Confessions of a Seminarian

Church for Men

I wanted to post these two videos as examples and follow up to last week’s post. Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML12GOZgejE]
While this example is not technically a church (it seems it would qualify as a “parachurch”), it is a great illustration of how to get chain saw-wielding dudes back into the pews. Admittedly, not ALL men will be attracted by this example, and every effort needs to take community context into consideration. Still, this success is sadly the exception rather than the rule.
Read more »

Book Review: “Why Men Hate Going To Church,” by David Murrow

This book is incredible. It is a brutally honest look at the Church’s relevancy to men, and it certainly does not pull any punches. Personally, it has put words to thoughts and gut feelings of distaste or discomfort that I have had long before I became a Christian.

As somewhat of a disclaimer and comfort to women who may be reading this, Murrow affirms the feminist movement in the last century as having been immeasurably effective in fighting for the rights of women everywhere. Every one of us deserve equal rights under the law, and courageous women have been fighting for those rights to this day. However, in many ways our culture has overcompensated, and this has had disastrous effects on the church and her relevancy to men. Read more »

The “Country Club” Church Is Crap.

Say that ten times fast…

Danielle recently made a comment concerning a post comparing Jack Bauer of the TV Series 24 with Jesus Christ:

And I think there’s a comparison to the church in there. Because although the suspense is pretty cool (as in what will happen here on earth, as well as after we die), it is the human parts of the story that compel people to keep reading/listening/feeling/believing perhaps. And the church has been nothing if not revolutionary in history. Jesus’ story is a prime example.

It instantly reminded me of a couple quotes that generally make me want to pick up sword and shield to charge headlong into this cosmic revolution.  This is an axe I gring almost continually.  Having not grown up in the church, paradigm for what church should be is not as convoluted by tradition and/or fundamentalism.  I am perhaps more able to read how the church is portrayed in scripture without the baggage of moralistic rules and cultural taboos.  Of course, I do have other things that cloud my judgment, and there are people who have grown up in the church and are able to see through much of that.  But this is something that is particularly close to my heart because of my experiences.

For your reading pleasure, here are two of my favorite quotes Read more »

Your Worst Life Now

  Since we are discussing a heavy chapter like Genesis 3, I thought I might lend a little levity to the discussion with the title. 3 points to anyone who can tell me what the reference is, and yes I am keeping track of points! I have written a companion paper with this video that covers some of the secondary stuff going on in this chapter. The video of course hits the high points, but there is just so much happening in this one chapter! Well, enjoy, and as always please feel free to post with comments, questions, and discrepancies. Notes on Sin and Its Nature