Russell Moore looks at some comments by Pat Robertson. There’s everything here including a response to the prosperity gospel. Make sure to read right to the end. (HT: Unsettled Christianity.)
Author: henry
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Permalink Problems
Over the last 24 hours there was a problem with permalinks on this site, as in they didn’t work. I’ve fixed it now, so all individual posts are accessible. I apologize for any problems readers may have had.
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Primary and Local Voting (Ramblings)
I headed out to the polls today to vote in the primary. Since I’m registered independent, it was a short ballot, but nonetheless an important one.
One of the things that bothers me in the discussion of politics is the extremely limited discussion of local campaigns and issues. The information available is always limited, and very few people seem to want to discuss it. My wife and I scour the web and then we each report our results to the other. But we both find the lack of information annoying.
When the issues are only local, the turnout is also generally fairly low. Yet a great deal of the things that impact our lives are decided by these local bodies chosen by a tiny minority of the voters, many of whom are poorly informed.
It was interesting to note that the local elections here got pretty dirty as well. We had a candidate for county commission in our district who had a DUI on his record from when he’d been quite young, and someone mailed out flyers to make sure we were all aware of it. Our race for Public Defender got pretty tense as well, with accusations and counter-accusations. Why on earth is a public defender elected in any case?
As I approached the polling place, there was a forest of signs.
Is there some purpose to all these signs? Are people supposedly still making up there minds at this point? I suppose they are. And if they make up their minds based on these signs or the waving people at the polling place, could that be regarded as an informed vote?
Some people speak and act as though the only important issue is the election of the president. But our constitutional system doesn’t give the president absolute power. What about congress?
All our votes are important. The performace of our current government is the result of a Democratic president a Republican House of Representatives and a Democratic (but not filibuster proof) Senate. When you go to the polls you need to consider the performance of all those elements.
I hope the people of this country will give serious consideration to their votes for people at all levels of government.
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A Monopoly on Healing?
I’m enjoying editing Bruce Epperly‘s new book, to be released this fall, Healing Marks. Here’s an excerpt:
A Monopoly on Healing? Quite satisfied with their orthodoxy and ability to maintain the purity of Jesus’ healing ministry, the disciples come to Jesus with what they assume is good news: “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” They expect a pat on the back for maintaining decency, order, and clarity in Jesus’ healing lineage. Imagine their surprise when the Healer retorts:
“Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us. 41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” – Mark 9:39-41
The one who opened the floodgates to divine healing and hospitality to all people by welcoming sinners, social outcasts, diseased women, lepers, tax collectors, foreigners, and persons possessed by demons, adds one more scandalous footnote to his healing ministry, divine healing is not restricted to his direct followers or even to Christians. God wants everyone to live abundantly and will use any healthy means to bring us to well-being (page 138 in advance copies).
Yep! I’m enjoying this …
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Update on The Way Sunday School Class
We’ve completed our study of Philippians using Bruce Epperly’s study guide (Philippians: A Participatory Study Guide). This is the second time I’ve taught Philippians using that guide, and I’d like to compare the two experiences. This will tell you something of the nature of the guide.The first time I used this, it was in advance copies, and with a class that was much more interested in the facts (or perhaps data) and discussing the theology of the book and how it applied. They appreciated substantial sections of the book, but were not interested in what I consider the main feature, which is the spiritual exercises/activities. I don’t mean this as a critique of that class–a class or small group can be formed for many purposes, and they definitely found enough of the material they were interested in the book and in the discussion questions. We ran out of time on every lesson.
In the more recent study, the class group was much more interested in spirituality and spiritual disciplines. Members repeatedly commented on how they normally don’t like printed prayers, but that the prayers were exceptional and right on target. We used the prayers and the accompanying meditations or actions in every class session, even to the exclusion of time to complete all the questions. And if you’re being serious with this guide, you won’t have time to discuss everything that is offered.
Used in this way it is a transformative study, and that is the greatest strength of this particular study guide. I really enjoyed working through the book myself.
For those who may decide to use this guide I do recommend following the suggestions for readings. In several cases we read passages from The Voice during the time in class. One might use The Message instead (in fact, I still prefer it), but there was a good deal of discussion of The Voice online during the course of our class. But simply reading the passages from the different versions in class time often opened enlightening discussions and times of meditation.
We’re taking a brief interlude now in this class before we start another Bible book. The group has chosen to read the new book by William Powell Tuck, The Journey to the Undiscovered Country. There will be an opportunity to let more people in the church know about our class and invite them to join us on August 26, and then we’ll start a new study, probably using Ephesians: A Participatory Study Guide by Bob Cornwall.Note: This class was formed with the intention to use the participatory method and guides and continue regularly studying Bible books and passages.
