David J. Cowpar's Blog, page 5
November 29, 2013
Ranking Every Episode of Buffy, ok my top and bottom 10.
Recently there was a thing floating around ranking every episode of Buffy ever.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman...
I decided to do a top 10, and why, and bottom 10.
Bottom Ten:
144. Beer Bad (4x05)
This is the stupidest episode of Buffy. Basically Buffy drinks magic beer and reverts to being the missing link in human evolution. Yeah, it's that bad. Also Xander (who is meant to be 18-19) is working in a bar in a country where you can't drink until you are 21, where Buffy who is the same age is served beer. Stupid episode.
143. Bad Eggs (2x12)
Eggs for a "look after the egg" class hatch and take over people to dig up a bigger one of the demons that come out of the eggs. There are also two random vampires who could of had a bigger part in the show but ended up being a waste of time.
142. Retile Boy (2x05)
Teenagers go to a frat party where the frat guys worship some demon snake that allows them to have lots of money. Buffy and Cordy end up being sacrifices to the snake guy. Buffy kills it in the end (and Xander gets kicked out of the party)
141. Where the Wild Things Are (4x18)
Buffy and Riley have sex a lot and a plant grows out of the room. Other weird things happen and can only stop when they stop. Really a stupid episode. The only reason it isn't at the bottom is the fact that the house the episode is set in was an old house for troubled girls and that's the reason everything is going badly.
140. The Pack (1x06)
Xander gets possessed by a hyena spirit, along with some others from the school, and they eat the school mascot (a pig) and then, without Xander, the principal.
139. Go Fish (2x20)
The swim team are given performance enhancing drugs which ends up causing them to become fish monsters (from the black lagoon). Then at the end they just swim away. They aren't healed or killed. I expected them to come back in some later season, that would have justified the episode, but they never did.
138. Band Candy (3x06)
This is my one major divergence from buzzfeed's list. They think this should be number 26. I hate this episode. Earshot, which harks back to it, is a much better episode (33 on buzz feed). The adults eat chocolate and act like kids, basically. It is only this high because Giles keeps encouraging Buffy to hit things, thinking that is the solution and Principal Synder is a loser as a teen, as expected.
137. I was Made to Love You (5x15)
This douche called Warren makes a sex robot because he was dumped. Then the girl comes back to him and he leaves the hopelessly devoted robot walking around looking for him until her batteries run out. Yawn. Only this high because it results in Robot Buffy and Spike trying to flirt and being thrown out a window.
136. Doublemeat Palace (6x12)
Buffy becomes a fastfood person and the nice old lady is a monster. It sucks... like McDonalds on TV.
135. The Killer in Me (7x13)
Willow kisses a girl and turns into the guy she killed in the previous season and almost reacts the murder that led her to murder. Amy (normally a rat) turns out to be a rat (in the she's a horrible person sense)
honorary mention:
134. Into the Woods (and the other Riley breakdown episodes)
The Riley story is tragic and this episode, where we learn that to feel alive he is being bitten by vampires and having his blood drank for cash, is the worst of that downward spiral. Buffy's life was too much for this good guy from Iowa, or wherever, and he becomes the worst of all the guys. Spike became a good guy for Buffy, Angel's good side is completely in love with Buffy but Riley becomes the darkest of the three of them. Then Buffy (after one of Xander's emotional speeches) runs after him to get him back because all Riley is doing is all her fault anyway. Stupid. Really glad he got away in the helicopter and came back married.
Top Ten:
10. Becoming (2x21 and 22)
This is another of those heart-wrenching but amazing finales of Buffy. Spike, the evil vampire, sides with Buffy against Angel the good vampire... Then, after a big fight, Buffy has to kill Angel, about ten seconds after he turns good again.
9. Restless (4x22):
This is Buffy gone crazy. It has four dreams caused by the events, or the aftermath of the events, of the previous episode. There is also a cheese man.
8. Graduation Day (3x21 and 22):
There is so much packed into the two-part Season 3 finale, it’s impossible to list all the great moments. To highlight a few: Buffy’s showdown with Faith, Angel drinking Buffy's blood, and all of Sunnydale High taking up arms against Mayor Wilkins. It’s a thrilling cap to Buffy’s high school era.
7. Tabula Rasa (6x08):
The one where they all forget who they are.
"You're Dawn."
"Or Umad"
"I know why Joan is the boss, I'm some kind of superhero."
"Joan look, I'm a superhero too."
"They want spikes."
Oh the good memories of not remembering.
6. Once More With Feeling (6x07):
The musical episode of Buffy, all singing, all dancing. So much fun.
5. The Body (5x16):
I think this is possibly one of the best episodes of TV EVER! It is a beautiful piece of TV with no music and so much emotion. Buffy deals with a natural death and can't do anything about it. So powerful because it makes her so powerless.
4. The Prom (3x:
This is the episode in which all of the Sunnydale High students recognise they have all been saved at least once in the last three years by Buffy and award her with the class protector umbrella. Moving moment in Buffy history. Giles comments on how sometimes people can surprise you in their capacity for good (or something) which the viewer just has to nod to
3. The Gift (5x22, 100):
The last episode of Season 5 (episode 100, the last on the WB) is one of the saddest episodes of Buffy, as opposed to the previous which is one of the happiest. Buffy dies, and even today it gets me every time.
2. Prophecy Girl (1x12, 12):
Shock horror that this is up here. This is the first episode I ever saw, when I was about 6-7. Buffy became the girl that could kill the monsters hiding in my wardrobe and under my bed. Despite her dying she gets up and kicks the Masters butt to dust.
