Posts

Showing posts from January, 2009

Social Gospel and Conservatism

I've been reading some posts on Facebook where those in the Conservative camp are decrying churches getting caught up in the Social Gospel.  So I decided to do some research on what it is or was and quite frankly I'm concerned about those Christians that are of the conservative persuasion who are simply carping and not doing. Here's what wikipedia defines the social gospel as:   The  Social Gospel  movement is a  Protestant Christian  intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The movement applied  Christian ethics  to  social problems , especially poverty, inequality, liquor, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, weak labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Above all they opposed rampant individualism and called for a socially aware religion. Theologically, the Social Gospel leaders were overwhelmingly  post-millennialist . That is because they believed the  Second Coming  could not happen un

Green Light Blessing

I called my drive to work this morning a “blessing.” Each morning I drive less than two miles to a parking lot, get in a stranger’s car and “slug” to Washington, DC.  The trip to the parking lot takes me through 4 traffic lights and 3 stop signs.  Two of the traffic lights are right turns so I don’t count those, the stop signs are never busy, and one of the two remaining lights is weight triggered leaving me with one annoying stop light.  Very often I get stuck sitting at this light watching the line behind me grow and a trickle of cars drive through the intersection in front of me.  (I write a few paragraphs about why it annoys me and even more reasons why it shouldn’t but that’s not what I’m going for in this post so I’ll just move on.) Today, I caught that annoying light just right.  As I drove through the intersection I said to myself “Thank you God for that blessing.”  In that same moment, I wondered what made getting through that green light a “blessing.”  Why did I call the

Sacrifice

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3812762&sportCat=ncf In the top half of the article Tim Tebow says “…I mean, more people would do those things; they just don't want to sacrifice.”  That is very true.  People don’t want to sacrifice and that’s exactly what we need to do if we are to truly make a mark.  I often times think about how we as Christians hope to make a difference.  Many think that because we don’t cuss or don’t watch certain movies that that will be enough to draw people to the Creator (making wise decisions is a good thing, don’t get me wrong).  If our language is the only difference people see in us then I’d say we’re failing as followers of Christ.  Where is the sacrifice, the demonstration of unconditional love?  I think Tebow recognizes the need for sacrifice.

blogging

I thought this was a good article about why pastors should blog and I think it can apply to us as well even though we aren't all pastors. from desiringgod.org/blog 6 Reasons Pastors Should Blog March 31, 2008 | By: Abraham Piper Category: Commentary In this article I want to convince as many pastors as possible to sit down and start a blog today. If I can’t convince them , then I want to convince churchgoers to hound their pastor until he does. OK, all that’s overstatement, perhaps. You can still be a good pastor and not blog. However, here’s why I think it would be good for you and your congregation if you did. Pastors should blog… 1. …to write. If you’re a pastor, you probably already know the value writing has for thinking. Through writing, you delve into new ideas and new insights. If you strive to write well, you will at the same time be striving to think well. Then when you share new ideas and new insights, readers can come along with you wherever your good

Africa

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece   Great article highlighting humanity’s desperate need for a relationship with our Creator written by an atheist.