Interesting blog I found. Some readers of City Business Church can probably relate.

recoveringfundamentalists.com

Here is a recent letter I found published in Esquire magazine.  I believe it speaks for itself.  

To all my nonbelieving, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity. Forgive us. Forgive us for the embarrassing things we have done in the name of God.

The other night I headed into downtown Philly for a stroll with some friends from out of town. We walked down to Penn's Landing along the river, where there are street performers, artists, musicians. We passed a great magician who did some pretty sweet tricks like pour change out of his iPhone, and then there was a preacher. He wasn't quite as captivating as the magician. He stood on a box, yelling into a microphone, and beside him was a coffin with a fake dead body inside. He talked about how we are all going to die and go to hell if we don't know Jesus. Some folks snickered. Some told him to shut the hell up. A couple of teenagers tried to steal the dead body in the coffin. All I could do was think to myself, I want to jump up on a box beside him and yell at the top of my lungs, "God is not a monster." Maybe next time I will.

The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination. But over the past few decades our Christianity, at least here in the United States, has become less and less fascinating. We have given the atheists less and less to disbelieve. And the sort of Christianity many of us have seen on TV and heard on the radio looks less and less like Jesus.

At one point Gandhi was asked if he was a Christian, and he said, essentially, "I sure love Jesus, but the Christians seem so unlike their Christ." A recent study showed that the top three perceptions of Christians in the U. S. among young non-Christians are that Christians are 1) antigay, 2) judgmental, and 3) hypocritical. So what we have here is a bit of an image crisis, and much of that reputation is well deserved. That's the ugly stuff. And that's why I begin by saying that I'm sorry.

Now for the good news.

I want to invite you to consider that maybe the televangelists and street preachers are wrong — and that God really is love. Maybe the fruits of the Spirit really are beautiful things like peace, patience, kindness, joy, love, goodness, and not the ugly things that have come to characterize religion, or politics, for that matter. (If there is anything I have learned from liberals and conservatives, it's that you can have great answers and still be mean… and that just as important as being right is being nice.)

The Bible that I read says that God did not send Jesus to condemn the world but to save it… it was because "God so loved the world." That is the God I know, and I long for others to know. I did not choose to devote my life to Jesus because I was scared to death of hell or because I wanted crowns in heaven… but because he is good. For those of you who are on a sincere spiritual journey, I hope that you do not reject Christ because of Christians. We have always been a messed-up bunch, and somehow God has survived the embarrassing things we do in His name. At the core of our "Gospel" is the message that Jesus came "not [for] the healthy… but the sick." And if you choose Jesus, may it not be simply because of a fear of hell or hope for mansions in heaven.

Don't get me wrong, I still believe in the afterlife, but too often all the church has done is promise the world that there is life after death and use it as a ticket to ignore the hells around us. I am convinced that the Christian Gospel has as much to do with this life as the next, and that the message of that Gospel is not just about going up when we die but about bringing God's Kingdom down. It was Jesus who taught us to pray that God's will be done "on earth as it is in heaven." On earth.

One of Jesus' most scandalous stories is the story of the Good Samaritan. As sentimental as we may have made it, the original story was about a man who gets beat up and left on the side of the road. A priest passes by. A Levite, the quintessential religious guy, also passes by on the other side (perhaps late for a meeting at church). And then comes the Samaritan… you can almost imagine a snicker in the Jewish crowd. Jews did not talk to Samaritans, or even walk through Samaria. But the Samaritan stops and takes care of the guy in the ditch and is lifted up as the hero of the story. I'm sure some of the listeners were ticked. According to the religious elite, Samaritans did not keep the right rules, and they did not have sound doctrine… but Jesus shows that true faith has to work itself out in a way that is Good News to the most bruised and broken person lying in the ditch.

It is so simple, but the pious forget this lesson constantly. God may indeed be evident in a priest, but God is just as likely to be at work through a Samaritan or a prostitute. In fact the Scripture is brimful of God using folks like a lying prostitute named Rahab, an adulterous king named David… at one point God even speaks to a guy named Balaam through his donkey. Some say God spoke to Balaam through his ass and has been speaking through asses ever since. So if God should choose to use us, then we should be grateful but not think too highly of ourselves. And if upon meeting someone we think God could never use, we should think again.

After all, Jesus says to the religious elite who looked down on everybody else: "The tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom ahead of you." And we wonder what got him killed?

I have a friend in the UK who talks about "dirty theology" — that we have a God who is always using dirt to bring life and healing and redemption, a God who shows up in the most unlikely and scandalous ways. After all, the whole story begins with God reaching down from heaven, picking up some dirt, and breathing life into it. At one point, Jesus takes some mud, spits in it, and wipes it on a blind man's eyes to heal him. (The priests and producers of anointing oil were not happy that day.)

In fact, the entire story of Jesus is about a God who did not just want to stay "out there" but who moves into the neighborhood, a neighborhood where folks said, "Nothing good could come." It is this Jesus who was accused of being a glutton and drunkard and rabble-rouser for hanging out with all of society's rejects, and who died on the imperial cross of Rome reserved for bandits and failed messiahs. This is why the triumph over the cross was a triumph over everything ugly we do to ourselves and to others. It is the final promise that love wins.