1. Chosen (7x22, 144):
The series finale of Buffy where every girl who could be a Slayer becomes a slayer is definitely the best. Buffy went out with a bang, (all of Sunnydale was destroyed). The scenes with the first four (Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles) brought the series beautifully full circle.
Good ones that just didn't make the top 10:
Earshot (I have previously mentioned, it is genius). (3x18)Conversations with dead people. (7x07)The Weight of the World (another one I disagree with the buzz feed list on, they have it 110, I would have it around 20) (5x21)Hush (4x10)Killed by Death (BF 130, me about 15)Seeing Red (6x19)Villans (6x20)Two to Go (6x21)Grave (6x22)Fear, itself. (4x04)What's my line (2x09 and 10)This Year's Girl and Who are you? (4x15 and 16)Something Blue (4x09)The Wish (3x9)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman...
I decided to do a top 10, and why, and bottom 10.
Bottom Ten:
144. Beer Bad (4x05)
This is the stupidest episode of Buffy. Basically Buffy drinks magic beer and reverts to being the missing link in human evolution. Yeah, it's that bad. Also Xander (who is meant to be 18-19) is working in a bar in a country where you can't drink until you are 21, where Buffy who is the same age is served beer. Stupid episode.
143. Bad Eggs (2x12)
Eggs for a "look after the egg" class hatch and take over people to dig up a bigger one of the demons that come out of the eggs. There are also two random vampires who could of had a bigger part in the show but ended up being a waste of time.
142. Retile Boy (2x05)
Teenagers go to a frat party where the frat guys worship some demon snake that allows them to have lots of money. Buffy and Cordy end up being sacrifices to the snake guy. Buffy kills it in the end (and Xander gets kicked out of the party)
141. Where the Wild Things Are (4x18)
Buffy and Riley have sex a lot and a plant grows out of the room. Other weird things happen and can only stop when they stop. Really a stupid episode. The only reason it isn't at the bottom is the fact that the house the episode is set in was an old house for troubled girls and that's the reason everything is going badly.
140. The Pack (1x06)
Xander gets possessed by a hyena spirit, along with some others from the school, and they eat the school mascot (a pig) and then, without Xander, the principal.
139. Go Fish (2x20)
The swim team are given performance enhancing drugs which ends up causing them to become fish monsters (from the black lagoon). Then at the end they just swim away. They aren't healed or killed. I expected them to come back in some later season, that would have justified the episode, but they never did.
138. Band Candy (3x06)
This is my one major divergence from buzzfeed's list. They think this should be number 26. I hate this episode. Earshot, which harks back to it, is a much better episode (33 on buzz feed). The adults eat chocolate and act like kids, basically. It is only this high because Giles keeps encouraging Buffy to hit things, thinking that is the solution and Principal Synder is a loser as a teen, as expected.
137. I was Made to Love You (5x15)
This douche called Warren makes a sex robot because he was dumped. Then the girl comes back to him and he leaves the hopelessly devoted robot walking around looking for him until her batteries run out. Yawn. Only this high because it results in Robot Buffy and Spike trying to flirt and being thrown out a window.
136. Doublemeat Palace (6x12)
Buffy becomes a fastfood person and the nice old lady is a monster. It sucks... like McDonalds on TV.
135. The Killer in Me (7x13)
Willow kisses a girl and turns into the guy she killed in the previous season and almost reacts the murder that led her to murder. Amy (normally a rat) turns out to be a rat (in the she's a horrible person sense)
honorary mention:
134. Into the Woods (and the other Riley breakdown episodes)
The Riley story is tragic and this episode, where we learn that to feel alive he is being bitten by vampires and having his blood drank for cash, is the worst of that downward spiral. Buffy's life was too much for this good guy from Iowa, or wherever, and he becomes the worst of all the guys. Spike became a good guy for Buffy, Angel's good side is completely in love with Buffy but Riley becomes the darkest of the three of them. Then Buffy (after one of Xander's emotional speeches) runs after him to get him back because all Riley is doing is all her fault anyway. Stupid. Really glad he got away in the helicopter and came back married.
Top Ten:
10. Becoming (2x21 and 22)
This is another of those heart-wrenching but amazing finales of Buffy. Spike, the evil vampire, sides with Buffy against Angel the good vampire... Then, after a big fight, Buffy has to kill Angel, about ten seconds after he turns good again.
9. Restless (4x22):
This is Buffy gone crazy. It has four dreams caused by the events, or the aftermath of the events, of the previous episode. There is also a cheese man.
8. Graduation Day (3x21 and 22):
There is so much packed into the two-part Season 3 finale, it’s impossible to list all the great moments. To highlight a few: Buffy’s showdown with Faith, Angel drinking Buffy's blood, and all of Sunnydale High taking up arms against Mayor Wilkins. It’s a thrilling cap to Buffy’s high school era.
7. Tabula Rasa (6x08):
The one where they all forget who they are.
"You're Dawn."
"Or Umad"
"I know why Joan is the boss, I'm some kind of superhero."
"Joan look, I'm a superhero too."
"They want spikes."
Oh the good memories of not remembering.
6. Once More With Feeling (6x07):
The musical episode of Buffy, all singing, all dancing. So much fun.
5. The Body (5x16):
I think this is possibly one of the best episodes of TV EVER! It is a beautiful piece of TV with no music and so much emotion. Buffy deals with a natural death and can't do anything about it. So powerful because it makes her so powerless.
