More than I ask or imagine. . .

A Love of Beverages

As some of you know I love beverages, any and every type. It seems that JerryDonald is taking to them too.

Do we really believe the Declaration of Independence?

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Well, July 4th is this weekend and I wonder if we really believe the Declation of Independence.

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Could this even be done in today's world? 

A great quote from GK Chesterton about Patriotism and Country: Can (the patriot) hate it enough to change it and yet love it enough to think it worth changing?

Erhman on Colbert: Son of God or Misinterpreted?

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Bart Ehrman
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A Clown for JerryDonald

The Theological Task

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I have a deep conviction that we need to keep theologizing.  Theology is not static but always answering new questions and correcting new voids. Often, Christians believe that theology is a done deal, but that leads to a "sit down, shut up, here are the answers" mentality.  We are not called to get our theology right, we are called to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.

This is also a theological task.  See everything you do is a theological statement, whether its your Starbucks order, your Facebook profile, or your iTunes library.  We say things or even dream things that we want to be, that is a type of worship.  True worship leads to transformation of all of those things. Thereby, theology is being Scripture and life together as a living sacrifice.

The call of Christ demands for us to bridge new frontiers, not because the old ones are wrong, just not complete. We don't want to change with our tradition but we do need development. Daniel Kirk in a post about why he cares about the Reformed world summarizes his thoughts:

Then, I'd say, the work of Christ is equally about transformation of the cosmos and new life as it is about justification. Then, I'd say, the calling of God's people is not only to celebrate their standing before the bar of judgment but to bring justice to bear on the earth.

I'm beginning to see more clearly that the structure of the cosmos, the problem with the cosmos, the work of Christ, and our own lives as Christians are inherently intertwined. And, that certain articulations of structure, problem and work leave folks with deeply impoverished lives that fail to put on display citizenship in the kingdom of God.

This is theologizing.  If we see a brother or sister leading an impoverished life it is often that their functional theology is deeply flawed.  Good theologizing enables us to strike at the heart of this despair with fresh words by the Spirt.  It is a task that I am committed to and I want you to be a part of too. Because we and the world and the work of Christ are intertwined.