What happens when 3 generations of Evangelical Christian leaders get together to discuss church and politics in the 21st century? These videos capture a lively and thoughtful conversation between Chuck Colson, Gregory Boyd and Shane Claiborne moderated by Krista Tippett of “Speaking of Faith” radio program. Check out some video clips below. The full program details can be found HERE.
What are your impressions of the conversation and perspectives represented?
Mark Roberts posted A Brief History of Thanksgiving at his blog and I especially found George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789 inspiring:
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor–and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their Joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” read more…
Few studies have been more timely and pin-point accurate in it’s findings than the research of Christian Smith in “Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers” concerning the religious beliefs of American teenagers. I would argue that many of these teens have learned their faith from parents with similar Christian convictions and level of commitment. Thus, his findings are not limited to teenagers by any stretch of the imagination.
Smith’s definition and description of what he calls “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” will long be used as the best description of what goes for typical civil religion in America. Here’s an excerpt from Albert Mohler’s commentary on this ground-breaking study:
As described by Smith and his team, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these: 1. “A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.” 2. “God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.” 3. “The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.” 4. “God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.” 5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.” read more…
Yesterday I shared an alternative model of evangelism shaped by the interactions and approach of Jesus in the Gospels. I thought it might be helpful to offer a concrete example of this approach in action.
As I was planting the Revolution ministry in Mound I was helped along by my daily interactions with teens in various roles which included substitute teaching almost everyday in the high school, coaching the high school basketball team and teaching all of the driver education classes and offering behind-the-wheel instruction for nearly every 15 year old in the school. I had many opportunities for conversation during these years but a few relationships with students stand out above the rest.
One student was exceptionally bright, extremely liberal and passionate about the pressing social and political issues of the day. He spent his free time reading up on influential thinkers such as Marx, Nietzche, Darwin and other lesser known figures (as a 16 year old!). He loved debating politics in the cafeteria and waxing eloquent (even if way over the head of his peers) on issues like poverty, militarism, and social justice. We formed a relationship through time in class, driver ed and he attended some of our “Coffeehouse Live” outreach events at church.
Through our six hours together in the car for his behind-the-wheel lessons (which is a fabulous evangelistic opportunity!) he came to know of my Christian convictions and the mission of the Revolution I was trying to start in Mound centered around the Man, the Message and the Mission of Jesus. He was intrigued. And he was skeptical. read more…
FROM THE DI ARCHIVES: Prior to my current ministry role I spent a few years living “missionally” in a smaller town community where God called me to use new and innovative means of reaching unchurched and ‘de-churched’ teens for Christ. Check out The Revolution. I wrote the following reflections while in the trenches trying to effectively reach teens with the message and mission of Jesus. -JB
There is a strong movement within the church today toward becoming “Missional.” The idea driving this movement is that we do not go to church, but we are the church. Christianity is more than attending a weekly service and participating in various programs. Rather, the church is revisiting its origins as an irresistible, loving, counter-cultural community of people whose strikingly beautiful way of life together draws others to Christ and his Kingdom simply by the faith, hope, and love they manifest, and the truthfulness of the redemptive story they embody. They don’t merely preach the message of salvation, they embody it in their calvary-shaped common life together.
This is a healthy move away from the unfortunate tendency within the church to make “Missions” a separate calling for an elect few of “professional missionaries” who usually then commit themselves to some overseas endeavor with the rest of us providing the prayerful and financial support. In this traditional model, back home the rest of us focus on sharing our personal faith with our friends and neighbors, inviting them to church or youth group, and attempting to win souls to Christ. When someone “comes to Christ” (meaning, accept certain beliefs about the faith), they are then invited to get involved in the discipleship process. As one matures in their faith (through Bible Studies, small groups, Alpha, etc.) they are then encouraged to take the next step and get involved in a short-term mission trip or local service opportunities. The progression looks like this:
Evangelism (Message)–> Conversion/Salvation –> Discipleship –> Mission
I believe this model has worked in the past, is certainly a biblical model but often ineffective and short-sighted in reaching outsiders for Christ in today’s western post-Christian culture. Let me share a few thoughts regarding the weaknesses of this particular model and offer an alternative approach to consider. read more…
In my first review of this film I pointed out some of the underlying spiritual/psychological themes in the film: (1) the danger of letting a relationship take over one’s entire life, (2) turning a relationship into an idol which we cannot live without, (3) engaging in self-destructive behaviors (e.g., self-injury, suicide attempts) as a desperate cry for attention or manipulative tool to get other to do something, and (4) the positive message that we should not simply indulge our natural, carnal desires but rather seek to resist and follow a higher law.
