tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57371262009-03-02T13:01:58.571-05:00The collected musings of a pilgrim traveling from ignorance to the unknown.ricknoreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737126.post-1144022601237141502006-04-02T20:01:00.000-04:002006-05-23T06:28:52.363-04:00

Where Have All the Martyrs Gone?The recent controversy surrounding the fate of Abdul Rahman, accused of converting from Islam to Christianity, a capital offense, in Afghanistan begs a serious question in contemporary Christianity. To some it might be the title at the head but it is the question behind the question I find more interesting. In the entire history of Christianity there has been an

ricknoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737126.post-1115489280872432742005-05-07T13:01:00.000-05:002005-05-07T13:08:00.880-05:00

Yesterday I was speeding down the same freeway I've been travelling for years now, seeing the same things I always see but somehow transformed. I worshipped and praised God for the beauty of the trees, the ponds, the grass, the clouds, the vultures circling lazily and gracefully, the hawk waiting patiently, the kestrel hovering busily over the median....And then I remembered reading a

ricknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737126.post-1115488829807116632005-05-07T12:58:00.000-05:002005-05-07T13:09:49.646-05:00

I resented the aphids on my rosesUntil I rememberedKilling the ladybugs who sought shelterIn my house for the winter.

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This is a response to a discussion item from one of my groups:In an earlier post I honed in on the idea of "when have we done enough?" or a definition of what constitutes acceptable performance.This is predicated on the notion that many, many sermons begin withthe premise, "We have not done enough when it comes to personal evangelism. We need to do more."So by asking, "OK. If what we are doing

ricknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737126.post-1114947939974198122005-05-01T06:35:00.000-05:002005-05-01T06:45:39.976-05:00

I've been in discussion online about the basic question of what's the gospel. In Brian McLaren's books A New Kind of Christian, The Story We Find Ourselvels In and A Generous Orthodoxy, he speaks very loudly of us being heirs of Abraham's promise and of us being a blessing TO the world, not just receiving blessings IN the world. This resonates very deeply with me because I see it as

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Rick & Alex @ Camp 

ricknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737126.post-1113967567230969862005-04-19T22:19:00.000-05:002005-04-19T22:26:07.233-05:00

Here's my imaginary scenario. Abraham is played by Billy Crystal, Carl Reiner or Mel Brooks and Sarah is played by (I can't remember her name but can see her face) who played Miracle Max's wife in "The Princess Bride"."Avram! Avram!"Rolls eyes, "What now, my little Princess?""Avram. What was it again that the angels said to you?""About what, my little sugar plum?""Avram, don't be goy with me.

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I was thinking about Jesus Junk on the drive home last night after watching a car with fish symbol behave badly in traffic.One of the reasons I don't wear Jesus Junk is because I don't want to reflect badly on the "brand" name. I'm not sure how good a representative I am of Jesus. I mean, would Jesus want someone like me walking around wearing an "I'm With Jesus" slogan on the back of a T-shirt?

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by John Brimacombe Have you ever thought about the fact that In Christ all things are being restored. The Scriptures tell us that God through Christ was pleased "to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Col 1:20). Think with me what this means. It means that anything in our world that was trampled by

ricknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737126.post-1100179189117954362004-11-11T08:12:00.000-05:002004-11-11T08:19:49.116-05:00

Stephen Shields just posted a nice article on the faithmaps blog regarding online community. As a member of a number of these communities, I still miss the intimacy afforded f2f communications. So I merged the best of both worlds and hooked up with two Matts earlier this week while traveling to DC. Matt Oskvarek (a faithmaps community member) was a renewal of an acquaintance that I had made in

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I never cease to be amazed at differences in apprehending truth. I have found people who have read The Life of Pi seem to either love it or hate it. They find it unsatisfying or fulfilling. Interesting I remeber the first time I saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, that the left brain in me was disappointed but my right brain was intrigued and watched it again and again. Big Fish is another.

