emerging mosaic

The cover story of this week’s edition of Newsweek is the Decline and fall of Christian America. The author John Meachem, a self described flawed Christian (from the Episcopalian tribe) discusses the shift in the American religious landscape.  On MSNBC this morning Meachem and Tim Keller from Redeemer Church in NYC discussed the story, here are a couple of their observations.

Tim Keller:

• There is a shift in the evangelical population that used to be more blue collar. More are going to college and  have dveloped a different take on the Christian faith.
• Many people of faith want to take their faith beyond just two issues into the public sphere of the academy, Hollywood, and even wall street.
• Some peopleof faith see all of life as being a part of faith

Meachem:

•  The political recent experiment of Christian America in the political sphere has failed.
• There is a difference between Christianity and Christianized America
• More people of faith have less allegiance and trust in religious institutions, so the church has to figure out what to with that.
• Many people of faith have become more seeks that religious adherents

So American is becoming less religious but not necessarily less Christian?  Last September at the religious news writers association I shared during a panel discussion that I thought American culture was decidedly less religious but still very open to the Christian faith.  More prominent authors like Greg Boyd Myth of a Christian Nation has written about this. Julia Duin in her book Quitting Church also speaks to the shifting tide that Meachem addresses.

Other people of faith are convinced this shift means the end of Christianity as we know it in America.They may be right. It may be the end of the practice of the Christian faith as we have known it.  But it does not mean the end of  the Christians faith. We can no longer do business as usual. But changing our approach to practicing the Christian faith does not mean the death of the christian message.

So are we in a post-christian era or a post religious era?

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Technorati Tags: Christian America, christian faith, faith, Greb Boyd, John Meachem, Julia Duin, Newseek, post Chrisitan, post-religious, tim keller

If the thoughts  in this post from CS monitor (in light of the recent article and study reported in USA Today) are true then I sadly don’t think the church in the US is ready.

The coming evangelical collapse | csmonitor.com

Check out  http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/the-aris-study-christianity-on-the-decline-in-america for more thoughts on this from the original source for the CS monitor post.

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Technorati Tags: christianity, collapse, evangelicalism, evangelicals, post-religious, religion

is God-red or blue

In the recent history on the north American church there has been s significant and different foray in to the political arena. Churches and pastors of churches have begun to not only to openly share their views about political candidates but to endorse those candidates from the pulpit and tell the members of the church who they should vote for. Today I got a call about the latest step in this trend a group called the  Alliance Defense Fund - Defending Our First Liberty. Is hankering for a fight over the IRS rule that church cannot actively endorse any candidate or engage in politicking if they want to keep tax exempt status. The rule they say violates their first amendment right to freedom of speech.

I think this is a dangerous path that these folks are walking. While I believe that Christians should be involved in the public and political sphere,  I also believe Jesus teaches in the scriptures that God does not work through politically system the way they are proposing. God purposes and kingdom are not equivalent to a political agenda. It is bigger than any political agenda or ideology.

This summer preached a series of message looking at some of the hot button issues of the day through the metaphor of colors. One message asked the question Is God red or blue? Maybe you have seen the bumper stickers that read God is a republican or Jesus is a democrat. There are Christians that sincerely believe that God can be labeled in this way. As I shared with the faith community I serve, I think God is neither red or blue, God is purple. The combination of both colors. 

When God is attached to a particular political affiliation or agenda, we trivialize and limit God’s purposes to that which is appealing to, and in agreement with our political sensibilities. Furthermore we miss the truth that God’s mission, God’s purpose and God’s kingdom is bigger than any single political point of view. God is seeking a greater good than any political agenda can ever achieve.

This view or endorsing candidates from the pulpit leads to the kind of inappropriate linkage of candidate with God that allow the current president to be referred to by one of his former department staff as the pastor in chief. I am amazed that those who want to inject God into the small minded nature of American politics forget or ignore the scripture that give us clear cautionary warning about doing just that. ³

 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. Psalm 146:3Psalm 146:3
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
3 You can't depend on anyone, not even a great leader.

Jesus teaches his first followers that his focus in not on our human agenda but something bigger and grander and greater that includes all kinds of people regardless of their politics

³⁶ “My kingdom,” said Jesus, “doesn’t consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But I’m not that kind of king, not the world’s kind of king.”
John 18:36John 18:36
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
36 Jesus answered,

Now don’t get wrong we followers of Jesus should absolutely have a voice in the political sphere. It is essential that we are a part of the conversation. But our participation should be to seek the promotion kingdom regardless of party affiliation. it should not be to attribute party values to God. We don’t get to cherry pick the values we want to promote in the name of God and God’s reign.  It we promote some we must promote all.  In Myth of a Christian Nation, Greg Boyd pointed to the danger to the church if we don’t adopt a more holistic biblical understanding of Christian values and their place in the public square. I believe  Jim Wallis is right. When it comes to God’s politics the right gets it wrong and the left doesn’t get it.

what say you?

