Jesus Creed

Jesus Creed

Weekly Meanderings

posted by Scot McKnight | 12:05am Saturday May 22, 2010

Childrensministry.jpg Announcement: we are presently engaged in conversations with some leaders in Sweden to give lectures at four different universities late September on the historical Jesus. 

I didn’t even get to some of my regular blogs this week, and then I looked at all the stuff below and thought “that’s enough.” So, Jesus Creed Meanderers, here goes …
What matters now in Children’s Ministry? Check this.
Speaking of youth ministry: what are the top questions? (Whyismarko)
 

Yes, ivy on a wall preserves the wall. (HT: JT)
JT has a good post on science and belief in God.
Introspective and wise thoughts about joblessness and then too much work by CAS.
Bob Smietana sketches the story of Ergun Caner with admirable judiciousness.
Andy Rowell has a nice piece on Bonhoeffer stuff.
Karen Spears Zacharias weighs in, with punch and clarity, on the Blumenthal “misspeak.”
Renee Johnson weighs in on the “authenticity” trend.
50 most unusual church architectural designs. [scroll down through them] (HT: SPB)
Meanderings in the News
2. European religious crisis: “Responding to a wave of resentment unfurling across European societies, several governments have begun to legislate restrictions on the most readily visible of Islamic ways, the full-face veil. Outside the gilded halls of parliaments and ministries, meanwhile, anti-Islamic sentiments have risen to the surface in a surge of Internet insults and physical attacks against Muslim symbols.”
3. No college plan? “A small but influential group of economists and educators is pushing another pathway: for some students, no college at all. It’s time, they say, to develop credible alternatives for students unlikely to be successful pursuing a higher degree, or who may not be ready to do so.” I’ve said this before: Bring back HS shop classes.
4. Commencement protests. Why? No financial experts, the students say: “What’s the problem with Dimon and Pandit? Well, it seems that JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup are banks, and we all know banks are Bad Things. As Syracuse senior Ashley Owen, one of 900 students and alumni who signed a Facebook petition asking her university to rescind the invitation, told the Wall Street Journal: “He’s a figurehead of an industry that has failed the American people in a lot of ways.” The anti-Pandit master’s-degree students at SIPA also turned to Facebook, creating a page titled “We don’t want a bank executive to speak at our commencement.” One student wrote, “I certainly did not spend two years of my life at this school to sit for hours at my owngraduation ceremony applauding a multi-millionaire bank executive while he lectures myself and my peers about a future to which he and the industry he represents caused grave damage.” 
6. The end of Iraqi Christianity? “Relentless waves of bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, extortions and rapes have triggered a mass exodus of Christians from Iraq over the past seven years. Since 2003, over half of the estimated 1.5 million Iraqi Chaldean Catholics, Assyrian, Syriac Orthodox, and Armenian Christians, as well as some Protestants have fled to Syria, Jordan and farther flung places. While only 3 or 4 percent of Iraq’s pre-2003 population, they account for 40 percent of its refugees, the UN reported.”
Thinker.jpg7. Simon Critchley on what a philosopher is: “The freedom of the philosopher consists in either moving freely from topic to topic or simply spending years returning to the same topic out of perplexity, fascination and curiosity.”
8. iPad and Apps: Will Apps fade? “The first problem with the publishers’ fantasy, which I only realized when I spent some serious time with my new 3G iPad this past week, is that you don’t need those cute little apps to read newspapers and magazines. On the iPhone, apps bring real advantages–it’s no fun navigating a complex Web page through that 3.5-inch window. The iPad, by contrast, has a 9.7-inch display that is big, bright, and beautiful. The Safari browser is a great way to read any publication on the device, so long as you have a good WiFi connection.”
10. Is modesty just for women? “Thinking back to the scenario with my friend, I’m a bit perturbed. I cannot blame his lack of dress on the church writ large. For all I know, he was half-asleep. But I can connect his seeming naivete about his appearance to the (here comes the loaded phrase) double standard in how many Christian communities talk about modesty. While parents, youth pastors, and college staff spend much energy monitoring young women’s clothing choices, young men are given few resources to think about how they present themselves, and how they might let a sister stumble. I have yet to hear any Christian teaching on modesty as more than “covered up in all the right places.” Before young women face undue pressure to monitor their male peers’ sexual purity, Christian communities ought to provide a biblical context for why we pursue modesty in the first place — and make sure both men and women get the message.”

