Smart Pastor

This is funny because it hits close to home, doesn’t it?

I hate to tell you, but this video educates us as to why we need to call that person who is driving us crazy, not send them a note.

Email is great for facts but poor for emotional and tense issues.

Time Magazine has out a list of 10 ideas changing the world right now and among them is what they label “The New Calvinism.”  From their web site…

Calvinism is back, and not just musically. John Calvin’s 16th century reply to medieval Catholicism’s buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is Evangelicalism’s latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination’s logical consequence, predestination: the belief that before time’s dawn, God decided whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or decision.

Its leaders and leading voices…

Neo-Calvinist ministers and authors don’t operate quite on a Rick Warren scale. But, notes Ted Olsen, a managing editor at Christianity Today, “everyone knows where the energy and the passion are in the Evangelical world” — with the pioneering new-Calvinist John Piper of Minneapolis, Seattle’s pugnacious Mark Driscoll and Albert Mohler, head of the Southern Seminary of the huge Southern Baptist Convention. The Calvinist-flavored ESV Study Bible sold out its first printing, and Reformed blogs like Between Two Worlds are among cyber-Christendom’s hottest links.

I think it is worth looking at.  You can do so, here.

FYI, the 10 Ideas are…

* Jobs Are the New Assets
* Recycling the Suburbs
* The New Calvinism
* Reinstating The Interstate
* Amortality
* Africa: Open for Business
* The Rent-a-Country
* Biobanks
* Survival Stores
* Ecological Intelligence

I was reading the blog of Mark Waltz (Even though I found out via Qwitter he stopped following me yesterday….was it something I said??) and saw this tweet from actor Ashton Kutcher.  It was in response to some thoughts he shared on the book, The Shack.

Interesting huh?  People were more concerned with his theology than thinking how great it was that a Hollywood type was thinking about issues of forgiveness.

If you have been disturbed by the Westboro Baptist Church (As I have in the past) you may find this amusing.

(Source)

A while back, Pomomusings shared his top 20 youth group games.  Number one was, Sardines.  If you would like to check out the other 19 and the reader suggested coments you can do so, here.

Sorry to share such a ugly topic, but given the small cost of treating this it deserves our attention.  From the Daily Telegraph…

NEARLY two million children die of diarrhea each year, even though treating the ailment is relatively simple and “almost miraculous”, the World Health Organization said today.

Research into childhood diarrhea has declined since the 1980s, keeping pace with dwindling funds for a disease that nonetheless accounts for 20 per cent of all child deaths, the WHO said. (Source)

The story goes on to say that treatment is less than fifty cents per child. Our church can get their minds around this, right?

Dateline Colorado Springs…

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. —  Former evangelical pastor Ted Haggard and his wife are planning another TV appearance, this time to talk about their marriage.

The two are in Los Angeles taping an appearance on the syndicated Twentieth Television show “Divorce Court,” to be broadcast nationally April 1.

…..

The Haggards say their marriage and Christian faith are stronger than ever, and they want people to know that divorce is not the answer.

“This is part of Ted’s journey,” Gayle Haggard said. “It’s made him a better man. I see what has happened as a divine rescue.”

And here is the kicker…

The couple will be paid an undisclosed amount for the interview…. (Source)

Easy….multitask.  From 37 Signals…

I’m not complaining, I’m just observing. And the primary observation that comes out of all this is that multitasking is the fastest way to mediocrity. Things suck when you don’t give them your full attention.

…

This isn’t a breakthrough, it’s just a reminder. If you want to do great work, focus on one thing at a time. Finish it and move on to the next thing. It means some things aren’t going to get done as fast as some people may want. It means some people aren’t going to get your full attention for a while. But doing a bunch of crappy work, or making a bunch of poorly considered decisions just to get through the pile isn’t worth it.  (Source)

For several years this provocatively titled book has sat on my shelf…daring me to open it and wrestle with the words inside.  For several years I have put it off…choosing to sit in the comfort of my belief system.  Well, enough guilt took over (and I told myself I would not order any more books from Amazon until I made a dent in my to-read pile!) so I finally did read The Heretic’s Guide to Eternity.  Here are my thoughts.

The basic premise of this book is that God’s grace to us is an “opt out” deal rather than one we “opt-in” to.  In other words, folks are saved by the grace of God offered though Jesus unless they choose to reject it.  (Later in the book they joke that a working title was, “I am a universalist who believes in hell.”)

I am grateful for folks like the authors, Spencer Burke (founder of TheOoze.com) and Barry Taylor, who push us in our theology and make us uncomfortable.  They made me think and I sure appreciate that.

This book makes a number of points I agree with.  These include….

• That our formulas about grace and salvation can only take us so far in our understanding of God.
• That grace is bigger and more compelling than a set of ideas about God.
• That much of our theology, such as the idea of an age of accountability, is not found clearly in Scripture but is based on an understanding of God’s goodness to people.

But ultimately there are a few parts of this book, most of the book really, that just don’t sit right with me.

One, Burke and Taylor did not clearly lay out how one might opt out of grace.  In some ways that is consistent with rejecting formulas about salvation, but I needed more development of that thought to wrestle with it more.

Two, I think the authors are a little to quick to change their faith to match the culture. While I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of being contextual to the culture we find ourselves in, it seems that only goes so far.  Jesus did not accommodate to the culture, he turned it upside down.  It seems to me that the God of the Bible is quite comfortable having his people be the minority.

Three, I can’t help but wonder what if what some of the emerging church folks are misdirecting their frustrations with church and pointing it towards theology.  I have tried the water in the emerging church and not been fully pleased, but when I think of the missional church I am stoked.  While I can not read the author’s minds, I know I am not the only one that misdirected their frustration.

Again, I really appreciated this book. It made me think quite a bit. I admire the authors and their willingness to put their ideas out for consideration.  I am glad I read it.  I would encourage you to read a few books like this one or some of the works of Brian Brian McLaren to become familiar with the ideas. I think the authors of this book write with a humble attitude that is not as prevalent in some emerging church/theology writings.  I just did not feel great about the conclusions of this book.

With respect to the missional church, check out this video of Michael Frost from a YouTube Friday last May. Now I am excited about changing!