Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

Yesterday's sermon spoke deeply to some. I had some great feedback from folks. Thank you all for being receptive. I admit that part of the passion behind yesterday's sermon was frustration with the growing level of broken relationships in the church because of offense (real and received/perceived). But someone challenged me on something that I said. Let me start by saying that I do not mind people challenging me if they don't agree with something. I don't even mind if you go so far as to say, "You are wrong, buddy." Just let me know how you came to your position. That way I won't take offense. For those who didn't have the benefit of yesterday's sermon, here is the nutshell version. TEXT: Matthew 18:15-18 TITLE: Confronting Offensive Behavior I started by relating the week's events regarding the Imus/Rutgers news blitz. No matter where you turned, every news source was fixated on this incident. So I wrestled with why this bugged me. It came dow...

When I was in seminary, I read a book that had a deep and profound impact on me. Well, two really cause I did read the Bible. But the book I'm talking about was a novel. I typically will not read "Christian" fiction. I haven't found too many overtly Christian novels stimulating. But this one was very engaging. I began reading it one morning and only got of the couch to go to the bathroom and to walk down to the corner store for something to eat. I finished it in 10 hours. It was an exciting and very addictive read. The book is A Skeleton In God's Closet by Paul L. Maier. The premise of the book is the discovery of solid proof that Jesus was not resurrected but stayed dead. It also explores the reaction to the discovery. And also how the man responsible for the discovery handles the consequences. I picked the book up off the shelf again this week. It's going to be my weekend read. I like reading it around Easter. But the book puts forward a very important ques...

I do not hide the fact that I do not approve of organized athletic activities for youth and children. I have my own demons to blame for some of it. But as I watch the growth of organized programs, I see the life, fun, and passion for athletic activities being sucked out and replaced with rigid professionalism. The latest victim - infield chatter. You know the traditional chatter - "Hey batt-a-batt-a-batt-a, swiiing batta." Occasionally you'd hear things about a pitcher's arm. Most times it is to intimidate the batter into swinging poorly or get the pitcher riled so they can't pitch with accuracy. But here is an article from the Cincinnati Enquirer: The Knothole Club of Greater Cincinnati has decided to eliminate "chatter." Unless the chatter is "positive" and directed at your own team. You can't say "We want a pitcher, not an underwear stitcher!" unless, maybe, you grew up in a culture that idolizes underwear stitchers. Standings ...

I have preached on worldview. It is the lens or lenses through which each one of us understands and responds to the circumstances in our lives. I believe that Christians should have a worldview that is heavily weighted toward a biblical understanding of God as revealed through Jesus Christ. And that our response to the world should be patterned as much as possible after the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. As a way of discovering how you may view the world, I would present this blog quiz. What is posted here is my results. I will interpret at the end. But you can also find your own theological worldview by following the link. You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan . You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called ...

I promised my wife a blog post for her birthday. I know. What every woman wants from her husband. This one is different. Lisa has a dream to sing publicly. Not in church. But on stage in front of folks. So I heard about an opportunity to spread those wings. And told her about open auditions for the Tulsa Driller's baseball teams. Not to play baseball. But to sing the National Anthem before the game. So on her birthday, Lisa auditioned for the talent scout to sing the National Anthem. And like a good husband, I'm posting it for the world to see. Lisa did a good job. Of course, she didn't believe me. But after 1 1/2 hours of hearing the National Anthem sung in some very interesting ways, I will never hear the National Anthem the same way again.

Sunday was my oldest son's birthday. His party was on Saturday. We had family and friends together to celebrate. One of the events the "boys" did on Friday was touring the J.M. Davis Museum. This museum is home to 20,000 guns. It is mind-blowing to see the variety of guns that has been collected over the years. This picture shows (poorly) the old and the new. The long rifle type weapon on bottom is from the 1600's. The smaller boxy weapon is from the last 20 years. This is an example of the beauty that was crafted into one of the old flintlock rifles from the 19oo's. This happens to be a double barrel version. One of my favorites, a customized holster and belt rig. This is a Buck Rogers pistol from the limited toy gun collection. And from the strange and bizarre collections: A hammer gun used to (according to the identification card) kill a cow. The head of the hammer has three barrels and chambers. When the hammer comes down on the cow's head, the rounds disc...

