Amen on this one (all the rest too, but particularly this one 3. The loss of the concept of meaningful church membership and the rise of the “audience-only” model of church participation. I see a close relation between #3 above, and #8: 8. The failure of the “Seeker” model to use its vast resources and influence to produce a Christian Continue Reading
Michael Spencer on Joel Osteen: Osteen probably doesn’t have the knowledge to be able to judge his own errors in the light of Biblical truth. Sad, but true. He simply has no idea that he has no idea. He thinks Jesus, the Holy Trinity and the Holy Scriptures are all means to the end of having a better paycheck. According Continue Reading
Makes me want to get this book and get me out of my book slump: But the unique contribution of this little book is McKnight’s insistence that the atonement must birth a peculiar kind of community. It is almost as if, for McKnight, ecclesiology becomes the centerpoint of the outworking of the atonement worked in the life, death and resurrection Continue Reading
I was reading a short story (one of my son’s college English assignments), and the theme for the paper was how the story refelected the experience of exile. It ended up making me reflect on how my own theological place to which I have come seems like an exile. It has distanced me from much of the political arrogance of Continue Reading
This is , in today’s definitions and expectations of “church membership”, a totally meaningless debate. Church “membership” means next to nothing in today’s typical American church. This flack over whether McCain is a “member” of North Phoenix Baptist Church is inane when one considers that there are thousands of members there, most of which don’t even know or care whether Continue Reading
David Fitch with some great points about megachurch There are important questions that need to be asked concerning a.) how the structures/rituals of megachurches form Christians into passive observers, consumers of entertainment and gospel information, b.) the inherent structural encumbrances which are enormous hurdles to overcome in actually being the living, organic “body of Christ” in the sense that the Continue Reading
I am weary of the attempts of the media (even the more “progressive” ones) to handle (or to “get a handle”) on what’s going on out there. The process seems doomed to fail, and it brings me back to the post I linked to this last week (poserorprophet: Church and Government: The Pragmatic Angle at Theoblogical ) . There seems Continue Reading
This blogger is talking about some words from Mike Slaughter , pastor of Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Ohio (near Dayton) he expressed concern for what I have often railed about myself: the fact that churches are so subservient to the state that they fly the Christian flag below the American flag. Or, when they are flown within the sanctuary, Continue Reading
Makes sense to me: Stated simply this is what I would like to propose:If we were to invest the same amount of time and energy into pursuing change through the Church that we invest into pursuing change through the government, then the payoff would be exponentially greater.Sure, I won’t deny that positive change can come through the government (or through Continue Reading
Larry over on his Perspectives blog asks some pointed questions about the role of the church in providing (or better, BEING) the alternative to the following trend that he articulates: The elevation of the individual to a privileged place in U.S. society has resulted in a cultural and philosophical shift away from community. Even our suburban lifestyles reflect the atomization Continue Reading
Michael Spencer of internetmonk replies in the comments to one commenter, with a point that suggested the problem I identify in the title of this post: that the resistance to the idea of an intentional, structured, disciplined effort at “formation” is a secular force that many inside the church have fallen victim. The secular tells us that “religion” is a Continue Reading
I don’t exactly recall when I started reading Michael Spencer’s internetmonk blog, but he has seemed to me of late to be especially relevant to me. Michael has very VERY similar roots as I do as far as I can tell. And many of his blogged thoughts accurately articulate for me my frustrations with the state of those Baptist roots, Continue Reading
An important quote from Hauerwas, from the video I reference in my previous post According to Yoder, Christianity has been transformed by what is called The Constantinian shift”. Yoder’s understanding of the significance of that shift did not entail speculation about the sincerity of Constantine’s conversion. But rather, Yoder was much more interested in the ecclesiological and Christological implications of Continue Reading
Larry alerted me to this article last week, and I revisited it today. I was especially taken by this quote: This is why John Gresham Machen said, almost a century ago, that liberal Christianity is not a brand of Christianity: it is simply another religion altogether — liberalism. While much of what is identified or even touted as “liberalism” is Continue Reading
This post says it well I wonder if you have noticed that Mr. Osteen is not a teacher of the Gospel of Jesus, but a motivational speaker and the primary promoter of the American prosperity Gospel that is poisoning millions of minds all over the world? Why is Mr. Osteen pre-featured on your front page? Why is his book highlighted? Continue Reading