4. The Prom (3x:
This is the episode in which all of the Sunnydale High students recognise they have all been saved at least once in the last three years by Buffy and award her with the class protector umbrella. Moving moment in Buffy history. Giles comments on how sometimes people can surprise you in their capacity for good (or something) which the viewer just has to nod to
3. The Gift (5x22, 100):
The last episode of Season 5 (episode 100, the last on the WB) is one of the saddest episodes of Buffy, as opposed to the previous which is one of the happiest. Buffy dies, and even today it gets me every time.
2. Prophecy Girl (1x12, 12):
Shock horror that this is up here. This is the first episode I ever saw, when I was about 6-7. Buffy became the girl that could kill the monsters hiding in my wardrobe and under my bed. Despite her dying she gets up and kicks the Masters butt to dust.
1. Chosen (7x22, 144):
The series finale of Buffy where every girl who could be a Slayer becomes a slayer is definitely the best. Buffy went out with a bang, (all of Sunnydale was destroyed). The scenes with the first four (Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles) brought the series beautifully full circle.
Good ones that just didn't make the top 10:
Earshot (I have previously mentioned, it is genius). (3x18)Conversations with dead people. (7x07)The Weight of the World (another one I disagree with the buzz feed list on, they have it 110, I would have it around 20) (5x21)Hush (4x10)Killed by Death (BF 130, me about 15)Seeing Red (6x19)Villans (6x20)Two to Go (6x21)Grave (6x22)Fear, itself. (4x04)What's my line (2x09 and 10)This Year's Girl and Who are you? (4x15 and 16)Something Blue (4x09)The Wish (3x9)
November 17, 2013
ihbia: Medical Companies
I was thinking about what someone told me one day. That was: that medical companies have developed a cure for cancer that works so well the medicine isn't needed much and is really cheap to make. Because of this low cost in production and returns the companies won't even bother to make it: as there wouldn't be enough of a profit!
Now I do not know anything about the veracity of the above story, however, it got me thinking about the principle behind medical companies.
The main goal of a medical company is not to cure illnesses or make people better, it is to make a profit. That's a scary thought when you sit down and let it sink in. Sure some of the more serious things medical companies have developed drugs to cure but there are some other things, some discomfort issues, that maybe they have discovered a cure for but it is more profitable for them to not release it onto the market.
For example I was thinking about my own asthma. Every month I spend (and mine are the cheapest of the inhalers pretty much) around 60 Euro on my different inhalers in order to combat the discomfort my asthma brings me. Now I know that in 99% of circumstances that my form of asthma isn't all that life threatening, it is more a trouble breathing discomfort thing. Imagine that Ivax (who make my inhalers) developed a cure for my strand of asthma and it could be sold on the market at 100 Euro and you needed to take two doses of whatever it was to be completely cured. So instead of 60 times 12 (720 per year), the medical company gets 200 once and no more. That doesn't make any business sense for them! It is better for them to have me on my inhalers my entire life with them only doing a fraction of what may actually be possible so they do that to line their own pockets.
Going back to the cancer scenario. What if it is true? Then I believe any medical company that has that knowledge is committing a crime against humanity in not releasing the information to the public and making the drug available.
It is madness that a company in the business of developing ways to save lives is doing something counter to that. They should be forced to take a Hippocratic oath and face time in prison if the government appointed agency that watches over their dealings finds them to have broken it.
People can be so selfish...
Now I do not know anything about the veracity of the above story, however, it got me thinking about the principle behind medical companies.
The main goal of a medical company is not to cure illnesses or make people better, it is to make a profit. That's a scary thought when you sit down and let it sink in. Sure some of the more serious things medical companies have developed drugs to cure but there are some other things, some discomfort issues, that maybe they have discovered a cure for but it is more profitable for them to not release it onto the market.
For example I was thinking about my own asthma. Every month I spend (and mine are the cheapest of the inhalers pretty much) around 60 Euro on my different inhalers in order to combat the discomfort my asthma brings me. Now I know that in 99% of circumstances that my form of asthma isn't all that life threatening, it is more a trouble breathing discomfort thing. Imagine that Ivax (who make my inhalers) developed a cure for my strand of asthma and it could be sold on the market at 100 Euro and you needed to take two doses of whatever it was to be completely cured. So instead of 60 times 12 (720 per year), the medical company gets 200 once and no more. That doesn't make any business sense for them! It is better for them to have me on my inhalers my entire life with them only doing a fraction of what may actually be possible so they do that to line their own pockets.
Going back to the cancer scenario. What if it is true? Then I believe any medical company that has that knowledge is committing a crime against humanity in not releasing the information to the public and making the drug available.
It is madness that a company in the business of developing ways to save lives is doing something counter to that. They should be forced to take a Hippocratic oath and face time in prison if the government appointed agency that watches over their dealings finds them to have broken it.
People can be so selfish...
Ihbia: Christmas
Here within are my thoughts on the Christmas period, not necessarily the event that it all springs from (so not necessarily the important bit).
So, firstly what date is Christmas again? Is it sometime near Thanksgiving? I feel like it must be when they play Christmas music on the radio in late October and have Christmas goods available in Tesco before the Halloween ones even came out. (late August).
I love the Christmas period but I hate Christmas day. It's really anti-climatic I think.
I love the period because I can decorate the house all pretty and with lights and tinsel and decorations and lovely things that make me happy, and, like right now, I can listen to cheesy Christmas songs that I hate to love. I like buying presents for people, it's like an exercise in how well I know them. It's kind of exhilarating. I love making dinners for people and having a laugh together and all of that.
