I'm not big on the PK's; it's distinctly an American phenomenon. Coming from north of the 49th parallel, I look at PK as really a very American thing which I consider has limited applicability outside the cultural milieu of the United States.
My reasoning is that a great deal of the purpose of PK seems to be to bring black and white (or whatever is the least politically-incorrect way of naming the racial "boundaries" today) Americans back together. It is a good and worthy thing to try to heal the hurts that have been caused by racism; my counterpoint is merely that PK's efforts are directed towards the American "racism and slavery experience," which is quite distinct from experiences elsewhere in the world.
After a while, it sorta fell apart on its own, losing popularity. Possibly they reached the bounds of how interested people were in "healing some of those hurts". I also understand they had a tough time defining their theology loosely enough that they could, on the one hand, be inclusive enough to draw in both charismatic Pentecostals and more stolid Baptists, whilst having a strict enough definition that they wouldn't get overrun by people from various pseudo-Christian cults.
I've written a bit on Charismatics
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
This site has a wide variety of books that are out-of-copyright in electronic form. See also Project Gutenberg that collects out-of-copyright books that can be freely distributed in electronic form.
CrossWire Software- Free Christian Educational Bible Software Society
Eschatology.com, the study of eschatology and sovereign grace from a "preterist" point of view.
Possibly oversimplified, the position is a (possibly Christian Reformed?) view that the Second Coming was fulfilled within the physical generation of the apostles via the establishment of the Church.
I have yet to figure out what the position says about what happens when people die...
The "real" Jack Chick produces comic-book-like "tracts" that, at first glance, might be interesting "witnessing tools" for evangelical Christians.
Whether unfortunately or otherwise, reality is that not far below the surface lies a rather uglier situation.
Ever see those tiny, pocket-sized Christian comic book tracts that are left on park benches, in public restrooms, under your windshield wiper-blade, or stuffed into books at the library? You know, those horribly-drawn comics with the paranoid messages in them, outlandish and unlikely stories, and fire-and-brimstone style? These are the world-famous religious tracts of Jack T. Chick, one of the most prolific, paranoid, ultra-conservative, and nastiest publishers of Christian literature since the Dark Ages! Many people have found these tracts to be a great source of humor, specifically for the bizarre and schizophrenic tales spun within them. Let's face it, Jack T. Chick's world view, which roughly boils down to the notion that there is a gigantic and complex world conspiracy of Catholics, Homosexuals, Satanists, Witches, and Atheists out to get anyone who is a "real Christian" (a real Christian as defined by Jack Chick), is so extreme and unbelievable that no sane individual would ever believe it. | ||
| --Psycho Dave | ||
I don't totally agree with "Psycho Dave," but have little disagreement with the above. Quite frankly, there is little need for parodies of Chick's stuff, as the "native material" could readily be mistaken for twisted paranoid craziness without any outside assistance.
An Interesting Discussion of Pain, Alcoholism, and Some Spiritual Answers
Unbelievable. Some people are so into Star Wars that they want the quasi-Hinduism-Shintoism combination George Lucas came up with to be considered a formal religion. It's apparently only an urban legend that this "religion" is listed on recent UK census forms, but there's nothing so nonsensical that someone can't "make it so" at some point.
I don't know whether it's better to blame George Lucas for this, or that there are really wacky fans out there. There's a LOT wrong with Star Wars, as a story...
Liberal Reasons Not To Celebrate Christmas
It's by no means a "pro-Christian" essay, but it presents some pretty coherent reasoning for the notion that people that would want to call themselves "Christians" might not want to celebrate the holiday called Christmas. It is quite fair to say that Christmas has grown into a commercial "monster" that is just about anything but "Christian".
Ten Reasons Why Your Church Sucks
Extracted from a rant by someone who decided a particular church wasn't for them. These do represent unfortunate factors that churches suffer from regrettably often.
It does not understand the community at large
It has poor leadership
It has no solid vision
It is graying, quickly
It's inbred
It's concerned with appearances and not action
It's comfortable in its misery, and is looking for company
It's out of touch with the 21st century
It's all about money
It's all politics
A church that suffers from any of these problems risks irrelevance. Some of these problems are more obviously troublesome than others. Churches that are concerned about appearances, money, or politics can readily appear busy enough to seem relevant; that doesn't mean they are...