So this is one of those YouTube . . . what are the young people calling it these days . . . “mash-up” of some comments by Jim Wallis calling for the redistribution of wealth in the name of social justice. Normally I would be wary of homemade videos of audio that can be taken out of context. However, in this case I’ll risk it in order to get at what I think are important questions about social justice. However I will leave it absolutely open that this video may be doctored or whatever to misconstrue what Jim Wallis thinks.

I think what surprises me the most about the progressive Christian movement exemplified by Wallis’ Sojourners and the Center for Progressive Christianity is Continue reading …

My wife, Joy, is ½ Danish. While working on our family genealogy, which she has online, a cousin who lives in Denmark contacted her. She and her family came to the states about a month ago and we had a wonderful time getting to know them. We had some interesting discussions because Denmark is a socialist liberal nation and has been since 1929. She has never known anything other than Socialism and is trying to understand the split in America as we grapple with the rising Socialism and claims for social justice as its outworking as opposed to capitalism and personal responsibility. This system worked in Denmark for about 50 years. As we talked she mentioned that it worked because it is largely a homogenous system in a relatively small population with a shared history and pride in their nation. They are having problems these days. An excellent article done in August of 2007 looks at the history of the experiment in Socialism and the result when new population doesn’t play by the same rules. Salute the Danish Flag! – It’s a Symbol of Western Freedom The article is long but well worth reading. A few paragraphs grabbed my attention immediately: Continue reading …

The Barna organizations latest poll, The Crisis of Confidence in the Church. The following paragraph states the issue:

“I’d encourage you to pause and think about the significance of losing people’s confidence. A leader can only sustain forward movement if he/she has the confidence of the people being led into battle. Now, if a church is simply providing a safe comfort station for hurting people, that’s one thing. But if a church is intent upon facilitating a moral and spiritual revolution, recognizing that doing so is a declaration of war on current cultural preferences and values, the loss of confidence is a devastating setback. And – strategically – such confidence cannot be restored by simply waiting for the tide to turn; church leaders must intentionally win back people’s confidence through visionary leadership, holy character, and guiding people in transformational ministry efforts.”

This past weekend before even seeing Barna’s report, this is also one of the main emphasis I was making. You might say it has even been a theme of mine for some time. The church is in a state of confusion and the result is many are not certain what it’s mission and responsibilities are in an increasingly pagan culture. Even reading the comments on Barna’s short article show the lack of biblical literacy on our calling. “B Crump” has a lengthy comment in which they decry the non-acceptance of them by the organized church. There is a lot of truth to that. There seems to be an almost natural attempt to cause everyone to conform to the group. Independence is not encouraged in many cases. If you happened to really be called as a missionary to your culture, you will likely be a round peg in a square hole in many churches. Working with people is messy and churches don’t like messy because it is, well, messy. The ministry of the church in the first century was mostly about training, equipping and comforting hurting people who had come to the faith from paganism. It was a time to be loved in spite of your differences and readied to get back out into the mission field. The Apostle Paul in Romans 14 reminds the Romans to accept one another in spite of their differences.

Some comments imply that Jesus cared not a fig for doctrine. He wasn’t a theologian according to one but we can hardly read the gospels Continue reading …