tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:29:14 +0000This blog covers issues of the Christian faith as they relate to Generation X and life in the Church. It is written by Andrew C. Thompson, a 33-year old United Methodist pastor.http://www.genxrising.com/andrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)Blogger389125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-8465008488628857164Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:32:00 +00002010-02-01T09:50:15.992-05:00HaitiGen-X RisingPhotosI've lived my entire life below the Mason-Dixon line, so I'm not used to a great deal of winter weather. In the towns and cities where I've lived - in Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina - you can usually expect autumn weather to extend to the end of November, with spring picking up sometime in mid-February. The "cold" months of December and January rarely see temperatures in the 30s lasting http://www.genxrising.com/2010/02/time-for-every-purpose-under-heaven.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-2306702323121583878Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:11:00 +00002010-01-30T10:57:03.770-05:00General ConferenceMt. Carmel UMCDonald HaynesChurch ReformMy colleague at the United Methodist Reporter, the Rev. Don Haynes, has written an extremely important column. His latest in the Reporter, entitled, "Call for GC special session is reality check," offers a lucid and articulate view on the issues likely to face a specially-called session of the General Conference in the coming months. One of Don's paragraphs that particularly struck me goes as http://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/you-need-to-read-this-article.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-263485065803449825Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:38:00 +00002010-01-20T18:42:02.095-05:00Ryan MallettAdam ButlerArkansas Razorbacks I try to stay on topic in my blogging, but every once in awhile something random pops up that's too good not to post. As those of you who know me personally can attest, I am a die-hard Arkansas Razorbacks fan. I let that show through here and there - like when I couldn't contain my excitement at the beginning of the 2009 season and when I highlighted Tight End D.J. Williams' stellar character. http://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/calling-all-hogs-fans.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-8124978201218483225Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:26:00 +00002010-01-18T11:42:35.920-05:00HaitiUMCORThe United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is now reporting that two mission leaders at the agency have died as a result of injuries sustained in the Haiti earthquake. Early reports that Sam Dixon and Clint Rabb had been rescued and were safe were apparently premature. Both men were removed from the rubble of the Hotel Montana. But follow-up reports indicate that UMCOR head Sam Dixon had http://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/sad-news-from-umcor.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-1344058094572255390Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:03:00 +00002010-01-15T17:55:47.178-05:00Faith and LeadershipMiscellaniesSteve ManskarStanley HauerwasCovenant Discipleship ConnectionSteve RankinUnited Methodist Reporter Here are a few notes that might interest you. Consider it suggestions for weekend reading! I wanted to highlight a few articles that touch on important issues in faith and discipleship - Steve Rankin, the university chaplain at Southern Methodist University, has a great article in the United Methodist Reporter looking at the doctrine of Christian perfection, character formation, and http://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/friday-miscellanies.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-5036520365064826322Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:12:00 +00002010-01-14T22:01:58.924-05:00HaitiUMCORThe stories about Haiti's earthquake paint a dire picture of what the Haitian people are facing. Some accounts speculate that perhaps 100,000 people have lost their lives. As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti isn't well equipped to cope with the fallout from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck two days ago. The most recent reports point out that, added to the challenge ofhttp://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/help-for-haiti.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-6832042400832029368Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:57:00 +00002010-01-13T12:49:49.839-05:00Asbury JournalWesleyan/Methodist periodicals I want to conclude this series of blog posts by recommending one more periodical in the Wesleyan/Methodist world. It is the Asbury Journal, which is the official publication of Asbury Theological Seminary. The Asbury Journal is a biannual publication, which means it comes out two times per year (in April and October). Like some of the other academic periodicals I've recommended, the Asbury http://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/worth-reading-part-vi.