The Institute (協会)

Would Jesus Go To "Fall" Festival? Some Say, "NO"!

Over at World Magazine I had this to say about what some see as the odd practice of churches having an "alternative Halloween."

I rant:

Every year on October 31st many churches celebrate Halloween alternatives, what some call “Halloween in disguise,” with “Harvest” or “Fall” festivals. I read about this over at About.com. Candy, costumes, games, and everything Halloween except for the “evil stuff.” Why do churches do this?

Isn’t Halloween one of the best opportunities Jesus followers have to love their neighbors and build relationships for the Gospel with them? Jesus tended to not escape his context for “the shire” but brought the Kingdom to it. Isn’t following Jesus is a call to mission and live all of life for the Kingdom? A missional church sees itself as a local missionary and takes every opportunity to be incarnational, indigenous, and intentional.

Every Christian is a local missionary and avoiding non-Christians on Halloween seems odd to some of us. Isn’t it an evangelisitic dream come true to have such an easy opportunity to have non-Christians come to your home in your own neighborhood? If we want non-Christian families in our neighborhoods to meet Jesus shouldn’t we at least be home when they come knocking on our doors?

Since most American non-religious observances celebrate evil —Thanksgiving (gluttony), Valentines Day (lust), St. Patrick’s Day (drunkenness) — why create an alternative religious counterfeit on Halloween? After all, what message is the church sending to the world by ‘circling the wagons’ and avoiding our neighborhoods?

Given the fact that Jesus and the apostles did not retreat from evil (Mark 2:13-14; Acts 14:8-20; Acts 17:16-34), I’m not so sure they would go to a church “harvest festival” on Halloween. It seems like Jesus followers, following the Kingdom-oriented mission of Christ, would see October 31st as a strategic missional opportunity to build relationships in their neighborhoods to later reveal where evil comes from and God’s solution for it. Why isn’t Halloween about being “salt and light?” What am I missing?

Here's the rest and the conversation @ World Magazine.

I know one missional guy (I'll just call him "BB") who says that if you want to know whether or not a church is missional look at how they handle Halloween. "BB" argues that there's nothing missional about having a fake Halloween service at church?

Fellas, is "BB" right?

John 17:20-23--Why Is "Reformation Day" A Celebration?

I was recently approached (about a week ago) with a concern from a recent convert to the "Reformed tradition." I was stumped and didn't know how to respond. His concern regards his confusion about "Reformation Day." This is a day, October 31st, when some Lutheran and Reformed communities celebrate one of the most painful schisms in the history of the Christianity--the launching of the Protestant Reformation.

Why do some Lutherans and Reformed circles celebrate "Reformation Day," this guy wondered.

In John 17:20-23 Jesus prays for unity among his followers:

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

Martin Luther grieved. Moderns celebrate.

Someone might ask, "If Jesus longs for 'complete unity' for the sake of Kingdom mission then why celebrate disunity?"

Or someone could ask this, "Isn't celebrating "Reformation Day" like celebrating your grandparent's divorce?" "Do the Lutheran and Reformed churches that celebrate the schism spend time praying for the uniting of on church under the lordship of Christ?"

Ok, fellas, how would you respond to this guy? He wants to know, in light of Jesus longing for unity, should Reformation Day be a party or a memorial service? What does the celebration of disunity "let the world know?"

Should we also have "East/West Day" where we celebrate the Great Schism of 1054 between Eastern and Western expressions of Christianity?

I will not be surprised if this guy converts to Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy at some point (or may even Anglicanism).

From Wikepedia:

"The East-West Schism, or Great Schism, divided Chalcedonian Christianity into Western (Latin) and Eastern (Greek) branches, i.e. Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Though normally dated to 1054, the East-West Schism was actually the result of an extended period of estrangement between Latin and Greek Christendom. The primary causes of the Schism were disputes over papal authority—Pope Leo IX claimed he held authority over the four Eastern patriarchs—and over the insertion of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed by the Western Church. Eastern Orthodox today claim that the primacy of the Patriarch of Rome was only honorary, and that he has authority only over his own diocese and does not have the authority to change the decisions of Ecumenical Councils. There were other, less significant catalysts for the Schism, including variance over liturgical practices and conflicting claims of jurisdiction."

