Seven Year Old Steals Car to avoid going to Church!

My mom told me about this last night!

eep!

Are we in another reformation? - Phyllis Tickle and the rose

I first ran into Phyllis Tickle when I started exploring the liturgy of the hours. She wrote a great breviary called The Divine Hours (you can check out over at the Ann Arbor Vineyard web-page which hosts a Daily Online version.) Soon after she kept turning up. I heard interviews with her on Podcasts, I ran into her while visiting my brother's church. She wrote a number of forwards to books I was reading. I was impressed with a lot of what she was saying.

Finally this year I met her while I was down in Albuquerque at a conferance hosted by the Center for Action and Contemplation. She is one of the kindest people I have met! Lately she has been talking about a movement some of you might be familiar with that she calls "The Great Emergence."

Basically she, along with many others, believe that the church is going through a great upheaval similar to the reformation. Our society is facing questions the church in it's current form has trouble framing in a relevant story. The main issue is where does authority lie. They believe the mantra of solo scriptura, within the protestant tradition, has ceased to be compelling in our current framework.

We are also struggling with what makes us human, and if/how we have souls. Phyllis has done some great work distilling a great number of issues down into some pretty easy to understand images. I recommend you take a peek at the video below. In it she presents the church today in the image of a rose and asks you where you fit in.

How do you picture Jesus

How do you picture Jesus...  I found a page that has a nice collection of images from many perspectives. CLICK HERE

I posted a few let me know what you think!

Dawkins talks to Alister McGrath

I have watched a lot of videos by Richard Dawkins, this one is actually a good dialog.

Let me know what you think

I got Rick-Rolled by the Bible

Were no strangers to love
1 John 4:16 - we know and rely on the love God has for us.

You know the rules and so do I
Hebrews 8:10 - This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.


A full commitments what I'm thinking of
Joshua 24:14 - So now: Fear God. Worship him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped on the far side of The River (the Euphrates) and in Egypt. You, worship God.

You wouldnt get this from any other guy
1 Chronicles 17:20 - "O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You"

I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling; gotta make you understand
1 Corinthians 2:7,10-11 - His plan was previously hidden. But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.


Never gonna give you up
John 10:27,28 - [Jesus Said] My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

Never gonna let you down
2 Timothy 2:13a - if we are faithless, [Jesus] will remain faithful

Never gonna run around and desert you
Judges 2:1
The angel of the LORD ... said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you,

Never gonna make you cry
Revelation 21:4 - He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Never gonna say goodbye
Hebrews 13:5b - God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
1 Samuel 15:29 - He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.



We've know each other for so long
Jemimiah 1:5a - Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart

Your hearts been aching
Song of Solomon 5:6a - I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure.

But you're too shy to say it
Pslam 44:15b - my face is covered with shame

Inside we both know whats been going on
Jerimiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

We know the game and were gonna play it
1 Corinthians 9:25 - Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

And if you ask me how I'm feeling don't tell me you're too blind to see.
1 John 2:10-11 - Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

Discussion: Habermas, Flew, and N.T. Wright

The other night I posted about one of the books I'm going through called "There is a God." A number of people have dismissed flew as being senile. Here is a three part discussion with Antony Flew, along with N.T. Wright who wrote one of the appendices.

Discussion: Habermas, Flew, and Wright pt1
In Part one Flew Responds to Dawkins

Part 2 here talks a little about culture.

Discussion: Habermas, Flew, and Wright pt3
This Video talks a bit about his life experience, and defends his book as his own.

What I'm reading: The preface to "There is a God" by Antony Flew

I began reading There is a God" today. It's a book by Antony Flew about his "conversion" to theism. I thought I might post a little about what I think. So far I have simply read the preface written by Roy Abraham Varghese. (pictured)

The preface seems to break down into 4 general catigories.


1. Who is Anotny Flew - Varghese goes over the Corpus of Works by Flew, and comments on his original systematic contributions to atheism. These I will let you read about HERE

2. The "Arian Heresy" - Logical Positivism. Varghese talks about the rise and fall of Logical Positivism. This he only goes over briefly.

3. Then he goes into some general problems with the "new atheists." I have listed a summery of them below. It seems like a good list of issues to talk about. I would love to hear comments on these accusations. I have not read any of the "New Atheists" yet myself.

A list of criticisms of the "New Atheists"
a. A Simplification of Intelligent Design
b. Law abiding, life supporting, and Rational universe
c. They do not address the issues surrounding the rise and fall of Logical Positivism
d. They, ironically, read like fundamentalist preachers!
e. They fail to address the origins of consciousness in a significant way
f. They ignore the new arguments made by philosophical theism

4. Finally He Criticizes Richard Dawkins specifically for white-washing history to eliminate the theism of the historical and current scientific community. He then accuses him of elevating himself from a scribe who popularizes science for the broader public, to a priest who dictates what is acceptable belief in the realm of meta physics. This I thought was one of the more insightful parts of the preface. I generally have a lot of suspicion when experts in one area (in Dawkin's Case Biology) start to preach about an area outside of their field (like religion).

