What i Think

We're Moving!

2005-02-25T23:00:00.000-05:00

We're moving! No, we're not physically moving, but I am changing websites. This one will still be available as an archive (like anyone would want to go back and look at this junk). However, I felt a change was needed and I am moving on. My apologies to anyone, like me, who is using an RSS Reader. I know this will be a pain in the rear. The new weblog will be The Sign Post. You can get there using this link:

www.thesignpost.blogspot.com

King or Mascot?

2005-02-24T09:25:00.000-05:00

In Brian McLaren's book A Generous Orthodoxy he brings up some very good questions about who Jesus is and what we have made him into in modern Christianity. Is Jesus our King, or simply our mascot? Just something to think about.

Pharisees, Labels & Legalism

2005-02-22T19:50:00.000-05:00

I am blessed in many ways. Right now one of the ways that I feel blessed is in my own anonymity. I am not in any postion of leadership right now nor am I very important in the big scheme of things. My readership is very small, I would guess that most of the time it consists of a dozen people or less. It is because of this kind of blessing that I can speak my mind freely, knowing that any criticism I get is out of a loving heart. I must be honest with you now, I barely slept a wink last night because my head was reeling. I needed to vent, but decided to wait it out and let cooler heads prevail. My head is not any cooler now than it was then, but i would like to get some sleep tonight so here goes. There are probably only a few of you who have read the book A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren. I must admit that I have not finished the book yet, but feel a certain kinship for McLarens cause and ecumenicalism in general. I have not considered myself a baptist in quite some time. I have only considered myself a follower of Christ, who happens to have attended Baptist Church's most of my life. I attended the last one because it was the church I grew up in and where most of my family is, I attend the current one because it is where I have found a fellow group of Christ followers who don't appear to be caught up in denominational "vessel issues" as Dallas Willard calls them. But, I have never in my life wanted so much to disassociate myself with a group of people as when I read Al Mohler's review of McLarens book. For those of you who don't know who Al Mohler is (bless your innocent souls), he is the President of the Southern Baptist Seminary. He is the self proclaimed spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Convention and Conservatives everywhere. I do not personally know Dr. Mohler and therefore cannot comment on his personal character or anything other than what I have read on his blog, but in his critique of A Generous Orthodoxy he was anything but generous. In fact, he gave a performance the scribes and pharisees would be proud of. His obvious priority of legalism over love of neighbor was enough to make anyone who has read the gospels wonder if Dr. Mohler has. Whether it is intentional or not, he and many other "Christian leaders" have turned Christianity into no more than labeling/seperating/excluding/segregating/alienating/hating anyone who does not share their personal views or outlook on what it means to follow Christ. We all know that Jesus was big on segregation and alienation, just look at the sermon on the mount (that was sarcasm for anyone who did not pick up on that please see Matthew ch. 5-7). Nowhere in the statements that were made, were any kind of love for neighbor or graciousness that Crist showed us in his earthly ministry, on the cross or in his commandment to us in the Great Commission. It is not just from Dr. Mohler that this kind of labeling, phariseeism and legalism is coming. It is like we in Western conservative protestantism (now here I go labeling) have put together our own Sanhedrin and have given them charge over our very own crusades to rid the world of everyone who does not agree with us (to make a comparison to nazism is going too far, but still somewhat tempting). I know that I probably sound pretty radical right now, but a radical follower of Jesus is exactly what I intend to be. Jesus himself was a very subversive and undermining teacher when dealing with pharisees and saducees, perhaps this is not the best approach for dealing with our current situation, but perhaps it is. I would think that each of us have to council with the Holy Spirit in order to decide the best approach. The one thing I will say is this, the law and the prophets have been fulfilled and it is time to start living like Jesus. I will let you decide whether or not that means squabbling over denominational doctrine, pointing fingers at others and acting like their sin is worse than ours and trying to make governmental powerplays.

My wife's birthday

2005-02-16T17:27:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is my wife's birthday. She is the without a doubt the best and most tolerant wife in the world (after all, she does put up with me). So, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say in front of the whole world: Happy Birthday Kacie, I Love You.

More belated Commentary

2005-02-04T17:29:00.000-05:00

I realize I am very late in commenting about this subject, but finding the time to peruse everything in blogdom or even going on within Christian culture is beyond my means. However, what I finally took the time to check in on today was the debate (not really worthy of that title, too short and only one reply a peice) between Brian McLaren and Chuck Coalson on whether or not postmodernism has bit the dust. Personally, I do not really consider myself a postmodernist or a modernist (though I may lean a little more towards the former), but I have been quietly watching a lot of the conversations going on in the postmodern and emergent culture (not the same, but closely related). After reading the responses of both, I was appauled at the extremely poor characterization, labeling and obviously poor research of Coalson's response to McLaren. After being accused of building straw men, he puposely built and propagated more straw men to cut down in his response. He obviously did not understand McLaren's statements or questions and in many cases, I am not sure if he even read the letter or just heard through the grapevine what it said. It saddened me to see the lack of respect or love (he did describe love as part of decietful gameplan to lure in postmoderns so that he can show them the "real truth") that was shown in the segregation and statements of authority over anyone related to postmodernism. He made it clear he does not wish to engage in conversation, but rather to hurl claims at his opponents and that he does not see any value in any views other than his own. When I write this I do not mean any disrespect to his ministry, especially his prison ministry, which is definitely meeting a need in our society, or even to take sides on the issue at hand, which Coalson proved he does not understand well enough to discuss. I simply felt a need to express the saddening way in which Mr. Coalson handled a call to discussion. The article, and replies discussed can be found on Brian McLaren's website.

Priorities

2005-02-04T11:28:00.000-05:00

I don't know if you have noticed lately, but the priorities of many so-called Christian leaders seem to be very off-kilter lately. James Dobson is spending millions of dollars in a crusade against Sponge-Bob, who I personally don't care for, but if I had the kind of dollars at my expense that Dobson does, I'm pretty sure I could find a more worthy cause than irradicating a cartoon character. If we don't want our kids to watch him, change the channel. No, wait that would require actually knowing what your kids are doing and being involved in raising them and we all know that is the job of school teachers, sunday school teachers, youth ministers, etc... (apparently I haven't gotten over that sarcasm thing yet) Another example is a transcript of the Larry King Live show I read from a couple days ago. They had a few of the people listed in Time Magazine's "25 Most Influential Evangelicals on the show. If I remember correctly, they had Tim and Beverly Lahaye, Franklin Graham, T.D. Jakes and Brian Mclaren. King asked them several questions about politics, racism, homosexuals and their opinions of our President. In short, I think the Lahayes made us all look like a bunch of uneducated bigots and the other three did a pretty decent job. I was somewhat disappointed that Mclaren didn't get to answer more questions, but suprised that he even made the list. What was really suprising was that T.D. Jakes, who I have always considered to be a heretic, did about as good a job of answering questions as any of them. The Lahayes answers on most questions, mirrored the SBC's position on most topics which is where, once again, the priorites seem to be all wrong. I think living a homosexual lifestyle is a sin, but I don't hate anybody for it. How are going to convince anyone that God is love when we are always making the news for hating somebody and trying to segregate them from the rest of society. Why should they believe that God is gracious when we are spending all this money fighting cartoons and Super-Bowl commercials, while there is tragedy (e.g. the tsunami) all over the world. I think before we publicly criticize anyone elses morals or values, we probably need to do a little housecleaning of our own and get our priorities straight.

