DISQUS

DISQUS Hello!  The comments on this profile are unclaimed and thus are unverified.

Do they belong to you? Claim these comments.

Thom's picture

Unregistered

Feeds

aliases

  • Thom
  • Thom
  • Thom
  • Thomas
  • Thom

Thom

1 month ago

in frenetic peace on Frenetic Peace
Ever see Charlie Wilson's War? That's why...

2 months ago

in A “Biblical” Worldview? on Missio Dei
Yeah, I agree. I didn't mean anything personal about George Barna, I just used "Barna" as shorthand for Barna Group. I think I have just always had a prejudice against stats and surveys as being more about marketing and less about authenticity, which I think is valid. Thinking about this a bit more I wonder at how hard it is for a group like Barna to just put out data and see it being manipulated to different ends. It would make me apathetic!
1 reply
Jonathan Brink My concern is that he is responsible for this because he is the one creating the definition.

2 months ago

in A “Biblical” Worldview? on Missio Dei
Jonathan,

You do a amiable job not turning this into a rant. The thing about Barna is that they want the statistics to be as "bad news" as possible, it works well with their own demographic: fundamentalist churches that use these types of statistics to puff themselves up and justify their own worldview.
1 reply
Jonathan Brink Thom, what surprises me is that this is from Barna. I've been following George and his work for a while and he is in some ways the evangelical emergent. He sits in both camps. He knows changes is coming but in some ways sounds like he wants it to look like the old thing it is leaving.

7 months ago

in Pontifex Maximus (Obama’s Religion, pt 1) on the Jesus Manifesto
I think this speaks to the absence of practical theology in the American church. We think we do "theology" when we have Bible study, not when we are buying clothing or walking in the park or helping someone out. Once we realize that everything should have a theology behind it, then our eyes are opened to the competing theologies that have been holding us back, hypnotizing us, and trying to shape us into something other than a Christ follower.
1 reply
BDRhodes's picture
BDRhodes Well said, Thom. I wonder if that's why I sense such restlessness in my own church community about Bible Studies... "not another one, sheesh". I need to learn how to talk about theology in a way that becomes embodied, that incarnates. And maybe we should all start adding new pages to our theology books, sections like "agri-ology" between anthropology and ecclesiology, and "petrol-ology" after (or within) hamartiology.

You've got the wheels a'spinning in my head now. :)

7 months ago

in the Jesus Manifesto » Maintenance Mode on the Jesus Manifesto
I think this speaks to the absence of practical theology in the American church. We think we do "theology" when we have Bible study, not when we are buying clothing or walking in the park or helping someone out. Once we realize that everything should have a theology behind it, then our eyes are opened to the competing theologies that have been holding us back, hypnotizing us, and trying to shape us into something other than a Christ follower.

7 months ago

in theologer: Freedom, rights in Christ. And beer (1 Corinthians 8:9) on theologer
Thanks for this. I can now drink my lambics and porters in peace.
1 reply
Roger Mugs's picture
Roger Mugs mmm.... porters

7 months ago

in Restoration Observations on Missio Dei
Wow, that's really interesting. I am surprised a game called "Death Row" is about reform and not escaping from Death Row or accomplishing activities that get you put on Death Row.

9 months ago

in theologer: A theology worth embracing. Issues worth ignoring. Bringing our faith elsewhere. on theologer
The vignette about "Replacement Theology" is too funny...and sad. Why do Christians in other countries rejoice when they meet a brother or sister, but in America we immediately try to see what labels they have on their Christianity.
1 reply
Roger Mugs's picture
Roger Mugs i really think it has to do with money/comfort.
the more money we have... the more comfortable we are... the easier it is to be caught up in all the wrong things...
but i dont know...

9 months ago

in Thy Kingdome Come on the Jesus Manifesto
It is a truly Romantic idea to fall in love with ruins; it's a Kingdom idea to want to raise them to life again.

Kudos.

9 months ago

in the Jesus Manifesto » Maintenance Mode on the Jesus Manifesto
It is a truly Romantic idea to fall in love with ruins; it's a Kingdom idea to want to raise them to life again.


Kudos.

11 months ago

in A Future Worth Anticipating on whatever you do
I enjoyed this quote. The paradox of death and life plays out fully in the cross: the death of the Messiah brings life to the whole world, the death of a Jewish Messiah brings forth a King for all nations, the death of the Second Adam leads not to a lineage of sin and pain but to abundant life.

Thanks for the comment on ThomTurner.com Make sure to check out http://www.everydayliturgy.com as well.
1 reply
David's picture
David thanks thom. i'm suddenly struck by the depth of that death and life motif. it's scary that we can take such a penetrating victory (that even overcomes death) and turn it into a promise of shallow gratification and proof that we are right and someone else is wrong. thanks for sharing your thoughts. i'll definitely check out that site.

1 year ago

in Fearsome, Fearless, and Fearful (by Brian McLaren) on God's Politics
Brian McLaren and I had a conversation about his new book on my blog Everyday Liturgy. The post is:
Finding Our Way Again: An Interview with Brian McLaren.

1 year ago

in Churches Should Teach Imitating Christ (Non-Violence) on Trying To Follow
Rod Sider wrote a great article for Christianity Today outlining why Just War Theory has failed and non-violence needs to be given a chance. He makes a persuasive argument that non-violence has not been given a chance by most churches because it requires too much sacrifice and is not "safe."

Thanks for the feedback on my article.
Returning? Login