Are You A Conservative Christian?
A site called the “Internet Monk” raises some thought provoking questions on the faith-political merger that is a “Conservative Christian.” In particular he wonders if we spend more time listening, reading and watching conservative news and opinion sources than we do studying and applying Scripture. OK, I'll admit it, I've definitely been guilty of that sometimes!
This guy hits the nail on the head concerning a number of issues, I think. First, while we should be interested in politics, they aren't the end all be all or shouldn't be (and while he doesn't say this, the question I have asked myself — especially since the Iraqi conflict started this spring — is, am I more worried about my particular political ideology being spread or the Gospel being spread?). In many cases politics are essential and we should deal with them to keep our freedoms (which in turn allow us to spread the Gospel), but we should also make sure they don't become our “Ultimate Reality,” in other words, we don't want them to become an idol.
Secondly, its nice to see someone speak out against Bill O'Reilly. Here's a guy who has called pro-family and pro-life advocates “fanatics.” He's compared these people, such as former homosexual Stephen Bennett of Stephen Bennett Ministries, to the radical fringes of Islam. He got upset with one interviewee, I think it was Jerry Falwell, for insisting that Christ is the only way to receive salvation. This guy might be a fiscal conservative, but he is very liberal on many social issues, and it is sad to see Christians endorsing the guy as he rips apart Evangelical Christianity.
My only big beef with the article was on his comments about Rush's theological views. I could be off base, but from what I've read in his books and elsewhere, I think Rush is a Christian. The cows will still probably come home before Rush starts having a Bible verse of the day on the EIB Network, however.
Anyway, I thought this article was interesting. I'm not going to drop politics. I'm still going to listen to Rush Limbaugh when I can (I haven't be able to lately). However, I thought it was a thought provoking article and well worth a few minutes to ponder.
Exploratory Committee
I've decided to form an exploratory committee to decide if I should try to go for the write-in vote on the California Recall Election. I figure the whole thing is so fractured as is, a write-in candidate might have a chance. To get things started, I've got my good ol' BSEC campaign sign back up.
Not bad, huh? Maybe if word gets around, I'll even get my own burrito.
Abandon All Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here.
The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!So, how did you do on yet another “episode” of Stupid Web Polls?
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Level Score Purgatory (Repenting Believers) Very High Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) High Level 2 (Lustful) Low Level 3 (Gluttonous) High Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) Moderate Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) Low Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) Very Low Level 7 (Violent) Low Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) Low Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) Very Low
Take the Dante's Inferno Test
No Greater Love
In sacrificing their lives for the Gospel, these missionaries opened up the door for the eventual entry of the Gospel into the Auca society through Elizabeth Elliot. The Gospel transformed the Aucas dramatically lowering the homicide rate and causing the tribe to get an entirely new focus… on God.
Yet, to do this, these missionaries with their entire life ahead of them, gave their lives. In perhaps a reflection of the dangers he and his team were about to subject themselves to, Jim Elliot stated “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” What a powerful testimony of faith.
I sit here and I wonder, if God called me to travel to some remote part of the world, would I have the immediate willingness of these men? Would I view my own survival as unimportant if it meant the spread of the Word of God? I'd like to say I would, but I wonder — it is easy to say that typing from the comfort of my computer chair, what if I were in that small yellow biplane heading for the territory of a tribe I thought would probably kill me? Could I really do it?
I'm not sure what kind of conclusion is appropriate. These are just the thoughts that strike me tonight. I know I want to be like those five. It makes me somewhat uncomfortable to wonder whether I would be.
Down, but not out...
Hrmf. My allergy to mold seems to be getting the best of me. I didn't get much of anything done yesterday and moved like molasses today. Oh well, it rained tonight, so I hope the mold count will be down tomorrow.
Why I Don't Use "Linux"
Buzzing by Buzzing Bye, I found this post that was denouncing Richard Stallman's position that “Linux” should be known as “GNU/Linux.” This hit a nerve, perhaps because I've seen so many likeminded posts, and it inspired me to write an editorial at OfB.biz that argues for the name GNU/Linux and also takes a side journey into why the GNU GPL is better in some ways than the BSD license.
Whether this sounds like gobble-de-gook or you already understand this issue, you might enjoy the opinion piece, which you can find here.
Is this good or bad?
You are Ferris Beuller. You b———! Everyone
want's to be Ferris. Now go back and answer the
questions properly.
Which 80's Movie Character Are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Thanks go to Christopher for finding this.
Heat Wave... over?
