Blog reader Mike, recently left this gem of a comment that I thought deserved further discussion:

Five reasons this blog is important.
1. Satire - Is a great way to get to the core (preachers use it all the time) it works
2. Debate - Is always a healthy. It forces all side to think
3. Reform - The difference between Christianity and other faiths is that Christianity is a self correcting religion. We respect authority but we respect truth even more.
4. What’s good for the goose- City church and any church for that matter routinely correct peoples beliefs and the beliefs of other churches.
5. Free speech - Is the truest and simplest way to bring balance to the powers that be. If city church is a power that BEEES it needs to be talked about.

Blog creator I salute you - most ministries are birthed out of something they want to change and are courageous enough to speak up about. Including City Church. Pastors don’t have a God given right to speak their mind more than commoners. I say cheers to you (bad ass of the blogging world)

I'd also like to add reason number 6: It gives you something to do when you are slow at work.

Thank you Mike for your thoughtful comment. We greatly appreciate it.

Allow me to take a break from all this discussion and invite everyone to join in on the greatest movie of all time…

The King of Kong

A Fistful of Quarters

If you haven't seen it, go find it, rent it, and watch it…which will inevitable lead to you going to buy it. It is the most quotable movie I have ever seen…I don't really know how to explain how great it is other than leave you with this quote from the movie:

I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be the center of attention. I wanted the glory, I wanted the fame. I wanted the pretty girls to come up and say, "Hi, I see that you're good at Centipede."

                                                                                  -Walter Day

Did anyone see that TV special last week on the National Geographic Channel, called “The Testosterone Factor?”  

It was extremely interesting to say the least.

I, for one, have never bought too much into of this sort of thing, and am usually suspicious, by nature, of scientists and their “findings” anyway, due to their a prioris and extreme bias.

But this time it was different, at least to me.

They showed how scientists/researchers have done tests in regard to patterns of behavior-prediction, based upon testosterone levels in both animals and humans.  

The challenge was to study the effects of testosterone apart from preconceived or societal-/environmentally-induced reactions. 

They put optical scanners on human, male and female infants, and then monitored their respective reactions to side-by-side pictures of so-called “masculine images” (trucks), and “feminine images” (dolls). The tests showed that the male babies’ eyes were first drawn to the masculine-oriented images, while the female babies’ eyes were first drawn to the feminine images. The majority of their ensuing attention also followed this pattern. 

They tried this with male and female monkeys. When trucks and dolls were placed in the cages, all the male monkeys gathered around — and began to handle — the truck, while all the female monkeys gathered around and handled the doll.  

Also, they observed similar findings in fish. When “alpha male” fish were removed from their aquariums tanks, the previously subordinate/passive fish immediately began to produce more testosterone and soon became dominant. The color of the fish even began to change, and grow more colorful — all within just a few minutes of the removal of the alpha fish. Amazing. 

Then, they put these men inside of MRI monitors and were able to scan, and then show, how their levels of testosterone fluctuated based upon reading visual conversations which manifested either threatening or non-threatening scenarios. When the guys read "threatening" material, their collective testosterone levels immediately (and of course, subconsciously) shot up drastically.

Men who were owners of their own companies were found to have higher testosterone levels than men who were "merely" employees, and that men who were blue-collar workers had higher testosterone levels on average than males who were white-collar workers. (Did I mention I am a blue-collar worker?)

They ended up concluding that heightened testosterone levels could perhaps explain differing social strata, and what we observe as drive and ambition — the entrepreneurial mindset if you will — as well as pre-determined patterns of dominant/aggressive behavior.    

I’m not sure what all this means, or its ramifications. Nor less yet what it has to do with this blog. 

I just have the vague feeling it may help to elucidate some of the previously unexplained, erratic behavior patterns in my youth.  

Or, even current ones.

-joe

P.S. This post is proof positive that cat needs to get back to posting, ASAP.

There is a new book out called unChristian that sounds quite intriguing. (Mostly, because it backs up all of my beliefs on Christianity.)

