Celebration of Man at The Burning Man

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 25, 2004 in Culture | 0 comments

The Burning Man festival has come and gone. Roughly 40,000 people came and gathered in a desert to experience a 6 day celebration of life, existence and being man. As they ask questions about our meaning and purpose as man, what answers do they give? As they celebrate man is our initial reaction as Christians to jump to judgement? Shouldn’t we understand more than any our value because we were created in God’s image? Full Article >

My New Weekly Column @ the San Diego Reader

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 22, 2004 in Church, Church Technology, Culture | 0 comments

Beginning in October I will be writing a weeky column for the San Diego Reader called Sheep & Goats. This column involves attending churches in the San Diego area and writing a review. The San Diego Reader is one of the nations largest weekly alternative magazines with nearly 200,000 circulation. Please be praying for me that I would have wisdom in reviewing and communicating about the churches I attend.

Culture & Christ

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 21, 2004 in Culture | 1 comment

I’d like to find examples of film (or music, art, or other works) that communicate a view/attack of Jesus by our culture. (The more absurd, subtle and false the better.)

For example, I was watching the movie Love Actually and they showed the nativity scene with Lobsters, Spiderman and all sorts of other crazy creatures while playing the song, ‘Catch a falling star And put it in your pocket’ in contrast to another scene of immorality (where love is above morality) and it played O’ Holy Night. The message was subtle but powerful in it’s attack…

Post as comments THANKS.

Quote on Community

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 20, 2004 in Church, Culture | 0 comments

Next-Wave: What, in your eyes, are key-essentials for churches that desire to reach postmodern people?

Dr. Grenz: The ultimate key is “community.” The best apologetic we have in the postmodern context is the vibrant, local community of disciples who are loyal to Christ, that is, a community in which the power of the Spirit is transforming relationships. As many of my friends in IVCF tell me, postmodern persons are converted to the community before they are converted to Christ.

Reflections on a sense of urgency

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 18, 2004 in Church | 0 comments

In my life I often procrastinate and react to situations rather than pressing continually toward ‘the upward calling of God’. I wake up in the morning with no sense of urgency. When we fell in the garden, we now had to toil against the ground. This labor is not easy and often we wish we could live a life free from work. Lately I’ve been reflecing on these ideas.

God understands man and in His communication addresses this. God speaks far more than we as Christians ever seem to about the idea of ‘fearing Him’. We see that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7). Or as we read the ending of Ecclesiastes as Solomon discusses meaning and purpose we read that “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. ” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Do we fear God? Do we read this and gag, rejecting the concept that we should ever fear God. Many of us want to say, ‘but wait God is love’ or that fear just means respect. Re-read the verses in scripture on fear and quickly you will see these do not accurately portray the whole. Yes God loves us and we are to have a respect for Him, but if we desire to see a proper response to God, read Isaiah 6:5 as he is visited by God:

Isaiah 6:5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

My prayer is to reflect on this idea of fear and live with a sense of urgency. This urgency should move me from a place of apathy to one of living out the kindgom. It should spread from my inner-being to my actions, evangelism and love for those around me. I should live with a constant healthy sense of urgency responding to a God who has demonstrated His love for me by entering into space and time and taking my sin upon his back. We truly have an awesome God to worship and respond to.