Oh no they didn't...

We have some work to do! It seems that there is a website (and publishing company) out there called "Lighthouse Trails Research Project", who claims to "expose the truth about contemplative spirituality, the bridge that unites all religions andthus denies the gospel of Jesus Christ". They hate people and movements as diverse as contemplative prayer, the emergent church, the charismatic movement, Rick Warren, Roman Catholics, and basically anything that does not fit into the Biblicist fundamentalist [lack-of-a]mindset.

You can find them at: http://lighthousetrailsresearch.com/index.html

These people are mean, nasty, anti-everything-fundamentalists who lie and spread gossip about their self-proclaimed enemies in the name of Jesus Christ, without offering much more than a shred of evidence (if that much). For instance, did you know that Henry Nouwen was a homosexual, or that the Alpha Course is tied into the New Age? That's what they chaim. They make the guys over at Fide-O look like Oxford University. At least those guys can marshal a strong Scriptural argument.

SNL finds Christ in Christmas?!?

Merry Christmas all y'all!!!

Saturday Night Live is not known for being very Jesus-friendly, yet one of their skits last night hits it RIGHT on the head. It is an animated short about Jesus trying to find any Christ in modern Christianity.

It is, may I dare say it, prophetic...

This was almost our Christmas Card...

Civilization IV: How God spends His free time

I feel that the holidays are a time to completely veg out and enjoy a Sabbath.  Sabbath, for me, includes doing two things: First and foremost, setting aside some intentional time to hang with the Big Guy.  Set aside some time every day to pray a little (idea: using the Lord's prayer as an outline, go walking with God in a park or around your neighborhood, and take each phrase and elaborate on it and pray it back to God by finding as many ways as you can to "hallow His Name", "ask for His Kingdom to come", "ask for His will to be done", etc.).  Also, set aside some time every day to read some Scripture (idea: read one of the Gospels all the way through over the next two weeks... If you read Mark you will only have to read one chapter a day, the other Gospels will be two chapters a day... as you read, underline and circle everything that sticks out and ask God to show you what it means).  

OK, so spending time with Jesus in prayer and Scripture reading is the first thing.  What is the second, you may ask?

The History of Electronic Music

Hey folks... Little known factoid about me: I love electronic music (techno, industrial, house, acid, etc.).  Just ran across this incredible shockwave interactive presentation on the history of electronic music.

It features 5.5 hours of mp3 samples of electronic music, and about 100 genres.  It is really a great piece of work.

Disclaimer: This site does use quite a bit of profanity.  So if you are one of my youth or parents from Church checking this out, you are warned.  Look at it this way: you get to hear the good, bad, AND ugly of postmodern music over the last 30 years.  Enjoy...

http://www.di.fm/edmguide/#

Also interesting:

http://www2.abc.net.au/arts/soundsliketechno/

Will Candy Canes and Lawyers Bring God's Kingdom on Earth?

Well, I am watching the morning news, waiting for my darling daughter to wake up from her slumber, and I see story number 8,376 on the "Christmas Wars" between "good" evangelical Christians and the "evil" world system.

It seems that another elementary school child in a Texas school district is being used as a puppet by his parents, who are being used as puppets by their pastor(s), to push the Moral Majority Christian platform at school.  Supposedly the kid wants to distribute Candy Canes with the "Story" of the Candy Cane attached, which is actually a Gospel presentation.  The "Gospel Story" of the Candy Cane is actually pretty good.  I share it IN CHURCH about once every other year.

But... 

Santadolatry?

Alright, I am not the biggest "anti-Santa" fanatic in the world.  I used to be, then I became a youth minister that occasionally has to work with young children, and I had a young child of my own.  I mean, I see the Consumerism in the whole thing.  I also hate the Santa-Claus view of God, in which God is benevolent grandpa in the sky who only gives good gifts to good girls and boys.  And, I think that Santa, as we know him in 21st century America, contributes to both consumerism and the Santa ideal of God.

Yet, just as the idea of Saint Nicholas as been co-opted to become the Santa Claus of mass marketing, so also the Santa Claus can be co-opted back to teach about Saint Nicholas and the Spirit of selfless giving that flows from Christ.  If the "Santa Myth" can be "spun" for bad, then it can also be "spun" for good.  So, I do not mind Santa so much anymore.  He is a morally neutral tool that can be used used to serve Jesus just as easily as he is used to serve selfishness.

Luther, Nominalism, and the Nature of the Church

This is an odd post, because it addresses a couple of issues raised by an email from a friend (Steve) in which he asked about some recent posts. Regarding my recent post on Martin Luther and Reformation Day, Steve asked "How can you not like and respect someone that said 'Whenever the devil harasses you, seek the company of men and drink more.....Sometimes we must drink more...and even sin a little to spite the devil....'".  Point taken Steve... I will address this below.

Also, Steve said that he is "very much leaning against the view that the Church somehow is the possessor and distributor of grace" (such as the Catholic view).  He is "much more now seeing that we are called to only be a Proclaimer, and especially a WITNESS as the Church... Anything else seems to me at present to somehow almost "interfere" with the work Christ". He also said that he is re-thinking the sacraments, and is very influenced by some views of Karl Barth regarding the Church and the sacraments.

So, I actually find all of these issues to be related.  In the following post I want to deal with Luther, then Karl Barth, and then the idea of whether or not the Church is a "Witness" to Christ (as Proclaimers), or the continuing "Incarnation" of Christ (as the Body of Christ).  

Could Hell be Redemptive and not merely Retributive?

The following way-too-long article started as a reply to a question about 2Thessalonians 1:8-9.  It morphed into a full-out defense of Hell as a redemptive process, not merely a retributive destination.  It is 9,500 words, and I would appreciate it if you did not comment until you have read the whole thing because some of your objections might be answered later on.

One of my older youth named Chris asked the question that got the ball of wax rolling.  It was basically:

WWCSLD?

Most people who have known me for long know that I am a CS Lewis junkie. I don't really do the Catholic "patron saint" thing, but CS Lewis would probably be my patron saint if I did. I have almost everything he has ever published except for the really expensive three volume set of his collected letters (only have volume 1... Christmas presents anyone?). For me, his books are just below Scripture, and he is one of very few people who write books that I will read more than once. So, just below the Holy Trinity is CS Lewis... Father, Son, Spirit... and "Jack".

Just kiddin' on that last sentence... But everything else is pretty much true.