I recently ran across a great description of the difference between popular evangelical Christian thought and authentic Christian thought in a post by Gene Veith on his blog Cranach: The Blog of Veith titled: The emergent church meets the “Spirituality of the Cross”
In this blog Veith posts a long comment by an individual named Dan. It is well worth the read. But if you've ever wondered why there seems to be such a deep divide between people who want to change the Lutheran Church to be in step with the fad Christianity and those who want to preserve Law and Gospel proclamation here as a wonderful paragraph.
"All in all, Veith challenged me to think critically about my presuppositions. He showed me that I was simply chasing after another fad, setting myself up for another disappointment and further disillusionment. All the while I was seeking authenticity, truth, community, experiences with God, and to be used by God. Veith made it clear that I have been misdiagnosing the issue altogether. The problem isn’t a lack of these things, the problem is sin. The answer is the cross. This is the only true spirituality. This is the only true contentment. I must seek Christ, all these other things flow only from that. When we put the cart before the horse we end up with another man-made institution, even if it meets in homes."
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Avatar
I cannot think of the "Avatar" without thinking of its Hindu origin. I suspect that most don't make the association and I need to get over it.
Christianity Today's Leadership Journal has an interesting article titled:
The author, John Ortberg, writes:
Sometimes we get so immersed in the X's and O's of church work that we forget to step back and ask what 's the real reason we're doing all this. Paul has great clarity on it, and is more concise than usual: "so that we may present everyone mature in Christ."
Christianity Today's Leadership Journal has an interesting article titled:
The author, John Ortberg, writes:
Sometimes we get so immersed in the X's and O's of church work that we forget to step back and ask what 's the real reason we're doing all this. Paul has great clarity on it, and is more concise than usual: "so that we may present everyone mature in Christ."
If your church is looking for a big hairy audacious goal, this will do for starters.
The scale: everyone.
The outcome: mature in Christ.
That's not common language in our day. So recently I have asked church leaders in a number of settings to take a few moments to describe what someone who is "mature in Christ" looks like. Certain words always make the list: loving, joyful, peaceful, forgiving, serving, courageous, loyal, humble, generous.
His thesis is that the heroes in Avatar (the movie) display these characteristics.
I may have to watch it when it comes out on DVD.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Thursday, February 04, 2010
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