tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59856492012-02-16T17:14:17.548-06:00Reflections on Theology, Ministry, and Life from Justin SpurlockFresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.comBlogger1601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-39771741129655002872011-06-10T12:50:00.000-05:002011-06-10T12:50:52.558-05:00

Great leaders use time and the random events that occupy time throughout the course of the day as a way of guiding their organizations.  Rather than attempting to manage their time, they lead the people they encounter as time is taken by each person, event, and meeting.  This article from Harvard Business Review explains: http://blogs.hbr.org/hill-lineback/2011/03/

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-7960915736839349342011-06-08T14:22:00.002-05:002011-06-08T14:49:35.036-05:00

I've always wanted to use Joan Osborne's "What If God Was One of Us" in worship.  On Sunday, CUMC's Betty Merta sang it as an introduction to my sermon entitled "Meeting Jesus at the Corner of Deerfield & Rosemary" (which is where CUMC is located).  

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-39389341366066083342010-08-30T22:58:00.001-05:002010-08-30T22:58:30.390-05:00

My congregation uses the four 5th Sundays each year to do very unique worship that is children-oriented, lively and engaging. Besides the great benefits to the kids, the congregation gets the benefit of participating in non-traditional worship. I personally love the challenge to stretch my creativity and imagination to come up with a very unique worship service. Its a whole lot of work, time,

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-9102730823482071992010-08-24T14:27:00.000-05:002010-08-24T14:27:25.442-05:00

An article that I have written called Sort, Keep, or Toss is currently being featured on thehome page of Immerse Journal.  Go to their website and check it out.

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-84871878270458953992010-03-31T22:51:00.000-05:002010-03-31T22:52:25.140-05:00

"For at last I believe life itself is a prayer,and the prayers we say shape the lives we live,just as the lives we live shape the prayers we say;and it all shapes the kingdom which expresses itself in and among us,and for which we are guerrillas."(found in introduction of Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder)I find Loder's words to be right on. There is a mysterious interaction that takes place

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1527924718365066812010-03-01T15:33:00.000-06:002010-03-01T15:34:46.162-06:00

Like many raised in the church, I grew up thinking that I must discover God's will and plan for my life. God's sovereign will seemed to be very specific, involving very detailed plans of everyday life as well as the large decisions of life. This divine plan had to be sought out daily in prayer, reflected over while pouring over the Holy Scriptures, and always seemed like something that was just

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-21451885298047307322010-02-10T12:32:00.000-06:002010-02-10T12:34:20.052-06:00

When we give up the illusion that we can control our lives and destinies, when we forsake the idols of self-worship and being self-made gods, when we depart from the way of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, we have the chance to live by trust on the road of the unscripted life. This is the journey of following Jesus who is out in front of us forging the way to a place we cannot even

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-21388087721194890332010-01-15T15:39:00.000-06:002010-01-15T16:01:39.186-06:00

Are some predestined to for salvation? Did God fore-ordain and elect some before the beginning of the world? Are some predestined to damnation? Do we have free-will? Is God in control of everything? Are we just robots in some cosmic game? These and other similar questions bubble to the surface in Christian conversations, especially in Reformed circles. Usually the conversations take place

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-20439192113021950122009-10-10T12:53:00.000-05:002009-10-10T12:54:20.141-05:00

For many years now I occasionally ask other Christians a simple question, "Why is the story of Cain and Abel in the Bible? What is it meant to teach us?" Most often the response is something like the following, "It teaches us that killing is wrong." Others in the conversation often agree and then look at me and say, "I'm guessing you disagree." I have always been amazed at this little story.

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-56293744118988193592009-09-23T22:42:00.000-05:002009-09-23T22:48:05.954-05:00

So I saw an advertisement today for a whole new way of being church that is both post-modern and post-missional! Really? I mean, really? I am certainly someone who has defended the use of the "post-" reality world, but are we really going to talk about being post-missional? Isn't that akin to being post-purposeful or post-worshipful? I guess the "missional" seminars and cookie-programs have

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-4727829506157262432009-09-18T10:21:00.000-05:002009-09-18T12:42:06.593-05:00

Darkness. Abyss. Nothingness. Ignorance. The unknown shrouded in mystery. The universe is shrouded in a perpetual darkness. The more we see, the more we don't see. The more we learn and know, the more we realize just how much we are ignorant. We expand farther and farther outward gazing at the cosmos, while examining deeper and deeper discovering every quark or nuance of matter and energy

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-43411066475341606402009-09-01T21:37:00.000-05:002009-09-01T21:59:45.951-05:00

"Revelation is not somethign that confirms what we already know. Basically, it has to do with knowledge of God and ourselves that is utterly surprising and disturbing. It is an event that shakes us to the core. Although it comes as a gift, offering us a glimpse of 'the very heart of mystery,' it si resisted because it is so threatening and frightening. The knowledge it conveys is an 'abysmal

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-59177133154093097892009-08-31T13:04:00.000-05:002009-08-31T13:53:17.056-05:00

