All posts in Culture

Evangelism & The Church

by Ryan Marcum on August 12, 2011 in Blog, Culture with 2 Comments

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20

I once heard a believer say, “above all else we as Christians we need to be theologians and apologists”. If our focus is to debate and argue points with those who disagree then sure, we should be theologians and apologists to that end. But if we are called to share the Gospel as we gothen we are called to love on people where they are. We need to be where they are, listening before shouting on the sidewalk outside bars and abortion clinics. Continue reading →

Social Media reVolution 2011

by Ryan Marcum on August 10, 2011 in Blog, Culture with No comments

The impact of SocialMedia on society is enormous…

If social media has such a huge impact on society than how can Christians use this medium to advance the Gospel? Continue reading →

Worldview – Biblical or Opinion?

by Ryan Marcum on May 10, 2010 in Blog, Culture with No comments

Whether we know it or not we all have imprints on our lives. These imprints shape how we talk, act, treat others and much more! Most people do not even think twice about the phrases they say or their presuppositions towards people, politics and even music. The lists of things that are affected by our worldviews are almost infinite. For this post, my goal is to get you thinking about how you think. Where are you “coming from” when interacting with the culture around you?

Definition: What is a worldview? In the simplest form a worldview is, One’s personal view of the world and how one interprets it; the totality of one’s beliefs about reality; A general philosophy or view of life.

Everyone has a view of the world around them. So the question is, how does one come to hold the certain view he/she has? I have stated above that we all have imprints and these imprints shape who we are. Where do these imprints come from? Our worldview is shaped, through imprints, from the way our parents taught us, the friends we have, the music we listen to, even our ancestral culture. For instance, do people in the Florida Keys go about their day as people in New York City? In some ways yes, but the culture is more laid back in the Keys as it is in the BIG City. Take for instance, the sense of time in Hispanic countries compared to the sense of time in the U.S. This is shaped by the culture, family and everyday life. I like Louisville sports, while my wife likes Kentucky sports. Where does our sports affiliation come from? Our families. Our imprints shape our worldview which shapes the way we live out our lives on a daily basis.

How do you interpret the world around you? From where does your philosophy come from?

Have you ever sat in a church service and thought something like, this sermon sounds a lot like opinion rather than Biblical or where does the Bible say that! More than likely you have listened to an opinion based sermon or message and thought to yourself something like that above. The question is; Is your worldview based on Biblical Truth or Opinion?

When you read Scripture, do you read it to shape how you interpret the world around you? Or, when you read Scripture, do you interpret it with your opinions shaped by the world around you? The latter is wrong. Plain and simple, we all come to the Bible with presuppositions based on our lifestyle, culture even sin. For example, if you believe that homosexuality is right, then you would read Scripture to uphold your belief.  Take my own sin of wanting more material things. I do not like to read Scripture that beckons me to get rid of the things that distract me from my relationship to God. We all have a worldview, but the fact of the matter is that our worldview should not shape the way we apply the Scripture to our lives.

From today on, think about how you read God’s Holy Word. Read it so that God Himself, through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, will shape your worldview. Your opinion does not compare to the GREATNESS of God nor should it change the way you interpret the Bible.

Is your Worldview based on Biblical Truth or Opinions?

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

The Gospel in 140 characters

by Ryan Marcum on April 30, 2010 in Blog, Culture with 8 Comments

The Gospel in 140 Characters:

THE WINNER OF THE FIRST “EVER” CONTEST
at ryanmarcum.com

Jason D. with his tweet of the Gospel in 140 characters:

God made us 2 show His greatness. We rebelled &desrve His wrath but Jesus died as a sub 4 snnrs &rose again. Repnt & believe &U will B saved

Congrats! Please Direct Message me on twitter with address info, and I will ship you $25 StarBucks gift Card!

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Can you share the Gospel in 140 characters? Can it be possible to share the good news, with the social media scene as fast paced as it is? Are you up to the challenge? If so, you could win a $25 dollar gift card to Starbucks! That’s right, high roller treatment. Am I bribing you to share the Gospel? No, I am asking you if it is possible to relay the important information of the Gospel. It’s not about how much you tweet, it’s about the content of what you tweet!

