Intellidating?

What will they think of next?

Young professionals, artists, young cosmopolitans, and recent Ivy-League graduates are taking dating to a new level....A level of dating that is more about the stimulation of the mind than it is about anything else. A level called "intellidating."

Young professionals of all kinds are noticing the fact that going to a rave, club or house party is not the most rewarding when it comes meeting new people and garnering new relationships. Instead, they are electing to go to events where stimulating the mind is the objective, and where the sexiest person in the room is the one with the most to intelligence on display.

It is a strong northeastern phenomenon due to the abundance of Ivy-League and upper tier universities that can be found in the colonial states. One hot spot for young singles and couples is the New York Public Library, where intellectually inclined daters are paying $15 covers to take part in intellectual debates and lectures over some of society's most controversial issues.

The website RightStuffDating.com caters only to Ivy-League and upper-tier college graduates and provides an online matchmaking service that puts singles interested in meeting people with "the right stuff." The right stuff being an educated mind, a love for academics, and an intellectually stimulating presence. The site requires that you provide documentation of your attendance at your stated alma mater with proof of graduation requirements as strict as providing a copy of your diploma. The site then conjures up inquiries for singles and the rest is down hill.

Prayer

From Foster's "Prayer" book that I've been reading:

Before proceeding, I must offer a caution. We should not overstate the place of prayer in the formation of "holy habits". Prayer is by itself severly limited in the good it can accomplish. It is only a part--albeit an important part--of a much larger whole.

Dallas Willard speaks of the three major areas god uses in our continuing transformation--a "golden triangle" of formation, if you will. The first area is the classical disciplin of the spiritual life: solitude, fasting, worship, celebration, and the like. The second area is our continual interaction with the movings of the Spirit of God: resistance, disobedience, repentance, submission, faith, obedience, and more. The third major area is the patient endurance God develops in us by means of the various frustrations, trials, and temptations we face daily.

Therefore, we must never isolate prayer from the rest of Christian devotion and claim more for it than god intended. No, instead we want to see the dynamic interaction of prayer in concert with an overall spiritual life.

...

Solitude is the first and most foundational of these approaches. "Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life," writes Henri Nouwen. The reason for this is simple to see: by means of solitude God frees us from our bondage to people and our own inner compulsions.

To enter solitude, we must disregard what others think of us. Who will understand this call? Even our closest friends will see it as a waste of precious time and rather self-centered. But, oh the liberty that is released in our hearts when we let go of the opinions of others! The less we are mesmerized by human voices, the more we are able to hear the Divine Voice. The less we are manipulated by the expectations of others, the more we are open to the expectations of God.

In solitude, however, we die not only to others but also to ourselves. To be sure, at first we thought solitude was a way to recharge our batteries in order to enter life's many competitions with new vigor and strength. In time, however, we find that solidtude gives us power not to win the rat race but to ignore the rat race altogther. Slowly, we find ourselves letting go of our inner compulsions to acquire more wealth than we need, look more youthful than we are, attain more status than is wise. In the stillness, our false, busy selves are unmasked and seen for the imposters they truly are.

I love the way Foster writes. At A&M, I used to go up to church late at night for my moments of solitude. I'll always remember that wooden cross, with the blue and green lights. Oh, the countless prayers I offered up to God at the foot of that cross over the years... Up here in Maryland, I have to be more creative in finding a place of solitude to reflect and pray. But that's a good thing, because it reminds me that God is in every moment and every location. "For I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -- Matthew 28:20

Human Rights

I have been extremely impressed by the non-profit organization International Justice Mission For those of you who are still students, or who have an interest in law, consider visiting this link and viewing this video from Urbana 2006.

Foxtrot

Sometimes I really think we should just switch to the metric system
Foxtrot Comic

Crowder

Tonight I went to a David Crowder Band concert at the 9:30 Club in downtown DC. The 9:30 Club is typically a place for alternative music and the like; I think this was one of the rare Christian events they host. But it was a cool setting, and let me tell you, it was a blast! If you ever get a chance to go to a David Crowder Band concert, I *highly* recommend it. But don't be fooled, you'll really be attending a worship service more than a concert, with some David Crowder humor to boot. Highlights included Guitar Hero, Mario Brothers, and even a Texas Hoe-Down. No joke. I was lovin' it.

I'm a big fan of his "Everything Glorious" song. But I also want to check out his new CD.

And I like this this interview. "Music is simply us trying to articulate faith and what it means to live intentionally, trying to be like Christ."

