Session # 12 Shenk: Rock Daddy

1. Basically Shenk is telling us that in countries with political freedom there is less passion for religion. How many times have we heard stories about a church in a third world country or a country with government restrictions and the congregation is simply flourishing, with people coming from miles around just to attend. Whereas there are 70+ churches in Chambersburg and yet I doubt not a single one of them has the attendance or devotion that a church in Korea or India has. As Americans we take freedom of religion for granted, just like we take other freedoms for granted.

2. Luther's 7 characteristics I think adequately describe the church at Antioch. Every single point can be seen in the scriptures in Acts. I also think that our churches should strive for those characteristics. Just as we as individuals look to Jesus as our perfect example to exemplify, we as the church should look to the church at Antioch as an example to exemplify. The stumbling block, however, that all churches will face is the fact that society or culture is constantly advancing and progressing. In doing so it becomes more and more complicated and complex. Thereby, adding barriers and layers which the church must now overcome in order to follow the 7 characteristics.

3. When I break it down, basically Berger is saying that because secular culture restrained the knowledge beyond the limits of experience, people began to participate in super natural influences. Or in other words, if you tell someone they can't have or do something, then they will want that all the more and will go to great lengths to obtain it. This is best illustrated by looking at a child. If you tell a child they can't have a cookie because it will spoil their appetite, then they are going to want the cookie that much more. Hopefully, they obey, but if the temptation is too great then they will inevitably either obtain their goal of getting a cookie without your knowledge or as the saying goes, "be caught with their hand in the cookie jar".

4. In a regular fire you need three things for it to burn:
1. fuel
2. oxygen
3. ignition source
If you remove one of the three the fire dies. Now if we translate that to Brunner's maxim:
fuel = church body
oxygen = mission
ignition source = Bible
Again just like in the fire, if one of the three is missing the spiritual fire goes out. Brunner's point is that if the church doesn't have missions then it can't "catch fire and burn".

5. The "autonomous self" is merely another way of saying the independent or self contained self. That is a perfect description of society and the younger generation now a days. Today's youth are all about "what makes me feel good"; instant gratification thru high speed Internet, on demand movies, Blockbuster rentals in the mail with exchange at the store ("so you never have to wait for a movie"), pod casts, etc, etc. This mindset completely goes against the church and what it is striving to be: community, selflessness, compassionate, caring, loving. The challenge is before us. We as the church need to lay down our ideas and ways of thinking of old and figure out how to connect with unbelievers of today and tomorrow. Once we make that connection its then about building relationships and demonstrating through our actions, what Christ has done in our lives. If we can do that sincerely, then, maybe then they will ask about it. Once they ask, we can then share what Jesus means to us.