Enter your favorite blog into the list for a chance that it gets added to the Reclaiming the Mind Theological Toolbar.

This toolbar, from what I understand, has become the most popular theological toolbar on the net, providing people with instant and easy access to what we believe to be the best theological resources, including blogs, websites, and podcasts.

There are many things to come, including a project that we have been working on for six months that will have links to hundreds of the best Christian scholars, connecting you with them and their resources instantly.

However, there have been so many request that other blogs be included in the “Christian Portal.” I understand that I don’t have exhaustive knowledge on the blogs that are out there, that is why I am opening it up to you. Get as many people as you can to vote for a blog of your choice, and there is a good chance we will add it!

Good qualifying factors:

1. Posts are frequently updated.
2. Posts are of good quality.
3. Brings up good issues.
4. Solid theological posts.
5. The blogger wants to increase visibility (remember, this will increase visibility significantly)

Help me out here. What blogs do you want to see in the toolbar?Similar Posts:

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Included:

• Online Bibles Sites
• Bible Study Software
• Christian History
• Theological Sites
• Built in MP3 with the entire Theology Program fed into it.
• Easy to access RSS feed to the must read Theological Blogs (P&P included of course)
• Google search engine
• and more…

It is very clean. Check it out.

Similar Posts:

• Theological Toolbar Contest – Get a Blog Added
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• Friday Night Odds and Ends, July 13
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2. The IRS says I owe them $2000 in back taxes! From 2005. What is up with that? I think I know where they got it wrong, but I don’t have the ability or time to research and get a hold of all the documents and testimonies (not to mention having a company change a 1099 that they won’t change). So I just paid it today. There went my return.

3. Something about me you did not know: I am the best break-dancer on the planet. I can do it all and I just keep getting better. Sure, no one has done this since 1982, but I am just waiting for it to come back! On a mission trip in Romania, while hanging out in the street, I noticed that the kids were break dancing! (They are a little behind.) I went to show these kids how it is really done. The kids were so excited that they called all their friends. Before I knew it there were almost a hundred neighborhood kids all watching “the crazy American.” Then their parents came to see what was going on. Then the news station. Next thing you knew I was giving the Gospel to a very large crowed of people! When I got back to the Baptist church where I was serving, the leadership pulled me aside and said, “We don’t dance here. It is not right.” That was all! Sigh . . .

4. Pop-Evangelicalism Gone Really Bad:

Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

Can you believe it? Jesus on a galaxy? I about fell apart laughing when he told everyone to open their eyes. That was too funny.

5. How do I sinfully waste time sometimes? Playing Texas hold’em.

6. Update on mom: Mom has not recovered much from her stroke. She still just sits in the same chair watching the same movies over and over. She can’t talk or walk. Please keep praying for her and for my dad. Bill and Brenda Patton.

7. Blog plug. Shane Vaner Hart, Caffeinated Thoughts

8. The new Star Trek movie comes out May 8, who is with me?!!!

9. The Theological Word of the Day gets over 12,000 views a day! I did not expect it to take off so much in less than a year. Too bad I can’t spell. Luckily, I have people who correct it, but not until it has gone out through the feed.

10. If you get this blog by email feed, it does not show who the author is. Sometimes it is not me, so check. I get a lot of email responses for other people’s posts.

11. Book I am reading: Leaving the Fold. The author is a psychologist who helps people leave religion. She hold seminars with support groups. Interesting book, but basically has the same conceptions that are part of this same ilk. Her grip is with a very legalistic form of Christianity. She attacks it the whole time. It is not really fair, but, truthfully, it is the only form of Christianity that many people know. Sigh . . .

12. An actor that I really like: Vin Diesel. He is just cool for some reason. Almost as cool as your truly.

13. Exercise tip: There is not really a best cardio machine. Anything that gets your heart rate up consistently for 20 minutes a day is good. If you want to lose weight, go for more than 30 minutes consistently (no breaks). Your body does not start using fat calories until you have gone for more than 30 minutes. (Some say 20, but let’s be safe). (I was a fitness trainer for 8 years in the 90s.)

14. Glen Beck scares me. (I mean in a Christian sort of way.)

15. Mundane desire: I want a KX 250 dirt bike. I have wanted one since I was 15. Some day when I am rich. I drive by the Kawasaki store all the time and dream.

16. Going to teach a six week course on Apologetics at Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City starting in four weeks. Wed nights at 6:30. You are welcome to come. It is free.

