To God, though we have lost our way in life, we are never forgotten. God has a way of nudging back on life’s pathway. God utilizes people, providential situations, and circumstances to get our attention. There can always be a “welcome home” party for us in God’s eyes.
Author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien, once wrote,
As churches emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, I often hear congregational leaders and pastors ask one another, “What’s next? What do we need to do?” Typical responses often center on the church becoming more digitally available to people. Indeed, churches have made essential investments in livestreaming worship, Zoom facilitation of small groups, technology, and making ministry programs more accessible. This is a pipeline approach: finding the direct vehicle to deliver religious and spiritual content.
As much as access to the internet has changed the way people relate to one another, work, live, and experience the world, the moveable type printing press has had an equal, if not greater, impact in the way people have access to information. The internet is over 40 years old, but the moveable printing press is over 500 years old. Much like the internet, the flow of information via a moveable type printing press made access to information economical and widespread in previous centuries. Christians saw the new technology as a way to share Christianity with the masses. Widespread efforts in literacy helped fuel the Protestant Reformation in Europe. The moveable type printing press enabled a free exchange of ideas and Christian theology, which were not available to the masses previously. The moveable type printing press disrupted the theological pipeline monopoly of the Catholic Church.
Continue Reading…
This article originally appeared with the Christian Citizen
When I was a pastor in a small town, there was a great sense of community. There were Memorial Day remembrances, firehouse breakfasts, ham dinners, the Holiday Parade, the annual Day of Prayer, Rotary meetings and community trash pick-up days. Many participated in community events regularly. However, a segment of the community was absent from those events. They were people from the emerging community.
What is an emerging community?
As a pastor, it was easy to see and meet the visible people in the community: the mayor, fire chief, bank manager, restaurant owner, school administrators and business association representative. Those visible people in the community were easy to identify and were regularly a part of community events.
As the years went by, I began to learn about people in the emerging community — people who were not easily seen but growing in numbers and presence. Individuals and people in the emerging community did not look or act like people in the visible community.
A pastor’s calling requires a pastor to be at a community’s connection points. Pastors ought to place themselves in places and spaces in town meetings, community groups, nonprofits and schools — the visible community. There are also times a pastor looks for the edges of the community, or places of growth. The new local moms’ group, the new restaurant that attracts people in their 20s, the growing food pantry or the recently moved assistance office — the emerging community.
Aspects of the emerging community that have a visible and immediate impact often are a welcomed presence. The new coffee shop that fosters connection points for people to meet and talk. The new workout studio that encourages people to be physically healthy, while joining others on the same journey. The new comic book shop that brings additional foot traffic to the streets. The community garden club that beautifies the town. The new neighborhood that is built.
The growth in the emerging community is not always welcomed by members of the visible community. Cries of protest ensued when a nonprofit sought to move into town to aid low- to mid-income families. Some members of the visible community expressed fear and anxiety about tax-revenue loss, zoning violations, decreased parking availability and increased car traffic. It took lawyers hundreds of hours and a state judge to decide that the nonprofit was allowed to plant itself in the community. It was a painful process.
Emerging communities often have different ethnicities, economic makeup, religions, cultural values or family status than that of the visual community. It is uncomfortable and risky to place yourself into an emerging community that looks or acts nothing like your own. Pastors and church leaders are called to such places, as Christ was called to such places. Jesus entered into emerging communities that had Gentiles, Roman officials, soldiers, sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes. His religious contemporaries and members of the visual community did not approve. However, Jesus often came into the emerging community with no agenda. He sat, ate and listened. Only when a challenge or injustice arose did Jesus bring in teaching or a guiding moral principle, usually with story. He sought to make relationships, rather than fulfill a goal of setting priorities.
Churches, pastors and church leaders must understand that the way forward for a church is to be in touch with the visual community and the emerging community. The missional nature of the New Testament calls all who claim Christ to be in those times and places of discomfort to bridge relationships and connections that yield spiritual fruit down the road.
Amazon announced a new product and service to their line-up: Amazon Key. Amazon describes their new product as the way to, “get your Amazon packages securely delivered just inside your front door. Plus, grant access to the people you trust, like your family, friends, dog walker, or house cleaner.” This is one of many products that have taken over our lives by Amazon or also known as the Amazonification of retail… and life.
