WWJB Saturday: And on the Third Day He Served the Ham Edition

Found here

According to the description, this resurrection set would also make a great table decoration. Hmm...let's see...

Happy Easter!!

Forcing People to Choose Between Trees and the Man Who Died Upon a Tree

Today I was reminded of a major reason why I felt as if I could not be a part of American Evangelical Culture and still seek to follow Jesus: culture wars. Oh how I hate culture wars! Why do we spend so much time obsessing over things that are barely (or not at all) mentioned in the Bible or in Christ's ministry? Why? It makes me completely understand why people don't like Christians.  American Evangelical Culture takes these completely minor issues and declare them at odds with a life of faith.

I was reminded of this today after seeing a number of Facebook posts declaring that tomorrow that person will spend "Earth Day" (quotations theirs) celebrating what Jesus did for us because "without Easter this EARTH has no hope." (emphasis theirs) I sadly predicted would happen earlier this week after noticing that the holidays fall on the same date this year. Really?!?? Really!?? We have to choose? Either you celebrate the sacrificial redemptive work of Jesus on the cross or you care about caring for our planet? You really want to declare that an either/or situation??? You really want to leave people with the impression that one comes at the expense of the other? Does that give us license to just trash this planet because all that matters is that we're going to Heaven? Where does this idea of stewardship and personal responsibility come in? What about the countless studies that show how pollutants and toxins we've put into our environment can negatively health, especially pregnant women and children? Does God not care about any of that? Is that excluded from the list of things we'll be held accountable for? More importantly, do you really want someone to feel unwelcome in your church over this??

For the record, I think it's a terrible reason to exclude people from your congregations or to question their faith. I think caring for the Earth is a completely Biblical concept and one that should be even more important to us as Christians. I have great respect for the Christian organizations that have taken up the mantle of encouraging people to actively engage in that work. Just because God created a world that would provide for life doesn't mean that he'll save us from the consequences of taking it for granted and indulging overconsumption with no regard to the consequences. And I seriously doubt he is asking us to choose between the two observances.

Recapturing Wisdom

Recently I started reading "A People's History of Christianity" by Diana Butler Bass. So far I'm really enjoying it. I wanted to share the following quote that really resonated with me.

"It is upon the Great Command that we find common ground with ancient Christians, not because our world is like theirs or because they somehow knew how to be better Christians than we do. Many of them, to be sure, did not follow very well; they, like us, struggled, doubted, and failed to walk the way. Yet even in our shortcomings (or perhaps because of them), we stand with them in the way. Generative Christians, like them, seek a life organized around around love for God and neighbor. We recognize their longing for change. And in many quarters Christian communities are once again embracing the ancient insight that the faith is a spiritual pathway, a life built on transformative practices of love rather than doctrinal belief. We are, beyond mere romanticism, recapturing wisdom from ancient Christianity."

Terrible T-Shirt Tuesday: Pray the Gay Away Edition

Found here

It's not every day that I find a shirt that leaves me groaning at its message and needing to correct its grammar.

Trying to Scare the Hell Out of Everybody

Have you ever watched someone complete a task purely motivated by fear? There is something so disturbing about it. You see it with small children as they walk on egg shells trying to avoid punishment from their strict parents. You see it happen in movies where one follows the instructions of a bank robber or kidnapper. (In that instance, most viewers usually watch with the understanding that completing the demanded tasks are no guarantee of appeasing the criminal's anger.)

Lately I've been training my dog. I utilize (and am a huge fan of) positive reinforcement training. Rather than holler "NO!" at my pup every time he does something he shouldn't, positive reinforcement training focuses on rewarding him when he does what he should. The two pups in my house are both rescues. They were not treated as beloved pets and family members in the first stages of their lives. They came to us with a bit of baggage.  One in particular was extremely timid and fearful. He spent at least the first week he was with us hiding behind furniture and grumbling at us whenever we got too close. The amazing thing is that positive reinforcement training has helped give him more confidence and decrease his fear. If you catch him doing something wrong, and say "No!" in an angry tone, he will run away from you and hide for at least 10-15 minutes. Contrary to what some may believe, causing your dog to fear you doesn't make him learn to obey any more or more quickly. Time and time again I've seen the opposite. When a dog is encouraged and rewarded, he wants to obey. It is fun for him and helps him bond with his owner. Dogs who are only punished on the other hand, don't necessarily want to be very close to their owners. They tend to hang back in a corner and will often cower when their name is called. Although they may exhibit a level of loyalty towards their owners, the manner in which they regard them could not be described as affectionate.

One of the most disturbing trends I've seen in American Evangelical Culture is trying to scare the Hell out of people, quite literally. They are so focused on getting people "saved" that they seem to think little about what long term effects the manner in which they do so will have.

This whole issue came to mind again today when I saw this video:

WWJB Saturday: Lazy Evangelism Edition

Found here



From the product description (Please note that the choice of font is theirs and not mine):

Leave an impression of the Cross on your journey and you may lead another to Jesus!

Can you imagine how proud our Heavenly Father will be to look down at His beautiful creation and see Cross Impressions scattered on beaches around the world in remebrance of Jesus?

Our Brown Rhinestone - Women's Christian Cross Impression flip flops are much more than just neat flip flops.  They are truly a fashion and faith product that will help you proudly display your love for Jesus and perhaps even lead another to Him!

Yes, I'm sure that when God looks at creation, he doesn't care about our misuse of natural resources or the polluting of our waterways, He really just wants to make sure that there are miniature cross imprints all over the land.

Apart from that, this is a great example of what I refer to as "lazy evangelism." It's a tool that people can use to assure themselves that they are reaching out to others with Christ's love even while they are neglecting to build actual relationships with those people. Because it's a lot easier to dream that your flip flops are saving souls than it is to actually get involved with broken and dying people. Besides, Jesus is always pictured wearing sandals. I'm sure they were just like this. That's how he got so many followers.

The Language Barrier & Shameless Self Promotion

When I arrived at Conservative Christian College my freshman year, one thing was immediately clear. About 40% of the time I had no clue what these people were talking about. It was as if they had their own language. And because they had all been raised using it, they seemed to be oblivious to the fact that the rest of the world did not understand such language. Their conversations were peppered with terms such as "quiet time," "four spiritual laws," "love on," "courtship," "stronghold," "PK," "MK," "slippery slope," "pressing in," etc. The only thing more embarrassing than not being able to understand what they were talking about would have been admitting that to them.

I almost wished that someone had provided me with an Evangelical to English dictionary. That's part of the reason I have a "Helpful Definitions" tab on this blog. I don't take for granted that people will understand these words and phrases. But as I considered all the terms I've heard over the years, I began to realize two things.
1. A single tab cannot contain them.
2. It was really fun to try to define them for people.

For those reasons, I started a second blog that is dedicated solely to the language of American Evangelical Culture. Feel free to check it out here:
Evangelical to English

I hope you have as much fun reading it as I have writing it. Let me know if there are any terms I need to be sure to post.