Linkathon!
Sermon: How to live in these crazy days…
The value of friends who aren’t like you…
Pat Robertson is Christianity’s crazy uncle…
The religious wanderings of Bob Dylan…
Why are so many evangelicals condoning sexual assault?
A climate for change…
Christ and the “stop it” message…
Mixing politics with religion and communion…
You are the manure of the earth…
Great interview with N.T. Wright about his new book…
The church and the huddled masses…
Much thanks to EricL for the help…support him at top right…
Victims are inconvenient.
In the gogogo of our daily lives, victims make us slow down, victims make us reconsider our priorities, our preconceived notions, victims test our gag reflex… or they don’t.
We can just ignore them, marginalize them, demonize them, so that we can stay in the comfortable spot where we are right now.
Good list as always. Looking forward to perusing a few of the links.
It’s not a controversial article – the reading Luther by
Carl Trueman is good – in it he mentions the book by Timothy Lull for selective writings on Luther – I have it on my shelf and it is excellent — a little more accurate than FB memes of what Luther said.
https://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luthers-Basic-Theological-Writings/dp/0800698835/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475614229&sr=8-1&keywords=timothy+lull
The first link is an excellent little homily by an Orthodox priest…highly recommended.
The video is great…how to understand Job.
I also highly recommend the interview with Wright…I like Wright.
We tried to veer away from politics…it’s not good for the soul. 🙂
I first became introduced to Lull was listening to this course from Gordon Cromwell seminary almost 10 years ago by Gordon Isaac (for a Calvinist at a Calvinist school, not bad.) 🙂
Actually Gordon Issac does an excellent job – and he is a good speaker so the class is easy listening. He basis much on the class along Lull’s book
Note the 3 blue links to the tight of his page – the bottom on Martin Luther is a 20 part class – very good.
The other 2 course are very good also
https://www.biblicaltraining.org/speaker/gordon-isaac
MLD,
I highly recommend biblical training.org… great place to get a free education.
perhaps not for the theological academics here, but for us pew sitter types the link to hitting the wall has some pretty good bench marks … IMX
from where i sit, that is 🙂
it seems that whenever a good concept, a useful approach, arises it gets overused and diluted to a distortion that is harmful to the Church… a decision for Christ, seeker friendly atmospheres… even Sunday School in most evangelical gatherings watered down to pablum and Wed. night prayer meetings? they became a venue to spout your spirituality or your agenda or tattletale … sigh … IMNSHO
but we can’t thwart the Church – it’s alive! and turns up here quite often under sign-ons like “dusty” or “London” or even disciples of dead saints ….
Em,
I think a lot of us have hit the wall…because we don’t practice gratitude or care if the gifts of the Spirit are present in our lives.
That’s what I think… 🙂
Michael, there’s an interesting chart on that link that has some good directions to moving on and up in the Faith after encountering “the wall” and yes, we do get complacent and coast which is different from learning to rest in the Faith isn’t it?
lots of good links again to keep me thinking, thinking… thank you
Michael – biblical training . org has some killer classes from the late Dr. Ronald Nash on Worldviews; on Apologetics; and on Ethics – amazing.
MLD,
The only caution I have is that Gerald Bray’s Church History classes are surprisingly weak and fraught with error, especially about the Reformation.
I remember trying to listen to those Church History classes. They weren’t very good.
Xenia,
I was quite surprised and saddened by how weak they are.
With reference to “Hitting the Evangelical Wall”… Yes, there is a “mid-life” crisis happening in American evangelicalism. Partially, we are nostalgic for a “yesterday” that probably wasn’t as great as we remember. Partially, we are appalled at much of what passes for being “evangelical” today. Partially, as we are older, with fewer years ahead of us than behind, we are fearful for what the future might hold – both for us, and for the faith we embraced. There are no easy solutions.
While I am not yet one of the “dones”, I do find myself more often than not at the early 8:00 am Eucharist with 15-20 others; I say my prayers, hear the Word proclaimed, receive the Sacrament and make my exit. I would like to say that this should be enough, but I still find something missing. I guess, along with Bono, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for…”
I don’t know of Gerald Bray – but I do know that one weakness in Pop American Christianity is having no exposure to Philosophy and how Christian thought develops over time. This is a good series by Ronald Nash – 47 segments anywhere from short to medium length.
I haven’t listed to this lately … I used to do a lot more walking and jogging 8 years ago.
https://www.biblicaltraining.org/history-philosophy-christian-thought/ronald-nash
i think i got past the wall about 50 years ago… i truly believe that brain washing is Scriptural – renewing our minds – we do need teachers (and maybe blog sites like this one today)
not to denigrate the Eucharist, but…
it would be nice to sit on the ground in the sunshine with a basket of alder baked salmon and some cornbread and honey and listen to our Lord talk about the Faith once a week or so… like they did a couple thousand years ago…
what is missing today? all we need is a venue where we hear what God wants us to hear – do we even want to hear what He wants us to hear? hmmm, not sure i can answer that, myself… IMHO
Duane,
I think you should plant an Anglican church in beautiful Southern Oregon… 🙂
Michael
I’d give that consideration… but only if I had a good co-pastor… like you…
Duane,
I’ll do anything…janitorial, admin…we just need a church here. 😉
Duane and Michael,
If you schedule a men’s retreat to Crater Lake National Park, count me in. 🙂
Jean,
Of course!
It would have to be a day trip…the lodge is 300 bucks a night…
Maybe the message is, we all need a place with like minded people who simply want the Church to be the Church. It’s a sad commentary on the days in which we live… but there’s hope that there are other people who care, who simply love Christ and want to serve a greater good. I count myself blessed to be able to share some small part with them… Bless you Michael for the opportunity…
Re: “You are the manure of the earth”
Please don’t give the customers I deal with any more ideas. I work with some pretty difficult people in some difficult situations at a health care facility. If I had $5 for every time I got compared to manure or certain farm animals, told where to go, heard a certain two-word expression or other similar imprecations, I might not be able to retire yet but my bank account would be in much better shape.
Larry – in the healthcare world you guys have the needles and the enema bags – and you don’t gut the last word as payback? You’re doing it wrong. 😉