There are days when something will strike me in such a way that it's like someone turns the light on in a darkened room. Earlier this week was just such a situation. I have done many funerals so far in my ministry. In fact, I love doing funerals. There is something very rewarding about speaking about a person's life and celebrating who they have been in this life. This funeral was for an extraordinary person. A giving and kind person who respected life. This man was of the Greatest Generation as Tom Brokaw has named them. He was born in the first decade of the last century. In fact, he was born during the First World War. When the time came to serve the call of the country during the Second World War, this man went off to serve. His task was to put aircraft back together after the bombing and fighter raids into Germany. He wasn't a combat veteran. But he saw the horrors of war. He didn't talk about his experiences very often. He was very humble about the medals and cit...

Friday evening Lisa and I went out on a date. We attended a concert. We don't get out to many concerts. And this was one of Lisa's favorite groups - Point of Grace. Opening for PoG was new artist Daniel Kirkley. Daniel Kirkley has been compared to Josh Groban. He has a strong voice and classical quality to his singing. His one radio release is My New Dawn . It appears he is breaking out onto the mainstream. I will admit that his stage presence was a little rough. He is new to this, though. And I was guilty of focusing on the visual presentation of his show. And because I focused on that, I almost missed the true quality that he has. He has a powerful vocal quality. He brings the depth of feeling and the message of his songs right to the depths of the soul. And music is a language of the soul. I really wish, though, that he would have selected some songs that really allowed his vocals to show their full depth. It may have been nerves that led him to cut back on the vocals. He sa...

I watched two things this weekend that appear to have nothing in common yet are strangely similar. Lisa purchased The Prestige . This was a movie she really wanted to see at the theater. It didn't really make a splash from what I remember of it. But it looked interesting to me. It was interesting to Lisa only because Hugh Jackman was one of the lead actors. She has an unhealthy fascination for Hugh Jackman. The story is about two rival magicians. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play the rival magicians. They begin working together when they are mentoring with an older magician. But the movie portrays them mentoring with the man (played by Michael Caine) who crafts the illusions used by the magician. As they become more ambitious their rivalry turns violent toward each other. The entire movie is about illusion and misdirection. Not just the art of prestidigitation. The movie is filmed to enhance the illusion of the plot. It all comes down to the prestige. This is the final part of t...

I got the unusual treat this week to take a weekday off and go with a friend to see a movie. It is rare that I take a weekday and go play. It is even more rare to go with a friend. I love my wife and enjoy going out and doing stuff together. But it was a great experience to just go out with a buddy and enjoy good conversation. We also enjoyed a good movie. We saw Rocky Balboa. I remember seeing the original Rocky all the way back in the '70's. It was a powerful movie if I remember it all these years later. So this was a nice bookend for me. As far as the movie is concerned, it has to do with Rocky coming out of retirement to fight one last fight. At almost 60 years old it is a little far fetched. But I gotta say, I wouldn't want to mess with Sly. He is pumped. Watching him work out to get into shape, I got up the next morning sore. And to see him going toe-to-toe with a guy half his age is tough to choke - if you let it. If you sit back and listen to what is happening in th...

Garrison Keillor on "Those People called Methodists" I love Garrison Keillor. The Prairie Home Companion is a great Saturday evening (or Sunday afternoon) treat if you listen to NPR. I don't know where Ben got this, but it is very funny. Interesting tidbits to get out of this bit: Garrison Keillor and Jeff Foxworthy are Methodists. Here are some other famous Methodists you may not have known about: Will Rogers George Lucas ( Star Wars ) Jeff Smith ( The Frugal Gourmet - one of my cooking heroes - UM minister) Stephen Crane (writer - Red Badge of Courage ) Stephen King Jackie Robinson Tom Landry Thomas Welch (Welch's grape juice) William Booth (founder of Salvation Army) Hugh Hefner ( Playboy ) So there is a little bit of Methodist trivia for today. Enjoy.

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.