According to this article and some of the books quoted therein, it looks like United States Methodists may be facing a crisis like the Episcopal Church (USA) in the years ahead. The Methdodist Church in Africa is apparently growing rapidly and you can guess their theological orientation.

In my years of churchgoing and active participation in academic dialogue – formal and informal, but primarily novice – I have been blessed to hear the words of great thinkers and bold speakers.  These people can challenge the most complex situations of human nature and make claims that spin the heads of intellectuals, all while communicating with large audiences using a clear vernacular.  Now that large numbers partake in the podcast craze, eloquence, illustrious allusion, and witty banter lie just a click away.  With a free subscription listed online, I no longer have to look for these lectures as they just appear on my hard drive, waiting for me to find 30 to 45 minutes of time before next week’s automatic download.  In this environment of availability, I can listen to my list of wonderful orators at a whim.  I am quite sure anyone reading this post could easily rattle off the names his or her five most influential speakers (and possibly drill down to specific theologies!).  Some of yours may even be found on the CGO contributors list.Read more

I tried to read Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller. But I'm eccentric about avoiding anything with a hip or alternative vibe for fear of appearing to think that I'm either. For instance, I don’t wear sunglasses or listen to obscure bands, and I proudly consume unsophisticated mainstream cultural products, like Tom Petty albums and John Grisham books. I thought that Miller was too hip for me, but I read To Own a Dragon anyway. It's a fantastic book that started me think ing more about biblical masculinity.

Then, this past weekend I read an article in the Houston Chronicle about Lance Berkman, of the Houston Astros, doing a local Bible study in which he helps high school male athletes understand their mission as men. When I saw my favorite baseball player on the cover of the sports page discussing the exact Christian life issue I'd been wrestling with, I could only assume that I was receiving an important word.

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I’ve been involved in missions for 15 years. I love to share my faith. I’ve botched the gospel more times than I care to admit, but I’ve also seen friends transformed by God before my very eyes. In every instance of evangelism, there has been some baseline understanding of Jesus.

For the first time, I met someone who had no earthly idea about her heavenly Creator. I was shopping in an East Asian market when “Doris” (the Western name she gave herself) befriended me and wanted to practice her English. She asked me about my life in the United States. I said, “I’m a Christian.”

Nothing.
Blank stare.
I told her I was a follower of Jesus Christ.
Nothing.
She’d never heard of Him.Read more

This is an excerpt from a Mars Hill Audio Journal newsletter:

Splintered Light BookstoreRead more

[Editor's Note: This is the 1st Place essay in the Caedmons Call Essay Contest. Mr. Alaniz won 6 tickets and 6 backstage passes to a Caedmons concert this fall or spring, a t-shirt and a CD.]

I am standing in a line to meet some musicians. At the end of their show, they had stopped the music and the “good times” to speak about something that matters. Not some cause - not dying whales or abused dogs or even domestic violence – but an epidemic in Africa that will leave millions dead and tens of millions orphaned. There is a woman in line ahead of me. And she begins to debate the musicians. She says how “everyplace needs Jesus.” She says that you can be a missionary “anywhere.” The musicians just listen. They nod their heads and let her ramble. She is wrong, but from their faces I can see that this tirade comes their way often.

What is so wrong about her statements? At first glance they seem true and irrefutable. But these statements, along with a host of others, are a declaration of the worst of our American values: autonomy. American believers desire God in and only in that spot that has been designated for Him. He gets His ten percent. He gets His Sunday morning and a midweek shot, but the rest of MY life and MY money and MY time are MINE. I will follow MY dreams, I will buy nice things for MY family, and support that family with MY job. Missions – the whole rest of the world- is only important if they are one of MY passions. By making missions simply someone’s cause, believers can ignore God’s call on their life. This is not the way of Christ.Read more

[Editor's Note: This is the 2nd Place essay in the Caedmons Call Essay Contest. Ms. Alaniz won 4 tickets to a Caedmons concert and a t-shirt.]

“I always wanted to go overseas…” I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard this phrase, usually in a wistful tone with a hint of regret, often followed by some equally lamentable justification. “…But then I got married.” “But I couldn’t afford it.” “But it just didn’t work out.” The people who have uttered those words are as diverse as they come, but their reasons (or excuses) are basically the same. They might as well say, “It wasn’t important enough to change the direction of my life.” Granted, things come up that can’t be foreseen, and plans change. But if even those who do feel “called” to missions won’t go, who will?

Ever since I was a small child, I remember hearing my parents speak of their desire to go to the mission field. I grew up listening to Keith Green records, and remember the impact it had on my parents when they attended a concert in his memory. They came home talking about how they needed to simplify, to detach from possessions and the entanglements of this culture, to be ready to go whenever and wherever God might lead. They sold their nice cars and bought “junkers.” They supported missionaries and gave to anyone in need and even took underprivileged kids into our home. For years they talked of going overseas “someday”, probably when their kids were all grown up. One Sunday after hearing a missionary speaker, my sisters and I walked up the aisle to where our parents were sitting and said, Read more

[Editor's Note: This is the 3rd Place winner in the Caedmons Call Essay Contest. The 2nd Place winner will appear tomorrow and the 1st Place winner will appear in two days.  Mr. Stamper won  two tickets to a Caedmons Call concert this fall or next spring.]

Imagine, for a moment, what Peter, James and John experienced at the transfiguration. As bright as light itself, the body of Jesus glowed with unspeakable brilliance. Leaders of ancient times were suddenly living, breathing, walking, and talking; basking in the fellowship of their Creator and reflecting His luminosity. It is easy to understand why Peter begged the Lord to pitch a tent, to stay there on the mountain; to extend the unimaginable glory of the moment indefinitely. 

Similarly, it is no small wonder that we, as Christians, long to stay where we are comfortable. We are children of God himself, secure in our deliverance and safely headed for home. Compared to most of the world’s inhabitants, each one of us is blessed materially and financially to a degree beyond our comprehension. Like a child who absently toys with some bauble from yesteryear’s birthday, we have the gift of spiritual insight, which mystics and thinkers fruitlessly toiled and strove to attain for centuries.  Read more