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Archives for November 2010

by on 11.30.10

what does 2011 mean?

It means the monumental King James Version of the Bible is 400 years old.

My genius son sent me some links of interest on the subject. First is a site marking the anniversary with documentaries, events, and many other bits of information.

The King James Bible Trust

And there is a film coming out… you can watch the trailer here and sign up to be notified when the DVD is available.

KJB: the Book that Changed the World

Every believer ought to celebrate this anniversary, regardless of your view of the versions. The King James Version really was the book that changed the world.

Filed Under: Church History, General Interest
by on 11.25.10

a word of comfort to my Thanks-gorging friends

Comes from the-scientist.com, so it must be true, right?

Obesity levels have risen dramatically in research animals and others living close to humans, suggesting environmental factors are encouraging everyone to gain weight, according to new findings in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

You can read the whole thing here (free subscription might be required).

So… it isn’t that you eat too much.

Or that you are a lazy couch potato.

It’s the environment. Naturally. I knew that.

I’ve just been scanning in some photos my mom took back when I was a shadow of my present self. I am glad to know that I can blame it all on the environment.

And I thought all my Yankee friends might feel better after their Thanks-gorging to know this.

You’re welcome.

don_sig2

Filed Under: Fun and games
by on 11.23.10

are we still friends?

Man, my brother and another pastor both sent me a copy of an e-mail from Matt Olson entitled "Open Letter to Friends in Ministry". I haven’t gotten my own personal copy, even though I know I am in Matt’s database. I wonder what that means? I think maybe we aren’t friends anymore.

Well, seriously, there are some issues between us, and I am still concerned about Northland and the direction it is going. Some of the things in Matt’s letter stretch credulity to the breaking point.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Fundamentalism, Issues
by on 11.21.10

why are young people leaving church?

Another interesting CT article asks this question.

The Leavers: Young Doubters Exit the Church

More than in previous generations, 20- and 30- somethings are abandoning the faith. Why?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Christian Living, Spiritual Life
by on 11.18.10

CT book review: America’s Four Gods

An interesting book review appeared on the Christianity Today site a few days ago. [This is no endorsement of Christianity Today.]

The book in question is America’s Four Gods: What We Say about God—and What That Says about Us. The key paragraphs from the CT review article follow:

The American religious landscape is admittedly as varied and complex as the geographical landscape. This makes any taxonomy of religious beliefs necessarily artificial, as the authors note. So they start with what American religious believers have in common: namely, the notion that God is loving. This is something some 85 percent of Americans affirm.

Beneath that superficial similarity, though, is a range of conceptions about God’s character. Those conceptions dramatically alter our understanding of the shape his love takes in our world. Froese and Bader examine two questions whose answers, they contend, determine more about a person’s cultural and political worldview than any other sociological factor. First, to what extent does God interact with the world? Second, to what extent does God judge the world? As the authors put it, "The answers to these questions predict the substance of our worldviews much better than the color of our skin, the size of our bank account, the political party we belong to, or whether we wear a white Stetson or faded Birkenstocks."

Respondents’ answers lead the authors to identify four conceptions of God among the American religious public: (1) the authoritative God, who both judges and is closely engaged in the world; (2) the benevolent God, who is "engaged but nonjudgmental"; (3) the critical God, who happens to be judgmental but disengaged; and (4) the distant God, who is neither engaged nor judgmental, and could care less about how humans muck about.

This is probably an oversimplification, but it may still provide a useful categorization to keep in mind when speaking to people about the Lord. The reviews on CBD (see link above) seem to see a similar usefulness to the book.

Alas, another book to add to my list of "I’d like to read that some day."

don_sig2

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,
by on 11.10.10

update: funeral sermon

For those interested, I have posted the audio for my dad’s funeral sermon at our church site. My brother, Paul Johnson, pastor of the Grace Baptist Church of the Comox Valley preached an excellent gospel message from Ps 34.6:

This Poor Man Cried

We have also posted my eulogy, a spoken version of my earlier post about my dad:

Poor Boy off the Farm

May these files be used to edify saints and perhaps even bring a soul to Christ.

don_sig2

Filed Under: Family, Memories, Personal
by on 11.1.10

show me the silent majority

Kevin Bauder’s latest installment tells the history of separation from a point of view totally foreign to me. Essentially, he seems to be arguing that there has been a silent majority within evangelical Christendom that never was actually new-evangelical.

  • This silent majority was at first willing to be identified as fundamentalists but had little stomach for the fight the fundamentalists waged against the liberals.
  • This silent majority wasn’t new-evangelical, but it sided with the new evangelical forces on the left of the NAE against the fundamentalists. (??)
  • The silent majority didn’t approve of Billy Graham’s cooperative evangelicalism, but they didn’t break with Graham over it. (???)

You know, I’d really like to see some evidence of these last two points especially. I see many ‘attaboys’ on SI about it, but really, shouldn’t we demand some evidence and not just rely on Bauder’s say-so?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Fundamentalism, Issues, New Evangelicalism