Protestants, Playboy and Penthouse

Umm, pretty sure this isn't what the Apostle Paul meant when he talked about engaging culture.

Multi-Media Monday

You gotta love Johnny Cash

Brian McLaren AP interview

My state newspaper (the Charleston Gazette--warning: terrible functionality) ran an Associated Press interview with Brian McLaren on Saturday, which is great because here, in West Virginia, the level of understanding about emerging trends in church and worship are, at best, woefully understood and, at worst, represent a complete ignorance.

As always, I find myself disagreeing with the guy on a bunch of things (am I consciously looking for things to disagree on, or really listening with an open mind? I hope the latter), so I think I'll sit down and churn out a few words about it tonight.

Grace and Peace...

BlogCarolinas Social Media/Web 2.0 conference

Spending a few days in Raleigh, North Carolina, to learn more about promoting my online presence/reputation and to see what implications it could have for 1) Internet evangelism/ministry and 2) the new career God has blessed me with. Can't wait to get back to blogging on a regular basis when I get back.

Grace and Peace...

The Christian Paradox

I found this piece recently, even though it's from a nearly three-year-old edition of Harper's. Don't know how I missed it at the time. Glad I found it now.

So take a look. Share your thoughts. Stay tuned.



I welcome all comments. Feel free to comment on-page, or e-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com.

Multi-Media Monday

Let's be a little light-hearted today, shall we? Not sure about you, but I definitely need it.

Oh, and don't forget: if you haven't taken the Evangelical Attitudes survey, please do so.


I welcome all comments. Feel free to comment on-page, or e-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com.

Evangelical Attitudes: A Candid Christian Survey

This is a blatant rip-off of this month's issue of Relevant magazine, the cover story of which asks about "7 Burning Issues: Injustice, War, Consumerism, Faith, Culture, Politics and Gay Rights--You Asked the Questions, We Found Answers."

I thought it was an incredibly compelling piece, so much that I wanted to do my own survey of some of the issues that's facing the 21st century church in an increasingly post-Christian society. It's something that's of particular interest in my area; West Virginia and the rest of Appalachia certainly lags behind in terms of socio-cultural trends, and the emerging church conversation has yet to reach the hills and valleys where I live. And that's a shame, because the same cultural and societal attitudes that are driving the conversation exist here as they do elsewhere, it's just that we aren't reaping the benefits of what might arise from the emerging church conversation. That's why one of my goals through this blog is to encourage more dialogue about post-modern culture and Christianity here in Appalachia in general and West Virginia in particular.

So, I would ask that you join the conversation, no matter where you're from or who you are. Answer these poll questions, leave a comment, drop me an e-mail. Let's see what there is to learn, and how we can teach others about Jesus.

Grace and Peace...
















I welcome all comments. Feel free to comment on-page, or e-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com.

Comments are Back!

All this time, and it took just one measly little line of code to fix a problem that's been plaguing me for months.

For any return readers, you'll know that I wasn't able to have any comments on my blog for some time after modifying the code in my blog template. Turns out, all I need to do is add a little line of Javascript as a solution.

It's not a long-term fix; I don't like the way it looks and/or operates. But it is a fix for now.

Hope you'll all consider commenting on the site and get some dialogue going.

Grace and Peace...

I welcome all comments. Feel free to comment on-page, or e-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com.

Multi-Media Monday (on a Wednesday)

If you're just joining the program, used to be I'd have a different theme for each day. Mondays were for audio and video (hence, Multi-Media Monday...I've always loved alliteration. Back in my newspaper days, I wrote, much to the consternation of my boss, the headline "Copper Crook Costs County Cash in Coal Crime"). On Tuesdays and Fridays I would posts original content, Wednesdays were for links and on Sundays I'd wrap up the week's spirituality news.

I said all of that because I'd like to get back to posting darn near every day, and I think getting back to thematic posts is the way to do it. Keeps it fresh and (hopefully) interesting. Of course, I've probably written this same post in the past, so take it for what it's worth.

In the meantime, check out this video of the cutest, smartest and most spiritual-minded two-and-a-half-year-old little girl in the world. And just because she's my daughter doesn't mean it's not true. It just means I'm not objective.

Grace and Peace...



I welcome all comments. E-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com.

