• New Bible and Theology Networking Site
• Become an Official Reclaiming the Mind Rep in Your Church
• Q and A About Starting The Theology Program in Your Church
• Odds and Ends, 03.07.08
• Theology Unplugged: What is the “True” Church #4

ShareThis

Unfortunately, I lost many emails from the last few days. If you emailed me recently, sorry, but it may be lost. Once saved always saved does now work in the computer world. Forgive me if it seems like I am ignoring you. I am not.

As well, blogging may be slow for a while. I am so increadibly busy with other ministry issues (talking to pastors about The Theology Program, training new employees, teaching, development of a new seeker program called “Credo”, etc) it was bound to slow down anyway. Besides, I have told you all everything I know . . . as well as some things I don’t know!).

Anyway . . . I am down in flames scrambling to find myself without my computer. My email is back up though!

Talk to you all soon!

• Friday Night Odds and Ends, July 27
• Six Characteristics to Look for in a Seminary
• The Problem of Pastoral Depression
• Financial Needs of Our Ministry
• Letter from Rhome

ShareThis

Featured blogs in the RMM blog ring:

A Dangerous Idea

Submerging Influence

Worship While its Warm

Theological Word of the Day

• Parchment and Pen Blog CD
• The Submerging Influence
• Undeniable Proof that Jesus is Not God
• Friday Night Odds and Ends
• New Reclaiming the Mind Blog

ShareThis

Andrew Faris, over at Christians in Context, gives advice for people to be thinkers, not trendy when it comes to politics.

“But it appears to me that going more liberal is thoughtlessly trendy. Thus the constant invocations of phrases like, “Would Jesus have been a Republican?” and the like. Maybe he would’ve, maybe not, but it’s really not that good of a question because of how limited his mission was.
 
. . . .
 
It’s edgy and hip to be an evangelical who challenges the Republican party. The fact that Obama is so compelling and McCain is sometimes so senile doesn’t hurt this. So do promises for universal health care and the end of an unpopular war.
 
But these are exactly the kinds of things that we have to think critically about, rather than just make moves on. Is the Iraq War really that bad? Don’t just say “yes” without giving me some good reasons why, and read some folks who think it isn’t. Is universal health care really that good of an idea? Tell me how it won’t sink the economy and end up backfiring in the process. Should we really give up on fighting abortion? Is Bush really not doing anything about Africa? Is the economy really in a recession, or just in a normal cycle? Is it really the government’s fault that gas is getting so expensive?

Read the whole thing.

• American Idol and Human Dignity
• Is Today’s Evangelicalism Retro-Fundementalism
• Calvinists often make the worst Calvinists
• God loves me, God loves me not . . .
• Update on my mother

ShareThis

“I am English. And if you’re reading this blog, it most likely means you’re not. A 86.36% chance to be exact (I checked the blog statistics ). So just so we’re on the same page, I thought it might be fun to give you my run down on the 6 things I find people get wrong about the English. I do apologise to any English readers that might be offended by falling into any of these spiffing categories. Tally ho!

1. All English people drink tea. Don’t get me wrong, I love tea! And so do most English people… but you rarely find any non-adult drinking it, it’s more of an aquired taste. Think of it like vegetables! Oh, by the way, Tea doesn’t come from England .

2. Our favourate food is fish and chips. Surprisingly enough we eat more curry than fish and chips. It’s just so much more interesting and exotic that way! By chips I of course mean ‘fries’.

3. We all speak either like John Cleese or Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins. Don’t get me wrong there are some (not that many) who speak like this. But for the most of England we have too many different accents to count. I come from a town called ‘Darlington’ (which, by the way, invented railways and trains) with a population just over 100,000 and I wouldn’t be able to count the amount of different English accents on one hand… never mind the fact we have plenty of Polish, Indian, Asian, Irish, Scotish, etc. people living here aswell.”

Read the rest.

• What If We Found The Original New Testament But Did Not Know It?
• Why Christianity Cannot be the Religion that Jesus Preached: An illustration of question begging
• A Week on Lesbos in Search of… Manuscripts
• Parchment and Pen Presents: Through Theology in a Year
• The Nature of Textual Variants

ShareThis

“Prominent evangelicals urged Christian conservatives Wednesday to support “an expansion of our concerns beyond single-issue politics,” angering some leaders on the religious right who have been closely allied with the Republican Party.

In a 19-page document called “An Evangelical Manifesto,” more than 70 theologians, pastors and others said faith and politics have been too closely mixed. They warned against Christians adopting any one political view.”

Here is the list of the steering committee:

Timothy George
Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

Os Guinness
Author/Social Critic

John Huffman
Pastor, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, CA
Chair, Christianity Today International

Rich Mouw
President, Fuller Theological Seminary

Jesse Miranda
Founder & Director, Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership, Vanguard University

David Neff
Vice President and Editor in Chief, Christianity Today Media Group

Richard Ohman
Businessman

Larry Ross
President, A. Larry Ross Communications

Dallas Willard
Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern California
Author

“James Dobson, founder of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, reviewed the document and was invited to sign it, but did not, said Gary Schneeberger, a spokesman for Dobson. Dobson consulted the group’s board of directors — a common practice — and the board agreed he shouldn’t sign “due to myriad concerns about the effort,” Schneeberger said.”

