Hallelujah

I know, I know. American Idol is for women and teenage girls. I like this season. I do. I only watched one other season--when Taylor Hicks won the thing--so I was due to get sucked in another time.

The reason? One of them is that I like this guy, in the video below. Dude rocks...especially this song, "Hallelujah." A lot of guys have sung it--Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright--but Jason Castro here is a professing Christian who was set to go on a mission trip with his church before American Idol came calling. He's said this song was his favorite performance because of its personal meaning.

So while it was originally written as a secular song, just about anything can take on spiritual meaning when understanding a very important fact: we are image-bearers of God, made in His image. If, then, we are capable of beautiful, artistic representations, then what does that say about God? Man, look out your window sometime. God made that. He is an artist. It should come as no surprise, then, that men and women are inspired to produce their own art, because whether it's sung about Him, all art comes from Him and, whether we realize it or not, to Him.

So, enjoy the video. Just forget it's from American Idol.

Happy Birthday

I officially joined the blogosphere two years ago today. Actually, this is my second blog; the first was an experiment in which I had hoped to build an online community for a Sunday School class I taught. But that eventually petered out.

Still, I enjoyed writing the blog and figured I would use a new blog as another sort of experiment, this one in 21st century evangelism. Over time, I've realized that the World Wide Web i s just another mission field. It's no different than spending time in a Third World jungle, or going door-to-door in my neighborhood. Indeed, the potential for Internet evangelism is much, much larger: there are millions upon millions of people crusing the information superhighway, and if just a minute fraction of those people stumble across the site and learn about Jesus, it makes it all worth it, yes? Especially considering I enjoy it anyway? I think so.

Now, over time things have sort of evolved. At times it's been a confessional, other times its been a Web portal to deliver other evangelical information and, at still other times, I've used it as a political platform (after initially saying I'd never do so). But at the heart of what I'm attempting to do is simple: I just want to tell people about Jesus. He changed my life. I know He can change yours.

So, just for a stroll down memory lane, I'm re-posting my first blog entry--which might be cringe-inducing prose for all I remember. But, again, I've not done this for any gain of my own, but that others might come to know a little bit more about Jesus.

****

“ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ”- Galatians 2:20

They say confession is good for the soul ... yeah, no kidding, right?I thought I'd create this blog to share my daily experiences with the risen Christ -- good and bad. Like most Christians, my walk is full of ups and downs, highs and lows, mountaintops and valleys. Know the feeling?

I don't really know where all of this will go. I just want to write about the God who saved and redeemed me. So, I'll start with my testimony. On Sept. 12, 1982, I was just a boy -- six years old, loving G.I. Joe, Transformers and the woods in my backyard. Life was complete, inasmuch as it can be for a child two months shy of seven. Yet, sitting in the pew that Sunday night, something stirred within me. I somehow knew that there was something missing in my life. I didn't know what to call it then, but I know now: I had the same God-shaped void inherent in all our lives. I needed Him. More specifically, I needed to accept the gift of salvation Jesus offered by His death on the cross of Calvary. As best as I can remember, my mother sat beside me, and I saddled up to her and said I wanted to go to the church altar and receive Christ in my life. The choir was singing, my grandfather -- our church's pastor -- sitting in the front pew directly in front of me. He led me to the altar, and I remembered the A-B-Cs of salvation, as the Apostle Paul outlined in his epistle to the Romans, chapter 10, verses 9 and 10." ... That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."Ask, Believe, Confess. I did all three, and my life has never been the same.

There have, to be sure, been problems in my Christian walk. I rebelled against Him in college and spent 10 years living a life of rampant sin. I was into drinking, drugs. From about the age of 18 until 28, I knew little about the God who saved me because my sin precluded Him from having a direct, day-to-day impact on my life. I use this analogy: what would you do if your best friend in the whole world, abruptly and with little warning, quit calling you? You'd probably call them anyway, right? You'd say something like, "Hey, how have you been ... miss seeing you. When can we hang?" But, eventually, if those calls weren't returned, those visits never reciprocated, you'd quit, yes? Oh, you'd still love your best friend. You'd still miss them. You might even tell others to say "hello," but that contact would be distant, incorporeal. That was my relationship to God. After years of rampant sin, he just quit calling.

On August 31, 2003, I broke my back. I won't go into details here -- maybe I will later. But God used that moment to wake me up, to show me that I was nothing without Him, that my life was only a fraction of what it could be if only I'd allow Christ free reign with my thoughts ... and actions. A few weeks later while recuperating, I got down on my knees, bent over as much as I could with my 20-pound back brace and asked Him to forgive me of all that I'd done. Here's the amazing thing. Remember that friend analogy? As humans, we naturally hold grudges. I've gone in and out of friendships with people for many reasons, and I'm sad to say some of the breaks happened through things I'd done. That was the case of my friendship with Jesus. He never holds a grudge, nor does He care that it took a serious, life-threatening injury to get me to wake up to the reality of what my life had become. He doesn't care what my life was like while I was running away from Him and toward my own selfish desires ... the only thing He cares about was what I could have been accomplishing for Him in the time that I was following my own path.

So, I guess that's what part of this is. It's my way of trying to get those years back ... I've got a lot of catching up to do, a lot of lives to impact for Jesus. I was too busy with myself back then.

I want to be busy with Jesus now.

I welcome all comments. E-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com. Help me promote this blog by using the icons below, which links this blog to social bookmarking sites and helps online users discover this and other online content.

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How Would Jesus Vote: NYU/NSF Survey

I've been asked by some students at New York University to help them with a political survey they are conducting. Here's their description:

"A research team from the psychology department at New York University, headed by Professor Yaacov Trope and supported by the National Science Foundation, is investigating the cognitive causes of voting behavior, political preferences, and candidate evaluations throughout the course of the 2008 election. This stage of the study focuses on the information people use to inform their decisions and evaluations during the course of the nationwide parties' nominating contests, whether or not the primary/caucus in their state has already taken place. They seek respondents of all political leanings from all over the country to complete a 15-minute questionnaire, the responses to which will be completely anonymous."