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I got this from my e-buddy Buff Scott. He publishes: Reformation Rumblings Notation Before we get to today's question, I need to announce that I have added an additional feature to my Web site under "Mad Church Disease."Here is part of the "Overview" or Introduction: "A few years ago, a new malady surfaced among cattle that was labeled by medical professionals as 'Mad Cow Disease.' The

ricknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737126.post-1099441728975288192004-11-02T19:23:00.000-05:002004-11-02T19:37:07.363-05:00

I just re-read Stephen Shields' Next Wave article with Nancy’s comments. I’m also reading Ken Wilber’s “A Theory of Everything” which more closely resonates with my own approach than a lot of what I’ve read on many of the pomo lists. Here is my take on things. Much of the conversation is about out-growing the trap of modernism or moving from modernism and propositionalism into postmodern

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More from Wilber on the changing face of hierarchies in politics and why it’s needed: The green meme (egalitarians) – which constitutes approximately 20 percent of adult American population and is the core of Paul Ray’s misnamed “integral culture” – now has a chance to move into second-tier (integrated) and genuinely integral constructions. The green meme has been in charge of academia, the

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This from Wilber’s chapter on Government: Moreover, from this spacious vantage point (of an integral view of politics), the prime directive of a genuine integral politics would be, not to try to get everyone to a particular level of consciousness (integral, pluralistic, liberal or whatever) but to ensure the health of the entire spiral of development at all of its levels and waves. Thus the two

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From Ken Wilber's A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality From his chapter on "Boomeritis" he discusses Growth Hierarchies versus Dominator Hierarchies... Pluralism, egalitarianism, and multiculturalism, at their best, all stem from a very high developmental stance - the green meme (pluralistic worldview) - and from the stance of pluralistic

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I've been readin Yann Martel's book and had the following thoughts which I posted to the Postliberal Theology group. In the first part of the book we have an almost prosaic biography of Piscene Molitor Patel who names himself Pi Patel while in school to keep from being called “Pissing Patel” by his fellow school boys. The fact that pi is an irrational number (by mathematical definition) is

ricknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5737126.post-1099008807594917672004-10-28T19:07:00.000-05:002004-10-28T19:13:27.596-05:00

A Pomo Conversation Don said: Thank you for that clarification. One of the reasons why I joined this list is because I am curious about what a Christian post-modernist looks like. My understanding of post-modernism seems incompatible with the Christian world-view. So, I thought it would be interesting to see how those ideas are hammered out. rp: It's interesting that you would say this. I find

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I just finished The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. The Amazon.com reviews give an accurate depiction of the ambivalence and apparent disconnect between the first part of the book and the last. However, on reflection, Martel provides the dots and expects us to make the connections. Without giving away the ending, I found it to be a helpful fable about the nature of Story, Truth and the

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A Christian Counterculture? Got this from Falwell this past week and thought it was pertinent but not for the reasons Jerry cites. Here are some of my questions that we need to ask after we're done with the article (for those who manage to read all the way through): 1. Why do we have the presumption that marriage success in the Christian community is supposed to be better than the population

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Growing Up in God Church tonight was revalatory but not in the way intended by the preachers. The pastor was out tonight so the boys had the floor. They both did well what they did but I have to confess that I seem to have grown beyond where they are. This is hardly surpising with a 20 year age span separating us but I tend to hope for better in the spiritual leadership. The unintended theme

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The Unrighteousness of Self-righteousness Fred Peatross (who, alas, is no longer blogging) Sep 12, 2004 It's all too common for Christians to be in God's family while stranger to his affections; to be heirs to his whole estate yet living lives "short-changed" of the riches of his grace. The younger son in Luke 15 could not experience his father's love until he realized the depth of his own

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The Big Question Fred Peatross pops the question on the question at Off the Map . His provacative little piece teases us, not so much with an answer, but more questions. If Jesus never asked The Big Question that Evangelism Explosion asks, then what questions did Jesus ask? I also read a quote from John Stuart Mill, "In all intellectual debates, both sides tend to be correct in what they

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Crisis Management Here are some thoughts by John Robbins of the Trinity Foundation.

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Baptist Distinctive This is from a Baptist discussion group I'm on. I was posting about our need to be active in the social aspects of the gospel and this is part of the reply I received. From a Baptist preacher. Someone who is called to minister to others. Maybe you can straighten me out on a matter here. I see a need when someone is starving or dying of a disease but I am not sure what my

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