I Saw The California Fires From The Air Last Night

(NASA photo of the fires).

Fellas, I just flew into Los Angeles last night. I saw the fires from the plane.

It was absolutely amazing!! I just stood there looking out the window speechless watching the ember glow radiate the horizon. And was I saw wasn't nearly as bad as what's happing in San Diego.

I'm staying in the shadiest hotel(?) I think I've ever been in but it's amazingly fun (interesting). When I pulled up last night and saw the neighborhood and IMMEDIATELY drove away to call Travelocity to get my money back. I argued with them. I didn't get my money back.

I'm staying at the Tradewinds Hotel ("A Backpackers Paradise"), in Inglewood, CA. This place is almost like a European hostel. There are people here from all over the world. Here's who I hung out with last night.

(1) Jared, 32. He's from Ireland. He's been on a 7 year vacation. I'm NOT kidding. He's just been traveling the world living in various places. He's been staying at this place for 6 weeks. Yeah, 6 weeks!!!!!!!

(2) Christina, 32. She's an aspiring screenwriter from Detroit. She kept referring to her dog back home as her "daughter."

(3) Phil, 30s, this guy did way too many drugs. He said last night that he was a crackhead. I actually believe him.

I've got to take pictures of this place or else people won't believe I was hire.

I learned something this weekend: cheap hotels near the airport aren't always the best places to stay. Wow, I think this really is an American version of a hostel. Actually, I think people live here (seriously).

What's really odd, though, is that I would stay here again.

Right now, I'm sitting here coveting the computer of this Taiwanese guy from New York. It's like an LCD screen. Phat. He's in the midst of several myspace, AIM, and Facebook conversations. He's father is with him, who I'm sure is mentally ill in some way. He calls his son, who's in 20s, "Georgy, my number one, basketball player" (with a very thick accent).

This is so weird. . . I wish I had a video camera.

Why Taylor Mali Should Be A Professor of Preaching In Evangelical Nice-ness Land

So true, fellas, so true.

The revolution continues. . .

Bill Cosby Is Right Again--Tell Dyson Not To Write Another Book

Fellas, over at Acton I wrote a little op-ed piece about Bill Cosby's new book.

Ninety-four percent of all blacks murdered are killed by other blacks. For many blacks, a Klu Klux Klan rally is a safer place than their own neighborhoods.--Anthony Bradley

I open the rant saying:

"Bill Cosby’s status as sage is confirmed by the release of his new book, co-authored with Dr. Alvin Poussaint of Harvard Medical School, Come On People: On The Path From Victims to Victors. Cosby and Poussaint remind us that black America’s hope for escape from abysmal self-destruction is moral formation -- not government programs or blaming white people."

The rest is here.

Wow, fellas you gotta make sure you read the comment by "M Charles". Whew!!

Fires burn 1,300 homes, threaten 68,000 more

(Homes burn at the Valley Oaks mobile home park Monday near Fallbrook, California).

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Raging wildfires have destroyed 1,300 homes across Southern California and, pushed by fierce Santa Ana winds, threaten more than 68,000 others, California fire officials reported Tuesday.

Evacuees by the thousands joined 300,000 others seeking refuge in shelters, schools and stadiums Tuesday as fires pushed into new areas.

At least 16 wildfires have scorched about 425 square miles from north of Los Angeles to southeast of San Diego since the weekend.

While three major fires rage in Los Angeles County, the largest disruption of life and property came to the south, where San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts said Tuesday about 1,000 homes have been destroyed.

More than 300,000 people fled their homes in San Diego County, where five of 23 emergency shelters reached capacity Monday evening. Others took shelter with friends or relatives.

The Navy ordered sailors out of barracks and onto ships to make room for evacuees.

The rest of the story is here at CNN.

Fellas, I can't imagine. I hope the churches outside of that area are able to mobilize to help out as well.

Grace Does Not Mean "Nice"

Uuggghhh. I think I might puke. There are too many preachers on the internet.

Fellas, explain this to me. Why is that when many evangelical guys talk about "grace" it's done is this soft-spoken, "nice guy," fluffy, Jesus-in-a-pink-dress, whispery, quiet, effeminate, Jesus-the-hippie, kind of tone. Why does the church just want men to "be nice." The church does not need "nice guys."

