The Threads Blog

I know the Bible says to forgive and I fully agree with that. I am thankful that Christ offers me a way to have my sins forgiven, but I am having a very difficult time with this forgiveness thing. It is simply something I struggle with. (If you play fantasy football, keep reading, if not this may not make sense, but feel free to read.) Take this past weekend for example…

John Calvin wrote that the Church is anywhere the Word is rightly preached and the sacraments are rightly administered. There are some loaded words in that sentence, but I think it leads to a question that many people are asking right now: “What is church?” Good question. But is it a different question than “What is THE CHURCH?” I think so, because I think there is a difference in the church and the Church. The Church is the body of believers that extends past time, place and culture. That’s what every single Christ-follower is a member of: the Bride of Christ. That’s the Church. There’s lots of churches that belong to the Church, but only one Church. So I think what we are all really asking is about the church, or maybe another way to say it, what is the right way for these little churches who are all a part of the big Church to be done? What are the essential elements of the church?

More people 18 to 49 watch The Cartoon Network than CNN. Is that a sign that people are taking longer and longer to grow up? Or is it a commentary on the quality of CNN’s programming and news coverage? Author Diana West has written a book called the Death of the Grown-Up, and she says it’s all about arrested development.

That’s the subject line of an email I received this morning in my Inbox. It was from a group trying to rally support against library censorship efforts in our federal prison system. Beyond the political action of the email, the topic is one that is intriguing at best and potentially disturbing at worst.

Beginning last spring the Bureau of Prisons began systematically telling chaplains to remove books & resources which didn’t make a pre-approved list. The list was compiled with the help of religious experts, according to the Bureau, and the move was designed to help curb violence and religious extremism brewing in the prison system.

There was something memorable hiding on SI.com this morning. In the middle of a rehashing of a memorable college football weekend, there is a brief story about the 2008 Summer Olympics. The People’s Republic of China, a communist state who has taken great lengths to stamp out all spirituality among its people, is going to allow a worship center to be built in Beijing inside the Olympic Village.