This weekend we celebrate the birth of the United States. Our neighborhood will have a parade tomorrow morning, and since the neighborhood is small the parade will pass by our house two or three times. It's one of those slices of small town Americana. There will be fireworks, cook-outs, and other celebrations. In the midst of our patriotic fervor, however, we who follow Jesus must remember that we are really resident aliens in this country. We follow the King of Kings and we are citizens of a different Kingdom. Even though we can love the country we live in, our first allegiance is to Jesus Christ and our first priority is bringing his kingdom to bear in every part of our day-to-day lives.
Enjoy these links:
Lacey Gustavsen on tennis balls. George Elerick writes about convenient amnesia. Musings on the body of Christ. Dr. Lewis on something she never heard in fundamentalism. Alyson DaCosta on poverty. Todd Hiestand on the suburban mob. Alan Knox has a couple of good posts, here and here. Brother Maynard reveals his secret indentity. How big (or small) is your Gospel?
Words of wisdom from Jeff McQ. iMonk posts a thought on Hebrews 12:1. MercyMe covers "Thriller." 32 reasons why Southern Baptists must change their name (HT: Scot Mcknight).
Have a good weekend. Stay safe and don't burn yourself with fireworks.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
World Vision Wednesday
I had some problems with my computer last night, so here is Wednesday's post on Thursday.
When most people think of World Vision, they think of children in Asia, Africa, or South America. Did you know that the organization also ministers to those in need in the United States? According to Census Bureau estimates, 10 percent of the U.S. population lives below the poverty line. World Vision works in 11 major urban and rural areas to help some of the least of these in our own country. World Vision works with local churches, businesses, and individuals to bring relief to their areas. They do this through 3 programs.
In urban areas, The Storehouse provides school supplies, clothes, toys, household goods, and even building supplies. Emergency response and disaster relief helps those affected by disasters in the U.S. The education and youth development program ministers to high-risk youth by providing mentoring, tutoring, and life skills training.
In rural areas, interested individuals can help by participating in Appalachia service trips, or mission trips to areas in Mississippi or Georgia.
To see how World Vision helps transform an urban area go here.
When most people think of World Vision, they think of children in Asia, Africa, or South America. Did you know that the organization also ministers to those in need in the United States? According to Census Bureau estimates, 10 percent of the U.S. population lives below the poverty line. World Vision works in 11 major urban and rural areas to help some of the least of these in our own country. World Vision works with local churches, businesses, and individuals to bring relief to their areas. They do this through 3 programs.
In urban areas, The Storehouse provides school supplies, clothes, toys, household goods, and even building supplies. Emergency response and disaster relief helps those affected by disasters in the U.S. The education and youth development program ministers to high-risk youth by providing mentoring, tutoring, and life skills training.
In rural areas, interested individuals can help by participating in Appalachia service trips, or mission trips to areas in Mississippi or Georgia.
To see how World Vision helps transform an urban area go here.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
What Message?
From the state that brought you the PTL network, with its excesses and failings, comes another Christian network with a leader who believes in his right to build a four million dollar house in a gated community in the mountains. Now, a multi-million dollar house in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, even though it seems to me to be a bit of overkill. The problem comes when the network which pays this man big bucks is laying off employees because their revenues are down, after taking tax incentives from the state and starting a large, expensive campus for the network and its "ministries."
This network preaches what is popularly called the prosperity gospel. The basic message is, "Send us your money so we can build a bigger ministry, and God will give you every material thing you have ever wanted, and then some." In the state to the north, the government operates a lottery which they call the "Education Lottery." Their message is, "Buy lottery tickets to make our schools better, and you might strike it rich." If you don't win, it's just your bad luck. The prosperity preachers' run sort of a "Holy Ghost Lottery," except if you don't get what they promise, it's due to your lack of faith.
In a way, many in both the evangelical and fundamentalist branches of the institutional church preach a similar message. One side preaches that following _____ principles can change your life and make you a better _______________. The other preaches that following the rules and regulations that they say are Biblical will keep you living right and enable you to please God and stay "right" with him.
All three groups are essentially saying that of you do X, God will do Y. It puts things in the hands of human beings, and brings pride or despair. It is the doing that brings favor, rather than the Gospel message that it is God's favor that causes us to do good out of gratitude and love.
