More Than Stone

I found this site that has the “objections” to Christianity, with nice neat little “answers”, so you can easily get someone “saved”.

Number 18 “Objection” is Christianity is Boring.

Here is one of the suggested answers.

“How do you know? Have you tried it? There are millions of Christians who have a lot of fun being Christian. We just do it with a lot less sin, and therefore, a lot less problems. Maybe it’s only your problems that keep you from getting bored.”

Ok, are you kidding me? This is wrong on so many levels. First, it’s condescending and rude. Secondly, Christians are not less sinful than the average Joe or Jane. Thirdly, ARGHHHHHHH–I am so tired of christians implying that once you become a follower of Jesus, everything just gets pretty and sweet and perfect.

I don’t mean to find this stuff on the internet. Really, I don’t. But I run into this kind of junk all the time. It makes me tired. No wonder people aren’t interested in Jesus, when this is what they think they will become when they start following Him.

Oh, and just to irritate me a bit more, on the front page of the site, there is this lovely little picture of a white couple reading the bible. They are both good looking and of course, she’s blonde.

Because get what? When you become a Christian, you become a middle class, good-looking white couple.

Rant over.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth; enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.

Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless and do not curse them.

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself. They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish. Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a [fly].

Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.

Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.

Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.

Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.

Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:

So that my fleeing will have no return; So that all my hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; So that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; So that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger;

So that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; Ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.

Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself. One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.

It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies. Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies. A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.

For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

By Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic

From Bobbie at Emerging Sideways in a post entitled “pondering on patriarchy”

i realized as i wrote yesterday that this damaged their souls too. neither one of them “fit” the code or knew the rules. my mother was as passionate and outspoken as i am and my father was so content and happy behind the scenes helping everywhere he could. both of them were squeezed, prodded and shamed into becoming something at church that neither of them had the skills, spiritual gifts or natural inclination to be. respect for themselves and each other plummeted. and i could sense it like they sent of pheromones of falseness and fear, panic and confusion.

i began to wonder if the shame this type of enforced hierarchy brings imprisons not only the women forced into it, but also the men themselves.

Read the rest….

HT to Max for this article.

For those of you following all the goings on in the Anglican Communion, a fascinating speech given by BISHOP MUSONDA TREVOR SELWYN MWAMBA of Botswana. If you have some time, hop over and read it. It’s a different view from Africa than the one that I have heard touted the most. If you are unfamiliar with the split in the Anglican Communion, at the most basic level, it’s about homosexuality. Some churches in the US (and elsewhere in the West) have split from ECUSA and joined AMIA. (And if you ARE unfamiliar with this schism, where HAVE you been?)

One thing I have wondered during this whole thing, is how does power and $$ play into this? AMIA now has 109 affiliates with over 70 other groups in various stages of formation. How much $$ is now being directed to the provinces in Rwanda and Southeast Asia? Does this $$ play into the schism? Read a quote from Bishop Mwamba….

“The other factor influencing the voices from Africa is numbers and the almighty dollar!

These factors can be seen to influence – and at times bring pressure to bear, or even manipulate the situation. Where does ‘power’ lie in the present debate? The provinces in Nigeria have collectively the largest number of Anglican members in the world – more than the Church of England and ECUSA combined! America has long been generous in its hospitality and support for African church projects and its leaders, however, in the current situation, the almighty dollar has been used to strengthen the voice and position of some African bishops who have been invited to the States and given generous incentives. Very tempting indeed for a bishop from a poor African diocese to be feted and offered funds by his American hosts, if he endorses the party line!

One of the things that amazes me in this whole debate is the manner in which lobbying, very peculiar to America, has been used to influence opinion, decisions, and relationships, which results in the creation of a culture of ‘them’ and ‘us’, ‘in’ and ‘out’, and never shall the twain meet. The success of this lobyying has been assisted mainly by the dissemination of information on the internet.”

I am not implying that the Bishops that support the separation of US churches from ECUSA do not have strong beliefs and convictions. I am saying, however, that money has a great potential to corrupt and confuse issues.

Another quote from the Bishop.

” One is reminded of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the King sitting as a judge orders the jury to consider their verdict even before the trial has began. And the Rabbit hastily interrupts, “Not yet, not yet! There is a great deal to come before that!”

Yes, there is a great deal to come from the listening process and so we all need patience the solution will not come today or tomorrow but most likely within the next 20 years or God’s time because God who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, is also here today working for reconciliation in the Anglican Communion as we embrace different views of our faith. Reconciliation is the answer.”

Reconciliation is the answer. Hmmm. I think that perhaps this is a theme that continues to pop up. Isn’t this what God is about? Reconciling us to Him and to each other.

NOTE: I am adding this addendum to this post. I found a quote by Archbishop Kolini. (see AMIA.)

Quoting the Bible, Kolini said that Christians should always keep their bodies pure since the body is God’s temple. He said that yielding to acts of homosexuality is tantamount to committing genocide.

“In Rwanda we are spearheading the ‘Never Again’ notion. We had physical genocide and we can’t afford having another moral genocide,” he emphasized

Wow. This is so sad. Another genocide? This type of inflammatory rhetoric should NOT be allowed.

Technorati Tags: Anglican, AMIA, Africa, Kolini, Yong, homosexuality

I just really liked commentary on my score. Thanks to Jenny for writing it.

A quote from a Rob Bell Sermon entitled “Leaving control for faith”.

“In life, God never guarantees relationships, about when you’re going to move, when your going to move, where you’re going to stop, about where the provision comes from. The only guarantee you get is that God will journey with you. That’s all you get, that God will journey with you. Nope, I’m not gonna clean that up for you. I’m not going to spare you that. I’ll be with you. I’ll just go with you.

Is there anybody that you have been trying to control? Any relationship that is not going according to your divinely orchestrated plan and it’s time to surrender that person this lent season? God, I turn so and so over to you. Is it a child that has caused you many a sleepless night because they do not do what they’re supposed to? And you need to turn them over? Is there a circumstance, you have done everything you can to control it and it’s still not submitting and it so now it’s time to surrender… Have you had untold anxiety about where your provision is going to come from and all you have is today? Have you been trying to get God to confess what the 6 month plan is and it’s not happening? And today, this lent season, it’s God, I give you my future. I’m tired of worrying about things that are out of my grasp.

The guarantee we have is that God will journey with us. Not that it will be perfect or smooth, or even the short route. All we have is that God will journey with us. And journey with us some more, and journey with us some more. This lent season, is there any attitude of anxiety, manipulation, control, or worry? You need to let go.”

Here are some more links for the talks by N. T. Wright

St. John’s

Church Of The Holy Spirit

Have fun!

Technorati Tags: N.T. Wright,

Just found this site called Goodsearch. It’s powered by yahoo, but every time you do a search, you can earn money for your favorite charity, if it’s listed. I checked it out and decided to donate to the Epilepsy Foundation of America. Check it out and if you don’t have a favorite charity, may I suggest EFA….

Often times, I find that when I speak of idolatry, it doesn’t quite seem applicable to my life. I think that, though I know this isn’t true, I still think of idols as little statues that people worship.

Now, I know that’s not true. I know that we have idols in our lives. Sometimes we hear about people being idols. About money being an idol. Ok. I can see that. But aren’t there other idols that we currently accept in the church?

Comfort?
Education?
Class?
Safety?
Health?
The bible?
The church?
The nuclear family?

What do you think of these? Do you have more to add to the list?