BlogRodent: Pentecostal Rumination & Review

There’s an essential irony in all the talk about the emergent church vs. the old-style church and where they intersect. Or, maybe—to be charitable—there’s an essential paradox. To wit: how is it possible to decry and denounce all the old structures and forms as being irrelevant without falling into the same trap of culturally-bound irrelevance yourself? Didn’t the Jesus People try this experiment? Didn’t the Quakers do this? Hasn’t the patient gone through the same exploratory surgery time and time again?

And yet, the patient still lives, the church and Christ’s ministry continue on, and the revolutionaries represent small pockets of like-minded individuals that have become all but footnotes in church history.

I’m not emergent. I’m not postmodern; but, then, I’m not modern. I’m not fundamentalistic. I’m a mongrel. While there’s much in my Fellowship I can be critical about, there’s much more

Okay, I wasn’t going to post merely frivolous stuff here, but this is far too precious to pass up.

You who preach … well. If you gotta slip up, go big.

Here’s a clip below of poor high school pastor Blake Bergstrom, who tried to work his way around a bit of a tongue twister as he introduced a sermon that might have already been doomed, based on his unusual use of metaphors. As you listen, just wait. No: the “light ourselves on fire so they can watch us burn” is not the gaffe you are listening for, surprisingly, but that imagery is bad enough that he might actually have improved his sermon with an extreme Freudian slip!

Here’s the audio:

[audio:http://tatumweb.com/blog/wp-content/mp3/blake-bergstrom-mistake.mp3]

(Here's the link if the flash player doesn't load.)

And Bergstrom has been good enough to actually release the video, which Kevin Rossen

I’ve been adding a few links here and there when I find them. So, check back to see what’s new. Also, I’ve updated the ordering of the list so that the newest items float to the top of the list.

PneumaBlog: Pentecostal & Charismatic & Assembly of God Blogs

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I’ve described elsewhere here my first experience at an Anglican church when I attended my boss’s ordination to the deaconate in the Anglican Mission in America (sometimes jokingly referred to as “Anglicans missing in America”). That night opened my eyes to the growing charismatic world within a much older church tradition than my own (the Assemblies of God). Of course, I’ve heard of Episcopalian, Lutheran, Catholic, and other mainline churches going charismatic for years, but I’d never stepped foot inside an old-school church reveling (or at least basking) in the Spirit.

Of course, I didn’t see any of that swinging-from-the-chandelier or slaying-in-the-Spirit business going on, but imagine my provincial Pentecostal surprise to see firsthand that charismatic renewal in a mainline church doesn’t just mean they get to wear those spiffy tab-collar shirts. I encountered an

My employer, Christianity Today, posted an interesting and important editorial:  “Deadening the Heart: Killer video games are no 'safety valve'—quite the opposite.” Here’s an excerpt:

Good teachers know three things that contribute to effective learning: active participation, rehearsing behavioral sequences rather than discrete acts, and repetition, repetition, repetition. Video games employ all three. In addition, the vast majority of the gaming scenarios (like the random killing of prostitutes) fail to show the real-life consequences of violence. Perpetrators go unpunished. In short, violent games can deaden us to the horror of violence and stimulate our native sinfulness. It shouldn't surprise us that all media shape us, which is one reason Paul exhorts us to think on things that are true, honorable, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent (Phil. 4).

Some say these are just games, and that we shouldn't take them

There’s an interesting interview just put out by my employer, Christianity Today International, that I think is worth reading. It’s an interview with Dallas Willard and Richard J. Foster conducted by Christianity Today associate editor Agnieszka Tennant: “The Making of the Christian: Richard J. Foster and Dallas Willard on the difference between discipleship and spiritual formation.”

I love this analyses by Dallas Willard regarding the current emptiness of the word “discipleship:”

“Discipleship as a term has lost its content, and this is one reason why it has been moved aside. … There are really three gospels that are heard in our society. One is forgiveness of sins. Another is being faithful to your church: If you take care of your church, it will take care of you. Sometimes it's called discipleship, but it's really churchmanship.

