A Prayer for Patience
I was always told patience is a virtue for which you should never, ever pray. “Don’t you dare start praying for patience,” the old church ladies would preach from beneath tightly wound hair-buns. “God will give it to you and Lord knows you do not want the sort of lessons that lead to patience. No, no, no, no! Never pray for patience! Don’t you ever, ever do it! You hear?!?” Read More »
A Barna Report on Technology in the Church
Barna has a new report on the use of technology in the church. Interesting numbers, to say the least. Barna also says the following:
The incorporation of digital technologies into church-based ministry is an important frontier for churches to master, according to George Barna, who directed these studies for The Barna Group over the course of the decade.
My only question, and I can’t help but to ask, how does all of this - especially the above quote - jive with all that Barna proclaimed in his controversial book “Pagan Christianity?” Seriously? Is technology and the mastery of technology rooted in the New Testament way of doing church? I do think the church should get a grip on technology and use it for the Kingdom of God, but Barna sure shouldn’t be thinking so, after what was written in “Pagan Christianity,” should he? Barna has seriously lost me somewhere along the line. I guess I’m asking what is the purpose and/or goal of his research and research reporting, post “Pagan Christianity.”
The New Evangelicalism and Restoring Eden
Evangelicalism is changing! It is taking Environmental stewardship seriously! Check out this self-proclaimed grassroots movement within the church called Restoring Eden: Christian for Environmental Stewardship.
Restoring Eden makes hearts bigger, hands dirtier, and voices stronger by encouraging Christians to learn to love, serve, and protect God’s creation. Restoring Eden is not a traditional ministry - we are less about membership and programs, and more about a conversation and a community that lives out the biblical mandate to “speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8) as advocates for natural habitats, wild species and indigenous subsistence cultures.
Restoring Eden’s mission to proclaim God’s love for creation includes a speaking tour that covers dozens of college campuses every year and an annual creation-care lobbying conference that lasts a week. Read More »
Why We’re Not Emergent by DeYoung and Kluck
I recently snagged a copy of DeYoung and Kluck’s Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be. I’ll be slowly reading it and offering chapter by chapter commentary. It looks like a good read.
Dinesh D’Souza Debates Christopher Hitchens
If you have not watched Dinesh D’Souza, speaker and author of New York Times Bestseller What’s So Great About Christianity, debate Christopher Hitchens on: Is Christianity the Problem?, you should! Also, be sure to visit dineshdsouza.com for more resources and a much-needed response to the new atheist offensive. Bonus: Check out his most recent AOL News articles titled Atheist Bashing Week (the last paragraph is sharp!) and Ben Stein Exposes Richard Dawkins.
Subversive Blogger Awards?
Look ya’ll, getting an award for being “subversive” is about as non-subversive as you can get. Seriously! I hate to be a wet blanket, and I do love ya’ll, and I’m honestly not a mean fellow, but this is just parody at this point, don’t you think? An award for being subversive? An award for being a “subversive blogger?” You are blogging! Seriously? Are you serious? How subversive can one be in their pajamas? This does the entire concept a bit of injustice, me thinks. C’mon, now! Think about it!
Note: Please forgive the many grammatical fragments in the above … I’m just unable to address this with complete thoughts. Carry on!
The Unchurched Prefer Sacred Spaces Over Common Spaces
The idea of sacred space is not lost on the unchurched, it seems. Recent research by Lifeway has revealed a surprising fact about our church buildings:
People who don’t go to church may be turned off by a recent trend toward more utilitarian church buildings. By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building.
The unchurched preference for medieval cathedrals over utilitarian or all-purpose church buildings should not be reduced to mere whims of architecture. The preference is rooted in unconsciously expressed theology and our deep need to worship and inhabit sacred spaces. Our contemporary multi-purpose, conference-like halls do not offer enough of a break from the world’s common spaces to facilitate the dance with the sacred we naturally look for during worship times. This research should not be ignored or hastily discarded.
Testing the Appropriation of Postmodern Epistemological Developments
Andrew publishes an awesome post/word regarding the emergent engagement of postmodernity (read it!):
I believe that Christians need to concentrate on being Christian and that far too often the emergent conversation works so hard to make “postmodern-conversant” people that it forgets that the goal of the church is to make Christian people who follow God’s spirit through the whims and follies of every changing scene, whether it be modernity, postmodernity, or whatever else comes our way. May the church today - in all its forms - have the faith to live through this blip on the cultural radar. May we simply do what the church has always been called to do - worship God, make disciples, care for the oppressed, and move beyond selfishness toward unity with God.