Phew… it has been HOT. I told Christopher that I wanted a bit of warm weather for swimming, but this has been overboard! On Thursday we set a new record of 104 degrees Fahrenheit for that day — if I understand correctly what the meteorologists were saying, it was also the first time in 19 years that we've hit 104 degrees. It was cooler, although not much, the last two days, so I guess that's progress.
That's not funny!
1.) I Love Lucy — How can you not love Lucy? This is the classic comedy, a timeless combination of humor and personality to create plots you can rewatch and still laugh.
2.) I Dream of Jeannie — Jeannie is funny — simple as that. It seems to me that IDOJ is one of the last in the great line of 50's and 60's comedies. Just months before it ended All in the Family came on the air and changed sitcoms forever — but that light hearted innocence was still alive and well before that.
3.) The Beverley Hillbillies — How can you not like them? They are funny and truly do exhibit the kindness one encounters in the Ozarks. If only Granny wasn't so busy making moonshine! I've even seen their car (it is down in Holister, MO), so how can I not mention them?
4.) Leave it to Beaver — This is another timeless classic. It accentuates the “typical” American household and doesn't seem all that dated even though it ended its run the better part of half a century ago.
5.) The Cosby Show — Yeah, I have at least one comedy I like that isn't older than I am. Cosby will surely be one of the enduring classics of the last two decades.
Runners up: All in the Family (I don't like how it changed “the sitcom” forever, but I'll admit it, I like it); Gilligan's Island; The Jeffersons; Sanford & Son; Home Improvement.
The Slow Demise of the UCC
First a bit of history. In 1840, the German Evangelical Church was formed in Missouri from Lutheran and Reformed church roots. This hits especially close to my own heritage, with my church forming in 1843 as German United Lutheran-Reformed St. Paul's Church in Central Township. Quite a name! The Lutheran-Reformed merger was somewhat uncomfortable unfortunately, and in our case a splinter church formed — its just a stones throw away even today and is a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (it ended up in a better denomination than we did). But, I'm getting distracted.
The German Evangelical Church eventually became the Evangelical Synod of North America. From there, the Evangelical Synod merged with the Reformed Church in America in 1934. The resulting church was the Evangelical & Reformed Church (E&R). The E&R was a denomination with Reformed leanings and a congregational organizational structure. Things were pretty good.
Unfortunately, things didn't stay that way. In the early fifties, parties met between the E&R and the Congregational Christian Churches about a possible union at Eden Seminary in St. Louis, a seminary of the E&R. By 1957, a deal was agreed to, and the E&R and the more liberal Congregational Christian Churches merged to form the United Church of Christ. Just to be clear, this name does not imply any association with the Churches of Christ. Perhaps they didn't expect it, or even see it, at the time, but the liberalism forming within the Congregational Churches soon spread across the former borders and started to wrest control of the UCC.
By the mid-1970's, the United Church of Christ's Evangelical contingent was shoved out of power to be replaced by what was becoming a liberal majority within the denomination. During the UCC's General Synod in 1977, the Evangelicals voted strongly against the first of many resolutions that would accept, even glorify and encourage, sexual promiscuity in the UCC. The group of delegates voting against the measure was large enough to allow the Evangelicals to unite into an official interest group, but not large enough to stop the approval of the measure.
A Pastor's wife, Barbara Weller, called for return to Biblical principles during the Synod, and a few hundred participants joined her call. In late 1978, the interest group was made permanent and named United Church People for Biblical Witness (UCPBW). The group celebrates its 25 year this year.
Over the next few years the UCPBW would publish numerous documents noting the unbiblical take the UCC had taken on issues of sexuality, but the work culminated in 1983 in Dubuque, Iowa where the official statement of the group was published, the Dubuque Declaration. The Declaration confirmed commitment to the Biblical values held at the formation of the UCC and noted the “erosion” of such values within the church.
In 1984, the group transformed itself in the the Biblical Witness Fellowship, a group that would focus on supporting local churches in addition to attempting to renew the national UCC. Two years later, the BWF launched a Missions Network, which many Bible believing churches within the UCC would divert funds to as the UCC's own missions program abandoned missions work and moved into social and “family planning” services.
It is getting late, so I'll wrap it up for tonight as this seems like a good place to leave off. While the UCC's Human Sexuality: A Preliminary Study, the 1977 report that started the widespread controversy was not only the opening, but also a major, salvo, the real attack was just beginning to emerge. I'll consider that in my next post on the subject.
Sources: I freshened up on my E&R history — especially dates — at this site. Other dates are drawn from the Biblical Witness Fellowship and United Church of Christ web sites.
