Saturday, February 27th, 2010
I’ve hoped for a while that the Huffington Post would get into religion, and they have, with Paul Raushenbush. They’ve got a new section covering religion, and so far I give it a B+. Unfortunately, it trots out some of the same old voices, saying the same old things. But they’ve also got some fresh faces, and even a little humor, like this laugh-out-loud post by John Bobey:
John
Hello…God?God
Hey John, what can I do for you?John
Wow, I never thought you’d answer.God
Well, the time before Easter and the Oscars is my slow season. Don’t make me sorry I didn’t screen this prayer–what’s up?John
I was wondering–did you have Margaret break up with me on Valentine’s Day as a way of letting me know there’s someone better out there?God
Um…yeah, if that will that make you feel better…and stop lying on the floor in the dark, rocking back and forth in the fetal position while crying and listening to R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts?”John
You saw that?God
Watching you blubber is the only time I wish I wasn’t all-seeing. Well, that and during “Two and a Half Men.”
Read the rest at John Bobey: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’s Ex.
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Thursday, February 25th, 2010
I mentioned the ordo salutis a couple days ago, which got Bo Sanders to laughing about the silliness of salvation being portrayed like a factory assembly line. But better than all that was a comment by “Dan” under Bo’s post. Here it is:
I decided that my wife and I should have a romantic Valentine’s Day. We’ve been married for almost 22 years and I have gotten really good at romancing her. I know exactly what to do to put her in the mood to be intimate with me (foreknowledge).
So I planned a ridiculously romantic evening – leaving nothing to chance – every last detail (predestination).
I called my wife from work and told her we would meet at our favorite restaurant (calling).
I waited at the restaurant trusting that she would show up as promised (faith).
It took me a few minutes but I altered my disposition from get stuff done, work guy to slow down, be attentive, romantic guy (repentance).
My wife acknowledged my attention and sent me signals all evening that she approved of how I was treating her (justification).
My wife decided to skip dessert because she had made up her mind that she was ready to make love to me, she had been romanced sufficiently (regeneration).
My wife began to adopt a very provocative posture toward me and flirted with me the whole way home (adoption).
The drive home took forever, this woman wanted me, we couldn’t get home quick enough (perseverance).
Wouldn’t you know it, we got a flat tire on the freeway. I changed the tire in record time but I scraped my knuckled on the asphalt as I was lifting the tire off the rim and I got oil on my best suit (mortification).
I was sure the sex would make the bloody knuckles and the dry cleaning bill all worth while. My wife told me how wonderful I was and that she would rather be with me than any other man on the planet (sanctification).
When we got home things started off wonderfully (glorification), but my recurring problem with ED made it necessary to hope that the future would bring the satisfaction we were unable to obtain that evening (after all we are evangelicals and our glorification is already but not yet).
Funny thing is, my wife showed up the next day at work and we did it in the broom closet.
Funny how relationships never go as planned. The good ones anyway.
Thanks, Dan!
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Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
I must say, I agree with Scot’s assessment of the problem, if not his solution. There’s an illness in evangelicalism, and it’s that everything is always worse than it used to be. Teens are more pregnant, politicians are more corrupt, culture is less Christian, and, yes, the church is less relevant. I think Scot’s right to point this out. But what do you think of his suggestion that an Augustinian ecclesiology is the answer?
Everywhere I go and nearly everyone I read has a theme, whether central or peripheral, and I think the theme is getting too much attention and it’s getting too much play and it’s setting us up for failure.
Here’s the theme: the Church is so messed up.
Instances: preaching is not that good today; theology is so shallow today; Christian morals are so loose today; parents are not that good today; we’ve got too much individualism today; kids don’t respond as they used to; the church is spending too much money today; Christians aren’t liked in culture ….
The suggestion: Let’s start all over again. This time we’ll get it right. Let’s get ourselves a group of really zealous followers of Jesus and let’s think about kingdom and forget the choir robes and denominations and pastors and hierarchy and church budgets. Finally, we’ll get it right. We’ll just follow Jesus and we’ll forget the church. We’ll do kingdom work and forget the church.
Go ahead. Join the crowd. In a few years you’ll come back to something you either face now, in a more rational manner, or later in a more chastened manner, that is if you’ve got any passion left. Here’s my theory:
I want to say I believe in an Augustinian ecclesiology.
via Criticizing Church, Defending Church – Jesus Creed.
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Monday, February 22nd, 2010
More about my reflections in advance of the Society for Pentecostal Studies at which I am presenting a paper on what emergence and Pentecostalism have to learn from one another.
My friend, Dallas Gingles, who also knows something about Pentecostalism and about emergence recommended that the one book I need to read is Amos Yong’s The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh: Pentecostalism and the Possibility of Global Theology. I can see why he pointed it out to me, because of paragraphs like this:
A pneumatological soteriology understands salvation to be the work of both Christ and the Spirit from beginning to end. To use Pauline language: the Holy Spirit enables the proclamation, hearing, and understanding of the gospel, justifies through the resurrection of Christ, provides for the adoption of believers, accomplishes rebirth and renewal, sanctifies hearts and lives, and provides the down payment for eschatological transformation. In all of this, the Spirit is not an appendage to Christ in the process of salvation, but saves with Christ throughout. (p. 82)
In this, Yong has bound himself too closely to the traditional ordo salutis for my taste, but you gotta start somewhere! 
I’ve written myself about the American tendency toward “binitarianism,” in which the Spirit is even less than an appendage — she’s often left out of the economic Godhead altogether. We lead with Jesus, we pay homage to the Father, and we forget about the Spirit. (A thought experiment: Of all the sermons you’ve heard in your life, and give a percentage to the number about which the Father, the Son, or the Spirit has been the primary divine subject. I’m guessing that, unless you’re Pentecostal, the Spirit comes in a very distant third.) So I’m fond of Yong’s quest for a robust pneumatological theology.
And I can see why Dallas thought that Yong would be a good read for me in preparation for my paper, because Yong is sympathetic to my own theological leanings, and, most significantly for me, my preferred theological method. For example:
The road is wide open for the development of a world pentecostal theology that is in via (along the way); more aptly put, it will be a pneumatological theology of quest.
That last line is money.
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Friday, February 19th, 2010
I’m a huge fan of TED. I don’t mean my brother (though I am a fan of his). I mean TED Talks. (If you live under a rock, TED stands for technology, entertainment, design.)
Not long ago, the 10 Commandments of TED Talks was posted at one of their events, and an intrepid scribe wrote them down and subsequently posted them. As someone who frequently speaks to groups, they are a brilliant list of Shalts and Shalt Nots.
via The TED Commandments – rules every speaker needs to know.
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