Let’s talk about gas again.

I spent $3.75 on gas today. I spent $3.49 last week.

I find it highly ironic that “the world is flat” and that we live in a “global culture” yet now many can’t afford to drive across their own towns.

I will say hi to my friends in Great Britain, though.

Not my usual fare, but:  A 7 year old boy steals his grandmother’s car saying: “It’s fun to do bad things.”

I’d like to take this time to welcome all of my new friends from the Georgia Blogroll, hosted by Georgia On My Mind!

I hope that you all enjoy my take on South Georgia, faith, and the world around me.  Always feel free to comment or email me at the address on the sidebar.

I look forward to meeting all of you!

Is the using the phrase OMG, internet slang for “oh my God,”  taking the God’s name in vain?

I like Eugene Peterson (more as a writer than Biblical “paraphraser”).  I particularly like his admonition on our use of poor language in our attempt to appeal to non-believers.  Here is an excerpt from an interview with Christianity Today in 2005 entitled, Spirituality for All the Wrong Reasons:

Interviewer:  …evangelicals rightly tell people they can have a “personal relationship with God.” That suggests a certain type of spiritual intimacy.

Peterson: All these words get so screwed up in our society. If intimacy means being open and honest and authentic, so I don’t have veils, or I don’t have to be defensive or in denial of who I am, that’s wonderful. But in our culture, intimacy usually has sexual connotations, with some kind of completion. So I want intimacy because I want more out of life. Very seldom does it have the sense of sacrifice or giving or being vulnerable. Those are two different ways of being intimate. And in our American vocabulary intimacy usually has to do with getting something from the other. That just screws the whole thing up.

It’s very dangerous to use the language of the culture to interpret the gospel. Our vocabulary has to be chastened and tested by revelation, by the Scriptures. We’ve got a pretty good vocabulary and syntax, and we’d better start paying attention to it because the way we grab words here and there to appeal to unbelievers is not very good.

I am particularly struck by his suggestion that many want intimacy with God because we want more out of life. He paints this in a negative light that I agree with because it doesn’t include followng Christ and making sacrifices.  However, we have entire churches based on this fact that God can give us more out of life.  And I’m not just talking about prosperity gospel style churches.

I’m talking about some of OUR churches.

Richard Hall has some good thoughts and words for Methodists on both sides of the pond who are concerned about denominational decline. He speaks of the alteration of social institutions as a whole as well as the need for the church to be the church, not an institution of capitalism (stinging critique).

For what it is worth, my sense is that what the church most needs now is the faithfulness to ‘hold the line’, to keep our nerve. There is no doubt that we are living through some very unsettling times. The future seems very uncertain. So what’s new? We face the world’s indifference with scarce resources and often-failing courage. Every generation of disciples since the time of Jesus has done the same. We have to lose any illusions we might hold about being in control and trust in the God who calls us to go with us into whatever the future holds.

This passage by John Cassian has been quite inspirational to me:

As the parable in the Gospel teaches, whatever concerns the building of that spiritual and most lofty tower must be reckoned up and carefully considered beforehand. These things, even when prepared, will be of no use nor allow the lofty height of perfection to be properly placed upon them unless we begin with a clearance of all faults. We must also dig up the decayed and dead rubbish of the passions and lay the s trong foundations of simplicity and humility on the solid and (so to speak) living soil of our breasts, or rather on that rock of the gospel. By being built in this way this tower of spiritual virtues will rise and be able to stand unmoved and be raised to the utmost heights of heaven in full assurance of its stability. – John Cassian

When what we dream is built out of virtue and upon a foundation of holiness, we can reach into the heights of heaven.

Since it’s inception, Greatest Story has moderated comments.  I’ve thought long and hard about allowing comments to appear on this blog unmoderated with the following caveats:

• All comments will be subject to removal at my discretion.
• Please comment within 45 degrees of the topic.
• Abuse of any kind toward any one will not be tolerated.
• Continual violation of these terms (or if you just tick me off too much) will result in banning you from commenting on this site.

What do you all think?  Do you moderate or not?

David wishes that we were Biblically literate. I resonate with that, preacher.

It is time for us all grow up and become Biblically literate. That won’t happen if we continue to depend on the Good News Bible.

It comes from the same muddled thinking that regards swaying “meaningfully” to that drivel Kum Ba Ya whilst looking at a candle as somehow a modern, cool expression of Christian worship. This stems from the time when Methodism and other mainstream denominations had our collective nervous breakdowns in the second half of the last century.

I don’t know if its just me, but I find the NIV as easy to read as it gets.

I don’t think its the language people have trouble with, it’s the notion that this book is supposed to mean something to us and it is very hard for some people to reconcile that truth with the form and content of what is present in the Bible–we can’t always make it fit into our context.

Similarly, the Bible needs to be understood in its own context and in the context of faith. I don’t think its the language, now, that people really struggle with but language is the easiest scapegoat. The deeper issue in which paraphrases may be a band-aid for, is that people tend to expect things from the Bible that it may not wish to give immediately and that doesn’t always happen. Maybe we could be more honest about that. Maybe we could avoid watered down metaphors such as the Bible being the instruction manual for life so that people stop looking for enumerated lists, but begin looking to encounter God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Maybe we could make sure that we teach the Bible appropriately and deal justly with proof-texting and poor exegesis. Maybe we could better equip our churches with the ability to read, understand, and use the Bible as it desires to be used.

And maybe we could celebrate all of our loving and responsible pastors and teachers who do this and lift them up and encourage them. Sometimes preaching the Word doesn’t bring notoriety and fame and these men and women are okay with that.

My heart as a teacher is to take this need and desire, and attempt to rally the community of faith around it and make sure that people understand the scriptures. As churches what can we do to make sure that people do not need to rely on interpreted paraphrases?

Craig Adams asks “why do we need a UMC?”