BUT I think we do Christmas Day completely wrong. Firstly, it is an unChristian notion that Christmas should be about your family. I'm sorry but if on the 11th of November (my birthday btw) you were to tell me "I can't come to your shindig because I need to spend time with my family" I would punch you. Probably not literally because I have punched like one person in my entire life and that was for an ironic reason I won't get into at this point. I think Christmas Day should be a big party... We should go to Church and STAY THERE, all day... Bring all the family, bring the friends, bring the grandkids, bring the neighbours, bring the homeless, bring everyone!
We can have music, we can have cake, we can have mince pies, we can ring bells, we can open presents as one HUGE family of God, we can all bring food we spent Christmas Eve cooking and eat together, we could have it in someone's house... we can do it all but in Jesus' presence.
When I was a kid I insisted, and so it is now a tradition in my house, that we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas Day before we ate dinner. I thought it was stupid when I was a teenager and hated it, imagine my embarrassment when mum told me it had been my idea!
Maybe I should do a glimpse into the Cowpar Christmas (and there is nothing I don't love about this, I just think it should be much less about us and much more about Jesus)
-Arise, 6:30-8:30am to open 'Santa' presents.
-9:00 breakfast, tea and get dressed.
-10:15 head to the Hall.
-10:45 Mince pies in Mallow Street.
-11:30 Leave the Hall.
-12:00 sometimes visit people.
-15:00 dinner.
-16/17:00 open non-Santa presents/
-19:00 Christmas soaps.
-21:00 Christmas game or movie.
What I presently love about Christmas:
-Decorating.
-Buying presents
-Giving presents.
-Making dinners.
-Smiles and love.
-Helping mum with stuff.
-Going to St. Mary's Cathedral for the first eucharist of Christmas on Christmas Eve-Christmas morning with dad (when he isn't working).
-Christmas day church.
-Doing actual things with the family... being together, playing a game or something that doesn't involve TV.
Bah Humbug ;)
So, firstly what date is Christmas again? Is it sometime near Thanksgiving? I feel like it must be when they play Christmas music on the radio in late October and have Christmas goods available in Tesco before the Halloween ones even came out. (late August).
I love the Christmas period but I hate Christmas day. It's really anti-climatic I think.
I love the period because I can decorate the house all pretty and with lights and tinsel and decorations and lovely things that make me happy, and, like right now, I can listen to cheesy Christmas songs that I hate to love. I like buying presents for people, it's like an exercise in how well I know them. It's kind of exhilarating. I love making dinners for people and having a laugh together and all of that.
BUT I think we do Christmas Day completely wrong. Firstly, it is an unChristian notion that Christmas should be about your family. I'm sorry but if on the 11th of November (my birthday btw) you were to tell me "I can't come to your shindig because I need to spend time with my family" I would punch you. Probably not literally because I have punched like one person in my entire life and that was for an ironic reason I won't get into at this point. I think Christmas Day should be a big party... We should go to Church and STAY THERE, all day... Bring all the family, bring the friends, bring the grandkids, bring the neighbours, bring the homeless, bring everyone!
We can have music, we can have cake, we can have mince pies, we can ring bells, we can open presents as one HUGE family of God, we can all bring food we spent Christmas Eve cooking and eat together, we could have it in someone's house... we can do it all but in Jesus' presence.
When I was a kid I insisted, and so it is now a tradition in my house, that we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas Day before we ate dinner. I thought it was stupid when I was a teenager and hated it, imagine my embarrassment when mum told me it had been my idea!
Maybe I should do a glimpse into the Cowpar Christmas (and there is nothing I don't love about this, I just think it should be much less about us and much more about Jesus)
-Arise, 6:30-8:30am to open 'Santa' presents.
-9:00 breakfast, tea and get dressed.
-10:15 head to the Hall.
-10:45 Mince pies in Mallow Street.
-11:30 Leave the Hall.
-12:00 sometimes visit people.
-15:00 dinner.
-16/17:00 open non-Santa presents/
-19:00 Christmas soaps.
-21:00 Christmas game or movie.
What I presently love about Christmas:
-Decorating.
-Buying presents
-Giving presents.
-Making dinners.
-Smiles and love.
-Helping mum with stuff.
-Going to St. Mary's Cathedral for the first eucharist of Christmas on Christmas Eve-Christmas morning with dad (when he isn't working).
-Christmas day church.
-Doing actual things with the family... being together, playing a game or something that doesn't involve TV.
Bah Humbug ;)
Ihbia: IBI
Hi,
My name is Wavey (David to some people, incorrectly Dave to others) and I am still alive.
I realise I haven't blogged in about a month, and I realise I still have to do my 'controversial' if not 'radical' post on Evangelism... I will at some point, don't worry... I need to use my thinking cap and it is presently in the wash or something.
This is a new series called 'I haven't blogged in ages' and so here is a blog about what I am doing... which is largely about IBI.
I presently have the joy of being a Masters student in IBI. The Masters in IBI is really weird, in terms of how you go to classes. I wish I could tell you about all the modules I am doing, but I am not doing all the modules.
The way IBI works it's MA is that you do ONE module a term. At the moment I am doing something like "Church and Mission in Contemporary Ireland", not sure if that is the exact title but you get the idea. In the module you do one week of classes at the start, that was back in August, and then a catch up class, that was last Tuesday at 6.
