manna?

Sunday March 6, 2005

Posted by Ed Miller

Manna meets @ 10:42 AM in the Park Theatre

248 South River
Holland,Mi 49423-3201

Yes we’re still in Acts! Who knew so much valuable info was in Acts?

Come early. Come often. I think there’ll be cookies this week. (Windmills)

Centre Of Christianity Moves to Africa by David Blair (News Telegraph)

Posted by Ed Miller

If a clergyman’s success is measured by the size of his flock, then Africa’s priests stand to inherit the earth. Their congregations are growing faster than any since the earliest years of Christianity.

The pews of Africa’s churches now hold 390 million worshippers – more than three times the total of 35 years ago. Over the next two decades, Africa’s congregation is likely to grow by another 200 million, causing a huge shift in the character of the Christian faith.

Its heartland will move decisively southwards, away from the empty churches of Europe and into the developing world.

The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity, an American think-tank based in a Protestant seminary, is charting this transformation and its findings are dramatic. Already, its study of “World Christian Trends” shows that white Europeans and Americans account for only 43 per cent of the world’s Christians.

We are seeing a shift from a Eurocentric base for the Christian churches to a more worldwide base, including Africa and South America,” said Bishop Michael Coleman, the vice-president of the Roman Catholic Bishops’
Christianity’s new “centre of gravity” can be pinpointed with precision. The geographical point at which an equal number of Christians lives to the north, south, east and west is now found in Timbuktu in the largely Muslim country of Mali.

In theory, Europe’s churches, including those in Russia, still have 531 million worshippers. Yet only about 10 per cent regularly attend services and in Britain, the figure falls to seven per cent. Moreover, Europe’s Christians are ageing and their population is expected to shrink by 17 million over the next two decades.

In Africa, by contrast, the Christian congregation has grown by more than 4,300 per cent since 1900, when it had fewer than 9 million worshippers. This rate of expansion is unparalleled since the early years of the Church.

Bishop Coleman gives the missionaries who criss-crossed Africa most of the credit for this. But he acknowledged that the world’s poorest continent, where about two thirds of the population lives in absolute poverty, is fertile ground for the spread of Christianity.

“There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “If you look elsewhere in the world, you find that people in the flush of newly acquired wealth find their existence through this wealth and they no longer turn to God.”

Full post available at Thunderstruck.org

Comics Look To Bible For Exciting Plots by Terry Mattingly (Scripps News Service)

Posted by Ed Miller

LOS ANGELES _ The story has everything that a comic book needs, like rippling muscles, heaving bosoms, torture, seduction, superhuman feats of strength and moments of crippling guilt.

The story builds through pages of dramatic close-ups, epic slaughters and cosmic revelations until, finally, the hero faces his ultimate decision. Will he take a leap of faith and risk everything?

“Oh Lord God! Hear me please. Give me strength this one last time,” he prays. “I am prepared! You strengthen me, oh Lord! ... Now let me die here with the Philistines!”

Anyone who knows comics knows what happens next in “Samson: Judge of Israel,” by Mario Ruiz and Jerry Novick. What happens next is painted in giant, ragged, screaming letters that say “GRRUUNN,” “CRAACCKK,” “AAAIIIEEE” and one final “WHUMP!”

The great Bible stories _ such as Samson in the book of Judges _ are packed with the epic visions and good-versus-evil absolutes that fill the pages of classic comics and their modern, supercharged siblings known as “graphic novels” or works of “sequential art.” But what is less obvious is that some of today’s most popular and influential comic-book artists are drawing their inspiration from deep wells of faith and classic religious stories, according to Leo Partible, an independent movie producer, graphic artist and writer.

“Anyone who knows where to look can find plenty of examples of faith in the comics and the culture that surrounds them,” he said. “There is darkness there, but lots of light, too.”

Thus, in the influential “Superman For All Seasons,” a young Clark Kent turns to his pastor for help as he struggles to discern what to do with his life and unique abilities. Hollywood writer Kevin Smith’s “Daredevil” hero wrestles with guilt while leaning on his Catholic faith. The mutant X-Man Nightcrawler quotes scripture and talks openly about sin, penance and righteousness.

The mystery of the Shroud of Turin is woven into Doug TenNapel’s sprawling “Creature Tech,” which probes questions about faith and science. Artist Scott McDaniel’s website () mixes discussions of faith and art with its pages of Nightwing, Batman and Spider-Man illustrations. The graphic novel “Kingdom Come,” which helped redefine the modern comics, keeps quoting the Revelation of St. John as it paints an Armageddon vision for the superheroes of the past.

Comics offer a powerful combination of visual art, the written word and the imagination,” he said. “For millions of people around the world, comic books are a bridge between literature and the silver screen. ... This is where some of our most powerful myths and iconic images come from, whether you’re talking about stories that were shaped by the comics _ such as the work of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg _ or actual comic-book stories like the X-Men and Spider-Man.
It’s crucial, said Partible, that traditional believers stay right where they are in mainstream comics, helping shape some of the myths and epic stories that inspire millions. They also can help young artists break into an industry that needs both new ideas and old values.

“People are looking for heroes,” he said. “People are looking for answers to the big questions, like, ‘What in the hell am I doing here?’ I asked that question when I was a kid and some of the comic books I read did a better job of answering it that many of the sermons I heard from preachers back then.”

Terry Mattingly (http://www.tmatt.net) teaches at Palm Beach Atlantic University and is senior fellow for journalism at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. He writes this weekly column for the Scripps Howard News Service.

Coffee Shop Church Sets Grand Opening by Larry Mitchell ( Enterprise Record)

Posted by Ed Miller

A church in a coffee shop plans its grand opening next week in Chico with early rock ‘n’ roll and dollar mochas.

Worship goes a little differently at Matthew’s Caf, said Pastor Terry Walling.

There are no pulpit and pews. People sit at small round tables, just like the patrons of the several nightclubs that used to occupy the spot behind the fountain in the Almond Orchard Shopping Center on Pillsbury Road.

The setup is ideal for the relaxed, interactive services Walling leads.

Times have changed and so have people’s needs and expectations, he said in an interview Thursday.

The message he teaches is the same that churches offered 50 years ago, but the way he delivers it is quite different, he said.

During his talk from the stage, he might pause and show a short segment from a movie to illustrate the point he’s making about the Bible. Later, he’ll ask people at the tables to discuss the topic among themselves.

This is much better than having the congregation just sit and listen, he said. “Whatever you can talk about, you have a better chance of applying to your life.”

We’re trying to create a place the community will flow through and use as opposed to a church that’s off by itself,” he said.

Too often, church done in the traditional way “ends up being great for the preacher and the real fanatics,” while most people leave puzzled about how what they’ve experienced is supposed to affect their lives from Monday through Saturday, he said.

A major goal at Matthew’s Caf is reaching people with the Christian message in ways they can apply to their lives. Walling was asked how he’d know if that goal was being achieved.

“You can’t see inward change very well,” he said. But there are signs. People start making different choices, setting different priorities for themselves.

Ideally, he said, he’d hope the congregation would see the needs of people outside the church and, together, carry out projects to help them.

On the Internet: http://www.matthewscafe.com
Full Post can be seen at Thunderstruck.org

Blog, for Christ’s sake.

Posted by Mike Boyink

Today I want to also add that blogging allows us to be far more effective at communicating Christian truth in depth, and responding to challenges to the faith effectively, broadly and without delay. Link >>