They Like Jesus - Not the Church

I picked up Dan Kimball’s, They Like Jesus But Not the Church, for many of the same reasons that I read Brian McLaren’s book, The Secret Message of Jesus. I had read some controversial reviews of Kimball’s book, plus I had heard his name mentioned with the Emergent Church movement which I wanted to learn more about.  If you remember from my post on McLaren’s book, a friend had challenged me to read the books for myself, rather then basing my opinion on Internet talk.

The controversial piece I had heard about Kimball’s book was a story in it where Kimball had ripped out pages of a Bible because he was giving it to a new believer.  Supposedly, Kimball was concerned that the new believer might be offended by some of the passages that discussed sexual sin (this new believer was still living with a girlfriend).

Needless to say, I went into this book with a bias, much like the bias I had starting McLaren’s book.  However, unlike McLaren’s book, Dan Kimball’s book won me over.

If you’re a pastor reading this book, it might be hard not to take offense at times.  Dan Kimball is brutally honest about how as a church, we have failed to keep up with the culture.  We have not failed in the message, for the message never changes, but we are failing with the method.  We’ve created a Christian sub-culture that can repel rather than attract those that need to learn about God’s saving grace.

As I mentioned, I went into this book with a bias.  However, as I read it, I noticed I kept shaking my head in agreement.  Even though I am in the Christian sub-culture he describes, I can see the problems and understand how this can cause barriers to others.

A list of non-Christian perceptions of the church addressed in this book are as follows (taken directly from the table of contents):

• The church is an organized religion with a political agenda
• The church is judgmental and negative
• The church is dominated by males and oppresses females
• The church is homophobic
• The church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong
• The church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally

Kimball points out that many of these perceptions are misperceptions and exaggerations.  His main point of the book is that we Christians need to step out of our sub-culture and engage our culture around us so that people can see Jesus’ love through us in their lives.  Most of what they see today is what they see in the news, which is rarely going to be accurate or reflect the true heart of the church.

What about tearing out offending pages of the Bible?  That turned out not to be an accurate portrayal of the story.

What really happened, was that Dan Kimball had been sharing his faith with a young man for some time.  One day, the young man said he’d really like to read the Bible for himself.  Kimball excitedly drove to the church and grabbed one of the new believer New Testaments fresh out of a box and rushed back to the coffee shop.

Before he went in, he flipped through the pages and noticed that throughout this version of the New Testament there were commentaries on what you could no longer do as a Christian.  He started to try to tear these commentaries out but there were too many. So he went back and got an non-editorialized version of the New Testament and gave that to the young man instead.

I totally understand Kimball’s concern with giving a seeking non-believer a Bible full of commentary on what you must now give up as a Christian.  I’ve had this discussion with my brother in the past over his concerns about Christianity.  It’s hard for non-Christians to graspbelieve that Christianity is not about rules.  Everything that needs to be done for you to be saved has already been done by Jesus on the cross.

We should share the good news that there’s a better way.  However, let God’s Word speak to the heart about one’s sins.  Let the Holy Spirit do the convicting.  This does not mean condoning any life style or actions that are contrary to God’s Word.  The point is, as Christians we need to be able to point out the need for salvation without making is sound like holy living is a prerequisite.

Jesus died for us, while we were still sinners.  The transforming of the heart comes afterwards.  It comes not through rules but through the miracle of grace.

I highly recommend They Like Jesus But Not the Church. It’s not flawless and you may not agree with all of Kimball’s points.  However, if you follow each point to it’s conclusion, you’ll find that he keeps his doctrine sound.  As with any Christian book, weigh what you read against scripture.

Joyful Meditation

I have seen blog posts dedicated to Wordless Wednesday. I think this is a type of meme but then I’m not 100% sure I understand what a meme is all about. In any case, similar to Wordless Wednesdays, welcome to Scripture Thursday.

At least for the time being, I am going to dedicate Thursdays to a post on a particular bible passage. One of my goals will be to help improve my own discipline of reading my bible and then meditating on what God is telling me. If I can do this daily, I should have something worth sharing at least once a week.

