Culture – Page 2

Give Me a New Law!

February 22, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

Derek Webb sings, don’t teach me about politics and governmentjust tell me who to vote for don’t teach me about truth and beautyjust label my musicdon’t teach me how to live like a free manjust give me a new law (from “A New Law”) This tends to be how the average Christian implicitly lives. Not many of us would say it aloud but we live this way. If it’s a “Christian” band then it’s good. If it’s rated “G” then it’s good. If it’s rated “R” then it’s bad. If it’s “secular” then it’s bad. We have created a new law to replace the one that Jesus freed us from. We have done so because we don’t want to learn “how to live like a free man”. To be sure this is not a recent development. Paul was dealing with it in the first generation of Christians. In Galatians 5 he writes, For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not...

Why Dad?

February 18, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

On our way home from school I decided to break the news to Ethan. He had only one question, “Why Dad?”Listening to all the talk about Miguel Cabrera and thinking about my own family’s history with alcohol and drug abuse, I am realizing that all of us are asking the same question. We feel a lot like this:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQveng3Wxz8?rel=0]You know what though? We don’t want to hear the answer. Why would a man who has a great wife sleep around? Why would a person with a family who loved him turn to drink? Why would a kid with everything in front of her slice up her arms? Why does a kid with a great future waste it away sitting on a couch getting high?We are constantly left with the question, “Why Dad?”The answer, while simple, is profound. The answer, while simple, sounds weak coming off the tongue. The answer, while simple, is not what we want to admit to. The answer...

Create. Creation. Creative.

February 14, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

Creation: the act of producing or causing to exist; the act of creating; engendering. We are all little creators. We are designed to create. Some of us may do this ways we would call “creative”; poets, artists, authors, or painters. Regardless of how creative you feel, you as a person created in the image of God, are to create. This is what it means when the Scriptures talk about the “subduing” and having “dominion” over the creation. We are to leave the world better than when we found it. We are to build, shape, mold, and design. This is what it means to be human. This is the distinctive difference between us and the animal kingdom (and opposable thumbs). To be human is to create. To be Christian should mean to create at the highest level. Sadly the creatives among us are largely ignored or cast out. A friend says that we plucked out the eye of the church (although we like musicians because...

I “Liked” it = I “Did” it, Really?

February 9, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

We live in a unique time in the history of the world. If you don’t believe me check out this video:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8]Did I mention that video is a year or so out of date? Regardless. The reality is that the world is a very different than it was just a decade ago. We live in a time where our world is more interconnected than ever through mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, and Wordpress. We are able to express our thoughts and ideas to the globe in a keystroke. This is for the most part, in my opinion, a very good thing. It’s good because for those of who are seeking to make change we are able to express our ideas to the world at large in a way that is fast, nimble, and easily accessible. There is a darkside. A very darkside. One that I think is something we must begin to unravel or it could become so epidemic that change will be...

Culture War — The Introduction

February 8, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

The Holy Spirit lives in those of us who have been reconciled by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those of us who are invited into and adopted as sons and daughters of the living God have received our new but old identity as ambassadors.He gives us all we need to be who we are. This is it what it means to human.What does this ambassadorship look like?We create culture. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them.And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and...

The New is the Old

February 1, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

Where have we been in this quest for understanding the cultural engagement by Christians? Well first we saw that humanity is created in the image of God, second we recognized our epic fail, then we saw how the Law was given to keep on the straight and narrow, and in the previous post we looked at King Jesus.The question we must now face is what does this mean for the Christian? If we indeed have been transferred from death to life by King Jesus through his bloody revolution on a Cross, what does this new life look like?2 Corinthians 5 gives us the answer, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV).”In the new life we are now ambassadors for Christ. Wait, isn’t that what we were called back in the first post: “God gives humanity a very specific responsibility and...

Easter, It’s More Than a Bunny

January 29, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

As we continue to think about what it means to be culturally engaged Christians we must take a look at the turning point. Where have we been so far? First, we are created in God’s image. Second, we failed and failed big. Third, the Law was given as an overseer to show us our need for the Son. Now, we come to this place, the turning point. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to...

Book Review: Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Conquering any Business Challenge

January 28, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=FFFFFF&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=danielmroseco-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=0470947802Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Conquering any Business Challenge. It was given to me by a friend who said, “You have to read this. It’s pretty great.”I was looking forward to reading it because I had already taken the leadership style inventory that goes with the book and found out that I was a “Wildebeest”.That didn’t seem very inspiring.You can read that last comment as “I was a bit skeptical”. I have read many books on leadership. I could list them for you but, my fingers would stop working. Swanepoel, has however, brought a unique twist to the game. He identifies seven key skills that a person needs to succeed in the Serengeti of leadership.I am a pastor and so I read Swanepoel’s parable of the Serengeti through a bit of a different lens. I am not very interested in making a lot of money. What I am interested in is making an impact.A big impact.As I read I...

Overlords, Overseers, and a Glimmer

January 25, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

Last week I wrote that we have experienced an epic fail regarding our roles as ambassadors for the Creator to the creation. We rebelled and separated ourselves. We lost our way and began a corrupting process that led to shame and guilt (the first sin was Adam’s silence followed quickly by fratricide, that’s one heck of a spiral).The story though is just beginning. Thankfully we are not the heroes or the centerpieces of this story. A good story needs a hero who desires something and overcomes conflict to get it.The story that I am talking about has a hero, God. He wants something, relationship with people. So, what is he doing to get it? That’s the question I want look at.It started in Genesis 3: And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21 ESV) If you look a few verses earlier you see that Adam and Eve were experiencing shame from being...

Epic Fail

January 18, 2011 by The RevNo Comments

In my previous post we looked at our identity as image bearers of the Creator King. We saw that humanity is called to follow its Creator in creation as representatives and ambassadors.But, something is not right.The original ambassadors for the King failed. They failed and as a result they sent all future generations into despair and exile. The man, Adam our representative head, was silent as his wife was deceived and drawn into sin.From this moment on humanity was in a state of brokenness. We were lost and dead. The consequences extended to how humanity related to one another and to the creation. We no longer functioned as the King’s ambassadors but as traitors to the throne.We corrupted it all.We broke everything.Separation was natural.As a result we went to war to with our natural calling as human beings. We set aside our freedom for law. Enslaved by a self-centeredness that is tangible to every aspect of life.We lost our way....