Contextualizing the Gospel -Part 2

Neither of these church responses is appropriate, of course. When a missionary takes the message of Jesus into a completely unreached people group, he must find a way to connect that message to their cultural and world viewpoint. This is no easy task for the missionary. Much of the way the life of Christian faith is lived out in a particular culture is not actually essential or biblically derived…

Contextualizing the Gospel -Part 2

Neither of these church responses is appropriate, of course. When a missionary takes the message of Jesus into a completely unreached people group, he must find a way to connect that message to their cultural and world viewpoint. This is no easy task for the missionary. Much of the way the life of Christian faith is lived out in a particular culture is not actually essential or biblically derived…

Contextualizing the Gospel -Part 1

One of my most-discussed topics on this blog has been the life of faith in a post-Christian America. The most read section of this blog is the Church Tech section, about the use of communications technology within the church. These two topics are not disconnected, though. Any new culture necessitates new ways of communicating the message of Jesus. Radical societal changes create a new culture. Thus, the Christian message must be re-contextualized. In order to understand the methods of communicating that, we must first truly understand the basic reasons behind this…

Contextualizing the Gospel -Part 1

One of my most-discussed topics on this blog has been the life of faith in a post-Christian America. The most read section of this blog is this section, about the use of communications technology within the church. These two topics are not disconnected, though. Any new culture necessitates new ways of communicating the message of Jesus. Radical societal changes create a new culture. Thus, the Christian message must be re-contextualized. In order to understand the methods of communicating that, we must first truly understand the basic reasons behind this…

Fun Facts

It has become quite an Internet fad to list interesting facts on websites.  Unfortunately, many times these facts are totally unverified and confusing.  Therefore, we will present here facts that have passed our rigorous fact-checking process, as well as those which are particularly helpful and informative.  These are facts that you can take to the bank!

Today’s It’s a Fact:

Everyone is familiar with the Chihuahua, the national dog of Mexico. What many people do not know is that, like all breeds, the Chihuahua has a long pedigree.  The Chihuahua was actually one of the earliest settlers of Mexico, when it was brought by the first conquistadors on their ships.  The Chihuahua was a perfect choice for the Spanish explorers, who used them both for companionship on board ship as well as to hunt any small rodents on board.  The Chihuahua wasn’t a big eater, saving resources, and though diminutive, was (and still is) quite bold for its size.

The history of the Chihuahua goes back even further, though.  The Chihuahua came to Spain as one of Marco Polo’s discoveries from China.  The Chihuahua was a part of the Chinese Emperor’s court, where it was used as a lap dog and a source of imperial entertainment.  Its name comes from the Chinese “chi,” meaning “to grasp in the hands,” and “hua-hua,” which means “an irritating noise.”  The Chihuahua was a dog reserved only for the ruling class in China, and it is reported that Marco Polo returned with six mated pairs, given to him by members of the Chinese royal court.

Today, the Chihuahua is a national symbol of Mexico.  It is so revered that Mexico even came to name one of its own states after the beloved dog.  We love them.  We laugh at them.  But few know the amazing history of this wonderful breed.   -Ryan

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Communicating the Gospel in a Post-Christian World

I’ve had a really interesting mix of circumstances over the last week, which have really led me to think about the way Christianity interacts with the pluralism of this Post-Christian world. First, I met with a group of close friends over lunch to discuss faith, politics, and life in general. The three of us are very similar in many ways. We laugh at the same ridiculous jokes. We are all smart and well read. We all believe in living life with a strict sense of morality. However, we come from a diverse theological spectrum. One of us is a devout Catholic, one a Protestant pastor (me), and one an agnostic in a “crisis of faith” (his words).

Fun Facts

It has become quite an Internet fad to list interesting facts on websites.  Unfortunately, many times these facts are totally unverified and confusing.  Therefore, we will present here facts that have passed our rigorous fact-checking process, as well as those which are particularly helpful and informative.  These are facts that you can take to the bank!

Today’s It’s a Fact:

In the UK, not only do cars drive on the wrong side of the road, but many people in the US don’t know that because of this, cars also use their turn signals exactly opposite of those in the United States.  A car turning right will use their left-hand signal, and vice-versa.  Many Americans don’t realize this when in the UK, which is why Americans get in three times as many car accidents as Brits when visiting there.

Tell everyone you know.  It may save lives.

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Going Digital

I’ve been watching the slew of PSA’s and “news” stories about the life-altering switch to Digital TV this Friday, and doing a lot of thinking.  Today, I heard on the radio that state lawmakers are “concerned” that too many households have not yet gotten their digital converter boxes, and are scrambling to figure out how to help.  I sat incredulous.

A year ago, everyone was scrambling to get the public educated and prepared for the February 17th, 2009 switch.  February came and went, with the Federal government realizing that this was too much for the public to handle.  A Popular Mechanics article detailed the government fears, and estimated that the government had spend $1.5 billion on helping the public make this switch.  This includes 33 million vouchers for essentially free converter boxes.  This was as of May, 2008.  These numbers have most assuredly risen substantially since then.

All of this seems so nice of the government.  We are so blessed to live in a land where our right to sit on our rears watching morally and intellectually degrading junk is supported by $1.5 billion in tax dollars.  This is especially generous of Uncle Sam…er….me, the taxpayer, considering our multi-trillion dollar deficit.

It has been said that the people often get the government they deserve.  Well, if indeed our priority is in having TV over a functioning and solvent government, then indeed we have succeeded.  But, if that is the case our society isn’t worth fixing.

But for a long time I have been bothered by more than the financial aspects of this.  We have had two years of bouncing cartoons explaining the Digital TV change.  Yet, mark my words, there will be people who on Friday will wake up and start screaming that they don’t know what happened.  They will shower, head out the door, and pick up a converter box at Best Buy before going home.  If the government had done nothing but allow the newspapers and TV news to report on it, the same thing would have happened.  The TV networks would have done their best to make sure everyone knows.  More people might have not been ready, but those people would quickly figure out what to do to fix their problem.

These same households that spend hundreds of dollars on X-boxes for their children would have gone out and bought $100 converter boxes, and if they couldn’t afford it, they would have done without for a couple months.  If people value their TV, they would have figured out a way.

I realize that had the government not done what they did, there would have been a whole lot of complaining.  In World War 2 people went without buying new tires or panty hose for years, and now we need the government to buy us TV gear, all the while Washington is boring from our grand children’s pocketbooks.

I wish our people deserved better.  Right now, I’m not so sure.

-Ryan

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