Tag: Kingdom Culture

Note To Ted Haggard

Charisma Magazine reports in a recent article that defrocked minister, Ted Haggard is upset with the Church because he claims it hasn’t helped him be restored to the ministry.

You remember Ted Haggard, he was the dude who was preaching against homosexuality while allegedly engaging in drug-fueled sexual conduct with his homosexual masseur. (It should be noted Haggard denies the relationship was buggery-based).

Complaining about his treatment since his rather public defrocking Charisma reports Haggard as saying: “The church only believes in forgiveness and restoration for insignificant people . . . Virtually every institution on earth is demonstrating that they’re doing a better job restoring people than the church.” Continue reading “Note To Ted Haggard”

The Cult of Celebrity

(c)iStockphoto.com/adventtr

The wife and I were in Los Angeles yesterday.

I was in a mediation all day on a case I am handling there, but my wife headed out to Rodeo Drive and then in the afternoon returned to the Beverly Hilton, where we were staying.

About 4:45, she began texting me pictures of celebrities. First it was Mark Wahlberg, then The Dude himself, that’s right, His Dudeness, The Big Lebowski a/k/a Jeff Bridges.

There were others too: Colin Firth, Amy Adams, James Franco, Randy Newman, Ed Begley, Jr. Apparently the movie stars were at the Beverly Hilton for a lunch honoring the Academy Award nominees. Continue reading “The Cult of Celebrity”

Why You Should Care About The Academy Awards

Well, they’re out, the list of nominees for this years’ Academy Awards. You can see them here.

Why should you care about the Academy Awards?  If you are a Christian, you should care about the Academy Awards because you should care about culture.

The Apostle Paul was so familiar with the Greek poets he was able to quote them to the Athenians in the context of explaining the Gospel.  See Acts 17:22-29.

I have news for you though, poetry is not the main medium of modern culture; movies are. That’s why my wife and I try to see, at a minimum, all the movies nominated for Best Picture each year.  Christians are called to engage and transform the culture and that starts with knowing the culture. If you choose to become a movie-goer, remember a few things. Continue reading “Why You Should Care About The Academy Awards”

5 Best Books I Read in 2010

I’ve had a goal over the last several years to read 50 books per year. Last year I fell woefully short at 27.

Nevertheless, here is my list of the top 5 books I read in 2010, in no particular order:

1. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller

Donald Miller of Blue Like Jazz fame has produced another winner. Million Miles is a book about how to live a meaningful life, a life that is an interesting worthy story. Miller takes the elements of what makes a good book and suggests, quite convincingly, they are the same things that make for a meaningful Christian life.

Continue reading “5 Best Books I Read in 2010”

On The Origin Of The Christmas Tree

How the Christmas tree came to be is the stuff of legend, and while there is usually some truth in legends the details often vary. Therefore, without vouching for its historical accuracy, I give you the following, along with my own take on the symbolism of the Christmas tree:

St. Boniface was born in 672 A.D. in England, became a priest and ultimately a missionary to what is today Germany.  The people living in that region were pagans, worshipping a fake-god named Thor.  One of their most sacred sites was an ancient oak tree dedicated to Thor. Continue reading “On The Origin Of The Christmas Tree”