“One of the things that disappointed Dr. Dobson was that when the manifesto was initially circulated, no African-American pastors or theologians were on the invite list,” Schneeberger said. “His thinking was, ‘How can this purport to represent the voice of evangelicals when people so vital to who we are as a movement are excluded from involvement?’” . . .

“Janice Shaw Crouse, director of the Concerned Women for America’s Beverly LaHaye Institute, said the manifesto was “blurring the distinctions between liberal and conservative” and would confuse Christian voters about the issues that are most important: opposition to abortion and gay marriage.

Jerry Newcombe, a senior producer of the conservative Christian TV show “The Coral Ridge Hour,” said the manifesto creates a “straw man” by portraying some evangelicals as intolerant and seeking to create a theocracy.”

“Separate polls have found that many non-Christians have negative views of today’s Christians, saying they are too judgmental and political.

Our problem is not mislabeling by the press or rebranding because we have a bad image,” said Os Guiness, an evangelical scholar and a drafter of the document, which was released in Washington. “The problem is reality. Much of evangelicalism is not evangelical.”

Interesting. I will probably have more to say about this later.

• Evangelical Manifesto
• Evangelical Manifesto - Part 2
• Greg Koukl - Emerging Church and Christians in Government
• Reclaiming the Mind to Join Stand to Reason for an Alaskan Cruise!
• Do Mormons believe “that Jesus was fully God”?

ShareThis

In conclusion he writes:

“Before we go challenging theological expression hammered out over centuries of reflection, let us take pause to see that sometimes theological propositions do matter and do well summarize key themes in Scripture. Understanding and appreciating why such expression is there and people cared to express this way might actually help us in our own desire to walk in the ways of God, even as fresh ways of thinking might also help us grow.”

• Theology is the pursuit of truth, not prejudice
• Am I Emerging?
• Would the Real Emerger Please Stand Up? Part 3 - An Emerging Definition of “Emerging”
• The Scent of a Man
• The Future of Justification: A Review (Part 1)

ShareThis

A: Let me ask you a question: If you broke your arm in an accident, do you think your friend would claim it was a sin for you to have a broken arm, and all you needed to do was pray? I doubt it.

Neither is it a sin for you to seek treatment for a chemical imbalance in your brain. The Bible says that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) - and it’s true: Our bodies and minds are very complex. Although doctors can’t solve all our problems, we should be grateful that God has enabled them to understand more about our bodies and minds, and has given them new ways to overcome many of our problems. Don’t feel that you are somehow sinning by seeking treatment for your depression; it would be wrong for you not to seek treatment.

Don’t misunderstand me, however. God has given us the gift of prayer, and prayer should be an important part of your life as you struggle with this problem. Through prayer we draw near to God, and the closer we get to Him, the more we will realize that He loves us and wants to help us.

Make sure of your commitment to Christ, and then ask Him to guide you as you seek treatment. In addition, let God’s promises saturate your mind and heart. The psalmist wrote, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? … Put your hope in God” (Psalm 42:5).

(Source)

• The Problem of Nominal Christianity
• How to be a child of God forever?
• Are You a Misfit in the Church? What is Wrong with You?
• Pump Up the Volume?
• Tension in Calvinism - tension in the Christian faith

ShareThis

Iron Man is one of the best superhero movies ever made. I kid you not. Most of you have never heard of Iron Man, I know. Think Batman, just funny and cocky. Tony Stark (Iron Man) has all the money of Bruce Wayne (well, that is debatable), but transfer the brains of Bruce (yes, I am on first name basis, so?) from the detective sphere to the technical genius sphere. Now you have Tony Stark, ready to be a superhero.

The special effects were out of this world, but they were different. They focused on the suit of Iron Man as well as the computer technology used to build the Iron Man suit. You will be impressed.

The layout of the movie is genius. There is nothing overdone, and the story is laid out perfectly, helping you to understand everything you need to know about Tony Stark and why and how he becomes Iron Man. This movie has enough of the chills/this-is-so-cool-I-think-I-am-going-to-cry-factor that you will say, “And why didn’t I know about Iron Man?”

This movie was almost too believable. I really think if this pastor/theologian thing does not work out I will become Iron Man. Seriously.

As of today, it is experiencing the pleasure of being the highest fan rated movie EVER at Boxofficemojo. Incredible!

Seventy times seventy stars.

• Rocky, you did it!
• Screwtape Letters Movie!!
• New Intelligent Design Movie
• Florida Passes Academic Freedom Act with Regard to Evolution
• A Little Time off and My Coming Appearance on Dr. Phil

ShareThis

Ouch. I wish he would not have gone to a John Hagee anything to see what we were all about.

