For those of us ego-maniacs, here's a Flikr for preachers.
Via
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Why are young adults not finding their faith in their parents church?
These families share something in common: their young adult kids are not easily finding their places in the church of their parents. The problem is widespread. I have been in two groups of pastors lately where someone asked how many of our post-high-school kids were actively involved in the church. No pastor in either group had a majority of his kids involved in the church; most had no kids actively involved
Read the whole thing here.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
The Water's Edge
Here's a new blog by a buddy of mine. Check it out. Bookmark it. Do whatever you want to do with it.
Here's an except:
After seeing Al Gore’s Doomsday Scenario I’ve been hording canned beans and bottled water. I’ve been riding my bike and shooting deadly glares at SUV drivers.
Is Kyoto the way to help bring the earth back to normal temperatures? Maybe. But it’s better than doing nothing. Or denying that there is a problem.
(the whole article here)
Here's an except:
After seeing Al Gore’s Doomsday Scenario I’ve been hording canned beans and bottled water. I’ve been riding my bike and shooting deadly glares at SUV drivers.
Is Kyoto the way to help bring the earth back to normal temperatures? Maybe. But it’s better than doing nothing. Or denying that there is a problem.
(the whole article here)
The Bible
I’ve been reading – actually listening to (I picked up the audiobook) – Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christian where he outlines, in story form, our culture’s shift from Modernity to Post-Modernity.
He makes some compelling arguments. But I couldn’t help by think to myself as I listened, “Been there. Done that.”
Much of what McLaren describes as “postmodern” is actually good, orthodox, historic Protestantism.
For example, take the bible. McLaren suggests that Christians have been reading the bible like a textbook (which is true for many), a systematic outlay of good, godly, moral behaviour, and as a formula for finding salvation.
But the historic (aka “mainline”) churches have never read the bible that way. As I was taught in seminary: the bible doesn’t give us information about God. It proclaims God’s activity in the world. Scripture doesn’t tell us anything about Jesus, it announces Jesus as saviour. The bible preaches Christ.
I guess I don’t have the same Modernist baggage that many of my evangelical friends have. My brand of Lutheranism has never – for the most part, there are exceptions to every rule – fallen victim to fundamentalism. We’ve never said that the bible is inerrant or infallible. At least not in the way that many evangelicals say it is.
My father-in-law, a New Testament scholar, said that the bible isn’t historically, or factually infallible. But the bible is doctrinally infallible. I still don’t know what that means, especially since there are many differing doctrines within scripture. Which is why we have so many differing denomination, or even factions within churches.
Martin Luther said that the bible is like a “wax nose” that can be twisted in any way a person wants. There’s great wisdom in that. We all have, as, again, Luther puts, it, a “canon within a canon.” Everyone sees some passages as more important than others. Lutheran theology places Paul’s letters, specifically the doctrine of justification, as the key to interpreting scripture.
Mennonites, on the other hand, emphasize the ethical demands of the Sermon on the Mount as the centerpiece of their faith.
For Calvinists, it's Paul’s doctrine of election.
I would contend that NO ONE reads the bible literally. Some passages, yes. But most, they do not. For example, I’ll bet someone a month’s salary that most North American Christians own two coats, despite the CLEAR teaching of scripture.
That’s why it sticks in my craw when some folks condemn others for ignoring biblical teaching, when everyone has passages that they deem more authoritative than others.
I think the bible asks us to open up our imagination to God’s workings in the world. The bible is weird little stories, rugged poetry, moral aphorisms, personal correspondence. It is not for the faint of heart, for it can burn you with its heat.
Do I read the bible literally? No. I take the bible much more seriously than that. I read it not as newspaper accounts, or moral instruction, or even for spiritual enlightenment. I read the bible to find Christ - crucified, risen, and ascended – and in him I find newness of life, today and into eternity.
That’s why I read the bible.
He makes some compelling arguments. But I couldn’t help by think to myself as I listened, “Been there. Done that.”
Much of what McLaren describes as “postmodern” is actually good, orthodox, historic Protestantism.
For example, take the bible. McLaren suggests that Christians have been reading the bible like a textbook (which is true for many), a systematic outlay of good, godly, moral behaviour, and as a formula for finding salvation.
But the historic (aka “mainline”) churches have never read the bible that way. As I was taught in seminary: the bible doesn’t give us information about God. It proclaims God’s activity in the world. Scripture doesn’t tell us anything about Jesus, it announces Jesus as saviour. The bible preaches Christ.
I guess I don’t have the same Modernist baggage that many of my evangelical friends have. My brand of Lutheranism has never – for the most part, there are exceptions to every rule – fallen victim to fundamentalism. We’ve never said that the bible is inerrant or infallible. At least not in the way that many evangelicals say it is.
