Ars Gratia

You know those times when you read or witness something that strikes you dumb, making you feel like you’ve been kicked in the gut? I read an announcement last night like that.

This is to be the last year of the Cornerstone Festival.

They made the announcement first via email, and it was reported on the Cornerstone Guide. The announcement made their Facebook page late last night.

I lost count, but I’ve been to 12-13 past Cornerstones. We haven’t gone in recent years with the adoption, but bought tickets for this year. I’m glad we did. I baptized my wife in the lake there. I got to meet Michael Spencer in person there. There are good memories too numerous to name. Even though I haven’t attended recently, I’ve followed the news of the fest. It seems they’ve struggled in the past couple years, especially financially, so this shouldn’t be a surprise, but it is.

This one’s for all my younger friends out there (Middle school and High school, specifically). I won’t endorse the advice about parents at the end of the article, but the rest of it is perfect. If you’re having a hard time and don’t do the social thing well, this is for you.

If you DO do the social thing well and you think it’s ok to knock down people like this, there’s a good word in it for you, too.

http://joethepeacock.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/thats-why-you-dont-have-any-friends.html

It’s ok to be weird. In fact, it’s probably better…

For as much music and art I enjoy from the "Christian" genre, and as much as I am (what I HOPE to be a good example of) an "evangelical" Christian, our tribe tends to be a little self-absorbed and weird. Speaking from an ancient tradition of "critique from within" (thanks NT Wright for turning me on to that idea), I’ve made no excuses for our foibles or for my own failings in an attempt to be honest and improve as a human being.

Whatever you think of the commercial genre, there are plenty of artists of the Christian faith who attempt to practice their vocation with integrity, and I salute them and support them, just as I salute and support great art when I see it.

But in the spirit of critique from within, I’m saddened and disappointed that Steve Taylor (a respected and long-time musician and artist within the Christian scene) had to write the following post. It sickens me that people who would call themselves his Christian brothers and sisters would act in such a disingenuous way.

If you have ever wondered why I tend to be so snarky about "Christian" music and movies, this is exhibit A.

From Tim Chester’s A Meal With Jesus:

“If your church stopped celebrating communion, what difference would it make to your life?” (p.102)

What a telling question. Communion should be at the center of our worship time, and it should make bold statements about the inclusion of people in the family of God. Should we not gather and celebrate in such a way that this is the central and most holy act we do together before we go into the world to be the hands and feet of Christ?

I think I’m done ripping on Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill. My heart was sick today after reading this account (part 1 and part 2) of that church’s idea of “discipline.”

Instead, they need prayer, and a lot of it. The article puts it from the perspective of the one who left, but if that kind of abuse is true, they’re headed for a fall, and it could be a big one. One might wish to write this off as gossip or the ranting of an unrepentant person, but there are others who have similar stories.

The behavior described has more in common with cults that maintain strict control over their captives than the kind of mutually loving community that is supposed to identify Christ’s people in the world.

There are far too many who have left churches and turned their backs on Jesus because of the abuses they’ve suffered at the hands of legalistic abusers. I really do hope and pray this is an exaggeration, or that the abuse will stop. I seriously doubt this is what the Young, Restless, and Reformed want to be. (I hope it’s not what they want to be.)

Here is a link to the famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. Go read it.

I cannot think of anyone alive today in the public sphere who could write or speak with such moral, logical, and rhetorical force. I’d love to be corrected on that front, but I’m at a loss.

Learning other languages is easy compared to this:

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2011/12/23/english-pronunciation/

A little too much Greek philosophy may be the cause for evangelical Christians embracing Gnostic ideas. To my non-Christian friends, I’ll probably get back to music, tech, and martial arts posting soon enough. I’m still on break between seminary classes, and I’m getting caught up on a bunch of reading.

http://robinphillips.blogspot.com/2010/06/gnostic-myths-you-may-have-imbibed.html

The author has a follow-up at:

http://robinphillips.blogspot.com/2010/06/resurrection-or-disembodiment.html