The OOC

Here’s a good article that suggests evangelicals are improving the image of Christianity (and in a way that I would imagine pleases God, I might add):

The majority of these centrists, like the traditionalists, oppose gay marriage and abortion on demand. The religious differences between the groups lies, according to Mr. Green, “in emphasis and tactics.” Centrist evangelicals are less likely to explicitly proselytize and to announce that non-Christians are going to hell. They’ve tried to bring greater racial diversity to their churches, believe in a broader role for women in society, and are more likely to view homosexual behavior as a discrete sin rather than to blame homosexuals as a class–for, say, terrorist attacks.

Amen. But the “centrist” label, like “moderate,” still connotes middle-of-the-roadness, fence-sitting and lack of commitment, and these evangelicals are not antithetical to “traditionalism” insofar as it seeks after the true origins of the faith. Can’t we think of something more accurate? How about “authentic evangelicals” or “faithful evangelicals? “Genuine” is perhaps most to the point but admittedly sounds a bit immodest.

We’re not the only ones podcasting worship sermons. (We’re on our third podcast of the new year, btw.)

Interesting article about The Simple Way and Shane Claiborne’s “Irresistable Revolution.” Anyone read or heard of this book/movement?

The U.S. State Department is siding with Muslims over the press in condemning cartoons depicting caricatures of the “Prophet Mohammed”. Spokesman David Cooper said, “We … respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable.”
Am I the only one who finds this offending when night after night, television shows repeatedly portray Christians and even Christ in demeaning fashions? If anyone questions this, we need only to tune into “The Book of Daniel”, or “Will and Grace”. I guess it’s pretty clear that if Christians were terrorists, we would “get our way” when we complain about how our Lord is portrayed in the media. However, since instead we are law-abiding citizens who want to be seen as loving, we can be ridiculed at the whim of whatever writer wishes to do so. Where’s the press responsibility there?

Movies@Milligan House resumes this coming Friday (Feb. 3) when we watch and discuss Memento, the 2000 thriller about a man with short-term memory loss who tries to solve a murder.

Rated: R for violence, language and some drug content.
Runtime: 113 min

Links for more:

• IMDB
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Ransom Fellowship
• James Bowman

Apparently, the courts now even have the power to determine who should live.
I really don’t know what more to add. I’m pretty much dumbfounded.

With last Sunday’s sermon, Old Orchard Church has begun podcasting. Look for it on iTunes or wherever you download your podcasts.

The RSS feed is:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ooc-podcast

If you have any ideas for improvement, please reply in this space, or contact Nate or me. Enjoy!

• the garage-door effect: visitors who crane around to see just what the heck’s happening behind them as the service begins

Brokeback Mountain

• Thomas Hibbs

Munich

• Mona Charen
• Jonah Goldberg
• Bret Stephens

I haven’t read the book (yet?), but here’s a review from the Wall Street Journal of My Fundamentalist Education:

Christine Rosen’s complaints about Christian fundamentalism are mainly aesthetic ones.

Anyone read or heard about this one? Be forewarned: Amazon’s “customers who bought this book also bought” list includes:

• Misquoting Jesus : The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart Ehrman
• From Jesus to Christianity : How Four Generations of Visionaries & Storytellers Created the New Testament and Christian Faith by L. Michael White
• The Sins of Scripture : Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love by John Shelby Spong
• Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel
• The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney

Not exactly people who are open-minded about Christianity and Christians…