Lowell Streiker, a longtime expert on free church movements and cults, examines a vital and growing free church movement--an impressive movement that is yet largely unknown. Founded in Norway more than 90 years ago, it is a church without membership rolls, clergy, central administration, tithing, or even a name. Outsiders call them Smith's Friends after their founder, Johan Oscar Smith. On a worldwide basis, some 30,000 people participate in more than 200 churches in 50 countries.

As a phenomenologist of religion, Streiker attempts to be descriptive, analytic, and constructively critical. In order to set Smith's Friends in historical, social, and religious perspectives, he first examines their similarities to and differences from earlier Norwegian revival movements. He then provides a detailed phenomenological report on Smith's Friends, based on field study in America and Europe. He examines their worship, hymnody, theology, and their everyday way of life. As a friendly critic, Streiker entertains the hope that Smith's Friends will come out of their small-church shell and actively engage Christendom and the world. If they do, Streiker believes we would all be better impressed by the influence of this extremely positive force for spiritual renewal. Streiker's examination presents an important study for scholars of religion, sociologists, psychologists, historians, and the general public concerned with modern religious life.

The author explores the dangers of ultrafundamentalist cults by presenting selected case histories, by explaining the significance of the central tendencies of ultrafundamentalism, and by suggesting why such groups are flourishing at this particular time in this particular society.

I wish I'd said that Rev. Lowell's Favorite Aphorisms-Short and to the Point Profound and Humorous Truths in a 100 Characters or Less Aphorisms from Ancient Times to Lady Gaga Perfect for Tweeting

Here are nearly four hundred of Rev. Lowell's all-time favorite anecdotes, jokes, and witty comments about religion, the Bible, clergy, churches, Sunday school, and related topics. There is a full index of subjects/keywords at the end of this book. This collection will be of value to you as you meet and communicate with others-whatever your vocation may be. Laughter is a powerful force, and it is yours to use whether you are a minister, a public speaker, a teacher, a salesman, an office worker, a psychologist, or a plumber Samuel Butler once noted that human beings are the only animals that laugh and have a state legislature. We laugh because we sense the contradictions between the way things are and the way they ought to be. The same impulse that makes us religious also makes us humorous. As every skilled communicator knows, listeners remember the humorous illustrations in a talk, a lecture, or a sermon long after they forget the other content of the address. As Isaac Asimov, author of hundreds of books and lifetime collector of humorous anecdotes, once related, "Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments." Joel Goodman remarks, "Mirth can be a major tool for insight, changing HA-HA to AHA " The laughter encouraged by this collection is supportive of human dignity. It is life-affirming and life-giving. And it is, to borrow a word from religion, prophetic. It comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. It ennobles our spirits and extends our love to others. And, above all, it is fun So remember four simple words: Live Love Laugh

1942 to 1952--a time of rapid change as seen by a young boy in Chicago The unconditional love of grandparents The mother he loved and feared The competitive, one-of-a-kind father The neighborhood goes to war A Jewish family in an Italian Catholic neighborhood The confessions of a good (most of the time) boy The missing girl and the thing in the swamp The ubiquity of radio and the coming of TV Weekends in those palatial movie theaters The secrets kept by adults--death, divorce, money, and sex Games, gangs, and simple pleasures UFOs and a man from Mars