17. Yes, I am a an Untouchable.

18. Where I would like to live if I did not live here: Colorado Springs.Similar Posts:

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First, I went to an evangelical high Anglican church. I was wanting to see something a little more traditional. Plus, according to the latest news about red wine and health, I needed a shot of the real thing. It was a rewarding experience. It was also interesting to be at a church that was not to concerned about whether I was there or not. There were no greeters at the door, no one really noticed when I came in, and they did not say anything to me as I left. This is not a criticism, but just an observation. They did not let anything take them away from their reverential service in which things were done in a particular order. Because of this, it was not a primary purpose to fill the pews with guests. If a guest came in, great. They could stay and worship, but they were not going to do back flips and moonwalk for anyone but Christ.

Next, I went to a church that was just the opposite. It was a popular non-denominational Evangelical associated church. It was much more alluring in its style, having a much more amplified voice with regards to recognizing newcomers. From the moment we got in the parking lot, there were signs welcoming us along with parking lot attendants waving. These guys were so enthusiastic you would think that they had been trained at Disney World. The signs pointed to valet parking for first time guests. I would have taken them up on the offer, but pride always rules (oh . . . and then there is that awkward feeling that you are supposed to give them some money even when they say they don’t take it). We were greeted by another enthusiastic character, a very nice young man, who led us around. When we told him we were first time visitors, he said “Oh, VIPs?” We then were introduced everywhere we went under this title “VIPs” (Very Important Persons). When others would hear that we were VIPs, they would have a look of excitement mixed with anxiousness. The anxiousness seemed to come from an underlying understanding that their church was focused on bringing in newcomers. Then . . . they led us to the children’s area.

Here most of the kids were playing video games along a long wall which had the game consoles built into the wall. The room itself was huge. It must have been designed by the same person who designs Chuck-E-Cheese. Seriously! (Although this is not as cool as the church we went to a few months ago where you had to climb a jungle gym two stories high and then slide through the wall in the foyer into the children’s area!)

There was an elf that met the children at the door. Also in this room was a store that had Barbies, action figures, Brats Dolls, and all of the most popular items that you would find in a Toy-R-Us catalog the day after Thanksgiving. In order for kids to get the merchandise, they had to say a memory verse and earn store credits. The first thing my kids said to me when I went to pick them up was “Daddy, can we start going to this church?” Can you blame them? For kids, this was a dream church.

Well, I really try to keep an open mind about these things knowing that one persons church is not another’s. But I had yet to go to the main service. As we walked in, I had to dodge the camera and squint to see the stage. It was dark and there was production smoke everywhere. We sat down and listened to an incredible performance by the worship team who sang many songs I was very familiar with. They were Christ centered and I sang along. I even put my hands up in the air when the worship leader instructed us to (hey, when in Rome). My wife looked at me with the “I cannot believe that you are really doing that” smile/laugh. No really, she had the I-am-hiding-my-face-because-my-husband-is-in-one-of-those-weird-aggressive-moods-and-he-is-going-to-make-a-fool-of-me look. In reality, the worship was very well done. It could have been an opening act to a U2 concert.

After the worship, then came the announcements. That is where things really got interesting. Instead of the normal Baptist list of things giving from a random person from the pulpit, the lights went dark and there was silence. On the screens up above there were prerecorded announcement videos. These were not just your hey-I-got-a-new-digital-camera-and-I-am-now-a-professional-editor videos. No, these could have been aired during the Super Bowl. Yes, they were that good. And funny! They went through four separate announcements. The first was to welcome special guests. Then one for the men’s ministry, followed by one for the women’s ministry and one for a marriage seminar that was coming up. All the videos had a different theme and was a top rate production. They were funny enough to be on Saturday Night Live (ok, that is an exaggeration, but they were funny).

I could not believe how much time and energy must have gone into making these videos. And they do it each week! (I can’t even get one short promotional video for RMM—blast it!).

Then comes the sermon. The message itself was good and helpful, but better suited for a Zig Ziggler seminar on self-motivation. He used Mark 7:33 to teach that Christ wants to deal with us each individually and wants our words to be for edification because what we think, we are.

How did he get this you ask? Well, let me show you.

Mark 7:33 Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva.

“Jesus took him aside”=Jesus wants to deal with us each individually.

“Jesus spit”=Jesus had to form the saliva in his mouth before He spit, therefore, we are to let Him form our words.

