Reblog: What’s so uncool about cool churches?

Here are some snippets from a recent post over at http://thegospelside.wordpress.com entitled, "What’s so uncool about cool churches?"

"We look at our youth group now and we feel good. But the youth group of today is the church of tomorrow, and study after study after study suggests that what we are building for the future is empty churches."

A Quote from Augustine

"For all the pious, therefore, who lie under this burden of corruptible flesh, and grown in the infirmity of this life of theirs, there is one hope: 'We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins.'"


-St. Augustine "A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians." AD 420

Another Fantastically Gross (but insightful) Luther Quote.

“I resist the devil, and often it is with a fart that I chase him away.  When he tempts me with silly sins I say, ‘Devil, yesterday I broke wind too.  Have you written that down on your list?’…  Thus, I remind myself of the forgiveness of sin and of Christ…”

-Luther on the Treatment of Melancholy, Despair, Etc.  November 30, 1531 

Seeing Pat Robertson as Christianity's Id

                There are two things we can be sure of in this life: taxes and the ever present threat that Pat Robertson will say something stupid.  This week he’s at it again saying to a disenfranchised husband, “Well, you could become a Muslim and you could beat her…” and “I don’t think we condone wife-beating these days but something has got to be done to make her” (See Video).  When I first saw the video I had my normal Pat Robertson nausea attack, but then something popped into my head this morning: Pat is Christianity’s id.  Let me explain.

Some Thoughts on the "Under God" Controversy.

Since the beginning of democratic national convention I’ve been approached by numerous Christians who are concerned about the “Under God” controversy.  Now on the surface, this seems like a legitimate concern, but it really begs the question: when politicians, both republican and democrat, invoke “God” language are they addressing “God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” or are they invoking a god of their own liking whether that’s prosperity, the free market, security, or some sort of tribal deity that really likes America?