So far it has been a lot of fun, I will keep you up to date as the book continues!

As an aside today I finished reading a little graphic novel called "The Stuff of Life"...

It was really cool!

Religulous - an adventure in talking past one another

Today I watched Religulous for the first time... I have to say I was very disappointed in it. It felt talking to a sixteen year-old.

At 43:43 he talks to a guy who helped me pinpoint what I didn't like about the film. He said "you have to live with people and their stupid Ideas."

Instead Bill Maher seems to focus on making fun of people.

He tends to ask some really good questions, but the editing seems to be focused on mocking people for having faith...

It makes perfect sense to me that he would doubt the Bible... The text is fantastical if approached from a purely empirical perspective.

It makes sense to criticize the ways that religion is used as an excuse to Kill people.

It makes sense to really have some problems with religion.

But instead of making a valuable comment on any of it he seems to spend the entire movie smirking and giggling at people who he disagrees with, and calling their beliefs Bull S#%T
I often agree with him, but what he does with the opportunities he has to talk to these folks bugs me.

He also seems to be trying to fit each person into a preconceived notion he has about them. I don't think he really listens to anyone in the whole film...

That being said he had a couple good points about Jesus that many of us Christians could learn from.

1) Jesus spoke against the rich

2) The message of Jesus is incompatible with Nationalism

3) Jesus was not a man who existed in a vacuum

I also like his point that a life focused on an eschatological obsession can cause us to focus less on this life here...

Ultimately I guess I want to ask Bill: What exactly where you trying to prove? If you were looking for humor the movie fails. If you were trying to teach you need to learn to listen first...

The movie entrenches each side more in the smug self assurance that no one know what they're talking about

Tell me what you think! You can Watch it for free below!

What is the Gospel - Part 2 - Paul Washer (A Southern Baptist)

After the last post one of my dear friends was concerned I was being a relativist by offering this series. You can read his response here. I thought it was a good criticism and although this post is indeed a continuation of the subject I want to make it clear that I am in no way teaching any of these perspectives as right or wrong. I want everyone to talk about what the Gospel is. As A christian I find that the Gospel is the center of my life, and living the Gospel is at the heart of all I strive to do.

My only issue is there isn't a clear definition in the Scripture of what that life looks like.

There have been various theories of what atonement looks like throughout history, and I don't know if any of them capture the Mystery of God's Salvation completely.

By offering these perspectives I hope to challenge each reader to reflect of their own understanding of the Gospel and respond by giving more of their life to Jesus.

I really appreciate the reply so much, and the definition given I think is an incredibly important explanation of "Gospel Truth." What I want to focus on now is what is "Gospel Life."

In Revelation 14 (which was quoted in the response) the Judgment is not one of knowledge but obedience, we see the same thing in Matthew 25 (link).

So often Jesus seems to be asking how we loved, much more then what we know.

Here is a perspective I hope my dear brother finds more peace about... Although some of you might not be at peace with it... I'd like to hear what everyone thinks.

What is the Gospel - Part 1 - Orthodox

This week I will be posting a view different views on different ideas about the Gospel. It seems like almost every church has a different perspective on the issue.

I'd like to hear what you think about each of these Ideas... Today I will share a video with you from One Eastern Orthodox perspective (although I am sure there are more).




What do you take away from this?

Shane Claiborne

A few years ago my friend Scot told me about a friend of his that was coming to town and had invited his band to play at a church where he was speaking in Grand Rapids called Mars Hill. I checked it out and really enjoyed both their performance an the speaker. Since then it seems I can't go anywhere without hearing about the speaker. His name is Shane Claiborne. It seems he's at every conference, festival, church, and bookstore I go to.

Some people I know have been really changed by his message....
Others have been really annoyed...

Check out this video:

Shane Claiborne Sermon from Covenant Communications on Vimeo.

So What do you think?

I have now seen him speak 4 or 5 times and I am always amazed by his ability to say some things most people would not be able to get away with saying, but somehow manages to get away with it with this "aw shucks" attitude. His little giggles are all it really takes.

Somehow giggling has this way of breaking down all our walls and prejudices. He can get the most hard line fundamentalist talking about the importance of social justice (something surprising hard to do sometimes) by giggling and then talking about the issues...

It makes me wonder how much of our conversation is based on our associations with an opinion and how much is actually listening...

...maybe the best place to start a conversation is with an expression of our mutual humanity...