I am continually amazed at the Holy Scriptures and the worlds apart they are from our modern day American culture and American Christianity. Living on a Christian college campus again brings up all of the contradictory and complicated aspects of evangelical college student's faith lives. Exodus 1 is one of those chapters that throws a wrench in our nice spinning wheel. In this chapter, the

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-15800219565026683232009-08-25T12:57:00.000-05:002009-08-25T13:20:04.769-05:00

Occasionally my dog gets excited enough to run across the room, try to make a corner, misses and runs into the wall... something that is both very sad and very funny! The wall, of course, does not give at all, it has no way of responding or cushioning or shifting. However, when my dog runs and jumps on me, I move, cushion, and shift in order to take the impact.Is God a wall that does not move,

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-62500964010561829462009-05-15T00:38:00.000-05:002009-05-15T00:49:20.178-05:00

"Prayer is exposure.  Prayer changes us. It leads somewhere specific and is not just an aimless wandering with no discernible purpose in mind.  Its purpose is exposure to everything that is in us and the willingness to receive the inevitable changes that come as a result."-- Primary Speech: A Psychology of Prayer by Ann & Barry Ulanov

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-10855101556860748382009-05-03T12:07:00.000-05:002009-05-03T12:10:47.628-05:00

Check out this story at Time Mag online.  I am certainly interested in both the positive and negative consequences of such a shift in church worship and ministry.  When I was in Fresno, teens would often text me while I was teaching... offering questions they did not want to ask out loud, offering contributive thoughts, etc.  I loved it.  However, I can also see a hyper-consumerist side to all of

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-21112916949942073402009-04-03T15:09:00.000-05:002009-04-03T15:20:18.630-05:00

The following is an excerpt from the children's book Does God Have A Big Toe? When God first made the world, nothing turned out right, so God decided to start all over again. When the animals heard about hti, they were frightened. They decided to ask God not to end the world. But none of them knew where God lived, so they all flew and flopped, rolled and ran, jerked and jumped, crept and

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-73777586920317998452009-03-20T00:04:00.000-05:002009-03-20T00:15:27.595-05:00

As one looks down the halls of history at the various religions that have existed, it is easy to see that monotheism arises as literacy spreads across a culture.  The ability to read and write fundamentally changes an individual's existence.  The way they think, reason, perceive, and understand after gaining the ability to read and write is fundamentally different than before these skills were

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-26949791120965894712009-02-21T22:15:00.000-06:002009-02-21T22:30:26.211-06:00

I spend the majority of my bible reading time in the Old Testament.  Since I was a young boy I have always been fascinated with the many stories found in this first testament.  When I was a teen, I found it perplexing that Proverbs seemed to have a different message than the prophets and that the prophets had a different message than the historical books, and the historical books a different

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-33841743082073671572009-01-22T18:38:00.000-06:002009-01-22T18:44:37.626-06:00

Today was a very good day in America.  Indeed, some moral order was restored as President Obama did away with torture.  What has been amazing to me over the past 7 years are the number of Christians who have either looked the other way or outrightly endorsed torture.  Thankfully, as of today, some morality is restored.  We take up the great cause of being compassionate in the face of violence

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-43189684309864457682008-11-24T20:37:00.000-06:002008-11-24T21:05:26.427-06:00

From my earliest days, I was immersed in the Holy Scriptures. My parents would read the bible to me each night when I was really young and then somewhere around age 8 I started reading the bible daily on my own. By the time I was 10, I was reading several chapters a day and by 13, I was reading anywhere between 10-30 chapters each day. Needless to say, I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-7415168811134265082008-11-13T14:07:00.000-06:002008-11-12T14:20:12.536-06:00

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am fascinated with the OT prophet Jeremiah. I even see some parallels between this OT character and a certain contemporary controversial figure. Jeremiah is one of the most complex characters in the Bible never described or displayed in some monchromatic manner. This character has depth and shape and is complicated. Here is a quote from Louis Stulman in

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-45272779868063227152008-11-12T10:52:00.001-06:002008-11-12T11:24:56.987-06:00

Two blog posts in the past month from very different voices (Tony Jones and Travis Gilbert) have me thinking a lot about the nature of government the past few days. Over my life, I have given much thought to the idea of government, what is considered a legitimate government, and how Christians are to respond to government(s). Americans tend to assume that government refers to the nation-state.

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-71253357548584506712008-11-07T11:45:00.000-06:002008-11-07T12:13:43.775-06:00

Suprisingly to some of you, I hold a decently historical and orthodox view of original sin. Overall, it seems to me that humans are born in a state of sin that is inherited in some way-- I'm not tied in to any particular theory on transmission, in fact they all seem a little off and crazy. Recently, I've been discussing the ideas of capitalism and socialism with a highschool senior in my former

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-71357383185017802612008-11-05T08:50:00.001-06:002008-11-05T09:03:02.883-06:00

In Mark 12:13-17, Jesus is put to the test by the Pharisees and Herodians by these questions: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?" Jesus then takes a denarius (one day's wage-- the sum of money one gets for giving his body to work for a whole day) and asks, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" Jesus then says, "Give to the emperor the

