It is becoming clearer to me that the main complaint of EC critics like Ken Silva and Slice of Laodicea is that EC leaders do not spend their time taking public hard-line stances. They couch this criticism as “not taking scripture seriously” or something along those lines.

By “take scripture seriously,” they really mean “complain loudly and publicly about other people and their beliefs.” I, however, do not usually find it healthy or productive to spend my time talking about how wrong other people are (except on occasions such as this :). Ah, irony…).

This does not mean I don’t have beliefs that are quite deeply held and quite important. It doesn’t mean I think everyone is fine or that everyone is right. It simply means that I choose to live my life without presuming to sit on God’s judgment seat all the time.

Curiously, there seems to be a 1-to-1 correlation among the anti-EC crowd between talking about righteousness and being righteous - though it happens to be expressed in the negative:
The louder you go on about how wrong something is, the more righteous you must be.

Volume also seems to cover ignorance. Even if your position isn’t very well thought out or theologically defensible, you can yell and scream and condemn others, and perhaps no one will be able to tell. But perhaps they will.

Conversely, if bad theology exists anywhere, and you don’t speak out against it (or don’t speak loudly enough), you must not care about doing the will of God. Huh. The Lord hates a nuanced statement, apparently.

I don’t think this could be farther from the truth. I think EC people have seen the futility of preaching to the choir and to the unready. We’re tired of telling ourselves how wrong others are, and we’re tired of telling people who don’t care (nor have any reason to care). We’re tired of simplifying issues down to the binary, black-and-white level, and tired of the name-calling and boundary-drawing that puts us on the right side all of the time.

On the other side of the equation, perhaps those of us in the EC community have been too hesitant to speak out against what we are opposed to. We’re vocal about justice and ecclesiology, but not much in the way of morality, ethics, or the intersection of faith and politics.

Thoughts?

Emergent is hosting an un-conference “Summer Institute” at Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis this June.

Tony Jones mentioned this last Sunday when he was in Seattle, but I thought he was talking about something SP was doing for the local community - I didn’t realize it was an Emergent event. About this, I am very excited, yes.

This is exactly the kind of event that I think Emergent is best at doing, and should continue to do:

The name “Institute” is a bit of a playful use of the word. For what we have planned is not institutional all. Rather, it is built on the idea that everyone has something to share and we are all the expert on something. So the SI is built around the people doing the presenting. The schedule will flex to the people. People are what is important and information is meaningful in connection with the people.

Our attempt at this is experimental; it may or may not work. But many of us are convinced that the typical structure of learning does not suffice. So we would rather fail at a new attempt then to “succeed” in the existing model of learning.

The SI includes people of a variety of backgrounds and perspectives who have not only information to share, but a life of connection. This is not to imply a giant “hugfest”, but rather that the system is at the service of the presenters and participants – so you will create the experience you want. (From today’s Emergent/C newsletter)

Right on, Tony. More info

If you’ve been watching American Idol this seacrestson, you’ve probably noticed the constant product placement. Each week, the judges have big red Coke cups, which always have the logo turned toward the camera.

Today, the product placement and cross-promotion just got ridiculous. Wednesday is the “results” show, in which they take 30 minutes (is it an hour? I hope not) to tell you who’s getting booted off. They started today’s show with a little “What the contestants have been up to” montage. It turns out that Fox has treated the contestants to a preview of its forthcoming Ice Age 2.

They then showed clips from the movie and had the contestants name their favorite characters. It was obviously nothing more than shameless cross-promotion for another Fox product, and the contestants just had to smile and say nice things about the movie. If you ask me, it’s kind of stupid to have adults (other than film critics) going on and on about how they enjoyed a kids’ movie that they are obviously being told to endorse.

Then there’s the Ford commercials, in which the entire cast of contestants walks around and makes tiny Ford cars look cool.

But William Hung in the ice cream commercial? Awesome.

Prett good show tonight. I don’t particularly want anyone to get cut this week, as we’ve reached the point where everyone left is likeable and talented. In other words, Kevin Covais is off, so that’s all I care about.

Theme: the 21st Century
1-866-IDOLS-
01 Lisa Tucker
02 Kellie Pickler
03 Ace - Drops of Jupiter (way off key)
04 Taylor Hicks - Trouble (good)
05 Mandisa - Praise you (Mary Mary) - weird song, but very well done
06 Chris Daughtry - What If (Creed) - lots of screaming, hard to tell how well he sings, but again pretty well done
07 Catharine McPhee - very difficult Christina Aguilera song “The Voice Inside” - nailed it in a stunning performance
08 Bucky Covington - good country performance
09 Paris Bennett - Work it Out (Beyonce). Acted 25. Sang and danced well.
10 Elliot Yamin - Anything Other Than Me - very good performance.

I am counting the seconds until Kendall-Ball picks this one up…

10. A man’s place is in the army.

9. For men who have children, their duties might distract them from the responsibilities of being a parent.

8. Their physical build indicates that men are more suited to tasks such as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do other forms of work.

