Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

Our family devotion this morning was from E. Stanley Jones' Christian Maturity. It comes on Week 1-Saturday (pg.7 in my edition).  Scripture reference is Philippians 2:5-11: 5  Have this attitude  [ a ] in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,   6  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be  [ b ] grasped,   7  but  [ c ] emptied Himself, taking the form of abond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.   8  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death  [ d ] on a cross.   9  For this reason also, Godhighly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,   10  so that at the name of Jesus  every knee will bow,  of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,   11  and that eve...

I try to keep my politics on the inside. I respect persons on all sides of the issues. I try to listen with compassion to the pain and passion with which they speak. But there are times when even I can't remain silent. I do not know the person in this share . I support this brave individual, though. It takes some soul searching and serious consideration to make this choice. While I do not agree with everything that is stated, I do support this family in the hard decision they have made. My comments are not partisan/party based. I don't follow a party platform. I try to examine the issues as they develop. And in my opinion the Affordable Care Act is not a workable solution to the needs of the people. It does not accomplish what was hoped for. It does not bring the need for affordable health care to all people. It will take hard choices like this on the part of many people to bring attention to an unbalanced and ill-conceived, poorly executed program. The political posturin...

The sermon today, When Koinonia Fails, included a reference to passages in the letters of Paul and Peter that emphasize how to maintain koinonia in a community of faith. Here are those passages: Rom 12:6-21 6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: 9 Let  love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be  devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimati...

In the last couple of weeks, our family saw the moving on from Cub Scouting. Andrew was promoted from Webelos to Boy Scouts. We are very proud of him because he was able to complete his requirements for the Arrow of Light. This is the only recognition of Cub Scouting that can be carried into Boy Scouts. It requires learning the basic meaning of the Boy Scouts including knowing the Boy Scout Law, Motto, and Oath. It was a big moment for him. It was also a big moment for our family. We started working with Cub Scouts 8 years ago. It started with Nick as a Tiger Cub. It us required to attend regular meetings and going to see places. It led us to new relationships. It necessitated the purchase of three tents so we could camp in cold and windy places with bathroom facilities that were neither rooms nor allowed bathing. Cub Scouts allowed us to watch boys learn about qualities that good men  possess. They discovered the meaning of citizenship, responsibility, and imagination. Now, 8 ye...

About every 4 or 5 years, I clean out my personal archive. That is a two-drawer filing cabinet that I have carted from appointment to appointment for years. In it are the collected thoughts and scraps of inspiration that have driven the back of my consciousness from seminary forward. There are old lecture notes. I have magazine clippings. Some of that stuff is ***dare I say it*** older than my firstborn child. Which is why some of it is leaving my possession. I remember collecting these tidbits of wisdom along my journey. I valued its insights or information for one reason or another along the way. But as I look at it now I am asking myself, "why hold on to this?" Much of the information I don't look at. Occasionally I will pull out a folder and rummaged for some morsel of information that I need. But most of the rest was gathered in a time for a purpose and I have moved passed both of those. But I found a scrap of writing (an assignment for a class in seminary) that ...

Now that the 2012 election is over and we are looking forward to 4 more years with President Obama, I feel the need to reflect and project. I believe that our nation is becoming more divided. At almost every level of our culture we experience divisions. The United Methodist Church is even so divided that we are divided on whether or not we are divided. We live in a nation where looking for common ground is replaced with strategic placement on our ideological battlegrounds. I believe that a revolution is brewing. What shape it will take, I don't know. But in a climate where the sides have no desire to reach out to one another there will only be a climactic conflict of some type. For those who read this that have an intense hatred for President Obama, I have to ask, "Why?" The President does not control the economy. The President is not responsible for jobs disappearing. If it is his stand on abortion or gay marriage, do you also hate that woman who makes that impossibl...

