“Our ability to drive an hour to get to church has more often than not created distance from our next door neighbors, and it has done this without really creating closeness to those we worship with when we are done with our drive. For various reasons, we do more driving away than driving to” (Mother …
Imagine
“In the ancient world, it took some explaining to show the, in the command to love our neighbor, a despised alien fell under the biblical definition of neighbor. But in the modern world, it takes some explaining to show that our neighbors are our neighbors” (Mother Kirk, p. 224).
The Siren Call of Weirdness
“A cult mentality is ‘obviously’ exhibited by anyone who does not want to live in the prescribed atomistic and detached way — one who does not want to be just another loose ball bearing rattling around in modernity’s machine. The contemporary standards will beckon with a siren call — any kind of weirdness is accepted …
Community is not a Hobby
“Community will never arise from groups with ‘special interests,’ whether those interests include ham radio, square dancing, or the five points of Calvinism” (Mother Kirk, p. 223).
Fun Fun Fun
“A young man, who never really wanted to graduate from high school himself, gets hired as a youth minister. His task is to put together a wild and crazy time down at the church, with perhaps a little inspirational message attached. The driving assumption is that young people today will not tolerate serious instruction and …
#NAME?
“Yes, but the Church at large long ago gave up talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, His efficacious death, His conquering cross, and His glorious triumph over death, grave, and sin, as well as over our miserable and filthy little rag-tag band of self-justifying isms — alcoholism, sexaholism, rageaholism, and can’t-be-nice-to-my-wife-a-holism” (Mother Kirk, p. 219).
A Useful Job
“If the cross of Jesus Christ does not save drunkards, liars, thieves, cheats, and philanderers, then the ministers of the gospel should go out and get a useful job down at Wendy’s” (Mother Kirk, p. 218).
Congregants or Clients?
“Instead of pastoral ministry, which seeks even-handedness for all concerned (whether they are present or abasent) and reconciliation between them when possible, we are seeing more and more professional service which places the counselor in the position of an attorney. The difference is between a counselor who takes money from a client, and who then …
Living Out the Will of God
“But if a man stops to get the will of God in tying in shoe, or on making a lane change, he will soon be experiencing what might be called piety paralysis. God governs the world; we are not competent. Our lives are a mist. This does not mean we are to throw up our …
No Little Decisions
“Every son of Adam was at one point a fertilized egg. The moment before millions of sperm were vying to be the one. During the course of that day, how many actions affected the outcome of this most fascinating race? This sperm results in this individual (along with the many thousands of this individual’s descendants), …