In Need of a Killer DoOver

The sports world suffered multiple shocks within the past two weeks. And no, this post will not pretend to care about NASCARs problems (Yet if it did the first problem would be there is no ball). Anyway, tremors were felt all around as John Amechi announced that he is homosexual. Yet the real earthquake came [...]

Dreaming Justice

Yesterday, during the last song of worship, I opened up my notes and scanned the material for the Young Professionals class. The theme for the class was justice in Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1) and its relation to Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel. As I was reading these notes we sang the song Shine Jesus Shine. [...]

The Secret Message of Jesus

My father in law gave me Brian McLaren’s new book, The Secret Message of Jesus, for Christmas. Oddly, I had not read too much of McLaren’s stuff, even though I find him intruiging and his books sell extremely well. A few thoughts on this one:
His thesis is true. Jesus’ message was not simply a “pie [...]

Grace and Tolerance II

Okay I will try to flesh out my position here without repeating too much of what I have said in the past. I will begin by voicing some of my issues.
1) Open minded folks are often no more inviting to the underdogs of society than are the close minded. An example of this would be [...]

Tolerance, Grace, and things which are Forgivable

Yesterday our Young Professionals Class merged with the Young Marrieds for class. Among other things we discussed the necessity of grace for the world as opposed to the emerging option of tolerance. This tolerance, many in the class argued, is impersonal, often lacking in compassion, and sometimes lazy. While grace engages people, accepts inevitable failure, [...]

Heard of the Sea Gypsies?

I recently watched a segment on 60 minutes that I think is worth sharing. The featuredpeople group are called the Sea Gypsies. They live mostly at sea. Interestingly they werethe ones who gave advanced warning of the imminent tsunami last December. Check it out at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/17/60minutes/main782658.shtml
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Lately I have expanded my biking route. I am not [...]

"Beyond Belief" and the Inclusivism of the Exclusivist Cross

I am nearly finished reading a volume entitled Beyond Belief, by a woman named Elaine Pagels. Pagels argues on behalf of a more ecumenical faith. Her main reason for doing so is that she feels the Gospel of John is the only New Testament Gospel which requires people of faith to share equivalent beliefs. The [...]