Hey Readers,
I have had some email messages from folks encouraging me to get back into the swing of writing on here. Here's the deal:
1)
My current job seems much more important and its demands have made the thought of writing seem like a joke of a priority...especially considering a few other things:
2)
That so few people comment on blogs. Seriously. Think about this. Even the best blogs in cyberspace can struggle to muster comments. The number of people who read a blog post seems to far outweigh the number of comments. For someone on the fence about making time to write; a lack of comments really isn't a good motivator. Just sayin'. I read a lot of blogs and articles and I can count on one hand how many times I've actually commented.
3)
That the blogosphere seems to have changed as I see it. The best bloggers have gotten better. They either do it full time for income, share the writing load with multiple people, or utilize ghost writers. Let's face it...for those of us in the ministry world who haven't delegated EVERYTHING away to someone else, there's a ton of work to be done constantly. I marvel sometimes at the proficiency with which certain people can be pastoring or serving in a significant ministry role (or four) and yet are doing 12 other things with excellence. It's fairly obvious and known that many individuals within the Christian world are fine letting other people do their work for them and then taking the credit. Secretaries, interns, students, underlings, and ghost-writers make certain folks look very busy. Some prominent pastors have people write their sermons for them, convert their sermons to books or bible studies, check their emails, answer their phone calls,
wipe their...er, nevermind. But unless I could bring myself to do some of those things ethically, and if I felt good about manipulating people, or if I thought it appropriate to use my administrative assistant to help me do stuff not directly related to my role and the church, maybe I'd write more. Know what I mean? That ain't me. I'm still a purist in this regard.
4)
I have found several ways to personally disciple multiple individuals from a long distance away. Being that one of the major reasons I started this blog was to assist with the discipleship of several people who happened to live far from me, I have found an increasing number of exciting and robust resources with lots of dedicated workers sustaining them that can accomplish the same purpose.
5)
And finally, I just really find Twitter a lot more effective. Twitter is micro-blogging. A while back, I was doing some thinking. I thought, "Man....Does anyone
actually blog anymore? Ever since I started using Twitter, blogging seems so ancient. Let's face it...With increasingly limited time, I don't care to read a blog nearly as much as I would a Tweet. That said, I've been on Twitter for the last year and a half or so and have found it to be quicker for me and for readers. I can say what I need to say and get to the point so much faster. People don't have to comment or reply, they can just favorite or retweet with one click.
So...what I am saying is that for right now, I am utilizing Twitter RATHER than this blog. For now anyway. Something could change, but that's the way it stands right now.
You can Follow Me on Twitter here: @RC_Wilkins.
You might have noticed I haven't written for a while. I could explain all the reasons, but I bet most of the people who read this blog have some idea why it's been a while. One of the many reasons is that it can be challenging at times to write on a consistent basis. For example, it's always been comical to me to see how many people (including many pastors) got a blog or a twitter when blogs and twitters were all the rage...and couldn't manage to blog or tweet regularly enough to keep anyone's interest. It takes work! Everybody wants to have their own television show, but ask anybody who hosts one and they'll tell you that sometimes it gets pretty draining, monotonous, and challenging. New material is due almost daily for those shows! Thank God I have never made any sort of foolish commitment on this site like saying I would post every day, etc.
But while I have not made any sort of formal, stated commitment to post a certain number of entries per year or anything, I have to admit that I was a little dissatisfied with last year's output. That's why this year I have a little new wrinkle...a new idea for spurring everyone onward in their growth as a follower of Christ.
So what's the new idea? Stay tuned....You'll see. And I'm pretty sure you'll really dig it...or at least all the cool peeps will. :)
-RCW
There's a lot of confusion out there among the masses when it comes to "religion" and spiritual matters.
- Example #1:
Suppose I tell someone out in public that I am a minister. Often, they will ask, "Oh yeah, what religion are you?" I tell them "Christian" and they will say, but what religion are you...Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist?"
If you can't spot the misunderstanding here, then I will explain it momentarily.
