i think one of my favorite things about the reformed tradition is that it is so forgiving of bad theology and doctrine and ways of life. in the words of jesus “forgive them father for they do not know what they are doing.”
but the most suprising thing that arose in the last few days is this: i now am against homosexuality. its weird. not against homosexuals or my friends who are. but wow, its one of the most subversive things these days…
in the conversation earlier this was basically said: christians have dealt with this very complex issue in a very bad overlysimplistic way…
and one of the things im loving about my new church is this: church discipline, they actually pay attention to real sins, not made up ones. real meaning adultury, made up meaning not attending a small group. and the purpose of church discipline is always always to restore and bring the person back to the community.
i am a soujourner, my life here is temporary
i am both fatherless and with a great father in heaven
and god is my provider
i am a begger
and i am grafted into the family of god
all because of Jesus.
Numbers 6:24-26 The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
James 5:12b it says “let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation”
I was recently hanging out with a certain guy friend and I started to like him. Really sweet, said some borderline romantic statements about how I inspire him, he made some comments about how we should do this or that. We even made tentative plans to road-trip it to San Fransisco. Sounds fun right?
Well thats where the verse comes in. Red Flag #1 saying certain things that really should be reserved for in a committed relationship.
Red Flag #2 not following through on your commitments.
I guess those go hand in hand for this case. We were neither in a committed relationship nor hanging out long enough to make these types of plans. Duh, Courtney!
After reviewing some former Christian’s blogs and looking back at my own experience I’ve come to the conclusion, as of yet, that the issue that is biggest to bear and most pressing the the modern church is this: lack of clear understanding of the true purposes of the law given to the Isrealites in the Old Testament. They want and love to identify with what Jesus was all about, start to read the Old Testament and discover God’s hatred. What conjures up is the bible-bashing fundamentalists who called for repentance so you won’t go to Hell.
I wonder what would come about if we could conjure up how it would feel to be an Isrealite during those times and what those laws meant to them at that time. This would be kind of good now in the post modern sense when we want everyones truths to be right for each of them based on their own experiences. Why else would people in Asia eat dogs and be okay with it but the very thought of that for American’s sort of makes us puke?
“To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” -Karl Barth
“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” – Einstein
“The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.” – Goering at the Nuremberg Trials
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” -Daniel Moynihan
1) New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
2) Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham
3) The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down by Neta Jackson
4) A Grief Observed by C.S.Lewis
5) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
6) The Apostolic Fathers edited by Michael Holmes
7) Cults, Conspiracies, & Secret Societies by Arthur Goldwag Arthurian Romances by Chretien De Troyes
9) Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
10) Story of a Soul by St. Therese o Lisieux
11) A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
12) The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis
1) D.A.N.C.E., by Justice
2) Goodnight Mother, by Dick Todd
3) Wake up Boo!, by Boo Radley
4) The Solid Rock, by Edward Mote
5) How He Loves, by David Crowder
Arthurian Romances by Chretien De Troyes
