Marginal Christianity

          It’s surprising how often I see this come up around the blogosphere as a justification for the necessity and reality of hell.   So much is wrong with it that I hardly know where to begin.   But here are a few thoughts.          -the “point” of being a Christian is NOT avoiding hell. -the “point” of Christianity is being reclaimed and restored to right relation to God, each other and the world.   -the “point” of Christianity is to by faith in Jesus Christ reclaim our primal dignity as God’s royal representative in creation and protector and nurturer of creation to its full flourishing. -the “point” of Christianity is to begin to live here and now, even if in partial and fragmentary ways, the life “of the ages,” the eternal life we will fully live then and there. -the “point” of Christianity is more about who we are (God’s image-bears) and restoration to...

http://facultyblog.eternitybiblecollege.com/2013/09/when-prayer-is-an-abomination/ Mark Beuving  —  September 30, 2013 —  Leave a comment Throughout the Bible, prayer is a good thing. Obviously. Biblical characters pray in tight situations, they pray for one another, and the Bible frequently commands us to pray. Prayer is powerful and effective, we are told. Prayer is one of those things that Christians know they ought to do regularly, and it’s one of the first religious activities that the non-religious take to when they start feeling religious. But believe it or not, the Bible has some negative things to say about prayer. In fact, prayer is even described as an abomination in Proverbs: “If anyone turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” (28:9) That’s a crazy verse. An abomination is something that God hates. Detests. So if God so clearly wants us to pray...

http://www.theguardian.com/media/media-blog/2013/sep/27/seymour-hersh-obama-nsa-american-media Seymour Hersh has got some extreme ideas on how to fix journalism – close down the news bureaus of NBC and ABC, sack 90% of editors in publishing and get back to the fundamental job of journalists which, he says, is to be an outsider. It doesn't take much to fire up Hersh, the investigative journalist who has been the nemesis of US presidents since the 1960s and who was once described by the Republican party as "the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist". He is angry about the timidity of journalists in America, their failure to challenge the White House and be an unpopular messenger of truth. Don't even get him started on the New York Times which, he says, spends "so much more time carrying water for Obama than I ever thought they would" – or the death of Osama bin Laden. "Nothing's been done ab...

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2153109,00.html?fb_action_ids=525851690824615&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map={%22525851690824615%22%3A702205739807265}&action_type_map={%22525851690824615%22%3A%22og.likes%22}&action_ref_map=[]   Monday, Oct. 07, 2013 By Mary Eberstadt No doubt about it: religious traditionalists are spooked, especially within the Catholic Church. Many were edgy enough before Pope Francis' interview in which he said the church could no longer afford to be "obsessed" with issues such as homosexuality, contraception and abortion . Tired of being laughed at in all the best places for their defense of these perennially unpopular teachings, many of the orthodox faithful had already grown accustomed to maintaining a defensive crouch in the public square. Now the nontraditionalists--both inside and outside the church--are positively giddy, hoping that the new Ponti...

http://www.faithandleadership.com/blog/09-24-2013/leading-world-unreliable-information The changing context that corporate leaders face is akin to the “explosion of a supernova.” I was taken aback by this observation in the introduction to the 2013 Duke Corporate Education survey of global CEOs . “This supernova event has accelerated the move to an interdependent world and has untethered many of the assumptions and beliefs that leaders have depended on to frame their leadership,” the report says. In a weird way, I was comforted to think that 38 CEOs across the globe wake up worried about what they don’t know. Most Christian leaders have the same sense of uncertainty, but from a strikingly different sense of loss. In the 2013 CEO study, Duke Corporate Education made these three observations about information being less reliable: 1. “Access to knowledge is uncontrollable, and shelf life is low.” The internet makes information available to all and makes the publicatio...

If I limit the Gospel to my sins and Jesus’ cross: -I am defined by what I have become (a sinner) and live in (grateful) memory of what Christ has done for me -I have no basis to experience an integral connection with creation -I have no compelling rationale for my life till death or Christ returns -I have no organic connection to God’s new creation However, in the biblical Gospel: -I am defined by who I am (God’s image-bearer) and live in anticipation of what God has called me to do -Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection fulfills creation as new creation as well effecting my salvation -reclaims and restores me to my primal dignity as God’s image-bearer and vocation as God’s royal representative and caretaker of creation -my life here and now is part and parcel of my life then and there and my faithfulness here will somehow be purified and used by God as part of his new creation Yes, the Gospel is way bigger than we ever thought!