Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

Okay, admit it. You've googled yourself. If not, you should. You would be surprised what you might find. If you go back to the post about Time's Person of the Year, you will see a couple of comments posted by "Todd". One of those isn't me. It was another Todd Bergman who was searching his name/my name on the internet. Wait a minute and ponder that one. But it was a little bizarre to have another person with the same name make contact. If your reading "Other Todd", I mean nothing personal about you. Personally. Just the circumstance. Not that I was offended. It was just. Bizarre. But in "meeting" another Todd Bergman I am curious and wonder: are we related somehow? Where is this other from? And do we share ancestors? Due to time and other writing responsibilities, I haven't posted anything new in a while. And this was mostly to let y'all know that I'm still here. See you...and the other Todd Bergman...around.

How many times have you been asked, "What religion are you?" and you knew that they really only wanted to know what particular denomination you were. It becomes a little awkward for me when folks ask that. I don't want to sound like I'm correcting them. But it helps to understand that there is a huge difference between religions, faith traditions, and denominations. Some in the church don't even understand the difference. But I have come up with a little illustration to help folks understand the differences. I use dogs. There are many breeds of dogs. You have Doberman's and German Shepherds. You have Labs and collies. There are chihuahuas and schnauzers. All of those different breeds of dogs are like the denominations. Each of those dogs has there specific features that makes them different. But they are all still dogs. Each denomination has its specific features that make it different from other denominations. But we all share common features that make us on...

I was listening to talk radio while on one of my many trips this weeks to Oklahoma City. And, since this is Oscar nomination week, the subject of movies was on the mind of the commentator. Glenn Beck if you just need to know. I love Glenn Beck. But that is another blog. The subject of Star Wars was brought up. I saw Star Wars when it came out in 1977. I saw it at least 6 or 7 times in the theater. I remember how that movie became a part of many hours of play in my youth. I remember going to my best friends house. We would go into the basement (which was cooler than cool) and playing like Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. We would relive the scenes from the movie. I remember the figures that were at the top of my Christmas list that year and the special toys of that time. The only time I really ever messed up a Christmas surprise was because of Star Wars toys. 30 years later (May will be the 30th anniversary of the initial release of Star Wars ), I revisit those times and memories a lot more...

Long ago I remember lying the floor of my grandparents living room floor. I remember lying beside my Pappaw (grandfather) watching the television show Quincy, M.E. I still try to watch it when I can. It was a powerful show. And it sparked an interest in becoming a forensic pathologist (coroner). At 7 years old, I wanted to be like Quincy. That show, as well as my love for all things C.S.I ., has laid a foundation for something that really has hacked me off. I finished reading John Grisham's newest book, The Innocent Man . The book is a non-fiction narrative of the events surrounding Ron Williamson, a man convicted of a murder he did not commit. The main story takes place in Ada, Oklahoma. This is the area I grew up. I went to college there. Lisa lived there a big chunk of her life. And I remember some of the names and events that are retold in this book. This is an emotionally draining read. The events surrounding the death of Debbie Carter are horrible. But Grisham's focus is...

The majority of Americans see good/evil on a spectrum. At the far end of good you have God and Jesus being the embodiment of good. Then spread down toward the middle you have Mother Teresa, Mister Rogers, etc. until you get to the division point. At the opposite far end you have Satan as the embodiment of evil. Then Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, etc. until you reach the middle again. The points in between God and Satan represent increasing level of good or evil in someone's life. Most of us see ourselves somewhere toward middle. We aren't perfectly good. We aren't totally evil. But scripture doesn't present good and evil on a sliding scale. Good is good. Evil is evil. There are some who take the sides of good and evil and flip flop them. Good can be evil or evil good depending on the perspective you have. Classical example: Robin Hood. Is it good to steal and break the law? Modern example: 9/11. Those who seized the planes and crashed them were doing evil in the eyes of...

James 3:5-11 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. 8 But no one can tame the tongue ; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; 10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. NASU James offered practical teaching to the followers of Christ who received his letter all those long years ago. But it is amazing how powerful and timeless these words are. I am thinking of three semi-current event...