The rest of term has been spent on reading for an essay and a personal growth essay thing. The essay is about how the problem in Ireland isn't that spirituality is gone but that the interest in the Church as a means to express that spirituality is gone.
Basically it is looking at how the church is modern and people are post-modern. The more I look into it the more disillusioned I am by the Church... which is kinda depressing because I loved it and thought it very important to Christianity and Christian walks once upon a time... now it seems like it is past its sell by date and spends half its time street preaching and the other half sinning and judging others while, every now again, having time to call people that call for reform heretics. God save us! That's not to say that any particular Church does this, or that I am saying that all Churches do... It's just the impression from some of the literature.
Having said that, there is hope. New churches that rethink how we do things, that want to reach this generation are starting which is awesome.
In IBI recently I heard a relatively new Church in Limerick has almost reached 100 members now. Praise God, that is so amazing and they are obviously doing things right when almost half of those are from unchurched backgrounds.
I think I want to look more into this postmodern thing. See if I can find my hope for the church again...
I think my thesis will be on "Why are young people leaving the Church and what can the Church do to draw them back?"
I can't wait for next term, when I will do Pastoral Care #2 and be able to be up every Wednesday.
IBI has some really cool people in it. There is a guy from Cavan called Craig who is a Church of Ireland Rev. (bishop more like). He oversees a number of Churches. He is such a legend. He is one of my favourite Church leaders and Christ shines out of him. Meeting people like him make all the hardness worth things :)
Okay, enough about IBI... I wanna talk about Christmas.
ask.fm/wavey1111
My name is Wavey (David to some people, incorrectly Dave to others) and I am still alive.
I realise I haven't blogged in about a month, and I realise I still have to do my 'controversial' if not 'radical' post on Evangelism... I will at some point, don't worry... I need to use my thinking cap and it is presently in the wash or something.
This is a new series called 'I haven't blogged in ages' and so here is a blog about what I am doing... which is largely about IBI.
I presently have the joy of being a Masters student in IBI. The Masters in IBI is really weird, in terms of how you go to classes. I wish I could tell you about all the modules I am doing, but I am not doing all the modules.
The way IBI works it's MA is that you do ONE module a term. At the moment I am doing something like "Church and Mission in Contemporary Ireland", not sure if that is the exact title but you get the idea. In the module you do one week of classes at the start, that was back in August, and then a catch up class, that was last Tuesday at 6.
The rest of term has been spent on reading for an essay and a personal growth essay thing. The essay is about how the problem in Ireland isn't that spirituality is gone but that the interest in the Church as a means to express that spirituality is gone.
Basically it is looking at how the church is modern and people are post-modern. The more I look into it the more disillusioned I am by the Church... which is kinda depressing because I loved it and thought it very important to Christianity and Christian walks once upon a time... now it seems like it is past its sell by date and spends half its time street preaching and the other half sinning and judging others while, every now again, having time to call people that call for reform heretics. God save us! That's not to say that any particular Church does this, or that I am saying that all Churches do... It's just the impression from some of the literature.
Having said that, there is hope. New churches that rethink how we do things, that want to reach this generation are starting which is awesome.
In IBI recently I heard a relatively new Church in Limerick has almost reached 100 members now. Praise God, that is so amazing and they are obviously doing things right when almost half of those are from unchurched backgrounds.
I think I want to look more into this postmodern thing. See if I can find my hope for the church again...
I think my thesis will be on "Why are young people leaving the Church and what can the Church do to draw them back?"
I can't wait for next term, when I will do Pastoral Care #2 and be able to be up every Wednesday.
IBI has some really cool people in it. There is a guy from Cavan called Craig who is a Church of Ireland Rev. (bishop more like). He oversees a number of Churches. He is such a legend. He is one of my favourite Church leaders and Christ shines out of him. Meeting people like him make all the hardness worth things :)
Okay, enough about IBI... I wanna talk about Christmas.
ask.fm/wavey1111
October 28, 2013
TotD: What is the Church 2
This blog follows on from "TotD: What is the Church?" To summarise we are living in a post-Christian, or rapidly changing Ireland. Across the Western World churches are seeing a drop in attendance from young people, and few from unchurched backgrounds attending in the first place. This should raise some serious concerns for us as the church living in the Twenty-First Century.
These thoughts are based on readings for a module in college and are not yet fully formed in my mind, or in many of the Christians that think them through theoretically or practically, yet. They are intended as thinking points that I have come across and people don't seem to think about a lot. I also believe that they are vital things to think about as the Church.
- The Biblical definition of a Church:
A lot of the time I keep hearing it said that a church is a mixed group of people, of varying ages and social classes and with a recognised, long term leader.
Although you can find qualifications for elders and deacons in 1 Timothy and Titus, and mentions of pastors, elders, deacons, deaconesses and other church leaders can be found elsewhere in the Bible, none of these are ever mentioned as being a definition of a Church, or what a church is.
Every time a church is mentioned in the Bible it is mentioned as a group of believers. Even the Greek word means 'ekklesia' means 'assembly' or, as Thayer's Greek Lexicon puts it, 'a gathering of people called out of their homes to meet together.'
i.e. "Where two or three are gathered in My Name I am there with them." -Jesus, in Matthew 18:20 (my paraphrase, or a translation in my head)
Everything else we have added are things we have added. The need for a pastor, although good and biblical, is not a requirement, or the Brethren movement would not be a Church, they have no pastors. In other places the pastors can change regularly, Paul was considered the leader of churches despite the fact that he was not often at those churches physically. If you look historically at some of the first century churches they did not have a mix of social statuses present, some were all lower class and some were all higher class. These would be disqualified by the modern Evangelical definition of a church.
