John March

Category: Culture

  • Affluenza: Shopping and Spending

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    Some sobering stories and stats about consumerism in America (all quotes from the book Affluenza): “We spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($100 billion) than on higher education ($99 billion).” pg. 13 “nearly 30 percent of Americans buy Christmas presents for their pets; 11 percent buy them for their neighbors.” (pg. 13) “In 1986,…

  • Affluenza

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    This is an excellently researched and thought-provoking book that looks at America’s capitalistic, consumerist society as sickness not salvation.  The authors cite story and statistic ad nauseam to make their point — our excessive consumption of every sort of good is not filling the void in our hearts or satisfying the hunger in our soul.…

  • Collins the Christian (and Scientist)

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    An excellent assessment by John Stackhouse of the cultural response to Collins’ appointment to NIH.  Money quote: Francis Collins, former head of the Human Genome Project, has been named by President Obama to head the National Institutes of Health. What makes this news is the breathtaking idea that someone could be both a scientist and…

  • Whose Religion Is Christianity?

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    In this interesting book, Lamin Sanneh explores the nature of expanding world Christianity.  Sanneh explains how missionaries, who first took the gospel to non-western contexts in places like Africa, brought more than just Christianity.  Their efforts to educate peoples in the ways of Christianity’s God were done in conjunction with attempts to educate them in…

  • Consumerism in the Church

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    Check out this interesting commentary by Skye Jethani on consumerism in the church in this short video: I think he raises an interesting point about the assumed cultural values the medium of our church experience communicates.  If Sunday morning church experiences are dedicated to the “entertainment” and “comfort” of the parishioner, then it is no surprise…

  • The Narcissism Epidemic

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    Even almost sociopathic narcissism feels right at home on My Super Sweet 16.  Atlanta teen Allison tells a party planner she wants to block off part of Peachtree Street so there can be a parade for “my grand entrance.”  Peachtree is a major thoroughfare, the planner reminds her.  She responds, “My sweet 16 is more…

  • The Next Evangelicalism Conference

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    Talking about being multi-ethnic is so much more fun than actually being multi-ethnic.  I thoroughly enjoyed the conference today on Evangelicalism’s multi-ethnic future.  There were some great talks given, and a compelling case was made for a multi-cultural Evangelicalism.  From a biblical, sociological, and statistical point of view, the speakers persuasively argued that Evangelicalism must…

  • The Next Evangelicalism Discussion in the Twin Cities

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    I plan to attend this event tomorrow. If you’re in the area and have time tomorrow, I think this will be well worth your while.

  • The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

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    Soong-Chan Rah argues powerfully that the evangelical church in America is held captive to Western (he means white) culture.  He points to the models of ministry held up as ‘successful’ at conferences and in publishers’ catalogs as evidence that American evangelicalism glorifies the white suburban church as the epitome of what church should look like. Throughout…

  • Emerging Church Offensive?

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    A smoking hot quote about the Emerging Church from Soong-Chan Rah’s new book, The Next Evangelicalism: I personally find the use of the term “emerging church” to be offensive.  I believe that the real emerging church is the church in Africa, Asia and Latin America that continues to grow by leaps and bounds.  I believe…