If you are interested in participating, click here to take part in the survey. (The actual link is http://www.psychsurveys.org/brietruesdell/2008primaries/)

This is all legit and on the up-and-up, I've been assured. So, if you have some spare time, let's help them out.

OK?

OK.

Twitterific

Are you on Twitter?


Twitter in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.



I'm completely hooked on it. Every time I'm online, I have a browser window up and I'm monitoring my little corner of the Twitterverse. If you decide to join, follow me at Twitter.com/CandidChristian


I welcome all comments. E-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com. Help me promote this blog by using the icons below, which links this blog to social bookmarking sites and helps online users discover this and other online content.

All works on CandidChristian.com are governed by a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike license. Inquiries seeking exceptions to this particular license are welcomed; e-mail CandidChristian@gmail.com for more information.

Links, links and more links

If you're not on StumbleUpon, either A) you've never heard of it, or B) there's something seriously, seriously wrong with you.

So, I will neither explain the site nor argue its merits but will simply offer you a sampling of some of the fantastic Web sites I've "stumbled upon" while using Stumble Upon.

Confused yet? Don't worry about it...just check out these cool sites, just in time for Friday. Sorry if I just ruined your productivity. After all, Friday+cool Web sites=an utter and complete loss of productivity. Good thing "sloth" was Thomas Aquinas' hangup, not God's.

On to the links!

One Sentence
Really good writers can tell a story in one sentence. These are really good writers. (Now I'm depressed because it takes me 1,200 words to tell a good story. I'll just move on now before I start crying.)

George Bush's Inbox
This is pretty funny, unless you have Hotmail. Then it's it's very funny.

Religion and Sexual Ethics
I found this somewhat interesting.

Their Circular Life
I don't know what else to call this site but cool. It's just very, very cool.

Mr. Picasso Head
Ever wondered what it would feel like to create priceless works of art? Sorry, this won't do that. But it's the next best thing.

Cannot Find...
Before you chalk this up as a broken link, look very, very carefully. (Much more carefully, it turns out, than whoever said there were WMD in Iraq)

Maps of War
History buff, are you? I'd like to introduce you to heaven...

Well, that should keep you occupied...for a little while anyway.

Grace and Peace...

I welcome all comments. E-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com. Help me promote this blog by using the icons below, which links this blog to social bookmarking sites and helps online users discover this and other online content.

All works on CandidChristian.com are governed by a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike license. Inquiries seeking exceptions to this particular license are welcomed; e-mail CandidChristian@gmail.com for more information.

Robert Mugabe might be on his way out...

...but it could mean bloodshed.

A New York Times article is reporting that some of his top advisers, themselves in fear of losing a grip on power, are arguing he should "go to the bush," meaning he should use intimidation tactics to quell any resistance to his government staying in power. Given Kenya's recent election turmoil, it's no stretch to assume similar violence will erupt in Zimbabwe.

So, the dilemma: should the opposition push for a certification of the election results, which appears to favor Mugabe's opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, knowing that it could lead to violence from Mugabe's supporters? Or should the opposition back down so as to avoid it?

Or a third option...does it really matter? Whoever wins, there's likely to be some sort of unrest. Believers everywhere should pray for a peaceful resolution.

Read more coverage here.

Your thoughts?

I welcome all comments. E-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com. Help me promote this blog by using the icons below, which links this blog to social bookmarking sites and helps online users discover this and other online content.

All works on CandidChristian.com are governed by a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike license. Inquiries seeking exceptions to this particular license and re-print information are welcomed; e-mail CandidChristian@gmail.com for more information.

The Nature of Human Rights Violations

(Update: Western diplomatic sources say Robert Mugabe close to resignation after negotiations with opposition party)

The question is this: what constitutes a human rights violation?

Now, the mind conjures all sorts of things when you think of that phrase. Genocide. Rape. War. Abu Ghraib. 9/11.

What about a bad economy? Are basic human rights violated when a loaf of bread costs thousands of dollars?

Zimbabwe strong man Robert Mugabe has presided over a government that is the very portrait of economic ineptitude. This guy has been in power since 1980 and, despite a recent election that opponents say was rigged, he appears poised to remain the head of state in Zimbabwe for another six years. He is 84 years-old.

Yes, Mugabe has been accused of having political opponents killed, but that, arguably, isn't his worst crime. Consider this: Zimbabwe has the world's worst rate of inflation. Toilet paper costs $147--for a single piece. Unemployment is at 80 percent. Most agree it is Mugabe's grip on power, and his inability to govern with any semblance of competence, that has led to one of the worst economies in the world...the results of which are just as deadly as outright violence. Indeed, it might be worse. Death from poverty is much more painful than death by a bullet, is it not?

So, how does one measure human rights violations? By the dead bodies on the evening news, or by the cries of untold millions whose stories are never told?

Look, part of the justification of taking military action against Iraq was that by removing Saddam Hussein, our government was removing the source of much human suffering in that country. No doubt he was responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent lives. And they hanged him for it.

But, again, human rights violations are not so easily quantified by the definable body count. Yes, hundreds of Kurds suffered a most painful death by Saddam's gas attacks. But was their suffering any less than the poorest of the poor, begging for bread on the streets of Harare? If they deserve justice--and they do--who is to deliver it to them?

We will. No, not by sending the Marines to liberate the people from an oppressive government, only to give them an oppressive military occupation. It will take the Church, operating both individually and corporately, putting its faith in action. My brothers and sisters in Christ--and those friends and colleagues of mine who are unBelievers--understand that situations like this presents to us an opportunity to make a true difference in the world. People are suffering. People are dying. Men like Robert Mugabe are agents of evil in a fallen world. We can be agents of change.

