Upper-Register--New Link

My friend, Rick, recommended this site to me today. It's a great source for getting a grasp on Covenant theology and biblical theology. Lots of articles on or about Kline and Vos and even our beloved Hugenberger, to mention a few.

Link:
http://www.upper-register.com/

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

If you're lucky emough to be Irish, then you're lucky enough. Thanks to my great grandmother, Katherine O'Leary, I've got a wee bit of blarney coursing through my veins and the luck of the Irish to boot. I can honestly say that I think about my Irish heritage nearly every day, and always have. Never will I forget my visit to the homeland, in 1996. One week, all expenses paid to tour the Emerald Isle. Erin Go Bragh! I took 12 rolls of film and will no doubt revisit the album today to reminisce a little. Didn't make it to Dublin though, spent most of the time around Lake Killarney and the southern coast. Next time!

The History Channel has some great info about St. Patty's Day. Check it out!

Link:
History Channel

Controversial sermons

Hear ye...hear ye. We are now accepting suggestions/ideas for sermons that should be preached but never are because most pastors may have not thought about them or perhaps are too afraid of doing so. I don't mean topics that are crafted to be controversial just to be "hip" or trendy, but the ones that expose the desperate human condition and offer hope and healing in the name of Christ. Here's just a few too begin with.

1. Genocide: Who's my neighbor? (Seen Hotel Rwanda yet?!)
2. AIDS
3. Harry Potter and Tolkien
4. Finding truth in the lyrics of EMINEM
5. Was Jesus a Republican?
6. What is Grace? What is Faith?...Really!

Old Man Winter strikes again!

I can't believe it snowed again. The snow was wicked heavy and clung to all the trees...absolutely beautiful!! Haven't had much time to post lately so I figured I'd talk about the weather. More on the Emergent church soon.

Emergent Church 1.0

My friend, Steve, and I have been meeting regulary to try to figure out what the Emergent Church is all about. In fact, we still haven't even got a clear definition yet. Probably because the churches are so fluid and varied. In many ways, it is the anti-"seeker sensitive movement." Not that they are trying to keep "seekers" out, but that they embrace ancient liturgies and forms of community worship so uncommon in many megachurches, and they abhor the marketing and performance that usually goes along with being "seeker sensitive." Yet, they are also proactive about integrating the arts and technology into their worship services. So the stage is set for purposeful engagement with culture, missional they call it. More on that later.

Over the next few weeks I hope to post some of our findings that will result in one of my major research papers due next month. Steve suggested a revolutionary thesis: "the Emergent Church is to North America what Liberation Theology was to South America." He has teased this out quite a bit in his own blog, check it out at: http://www.smerickson.modblog.com. But here are the major points:
1. The names imply the seeking of freedom
2. The “grassroots” nature
3. House churches and base communities
4. Distrust of modernity
5. Critical towards an overly rational faith
6. An emphasis on orthopraxis
7. Political associations
8. Community and structural sin

Also, check out his bibliography on the Emergent Church:
Bibliography

7.5 Weeks/ 52 days/1248 hours--the clock is ticking

April 22 all of my work is due for graduation. No pressure. Just 6 classes to attend or prepare for, 10,000 pages to read, and a smathering of presentations to give and papers to write. You'd think I would have planned my last semester to be a tad more leisurely. But why take it easy when you can toy with insanity?! Totally forgot how de-motivating "senioritis" really is. I wonder if I can get an extension on my work for time missed/wasted because of this disease?

Here's a definition:
Senioritis is an imaginary syndrome attributed to students nearing the end of high school and college. Its symptoms include laziness, procrastination, and apathy toward schoolwork.

While senioritis is most certainly not a real disease, its effects are well known to most experienced educators. This imagined affliction is a symptom of students' complacency once they have all but guaranteed their place at commencement. After college admission letters arrive in early April, high school seniors feel even less pressure to push themselves academically.

Link:
"Senioritis"