How Would Jesus Vote? Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright

I couldn't care less where Barack Obama goes to church, or who is pastor is. I do care what Obama thinks and believes...but they aren't necessarily the same as what Jeremiah Wright thinks and believes. (Speaking of that, check out this video. I think I'll keep a running diary of it and post here and on Twitter either tonight or tomorrow. Great, great stuff in this video, and another side of a man many of us only know from soundbites.)

My question is this: Did Jeremiah Wright really refuse to affirm Christ as the only way to God at today's meeting with the National Press Club in Washington? If so, it means Wright's beliefs are part of a troubling trend in the 21st century, post-modern church.

Wright, Brian McLaren and others of their ilk apply a rigid standard to Jesus' actual words when it comes to His stance on social justice. I applaud that. Further, I wholeheartedly agree that we, as Christians, have put far too little emphasis on that aspect of our faith, focusing instead on our own spiritual development at the expense of those outside the often country club-like atmosphere of white, suburban, middle-class congregations. Might I, however, submit that those more philsophically on the left are just as guilty as narrowly defining what Christ said and meant as those on the philosophical right?

Why can't those emergent, post-modern "evangelical" leaders apply that same standard to everything Jesus said?

Well, guess what...Jesus also said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. NO ONE comes to the Father EXCEPT through ME." (emphasis mine)

It works both ways, folks.

I welcome all comments. E-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com.

Manic Monday

CandidChristian.com ... helping people put off work since 2006. Yes, that's right--time for some links.

Major Religions Ranked by Number of Adherents
Did you know there are more followers of Rastafarianism in the United States than there are Scientologists? Me neither.

Early Christian Writings
Apocrypha, Gnostic gospels, writings from Ptolemy and Marcus Aurelius. We're not talking about the Word of God, but it's interesting enough.

Metaphysics
I loved philosophy class in college ... I just wish my mind worked that way and I could pontificate on humanity's great questions. Glad there are people to do it for me.

I Am a Zombie Filled with Love
Bizarre story. Why did I think it was great? (Spoiler: this is much, much more than a story about a zombie falling in love...if you think that's all it is, you're missing something.)

The Brick Testament
God's Word ... told in Legos.

Fun with Legos
Two Lego links in one post?

Have a great week. Talk to you soon.

I welcome all comments. E-mail feedback to CandidChristian@gmail.com.

No Tags for Jesus

Proposed Christian license plate hits roadblock.


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.

Earth Day and Baptists

What do Southern Baptists and Leonardo DiCaprio have in common? They both care about good environmental stewardship. Politics make strange bedfellows indeed.

Arguably the most conservative of mainstream evangelical demoninations, some Southern Baptists have jumped on board with green issues, embracing societal change in an effort to avoid what many seem to think is a planetary crisis.

It's called the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative, and demoninational pastors, leaders and lay persons are urging members of the denomination to not only sign a statement of support, but also to live both holy and green.

This is earth-shattering (as always, pun is intended). We're not talking Unitarians here. These are not members of the United Church of Christ. Southern Baptists, as a whole, are more George Bush than Ted Kennedy. And the Southern Baptist Convention, by all accounts, is the largest evangelical Christian denomination in America. (You can check out the stats from Barna.)

Two observations here. First, this is further evidence that environmental issues have gone mainstream. The first Earth Day was in 1970. Back then, there were exactly three people who celebrated it: Ed Begley Jr., Al Gore and maybe a hippie living in a California commune named Moonbeam. That's it. Now, even Southern Baptists are going green, for crying out loud. Who's next, James Dobson?

Second, it's another example of 21st century evangelicals understanding the need, within carefully and prayerfully defined limits, to engage modern culture on its terms. I know I sound like a broken record about this sometimes, but engaging culture isn't a bad thing, so long as that engagement doesn't equal relativism. I'm not going to hell because I'm wearing a Pearl Jam T-shirt right now, or because I'd rather go to Bonnaroo than Icthus this summer.

I once heard a Penecostal preacher deliver a sermon to a Freewill Baptist congregation. He was brilliant in the way he bridged what some would consider too vast a doctrinal chasm. He explained that if the two camps, Penecostals and Freewill Baptists, were to rank, in order, their theological positions from the most important to the (perhaps) trivial, they would find complete harmony until, oh, position #32 or so. Why, then, is there any discord? Don't Arminian and Calvinist Christians both love--and serve--the same Jesus?