Often people harp back to the New Testament looking for evidence of what the church should look like, outside of being a group of people who are in love with Jesus and consequentially love one another and others outside of their community, there is no set vision of the church in the Bible. There is no passage in Scripture that says "when you meet together this is exactly what you should do."
Often Protestant Christians give out about the amount of tradition (/Tradition) that the Roman Catholic Church has added to the Bible. What Protestant denominations don't realise is that they add traditions to the teachings of the Bible as well. The doctrine of the church, and how it should be run, is (though undoubtedly based on scripture) stuff we have added.
Those other qualifications for a church to be a church are based on scripture, and there find their origins, but they are additions, or interpretations. Therefore, a Church is simply a gathering of people who believe in Jesus and love Him, and are gathered in His name (in some senses this can negate the actual church-iness of what people on earth claim is a church). A Church is not a building, a product, a place, or anything else you might want to call it. It is simply a gathering of people, together in Jesus' name.
- Evidence of what a Church was like in 150 according to Justin Martyr.
Justin Martyr is an early Christian apologist who lived from about 100AD to 165AD. The Catholic Church claim him as one of their saints but he is pre-Catholic (of course).
He is one of the earliest sources, outside of the Book of Acts and the epistles, of what the Church looked like in the post-Jesus-on-earth world (sometimes called AD). He speaks of Baptism, transubstantiation in the Eucharist, and then speaks of what Sunday is like. I will quote this in full:
"CHAPTER LXVII -- WEEKLY WORSHIP OF THE CHRIST-IANS.
And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration."Taken from 'The First Apology of Justin, Chapter 67, found at http://earlychristianwritings.com/tex..., accessed 16-10-2013.
From Justin's writings we can see what it meant to be part of the Church in the second century. There was a time of meeting, as long as time permitted on a Sunday, reading from Scripture occurred and there was teaching and exhortation, there was breaking of bread, money donated and used to feed the widows and orphans of the congregation.
Again there is nothing here to suggest that the way we run Church in the 21st Century is 2000 years old. In fact, they went on for as long as time allowed, not the 30min-120min services we are familiar with.
-What the Church looks like today:
Today our churches are very different from those that came before. Going to church is such a timed affair in the 21st century. It is almost as if we can only give 90 minutes on a Sunday to God, and then we have to leave and get back to our lives until the next Sunday (or maybe another 90 minutes mid-week). I hear stories of Churches in Africa and China where Church starts at 7 (I would honestly hate that) and ends when the sun sets. To most people 12 or so hours of Church sounds like the closest thing on earth to Hell. That shouldn't be the case. This is what we should want to do. We are the Church, we should want to be the Church, spend time ministering to one another's needs and worshipping our God and reaching out to bring other people into the most wonderful (at least ideologically) family on earth.
I would love to spend some time giving out about having stages, thrones, pews, high altars and pulpits, closed off sanctuaries, etc etc. but that is not really the point, and in some Church buildings those things are a blessing.
Instead I will talk a little about the Church and politics, and then the Church and consumerism.
Politics:
Jesus gave us the command that leaders in the Christian world should not lord it over others. However, since the Catholic Church crowned its first King in c800AD the Church has been lording it over everyone. Now, I am unsure as to what I think about Church involvement in politics, I do vote, I am a registered member of a party etc. but I think that pushing Christian ideals on an unChristian world is not really the best approach to showing the Church as a loving community that welcomes sinners. What I do know is that the position the Church found itself in from the year 800-1900 was not good. The Church became unloving, pompous, selfish, vain, power hungry, murderous, corrupt and other such things that are so contrary to Jesus' vision of His community of followers on earth.
Consumerism:
I think that Christianity in this century (and the last) has largely bought into the idea of consumerism. This is a generalisation of the Church and might not be what yours looks like. We wear Christian brands to show ourselves as different from the world (not the fruits of the Spirit). People pick and choose a church based on the same principles they would choose a type of cheese in Tesco. We devote a slice of the pie that is our entire lives to the Church, while the rest of the pie is for other things.
Christianity has become a thing, not a way of life, not a life altering decision, not something we are persecuted for but something we wear. There is very little commitment to Christ in that kind of Church.
We need to think about this seriously, because it is certainly a serious issue.
-What post-Christians are looking for:
This is a hard topic to address. What exactly will draw the post-Christian person back to the Church.
One of these things is the old faithful authenticity. In the world today there is a lot of fraud and lies and cover ups, etc. The postmodern world is crying out for something genuine and real. The problem with the church as it exists today (again generalisations) is that we have a lot of 'Sunday Christians'. I have heard it said that "if Jesus comes back on a Sunday between 11 and 1 we'll all be fine."
This is humorous, a little insulting maybe, but it makes a good point. Consumer Christianity has bred Sunday Christians. These, if you don't know, are people who come to Church and wear a 'I'm a good Christian' mask while there. When they are not in Church, however, they barely give God/Jesus a thought. They may as well be any other non-Christian on the street, because that is the amount of difference they are making to God's Kingdom (nothing).