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-18939700168775037312008-10-26T23:45:00.000-05:002008-10-27T00:09:42.537-05:00

Prayer is a political thing. As we approach the throne of grace, we literally invoke the heavens to come down onto the earth. And when the heavens invade our world, the Earth is literally reborn, reimagined, recreated, redeemed, and renewed. The heavenly reality is so much more than a fuzzy after-life. Rather it is another kingdom and dominion-- an utterly different reality than the one we

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-86945492448235638492008-10-24T20:30:00.000-05:002008-10-24T20:33:32.188-05:00

This is a quote from Debra Dean Murphy in her book Teaching That Transforms: Worship as the Heart of Christian Education (a book I highly recommend and am reading again since two years ago):The truth of God-- what catechesis seeks to impart-- is not a thing to be grasped but a way of life to be embodied. This way of life-- living true to the cruciform pattern of Jesus' own life-- is a

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-71109870781985211532008-10-18T11:57:00.001-05:002008-10-27T10:08:59.561-05:00

By and large, many conservative "believe" in having a smaller federal governement. This, of course, is stretching the use of the word "believe." When you look at spending, the Republican party since 1980 has added more money to federal deficit. The federal government expanded under Reagan and G.W. Bush than at any other time in the past 60 years. Still, just about any conservative you meet will

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-33690918002611910242008-10-11T16:16:00.000-05:002008-10-11T16:36:30.281-05:00

Growing up in a fundamentalist, evangelical Baptist congregation in rural Indiana, my congregation had a constant in-flow of "new converts" from liberal, mainline Protestant congregations and from the Roman Catholic Church. These new members would hear the message of individual repentence and the hope of being "saved." Often, these converts were middle-aged adults who had stopped going to church

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-62599109553446218952008-10-06T16:41:00.001-05:002008-10-06T16:57:22.226-05:00

I have wondered at times throughout my life why martyred Christians refused to sacrifice to Caesar or deny that they followed Christ. Indeed, as I've been reading from the ancient church fathers and mothers this semester in my church history class, this same question has come to mind several times. Why not just deny? Your life is spared for another day and then you get to go back home and be

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-41524021810736419452008-10-05T21:15:00.000-05:002008-10-05T21:18:42.850-05:00

As some of you know, I have a Masters degree from a Mennonite affiliated school. Of course being there at the school, they had a profound effect on some of my theology. Although I have chosen to remain in the reformed circles, there are many things that I envy about the Mennonites. Here is a link to just one article that makes me proud of my Mennonite sisters and brothers.

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-20526652728986196072008-08-19T12:41:00.000-05:002008-08-19T12:54:28.477-05:00

After my long hiatus from blogging, I'm ready to write some thoughts. It's been about 3-4 months since I last blogged. My last post was entitled the Fall of Change where I lamented Obama's reaction to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. It is now the end of August and Obama is on the cusp of naming his running mate. After a whole summer of listening to both candidates, I am still let down. Neither

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-12464570035126621902008-04-29T15:39:00.000-05:002008-04-29T15:54:16.884-05:00

Many people have been outraged at Rev. Jeremiah Wright's comments. On this blog, I have discussed Wright and recent lashing he has received. Senator Obama has sought to create a message that he is different than other politicians and that he will bring change. I have never gotten on the Obama train, but I did somewhat believe he would be somehow different. However, today any trace of that hope

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-91914473660524012832008-04-24T10:55:00.000-05:002008-04-24T11:16:34.880-05:00

Charity is popular in America. American Christians have been giving millions of dollars to noble causes both at home and around the globe for the past century. Increasingly, America's evangelical circles are beginning to pay attention to various world crises and giving a lot of money to help. As well, Hollywood and the media are ramping up their efforts. Shows like Oprah's Big Give and

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-27219108248939925992008-04-20T22:28:00.000-05:002008-04-20T22:37:51.824-05:00

Recently, I have been re-reading Dr. David Fitch's The Great Giveaway-- Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism and Other Modern Maladies. I met Fitch several years ago when I was serving as an Associate Pastor in Indiana. He is a very intellectual person with a keen sense of how the conservative church has been infected

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-85764512015709823902008-04-18T12:38:00.000-05:002008-04-18T12:41:21.149-05:00

Check out this video of an elephant painting a precise picture of other elephants! By the way, this is no joke. I've been doing a lot of reading about the intelligence of various animals-- chimps, apes, dolphins, elephants, etc. It is truly amazing what other animals can do.

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-68999434323794119042008-04-14T11:59:00.000-05:002008-04-14T12:43:03.582-05:00

Speaker & scholar Phyllis Tickle believes that our generation is seeing the end of "sola scriptura," the Protestant idea of Scriptural authority correcting and superseding Christian tradition and papal authority. She believes that this end has been brought about in three movements:1) Christians Against Slavery-- the bible does not say that one can't have slaves or should not have slaves, and yet

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-90782573737311471652008-03-27T11:47:00.001-05:002008-03-27T12:03:21.435-05:00

A few weeks ago, a student was asking me a lot of theological questions about the veracity of the Christian faith and the Bible. I attempted to distill a lot of theology into simple statements that non-theology people can understand with ease. Questions such as: Did the exodus actually happen? How can the stories in the Old Testament be true when so much evidence points against them happening?

