21
Aug
Posted by John Shore in Christianity. Tagged: divinity, eternal damnation, Faith, fundamentalism, fundamentalists, God, relative morality, Religion, religious relativism, truth, who is God. 120 Comments
I believe that my beliefs about the qualities and nature of God are absolutely, 100% correct. I just don’t think that what I think about God is correct. I know it is. I know it with everything in my being. True knowledge of the true God is a crucible consuming all but what it creates: awe, gratitude, and unshakeable conviction.
Elemental logic dictates that being as perfectly right about God as I am means that everyone who persists in cleaving to beliefs about God different from mine is wrong. I take no pleasure in this fact; in truth, it is like an arrow ever piercing my breast. What—oh, what?—wouldn’t I give for relief from the tortuous pain I suffer from awareness of how many do not share in the glorious knowledge of God that out of his blessed mercy God himself has bestowed upon me, his most humblest servant, his most devoted follower? Continue reading
20
Aug
Posted by John Shore in Christianity. Tagged: doubt, eternal questions, eternity, God, hades, hell, Jesus Christ, Religion. 156 Comments
Lately I seem to have become Answer Guy. Which is cool, of course. More than cool; it’s an honor that people write me with the stuff they do. I appreciate those of you who follow my blog sort of tracking me while I answer this stuff (and of course via the comments helping out with your own input).
When I fired up my computer this morning, I found waiting for me the email below. I think you’ll agree it’s hardly one I could ignore. Continue reading
18
Aug
Posted by John Shore in Christianity. Tagged: Religion, God, Christians and Muslims, Christianity and Islam, Ground Zero Mosque, Islam-Christian relations, Muslim Americans, Evangelicals and Muslims. 255 Comments
A good friend of mine is an expert on Christian-Muslim relations. A Lutheran pastor with a Master’s degree in Islamic studies, Rob is currently earning his doctorate in the field. He writes important papers on the subject; he teaches classes and seminars on it; he’s forever flying to one ecumenical conference or another. He knows as much about Christian-Muslim relations as anyone in the world.
Today at lunch I asked him, “If you could say any one thing about Islam or Muslims to American Christians, or to Americans generally, what would it be?” As he started talking, I started taking notes. This is what he said: Continue reading
17
Aug
Posted by John Shore in Misc. Humor. Tagged: coffee, comedy, cool lime, humor, refreshers, starbucks, very berry hibiscus. 11 Comments
Actual picture of our purchased test samples. You see Cat's hand in the background, clutching her regular decaf venti latte. She wasn't taking any chances.
It’s not enough that here in San Diego we have miles upon miles of some of the most beautiful beaches and coastal lands in the world, along with weather so beautiful I’m already preparing to be disappointed by the climate in heaven.
“Pffft,” I’ll say as I stroll through the Pearly Gates. “You call this weather? Have you ever been to La Jolla?”
“Get out,” Saint Peter will say. “I knew letting you in here was a mistake. Out. Forget your harp; drop your wings. Boys, show Mr. Weatherbee here the exit.” Continue reading
16
Aug
Posted by John Shore in Autobiography. Tagged: Marriage, getting married, wedding, young marriage, anniversary, wedding anniversary, wedding ceremony, husand and wife. 17 Comments
Twenty-nine years ago today.
My wife Cat and I got married twenty-nine years ago today.
We got married on a Sunday. But today is Monday.
Can you imagine getting married on a Monday? What a total way to tell the world that you expect your marriage to be something you just drag your butt out of bed every morning to do. Something for which you must at least show up. Something that you know is just the first of what seems like an infinite number of days of sheer work?
Wait. Clearly Monday is the day to get married. But people usually get married on a Sunday, right? But what’s the core message there? “What the heck, we’re already in church”? “Hey, as long as we’re wearing our nice clothes”?
Wait—people usually get married on Saturday, don’t they? Not Sunday. Saturday! Continue reading
15
Aug
Posted by John Shore in Autobiography. Tagged: grocery shopping, Trader Joe's, shopping list, shopping at Trader Joe's, TJ's, Trader Joe food. 44 Comments
Blurry photo of the Actual Trader Joe's in my neighborhood
Yesterday, in “I Dare You To Stay Awake Reading This,” I mentioned my plans to go grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s. I was trying to be boring. But instead of thinking it was boring, some of you expressed an interest in knowing what I bought there.
Maybe I’ve been doing this blog thing all wrong. Maybe I should try out a period of being like George Costanza in that one episode, where he decided to do the opposite of everything his instincts told him to do. I always try to blog about something interesting; maybe instead I should blog about boring stuff.