My father-in-law, a New Testament scholar, said that the bible isn’t historically, or factually infallible. But the bible is doctrinally infallible. I still don’t know what that means, especially since there are many differing doctrines within scripture. Which is why we have so many differing denomination, or even factions within churches.
Martin Luther said that the bible is like a “wax nose” that can be twisted in any way a person wants. There’s great wisdom in that. We all have, as, again, Luther puts, it, a “canon within a canon.” Everyone sees some passages as more important than others. Lutheran theology places Paul’s letters, specifically the doctrine of justification, as the key to interpreting scripture.
Mennonites, on the other hand, emphasize the ethical demands of the Sermon on the Mount as the centerpiece of their faith.
For Calvinists, it's Paul’s doctrine of election.
I would contend that NO ONE reads the bible literally. Some passages, yes. But most, they do not. For example, I’ll bet someone a month’s salary that most North American Christians own two coats, despite the CLEAR teaching of scripture.
That’s why it sticks in my craw when some folks condemn others for ignoring biblical teaching, when everyone has passages that they deem more authoritative than others.
I think the bible asks us to open up our imagination to God’s workings in the world. The bible is weird little stories, rugged poetry, moral aphorisms, personal correspondence. It is not for the faint of heart, for it can burn you with its heat.
Do I read the bible literally? No. I take the bible much more seriously than that. I read it not as newspaper accounts, or moral instruction, or even for spiritual enlightenment. I read the bible to find Christ - crucified, risen, and ascended – and in him I find newness of life, today and into eternity.
That’s why I read the bible.
A day to remember
We sent out oldest child off to kindergarten today. It went a lot easier than I expected.
But I think I need to re-stock my Kleenex stash.
But I think I need to re-stock my Kleenex stash.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Children's Sermon: Pentecost 13 - Year B - "Reggie"
“C’mon Reggie time for dinner! Go wash your hands, please,” shouted his dad over the din of the TV.
“When this show is over!” said Reggie.
“No, now, please,” said his dad.
Reggie sighed then turned off the TV. He pushed his Reggie-sized stool into the bathroom and placed it in front of the sink. He climbed on top of the stool and stretched out his arms to reach the taps.
A few minutes later he was ready to sit at the table.
He sat down next to his brother, Steve.
“Where’s mom?” Reggie asked.
“She should be home soon, she had to pick up some paint on the way home from work,” said his dad.
As if one cue, the door opened and their mom came in carrying three buckets of Banana Cream paint that she was going use on their bedroom.
“Just in time mommy! We’re already at the table to eat!” shouted Reggie.
“Mmmm…smells yummy! I’ll be right there!” his mom shouted back.
After putting down the paint and hanging up her coat, she came to the table and sat down.
“Okay,” she said, “let’s pray.”
“But you didn’t wash your hands, mommy!” shouted Reggie.
“I know, dear. I was in a hurry,” replied his mom.
“But that’s the rule. We have to wash our hands before we pray!”
“I know, but it will take too long, and don’t you want to eat? I’ll wash them after we pray.”
“No, you have to wash them BEFORE we pray,” said Reggie. “That’s the rule.”
“Reggie, I know that’s the rule, but we don’t have rules for the sake of rules. Your dad and I said that hands were to be washed before we pray so we don’t have a lot of running around before dinner.”
Reggie stared at his mom. His eyebrows scrunched.
“Remember in Sunday’s bible reading, where some of the religious leaders were giving Jesus a hard time for not washing his hands?”
“Yeah,” said Reggie. “They were mad because they were supposed to wash before eating, to get all the dirt and junk off their hands.”
“Well, the religious leaders didn’t really care about how clean the disciples were, like I know you were. They only cared that people followed the rules. And when people didn’t do what they thought was right, they got really mad.”
“So we only obey rules when we feel like it?” Steve asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Their mom laughed.
“Not quite,” she said. “It means that rules are there to help us, not to hurt us. But it also means that being a Christian is not a bunch of ‘do’s and don’ts’. Being a Christian is about being loved by God, even when we sometimes break the rules. Now, after we pray, I’ll go wash my hands, okay?”
“Okay,” said Reggie.
Then they said a pray like this as we do now: Dear God, thank you that you love us even when we break the rules. Amen.
“When this show is over!” said Reggie.
“No, now, please,” said his dad.
Reggie sighed then turned off the TV. He pushed his Reggie-sized stool into the bathroom and placed it in front of the sink. He climbed on top of the stool and stretched out his arms to reach the taps.
A few minutes later he was ready to sit at the table.
He sat down next to his brother, Steve.
“Where’s mom?” Reggie asked.
“She should be home soon, she had to pick up some paint on the way home from work,” said his dad.
As if one cue, the door opened and their mom came in carrying three buckets of Banana Cream paint that she was going use on their bedroom.