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Church Sign Theology – Sorta Saved?
OK, I said the last church sign was theologically incorrect, and I stick with that, because the sign seems to be providing a definition of faith. As a definition, it’s incorrect. Faith may help you not to panic, but it is not the same as not panicking.
What’s got me on this is looking for church signs to post at Megabelt.info, the support site for the book Megabelt by Nick May. Megabelt is a look at church life in the Bible belt. The name comes from megachurch + Bible Belt, and thus Megabelt. But some of them are fun to discuss.
I spotted this next one on the road back from Blue Lake Methodist Camp, and I turned around to take a picture of it.
I have to say that this one could be a bit profound, depending on how you think about the word “salvation.” I might equate “sorta saved” with having recited a prayer and then failing to become a disciple. But overall, the sign doesn’t strike me right.
I’m thinking someone might say that it’s unfair to critique short statements on church signs. In my view, the best thing to do with a church sign is to put information about the church services. I don’t think church signs are generally helpful. Even those that aren’t bad are generally not that constructive. So I’m grumpy about church signs, along with the lead character of Megabelt!
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Demonstrating Statistical Deception
Wesley Elsberry nails it in this post. He also mentions the great book How to Lie with Statistics, which everyone should read.
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On Moderating a Political Discussion
One of the great joys of being a publisher is that I’m able to meet and work with some very intelligent and interesting people. As the election comes up, I find that my company, Energion Publications, has two authors who have written books for our new politics category, one a progressive and one a conservative. What does this suggest? Let’s have an election related discussion!Of course I have commercial goals for this discussion, so let’s get those out of the way. I’d love to sell books by these two men. You can find out more about that on Energion.net. In addition, as these are the only two books in the politics category, I’m anxious to discover new authors who will write new books to fulfill the mission of this category. Note that while the current two books focus on American issues, that is not a requirement for this category.
Having gotten that out of the way, let me get back to the fun. This is my personal post on how I’ll moderate this particular discussion. The two authors are progressive Bob Cornwall, who is a Disciples of Christ pastor and the author of Faith in the Public Square, and Elgin Hushbeck, Jr., an engineer, Christian apologist, and author of Preserving Democracy. Elgin blogs at bobcornwall.com and Elgin blogs at hushbeck.com/blog.
I’m excited about this discussion because I know that both of these men are committed Christians who are passionate about their political positions, but are also willing to discuss them in a civil manner. I edited both of their political books (as well as several others for each), and I know that they will hold many contrasting positions. It’s rare that we get to see civil discussions of widely differing points of view.
My role will be to propose questions. Each Saturday I will propose a question to both men. The question will be posted on Energion.net. They will post their answers on the following Wednesday and then each will respond to the post written by the other. I will post links to their responses over on Energion.net. I certainly have enough questions to ask them, but I’d really love to hear from any readers. Either comment or email me with things you would like to see discussed.
Is anyone welcome to get involved? Are you kidding? This is the blogosphere! Not only are comments permitted on either Elgin’s or Bob’s blogs, they are also permitted on Energion.net. There are reasonable rules for civil behavior in all these locations. In addition, however, we would welcome more bloggers to post on the questions raised, and provided the posts remain reasonably civil, I will link to those as well, also from Energion.net. So get ready to get involved.
My plan is to stick primarily with issues and policy. There is plenty of discussion going on about ads and the process. These are valid points to discuss. I’ve certainly seen plenty of ads that I think could bear serious examination and critique. But that takes time, so we’ll generally avoid it, and concentrate on specific policy issues.
So send me your questions and I’ll pick one for each week. Then get involved in the resulting discussion.
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Theologically Incorrect Church Sign
I took this picture because I wanted it for the Megabelt book site. In the book Megabelt (a cross between Megachurch and Bible Belt) the lead character Gil has a real thing about trite church signs, which covers most of them.
In looking for church signs to post on the book site, I’ve found any number of church signs that promote some really questionable theology, probably contrary even to the theological positions of the denominations involved. (For independent churches it’s harder to tell.)
In any case, my reaction to the following sign was: That’s not right!
Note: This is a real church sign posted at a church near my home. It’s not photoshopped or run through one of those church sign generators.
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Bible Reading
Nell Sunukjian from The Good Book Blog has a post on reading the Bible. He’s particularly emphasizing the one year bible plan. I’d call attention to my own recent post Reading the Bible Frequently and Thoroughly.
