Understanding Christians and Culture shaping

Andy Crouch does a great job of giving insight into different ways of looking at culture.  The Youtube is a part of a speech that you can find complete at the Fermi Project's Website

Sometimes You Wonder

I was reading the story of the Exodus a while back and was struck by the story of the 10th plague.  When the firstborn of the people of Egypt are killed by God's angel of death I've always seen in the reaction of the people of Egypt grief, but this time in reading the story I saw something else.  The texts reads,  12.33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, "We shall all be dead."   This is not the most flattering picture.  The picture is not of grief but of fear for their own lives--it seems to be a very self-centered reaction.   In their response I can't help but see myself in times of trouble, focusing on myself rather than others and their needs (or for that matter as long as I'm OK I don't have to worry much about those other folks).   

The reactions of the Egyptians seem to put them at odds with the picture that God has of creating a covenant community where Jesus tells us that they will know we are his disciples by our love (John 13) and the early community of faith where they sold their goods and possessions and gave to each one as he had need (Acts 2).  This last picture of the Egyptian people at the end of plagues that showed God as superior to the gods of Egypt leaves me wondering if God was seeking to show that not only is he superior to the gods of Egypt, but also his community is superior to the community built by these gods.

A Bit of Medical

Just wanted you to know that Linda and I are in Florida for some more medical follow up to her cancer last fall.  We've got a good friend and doc who is overseeing her follow up medical stuff and he lives in Ft. Lauderdale.  We'll be doing 2-3 hours a day of treatments from Monday - Thursday, then we'll sneak in a day of fun before flying back on Saturday.

New Movie--Worth Checking out

It's called "The Cult of Sincerity".  Watch the trailer below.  You can check out their website too.

Job Fair

 On Sunday April 13 after the services we will be having a job fair for those looking for work.  If you are looking for work or you know someone who is you can invite them.   The Job Fair is part of the revolution series.  On the 13th we'll be talking about Revolution at Work.

Revolution in the Bedroom

We're continuing our revolution series this week looking at Proverbs 5  The service starts out with a reminder that we are part of a revolution.   We move from there to focusing our attention on God through song.   Offering and announcements come next.  We have a new corners offering this month:  Forgotten Man Ministries, this ministry reaches out to those in prison.  After the offering we'll hear the text and then watch a bit about storm surges, after the video we'll look at God's revolution in the bedroom.   The service will close with song.

A note to couples:  as part of the Revolution series the youth group is sponsoring a date night for couples at EverGreen.  On April 25 from 6-9 p.m. we are offering free child care so you can get out and enjoy an evening together.  You can sign up for this childcare at the information center.

China

The Onion jumps into the China debate in its usual unique way:


China Celebrates Its Status As World�s Number One Air Polluter