Thanks for your thoughts. As a pastor of a church, I can assure you that I strive to do more than “merely sitting on the sofa and vegetating - or blogging.” I can also assure you that there are better ways of doing ministry than either the Fundamentalist or Evangelical varieties of pragmatism which your comment seems to view as the only two possible options.

I believe that we American Christians- particularly those of us in Fundamentalist congregations- must become serious about things like meaning- which, BTW, I believe the topic of this original post was a perfect example of a failure to do so. Consider Kevin Bauder’s perspective on this in his essay “A Fundamentalism Worth Saving”-

The issue of meaning is especially important for those media that have the explicit purpose of reaching and shaping the imagination. We call such media “arts,” and they have the power to drive meanings deeply into our souls. This is a power that we cannot afford to ignore.

Consider the problem of church music. It has become popular to say that God never tells us what kind of music He likes. Of course He does. He likes music that is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, full of virtue, and full of praise. When it is directed to Him in worship, He surely delights in music that is reverent and exalts Him, while just as surely He abominates music that is flippant and trivializes Him. Bad church music does not have to be rock or rap, it just has to be frivolous.

Again, it has become stylish among younger fundamentalists to suggest that we must separate over doctrine, but not over issues like music. I grant that we must not separate at every level every time we disagree about music, just as we must not separate every time we disagree about doctrine. But never? That is simply to be naïve about the terrible destruction that can occur when we debase the Christian faith.

A fundamentalism that is not serious about meaning will not be serious about obedience. Neither will it be serious about the religious affections. And without obedience and affection, right doctrine will either decay or else become a matter of pure formality. We must give ourselves to understanding the manifold ways in which meanings are communicated. We must come to appreciate cultures as networks of meanings. And we must pursue the best, forsaking not only the bad, but also the banal, rejecting not only the heretical, but also the hackneyed.

I would recommend that you read the entire essay if you wish to understand why I don’t believe this matter is simply petty criticism.

You crash at 40, that open face won’t protect much…
Research them though. Get one that has good venting so the visor does not fog.

An Earl to look at:
http://jeff.dean.home.att.net/swisher.htm

Soft drink?

Thanks for the great weekend.

Go Boston on Tues night!