I don't get it. American Christianity as the "Kingdom of Niceness," as my friend in Scotland quips, is sterilizing Kingdom-oriented mission.

Anybody got ideas about why guys think they have to preach like Elmo or why why church people expect them to?

I was recently talking to a friend who was rebuked because his sermon didn't have "enough grace in it." It was not theologically a problem, but he didn't sound like a "nice guy." They wanted him to sound like Elmo, sweet and nice, and soft. The poor guy was totally emasculated. I felt bad for him.

When I hear "grace" this is what I think of:

Black People Genetically Inferior Intellectually To Whites Says Nobel Laureate--Later Apologizes

Watson, 79, told the Sunday Times he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, whereas all the testing says not really."

Here's the follow up:

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Nobel laureate biologist James Watson was suspended Friday from his longtime post at a research laboratory and canceled his planned British book tour after controversial comments that black people are not as intelligent as white people.

James Watson won the 1962 Nobel prize for discovering the structure of DNA.

Watson has apologized for the controversial remarks.

He failed to appear to a book signing at a London bookshop Friday afternoon, and organizers of his planned Sunday evening talk at Newcastle's Center for Life said they had been informed Watson would not appear because he was already on a flight home to the States.

Well, fellas, did Watson slip or misspeak? Oops

Look, fellas, it might be possible that Watson simply articulated what many, many white people believe? I dunno. I'm just gonna put this out there: I recently was speaking to an African American student who is, for now, attending a large conservative seminary. This black student contacted me because he couldn't figure out why one of his classmates came to him, randomly, down trodden telling the black student that academically, "it must be hard for you to be here."

The implication was that this black student must be suffering because he was receiving deep theological content. The white student seriously inquired and continued to pity the black student.

The black student told me that he didn't know how to respond so he said nothing. Sadly the black student was rightfully, I think, offended at the implication that he "must be" struggling to learn the content. Now, there will be some of you who will look for an alternative explanation (Mr. RP, for example). But I didn't give the full details of the story.

The basis from which this black student was approached was race as the white student continued to make assumptions about this black student's background which, IN FACT, were NOT true. The white student actually told this black student what his background must be. It goes something like this: "hey, it must be hard for you to be here considering that you're from . . . " He actually never asked the black student.

The black student was dismayed that his white classmate had assumed so much about him without actually asking him. What was it that made the white student approach him, in particular, as opposed to other students. His blackness. This student will now probably be very cautious about staying in a conservative white evangelical context. Oops.

Well, Watson apologized. For those of us raised in the black community you'll remember being warned that you always have to work twice as hard because white people will always think you're less capable, no matter what.

This is why Donovan McNabb made his comments that black quarterbacks have a tougher time in the NFL.

Watson's probably never going to recover his reputation from this. Sadly, in America, you're not allowed to make a mistake in speaking about race issues as Don Imus now knows. Too bad.

Nooses and Evangelical Race (Un)Consciousness

Sorry fellas, I forgot to mention my latest rant over at World Magazine titled "Nooses and Evangelical Race Consciousness"

I rant:

Nooses in Jena, Louisiana, nooses at Columbia University in New York City, and their lingering ancillary protests, reveal that America has yet to recover from centuries of racial tension. Even worse is the fact that American Christianity has little credibility in pointing to the church as a model of social progress in the area of race.

In 1958 Martin Luther King once said, “Unfortunately, most of the major denominations still practice segregation in local churches, hospitals, schools, and other church institutions. It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning.” Is this still true today?

Brutal honesty confesses that not much has changed in evangelicalism since 1958. Sunday morning is segregated, yes, but so is every other day in the lives of most Christians. . .

The rest is here.

Well, the comments have been interesting. I'm attacked by the usual suspects. The American churches, on all sides, have yet to address the race issue and work through it (except for pentecostals and charismatics) and I'm not talking about the failed 70s and 80s programmatic racial reconciliation movement--which has now gone international immigrant focused in most cities and away from dealing with on-going historic American tensions. Getting people together once a week in a building for a couple of hours doesn't really bring the kind of change many desire.

