
A roundup of links floating around the interwebs that you may of missed this week.
Our Problem Is Authoritarianism and Not Legalism
I used to think the problem in modern Christianity was legalism. I was wrong. I now see that some Christians flaunt their freedom and taunt their foes while other Christians consult their legal formulas and insult their libertine friends. One man’s freedom is another man’s sin, but both groups suffer from a much larger problem. The church of Jesus Christ in the 21st century is losing its power because of an infatuation with authority. It is authoritarianism, not legalism, that has become the biggest challenge Christians face.
…Back to (a Theology of) Work We Go!
…the missional approach relies on a young adult’s spare time, extra resources, and expendable energy. It doesn’t capture a core identity issue the way family-based ministries do. When a church helps a 40-year-old mother with her struggling marriage and anxiety-driven parenting, it is applying Christian faith to the center of her life and identity. Missional ministries that try to engage a single 30-year-old don’t accomplish this because they ignore what’s at the center of his life to nibble at the margins. And what is at the center for most young adults? Vocation.
Sister Cities: Fort Bragg & Otsuchi, Japan
Thousand of miles divide Otsuchi, Japan, from Fort Bragg, CA., but they were sister cities. What can we learn from these cities about the Kingdom, global engagement and the practice of giving ourselves away?
The “Ten Commandments” of American Culture
Here are ten very common sayings that will help you understand ten key American cultural values. I call them the “Ten Commandments of American Culture” even though they are not really “commandments.” They have no religious or moral authority like the “Ten Commandments” of the Bible do for Jews and Christians. However, if you break any of these “cultural commandments,” many Americans might think you do not fit very well in America.
2011, The Year in Photos from the IMB
What does God’s heart look like? Perhaps the joy on the face of a newly baptized Japanese believer in the wake of a killer earthquake. His hands? Maybe a worker comforting a starving child in Central Asia. His voice? An Egyptian Christian woman worshipping amid tumultuous political changes. See images of 2011 captured by IMB photographers as they trace a year of God’s presence in places filled with darkness and light.
A Space Oddity
Newt Gingrich takes his South Carolina primary Newt-mentum down to Florida and reveals his plan to build a permanent U.S. moon base by 2020.