* The United Nations operates a Web site called ReliefWeb, which is a repository for humanitarian information throughout the world. You can do directly to the Zimbabwe section here, or visit the home page here.

* World Vision is one of the finest relief organizations in the world. While there are organizations to which you can donate vast sums of money, World Vision operates on an individual level, providing you an opportunity to impact a single child's life through sponsorship. Visit the World Vision Web site here. (Perhaps it is a sign of just how bad things are on the ground in Zimbabwe that World Vision sponsorship isn't available there.)

* International Rescue Committee has been providing relief to humanitarian crises since the 1930s. Visit its Web site here.

* Samaritan's Purse operates both locally and globally, and its mission partners real, your-hands-get-dirty volunteer work with a Christ-centric message.

* Finally, the lazy man's version of philanthropy is Ripple. You'll find a Ripple button on the right-hand side of this page. Each time you click on one of the four items on the button--water, food, education, money--real dollars are donated via Ripple to a relief organization that supplies relief based on the chosen resource. So, give it a click and see how it works.

(For more information about what's going on in Zimbabwe, click here. To read an old story about its economic woes, click here. Visit Robert Mugabe's Wikipedia entry here.)

I welcome all comments. E-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com, or use the social media buttons below.






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Missing N.Y. pastor found at Ohio strip club

Source: MSNBC

Great. Just great. Just love how these goobers give us all a bad name.

4 a.m. and all's well ...

... except that I can't sleep, anyway.

My wife's headed out to San Diego for the weekend, so you might pray that's she'll have a safe trip to and fro. Or, that she'll have "travel mercies," as the Baptists call it.

And pray that I'll have "patience mercies," as I'll have two toddlers to deal with, on my own, for the NEXT FIVE DAYS! Yes, I'm terrified. Sadly, I take my wife for granted ... I think God is going to reveal to me just how much in the next few days.

Thinking about a site re-design in the next few weeks. Anyone care to weigh in?

OK. Just rambling. Grace and peace...

E-mail comments to CandidChristian@gmail.com, or use the social media buttons below.

All works on CandidChristian.com are governed by a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike license. Inquiries seeking exceptions to this particular license are welcomed; e-mail CandidChristian@gmail.com for more information.

Nuts and bolts

Don't you just love to say it?

It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. Man, that feels good. After all, it seems our culture places a value on never taking responsibility for one's actions. Hey, it's one of the seven steps to a better you, or one of the five steps to unlocking your inner potential, or one of the 15 steps to finding your life's purpose which, of course, involves driving an expensive, gas-guzzling SUV! You deserve it! Feel good about yourselves, folks...you're not to blame! Yay!

(Wow. Don't know where that came from. Sorry...it's 4 a.m. and I can't sleep.)

But, in this case, it's really not my fault. In fact, it's Google's fault...that you can't comment on my blog anymore.

Here's the deal: because I want CandidChristian.com to have some semblance of design originality, I chose the option of being able to manipulate the HTML coding back when Blogger let you do that sort of thing. Maybe if Blogger's available templates were any good--or if there were more than 15 or so from which to choose--I'd stick with theirs. But probably not.

I digress. There are two ramifications as a result of my choosing to handle my own coding. No. 1, I have very little idea what I'm doing, so my rudimentary HTML design skills consists of little more than high-tech trial-and-error. It's also why the sidebar looks as cluttered as a 14 year-old's bedroom. And, two, it means that I can't get as good tech support from Blogger simply because my template, after tons and tons of changes by a rank amateur (yep, that's me), is a mess that would take a skilled hand indeed to clean up.

So, when I realized that no one could comment on the site--and that's a big problem for me, especially in light of the social media blitz I've been doing for the past few months as a way to boost traffic and tell more people about Jesus--I simply assumed it was because I'd screwed up somewhere. And when I tried to sort through all of this massive coding, I was hopelessly lost trying to find a fix.

But it's not my fault. Or, at least if it is, my only fault is in deciding to stick with my own template instead of picking a cookie cutter look that, while easy to maintain, is terribly boring. See, there's a bug on Blogger. When they did some tinkering back in February--having the nerve to call it "bug fixing"--a glitch developed in which bloggers who have their own unique template no longer had access to Blogger's comment pagination system.

The good news is that it's one of Blogger's "known issues." The bad news is that it's been a problem since early February, and these things are usually fixed by now.

S0, while it's not my fault--lovin' sayin' that--it's still my problem. Isn't that the way it always works.

Please, then, use e-mail to CandidChristian@gmail.com to comment, I'll then approve and re-post here. Or, you're always welcome--and encouraged--to use the social media buttons below.

Grace and peace...

The Passion of the Christ: A Running Diary

First, read the set up here.

Now, onto the running diary...

0:0:22
Well, it's Isaiah 53:5 to be specific...aw, heck, let's look at the whole context. And, as the movie is pointing out, let's remember this was written 700 years before the birth of Christ.

0:0:35
Great mood music, ethnic, chilling.

0:0:55
First chill bumps...Jesus calling His Father/Lord's name in Hebrew: "Adonai! Adonai!"

0:02:40
"Are you in danger? Should we flee, Master?" Remember, he had fled traps before...the religious leaders were after Him for some time. This time, though, it was different. Think the disciples knew?

0:05:00
Poor disciples...how would they have known what to think, to see their Master, their Rabbi, their Messiah, afraid and "sorrowful even to death."

0:06:25
Think Satan confronted Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane?

