tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297365082011-04-21T19:50:39.036-07:00Trying to be salt that doesn't taste like paprika in a world full of paprika.Caleb Gunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16385393899434633989noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29736508.post-1150780838805681642006-06-19T22:18:00.000-07:002006-06-19T22:20:38.813-07:00<a href="http://www.actingonaids.org" target="_new">www.actingonaids.org</a><br /><br />...Exodus 23:6- "You must not deny justice to the poor among you in his lawsuit." (HCSB)...<br /><br />...excerpts from <a href="http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7004" target="_new">Deconstruction: Part 1</a>- "I'm learning that it's best not to ask serious questions unless you're prepared to get serious answers. I dared to ask." - "Another very common misconception is that some people are called to be missionaries and some aren't. Again, the command to "go" is not quantified. There is no "missionary gift" mentioned here. There is no "unless you're called to support missionaries by donating $__ each month" clause hidden in there. Just the simple verb "go" spoken from Jesus to all of His disciples. Do you consider yourself a disciple of Jesus? If so, you have a mission."...<br /><br />...peace<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/29736508-115078083880568164?l=calebmgunnels.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Caleb Gunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16385393899434633989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29736508.post-1150338969496130972006-06-14T19:34:00.000-07:002006-06-14T19:36:09.506-07:00In the late 1950's and early 1960's, there was a group of guys, cool, cutting edge, rebellious guys, called the beatniks. These were guys like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Bob Dylan. These were guys who inspired an entire generation to through off the fetters of a cookie-cutter society and then take on an identity that was supposedly "free". I can't say that their views were always correct nor can I say that they were always incorrect. What I can say, unequivocally and confidently, is that they were a catalyst. They were prophets setting the house on fire and then telling others to do the same. Don't' confuse them with crazies like Tim Leary or Ken Kesey. These men, these beatniks, were on the frontlines of the cultural war, not psychedelic narcissists (I don't' know if that's true. it just sounds good together). You may be wondering what this has to do with Christianity and Christians in the South. Well, since you asked...<br />...There is a cultural revolution going on within Christianity. Many young people, like you and me and the kid in the corner (the one losing his religion), have grown tired of the pomp and circum-bullshit [in no way am I indicting the liturgy of high church. this is more of a reference to the mega church and extravagently decorated traditional evangelical church] that we have seen in church. We have grown weary of "Christianity" and it's promoters doing nothing more than asking for money or promising hell fire and brimstone. We have grown uncomfortable with the way the body of Christ has pimped itself out to the American culture in an attempt to become more appealing to a society that is increasingly disinterested in the grotesque, Pharisaical hypocrisy that is passed of as Christianity these days. The thing is that our revolution has already begun. In other regions of the nation, men like Rob Bell, Donald Miller, and others have already sounded the call for a new type of Christianity. While most people I come in contact with at church are willing to continue sinking in the mire of a religion built on what Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace", myself and others yearn to be in a place where the Christian counter-culture is coming into it's own. However, recently I have begun to wonder what the consequences of such a migration. While I'm not quite sure, I feel like perhaps it is those of us who have seen the coming tide of change that should stay and sound the alarm. In no way am I claiming that I or anyone I know is a prophet of sorts, but I do feel like we may have a job to stay where we are and try to bring others into the light that we we feel we have discovered. One pastor of the a new wave evangelical church once said that it is easier to build a new house than it is to remodel the one you have. This may be true, but it seems to promote abandoning the Body. Perhaps it is our duty to be the "beatniks" for Christianity in the South. Perhaps we have been placed here to bring about a revolution. Perhaps....<br /><br />[I feel it necessary to point out that I am not proposing that myself or anyone I know is somehow better than the rest of the people in the South. Certainly there are Christians who feel the same as I and have already begun the difficult work of bringing about change. After reading what I had written, I worried that somehow the same narcissim I spotted in others had crept into my own rhetoric. In no way was intended in such a manner.]<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/29736508-115033896949613097?l=calebmgunnels.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Caleb Gunnelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16385393899434633989noreply@blogger.com0