Gone to Camp
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
I’m leaving this afternoon to take a group of teenagers to youth camp. I won’t have internet access for a week. I’ll try and post something when I get back.
Archive for June, 2008
Tominthebox on Single Verse Conferences
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
This is funny stuff!
Single Verse Conferences Spreading Like Wildfire
from Tominthebox News Network
Inspired by the upcoming John 3:16 Conference, many other religious groups have decided to hold single-verse meetings within the next year.
The purpose of these various conferences appears to be to take one bible verse out of context and then use it to support what the group already believes. Some groups are rallying around their verse of focus, while others are trying to destroy their chosen verse. What each group is trying to accomplish should be obvious.
TBNN encourages you to sign up and cheer for the conference that best fits what you already believe. Some people will, of course, want to attend multiple gatherings.
Find your favorite below (in alphabetical order):
Arminian - The I John 4:14 Conference - “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.”
Baptist - The Acts 8:36 Convention - “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’”
Calvinist - The Romans 9:13 Disputation - “As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.’”
Catholic - The John 6:54 Council - “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Charismatic - The I Corinthians 14:18 Celebration - “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all.”
Disciples of Christ - The Acts 2:38 Pool Party - “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”
Episcopal - The No Scripture, Just a Few Nice Platitudes Assembly
Health, Wealth, and Prosperity - The Job 42:12 Gathering - “Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. ”
KJV Only - The Psalm 12:6 Declaration - “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times - the KJV.”
Liberal - The Galatians 3:28 Egalitarian Confab - “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Lutheran and Presbyterian - The Acts 16:31 Synod - “So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’”
Mennonite - The Matthew 5:39 Get Together - “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
Methodist - The Leviticus 1:3 Choice - “If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD.”
United Church of Christ (UCC) - The Romans 1:27 Misinterpretation - “Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”
Authenticity
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008Contemporary church leaders crack me up. “Authenticity!” that’s the ticket. If we want to be true followers of Christ we’ve got to jettison the trappings of traditionalism. We must abandon the time honored traditions of the church in exchange for a whole new set of traditions. We must purge our conversations of such old fashioned terminology as “evangelism, service, and fellowship” and replace it with all new authentic terminology like “missional, intentional, and community”. God wants us to be “real” you know.
Unfortunately the authenticity of our Christianity is all too often measured by our degree of unconventionalism. But here’s the thing. At what point does all this nonconformity become conformity? Isn’t it conceivable that hip and trendy is just another form of religious ritual? And in the end does it really bring us any closer to God?
In John chapter 4 the woman at the well got into a discussion with Jesus over worship styles. “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain,” she said, “and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
Jesus replied, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. The hour is coming, and is now come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”
Notice the emphasis. Jesus didn’t say “the true worshipers will worship the Father in style and form”. He said “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” True worship is not dependent on trends, fads or culture.
I’m not saying there isn’t any room for cultural relevance. Paul wrote, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). It’s okay to reach across cultural barriers in order to share the gospel. But let’s not kid ourselves. Real, authentic Christianity is not determined by cultural relevance, but rather it is a reflection of the heart.