Repent for the millennial reign is at hand?

2005-01-31T21:17:00.000-05:00

Repent for the millennial reign is at hand. How stupid is that. However, that is what I thought the gospel was saying just a couple years ago. Thank God for men like N.T. Wright and Dallas Willard. Just a few short years ago I thought that the gospel was all about forgiveness of sin and entrance into heaven after death. What about life now here on earth? Irrelevant, the goal was all about escaping accountability for my sins and finding a way to sneak past the guards at the pearly gates. Unloading my own guilt was what seemed to be the most important thing. A couple of years ago, by the grace of God I started stumbling into the Kingdom of the Heavens. I say stumbling because I didn't really know what it was I was getting to, but I definitely knew that it was no longer about just getting into heaven. It was like a lightning bolt one day. All of the sudden it didn't matter any more whether or not I even got into heaven. I just wanted to serve God and replace my will with his will. I owed him at least that much. However, when I told someone in my Sunday School class that I was teaching that it was no longer an issue of heaven or hell for me, they looked at me like I had lost my last marble and really didn't know what to say. I started to move closer to the gospel message as I started studying and listening to John MacArthur and his version of Lordship salvation. It made a lot more sense than the Gene Ryrie version of "accountability escape and unaffected lives and hearts" that I had grown up in. The problem was, the goal was still in the afterlife, it did demand a change of character in order to make Jesus Lord, but there is not a true understanding of the mechanics of justification or that the gospel is something entirely different from the forgiveness of sin, although the forgiveness of sin is still a part of it. Soon after that we began to attend church on the hill. Via God's grace, we arrived just as the staff was really getting into N.T. Wright's "What Saint Paul Really Said." This had a huge impact on my life. For the first time the words of Jesus really started to make sense (without having to mix up the language to fit our needs) and the mechanics of justification, our resurrection with Christ and freedom from sin and death seemed to leap off the page at me. God further delivered me when Jason, Todd and Nathan started recommending Dallas Willard to me. "The Spirit of the Disciplines" changed the way I live my life every day, "The Divine Conspiracy" made clear my former misgivings and what I had been missing out on my entire life and "Renovation of the Heart" summed it all up beautifully.

When we got to actually sit in a room with Dallas Willard this last weekend and soak up some of his genius it gave me tremendous renewed inspiration and zeal for discipline in my own life and sharing what I have learned with my friends and family. I am not much of a revivalist, but those teaching sessions with Dr. Willard were the closest thing to true revival I have experienced in a long time (and it didn't even take any emotional music or anybody crying to do it). The problem now becomes how to explain in a loving, considerate way that the gospel most of my loved ones have heard and subscribed to their entire lives is mostly lies, bad scholarship and scripture taken completely out of context. How do I convey the difference in life in the Kingdom and life looking forward to the Kingdom in such an urgent way as I wish I could. I know that the best way is to simply let them see the difference it is making in my own life, but if their as dense as I once was, (and probably still am, only more educated)that could take a long time and I'm not sure that I, or they can wait. So for now, I will try to work through it in my head and pray about it earnestly, before I say or do anything too drastic. Please pray for me as I listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and continue to change my own life so that I might live it as Jesus would were he me. Bless you all, especially those of you who are cursing me right now.

P.S.
You should probably also pray that God helps me with this sarcasm thing.

Back to reality...sort of

2005-01-25T21:20:00.000-05:00

Well,
For those of you worried that I never came back from Vegas, never fear. I am very happily back in the thriving metropolis of Amber. Las Vegas was quite an experience. In some ways, it was awesome to see what we as man can and have acomplished architecturally and artistically in this city in the desert. But in many other ways it is very sad and almost sickening to see how, not only that man can become so engulfed in sin and be so undisciplined, but also how other men will take advantage of this to the fullest in order to mak a buck or a few billion bucks as the case may be. Las vegas is truly the city built on sin. Everything about it is designed to take advantage of temptation and man's lack of discipline. There are really only three concepts in Las Vegas, money, sex and food. If it doesn't have anything to do with one of those three things, you probably won't find it there. Apparently those three things can accomplish a lot when properly fostered. We were in Vegas for 6 days. I would never recommend more than 3. It's pretty much all a person can stand. By day four I'd had enough was ready to be moving on.

On a much better note I will be leaving again this weekend, but to do something much more worthwihile. Several of us are crashing the Texas Baptist Evangelism conference to sit in on at least four sessions with Dallas Willard, whom I consider today's foremost expert on the subject of spiritual transformation. Needless to say, I am excited. I just hope I don't say anything to make myself look too stupid. I hope to have much more to blog about after what I am sure will be a very enlightening weekend. However, don't get your hopes up too much for a constant stream of posts. I am still unusually busy at work for this time of year. In fact I've been flat out swamped for the last couple months. This summer could be overwhelming, but in a good way. I am also trying to decide what I should give up for lent this year. I guess I will need to trust in the supervision of the Holy Spirit on this one.

Catching up

2005-01-14T12:50:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, I am not supposed to be anywhere near this busy in January, but I am. This is the reason for my infrequency in blogging. Between work, trying to catch up on reading I should have already done and trying to get in a bit of life in between, There just haven't been many opportunities to sit down and write it out. I may or may not be blogging some in the next week. I will be in Las Vegas on business (yes, it's really business) and have meetings all day every day but one. However, I am planning on taking Kacies laptop with us, so there is a slim chance I could give you a Vegas update, but then what happened in Vegas wouldn't stay inVegas. No worries, if I wouldn't do it here, I wouldn't do it there.

Anyway, I am about to finish up "Renovation of the Heart" by Dallas Willard. I would highly recommend it, as I would just about anything by Willard. This book attacks the same basic subject of Spiritual Formation (or reformation) that many of his other books do, but at a slightly different angle. It is actually a somewhat simpler read than the very dense "Divine Conspiracy." If I were recommending his books to someone new to the idea of SF I would probably tell them to read this one first, then "The Spirit of the Disciplines", then "The Divine Conspiracy," but that's just a personal opinion.

Even though I haven't been posting much, I do still get to browse other people's blogs now and again. There have been some really interesting conversations going on at Nat's blog. I would suggest reading them when you have plenty of time and a little discernment at your disposal. There is some pretty heated discussion going on, but worthwhile none the less.

Current Events (In Rural OK)

2005-01-04T15:59:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted much lately, with this being the season of too much to do and not enough time, and so I thought I would catch you up a little bit. In the wake of the Tsunami there has been much discussion about how much the U.S. should be contributing for aid. I'll just put it this way: I haven't taken a look at our national budget lately, so I don't really know what the U.S. can afford to give unexpectedly, but whatever that number is, it will never be enough. No amount of money will ever be able to fix what has happened in Asia and Africa in the last week or so. However, there cannot be a limit put on what aid is needed to try and help reunite familys, bury the dead, heal the living or make life livable again the the effected areas. I don't have much of a take other than that. This tragedy should have made it painfully obvious that there are more important things in this world to argue about/put our energy into than a peeing contest over who gives the most money to what or how imperfect systems of government are/can be.