Republicans Jumping Ship--The Future House of (Democratic Party) Representatives

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives should be very vulnerable. But it's not -- at least, not right now. art.capitol.

Republicans will have a hard time recapturing the House in 2008, analysts say.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's hold on the gavel is pretty slim. Republicans need 17 more seats to retake the majority. In 2006, Democrats gained 30.

When a party wins a big victory in Congress -- as the Democrats did in 2006 -- they usually have trouble holding those gains at the next election. Right now, for example, Democrats hold 61 House seats in districts that voted for President Bush in 2004.

Republicans have only 8 representatives from districts that voted for John Kerry.

So it looks like Democrats have a lot more vulnerable seats to defend in the 2008 elections. But analysts say otherwise.

"A lot of those members are veteran, long-time Democrats who have been in those seats and they are not vulnerable," said Lauren Whittington, a senior staff writer at the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. "You know, people who are in Republican states but who have been there for 20 years, 30 years, and they have seniority.''

Hmm, fellas, what will this mean for public policy discussions after Hilary wins the election?

I'm thinking of moving to either Spain or Guatemala. I can't decide. The reach of government is going to explode under the Clinton II administration.

Opium Making A Comeback Among Young Professionals

(Photograph by Brian Finke)

"We used to smoke it all the time in London, because the weed was so bad over there," says Nathan, a 27-year-old advertising executive who's relocated to Boston. "But opium was everywhere. It had this mystique of being Asian and cool and slightly mysterious—a sharing thing that everybody would enjoy sitting down and hanging out."

Details Magazine has an unbelievable story of opium's comeback among young professionals.

Opium is not for fiendish stoners or desperate [screw-ups] (if you've ever taken a powerful painkiller—and liked it—you've got an idea of what it does). Although the drug, which is essentially sap from the unripe pods of a poppy plant, is the raw stuff of heroin, it is 40 times weaker than its chemically altered offspring. It is also at least as many times more difficult to acquire. Its boutique status is such that the Office of National Drug Control Policy doesn't even track its use. This is another record year for opium production in Afghanistan, the world's largest producer: up 34 percent over 2006—about 9,000 tons, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, roughly $4.5 billion worth. But most of that gets processed into heroin before it leaves the country.

The reason is simple economics: Heroin has a bigger fan base. And since bulk is hardly an advantage in the drug-trafficking trade, refining all that rich organic mass into a concentrated white powder means good business. For people like Steve and Cindy, though—who get their vegetables delivered weekly from a farmers' co-op and who would sooner hold up a convenience store than jab a needle in their arm—opium has become the Whole Foods heroin, an illicit gourmet treat to be consumed with the same reverence as a bottle of Barolo.

Wow. Thoughts, fellas?

"Opium's having a moment," says Chris Prentiss, cofounder of Passages Malibu, an elite rehab facility outside L.A. As recently as four years ago, Prentiss says, no one was checking in with an opium problem. But while it's still a fringe affliction at Passages, he estimates that 2 to 3 percent of his admissions now note the drug as a vice of choice. "We're seeing it mostly with wealthier clientele," he says. "They're a more sophisticated user. There's something classy about opium—a certain mystique. It's like the Silk Road."

Posted by anthony at 08:36 AM | | TrackBack

The BCS Top Ten--What????????

1. Ohio State
2. South Florida
3. Boston College
4. LSU
5. Oklahoma
6. South Carolina
7. Kentucky
8. Arizona St.
9. West Virginia
10. Oregon

Senior Mandell comments on the new list at Sports Illustrated.

South Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, what????????/

The is the craziest college football season we've had in a long time. I think 2007 will be forever known as "the year of the upset."

Fellas, thoughts?

Former NBA Player Dies At 40 Playing Basketball At Church--Alec Kessler

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Alec Kessler, a Roswell High and UGA basketball star who played four seasons for the Miami Heat before becoming an orthopedic surgeon, died after collapsing during a pickup game. He was 40.

The rest of the story is here.

Wow, died at 40 playing pickup basketball. Sobering.

Rob Bell--Nooma 11--Rhythm

(With hesitation) Fellas, thoughts?