0:06:48
Notice that? He referred to His Father as "Abba," which is more informal, more akin to saying "Daddy." Whew...chilling. The portrait of conflict between Son of God and Son of Man, of divinity vs. humanity. He had been saying "Adonai," or "Lord." Now he's pleading to His "daddy," literally asking, "Is there some other way?" Surely He knew the answer was no...and that was the crux of His mental anguish. Still, "Not my will, but yours be done."

0:08:00
Even more interesting now, at least in terms of how the movie is portraying it. Again, it's not scripture. But you can hear Jesus praying, and now He's using every word for God He can think of: "Elohim"...."Abba"...."Adonai." Literally anything to get God's attention and, perhaps, save Himself from the anguish that is to come.

0:09:08
Love that...stomping on the snake. More creative liberty, of course, but nice.

0:10:20
Man, I bet Peter wanted to smack the taste out of Judas' mouth.

0:10:45
Even being betrayed, look at the sympathy on Jesus' face. Only He could realize the depths of the betrayal, and what it would set in motion.

0:11:30
Would I have run? Fearing arrest, would I have left my Messiah there? Would I, like Peter, have fought?

0:21:50
Interesting thing going on. I would imagine Jesus would have been torn in a way I hadn't considered. He would be sad at His having to leave His earthly mother and nostalgic at His memories here, but surely He was, on some level, pleased to be able to leave the confines of a broken world to be back with His father in Heaven.

0:27:44
And there's the kicker. A kangaroo court, convened illegally, witness testimonies contradicting each other...yet Jesus effectively seals His own fate. "I AM!"

0:29:43
Peter, Peter, Peter...how tragic to bail on your best friend, your Messiah, your God, just to save your own skin. Of course, they all bailed on Him and, heck, we're still doing it today.

0:42:07
"My kingdom is not of this world." The key distinction no one understood. Once those waving palm branches just a week eariler understood He had no intention of overthrowing Roman rule, they were finished with Him.

0:56:30
Not sure I can watch the cat-o-nine-tails flogging. I remember seeing it in the theater and turning away, and God immediately bringing to mind the scripture in Isaiah: "....and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him...." When I looked away, and remembered that scripture, I wept bitterly.

0:57:55
Not in scripture, but Mary's thoughts here are striking and must have been on her and the disciples' minds: "How will you choose to be delivered of this?" When did they realize He had no intention of being delivered, but instead would follow it all the way to death at Calvary?

1:02:12
Tears flowing now. This is the part of the movie that always gets me...the cut from the Roman soldiers' bloody feet to a flashback to Jesus washing His disciples' feet. Christ as servant, first in a symbolic act of washing feet, then the real deal: His sacrificial death as the ultimate act of service.

1:06:33
Flashback scene to the woman caught in adultery. Ever wonder what Jesus wrote in the sand? I heard someone once say He was writing the sins of each of those who had brought the woman to Him for judgment. If that's true...wow.

1:07:40
"Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more."

1:10:05
How many chances did Jesus have go get Himself off the hook? That was the last one. Pilate: "Don't you know I can set you free?" Jesus: "You really think that? You have diddly-squat. Any power you have has been given by God...and it looks like He's already made up His mind." I should go back through the Gospels and count how many chances Jesus had to get Himself out of trouble--and I'm talking legit chances, not just the causing-angels-to-appear-and-wipe-everyone-out kind. Tangible, earthly chances where He could have just walked away. This was the last one.

1:13:00
Look at how He embraces the cross, as if it were a friend. If only we had that attitude..."If any man be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." So, if you do that, where is Jesus going...to where are you following Him? To the cross. To Calvary.

1:18:30
The scene between Jesus and His mother...no words. As a parent, I can't imagine. Now consider our Heavenly Father's response, and what love it required to allow such a thing to happen in the name of an unworthy people's salvation.

1:22:20
Perfect illustration of substitutionary atonement. Simon saying "I'm innocent, and He is condemned." It was our guilt that caused it in the first place. "He became sin who knew no sin so that we might be called the children of righteousness."

1:31:05
Here's the crux of the whole thing..."No one takes my life from me. But I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down and power to take it up again."

1:32:08
Wow. Never noticed that before. After Simon helps lay the cross down, the soldiers tell him "You're free to go." Exactly. Who really belonged on that cross, on that hill, who really deserved that death? You. Me. Everyone.
As Mark Driscoll says, "He lived the life we could not live. He died the death we should have died."

1:34:30
Another great cinematic juxtaposition. Christ, in the upper room, pulling the cloth off the bread for that first communion, then cutting to Christ's body being exposed as the soldiers rip the clothes from Him, the Bread of Life.

1:39:45
Great camera shot. Jesus' blood dripping as, in the background, Mary Magdalene lies seemingly beneath it.

1:58:45
Ahhhh...the Resurrection. He is risen indeed. "You come looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified? He is not here. He is risen. Come see the place where He lay!"

Grace and peace...you must accept the first before you can have the second.

Grace. And Peace.

Comments? E-mail to CandidChristian@gmail.com, or use social media sites below...

The Passtion of the Christ: A Running Diary

So here's an experiment in 21st century evangelism.

But, first, the set up: each Good Friday, I watch The Passion of the Christ with my wife. When my daughters are old enough--they are 2 1/2 years and 17 months, respectively, so it will be awhile--they'll join in.

Now, we only watch the movie once a year. The reason is, I don't want to trivialize it. It's like the first scene of Saving Private Ryan. Remember the first time you saw it? Took your breath, right? Now, because it's one of my favorite movies, I've seen it quite a few times and that sense of shock and awe has gone away. I never want that to happen to The Passion of the Christ. That's why I'm not eating popcorn, not drinking a Coke, not doing anything that makes this movie anything akin to entertainment. That's not why I'm watching it. Indeed, I enter into it very prayerfully and very seriously. It's not scripture, but it is an artistic response to a literal event. Symbolism, if you will. And throughout history, as was pointed out in the Easter sermon this morning, God has used symbolism to point His people toward a spiritual truth. Think communion, baptism and other means of grace/spiritual ordinances.