In more light-hearted events, the college bowl season is almost overwith and my Cowboys got drummed by a better football team in the Alamo Bowl. Les Miles left for LSU. I am not worried that all our hopes and dreams have been shattered because all my hopes and dreams have very little to do with college football (unlike some I know who live through the achievements and failures of certain football teams). I look forward to seeing what Mike Gundy can put together for a coaching staff as well as a game plan. Best of Luck to both coaches. The sooners are playing for a national title tonight and I wish them the best of luck too. If the game lives up to half the hype, it will be one of the greatest of all time.

On to even better news, we survived Christmas. I consider this a great accomplishment every year since we now have between 8 and 10 Christmas parties to attend each hloiday season and most of them are in a two day period. Whether or not the checking account survived Christmas remains to be seen. I think it has a leak. I hope to soon be blogging more often and hopefully about much more important things than those covered in this post. I got several books for Christmas from Authors like Dallas Willard, Brian McClaren and Leonard Sweet. I was probably more excited about those gifts than any others this year. I look forward to learning all year long and hopefully serving God and neighbors along the way.

Overwhelming

2004-12-28T15:06:00.000-05:00

Overwhelming is the only way I can describe what has happened in Asia over the last few days. Just trying to think about what it must be like to be in that situation is more than I am able to imagine. To have everyone in your family, your friends, your neighbors all die in a matter of seconds and on top of that to have everything familiar and every place of refuge destroyed at the same time. It could only be compared to nuclear war. The United States lost 3,000 people in the trade center. It was about as horrible as anything I ever could have imagined at that time. Now take that and multiply it by 20. The death toll is now at 59,000 and rising. The media is calling it "Mother Nature at her worst." It sounds like an atheist's way of describing an act of God. I guess it has to be an act of God, though we really don't want to admit that. God is sovereignly in control of this world. It certainly invokes lots of questions in ones mind. Will this be recognized as an act of God. If this were biblical times, this would surely be recorded as judgment of some kind. Is this judgment from God? What could merit such judgment? These are valid questions. There are no terrorist or evil dictators to hold responsible. Several questions like these keep running through my mind. I'm not sure that I know the answers right now. There are a few million people in Asia right now who are asking similar questions, but with much more desperation and grief. I think all we can do is trust God. Put our faith in his sovereignty rather than run from it or try to figure it out why through human understanding. My prayers go out to those who have been affected as well as those who should be.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2004-12-23T15:15:00.000-05:00

I may not be online again for a couple of days, so I'll give it to you early.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I think we've missed something

2004-12-22T11:25:00.000-05:00

I think we've missed something. When I say we, what I really mean is I. We just sounds better because saying it in the plural gives me a sense that I am not the only one responsible. However, I am the only one responsible for my spiritual formation at this point. Let me take you back so maybe this will make more sense.

Over the past few months I have spent a lot of time reading other bloggers out there to try and get a better perspective on the direction of my own apprenticeship to Jesus. It worked. I hate it when that happens. One of the many things I have discovered is that I am not doing a very good job of following Jesus instruction to his disciples (of which I consider myself one). Jesus told the apostles to go and make disciples and teach them in all of his ways. He also told us to love our neighbor as ourself and everything else would fall into place. Teaching them in all of his ways is the part we usually forget. Dallas Willard calls it "The Great Ommission from the Great Commision." "All of Jesus ways" includes the ways he disciplined himself spiritually as well as the way he cared for the poor and the oppressed. Growing up in the community of faith where I did, neither of these were emphasized too much. I thought I was loving my neighbor adequately. I hadn't killed anybody. I was a nice person. I would even hold doors open for people and help them when I could. That used to seem pretty adequate. It no longer does.

It is amazing how many times you can read the scriptures and see something, but not really see it. This week I have been trying to put together a Sunday School lesson for this Sunday when I am subbing for Jason. I decided to use the very thing that I am struggling with and see what comes of group discussion and the leading of the holy spirit. Last night I compiled a list of passages that spoke to our calling to the social aspects of the Gospel message. It was amazing how many passages of scripture were devoted to caring for / feeding / sheltering / helping / loving those around us. I had read all these passages before, but see the size and scope of the compilation had a much greater impact. This is a much larger part of what it means to follow Jesus than I had once thought. It has taken me a few months of wrestling with it to really come to terms with how differently I need to be living out my life.

My fellow conservatives should not panic. I will not be seen handing out flowers at the airport any time soon. I certainly will not be placing any "Hillary in '08" stickers on any vehicles. However, I am going to take a more balanced approach to my own spiritual formation. Just gathering knowledge and trying to force it into my head has not and can not make the kind of changes in my character that are necessary to truly follow Jesus. We have to actively participate in the loving of those around us, especially those who need that kind of help and love. We live in the information age. I think we need information in order to prepare us to grow. I now also think that we need to be out in the world using that information to love others. This is how we can grow further, to the "next level," if you will. The amazing thing about that statement is that there will always be a "next level" to reach. Perhaps the next age will be the "participation age."
When people will actually get out and do something with all this available knowledge.

I know what you're thinking out there. It's the same thing that I would be saying were I you (cynical as I am). All this sounds great, but let's wait and see if anything changes. Well, here is where I need your help. For those of you who know me, please help hold me accountable, whether that means encouragement or a good swift kick in the butt.

Going to Extremes

2004-12-13T09:45:00.000-05:00

As God continues to grow and change me as a person, I have, in the past, gone to extremes on certain issues. When an idea came along that was new to me and I discovered that it had some credibility, I would latch on to it with both hands and then run with it. It has happened more than once. In the process, I have sometimes come off as brash or condescending. Mostly because I was brash and condescending. I had the best of intentions. I had discovered something that was changing my life and wanted to tell everyone I knew so it could change their life too. What I later learned is that just because something is new to me, doesn't mean it is new to everyone. Many times I would sit and argue with people who had already been there and done that and had since moved past that particular sign post to one much further down the road. It is easy to get caught up in something new to us and then go to extremes only to latercome back to a much more level headed view, but now with a gained knowledge of this new piece of information or belief, and having grown through the experience. I am often amazed at all the "new things" that are out there to be studied and perhaps recognized as valid. God changes me more and more every day. He still has a ot of changing to do, but I hope that I have finally matured enough not to get swept up in the extremism that often goes along with something new. Just some random thoughts.

