Defining Secularization

One of the symptoms of modern and postmodern change
is the large stock of new words, or certainly the new use
of old words--terms such as "user-friendly," "downsizing,"
"multiculturalism," "politically-correct," "homophobic,"
"postmodern," "poststructuralism," and "deconstruction."

If the cartographers of our time are working away furiously
to draw up new maps as empires get further subdivided each
day, our neologists (those who invent new words) are living
at a boom time for their preoccupations. One such word that
we are all now accustomed to hearing repeatedly is "secular,"
or "secularization."

I would venture to suggest that we might find ourselves
stumbling when asked to define what this word really
means. The word itself has a broad sweep, and in differing
contexts brings a different spin to the central idea.

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Turning The World Upside-Down

The greatest danger to Islam comes from Chinese Christians

looking westward towards Jerusalem.

What's remarkable is this vision is taking shape even as Chinese

Christians undergo persecution. Then again, Christianity's initial

explosion took place under even worse conditions. So it probably

shouldn't surprise us that there are more Chinese worshiping in

"house churches" than belong to the Communist party.

The "fearless" Chinese evangelists may do more to transform
their nation and the world than all the armies and diplomats
combined. That would be an earthquake worth experiencing.

LISTEN!!!

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The Song Of Fools

In the early 1900's, a man by the name of D.R. Van Sickle
set out to prove that one does not have to be Christian to
author a Christian hymn. Though he did not believe the
message, he knew he could still mimic it. Despite its some -
what irreverent origins, the hymn was published and the
words came to resound in churches everywhere...


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Worlds Apart

Anyone who has ever walked through the halls
of the great philosophers, early church fathers,
or ancient rhetoricians or ethicists has inevitably
stumbled upon the person and work of St. Augustine...


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Little Did They Know

As I observed the animals, they were behaving rather
amusingly--some were sticking out their noses sniffing
away, while others were trying to peek out curiously as
they experienced the new smells, sights, and sounds that
were quite different from their usual farmstead. Little
did they know...


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Weed Or Plague

In the 1930's, a vine native to Japan was introduced
throughout the United States as a highly effective
means for controlling erosion. Forty years later,
the USDA officially declared this miracle-vine a
weed. While visitors to the South are immediately
taken by scenic glimpses of kudzu-blanketed lands -
capes, natives keep their doors shut to keep the
creeping plant from taking over their houses.

Growing better in the South than it does even
in its native environment, kudzu can grow as
much as a foot per day, climbing trees, barns,
telephone poles--and anything else that gets
in their way. And while these vines actually
do help prevent erosion, they also destroy
entire forests, wrapping themselves around
every inch, smothering every tree from needed
sunlight...

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Echoes Of Eden

It is hard to describe the intensity
of boredom I experienced working
at...


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Seeing Spots

There are two ways to look at a mirror. This fairly
unoriginal thought crossed my mind as I stood before
my bathroom mirror focused on the spots I was wiping
away, when my gaze suddenly shifted to a dark smudge
under my eye. With one hand still cleaning the spots on
the mirror, I tried to remove the spot under my eye with
the other. It didn't work; or at least, as I attempted to do
both, I didn't do either job well. You can't look in a mirror
and at a mirror at the same time...

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Has The New Testament Changed And Become Corrupted Over Time?

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Some people have the idea that the New Testament
has been translated "so many times" that it has
become corrupted through stages of translating.


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A Wonderful Opportunity

Europe online '24 hours a month'

More than 122m Europeans aged 15 and above
use the internet each day at home, school or in
work, says a report.

The average European accesses the net 16.5 days
in a month, and spends 24 hours viewing 2,662 web
pages, according to tracking firm comScore.

The UK had the most active online population,
spending more than 34.4 hours online each month
and a peak of more than 21.8m people online in
any given day.


EURO NET PENETRATION
Netherlands 83%
Norway 70%
Sweden 70%
Denmark 68%
Finland 65%
UK 62%


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Who Are You, God?

Throughout history, artists, writers, musicians,
scholars, and all who have read the life of Jesus
have wondered what He looked like...


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I Didn't Know

It's been a while since I've picked up a dictionary,
literally at least. I do most of my looking-up online.

But my computer was already shut down for the day
and for once it seemed faster to use a book for the task.

I can't remember the word I was hunting for now, in fact,
I think I stopped hunting soon after opening the book.

As I pulled the giant dictionary off the shelf and opened
its pages to the general vicinity of the S's, I was stopped
in my tracks by a piece of paper that fell out...


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Night Of Fire

Shortly after the death of Blaise Pascal in 1662,
a housekeeper was sorting through closets and
clothing and happened to notice something sewn
into Pascal's coat. Beneath the cloth was a parch -
ment and inside this was another faded piece of
paper. In Pascal's handwriting, on both the parch -
ment and the paper were nearly the same words.
Beside hand-drawn crosses, Pascal had carefully
written:


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Pleasure Misplaced

Any pleasure--whether good or illegitimate--
will enslave us when we turn it into our life's
utmost pursuit...

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