I think this movie is no different. For those of you in Emmaus, you'll get the reference: I think this movie is a modern means of grace (at least it is for me) because it is a time when Christ is RE-presented to me through one person's artistic response to Jesus Christ's salvific sacrifice for human sin. Not only that, but watching the film is, for me, an act of worship.

Now, I'm home alone tonight. My wife and kids are out of town with my in-laws; I came back early because I'm not off work tomorrow and she is. Given that we didn't watch The Passion of the Christ on Good Friday, I'm watching it myself here. I'm properly "prayed up" and ready to go.

So, back to the experiment: I am writing a running diary of my watching the film while also providing real-time commentary on Twitter. It's an interesting experiment, I think. I'll both keep the diary on the blog as I watch and wait to publish them all when I'm finished. In the meantime, I'll be posting my initial thoughts on Twitter (which only allows 140 characters, so any deep exposition is impossible) before culling them together for a final running diary I'll post here an hour or so after the movie is finished.

Well, gotta run. I'm getting ready to push "play."

Praise God, for He is risen indeed: "You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here; He is risen. Come see the place where He lay."

Grace and peace...

Has the Notion of Sin Been Lost?

Great article on USA Today. Check it out, and I'll add some comments later. I have quite a few, and I'm sure a lot of you do, too.

How Would Jesus Vote? Black Liberation Theology

I certainly won't claim any expertise on the subject--or even a great amount of knowledge--but it's big news these days in light of Barack Obama's ties to Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago and its controversial former pastor, the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright Jr.

So, here's a piece from RedBlueChristian. I don't agree with all the suppositions or conclusions the blog makes--such as the assertion that liberation theology ceases to be Christian; I've long known it is, at best, presumptuous of me (a sinful but redeemed Christian) to make claims on others' relationship with Christ because/in spite of their theological bent and, at worst, it's arrogant to make such a claim. But this piece gives a good overview of the chatter among evangelicals in relation to the controversy.

I particularly like this statement, again, courtesy of RedBlueChristian:

"There have been numerous positive contributions by Black Liberation Theology of which Ron Rhodes of the Christian Research Institute highlights four.
(disclaimer: the Wikipedia entry for Black Liberation Theology contains no citations; take with a grain of salt, as its veracity cannot be independently verified)

1. It has served as a reminder that our theology must find practical expression in society if Christians are going to meet 21st century needs.
2. It reminds us that God is involved with His people in real life situations.
3. Focuses our attention on the need to reach out to others in the body of Christ who are suffering.
4. It has served as an indictment on racist views that have been all-too-present (but not always) among white people.

Note that the emphasis on the first point is mine: this is one of the key hallmarks of the emerging church movement, and I wholeheartedly agree with this missional focus on the 21st century Church in general and Christians in particular.

Also, I direct your attention to yesterday's "All Things Considered," which featured an interview with the new pastor of Trinity Evangelical Church of Christ, the Rev. Otis Moss III. It was, at times, an insightful interview. Give it a listen, and take a look at NPR's overview of Black Liberation Theology.

Grace and Peace...

Sorry folks...

...been very, very busy.

Stay tuned...

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Social bookmarking

From now on, you're going to start seeing this at the bottom of every blog entry:

If you're unfamiliar with social bookmarking, now is a good time to hop on the bandwagon and, in the meantime, you'll help drive traffic to my site each time you bookmark an entry on del.icio.us, Digg or Stumble, among others.

And the more people who come to this site, the more people who learn about Jesus...and that's the whole ever-lovin' reason the site exists.

The Emerging Church

Howdy folks. Hope you had a good Sunday, spent it worshiping God and are juiced to start your work week.

I just finished up listening to a pair of sermons/lectures from Mark Driscoll, the Gen X Billy Graham--think reformed theology and fundamentalism wrapped in a black T-shirt and with Snoop Dogg on the iPod. If you've read this blog for any length of time--or keep abreast of what's going on in the 21st century church as emerging generations take increasingly prominent roles in its adminstration and theological focus--then you know who Mark Driscoll is.

(You can read about him here, here, here and here, or visit his church's website here. And, yes, that's his picture right there.)

Now, Driscoll has steered away from the emerging church conversation in recent years, and I think a big reason for that is simple: he's too busy telling people about Jesus to spend his time wondering how others label his brand of Christian spirituality. After all, make no mistake about: Driscoll is a Jesus guy, through and through. Don't belive me? Watch his welcome video here.

His reluctance comes from another source, though: his personal friendships with some of the more radical voices in the emerging church movement...guys like Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt. He was involved with those guys a few years back, when the emerging church "conversation" really started picking up steam. He stepped away when certain of those guys got a little too radical. (McLaren, for instance, reportedly denies the existence of a literal hell, and downplays substitutionary atonement.)

At issue is the depth to which emerging church leaders are re-evaluating what it means to be a Christian in light of an increasingly post-Christian society. The Church, the clergy, lay Christians...none of these institutions or people, for whatever reasons (and the theories on those reasons are wide-ranging and diverse), engender the same amount of respect from mainstream society as they once did. Now, you combine that with a culture that has transitioned from modernism (a worldview that argues that man has the ability and responsibility to shape his own environment based on radical advances in science, technology, industry, art, etc.) to post-modernism (a worldview that takes into account a perceived collective disillusionment of in post-World War II society; thus, culture is devoid of any central structure and the result is collective ambiguity, a lack of truth, etc.), and throw in emerging generations that are bombarded with information, are savvy, are jaded...well, you can understand how muddy culture's waters have become. How else can you explain the fact that, among emerging generations (those in their mid-30s to twentysomethings and teens), Christians are generally regarded as ignorant, opinionated and narrow-minded rubes while Jesus Christ is upheld as a symbol of virtue and revered as a great man. Ashton Kutcher, after all, has a "Jesus is my Homeboy" shirt in his closet.