There will only be one winner, will it be YOU? All posts MUST be submitted by May 6, and the winner will be announced May 10.

How to participate:

  1. Post your Gospel presentation in the comments section below this post.
  2. You must follow @ryanmarcum and retweet the contest announcement.

RETWEET THIS ANNOUNCEMENT:

The Gospel in 140 characters? Win $25! Enter Contest at: http://tinyurl.com/26n3vt2
Don’t forget to follow @ryanmarcum

3. No more than 2 entries accepted. I will only review your latest two entries.

Again: You must post in the comments section of this post, you must follow @ryanmarcum, and retweet the announcement.

4. To be eligible for prize you must live in the United States or Canada. (Sorry)

Culture and the Gospel

by Ryan Marcum on April 7, 2010 in Blog, Culture with 2 Comments

Here are some of my tweets today:

  1. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 about 9 hours ago via Echofon
  2. Question: do you influence the culture around you or does the culture influence you? Share the Gospel. Make an impact. Rinse and Repeat. about 7 hours ago via Echofon
  3. When the culture influences you more than the Gospel, it then becomes an idol. (see previous culture tweet) about 5 hours ago via Echofon
  4. CULTURE: If the church influenced culture, instead of culture influencing the church, would it look any different? about 5 hours ago via Echofon

Needless to say, I have been thinking about the culture in which I live, and how do I interact with it as a follower of Jesus Christ. To begin, let us decide what culture IS. In an article about culture, resurgence, defines culture as; Culture is the shared beliefs, behaviors, and artifacts of a particular group of people who share a common language. The article goes on to say that everything is culture. Everything we do (activity) and make (artifact) is culture. The way we dress, talk, where we live, everything is a part of the culture in which we find ourselves.

The question I am posing is; What is the church doing amidst its particular culture. I am talking about the church as a whole (the movement of Jesus Christ) and the church around the corner (faith community, making disciples and reaching the world with the Gospel). I often hear stories of the “good ol’ days” in which everything shut down on Sundays and now the church shuts down to follow a school calendar or summer vacations. We hear reasons like, “It gives families the opportunity to spend time together” or “Church attendance will be low, and the tithe won’t be as much, so we will save money by not meeting.” What happened to the church! What happened to the influence? Have we replaced God for comfort? Have we replaced God for a school Calendar?

This post is by no means a slam on churches who shut down for spring break, or for summer time this is simply about how churches engage the culture around them? In John 17, Jesus prays for the disciples and future believers. In His prayer Jesus pleads for the Father to protect them, the disciples who are in the world. We have all heard the term “in the world but not of it”, right? If we are honest, we are all impacted by the culture around us. I really enjoy all types of media, anything from music to movies to books to smart phones and gadgets of all sorts, and at times they consume me. The culture in which I live says, “get that new phone, or gadget” because without it you wont feel like your ahead of the information game. I REALLY enjoy the TV show LOST! If I miss the latest episode, that’s OK because I have a DVR so I can watch it later. The technology of western culture is awesome, yet it comes with a price. I like most, spend so much time living within the culture, I forget about Jesus and His prayer, that though I am in the world, I am not to be of the world. I am an alien in a foreign land and yet this foreign land has become a place in which I get lost in the shuffle of culture. I, at times forget the Gospel. So what are we as Christian supposed to do? Are we to be separatists? Are believers supposed to be invisible in our cultures? NO, on the contrary, Scripture gives us a mandate to interact with culture but not to be consumed by it.

Colossians 2:16-17: Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Paul here, is warning the church of the Colossians about trading their freedom in Christ for a set of man-made rules and rituals. This was the culture in which they found themselves in, passed down through the Old Testamental times to then. Yet, their reality is only found in Christ! Nothing has changed for us today, our reality is not in the culture in which we find ourselves, no, our reality is ONLY found in the One who gave His life as a sacrifice so that we can have freedom in HIM!

3 things for believers:

1. Understand and recognize that we all live in a particular culture where we are. (Where we live, work, etc.)
2. We are mandated to Share The Gospel, and make disciples in our culture.(Matthew 28:16-20)
3. Our efforts are to bring Glory to God and not ourselves, so that no man can boast (Ephesians 2:8-10)