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-8871618093453339545Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:13:00 +00002010-01-11T07:13:00.829-05:00Wesleyan Theological JournalWesleyan Theological SocietyWesleyan/Methodist periodicals Another great periodical I want to highlight for reading in the Wesleyan & Methodist tradition is the publication of the Wesleyan Theological Society, an organization that I wrote about last year after attending its annual meeting in Anderson, Indiana. The quarterly journal of the WTS is called the Wesleyan Theological Journal. Probably more than any periodical I've posted about in the past fewhttp://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/worth-reading-part-v.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-8198386214088237373Sat, 09 Jan 2010 11:48:00 +00002010-01-09T06:48:00.466-05:00Wesleyan/Methodist periodicalsUnited Methodist Reporter My last two posts featured periodicals in the Wesleyan & Methodist tradition that fall by and large on the scholarly or academic side. Today I want to highlight a more popular-level publication. The United Methodist Reporter, in my opinion, is the best news source available for current events and commentary related to the life of the United Methodist Church. Okay, okay, first a disclosure. I http://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/worth-reading-part-iv.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-4284650222262732295Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:17:00 +00002010-01-07T07:25:54.959-05:00Methodist HistoryMethodist History (journal)Wesleyan/Methodist periodicals The next periodical I'd like to highlight is a print-based journal entitled Methodist History. This journal - which I'll abbreviate as MH - is the official historical journal of the United Methodist Church and is published by the General Commission on Archives and History. As such, it is an important publication for articles covering the historical interpretation of Methodism. I've been a http://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/worth-reading-part-iii.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-7660259345900595864Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:52:00 +00002010-01-05T10:54:12.834-05:00Methodist HistoryWesleyan/Methodist periodicalsMethodist ReviewWesleyan Theology Earlier this week I explained that I am going to spend the next few posts looking at a number of great resources - both in print and online - that specialize in the Wesleyan tradition and contemporary Methodism. I want to point first to an interesting new online journal by the name of Methodist Review. I highlighted MR back in August in this post. MR is the successor to Quarterly Review, whichhttp://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/worth-reading-part-ii.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-6850103242966113716Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:17:00 +00002010-01-09T08:54:34.935-05:00Methodist HistoryWesleyan/Methodist periodicalsWesleyan Theology I'd like to spend a few posts pointing my readers to excellent resources for reading in the Wesleyan & Methodist tradition. Here's why: -- While there are a lot of good Methodist-related blogs these days (see Shane Raynor's Wesley Report for a regular rundown of solid content), it's important to read deeper than what you can get in a blog post. Christians identify with a particular tradition http://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/worth-reading-part-i.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-1371797432549627629Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:54:00 +00002010-01-01T13:26:34.698-05:00Happy New YearJohn WesleyCovenant RenewalHappy 2010! The coming of a new year is an appropriate time to take stock of our lives and think about how we want to live and act in better ways over the next 12 months. People often call this process "New Year's Resolutions." I've got an alternative, if you'd like one. It is a way to think about your resolutions as aspects of your Christian discipleship. And that might just make you think http://www.genxrising.com/2010/01/renewing-covenant.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-2578548838569291588Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:28:00 +00002009-12-27T06:28:00.384-05:00MartyrdomSalvation ArmyA sad story came out of my home state of Arkansas on Christmas eve. Philip Wise, a major in the Salvation Army, was shot and killed in the act of delivering donations to a local Salvation Army donation center. The two assailants were attempting to rob Wise of the Christmas donations he had collected when they fatally shot him. His wife and children were present at the center and waiting for him http://www.genxrising.com/2009/12/martyrs-death.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-6651256460529211258Fri, 25 Dec 2009 11:35:00 +00002009-12-25T08:51:12.975-05:00Jesus ChristChristmas God's act of salvation in delivering the Hebrews out of their bondage to Pharaoh is Scripture's greatest prefiguration of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. When delivering the call to Moses on Mt. Horeb, God tells him, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to http://www.genxrising.com/2009/12/hail-son-of-righteousness.