january 14, 2008
Bredesen and The Sounds of Change
Hello one and all,
The 700 Club aired a story on my old friend/mentor Harald Bredesen, who died last year. There's a reissue of Harald’s book, Yes Lord, with a number of personal stories about Harald.
Here is my contribution: Harald Bredesen, One of a Kind.
Also in one of the recent political campaigns, a song from the '60s was being used thematically: “There's something happening here...” (from "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield)
In the last few weeks, a number of folks have sent me e-mails saying that something subjectively was going on with them personally that they couldn’t quite define. A reoccurring theme was frustration, coupled with the question, “What is my purpose on this planet?” Again with another political mantra of the hour: “It is time for a change.”
A friend of mine sent me an e-mail that summed it up pretty well:
“I feel increasingly underutilized and unappreciated, but I hate pity parties.”
But he went on to say that he was encouraged by these words: Psalm 37: Trust, Dwell, Delight, Commit, Rest, Cease, Fret not.
And then he added another subject:
“I am reading a book that I want to encourage you to read. It is called UnChristian and is written by one of the guys from the Barna Research Group. He uses their research to define how the upcoming generations perceive Christians. They like Jesus, but see Christians -- especially evangelicals -- as incongruent with what they see in Jesus. It is challenging.”
Interestingly enough (unbeknownst to my friend), the author of the book, David Kinnaman, was a guest on The 700 Club. From his research he found that those on the outside looking in at the “church crowd” define them as being: "Hypocritical, Anti-homosexual, Sheltered, Too Political, and Judgmental." I could add to the list.
However, it is a good reality test. And since there are quite a number of folk who read these epistles of mine, on various sides of the fence (inside, outside, upside down), I would be interested in your comments.
Not to worry, if we use your comments, we won’t divulge your name or identity.
So there you are… some thoughts to cogitate upon.
Scott
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