Well, hopefully I’ll find more varied subjects than interesting websites to blog about, however this site on creation is about the best I’ve seen. Of course it is a wiki, which means it is contributed to by visitors to the site. This is known as mass collaborative authoring, which, if you hadn’t guessed by now, I am a fan of.
About 6-8 months ago, I first discovered the unparalleled discussion board known as Menno Discuss. With 964 registered users and 107,790 postings (as of Jan. 17, 2007), it is truly a living breathing rendezvous for Mennonite/Anabaptist folks to discuss just about anything under the sun. In browsing the various threads, I noticed that there is a definite majority of people who are in the 15-30 age category. This isn’t really surprising as it corresponds to any online activities across the Mennonite/Anabaptist population. Very interesting and all-too-time-consuming.
Here are some interesting quotes and signatures from the site’s users that challenged me:
1. He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.
2. “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”– Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
3. “Christians don’t tell lies they just go to church and sing them” A.W. Tozer
4. The difference between constructive & destructive criticism, between true complement & flattery,can be found in one question– who benefits?
6. “We must adjust ourselves to the Bible, never the Bible to ourselves.”
BTW, did I mention I haven’t posted once yet? 
Update:Â Yes, I quit lurking, took the plunge and joined the odd discussion (mostly technical)Â
The methods used in the work of Christian missions has changed over the years, but the need has not. I discovered this story/allegory on GTO’s website HERE. I think every Christian has a responsibility to missions, be they foreign or local.
THE CRY OF BLOOD
By Amy Carmichael
The
tom-toms thumped straight on all night and the darkness shuddered round
me like a living, feeling thing. I could not go to sleep, so I lay
awake and looked; and I saw, as it seemed, this: That I stood on a
grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite
space. I looked, but saw no bottom; only cloud shapes, black and
furiously coiled, and great shadow-shrouded hollows, and unfathomable
depths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth.
Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They
were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms and
another little child holding on to her dress. She was on the very
verge. Then I saw that she was blind. She lifted her foot for the next
step . . . it trod air. She was over, and the children over with her.
Oh, the cry as they went over!
Then I saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters. All were
blind, stone blind; all made straight for the precipice edge. There
were shrieks, as they suddenly knew themselves falling, and a tossing
up of helpless arms, catching, clutching at empty air. But some went
over quietly, and fell without a sound.
Then I wondered, with a wonder that was simply agony, why no one
stopped them at the edge. I could not. I was glued to the ground, and I
could only call; though I strained and tried, only whisper would come.
Then I saw that along the edge there were sentries set at intervals.
But the intervals were too great; there were wide, unguarded gaps
between. And over these gaps the people fell in their blindness, quite
unwarned; and the green grass seemed blood-red to me, and the gulf
yawned like the mouth of hell.
Then I saw, like a little picture of peace, a group of people under
some trees with their backs turned toward the gulf. They were making
daisy chains. Sometimes when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and
reached them, it disturbed them and they thought it a rather vulgar
noise. And if one of their number started up and wanted to go and do
something to help, then all the others would pull that one down. “Why
should you get so excited about it? You must wait for a definite call
to go! You haven’t finished your daisy chain yet. It would be really
selfish,†they said, “to leave us to finish the work alone.â€
There was another group. It was made up of people whose great desire
was to get more sentries out; but they found that very few wanted to
go, and sometimes there were no sentries set for miles and miles of the
edge.
Once a girl stood alone in her place, waving the people back; but her
mother and other relations called and reminded her that her furlough
was due; she must not break the rules. And being tired and needing a
change, she had to go and rest for awhile; but no one was sent to guard
her gap, and over and over the people fell, like a waterfall of souls.
Once a child caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of
the gulf; it clung convulsively, and it called – but nobody seemed to
hear. Then the roots of the grass gave way, and with a cry the child
went over, its two little hands still holding tight to the torn-off
bunch of grass. And the girl who longed to be back in her gap thought
she heard the little one cry, and she sprang up and wanted to go; at
which they reproved her, reminding her that no one is necessary
anywhere; the gap would be well taken care of, they knew. And then they
sang a hymn.
Then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million
broken hearts wrung out in one full drop, one sob. And a horror of
great darkness was upon me, for I knew what it was – the Cry of the
Blood.
Then thundered a voice, the voice of the Lord. “And He said, ‘What hast
thou done, The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the
ground.’â€
The tom-toms still beat heavily, the darkness still shuddered and
shivered about me; I heard the yells of the devil-dancers and weird,
wild shriek of the devil-possessed just outside the gate.
What does it matter, after all? It has gone on for years; it will go on for years. Why make such a fuss about it?
God forgive us! God arouse us! Shame us out of our callousness! Shame us out of our sin.
–Amy Carmichael
I was thinking recently of the effects of the written word on our lives as people. Books have shaped my understanding of the world I live in profoundly, more so than the average American I think. Growing up without internet, television, movies, public school, and for the most part without public libraries, any book that crossed the threshold of our home was voraciously devoured. Life was simpler, values were… well valued, and I believe I was able to do more “creative thinking” than if I had been raised on treehouse, sesame street, and disney.
How has your life been influenced by print, film, public media etc? Feel free to comment.
For fun, I decided to compile a “Short List” of a few of the books that have shaped my childhood and young adult years. The ones with links take you to Amazon.com where you can read reviews and purchase the individual book. There are a total of 200 books which if my memory serves me right would probably represent a mere 10-20% of all the books I’ve read in my life. (If you are searching for a particular book hit CTRL+F and enter the title in the search field)
I recently finished reading a truly amazing book dealing with a slice of history from the Chinese house church movement called, The Heavenly Man
Read it for yourself. It will affect you deeply. In fact, you’ll have a hard time putting it down before you reach the end of the book.
Technorati Tags: christianity, chinese house church, Brother Yun
Lunarpages is the company I host this blog with. I highly recommend them.
Powered by WordPress