“[He] put His fingers into his ears…He touched his tongue…and his ears were opened and his speech impediment was removed” (v. 35)=sometimes we don’t hear people rightly because we already have the wrong words in our mouth. Therefore, we have to have the right words in our mouth.

Well, at least the principles are true generally, even if it has nothing whatsoever to do with the text. God does want us to listen to others and he does want us to think about what we say. As well, I believe that there is an individualistic way in which God wants to relate to us.

Once the service was over, I went and drug my kids out of the amusement park (literally) and then began to reflect.

A few points of observation (the good, the bad, and the ugly):

The Good

• I really think that these people have the best of intentions.
• They did represent excellence in arts and entertainment and thereby bring glory to God.
• They were very outreach oriented.
• They had Starbucks.

The Bad

• The focus on entertaining newcomers caused them to lose focus on truth.
• The focus on entertainment took resources away from the training of the pastors to accurately handle the word of God–the very foundation of truth from where the idea of Church comes.
• The focus on entertainment smacked of irreverence. I am not one of the high church mentality, but doesn’t the purpose of worship and study of God’s word call for seriousness at some point? There was never a time when I felt that these people knew what it meant to fear the Lord.

I want to make something really clear. I don’t have anything against amusement, entertainment, or fun. I don’t even mind it in church to some degree (I wish that some preachers would just try to entertain A LITTLE). If they had just called this an event rather than church, I would have been more at ease. Call it a Christian concert, carnival, parade, entertainment production, or whatever, but please don’t call it “church.”

The Ugly

The sad fact is that there was no educational program for people to grow deep in the faith. There were plenty of opportunities for service, outreach to the community, and fellowship, but nothing that helped these people understand the why of what they are doing. I don’t necessarily expect these type of churches to do church the exact way that I would tell them, but at least have as one of the involvement suggestions a program of theological discipleship or doctrine to encourage people to know the God they are serving.

These people had no connection to the past whatsoever. They would have no idea about the history of the church outside of the history of their local gathering. What are they connected to? What makes them think that they are qualified to bring in all these visitors? Don’t they feel the least bit of a need to have a heritage? Are they not accountable to anyone past or present?

The biggest fear that I have is that this is representative of so many well meaning people who start churches. I imagine the person who started this particular church grew up in a very boring church and set it as his primary goal to someday have a church that was fun. That is nice, but, more often than not, totally destructive. The pews are filled with people who are weak and totally unestablished in the faith. Most really don’t know what the Christian message is outside of “Jesus loves you and wants you to have a wonderful life.” Many claim Jesus, serve Him, and lift up their hands in praise, but what happens when someone or something challenges their faith? Where are they going to turn? To the shallowness of the entertaining commercials or out of context self-help lessons? Where will they go when the foundations are destroyed?

It is this type of context that gives unfortunate illustrations to books like Ruth Tucker’s Walking Away From the Faith. “I was a Christian who used to go to church every week, served on the welcoming team for years, lifted my hands in worship, went to other countries and built churches, but I came to find out that it was all false.” Really? What I want to know is did you ever find out that it was really true in the first place.

I could go on but this experience has confirmed to me the desperate shape that the modern church—the Evangelical church—is in and the need that we have for renewal. When things get tough (and they will), who will people turn to? Where will people go when the entrainment, laughter, and fun serve no purpose?

May God grant us a mindset to give people their true needs, not their felt needs.

Truth first, mission second, fellowship third, and if there is any room, throw in some entertainment.Similar Posts:

• The Entertainment Driven Church
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• Theology Unplugged: What is the “True” Church #3
• Theology Unplugged: What is the “True” Church #4

Members of the Millennial generation are just as likely to open their wallets to charities as those born decades earlier . . . 

[Study] showed that young donors are as generous as those from older generations.

“We thought we would see some real differences, but giving across generations is not all that different,” says Edith Falk, chair and CEO of Chicago-based fundraising consultancy Campbell & Co.

. . . All other factors being equal, the study showed, the average giving level of Millennials is about the same as that of other generations.

2. Six Prayers God Always Answers (*Results May Vary) is a new book from Tyndale that explores some of the mysteries of prayer in a winsome and helpful way. In a chapter entitled “Prayers God Rarely Answers” the authors Mark Harringshaw and Jennifer Schuchmann say “Some questions get us in too deep, dredging up bottom filth that we never bargined for. Some questions are too big. Why is one of them.”

