A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way.
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| Preachin's Blog A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way. |
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Thursday, April 21, 2005 now the new and improved Rev PJThis last weekend was a superb blessing as I was able to be ordained for ministry by my home church in Maryland. Having the opportunity to be blessed in such a manner is something that I shall surely never forget nor take for granted. It is such an honor to be sent out by these fine people. The entire weekend was made to be an extremely special time for me and the wifey. My ordination council was superb, touching on deep theological matters as well as pastoral matters. The service was glorifying God first and edifying the body second. I believe that every church should get the opportunity to send someone out through ordination. It is a very special time for not only the ordainee but also the ordaining church. Being able to recount how each person present had influenced and blessed my life is something that I will hold dear to me. There is something significant about being ordained, not that you take on an extra special blessing from God, but that you have the weight of the expectation for service and prayers of those who have sent you. Though I cannot really put into words all the encouragement which I received this weekend, it is a great thing to enjoy the blessing of God in this way. posted by Preachin Jesus | 9:55 AM | Wednesday, April 13, 2005 Off againWell me and Mrs PJ are heading up to the state of Maryland so I might be ordained for the ministry. Really looking forward to this wonderful event and am looking forward to family time as well. I'll update everything as soon as I get back and will hopefully have some more posts I can put up for some happy theobloggy! posted by Preachin Jesus | 8:45 PM | Tuesday, April 12, 2005 Exactly what I'm talkin aboutRead this article This is exactly what I'm talkin about in relationship to ministry and the incoming generations. We are living in an "on demand" world that is getting more and more accustomed to having content tailored to meet their needs and their specific time tables. There is little separating us from entering a bold new future where the Church actually has the opportunity to greatly influence a culture who are pursuing spirituality at some level, engage them in a conversation, and show them how Christ is the true Way. How will we do this? By dropping the facades of Christianesque foolishness and embracing authenticity. We can do this by living incarnationally, that means being Christ to those around us. We can do this by realizing that our petty denominational squabbles have amounted to a bunch run off, irritated, backslidden Christians that have affected a generation to believe this: Twenty-six percent of young Americans call themselves Protestants, but the survey showed that 14 percent of the generation belonged to "other" kinds of Christian churches. This is amazing data, though not awfully surprising. There are tons of young people who are engaging the emerging church movement because it is demonstrating a type of Christianity that is authentic and not pedantic. Interesting too is that many within this emerging church movement are conservative in their theology, though extremely progressive in their methodology. I've been to some of these meetings where theological and doctrinal issues are discussed openly with one phrase populating all the conversation: "Where is it in the Bible?" I have my problems with some of the emergent church stuff out there because the leaders are stepping over boundaries which they should not, but I have seen this only several times. Okay, brass tacks, what am I stoked about here? I believe we have the opportunity to shape and present a vibrant Christianity, the Christianity that we all have inside of us and have seen demonstrated throughout the ages. We can do this and bring in a generation which will have a greater impact on the world than any generation before it. And this can happen easily if our foundational churches allow it to happen. If they see the path that is before us, though possibly one that many of them will never be able to tread, and they are willing to entrust us with the keys to the journey we can make this happen. Currently we have an older generation who have seen Christianity do some amazing things, seen the world enter some amazing places, but are holding tight the keys of leadership to the chests because they do not have the faith in the younger generation that a generation before them had in them. I'm not saying that overnight we need to see a transition from esteemed, veteran leaders in our churches to emergent, rookie leaders. I am saying that things can be done to help our churches out in this transition. Better we see a natural hand off than several years from now the now rookie, then leaders, scrambling around to pick up the keys from the moldering corpses of the past generation who have been laid to rest. The church is the pillar of truth in a world that is searching for truth. We have to be thinking five years ahead of the curve. The question to be answered is "will we be faithful to Christ in giving His church to the next generation?" a question which will have to be answered by deeds, not words. posted by Preachin Jesus | 8:28 AM | Tuesday, April 05, 2005 An Evangelical Reflection on Pope John Paul IIAs we all certainly have noted this past Saturday Pope John Paul II passed from this mortal coil and took his place in eternity. Some have asked what is the eternal state of the pontificate...I must reply that though I don't fully know I must suggest that because of his fruit that he is resting well at the throne room of Christ.  There is nothing in his life to suggest otherwise, this Pope was a fine man, a great Christian leader, and a outstanding example for the world.Many of my Baptist brethren have already begun their assaults against his place in history, theology, and eternity. There is certainly nothing about this man which subtracts from his character or legacy. Standing for human dignity above all, striving for life on all fronts, and advancing Catholic social thought higher than any before him this Pope was a God send in every detail of the word. While humanists in our society attempt to move us away from all these classical doctrines of the faith this Pope stood for them. His patience, kindness, endurance, respect for the Word of God, and advancement of the Gospel all marked his papal reign as kind monikers which will do well to classify him. I can only wish to maintain the virtues of this man in my ministry. I am thankful for his influence on the world. posted by Preachin Jesus | 3:15 PM | |
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