scot mcknight . . . brilliant

click on the title for the out of ur blog.

this might be the shortest most complete article i have ever read on what it means to be a christian. on what it means to be a member of the kingdom of God. like scot, i have been troubled by the growing self-centeredness of atonement.

he writes "At the bottom of lots of our problems is a “gospel” problem. Students of mine that grow up in Christians homes often admit to me that the gospel they grew up was this: Jesus came to die for my sins so I could go to heaven. This parody of the biblical gospel, I contend, is at the heart of many of our problems."

i sense that this a growing concern among a new generation. some may call this emerging or emergent. . . i say, who cares? if its true, than it needs to be addressed. and his first example is absolutely hilarious to me, because i hear it all the time! and i'm not surprised that people's response is what it is.

we have reduced the gospel to having sins forgiven and going to heaven. i heard a pastor say once that the reason a congregation should get involved in a gift giving program for less fortunate families during christmas was so that the congregation's kids would have a better understanding of what christmas means! i mean, i'm not saying that those who give don't receive something greater in return for giving, but that can't be the reason. the reason has to be to show the love of Christ in a self-sacrificial way(John 13:34-35).

i also just heard a message from rob bell entitled wine and heaven. it is a much longer discussion on the same issue of salvation, heaven, kingdom life, etc. you can download it for free here, or you can get it on the mars hill podcast, which is also free.

be good to each other. look at Christ. peace.

q conference update

there has been so much information and so many topics discussed that i can't even begin to write about what we've been doing yet. but i will be writing about some of the speakers and breakout sessions in the coming days.

the speakers have been amazing. the conference has focused on culture.future.church.gospel. so each presenter has taken about 18 minutes to deal with an issue within those topics.

i have been inspired the most by jeff johnson from BET, don miller, blake mycoskie, chris seay, shane wheeler, and andy stanley. i think i only left out 5 presenters.

and last night, we had a private concert with jon foreman from switchfoot. it was like a vh1 storytellers in that he explained where some of the songs came from. he also brought out a friend on cello who was phenomenal. at one point, jon started talking about a new song he had written called "cure for pain," a song he has never played in front of an audience before, and his buddy on the cello just starts improvising and adds some gorgeous fills. in many ways, he made the song alive.

i can't leave this conference and not be changed. i can't leave this conference and be satisfied with what i do. i can't leave this conference and be okay with "just." we have a responsibility to be change things. to present a new paradigm, one that truly bucks the system of the world. and its not going to be by proclamation, its going to be by participation. redeeming those places in the world that darkness has overtaken.

salvation is here. salvation from child slavery. from human trafficking. from destroying our environment. from sex slaves. from violence. from anger. from injustice.

salvation is here.

are we actually showing that? or are we just talking about it? we may proclaim it, but are we working to actually bring a change? do we really believe that the love of God is absolute and that it can change the world?

are we ready to take a look in the mirror and see all of our problems, our sins, our dirt as we so readily accuse others of homosexuality, cussing, drinking, smoking, etc?

can we take the approach paul did and has he calls the sins out in a community, he just as quickly admits his own faults?

are we ready to do that?

be good to each other. look at Christ. peace.

easter is coming . . .

so easter is coming.
the tomb is empty.
we're supposed to be living out this resurrection life, right?
why do i feel like so many days i'm not?
why do i feel that i am supremely unqualified to teach easter morning?

there are more days that feel like saturday night before the resurrection. i can identify with the disciples so much who went and hid. who remained in hiding, and had such a hard time believing mary when she showed up telling them all that Jesus was alive.

i identify so much with thomas. i wonder why he was there? did he feel like their plan had failed and didn't want to be those whom he had given his life to for the past 3 years? did he not want to look into the eyes of the other disciples and see the same sense of dread? that the kingdom that he was so sure he bringing about was squashed like the other rebellions?

was his doubt more about his fear of getting his hopes up only to have them completely dashed again? who doesn't know what that's like. . .

easter matters so much more to me this year.
i think i said that before.

may we rest in the fact that the saturday night has passed. and that the tomb is still empty. that means, that i can hope again and again. it means i don't have to be a bitter, cynical manipulative man. because what i'm afraid of, well, it doesn't matter. because death doesn't win. life wins.

is it possible to be a christian, to have said the prayers, to go to church, to tithe, but yet know the true power of the resurrection? is it possible to not know what real love looks, feels, IS like?

do we live in the death of Christ and remember His resurrection instead of remembering His death and living in this new resurrection life?

do we even want to come near these questions?

be good to each other. look at Christ. peace.

theobolic steriods

click on the title for the link. absolutely hilarious.
i feel like its a steve taylor song waiting to happen. if he still made records.

i love it because its not mean-spirited, and yet it still pokes fun. its also well written in good journalistic prose. if that even matters to you.

also, its good to laugh.

m

blogging the bible

click the title for an interesting look at the bible.

First read the introduction before you start reading his take on the rest of the bible.

Post your thoughts.

peace

m