Here is the central thesis of the book:

Kinnaman, president of the Barna Institute, was inspired to write this book when Lyons (of the Fermi Project) commissioned him to do extensive research on what young Americans think about Christianity. Lyons had a gut-level sense that something was desperately wrong, and three years of research paints exactly that picture.

The generations that include late teens to early 30-somethings) believe Christians are judgmental, antihomosexual, hypocritical, too political and sheltered. Rather than simply try to do a PR face-lift, Kinnaman looks at ways in which churches' activities actually may have been unchristian and encourages a return to a more biblical Christianity, a faith that not only focuses on holiness but also loves, accepts and works to understand the world around it.

I have not read the book, as I usually only read books when I am stuck in an airport with nothing to do. However, in my four years in DC, I have met quite a lot of young Christians who group up attending a fundamentalist church.  And while many of them still identify with Christ, they do not identify with the church. 

If you want to reach the Future Tithers of America, then you are going to need to make the church more about doing something than just avoiding sin.  In my mind, in today's church, holiness is overrated, and compassion is underrated.

From Senator Grassley:

"It's a new year and the ministries that have chosen not to cooperate have a chance to see the inquiry in a new light," Grassley said in a prepared statement issued Tuesday. "This has nothing to do with church doctrine. It's only about tax-exempt policy."

And other charities are not too happy with the lack of cooperation either:

"The result could mean increased regulation or legislation for all non-profits, religious or otherwise," said Doug Shaw of Douglas Shaw Associates. "It could also further threaten the separation of church and state."

This is not going to end well for the ministeries that fail to answer the senator's requests. 

In an odd reversal, missionaries from poor counties are traveling to wealthy Europe to establish churches.

For centuries, when Europe was the global center of Christianity, millions of European missionaries traveled to other continents to spread their faith by establishing schools and churches. Now, with European church attendance at all-time lows and a dearth of preachers in the pulpits, thousands of "reverse missionaries" are flocking back, migrating from poor countries to rich ones to preach the Gospel where it has fallen out of fashion.

And why is it so popular in many European countries like Denmark:  

"There was no judging, no doomsday talk," Johansen said. "Ravi made it fun and practical. He was preaching ordinary stuff that everybody needs, not things that happened 2,000 years ago. He brought the Gospel to a level where it fit my life."

It's really that simple. Meet people where they are, not where you want them to be.

Because blogging about City Bible can get boring…

Here's a wonderful clip of a cellphone sales man who can do something extraordinary.

I found it quite inspiring.

Our favorite Portland newspaper, Willamette Week, has a fun article that analzyes the lives of two Portland strippers, Zoe and Matilda.

Zoe's life is of particular interest. She volunteers at her church Living Hope and first started stripping as a way to pay for her highschool graduation.

The day she found out about graduation dues, she drove aimlessly around Portland, where she kept an apartment in her 1973 Mercedes convertible, which she'd emptied her savings account to buy. A regular churchgoer, she remembers asking God for guidance. Then she drove by the Sugar Shack, a strip club in Northeast Portland that she says would later come under fire for dancers pulling "extras" with customers.

If you read the whole article, you understand how Zoe got into stripping. It hasn't exactly been a picture perfect life. But her Faith seems genuine.

But she does feel conflicted at times: "I work Saturday night, get a couple hours of sleep, and get up and go to church all day Sunday. And there are times when I'm sitting at church and I hear things that make me feel it would be nice to find another way to make money.

"God paid for us with his son's blood, so we measure value by what someone is willing to pay for something, whether it's materialistic or human flesh or whatever. And it's easy to do that when you're a dancer, to put value on what other people are willing to pay you. If you have a bad night, it's easy to walk away feeling empty, whereas my morals tell me I shouldn't get my values from my job but from God."

Jesus Walks with her.

Our fearless blog-leader has added the ability to upload pictures and submit stories about Senior Pastor Ed Schefter on his website:

www.edschefter.com

We think this might be a good way to get a nifty repository of the Ed Schefter we know and love.