7. Man was created before woman. It is therefore obvious that man was a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment, rather than the crowning achievement of creation.

6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. This is easily demonstrated by their conduct at football games and watching basketball tournaments.

5. Some men are handsome; they will distract women worshipers.

4. To be ordained pastor is to nurture the congregation. But this is not a traditional male role. Rather, throughout history, women have been considered to be not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more frequently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.

3. Men are overly prone to violence. No really manly man wants to settle disputes by any means other than by fighting about it. Thus, they would be poor role models, as well as being dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.

2. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep paths, repair the church roof, and maybe even lead the singing on Father’s Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the Church.

1. In the New Testament account, the person who betrayed Jesus was a man. Thus, his lack of faith and ensuing punishment stands as a symbol of the subordinated position that all men should take.

Sound familiar? Via via via

Part of my morning ritual is to scan several national and local newsites before starting work. USA Today has a link to their blog post about the Church of Christ preacher (Matt Winkler) who was murdered by his wife last week. The post is newsy and boring, but the comments tell a lot about many kinds of people - COCers, ex-COCers, secularists, athiests, friends of the family, and people just looking for a venue to preach, condemn, forgive, hate, mend, or anything else. Take a minute and peruse the comments for a glimpse into how America sees the COC (and church in general) and how we see ourselves.

Here is a sample:

- I used to teach at a university with a group of professors that did research into cults … including the Branch Davidians. The Church of Christ is one of the groups they studied, as well.

- I knew Matt all through college. He was a wonderful and kind person. For that matter so was Mary. I never saw a bit of problem between them. Matt was a very enthusiastic and outgoing guy, while Mary was quiet but a sweet and precious girl. They were a perfect match. I can’t believe that anyone would try to say that he was abusive or a molester when they do not know him, her, or their families. If you all knew them and their families you might think differently! I know that each individual on this earth lives thier own private life inside themselves, but in this case I truly do not feel that any thing was going on but that Mary has suffered terribly with depression (particularly postpartum depression). Having the stesses of children, being a ministers wife just over took her mind. She chose not to get any help with it. Unfortunately she chose the wrong way to deal with it. I am praying for her and the girls, and especially their families strength, to be able to deal with this tragedy. I love Mary, and I will continue to love her as I was comanded to love everyone on this earth, no matter what they do!

- God is either asleep, doesn’t exist or is totally removed from his creation. I think God exists as a creative energy but I really do not think he cares about individual persons. If he does it is not evidenced by all the violence in the world. Organized religion is just so much make believe. I grew up in a Lutheran church and spent many years with the Christian doctrine. I do not buy any of it any more! I generally find Christians to be judgemental and pompous!

- Now I dont know what her reason was for killing her husband, either way, I can find little if any justification for her actions of murder. But consider this, If she was a man, and wanted to still preach from the pulpit, A former and forgiven murderer is afforded the position of being a pastor, BUT a DIVORCED person is not forgiven by the church - Go figure that one out.

- We are ALL sinners. Even the wife of the pastor and the pator himself. She committed a heinous “sin.” If she is truly “born-again” she must confess this sin and with all her heart and sould “repent.” It really doesn’t seem like she has ever been “saved” in the first place. How pitiful….Jesus said in the bible: that many will come to me in that day (future) standing before God ALmighty and he will say depart from me into everlasting fire…That is the truth and All of you who are now reading this, most of you will hear those SAME words and you will REMEMBER this posting that you are reading right NOW and my words for ever and ever and ever and ever in HELL…I didn’t say this, but “GOD” himself did…

Following in the ancient tradition of supporting the work of the monastic community through cottage industry, a group of Cistercian monks in Wisconsin sells printer cartridges. Yep. They call themselves LaserMonks.

Our monastery is part of the 900-year-old Cistercian Order; our particular Abbey was founded over 75 years ago in the United States. Every monastery has a monk in charge of all the temporal needs and activities of the community.

Among my duties as Steward of Temporal Affairs are developing and managing ways to support our life and charities. Contrary to popular understanding, monasteries are self-supporting. A part of our day is given to some sort of remunerative work, from which we support our modest living needs in the monastery, and then use the rest for charitable work.

Our Abbey was at this time looking into various new income projects, which had ranged from growing Shitake mushrooms, raising Christmas trees, to building a golf course and conference center. An income project that was based on a necessary consumable item, like toner and ink cartridges, was exactly what the monastery needed - a solid, consistent, income that would not be affected by difficult economic times. Everyone has to have toner and ink to print, businesses especially. And everyone wants to save money. link

Cool. They have a “Steward of Temporal Affairs.” I wish I had one of those.

Their prices are good, and the proceeds benefit the abbey as well as a host of charities around the world.

I just bought 6 cartridges for my HP BusinessJet 1100d, which should last at least a year. Check out LaserMonks and buy some ink for a good cause. Via BB.

This makes me wonder: What are the possibilities for an urban monastery? I know we could put a bunch of graphic designers and web developers together, and possibly be self-supporting.

Worth1000 always has fantastic photoshop jobs, but this contest’s entries are out of this world.

Via BB