The Burner Blog - Latest Comments

Re: The Best Thing the Burner Has Seen in a Long, Long Time

The Burner — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:20:47 -0000

Great comment, Ty.

I also wondered what happened to Caine when he went back the next day. I assume he has more customers now, but if the party only showed him what could be, wouldn't it make every other day worse?

However, I'm sure he wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

Re: The Best Thing the Burner Has Seen in a Long, Long Time

Ty Grigg — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:28:17 -0000

I agree - very beautiful story - my eyes were watering too. But there was something about this story that was unsettling if its a reflection of the Kingdom. Is our proclamation of the gospel a "flashmob" approach (i.e. the grandiose event) or is it a small, ongoing, persistent witness of a community of Jesus.

Imagine the story of Caine - imagine if the reporter's first response was to come back regularly and invite a few friends each time. Maybe 3-5 people slowly build relationship with the family - to me, this seems more like the kingdom.

The church of N. America loves the flashmob event or the "home makeover" moment but perhaps that reflects and cultivates a deficient imagination for the kingdom coming in the small, invisible, and ongoing.

Re: CBE Conference Sponsored by Fuller Texas

J. R. Daniel Kirk — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:20:17 -0000

This post is reprinted without permission but with extreme gratitude to J. R. Daniel Kirk who blogs at Storied Theology.

I appreciate you keepin' it real!

Re: How the Mistakes By Miami-Dade County and Wayne County Can Win You A Scot McKnight Book

Tony Chua — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:13:14 -0000

Forgotten but never impotent

Re: How the Mistakes By Miami-Dade County and Wayne County Can Win You A Scot McKnight Book

Lighthouseshikoku — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:36:43 -0000

It is time for Christians to go beyond mental consent - to truly embrace Jesus as the King. The first test: Make disciples of all nations. How far have we done so as His subjects?

Re: The Two Things a Youth Pastor Needs to Do

Nate Stratman — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:31:21 -0000

Good thoughts Forrest. I always laugh at some of these statements made about adolescents and their inabilities because I think adults are often just as guilty.

Re: The Two Things a Youth Pastor Needs to Do

Forrest Buckner — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:59:29 -0000

Good word! I especially appreciate your comment at the end that helps integrate this desire to be an adult and a disciple into what happens the the lives of high school students. Unfortunately, perhaps due to postmodern fragmentation (people not really feeling a need to have a coherent take on life) and/or what Chap Clark calls "egocentric abstraction" of mid-adolescence (in which kids cannot developmentally connect all the areas of their lives apart from the effect it has on "me), high school students don't seem to be able to integrate all of the areas of their lives. This lack of integration can be compounded when youth ministries focus on spiritual commitments and loving Jesus but neglect the rest of a high school student's life (school, parents, loving others, the broader world, sports, money). Students end up thinking their life is whole in God's eyes because they are trying to seek Jesus, even though they are not actually becoming a more mature human in other areas of their lives. As time goes on, they reality of their connectedness as a human being will catch up to them and they will face the reality that Jesus wants them to be whole people who love him, not just spiritual people who love him.

Re: How the Mistakes By Miami-Dade County and Wayne County Can Win You A Scot McKnight Book

Max — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:26:35 -0000

I am a fuller alum and a Scot McKnight fan - is that thought-provoking enough?

Re: You Can Aspire to Be Either a Lingerie Model or a Proverbs 31 Woman

Mark Baker-Wright — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:54:37 -0000

In regard to what being Proverbs 31 woman means, seems that a link to the Rachel Held Evans visit to Fuller (sponsored by you guys!) would be in order.

In short, it doesn't mean what most people act like it does. Your comments as to its (perceived) unattainability are most welcome.

Re: The Cost of Roaming

Tim Morey — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:54:44 -0000

Well said nate.

Re: UPDATE: The Burner Thinks This Article is Extremely Interesting

Mark Baker-Wright — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:09:39 -0000

Wait, what? "Little-known" and "ultra-liberal"? According to what comparison? Compared to the SBC, perhaps, but certainly not by the standards of most mainline churches, and certainly not by the kind of evangelicalism that describes Fuller (which I regularly have to defend against folks who think it's right-wing). (Some "Emerging" churches having gay pastors notwithstanding)

And ANYONE who thinks of Driscoll as liberal is clearly either not paying attention, or is SO far on the right-wing themselves that they have lost all ability to communicate coherently with the rest of the human race. (Which, at the risk of sounding uncharitable, I do sometimes think is indeed true of Driscoll... either one of those definitions actually works pretty well)

