Christianity and “The American Dream”
This morning my friend ElijahPaul pointed me to an interesting article at CNN from David Platt, P.h. D., senior pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. It’s an interesting take on how he sees the church rejecting “The American Dream“.
Much of what I see written about this topic is about “Social Justice” and how the church should embrace government meeting needs as a Christian virtue. It’s refreshing to see a church take the responsibility on themselves.
Dr. Platt finishes the article with this idea:
I believe God is saying to us that real success is found in radical sacrifice. That ultimate satisfaction is found not in making much of ourselves but in making much of him. That the purpose of our lives transcends the country and culture in which we live. That meaning is found in community, not individualism. That joy is found in generosity, not materialism. And that Jesus is a reward worth risking everything for.
Click through and read the whole thing, I would love your thoughts.
Are Christian values and the American Dream mutually exclusive? Is materialism keeping us from being the hands and feet of Jesus?
H.T. ElijahPaul
Would You Have Said What He Said?
From Randy Alcorn’s blog Eternal Perspectives.
Atheist Christopher Hitchens knows what a Christian is
In a recent interview, Christopher Hitchens, the fervent atheist and author of God Is Not Great, showed he has a much clearer understanding of what it means to be a Christian than the Unitarian minister, who claims to be a Christian, interviewing him.
Marilyn Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make a distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?
Christopher Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.
Click here to read the rest of the interview.
Are we as clear about what it means to be a Christian as an atheist? Would we be so bold as to say what he said in response?
Clearly he gets it. He just needs to see the power of Grace and the testimony of Christians walking in truth and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Background and Context for the Tebow SuperBowl ad
Stuart Shepard talks with Gary Schneeberger about how the ad came about, how it was paid for, and what the theme is.
If you don’t like football you will be able to see the ad on the Focus on the Family website after the game.
Have We “Polluted” Christianity With Conservatism?
Yesterday a friend on facebook made the point we should never compromise principle while being mindful of our tone. He stated the principles are not ours to moderate there is such a thing as absolute truth.
One of the comments got me thinking.
This morning I posted to my political blog “Some Things Should Be Defeated” which is a partial response but I wanted to ask the question of the readers of this blog.
Has Christianity been polluted by Conservative ideology?
The implication is conservative positions on things like the environment, healthcare, the size of government, and the role of the military may be right or wrong but do not represent a Christian worldview.
Those of you who’ve read this blog for awhile know what I’m going to say but I’m not going to say it…..yet.
I want to hear what you think first.
Why I’m not a 501c3
Having been involved with ministries over the last several years I have seen government become more and more hostile toward church and para-church ministries who take a political stand.
Part of my calling and passion is to speak about political issues and when speaking to culture, faith, and social issues it’s nearly impossible to keep politics out of it. I believe the church should take a vocal stand for what is right from a traditional Biblical world view.
In the 50′s the church walked away from education, media, sports and politics with disastrous results. Also in 1954 a group called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes decided they would not let the enemy have athletics and have been challenging coaches and athletes to stand up for their faith. Now at the close of nearly every athletic event we see a group of athletes from both teams gathered at center court, center ice, or center field to pray together.
Recently we have seen the fruit of Christians involved in media who have the same attitude. Specifically an episode of Law and Order gave the pro life position a very honest and fair portrayal. We are also beginning to see movies and television shows that are family friendly and fair to cultural conservatives.
I believe it is critical that we not only pray (2Chronicles 7:14) but let our prayer inform our involvement. We must not embrace apathy clothed in holiness and piety.
So even though I may receive fewer financial gifts as a result I will not be voluntarily muzzled by the 501C3 rules. I hope this clarifies my choice. I would love to hear your comments.
This is how we should stand
It has been my experience over the last couple of years that most of the time when discussing politics we argue based on a faulty premise.We accept things based on assumptive language without debate or discussion about the foundational issue.
So today when I ran across this post from The American Thinker I had to post it for you. If your not reading The American Thinker on a regular basis your missing brilliant commentary.
Here is the money quote:
I haven’t read the health care bill, HR 3200. It’s not because I don’t care what’s in it; rather, I oppose the bill because I don’t accept the premise that it’s needed or even constitutional.
Click through and read the whole article and before you go off on your next conversation consider the premise. Is it even valid?
The American Thinker: I Don’t Accept the Premise
Free Candy
This is a point I have been making for a very long time but Stuart Shepard makes the point very well in this Stoplight video commentary:
The Cussing Pastor
This is very good, we don’t value words in this country anymore. We don’t understand the power of words both positive and negative.
Thank you Ed Young for speaking to this:
H.T. Joshbrage.com
My Songs
