Culture

My first article appeared on the fshbwl, today, called "What If We Dropped the Word?". It's an article about the word evolution. This comes on the heals of my 2nd guest hosting spot on the Swim Podcast.

All this theological stuff is getting to be a bit fun.

I've herd phrases like, "We are only one generation from Christianity dieing out." I've read research findings like, "most Protestant pastors are neither called to nor competent in leadership" and "most 'church growth' is simply the recycling of church-goers from one congregation to another." And, yet, in this world where we have a lack of leadership and we have Christianity dieing out in western culture it isn't dead. In fact, it's expanding in the world. Despite our best efforts to screw up spreading the word it's still spreading, people are still coming to faith, and it's spreading to every corner of the earth without the use of force.

I dunno about you but I see this as a miracle and a mystery. It's God at work in the world and he doesn't need us. In fact, it's happening despite our superb ability to screw it up. Yet, He hasn't fired us yet.

I sit here this morning a bit amazed, humbled, and joyful.

Most of the preparing I do for the holidays involves presents, candy, decorations, and a little more stress than the everyday. But, is that really what's it's supposed to be about? Santa, as we know him, has been around for less than 100 years. The egg laying bunny comes from the 18th century. Yet, Lent and Advent have been around for a very very long time. The question I'm left wondering is what is a good way to prepare for this upcoming Easter where I don't get caught up in the commercialism and get to the heart of what it's all about?

I've started to notice a lot of obvious untruths lately. For example, I was recently told that the theory of evolution had been proven to be true. You might think this is the case, too. I've herd this at least a half dozen times in the last 6 months. But, it hasn't been proven. The untruth here is not that it's not plausible and not that people believe it to be true but that we have proven it. This is where a great danger lies. I think the danger here is worse than blind beliefs. The danger is that people think something is known to be true when it hasn't been proven. I'd go so far to say they live a lie.

The Bible is an incredible book is many ways. It is the most popular selling book of all time. Yet, it is one of the least read books. If you look at the number of books bought verse the number read it might be the book with the smallest percent read of all time. These days most of America is considered Biblically illiterate. People don't seem to know where the bible came from, don't know the themes of the bible, don't have an understanding of translations, and so much more.

St. Matthew Lutheran church is aiming to change that with a great bible study that covers those topics and more. The nature of the Bible study is an overview which mostly covers information that isn't under debate by different denominations. It's something everyone can learn from.

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." -- Ephesians 4:29-32

Any thoughts about living this out in a world sucked into politics where bashing is a norm and a world that is increasingly against Christians?

Over the past couple weeks I've been part of several conversations about the expectations of pastors. Everyone I have spoken with has different expectations and sadly, most of them have unrealistic expectations.

I don't call them unrealistic because of theological considerations. Though, if we were going to go that route it wouldn't be hard. I call them unrealistic because of time considerations. Basically, when you add up all the duties they are expected to do and the hours it takes it's just not a list of realistic expectations. So, let's look at some of these expectations, the time they take, and what that means.

I just signed up for twitter account and am now wondering "what's the point of twitter?"

Twitter, for those of you who don't know, is a way that you can let the world know what you are doing at the moment. At least that's what most people use if for. You can update it at their website, with a text message, or an instant message. You can, also, put your up to date twitter message on your website with a badge.

But, what problem does it solve? What need does it fill? What desire does it feed?

Podcasting is one of the innovative technologies that is taking the Internet by storm. It's leaving the world of the geek and technical and heading into mainstream use. That's why when Bob and I were asked to write an article in Church Business Magazine we were so excited to write about podcasting.

That article has launched and you can read it digitally in the June 2007 issue. The article is called The Podcasting Church.

If you know anyone in the church who might be interested in podcasting or you would like to get interested please feel free to send them to the article.

Stay at home moms are great. In our modern day society that only sees worth coming in day jobs that bring home the bucks the stay at home mom is becoming rarer and rarer. But, at what cost and is it really worth it?

I've herd the cost argument many times and there are two sides to it. One side says that a mom who stays at home with her kids is giving up the use of her talents. Some even go so far as to say the use of her talents to make something of herself in this world. The other side is focused on that child, what will happen to that child, and the joy of the mother with that child. The question is which cost is worth it and why?