I’m Done Dating Jesus Online

May 10, 2012 By Kurt Willems 29 Comments

© 2010 Sammis Reachers , Flickr | creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Maybe you’ve seen the commercials for the various online dating sites. The latest claim is that 1 in 5 relationships begin on an online hook-up hub. Those stats seem exaggerated at best, but that doesn’t negate the fact that I can think of at least 2 different friends who are now married because of a dating relationship that began online.

If a relationship begins on the web, for it to authentically lead to a “real” romance, incarnated flames must eventually test disembodied sparks of interest. You can’t get married on the internet.

Over the past few years, I’ve become a social media guy. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and websites almost every day. At times, I spend hours interacting with others and producing web-content about Jesus. This sort of engagement stimulates my mind and pushes me to explore the intricacies of Christianity within Western culture. The internet is a gift to my faith.

However, I’ve noticed a subtle and dangerous tendency. To explain, maybe an analogy will help. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Confessions, Faith Journey, Kingdom of God, Missional, Spirituality Tagged With: , , , , , , 29 Comments

RE-Membering Memorial Day

May 24, 2012 By Kurt Willems 3 Comments

Memorial Day Ceremony - North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial - May 31, 2010photo © 2010 US Army Africa | more info

Remember…

…that life is a gift. To call it a gift is to imply that we did not earn it. Life is grace. Peace preserves life. So on this Memorial Day weekend we remember that God’s intention for this world is shalom. This would be a world where human beings find themselves in right relationship with God, with each other, with the earth, and to one’s own self. Life is indeed a gift both to companions and enemies. So on this Memorial Day let’s remember the gift of life that unites human beings everywhere.

Remember…

…that violence always disrupts shalom. Jesus died, absorbing the violence of a military machine’s ultimate weapon for insurrectionists – the cross. This death unleashes the potential for shalom once again… something war can never bring.

Remember…

…that noble men and women have died in war. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Kingdom of God, Missional, Nationalism, Nonviolence Tagged With: , , , , 3 Comments

Evolving Evangelicalism (part 13): Beyond the Culture War (Bad Curriculum + Leadership Gap)

May 24, 2012 By Kurt Willems 1 Comment

This is the conclusion of the “Evolving Evangelicalism” series. You may remember a video where I invited people to contribute their stories to help make my case. I plan to make this available as an ebook in the near future. For now, you can read the rest of the series here.
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Evolving Evangelicalism: Inviting Church Leaders to Refine their Approach to Scripture and Origins (part 13)

3. Quit Reinforcing the False Dichotomy in Curriculums and Sermons

In two of the churches where I served as a pastor, it was common practice to implement curriculum that reinforced anti-evolutionary theology. In both churches, the senior pastors saw the benefit of diverse views, yet, rather than cause conflict in the community, they allowed the anti-evolution agenda to be taught, and chose to not create space for other approaches – such as the views I have advocated for in this paper. Curriculums, like Focus on the Family’s Truth Project, continue to cultivate the false dichotomy that leads to the spiritual results shared in the stories above. [Read more...]

Filed Under: (Series) Evolving Evangelicalism, Church Ministry, Evolution, Interpretation, Theology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Evolving Evangelicalism (part 12): Beyond the Culture War (Openness + Stories)

May 23, 2012 By Kurt Willems Leave a Comment

© 2009 Mr. T in DC , Flickr | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

The following series is based on my senior paper for Seminary. You may remember a video where I invited people to contribute their stories to help make my case. For the next couple weeks, I’ve decided to share my findings with you all. There will be a “thesis/problem” section, a “biblical theology” section, and an “application” section. I hope you will read along and share this with others! You can read the rest of the series here.
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Evolving Evangelicalism: Inviting Church Leaders to Refine their Approach to Scripture and Origins (part 12)

EVOLVING EVANGELICALISM BEYOND THE CULTURE WAR

The goal thus far has been to expose the problem created by the false polarity between biological evolution and segments of evangelicalism, and to refine our approach to interpreting the relevant biblical texts. The unfortunate tendency of many Christians to read the early chapters of Genesis through a scientific grid leaves many people without satisfying answers about our origins. Tragically, several young adults (and other age groups) struggle to either become or remain a Christian.

Now that a biblical solution to this problem has been proposed, we ask: How might churches begin to move beyond the problem and work towards becoming communities that no longer perpetuate an anti-evolutionary perspective? I suggest four areas for consideration, the first two which I will share in this post.

1. Cultivate Church Communities of Openness

The first area is the general ethos of conservative evangelical church culture. [Read more...]

Filed Under: (Series) Evolving Evangelicalism, Evolution, Interpretation, Theology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment

N. Carolina Pastor wants to trap LGBT folks behind electrified fences (evil)

May 22, 2012 By Kurt Willems 13 Comments

“Build a great, big, large fence — 150- or 100-mile long — put all the lesbians in there . . . do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals, and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out”

This is sin! Church, lets name this as evil and lets recognize that hatred justified by the bible is NEVER biblical. Heartbreaking.

HT: Atlantic Wire, article by Alexander Abad-Santos


Pastor Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church — located at 3283 Providence Mill Rd, Maiden, NC 28650 — is seen here from a service posted to the church’s website dated May 13, 2012 calling for the ultimate death of “queers and homosexuals.”

Filed Under: Social Justice 13 Comments
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