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-54859324404035774652008-03-26T12:17:00.000-05:002008-03-26T12:35:57.279-05:00

I feel compelled to post about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Recently, I was in Chicago and heard him give two lectures in a seminary chapel. Both of these lectures were about racism and reconciliation. They were fantastic lectures and Rev. Wright was thoroughly generous and gracious. He even referenced the clips going around the news and YouTube-- this was before it became such huge media frenzy

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-44471822575733260322008-03-26T01:40:00.001-05:002008-03-26T01:46:44.332-05:00

I came across very two interesting headlines this week:"Southern Baptists change their stance on global warming!""Vast Antarctic ice shelf on verge of collapse"Immediately I thought, hell must have frozen over for the southern baptists to admit global warming. Ironic, the earth is heating up and hell is freezing over!

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-35342815144503482042008-03-22T14:01:00.000-05:002008-03-22T14:23:46.905-05:00

I found out this past week that McCormick Theological Seminary will be giving me a $25,000 scholarship each year to attend their school (tuition is $11,000). I will be pursuing a joint MDiv/PhD between McCormick and University of Chicago. Sarah and I will be moving their this summer where she will be looking for a job in Marriage and Family Therapy. McCormick is in Hyde Park surrounded by

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-57751078696539354662008-03-02T22:42:00.000-06:002008-03-02T22:48:48.892-06:00

Check out this video of an independent Baptist KJV-Only Preacher (if you don't know what that is, you will definitely have an idea of what that can look like after watching this) "preaching" to his congregation.

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-16283230282002711932008-02-28T14:29:00.000-06:002008-02-28T14:32:43.166-06:00

98% of them at least according to this article. I would really like to meet the other 2%-- weird little kids! You really should check out the article though, it is very insightful and seems to be really good research on children and honesty.

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-29042246334284270582008-02-24T20:03:00.000-06:002008-02-24T20:09:57.344-06:00

I came across the following description of pastoring from the book Making Spiritual Sense--Christian Leaders as Spiritual Interpreters:Everyone agrees that congregational leadership is important; few agree on exactly what it is. Some claim it has to do primarily with vision casting; others say it's about effective administration; for others, serving as a change agent is most important. Yet all of

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-62277596247353194332008-02-14T11:57:00.000-06:002008-02-14T12:37:19.470-06:00

Many today feel that "worship" must always be ecstatic-- thus they equate this with an emotionally transcendent experience-- essentially a passionate rush. Christians often live off of these quick fixes from Sunday to Sunday. Some are so addicted that they bounce from worship service to worship service throughout the week seeking to find a place to get one more hit from this sweet drug. "

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-48966334506019608002008-02-12T09:33:00.000-06:002008-02-12T09:44:41.663-06:00

I came across a friend's blog post this morning about worship music. The following is my comment:"An entire generation of Christians has grown up under the idea that worship is 1) music, 2) professional quality, and 3) ecstatic every time. Worship music becomes porn... immediate release, transcendence, and ecstasy. God seeks obedience (true worship) more than temple rituals. What continues to

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-81019971141697008782008-01-18T12:35:00.000-06:002008-01-18T13:04:31.858-06:00

A friend and I were exploring this topic yesterday. I was in a particularly negative mood yesterday and my friend was upbeat but realistic. He said something like this, "I'm not sure if 10 years from now if these places [referring to traditional churches] will still be around in the same way they are today." I have pondered this question many times over the past decade. Two reasons exist for

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-86920591725677933512008-01-11T10:49:00.000-06:002008-01-10T16:39:34.324-06:00

About a week ago, Dave Dack posted on the subject of communion. He had a conversation with a friend in regards to the frequency of having communion. James, a friend of mine posted a great comment to the post: "Communion is a time for us to put aside lesser allegiances for the sake of the kingdom. "This got me thinking about my own ideas of communion. First, I should note that I think the

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-60041575896363522042008-01-10T16:21:00.000-06:002008-01-10T16:21:12.284-06:00

Here is something I posted on Scot McKnight's blog:Someone earlier said the following: "baptism is not constitutive of our salvation or of our relationship with God." This is part of what I see as the problem of the individualistic influence of the reformation. Baptism and salvation parallel very closely in many scripture texts. What I think happens is that all of us define salvation very

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-35252412042680802402008-01-09T12:44:00.000-06:002008-01-09T00:55:17.932-06:00

Many moons ago, I began exploring this topic of "what is the church." I want to continue this series. Before I discussed the idea of the church as found around the "Eucharist table." Today, I want to explore Jesus' first use of the term "ekklesia" found in Matthew 16 and 18 using a comment I wrote to Scot McKnight on his blog because he is exploring the differences between church and kingdom. "I

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-70133340929559953772008-01-08T11:56:00.000-06:002008-01-07T23:57:12.548-06:00