It is this Jesus who was born in a stank manger in the middle of a genocide. That is the God that we are just as likely to find in the streets as in the sanctuary, who can redeem revolutionaries and tax collectors, the oppressed and the oppressors… a God who is saving some of us from the ghettos of poverty, and some of us from the ghettos of wealth.

In closing, to those who have closed the door on religion — I was recently asked by a non-Christian friend if I thought he was going to hell. I said, "I hope not. It will be hard to enjoy heaven without you." If those of us who believe in God do not believe God's grace is big enough to save the whole world… well, we should at least pray that it is.

Your brother,

Shane

To read the article CLICK HERE

Frank Schaeffer is the son of the late evangelist Francis Schaeffer, who is credited with helping spark the rise of the Christian Right in the United States.  Frank is a professed pro-life Christian who was a registered Republican his whole life.  He’s an author, film director, screenwriter and public speaker.  In 2007 he released the book "Crazy For God" about his life as a fundamentalist Christian. Since 2000 he has been outspoken about the negative spiral the Christian Right and in general, the Republican party have taken. He recently wrote an article saying "how can anyone who loves our country support the Republicans now?…Today no actual conservative can be a Republican. Reagan would despise today's wholly negative Republican Party."

Below is a link to an interview he did regarding the current state of the far right in America. I believe he's right on in his concern over what's been happening in these circles.  It's time for those of us who do believe in Christ to denounce these groups, and call on Christian conservatives to pray for our President rather then attack him, and reach out to those in need of a Savior rather then expel them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZzsjULXDnA

I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

At Lighthouse Church of All Nations in Alsip, the congregation can get more than just prayer at the Sunday worship services.

If a lucky — or "blessed and highly favored" — churchgoer is in the right seat, they can also receive a cash prize.

At each of the three Sunday services, the Rev. Dan Willis pulls a number of one seat from a bag and the worshiper in that seat wins a cash prize. Two of the churchgoers win $250 and the third gets $500. The church gives away $1,000 each Sunday, Willis said.

The cash prize is part of Willis' recent focus on helping his congregation pay bills and begin a debt-free life, he said.

"We've had soooo many of our people displaced from jobs, facing foreclosure," he said. "When people's faith was high, their debt was down. When their faith was down, their debt was high. I realized the two are connected."

Willis concedes the cash prize is a gimmick to fill the pews. But he's unapologetic about the plan, because it's working. On a typical Sunday, his church draws about 1,600 people to its three Sunday services. But since the money giveaway started, about five weeks ago, the congregation has grown to about 2,500 each week, he said. The money for the giveaway comes from the church offering. Lighthouse is a non-denominational church.

"If I can get someone in here and teach them and give them money, that's what I'm going to do," he said.

As part of the lessons, Willis set up a shredder near the pulpit to encourage church members to shred their credit cards and commit to stop spending. He talks about budgeting, tackling past-due bills and saving. He encourages the prize winners to use the money to pay down their bills, rather than splurge on new items. One Sunday, he gave away 15 savings accounts with $25 already in them. And he had bank representatives at the service so church members could set up accounts.

Full article can be found HERE.

A Sacramento California man, John Marcotte, has started collecting signatures to place a new piece of legislation on the 2010 California ballot. He wants to make it illegal to divorce in the state. Why? He contends that this is a natural extension of what people did when they voted "Yes" on a ballot measure to ban gay marriage and protect the institute of traditional marriage.

He has a website http://rescuemarriage.org/ in promotion of the “2010 California Marriage Protection Act" and some public service announcements on YouTube.

Number 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqe4mx2N7E0

Number 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LnIDwx9M_s

Although Marcotte has denied this is a joke, it's kind of obvious what he's trying to do here. His use of satire is illustrating how the 2008 California Protection of Marriage Amendment, more commonly known as Proposition 8, which passed with a statewide majority vote, wasn't really about restoring marriage or protecting children as their website http://www.protectmarriage.com/ proclaims. The primary emphasis behind the measure was to stop the advancement of gays and their influence on society.  However, as Marcotte points out, divorce is a huge threat to marriage and children as well, yet it is widely accepted and often practiced by the same people who are against gay marriage. So why haven't they put up the same sort of effort to stop it? Well I guess now someone has, and he raises a good point in doing it.

On the cover of this month’s Charisma Magazine is the question "What can we know for sure about the end times?"  The article inside proceeds to point out that a number of prominent charismatic leaders believe we are living in the last days and that its fever is spreading virally around the planet as a confluence of world events is igniting widespread debate about the second coming.

"[Tim] LaHaye, John Hagee, Hal Lindsey, David Hocking, Paul McGuire and other prophecy teachers say the formation of Israel as a nation in 1948, the ingathering of Jews to Jesus, the rise of global anti-Christ political structures, the military alliance between Russia and Iran, and Iran’s threats to annihilate Israel are prophecy fulfillments or conditions that could allow for the fulfillment of prophecies regarding the rapture, Great Tribulation and Second Coming.