NOOMA

Heard of Rob Bell? We've been showing Nooma videos to the high schoolers for Sunday School. They are short ~10 minute videos that address an issue and are a good way to get the kids thinking and talking. He has an interesting style and usage of video/music/message. Here's a clip or two.

Apples

I'm thinking of trying this with some extra apples I have...
Apple Heads

Parked

I was walking to my car after work tonight. I had worked late, so it was about 7pm. It was dark, the night was cool, and the parking lot was almost empty. It reminded me exactly of the night I was walking to my car at A&M, pondering whether or not God wanted me to move out of Texas. I remember looking up at the stars that night and saying something to the effect of "I'm following You, God. You lead me where you need me. I won't stay here for selfish reasons. If you want me somewhere else, send me there." And I remember how I was filled with peace back then.

Cut back to the parking lot tonight. My thoughts were a bit different, along the lines of "Are you really using me Lord? What happened to the way I used to feel? I'm trying to follow You, trying to do Your will, trying to do all the right things, but sometimes I just feel nothing. What is going on here?" I left rather perplexed and confused.

I had started reading "Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home" by Richard Foster. Before going to bed tonight, I read Chapter 2, which happens to be titled "The Prayer of the Forsaken". It talks about how to pray when we feel like we are in the desert. I wish I could quote the whole chapter, because I'm afraid the point will be misunderstood if I just summarize. Foster's point is that, although we can be certain that God is always with us, sometimes He withdraws our consciousness of His presence and we feel forsaken or empty, so that He can grow us more.

A living relationship with God begins and develops in mutual freedom. God grants us perfect freedom because he desires creatures who freely choose to be in relationship with him. Through the Prayer of the Forsaken, we are learning to give God the same freedom. Relationships of this kind can never be manipulated or forced...

If we could make the Creator of heaven and earth instantly appear at our beck and call, we would not be in communion with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We do that with objects, with things, with idols. But God, the great iconoclast, is constantly smashing our false images of who He is and what He is like...By refusing to be a puppet on our string or a genie in our bottle, God frees us from our false, idolatrous images...

Saint John of the Cross says that two purifications occur in the dark night of the soul. The first involves stripping us of dependence upon exterior results. We find ourselves less and less impressed with the religion of the "big deal"---big buildings, big budgets, big production, big miracles. Not that there is anything wrong with big things, but they are no longer what impresses us. Nor are we drawn to praise and adulation. Not that there is anything wrong with kind and gracious remarks, but they are no longer what moves us...

For me [Foster] the greatest value in my lack of control was the intimate and ultimate awareness that I could not manage God. God refused to jump when I said "Jump!" Neither by theological acumen nor by religious technique could I conquer God. God was, in fact, to conquer me.

The second purifying of Saint John involves stripping us of dependence upon interior results. This is more disturbing and painful than the first purification because it threatens us at the root of all we believe in and have given ourselves to... We discover that the workings of faith, hope, and love become themselves subject to doubt. Our personal motivations become suspect... We worry whether this act or that thought is inspired by fear, vanity, and arrogance, rather than faith, hope, and love...

Slowly we are being taken off of vain securities and false allegiances. Our trust in all exterior and interior results is being shattered so that we can learn faith in God alone...

I [Foster] would like to offer one more counsel to those who find themselves in this place. It is this: wait on God. Wait, silent and still. Wait, attentive and responsive. Learn that trust precedes faith. Trust is confidence in the character of God. Firmly and deliberately you say "I do not understand what God is doing or even where God is, but I know that He is out to do me good." This is trust. This is how to wait.

It's good to be reminded that we don't have to have it all together all the time. It's good to know that the Heroes of the Faith who have gone before us have also had moments where they struggled to see what God was up to. It's good to realize yet again that God's ways are higher than our own, and we must wait on Him, for He has the best in mind for us, even if we can't always see it.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope. --Psalm 130:5

Uncle John

My great-uncle John retired last week, after being a pastor for 37 years. The more I learn about Uncle John, the more I am amazed at how God works through people. And the more I am so thankful for my family. I couldn't attend his retirement service in person, but his retirement sermon is online:

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. --Philippians 1:3-6

Some of his other sermons are available online. I started listening to them, partly to hear some good Texas drawl, but mainly because they are just good messages. I particularly like this one entitled Let's Go Fishing.

UPDATE: Here's a Houston Chronicle article on Uncle John.