...in the outer...: Questions to ponder over...

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Recommended for your Library

Ethics: The Heart of Leadership
Edited by Joanne Ciulla. An important collection of essays by philosophers, leadership and management thinkers considering the role of ethics in leadership

Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness
By Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears, Stephen R. Covey. Servant and leader--can these two roles be fused in one real person in all levels of status and calling?

Warranted Christian Belief
By Alvin Plantinga. Third in a trilogy of works on the issue of warrant - the basis of the rationality of Christian beliefs written by arguably the most important philosopher of religion alive today

Renovation of the Heart
By Dallas Willard. A philosopher and quintessential Christian teacher relates and reflects on what it means to put on the character of Christ.

Foreign Bodies
By Hwee Hwee Tan. An impressive first novel by young new author from Singapore acclaimed as an up and coming Pulitzer Prize winner

Mammon Inc.
By Hwee-Hwee Tan. Second novel by this very important young new author from Singapore applauded the world over, including The Times in London and the New York Times

Three Philosophies of Life
By Peter Kreeft. Three life philosophies presented through the works of three of Scriptures most beautiful poetry books, Job, Ecclesiastes and Songs of Solomon

Horrendous Evil and the Goodness of God
By Marilyn McCord-Adams. A seminal response to the age-old problem of evil which attempts to take seriously the theological ramifications of the character of God

Blink
By Malcolm Gladwell. Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant.

Smart Mobs
By Howard Rheingold. A social commentary about how "sophisticated mobile Internet access is allowing people who don't know each other to act in concert".

Linked
By Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. An engaging treatise about the fundamentals of interconnectedness and complexity that underlies neurology, epidemiology, Internet traffic, and many other fields.

The Peaceable Kingdom
By Stanley Hauerwas. A clear explication of a Christian ethic based upon the meaning of the gospel, highlighting virtues and character, and narrative as a mode of ethical reflection.

The Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel & Kingdom, Gospel & Wisdom, Gospel & Revelation
By Graeme Goldsworthy. A collection of masterful works expositing on the centrality of the Scriptures: the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Grace and Law: St. Paul, Kant, and the Hebrew Prophets
By Heinz Cassirer. A Kantian scholar looks at the Old Testament Law, and Paul's understanding of it, concluding that Kant's delimma is answered by the gospel of grace.

The Un-Right Christians

Progressive Christian Blogger Network

Church Directory of Evangelical Blogs

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

UPDATE: Thanks, to Michael McG, I caught a glaring error in this post and corrected it.

When Constantine declared the Roman Empire a Christian empire, was it better for the Church of the time? Or did it cause the church to be complacent, and to lose its vitality because it was "easier" to be a Christian, more "fashionable" to be a Christian, and more "advantageous" to be a Christian?

When the Communists took over China and kicked out all of its foreign missionaries, was it better or worse for the Church in China? Weren't there more people saved during the time after the erection of the Bamboo Curtain than before? Didn't the Suffering Church grew inspite of a regime that was decidedly against the spread of the gospel? What lessons can we learn from that?

Why are we so terrified that the humanists are "taking over" the nation? Don't we know that by erecting pro-Christian laws for a nation that was only pseudo-Christian to begin with will only lull the Church into thinking that this is a "Christian" nation? Don't we recognize that this nation is not the Lord's and will never be? Don't we realize that our Kingdom is not of this world? Why waste precious energy fighting the culture, the state and thinking that Christianity is about whether or not something is done or not done? Is it really that critical that we have laws forbidden something that those who are far away from the Lord, and far away from the gospel, would have done anyway? If we forbade them from doing it, will they be closer to heaven, closer to the gospel, or would we have just caused them to be resentful about us, to miss the heart of the gospel and to drive them further away from the very message that we want to bring to them?

Oh, may we be wise as serpents and harmless like doves!

What is the meaning of the gospel? How do people who have never heard measure us? Is it about a list of do's and don't's? Or is it about truth, righteousness and justice? How can we reach out to our neighbors with an authentic message of God's love, and draw them closer to the One who love them and desires to have a closer relationship with Him?

What kind of society do we want to help build in this country? What is the state of the Church? What our our priorities within the Church as well as our roles within society at large? How can we be most effective in the ministry to which God has called us? A ministry of reconciliation. A ministry of recovery - recovering the image of God in each individual. May God give us wisdom to find answers to these questions before it is too late!