"Utterly Routine"

Contemporary churches lag behind. I guess that's my mantra. Gail found an interesting article about culture in the Sunday, July 17, 2005 edition of the Star Telegram. In the Weekly Review section the article entitled, "Harry Potter and the Changing Times," was written by Joel Garreau of The Washington Post.

In the article Garreau reflects on the experience of his 15-year-old daughter who has been growing up in the 1990s. He writes,

For her, the 1990s meant accepting the most magical change as utterly routine.

About half way through the article he comments,

The relationship between who learns and who teaches, which has been stable for millennia, has bee upturned.

Then he quotes anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson,

Today you're finding 12-year-olds teaching their grandmothers how to use computers so they can exchange e-mails.

The Contemporary Church lags behind.

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
- Bob Dylan, 1964

spiritual truancy

interesting phrase. I suspect that if we each took the time to describe what it looks like to us, the pictures we paint might be very different from each other.

For thirty+ years I've tried to dispel the myth that "attendance equals spirituality". Maybe that's why I didn't last long in the megachurch wannabe setting. I remember these sage words from a well respected pastor, author, and former seminary professor,

You can tell if God is blessing your ministry by the nickels and the noses.

Yet, I suspect that many are counted "present on Sunday" who are truant spiritually.

that's just my view from here...

Bread Crumbs...

I offer these statements as crumbs to help you find your way to a very thoughtful, very devout, spiritual leader who is seeking to follow Jesus...

the last half century in western Christianity is more an anamoly than a norm

People do not know our language or recognize our symbols.

We are still running flannel board churches in a microsoft world.

Liberal: from the Greek word liberos, meaning generous and open hearted

let life astound you, see God in awe and hold dreams as dear today as in bygone years. 'Tis not too late to seek a better world.

Find more of my friend's thoughts expressed here.

Mythbusters

ok. this is random. while i'm surfin' the tv is tuned to mythbusters. i don't know why. they're investigating the plausibility of the ending of the original "jaws" movie. the narrator said, "an average shark cannot penetrated a boat hull." go ahead. speculate what i thought i heard...

maybe this post seems out of place here, but i stopped typing and looked at the tube. my thought... "no he didn't..."

footnote. stephen, i've adopted the elipse as a signature communication tool... a virtual "dramatic pause" for effect.

ecological footprints

Ecology must be more that recycling. I'm deligent about recycling. I even dig through the trash out our house to police others about recycling. I guess that I need to move on to other issues. The rest of my choices didn't score very well... thanks a lot Maggie

CATEGORY		ACRES
FOOD		5.9
MOBILITY		2.2
SHELTER		6.2
GOODS/SERVICES		7.7
TOTAL FOOTPRINT		22

What's your ecological footprint?

Emergent Apologetics

I have always been an advocate for apologetics. It fits well with how I'm wired. My problem is that I'm old school apologetics which is out of step with our culture. Truth is, for pretty much everyone outside of church culture it has been out of step for some time.

... i digress.

Our friends at Youth Specialties have a great article by Tony Myles on the new approach to apologetics. Other "old schoolers" should find it thoughtful and challenging.

Go ahead, make the jump to cyberspace.

Religious people shouldn't want their faith to be elevator music....exactly.

I stumbled onto an article by William Stuntz, a professor at Harvard Law School, that expresses my sentiments about Love for God and country.

Take the people who want symbols of their faith on government property, and put them in a society where passionate atheism is the majority view. Suppose all those passionate atheists want to put up monuments in every courthouse and state capitol saying that there is no God, that all good law consists of human wisdom and nothing more. Would my fellow believers like that state of affairs?

I'm not championing the website but you might enjoy reading the article.

FAITH A LA CARTE?

The July issue of Modern Reformation is devoted to "The Emergent Church." (You'll need to contextualize the comments by understanding the source and their opinions about the issues.)

Here's a list of the online articles:
The Emerging Church by D. A. Carson ("who, in a very short time, has achieved Emergent Nemesis status" - tallskinnywiwi)

Interview with Stanley Grenz
*Stanley Grenz died of a brain aneurysm in March 2005. He was one of the principal theologians on hand at the February 2005 Emergent Church convention in San Diego. Modern Reformation had an opportunity to discuss some of his thoughts about this new movement just weeks before his death.

A Great Question

john o'keefe asks a great question in the July 2005 edition of Next-Wave. When asked to define the emerging/postmodern conversation he responds by asking, "What shape is water?"

He also correctly identifies that we have problems with leaving questions unanswered.

this is hard for the "modern mind of reason" to grasp because they need lines, walls, boxes and definition to keep things in their respective places

While the emerging church continues to morph into new expressions we will have to learn to appreciate and value the fluidity and creativity of what is coming.

PBS on Emergent/Emerging Church

While reading on Jordon Cooper's blog I found a link to a PBS episode on Emergent/Emerging Church. If you're interested, you can read the synosis of their cover story.

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