They contend that geopolitical events—the possibility of war between Iran and Israel; calls for a global government, economic system and currency; increasing immorality and lawlessness; devastating natural disasters; global warming; the pending biometric national identification system; the rebuilding of Babylon and the drying up of the Euphrates River—foreshadow events prophesied in the Bible.

A key unfulfilled sign involves a Matthew 24 prophecy that the gospel would be preached to the whole world and then the end will come. The top mission agencies are [now] predicting that within 10 years all of the earth’s 6,000 people groups will have the gospel preached to them.

[And most Christians agree.] A recent poll by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found 79 percent of American Christians believe in the Second Coming. But on the timing and circumstances of Christ’s return, Christians are divided. About a third—34 percent—say it will occur after the world situation reaches a low point, 37 percent say it’s impossible to know the circumstances preceding Christ’s return, and 4 percent say Christ will return when the world situation improves."

Now I've never been a big "end times" person, but this debate is interesting to follow.  Although I think most of these guys just like to blow smoke in order to sell books, get TV ratings and demand higher paychecks from speaking engagements, I am curious as to whether my generation or my kid’s generation will see the return of Christ?  But as Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour…"  Guess we'll keep talking about it until it happens.

(For the full article CLICK HERE)

Did he deserve it?

"If you build it, they will come…" says the movie. So I'm going to keep blogging here in hopes that people will figure out that the blog is back.

Today's installment is another tragic tale of religious legalism gone wrong. If you need evidence that tithing causes mental retardation religious legalism, this is it.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/sep/25/250033/na-church-employee-says-she-lost-job-once-tithing-/

" Carolyn Jackson and her husband gave a lot of money to Revealing Truth Ministries.

So three years ago, church staff encouraged her to apply for a job there.

During the work week, she served as a receptionist and later as its magazine editor. On Sundays, the Jacksons filled church baskets with thousands of dollars in tithe, offering and other giving.

In May, Jackson lost her job, not for poor performance, but because her tithing had dropped off. In a time of financial difficulty for her family, Jackson stopped giving 10 percent of her income to the ministry, which many Christians believe is biblically mandated."

The ironic part of all this is that she still believes in tithing!

"Jackson notes that she and her husband never stopped tithing, they just weren't giving as much. "I believe in the tithe," she said.

Jackson has not found work and she and her husband continue to look for a new church to call home.

Whatever congregation they join each Sunday, they always leave their tithe in the offering basket."

This isn't the first case we've heard of here at City Business Church, as we've had first hand accounts of staff at City Bible Church suffering the same fate. If you are going to insist that tithing applies to Believers (we don't), then the recipients of tithe money shouldn't tithe because they are the reason for tithing! The recipients of tithing in the OT were Levites and the poor, widows, orphans, and aliens. Asking them to tithe is like asking them to give to themselves and it's no different with modern tithing. A church that requires their employees to tithe is just a clever disguise for a mandatory pay cut. This isn't a demonstration of faith, it's just clever manipulation. If my boss told me that I had to make a "voluntary" contribution to the company's general fund or face being fired, I'd start looking for a new job.

What better way to help kick off the return of the blog than to talk about two controversial topics mixed into one?

Daniel Bowman recently wrote an op-ed to a local Maine newspaper scolding the Catholic church for asking for tithes to advertise against gay marriage legislation.

http://mainecampus.com/2009/09/28/op-ed-give-tithes-for-anti-marriage-equality-tv-ads/ 

"I implore all churchgoers: Spend your money on something more substantial than an ad campaign designed to drive a wedge between people who love each other. Buying a Playboy magazine would be more virtuous. The last time I checked, homosexuals were still homo sapiens and are promised the same freedoms as the rest of the country. Said freedoms include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These things were first engraved in our national consciousness when we declared our independence from Britain."

Even if you do believe in tithing (God help you), using it lobby for legislation rather than using it for the things it was intended (like providing for the 'Levites' and feeding the poor and hungry) seems like a pretty big no-no.

Personally, I think the US would do well to follow the lead of other countries and separate the legal and religious institution of marriage and allow civil unions for everyone and let churches & synagogues celebrate marriage in the manner they see fit. You know, that thing called "separation of church & state".

So the blog is working again. Cool. Guess I'll start writing again. Heh.

For starters, allow me to share this beautiful blog from a Christian Woman living in Portland. It's pretty powerful stuff.

Here's a section to which I'm particularly partial.

I find in my own life, when I take a moment each day to think about what I am grateful for, I feel better. And I have to much to be grateful for. I have a wonderful husband, a terrific son, a warm house to live in, a great many friends, a family who loves me, a good job, food on the table (more than I really need), and I live in the land of the free! Finally, I have a God who is always with me and will never forsake me. Even on my worst days, I have so much more to be grateful for than to be upset about. How about you?

True. True.

(thanks to jack for the heads up)