Charisma Magazine: Did the Prosperity Gospel Cause a Church Recession?

Refreshingly – and surprisingly – good article here examining the question of whether or not the “prosperity gospel” is a major contributor to the “church recession” which roughly parallels the economic recession we are currently undergoing.

The same ideas can be translated, I think, to a correspondent analysis of the Growthinista^® movement…?

The Betamax version of the Pledge of Allegiance

The American's Creed is the official creed of the United States of America. It was written in 1917 by William Tyler Page as an entry into a patriotic contest. It was adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives April, 3 of the next year.

I believe in the United States of America, as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.^[1]

From the Wikipedia entry, The American’s Creed.

I wonder what our nation would be like a generation from now if this Creed was inculcated into our schoolchildren as well as the more conventional Pledge…?

Very powerful.

 

A great response.

AV: Atheism’s Moral Swindle

For this reason—for his fearless and relentless consistency—I love reading Nietzsche. The arch-atheist—the honest, consistent atheist—foils all the prominent modern atheists. He knows and admits that Dawkins’ moral indignation arises from the very God he denounces. Nietzsche knows that such moral fire only expresses the prior power and dominion of Christianity. Nietzsche knows that moral indignation itself is borrowed capital from Christendom.

Thought-provoking article here.

JJS: Contextualizing Contextualization

The Rev. Jason Stellman, an erstwhile Calvary Chapel church planter and contributor to The Blog Of Which We Do Not Speak and current minister in good standing with the Presbyterian Church in America, has written a short but very spot-on critique of the whole “we gotta contextualize the Gospel” mindset here.