Cool! This should be easy.
Well, then, here’s what I brought at Trader Joe’s yesterday: Continue reading
14
Aug
Posted by John Shore in Uncategorized. 20 Comments
You, reading this.
Don’t you hate it when you go to a website or blog, expecting something interesting, and instead get some snooze-inducing report of stuff about the “author’s” personal life that you could tell you wouldn’t even care about if you were that person?
Yeah, that’s about to happen to you.
Our time, right now: 9:22 a.m.
My clothes: So wrinkled I look like a giant origami project someone gave up on.
Immediate plans:
1. Go to post office to mail out books of mine purchased by a couple of suckers geniuses.
2. Go to water place where I’ll spend fifteen minutes filling up my eight four-gallon bottles with water that I’m assuming is cleaner than the water that comes out of my tap but really have no idea but doesn’t cost very much so I guess I don’t really care even though it’s kind of a hassle.
3. Ask the Korean guy who owns the water place to translate for me into English some of the headlines of the Korean newspaper he’ll be reading. Be amazed at what Koreans think of as news. (Last time I asked him—and this was the across-the-page headline atop the second section of the paper— it was, “Teenagers: You Cannot Excel at School On Less Than Two Hours of Studying Per Night.”)
4. Go to Trader Joe’s. Buy food. Try not to stop dumbfounded in middle of store out of sheer amazement of how much food can be so easily purchased in this, the greatest country (certainly in that regard) in the world.
5. Go pick up Cat from her office, where she went in to work today.
6. Take Cat out for drink for having to work on a Saturday.
And here you thought my being a famous radio star might in any way make me interesting.
13
Aug
Posted by John Shore in Christianity. Tagged: christian radio, Cowardly Lion, Fridays, john hall, kathy emmons, Mel Gibson, radio, weekends, WORD-FM. 49 Comments
Ah, Friday. It’s like a regular day, except completely better.
Friday is the foreplay of days. That’s really what it is. Friday is foreplay; Saturday is sex; Sunday is … well, I was going to say “guilt,” but I can tell from here that road is nothing but potholes.
Speaking of Latin, I believe the etymological suffix fri is Latin for “fried.”
Boy, those Latin-speaking Romans of yore really knew how to name a day, didn’t they? “Wednesday” also proves they couldn’t spell worth a [bad word], but that’s cool. They were busy conquering the world. With soldiers who wore skirts. Continue reading
12
Aug
Posted by John Shore in Christianity. Tagged: Religion, God, Bible, history of Bible, Bible Translations, ipod touch, ipod touch 32GB, ipod touch apps, bible studies, biblical knowledge. 125 Comments
Image from garrisonjazz.com
I sincerely wish to thank the reader of mine who brought and shipped to me a new iPod Touch 32GB. She knows I’m often Blogger on the Go; she wanted to help me work; voila: new iPod 32GB for John. Continue reading
I believe that my beliefs about the qualities and nature of God are absolutely, 100% correct. I just don’t think that what I think about God is correct. I know it is. I know it with everything in my being. True knowledge of the true God is a crucible consuming all but what it creates: awe, gratitude, and unshakeable conviction.
14 Aug
Has a Cockroach Skittered Into This, My Online Home?
Posted by John Shore in Blogging, Writing. Tagged: blogging, blog, monitoring blog comments, blog comments, cockroach. 12 Comments
Them.
Hey, quick note. Sometimes I get too busy to monitor with proper asssiduousness the myriad comment threads simultaneously happening here on my blog. In some very real ways I count on my readers/commentators to keep things here reasonable, and at least reasonably polite. I’ve seen what happens when people show up here who are, shall we say, less than entirely sociable: you guys surround that person, move in, and through gentle reason and disarming charm persuade him or her to either rethink the advisability of their acerbity, or to go dock their pollution-spewing ship somewhere else in cyberspace.
God forgive how much I love it when that happens.
Anyway, if, unbeknownst to me, someone arrives here on my blog whom we’d all clearly be better without, please do not hesitate to alert me to that news. Do exercise considerable discrimination, bearing in mind (if you will) that I have an almost embarrassingly high tolerance (not to say an almost morbid weakness) for the well-articulated argument, no matter how disreputable its ultimate intention.
On the other hand, I hate people who hate first.
Point being: you guys let me know if ever you feel I need to consider checking or blocking someone on my blog whose full-on obnoxiousness I might have missed.
And when in doubt, drop me a word or two. No harm can possibly come of that.
Thanks, friends.
Come join me/us on my Facebook fan page!