conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

tuesday postage

Good day, all. It looks like I am sliding back into the habit of not posting on Mondays. It is just nice to get away from all e-life that day (And a monk directed me to take a sabbath...obedience is a bear.). Of course, this means that I have a thousand of things that I want to share on Tuesday. What is one to do?

I feel like the sermon went well. At Reconciler it sparked a lively conversation about confusion. Jorge continues it here.It's a confusing passage, you know. It is a difficult teaching and not part of the Christianity 101 syllabus. And yet it is essential to what it means to be Christian. Wild. Fun. Community Church had a similar response...it pushed people around in a helpful way, I think. People approached me after the service to speak about it. Some of the comments were the typical "Thank you, Pastor" comments. Lovely. Thank you. But a few people have asked some good questions and are trying to figure their way through it. I can ask no more from a sermon than that. Fabulous.

tuesday links

On marriage and our country...good news?
Three articles about Kuo's book: 1, 2, 3

"Some, like James Dobson, argue that we need more Christian political engagement. Our lack of success simply shows that we need to be more passionate, strategic, and engaged. Others, such as the prominent and respected theologian and pastor John MacArthur, believe Christians need to do exactly the opposite; Christians need to flee the political arena and focus instead on telling people the truth about Jesus, that he alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and that he is the only way to God.

"Both Dobson and MacArthur are good men who obviously love Jesus, and they have dedicated their lives to following him. But maybe there is another option.

"Maybe Christians need to begin a fast – from politics….

"We need to eschew politics to focus more on practicing compassion. We need to spend more time studying Jesus and less time trying to get people elected. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year in support of conservative Christian advocacy groups such as the Family Research Council, Eagle Forum, and the panoply of similar groups, let's give that money to charities and groups that are arguably closer to Jesus' heart. And we Christians should spend less time arguing with those on the other side and more time communing with them." (pp. 261-263)

The prosperity gospel...not all good?

And that is all for now. I am not preaching at Community Church this weekend. We have a retreat in Wisconsin, so I will be preparing for that all week. The retreat focus is on music and spirituality. It should be a nice trip. I am told that there will be time for golf. So, I will bring my clubs. Saturday's golf outing was great fun...not too cold in the sun. I did not win any of the myriad prizes, but that's okay with me. I was able to meet a couple of people connected with the church that I had not yet encountered. This was a great thing.

Musings this week will be about faith, music, and spirituality. I am looking forward to it.

Posted by tripp at October 17, 2006 10:48 AM