Faith: June 2008 Archives

Pyromaniacs: George Carlin, and us

Dan Phillips on Carlin: "'I sort of gave up on this whole human adventure a long time ago,' he said a couple of years ago. 'Divorced myself from it emotionally. I think the human race has squandered its gift, and I think this country has squandered its promise. I think people in America sold out very cheaply, for sneakers and cheeseburgers. And I don't think it's fixable.'

"Here you see a man who is confronted with the disaster which autonomy has brought on our race. Carlin sees some of the bitter fruits of man's rebellion against God. He longs for redemption. He sees that it will not arise from within us. Yet, like the classic definition of insanity, he has no prescription but more of the same. He was raised Roman Catholic, and probably thought (alas, wrongly) that this exposed him to Christianity, to Christ, to the Gospel. Thus he often expressed contempt for religion. Rejecting the fake, like so many he was inoculated against the real item. Thus apparently Carlin never seriously considered the actual cure whose absence he would later feel so keenly: Jesus Christ, the only hope and redeemer of mankind (John 1:29; 1 Timothy 1:1)."

Creative Minority Report: Photo Essay of Obama by Objective Press

"The heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Obamessiah like a dove...." (Via Crunchy Con.)

Finding Jesus At A.A. « Jesus Shaped Spirituality

At Alcoholics Anonymous and Alcoholics for Christ meetings, Michael Spencer observes, "community was pursued and community happened. It was clumsy and awkward, and sometimes it wasn't at all pretty. It could make you wince. But it was the real deal. People opened the door of their real lives, let some of the ugliness out, and everyone respected and loved one another through it all. Not what we Christians call community, which is an orchestrated ritual of convincing ourselves we've done a lot of things we actually haven't come near doing.... The Gospels are full of the awareness that God knows the whole story of the woman at the well and the tax collectors by the roadside. He knows it all, and loves us in Jesus with a fierce, unstoppable love."

BaylyBlog: Iranian brother tortured for baptizing Muslim converts...

"On May 31, house church leader Mohsen Namvar was arrested by eight police officers in his home in Tehran, Iran. According to Compass Direct News, 'The officers confiscated a number of Namvar's personal belongings including his computer, printer, CDs, books and money. He was given no official explanation for the arrest, and his current location is unknown.'... Pray for Namvar's release. Pray that he will act as a faithful witness for Christ during his detention. Pray that his wife and children will rely on the Lord for comfort and strength."

JOLLYBLOGGER: It's a Sin to Create Your Own Sin

Ben Arment says, "It's a sin to make up your own sins." (Which is to say, to make up your own rules and define any violation of them as a sin.)

internetmonk.com: Principles For Breakfast

Three good and five bad aspects of "of the practice of turning texts or topics into principles as the primary methodology for preaching." "...the wording of principles can reinterpret or define scripture in a way that is very different from the actual meaning. Explaining a passage should help the hearers to understand the words of scripture rather than replace the words of scripture, and possibly replace the meaning of the passage."

Pyromaniacs: Christian citizenship out loud: another perspective?

Should Christians restrict engagement with the culture to evangelism? Dan Phillips thinks not: "Now, let me say first and clearly that the very best thing a Christian can do for the health of his nation is to grow in godliness, and to disciple others to Christ for all he's worth.... But by this same token, this will also necessarily mean Christian involvement in civil life. Why? Because God isn't segregated. He has something to say about every area of life.... So what is the Christian to do? Is he to clutch those truths to his breast, and let his country go to ruin as he coyly refuses to tell it anything except how to be saved? Is that love for his neighbor?"

Pulpit Magazine: The Gospel and Politics - Part 2

"Today's evangelical political activists seem to be unaware of how much their methodology parallels that of liberal Christians at the start of the twentieth century.... Evangelical activists in essence are simply preaching a politically conservative version of the old social gospel, emphasizing social and cultural concerns above spiritual ones....The political strategy becomes the focus of everything, as if the spiritual fortunes of God's people rise or fall depending on who is in office. But the truth is that no human government can ultimately do anything either to advance or to thwart God's kingdom. And the worst, most despotic worldly government in the end cannot halt the power of the Holy Spirit or the spread of God's Word."

Steeple Chase: The Church Hoppers go to church so you don't have to | LEO Weekly

First of a 10-part monthly series in which two young writers visit and review church services for the Louisville Eccentric Observer. (Via Get Religion.)

San Diego Reader | Sheep and Goats

Matthew Lickona reviews a church service each week for San Diego's alt-weekly.

Pyromaniacs: Spurgeon: Read fewer blogs, more Scripture

"Sermons and books are well enough, but streams that run for a long distance above ground gradually gather for themselves somewhat of the soil through which they flow, and they lose the cool freshness with which they started from the spring head. Truth is sweetest where it breaks from the smitten Rock, for at its first gush it has lost none of its heavenliness and vitality."