Yearly Archives: 2004

Thoughts on Postmodernism

I noticed that ChristianityToday.com has a feature story on the Emergent church movement, which is much of what UBHope advocates as the wave of the future. (UBHope is the organization (of sorts) that opposes the UB church joining the Missionary Church.) The article is titled: “The Emergent Mystique” and has this subtitle: “The ’emerging church’ movement has generated a lot of excitement but only a handful of congregations. Is it the wave of the future or a passing fancy?”

Ironically, UBHope has criticized the denominational leadership for what they describe as “chasing fads.” Specifically, they’ve distributed this nonsense throughout the church: “Over the past generation the UBs have chased one trend, fad, or program after another, hoping that someone else’s inventions could solve our problems for us. This year’s fad is the Missionary Church. Five, ten, or fifteen years from now will we chase another fad?”

I have nothing against the Emergent Church movement. I just don’t think we should reorganize how we do things as a denomination just to reach a particular generation (because the next generation will be different yet).

I remember in the 1980s, when everyone was writing about the baby boomers. But we didn’t propose a radical restructuring of the denomination to better reach boomers. Nor did we do that for the Baby Busters and Gen-X crowd. But UBHope thinks we should do that for the “postmodern” generation. To me, its a form of fad-chasing. And the Christianity Today article kinda agrees. It challenges some assumptions of the postmoderns, and makes these statements:

  • “If there is no massive change under way in the culture, why make a case for a massive change in the church?”
  • “So Emergent has no lock on the next generation. In this respect it may prove no different from the…Jesus Movement. It coexisted, often uneasily, with more cautious expressions of church, was animated by a combination of beautiful ideals and foolish ideas, and ultimately merged into an evangelical mainstream that had adapted to its presence.”

The article can be found here.

Share Button
Comments Off on Thoughts on Postmodernism

Turning 48

Another birthday yesterday. Doesn’t seem to have affected me any. The big 5-0 is just two years around the bend. Thus far, none of the biggies (30, 40) have bothered me, but I kinda think 50 will. Maybe not.

Pam got me some Christian CDs, a sweatshirt, and box of DeBrands truffles (yum!). We went to a movie, then to Red Lobster. Pam’s not a fish fan, so we normally don’t go there. But hey–it’s my birthday.

The movie was “Friday Night Lights.” It was one of the best movies I’ve seen this year–a Texas version of Hoosiers, focusing on high school football. The cinematography was very different, with lots of fast editing cuts. Billy Bob Thornton was the only recognizable actor, though country singer Tim McGraw had a major role (a boozing father of one of the players). McGraw was very good.

Share Button
Comments Off on Turning 48

Yankees Vs. Red Sox

I don’t pay any attention to baseball until it gets to the playoffs. In fact, I’m just now paying attention. I’ve enjoyed this series between Boston and New York, and have spent several nights staying up late to see how the games end. The last two, the Sox have won in extra innings. Great games. It’d sure be nice to see the Yankees get beat. But we know they’re going to win in the end, don’t we?

Share Button
Comments Off on Yankees Vs. Red Sox

Huntington University?

My alma mater has seen fit to change its name from Huntington College to Huntington University. I fail to see the point. I guess it’s supposed to be a big marketing advantage. I haven’t talked to anyone who’s excited about the idea. But the Trustees went along with it, so it’ll happen with the start of the 2005 class. “HU” just doesn’t have the right feel as “HC.” The theme song will need to be changed, since it now ends, “Hail, all hail HC.” A little thing, obviously.

I’m increasingly concerned about the high cost of a Christian liberal arts education at Huntington, as well as at other Christian colleges. It seems to me that our Christian colleges are pricing themselves way beyond the reach of the lower classes. There seems to be a chasing after US News rankings and such, after prestige. It’s a form of elitism. And, I increasingly fear, of messed up priorities and sense of mission.

I was a poor preacher’s kid who emerged from HC in 1979 with no debt. I’ll bet that doesn’t happen much anymore. My brother Rick, who works at a state university, talks about the joy of helping truly struggling, poor people obtain an education. Isn’t that something our Christian colleges should be doing? But more and more, we’re leaving the poor behind. This greatly disturbs me. I’m sure that, if I asked, HC people would give me some wonderful anecdotes. But I know it’s not the norm.

At my church near downtown Fort Wayne, we have several kids going to Taylor-Fort Wayne. They couldn’t afford Huntington College or the Taylor Upland campus, but the Taylor-Fort Wayne campus is several thousand dollars cheaper. But even that college is too much for some of our kids, who have switched over to IPFW (Indiana University-Fort Wayne). I have also sensed at Huntington (and I’ve heard the same is true at Taylor-Upland) a somewhat condescending attitude toward Taylor-Fort Wayne, as if, “You get what you pay for.” It smells to me like arrogance.

I’ve become a huge fan of Taylor-Fort Wayne. A lot of those kids come to my church, and they are involved in ministry throughout the city. They may not come from well-off homes, but they’re great kids with a strong Christian commitment. And if the education they get doesn’t quite measure up to Upland or Huntington–so be it. I’m more interested in their character than in the accreditation and ranking of their school.

Am I on a rant, or what?

Share Button
Comments Off on Huntington University?

25th HU College Reunion

Last weekend, I was reunited with about 20 of my Huntington College classmates, as the Class of ’79 got together for our 25th year reunion at Homecoming. Some of them I didn’t know all that well while in college, but others were some of my closest friends. Like Brad Carpenter and Steve Barber, who roomed next to me my freshman year. I hadn’t seen Brad in probably 15 years, since he moved to Texas. It was great seeing him again.

Then there’s Phil McGarvey, with whom I played four years of tennis. Hadn’t seen him since 1980. I could whoop him in tennis, but he had the upper hand in ping pong.

Then were were Ted and Linda Doolittle, Cheryl Lamport, Chris Brown, Dan and Annette Shepherdson, Dan Lance, Cheryl Poling, and others. Loved seeing them all.

I have absolutely no desire to go back for a high school reunion. There is nobody at Tulare Union High School (Tulare, Calif.) that I would care to see again. But my college friends–yes, they last forever.

Share Button
Comments Off on 25th HU College Reunion

Receive Posts by Email

If you subscribe to my Feedburner feed, you'll automatically receive new posts by email. Very convenient.

Categories

Facebook

Monthly Archives