Welcome back. Here’s the last of three posts on Questions I’m asking. It’s off the cuff and raw. It’s meant to be that way. What are you thinking about?
Questions I’m asking #64 - 93…
64. God gives Israel instructions on buying slaves from neighboring peoples. What’s up with that?
65. Is culture such a powerful force in the universe that God must compromise on universal/transcendant values to work within a particular context?
66. When God gives instructions for an inhumane act such as buying slaves, do we negate the evil of it because of an assumed trajectory towards justice?
67. We know God can experience new things, can He also learn? Grow? Change?
68. Should we read the story of the Bible and let the story develop our portrait of God?
69. Should we read the story of the Bible through the filter of an approved systematic/ orthodox framework?
70. Is (Are) the future(s) open or closed?
71. What’s the Bible say about the future?
72. Is cussing and anger among emerging pastors a plastic attempt at being authentic?
73. Luther, Calvin and Erasmus have something in common. None of them chose ministry as a vocation. What does this tell us?
74. Is there such a thing as “free will”?
75. Is Christianity a revealed religion or is it a sign pointing to the God who reveals Himself?
76. Assuming God is without beginning, without end, etc, did God limit himself in any way at creation?
77. Is a merger of the biological (the human) and the technological (the electronic) the next phase of evolution of the Sapient race?
78. What do we mean when we say we are under the authority of scriptures?
79. In the end, isn’t every person under the authority of his or her own interpretation (thinking/ feeling/acting) of scripture?
80. Is theology supposed to be static (i.e. understanding the systematic formulations of the past) or dynamic (i.e. allowing new questions to shape our theological formulations of the future)?
81. Is the understanding of the role of scripture in the church changing as we exit both the modern world and postmodern transition?
82. Is the relationship between Catholic and Protestant changing as we exit the postmodern transition?
83. What kind of God do we believe in?
84. Do all innovative churches look the same? Why?
85. If you could live forever known by noone or for a limited period and known by many, what would you choose?
86. Does God “want” all men to be saved?
87. What do we really want?
88. What is the Recreated Humanity of the church supposed to look like?
89. Should we be growing human organs in animals for harvesting?
90. How will we feel when we are introduced to the first human clone [Is he/she alive in infancy somewhere right now]?
91. Chimeras are animals that have their own cells and the cells of another animal growing side by side in their body. Geeps (goat-sheep combos) already exist. What’s next? Humanzees. How far is too far?
92. The possible futures offered by technology (GNR) are so much more substantial than the [accurate] postmodern critique of the modern, can we not say that we are in the Post Human era [Or bio-electronic, or transhuman]? [More ideas on what to call our age coming up soon]. [***GNR –Genetic engineering, Nano technology, Robotics]
93. What insights will we gain about the scriptures the first day they are read on Earth Colony Mars?
Welcome back. Here’s the last of three posts on Questions I’m asking. It’s off the cuff and raw. It’s meant to be that way. What are you thinking about?
Questions I’m asking #64 - 93…
64. God gives Israel instructions on buying slaves from neighboring peoples. What’s up with that?
65. Is culture such a powerful force in the universe that God must compromise on universal/transcendant values to work within a particular context?
66. When God gives instructions for an inhumane act such as buying slaves, do we negate the evil of it because of an assumed trajectory towards justice?
67. We know God can experience new things, can He also learn? Grow? Change?
68. Should we read the story of the Bible and let the story develop our portrait of God?
69. Should we read the story of the Bible through the filter of an approved systematic/ orthodox framework?
70. Is (Are) the future(s) open or closed?
71. What’s the Bible say about the future?
72. Is cussing and anger among emerging pastors a plastic attempt at being authentic?
73. Luther, Calvin and Erasmus have something in common. None of them chose ministry as a vocation. What does this tell us?
