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I'm a little surprised that I haven't missed sugar.
Not yet, that is.
With the specter of high blood sugar or low blood sugar (really spooky) as a "newbie" diabetic, the last thing on my mind is sugar.
But I'm sure that will change over time. For now, however, it's "goodbye sugar!"
I've been previewing the DVD curriculum for this book and have been left with this initial impression: The author (so far) has simply provided nothing more than hackneyed evangelical dogma (I came very close to using the word "drivel,") with a thin layer of emergent icing to give it a slightly different flavor.
Therefore, I've been deeply disappointed with the curriculum so far. I'll start reading the book within the next few days & will provide impressions along the way. I'm hoping it will be much better.
I found this to be an insightful observation about today's young adults:
The single word that best describes young adults approach to religion and spirituality - indeed life - is tinkering. A tinkerer puts together a life from whatever skills, ideas and resources that are readily at hand... Tinkerers are the most resourceful people in any era. If specialized skills are required they have them. When they need help from experts they seek it. But they do not rely on one way of doing things. Their approach to life is practical. They get things done and usually this happens by improvising by piecing together an idea from here, a skill from there and a contact from somewhere else.
Like the farmer rummaging through the junk pile for makeshift parts the spiritual tinkerer is able to sift through a veritable scrap heap of ideas and practices from childhood, from religious organisations, classes, conversations with friends, books, magzines, television programmes and web sites. The tinkerer is free to engage in this kind of rummaging...
Source: jonny baker
HT: ysmarko
A juicy tidbit from N.T. Wright, one of my favorite New Testament scholars:
Thus the church that takes sacred space seriously (not as a retreat from the world but as a bridgehead into it) will go straight from worshiping in the sanctuary to debating in the council chamber; to discussing matters of town planning, of harmonizing and humanizing beauty in architecture, green spaces, and road traffic schemes; and to environmental work, creative and healthy farming methods, and proper use of resources. If it is true, as I have argued, that the whole world is now God's holy land, we must not rest as long as that land is spoiled and defaced. This is not an extra to the church's mission. It is central.
The church that takes seriously the fact that Jesus is Lord of all will not just celebrate quietly every time we write the date on a letter or document, will not just set aside Sunday as far as humanly and socially possible as a celebration of God's new creation, will not just seek to order its own life in an appropriate rhythm of worship and work. Such a church will also seek to bring wisdom to the rhythms of work in offices and shops, in local government, in civic holidays, and in the shaping of public life.
Source: Christianity Today
Here's a word about a growing divide:
Like the families they grew up in, Aaron and Ginny Routhe are devout evangelical Christians. Like his parents and hers, they also consider themselves pro-life. But where that's led them politically comes as a bit of a shock to their staunchly Republican elders. "It is generational; the way we view the Gospel is more well-rounded-or we see it that way," laughs Ginny, 33, who runs an eco-friendly diaper business while her husband works on a graduate degree at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. "We vote Democratic, and our parents say, ‘How could you vote for abortion?' But pro-life for us is more holistic, more all of life and all of the environment-endangered species, and not just the human species." Which is why she and her husband cast their ballots for Barack Obama in the Tennessee primary, while Aaron's parents, Scott and Carol Routhe, went with Mike Huckabee in New Hampshire's first round of voting (and plan to support John McCain in the fall). And it's why listening to the four of them talk about how their common faith informs their quite different political choices explains so much about the growing divide between older and younger evangelical voters.
Read the entire article here.
HT: Revolution in Jesusland
Here's something from the Ooze:
I am coming to the conclusion that the Church that Christ is building is something quite different than what we have been taught.
The rest of the article is posted here.
I've been looking for a place like this all my life! What great news that it actually exists. ;-)
No, I'm not kidding. This church actually exists in Atlanta. Click here to be whisked away to their perfect web site.
HT: Counterscript
Tags: Counterscript, The Perfect Church
Here's something interesting I stumbled upon today:
24-7 prayer spaces, a 10 minute podcast designed to help people make space for God each day.
Interesting. Let me know what you think of it.
Here's their Facebook link.
This my kind of place-- warm, welcoming, safe, compassionate.
So I'm left with this question: Why aren't there more places like this?
Click here to visit their web site.
HT: Coop
