Friday in the wild - Apr. 29, 2005

This week, Rebecca writes about, of all things, classic gas station design:

Even if you think you know no architects, you've still probably heard of this one. If you are up on architectural things, you may look at the photo of Bena's station and think it looks a bit like something designed by a certain famous 20th century architect, but you've read in all the books that the only gas station he ever designed is the one pictured on the right. Ignore the experts and go with your gut.

[Read Who Designed It?]

After a hiatus, Joe Carter has started posting in his "Know Your Evangelicals" series again. Number 30 covers the late Stanley Grenz, probably the theologian with the most influence on the "Emergent Church" movement. I have his Primer on Postmodernism and found it most helpful in trying to make sense of this philosophical phenomenon.

His blog is only a week out of drydock, but The Howling Coyote gets off a good one with this post on the immutability of God:

I think this is an important aspect of God which would be easy to miss if all we considered were his immutability and eternalness. God is a personal God. He interacts with his creation.

When men sin, God reacts in anger.

When men sin, God responds in judgment.

When men repent, God gives mercy.

When men pray God hears and answers prayer.

More than just that, God invites men to come, invites them to pray, makes conditional promises to them. If they meet a condition, he will respond to that.

But none of God's interaction with his creatures in time contradicts the fact that God knows all and has purposed and permitted all according to his eternal decrees.

[Read Does God Repent?]

Thanks to my little April Fool's gag (see here and here), as of this week I'm actually the #1 Google hit for Google Search: "creed of the alexandrian cult". Oh, the irony. No other really interesting searches brought people to the Crusty Curmudgeon this week, except that it looks like all the students have finished their papers on John Cheever's "The Swimmer" and moved on to Life of Pi.

Till next week: Enjoy.