Secularisation was widely accepted in the post-Enlightenment (modern) period as a good idea, and as progress for the human race. In the US and the UK, after a generation of secularism (which we have largely not experienced here in Ireland) people are beginning to reject the idea that a person can be whole without developing their spiritual side. This is important for the Church because "there is an element of Christianity which is spiritual" (this quote is sarcasm, Christianity is all spiritual). The Church has something to offer here, and needs to be prepared to offer a contemplative, meditative view of Christianity not just things like Christian Persuaders and apologetics (these have their place, undoubtedly, but we need to look beyond them and see what else we can use to reach people).
-How can we change?
I apologise if you see this as judgemental of the Church that exists in Ireland today, but I believe it is true that we need to adapt and change if we are going to continue being missional and bringing people to a knowledge of Jesus.
One thing I think is important to change is our concept on what is and what isn't a Christian. We often have very strict ideas about people having to have datable, and timable, conversion experiences. They need to have said a prayer and that gets them in. We need to realise that this method of bringing people to Jesus is seriously flawed. Anyone can say a prayer, it means nothing to (I would argue) the vast majority of people who have said it. We need to shift to seeing people as disciples of Jesus, not people to convert. Discipleship is what Jesus calls for in the Bible and, in some sense, discipleship begins before conversion.
Someone can be learning about Jesus and God, and understanding applications of this to their lives, before they ever understand who Jesus truly is.
I wonder is someone who has huge doubts about Jesus but believes, deep down, that He is God and is trying to overcome their doubts to be able to fully believe, in a better position than someone who, in some Evangelistic meeting or another, said a prayer and maybe believed there and then, for ten seconds, or maybe they were swept up in the moment. Now, anyway, it was just a moment that means little. Who is better off, the doubter who kind of believes but kind of doesn't or the person who we outreached to and 'led to the Lord' using the sinner's prayer?
I certainly hope you didn't read that and think person B, but if you did, that's exactly the problem we need to face as a Church, these ideas we have added to the Bible.
This blog seems very unfinished, because it is filled with ideas and thoughts that have not yet reached their fullness. I hope you can see past anything that hits you as judgemental and see the heart of the issue, being that the Church needs to adapt to reach people in the now, and the future, or we will watch it die out.
in A anim agus A chuid seribhis,
Wavey ~
ask.fm/Wavey1111- if you want to ask a question, or make an anonymous statement for me to read.
These thoughts are based on readings for a module in college and are not yet fully formed in my mind, or in many of the Christians that think them through theoretically or practically, yet. They are intended as thinking points that I have come across and people don't seem to think about a lot. I also believe that they are vital things to think about as the Church.
- The Biblical definition of a Church:
A lot of the time I keep hearing it said that a church is a mixed group of people, of varying ages and social classes and with a recognised, long term leader.
Although you can find qualifications for elders and deacons in 1 Timothy and Titus, and mentions of pastors, elders, deacons, deaconesses and other church leaders can be found elsewhere in the Bible, none of these are ever mentioned as being a definition of a Church, or what a church is.
Every time a church is mentioned in the Bible it is mentioned as a group of believers. Even the Greek word means 'ekklesia' means 'assembly' or, as Thayer's Greek Lexicon puts it, 'a gathering of people called out of their homes to meet together.'
i.e. "Where two or three are gathered in My Name I am there with them." -Jesus, in Matthew 18:20 (my paraphrase, or a translation in my head)
Everything else we have added are things we have added. The need for a pastor, although good and biblical, is not a requirement, or the Brethren movement would not be a Church, they have no pastors. In other places the pastors can change regularly, Paul was considered the leader of churches despite the fact that he was not often at those churches physically. If you look historically at some of the first century churches they did not have a mix of social statuses present, some were all lower class and some were all higher class. These would be disqualified by the modern Evangelical definition of a church.
Often people harp back to the New Testament looking for evidence of what the church should look like, outside of being a group of people who are in love with Jesus and consequentially love one another and others outside of their community, there is no set vision of the church in the Bible. There is no passage in Scripture that says "when you meet together this is exactly what you should do."
Often Protestant Christians give out about the amount of tradition (/Tradition) that the Roman Catholic Church has added to the Bible. What Protestant denominations don't realise is that they add traditions to the teachings of the Bible as well. The doctrine of the church, and how it should be run, is (though undoubtedly based on scripture) stuff we have added.
Those other qualifications for a church to be a church are based on scripture, and there find their origins, but they are additions, or interpretations. Therefore, a Church is simply a gathering of people who believe in Jesus and love Him, and are gathered in His name (in some senses this can negate the actual church-iness of what people on earth claim is a church). A Church is not a building, a product, a place, or anything else you might want to call it. It is simply a gathering of people, together in Jesus' name.
- Evidence of what a Church was like in 150 according to Justin Martyr.
Justin Martyr is an early Christian apologist who lived from about 100AD to 165AD. The Catholic Church claim him as one of their saints but he is pre-Catholic (of course).
He is one of the earliest sources, outside of the Book of Acts and the epistles, of what the Church looked like in the post-Jesus-on-earth world (sometimes called AD). He speaks of Baptism, transubstantiation in the Eucharist, and then speaks of what Sunday is like. I will quote this in full:
"CHAPTER LXVII -- WEEKLY WORSHIP OF THE CHRIST-IANS.
And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration."Taken from 'The First Apology of Justin, Chapter 67, found at http://earlychristianwritings.com/tex..., accessed 16-10-2013.
From Justin's writings we can see what it meant to be part of the Church in the second century. There was a time of meeting, as long as time permitted on a Sunday, reading from Scripture occurred and there was teaching and exhortation, there was breaking of bread, money donated and used to feed the widows and orphans of the congregation.
