like a fire

Slice of Laodicea: Open Source Theology: No, It’s Not Satire

There is an incredible (not necessarily good) article that has spawned a debate in what it means to be a Christian and live openly with the world. At least, to some… It seems that people just disagree and it’s not alright. Again, I find myself relating to the Kiwi

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that people have criticized Open Source Theology. They are on the edge (for some) in exploring theology. But being criticized for something that you are definitely not, is just hard to take. The article is definitely a knee jerk reaction. But why?

I really get frustrated too easily with people who are judgmental about things that they ARE themselves. This is a good reminder to me. What am I most judgemental about? Well, just about everything, but mostly people who are completely sure they are right in preference and insist that everyone else be where they are. I say in preference, because this isn’t about truth or anything not subjective. This is about preference of things like music style, exegesis, etc.

So what am I guilty of most of the time? You guessed it - being judgmental. I know that I am what I hate. I am judgmental and it comes from arrogance. I wish that I could say that I repent and not do it anymore, but realistically, it is what I am.

One day though, I will be different.

Recently, there has been a new development in my life. That of Age. I am now 35 years old. Officially time for mid-life (crisis). How does it feel to be 35? Not all that different, but I know some things that you 34 and under people don’t, and I am willing to share my wisdom.

< < When you are 35, you are officially not able to pull off certain clothes.

Pathetic! At this point in your life, wearing clothes that look great on most teens just makes you look pathetic. Give it up. And if you are one of those people out there who works really hard on their body to make it look like a teen, then don’t fool yourself. Take, for instance, Billy Idol.

If you are like most 35′ers, then you have kids. That means that yo spend most of your time actually trying to look stupid, instead of trying to look cool. From silly faces to the way you act, let’s face it - stupid is more fun. Even without kids, STUPID IS MORE FUN!

So 35 is pretty good for those of you approaching it and for those of you who still have a ways to go.

Let wonder replace worry: Youth Ministry Communication Idea OK, this qualifies for my best of award for creative communitcation. This guy who works with teens must be one of the most creative guys around. Intrigued yet? What’s the idea?

Well, you get this candy bar and put a label on it and mail it. Apparently you don’t even have to put it in a package or anything, just label it, stick a stamp on it, and a short message on the back if you want, and mail it. What a great idea. He says he does it for people who are having a hard time, or people he hasn’t seen in a while. I ask, “Why limit it at all?” Who needs an excuse to send a candy-gram?

Creating Passionate Users: iPods increase performance? This is a great article about how Olympic ahtletes are using their Ipods to help with their focus and training for their events. Some even have Ipod controls built into their suits. Crazy! Ipod wins the Olympics

Talk about creating passionate users. What can do that better than music? Music is tied to every aspect of life. Its in movies to add drama, in commercials, and now with earbuds in every ear, it’s like having your own sound track to life.
But what is the effect? Are we more dramatic? Or passionate?

It seems like the saturation of our lives into music actually has the opposite effect. People are less tolerant of other music. They just don’t want to hear it.

So my question for the day is, “Does music function to heighten our lives or help us hide from it?”

Sometimes I wished the church was more like the business world. There are always the parallels of the “real” world and church and, though I think that whole idea is faulty, the truth is that the church is significantly different in many ways. When was the last time a church fired one of it’s members? Or docked their pay? (Ofcourse, this happens a lot with church staff, but you won’t hear about it)

Or take loyalty for example.

Most church-goers feel like it is completely fine to not have any loyalty to a local church. And really it is. After all, why should someone feel like they should be loyal to a specific church body when they should be loyal to the entire body of Christ? Even more important, why should they be loyal to a church if they aren’t “getting fed” or is they just don’t like the style of worship? There are planty of other churches that are glad to accomodate, so why not move on?

Is there any value to sticking with a church, apart from intrinsic value? Apparently. We treat the church as if it is a place or group of people that we hang out with as long as they serve our needs and desires. But the church is the bride of God and the body of Christ. How can God divorce His bride? How can we not be the body of Christ? We should be this everywhere and all the time. Fellowship is more than friendship. It’s more than resonating with similar people.

With the trend in people leaving churches, it’s no wonder that Barna predicts that the majority of Christians will not attend a local church body in a very short time. The only issue with this, is that who will get the body together? If the hands decide to go their own way, how will they help the rest of the body? If the eyes decide that they need to go play golf and hang out at the local pub or even worse surf the net, who will see for the rest of the body. Isn’t the church supposed to act like a body with each member functioning together with the rest of the body?

:: sigh ::

Now I feel like Andrew

I guess I should apologize.