I find this to be highly entertaining and somewhat telling of how far off track American churches have become.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I
As someone who church shopped for a few years I can attest to many being this way. Thank God I'm now in a great one. JAVALUJAH!!!!
Commenting on this blog is a privilege; it's not a right.
After five years of this blog, I'm tired of rehashing the same arguments over and over again.
So, if you're going to write a negative comment, please make sure it is well written and that it moves the conversation along.
Bonus points for actually being funny. The best negative comment we ever got, was "The Morton boys traded Christ for a Beer."
We quote that comment all the time. Cracks us up.
There is a new book out that looks at how marriage is progressing in America. And guess what, it's going pretty well. Salon interviewed the author and here is some of what she had to say:
What you think about the state of the American marriage is wrong: Half of marriages don’t end in divorce; married people don’t have less sex than their single counterparts and — surprise! — fighting can actually be beneficial to your relationship.
The book also analyzes divorce statistics.
Couples married in the 1970s have a 30-year divorce rate of about 47 percent. A person who got married in the 1970s had a completely different upbringing and experience in life from someone who got married in the 1990s. It's been very clear that divorce rates peaked in the 1970s and has been going down ever since.
All you young married people who fear you're going to end up like your parents. Stop worrying. Apparently, the 70's were just a lousy time for everyone. (Disco, President Carter, Oil Embargo, Bell Bottoms) It's a surprise anyone survived that miserable decade.
And the last point in the article, which I love:
This whole idea of personal fulfillment in marriage is relatively new, and it has certainly gummed up the works. Marriage is a lot more high maintenance when you've married your "soul mate."
Ha! I don't really have a point here. I just think this an interesting look at how marriage has developed over the last 30 years. It appears that people married in the 80's and 90's have a more realistic expectation of marriage and are staying together longer than those folks married in the 70's. I have no idea why that is, but I find it fascinating.
Dear Pastors:
You are currently faced with a positive opportunity. The most reviled organization in the US is about to protest at your church, providing you a rare chance to separate yourself from the vile idealogy of Westboro Baptist. As a church, you alienated yourself from the gay community in Portland with your staunch opposition to gay marriage. I’m not sure why you felt it necessary to spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours at the pulpit keeping gays from being in committed relationships, but you did.
Unfortunately for you, City Bible is not located in Tuscaloosa, where this type of message might resonate with the community. Your church is located in progressive and gay-friendly, Portland, Oregon. Furthermore, gay marriage is a generational issue. The polling shows that the vast majority of young people support gay marriage. Your stance on this issue only further divides you from the youth in America. In 20 years gays will be allowed to be married. And your church will either be filled with young people who appreciate your message of love and compassion, or your church will be a nursing home filled with elderly Christians who believe that being a Christian means driving a Bentley and being a Republican.
I am fully aware of the verses in the Bible condemning homosexuals. However, I’m also aware of all the verses condemning people for eating seafood, and the verse against woman speaking in church, and the verses about the wonders of castration. The Bible is a big book; it’s got a lot of verses. However, when Christ was asked to sum up the Bible, he didn't say, “Be obsessed with other people’s sexuality.” He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself and Love the lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul.” And let’s be honest, that’s really what it’s all about.
You have a choice. You can continue this path toward irrelevancy, or you can inject some much needed passion and excitement into your church and take a stand on an issue that doesn’t involve the Republican Party or a new flat screen TV. And yeah, you will lose the folks who are still hung-up on homosexuality. But you know what, good riddance. The church needs more Christians who love their neighbor and fewer who are worried about what their neighbor does in bed.
Do the right thing, CBC. And in twenty years, you’ll look back and be proud.
Sincerely,
Your Future Church
Our prayers have been answered. According to the Willamette Week, Westboro Baptist Church will be in Oregon over Memorial Day weekend. WBC is the church that goes around protesting at the funeral of soldiers and such. They will be protesting at several places in the Portland Area, including City Bible Church. The reasoning I guess is that City Bible Church contains faux Christians. (apparently they just don't hate gay people enough).
http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2010/05/14/look-what-hate-group-is-returning-to-town/
Lord knows I have criticized City Bible Church, but if I have to choose between CBC and Westboro Baptist, I'm choosing CBC everytime. City Bible while manipulative and greedy is at least not evil. Those WBC followers are just genuinely bad people. Seriously. Not good human beings.
Anyway, what would be a good sign for a counter protest at City Bible? Something that combines both City Bible and Westboro Baptist. Something along the lines of "God's hates Christians who don't tithe" or "Repent! Your skirt is really tacky." or my personal favorite, but it doesn't really have to do with Westboro Baptist "No Tithe for Oil".
What do you all got?
Seems Mr. Minnis got himself into a little trouble with a subordinate during a work trip. You can read the whole story by clicking on the link. But sufficed to say: Alcohol + San Diego Conference + Cute Secretary = Trouble (Well, at least if you're the boss it's trouble. If you're just another co-worker it's a recipe for "good times")
The Minnis' have close ties to City Bible Church, and I went to school with their children. I genuinely like the family. And it's a shame to see this happen.
But again, another Conservative Christian isn't quite as squeaky clean as his image. You'd think Evanglicals would take the hint and be a little more open to revealing their own flaws and sins. It would make them more likeable and more relevant. The sermons I remember most are the one's where the speaker opened up their own lives and revealed their own flaws. It's difficult. And it requires a fair amount of humility. But it's a much more relatable message.
Anyway, I thought it would be odd, if I ignored this story. So, I'm posting it. That said, try to remember what Christ told the prostitute: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
If it seems like I'm taking a more compassionate approach on this story, I am. I genuinely like this famly, and I'm sad to see things turn out this way. In general, I don't like to pile on people when they fail.
(Except for you Judah Smith. If you so much as hug an intern too long, I'll be all over it.)
Jack sends in this short video that parodies what the modern church is like.
I've been to a few churches like this. It's the whole, "Hey man, we're cool just like you" approach to evangelism. It just seems so fake to me. And completely uncool.
Honestly, the most Christ-like Christians I know are the ones that don't go to church. They're the least judgmental, the least fake, the most sincere. For some reason, when Christians go to church they get surrounded by this group-think mentality, and they begin to judge all other Christians on whether or not they match up with their own Church congregation. Their Faith becomes colored by their church environment. It's annoying.
Ministers in North Carolina were indicted recently on tax charges for failing to report "love offerings" they received for speaking at various churches. They failed to report over 1.8 million dollars in speaking fees over a five year period.
And of course, their parishoners thought they were innocent:
The jury reached its verdict in just over four hours of deliberations Monday night. Its decision was met by anguished cries from Jinwright's supporters in the federal courtroom.
Touch Not God's Annointed!
We've touched on this issue before, but this comment from Chip is one of my favorite defenses of the church:
I think some of the people writing this stuff should remember the account of David and Saul. Saul tried to kill David but David was very careful not to harm God’s anointed. Also I guess these people writing have no issues, no sin or any other problems in their lives. Hope their not living in a glass house.
This is exactly how cults are started. Can't criticize the leader: He's God's Annointed. By that logic, the children abused by Catholic priests should just suck it up and keep their mouth's shut. Because, you know, the priests are God's Annointed. And sexually abused children need to be very careful not to harm God's Annointed.
Here's the deal: If being a Christian means I can't criticize any leader in the church, then I'll pass on Christiantiy, thank you very much.
Here's a little something to keep you all entertained, while I spend my day not blogging. That's just how I roll.