Again there is nothing here to suggest that the way we run Church in the 21st Century is 2000 years old. In fact, they went on for as long as time allowed, not the 30min-120min services we are familiar with.
-What the Church looks like today:
Today our churches are very different from those that came before. Going to church is such a timed affair in the 21st century. It is almost as if we can only give 90 minutes on a Sunday to God, and then we have to leave and get back to our lives until the next Sunday (or maybe another 90 minutes mid-week). I hear stories of Churches in Africa and China where Church starts at 7 (I would honestly hate that) and ends when the sun sets. To most people 12 or so hours of Church sounds like the closest thing on earth to Hell. That shouldn't be the case. This is what we should want to do. We are the Church, we should want to be the Church, spend time ministering to one another's needs and worshipping our God and reaching out to bring other people into the most wonderful (at least ideologically) family on earth.
I would love to spend some time giving out about having stages, thrones, pews, high altars and pulpits, closed off sanctuaries, etc etc. but that is not really the point, and in some Church buildings those things are a blessing.
Instead I will talk a little about the Church and politics, and then the Church and consumerism.
Politics:
Jesus gave us the command that leaders in the Christian world should not lord it over others. However, since the Catholic Church crowned its first King in c800AD the Church has been lording it over everyone. Now, I am unsure as to what I think about Church involvement in politics, I do vote, I am a registered member of a party etc. but I think that pushing Christian ideals on an unChristian world is not really the best approach to showing the Church as a loving community that welcomes sinners. What I do know is that the position the Church found itself in from the year 800-1900 was not good. The Church became unloving, pompous, selfish, vain, power hungry, murderous, corrupt and other such things that are so contrary to Jesus' vision of His community of followers on earth.
Consumerism:
I think that Christianity in this century (and the last) has largely bought into the idea of consumerism. This is a generalisation of the Church and might not be what yours looks like. We wear Christian brands to show ourselves as different from the world (not the fruits of the Spirit). People pick and choose a church based on the same principles they would choose a type of cheese in Tesco. We devote a slice of the pie that is our entire lives to the Church, while the rest of the pie is for other things.
Christianity has become a thing, not a way of life, not a life altering decision, not something we are persecuted for but something we wear. There is very little commitment to Christ in that kind of Church.
We need to think about this seriously, because it is certainly a serious issue.
-What post-Christians are looking for:
This is a hard topic to address. What exactly will draw the post-Christian person back to the Church.
One of these things is the old faithful authenticity. In the world today there is a lot of fraud and lies and cover ups, etc. The postmodern world is crying out for something genuine and real. The problem with the church as it exists today (again generalisations) is that we have a lot of 'Sunday Christians'. I have heard it said that "if Jesus comes back on a Sunday between 11 and 1 we'll all be fine."
This is humorous, a little insulting maybe, but it makes a good point. Consumer Christianity has bred Sunday Christians. These, if you don't know, are people who come to Church and wear a 'I'm a good Christian' mask while there. When they are not in Church, however, they barely give God/Jesus a thought. They may as well be any other non-Christian on the street, because that is the amount of difference they are making to God's Kingdom (nothing).
Secularisation was widely accepted in the post-Enlightenment (modern) period as a good idea, and as progress for the human race. In the US and the UK, after a generation of secularism (which we have largely not experienced here in Ireland) people are beginning to reject the idea that a person can be whole without developing their spiritual side. This is important for the Church because "there is an element of Christianity which is spiritual" (this quote is sarcasm, Christianity is all spiritual). The Church has something to offer here, and needs to be prepared to offer a contemplative, meditative view of Christianity not just things like Christian Persuaders and apologetics (these have their place, undoubtedly, but we need to look beyond them and see what else we can use to reach people).
-How can we change?
I apologise if you see this as judgemental of the Church that exists in Ireland today, but I believe it is true that we need to adapt and change if we are going to continue being missional and bringing people to a knowledge of Jesus.
One thing I think is important to change is our concept on what is and what isn't a Christian. We often have very strict ideas about people having to have datable, and timable, conversion experiences. They need to have said a prayer and that gets them in. We need to realise that this method of bringing people to Jesus is seriously flawed. Anyone can say a prayer, it means nothing to (I would argue) the vast majority of people who have said it. We need to shift to seeing people as disciples of Jesus, not people to convert. Discipleship is what Jesus calls for in the Bible and, in some sense, discipleship begins before conversion.
Someone can be learning about Jesus and God, and understanding applications of this to their lives, before they ever understand who Jesus truly is.
I wonder is someone who has huge doubts about Jesus but believes, deep down, that He is God and is trying to overcome their doubts to be able to fully believe, in a better position than someone who, in some Evangelistic meeting or another, said a prayer and maybe believed there and then, for ten seconds, or maybe they were swept up in the moment. Now, anyway, it was just a moment that means little. Who is better off, the doubter who kind of believes but kind of doesn't or the person who we outreached to and 'led to the Lord' using the sinner's prayer?
I certainly hope you didn't read that and think person B, but if you did, that's exactly the problem we need to face as a Church, these ideas we have added to the Bible.
This blog seems very unfinished, because it is filled with ideas and thoughts that have not yet reached their fullness. I hope you can see past anything that hits you as judgemental and see the heart of the issue, being that the Church needs to adapt to reach people in the now, and the future, or we will watch it die out.
in A anim agus A chuid seribhis,
Wavey ~
ask.fm/Wavey1111- if you want to ask a question, or make an anonymous statement for me to read.
