I am writing this post on an iPad. As probably everyone in the universe knows by now, the base model costs $500, is made by a company called Apple and designed primarily by Jonathan Ives, a British ex-patriate who makes over 7 figures a year for his design cojones. OK, that last bit is probably not known by everyone in the universe. My point is I do not owe my iPad to Ives, nor to Apple, Inc. I owe my iPad to veterans. Continue Reading »
It irks me for some reason that when we present stories (especially religious ones), we condense them into a outline of what we learn from them. We want something we can remember and repeat outside of the story. We want to define truth, something that holds up in many different stories.
There is a lot of theory about the formula of story. There must be a hero. He/she must want something. There must be conflict in obtaining what they desire, and so on. There are story arcs and protagonists, heros and old men and character change. And supposedly billions of dollars have been made using story formula. Continue Reading »
The next section of my essay about calling and the current condition of the world. The previous sections are in the preceding posts.
The world emerging before us is impossible to understand without framing the philosophies that have shaped the world we currently live in, and nothing has shaped the world we live in more than the idea of the modern. In the fifth century, St. Augustine was one of the first to describe an era as modern, contrasting “the new Christian era with pagan antiquity.” (Martinelli, 2005, p. 5) The idea of “modern” is one that contrasts old with new, implying that the positive value of something lies in its contrast with the old. In the 18th century, progress became a key component of this philosophy. The ancients viewed life and history as a series of cycles that, once completed, repeat themselves. Man is not exempt from his own cycles, which means that history was read as a morality tale. Not so for modern man. Continue Reading »
Section 2 of my essay on calling and culture:
It is easy to see why I chose Regent University as my next choice of schools; I felt I had a “strong urge toward a particular way of life”: leadership. I saw a massive need for a new kind of Christian leadership, especially one that is familiar with the cultural change taking place on a macro level. However, instead of entering a divinity program, I chose to pursue a better understanding of the outside influences. I needed to contextualize my beliefs to contemporary culture. So, I entered the study of communication… specifically, digital media. Continue Reading »
This essay was originally written as a reflective piece on calling and my time at Regent University, as well as my view of the future. I will post it in sections this week. I hope you enjoy; I look forward to your comments. -Peter Stern
I grew up in an evangelical home. In fact, you could say I grew up in a doubly potent evangelical setting because not only were my parents missionaries in Africa but my grandparents were also career missionaries in Africa for three decades starting in the 1950’s. Kenya, where I grew up, has a strong evangelical heritage birthed during the Second World War. Continue Reading »
San Francisco Slideshows – Hunky Jesus Contest at Dolores Park
“Who knew carrying around planks of wood and a faux band of thorns could be, well, hot? The 2009 installment of the Hunky Jesus competition – an irreverent San Francisco Easter Sunday tradition – pitted one resurrection of Christ against the next.” Continue Reading »
Lent is traditionally seen as a time of self-torment and asceticism (http://tr.im/gLxW). A true ascetic would probably look unfavorably on our American eating and entertainment habits. In the evangelical church, asceticism is not really seen as a
part of Christian living and therefore Lent is not something regularly observed, talked about, or even mentioned. “Isn’t Lent what undershirts leave in your bellybutton?” Right. Continue Reading »
So we have a President in office who is essentially Keynesian (ok, neo-Keynesian); who believes that the economy can not right itself but the government can. Therefore, we are, as John McCain describes, stealing trillions from future generations of Americans. However grossly oversimplified my Keynesian definition, it does bring up an interesting question: “How the heck did American get here again?” Continue Reading »
I am married but do not have kids, and I have been thinking about the deeper things of life… mainly, what kind of father will my kids remember? What makes a man great, and what measures his impact on the world? And in thinking about these deep things, I have realized something about myself… I have measured greatness in numbers for most of life, subconsciously. But, how many people have to know you are great before you are great? (yep, it’s a rhetorical question) Continue Reading »
[In response to the Relevant magazine article "Moving Beyond Postmodernism" by Joey Berrios. (link)]
I still wonder what people are referring to when they refer to “postmodern culture”. I have read plenty about postmodernism and plenty of post-modern philosophy. None of it suggests to me that there is a culture or group of people out there that could be called “postmodern.” Obviously, not very many people share this sentiment, even though no one could accurately define who is post-modern and who is not. I think it confuses things much more when the Church claims to be responding to this ghost-culture! But that’s a different issue.
Nonetheless, Berrios’s article makes some great points… let me stick to one of them. Cool vs. Relevant.
When I ask people, “What is postmodernism?” the most common response I get has something to do with the relativity of truth; everyone gets to believe what they want to believe because in the end it’s just belief anyway… nothing more. Ironically, the “postmodern church” has responded by trying to be cooler. I fail to see how this approach correlates to our definition of postmodern culture. Of course, they would not say cool, they would say relevant. I would call Starbucks in church lobby’s a pretty obvious attempt at branding the church. To me, relevance has nothing to do with image… I mean, true relevance. Berrios makes a great point: “Jesus is relevant to culture” but not really cool. And by ‘cool’, I am talking about whatever is really hot right now. Whatever you want to call the culture out there, I think there is one way for it to be apparent to them that we are authentic:
Entrust our reputation to the Father, sort of like what Jesus did.
Yeah, I’m pretty much against this thing called image-management, right now. I just do not see where Jesus was that concerned about His reputation. I mean, what did He think upturning all the tables in the temple would look like? It certainly was not an image-polishing stunt. Yet, if we, the Church, ascribe to this marketing formula of putting on our best face in the public eye, carefully managing our image, when will we have time to manage our substance? Jesus put so much time into managing His substance, His character, and helping others do the same, I am not sure He had time to worry about His image. That’s real. That’s bold. Just like so many other great Christian truths, it’s the last thing you would expect to work.
But it does. Obviously. Therefore I agree with Berrios: let’s move on from postmodernism! Really, it’s a distraction for the church. If you want to talk about philosophy, that’s one thing. If we are talking about being Christ-followers, let’s not dress it up in the latest fashions. Simple orthodoxy is good enough for me.