Wednesday Thoughts

I was thinking about Mark Driscoll, HMFIC of Mars Hill Church on the way into work today, and I'm still trying to figure out just what the deal is with him. His doctrine is nothing new; snake-oil salesmen disguised as benevolent shepherds have been peddling the same misogynist pap for years and years where I'm from and points south, and it's just a much of a load of crap when he dresses it up to render it more hip for a more discerning Seattle flock as it has been elsewhere and elsewhen. I think that may be the only difference. Take the same old same old and add multimedia and other modern technology, make a big show of rejecting the old, slap the "emergent" label on it, act macho and swear a lot, and you've got a completely new Christianity, one with which the youngsters identify. First, we had guitar church, now we have hoodlum church. Fortunately, this all will just be a flash in the pan, for Mr. Driscoll's church appears to have peaked; it seems it has all been an extended power trip and now that he's struggling for control of his church, it's all going to come apart at the seams as his formerly faithful flock flees and tells all. It turns out that Mars Hill Church is really All About Mark, and much less about Jesus.

On another note, I watched the 20th Democratic debate last night, and I think it was pretty clear that Senator Obama "won". The man seems to be imperturbable. Senator Clinton scowls and looks angry whenever he makes a point she doesn't like or disagrees with; Senator Obama grins or looks genuinely concerned at same. I continue to be happy with my choice of whom to support.

For my final thought for Wednesday, I want to come back to the diet/weight thing that I posted about over a year ago and then neglected to update. I actually did pretty well with the program I put myself on until late fall/early winter and managed to lose 50 pounds before my commitment to the plan, and, ergo, the weight loss, tapered off. Over the winter I managed to gain 25 of that 50 pounds back. At first, I was dismayed, and ready to just give up on the whole notion. However,I am reminded that I'm still down 25 pounds which is better than where I was a year ago at this time. So, I'm reinvigorated and to celebrate such, I took the bus this morning and took my slightly-more-than-a-mile walk to work. Who knows, maybe I can be down another 50 by winter? In any case, that's the right direction, and I'm confident that I can plan for the coming winter and maybe not put quite so much back on.