74. Is there such a thing as “free will”?
75. Is Christianity a revealed religion or is it a sign pointing to the God who reveals Himself?
76. Assuming God is without beginning, without end, etc, did God limit himself in any way at creation?
77. Is a merger of the biological (the human) and the technological (the electronic) the next phase of evolution of the Sapient race?
78. What do we mean when we say we are under the authority of scriptures?
79. In the end, isn’t every person under the authority of his or her own interpretation (thinking/ feeling/acting) of scripture?
80. Is theology supposed to be static (i.e. understanding the systematic formulations of the past) or dynamic (i.e. allowing new questions to shape our theological formulations of the future)?
81. Is the understanding of role of scripture in the church changing as we exit the modern world and postmodern transition?
82. Is the relationship between Catholic and Protestant changing as we exit the postmodern transition?
83. What kind of God do we believe in?
84. Do all innovative churches look the same? Why?
85. If you could live forever known by noone or for a limited period and known by many, what would you choose?
86. Does God “want” all men to be saved?
87. What do we really want?
88. What is the Recreated Humanity of the church supposed to look like?
89. Should we be growing human organs in animals for harvesting?
90. How will we feel when we are introduced to the first human clone [Is he/she alive in infancy somewhere right now]?
91. Chimeras are animals that have their own cells and the cells of another animal growing side by side in it own body. Geeps (goat-sheep combos) already exist. What’s next? Humanzees. How far is too far?
92. The possible futures offered by technology (GNR) are so much more substantial than the [accurate] postmodern critique of the modern, can we not say that we are in the Post Human era [Or bio-electronic, or transhuman]? [More ideas on what to call our age coming up soon]. [***GNR –Genetic engineering, Nano technology, Robotics]
93. What insights will we gain about the scriptures the first day they are read on Earth Colony Mars?
33. If the world is going to be reached for Christ by professionals and others working in the secular market of commerce and ideas, why do we keep training pastors?
34. What’s seminary for?
35. How can we help prefessionals and entrepreneurs move into the reality that they can be pastors, prophets, evangelists and apostles?
36. If the gospel spreads more quickly via “real world” relationships, why bring converts into the world of fake church relationships.
37. Wouldn’t the best economic model be for church planters to be professionals?
38. Why would we support missionaries who live in the west? Isn’t this where everyone wants to live anyway? AND, isn’t this where most of the churches are already?
39. Even if we eliminate the huge percentage of churches that don’t work in the west, we still have the lion’s share of churches in the world. Why are all the “called” led to the nicer places to live where the life is good and the environment is wholesome enough to raise a family?
40. Is the call to ministry today synonomous with a means to escape the front lines of God’s work?
41. If the Holy Spirit were the director of Mission [which He is], wouldn’t he be deploying the vast majority to where the church isn’t?
42. Where are the places on earth where the gospel is most needed?
43. If we counsel the “called” to go to seminary, they will have a more difficult time entering the places the Spirit of Mission will wish to deploy them. Shouldn’t we instruct the “called” to become business people, artists, doctors, professionals, etc so they can get the proper visas and have the economic base to take the gospel where the church and missionaries can’t take it?
44. Are we not all “called”?
45. What did the Apostle Paul do about childcare in the churches he started? Music?
46. Why don’t we have house churches with Karaoke worship as a primary model?
47. Twenty five years ago, everybody I knew in the Christian camp had an epistemology that allowed them to believe they had a bird’s eye view on reality. They spoke The Word of God. Not their opinions. I felt it was idolatry to deny my subjectivity. I was called a subjectivist, a liberal, a pagan. And that was by my friends. Now being a subjectivist is trendy and noone seems to remember the old days when they were God. What happened?
