly on controversial issues in a way in which anyone else would have been severely punished for, and monarchs understood the usefulness of having such a person at their side.
They specifically valued the "random" nature of a jester's thought process, knowing that every once in a while a jester would say something so unique (or crazy) that it would encourage a whole new direction in their thinking that would have never occurred to a group of really smart sane people.
The second meaning is ranting. The blogosphere has become fertile ground for the communication form known as the rant...but not all rants are equal. Most "rants" are merely a crude display of cathartic verbiage revealing the lack of emotional well being of the "ranter". There is a more noble rant, however, that was part of the ongoing dialogue Jesus had with many of the religious elites of his day.
This type of rant is rooted in a healthy dissatisfaction with the status quo. It is what Jesus said to the money changers (with accompaniment from his whip) as he was kicking their butts out of the temple.
The third meaning is religious, because most of the RAT's likely to traffic here are fellow followers of Jesus.
So Dangerous RAT's is a place for those who can appreciate randomness on many levels with comedy being perhaps the most important level. But hopefully also because a crazy, random person just might (like a broken clock) be right a couple of times a day.
It's also a place where ranting is allowed regardless of your emotional well being, but preferred if it is inspired by righteous zeal.
Mostly it's a place for religious autonomous thinking.
My belief is that random, ranting, religious autonomous thinkers can be dangerous. Sometimes to themselves. Occasionally to the organizations they are bucking against. But, hopefully, mostly to the forces of evil.
My immediate mental image of an Autonomous Thinker was overwhelmingly positive....undoubtedly because (in my normal state of delusion) I would like to count myself among those who have an expanded capacity to think outside the mainstream. Ultimately, I recognize that very few people would concede that they are non-autonomous thinkers. But realistically, there is a continuum, and some people are more susceptible to groupthink than others.
So the question left begging is, "what is the antithesis of the non-autonomous thinker that Jay has correctly identified as "dangerous"? And is it possible that, in a different (good) way, autonomous thinkers are also dangerous?
The R in Dangerous RATS has at least three meanings. The first is random. Before you conclude that random thinking is all bad, consider the court jester. Although the role of a jester in medieval courts was partially to serve as comic relief, they in fact had a more serious role. In societies where freedom of speech was not recognized as a right, the court jester - precisely because anything he said was by definition "a jest" and "the uttering of a fool" - could speak frankly on controversial issues in a way in which anyone else would have been severely punished for, and monarchs understood the usefulness of having such a person at their side.
They specifically valued the "random" nature of a jester's thought process, knowing that every once in a while a jester would say something so unique (or crazy) that it would encourage a whole new direction in their thinking that would have never occurred to a group of really smart sane people.
The second meaning is ranting. The blogosphere has become fertile ground for the communication form known as the rant...but not all rants are equal. Most "rants" are merely a crude display of cathartic verbiage revealing the lack of emotional well being of the "ranter". There is a more noble rant, however, that was part of the ongoing dialogue Jesus had with many of the religious elites of his day.
This type of rant is rooted in a healthy dissatisfaction with the status quo. It is what Jesus said to the money changers (with accompaniment from his whip) as he was kicking their butts out of the temple.
The third meaning is religious, because most of the RAT's likely to traffic here are fellow followers of Jesus.
So Dangerous RAT's is a place for those who can appreciate randomness on many levels with comedy being perhaps the most important level. But hopefully also because a crazy, random person just might (like a broken clock) be right a couple of times a day.
It's also a place where ranting is allowed regardless of your emotional well being, but preferred if it is inspired by righteous zeal.
Mostly it's a place for religious autonomous thinking.
My belief is that random, ranting, religious autonomous thinkers can be dangerous. Sometimes to themselves. Occasionally to the organizations they are bucking against. But, hopefully, mostly to the forces of evil.
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