Tag Archives: postmodernism

Evil = Okay!?

We live in a day when everything is relative.  According to the popular mythology, nothing is absolute.  (How popular mythologists get by with this absolute I will never understand.)  Truth and morality are situational, personal, relational and relative.  The all-too common thinking runs something like this: “If I think it is okay, then it is okay.  If I perceive it as moral and good, then it must be moral and good.”  Usually what such thinkers actually mean is “if what I am doing is something I want to do—that makes me happy—then it must be good.” Continue reading

Peace at all costs?

I am a history buff.  Always have been.  I am also one of those people who is fascinated by dates and what happened on certain days.  For example, I am writing this on Friday, March 18, 2016.  On this date in history in the year A.D. 37 the Roman Senate proclaimed Caligula as Emperor.  (Something they would come to regret!)  In 978 King Edward of England was murdered, joining thousands of other Christian martyrs in the roll call of faith.  In 1852 the Wells Fargo Company was founded.  In 1922 Mohandas Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience.  In 1961 the Pillsbury Dough Boy made his debut.

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One Way

I became a Christian during the Jesus Movement of the early 1970’s.  I look back with a fond nostalgia to that time.  It was an exciting time to be alive, to be a believer in Jesus.  Yes, there were many troubling things happening in our country, in the world.  Yet despite the troubles God was moving in mighty and dramatic ways.  How many thousands, if not millions, of young people came to Christ during that time?  Some of the excitement of that era is captured in the film Woodlawn.  (If you haven’t seen it, you should check it out.)  At the climax of the movie emphasis is placed on an iconic image from the Jesus Movement—the “One Way” symbol.  It was a common emblem in those days.  Young believers would hold up their hand with the index finger extended.  You would see posters emblazoned with a picture of a hand with one finger raised, boldly proclaiming “One Way.”  (I used to draw that symbol on the back of my school notebooks.)  It was a simple yet effective statement of faith in Jesus.  We all were declaring, “Jesus is the only way!” Continue reading

Alchemy in the Academy

JosephWright-Alchemist-CroppedSomething dangerous and scary is probably occurring right now at a university or college near you.  It may be disguised as a seminar on wellness, a class on well-being, or a conference on integrative health.  You might find it listed in the college catalog in courses labeled “Mindfulness Training” or “Contemplative Learning.”  It could more blatantly be offered as a program for student/faculty that utilizes yoga, Tai Chi, or meditation as an aid to mental and physical health.  And usually somewhere in the literature for this seminar, class or program you will find references to the “wealth” of scientific evidence that proves that mindfulness (or yoga, or contemplation, or whatever) is proven to be the panacea for all ills in body and soul. Continue reading

Raindrops Keep Falling On Our Heads

One of the premier events for Christian young people in this country is the Urbana conference.  This event is sponsored by Intervarsity Christian ministries and is held every three years.  It is one of the largest Christian youth events in the world.  The most recent conference was December 27-31, 2015 and was held in St. Louis, MO.  Advancing Native Missions had a display there, with a number of staff representing ANM.

Back in our offices in Virginia, we received regular reports about what was happening at the conference.  One of these reports noted that social media from the conference was very interesting.  There were a number of posts to Facebook and Twitter commenting on the fact that the LGBT community was not represented at the conference.  Fascinating.  Would you really expect the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender community to be a part of this conference?  For some, apparently yes. Continue reading