The church, in all its expressions, needs to stop running a game that encourages people to give more and do more to win or increase God's blessing on them. We need to get back to the message that the world is a messed up place and the folks in it are messed up people, BUT there is One who has changed everything, who has overcome sin and death, and who is making all things new. It does not depend on our own effort, but rather on the work of Jesus Christ.
Some questions come to mind every time I hear these popular messages. What would these preachers say to the Christians in China, India, or Darfur? Would they tell them they need to have more faith? Maybe they would give them a number of principles to follow? Would they say that they need to get right with God?
This network preaches what is popularly called the prosperity gospel. The basic message is, "Send us your money so we can build a bigger ministry, and God will give you every material thing you have ever wanted, and then some." In the state to the north, the government operates a lottery which they call the "Education Lottery." Their message is, "Buy lottery tickets to make our schools better, and you might strike it rich." If you don't win, it's just your bad luck. The prosperity preachers' run sort of a "Holy Ghost Lottery," except if you don't get what they promise, it's due to your lack of faith.
In a way, many in both the evangelical and fundamentalist branches of the institutional church preach a similar message. One side preaches that following _____ principles can change your life and make you a better _______________. The other preaches that following the rules and regulations that they say are Biblical will keep you living right and enable you to please God and stay "right" with him.
All three groups are essentially saying that of you do X, God will do Y. It puts things in the hands of human beings, and brings pride or despair. It is the doing that brings favor, rather than the Gospel message that it is God's favor that causes us to do good out of gratitude and love.
The church, in all its expressions, needs to stop running a game that encourages people to give more and do more to win or increase God's blessing on them. We need to get back to the message that the world is a messed up place and the folks in it are messed up people, BUT there is One who has changed everything, who has overcome sin and death, and who is making all things new. It does not depend on our own effort, but rather on the work of Jesus Christ.
Some questions come to mind every time I hear these popular messages. What would these preachers say to the Christians in China, India, or Darfur? Would they tell them they need to have more faith? Maybe they would give them a number of principles to follow? Would they say that they need to get right with God?
Friday, June 26, 2009
TGIF
What do y'all think of our governor down here in South Carolina. It's a sorry spectacle. What I get from this whole thing is the thought that he that thinks he stands, let him be careful lest he fall, to paraphrase 1 Corinthians 10:12. All of us must realize that, without the grace of God, we are capable of the same, or worse. Pray that the Father brings healing to that family.
Without further ado, here is the good stuff:
Dan Edelen responds to an earlier post. John Fonville on what the Gospel is and isn't. iMonk thinks things are changing at the Southern Baptist Convention. Are you searching for IT? What is justice? Brother Maynard weighs in on Jon and Kate. Just what are these people thinking? We'd better be careful, or this kind of thing might catch on (HT: Brother Maynard).
Alan Knox thinks we should just make disciples. Dan Kimball reminisces. He will build the church. Matt on the "good old days." Shaun Groves thinks Adam Smith was wrong.
Have a great weekend. Stay cool.
Without further ado, here is the good stuff:
Dan Edelen responds to an earlier post. John Fonville on what the Gospel is and isn't. iMonk thinks things are changing at the Southern Baptist Convention. Are you searching for IT? What is justice? Brother Maynard weighs in on Jon and Kate. Just what are these people thinking? We'd better be careful, or this kind of thing might catch on (HT: Brother Maynard).
Alan Knox thinks we should just make disciples. Dan Kimball reminisces. He will build the church. Matt on the "good old days." Shaun Groves thinks Adam Smith was wrong.
Have a great weekend. Stay cool.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
World Vision Wednesday
I'm going to try something a little different here. On Wednesday, I'm going to share something from or about the work of World Vision. Jan and I have been sponsoring children through World Vision for a number of years and have volunteered at concerts sponsored by the organization. We appreciate the ministry of World Vision as it helps provide for the least of these.
This week, I have an excerpt from an article titled, "Rwandan Genocide 15 Years Later: Alice Forgives:
"They were armed with guns, machetes, swords, and clubs. They saw me and approached. One of them took my baby out of my hands and [killed her]," says Alice. Then, a man named Emmanuel cut off Alice's hand and slashed her face. "Others hit me with nail-studded clubs, and I lost consciousness."