Discrimination Creeps In

2004-12-10T11:45:00.000-05:00

If you have been listening to or watching or reading the news in OKC lately, you have probably heard about the uproar just a few miles north of Tuttle and eighteen miles northeast of our house. The community of Mustang is in a tizzy (I hope that spelling is correct) about Christians being discriminated against in their local school system. For those of you who thought that kind of thing could never happen here, only on one of the coasts, guess what, it's here. It is important to keep in mind that this discrimination doesn't hold a candle to the kind that Christians underwent in the apostolic era, nor does it compare with the discrimination and persecution of Christians in lots of other places in the world right now. However, this does not mean that people should just let it slide either. It seems in their local "Christmas Pageant" they cut out the nativity scene, but kept in the references to Hanukkah and even witches, of all things. This was done thanks to the advice of the schools legal council. Their legal council obviously didn't know what he/she was talking about, since their are prior cases that establish nativity scenes and Christmas pageants / plays in schools as being protected under the first amendment. The obvious hipocracy is that the Christmas references were cut out while references to other religions were not. The not so obvious hipocracy is that schools are about to let out for Christmas break. Don't get me wrong, I like that schools take a Christmas break. I enjoyed it when I was still in school because it gave me a chance to celebrate the coming of Christ with my family and to get in lots of hunting and quality time with the family. I still enjoy it because it gives my wife a much needed rest from having to put up with other peoples little monsters and some time to recharge before the next semester. I am all for the seperation of church and state, but if we are going to enforce it on every occasion, why are they only seperating the Christian church and state. There seems to be a growing school of thought in this country that it is OK to discriminate as long as you are discriminating against the majority and not a minority. Discrimination of any kind is wrong. If we are going adopt that value into our laws and policies then it doesn't only need to apply to "politically correct" issues or peoples. It needs to apply to everyone, everywhere.

Seasonal

2004-12-03T14:58:00.000-05:00

I'll make this short because this time of year none of us have very much time to be blogging or to be reading blogs. I hope that I have enough time to blog some more this month, after all, what better month is there to be praising God and talking about Jesus. I wish you all a happy, thankful, giving, blessingful Holiday season. I will pray that none of you get into fights over spending money, get your feelings hurt over which family to go see on what day, get grumpy over getting the worst dirty santa gift in the bunch, or get sick from eating too much if you will do the same for me. I hope we all take advantage of the extra opportunities we get to love those around us and to be gracious. I got a lesson in being gracious today. I tipped at Sonic for the first time in my life. Shortly afterward, I found out they screwed up my order and forgot my silverware. Like it or not, I had already been gracious. I guess I'll have to like it. If I didn't, that wouldn't be very graceful. Peace be with you this season.

Talking Heads

2004-11-19T13:02:00.000-05:00

Lately, there's been an uproar in the local media about the so called "talking heads" in the national sports media. I guess that's what you call someone you don't know, who has a national voice, who's opinion you don't like. They would probably be addressed by name if the local media agreed with their opinion (I don't agree with the "talking heads" opinion either by the way). However, the term "talking heads" brings about certain images in my mind. Images of bodyless heads floating against a white backdrop constantly talking to the degree that it all sounds like a big confusing roar. Maybe I'm the only one who gets that image from the phrase, but it's there none the less. In a way, we now have a lot of talking heads in the Christian community via the very media I am posting on right now, weblogs. Thousands of people every day, just like you and I are voicing their opinions about everything from how their day went to the mechanics of justification. There is an endless string of links that will take you around the world in a matter of seconds (or minutes if you are on a dial up conn.) to hear the voice of missionaries, pastors, churchplanters, teachers, lay people, new Christians, world renowned theologians or even atheists who want to join in the conversation. That's a lot of talking heads. While it certainly has it's dangers (bad theology, wrong facts, misinformation, rumors, etc...), I also think it may be one the best things ever to happen to the church. Now, you can not only converse with and learn from people within your own congregation or community, but people all over the world who ultimately have the same goal as you do, to serve Christ. Personally, I can already see how it is changing me and our culture in general. We are being exposed to ideas and knowledge we might not have ever seen before the information age and at a much more rapid pace than ever before. This change in availability of information has also changed the people in the culture to an extent, in that the current generation seems to be much more likely to research and try to learn things for themselves than the past few generations. This is a very good thing. Something else that goes along with the "talking head" mode of communication is that we often don't have any idea what the person we are reading looks like or sounds like. There are no accents on the internet. Many of the people reading this right now have no idea that I talk like a character off the Beverly Hillbillies and am slowly eating my way to statehood (although if they clicked on the "home" link on this page they could see pictures and profiles of both Kacie and myself). After eventually seeing pictures of some of the people I have been reading for a while, I usually end up saying "I didn't expect that". Proof positive that you can't judge a book by its cover. We must, no doubt, be very careful which talking heads we listen to and be willing to research and test everything in light of scripture, but there's a whole new world out there people. Get to blogg'n and ya'll come back now, you here.

My Orthodoxy's Not as Orthodox as It Used To Be

2004-11-15T13:28:00.000-05:00

As I continue to learn and grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, I find that my opinions are constantly moving (I hate to use the word evolving, it has too much of a Darwinist feel). A lot of the things I was once sure of and had no doubts or reservations about are no longer stamped in concrete. In many cases I found out my concrete was just wet sand. I found out a little more each day that if one really studies the arguments behind other positions, you will usually find that there is a pretty good case for both sides. Don't get me wrong, I haven't completely flip-flopped my theological views, and I often find out that there aren't good arguments behind some brands of doctrine. However, I am continually becoming more open to other opinions or views on all kinds of subjects. I hope this continues, not to the point that I won't take a stand when necessary, but to the end that I would be willing to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not harden my heart towards anyone or any group of people. There are probably even cases of my changing opinions right here on my weblog if someone wanted to go back and look in the archives on my old webpage. I hope no one actually does that, because at times I can be as stubborn as a mule on certain subjects (and I used to add some really cheesy tag lines to the end of every post). My wife says that I would argue with a wall if it would argue back. I tell her there is no better way to find out what someone really thinks. Our associate pastor, Jason probably remembers that side of me well from a few years ago. He probably rolled his eyes every time he saw me because I never stopped arguing or asking questions, even when I agreed with him (that's what really annoys my wife). It turned out Jason was right on most of the arguments we used to have, but I greatly appreciate the debate. It helped me get to a much better place in my relationship with Christ. "As iron sharpens iron." To my few readers, I ask, please keep me in line when I am being too stubborn to listen. Likewise, let me know if I start to become too wishy-washy. I need all the help I can get.

Culture Shock

2004-11-09T11:57:00.000-05:00

For the last few weeks I have been reading the blog of Andrew Jones. I found a link to it on Todd's website and was fascinated by what he and his family have been doing in Europe and all over the world. They are church planters and have just moved to Orkney. Mr. Jones usually has some very good takes on the church "universal" and its role in our emerging culture, i.e. emerging church. However, as I was reading his post-election blog, I was startled at the comments made, not by Andrew, but by a lot of the people that read his blog outside of the United States and even a few in the U.S. Andrew tried to defend Bush and the U. S. from the disgruntled commenters for a while, but to no avail. I was in shock at the distain some Europeans hold for all things American. They were extremely disappointed that Bush was re-elected. Many because they didn't agree with the war. Many said it was because they didn't think George W. Bush represent thier theology accurately. The undertones made me think they would have been much happier if we had elected an atheist. I got the impression that the real reason they didn't want America to have a christian president is because it makes it that much harder for them to hate America and the American president. I know "hate" is a strong word, but I don't think "discontent" covers it. The question I was left with was "Is God only sovereign in North America?". Does his omnipotence not extend past the Atlantic Ocean? I knew that no matter who was elected, God would still be God and his will would still be done. Has no one explained this on other continents? One would think that people would have more faith than that on the continent where God chose his people under the old covenant and came in human flesh to establish the new. Maybe I just let this get to me a little too much, but it is certainly interesting to know how we are thought of by other countries.

