[I write this post as I sit upstairs in my room while over 30 women sing “This is the Day” while clapping downstairs. I live with a host-family and my host-mom is hosting the women’s retreat again this year. [Now they’ve moved on to “He Has Made Me Glad”] I can’t complain too much though because I walked downstairs when they were all arriving and I got to walk through the buffet line of amazing(!) cakes and pastries…]
I ran across this link today at looking out from my little place. My goodness. Do “these companies” [even as I write…”these”…I’m reminded of a conversation a friend and I had about “those Christians” recently…and John Fischer’s great article in the Sept/Oct issue of Relevant…it’s called “Those Christians” if you can find it anywhere] have anything better to do than attack an organization that provides support, encouragement, training, resources, etc., etc, to thousands of pastors, youth pastors and youth worker volunteers? [I’m sorry to keep interjecting, but they are now singing a song that is to the tune of…”B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo was his name-oh!”]
So, this publishing company, which claims to “publish books that make a difference”, has it out for Youth Specialties, Richard Foster (& Renovare), Brennan Manning, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and Eugene Peterson’s The Message [they link to an article entitled “What Kind of message is The Message?“].
While Lighthouse Trails investigates and questions many who have laid a solid foundation for spirituality and the lack thereof in today’s evangelical circles, they have published a book called A Time of Departing: How a Universal Spirituality Is Changing the Face of Christianity and recommends the following books: Far From Rome, Near to God: Testimonies of Fifty Converted Roman Catholic Priests [because Catholics must not be Christians…right?], The Seduction of Christianity [in which the author even attacks Robert Schuller and James Dobson and discusses the growing danger of the acceptance and practice of holistic medicine], and The Less Traveled Road and the Bible: A Scriptural Critique of the Philosophy of M. Scott Peck.
Not much to say about this. Except…what the hell? I know that if I spend time bashing this publishing company here, I’m simply doing the very thing that I’m ranting about. But…when will some Christians stop feeling the need to make sure that everyone knows their viewpoint (which is 100% true, absolute, verifiable, etc….right) is the Truth?