Amazon has started putting large retailers out of business. With their free two-day delivery with Amazon Prime, tablets that push notifications of sales, Echo devices that can order Amazon products, and other devices that can order via their website, Amazon has put their delivery method in the hands and heads of people around the world. Amazon has created a virtual e-commerce ecosystem that we can’t escape. Now, Amazon is testing drones to deliver products faster. Amazon not only sells products but now services of professional cleaning, installation, plumbing and more on their website.
This is a takeover of Amazon’s brand force. It’s the Amazonification of life: a total and complete delivery system of goods, services, and information. Amazon has disrupted the way people get their “stuff”.
Amazon’s virtual staying power taps into something that is happening in every facet of our lives: virtual delivery and engagement of life… including our faith. Amazon shows us how Christianity has been disrupted by factors and forces of our technological and mobile connected world.
Starbucks red cups are out to bring us holiday cheer but the response on social media has not been very cheerful.
Joshua Feuerstein, a former Arizona pastor shared a video on Facebook that went viral with over 12 million views. He stated in his Facebook post that “Starbucks REMOVED CHRISTMAS from their cups because they hate Jesus.” Feuerstein entered a Starbucks protesting the lack of Christian messages on Starbuck’s famous red cups while legally carrying a handgun. This social media protest is using the hashtag #MerryChristmasStarbucks to encourage customers to fight back against Starbuck’s supposed Christian persecution.
It seems like every year there is some cultural Christian crusader protests that a company hates Christians or is too politically correct to reference Christmas.
The ugly reality of these holiday protests is that it makes us Christians look like a bunch of paranoid lunatics. The problem with Feuerstein and his video is that it smacks of a superior attitude that all people, business, and institutions must comply with our Christmas demains. Often, these cultural Christian crusaders do more harm than good. Feuerstein proved this when he waved his concealed handgun at the end of the video. Such displays of “freedom” in the name exercising Second Amendment rights only further to marginalize Christians into a gun-nut and anti-government stereotype.
That is a real good idea: Continue Reading…
Every year I struggle with a Christmas ritual that millions of parents have no problem with: a visit with Santa Claus in a season that is about Jesus. How can Jesus and Santa get along?
Why do I struggle? For some parents, Christmas and Santa Claus go together like white and red striping on candy canes. You cannot separate the two. Santa is everywhere and just about every culture. For others, Jesus and Santa are a clashing pair like fruitcake and tofu. Many Christians lament telling the myth of Santa Claus to their children because they believe it sends the wrong message of Christmas: The holiday is about getting presents from a jolly fat guy and not the celebration of Christ’s birth.
At the same time, parents do not want to be a Grinch about Santa. Nobody likes that kid in school going around telling everyone that Santa isn’t real. Parents are then confronted with the reality of explaining how and why Santa is not real. Either parents go with the flow of Santa or become Santa haters.
There is a better way to involve Santa Claus into the Christian mythos that does not sacrifice the person of Jesus Christ.
Scam, scam, scams. Internet scams are nothing new. You may have received a scam request for $1000 to be sent to some guy in Asia with a promise of a huge reward. These scams are getting more involved and more creative.
From time to time, I’m asked to speak at conferences, seminars, or denomination gatherings. It is not usual for me to receive an email about a speaking opportunity from someone I do not know. This morning, I received a rather usual email: A “invitation” to speak at an event in England.
Great, right? However, there were several red flags:
Poor wording/spelling/grammar I’m not a super self editor, but when you invite someone to speak, the invite is free of errors. They didn’t spell Baptist right. The email is riddled with errors.
Broken website If you click the website, the webpage is “frozen”. If there’s a conference, then there’s a website.
Use of CAPS No one uses capitalization in an email unless they are YELLING.
They want money No speaking conference is going to ask for money upfront. I learned that this scam is common and the next email is about money. This guy fell for it.
Use of Gmail If a large or small conference invites you, it’s not going to come from a Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo account. That’s bogus.
Bottom line, if anyone wants your identity information, passport information, or money – do not give it out! Below is the invite: Continue Reading…
How can Good Friday be good? Good Friday is the day that Christians all around the world remember the suffering of Jesus Christ on a cross.
Depictions of Jesus Christ’s suffering are immortalized within our cultural framework because of such movies as The Passion of the Christ. However, we are not meant to wallow or suffer in the grief of Jesus with torment and pain.
On this day of sadness, we wonder: what is so good about this phrase Good Friday? There is no clear answer, but the word “good” and “God” were mixed together in the English speaking world. For instance, the surname “Goodspeed” derives from “Godspeed”, which comes from the expression “God speed (with you)” The expression, “good bye” came from the phase, “God be with ye (you).