Re: A Reflection of Reconciliation by Brenda Salter McNeil

Cadillac58 — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:09:03 -0000

The teacher of my 8th grade American History class posed a question: “How many races are there?” Eager hands shot up. One student said “Two—black and white.” Teacher: “Nope.” Another student: “Three—black, white and brown!” (he was including the Hispanic kids in the class). Teacher: “Nope.” My hand went up: “Five! Black, white, brown, yellow and red!” (I was adding Asians and what we then-called Indians to the list). Teacher: “Still not right.” At that point, students just started blurting out ridiculous numbers:   “Ten! A hundred! A million!”   “Nooooo, you’re all wrong,” he said. He then said something I’ve remembered for the last forty years. Holding up his index finger, he said, “There’s only ONE human race.”
Mincing words? I don’t think so. I think the way we use language shapes how we think, feel, and act. Are there different ethinicities? Of course. Is one’s culture inevitably tied to one’s ethnic heritage? No. Is life sometimes confusing in an increasingly smaller world where people with ancestry from all over the world blend together and different cultures are living closer together than ever before? Yes.
It is interesting to me that when America goes to war (I’m in the military), our foes from the recent and distant past didn’t distinguish between the ethnicities of American servicemembers. If they can shot down a plane or sunk a ship or blew up a tank with our people aboard, they NEVER cared about the skin color of the person wearing the American uniform. They saw and still do see us as all the same. Which makes me think: If the ship sinks, we’re all going to die together. So, if we’re all good enough to die together, why aren’t we good enough to LIVE together? In the Navy, there is only one color of Sailor: BLUE. In the Marine Corps, there is only one color of Marine: GREEN. Same for the other branches.
I think the sooner we get past accentuating our differences, the sooner we will be able to live out the dictum of the Christmas Angle and there can “Peace on earth, goodwill to all.”    I'm hoping we can move further down this road together.     Jeff Saville

Re: You’re Out: The Havoc that Clergy Killers Wreak

The Burner — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:23:24 -0000

I'm so sorry for your experience. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

Re: You’re Out: The Havoc that Clergy Killers Wreak

lostintexas — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:06:18 -0000

I was forced out after 20 years of pastoral ministry. "Conflict with staff" was the publicly stated reason. I could never get past the stigma of a forced resignation in my attempts to re-enter ministry and felt virtually abandoned by peers who once claimed that I was doing what I was called by God to do. After eight years, I'm working a secular job and struggle constantly with my feelings of personal failure as well as my feelings of bitterness against local church dynamics. I still attend church but do not volunteer or get involved.

Re: You’re Out: The Havoc that Clergy Killers Wreak

The Burner — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:30:37 -0000

Thanks for the comment, Kate!

What circle am I in? What circle are you in?

Re: You’re Out: The Havoc that Clergy Killers Wreak

Kate — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:42:30 -0000

I was shocked to see that my cousin was right about what was happening to the Protestant clergy. You might find out what you're really dealing with if you just search 'outside' of your circle. The long term goal here is... television evangelism, because it's easier to control what the people learn and thus accept. Meanwhile... there's obviously a need to make sure there are no contradictions from the educated clergy.

Re: No Longer Lesbian

Cd-art1 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:03:17 -0000

Sherwood Lingerfelter, you should be ashamed of yourself. Accept your daughter and her happiness. Geez. Is that too much to ask?

Re: No Longer Lesbian

Cd-art1 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:00:03 -0000

ew. there are no words for such a brainwashed homophobe.

Re: Mark Driscoll’s Chauvinist Views on Appropriate Roles in Marriage

Nathan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:35:23 -0000

I also hold little respect to those who obsees over criticizing other mens work.
Get of the blogs and do work!

Re: Mark Driscoll’s Chauvinist Views on Appropriate Roles in Marriage

Nathan — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 17:31:15 -0000

David Moore, you (and men like you) are the reason Driscoll needs to write books like this. His point that men need to lead the family is not a dictatorship but and example of Jesus leading the "church."
Marriage is often used in Scripture as the illustration of our relationship with Jesus, (thats why we are called the "bride of Christ")Your issues with his book and your citing to support your claims were weak and wildly out of context.

Please learn what the Bible says and come at this book with a renewed mind, thats what Driscoll has done.

Re: The Most Important Thing a Pastor Can Do Is…Zzzzzzz

Mark Baker-Wright — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:35:19 -0000

Thanks! I've tried to be sure to give proper credit, and although I've reused the image, I've mirrored it on another server rather than steal your bandwidth.

Re: The Most Important Thing a Pastor Can Do Is…Zzzzzzz

The Burner — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:08:01 -0000

Sure!

Re: The Most Important Thing a Pastor Can Do Is…Zzzzzzz

Mark Baker-Wright — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:01:46 -0000

With your permission, I'd like to add this to Fuller's Employee Wellness Page: https://sites.google.com/a/ful...

Re: The Word of the Lord to Democrats by Brian McLaren–Book Review

Tony Jones — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 07:47:44 -0000

1) It's A New Kind of ChristianITY that MMT didn't care for. A New Kind of Christian was an earlier book by BMac.

2) The other two ebooks of BMac's will be available soon. I think he's releasing one per month.

3) As long as you're spending $2.99 on ebooks, I can think of one that you should review here! http://amzn.to/Gzoglj

Re: Rachel Held Evans Video Now Online!

Joel Gonzaga — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:52:43 -0000

Dear... God... they actually placed June Cleaver as an ideal? On purpose? hahaha