So, where does Jesus Himself fit into all of this mumbo-jumbo? That's the question emerging church leaders are asking in what is being defined as a "conversation" rather than a "movement." And the conclusions that are being reached are as varied as the culture in which we live.

Guys like Driscoll get it right: they understand that we simply can't rely on the same evangelical paradigms to get our message out. Sometimes it's as simple as having a worship band with a tattooed lead singer rocking out with a guitar instead of a robed choir operatically belting out "How Great Thou Art." Sometimes it's showing mainstream movies on a Friday night, then having a pastor give a review while pointing out the theological themes from, say, "Juno." (And, yes, there are theological themes in that movie.) Understanding and embracing (but not idolizing) popular culture is a means to an end, a pathway to conversation. If I can't speak with some comfort and knowledge about, say, which movie should have won the Oscar (and, yes, it should have been Juno, doggone it), then my ability to relate to society is greatly diminished. If all I know is MercyMe and Casting Crowns, but my non-believing friend is wearing a Nirvana T-shirt, how do I have any credibility? This is where the emerging church movement gets it right.

Look, guys like Driscoll aren't capitulating on core doctrine. Heck, he--and many, many other emerging church leaders--are as theologically conservative as Charles Stanley. It's just that Driscoll wears T-shirts in the pulpit, stands next to a power-point presentation, compares Jesus to UFC fighters and preaches in a sanctuary that looks like this instead of this.

A lot of good has come from the emerging church movement, and it's not just a matter of style. For instance, there is a renewed emphasis on being missional, on really putting your money where your mouth is. It's not enough to go to church on Sundays, guys like Driscoll are saying. It's time to get calluses on your hands for Jesus.

But, conversely, McLaren and the Emergent Village crowd are re-thinking everything, and that's where you start getting into trouble. Or, as Driscoll puts it,

"There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a Pride fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity."

So, rather than try, with my meager intellect and/or understanding, to point out the fallacies and problems of the more radical fringe of the emerging church, I'll let my boy Driscoll do it. You can watch his sermon on the emerging church, given to his congregation, by clicking here. Or, on that same page, you can download either the video or the audio, and listen at your leisure.

Want more? Download a lecture Driscoll gave to the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as part of its Convergent Conference last September (which I actually liked better than his sermon, mostly because he goes into greater detail into his involvement and subsequent withdrawal from his formal association with prominent emerging church leaders). You can hear/download that lecture by clicking here.

Read more about the emerging church movement by clicking here and especially here.

Links, links, and more links...

Don't Call Me Post-Conservative (Christianity Today)
A look at the future of the Conservative movement?

Born-Again Virgins Claim to Re-Write the Past (MSNBC)
Spiritually, it's true. Christ's forgiveness is unconditional.

The Paradox of Community (BuildingSmallGroups.com)
Confession: I know how important community is. Jesus talked about it. Paul talked about it. The book of Acts talks about it. Problem is, a lot of the time I'd just rather be alone. Sorry. It's true.

The Hunger Site
Just click and give. It's that easy. Charity for the lazy. (Not that service should be easy. Heck, most of the time it should be very, very hard. I believe God honors difficult service. But, still, wouldn't it be nice just to give from your desktop every once in awhile? With this site, you can.)

Ripple
One more way to make giving easy. I include this site because I have a Ripple button included on the right-hand side of the page now. So, every day and as often as you like, you can come here, to this site, and click on the Ripple button and give until your heart's content. If none of that makes sense, go to Ripple and see what I mean.

Jackson Pollack
No explanation for this site, sorry. Just head on over there and see. I promise: you'll have a blast.

Find Sounds
Ever wanted a site where you can find high-quality MP3s of chinchillas, an accordion, or a tea kettle? Hasn't everyone?

The Human Clock
What time is it? Find out here.

The Fallacy of Health and Wealth

Your thoughts? E-mail them to CandidChristian@gmail.com, or log onto Candid Christian Ministries on Facebook and post to the discussion board there.

Comment troubles

Thanks to Mister C on Pownce.com, I've realized why no one is commenting on the site: they can't! I've got a bug somewhere on the site, and my limited technical understanding of Web site management has me stumped.

So, I've got Blogger investigating for me, but until then allow me to propose two possible solutions:

1) Join Candid Christian Ministries on Facebook, and comment on the discussion board there; if you do, please notify me by e-mail to CandidChristian@gmail.com or directly through Facebook that you are agreeable to having your comments re-posted here

2) E-mail me either directly from CandidChristian.com or, again, to CandidChristian@gmail.com your comments, and I'll re-post here.

Also, I'm checking into possibly re-instituting a Tag-Board, but I'm doubtful I'll go that route because A) when I had a Tag-Board before, few people used it, and B) the Tag-Board kept getting spammed. Now, being in the Internet marketing business myself, that wasn't too big of a deal for me, but the problem was I couldn't be sure the spam ads didn't have questionable content, so I just got rid of it. If anyone is interested in commenting via a Tag-Board, I'll reconsider. Otherwise, until I get the comment ability fixed, I'm sticking to the previously mentioned solutions.

Grace and Peace...

What did Jesus mean?

After a meeting last night with friends from the Emmaus movement, I thought I'd start a new, non-political thread covering a scripture that was prominent in our meeting.

So, read John 14:12, and share your thoughts either here or on our Facebook group Candid Christian Ministries.

Cool new widget

Check out the new MSNBC Decision 08 leaderboard over on your right.