Despite the origins of the phases, we don’t really feel “good” on Good Friday.
No matter what the origins of the phase, we cannot escape our feelings. Are we meant to feel guilty and depressed on Good Friday? We don’t feel “good” about Christ suffering. Are we meant to feel the pressure to be grateful of Jesus’ torment?
No! We must acknowledge our feelings of grief and loss regarding Jesus’ suffering on Good Friday. We cannot deny these feelings, nor should we. The stages of grief are real for us as they were for Jesus and his disciples:
In case you were still working on what you are giving up or for Lent, Christianity Today reports top 100 choices according to Twitter:
With about 5,000 tweets analyzed, the new hot topics so far this year are: “Netflix,” “Flappy Bird,” and “Getting an Oscar.” “Social Networking” is currently way out in front, with twice as many tweets as perennial favorites “Swearing” and “Alcohol.” (Last year, Social Networking came in at #4.)
Here is Stephen Smith of OpenBible.info’s running list of the top 100 most-mentioned Lenten sacrifices (both serious and cynical) in 2014, followed by top categories:
The ancient Greek stories of the pantheon of gods were full of lust, envy, jealousy, and revenge. Though gods, they acted just like humans. They could be tricked, lied to, and make deals. They are fickle at best and even in their most glorious moments act in ways that are selfishly motivated. They really serve better as cautionary tales rather than models to follow. (For a great summary of ancient Greek pantheon read “Mythology” edited by Edith Hamilton.)
In America, we have created our new religion pantheon of gods and goddesses with their own special powers and temples. Our pantheon of gods are usually built around real people who did impressive things. Their temples are movie sets, concert venues, and celebrated theaters. Their feast days occur nearly daily with award banquets, premier days, and contests where viewers get to elect the next god into the pantheon. Our pantheon of warriors are not in fact warriors at all but athletes who conquer their foes on the playing field rather than the battle field.
With the recent biogenesis clinic problems that MLB is facing in suspending twelve players for 50 games and one of their most notable warriors Alex Rodriguez through 2014, we are reminded much like the Greek pantheon, our gods are all too human. Celebrities, politicians, athletes, entertainers, and others we hold up as our heroes fall from grace on a regular basis, some even end up as convicted criminals. We watch their larger than life dramatic stories much like the Greeks listened to the pantheon of old. We scrutinize their actions and celebrate the consequences to their actions as though they are fictional people without real feelings, damaged hearts, and wounded families. It serves as our entertainment and as our worship.
The one big difference between the Greeks and us is that the average Greek probably didn’t believe they could become a god. True enough some humans married gods or had half-god half human children. But for the most part this was not the norm. But these humans never became gods or were ever worshiped themselves.
We have moved from the worshiper to the worshiped. We can become a god.
We are training our children that through hard work and focus they can become gods in professional athletes, musicians, or the next governor. The biggest church in many states is their state university football stadium (it certainly is in my state) or pro baseball teams cathedral. We drive our kids from soccer, to band, to baseball, to dance, to whatever else because we may not admit it, but we really believe these kids will go pro and become a god.
We can have a difficult time seeing the Kingdom of God as Jesus taught it in the midst of this pantheon of athletes, entertainers, and other gods. Our worship of anything other than God is an idol. But to believe we are not worshiping these things is to lie to ourselves. We may not have mythical heroes of ancient tradition, but we certainly have a growing new religious pantheon full of temples and gods all across this country. None of them are Christ.
Greg Mamula is an ordained minister and the Associate Executive Minister of American Baptist Churches of Nebraska.
Our first meeting of the day was with Bader Mansour at the Nazareth Baptist School. Bader is the General Secretary of Baptist Churches in Israel. Also, Badar is an alum of the school and shared that he came to Christ through one of his teachers. His Bible teacher was kind and loving and he wanted to know more about his teacher. Bader found that only Jesus Christ could make someone truly loving and kind.
Ruth Clark (President of ABC-USA, Badar, & Roy Medley (General Secretary of ABC-USA)
The school is the only Baptist school in Israel and evangelical school of its kind. Chapel is every morning and the school has close to 1000 children. The school founded in 1930s by Southern Baptist missionaries but now the school is privately run.It is one of the best schools in Israel as people register kids 3 years early to make sure their children get into this quality grade school. The school is made of 75% Christian and 25% Muslims.
