Things I Think…
1. Whilst scrolling through Facebook last night (something I do less and less frequently) I had a revelation of sorts. There amongst all the applause for Christian nationalism and conspiracy theories were a whole bunch of people acting like Jesus followers and a lot of good theology being taught and practiced…
2. Those of us who oppose Donald Trump and all that is associated with him and who oppose the partisan political takeover of the faith need to recognize that the remnant is larger than we thought… and start encouraging ourselves with the good and faithful work being done by many…whether that work is simply living out Jesus shaped lives in front of family and friends or engaging large numbers of people via social media…
3. There is a discernible shift away from fundamentalist theology and the suffocation of thought that comes with it…there is an openness to re-interpretations of both doctrine and practice, especially among those who have been victimized by hypocrisy in the church…
4. For years, most of what I’ve seen displayed on Facebook were different variations of some dispensational teaching…some were of Chuck Smith, some were of Charles Stanley, others the Baptist in fashion at the time…now I see as much N.T. Wright or people directly influenced by Wright…
5. Whatever one thinks of Wright (I find him very helpful) it’s undeniable that he has changed the baseline for theological thinking among the average believer and across denominational lines…he made scholarship understandable and assessable to everybody and a lot of folks are learning how to think differently about what they believe because of him…
6. The “resistance” to CN is broad and theologically deep…whether its the videos from The Bible Project, the podcasts from “The Holy Post”, the encouragement of Kate Bowler, the critical scholarship of Pete Enns and The Bible For Normal People, or the posts of Benjamin Cremer and others, there is an articulate and irenic movement to center the faith back on Jesus and to encourage people to follow Him…I’m encouraged and you should be too…
7. The first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night is a headcount on my cats…I make sure everyone is inside and safe and fed…then I give thanks for each one of them…I think God does something similar for each one of us…
8. There is much that I confess I do not fully understand…but it seems to me that what Israel is doing in Gaza is evil…
9. The more I play with AI, the more I fear what people who aren’t playing could achieve …
10. I get really overwhelmed with all that’s happening in the world and the church…until I stop and pray and remember that I’m only charged with being faithful with what is right in front of me…today that means cleaning the litter boxes and making my housemates a nice dinner while practicing the presence of God…I can handle that…His yoke is easy and His burden light…
6. I agree. Lots of good stuff going down. Kristen Du Mez and her blog comes to mind, too.
bob1,
There are so many…I don’t ever remember a time when there was so much alternative theology available at the public level…a lot of riches to mine…
What does “CR” mean?
Thanks.
Jean,
It means I typed an R instead of an N…
I was in class today and the word “secular” came up. For upper elementary students I defined it as a government not supporting and/or opposing a particular religious group; but functioning apart from it.” Then, I had to internally check myself internally because that is not what our current government is doing now (although I personally don’t think most of them are Christians; I think they just want to advance their extremist agenda).
Linn,
If there are any true Christians in this administration, they need to repent…
Linn,
What do you see as “extremest” about the administration’s agenda?
I too am encouraged that there are those that are speaking truth out there, esp on Facebook, such as Cremer, our friend Kevin Huhn, and others.
Dan,
Kevin does consistently good work…here and there.
We need to make more of those folks and less of the others…
True Michael.
Thank you, Dan & Michael.
#10 for me is the daily snuggles with my kids. They are 8 and 13 and yet every morning we start with it as my boy slides from his top bunk into my arms and I carry him back to my bed, my daughter wrapping herself in a blanket and following like a tail, as she hold on to me. Then at night we gather again on the bed, my boy clinging to my wife and my girl to me. I sing them the praise songs of my childhood years, and before they are fully asleep we rouse them to crawl into their beds just across the doorway. Then I hug my wife who is at this point usually asleep as well… in those moments, no matter how overwhelming the world can be… all is right and I bask in the goodness of god
3, I feel like I fall into that camp.
8, I am an Israeli, and I get asked about this all the time. “Genocide” is my answer. Blatant.
Joel, I still look for your daily updates. You are an inspiration. An Acts 20:22-24 dude.
Jean,
How about violating the Constitution? Making the President Trump king (and department store manager for the country)? Then going after Federal Judges who dare defy him in his grab for power?
When Trump and his idiot DHS head don’t even know what habeas corpus is, why the hell should we let them have any power. My favorite lottery number is 8647.
Joel,
I don’t know how you do it…we send much love and many prayers…
I have seen some of it as well, there is another side and it has now gained power. It is a vicious and ignorant “theology” one of great violence and it is not just right or left it is one of absolutes in the temporal realm. Know this if they could they would melt this world in Nuclear fire with no hesitation. That should scare us.
#8
Why then did God instruct Israel in this way:
““Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. “But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the LORD your God has commanded you,” Deut 20:16-17
We know they failed in this commandment, but is there any application to Israel today or maybe even the lives of those who comment here every day?
BTW I am in no way saying what happened then (Deut) and today are the same. However, God did instruct them to “utterly destroy ” and in the Hebrew text it grammatically uses a double emphasis. Is this evil?
Sounds evil to me.
Now, God doesn’t have to justify himself to me, and if he did in fact say something like that, I’m sure he had a good reason.
That said, it looks like nothing you find coming from Jesus. Ever. And that is a big problem for a lot of us.
I have my doubts whether God said that, but it’s irrelevant.
Modern day Israel is not a theocracy and in the 21st century we understand that genocide is evil.
As is ethnic cleansing.