Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

I am reviewing Gabe Lyons' *The Next Christians* that I received free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for this review. I wanted to read this book based on the title. What could the next generation of followers be like that would require this writing? I have watched the Postmodern flash and the emerging movement fade and wondered if this was the next passing claim. The first thing that I noticed is that it is not original in the emotion behind the writing. This is a restoration ideology - "let's get back to how Jesus did it". And Lyons gives a couple of passing references to the earlier moves in church history. But he does not give a full nod to what he sees as an original shift. Church history is marked by a large number of efforts to get back to the original message of the Gospel,the marks of those efforts in the lives of followers, and the impact those followers have on the world. The second thing that I noticed was the categories of chu...

I got a really, really cool Christmas present. Probably the greatest thing since sharp thingy's to slice bread. My beautiful and really smart wife got me a Kindle for Christmas. For those who don't spend most of their time connected to technological doo-hickeys, a Kindle is an electronic/digital book reader. You download books into the device and then read the book. I've gone through a few books so far. Most of them have been science fiction (because who else would think up a device to store and read thousands of books). But I just finished a book that really deserved a comment or two. Amazon offers some Kindle books for free. And as someone always looking for something for free, I download a few each week. This week I downloaded Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos. I typically do not read Christian fiction. I wasn't even sure this one was Christian. When I scanned the description, I wasn't sure what I was getting. But very early in the book I was finding it to be en...

Nah. It seems that this has laid dormant so long that the cobwebs were becoming sentient. Nothing wrong with my desire to express my opinion or feelings. I'm just lazy. And have a small addiction to Lord of the Rings Online. I have been having someone post on my comments the last few days. I'm not sure how they found me or what drew them to a semi-abandoned blog, but they commented on a post the needed follow-up. In the blog Dog Days I was lamenting on the media attention that Michael Vick was getting. He was a villain. A monster. The lowest of low of humanity. He should have been thrown into the dog ring he was planning to hold between a Rottweiler with a toothache and a rabid, hungry, zombie Chihuahua with a pork chops tied to every conceivable appendage of his body. Vick was seen as deserving of all of the bad things that could be thrown at him. Now he's a hero. OH! That reminds me of something else. The elections. Everyone was saying that this was a wake up call to th...

Welcome back to my ongoing revival of posting. Yesterday I shared with you the report of a new study on spanking. I ended that conversation with the question of a problem in logic. Here is the article again. Study: Spanking Increases Aggression The problem that I identified with the article was in the final paragraph. Experts suggested that spanking might even be more dangerous to girls than boys because it trains them to be submissive. They said that can open women up to domestic abuse later in life. The issue I saw is this: - this article is about the study regarding an increase in aggressive behavior in children - this article refers to children without any distinction between male or female becoming more aggressive due to spanking - this article then claims that spanking is more dangerous to girls Logic demands that the next statement should be: there is an overwhelming increase in dangerous aggressiveness among females. But is that where they go? Nope. Girls become submissive. ...

A few weeks back I preached on the subject of “the unforgiveable sin”. Part of that sermon dealt with the question I received from a member of the congregation about suicide. I have heard in a number of places that suicide is an unforgiveable sin. After making a comment about suicide I stated that I would preach a series of sermons on the subject. I knew that the series would be soon but this became an immediate need in my opinion. I received so many responses to the comments I made about suicide in a sermon that I had to respond quickly. I have never had as many deep conversations in response to a sermon as I had after mentioning suicide. I believe that this has something do to with the history of suicides or attempted suicides in our community. In the two years that I have been here, I have heard of or known of more suicides or attempts than anywhere else in my ministry. Part of that has to do with being a part of emergency response. And I am not saying that it is more than anywhere ...

This is making the rounds on the news services and blogs ( this was from KOCO TV 5, OKC ) I had to remove the post due to copyright restrictions. But you can read it here . If you want to start a hot debate on a subject, open up the spanking vs. non-spanking conversation. It will get heated in a hurry. So if you want to jump on this and start something up, here is food for thought. I was spanked as a child and abused as a child. There was a very clear difference. Spanking resulted from wrongdoing on my part. Abuse resulted from loss of control on my father's part. I'm saying that without any judgment or condemnation. It is the past and I am well beyond that. But I make the point to say that there is a difference between the two. The spankings that I remember (and there were few) carried with them a deterrence factor. A spanking was something to be avoided, thus whatever resulted in a spanking was to be avoided. Abuse comes out of nowhere. It is completely at the whim of the per...