- Example #2:
I was at a college campus sharing my faith with students a few years ago and within a 10 minute period, I asked two separate people if they were Christians. The one replied, "Yes, I'm Catholic." The other replied, "No, I'm not a Christian. I'm Catholic."
Puzzling, huh?
- Example #3 comes when people recite the Apostle's Creed:
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church...
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
A certain church I enjoyed in graduate school (it was not a Catholic church) used to recite the creed every single Sunday. I don't know how many times I heard people either refuse to speak the line or say afterward, "I don't like that line about the Catholic church."
Are you tracking with me?
- Example #4: Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons will often insist that they are Christians. And some people actually believe them!
This is not a rant against those that make such statements or betray such obvious misconceptions. Instead, I hope that it will clear up some of the misunderstandings.
I think some simple charts can do the job.
Below are some examples of
world religions.
A religion is a comprehensive belief system held by a community. It usually has a "holy book" and typically provides answers 3 questions: What is reality? What is wrong? What is the solution? If you see a flaw or simply don't like my off-the-cuff definition, here's a link to Wikipedia's definition of a "
religion." Notice that Christianity is a religion.
The next chart is
the three major "branches" or "realms" of Christianity. (I'm sure there is a better word, but for now right now the most commonly used term escapes me.) These are not different religions; they are actually all considered part of Christianity.
Finally, after the Protestant Reformation (notice the spur of Protestantism off of Catholicism in the chart above), a virtual plethora of Protestant "
denominations" arose. Below is a chart of some of the ones you might be familiar with. (Ironically enough, the earliest of these various denominations proceeded to fight and kill one another quite frequently for several years. Aren't you glad that we now fortunately realize that we who are Protestants are all Christians and that Lutherans need not slay Baptists, Anglicans shouldn't behead Lutherans, etc.)
Don't study the above chart too closely. The denominations aren't arranged in any particular fashion except that "lots of others" can be a sub-category of "Bible Churches" or "Non-Denominational" or entirely outside of both categories. One of the problems however is that many non-Christian religious movements, groups, and cults, aim to convince people they are a "denomination" when in actuality, the beliefs make them otherly altogether (a different
religion).
My charts are very simplistic. Better charts are published in pamphlet form by
Rose Publishing.
Does this clear up some of the confusion? If you're still wondering about the earlier examples, here are the answers, you sillies:
Example #1 - My religion IS Christianity. What they should have asked was what denomination I am.
Example #2 - The truth is that Catholics ARE under the umbrella of Christianity. Some Catholics might think that when they are asked if they are a "Christian," the question is asking if they are a Protestant or someone associated with "mainstream" Protestant Christianity.
Example #3 - Even though the term "Catholic" probably would have originally referred to the Catholic church (since the Catholic church WAS the early church), the term "catholic" as we know it today refers to the universal church. The "catholic" church would then simply mean those around the world from every Christian group or denomination calling themselves followers of Christ. (See how the "church" is also not just a building? It's PEOPLE. WE are the church.)
Example #4 - Jehovah's Witnesses & Mormons commonly claim they are a Christian group or a Protestant denomination. (They try to convince people that they belong in the "lots of others" category in the list of denominations under "Protestantism.") Yet, if you study those groups, the beliefs CANNOT fall under the umbrella of Christianity since the views they hold have been deemed UN-Christian by Jesus, by the church from earliest Christianity, and sometimes even earlier...by Judaism. There is no way that the two groups could ever call themselves Christians except to mislead and sway others, or to simply distort the ugly truth.
Well, enough of my rambling. I hope that this proves helpful the next time you spot a similar misconception. Point your guilty violators to this post and maybe it can clear up the confusion! :)
-RCW
I suppose I will let a great secret out of the bag.... There are some amazing church-related cartoons out there. Here's one that seemed like a fun posting....
Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.
Perhaps
this one is my favorite....entitled "How to Make Church Brilliant." You gotta see it for yourself.
-RCW
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