I was just looking at a post on the Christianity Today web site asking myself, how many truly sincere believers even know what “deconstruction” is. The real danger we face is ending up in a corner talking to ourselves without anyone understanding what we are saying.

I was told by a friend, just a few minutes ago that his High School Sophomore son is thinking through issues being raised by emergent figures such as McLaren and others.  He specifically mentioned open theism.  I then read through a recent survey on Christianity Today where it stated that the largest percentage of respondents in a survey about committed church attendance that–the largest group had been seriously committed to many churches through their lives.  With that kind of picture it is no wonder that open theism, pan theism and Arianism find such a place among emergent adherants.–I, by the way, attend an emergent service at the Methodist Church to which I belong.  My wife and I are among the oldest there [57 and 58] respectively.

In a survey published on January 18, 2008, Christianity Today found that about 60% of Christians describe their present lifestyle changes as belt tightening due to increased monetary squeeze.

December 27, 2007

Top 10 Posts of 2007

A year ago on this blog it seemed hard to imagine that 2007 would surpass 2006 in traffic and participation, but that is exactly what happened. Thanks to the thousands of Ur-banites that read this blog everyday and drive the conversation, 2007 has been the best since Out of Ur launched in ’04. Thanks for sharing your time and insights with us. You’ve made this blog an engaging place to discuss the intersection of ministry, culture, and theology.

Here are the top ten posts from 2007. These were not determined by the editors, but by Ur’s visitors. These are the posts which received the most traffic and provoked the most comments.

ONE
Willow Creek Repents?
Why the most influential church in America now says “We made a mistake.”

TWO
Heresy on Tour?
Popular pastor/author Rob Bell’s controversial message: God loves you.

My pastor spoke about the faithfulness of Joseph in the Christmas story on Sunday and edified me greatly.  He emphasized that Joseph really says nothing in the Christmas story mentioned about him in Mt. 1:18-25.  He is simply there and faithful.  Our pastor continued that  this kind of faithfulness is something the church needs more of.

Christianity Today quoted the following:

Baptist Press reported on how Southern Baptist missionaries are responding to the falling dollar.

I have thought I might tell all of my cohorts that I am going back to seminary-on iTunes.  The new iTunes U feature is wonderful.  Both Reformed Theological Seminary on itunes U and Covenant Theological Seminary on the podcasts are delivering whole semesters for free to anyone interested in learning.–So, I am back in seminary.  I just finished listening to 39 lectures by Prof.  Douglas Kelly at RTS on Systematic Theology.  It was very edifying.

Fox News reported this a.m. that reading is going down in our culture among youth.  Even among college grads, only 31% read a book in the last year.

While the ballroom sessions of the first day of the Evangelical Theological Society meeting had more attendees, no session was as packed as J.P. Moreland’s “How Evangelicals Became Over-Committed to the Bible and What Can Be Done About It.” While the average breakout session seems to be attended by fewer than 50 people, easily more than 200 packed the room to hear Moreland’s talk, with dozens standing and more listening outside the door.

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I think I will listen to some of the book of Daniel on my iPod.–Ron

Christianity Today reported that:

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, head of the Senate Finance Committee, sent letters yesterday to six ministries—those led by Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer, and Randy and Paula White—demanding detailed accounts of spending practices. None of the ministries must file the IRS financial disclosure Form 990 because they are designated as churches.

I think if there is some kind of vendetta that someone is carrying against these six ministries, the fear of God in the literal sense is in order now.  Agree or disagree with these people, Paul the apostle would praise God that they are preaching the gospel.  If someone is paying someone back politically for something in all of this, the Bible shows that God has a way of making life very uncomfortable for the guilty party.  Our posture in all of this, in my opinion, would be to pray for these brothers and sisters.