There's a review of Andrew Lester's book The Angry Christian.
The book argues anger has a benefit spiritually as it helps us fight injustices. The review suggests that anger is more biological than spiritual; it also draws a connection between anger and sex.

I think anger does both. Spiritual anger,though, needs to be controlled both by the Word, and the input of others. Done individually, what we think is spiritual anger is often biological: meaning it's selfish. True spiritual anger is focused on God and His justice, not on protecting ourselves.

From a ChristianityToday interview of N.T. Wright:
"In other words, don't assume that you've got God taped, and fit Jesus into that. Do it the other way. We all come with some ideas of God. Allow those ideas to be shaped around Jesus. "
It requires us to come with humility, and being willing to learn. It means changing what we think and believe in light of what we read.

"the gospel is that the crucified and risen Jesus is the Lord of the world...That has always been at the heart of the Lord's Prayer, and how we've managed for years to say the Lord's Prayer without realizing that Jesus really meant it is very curious... It's quite clear in the text that Jesus' kingdom doesn't start with this world. It isn't a worldly kingdom, but it is for this world. It's from somewhere else, but it's for this world."
This is a helpful way to think about what is important and how to balance two tensions. I think of it as three types of relationships: with God, with Christians, with the world. We need to be giving and receiving in each of these.

From Gordon MacDonald on CT.com commenting about Ted Haggard:

The cardinal lies of a failed leader? I give and give and give in this position; I deserve special privileges—perhaps even the privilege of living above the rules. Or, I have enough charm and enough smooth words that I can talk anything (even my innocence) into reality. Or, so much of my life is lived above the line of holiness that I can be excused this one little faux pas. Or, I have done so much for these people; now it's their time to do something for me—like forgiving me and giving a second chance.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2006/cln61106.html

Leaders have to continue in holiness. There is no place for excuses. This is an important reminder when temptation comes.

FROM the Christianity Today vault: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/march/33.74.html

(My comments in bold)

The center of any theory about why Christians should vote must be a theory about why Christians do anything at all: that the Lord our God might be glorified. And how do we glorify God in our lives? Not by what we force others to do, but by what we ourselves do.

This connects with the Westminster Confession and John Piper's general view of our purpose being "to bring God glory"

One consistent feature of Christ's ministry was sacrifice of the self and its interests for the benefit of others. A Christian theory of voting, therefore, might be sketched along the same lines. Others vote because they are determined to win. Maybe Christians should believe their votes signal a willingness to lose.

Are we ready to be losers? To be losers for Christ? This a paradigm-shifting truth of Christianity. It's not about us. It's not about what we can accomplish. Christian belief is very humbling because it's not all about us. We admit that we aren't in control, and we need God's help.

Voting is the ultimate symbol of trust in our fellow citizens. To vote is to propose that we settle our differences not by warfare, and not by litigation, but by accepting the forms of democracy and laying our cherished certainties on how the world should be on the table. We rely on persuasion rather than coercion, which means that we risk being unpersuasive. If we are sufficiently unpersuasive, then our side loses and the other side wins.

What are the implications for this mindset? It means we aren't tied into the results. It means politics aren't greater than God.
How does it affect the idea of "activist judges"? I guess it makes us think about how much how persuasion is still required.

In that sense, our voting represents a sacrifice, an acknowledgment of the possibility that we will lose the political struggle, at least in the short run. But by taking that risk, by allowing our fellow citizens to outvote us, we place our hope in the next world, not this one, enabling us to render unto Caesar and glorify the Lord.

Brian Mavis at sermoncentral.com surveyed over 1,000 preachers on their biggest frustration:

I am Often frustrated by…

49.3% Seeing little response or life-change in the listeners.

34.6% Finding relevant illustrations.

31.9% Keeping the sermons fresh each week.

31.4% Lack of sermon preparation time.

23.9% Getting practical applications in my sermons.

22.0% Deciding what to preach on week to week.

18.7% Lack of attention and connection from the listeners.

Why sit down and listen if you don't want to be changed? I think that's the question preachers ask. They feel as if people are just there passing time, or constained out of a sense of obligation. But the other side of the interaction has to be addressed as well.

Why get up and talk if you aren't going to help God work in peoples' lives?
If I can't articulate and argue and demonstrate from Scripture how to live our lives, then it's not really preaching.

When you come away from a sermon, can you do more than remember the main point, or a rich illustration; can you experience life change? If not, there's work to be done on both sides of the pulpit.

From today's SF Chronicle:

One of the generals on the pro-Christmas side is Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss. "Sometimes it's hard to tell whether this is sinister -- it's the purging of Christ from Christmas -- or whether it's just political correctness run amok," he said. "I think in the case of the White House, it's just political correctness."

Wildmon does not give retailers the same benefit of the doubt. This year, he has called for a consumer boycott of Target stores because the chain issued a holiday advertising circular that did not mention Christmas.