Bader shared with us some important facts. As an Arab Palestinian Christian, he faces some challenges with the nature of his work. As a minority, Arabs are often treated as second class citizens. Bader enjoys citizenship but there are cultural hurdles.
There are about 3,000 Baptists in Nazareth. Of the 100,000 people in and around Nazareth, most Christians are Orthodox Christian. There are about 25,000 Christians total but it is mainly a Muslim city. One third Christian and two-thirds Muslim.
Israel has about 10 million people total and about 200,000 are Christians. Many churches are a part of the Arab Evangelical Convention. These groups include Baptists, Assembly of God, Brethren, Nazarene, and Christian Alliance. This convention is not official, but rather a defacto recognized group based on verbal agreements. The last recognized church groups were the Anglicans. Many Southern Baptists wanted independent churches but in Israel can’t do that. Churches need to be apart of a large group in order to be recognized to do weddings, funeral.
Mary’s Well.
Next, we went to Mary’s Well. Lots of beautiful icons. This site is the Greek Orthodox site of the Annunciation, that is the angel’s visit to Mary telling her that she was going to bear the savior of the world. There was a large icon where a woman was kissing Mary’s image. A worn spot from people kissing the icon can be seen in the picture. One embarrassing note: There was an American who approached the chancel steps and rather disrespectfully looked into the chancel. A guard came and closed a curtain thereby ending anyone’s view.
Later in the morning, we drove through Cana to the Sea of Tiberius, also called the Sea of Galilee . It is only a 45 minute trip but would have been a 4 day journey if we walked! Check out the picture of the ads in Cana. The region is very mountainous. We pass through olive groves and other agricultural land. We arrived at Tiberius, which sits on the lake. It is mainly a resort town. We took a boat out on the Sea of Galilee and a storm came upon us very quickly. It made me think of the story of the disciples on a boat and a storm came up on them quickly on the same lake. This is of course the famous story of Jesus walking on water. This is also near the area of Capernium
Then, we traveled to nearby Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount address. The top of the mount is a Catholic site and it is very peaceful and lush. In 2000, John Paul II held mass there and there were over two million in attendance. We sat down under a pavilion and the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 were read. It was a moving experience. This is also the area that Jesus would go and pray privately. No wonder Jesus came here often, it’s an awesome place to be. You can see for miles.
Just down the hill, we went to the site of Peter’s Primacy. This is the site that is said to be where Jesus told Peter that was the Rock (Petras) and upon the rock, he would build his church. There is a small chapel there where people can pray and sit. There is a large rock that is inside and the church is built around it. Pilgrims left prayers there, mostly Catholic and Orthodox Christians. We walked down about 100 yards to a small beach. There, I read the group John 21, which is the scripture that tells of Jesus’ post resurrection appearance to the disciples. The disicples were in a boat fishing but caught nothing. Jesus called to them to fish on the other side of the boat and caught a huge load of fish. Afterwards, Jesus feed them fish and bread for breakfast.
Our last stop was Capernaum. Capernaum is an interesting place. Jesus spent a lot of time in and around this area. There are still ruins there from the 5th century. In addition, there is a church built on top of Peter’s house, the traditional site where it is said where Peter lived. Remains of a Byzantine church is below the current church. Next to this church, is a synagogue from the 5th century. The structure was at some point razed and it appears that the remains where reconstructed as the building had modern concrete in spots. This synagogue was likely a place that existed in the time of Jesus. The Gospels mention that Jesus was confronted by a demoniac while teaching there.
It was amazing to walk around where Jesus walked. To think about his journeys around the Sea of Galilee. He looked out the same area we visited. It makes you feel just a little closer to the Gospels then just sitting back home in the States.
Israel Trip Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 part I – Day 5 part II – Day 6 – Day 7 – Day 8
By now you have heard of Richard Mourdock, the Indiana Republican Senate candidate who said in a debate:
“I just struggled with it myself for a long time but I came to realize: Life is that gift from God that I think even if life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
The backlash from these comments have been swift and harsh. Mourdock was quick to distance himself from his comments. He stated that his comments were used to politically advantage his opponent. The problem with this whole story is not necessarily about abortion, but about rape. Did Mourdock mean that rape is intended to happen or that life is intended to happen?
At a dinner for GOP leaders Mourdock said: Continue Reading…
You must be logged in to post a comment.