I thought I’d just post something fun, today. For me, anyhow. Photos!

Jennifer and I visited Seattle, Washington, to enjoy our honeymoon eight years ago. We fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. I think we’d move there in a heartbeat if there was a job offer. At least, that’s what we used to say before we had kids. Now, however, moving away from Gramma and Grampa would be a tough decision.

As is required on all seaside vacations, I took the requisite scenic postcard shots. There was your sunset over water picture, your commonplace urban objects like drinking fountains and lamp posts, a few varieties of graying beachwood, and a “would-you-take-this-picture-of-us” tourist shot.

There’s a flap heating up the newspapers and blogosphere about the winning design for the Flight 93 Memorial to be built near  Shanksville, Pa. The skinny is that architect Paul Murdoch submitted a design, the “Crescent of Embrace,” which bears an uncanny resemblance to the Islamic red crescent as seen on the flag of Tunisia.

The designer says the crescent shape was mere coincidence. He, apparently, wanted a soft symbol of openness to symbolize acceptance and embrace. I contend he was wildly successful. What better way to signify openness toward Islamic ideas and faith than by using a common Islamic symbol?

Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator Charles Krauthammer has written a great “big-picture” view of the blame-shifting realities of Katrina’s fallout: “Assigning Blame.” It’s not long and is worth reading. Here’s a graf Krauthammer put out there as a “throw-away” item, but it brilliantly sums up what I wish I had written:

This kind of stupidity merits no attention whatsoever, but I'll give it a paragraph. There is no relationship between global warming and the frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes. Period. The problem with the evacuation of New Orleans is not that National Guardsmen in Iraq could not get to New Orleans, but that National Guardsmen in Louisiana did not get to New Orleans. As for the Bush tax cuts, administration budget requests for New Orleans flood control during the five Bush years exceed that of the five preceding

I received the following email late Friday evening:

-----Original Message----- From: Office of the General Secretary [mailto:churches@ag.org] Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 3:45 PM Subject: A/G Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts Update: 9/9/2005 VIDEO CLIP FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

General Superintendent Trask has made a video clip regarding his trip to the devastated Gulf Coast yesterday. You can view this at http://ag.org. The brief clip is available for you to download to show to your congregation or Sunday school class this Sunday.

REPORT ON US MISSIONARIES IN AREA

Several USM missionaries and ministries were affected by Katrina. Go to USMissions.ag.org/ to get up-to-date information on these.

HOW TO HELP

Cash: Cash donations are the best way to get people help the fastest.

You may give online at ag.org/. Credit cards are accepted and 100% of all donations go directly to the Katrina relief projects. Medical Teams: HealthCare Ministries at headquarters is coordinating medical teams to go to these areas.

I took a few quizzes tonight, and I generously share the results with you, my Gentle Readers. I’m not sure what they really reveal about me. I worked as an opinion/market research interviewer for four years, and I know how very subtle changes in questions and their interpretation by the respondent can wildly skew results. But if you’re looking for a quick read on where I am theologically (or where you are, if you take the test) this may be helpful for you.

First, I went to QuizFarm and took the “What’s your theological worldview?” test. Here are the results.

Okay, I checked out all the blogs on my current list to see just how far-reaching my speculation went, regarding pentepomollectual (Pentecostal, postmodern, intellectuals) bloggers and their facial hair.

Here’s the proof:

Note: I searched vainly to find a lady blogger sporting chinhairs (you know you’re out there!), but, alas, web photo galleries just don’t have the resolution we need for that project.

I just received this from the General Council of the A/G:

--
From: Office of the General Secretary [churches@ag.org]
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 1:45 PM
Subject: A/G Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts Update

The General Council of the Assemblies of God, together with the Convoy of Hope, continues to respond to the Hurricane Katrina disaster with acts of compassion and practical helps.