I did not even comment on the most obvious spiritual issue in this film: Losing one’s soul and the question of eternal damnation. Remember the conversation between Edward and Bella about the state of their souls? In his article Self as the Standard of Spiritual Truth, Love as the Ultimate Idol: Old Problems Arise inNew Moon Marc T. Newman discusses this more serious spiritual issue found in this saga.
Does each person have the right to determine spiritual truth? read more…
Can you articulate the main plot of the entire Old Testament story? What’s the overarching big story of which the smaller episodes are a part? Here’s my attempt to capture the essence of the OT story with key moments/themes in BOLD.
The Creation story presents a picture of humanity initially living in proper relationship with the Creator, with Yahweh dwelling in their midst. The created world is the good creation of a good God, and human beings are God’s co-regents (i.e., image of God) placed in dominion over the rest of the created things (naming the beasts, working the ground, etc.). The Fall of Adam and Eve was essentially an effort of human beings to breech the proper Creator-creation distinction, grasping for equality with God, and no longing willing to be dependent upon the blessings and provisions of God. The primary problem/sin recurring throughout human history, and particularly the history of the Israelites, is this tendency towards idolatry, i.e., placing oneself or any other thing in God’s place, desiring to control our own destiny and neglecting to give honor where honor is truly due. The initial downward spiral of the human race into idolatry culminates in the Tower of Babel story, thus leading Yahweh to devise some long-term solution to this recurring problem.
Yahweh’s answer is Abraham. Abraham and his descendents enter into an everlasting Covenant with the Creator in order to become, not only an example to the nations, but more importantly the means through which Yahweh will heal and undo the sins of the world, and to bring lasting justice and peace to the ends of the earth. Yahweh’s everlasting promise to Abraham includes (a) a great nation, (b) blessing, (c) a great name, (d) blessing to the nations, (e) land, (f) numerous offspring, (g) father of kings and (h) Yahweh as God (Gen 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15:5, 18; 17:4-16; 22:15-18). Moreover, Yahweh’s covenant with Abraham sets into motion the Story of Israel and her God. The rest of the Bible tells the story of this sojourning people, learning to live in right relation to their God, their neighbors and their environment. read more…
“The Medievals conceived the world as a book written by God, the plot of which is given in God’s other book, the Bible. Today, however, the world is plotted by different narratives, either humanly authored (modernism) or authorless (postmodernism). Now the world writes itself; or better, it is writing itself…It is against this background—of the world writing itself—that the church continues to tell the story of God’s Christ… In Christ the world is affirmed, freed from the need to write itself, loved simply as that which is written.”
Gerard Loughlin from ”Telling God’s Story: Bible, Church and Narrative Theology”
This particular Friday night I was proudly wearing both my “good husband hat” and my “committed youth pastor hat” as I went to see the much anticipated “Twilight: New Moon” film on opening night. (Keri asked me to go to the midnight opener the previous night and I had to draw the line somewhere!)
Gazillions of teenagers gobbled up these books when they came out. My guess is that these books and movies will eventually outdo Harry Potter because of the huge attraction to the cutesy teen-romance focus of these books and sex appeal of the movies. They appeal not only to middle school book-nerds (the Potter club) but broader youth culture including older teenagers and adults (e.g., my wife and I). So, we’ve all seen the hype.
Did the movie deliver?
As a man, I’m under a gag order to not say anything positive about this teen chick-flick or else be disowned by the male population. Just kidding. I actually quite enjoyed the first movie — not quite knowing what to expect and being new to the whole vampire romance genre. I thought the first movie was cute, intriguing and I appreciated the relatively clean portrayal of this teenage relationship. From what I’ve heard of the author, there is a deep Mormon influence behind her writing and these books explore many moral and character issues such as good and evil, the virtue of self-control and overcoming one’s natural cravings, etc. I really enjoy this aspect of Twilight.
So, how about New Moon? read more…
QUESTION: Can I trust God if he does not possess exhaustive definite foreknowledge?
Excerpt from Motivations for ascribing foreknowledge to God by GREGORY A. BOYD published in “Religious Studies” (Cambridge University Press 2009).
Aside from exegetical objections, the single most frequent criticism raised against the open view in the polemical literature is that it undermines confidence in providence. To illustrate, this criticism permeates Bruce Ware’s book, God’s Lesser Glory. According to Ware, the open view of God posits a ‘limited, passive, hand-wringing God’, who can do little more than hope for the best. ‘[W]hat is lost in open theism’, Ware contends,
… is the Christian’s confidence in God … . When we are told that God … can only guess what much of the future will bring … [and] constantly sees his beliefs about the future proved wrong by what in fact transpires … . Can a believer know that God will triumph in the future just as he has promised he will?
Inasmuch as the need for security strongly influences the faith of most people today, as it did in ancient Greece, this type of argumentation is psychologically effective. But is it valid? I do not believe that it is. read more…