I've been reflecting the past few days on Karl Marx. The Communist Manifesto makes a lot of assumptions (many of them false). One of the worst assumptions is that once the people revolt against the elite, all will take care of itself. The assumption is that the people as a collect are pure. The thing that stood out to me is that Marxism is defined as counter to the empire system. In fact, without

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-6853344500094003222008-01-07T23:27:00.000-06:002008-01-07T23:36:54.389-06:00

If you look over at my side bar, you'll find a theological worldview quiz results. I think I completely confused this quiz wizard... it had a really hard time placing me. It even gave me a tie-breaker question at the end that made me Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. The real results were 61% Evangelical Holiness, 61% Roman Catholic, and 61% Emergent. To tell the truth, I was really suprised at

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-22260225859692179652007-12-15T02:58:00.000-06:002007-12-15T03:09:51.701-06:00

A few weeks ago I blogged on the idea of conversion. Recently, I came across a quote from Karl Barth that is typical Karl brilliant:When we convert and are renewed in the totality of our being, we cross the threshold of our private existence and move out into the open. The inner problems may be most urgent and burning and exciting, but we are not engaged in conversion if we confine ourselves to

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-2274055734154911942007-12-14T01:21:00.001-06:002007-12-14T01:30:27.710-06:00

Tonight, I watched Rob Bell's presentation called Everything Is Spiritual. Bell is such a great presenter. His ability to take highly complex theological topics and communicate them in everyday language is astounding. Not only is it good, but it is also highly practical without adding some "application" section to the end of some trite three point sermon. Bell's preaching is always an

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-53854968008009102892007-12-12T12:35:00.000-06:002007-12-12T12:47:31.301-06:00

Can war ever be just? This is a question that often is asked in the circles of people I'm around these days. I've struggled with this question for many years. Some days I am a pacifist and other days I'm nuclear annihilation; however, on most days, I find myself in the tension of both. One of the reasons for this is the state of "peace" that so many refer to. "We seek to resolve this dispute

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-80808195356040530132007-12-11T12:58:00.001-06:002007-12-11T13:24:26.088-06:00

I have labeled this post 0.2 because I'm still in the Introduction section of the book and this is my second post on it. Turpin makes the following observations on pages 2-3:Our desires, our self-image, our taste, our leisure activities, our surroundings, our values, our sense of efficacy, and so much more are fundamentally formed by our participation in the system of acquiring and consuming

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-20189340664405492692007-12-08T12:52:00.000-06:002007-12-08T13:38:57.076-06:00

"I don't like the worship at that church.""My husband and I are shopping for a church. What style of worship does your church have? "We are looking for a place with a great band and worship leader.""When my friends and I were in college, we would often leave [the service] after the worship was over.""I'm looking for a place where I can feel connected with God and worship in my own way.""I'm

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-40843979552488446912007-12-08T01:13:00.000-06:002007-12-08T02:25:52.267-06:00

Being raised in a very conservative church, I grew up around families and church leaders who advocated for the sheltering of children from the "evils of the world." Many of these families prohibited their children from watching many movies and television shows and home schooled their children in an attempt to minimize the influence of "the world" on their kids (although these same families would

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-45057487594130382282007-12-06T12:20:00.000-06:002007-12-06T12:44:20.075-06:00

In seminary classes and church teaching, you often will hear a phrase used in regards to the kingdom of God/eternal life/salvation. It is "already, but not yet." This phrase is used to convey that God's present in-breaking into our world has already occurred, but the restoration of all things has not yet occurred. It is in process. Salvation has come, but it is still coming and awaits a

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13077073120487158723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-56522482462571968502007-11-21T12:17:00.000-06:002007-11-21T12:30:43.825-06:00

I started to respond to comments on my last post and then found my response to be very long... so here is part 2 of the post:I don't think the previous post is too extreme of a picture. The lives of the majority of Christians in America are identical to that of non-Christians... survey after survey conducted shows this to be true. Sociologically, one must look at the relationship of beliefs and

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-10994555681434082192007-11-21T02:04:00.000-06:002007-11-21T02:02:34.806-06:00

Throughout my life, I have often looked around at the congregations of Christians around me. Most often I stare for a while, sometimes in shock or awe, sometimes in compassion. I listen to the beliefs of Christians and try to square these up with the person of Jesus Christ. Often these beliefs can find some support somewhere in the scriptures, but overwhelmingly find little support in the

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-75700654488796189612007-11-20T12:10:00.000-06:002007-11-20T12:13:53.467-06:00

"Christians" are in need of conversion. I say this because it seems that most Christians in our day do not actually know the Jesus of Scripture. When you look at a typical Christian in America, s/he talks about Jesus, but this Jesus seems very different than the one in the NT. What is needed in our day is a true conversion to the Jesus of the Bible.Conversion requires us to repent-- to change

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-70057159003329425122007-10-11T12:56:00.000-05:002007-10-11T13:01:52.466-05:00

According to a MSNBC article, nineteen current and former grand ayatollahs and grand muftis from around the world have sent a letter to the Christian leaders of the world to request a common table of dialogue and peace. This is an amazing event in our world history! Not only is this a great thing to occur but the timing could not be better. Our world is increasingly being divided violently