The Trans-gender movement: The debate

Based on this article from Christianity Today, we have a nice little thread going on over at Candid Christian Ministries on Facebook. I'm checking to see if anyone cares if I re-post the thread here, but for now, I'll just post my initial thoughts.

I think it's a huge issue, because many people have a hard time reconciling the image of God as loving and God as just. Most people embrace the former and forget the latter, and I think that leads to a lot of confusion and anger.

I'm going to purposely be diplomatic.I think the issue with the trans-genderism is that people say, "Hey, I was born this way. How, then, can God condemn me for the way He made me?" The answer? I don't know. If you accept the hypothesis that someone is born trans-gendered--and, right or wrong, many people do--then human logic says it doesn't make sense for God to condemn a system that He created. Therefore, the conclusion must be that God is accepting of human differences, including homosexuality, trans-genderism, etc.

The counter-argument is simple: man, loved by God, was created with free will, and free will and human nature is a volatile mix. It leads to violence, it leads to deception, it leads to greed. In short, humanity+free will=sin. The answer to that is, of course, the redemption to be found in Jesus Christ, and a person either chooses to accept or reject that redemption.

Regardless of that, I think the problem is that people involved in debate on this issue are operating under a different set of hypotheses, and believe that the final answer rests on how they frame the debate. There are three suppositions here:
1) Trans-gendered is a state into which one is born
2) Trans-gendered is a state that one chooses
3) Trans-gendered is, for some, a choice and, for others, a part of their humanity
The question is this: if one of those three options is correct at the expense of the other two, what does that say about God? If supposition #1 is true, does that mean God accepts trans-gendered people as they are? If #2 is true, does that mean God doesn't accept trans-gendered people? Or is God's perspective the same regardless of how we frame the debate?

Doomsday Vault

Would you participate in a place where humans could gather in the event of a global catastrophe? I don't think I would.

Now, that's not what the Doomsday Vault is all about, really, but it might be a first step toward such a place. Makes you wonder if the world's governments already have something of a Doomsday Vault for humans, not seeds.

Hmmm, let's see. Spend an indefinite time inside some underground labyrinth where who knows what kind of anarchy might rule, which of your loved ones would be there or just accept my fate and get a head start on eternity? I'd take the latter.

Suicide, you say? Nah...it's just realism. I think Jesus would understand.

Read about the Doomsday Vault here, then post your thoughts either here on on our Facebook group Candid Christian Ministries.

Church Super Bowl parties OK'd

Another interesting story here.

Post your comments, or join Candid Christian Ministries on Facebook.

Christianity Today: The Transgender Moment

Take some time and read this article, courtesy of Christianity Today. It's bound to spark some controversy, and I'm interested in what people think.

For those of you over on Facebook, we had a really good thread going about a recent New York Times article entitled "Evangelicals a Liberal Can Love." I'd love to duplicate that kind of debate here, on this site. So, please, take a look and post your comments. You can do so by clicking on the number next to the blog post title.

So, again, read this article, and I'd love to have your thoughts.

Check this out...

It's been awhile.

So, to make up for it, I hereby offer this fantastic link. I won't describe it, won't explain it, just offer it. And you will thank me.

Thoughts on a Friday

Fridays always feel so wonderful. I'm always full of optimism at the end of a work week, even if I still have work to do, which I undoubtedly do. But, still.

And, now, with the start of Lent, I'm certainly looking forward to celebrating the first Day of Grace and having a nice, steaming hot cup of coffee. Ummm, Starbucks.

SPEAKING OF LENT, anyone care to share their thoughts on what you are or are not surrendering? You'll have to leave a comment, because I had to get rid of the TagBoard, which kept getting spammed. Personally, I made the terrible, terrible mistake of giving up caffeine, which turns me each morning into a cross between The Incredible Hulk--seriously, I look like this every morning--and Bob Knight at a press conference.

JAMES HARLEMAN, the pastor of Mars Hill's Wedgwood Campus and the church's resident uber-geek, has some really great posts about some really great topics at his really great Cinemagogue blog. They are: "Captain America Gives Birth to a Darker Disciple," and "Bourne Again...and Again...and Again." They are both highly recommended reads although, really, you should just take the time and subscribe to his RSS feed and save yourself the trouble. Because once you read him once, you'll read him again.

HAPPY TRAILS to Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. He stepped aside earlier this week, paving the way for John McCain to get a headstart in campaigning against either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Stay tuned around here, because we'll be posting some more election coverage as we get closer. You know, because there's not enough campaign coverage as it is. You're welcome.

SPEAKING OF THE campaign, one of the better pieces I've read in a long time is this one, from New York Times' columnist Nicholas D. Kristof. I've got some thoughts on it myself, but they're kinda long (surprise, surprise), so I'll save them for another day.

AND, FINALLY, I've got some really cool news about the site. As soon as I get things ironed out, I'll post all the details. A hint? The site is about to get bigger and, hopefully, more relevant.

Have a good weekend. Grace and peace.

How Would Jesus Vote? (part five)

Our final candidate? It's MIKE HUCKABEE.

Mike Huckabee for President
(official site)

"My faith is my life - it defines me. My faith doesn't influence my decisions, it drives them. For example, when it comes to the environment, I believe in being a good steward of the earth. I don't separate my faith from my personal and professional lives. Real faith makes us humble and mindful, not of the faults of others, but of our own. It makes us less judgmental, as we see others with the same frailties we have. Faith gives us strength in the face of injustice and motivates us to do our best for 'the least of us.'"

The Issue: Faith and Politics
(Huckabee's official position statement)

Huckabee's Faith-Based Views Find Critics, Fans in Both Parties
(Washington Post)

Is Huckabee's Faith Too Strong for The White House
(Christian Post)

Mike Huckabee: Faith and Politics
(Religion & Ethics Newsweekly Q&A)

Is Huckabee Rapture Ready?
(The Huffington Post opinion piece)

Huckabee Claimed Jesus Supports Death Penalty
(Think Progress)

CNN profile page

MSNBC profile page

Fox News profile page

One Million Witnesses

This could be really, really something. Take a look at One Million Witnesses.

