Post-Missional?

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 run their course, so to sell new seminars and books we had to create a "post-missional" mandate.

Twitter @ Church

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 this too.  What do you think?

Monotheism and Literacy

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 acquired.  Reading and writing create a type of logical reasoning that cannot be comprehended without those skills.  

A community before the advent of widespread literacy is dependent upon story and symbolism.  In such a pre-literate world, the mind is subject to the mythical-- the sun is a force, a tree decides to sprout leaves in spring, the sea is a god, etc.  

The skills of reading and writing provide a person and a community the tools to begin the journey of rationally considering the once mythical elements.  More importantly, they allow thoughts to be analyzed and ideas to be processed.  Finally, in a literate world, a person is no longer fully dependent on another for mediation between self and the divine.  In the literate world, I can communicate with God and God with me.