3. Theology Unplugged and Converse with Scholars. As we are anticipating some major “upgrades” here at Reclaiming the Mind, both TUP and CWS have been put on hold. Expect to continue to see them, but they will be more spuratic until the end of the Summer.

4. Pray for Ed Komoszewski. As you know, Ed has been such an important part of this ministry for some time now. He is also a dear friend. He has some serious health problems and is in need of prayer. As is the case whenever problems like this arise, there are many financial difficulties that he and his family are enduring. Please pray for this as well. I don’t want to share too many details here on the blog, but those of you who desire more details and would like to help, please let me know though email.

5. Bob Practico list the Top Ten Theological Scams.

6. Darth Vader Golfing:

7. Six reasons why Batman could take Yoda

1. Batman is taller.
2. Batman is smarter.
3. Batman would already know how to reverse the effect of the force.
4. The dark side would be mistaken for the Dark Knight and Yoda would compromise the code.
5. Yoda would simply be too scared to fight.
6. The anti-force alarm in the Batbelt.

8. Sproul on the difference between salvation and justification (love it!)

9. Was Noah’s flood local, global, parable, myth, or legend? What a conversation going on here.

Similar Posts:

• Friday Night Odds and Ends, July 27
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Notice, I am an “Orignator, Intellectual.” Oh yeah. I am telling my wife.

Similar Posts:

• Communitcating with God: God does not hot-sync to PDAs (updated)
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The Theology Program started this week: We have a great group. If you would still like to enroll, you can. Go here. (God is calling to you to join.)

Parchment and Pen sister blog: The Submerging Influence is now open. Sorry to Euangelion for taking their name for so long Hey . . . its a good name. By the way, from what I have seen Euangelion is a great blog. Worth a look.

Blog of the week: Tom in the Box. This is theological satire at its best. How does this guy come up with all this stuff?

Interesting Article: There is an interesting article by Matt Jenson on Scriptorium Daily called (How) Do Women Sin?

Where proud men need to be humbled, to be broken on the rock of Christ, to be crucified with Christ, women who have lost themselves need to be healed, to be encouraged to speak again, to be urged to live the lives God has called them to in Christ. The danger of applying the remedy of humility to slothful women is that it will actually underwrite their own sinning.

On my blog agenda: Here is a look at my list of some of the blogs that I have started!! Who knows what I will do. Obviously, the latest have to do with Calvinism

• Misconceptions of Calvinism: The Issue is Unconditional Individual Election
• Misconceptions of Calvinism: Does God Love Everyone?
• Misconceptions of Calvinism: Calvinism? I Don’t Follow a Man
• Misconceptions of Calvinism: Can There Be A Hybrid of Calvinism and Arminianism?
• Misconceptions of Calvinism: Does God Predestine Unbelievers to Hell?
• Misconceptions of Calvinism: Does Calvinism Deny Free Will?
• Why I Think Everyone Should be a Calvinist
• Implications from What the Gospel of John does NOT Say
• Is Clark Pinnock’s God My God?
• A Theological Take on Issues of Creation
• What is the “witness of the Spirit” in Romans 8?
• The overuse of the idea of anthropomorphic language
• Forgetting how to pray
• The Future of Justification by John Piper: A Review
• A Brief Primer on Textual Criticism
• What is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?
• Why doesn’t God heal amputees?: An Answer
• Top Ten Atheistic Comics
• An Evaluation of the Reasons for Beckwith’s Conversion to Catholicism
• The Uninvited: The Problem of Poneros
• How soon after creation did Adam and Eve sin?
• The Danger of Inerrancy 2
• The Blasphemy Challenge: Finally Blasphemy with Courage
• What Can Unbelievers Understand?
• An Atheistic Argument Against Naturalism
• A theology of gratitude

New Reclaiming the Mind Store Products:

Check out our merchandise store if you have not already. There is some great stuff. We will add some Parchment and Pen and Submerging Influence stuff soon.

Personal:

Well, our house is BACK off the market. Katelynn leg is better. Thanks for your prayers.

Zach is starting to sit up.

Mom is still very bad. Dad is too.

Kristie and I have not been out on a date alone in 8 months. Too many kids. We need to.

Kylee got a 100 on her spelling test today!! She has not been that good of a speller in the past.

Katelynn witness to a friend at school. She accepted Christ. We went and got her a Bible. She is really excited and reads it everyday!!!