How You Can Help

The crisis in China regarding massive snowfalls is taking a heavy toll on that country's large orphan population.

If you have a heart for this mission, now is a good time to take action by visiting Half The Sky, a non-profit humanitarian group that is working to provide relief for the millions of children affected by the storms.

So, visit the site and, if you can, make a donation. After all, "when you have done it to the least of these, my brothers, you have done it to me."

WWJT, or What Would Jesus Twitter?

True story: I went out to get my mail the other day and as I came back in noticed someone had placed a small piece of paper into my door. So I grabbed it, brought it inside and took a look. Turns out, it was a tract telling me about Jesus and how He loves me and died for my sins and wants me to go to Heaven and be with Him for eternity. Good thing I didn't have any questions, because whoever left the tract there didn't bother knocking on my door and talking to me as a neighbor and friend. "Thank you, Jesus, for the courage to leave that tract behind. I sure hope that peron gets saved!"

I know, I know. Evangelism is hard. It takes guts to put yourself out there like that. Well, for some people it does. For others, it comes quite naturally. Then, there are people like this guy, who goes to the opposite extreme. Instead of putting a note on your front door, he'd just prefer to knock and then proceed to tell you that you're going to Hell. That's not exactly the best approach there either, pal, even if what you're saying is true.

I've always found the best way to start a conversation with someone about Jesus is to just be yourself. While I think it's true that post-modern culture is crying out for someone with the cojones to proclaim truth and stand by those convictions, it also wants people who are willing to engage culture and not be openly combative. Part of evangelical Christianity's problem is that far too often we are so focused on proving that we are right and everyone else is wrong that we miss the opportunity to engage in real dialogue and, therefore, show unbelievers we care about their life's experiences. Please, don't devalue that. Instead, just be who you are, point others to Truth and, because you have illuminated Truth, it allows Jesus to step in and begin transforming hearts and minds. That's His job. Ours is to pave the path for Him.

I think a great opportunity to do that, then, is to utilize the new paradigms that increasingly govern our culture--that is, social networks, the Information Age, new media--to spread The Gospel. It's all about starting a conversation and encouraging dialogue, and a wonderful way to do that is through online social networks. That's my niche as an evangelist, and my new career is opening greater opportuities for me to do that.

Indeed, my new gig at Vec3 has turned what was once a hobby--randomly perusing the Internet, blogging, tinkering with my own meager rest stop on the information superhighway--into something much more. Now I'm getting paid for it, which is sort of like waking up one morning and playing eight straight hours on my PS2...then getting paid for it. Not a bad way to bring home some bacon.

OK, so maybe I'm overstating things a little bit. It still is a job, after all and, yes, I'd rather play NCAA Football than spend four hours typing up an SEO report. But God has blessed me with a new career, more earning potential and the chance to learn a lot of really cool stuff.

So it's spilling over onto my site here and my evangelism efforts, not only because I'm meeting new people in real time but because I'm putting what I'm learning about search engine optimization and social media marketing to try to boost traffic to the site. The hope, then, is that by utilizing some internet marketing strategies, I can A) get more visitors to the site; B) get more people to read the stuff that's here and, as a result, C) come to know just who Jesus is and, when they do, decide to follow Him. (Here's a link that explains that spiritual process, if you happen to stumble across my little space here and want some nuts and bolts about this thing we call Christianity ... and, no, it's not about Benny Hinn, Jimmy Swaggart or Robert Tilton, for crying out loud. Stay away from those characters, and just stick to finding out about Jesus.)

Some of the tools of Internet evangelism, if you will, that I'm going to be utilizing is Twitter, Del.icio.us, Pownce and, of course, the biggies like MySpace and Facebook. There will be other sites, too, so stay tuned. So, if you're hip to all that stuff, join in and let's get some social networks started and tell more people about Jesus. It's an exciting new frontier for spreading The Gospel.

To that end, I've done some tweaking here. If you'll notice, there's some new graphics, some new links to social media sites (I'm hooked on Twitter and Pownce right now) and, yes, the Candid Christian guide to the 2008 presidential election. I try to stay away from politics as much as possible on this site, but it's too big an issue to ignore. The plan, then, is to compile some information about the major candidates and post them every two days, archive it all and, finally, I'm working on an editorial overview of the candidates. I doubt I'll push one person over the other--again, that's too polarizing and I don't want that--but there are a few things I'd like to say.

Oh, and by the way...yes, I realize that I didn't give Mitt Romney the same two days as the first post here as I did for Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton. Two observations: 1) it wasn't intentional, and 2) I'm not governed by equal time rules. Hey, we may promote democracy, but this weblog is a pure dictatorship. And it's good to be king.

(Notice that's in lower case? That's because I'm not The King.)

How would Jesus vote? (part four)

Is that Ronald Reagan? Nah, it's MITT ROMNEY.

Mitt Romney for President 2008
(official site)

"America cannot continue to lead the family of nations around the world if we suffer the collapse of the family here at home."

Mitt Romney's Evangelical Problem
(Washington Monthly, 2005)

Analysis: Romney Opens Up About Mormons
(Associated Press)

Mitt Romney: On the Issues
(OnTheIssues.org report)

Evangelicals for Mitt
(Ed. note: Looks like a group funded by the Romney campaign)

Mitt Romney's Jesus is Just as Good as the Leading Brand
(Chris Kelly blog on The Huffington Post)

Romney's Speech Strengthen Famed Theologian's Endorsement
(Christianity Today)

CNN profile page

MSNBC profile page

Fox News profile page