48. Does anybody still assert that the Bible was innerrant in the Original Manuscripts anymore?
49. Is it wise to spend billions on the space program when there are billions of people who need help here on earth?
50. How can we not put everything we are into the space program? The stars are our destiny.
51. Why is global population declining?
52. Why is the West in a death spiral when it comes to birth rates?
53. If we could visit planet earth in 2207, would London and Paris be cities with a Muslim world view?
54. What would Los Angeles and San Franscisco be like in 2207?
55. What’s really going on in LOST? Are they in the Garden of Eden?
56. Is Global Warming really anything out of the ordinary?
57. Is the “successful” church and the “successful” pastor irrelevant to the gospel?
58. If the world will be reached by a movement of non-clergy women and men working together in small teams to take the gospel where it needs to go, why do we care so much about breaking church growth barriers?
59. Given the above question, what’s the role of the pastor in the world?
60. Wouldn’t most small churches be better off just becoming small groups for the local mega church?
61. Wouldn’t mega churches be better off just selling their mega properties, dissolving their mega staffs, giving their mega budgets to plant churches in India and Africa, and distibuting their members into small evangelistic teams?
62. Does a church or ministry need to be a 501 C3 non-profit organization? If it weren’t, what would it’s organizational and economic model be?
63. Once the chicken got to the other side of the road, what exactly was accomplished?
Welcome back. You belong here. I’m shooting-from-the-hip but here goes.
Questions I’m asking #1 - 32…
1. We are exiting the postmodern and entering a new world dominated by genetic engineering. What shape will the gospel take when men no longer die?
2. Why do people still get excited about being postmodern when as followers of Jesus, we’re from the future?
3. There are a lot of articles explaining how Pastors or churches should go about hiring staff. Does this point to the fact that we have lost the essence of what it means to be the church?
4. What is the gospel?
5. What is the mission of the church?
6. What shape will the gospel take when mankind first encounters intelligent extraterrestrial life?
7. The greatest persecutors of the Christ following faith in America are Christians. When and why did this happen?
8. What shape will the gospel take when there is a universal acceptance of Evolution? Welcome to the future.
9. What shape will science and technology take when they can’t discover an evil gene?
10. What will it mean to be human when the first robot wakes up?
11. Will Human clones be fertile and capable of reproducing? What shape will the gospel take when the time comes to reach the second generation of clones?
12. Why should the gospel be shaped at all by any of the above? How will the gospel shape humanity in any of the scenarios listed above [or below]?
13. How can I move back to LA?
14. Why does it seem that all the most “successful” pastors in America are either CEO’s, TV stars or celebrities, but in China they are scarred apostles?
15. Is it OK to view the evangelical population of America as a market with a hunger to buy worship music and pop theology?
16. A missionary once said to me that they wanted to build an orphanage in a certain country –but not in a certain city in that country because she wouldn’t want to raise her children there. Is there a difference between a good deed and a gut wrenching calling?
17. Once a deacon and finance director of the church told me –in a budget crunch — that there were things he just would not do [like cleaning bathrooms]. How do people like this get to the highest places of church leadership?
18. What do I have to be able to do to live in London? And make it possible for my friends to move there with me? Boston? Miami?
19. Could George Bush be right when he says that Islam is a religion of peace!?
20. If we presented the gospel to Osama Bin Laden and he refused to believe. Would it be right to shoot him?
21. Pacifists like to quote Jesus: he who lives by the sword dies by the sword. That’s not the whole of it though. Jesus forgot to mention that plenty of people who did NOT live by the sword also died by the sword. In either case, is there a place for swords in a Christ following worldview? Jesus was a Jew and shared in their martial tradition. Was Jesus really a pacifist?
22. Sure monogamy seems to be the preferred marital relationship in scripture, but is polygamy always wrong and unbiblical?
23. The Reformation was more a product of Gutenberg’s printing press than it was about Luther’s thesis. How would the Church have evolved towards the gospel if the world had never heard of Luther or Calvin?
24. How can fresh theological frameworks emerge from the soil of the 21st century and not simply be regurgitations of 16th and 17th century theology?