I hope everyone is excited about the prospects of what the new year holds in store for you. I have really been thinking about what to do with this little corner of the world wide web. I know that some of you have found it to be a little slow in updates. I apologize. Part of the reason is the overwhelming responsibility to come up with something. Another part of the reason is it just isn't a high priority in the busy and not so busy times of life. But I want to try something. I know that there are folks who read and don't respond to the blog. That is fine. But I want to offer you something. So I would like to know what you would like to find at this site. Do you want devotional thoughts? Do you want challenging perspectives? Do you want cultural commentary? Do you want witty insights and general light hearted brain candy? Do you want pictures/video/audio? Do you want me to leave you alone? Please let me know how I can use this corner of cyberspace a little better and maybe bring...

I have been named Time's Person of the Year. You haven't heard. Yep. Little ol' me received it. I just found out today. Now, it's not a popularity contest. And it isn't supposed to be a recognition of something. Time just chooses a person to grace a special issue at the end of the year who has made an impact on the world. And I was chosen. Oh. You don't believe me. Well, I should mention that you have been chosen also. Time's Person of the Year is YOU. When I heard about this, I thought it was really just a gimmick. But then I read this statement. "If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people," said Richard Stengel, who took over as Time's managing editor earlier this year. "But if you choose millions of people, you don't have to justify it to anyone." As I read this, two thoughts come to mind. 1.) This sounds like laziness to me. And I know lazy. If you have to choose one person to ...

My family always wants to know what I want for Christmas. So now that I have a semi-permanent place to keep accessible information, I am posting my Christmas list. There is something on this list for every price range. So don't freak out. This is for my families' use. But if any of you feel inspired, it will be gratefully received. Dremel Pro Tool with flex shaft attachment Movie - Whale Rider - available at Target for 5.50 Book - Faiths of Our Founding Fathers - Canon PowerShot S3 IS A chanter - it's a musical instrument to learn the bagpipes Bagpipes - my next big musical advancement A room to play the bagpipes in - so my wife won't divorce me Book - Conversation Book - Kingdom Keepers Jeans - size 38 - 30 DVD - MacGyver season 2 DVD - Due South - season 3/4 DVD - Greatest American Hero - season 3 Comic books - I especially like Spiderman and Batman Chik-Fil-A coupons Cokesbury gift certificates Off Kilter Merchandise - Off Kilter is a Celtic Rock band. I curre...

The other day I was flipping across the radio channels, listening to anything worthwhile (which means passing over all sports stations). I landed on Christian talk radio. I do not listen to Christian talk radio very often. But I listen in from time to time. Today I happened across the program, "Truths that Transform". This is Dr. D. James Kennedy's program. He was promoted his new book dealing with "What if America were a Christian Nation?" What sparked my interest in this program is that they were mentioning the historical faith heritage of the U.S. My degree is in history. I have a personal love of history. I believe that history is critical to understanding and living the present as well as planning for the future. Dr. Kennedy made a comment that really made me stop and think. Since I was driving, I couldn't actually stop. And I couldn't really think too hard. But there was a "fact" thrown out that really gave me reason to ponder. Dr. Kenned...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! As we roll into the full swing of the holiday season, planning for Christmas has begun. I am always a little burdened at the thought of the worship services that point to and flow out of Christmas. Our Waffles and Wassailage is our first "special" service. This is our multi-generational, family oriented hanging of the greens service. Then we have the Christmas Eve service. This year we will hold two services: a 6:00 and 8:00. This year we will also have a Christmas morning service. That's right. A Monday worship service to celebrate Christmas. Every time I have mentioned this to church folks, I get a, "You have finally flipped your rocker" look. But I have some very solid reasons for this decision. 1.) Christmas is a high, holy day of the Christian year. It is the commemoration of the birth of Jesus. This is the day we remember the Incarnation. That is, God coming and walking among us. That is the importance of Christmas. Not present...

I'm back good folks! Some of you didn't know I had left. It's okay if you didn't miss me. I was at Walt Disney World. Again? Yes, again. This time I went by myself. Partly for fun and partly for a conference. As I was doing some research for a project I am working on, I found this item of news: Controversial new Bible cuts out difficult gospel passages -18/10/06 A new Bible translation is causing controversy after it cut out difficult parts surrounding economic justice, possessions and money. The new bible version, released by the Western Bible Foundation in the Netherlands, has created a storm by trying to make the Christian gospel more palatable. According to Chairman Mr. De Rijke the foundation has reacted to a growing wish of many churches to be market-oriented and more attractive. "Jesus was very inspiring for our inner health, but we don't need to take his naïve remarks about money seriously. He didn't study economics, obviously." According...