Movie (Documentary) Review

2004-11-09T10:29:00.000-05:00

Normally you probably wouldn't want me to be your full time movie reviewer. My wife would tell you I'm way to critical when it comes to movies or television shows. However, we went to see Beyond the Gates of Splendor yesterday and I would highly recommend it. It is amazing the faith of those missionaries who stayed down there and were true to their commitment. My first thought would have been to turn-tail and run back to the U.S., but these brave families trusted God and his plan. Out of their faith came an extension of God's Kingdom that changed an entire Community and culture. It made me feel like one of the "little faiths" Jesus referred to when chastening his disciples. Perhaps this will help all of us "little faiths" to trust in God's purpose and let him extend his Kingdom through us in amazing ways.

Relief

2004-11-03T17:32:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness the elections are finally over and we can get some relief. Relief from TV and radio ads. Relief from people calling on the phone. Relief from propaganda in the mail. Relief from Michael Moore in general. Relief from people like me turning their blog into a political platform. I am as glad that this is over as I am that we now have a chance to make a stand on some moral issues in our government, now that the people we think are more likely to involve morals in their decision making have been elected for the most part. This is what we think. The next few years will show whether or not we were right in assuming this. I was not too happy about all the state questions that passed. I only voted for two of them. I'll let you guess which two. But, apparently this is what the people of Oklahoma want. We'll now find out how long they want it for.

Personally, I promise not to blog about the elections any more, at least until it is time for the next elections. Campaigning will probably start tomorrow. I will even try not to talk about politics unless I deem it absolutely necessary. Lately, my blog is starting to look like a political commentary rather than a spiritual journey commentary. That's not what I'm after. So, for now, let's enjoy the peace and quiet of post-election euphoria.

Look Out! He's got a Sharpie!

2004-11-02T15:47:00.000-05:00

I hope this link works. What a rediculous world we live in. How sad are you if you are on the Magic Marker Task Force?

Just Not Enough

2004-10-28T18:53:00.000-05:00

Today it seemed that everywhere I turned I was confronted with sin, with atheist, with all kinds of things that I felt an urge to do something about. For instance, I found out today that my suspicions were correct and two of the ladies I work with are professing atheist who laugh at the very idea of God. I was seated near a man at lunch today whose every word seemed to be demeaning toward someone around him or generally rude. I even met a pastor today who made sure to tell me he was a pastor right before I started to price him a tractor and then asked me if I was willing to "Jew" with him. From the look on his face, he could see the shock in mine. I am not saying that I am any better than any of these people. However, for some reason today I felt a very strong urge to do something about all of these things. The problem was, I didn't know how. At least not in a way that wouldn't totally alienate me from those people or embarrass them to the point that they never want to talk to a "Christian" again or jeopardize my working relationship with them. I thought about the standard Christian line of "being a good example" and "witnessing by how I live my life." It's just not enough. Something more has to be done. I have had an urgent need to take some sort of action all day. The question is what. How do I approach my co-workers in a way that reflects the love of Jesus? Maybe the answer is obvious to others, but for some reason it's not to me. Kacie and I have prayed for guidance. I don't know what God is asking me to do, but I hope I find out soon, because it's driving me nuts.

Questions on baptism

2004-10-26T10:55:00.000-05:00

In the past few weeks I have noticed Mark at Once more with Feeling has posted several weblogs about baptism, infant or post-conversion. In his posts he has tried to make practical comparisons to argue that infant baptism is the only baptism that makes sense. Here is an example...

Would it be rational for Protestants to insist instead that Pastors only performed weddings for those who are already "married" somehow?
We all know that only those should be married who have some sort of previous engagement. The same is true of adoption. A couple can't simply adopt the child of another couple and expect that adoption to be recognized.
Likewise, the Church should only baptize those who will be disciples. That means that they should only baptize children who are being discipled and adults who are willing to be disciples. But that does not change the fact that, like a wedding or an adoption rite (in cultures that have such rites; in the OT it could be done by taking a newborn infant on one's knees), baptism admits a person into the visible Church.

I'm having a hard time understanding the rational here. I am not trying to criticize Mark. He is much better educated, theologically, than I am. I just don't don't see how his arguments carry through. I admit that I do have a certain bias in the way that I was raised, but I'm sure he carries with him that same bias.
I have always viewed baptism as a sign of the new covenant, as circumcision was for the old covenant. The same example could be used, but instead of the marriage ceremony itself being the representative symbol, the wedding rings would be. They are a symbol of the covenant made between the two parties with God. You don't put wedding rings on any one at birth because you hope that someday they will get married and you plan to do your best to make them a marriable person. Instead the wedding rings are placed on each others fingers after the covenant has been made, to seal it, so to speak. Maybe I'm way off on this one but I'm open to any explanation offered. Below are the links to his two posts that I've read on the subject.

Weddings only for the married?

New-level-of-commitment-baptism?

The ugliest race ever (probably)

2004-10-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

What can one say about the race for the senate seat in this state. A few words come to mind: ugly, dispicable, tasteless, senseless, deplorable, childish, negative (huge understatement), disgusting. The actions, words, slogans and especially TV commercials for each of these two candidates have been all of the words above and I bet you could think of a few more if you tried. The strategy from either side cannot be defended or endorsed, even by straight ticket voters. However, these are the two knuckleheads we have to choose from. Originally, in the primaries, I endorsed Tom Coburn, but his behavior has not been any more defensible recently than Brad Carson's, who has come across as a "snake in the grass" from day one. As tired as we all are of hearing one bash the other, we are going to have to elect one of them, like it or not.

It is going to be a crucial race for the entire country because it looks like this will determine which party has the majority in the Senate. Therefore, I don't think anyone can just pass on voting for either one. The reason I originally backed Tom Coburn is because he is a longterm, large-scale thinker. He wants what's best for the country and the future first, then we'll worry about Oklahoma pot-holes and short term help if we can later. I know everybody doesn't like that way of thinking, but I do. I also liked his position on restoring the family, aboliting abortion and a glowing recommendation from Dr. James Dobson didn't hurt. However, he did not have to respond to Carson's negative campaign with more of the same and a "He started it" four year old mentality. When it is all said and done, I will still vote for Tome Coburn, not because of his actions in this campaign, but because a Republican majority in the house would be greatly beneficial in the same areas covered in my last post on Politics.