25. How will the gospel be shaped when our latent psychic powers are proven beyond a shadow of a doubt?
26. Universalism and Predeterminism (a la uber Calvinists) are kissing cousins. They approach God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom the same way. God determines in eternity the paths men “choose” to take. The only difference is that Univeralism’s God saves everyone and Calvin’s randomly elects to condemn some and requires that he be praised for not condeming everybody. Does this make sense after reading John 3.16?
27. Why can’t I ever leave well enough alone?
28. If the sweetest, most authentic moments for a church plant are the momentum building, evangelism, laughter and community that occur before the doors are open for an official launch, why ever, ever open the doors?
29. When genetically enhanced IQs become available, will that create a “status” gap between those who can afford to “enhance” their children and those who cannot? Could the gap become so large [IQ, physical features, talents, other capacities] that a segment of humanity [most likely the poor and some of the middle class] become like cattle?
30. If you lived in a world where the IQ gap was severe, would that be a prerequisite when it came to dating?
31. If during the last century, the world moved to the cities, why did the American church move to the suburbs?
32. Why did Jesus say, “go and make disciples of all nations…”? Couldn’t he have just said, go and disciple the neighbors? What are you thinking about?
Welcome back. Here’s the last of three posts on Questions I’m asking. It’s off the cuff and raw. It’s meant to be that way. What are you thinking about?
What I’m thinking about #64 -#93
64. God gives Israel instructions on buying slaves from neighboring peoples. What’s up with that?
65. Is culture such a powerful force in the universe that God must compromise on universal/transcendant values to work within a particular context?
66. When God gives instructions for an inhumane act such as buying slaves, do we negate the evil of it because of an assumed trajectory towards justice?
67. We know God can experience new things, can He also learn? Grow? Change?
68. Should we read the story of the Bible and let the story develop our portrait of God?
69. Should we read the story of the Bible through the filter of an approved systematic/ orthodox framework?
70. Is (Are) the future(s) open or closed?
71. What’s the Bible say about the future?
72. Is cussing and anger among emerging pastors a plastic attempt at being authentic?
73. Luther, Calvin and Erasmus have something in common. None of them chose ministry as a vocation. What does this tell us?
74. Is there such a thing as “free will”?
75. Is Christianity a revealed religion or is it a sign pointing to the God who reveals Himself?
76. Assuming God is without beginning, without end, etc, did God limit himself in any way at creation?
77. Is a merger of the biological (the human) and the technological (the electronic) the next phase of evolution of the Sapient race?
78. What do we mean when we say we are under the authority of scriptures?
79. In the end, isn’t every person under the authority of his or her own interpretation (thinking/ feeling/acting) of scripture?
80. Is theology supposed to be static (i.e. understanding the systematic formulations of the past) or dynamic (i.e. allowing new questions to shape our theological formulations of the future)?
81. Is the understanding of role of scripture in the church changing as we exit the modern world and postmodern transition?
82. Is the relationship between Catholic and Protestant changing as we exit the postmodern transition?
83. What kind of God do we believe in?
84. Do all innovative churches look the same? Why?
85. If you could live forever known by noone or for a limited period and known by many, what would you choose?
86. Does God “want” all men to be saved?
87. What do we really want?
88. What is the Recreated Humanity of the church supposed to look like?
89. Should we be growing human organs in animals for harvesting?
90. How will we feel when we are introduced to the first human clone [Is he/she alive in infancy somewhere right now]?
91. Chimeras are animals that have their own cells and the cells of another animal growing side by side in it own body. Geeps (goat-sheep combos) already exist. What’s next? Humanzees. How far is too far?
92. The possible futures offered by technology (GNR) are so much more substantial than the [accurate] postmodern critique of the modern, can we not say that we are in the Post Human era [Or bio-electronic, or transhuman]? [More ideas on what to call our age coming up soon]. [***GNR –Genetic engineering, Nano technology, Robotics]
93. What insights will we gain about the scriptures the first day they are read on Earth Colony Mars?