Mind if I rant a little. Actually I left off writing so long ago there probably isn't anyone checking on anything new. So I can rant if I want to. Here it goes. I'm listening to a radio preacher talk about the sin and the 10 commandments. And eventually he gets around to talking about Jesus Christ being our salvation. Then he throws out the phrase that Jesus died to offer a relationship, not a religion. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the letter of that statement. But the spirit is all wrong. The implication when I hear statements to that effect (and it has really been a rallying cry the last 10 years or so) is that religion is a less meaningful connection that we have to Christ. Relationship is the better connection that we have with the living Christ. And I suppose that works. But the implication is that the old covenant was a religion, not a relationship. That the code of conduct was the means and the end. The relationship was just doing what God said. And that is whe...

Growing up, athletics was not my cup of tea. I'm just not athletically inclined. I stink at almost anything sportsy. Except volleyball. My 2 inch vertical leap is amazing. Part of me wonders why I wasn't given the athletic gene. But that part is relatively small. I really don't have a passion about athletics. But Nick loves sports. Basketball is his favorite. And he got to play on a team this year. Right now he is running track. He gets excited about playing on the teams. The deal is that he got my genetic (lack of) ability when it comes to athletics. Except swimming. He is a natural in the water. That is a sport in which he would excel. But his lack of natural ability in other sports does not slow him down. (Pun intended) He gets out on the court and chases that ball with joy. He runs and jumps with a love for the activity. And even if he isn't the first place (today he coined the phrase "first to last" to define his position in his heat), I still love to see...

Yes, I abandoned blogging for a while. A long while. I didn't even post sermons. Is that bad? So something has to be extremely important to bring me back, yes? No. Life is about the in's and out's of things we do. And I'm not embarrassed by leaving off of writing. But you never know what will happen this week. (And I'm trying to keep the blog from drying up and blowing away.)

Psalm 8   Unidentified means we don't know What does the Bible have to do with flying saucers, little green men, and aliens? Unidentified flying object is a technical term that has been parodied Are there U.F.O.'s in the Bible? Yes 2 Kings 2:11 – Elijah's final ride Ezekiel 1:15-21 – Ezekiel's wheels Exodus 13:21-22 – pillars There are also creatures that cannot be explained Ezekiel 1:5-10 – creatures of four faces Revelation 4:6-8 – four creatures around the throne Isaiah 6:1-6 – Seraphim Genesis 6:4 – Nephilim (Numbers 13:33; 1 Samuel 17:4) Job 40:15-18 – Behemoth Job 41:1ff – Leviathan Does this mean that UFO's and aliens are real?   Faith and God This sermon series has never tried to divide along real or not It has been the issue of responding to the subject For believers in UFO's it is real for them and they have to be dealt with as with any religious believer Some people see no inconsistency between believing in God and UFOs It isn't completely inconsi...

Deuteronomy 18:9-14   No way, no how Lately there is a revival of an artform that was very popular from the late 1800's to mid 1900's Spiritualists and mediums flourished in the Victorian period Many people believed in the spirit world and sought to make contact The rise of spiritualists and mediums eventually turned in the age of science Science began to "prove" many of these individuals as fakes and con-artists The increased interest in this artform now is due to the willingness of many to believe in the paranormal But this practice of communicating with the dead goes all the way back to pre-biblical times Shaman and magi would claim ability to communicate with spirit world That is where the OT picks up the story The Hebrew children/Israelites were surrounded by cultures that practiced this Egyptians had a very strong belief in the spirit world The Chaldeans were known for their spirit world beliefs The Hebrew children were exposed to this on a daily basis Deuterono...

Ezekiel 37:1-6   How does the Bible deal with ghosts OT – no use of the word "ghost" as rendered in Hebrew 1 Samuel 28:3,11-19 – Saul has Samuel conjured from the dead and has a conversation (eloihim) NT – 2 separate occasions "ghost" is mentioned Jesus walking on the water is considered a ghost (phantasm) (Mt14:26; Mk 6:49) Luke 24:37,39 – Jesus appears and refers to a pneuma not having flesh and blood What are ghosts? Most people define ghosts as the spirit or soul or essence of a person how most times is dead Mark 12:30 – love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, strength Matt 10:30 – the body that can be destroyed but not the soul Gen 35:18 – soul departs at death There is an understanding from OT and NT that soul is the breath of life Gen 2:7 – the breath given to man Life is not just physical being Thought and feeling are experienced separate of physical Spirit and soul are not "felt" but it is part of us When physical life ends we believe that ...