Good Comtemplation

2004-10-23T09:47:00.000-05:00

I found a post on this article on The Ooze. It is an article by Alan Hirsch and Micheal Frost on blahOnline. Here is an excerpt to get you started:

The Christendom-era church has these three flaws in its DNA; it is attractional, dualistic and hierarchical. By attractional, I mean the church plants itself within a particular neighbourhood and expects that people will come to it to meet God and find fellowship with others. There’s nothing unbiblical about being attractive to unbelievers. There was certainly an element to which the early church was attractive to the wider community (Acts 2:47), though there is much more evidence that the church was reviled and avoided in its early days. Nonetheless, when I say it is a flaw for the church to be attractional, I’m referring more to the stance the church is taking in its community. By anticipating that if we get our internal features right, people will flock to our services, the church betrays its belief in attractionalism. It’s the “If you build it, they will come” mentality. How much of the traditional church’s energy goes into adjusting their programs and their public meetings to cater to an unseen constituency. The emerging missional church recognizes is compelled to move out from itself into its community as salt and light. When I have consulted with churches that recognize the need to embrace a missionary stance in their communities, I’m amazed at the number of times, when asked to discuss specific ways they can recalibrate themselves to become missional churches, they begin talking about how to change their Sunday service. It betrays their fundamental allegiance to being attractional. The tailoring of worship services is a lot further down the priority list for missional church leaders. The Come-To-Us stance taken by the attractional church is unbiblical. It’s not found in the Gospels or the epistles. Jesus, Paul, the disciples, the early church leaders had a Go-To-Them mentality.

Politics

2004-10-22T14:15:00.000-05:00

It took me a long time to decide whether I wanted make this post or not, because I have never blogged about politics on this site before that I can remember. But the title of the blog is What i Think, so why wouldn't I. It is an accurate representation of what I am thinking about. We are drawing very near to one of the most important elections in a long time. We are going to elect a president. This is not just any presidential election because we are still in the middle of a war, because we are probably going to be swapping out some Supreme Court Justices during this presidential term and because our economy is still recovering from 9/11 whether we want to admit it or not. All these issues are of extreme importance. However, most people have already made up their mind about whether or not they like the way President Bush handled 9/11 and the war. So I'll leave out all the stuff about Bush being experienced in this war and being privy to all the vital information about the war since day one, and I'll also leave out the stuff about Kerry's war plan being unrealistic, unmanageable and incomplete. We'll stick to the things I don't think have been considered enough in the mind of most voters.

There will be at least one Supreme Court Justice that will step down this year and our president will play a huge part in who will replace those justices. Who winds up being on the Supreme Court is important for several reasons. First of all, each of the justices stays on the bench for about 125 years (or so it seems). The person appointed to the bench will play a big role in the decisions about how we are able to live our lives here in the good old U.S. of A. for a long time. Second, the Supreme Court has somehow been able to make itself into a law maker instead of a law definer over the past half a century. If we can't stop them from doing the job of the senate and there is no way for each state to have a representative to the Supreme Court, then we had better make sure that we appoint someone who is at least concerned with the core values of humanity or better yet, similar values to ours. Third we still have a holocaust going on right here in our country. People don't want to think of it this way, but that is what it is. Since Roe v. Wade, over 45 million lives have been lost to abortion. That's an entire generation. If you think the average age of Americans is going up because of better medicine/doctors, then you had better check to see how much the average age an American lives to has changed. We have lost an entire generation to abortion and if we continue to have a majority of hyper-liberal Supreme Court Justices on the bench then we have no chance at ending the holocaust.

Another topic that I feel many people are confused about is the economic one. We have been fortunate enough the last couple of years to have pretty nice tax breaks for small businesses. This has stimulated growth in the economy, allowed people to keep their jobs and created more jobs. John Kerry has already stated that he will not sign several bills reissuing these tax benefits. I know there aren't many small business owners that read this column, but there are some who work for small businesses, just like I do. If we lose the afore mentioned benefits, it will cost the average small business anywhere from 15-25% of their net income. If you think small business owners are going to absorb all this in their own pockets, then I'd like to join you in la la land. I know that Kerry is promising to give lower class families tax breaks and that would probably put an extra $200-$400 in their pockets. However, in the long term, one would have to think that it would be better to try to create more jobs or at least maintain the current job market. If Kerry's impending tax increases for small businesses results in the loss of jobs, which it almost certainly will, then we have to remember that fifteen percent of zero is still zero. The tax breaks wouldn't be very beneficial at that point. I will admit that I write this with a certain bias. Farms are small businesses. Lots of my family members farm for their livelihood. My own livelihood is directly dependent on the farm economy. It can easily be said that I am looking out for my own, but no more than the people who want their extra $200-$400 from the potential tax breaks for lower income families.

Make no mistake, I am not telling anyone reading this to vote for Bush or not to vote for Kerry. I want each and every person to go out and vote. I want each and every person to go out and vote for the person they think is best suited to lead this country and who reflects their own value system. I am just presenting more information to be considered in the decision making process. We will, God willing, all continue to live, no matter who is elected President of this country. God will still be God. We will still be his people. His sovereignty far outweighs that of the U.S. President.

There will probably be more to come on the circus of a senate race we are currently having to endure.

Caramelized

2004-10-21T10:41:00.000-05:00

Kacie and I attended the Nora Jones Concert last night. I can say without reservation it was the best concert I have been to in a long time. There were no fights, no one got hit in the head by a flying half full beer can (happened to me once). The average age of the concert goers was somewhere between late twenties and late forties. The only disturbance was the ten or twelve ladies in the back that had had a few too many frosty beverages and kept yelling so loud every time they started a song that they had to stop and wait for them to run out of breath. All in all, we had a great time. Also, don't be surprised if you hear big things out of a guy named Amos Lee in a year or two. If you have the opportunity to go and see Norah Jones in concert some time, I highly recommend it. Anyone who did go to the concert will get the title of the post.

Relatable

2004-10-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

I found this post through another link, which I found through another link, which I found through another link on a friends weblog. The entire discussion is very interesting and if you have the time, I recommend trying to read through it all. But the post by Jollyblogger is probably the one that is the most relatable to me. Not because of shared education or qualification, but because of a shared experience in theological development. I think a quite a few others may be able to relate as well. I can especially remember the "cage stage" and how difficult I could be to deal with. A particularly great quote from this post is as follows:

"Furthermore, I came away seeing the theological formulations as signposts pointing us to Christ. When I travel, the goal is to get to the destination, not to stop and admire all of the signs along the way. The signs are necessary - you'll get lost without them, but they aren't the
destination."

I am glad the signs have pointed me to a better place as well. I am still however on the journey. I haven't got there yet, but know I have made progress. I am thankful for the signs, but more thankful that I continue to make it past them and closer to the destination. The post listed above is definitely worth reading.

Truth and Relevance

2004-10-18T14:01:00.000-05:00

I noticed an interesting conversation on lyle's weblog Divine Conspirator about the truth of scripture. This has been a hot topic for the past couple of years due to the growing number of people who do not believe in absolute truth, only in what is relevant to that individual. This is not actually what Lyle's post was about, but the comments that followed inspired a few thoughts and questions of my own. Can truth still be truth if it means different things to different people at different times? We can probably all recall a time when a certain piece of scripture has hit us in a totally different way at different times in our life. I think truth can still be absolute even though two people may draw different meanings from the same piece of truth. We draw these different meanings from scripture at different times due to our own personal paradigm. However, this does not mean that every part of that truth does not still apply to everyone all the time. The difference is simply the point of realization of that particular part of the truth in question. As for the question that Lyle is discussing, I believe that both he and Jason are correct. That we have to use both the exegetical meaning, as well as the leading of the Holy Spirit to arrive at how we can apply this piece of scripture to our lives so that we can better reflect God's truth and extend his Kingdom.