This is a review of Craig Groeschel's new work, Chazown. This book was provided to me at no cost by WaterBrook Multnomah in exchange for an honest review. Chazown is the Hebrew word that is translated often as "vision". As in, "without vision, the people perish (Proverbs 29:18)." It doesn't mean the physical ability to see, but the heart's or mind's ability to see. And churches need vision to accomplish mission. There are some basic prerequisites for this book. If you do not believe in God or the work of Jesus Christ as Traditional Christianity defines, then you don't need to read this. This book is not designed for pew-squatters who prefer to define church by which pew is theirs or if the preacher lets them out on time. It shouldn't be read by anyone who wants to just take the church for granted, believing that church exists for their benefit or what they can get out of it. This book is for believers who seriously feel called to do somethi...

I received an advance reading copy of Ron Carpenter, Jr.'s book, The Necessity of an Enemy, from WaterBrook Multnomah. I found this book through the regular mailings that pastors receive from Pastor Resources Magazine. What is an enemy and how do they apply in the Christian life? That is at the heart of this book. Enemies are not basic, minor annoyances of life. For Carpenter, enemies are the events/persons/choice we make that could potentially derail the journey of faith. Carpenter shares experiences from his own ministry of major events that could have ended his ministry, marriage, family unity, and even his life. The title implies that the true enemies that we encounter in life are part of the process of developing Godly, Christ-like lives. If there is an enemy present, there is potential to grow. But giving into an enemy is very easy. Therefore we need to protect ourselves. We definitely live in an age where dealing with "enemies" needs to be taught in the churc...

This ebook was provided by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. I have to say up front that this was a difficult book to read. Not because of content, but format. It did not work well on my Kindle. The content was easy to read and did press on some deep emotional stumbling block that do stand in the way of developing the Christ following so many desire. I believe that this book is helpful in identifying or defining each of the "enemies" in a more helpful way. And each response or counterpoint is something that the church needs to see more of today. I don't believe this will speak to non-churched individuals. It may speak to those marginally churched individuals who still have a spiritual hunger. It will also work with those in the church who are sincere in working toward true reconciliation. I believe it is a helpful and thought-provoking book for the church.

I'm back from a long summer non-break. I started reading Radical Together by David Platt before the break started and it got lost in the summer activity. I was able to finish it this week and am fulfilling an obligation since I was given a copy of this book free of charge by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. It really isn't a difficult book to read. It was my misfortune to read it when the summer got busy. This is a companion to Radical by the same author. I have not read that book, yet. The sentence that really stuck out to me in the entire book was, "individually and together, we are to selflessly serve a self-centered God." It was a powerful reminder to me to that God does expect us to put God's interests before our own as individuals and as churches. Platt focuses on the corporate in this book more than the individual (thus Radical Together). And I felt he was challenging contemporary churches to pause and refle...

Honestly, I cannot mourn nor celebrate the end of Osama bin Laden's life. His life was marked with the suffering he caused and the chaos he brought into so many places and lives. At one time he accepted the hand of cooperation from the United States to conduct his war against infidels, committing the same acts of violence and destruction with our sanction and blessing because he was the enemy of our enemy. At that time his efforts were hailed by U.S. political leaders as inspiring and worthy of praise. But he was perpetrating the same deeds he later committed against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. I cannot mourn for a man whose life was so centered on evil. But I don't mean evil in relation to human quality of good or evil. bin Laden was proclaimed as a hero 30 years ago by the United States when he led the Mujahideen. At that time he was fighting the good fight. But our opinion turned in the completely opposite direction when he began the jihad against the American intrusion into...

Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom Stovall Weems What makes fasting easier? How can you make fasting more effective? Is it necessary? Stovall Weems provides a pattern for bringing people into the discipline of fasting without making it a burden. He also proposes that following a fast can be effective in producing spiritual awakening. And he stresses the necessity of it if you desire a fresher, more passionate relationship with God. Awakening has two parts. The first two thirds of the book is the foundational teaching regarding Weems’ approach to fasting. The last one thirds of the book sets out a pattern for implementing fasting into your life. Early in the book, Weems makes a decent argument for the need of believers to re-emphasize prayer and fasting in our lives. He also makes a passing mention of the role of giving. And he is right on. Believers in the current generations of the church have left the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and giving ...