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-7824151799534301064Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:27:00 +00002009-12-25T08:32:02.197-05:00AthanasiusIncarnationJesus ChristAdvent"The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.   "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the willhttp://www.genxrising.com/2009/12/incarnation-implications.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-2913693010972558492Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:07:00 +00002009-12-22T22:32:54.374-05:00Medieval StuffPhotos Would things be more awesome if we lived in medieval times? Undoubtedly. Can we do anything about that? Unfortunately, no. Well, almost no. The picture you see above is not some 800-year old stone path in the garden of a medieval castle. It's in my backyard. I decided my wife and I didn't have enough medieval influence in our lives, so I built a vaguely medieval stone path around our http://www.genxrising.com/2009/12/happy-medieval-christmas.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-3285530732200132726Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:45:00 +00002009-12-16T08:54:18.826-05:00UMCMiscellaniesBarack ObamaEpiscopacyAFTE A couple of weeks of end-of-semester grading, capped off by a quick trip to Houston to attend a conference, has kept me away from the blogosphere for awhile. I've been jotting down lots of blog-worthy items over the past few days, though. Here are a few of them: - I spent this past weekend at The Woodlands United Methodist Church near Houston. I was there for the annual AFTE Christmas http://www.genxrising.com/2009/12/wednesday-miscellanies.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-2816145735141266576Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:39:00 +00002009-12-08T22:35:04.069-05:00Holy SpiritJesus ChristAdventWesleyan Theology "They will call him Immanuel, which means, God with us." The doctrine of the Incarnation is central to the Christian faith. It states that God has come into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but instead emptied himself and took the form of a servant - being born in our likeness and suffering for us on the http://www.genxrising.com/2009/12/is-god-with-us.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-7040819573394198588Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:53:00 +00002009-12-01T11:38:50.789-05:00Mark DriscollCalvinismEvangelicalism You should listen to Mark Driscoll, if you don't already. Here's three reasons why: First, he probably takes the Bible more seriously than you do. Second, he's willing to engage the culture in a way few pastors and theologians are. Third, he represents the way Calvinism gets preached and taught in the church when it is embraced wholeheartedly. And Wesleyans need to hear it to understand it. http://www.genxrising.com/2009/12/listen-to-mark-driscoll.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-7356252911907299439Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:09:00 +00002009-11-29T08:27:27.247-05:00Holy ScriptureAdventA Scripture passage on this first Sunday of Advent: A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all the people shall see it http://www.genxrising.com/2009/11/prepare-way-of-lord.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-2920107727899233402Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:25:00 +00002009-11-29T08:11:59.641-05:00ThanksgivingHoly Scripture O give thanks to the Lord,  for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the http://www.genxrising.com/2009/11/give-thanks-to-lord.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-8698189046248765161Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:01:00 +00002009-11-24T09:01:00.317-05:00PhotosBattlestar GalacticaThis is perhaps the most awesome photo I have ever seen. My wife gets a hug from Bill Adama, commander of the Battlestar Galactica, at a recent financial aid conference.And to think, I've never even been in the C.I.C.Or flown in a Viper.Humph.http://www.genxrising.com/2009/11/my-wife-and-admiral-adama.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-375190991028507599Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:19:00 +00002009-11-22T07:19:00.742-05:00Christ the King SundayJesus ChristAlmighty Father, who gave your Son Jesus Christ a realmwhere all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him;make us loyal followers of our living Lord,that we may always hear his word,follow his teachings, and live in his Spirit;and hasten the day when every knee shall bowand every tongue confess that he is Lord;to your eternal glory. Amen.(UM Book of Worship, 420)http://www.genxrising.com/2009/11/prayer-for-christ-king.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-8266647841270073465Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:04:00 +00002009-11-21T16:39:26.511-05:00Williamsburg VAConcluding a series of posts from a recent trip to Colonial Williamsburg, VA...This past week was really busy, so I didn't get to finish up my posts on the recent trip to Williamsburg that Emily and I took. Let me just add this one, with a word about our visit to the Bruton Parish Church on the Sunday afternoon before we drove back to Durham.Bruton Parish (nowadays a part of the Episcopal Church)http://www.genxrising.com/2009/11/visit-to-bruton-parish.htmlandrew@mandatum.org (Andrew C. Thompson)1