This is not a meme, in that I’m not asking anyone to post their own Scripture Thursday (although anyone is welcome to it).  This is just a devotional post with the benefit of allowing you to promote your link.  Leave your name and link if you enjoy what you read here. Please post a comment as well and share your thoughts. Commenters are more likely to have others check out their site.

What better scripture to start off Scripture Thursdays than Psalm 1:2.

Psalms 1:2 (ESV) 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

There are two sides to this verse and it is easy to miss one or both sides.

1. You can read God’s Word everyday, memorize scripture, and meditate on it. However, does it “delight” you? Or is this a discipline that is a burden?

2. You can delight in God’s Word but fail to meditate on it day and night. Life can get too busy and even though you delight in God’s Word you don’t have time for it.

I usually fall into the second camp. I delight in reading and studying the bible but I often neglect it for life’s other “must do’s”.

• I miss in the morning because I had to leave the house by 5:30am.
• I fail to stop and pray during the day because I drown myself in email and meetings from the time I walk into the office until I leave.
• I don’t spend time in the evening in God’s Word because time is already short with my family and after the kids are in bed I’m too tired.

None of these are good excuses.

Father, thank you for “delighting” my heart with your Word when I do spend the time in it. Forgive me for not giving you the time that I should. All 24 hours are yours to give and take away. Help me to remember to start my time each day with you.
Amen.

Scripture Thursday Participants

1. Mandy 2. Jena Isle

3. Christina W. 4. GPARTHA

5. BunGirl 6. carol

Learn more about Scripture Thursday here.
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Wordpress Envy

The grass is always greener, isn’t it? When I first signed up for blog space I went with Blogger.  I didn’t do a lot of research.  My wife was reading blogs from some of her friends in College Station and they were all using Blogger.  Best of all, it was free.

So, I signed up with Blogger and started blogging away.

For whatever reason, I cannot stay satisfied with my blog layout.  I quickly tired of the standard Blogger templates and started trying out various custom templates.  What I have noticed, is that the best customized blogger templates are actually modified Wordpress templates.

After tinkering with various customized, modified for Blogger, Wordpress themes, I thought I should just get a Wordpress account and try it out.  After all, Blogger is ok but Wordpress is for the serious blogger.

What I found out with my new Wordpress account is that just like real life,  the grass is not really greener.  It’s those green envy glasses that make everything else look so green.

Wordpress (the free Wordpress.com version) did have some nice clean and professional looking templates but the variety was not as plentiful as I expected.  However, what really got me is that you can’t just open up your template and modify it however you want.  I’ve spent a lot of time at Blogger Buster and now I’m spoiled.  I have to be able to tweak my template to make it unique.  My current template at Seeking Above is an extremely modified Cool Blue 2.0 template from Blogger Buster.

So, my Wordpress account just sits unused.  I might do something with it someday just to learn it better.  However, I really don’t have time for experimenting right now.

All this said, there is one feature in Wordpress that I truly wish we had available in Blogger.  I really wish we had the static Page feature.  It took me awhile to figure out how to fake this in Blogger by using a back dated post pages.  However, it’s really not the same.

I’d love to have this feature to add additional web pages to my site.  I could set these pages up to be in the same theme as my current blog but look and behave more like a static web page.  Off the top of my head I would replace my “Who Am I” and “Testimony” pages with these static pages.  However, I would also like to build some additional resource pages with widgets and links that I don’t necessarily want on my homepage sidebar.  Maybe I’d start my own customized template download page.

I’m sure there are at least of dozen or more creative uses for these “pages” if only Blogger had them.  I don’t even see it listed as a possible future option on the Blogger Wishlist.  Sometimes the grass still looks greener.

Seeking Above Gets an Award?

Now this is a testimony of faith and perseverance. When you blog just to share your faith, it can be discouraging, wondering if anyone is bothering to read what you have to share. Karen from Karen & Gerard Zemek has been an ongoing source of support and encouragement. I thank her, not only for this award, but for her gracious comments and support in general.

The Arte y Pico award was created and to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creativity and their talents, also for contributing to the blogging world in whatever medium. When you receive this award it is considered a “special honor”. Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to 5 others.

“What a great way to show some love and appreciation to your fellow bloggers!!!

The rules for passing this honor on:

1) Pick 5 blogs that you would like to award this honor to.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. http://arteypico.blogspot.com.