Convoy of Hope

As of today COH has distributed 75 truckloads of ice, water, food and other relief supplies with another 16 truckloads scheduled to arrive in the next couple of days. To date over 3.5 million pounds of life-sustaining relief materials have been distributed in the following communities:

Louisiana: Gretna (West bank of New Orleans)

Mississippi: Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Caesar, Gulfport, Henryville, McComb, and Picayune

Convoy of Hope has ongoing distribution

Is it axiomatic that if you are a postmodern, pentecostal, male blogger you must wear a goatee or a van dyke? Seems like most of the men blogging on my PneumaBlogs page sport a goat of one shape or another.

Odd.

Also, see this post.

Bill Whittle at “Eject! Eject! Eject!” has posted a brilliant, if sometimes crudely worded (R-Rated), post about the nature of white hats and black hats, pink and grey, or sheep, wolves, and sheep-dogs: TRIBES. It is a passionate, reasoned response to the aftermath of Katrina, the erosion of moral levees, and the shocking polar opposite of 9/11 heroism. Watching this, many of us struggle for answers: “Why?”

Bill’s post doesn’t offer a solution, but he does offer a perspective and a cultural critique that is thought-provoking. There’s no way I could do it justice by summarizing it. If you are not easily offended by coarse language, you should read it yourself. Bill is not a man of faith, his language is blue, but his passion is righteous.

Here’re the final grafs to tempt you:

It takes courage to fight oncoming storms. Courage.

Courage isn’t free. It is taught, taught by

Hi.

Here’s my current list of active Pentecostal, Charismatic and Assembly of God bloggers. I hope you enjoy it. And feel free to add to it with your comments.

   PneumaBlogs: Select Pentecostal/Charismatic Bloggers

Rich.

[tags]assemblies-of-god, assembly-of-god, blogger, blogging, BlogRodent, charismatic, church-of-god, foursquare, god-blogger, god-blogging, godblog, godbloggers, godblogs, pentecostal, pneumablog, pneumabloggers, pneumablogging, pneumablogs, spirit-filled[/tags]

As I’ve watched the news feeds over the last several days, I noted that the A/G has been quick to respond, first with nearly a dozen Convoy of Hope trucks being sent down (over twenty more on the way), and an email plea from the General Superintendent, Thomas Trask, to contribute funds at the A/G disaster recovery site. Already $25,000 was sent to the Louisiana district to help some 400 people stranded at the LA district campgrounds.

Here is a good update on what is known and not known about the state of our churches and district offices in the Gulf region: Hurricane Katrina—much still unknown.

At this point, giving money is more effective than sending things. Let the organizations with the infrastructure in place to provide help turn your dollars into tangible aid. Currently, the hardest hit areas are still evacuating survivors and I’m reading that well-intentioned helping

UMC pastor, Donald Sensing, over at the One Hand Clapping blog, has posted his sermon manuscript on the failure of moral levees. It’s an excellent sermon in the wake of the Katrina disaster, regarding the fallen nature of man, and the need for the rule of God’s law in our hearts through love.

His best graphs, like finely polished jewels, come at the end:

One of the things that churches should do is train the moral sense of it members. The God who created us also demands a high level of morality in us. The Ten Commandments do not say that a little murder is okay, a little adultery is permissible, a little thievery is allowable. Instead they instruct: No murder. No adultery. No stealing. There’s no wriggle room.

Our continuing challenge as Christians is to follow the moral commandments of God’s law

An interesting interview by Hugh Hewitt is available in transcript form, over at Radio Blogger. It’s worth the read, featuring commentary from his three guests, Biola University, Professor John Mark Reynolds; Louisville, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Albert Mohler; and Dr. Mark D. Roberts, theologian, author, pastor. There are no ground-breaking insights in the show transcript, but it’s a useful, brief, discussion of the problem of evil in the world and the proper Christian response to it.

One interesting point that I want to highlight was raised by John Mark Reynolds regarding a lot of the blame-casting that’s been going on about how slow the gummint has been to respond:

I … think we have a problem that's unique to our culture. And that is that people are used to information, and even money, changing hands very quickly.