conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

wednesday linkage: get some religion, people!

Last minute Christmas gifts?
Guaranteed to get there by Epiphany!

It is time for another edition of Wednesday Linkage. Yes, you too can come here only to be sent elsewhere. Reassure yourself that I have read all most some one or two of the posts I am sending you to. Yes, I am one informed meta-minister! Rock on with my bad self. That's all I'm saying.

Take a look at this stuff. Honestly, I have read them all and would not lead you astray...too often...Well, not intentionally at least. Give a guy a break.

Chuck Warnock has posted on pastoral confidentiality. It's an interesting line of thinking. When do we break a vow? And is there a legal obligation to uphold confidentiality? HIPAA anyone?

Get Religion linked to these two articles. I have really enjoyed GR lately.

First, there seems to be a return to tradition in some, well, traditions.

And, second, the Boomers will likely always be seekers. Always. Yes, even when they are supposed to be old and intellectually sedentary. Whatever will the church do?!

GR's thinking and rumblings about the articles are helpful as well. Essentially, the two seemingly differing movements suggest that people are actually digging into what they know and are not changing so much. How is this news? I don't know. I do know that much of my own thinking is about how things are changing...how the anthropological/sociological landscape is shifting. And it may be. But these so-called sea changes are slow in developing. Boomers will remain Boomers. Traditionalists will remain traditionalists. What they leave behind is where the change may (or may not) be manifested. Does any of this make sense to anyone but me? Ah well...

Here are some sermon links for you. Enjoy! The Third Sunday of Advent was fun.

Earthchick: The Turning
Rev Ref+: putting hope into practice
Cheesehead in Paradise: Dancing Wet, The Water Always Wins
Chuck Warnock: A Highway for God's People

The The Young Fogey pointed this out to me. It's not often that YF hits the Christian Century before I do. Huh...And he pulled out this quotation. Well.

Some conservative wags like to say that liberalism is a mental disease. But the mental disease isn't liberalism and it isn't conservatism, it's utopianism—and the antidote to utopianism isn't apathy, it is faith. Faith isn't a fix. Faith isn't sure it knows in detail what's wrong with the world and how to repair it. Faith doesn't drive out doubt, but sits well with honest ignorance as to how hunger and poverty and war and prejudice and disease and ugliness and cultural degeneration are to be eliminated. Faith helps us discern the limits of what any government can do to improve our fallen human condition. Faith saves us from being seduced by totalistic schemes. Faith teaches us that politics is not the only way to serve the polis. Faith enables us to make prudential judgments with a measure of humility and realistic sangfroid. The bumper sticker says, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention," but faith would have us pay attention to the world's ills without outrage. Commitment with detachment—it's a difficult road to walk, and only faith makes it possible.

And, finally, here's an editorial from Associated Baptist Press. Beth Newman writes about the "difference" Christmas can make...at the intersection of the Baptist Tradition and the Orthodox. Yeah, I had to link to it.

Posted by tripp at December 19, 2007 06:54 AM