Here is my list of recipients:

Hipp is my middle name: OK, this is my wife and I know she really does not want me to give this to her - but I really like her blog. Check it out; you’ll see what I mean.

Truth in Context: Theology 101. Lots of good information if you’re looking for insights on how to get deeper in your scripture study. Alan is preparing to start seminary. It will interesting to see his posts as he takes on the challenges that lie ahead of him.

The Bobo Files: Great conservative political commentary. Definitely a minority perspective in blogland from what I can tell. However, it is a much needed perspective for balance if nothing else.

Investigations and Ruminations: This is not a theology blog. It is just a great blog about daily, real life spiritual issues. I enjoy reading the authors “ruminations” on her daily journey.

Lofty Matters: A blog about important events happening around us, that for the most part go unnoticed in the mainstream. You’ll find interesting posts here about new inventions and world events that you probably won’t find on the nightly news.

Identity Theft - Are you protected?

I work in the computer services industry. As part of that industry I am well aware of the regulations imposed on businesses to protect their customers’ data. I’m not a big government fan. However, I do believe one of the responsibilities of the government is to protect its citizens. To that extent, I believe most of these regulations are at least justified in spirit, even if they have holes in practicality.

These government regulations are better than not having any regulations at all. However, most of these regulations simply require companies to self-monitor themselves. They require companies to put together an identity theft program, but the requirements of that program are fairly vague. Even more vague is any means that the government has to make sure any such program is being followed. Take a look at what is required by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) and see how safe it makes you feel.

Personally, I think the government has done what it should do. It has set minimum guidelines and expects companies to be responsible and put these programs into place. The companies need to be responsible and do what is needed to protect their customers’ information. If a company does not do what is needed, they’ll eventually get burned and then have law suits and a damaged reputation that may destroy their business.

It is all well and good that the government and the business community are taking some measures to address the identity theft risks. However, the real responsibility for protecting your personal information and your identity falls on you. You’re the one with the most to lose if someone steals your personal information and proceeds to wreck havoc with your life.

The FTC released a report last year that showed 8.3 million people were the victims of identity theft in 2005. In discussing the report, Lydia B. Parnes, the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, had this to say:

“Whether you’re from Malibu or Manhattan, Tacoma or Tallahassee, no one is immune to identity theft. The important thing is that people learn how to deter identity thieves, detect suspicious activity on their financial records, and defend against the crime, should it happen.”

Notice that she did not say that the FTC is going to increase its efforts to protect you or that businesses are improving their consumer information protection processes. I’m sure that the government and responsible companies are going to do what they can. However, even a government agency is sending a clear message that the ultimate responsibility for the protection of your personal information falls on you.

If you do a Google search you can find many sites providing advice on how you can protect your identity. I found a nice summary on the Sallie Mae web site.

• Guard your Social Security number - don’t carry your SSN card or print your number on your bank checks
• Pick passwords carefully - avoid using personal names, birthdays, consecutive numbers and use a mix of letters and numbers
• Pay attention to your mail and trash - tear or shred charge receipts, copies of credit card offers, insurance forms, and bank statements
• Check your credit reports for unauthorized activity - the three national bureaus must provide you a free credit report every 12 months if you as them each year for it
• Common sense
• be careful with online shopping. Only use secure sites
• Don’t sign-up of unfamiliar contests
• Be wary of telephone solicitors

So what happens if you do all of these precautions and still become a victim of identity theft? You need to notify all of your credit card companies, banks, the credit agencies, etc… You’ll need to work it out with any businesses where the thief used your identity to purchase goods with your credit. You’ll need to work with the banks and credit agencies to try to repair your credit history if damaged.

I’ve decided get professional help to assist me in protecting myself and my family from identity theft as well as assisting me in dealing with the problem should it ever occur. I think of it as a $1,000,000 identity theft insurance policy. I have decided to subscribe with LifeLock for identity theft protection for my entire family. Yes, even your children are at risk. It can be even worse for your kids because identity theft could go unnoticed for a long period of time.

Whatever you decide to do, you need to do something. Your identity protection is ultimately your own responsibility. Educate yourself on the risks and then protect yourself and your family.

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