It’s elementary my dear Watson! Often times, it seems that city dwellers have made things too complex. When I grew up in the country it was so simple. Don’t take a crap where you eat, and don’t put the septic tank next to the water well. There are just some common sense wasys of living life that we’ve lost sight of in our urban-suburban life styles. Foremost of all is to just love your neighbors! Continue reading ‘Common Sense’
Monthly Archive for February, 2008
Docetism (a Christian application) means “to seem”. It is the belief that Jesus’ physical body was an illusion! Jesus only seemed to have a physical body (and to physically die) but in reality he was incorporeal, a pure spirit, and hence could not physically die. I want to make the application here though that fundamentalist Christians have and are doing the same thing to the Bible. They treat the Bible as something incorporeal, spiritual, written by the finger of the Spirit, and not by man. Continue reading ‘Docetic Heresy’
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were sea nymphs who lured sailors to disaster with their enchanting singing. Seamen who sailed near various islands were decoyed with the Siren Song’s enchanting music to shipwreck on the rocky coast. As the devil doesn’t come dressed in some outrageous red outfit with pitchfork and tail, neither are the sirens of today sea nymphs but church dogma, doctrine, and traditions. Continue reading ‘Siren Song’
The institutional church is spending way too much effort and resources trying to pump itself up and look good instead of exalting Jesus from whom it really exists. The church needs to move out of the religious shadows and into the spiritual light of reality of the 21st century.
Having come from such a place, I have to say that my experience as a Christian fundamentalist was neither Christian (Christ-like), nor fun, but definitely mental! The nature of the Christian fundamentalist movement, while originally more akin to conservative evangelicalism, evolved during the early 1900s to become more separatist and characteristically more dispensational in its theology. A little over two decades ago, I had to leave the nest of my religious origins to explore that which I was told did not exist- a family that only loves! It does. I am in it and enjoying it greatly. Continue reading ‘Christian Fundamentalism’
Common sense tells us that we’re not very good at self examination, if at all. Self deception is a strong spirit. But, all of that notwithstanding, Plato encouraged us to “Know thyself”. Before him though, it was Socrates that admonished us that, “An unexamined life isn’t worth living”. If that be true, can you imagine the number of worthless lives there are out there on planet earth? Continue reading ‘Self Examination’
That there are major divisions between Catholics and Protestants, divisions that are growing as my post from yesterday indicated, is a no-brainer. The war against terrorism is a partial name given to the larger battle between Islam and the Judaeo-Christian community. However, the religious war that I want to review is that which is going on “within” Christianity itself. Continue reading ‘Religious Wars’
There is no doubt that Pope Benedict XVI is more of a fundamentalist in the Catholic community and now that he is the Pope, he seems to be taking Catholics to pre-Vatican II era. Pope Benedict XVI has revised the 1962 text of the Latin mass, retaining the rubric, ‘For the Conversion of The Jews.’ Why is he messing with this again, now? Maybe because he’s the Pope and has the power? Continue reading ‘Abandoning Vatican II?’
The church is in bad need of a new reformation- some spiritual integrity! The reform of Luther and others in the sixteenth century have long since broken down are are no longer working. You can see it in the church attendance numbers. They are going down, down, down. I America headed to such low Sunday attendance numbers as Europe, and especially England? Will we see the empty mega church buildings like we see the empty cathedrals across the pond? Continue reading ‘A New Church Reformation’
The Gospel Doesn’t Conform!
Besides accepting the idea that religion, church, and spirituality are about soial order, polite decorum, and conformity, there’s this mistaken idea that “going with the flow” is the Christian way. If Jesus taught us anything it was that He was anything but a status quo follower. He brought us the GOOD NEWS- the Gospel! So, everywhere He went, there was trouble. We who say that we’re following Jesus, seek quite the opposite. How did this come about? How does this happen? Continue reading ‘The Gospel Doesn’t Conform!’