We can apply that same standard here, but with a twist. Let's say we were to list those positions we, as Christians, hold most dear as opposed to those of non-believers, with the difference being we started with the trivial first. At what point would we find a gulf that cannot be spanned? Issue #100? 1,000? Yes, Christ alone is God. Yes, He alone is the path to salvation. But is using one of those funky lightbulbs really a cause for concern for Christians? Should I pray for my next-door neighbor's receptiveness to the Gospel in the same breath that I pray he'd trade in his Prius for a Hummer? I dare say we have more important issues, as Christians, to focus our energies on--like evangelizing, like social justice, like showing Christ's love in our actions--than chastising someone for a political position that may or may not illustrate that person's love of the creation at the expense of The Creator? And I know that's a very real fear. Scripture talks about it. I get it. Might I submit, however, that the dude down the street who only eats organic foods, rides his bike to work and doesn't leave the water running while he brushes his teeth might be more receptive to hearing about Jesus if we run into each other down at the recycling center? Even if I don't buy the whole global warming thing, doesn't that have some value? Is that not showing Christ's love?

So, even if you think the polar ice caps aren't melting, head on over to the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initative website and sign the doggone thing.

If the perpetual question is What Would Jesus Do, I think He'd separate His paper and plastic.

(Read more about the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative here, here and here.

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.

Gorging on Jesus

Kudos to Winn Collier for another winner (sorry, couldn't help myself) of a blog post over at Relevant. Exactly the sort of thing that's on my mind. Read it here.

(A quick sidebar: Relevant is quickly becoming my favorite mag. It's the one I increasingly find myself waiting with baited breath when it's about time for it to show in the mailbox. Great, great publication. There is all sorts of stuff I want to address in the latest issue. More on that later. I digress.)

God’s been really hitting me with this stuff lately. Consumer addiction. Man, that hits home. I’ve been reading “A Celebration of Discipline,” and the chapter on prayer deals with this very issue. In it, Richard Foster admonishes us against praying “Thy will be done.” Sounds strange that someone would fail to pray that. Heck, I’ve been doing it my whole life. Pray it when the kids are sick, when I’m stressed at work, when the car breaks down. Why? Jesus prayed it, right?

But the point Foster makes is that when we are in tune with Him, we are in tune with His will. And when we are in tune with His will, how can we pray anything but His will? This piece touches on that, saying that when we have consumer addiction and when wants and desires form the basis of our idolatry, “we baptize our every whim and desire in the name of me.” Whew. Powerful stuff. And convicting.


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.

I Am Not A Good Person

My daughter talked to God today. As far as I'm aware, it's the first time she's done so without being prodded. She's not yet three years-old.

The impetus of her piety was a cracker. She was eating a saltine and, lifting it to the ceiling of our dining room, she offered it to God.

'I love you, God. We love you. I love you for my cracker.'

Today I consumed, in order, two cups of coffee; one pancake; a half a cup of scrambled eggs; two more cups of coffee; two freshly made bowls of cheddar and potato soup; two chunks of beer-batter bread; a small glass of cola; a bowl of cooked pasta with tomato sauce; another chunk of that bread; a saltine; a glass of something called 'prickly pear cooler;' and, later, I'll probably have some popcorn and another can of cola. I'll take a hot shower and brush my teeth. If I have a headache or my back hurts, I'll take some Advil. I'll climb into bed in a warm room with clean sheets. I may or may not sleep well, but in the morning I'll wake up and head to church without any fear of religious persecution. Indeed, my culture values religion to the point that I'm considered a more solid citizen for being religious. On Monday, I'll go to work where, with my wife's income, I make enough money to pay for two cars, a house in the suburbs, two vacations a year and a wardrobe of clothes voluminous enough that I could go two, maybe three weeks and never wear the same outfit twice. My two girls are healthy, never miss a doctor's appointment. I don't worry about malnutrition, malaria, disease.

