GroshLink

Not a week goes by when I am not drawn into commenting on the sexualizing of American culture. Sometimes this happens in a very tender conversation over a cup of tea, listening to the tears of someone's heart as they tell a tale of hope and sorrow, of yearning and grief. Sometimes it is in a much more public place like a classroom where the intimacy is gone, but the issues are just as live and have far-reaching consequence.

If there is any one story that comes up again and again it is Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons, his novel about a young woman who leaves the mountains of North Carolina for the fictional yet very prestigious Dupont University, an amalgam of Duke/Stanford/Harvard.

--So begins Steve Garber's Sex in the Society: Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons as a Window into Who We Are and How We Live.

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The following posting is this week's Worship Quote of the Week, -- let me know your thoughts.

There are many reasons why some churches have a negative view of the arts. Art trades in images, and images easily lend themselves to idolatry. Artists know this from their own experience. In their work they encounter the glory at the foundation of things, and they feel its power over the heart. . . .

Ultimately this kind of art dishonors God because it is not in keeping with the truth and beauty of his character. It also undermines the church's gospel message of salvation in Christ. Art has tremendous power to shape culture and touch the human heart. Its artifacts embody the ideas and desires of the coming generation. This means that what is happening in the arts today is prophetic of what will happen in our culture tomorrow . . .

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You seem to glow with the salvation-bringing fire which our Lord came to send upon the earth. -- Gregory II to Boniface

Not every one of us has to face a great throng of pagans who curse us bitterly because we are the enemy of their gods. Even fewer of us have the opportunity (or if we would have the opportunity) take an axe to fell a "shrine of our culture" such as when Boniface demolished a huge sacred oak tree which was a shrine to Thor. But maybe our salt should be "saltier" and our light "less hidden." Boniface's biographer Willibald wrote,"When the pagans who had cursed saw this [the felling of the shrine of Thor by a axe of a mere mortal], they [stopped] cursing and, believing, blessed God." And Boniface used the oak to build a chapel, which became the center of his new monastery. Adapted from a Christianity Today post.

On Sunday morning, Hayley and Ellen were transformed after their commissioning by our local congregation to reproduce the likeness of Jesus in Tiffany Witman's 1st Grade Classroom at Donegal Springs Elementary School. And what a first day of school they gave testimony to! Although young disciples such as Hayley and Ellen are but vessels of clay, may the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ shine forth through the many new (and returning) students which pour on educational campuses the next several days. For at this stage of their pilgrim journey, they have been called to be Christ in the classroom. Please join me in prayer for . . .

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School of Christ as an individual or family this fall and find yourself looking for material? Then take some time this week to download (for free in PDF) or bookmark (to return to regularly) a piece by one of those who have gone before us in Christ, e.g., St. Augustine's The Confessions, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, G. K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy, or Brother Lawrence's The Practice of the Presence of God. In addition, one can find works by the early Church fathers, hymns, and an extensive study Bible resource at the new Christian Classics Ethereal Library. May you find these writings a blessing in the coming days, weeks, months, years . . . for that matter, through eternity.

PS. Pics of getting on the bus the first day of first grade at their new school! Thanks Carl :-)

Georgetown bars ministries from campus

Georgetown University has banned outside Protestant ministries from holding on-campus events and using the school's name, prompting group leaders to question whether the prestigious Catholic school is restricting religious choice.

"All we're wanting is diversity," said Kevin Offner, a staff leader for InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship. "We're simply saying, 'Can't we worship and conduct our meetings in a way appropriate to our tradition?' And it feels like [Georgetown is] saying 'no'" . . .

Included in the email forwarded to me by a faculty friend was a note from Kevin, who stated in closing, May those of us who know Jesus Christ continue to trust Him and remain vigilant in following Him, whatever the cost.

Amen. Please join me as I set aside Tuesday as a day to focus my prayer upon our work at Georgetown.

Check it out . . . we're part of the BIC Blogs family :-)

This aggregator is designed to gather the musings, declarations, confusions, questions, photos and all other such randomness that is posted on blogs maintained by Brethren in Christ church members and attenders. This is also for ministry and/or local church blogs that are directly affiliated with the BIC denomination.

Fascinating idea and now that I've posted this, it will go to BIC Blogs. Looking forward to getting to know members over the next several days, weeks, months, years, millennia . . .

to connect w/people. Fellow Grove City College Alum Christina Garber recognized me while I was pouring over my email on AmTrak. She shared about the community of IVMF alum w/a vision for the renewal of Altoona. Looking forward to visiting later in the fall to learn more about this work and meet a Christian faculty on the PSU-Altoona campus with whom they are connected. Note: pictures from visits to Pittsburgh will be posted at 06 Ministry Tour(currently there are a few of the Horseshoe Curve along with one of Hyjunjin and Roger) . . .

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After Eden's pioneering endeavors, Theresa's dad spent an evening installing door latches in the kitchen as Theresa scoured the house inserting outlet covers. Baby-proofing will take a while and when we've done our best, we'll leave for our new house which just received the appraisal go ahead. Yeah! Is there a baby-proofing package for modular homes :-)

InterVarsity's ministry at Georgetown, where we have been asked to leave campus (along w/other 'affiliates' such as Chi Alpha) . InterVarsity has faced similar issues in past, as the new academic year begins, pray for a hedge of protection around our labors at over 560 campuses. For details on the Georgetown situation read

Campus Ministry Removes Affiliates

“As a result of our new direction for the upcoming academic year, we have decided to not renew any covenant agreements with any of the Affiliated Ministries,” Rev. Constance C. Wheeler, a university Protestant chaplain, said in a letter to affiliated officers dated Aug. 14. “While we realize this comes as a great disappointment, please know we are moving forward with this decision only after much dialogue with the Lord.”

The decision came as a surprise to many student and adult members of the affiliated groups, who defended their organizations as important members of the university’s educational and religious mission.