A call to a new Reformation in the teaching and life of Jesus' followers
Several years ago I made an observation which led to a question: “Why don’t Christians stand out in culture?” My observation was that so many Christians, particularly in the US, blend in with everyone else. With that observation in mind Matthew 7:13-14 when Jesus states that “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, … Continue reading The Way is Narrow
Yesterday I saw one of the more impressive female posteriors I’ve observed in a while. The lovely form was displayed to maximum effect in a skirt, the tightness and shortness of which would have earned an appreciative stare in any nightclub without a pole on the stage. Only thing is, the owner of said glutes is too young to go into a nightclub, and the … Continue reading To my younger sisters…
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…
I encourage you to pop over to my friend Kurt Willems’ blog and read his post If You’re Reading This Post, You’ve Been “Left Behind.” Kurt does a beautiful job of casting what our role must be in the current “Tribulation” of this world. Borrowing nearly every catchphrase of an eschatology neither one of us can stand, he’s got a masterful call to live as … Continue reading For all of you who’ve been "Left Behind"
OK, take a deep breath. Trust me when I say I’m not asking anybody to throw away their Bible and start planning their pilgrimage to Mecca. I am, however, going to attack some truly damaging language that I hear from many of my fellow Christians on the subject of Islam…language that I maintain is neither edifying nor honoring to God, and actually flat-out wrong. There … Continue reading Every Christian ought to be a muslim (but not the way you think)!
Note: I don’t actually know any way to get this letter to Mr. Hitchens, and I have no idea how he’d respond if he read it. But I think some of the following needs to be said…and maybe someone who needs to will read it. Dear Mr. Hitchens, I’m a Christian, and I’d like to apologize to you. I heard the NPR interview with you … Continue reading An Open Letter to Christopher Hitchens
Over the past few days I read Robert A. Heinlein’s 1984 book Job: A Comedy of Justice. For those who enjoy mind-bending adventures with an eternal twist, I recommend it as a fun story. Be forewarned: if you only enjoy fiction that comports with your theology and cosmology, and you consider yourself an orthodox Christian, this book is probably not for you. But if you … Continue reading The Gospel According to Heinlein, or Why Christians are sometimes God’s worst enemies…
In my previous review of Grand Theft Jesus by Robert McElvaine, I mentioned that he did a spectacular mis-exegesis of the accounts of the creation and fall in Genesis 1-3. I’d like to dig into this a little further, as McElvaine claims that mysogyny in religion is one of religion’s (and for that matter, the world’s) biggest problems. Now I will stipulate at the outset … Continue reading Grand Theft Jesus – Part 2 – "All About Eve"
I just finished reading the book Grand Theft Jesus — The Hijacking of Religion in America by Robert S. McElvaine. I really expected to love the book: after all, he starts out sympathizing with “the Christian Messiah (as he) looks at the crew of megachurch preachers, televangelists, hypocrites, imposters, snake-oil salesmen, and just plain snakes who have hijacked the name of Christianity, perpetrated identity theft … Continue reading Book Review – Grand Theft Jesus (Part 1)
I’m still in process of reading Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Transforming the Faith, and for the most part I really appreciate it. McLaren coherently describes the conventionally-accepted framework of the Biblical narrative, which he calls the “Greco-Roman model,” and contrasts it with a narrative that takes into account the story of God’s calling and working through the Jews … Continue reading Book in progress – "A New Kind of Christianity" by McLaren