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-62496293119695285992007-09-14T14:30:00.000-05:002007-09-14T14:37:33.796-05:00

Have you googled yourself lately? What I'm about to say will seem very narcissistic-- perhaps it is, but I google myself with some regularity. Today, I googled myself and found that Nathan Black (someone I assume that I do not know) at The Christian Post had written an article about my latest article If These Walls Could Talk. I think everyone should google themselves. It's always interesting

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-24899542519509069142007-09-14T14:23:00.000-05:002007-09-14T14:29:02.965-05:00

A few years ago, Richard Florida wrote a book called The Rise of the Creative Class. It describes the changes taking place in our society as "millions of Americans are beginning to work and live the way creative people like artists and scientists always have" (from back cover). It is interesting to read the book and see the parallels occurring in the Western & American church with the rise of

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-46635057481942610302007-08-07T01:54:00.000-05:002007-09-14T14:30:19.389-05:00

Len Sweet wrote a book a few years ago called Summoned to Lead. In it he proposes the idea that leaders are not born nor made but summoned. In my thoughts on vocation, I would like to expand this and say that "we are what we are called to!" Our identies are wrapped up in our calling. Along with this is the idea of naming. I have been named by God. This name reveals my calling. Just as

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-59926953684543637162007-08-05T21:08:00.000-05:002007-08-05T21:29:37.638-05:00

So I got railroaded a bit in my postings from the book The Church and Contemporary Cosmology, but I am back to the task and ready to post some more. In my last post on the topic, I implied that humanity has a greater responsibility in this technological and global world. We possess the ability to create and destroy-- as we always have-- but now we have the ability to do it on a grand scale. As

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-62755134833501568802007-08-05T19:22:00.000-05:002007-08-05T19:50:58.864-05:00

We live in a ritualized world. To me that seems very basic; however, I do not think we consider this that often. When I walk into a restaurant, I can generally anticipate what will occur. I can do this because of ritual. My world is thrown out of whack when the ritual is not followed. A good example of this is when you call a business and the receptionist picks up and just says, "Hello."

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-83828365230485121492007-07-30T00:27:00.000-05:002007-07-30T00:51:55.913-05:00

I am working with the families in my ministry to explore vocation and identity. Tonight, I went over to a family's house for dinner and then we sat in their living room as I laid out the theological foundation for our conversation and then we proceeded to talk about our lives. I listened as parents described their hopes, dreams, and disappointments of life and listened as their kids described

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-89790870873779929632007-07-17T02:08:00.000-05:002007-07-17T02:08:16.588-05:00

I think it is a very difficult task for us to talk about "bearing one another's burdens" in the 21st century church for two reasons: 1) churches do not generally function in a way that allows for individuals to share their burdens; 2) in our individualist/private paradigm that most of us have in the USA, we do not want someone to come in and take our burdens unless invited to do so-- we have so

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-91249173957861641162007-07-07T16:19:00.000-05:002007-07-07T17:22:06.433-05:00

Eric Chaisson is the author chapter 2: Our Cosmic Heritage. He is an astrophysicist at John Hopkins. He points out early in the chapter that many American Christians have an aversion to the term evolution. However, he notes that the term simply refers to developmental change. Chaisson believes wholeheartedly in the scientific method-- even going as far to say that we can use the scientific

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-40018195392635594692007-07-06T15:33:00.000-05:002007-07-06T15:43:00.319-05:00

James Miller and Kenneth McCall served as the editors of the book The Church and Contemporary Cosmology and I will be exploring parts of this book in a series of posts.The books takes up the task of creating a framework for exploring a theological cosmology. What is cosmology? According to the introduction it is "the broad world view which orients our culture." I would change this to "a

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-49972234883212531512007-07-03T03:38:00.000-05:002007-07-06T15:32:46.226-05:00

The mutual ministry of believers is that of spreading forgiveness. The true repentence that needs to occur is that of our reaction to sin and perfection. The goal is not to stop sinning but to forgive in the face of the greatest offense. This requires a complete transformation of thinking. The accountability that we need to look for and set in place in the church is when one in our midst is

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-24323972794991161402007-07-03T03:34:00.000-05:002007-07-03T03:40:48.724-05:00

What is theology? How do we recove a truly biblical basis for the theological enterprise, especially in the world? The idea of clergy and laity is a negative theological dichotomy. In Scripture, the term clergy (kleros) is used of the whole people of God. "A theology of the whole people of God must encompass not only the life of God's people gathered, the ekklesia, but he church dispersed in the

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-15014712120196743972007-07-02T21:21:00.001-05:002007-07-02T21:29:24.885-05:00

I love appreciative inquiry. Some of you may be asking, "what is appreciative inquiry?" It is the act of exploring/discovering the best in ourselves and the world around us usually through a questioning process that affirms past and present potentials and successes. The goal of appreciative inquiry is to find those things that bring life into the systems we interact with. Even in the worst

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-69722112081020855702007-06-29T13:03:00.000-05:002007-06-29T13:07:24.331-05:00

