Christmas with a capital "C"

James K.A. Smith, David Fitch, Scot McKnight, Out of Ur - they're all talking about the New Calvinism. Fair? Balanced? Fundamentalists?

James K.A. Smith brings a balance to the Barna Group's research on the New Calvinism. There seems to be a bit of an imbalance in the findings that the report gives and Dr. Smith seeks to inform us of the pitfalls of some of their findings and methodologies. Speaking from a seat on the faculty of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, a bastion of the Reformed tradition, it seems obvious to hear him out on this issue. The Barna Group's report has been receiving a lot of press especially on blogs like Scot McKnight's. As neither proponent or opponent of the New Calvinism, Jamie Smith's discussion is a helpful corrective that both sobers the report's pundit naysayers and frustrated fans.

Fors Clavigera: Barna Report on the "New Calvinism": "The Barna Group's report, 'Is there a 'Reformed' Movement in American Churches?' seems to be getting a lot more discussion than it deserves ..."

Scott Lamb wrote an article, Young, Restless, Reformed...and So What? , in a similar vein, deconstructing some of the flashy press that the New Calvinism has received from a more sobering Reformed perspective while still giving props to the movement's progress.

Reformed and Reforming offers a smattering of blogs, articles, audio files, etc... regarding the movement from all directions.  There are both positive and negative evaluations included from sources inside and outside the Reformed movement as well as outside of the Christian faith community.  A great collection for further reading to help in the balancing act we are called to ensue.

However we twist this issue, the New Calvinists are here to stay.  They have a lot to offer, both in negative and positive proposals.  When you have this many people coming together, there is going to be a mess and a lot of mistakes made, but a lot of good offered.  One commenter made it clear that the fundamentalist type people have made it into this newly formed identity, and their effect is being felt, but not all share their convictions and so we cannot lump them all together and then qualify them with the title of fundamentalist too easily.  Nonetheless, there are definitely some fundamentalist types who have substantial amounts of power still residing in this movement.  This discussion can be found at David Fitch's blog - Reclaiming the Mission: Is the New Calvinism a New Fundamentalism and on the Out of Ur blog.

Peace in the journey and whether you're Reformed or not I think we need to hear Jamie's clarion call for balance, discernment and clarity.  Though necessary, it can be tough with this crowd at times because as Matt Chandler has said, "I love the Reformed tradition, I just don't like hanging out with its people all the time." (not a direct quote, but paraphrased from a sermon he preached).  

Johnny Cash - Legendary

Ken Robinson teaches about how to kill or create creativity.

Phil Nellis, pastor at Wits End Church in Seattle, pointed me to this great video from TED regarding how creativity is killed and how schools can help that slow death.

UniversiTAE.com School Sucks and the physics of skateboarding

This was an awesome vid posted by my friend Michael Johnson.  He posits a new but really old approach to educating people and it is a fascinating watch.



Dr. Tae — Building A New Culture Of Teaching And Learning from Dr. Tae on Vimeo.

I beg for the answer that you never give to know why you don't answer, but only forgive

From below is not too low
A tree, a beard, a vine on the brow

Magnetic minds call him out all alone
while the fruitless seek his tomb

I can't follow what they say saves
If I naught to feel what my soul craves

The follower has now become the fallen
and my voice dies below the bellow

Life is called upwards to light
that is falling from fast holds

don't carve your name in his cross
it's already written on his hand
on a secret rock at plan's end

Rise from below to see what is not
the God I didn't forget,
just the Sage of my wrong thought

My value not hidden in the Cross
just found by it
after Creation's first loss

Trees of Life wrap the cause of death
but the calling back abundant
of leaves that now give life,
before life's first gasp of breath

Is that the tree that grows up
does it unfurl its leaves of glory

to fall down
to heal nations
to meet him in the soil,
near the roots of our toil?

I beg for the answer that you never give
to know why you don't answer, but only forgive


"An ascending Christology starts with Jesus as a man in real history and gradually demonstrates that the works he accomplished could only be possible if he was more than a man."  - Dr. Timothy C. Tennent

Thank you for the Forgiveness - our brothers & sisters of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada

Having grown up in Western Canada next to Aboriginal Reservations, and having listened to the horrendous stories of what my ancestors did with the power they had and the lies they told to my friends, I was both angry and ashamed.  I remember always feeling this sense that there was a lot more under the surface of each conversation that I would have with my Native friends and family in Canada.  A lot more that I couldn't understand or account for.  As an adult, I lived at home for two years and thought of ways that I could offer my own personal apology but never felt like it would be good enough.  To see these videos and my uncle Vincent share about their journey and the forgiveness they have chosen to offer to my people, was healing in a personal way, but I understood that it couldn't just be personal.  This is a community issue as much as it is a personal one.  All I have to say is thank you for the forgiveness you offer.  You are letting me become human again.

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."  - Desmond Tutu


"Be nice to the whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity."   - Desmond Tutu

Shaq O'Neal vs. Justin Bieber

Shaq is now my favorite basketball player!  What an awesome family man!  Over time he has gained a lot of respect for how he loves being a dad and he couldn't get any cooler.

Horses for Jesus in Church

Saddle Up And Ride from Family Christian Center on Vimeo.

Did Israel Borrow Myths to Make Meaning?

Smatterings of N.T. Wright Gems

How do we bear God's image? N.T. Wright

www.Biologos.org

2 sides to a Slippery Slope, Conservative and Liberal - which are you sliding down?

Incarnational Truth for Ancient peoples = Accomodation

This is where I want to go with my writing concerning contextualization in the Old Testament!  Enjoy!

Theological Debates as Fear Factories?

"we have been taught that the only way to protect the Bible is to protect its literalistic reading and interpretation. Enns notes that the ongoing debates are primarily motivated by fear—not flawed theology."   - Peter Enns


Check out more vids @   http://www.youtube.com/biologosfoundation#p/a/u/2/7AkiQq5fN_s
or   http://biologos.org/

Meaning Miners satisfy themselves with the "Caverns" they've dug

"The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death – however mutable man may be able to make them – our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light."              – Stanley Kubrick in Playboy magazine, 1968 

http://teapartyjesus.tumblr.com/

"...in the earliest period of Christian history...salvation consisted essentially in a particular mode and quality of life, not in consciousness of some special connectedness with Jesus.”    - Gordon Kaufman


(Found on Frank Viola's blog)

Chinese takeout - fear mongering's new twist

James K.A. Smith "Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation "

James K.A. Smith - Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation from Calvin College on Vimeo.

Great photos and greater info

http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/4tn1