Archives
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2nd Opinion: Allow moment to refine, not define
Posted: 11/03/06
2nd Opinion:
Allow moment to refine, not defineMy favorite feature on the PC in my office is the undo button. My computer skills are minimal, and my propensity to hit the wrong key is pronounced. But having an undo button or ctrl+Z affords me the chance to make things right. I can reverse an error or recover a deleted document just by clicking the mouse on this tool.
Wouldn’t it be a hoot if life came equipped with an undo button? We could annul our gaffes, retract our foul ups and rescind our misapprehensions. But an undo button was not part of our birth package. We make mistakes. We mess up. We are very flawed and brittle, very broken human beings, who always will fall short of God’s glory and our own greatest dreams. And yet it is error-prone, imperfect folk like you and me who fend for their family, raise children, go to work, populate the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, establish institutional policies, interface with shifting cultural paradigms, dispatch troops to fight heart-rending wars in faraway places and attend worship, among other things.
A few weeks ago, I was a panelist at a community conversation at Brite Divinity School, and in response to a questioner, I replied, “Being and doing church is messy business.” If anyone doubts this, read the Apostle Paul’s missives to the churches at Thessalonica, Corinth, Galatia, Colossae and Ephesus. Even Paul’s thank-you note to the church at Philippi, which is known as a joyous letter, references a messy dispute between two prominent parishioners that threatened to undermine the cohesiveness of the church. There is nothing tidy, neat and unsullied when it comes to being and doing church or being and doing conventions.
And so in the give-and-take of folk interacting with each other, even in the precincts of the holy, we are reminded all too often that mistakes have consequences. Our misjudgments matter. Even our little errors can have debilitating collateral effects. A seemingly miniscule blooper or blunder can perpetuate stereotypes, spawn ill-advised practices, engender shame and bring out the worst in us. An inadvertent misread or miscue has the potential to hurt feelings, ruin relationships, promote apathy and mitigate distrust.
11/03/2006 - By John Rutledge
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DOWN HOME: Are we saving time or losing time?
Posted: 11/03/06
DOWN HOME:
Are we saving time or losing time?Have you enjoyed Daylight Losing Time the past week or so?
I know, I know. That’s not the name of it. We now officially set our clocks and watches to Central Standard Time. But it feels like Daylight Losing Time to me.
Of course, I realize some people absolutely, positively hate Daylight Saving Time, from which we just rotated. These people have their reasons, which make some sort of sense to them.
In fact, a friend recently sent me a copy of an e-mail letter he shared with another friend. I only read half of the “conversation,” but both of them seem to feel Daylight Saving Time is an abomination. They’re preachers, and one reason they apparently dislike Daylight Saving Time is that it “causes” people to miss church twice a year, on the Sunday mornings after they are supposed to change their clocks.
11/03/2006 - By John Rutledge
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What should be done with frozen embryos?
Posted: 11/03/06
Scott and Geri Bowman of Tallmadge, Ohio, shown here with their children, 4-year-old twins Joey and Angie and 2-year-old Addie, decided to donate their extra embryos, created through in vitro fertilization, to a childless couple. (RNS photo by Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer of Cleveland) What should be done with frozen embryos?
By Susan Glaser
Religion News Service
CLEVELAND (RNS)—Geri and Scott Bowman started fertility treatments in 2001 with just one thing on their minds—having a baby. Five years and three children later, the couple confronted the fallout of their success.
What should they do with the embryos they created but then no longer needed?
11/03/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Kurt Carr, Take 6 inducted in Gospel Music Hall of Fame
Posted: 11/03/06
Take 6, a sextet known for its tight harmonies and blend of jazz and gospel, has been inducted into the International Gospel Hall of Fame and Museum. (RNS photo courtesy of Courtney Barron of cbartworx.com) Kurt Carr, Take 6 inducted
in Gospel Music Hall of FameBy Adelle Banks
Religion News Service
DETROIT (RNS)—Gospel musicians Kurt Carr and Take 6 are among the new inductees to the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
11/03/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Harvard may require reason & faith course
Posted: 11/03/06
Harvard may require
reason & faith courseBy G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Religion News Service
BOSTON (RNS)—In a nod to the growing significance of religion in world affairs, a Harvard University faculty committee is recommending all undergraduates be required to take a course in “reason and faith.”
The recommendation was part of a report issued recently by Harvard’s Task Force on General Education. In the report, the nine-member faculty panel also recommended a required course in ethics and two under the rubric of “The United States and the World.”
11/03/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Texas Baptist Forum
Posted: 11/03/06
Texas Baptist Forum
Man of integrity
Charles Wade is a man of integrity and Christian character. I base this on my 46 years of knowing him. In 1960, when I became pastor of First Baptist Church of Chickasha, Okla., I met Charles, who was pastor of a mission of that church. He and his wife, Rosemary, became close friends of my wife and me.
Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.
“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”
Flannery O'Connor
U.S. novelist, 1925-64“As long as it remains private, it’s not problematic to me, because I don’t know.”
Paige Patterson
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president, speaking in regard to the use of private prayer language by faculty (BP)“God’s commands are an expression of God’s grace because, in the end, they are for our own good. God knows what causes human life to flourish—and what causes it to wither. Those who have wrestled seriously with the issue of forgiveness usually come to realize forgiveness is necessary for our own well-being. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but in the end, we are the ones who get the heartburn from eating the ashes of past resentments. Failure to forgive doesn’t just destroy others; it can destroy us.”
David Gushee
Graves professor of moral philosophy at Union University (ABP)“Our walk talks, and our talk talks. But our walk talks louder than our talk talks.”
Tommy Malone
President of Texas Baptist Men, advocating for hands-on ministryWe have preached in each other’s pulpits and served together on boards and committees. I was a member of the search committee that recommended him to be our executive director. I have found Charles Wade to be a man of unimpeachable character.
I stand ready to refute any charges that would reflect on the character of this Christian gentleman. Who of us in ministry for any time have not had our trust betrayed? And who of us have not made some unwise choices? I am thankful the churches I served had no desire to destroy me once they learned I was less that perfect.
11/03/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Pentecostals and charismatics reshaping Christianity globally
Posted: 11/03/06
Pentecostals and charismatics
reshaping Christianity globallyBy Hannah Elliott
Associated Baptist Press
LOS ANGELES (ABP)—Groundbreaking international research on Pentecostal and charismatic Christians shows growth in their numbers—and socio-political influence—around the globe.
The 10-nation study, sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, also found one of the hallmarks of Pentecostalism—speaking in tongues—less prevalent than some might suppose.
"These folks are as engaged as they come. These folks not only talk the talk, they walk the walk, if these results are to be believed. There are more recent converts among Pentecostal churches than among other churches." 11/03/2006 - By John Rutledge
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