This is just preview of the 14 minute DVD. Hmm, have a "personal relationship," yeah, where is that language in the story? That's such an American individualistic religious aphorism and can't be found in the biblical story, can it?

By the way, the guitar player in this one is a friend of mine. I'll be at her wedding in California in a couple of weeks. She's an amazing musician. Amazing. Cool, huh?

Shawn Hornbeck Abused and Tortured, Michael Devlin Pleads Guilty

# With horrific detail, Devlin pleads guilty in kidnapping case
# Devlin said he abducted, tried to kill Shawn Hornbeck
# Prosecutors say Devlin won't go free until he's past 100
# Devlin pleaded guilty Monday to kidnapping William "Ben" Ownby

POTOSI, Missouri (AP) -- The horror faced by two boys abducted in rural Missouri was revealed Tuesday in court, where their captor pleaded guilty. Prosecutors said a video showing him torture one of them underlines why he should die in prison.

Michael Devlin offered no apologies but shed light on why one of his victims stayed with him more than four years: The terrorized boy cut a deal just as Devlin was beginning to strangle him.

"This boy made this contract, this deal with the devil, only to survive," Washington County prosecutor John Rupp said. . .

Fellas, for the many of you who were sexually abused growing up the following will be tough to read:

"I attempted to kill (Shawn) and he talked me out of it," Devlin said Tuesday.

Devlin stopped the choking, but then sexually assaulted the boy again. Prosecutors say it was at that point that Shawn told Devlin he would do whatever was asked of him to stay alive.

It was a "devil's bargain" that kept Shawn under Devlin's sway, even as the boy had phone and Internet access, said Shawn's stepfather, Craig Akers.

"We know now the details that made him not run away," Akers said after the hearings.

At the St. Louis County hearing, prosecutors said Devlin kept Shawn tied for weeks to a futon or a couch, with duct tape over his mouth. Devlin left the boy alone when he went to work at the pizzeria during the days and returned at night to sexually assault him.

Prosecutors said Devlin also made a videotape of himself torturing Shawn.

Fellas, you can read the whole story at CNN.

Reading this story brings anger and tears. Shawn's parents wept in court when they heard the details and so should the rest of us. This represents pure, demonic evil.

Fellas, thoughts?

My Comments on Obama Over At Fox News

Fellas, you can find it here at Fox News. Here's a quote from the story.

For his part, Obama has said he does not agree with Wright on every issue, religious or political. But that doesn’t sit well with some.

“If Barack Obama has really submitted himself to his church like he’s claimed, why does he have a different expression of faith from his own pastor?” asks Anthony Bradley, theologian and research fellow at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Great article.

Black liberation theology truly is dead.

A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation

A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation
By JON MEACHAM
Published: October 7, 2007
New York Times

The kingdom Jesus preached was radical. Not only are nations irrelevant, but families are, too: he instructs those who would be his disciples to give up all they have and all those they know to follow him.

The only acknowledgment of religion in the original Constitution is a utilitarian one: the document is dated “in the year of our Lord 1787.” Even the religion clause of the First Amendment is framed dryly and without reference to any particular faith. The Connecticut ratifying convention debated rewriting the preamble to take note of God’s authority, but the effort failed.

Wow, so true. The rest is here. Thoughts, fellas?

Obama Says Republicans No Longer Dominant on Faith

From CNN:

GREENVILLE, South Carolina (CNN) — After speaking to an evangelical church on Sunday in this traditionally conservative South Carolina city, Sen. Barack Obama said that Republicans no longer have a firm grip on religion in political discourse.

"I think its important particularly for those of us in the Democratic Party to not cede values and faith to any one party," Obama told reporters outside the Redemption World Outreach Center where he attended services.

"I think that what you're seeing is a breaking down of the sharp divisions that existed maybe during the nineties, when at least in politics the perception was that the Democrats were fearful of talking about faith, and on the other hand you had the Republicans who had a particular brand of faith that often times seemed intolerant or pushed people away," he said.

I don't even know where to begin:

(1) Nearly all political talk about faith during campaigns is deistic and lame.

(2) "Faith"???? Faith in what?? "People of faith," blah, blah, blah. Aren't all people "people of faith?" Doesn't everybody put faith in something?