Fifteen years after the genocide, Alice's memories are still fresh; she has a scar on her jaw and is missing a hand. However, there is something extraordinary about this soft-spoken woman: With the help of World Vision reconciliation workshops, she found the strength to forgive Emmanuel and the men who killed her baby. In fact, Alice lost 100 members of her extended family, and yet she forgave.
Read the whole story here.
This week, I have an excerpt from an article titled, "Rwandan Genocide 15 Years Later: Alice Forgives:
"They were armed with guns, machetes, swords, and clubs. They saw me and approached. One of them took my baby out of my hands and [killed her]," says Alice. Then, a man named Emmanuel cut off Alice's hand and slashed her face. "Others hit me with nail-studded clubs, and I lost consciousness."
Fifteen years after the genocide, Alice's memories are still fresh; she has a scar on her jaw and is missing a hand. However, there is something extraordinary about this soft-spoken woman: With the help of World Vision reconciliation workshops, she found the strength to forgive Emmanuel and the men who killed her baby. In fact, Alice lost 100 members of her extended family, and yet she forgave.
Read the whole story here.
Friday, June 19, 2009
TGIF
It's been a good week. Busy, but good. It took two days to get caught up on the yard work after a week away. On Wednesday, I drove a bus for a local camp that is just starting up this summer. Today I spent the day working at a basketball camp. Summer has officially begun and the days are getting hotter here in the sunny South. Our drought is over and we are actually hoping for a spell of dry weather.
I was able to catch up on my blog reading so here are a few of the good links for the past two weeks:
Jared Wilson's thoughts on the culture war. Perhaps you can find a way to help. Jesus is Alan Hirsch's disequilibrium. Alan Knox gives us a hypothetical situation. The Tall Skinny Kiwi is taking a break. Molly writes about pathological spirituality. The sometimes surprising price of success. Rich Wagner is scared of both conservatives and liberals.
Requiem for the word "religion." How do you like your coffee? This is just a bit much. (HT for the last two: Brother Maynard) Speaking of Brother Maynard, he's doing some navigating. iMonk on worship: here and here. Rob Woodrum has begun a new chapter of "Rabbi Encounters". Laurie D. Russell redefines beauty (HT: Scot McKnight). Grace gives us her doctrines of grace.
Enjoy your weekend. Tomorrow, it's another day of camp.
I was able to catch up on my blog reading so here are a few of the good links for the past two weeks:
Jared Wilson's thoughts on the culture war. Perhaps you can find a way to help. Jesus is Alan Hirsch's disequilibrium. Alan Knox gives us a hypothetical situation. The Tall Skinny Kiwi is taking a break. Molly writes about pathological spirituality. The sometimes surprising price of success. Rich Wagner is scared of both conservatives and liberals.
Requiem for the word "religion." How do you like your coffee? This is just a bit much. (HT for the last two: Brother Maynard) Speaking of Brother Maynard, he's doing some navigating. iMonk on worship: here and here. Rob Woodrum has begun a new chapter of "Rabbi Encounters". Laurie D. Russell redefines beauty (HT: Scot McKnight). Grace gives us her doctrines of grace.
Enjoy your weekend. Tomorrow, it's another day of camp.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Confession
Before I begin, I realized that in the post titled Mustard Seeds, I didn't give proper attribution to the source of a large part of my thinking. The basic thought about the mustard seeds came from Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. I just added a couple of my thoughts. So, Shane, on the outside chance that you read that post :), I apologize for not giving credit where it was due. Thanks to Jeff McQ for jogging my brain on that.
I'm realizing more and more that we, meaning my generation, have failed our children in a major way. During my twenty-three years as a Christian school teacher, I constantly heard about the numbers of students who were graduating from Christian schools around the country and abandoning their faith within a couple of years. This was usually blamed on things like liberal atheist professors in the secular schools (thus making it "imperative" that we get our students to go to "good" Christian colleges), the influence of wicked friends, or just the human tendency to "backslide" when left without good teaching.
As a parent of two adult children, who went through Christian schools and who grew up in church, I'm more attuned to the possibility of their faith being left in the dust, and I think I know the reason why their generation is abandoning the church, and, in some cases, faith.
