Monday, January 1, 2007

Fundamental Isms

Like any collection of writings, aphorisms, rants and insights, this blog should have a direction. There should be some clear expectations, because if the editor doesn’t make a few decisions, how will the contributing authors know what the reader wants? The problem is that the author and editor are one in the same and he doesn’t really know if he has an audience. So, by default, the author, editor and audience are one in the same (at least at this beginning). That makes it even more important to have some concept in mind.

Here are a few guidelines, in case any other authors or audience members want to jump in.

  1. A short post is a readable post. Once someone has to scroll down a couple times, they’ve probably strained their eyes and lost interest.
  2. Christianity is imperfect. There’s a human factor in Christianity. I have no idea why God included us, but He did, and we have a tendency to mess up His best designs. The author(s) will try to avoid messing it up permanently (as if any person can).
  3. Evangelicals are strange. Of course atheists, Catholics and Hindus are strange, too. The only un-strange group of religious folks I’m aware of is Islam (well, except for the Sufis). Sometimes these oddities are funny, often they’re harmless and usually well-intended – but they can be dangerous. All of these are worthy of comment.
  4. The culture is interesting. Movies, music and Harry Potter are not the devil’s offspring. They may be corrupted, but they’re part of our story.
  5. The Reformation happened. The final arbiter of truth is the Scriptures and the final statement of Truth is Jesus. We are at our best when we wrestle with those Scriptures and yield to that Jesus. Oh, and we are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Amen.

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