Christ tells me to love others as myself. He made it a commandment, on par with not killing people and staying true to my wife. I say I care about others, but I don't. Not really. Near my house there's an Interstate overpass under which a man sleeps. I pass by his makeshift bed every day and do nothing. I give a little cash to charity--my wife hopped online during American Idol recently and gave our credit card number to the tune of $20, supposedly to help feed African children--and there's this little girl's picture on our fridge who lives in El Salvador; we give her a little money too, but not very much. A Christian radio station gets a few bucks. Our church does, too. But that's it. That's all. I smile, act like a good follower of Jesus, tell co-workers about Him and hope, when I face Him in a few years, that He conveniently forgets how callous I was with the life He gave me.

There's a story in the Bible. It's kinda famous. A rich dude comes to Jesus and wants to know what He can do to make it to Heaven. Jesus tells him to give everything he has to the poor and follow Him. That's it. No qualifiers. No disclaimers. Just that simple. And the man couldn't do it.

What if Jesus meant what He said? What if He means what He says right now?

'If any man would be my disciple, He must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.' That's Jesus. That's what He said. That's what He meant. That's what He means. I say I want to be His disciple. I say that I am. But do I really? Am I really? Oh, I'm redeemed, saved, sanctified...whatever you want to call it.

But am I His disciple? Or am I just pretending to be?

I have all that I need. I have most of what I want. Yet there are people, not thousands of miles away, but right here, in my community, who face terrible need, terrible suffering. Who will be Jesus to them? It won't be me...I've already proven that.

Yet here is my daughter, fresh and innocent, standing before a God she knows is there, offering up a simple saltine in thanksgiving. I am humbled by that simple act of piety, and ashamed that my own doesn't properly extend to a true understanding of what it means to boldly live my faith.

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.

My Voki

Get a Voki now!

How Long Could You Survive in the Vaccum of Space?

Created by OnePlusYou

How Would Jesus Vote? Barack Obama (two)

National Public Radio.

How Would Jesus Vote: More John McCain

Interesting story over at Baptist Press. Check it out.

Internet Evangelism Day

Got this post in my inbox and thought I'd pass it along.

Churches to Hold Web Focus Day April 27
"How can we use this new-fangled Internet thing to share the gospel?" Christians are asking. A worldwide "web evangelism focus day" is helping to provide answers. Sunday, April 27, has been designated as Internet Evangelism Day. Churches can download free materials from the Internet Evangelism Day website. These materials make it easy for churches to create a short presentation about online outreach on or near that Sunday. A PowerPoint, video clip testimonies, drama scripts, music and handouts can be used to create their own customized program lasting from one minute to 50.

Church leaders who have already used these materials are excited. "This is a huge help for small churches such as ours," writes a church leader from California.

The Internet Evangelism Day team emphasizes that web evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. "There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical background at all," says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.

Christian leaders are also enthusiastic: "I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day," says Dr. John Stott.

Churches can start planning their focus day now. More information is available athttp://ied.gospelcom.net/index.php

Free Church Website Tool Released
The people behind Internet Evangelism Day also provide year-round resources about online outreach. The ministry explains many ways that Christians can share the good news, including through church websites. Churches often find it difficult to create a site that will engage with outsiders in their area, and find themselves asking, ""How can our church website help us reach out into our community?"

A new online tool released by IE Day provides churches with a free 15-page evaluation report. Users assess their own website by answering 55 simple questions. Their customized report is immediately displayed online, ready to print or save. The report's recommendations are tailored with specific practical suggestions, based on the questions that were ticked. View the evaluation tool here: http://ied.gospelcom.net/church-site-design.php

A church site which has been prioritized for non-Christian visitors can be remarkably effective in reaching the community. "Week in, week out, more visitors turn up at our church on a Sunday because of the website, than anything else," writes one growing church in London.
The tool also provides the parable 'A Tale of Two Golf Clubs' (which is available to republish) to illustrate the principles of effective church websites: http://ied.gospelcom.net/golf-parable.php

Church leaders have welcomed this new resource. "This competent evaluation tool provides a valuable service to churches that will help them strengthen their effectiveness in outreach through the Internet," says Dr. Sterling Huston, director of North American Ministries for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Gary McClure of LifeWay Ministries agrees, saying, "This checklist is an invaluable tool to identify critical areas for improvement. Every church should study this regularly and act on it!"