Linkathon!
Fewer in the U.S. see the Bible as the literal word of God…
Demand high at local food banks…
A Christian approach to gun reform…
The evangelical church is breaking apart…
Five bad reasons to become cynical…
Christians should rejoice over Dobbs…including a cheap shot at R. Moore…
What should we do if our compassion runs out?
What I left out of my mothers funeral sermon…
Icons, Russia, and a Church’s Dark Age…
A spirituality of following Jesus…
How Christians create and consume celebrity pastors…
Why faith in God is at it’s lowest level ever…
Some good news and the Good News…
Chaplaincy after a mass shooting…
When abuse victims are adults, they’re often treated as ‘sinners,’ threats to churches…
In progress…
The article on Boff would be a good topic of pursuit. I skimmed/read through it to discover Brueggemann the author – a daily double. I read Boff’s Christology 40 years ago and engaged his work in theological dialogue with P T Forsyth — long ago.
So… the premise God has a preferential care of the poor with a reprimand God is not mocked. Literal readings of Luke would land us at that juncture.
I am surprised that in such small space Trueman devoted words to Moore’s slow trigger. No matter Moore has fired the same type of volley if less pointedly. He certainly has not been shy to pick fights or engage them. He will no doubt rise to the bait.
Moore has always gone on vacation and gone black for that time. He hasn’t written anything anywhere about anything.
Truman should know that…
I’m just blessed someone actually read the Boff piece…it’s great…
Trueman— oops
Boff oh yes and will read it later more carefully as it was a compelling piece.
I did not know Boff yet lives. And he’s but 83.
I shall find his latest offering
Jenkins is strident but the icon story is fascinating. Saint Javelin?
“The evangelical Church in the U.S. over the last five decades has failed to form its adherents into disciples. So there is a great hollowness. All that was needed to cause the implosion that we have seen was a sufficiently provocative stimulus. And that stimulus came.”
James Ernest, Vice President and Editor in Chief, Eeardmans Publishing
“The Evangelical Church is Breaking Apart”
This is an unfortunately great quote on the state of the church today. We have so many “theological fads” come through (everything from “I found it’!, The Purpose Drive Life, and the Prayer of Jabez) that are full of hype but greatly lacking in any major doctrinal or life-changing application. The church tickles ears, but doesn’t train disciples. The church/Christians end up being riled up more by politics or celebrities than by the truth of God’s Word.
Linn,
I was attending an Evangelical Free Church during the heydays of “The Prayer of Jabez” and “Thu Purpose Driven Life”. I remember all the hype, the Bible studies around these fads, the coffee mugs, the spin-offs, etc. I never read either book, but I do recall how some swore by “The Prayer of Jabez” as if it was some incantation or magic genie.
All of this is to say that I was not immune myself from fads, tickling of the ears, etc. I was taken in my other movements, such as the “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” craze (Google Joshua Harris to see where he is these days), and the “Every Man’s Battle” books.
I do have to say that the movements I was more invested in had some good elements to them, and I learned some valuable things, but also some elements that didn’t sit well with me.
Dan,
Purpose Driven Life had some benefit in my EFCA church, too. Jabez not so much…it came and went. The other book that drives me batty for its weak theological base is “Jesus Calling.” There is better stuff out there.
Engaged with Boff and Jon Sobrino in the lead up to Romero’s beatification. Boff is a serious theologian and, in my opinion, the conscience of the Catholic Church…
The Prayer of Jabez – prosperity Gospel for calvinists
The Purpose Driven Life – calvinism light for baptists
I Kissed Dating Goodbye – birth control for evangelicals
Jesus Calling – charismania for cessationists
I prefer the writings of Malcolm Muggeridge to all of them –
Jesus Rediscovered
Jesus the Man Who Lives
Christ and the Media
Don’t really know why I thought of him in this context but I did.
His conversion in old age may betray him some…
My old professor used to say “I never conquered any of my sins I just lost interest”
Amazing how much of our confusion centers upon our concupiscience
My old CC pastor was a fan of Jabez. He and I had a polite argument about it. He isn’t usually given to fads, though.
“The media today—press, television, and radio—are largely in the hands of those who favour the present Gadarene slide into decadence and Godlessness.” — Malcolm Muggeridge
Amen.
Dread…I had to chuckle with the tag you put on “i kissed..”…sad that in some ways it was close to the truth.
…explanation being that I spent most of my single life with other believing singles who swore by that book. Some of those people are still single to this day.