ClarkeComments.com

What I’m Currently Reading:
Maybe It’s Like Baseball - Rubel Shelly, Grace Centered Magazine.

We all know who Rubel Shelly is targeting in this article.

The saddest part is that Shelly has turned his back on the church he has spent so many years in. He and the elders of the church he preaches at have removed the name “church of Christ” from their congregation because they are ashamed of it.

I’m a pretty conservative person, and, I’m a pretty conservative Christian. While I know that not everyone is wrong but us, I know that, unfortunately, a lot of people are wrong.
I certainly won’t say that those that are wrong are going to hell - that judgement is reserved only to God. But, I can certainly say that they are wrong, that they are not following the bible faithfully, and that I certainly will not go down that road.

Shelly, though, invites everyone, right or completely and obviously wrong, to join him. He, like the Disciples of Christ, is abandoning the call for Restoration and exchanging it for a call to unity.

What we need is a little of both.

-Clarke

What I’m currently reading:

Four Views on the Millennium - The Blue Letter Bible.

I’ve always found it interesting that those in the church advocate for a literal interpretation of the bible, until you get to the Book of Revelation.

I personally think that the bible should be read and interpreted literally. I think that the vast majority of us in the Restoration Movement have gotten that very correct.

But what about The Millennium?

The majority of the church is amillennial. However, there are a few premillennial congregations out there. (A link to a premillennialist member of the church is listed in the “different fellowships” link category.

I’ve never quite come to a conclusion of how I should view Revelation. While I generally accept that the churches view of eschatology is correct, I still wonder at times if we are correct.

I’ve studying Revelation personally and in bible classes. I’ve talked with different ministers from different fellowships of the church… and still, I don’t know the answer.

And while I don’t know the answer, part of me thinks that maybe I was never meant to know the answer, and that it is okay not to know.

-Clarke

What I’m currently reading:

Campus Ministry or Christian College - Campus Crosswalk Magazine.

When I read this article it really got me thinking.

I went to a Christian College. It had the prerequisite curfew, non-coed dorms, daily chapel, and required 3 credit hour bible class every semester.

It had an acceptable academic program, but not the best. It didn’t have the major I wanted, but it had some degree offers in the social science, which worked for my career path.

After reading this article, though, I wonder if I shouldn’t have attended a public university.

I’ve always been a supporter of Christian education. One of my parents graduated from both York College and Harding College, and the other twice from Columbia Christian College. I was always encouraged to attend a Christian College.

This article, though, makes me wonder if a public university with a Campus Ministry might not be a better “Christian Education.”

I wonder if my faith would have been strengthened in this environment more so than at the Christian College I attended.

I wonder if I would have brought people to Christ instead of just worshipping him and studying about him where I was.

Unfortunately, I don’t know the answers to these questions. But, after reading this article, I would encourage all teens getting ready to pick a college to really think about their choice carefully, and to read this article.

-Clarke

Hello all:

There are now 99 125 separate links on www.clarkecomments.com. That is very exciting. Every week this page is growing with more and more resources for members of the church. If you are aware of links to other publications, colleges, schools of preaching, or music companies, please send them our way. You can send links to be included to links@clarkecomments.com

Also, we have added a link category called “Works of the church”. This category is for institutions for Christian service, besides educational institutions. We will be adding more adoption agencies, orphan’s homes and other institutions as we learn of them. Feel free to email us with those links as well.

We are very excited about the resources that we have discovered since starting this website. I am very happy that we can present these to you, and I hope that you will find them useful.

-Clarke