(3) Any Christian who thinks that being "republican" has anything to with following Jesus has been hoodwinked and is gullible to believing political rhetoric.

(4) Is the Democrat's brand of "faith" any better? Are you kidding me? Hyper-liberal and hyper-conservative ideas both misrepresent the teachings of Jesus.

(5) Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville? What kind of church is that? Ohh, you can find out here. Hmm, 10,000 people and multi-ethnic. When I saw that I knew immediately that is was not a traditional denominational church in the South. They're not really into mixing races or classes together.

Asked by CNN if he talks about faith more in churchgoing South Carolina than he does in the other early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, Obama said: "I don't talk about it all the time, but when I'm in church I talk about it."

Fellas, thoughts??

College Football Talk: Gamecocks, Boston College, What??

(Tim Sims celebrates after Stanford's upset of USC, 24-23)

Here's a great recap of the weekend's ranking craziness at ESPN.

Here's the top ten:

1. LSU (65) 6-0 1,625
2. California 5-0 1,538
3. Ohio State 6-0 1,511
4. Boston College 6-0 1,346
5. South Florida 5-0 1,339
6. Oklahoma 5-1 1,221
7. South Carolina 5-1 1,183
8. West Virginia 5-1 1,059
9. Oregon 4-1 1,047
10. USC 4-1 1,024

USC number 10? Wait, I thought they were the "best college team" ever or something stupid like that?

Stanford?? Are you kidding me. I guess that means that Rice or Duke could have beat them too?

Steve Spurrier--what can you say? Looks like he's doing it again. It's just amazing.

Dropped From Rankings:
Rutgers 21, Clemson 22, Purdue 23, Kansas State 24, Nebraska 25. Sigh.

Fellas, thoughts?

My Weekly Column At World Magazine

A few months ago I mentioned that I'll be blogging here a little less and here is the reason: I have weekly column over at World Magazine's new web-magazine. I think my columns will run on Wednesdays or Thursdays.

You can find it here at World On the Web.

Atlanta Crime Rate Increase Attributed To New Orleans Imports

From WBS, Channel 2 News:

Atlanta police said they've been experiencing a level of crime never seen before in the city and a lot of it was imported from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The crimes linked to the group include a murder outside Club 112 in Midtown in June and a murder in September outside a southwest Atlanta pool hall.

Police said the men are the worst of the worst. Investigators said when the eight men murdered, they used AK-47's and fired in public places. Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington admitted they were not the types of crimes they were used to seeing in Atlanta.

"I'm surprised they weren't confrontational when we arrested them because they were totally prepared -- bullet proof vests, automatic weapons -- the things we don't normally see here in Atlanta," said Pennington.

Hmm. Well, what can we say here, fellas? I'm pretty sure this is common in many other cities.

Actually, I know some folks in Atlanta who were robbed by some New Orleans new residents. This could create all kinds of new tensions.

Thoughts?

A Now, A Word From Rob Bell: Everything Is Spiritual, There Is No Sacred/Secular Distinction

There is no sacred/secular distinction. There is no Hebrew word for "spiritual." There is a reason for this.

Fellas, thoughts?

Jena 6, O.J., Fatherlessness, and the Jailing of Black America

Orlando Patterson, professor of Sociology at Harvard University, has great things to say about Jena 6 and our current racial tensions in a New York Times opinion piece.

[Jake, this is a much more balanced approach although I don't agree with everything in his piece. of course.] Patterson concludes:

The circumstances that far too many African-Americans face — the lack of paternal support and discipline; the requirement that single mothers work regardless of the effect on their children’s care; the hypocritical refusal of conservative politicians to put their money where their mouths are on family values; the recourse by male youths to gangs as parental substitutes; the ghetto-fabulous culture of the streets; the lack of skills among black men for the jobs and pay they want; the hypersegregation of blacks into impoverished inner-city neighborhoods — all interact perversely with the prison system that simply makes hardened criminals of nonviolent drug offenders and spits out angry men who are unemployable, unreformable and unmarriageable, closing the vicious circle.

Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and other leaders of the Jena demonstration who view events there, and the racial horror of our prisons, as solely the result of white racism are living not just in the past but in a state of denial.

