Life at a Lively Pace

Though journalists are supposed to be the professionals that keep the world informed, they will sometimes ask a question that makes your head shake. The only thing more confounding than that is the reply of the supposed authority who is being interviewed.

This Q&A also came from the interview mentioned in the last post. While it kind-of-sort-of fit (thematically) into the interview, it would not have fit into my last missive. So, here it is:

You recently donated a whole lot of money for a hockey rink at Liberty University. If these are the end times, why make an investment like that?
[Laughs.] My strategy is that Canada and Northern America produces the bulk of hockey players. We use the ice rink to get the hockey players to come to Liberty University where many of them are exposed to accept Christ. Many of them come because they are Christians. They are challenged to go into the ministry, and we’ve already had some of the guys in the earlier classes that graduated, and they’re going home to Canada to start churches.

Proselytism with a hockey puck?
“Evangelism with a hockey puck” would be better.

Huh?!? At first glance, the initial question is a little silly. If someone believes that the end is at hand and that their worldly possessions cannot be taken to the next world, the money might as well be spent on something in the “here and now”. You’d think a reporter could come up with a more penetrating or pertinent question. The response, though, practically justifies the goofiness of the question. More »« Less

I believe that there are far more pressing matters in Christianity than whether or not Christ will return in our lifetime. While He was still on earth, Christ stated that no one except the Father knew exactly when this would take place. Yes, we are to be watchful and ready, but our lives should not revolve around eschatological questions we can’t answer anyway.

Newsweek has a web-exclusive article entitled “Q&A: Are These the End Times?“. (HT: JollyBlogger) They chose to interview Tim LaHaye, co-author of the Left Behind series. His views are a representation of eschatological possibilities, but not the only one. Unfortunately, his views tend to be promoted as the sole belief of all Christians. This was once sequence of questions in the article: More »« Less

Being the research rat that I am, I offered to do a large share of information hunting for our search committee. In the last 48 hours, I have read through 90+ doctrinal statements of various undergraduate and seminaries/graduate schools. I ran across this pamphlet written in 2005 by Paul W. Powell of Truett Seminary.  He was attempting to explain to the average lay person the nature of the changes and conflicts in the SBC (at least, in Texas).  I found the following quote very “spot on”:

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