J.J. writes that we are in the middle of the “age of immediacy” where wonder and mystery are lost because of the instant access to information that will, at best, give us a satisfying understanding. Because information is ubiquitous, knowledge a mouse click away, true understanding has become bothersome. As he puts it, “an unnecessary headache that impedes our ability to get on with our lives (and most likely skip to something else).”

Kids don’t want to discover for themselves the hidden “easter eggs” in video games so they go online and get video game “cheats” and “hacks” that enable them to leap frog the experience of discovering those on their own. Want to know absolutely anything about anything, “google” it! The question is though, have we lost something in this “age of immediacy”?

This got me thinking a lot about God and spirituality and my role as a communicator of what I believe to be “truth.” In our quest to instruct, teach, impart wisdom and knowledge, communicate the deep truths about God, inform about doctrine and theology, have we inadvertently stripped away people’s desire for the mystery which is God? Have we robbed people of the experience of mining these deep truths for themselves? Have we eschewed the insatiable desires for easy answers and inspired people to explore, unearth, probe and uncover life changing revelation for themselves?

We live in an age where if you have a desire to learn about Jesus, a simple search will yield 223,000,000 results. However,knowing about Jesus is not the same as experiencing Jesus. That can only come through a careful examination of his teachings, embracing his way of life as our own, wrestling with the hard issues he confronts us with, dealing with our fallen nature in light of his resurrected one and living our lives with him at the center of our existence. A total experience! No easy answers, no “7 steps to knowing Jesus”, no shortcuts, no hacks and no cheat sheets.

I have been challenged to not strip away mystery by self-serving easy answers and savor the experience of discovery. Information is cheap these days. We must go through the process and not underestimate it.

J.J. closes his essay with this thought. “Perhaps that’s why mystery, now more than ever, has special meaning. Because it’s the anomaly, the glaring affirmation that the Age of Immediacy has a meaningful downside. Mystery demands that you stop and consider—or, at the very least, slow down and discover. It’s a challenge to get there yourself, on its terms, not yours.”

Savor the process, enjoy the journey, embrace the mystery! That’s life!

I thought Mark did a great job in presenting the Biblical view and account of Satan. He was very articulate, concise and authoritative sounding. Annie Lobert, an ex-prostitute and founder of the ministry, Hookers for Jesus shared about her encounter of coming to Christ after being tormented by demonic forces, an incredible story of redemption.

Chopra spouted out his normal dribble of enlightenment and self deification. Pearson demonstrated yet again why he should be branded as someone teaching heresy and nowhere on the radar of teaching sound, Biblical orthodoxy. Watch the show and share with me your thoughts.

Michael makes 7 points as to why he believes the collapse is inevitable – read those here and come back for my take – go ahead – I’ll wait.

1) The love affair that evangelicals have had with a one party affiliation is over. Jesus resisted the politicization of the good news of the Kingdom why do we think that we know better than him. This previous election proved that the shrill message of the Religious Right did not resonate well with the rank and file. The limited issues that have been part of the platform of the Right ignore the tsunami of compassionate social and justice issues that younger evangelicals are swept up in to.

2) Barna’s current research shows that 1/2 of 1% of born-again Christians between the ages of 18-23 have a Biblical worldview. That means 99% of our churched young adults DO NOT possess a Biblical worldview. Our young people have not embraced the faith no matter how much money we throw at youth ministry. We need a massive wake up call in this area to make sure that we are really making Christ followers of our young people, not just giving them hype!

3) There is a reformation coming to the Western church. Reggie McNeal makes a brilliant case for this in his current work, Missional Renaissance. There are some megachurches that will thrive in the future but they must be missionally and incarnationally focused.

4) Christian education has not done its job in producing people that are growing in Christ-likeness. Christian education must move from a Hellenistic model of merely transmitting information to a Hebraic understanding of focusing on obedience to the teachings of Christ, not just mere knowledge. Willow Creek’s Reveal study proved that – ’nuff said!

5) People are not going to continue giving to massive building programs that are monuments to man and fat paychecks for the professional clergy. People will give to initiatives that are community focused and transformative. Here the church must morph from an inward focus to an outward missional impulse.

6) Yep, the southeast won’t be the Bible belt for much longer. Post modernism and secularism is here to stay and we must learn to contextualize and incarnate the Message in this environment.

7) Again, the shift in finances will move away from the consumeristic demands of the Baby Boomers to the altruistic vibe of the emerging generations. I don’t see a problem with that.

This collapse to me is not terrible news. Tomorrow I’ll share why I don’t think this is all bad news. Share your comments.

You can read the CSM article here.
The original post from Michael Spencer, a.k.a. Internet Monk, can be found here, here, and here.

Michael postulates about the demise of evangelicalism and the rapid onset of a post-Christian western world. He declares that the party’s almost over for evangelicals. The collapse will be heralded by the ending of thousands of ministries, the decline and influence of Christian media, and the unemployment of ministers, missionaries and Christian workers.

Michael does not consider himself a prophet or futurist but here is his grim outlook from the InternetMonk post:

I believe this evangelical collapse will happen with astonishing statistical speed; that within two generations of where we are now evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its current occupants, leaving in its wake nothing that can revitalize evangelicals to their former “glory.”

It’s important to point out that there is a monumental difference between Western evangelicalism and true Biblical Christianity, a point I will outline in my next post along with my commentary on InternetMonk’s predictions and assumptions. Stay tuned!

What a heartwarming and touching letter that the Bush sisters left for the Obama girls. Almost made me cry — almost!

I have been praying about how I can do my part in raising awareness and getting involved. It is estimated that there are 1.8 million children exploited in the commercial human trafficking industry. Young girls, some as young as 12 years old, are forced to work in brothels, massage parlors, prostitution rings, strip clubs, or used to produce pornographic materials. This breaks my heart and more importantly, grieves the heart of God. We must do something about this. So today, I decided to become part of the global movement to help end this. Be an abolitionist!

From the A21 Campaign:

From Call+Response:

Came across this great video snippet of Louis CK on Conan. Take a few moments to watch and you’ll surely laugh or identify with the people he’s talking about! It’s all about attitude and perspective.