Fellas, here's the question: why isn't the church moving in to mentor and surrogate father children trapped in single-parent situations? This sermon may explain why.

"Fella" Defined

I found this interesting definition of "Fella" on the internet today.

Noun--1. fella - a boy or man; a fellow; "that chap is your host"; "there's a fellow at the door"; "he's a likable cuss"; "he's a good bloke" bloke, chap, fellow, lad, blighter, gent, cuss, feller; male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies dog - informal term for a man; "you lucky dog"

Pictured above are the "Good Fellas" which is one of my all-time favorite movies. I loved that movie. It's right behind Scarface.

"Cuss"? That's a new one.

College Football Talk

(Oklahoma looses to Colorado?)

Fellas, what happened this weekend?

From ESPN:

If Oct. 6 already has been billed as Blockbuster Saturday, perhaps Sept. 29 should go down in history as Spoiler Saturday. Oh, what could have been.

If not for a stunning seven of the top 13 teams in the AP poll suffering a loss this weekend -- five of them to unranked teams -- we would have been preparing ourselves for four undefeated-versus-undefeated showdowns this coming Saturday: Florida-LSU, Oklahoma-Texas, Cincinnati-Rutgers and Ohio State-Purdue.

Here's this week top ten (AP)

1. LSU (33) 5-0 1,593
2. USC (32) 4-0 1,591
3. California 5-0 1,475
4. Ohio State 5-0 1,420
5. Wisconsin 5-0 1,271
6. South Florida 4-0 1,203
7. Boston College 5-0 1,172
8. Kentucky 5-0 1,143
9. Florida 4-1 1,031
10. Oklahoma 4-1 992

LSU, FINALLY is getting the props they deserve as USC wins games in a soft and mediocre conference (nothing like the SEC, the toughest conference in America).

And to top it all off Clemson loss to one of their "thorns in the flesh": Ga Tech. Sigh.

Fellas, what happened?

Great Sermon Series And 6 Random Marks of Unhealthy/Immature Churches

(Rev. Shayne Wheeler, All Souls Fellowship)

Fellas, here are few sermon series to pay attention where men are called in local mission for the Kingdom instead of the pathetic "shire Christianity" of safety, comfort, ease and talking to ourselves.

Shayne Wheeler, All Souls Fellowship, Atlanta, GA. They're covering some penetrating topics in the church.

Geoff Bradford/Steve Huber, Liberti Church, Philadelphia. An awesome series on work.

Darrin Patrick/Jonathan McIntosh, The Journey, St. Louis. Just wrapped up a series on idolatry. The best I've ever heard on the subject and extremely helpful for Kingdom living here and now.

What's so odd about missional churches is that tend to naturally move toward racial diversity too. I wonder why that is?

Here are some signs of possible immature and unhealthy churches and/or dying or dead churches:

(1) Little or no adult baptisms. That tells you A LOT about who the church is NOT engaging. (Acts 18:10) Fellas, did you know that there are actually Christians who don't think it is odd that their church hardly ever has adult baptisms. Some don't even bat at an eye at that. Shouldn't that be kind'a embarrassing? The most I've ever personally been involved with, as a church employee, was when I worked at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philly). It was an amazing number.

(2) It's mono-ethnic( except for rural churches). If the church is in or near a major city and the church represents a segregated mono-culture (by race and/or class) in leadership and membership you are right to think that is kind'a odd. It's 2007 not 1907. And, sadly, church leaders and members avoid living in the epicenter of major cities. (Rev. 5:8-14; Eph. 4)

(3) The church has no social witness. Members and regular attenders are not personally involved in local, state, or national social issues (wherever the curse is found) at any level. It's not a regular part of their family life. (James 1:27)

(4) Infrequent practice of the sacraments.

(5) Non-Christians are not involved in the life of the church, the personal lives of church goers, or attending worship (Lev. 19:33-34).

(6) The preaching, teaching, programs, aesthetics, music, etc. primarily appeal to 40-something women and their children. The men may be physically present but are bored and/or dead.

Fellas, what am I missing (and please don't say, "preaching 'the gospel'")? I'm looking for things that will move the church beyond status quo/shire Christianity.