Goodbye For Now Jeff and I have decided to give this blog a rest. Jeff will be focusing on his LIFE group blog and I will continue to do what I've been doing for the last couple of months... which is not much. I'm afraid I've let Jeff do the heavy lifting for a while now and this is one of those things that is no fun to do on your own. We will keep the web page and may resurrect it one day when we have a clear vision for the page that we are committed to. I guess the question is: How do you do something spiritually meaningful with the internet? I am also asking the question: How can I do that spiritually significant thing in a way that it integrates nicely into DBC life? I don't think I ever found the sweet spot. We'll re-group and give it another go once we've pursued some other things and cleared our collective mind. Feel free to give me some ideas below. I'll leave you with some random stuff.
- Check out this website. Father Zacharia is apparently taking a major bite out of Islam with his Arab-centric TV show. This is just one more example of how every person needs and deserves to hear the good news in their own language, and in culturally relevant ways. I recommend following the links to Father Zach's web site and reading some of his discussions on the Trinity.
- If you are just tired of the same old boring stuff on Christian radio in Atlanta, you always have the internet. AirOne is decent, as is Christianrock.net. You can also just go to a bands web page, and if they are savvy enough you can usually listen to songs from the most recent album. Delirious has put a crazy number of songs from all their albums on their website for easy listening, and if you want some hair on your chest (sorry ladies) I am partial to Demon Hunter. This might all lead to a discussion on what makes music "Christian" and should we even desire a ghetto-ed Christian music industry. Fortunately for you, I don't really have an answer yet to either question and so I won't hazard to comment.
- I don't know what it is about the current psychology of 21st century western culture, but there is a major up-surge in people who are abandoning the church building for the primitive or "home" church. I don't recall anyone suggesting that there was life outside of the organized denominational church ten (or even five) years ago, but now the prophets of the "unofficial" church are coming from every direction. The Church experiences major culture shifts every so often. I would point to the Christianization of Rome in the 4th Century, the rise of the Pope in the 9th Century, the Protestant Reformation in the 15th Century, the rise of Evangelicalism after John Wesley in the 19th Century, and the rise of Pentacostalism in the 20th Century just to name a few. It seems the 21st Century will bring us the Rise of the De-centralized Church, which is sort of a logical step. I for one am all aboard, and can't wait to see if this comes to anything.
- Should we discuss politics here? I'll just throw it out there that I'm probably going to vote for Barak Obama if he gets the Democratic nomination. Why would a fairly conservative Joe like myself vote for Barak? Because he's the first candidate I can remember who talks to voters like they might be intelligent. This is probably a losing strategy, but I for one have to reward the effort. I wouldn't walk down the hall to hear a speech by any of the other candidates, but I could listen to Obama for hours. Since it probably doesn't matter who gets elected in the long run, might as well try to enjoy those pesky State of the Union addresses.
3 comments:
As for Obama, yes we are left with few choices and perhaps non really are all that different.
Obama does speak well and that's what makes him so dangerous. People will miss his policy because he speaks so good. What discussions have you even heard yet about what he would actually do??
Certainly not having a good speaker the last 8 years has made us interested in finding one. However, my deep concern is over Obamas political philosophies.
There's always the write in vote!
Jeff and Michael,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and time with others. It has generated some discussions even in my family in other states.
I still think you guys will have your own book someday.
Amanda
Go Zakaria Botros!
Ok so you have to close with all these incendiary comments. Nice! Ok, here's the return fire. I've grown a bit lukewarm on Demon Hunter - they are doing the melodic/ harsh vox mix thing (meh), but aren't doing it quite as well as some others out there, Christian or secular (All that Remains, Opeth, as two examples).
And Obama. An interesting fellow. I have heard him called everything from spawn of Satan to this century's savior, which leaves a lot of opinion in the middle. As an "independent" with a conservative slant certainly on the dyed in the wool Christian issues (abortion, etc), I find many of his liberal and big-government policies detestable. But that doesn't mean that I don't like him, or at least some of his traits. What do I like - besides his oratory skillz? 1) I like that he would really force the nation to deal with a lot of our lagging racism and racial-division issues. There is a lot of hate and anger buried right below the surface, and well, having an African American president will require people to deal with it, at least somewhat. 2) I like his worldview, although many "patriots" won't. Some of his comments suggest that he doesn't consider the U.S. superior to all other nations, and really a president with that worldview can really help to improve our public opinion worldwide. Why does that matter? Well in the end I think it can open some doors for Christians to reach places they currently can't. Any who have taken Perspectives On The World Christian Movement will have been introduced to a more global view where Christians from all nations work together to bring the gospel to the unreached peoples. Barack's communication of equality of all nations sounds a bit like that. So I speculate that there may be a slightly better chance of opening doors for improved public opinion regarding the U.S. (many consider synonymous with Christianity), which could more open doors for the gospel. Maybe a stretch. It seems evident that McCain will grab the conservative vote (my vote?), but I'm definitely rooting for Obama over Hillary. I don't really like her.
Thanks guys, I really have enjoyed the blog. I hate that you are ending it, but I'm not willing to add articles right now, so I acquiesce. I'll continue reading when you restart it for sure.
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