Will and I are best friends . . . I hope it stays that way.Similar Posts:

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2. Ben Witherington writes on authorial intent hermeneutics. His three basic guidelines: 1) It means what is means, not what you want it to mean or your presuppositions determine it means. 2) Context is king. No proof texting. This is one of the biggest interpretive problems in the church today.  3) Genre Matter. You have interpret according to the rules of engagement determined by the type of literature. Oh that people would embrace these principles. Here is an excerpt.

“When I say ‘what it meant is what it means’ in reference to any text, but especially the Bible, I mean that the meaning is encoded in the complex of words and phrases we find in the text. Meaning is not something we get to read into the text on the basis of our own opinions or ideas. Meaning is not in the eye of the beholder. Meaning is something that resides in the text, having been placed there by the inspired author and requires of us that we discover what that meaning is by the proper contextual study of the text. ‘Significance’ however is a different matter altogether. A text can have a significance or even an application for you or me, that the original author could never have imagined. But the text cannot have a meaning that the original inspired author did not place there. Meaning is one thing, significance or application another. The job of hermeneutics is to help us rightly interpret the meaning of these important Biblical texts.”

3. Evangelical Outpost plugs The Theology Program which starts Sept 11 online. Thanks Joe!

4. Read N.T. Wright’s lecture “Can a Scientist Believe in the Resurrection.”

5. Is Godtube.com the internet’s worst website? Sounds like just a bit of an overstatement.

6. J.P. Moreland writes about how Jesus argued.

7. Problems with this blog and some posters: This blog has become extremely busy over the last few months. There has been some trouble with some people who don’t understand our purpose and philosophy. Please go out of your way to be respectful and irenic, knowing that this is a place to discuss with kindness, not call people out for debate or accuse of heresy (please reserve that for the bloggers!). As well, since the size of this blog has grown so much, people are beginning to use the comments area for their own personal blog. While we encourage discussion, please do so with discretion and stay on topic. I will send one warning by email and then I will remove your privileges. Those of you who have not received a warning, then you are fine…post on!

8. The Conservative Reformed Mafia continues to impress and Michael Spencer does what he does best (say things others are afraid to say).

9. 17 year old hacks iPhone

10. Superman: Doomsday is released next month

Oh yeah.Similar Posts:

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• An interesting discussion: A Challenge to Michael Patton of Pen and Parchment. This will probably get me into a lot of trouble, but shucks, what the hay.

• The Jolly Blogger has some interesting things to say about teenage abstinence. What do I do? I am going to lock my girls up. 

• A new Reformed blog that looks interesting. Theology and Steak. What a name! (HT: John Hendryx)

• Euangelion continues to pick up steam. This is the place to go for the latest news and tid-bits from me and the RMM community.

• Don’t forget to enroll in The Theology Program. It starts in September. If you have yet to take an online course, you really don’t know how much you are missing. (I know. It is already on the “Latest News” on the left, but you don’t really look there now do ya?)

• Top 50 must watch video clips (HT: MereO)

• Greatest super-hero villain: Joker. He is Batman’s exact opposite.

Personal:

I am in Oklahoma this week promoting The Theology Program and spending time with mom. She is not any better, but she is happy to see me. We are about to take our house off the market and settle down in Frisco once again. I am very confused about where God wants us. It seems like I should be in Oklahoma helping take care of my mother, but the doors are not open. Katelynn (my daughter) is just about all healed from her accident. The burns have left many scares on her arm and leg, but most of them are just spots. I will give some picture update of Zach soon. He is now almost 5 months. He is a clone of Will, just with blue eyes.Similar Posts:

• Friday Night Odds and Ends
• Friday Night Odds and Ends, July 13
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• Odds and Ends, 3.26.09

• Check out the Conservative Reformed Mafia. Looks like a promising new blog.
• Bob Pratico, a friend of the ministry and elder at Sojourn Church, will be having heart surgry next month. Please pray for him. 

Ministry Announcements:

• Online courses start soon. Enroll in The Theology Program today.
• First Things will be broadcast live on Tuesday and Thursday at 10am EST next week.
• Please consider donating to Reclaiming the Mind Ministries.
• We need you to advertise The Theology Program online courses to your church. Email me to find out how.

Recantations, Restatements, News, and Review:

• None this week. Everything I said was spot on!

Personal:

• Katelynn is doing better. Thanks for your prayers.
• This Sunday I will be teaching on Hermeneutics.
• FYI: Greatest sleeper movie ever made: The Count of Monte Cristo. 

Similar Posts:

• Friday Night Odds and Ends, July 13
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