Boating

2004-10-13T07:10:00.000-05:00

Can anyone tell me, when exactly did love become a boat? You can't fall out of it any more than you can fall into it. Does love sink if you poke a hole in it? How can a simple little verb be so poorly misdefined. I am hearing it more and more from my friends, their spouses, on the radio, on TV. "I just fell out of love." Did it hurt? Did you get wet? How did it happen, were you pushed or did you just trip? They act as if they have nothing to do with the fact that they chose to no longer love or respect their significant others. Can it all be the entertainment industries fault? I know that we as Americans are engulfed in the atrocities that are modern movies and television shows from day one, but can that really be the cause of an entire nation of people not being able to figure out what a simple four letter word means? Is the concept of a verb so hard to grasp? I know that probably everyone who will read this already knows exactly what love is and has probably heard this spill before, maybe even from me, but it still blows my mind everytime I hear it. Fathers that say "I really love my children, so I'll make sure they are financially taken care of" after I abandon them and permanently damage their ability to have a normal relationship. How can these opposing statements actually be reconciled in someone's head. How can anything that incredibly idiotic come out of someone's mouth? Yet, we see it all the time. I apologize for the rant, but I just needed to vent about this for a minute.

Home

2004-10-07T22:01:00.000-05:00

Well I survived my trip to Kansas this week. Unfortunately, several of my golf balls did not. They were unfortunate casualties of the three feet tall native grasses of Colbert Hills (A beautiful golf course, by the way, with one of the best layouts I have ever played). On a more serious note, however, if one is looking for more proof that most people today only want to escape accountability for their sins and not the sins themselves, you only have to be a mouse in the corner on a long distance business trip. Men who you would normally never expect to drink or use foul language, will act like sailors on their first shore leave (Thankfully, I'm not talking about the group we took). Why the sudden change in attitude? Because of the change in latitude (as Jimmy Buffet would say). When they are away from home around a bunch of guys they only see once a year, there is no accountability, and therefore little restraint. It's kind of sad condition when observed from the outside. I was the mouse in the corner this last week, but I didn't have much company there. It did provide a pretty decent opportunity to get some reading done. All in all, I am very glad to be home, very glad to be back in the arms of my loving wife and very glad to be free from the bondage of sin.

Skippin' Out

2004-10-04T21:15:00.000-05:00

For the next couple of days I will be gone for some business meetings in Manhattan, KS (don't feel too sorry for me, I do get to play golf while I'm there). Therefore, I won't be posting or replying for a couple days. I know this is nothing new. The same thing often happens when I am here. However, I promise to have lots of things to blog about when I get back, if I just have the time to sit down and post them.

Helpful

2004-10-04T21:13:00.000-05:00

I have never really been the kind to go out and buy the study guide to a book I am reading. I have always assumed it was just another way for the publisher to turn a buck. However, I did go ahead and buy the study guide to The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. I was pleasantly surprised at the simplicity and helpfulness of the study guide. I do feel more prepared to understand what I am reading after I have an idea of the themes of each section and have read the suggested passages of scripture. I don't do many recommendations of this sort, but this was ten dollars well spent.

Finally

2004-09-30T19:13:00.000-05:00

As most of you probably know, Kacie and I finally officially joined Snowhill Baptist Church last Sunday. This is something we have struggled with for about a year now. Obviously there were several issues to be overcome (otherwise it wouldn't have taken so long). To a lot of people it probably seemed silly that it took us so long to join. To others it probably still seems silly that we did join, after all, we did both grow up in different church families than this one. Let's just say that there were personal issues that had to be reconciled, family issues that had to be sorted out, and lots of prayer that had to happen to bring us to this point. We want our families and the members at both FBCT and TCC to know that our decision in no way reflects on you. We love you all very much and hope that you understand this is where God brought us and this is where we need to be. We also want our fellow members at Snowhill to know that we look forward to worshipping, serving and learning more about God with you.

What are you after?

2004-09-28T17:47:00.000-05:00

I was listening to a Christian talk radio show, that I often catch on my way home from work, yesterday when a woman called in with an interesting dilemma. She admitted she had been having an affair for several months and wanted to know if God would forgive her if she divorced her husband, (who wanted to reconcile)and married this other man. She said that she had fallen out of love with her husband and in love with this other man (as if it were a boat). She had been to see her local pastor and he told her that she had to break it off and go back to her husband. Apparently, that wasn't a clear enough answer so she wanted a second opinion because "she wasn't going to hell for anyone". The talk show host talked her through the fact that she obviously didn't understand what love was, that the only way her sins would be forgiven is if she were truly repentant (which she obviously wasn't), and that if she were truly following Christ she would want to do what God commands in his word and not what she "feels" like doing. He did this much more patiently and respectfully than I probably could have. It makes me wonder just how many people are wandering around thinking they have a free pass to heaven with no repentance or self denial involved. It also makes me wonder, what some people are after, the personal security and self centered desire to avoid hell or to love their sovereign creator who is worthy of our obedience, worship and praise and who was gracious enough to free us from a bondage to sin we could never otherwise overcome. I hope I'm wrong, but I would guess the percentages might be scary.

Post-Denominational

2004-09-26T16:46:00.000-05:00

Are we moving toward a post-denominational time in Christianity? It is possible that we should move past the division's that have been put in place by our predecessors in the faith. I feel that at least I am moving toward a point of post-denominationalism. Perhaps I am guilty of taking a direction that I or a group I am involved in, in my own little world, is going and trying to apply it to the populous in general, but it certainly seems as if I see a very slow shift, within evangelical circles at least, toward seeking a genuine orthodoxy and not a denominational belief or motto. While virtually every denomination will claim that the "way they believe" is the correct way, in those same denominations are spiritually mature disciples who realize that everything about their denomination is not exactly biblically correct. It seems as if more and more of these individuals are speaking up about what is correct regardless of their denominational origins. It is all too often that we see people in our congregations who are so bent on proving that their particular denomination or non-denomination is the correct one that they are willing to sacrifice genuine orthodoxy for their pride for being in the "right group." I am a member of a church that flies under the Southern Baptist Convention's banner, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we believe the same way as any other church that flies under that same banner, especially when it comes to the details. I want to be clear when I say that I do not think it is bad to be in a group of believers associated with a particular denomination, I am in one myself. In fact, I think that this kind of organization of bodies of believers is very effective when it comes to fund raising for missions work, relief funds and all kinds of groups that help people in need. However, I do think it is wrong to think denominationally. We are to be truth seekers, no matter what that truth may be or who it has been affiliated with in the past. Anyone who knows much history, knows that a lot of practices that were beneficial were either left behind or altered due to the bitterness on each side of the Reformation. We cannot continue to think as Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Methodists or even non-denominationalists. We must focus on following Christ and living like he lived, no matter who's name is on the sign in front of the building. So tell me, am I crazy? Are we moving in this direction, or am I out on a limb by myself? I am very eager to hear your comments.