I came across a fantastic article on the blog names Resurgence. It is about the upcoming Transformers movie and the effects of the cartoon series on a generation (my generation) growing up at the foot of our televisions. Here is a clip from the blog (click here for the link):I had a sermon to preach about Optimus Prime some day. For better or worse, WIRED magazine beat me to it. Pointing out

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-45526081222763429582007-06-28T00:16:00.000-05:002007-06-28T00:19:36.621-05:00

The Journal of Student Ministries just published another article that I wrote. It is on the subject on creating a linguistic framework for discussing sexuality in a vibrant, robust way that allows theology to be the guiding voice. You can check out my article here: http://www.thejournalofstudentministries.com/articles/eJ226-Spurlock.pdf

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-22687659986959843872007-05-18T12:51:00.000-05:002007-05-18T13:06:59.271-05:00

I have been working with our stewardship team at UPC over the past year. It has been incredible to be included in their journey. They are a very creative and imaginative group of people (yes these are the "finance" people! It's hard to believe). Over the past few years, they have helped our congregation rethink the idea of stewardship-- expanding it far beyond budgets and fund-raising. They

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-26148050930521789862007-05-17T11:37:00.000-05:002007-05-17T11:54:51.357-05:00

I have always had a desire to learn theology (since I was 10 years old!-- yeah, I'm weird). I love to read about it, discuss it, and figure out how to use it in daily life. However, I have found over the years that many in ministry and in the church have no interest in theology outside of esoteric debates. They debate the intricacies of atonement or the relationship of the Trinity but have no

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-31449890713108834642007-04-22T19:59:00.000-05:002007-04-22T20:30:37.298-05:00

This morning in our two worship services, 15 of my youth preached their mission trip experience to the congregation. I say preached because they did more than present what they did on their mission trip. They took the texts of their experiences and placed them under the text of Scripture and theology. I watched as each of them unpacked their stories with skill and articulation. They were able to

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-65684500561817103012007-02-27T17:30:00.000-06:002007-02-27T17:30:59.136-06:00

I think the next era in church growth and renewal will be in the rural areas. Church growth started in this century with urban churches. More recently, we have seen the explosion in church plants and large churches in suburbia. I think the next explosion will be in rural America. Of course, it will look very different. One of the ideas that I think can be transplanted there (and will need to be

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-12655785459041740632007-02-27T17:25:00.000-06:002007-02-27T17:43:46.377-06:00

Much controversy has surrounded the Eucharist throughout the history of Christianity. Often basic theology classes divide the beliefs into 4 basic categories: transubstantiation, consubstantiation, Reformed (Calvin), and Memorial (Baptist/Mennonite). The first two categories take the phrase, "This is my body," very literally; whereas the last two take it non-literally. The first two see it as a

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-33599750214235295052007-02-13T11:54:00.000-06:002007-02-13T12:06:43.043-06:00

With this post, I begin exploring the nature of the church (also this same post is is being discussed on another blog I contribute to called A New Kind of Church, which is being rebirthed so give it time). As we know, the church has looked very different in every age and, if we were willing to admit it, had a very different theology in each of these ages. The goal is not to find our ideal model

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-69349971830566584482007-01-31T17:05:00.000-06:002007-01-31T17:23:49.339-06:00

MarkO-- the president of Youth Specialties-- recently commented on his blog that YS is primarily responsible for communicating a youth ministry philosophy that was negative and unhelpful. Definately a statement of courage and boldness. Here is an excerpt from his post:While youth specialties certainly isn’t solely responsible, i think it’s very fair to say we should bear the brunt of the blame.

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-63109658844461352532007-01-18T12:19:00.000-06:002007-01-31T14:32:11.783-06:00

I am a big fan of Scot McKnight's blog. While reading this past week he cited an article about Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary reviving their "Baptist-only" heritage. This is a very disturbing thing to me. Growing up fundamentalist Baptist, I have attempted to expand my Christian faith as I have matured and aged. I love the fellowship and friendship I share with people of various

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1161853319417534642006-10-26T03:50:00.000-05:002006-10-26T04:01:59.443-05:00

During my years working in youth ministry, I have come to have a certain disdain for other youth pastors. Sometimes it is their look... trying to look cool while obviosly looking odd to the rest of society. Sometimes it is their attitude... either 1) I am irresponsible and that is why I hang with youth; or 2) I am too cool for church even though I work in one. Sometimes, usually most of the

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1161283831925086862006-10-23T12:30:00.000-05:002006-10-23T12:37:17.580-05:00

My friend Jaded CM wrote recently about rewards and heaven. He was saying that he didn't really believe in a material rewards system for kid's ministry. To this, someone responded that he must not believe in heaven. The funny thing is... Jaded CM is probably the most conservative person on our church staff... he definately believes in heaven. Our society has become so polarized. Whenever someone

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1161255115035832832006-10-20T13:59:00.000-05:002006-10-20T14:16:46.066-05:00

I recently posted a comment on Adam Cleaveland's blog regarding his post on Calling. I found it very interesting. Calling is something that I grew up hearing and believing in a certain way. It was the idea that God had something very specific for your life-- a specific careeer, a specific school, etc. We need to abandon such an idea of call... frankly because it has been taken too extreme and