One blogger writes: “I wish Taibbi had picked a more “normal” congregation to go undercover in, but an experience in your average non-charismatic megachurch probably would not make for as good a story. The problem with this stuff is twofold: a) it makes us all look like idiots, and b) it will not do to pretend this isn’t widespread.”

(HT: TakeYourVitaminZ)

• What is Sin? A simple definition
• What has Become of Evangelicalism? An Evangelical’s Lament
• Converse with Scholars? Do we need to?
• John Calvin: Love Him or Hate Him?
• Determine your tradition

ShareThis

1. Practice writing. Writing is a skill just like anything else. The more you do the better you get. The ability to formulate ideas and thoughts in a concise and understandable way is a foundational facet of our civilization that I seek to improve in. The truth is though I don’t have that many great things to say (if ever), so I usually point to great things that others have said. But when I do choose write my own thoughts I find that this a valuable process to hone the skill of writing.

2. A place to document my thoughts. Oftentimes I don’t know how I feel about an issue until I actually articulate it in a way that someone else could read and understand (as I am doing right now). It forces me to think specifically and concretely about something as opposed to just have this amorphous blob of thinking about an issue rolling around in my brain. In terms of documentation, I also have a blog all about my kids that tracks their development. It functions like a baby book but better because I can upload pictures, videos and write out quickly and easily things that they said or did that we’ll want to remember in 20 years. For certain, grandparents who live hundreds of miles away greatly value this blogging.

Read the rest.

(There’s a link for you Zach )

• A State of the Union Concerning Christian Blogging
• Top Ten Signs You are Taking this Blogging Thing Too Far
• My Computer Crashed
• Christian Blogging 101
• Emergers on Hell and Judgment

ShareThis

• Screwtape Letters Movie!!
• Expelled: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design - A Review
• For those of you who like superheros
• Rocky, you did it!
• New Intelligent Design Movie

ShareThis

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/aprilweb-only

• Christianity Today Articles on Greek Manuscripts Found in Albania
• New Testament Manuscripts Discovered in Albania
• Manuscript Discoveries from Summer 2007 Expeditions
• CSNTM, Text Criticism, and Patmos
• News Release: Update on the New Testament Manuscript Find

ShareThis

Here is a few of the points he made:

“1. Don’t just say, “Jesus was about self-sacrificial love, so war is wrong.” This argument is totally oversimplified, and, as I’ve tried to say above, is bad systematic theology. Of course, I know systematic theology has fallen on hard times, but you have to reckon with the whole counsel of Scripture on this issue. There’s just no way around that.

2. If you do use the “Jesus was about self-sacrificial love” argument, develop it better. Do not just say it and leave it at that. Christian pacifists certainly can appeal to Jesus to argue their point, but not if it is this simplistic. Be thoughtful.

3. Related to the first two, if you are a Christian pacifist, please explain the God-ordained slaughters of the Old Testament. Tell me what pacifism amounts to exactly (was every war in history necessarily evil, or is it only all war now that is necessarily evil?). Further, if you are a Christian just war theorist, tell me how I as a Christian could shoot someone who I am supposed to love and forgive unconditionally. There are difficult questions for both sides, and they should not be written off.

4. Don’t start with the Iraq War- there are just too many ins and outs not related to just war theory itself. Start with the theory of a potential just war, attack or defend it, then apply those results and other thoughtful criteria to the Iraq War specifically.”

Read the rest here. Welcome Andrew. Good to see you blogging!

• Fred Sanders on Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective
• Grace and Humility Together: An Illustration
• Still a Christian . . . and Republican
• How to be a child of God forever?
• In Defense of Sola Scriptura - Part Four - What Did John Believe?

ShareThis

This is an opportunity for you to let your light shine here at the Parchment and Pen Blog. On Friday evening, we will post select submissions from you, our readers.

Rules:

Submissions must be 500-3000 words in length. There is room here, but don’t push it. Violations of this will be rejected.

Submissions must be posts that are original with you. No copyrighted material. Any violation of this will result in your privilege to submit being removed.

While you can promote your own blog, site, books, etc. please don’t make this the purpose of the post. If we sense that it is, then your submission will be immediately rejected.

Submissions must be irenic in tone, meaning that you are not disrespectful to any party. If you wish to engage and idea or person behind an idea, do so with great respect. Disagreements are welcome (you can even counter a P and P author), just do so with gentleness and respect.

Please understand that we will not chose all submissions, even if they do meet the guidelines. Yours may not be selected.

If you post on our blog, you will be responsible for responding to comments and keeping your post on track.

If you agree to adhere by these rules, this may prove to be a great opportunity for you and for us to benefit from your insights.

Submit your post in the lower left.

• Parchment and Pen Blog CD
• What Part of Gentleness and Respect Don’t You We Understand?
• General Blog Comments and or Questions
• And the winner is . . . Lisa Robinson
• Best of 2007

ShareThis