We spent most of our time teaching our children that being a Christian was a matter of "asking Jesus into your heart" so you would be able to go to heaven when you die. We taught that salvation was a destination, that it simply placed you in the position of being acceptable to God. Correct behavior was important, but it usually was a matter of managing sin by following a set of rules and regulations. Becoming like Christ was reduced down to "sinning" as little as possible. Spiritual discipline consisted of reading the Bible every day, praying, and witnessing, and discipleship was doing those things longer and more often.
Now, in our defense, we taught them this way because that is the way we were taught. Back when the culture was more in sync with "Christianity," the idea of making people Christians by getting them to "accept Jesus" worked culturally, so not a whole lot of us knew any different. Now that the culture has become apathetic, if not hostile, toward Christians, the old cultural way of Christendom doesn't work. Our children have seen through the barriers that we placed between them and Jesus, and have rejected what they knew as "church."
As the walls of Christendom coming tumbling down it is imperative that we teach those who are learning from us that there is much more to following Jesus than having a home in heaven when you die. We must teach them that being a Christian is a matter of being a citizen of a different Kingdom, a subject of the King of Kings. We must communicate that following Jesus means that we are a new creation, that we have the Spirit of God inside us. Becoming like Jesus means living our lives as he would live them, and loving others as he would love them. Spiritual discipline means doing what Jesus did, spending time in prayer, solitude and silence, and fasting. Our lives are to be lived from the inside out, not just by managing our behavior. Fortunately, there are those from our generation who are teaching these things, and there are many from the current generation who have learned them.
O behalf of my generation, I confess that we have failed you that are our children and grandchildren We have failed in communicating the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom, and have replaced it with a gospel of Christendom.
Some of us are learning, and are trying to make up for lost ground. I pray that those who have grown up in the church and have left will be drawn by the Spirit to the reality of the Kingdom of God and the true King.
I'm realizing more and more that we, meaning my generation, have failed our children in a major way. During my twenty-three years as a Christian school teacher, I constantly heard about the numbers of students who were graduating from Christian schools around the country and abandoning their faith within a couple of years. This was usually blamed on things like liberal atheist professors in the secular schools (thus making it "imperative" that we get our students to go to "good" Christian colleges), the influence of wicked friends, or just the human tendency to "backslide" when left without good teaching.
As a parent of two adult children, who went through Christian schools and who grew up in church, I'm more attuned to the possibility of their faith being left in the dust, and I think I know the reason why their generation is abandoning the church, and, in some cases, faith.
We spent most of our time teaching our children that being a Christian was a matter of "asking Jesus into your heart" so you would be able to go to heaven when you die. We taught that salvation was a destination, that it simply placed you in the position of being acceptable to God. Correct behavior was important, but it usually was a matter of managing sin by following a set of rules and regulations. Becoming like Christ was reduced down to "sinning" as little as possible. Spiritual discipline consisted of reading the Bible every day, praying, and witnessing, and discipleship was doing those things longer and more often.
Now, in our defense, we taught them this way because that is the way we were taught. Back when the culture was more in sync with "Christianity," the idea of making people Christians by getting them to "accept Jesus" worked culturally, so not a whole lot of us knew any different. Now that the culture has become apathetic, if not hostile, toward Christians, the old cultural way of Christendom doesn't work. Our children have seen through the barriers that we placed between them and Jesus, and have rejected what they knew as "church."
As the walls of Christendom coming tumbling down it is imperative that we teach those who are learning from us that there is much more to following Jesus than having a home in heaven when you die. We must teach them that being a Christian is a matter of being a citizen of a different Kingdom, a subject of the King of Kings. We must communicate that following Jesus means that we are a new creation, that we have the Spirit of God inside us. Becoming like Jesus means living our lives as he would live them, and loving others as he would love them. Spiritual discipline means doing what Jesus did, spending time in prayer, solitude and silence, and fasting. Our lives are to be lived from the inside out, not just by managing our behavior. Fortunately, there are those from our generation who are teaching these things, and there are many from the current generation who have learned them.
O behalf of my generation, I confess that we have failed you that are our children and grandchildren We have failed in communicating the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom, and have replaced it with a gospel of Christendom.
Some of us are learning, and are trying to make up for lost ground. I pray that those who have grown up in the church and have left will be drawn by the Spirit to the reality of the Kingdom of God and the true King.
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