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The most beautiful thing...

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the source of all true art and science.  He to whom this "emotion" is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder, or stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.  His eyes are closed.

Albert Einstein

Stuff Christians Like

Had the chance recently to have an iChat conversation with my friend Jon Acuff.  Jon is a blogger and the author of the new book, Stuff Christians Like.

Honestly, Jon is one of the funniest guys I know and God is using him in some pretty extraordinary ways.  Go buy his book and start reading his blog today.  You can also follow him on Twitter.

church: the love/hate tension

In his book, The Holy Longing, Fr Ronald Rolheiser shares the writings of an Italian spiritual writer - Carlo Carretto.  Rolhesier says (in reference to the church) that Carretto "captures well both its scandal and its grace."  I think I agree.

How much I must criticize you, my church and yet how much I love you!

You have made me suffer more than anyone and yet I owe more to you than to anyone.

I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need your presence.

You have given me much scandal and yet you alone have made me understand holiness.

Never in this world have I seen anything more compromised, more false, yet never have I touched anything more pure, more generous or more beautiful.

Countless times I have felt like slamming the door of my soul in your face - and yet, every night, I have prayed that I might die in your sure arms!

No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you, even if not completely you.

Then too - where would I go?

To build another church?

But I could not build one without the same defects, for they are my defects.  And again, if I were to build another church, it would be my church, not Christ's church.

No. I am old enough.  I know better!

Amen and amen.

Teresa's Bookmark

This is beautiful. 

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing alarm you.
While all things are passing;
God is unchanging.
Be patient and you will gain everything.
With God in your heart nothing is lacking.
God alone suffices.

Words found inserted into the prayer book that Teresa of Avila was reading at the time of her death.  It's known as "Teresa's Bookmark".

The Slippery Slope of Religion

Thanks Todd for pointing me to a short video clip where Tim Keller discusses how religion can lead to oppression.  He calls it the "slippery slope" of religion that looks like this:

1.  Superiority - "I have the truth and they don't."

2.  Separation - I no longer spend time with them.  They are seen as "impure."

3.  Caricature - Because I don't know them, I caricature them.  They now become one dimensional.

4.  Passive & Active Oppression - Now these become the type of people I can push away and ignore.  Passively at first, then over time, actively.

Video Link

Reason #1 Why My Community is 75% Unchurched

I'm starting a new feature on my blog.  It's called, "25 Reasons Why My Community is 75% Unchurched."

This is the first post.  I will stop after reaching 25.  Or maybe not...  :)

Christianity's Image Problem

Time Magazine writes about David Kinnaman's & Gabe Lyon's new book, unChristian. 

From the article:

83% of Americans identified themselves as Christians, and that fewer than 20% of non-Christians held an unfavorable view of Christianity...

Kinnaman says non-Christians' biggest complaints about the faith are not immediately theological: Jesus and the Bible get relatively good marks. Rather, he sees resentment as focused on perceived Christian attitudes. Nine out of ten outsiders found Christians too "anti-homosexual," and nearly as many perceived it as "hypocritical" and "judgmental." Seventy-five percent found it "too involved in politics."

His study found that 23% of Americans over 61 were non-Christians; 27% among people ages 42-60; and 40% among 16-29 year olds. Younger Christians, he concludes, are therefore likely to live in an environment where two out of every five of their peers is not a Christian.

This article brings me back to the "Jesus VS. Christians" video we did a few months ago.  Check it out if you haven't already. 

Link to Time Magazine's article.

Emergent|Evangelical|Fundamentalist

Courtesy of Todd.

Creators of Culture

Check out MSNBC's report: Evangelicals seek 'creators of culture'.

An encouraging article... 

Link

New York Times: New Breed of Evangelicals

Article:

"Emphasis Shifts for New Breed of Evangelicals." 

Link