Michael Spencer on rethinking God, and Brant Hansen on being/feeling spiritually bankrupt. Honesty: check. Edifying: check. Politically correct: heck!

Michael Spencer asks What Was Jesus Like?

Do you like grape Kool-Aid? I’ve always loved the taste of grape Kool-Aid on a hot day.

Have you ever tasted grapes? Do grapes taste grape Kool-Aid?

No, they don’t. But you could easily imagine a child who loves grape Kool-Aid eating a grape and saying “Yuck!! This doesn’t taste like grapes at all!”

The real thing has been replaced by the advertised replacement so long that there’s genuine confusion and disappointment at the taste of a real grape.

So it is with Jesus. The version of Jesus that dominates so much contemporary Christianity is the grape Kool-Aid version of a real grape. And many, many Christians have no “taste” for Jesus as we find him in scripture, especially the Gospels.

Christmas Roundup:

• Dan Edelen on Christian contentment
• Michael Spencer: Three Stories
  
• Ben Witherington on C. S. Lewis and Christmas
• The Krusty Sage on... idiots
• And even a Christmas lolcat!
  

The iMonk on the problem with real Christians:

So it is with being a Christian. I am one. I want to be one. I’m deeply aware of how often I’m not one. Simul justus et peccator and several other things.

MercatorNet on the new atheism.

The irony of this new desire to further the spread of atheism is that, unlike the cool and laid-back atheists of an earlier age, these new atheists write like true believers...

From Dan Edelen (Cerulean Sanctum): 100 truths learned in 30 years of following Christ.

A new blog, or "online journal", as they're calling it, from the C. S. Lewis foundation. Looks pretty good so far. (HT: The Wardrobe Door)

Trevin Wax shares his past experience with and present feelings about eschatology. Some days I think Trevin and I were separated at birth, except that he's about 6 years older than I am. In any case, I'm in a very similar place on this topic.

What I do know, though, about Revelation is that the focus of the book is not ultimately a “theology of the end times” designed to fascinate us with details we can chart on a map. The focus of the book is on the unveiling of Christ and his bride. Read Revelation to find out about the end of the world and you might miss Christ - the center and focus of all Bible prophecy.

Maybe one day I will better understand Revelation. Until then, I’m satisfied to leave the eschatological speculation to the pro’s. Better yet, I’m going to keep my eyes on Jesus - the One who is coming soon.

An awesome post on Rich Mullins at Kamp Krusty:

I confess to wondering sometimes, "Why am I doing this...?" and then I hear the first few notes of "Peace", and I remember. Oh -- yeah. Of course.

Jesus.

My good friend Jonathan Marshall just rolled out a new blog. He's a pretty fired-up guy and I'm sure he'll be bringing up some good stuff. Don't miss it.

A TIME Magazine article about the spiritual struggles of Mother Theresa has sparked some discussion in the blogosphere about what it means to "practice the presence of God." Here's some thoughtful, honest posts from Michael Spencer and Dan Edelen - both definitely worth reading. Also see MercatorNet.

You won't want to miss this recent highlight from Kamp Krusty: The Tyranny of Mattering.

Two things I know about the world:

1) Everything matters.

2) This can be a real problem.

Dan Edelen on the Church's complacency in providing for the needs of even her own people:

If I don’t instill in my son that we go without certain things we want so we can use the money to help others in need, then it doesn’t matter how many Bible verses he’s memorized, he’s been deprived of the heart of God. I fear that too many Christian parents brainwash themselves and their kids into a sense of entitlement that stomps on the Gospel. God help us should the next generation be even more stingy than we’ve become.

Here's a profoundly challenging post at consumed from Matthew Crawford: Will you walk in the darkness, or make a fire?

The exposition defies excerpting. Read it.

While I'm not ready to read Harry Potter for myself or recommend it to others, I'm not ready to condemn it either. It seems I'm slower to judgment than I used to be, and not as quick to lash out in angry dogmatism and call it discernment. Two thoughtful articles - Of Boggarts and What Would Jonathan Edwards Say About Harry Potter? - have further checked my initial inclination to dismiss the series out of hand. (Thanks to Aaron at The Wardrobe Door for the second link.)

Dan Edelen has drawn an interesting distinction between what he terms "NT" and "OT" Christians. I'm not sure I've heard it put exactly like this, but I know what he's getting at. Unlike him, I'm not sure it is Spiritually necessary - or even logically possible - to reconcile the two Covenants, as the one was designed to fulfill and replace the other.

What's the best argument against religion? Yep, you guessed it: religion.

(WORLD)

Greg Boyd on William Wilberforce:

In light of the recent movie on Wilberforce’s life (“Amazing Grace”) I’ve received several communications from people wondering how Wilberforce’s achievement fits into my radical distinction between the kingdom of God and politics. Some apparently think my perspective stands in conflict with the example of Wilberforce – as though I’d possibly be against what he did. This is not at all the case.

Here's a very, very good post on imagination in Christian perspective. (HT: Dan Edelen) This one is worth reading - slowly - all the way through - twice.

If we are going to talk about the ‘primacy’ of anything in man’s grasping of his world, let us speak of the primacy of the imagination. The very act of perceiving our world necessarily involves the imagination. There is no such thing as mere perception.

It so happens that Peter Kreeft also has an excellent lecture on this.

Screwtape's First Letter to the Blogosphere. The phraseology is pretty faithful to the original, but it still doesn't sound quite like Lewis.