“Just in time mommy! We’re already at the table to eat!” shouted Reggie.
“Mmmm…smells yummy! I’ll be right there!” his mom shouted back.
After putting down the paint and hanging up her coat, she came to the table and sat down.
“Okay,” she said, “let’s pray.”
“But you didn’t wash your hands, mommy!” shouted Reggie.
“I know, dear. I was in a hurry,” replied his mom.
“But that’s the rule. We have to wash our hands before we pray!”
“I know, but it will take too long, and don’t you want to eat? I’ll wash them after we pray.”
“No, you have to wash them BEFORE we pray,” said Reggie. “That’s the rule.”
“Reggie, I know that’s the rule, but we don’t have rules for the sake of rules. Your dad and I said that hands were to be washed before we pray so we don’t have a lot of running around before dinner.”
Reggie stared at his mom. His eyebrows scrunched.
“Remember in Sunday’s bible reading, where some of the religious leaders were giving Jesus a hard time for not washing his hands?”
“Yeah,” said Reggie. “They were mad because they were supposed to wash before eating, to get all the dirt and junk off their hands.”
“Well, the religious leaders didn’t really care about how clean the disciples were, like I know you were. They only cared that people followed the rules. And when people didn’t do what they thought was right, they got really mad.”
“So we only obey rules when we feel like it?” Steve asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Their mom laughed.
“Not quite,” she said. “It means that rules are there to help us, not to hurt us. But it also means that being a Christian is not a bunch of ‘do’s and don’ts’. Being a Christian is about being loved by God, even when we sometimes break the rules. Now, after we pray, I’ll go wash my hands, okay?”
“Okay,” said Reggie.
Then they said a pray like this as we do now: Dear God, thank you that you love us even when we break the rules. Amen.
Sermon: Pentecost 13 - Year B
“Be doers of the word and not merely hearers…”
Many Lutherans don’t like the letter of James. In fact, Martin Luther once said that the letter of James was made of straw, only good to help light his fire.
Inflammatory language about scripture, don’t you think? Wanting to rip out a whole book from the bible to use for kindling doesn’t quite have the reverence we attach to the reading and study – let alone, the application - of scripture.
As one who has been trained in the Lutheran theological method, I always need to reach for the Tums when I...(the rest here)
Many Lutherans don’t like the letter of James. In fact, Martin Luther once said that the letter of James was made of straw, only good to help light his fire.
Inflammatory language about scripture, don’t you think? Wanting to rip out a whole book from the bible to use for kindling doesn’t quite have the reverence we attach to the reading and study – let alone, the application - of scripture.
As one who has been trained in the Lutheran theological method, I always need to reach for the Tums when I...(the rest here)
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Who do you think are the top ten most powerful women in the world throughout history?
Other than my wife, and my two daughters being the runners-up, here are some answers from many Yahoo Readers
1) The Virgin Mary
2) Mother Teresa
3)Cleopatra
4)Jennie Wade
5)Queen Elizabeth
6)Queen Victoria
8)Susan B. Anthony
9)Ann Frank
10)Rosa Parks
and here are a couple extra:
11) Helen Keller
12)Pocahontas
13)Sojourner Truth
14)Harriet Tubman
15)Clara Barton
Who do you think should make the list?
For a bigger list, see here.
Here's a list of Forbes' most powerful living women.
1) The Virgin Mary
2) Mother Teresa
3)Cleopatra
4)Jennie Wade
5)Queen Elizabeth
6)Queen Victoria
8)Susan B. Anthony
9)Ann Frank
10)Rosa Parks
and here are a couple extra:
11) Helen Keller
12)Pocahontas
13)Sojourner Truth
14)Harriet Tubman
15)Clara Barton
Who do you think should make the list?
For a bigger list, see here.
Here's a list of Forbes' most powerful living women.
Michael Coren: "I think we should nuke Iran"
I guess Jesus was only kidding about that peacemaker stuff. C'mon, Jesus that hippie-dippie crap about loving your enemies won't fly in this post-911 world!
snip. Here's how it ends:
Call me post-Christian then, if by "Christian" he means shedding some of Christ's most basic teachings, let alone any sense of humanity.
It is surely obvious now to anybody with even a basic understanding of history, politics and the nature of fascism that something revolutionary has to be done within months -- if not weeks -- if we are to preserve world peace.
snip. Here's how it ends:
The usual suspects will complain. The post-Christian churches, the Marxists, the fellow travelers and fifth columnists. But then, the same sort of people moaned and condemned in 1938. They were clearly wrong then. They would be just as wrong now.
Call me post-Christian then, if by "Christian" he means shedding some of Christ's most basic teachings, let alone any sense of humanity.
Friday, September 01, 2006
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