Scientists know the creation requires the Creator.

God knows they know.

Thus, they are, “without excuse”..

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Ro 1:20)

And some receive Christ and follow Him.
This is wonderful.

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“Humans don’t know if there is a God. Humans don’t know if there is life after death.”
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I’m not sure what definition of “know” RandomName is appealing to, but the very foundation of Christianity and, in turn, the reason we know “there is a God” and “there is life after death” is the fact that Jesus was dead for 3 days and then alive. As Paul said, if this is not true, we are indeed fools and RandomName makes his point. On the other hand, if Jesus was truly dead and is now alive, a fact based upon the very empirical evidence I suspect RandomName is seeking, we do, in fact know, that “there is a God” and “there is life after death.”

“The need to treat pastors as rock stars is pathetic.”
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It certainly is, but it’s not clear to me why sinners acting stupidly shocks anyone.

“There is something wrong with your churches, or you would not be here at wmb.”
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There certainly is something wrong with our churches and one result of our understanding of this obvious fact is our responsibility to confess the shortcoming and do something about it, including discussions with others…

“[Yeah, sure there is something wrong with me, but not nearly as wrong with many of you.]”
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This is most assuredly true. If Paul can consider himself “the chief of sinners” and he tells us to consider everyone as better than ourselves, we should be thankful to be reminded of the obvious.

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Our Amish friends are not intrinsically anti-technology, but they are very interested in the effects of technology. Thus, the Amish can hire people to drive them in cars to various places, but they are very concerned that, if they themselves drive cars, their community will be destroyed, Similarly, Neil Postman (well known for his criticism of television) noted that technology is like putting a drop of food color in water – once you’ve put it in, you cannot go back and change it, and you it effects every drop of water, not just part of it. Where I’m going with this is: technologies such as publishing and multimedia inherently change the dynamics of relationships, and, because these forms of media depend upon separated people who do not know each other, celebrity and power WILL be a factor.

What is the solution? My tentative answer is: “The church.” While the multimedia may provide rich blessings in some way, it sometimes seems to this strongly-church-oriented-Lutheran whenever preference is given to multimedia ministry or forming parachurch organizations named after one’s self instead of working in congregational ministry, there is intrinsic danger.

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Mega churches that grow up around a celebrity pastor are in vulnerable positions. I remember when a well-known radio figure had a rather public falling nearly 20 years ago. The church had just built a new, very large sanctuary and people left in rather high numbers after he was forced to resign.

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I agree. And the need to treat them with respect, dignity and admiration when deserved is great!

How we treat our Christian pastors, and leaders signals so much to our children (for good or ill) about that role and the future of the practics of faith in our culture. Christian leaders will get much ill-treatment in this world. That’s a given. The more that Christians become like the world, the worse they will treat the best of our pastors and leaders.

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Because of my cataract surgery, which has been a stunning success.

[Not because of a "miracle" but because my HMO is excellent and my eye surgeon is competent and excellent.]

Because of my eye surgery, I was away from the church’s “wood ministry for three months. The church is excellent. The parishioners I have met are delightful and admirable people. They adore their pastor. The church is big and successful, but not mega.

It is mainstream Protestant. Not liberal. Not evangelical. Most of the people I meet are a mixture of “liberal” and “conservative” without the cant and demented sloganeering of wmb.

I enjoy my Wednesday morning socializing with the volunteers at the wood splitting and after.

My wife and I feel no urge to join the church. We both have other paths for social networking. Humans don’t know if there is a God. Humans don’t know if there is life after death.

The need to treat pastors as rock stars is pathetic.

There is something wrong with your churches, or you would not be here at wmb.

[Yeah, sure there is something wrong with me, but not nearly as wrong with many of you.]

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For example, James Dobson has had his finger on the pulse of what our culture desperately needs (good faithful families) for his whole life and has worked hard to make things better. I admire him and his willingness to speak out on other current issues with a Christian perspective too. And he gets so smeared for doing such good in our time.

We also allow ourselves to forget the giants of faith in the past, to our detriment.

Great Preachers:
Charles Spurgeon
Phillips Brooks
Dwight L. Moody
Charles Jefferson
And more.
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I think Anthony’s parallel with today’s celebrity culture and the culture of Corinth is valid–and a very good point. I am just exploring thoughts about how to throw out the bathwater of celebrity worship but NOT throw wout the baby (genuine admiration & gratitude for great men and woman of faith–yesterday and today).

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Yep,just as I suspected; we are the problem, again.

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