Linkathon!
Half of mainline pastors support same sex marriage…
Layoffs at the Holy Land amusement park…
What Roger Olson appreciates about Methodism…
Two sets of pastoral search criteria…this is good stuff…
A look behind the mask of James MacDonald…
God is not weighed down by my hard questions…
If God would just choose someone else…
Reclaiming our childrens identity…
Christians can’t ignore the environment…
Paula White says God took her to the throne room of heaven…
What does it mean to be ready to meet the Lord?
A gay couple in the White House…
Why Christ wouldn’t aspire to “Christic manhood”…
Thanks as always to EricL and Reader Hill…
Paula White: “âI didnât come out of that really until the next morning,â White reported.”
I am assuming that the “next morning” also included a huge hangover!
RE the two sets of pastoral search criteria. In 2005 when I was looking to get back into vocational ministry, an alarming number of churches had lists of what I’ll call “cultural relevance” requirements. In fact, one church’s description for a senior pastor actually said, “If you don’t own all of the movies by The Cohen Brothers on DVD, don’t bother applying.” For the uninitiated, their movies from that time included Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, and Fargo. I’m not saying it’s wrong to own or enjoy these, but it relegates spiritual maturity and the ability to disciple others to trivial.
Corby,
Iâll bet none of the hose churches did theological exams…
I enjoyed and recommend the article on caring for creation. It is reasoned and reasonable.
My wife and I visited the Holy Land Experience in Orlando last March. Honestly, the only thing I found interesting was the Bible museum. Actually that was very interesting. The rest of the park was very blah and uninteresting. I am not surprised they are laying off and closing most of the park.
“….. same-sex marriage has the support of 49 percent of Presbyterian or Reformed pastors, 47 percent of Methodist pastors, 35 percent of Lutheran pastors and 20 percent of Christian/Church of Christ pastors. On the other end of the scale are Baptist (3 percent) and Pentecostal pastors (1 percent).”
this is very troubling… i can’t help but feel that, if we put a practicing homosexual and his husband in the Whitehouse, in some way we will bring God’s judgement down on the United States…. It’s for certain we won’t be able to sing, “America, God shed His grace on thee” anymore…
for the record, i do not hate homosexuals, however, i do see them as handicapped – handicapped in a very pervasive and challenging way and i cannot comply with their call to accept it as a normal expression
Em,
I thought that article was well written…I’m not “homophobic” but neither can I affirm a gay lifestyle.
On the other hand, I think we’re already under judgment… đ
You can not affirm a “gay lifestyle” or even believe same sex marriage isn’t a good option without
believing that somehow gay folks have led to our country’s demise. Sorry, but that’s baloney.
Believe me, there are many other sins out there that Americans commit that are a hell of a lot
worse than that.
Maybe, bob1, maybe…. I see the acceptance of gay lifestyles as the canary in the coal mine a signal of a civilization’s downfall. đ
Dunno, though… do i?
If you want a canary in the coal mine, it’s when communities say to their own countrymen who are sick (or may be sick): Not in my neighborhood. That’s the downfall of a civilization, never mind a Christian nation.
Jean, some of the most compassionate, civilized men i have known were practicing homosexuals. That said, the acceptance of a third lifestyle by a society is a barometer of decay… your example permeates the human race, but i guess i am glad you see us as a Christian nation… I guess…..
What Jean said. Plenty of places in God’s Word where He condemns those who exploit the poor
and defenseless and those who can’t be bothered to see past their own situations. A hell of a lot more places than the 3 or so where homosexuality is mentioned.
bob1, it isn’t the mention, it is what is said … no one can justify exploiting the poor and the sick… but the words concerning straying from God’s design for man and woman are pretty condemning – harsh
i differentiate between sin and evil… i would call exploiting the weak, sin and i would call homosexuality evil… we pray to not be led into temptation (to sin), but we pray to be delivered from evil as we are no match for it…
old lady theology – no offense, if you see it differently đ
Judge those within the church, not without. Paula White… How is this much different than Sarah Young and Jesus Calling? Prophet or rubbish?
New Victor:
“How is this much different than Sarah Young and Jesus Calling? Prophet or rubbish?”
I think a better question is this, what motivates humanity to always move towards the intangible rather than the what is in front of us?
Over the years what I find is we always want to be somewhere else. Whether it be a location, a situation or even a relationship, we seem to want to be somewhere other than where we are in the moment. There’s an old (relatively speaking) Christian song which explores the idea of a cookie jar just out of reach, how much of our religious and spiritual life is about what we don’t have.
Why do people seek the Whites and the Youngs of our age? Could it be the same fruit our parents were instructed not to eat? Why did Israel immediately adopt the religion of the land after they entered and to possession of it?
Some thoughts.
Good thoughts. Ever seeking, never finding, perhaps…
Em,
Interesting how you are now parsing between sin and evil. Are you bringing back the distinction between venial and mortal sins?
But since you brought up God’s design for man and woman. Do you include divorce, remarriage and adultery in the evil category? Because those three cover a heck of a lot more Americans than the homosexuals.
I (generally speaking) hate this topic because I really don’t give a hoot in hell what people do in their bedrooms.
In addition, pastoral ministry is not about doctrinal statements as much as dealing with individuals.
Having said that…affirming homosexuality as a culture has been the slippery slope many worried about.
Almost anything goes…and i think we’re going to reap bitter fruit sooner than later.
We don’t have to choose between what we call sin and negative …oppression comes wearing many different outfits…
Jean, to put i as simply as i can… Yes, evil does beguile us mortals and does lure us into sin. However, generally speaking we go into most sinful behavior eyes wide open.
The serpent twisted Eve’s thinking, convincing her that she would be like God. Evil, leading to sin. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we are doing good when we are promoting a Satanic plan.
On the other hand, Adam just plain flat out sinned in listening to Eve rather than God. (Not a misogynistic comment. đ )….
If i am putting too fine a point of differentiation on the two, sorry. Works for me, but God didnt task me with teaching, just pontificating. đ