Welcome, Tracy and Kevin, to the site. I'll let them do their own introductions in their first posts.

(No one else post a welcome, lol, just do it in the commenting system)
posted by S at 9:36 PM

 
As site admin, I hereby declare Norm's use of the phrase

"Now Go make me some Soccer Balls BITAAACH HA HA AHA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

pointless, and thus banned from use on this site. All past instances of it will be deleted, and it should not be used in the future. Thank you.
posted by S at 4:02 PM

 
Ladies and gents, I'm an insomniac. I'm dead tired now, but not a wink sleepy. This is Hell.
posted by S at 7:54 AM

 
I've been faced with some challenging issues again, and no it's not being called to have another look at the whole Paedo vs. Credo baptsim issue. I guess it started with having to read this obnoxious article for 1212 about the stages of faith which I basically completely disagreed with. Then we had to read the argument Loder made against it which I quite enjoyed. We then started discussing Fowler's views in Examined Life as well as Loder's response and Loder's own faith theory. I guess I liked Loder's theory because it resembled my own expieriance where as I couldn't relate to Fowler at all. This still wasn't what challenged me though, as much as my BIC teachers would like to think it did. The challenge was when Dr. Swanson asked, "Why study these faith theories?" We all had our own guesses as to why we were studying these, but none of the answers were really satisfying. The question still remained...Why? Why study faith theories? Why study Sociology? Why study Religion? Why go to Baylor? More importantly, why is it that I am here at Baylor studying faith theories of all things while there are people all over the world who will never have the opportunity to go to college? On the front page of the New York Times today there is an article about a 19 year old boy who was starved to near death by his adopted family. At 19 he only weighed 50 pounds, and his adopted parents were doing the same thing to 3 of his other adopted brothers while feeding their biological children. Why? To make matters worse, the family was heavily involved in their local church and seen as "loving." This clearly isn't love. One of the other boys, age 9, was no bigger than a 5 year old. The pastor of church made a comment about how much he liked to pray. Why is it that in all my privilage I take prayer for granted? Why? Lauren mentioned that this story about children starving in New Jersey made the front page of the New York Times, but there are so many millions suffering in Africa who die from the same thing or from AIDS or from one of the many civil wars that takes place on that contenent. Why is this rarely reported on in the newspaper? In Rhetoric we're reading Fredrick Douglas, and when you read about the things some of the slaves went through the question of "Why?" once again arises. The people then were so indoctrinated to treat people like animals and to think nothing of it. It makes me think of how if I were living then, I would have probably done the same. Why? It makes me think of a study done by this dude named Milgram that we learned about in Sociology. When one looks at these things, it is so easy to see how fallen, sick, and wicked humans are. We are by nature "children of wrath." My eyes have been opened to all the crap in the world since coming to college, mostly from being forced to read the newspaper everyday. I suppose I am no longer as nieve as I once was. However, being at Baylor has also shown me the degree to how trivialised our lives really are. We study faith theories as people suffer. Why? Why? Why? We have a whole class devoted entirely to studying ourselves. If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then how do I do that in a class that is all about me, my personality type, my faith theories? It is so freakin' frustraiting sometimes, to know that God is good and all things will work together for those who love Him, and see the suffering through green and gold colored glasses detached from suffering first hand. Clearly the good is not found here on earth, but in eternity. The biblical "faith theory" or Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what you hope for, and certain of things unseen." Obviously bad things happen to Christians, but hope must be found in what is not seen rather than in the externals of the world around me. This hymn comes to mind:

The Solid Rock
Edward Mote

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholy lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ, the solid Rock I stand--
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

God is so gracious to me. He gives me more than I need for my everyday needs and hymns such as this one to comfort me when I realize the overwhelming darkness of the wilderness around me. This is not my home, and true faith comes in the hope that their is more in Christ. The question of why is a humbling one when I realize how blessed I really am.
posted by Kacy at 3:24 PM

 
I'm actually making a literary appearance to comment on Josh's last post, as it's a subject near (and dear) to my heart.