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1161254267686554572006-10-19T05:37:00.000-05:002006-10-19T05:37:47.706-05:00

A few years ago, Len Sweet in his book Aqua Church described the gospel as contents (like a liquid) and our ways of delivering the gospel as the container (like a cup). He was advocating that we must find new ways to deliver the liquid of the gospel to the various cultures that we are in. At the time, I thought this was marvelous. I grew up believing that the gospel message (which was very marred

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1161160266368113592006-10-18T03:23:00.000-05:002006-10-18T03:31:06.370-05:00

Today, I completed the rough draft of my Master's thesis-- it has been a long process and it is almost over. 100 pages-- certainly not my best writing. Could never find my groove with it. It is very technical and choppy as a result. I explored the affect of consumerism on church practices, specifically by studying perceptions of stewardship by leaders at my church. My research shows that our

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1160534111959680652006-10-10T21:22:00.000-05:002006-10-18T03:22:28.866-05:00

Richard Hays in his now famous book The Moral Vision of the New Testament believes that three focal images are needed in order to understand Scripture. These three images are 1) community, 2) Cross, & 3) New Creation. He argues that Love and Liberation are not effective focal images. The reason for this is that community, cross, and new creation are the lenses that allow us to interpret what love

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1160346339544553362006-10-08T17:25:00.000-05:002006-10-08T17:25:39.560-05:00

Several questions regarding narratives within a group of people and accessing organizational culture: What stories are told? Who tells those stories? Why are those stories told? What alternative or discenting stories are being told to counter the dominant stories? What stories are not being told? Why are these types of stories not being told? What alternative methods could be used to communicate

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1160205162191136722006-10-07T02:06:00.000-05:002006-10-07T02:12:42.216-05:00

How absurd! Just when we though denominationalism was almost dead, here comes division in Emergent. Now some are claiming to be Missional and not Emergent (something I would content is possible but not the way it is being characterized). My real problem is the use of labels and name calling-- some are calling the Emergent folk theological revisionist. It is denominationalism all over again.

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1160058784633634542006-10-05T09:32:00.000-05:002006-10-05T09:33:04.636-05:00

Qoheleth is the name or designation of the person in the book of Ecclesiastes. Jacques Ellul (a person that has made a large impact on my thinking) writes the following regarding Qoheleth's perspective:If we give Qoheleth a serious hearing... we come to an entirely different conclusion: recognizing that my life is subject to vanity means that in the final analysis I cannot place myself in the

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1159946222532867282006-10-04T02:16:00.000-05:002006-10-05T09:31:49.553-05:00

Because I grew up in a fundamentalist church, I have often avoided topics such as predestination because of the fundamentalist debate surrounding such a topic. However, as my concept of faith has transitioned over the years, I realize that such a topic is no longer that hot. If faith is a linguistic system of sorts, then it makes sense that those who have faith will be conformed to the image of

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1159861619950904662006-10-03T02:30:00.000-05:002006-10-03T02:48:41.893-05:00

I am a big fan of semiotics and understanding our reality in a semiotic way (for an intro to semiotics click here). I am in the middle of writing my thesis for my MA- Leadership & Organizational Studies degree. Over the past 10 years, semiotics has found its way into organizational behavior/dynamics and religion. I wrote the following in my thesis recently:Faith at a fundamental level is a shared

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1159859098681562842006-10-03T01:57:00.000-05:002006-10-03T02:06:12.526-05:00

Well, I recently posted about an article I wrote being published. It was entitled "Doctrine as a Scripting Agent." This past week, I discovered that Youth Specialties had picked it up and was featuring it on the top of their home page. Very cool! I think it has cycled away by now... however, here is a link to it being featured in their YS Update and here is the link to the article. It was first

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1159510612859103492006-09-29T01:09:00.000-05:002006-09-29T01:16:52.883-05:00

I have been watching the new hit show Studio 60. It is witty and pushes the envelope. On the first episode, it made references to the evils of the 700 club and the violence produced by Christian Fundamentalists. In the midst of this, Josh McDowell and Ron Luce advertise Teen Mania's youth rally about War-- well at least a Battle Cry and battle plans, etc. Although I like some of what this

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1159394816846138412006-09-27T16:59:00.000-05:002006-09-27T17:06:56.890-05:00

I just watched a preview of a documentary entitled Jesus Camp. Frightening. It amazes me that American Christianity is actually becoming this. So many evangelicals that I talk to believe that this country is coming to ruin because of secularism and liberalism. They believe that this country is ruled by godless people. And yet... these same evangelicals rule the white house, congress, the

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5985649.post-1158274645462325012006-09-14T17:42:00.000-05:002006-09-15T15:24:01.300-05:00

My senior pastor and I have been in conversation about sexuality. Our conversations have revolved around teenagers and their parents because of its relevance to our context, as well as the topic of homosexuality because it is such a divisive issue in our denominiation. In our conversations, we have come to some conclusions. These conclusions are not new nor are they simplistic-- they do not solve

Fresh Dirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211524952224012164noreply@blogger.com4