Server problems

2004-09-09T15:26:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the delay between posts. Most of it is due to extreme business, but the last few days it has been due to server problems with blogger. Rest Assured, I have a few more posts in the works and will try to get them out there soon.
Thanks
The Management
(a.k.a. Shawn)

Why not start at the beginning?

2004-09-07T21:01:00.000-05:00

In continuing the conversation started earlier on trying to find the next step in bringing spiritual growth to the church, I would like to pose the question "Why not start at the beginning?" To be honest I do not know how "converts" are handled within the confines of Snowhill B.C. I would assume it is probably handled very well due the understanding and maturity so often displayed by our pastoral staff. However, I know in many other churches I have attended, it has been bungled badly. Many on church staff's in today's consumer Christianity churches view conversion as the goal and once someone claims to have faith in Jesus, it is "mission accomplished" and "I'm glad that's overwith." Most converts are left saying "Okay, I'm a Christian. I shook everyone's hand. What do I do now?" Most often they are then invited to a Sunday School class and then left on their own to figure out what just happened and what does this mean I am supposed to be. A friend of mine, Ryan, once said "it's kind of a long story, it takes a minute to tell." To think that someone really knows what they are getting into simply because they prayed a prayer is a little nieve, don't you think? This brings me to my original question. What can we do to put new Christians on the right path to become spiritually mature disciples?

God is at work

2004-08-24T21:01:00.000-05:00

I think it is very obvious to most that God is at work in our local congregation. We have so may people who are really excited about discipleship and spiritual formation. This is obviously due in large part to Dallas Willard's books being widely read among us right now, but no matter what the reason, I still really feel as if God is using this to motivate people in a great way. The question now is how do we present the idea to the average christian that spiritual formation is something we have to actively participate in after all these years of church leaders telling them just the opposite. It's not like we're the first people to discover this, but for some reason a real impact on the church as a whole has not been made. One thing that we do know from experience is that we can tell people they have to actively participate until we're blue in the face, but it is doubtful that it would even cross the mind of the average churchgoer that we actually mean what we're saying. Nathan recently posted that we have to start living it out. We have to set the example by taking seriously the disciplines of faith that we see in the Bible and putting them into practice in our own lives. I thnk Nathan is obviously correct. How can we expect any one else to engage in activities that we ourselves don't participate in? Still, one has to think that this as well has been tried before, yet we still face our current dilemna. Is there something more that we can do to bring about true discipleship throughout Christ's church? Can we effect more than just our local congregation, perhaps even inter-denominationally (if that's a word)?

Olympic Blah

2004-08-23T14:30:00.000-05:00

I may be the only one, but I just cannot seem to get into the Olympics this year. Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for all those competing in and putting on the Olympics. It just doesn't rank very high on the list of what's important to me right now. I have tried to watch some of it with the family, but there are too many obscure events and sports never heard of to merit much attention. I certainly don't blame you if you are into the Olympics. I hope you enjoy it a great deal if that's your thing, but I have honestly been surprised at how little it interest me this year.

Happy Birthday

2004-08-17T13:38:00.000-05:00

I doubt if either one of them will read this, but just in case I wanted to wish my mother and my sister, Kayla, a happy birthday tomorrow, August 18th, 2004. It is both of their bithday's. I love you both. I won't tell anyone how old you are. Happy birthday Mom. Happy birthday Kayla.

Running Behind

2004-08-14T08:27:00.000-05:00

Most of the time I feel like I am running behind in every aspect of my life. I am constantly behind at work, behind in housework, but where I feel I am the most behind in is in discipleship. I am behind reading the books I need to read. I am behind learning about church history and world history the way I should to be an informed disciple. I am behind in knowing and memorizing the scripture the way I should. I know I will never catch up. In part, that is the continual learning process we are destined to. In part it is also wasted youth. Don't get me wrong, I know God had a plan for me that he carried out through my youth. However, now, when I look back at all the squandered opportunities to learn and grow in my relationship with Christ, it makes me wish I would have better spent my time in college and focused more on an education that would be eternally beneficial rather than momentarily. When I say this I am not complaining, God has blessed me beyond my imagination. As Christians, we need to know so much more than we usually do. People think it is only necessary to be an educated Christian if you are a minister or pastor. The truth is, you need to be an educated Christian if you are going to be a disciple of Jesus the Christ, and you can't be a Christian without being a disciple. I know that last statement is contrary to popular belief, but true Christianity is not a popular belief. I used to wonder why the church didn't do a better job of educating it's members (when I say "the church" I mean the church in general, not any particular church). Now I know it's because most of it's members don't want to be educated. If they were, they might suddenly become accountable for what they know and actually have to live like Christ, which is what they said they wanted to do in the first place, but never actually expected to live up to. What can we do to make people realize that a real spiritual transformation must occur? It seems to me that we could shout it from the rooftops for one hundred years and it would never occur to the average church goer that we actually meant it. I am currently reading Dallas Willard's The Spirit of the Disciplines. I am not very far into it, but perhaps some answers lie therein. Here's Hoping.

Worth Reading

2004-08-09T19:26:00.000-05:00

As I was perusing some of the blogs I regularly read, I came across Todd's post about an article on Spiritual Formation he found on Dallas Willard's website. It is definitely worth reading, especially in light of current trends in our society. It is a very honest and I believe accurate assessment. It is called "Spiritual Formation: What it is, and How it is Done." You won't be sorry.

Re: Experiencing Grace

2004-08-04T14:12:00.000-05:00

A very good comment was mad to me yesterday about the previous post "Experiencing Grace." When I talked about conversion as experiencing grace, it shouldn't be misunderstood that grace is experienced just the one time. We experience grace daily as new creations and therefore, I might have better phrased it "first experienced grace." It's certainly something to take into account in the discussion. Let me know what you think.

A Quick Note

2004-08-04T10:28:00.000-05:00

For those of you who are my regular readers, (and you know who you are) you may have missed out on a couple of posts I did right before the big page change. If you would like to read those, go to the link on the right hand side of this page called The Old What i Think page . Or just click on the link in the last sentence. I just thought I would let you know.

Sunday School

2004-08-03T18:41:00.000-05:00

I am subbing for Jason this Sunday and am somewhat concerned about what I should teach over. I know that I often get wound up and take things to the edge of tolerability and I don't want to step on any toes. At least not until everyone gets to know me better and realizes that I am just that way. If you have any ideas or topics that would be current or interesting, let me know. In the mean time I am going to continue to pray for guidance.

New Site, New Look, Same old boring material

2004-08-03T18:30:00.000-05:00

This is new look number 3 for the good old "What i Think" column. This one is actually hosted by blogspot and simply linked to the old Geocities site. It should give us a lot more helpful tools like a comments link that actually works, try it! It will also make it much easier to archive old thoughts and enter new ones. Hopefully, this continuing evolution will be beneficial to everyone involved. Try out the comments link by just clicking on it and let me know what you think of the new look. If there are glitches in any of the links connecting the two sites, please let me know so I can fix them as soon as possible.