Where, in this temporal (temporal means restrained to time, kiddies) universe, do most human beings spend their time? Many dwell in the past, either haunted by mistake or warmed by sentiment. Other choose the "future" realm, always preparing for "what is to come."

When Josh posted, one of his closing comments was a plea for us to "not live in the future, as it may never come."

I challenge you, however, to meditate on an even heavier prospect -- have you ever seen the future? Have you walked through it, travelled to it, or even for a split second lived in it? My friends, exam our predicament logically and you will find that the future never comes, as when it arrives, it becomes the present.

Live with, work with, and deal with what you have -- the present.
posted by S at 12:47 PM

 
Ladies and Gentlemen, you're not seeing things. We have Ben.

Time for a more personal expose. And by "personal" I mean "not philosophical."

I'm not antisocial. I just don't like playing pool up at Fast Freddy's. That is all, thank you.
posted by S at 2:50 PM

 
This week I have been reduced to a four letter type by the professors here who want to be able to label and classify people however they want in order to make themselves feel more comfortable. So what are these four letters? E.N.T.J. meaning Extroverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, and Judging. I am the last type in the bottom right hand sqaure on the type chart and described in unfavorable terms to portray me as a kind of bossy drill sergent among the other types. However, is this test considered conclusive? NO! Is it a final and real picture of who we are as humans? NO! Then why did I waste 30 precious mintutes of my life taking the test? *sigh*
posted by Kacy at 2:24 PM

 
We have liftoff

Well, with the final addition of Kacy and Hoss, the LFP roster is finally filled.

Oh yeah, happy birthday Josh. I hear the party was a killer sausage fest.
posted by S at 11:44 PM

 
Wow, I didn't realize that my single post would inspire a whole new blog. Just to set things sraight...I'm Presbyterian, not Baptist. I wish I could hang out at BAM with all of you more often, but alas I am going to school in Wacko. This blog is "the poo" so take a big wiff.
posted by Kacy at 11:02 PM

 
Just got a call from Amy. Her parents are giving me all of their old furniture. Regulars on my personal site know that I have a living room screaming for some couches.

In other words, in a few weeks Shem's house will be game for movie nights.

W00t. The rock is on.
posted by S at 1:31 PM

 
i joined this ... so here's my first post ...

my favorite favorite favorite band will be in Dallas in 2 days ... i'm super excited !!!!

check out their website The Matches

that's all for now

<3mandee
posted by Anonymous at 4:32 PM

 
I suppose it's my turn to crank something out for the site. Most notably, an explanation of exactly what and who this site is all about.

The term Longview's Finest Philosophers applies to a concentration of socially diverse individuals who came to know one another through interaction on the porch of a local (Longview, Texas) coffeehouse. This shop, located in the corner of a large conglomerate bookstore, has an outdoor patio holding five tables, nine chairs, and on any given night, five to ten of us.

Oddly enough, none of us coined the LFP name. It was an unnamed former Baptist girl, now a student at Baylor University, who first used the phrase on her private site five months ago (link leads to the actual post). Apparently, this young lady felt a need to sharpen her skills in Christian apologetics, and used our coffeehub as a test ground.

Anyhow, I digress. The full LFP roster hasn't been filled yet; I still see three other individuals who have not yet confirmed their membership on the blog. So yeah, welcome to the party.

Oh yeah, I installed our commenting system today. Comment away!
posted by S at 2:33 PM

 
Hello you beautiful peoplenoids. So, what about the weather? Hmm. Might have to drink warm latte' from Books to stay warm outside. How's this for a start... The environment. Driving across that bridge over that creek on Hwy 80, West of Spur 63, can anyone smell that smell !? That odor has been getting worse there by the month. You can smell it on certain days and on other days it's not noticeable. Anyone? Maybe I have a sensitive sense of smell but something's not right down there. Upstream from there, the same creek goes under Judson Rd close to Sitel and you can smell it there sometimes also. That creek is obviously foul, unfit and poison... POLLUTED. Who cares?
posted by Anonymous at 2:15 AM

 
Longview's Finest Philosophers v1.0

posted by S at 5:35 PM