I was trying to update some tags with the SimpleTags plugin and received an error: “MySQL server has gone away.”  I don’t know if it should have freaked me out so bad, since I don’t make any money from this site, but it did.  All’s well, though, so I’m off.

I’ve spent the last 2 years or so playing at graphic and web design. But, now that I’ve got some time on my hands, I’m going to start offering my services to the public. You can see my portfolio @ eclipticcreations.com. If you liked the theme I used here at the end of last year, it’s available for download.

If you need a site or a blog designed…static or dynamic…a logo or a header, let me know. I want to focus on church and ministry websites, because that’s where my passion is, and I know there’s a lot to be done.

I’ve got a couple of projects going right now, but send me an email (charles {at} eclipticcreations {dot} com) and we can start working on your site.

So I started a review series on Four Views of Salvation in a Pluralistic World back in September.  I had every intention of reviewing all four chapters, but I lost the book!  But miraculously my wife found it while we(by “we” I mean “I”) were moving some furniture a few days ago.  So look forward to seeing the rest of that here soon.

John Wilson has some interesting thoughts about Brian McLaren’s new book, Everything Must Change.

McLaren is particularly misleading when he’s suggesting, as he does quite emphatically at times, that somehow the church went off the rails early on, and that only now are (some) Christians beginning to understand what Jesus was really saying. While McLaren occasionally adds nuances and qualifiers, this ahistorical account runs through the book. In this respect, his message is oddly reminiscent of the ahistorical narrative of church history that dominated the evangelical/fundamentalist churches of my youth. Between an idealized first-century church and the present moment, when the preacher was calling on you to make a decision for Christ, there loomed a great wasteland—all those centuries in which the church failed to heed the plain words of Scripture.

This reminds me of a story a friend told me in college. He was taking Church History at this tiny Christian school, and one day they came to a timeline in the textbook. The dates ranged from just before anno domini to the present day. At different point there were little flames which represented an explosive growth in the church or a revival of some sort. There were a dozen or so between 5 B.C. and A.D. 313. Then, apparently, the church just died. There were no expansions, no advances, no great teachers or movements. The church was in hibernation. Then, on a fine autumn day in 1517, the fire was back.

I don’t think we spend enough time thinking about that little gem at the end of Romans 3 - “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” At least, not while considering this at the end of 1 John 1: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

Today I came across an AP religion column about Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz. Kelli Kennedy wants us all to know that “Donald Miller still loves God and Jesus…His problem is with Christianity, at least how it’s often practiced.” To him Christianity seems to be about “conservative politics, suburban consumerism and an ‘insensitivity to people who aren’t like us.’”

The column goes on to paint this image of traditional Christians as ultraconservative, totally intolerant, and shallow in their spirituality. I don’t want to critique the article here; I just want to lament the truth in this image of Christianity in America. (continue reading…)

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