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Technorati Tags: Alliance Defense Fund, blue, God''s politics, Greg Boyd, jim-wallis, kingdom of God, kingdom values, kingdom_of_god, myth of a christian nation, politics, red

I came across this interesting story about the ongoing legacy of the church colonial paradigm.

It is just amazing that because of the western missionary values an African women sees a white dress and veil as the ideal for her marriage.

Although priestesses still control the island’s relationship with the spirit world, their clout is waning, as churches sown by missionaries have taken root.

“When I get married it will be in a church, wearing a white dress and a veil,” says 19-year-old Marisa de Pina, who strikes a modern pose under the blond grass of her family’s hut, wearing tight Capri pants and sequined sandals.

She says the Protestant church she attends has taught her that it is men, not women, that should make the first move, and so she plans to wait for a man to approach her. To make her point, the teenager pops into her hut and returns holding a worn copy of the New Testament, its pages stuffed with post-it notes, letters and business cards.

Read the full story Top News- Women Choose Spouses on African Island - AOL News

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Technorati Tags: african_island, conversations, diversity, in the news, missionaries, protestant_church

Mark driscoll is at it again. This time pontificating on the recent scandal around ted haggard, he suggests that one of the reasons poele like haggard does this stuff is their wives “let themselves go” here’s a quote.

Most pastors I know do not have satisfying, free, sexual conversations and liberties with their wives. At the risk of being even more widely despised than I currently am, I will lean over the plate and take one for the team on this. It is not uncommon to meet pastors’ wives who really let themselves go; they sometimes feel that because their husband is a pastor, he is therefore trapped into fidelity, which gives them cause for laziness. A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband’s sin, but she may not be helping him either.

I’m beginning to think that either Driscoll has lost the capacity to think before he talks or he thinks he is so golden that he can say stuff like this without impunity.

Read the entire post for yourself here

another take at huffington post

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If you can believe it, the women  this church Matinicus Island Church   are  raising money for charity and to install plumbing in the church using a "tastefully done" calendar ala the calendar girls movie.

I wonder if any were bought for the walls of the church. Go figure it strange but true?

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Technorati Tags: faith & culture, in the news

Miss Lou,  Louise Bennett the poet laureate of Jamaica, keeper of Jamaican culture, storyteller and cultural ambassador the epitome of all things good about Jamaica has  died.

She was a constant part of my life growing up watching her on TV seeing her on the stage and listening to her on the radio. She made me proud of my culture and heritage, proud to talk like a Jamaican, proud to tell the stories of our culture (all those Anansi stories ) to my kids.

lawd bles her and keep her an mek him face shine pon she an giv her peace.

Walk good fi tru Miss Lou walk good.

Read more here and what people are saying here:

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Technorati Tags: anansi_stories, in the news, Jamaica, jamaican_culture, louise_bennett, my life

Texas archaeologists believe they may have located the remains of Noah’s Ark in Iran’s Elburz mountain range.

Read article http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/has-noahs-ark-been-found/20060629173309990001?_mpc=news%2e10%2e1&cid=842

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Technorati Tags: archeology, biblical_story, faith, in the news, Noahs-Ark

The trinity (the three persons or expressions of God) as expressed in the Christian faith is usually referred to as Father, Son and Holy Spirit or Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. However the LA times reports

 leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) are suggesting some additional designations: "Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child and Life-giving Womb," or perhaps "Overflowing Font, Living Water, Flowing River."   read the article Presbyterians and the Holy Trinity: Let Us Phrase - Los Angeles Times

Several years ago a recent seminary grad referred to the trinity as Home, Host, Hospitality.

So do we need more ways to express the trinity? Do we need the trinity at all? Or as some have suggested is there any real basis for the trinity in scripture? Should we just focus on Jesus and stay away from the God of the Old (First) Testament?

Just  wondering what other folks are thinking?

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Technorati Tags: conversations, faith, in the news, Presbyterians, spiritual-practice, theology, trinity, triune-God

The Chicago Sun times has this article on Rob Bell, The next Billy Graham?

I was surprised to see this quote

So much so that Mars Hill, the congregation Bell co-founded with a small group of friends seven years ago, is one of the fastest growing churches in U.S. history, drawing more than 10,000 worshippers each week (plus another 30,000r 30,000
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin

or so who download MP3s of the weekly services from the church Web site.)

Since Rob had several hundred follow him from Calvary. It makes it sound like only a  couple of them started out at Mars.

What do you think is he the next Graham?

I got this lead from Andrew Dailey (feed)

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Technorati Tags: billy_graham, faith & culture, in the news, mars_hill, nooma, rob_bell