Our churches have become carbon copies of one another. You can attend almost any church from any denomination and you will have a similar experience, from the look to the music to the structure of the services. The various denominations are beginning to blend back together. Protestants, who broke away from Catholic heresies are melding… Continue reading The Christian Celebrity
Category: Culture
Altering the Availability Heuristic
A heuristic is “a mental shortcut that allows an individual to make a decision, pass judgment, or solve a problem quickly and with minimal mental effort.” We use heuristics all the time. In any given situation, we are armed with data about the situation — usually sensory — and use heuristics to fill in the… Continue reading Altering the Availability Heuristic
Why I Write
“Under the governance of the printing press, discourse in America was different than it is now – generally coherent, serious, and rational” -Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death The value of the written word has been lost in our postmodern American culture. The complexity of well written prose has given way to “tweets written by… Continue reading Why I Write
Gain the World, Lose Our Souls
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”Mark 8:36 Yesterday, the Benham Brothers spoke at my workplace. They rose to fame because they lost a show on HGTV because they refused to back down from their public opposition to gay marriage back in 2014.… Continue reading Gain the World, Lose Our Souls
Through “The Looking Glass”
THE LOOKING GLASS SELF In 1902, C.H. Cooley published a social theory that I believe holds up over a century later - “The Looking Glass Self.” The basic premise of the theory is that our behavior is shaped by our perception of how we believe others see us. In other words, perception of “society” is… Continue reading Through “The Looking Glass”
On “Modest Apparel”
Clothing is one of the top “legalistic” or “Pharasaical” topics – along with music – that is up for constant debate among our churches. Should women wear skirts or are slacks okay? Blue jeans? Must men wear ties? Should that be with or without a jacket? What color suits and dress shirts are okay? How about… Continue reading On “Modest Apparel”
The Christian Cancel Culture
John Cooper, lead singer of the Christian rock band Skillet, has been in the news over the past couple of years for his critique of “Christian” pastors who use their pulpit for money and popularity rather than preaching the Gospel. He composed a lengthy Facebook post about making “pastors uncool again.” Most of us agree… Continue reading The Christian Cancel Culture
THE NEOLIBERAL ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM
“For the love of money is the root of all evil.” I Timothy 6:10INTRODUCTION The dominance of global neoliberal economics and cries for economic justice in the United States has reignited a firestorm of criticism of the capitalist system. What once was a booming economic system that attempted to address and correct the horrors of… Continue reading THE NEOLIBERAL ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM
No Peace
“There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.”Isaiah 48:22 Look around at our nation, our world; our history. How often has there been peace? America has seen its share of wars and conflicts - Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korea, WWII, WWI, Civil, and Revolutionary. We even had a “Cold War” sprinkled in for good… Continue reading No Peace
A Quick Lesson from 1984
"You are a flaw in the pattern, Winston. You are a stain that must be wiped out. Did I note tell you just now that we are different from the persecutors of the past? We are not content with negative obedience, nor even with the most abject submission. When finally you surrender to us, it… Continue reading A Quick Lesson from 1984
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