Wait, what's the problem with not having Christmas connected with a massive spending, greedy, materialistic event? Let the world celebrate "the holidays" by buying toys, towels, televisions, tapestries, trowels, tiramisu and the like.

If you're looking for the in-breaking of God in our crazy world, a sign of hope amidst so much confusion, then please come and truly celebrate Christmas!

From Christianity Today's interview with Ted Haggart, president of the National Association of Evangelicals:

Are you pro-business and conservative out of pragmatism or out of theological conviction?

I am pro-business and pro-free market because we have 6.4 billion people on the face of the earth, and that is the only way we're going to be able to create enough wealth, provide enough goods and services and meet the needs of enough poor people.

I disagree. What happens if you give business free reign? Their goal is the bottom line, not feeding everyone. We've seen in recent corporate scandals what can occur if companies are given free reign.

It's a pragmatic approach. We have a responsibility to the poor and needy. There is no way we can give enough cans of peas and give away enough toys at Christmas time to meet everybody's need. We have to stimulate wealth. We know from the 20th century which government policies and economic policies create poverty and which government and economic policies create wealth. And so, all we have to do is apply those.

In my recent discussions with Prime Minister Tony Blair, we had an in-depth discussion about how the West can implement policies in poverty-stricken areas like portions of Africa, so they can start creating wealth. Hong Kong and South Korea and Singapore and Australia and New Zealand and the United States are not wealthy countries because we took wealth from somebody else. We're wealthy countries because we learned how to create wealth.

I disagree. Australia and the US both benefitted from slave labor. But we also provided food for people by implementing certain socialistic principles: welfare, social security.

And so, we want that exported all over the world, and I think Christians should be pro-free market and pro-free trade because we have an obligation to help poor people have their needs met.

I agree on our obligaion. I disagree on how we get there. Theologically, we have to recognize that our sinfulness, our fallenness, if it exists in individuals, will exist in groups of individuals as well. That is why we need balancing force, checks on power. Whether that is the three branches within the government, or intervention of government in business, we have to address our propensity for error.

How do we interact in a multi-cultural society? There are so many complaints about who is the victim and who is the aggressor. And there are so many tallies of who has done what to whom, that it seems like everyone has a grudge. This is where Christians can point to the redemptive work of Jesus.


Miroslav Volf suggests this:

he says the answer is not to eliminate identity. "We must develop a notion and a practice of identity which is situated somewhere between a formless hybridity and a rigid purity." Both sides in the war pursued rigid purity; Serbia continued to do so in its ethnic cleansing attempts.

"Maybe some help could be found in the Hebrew Scriptures," Volf says, "in which the injunction to remember that one was a slave in Egypt is coupled with the command not to treat the alien the way one was treated by the Egyptians."

It's from a summary article on the violence in former Yugoslavia.

Here in the Bay Area, there's always something to do, someplace beautiful to see, someone interesting to meet with. It's probably the same in most urban areas. And that's a problem with urban life. We don't run by the natural cycles of God's creation. Everything is artificial: our light, our food production, our work.

So why slow down?

God wants us to depend on him. We can't do that if we're always going on our own schedule. God wants us available to serve him. We can't do that if every moment is already filled. God knows our limitations. We will burn out if we keep going at such a frantic pace. God knows our tendency to err. We will make mistakes if we never take time to stop and listen to him.

Find some time to slow down and seek Him.

I like to read the newspaper in the morning. The front section is more ads than content, and most of that is pulled off of wires. But the local section! Names and places I know are everywhere. Events that directly effect my life are covered in detail. There’s so much good stuff in there, whether it’s bridge construction, school policy or the newest restaurant.

Next stop: the web, for better state, national and international news. I like to get liberal, conservative and moderate interpretations of events, so that I can make up my own mind about whatever topic might get talked about: Social Security, the Sudan, FOX’s lineup. After an hour I’ve got a good formed opinion.

But then I turn to Scripture and have a hard time getting motivated to sit and learn from God. It all seems so distant, unchanging, and repetitive. Where’s the new information, the unique spin, the snarky commentary? The problem is I’m looking for Scripture to do something God never intended. And that’s a good thing. Because the news information gets repetitive too; the same problems repeating themselves, just different names, places and events. Being informed just seems to be a ticklish fancy.

I think I need to take a break from all of this news information. I need an appreciation for that eternal truth that doesn’t change, that stands firm each day, and is worth repeating each day. As Tony Campolo has said to Gordon MacDonald: "Remember, Gordon, today's paper with your name and picture in it, will line the bottom of someone's birdcage tomorrow." (http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2005/cln50404.html)

Gay marriage
Before we ever get to this issue, we need to ask, where are you with God? Are you following Jesus? If not, that's where we need to start, whether the issue is homosexual activity, infidelity in a heterosexual marriage or struggling with pornography. All of which is outside of God's plan: one man, one woman, in a one flesh relationship for life.