Meanderings in Sports

Wayne Lyons, our kind of student-athlete.


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RJS

posted May 22, 2010 at 7:53 am


Wow – Ireland … Korea … Sweden.
A great year.



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dave

posted May 22, 2010 at 8:17 am


Bring back HS shop classes.
A really fine book i recently read is “Shop class as soulcraft” by Matthew b. Crawford.
exceptional book on this subject.



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Phillip

posted May 22, 2010 at 10:47 am


The pics of the churches are amazing. With respect to the grand, expensive ones, I continue to struggle with whether these are God-glorifying “extravagant wastes,” like the perfume poured on Jesus, or just wastes of resources that could help those in need. I lean toward the latter.
The article on “authenticity” struck a chord with me as well. It is clear with many of my Christian college students now that drinking and language are no longer marks of distinction between Christians and the world (not that they should). But surely there are better markers of Christian authenticity (e.g., cross-bearing, caring for those in need–which, by the way, many of my students do with zeal). If “authenticity” means we lose our distinctiveness, I think we are in trouble.



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Mark Stevens

posted May 22, 2010 at 4:31 pm


Thanks for linking to the unusual church designs Scott. I was 14 or 15 when I entered “Chapel in the Rock” (Arizona, USA) and felt an overwhelming sense of God. So much so I credit that moment to returning to faith. There is a much larger story but not bad considering i was on Holiday from Australia at the time!



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Justin Topp

posted May 22, 2010 at 5:10 pm


Thanks Scot!



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Carsten Lotz

posted May 23, 2010 at 8:43 am


Hi,
As a pastor in Germany, I would like to know how to access the link to the “European Religious Crisis”. Thanks!



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Stanton

posted May 25, 2010 at 1:38 am


(Just found the following while surfing – Stanton)
Liberty University & Libertines
Speaking of evangelical scandals and Liberty University in the same breath, readers can Google ?Appendix F: Thou Shalt Not Steal? (line-by-line proof that THE Jerry Falwell?s 1981 ?Fundamentalist Phenomenon? book was a huge plagiarism of George Dollar?s 1973 ?History of Fundamentalism in America?!). Also Google ?Thomas Ice (Bloopers).? Ice is a prof at LU whose ?Ph.D? was ?obtained? from a tiny Texas school that was fined by the state of Texas for illegally issuing degrees! When ?Dr.? Ice reproduced in 1989 Margaret Macdonald?s short ?pre-tribulation rapture? revelation of 1830 (Margaret originated this 180-year-old escapist endtime view which has made millionaires of Lindsey, LaHaye etc.!), he somehow left out 49 words when copying it – the same 49 words LaHaye left out in the same sections when a book of his reproduced it three years later! (LaHaye has been one of LU?s biggest donors.) Ice, BTW, also had the same distinctive copying errors Lindsey had when he had reproduced MM?s revelation in his 1983 book! Since Liberty University is one of the top promoters of the same fringe-British-originated pretrib rapture fantasy, interested readers can also Google ?Famous Rapture Watchers,? ?Pretrib Rapture Diehards,? ?Pretrib Rapture Secrecy,? ?Letter from Mrs. Billy Graham,? and ?Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty? (documented plagiarism and other dishonesty since 1830 by some of the best known names in evangelicalism) – all uncovered by the author of the bestselling book ?The Rapture Plot.? (Evangelicals should take some tranquilizers before reading the above!)



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