Categotry Archives: Rantings

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The Christianization of Stuff

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Categories: food for thought, Rantings

I don’t know if it’s like this where you are, but Tulsa churches are notorious for having a bandwagon mentality; if one of them does something “cool”, other churches have to follow suit as quickly as possible. For example, a few years ago one of our mega-churches installed a merry-go-round in their children’s department (you read that right–a real merry-go-round like in the amusement parks). Now word is out that another mega-church is going to follow suit, and maybe one or two more.

Another example…now that the phrase “emergent church” is going mainstream, churches here are scrambling to form “emergent” services, and sometimes do emergent church plants to reach that “market.” Not that this is bad in itself, and some are doing it from pure motives. But the bandwagon mentality kind of ruins the whole idea for me.

This is a preview of The Christianization of Stuff. Read the full post (881 words, 2 images, estimated 3:31 mins reading time)

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A Coffee Analogy (from Someone Who Doesn’t Drink Coffee)

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up), Rantings

For someone who spends so much time in the local coffee hangout, it’s ironic that I don’t drink coffee. (Right now I’m savoring some hot apple-spice tea.)

I have a lot of friends who drink coffee, though. I have one friend who might as well be wearing a cologne called “Eau de Java.” The smell of coffee is all over him, all the time.

This is a preview of A Coffee Analogy (from Someone Who Doesn’t Drink Coffee). Read the full post (804 words, 2 images, estimated 3:13 mins reading time)

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Why I Don’t Twitter (Yet)

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Categories: fun, Rantings, What the heck was THAT?

…or is it “Why I Don’t Tweet?” Twit? Whatever.

It seems more and more of my blogger comrades are selling out beginning to use Twitter in addition to all the other connectivity programs out there.

Little by little everyone starts to Twittle Twitter. (Dangit. Thought I had a rhyme going there.)

Well, I’m still holding out–for now. And here are some reasons why…

This is a preview of Why I Don’t Twitter (Yet). Read the full post (454 words, 2 images, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

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De-Toxing

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Categories: church, Meanderings (look it up), Rantings

Toward the end of yesterday’s post, I inserted this remark:

“…sometimes our personal woundings complicate our emotions, and sometimes we have to unravel that in order to know whether a confrontation is from love or from wounding. And that part has to wait for another post. :)”

Wait no longer.

This is a preview of De-Toxing. Read the full post (792 words, 1 image, estimated 3:10 mins reading time)

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Now that I’ve Calmed Down a Bit from My Last Post…

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Categories: Meanderings (look it up), Rantings, whine-and-opine

…I’ll turn the comments back on. (But mind your manners.) 🙂

As you can tell from my last post…I have a bit of a temper. It’s a lot more controlled than it used to be.

One of the defining character traits of my son The Director is his passionate distaste for injustice. Anytime he sees someone unfairly dealing with another, or bullying, or oppressing, or slander, or anything like that–he is fit to be tied. He gets as angry as he would if it were happening to him. He’s seen enough injustice dealt to his parents in ministry–seen leadership wrongfully treat us, seen people we loved and cared for turn around and abuse us, accuse us and slander us, while we remained silent, unable to defend ourselves without making things worse. And he’s experienced some of that injustice himself. He simply has no stomach for it.

This is a preview of Now that I’ve Calmed Down a Bit from My Last Post…. Read the full post (695 words, 1 image, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

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No More Passes

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Categories: politics? oh puh-leeze., Rantings, whine-and-opine

Mmmmmrrghfthfth….. ::biting my tongue:: ….

…mmmmmmmmI CAN’T HELP IT. Gotta talk about politics again.

Actually, my rant today is not so much about either presidential candidate as it is about the mainstream media in America–because, you see, the media is running a campaign of its own.

The mainstream media is aggressively trying to get Barack Obama elected the next President of the United States.

Now, I’ve commented about this fact on some other blogs–including some “across the pond”–and the response I’ve read is: “WHAT media bias?” Some have even suggested the media is biased in favor of McCain!

This is a preview of No More Passes. Read the full post (1549 words, 1 image, estimated 6:12 mins reading time)

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Note to the Gasoline People–I Can Do the Math

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Categories: Rantings, What the heck was THAT?

Okay, so I realize that Oklahoma usually has the lowest gas prices in the nation, being oil country and all…so this is probably gonna sound to some of you readers like I’m being a crybaby here. But…what the hey…here goes.

Dear Gasoline People (I don’t know what else to call you),

I monitor the price of oil. The last time it was at $92 a barrel, we were paying $2.69 a gallon here in Tulsa.

Today, the price of oil is once again at $92 a barrel. And the price of gas? $3.69 a gallon.

This is a preview of Note to the Gasoline People–I Can Do the Math. Read the full post (227 words, 2 images, estimated 54 secs reading time)

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Defending the Christian Label (or Traveling Light)

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Categories: church, food for thought, Rantings

Yesterday we went to a local retail hobby store, and there was a “now hiring” stand with lots of employment applications folded like brochures stuck in it. Out of curiosity, The Wild One picked one up.

The amount of red tape required just to get employed at this store was daunting. Drug/alcohol testing, background checks, aptitude tests (none of which I am opposed to, BTW)…but then there were literally two pages of fine print about an “arbitration agreement”, where anyone who wanted to be employed there must sign a binding agreement to resolves disputes through arbitration (read: you can’t sue us). NO ONE gets employed unless they sign the agreement. I know; it says so about four different times on the application.

This is a preview of Defending the Christian Label (or Traveling Light). Read the full post (1061 words, 2 images, estimated 4:15 mins reading time)

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A Long-Awaited Review of "Pagan Christianity"

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Categories: books, church, Rantings

Okay, so it’s so long awaited that probably most of my current readers do not even know that I was planning to review this book at all. 🙂

A few months ago I posted this entry, alluding to a book that was ticking me off. I withheld the name but promised I’d give it a full review when I was done with it. But I guess I was not so subtle about it, because my commentors immediately guessed it was Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola and George Barna. Yesterday, when I read this post on bob.blog, it reminded me that I hadn’t actually given the book its fair due. This book has generated so much talk that now there are folks even poking fun at it. I submit the following video as evidence of this.

This is a preview of A Long-Awaited Review of "Pagan Christianity". Read the full post (823 words, 2 images, estimated 3:18 mins reading time)
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