Things I Think…
1. Pastorally, I don’t find it helpful to tell people who are anxious or fearful that Jesus demands they not be afraid.
In fact, I find it unkind and unhelpful.
Learning how to live in more faith and less fear is a process and the more fearful the times become,the longer the process.
Humans are hardwired with a fear response…trusting God enough to overcome fear takes a lot of discipling…and a lot of time.
Denying our humanity simply leads to lying about other things, not holiness.
I say all that to commend Kate Bowler’s new book to you…she understands fear and anxiety better than any theologian I can think of and if you’re wresting with those emotions this book may be helpful…and I rather you read something helpful,than something that adds to your troubles…
2. My apologies for the ad explosion this morning…they hacked something I didn’t think was hackable…but hopefully,we’ve solved the issue…
3. I need to clarify something…again. The Bible is a very political book, but it’s not a partisan book in the sense that it by nature approves any American political party. Both of our parties are a mixture of biblical standards and sin and neither has a corner on godliness.
When we speak to political issues here, it’s an attempt to deal with those issues as they affect the church…and not to promote or denigrate one party or the other. Personally, I think we should put both on a raft and sink it just off the coast of someplace that could handle the pollution…
4. Just to save the next person who wants to email me some grief…”what about the religious left?” is a really silly question. If there is a more impotent group in the country it can only be the flat earth lobbyists…
5. One need only look at the attendance numbers of the Episcopal Church, the United Methodists and other far left denominations to understand that not only do they have little power, they won’t even exist in 10-20 years. There has been a progressive takeover in other institutions, but my concern is the church…
6. I get scared sometimes, too…getting old is not for cowards…
7. There has been much idiotic outrage over the fact that Taylor Swift goes to Kansas City Chiefs games to support her boyfriend on the Chiefs, Travis Kelce. The usual suspects threaten boycotts…evidently ignoring the fact that the NFL sets new ratings records every week. Personally…I think it’s cute and heartwarming to watch them have fun and support each other and it doesn’t take away from the game at all. Unfortunately, America’s real favorite sport is bitching…
8. It dawns on me a little harder every day that if my ethics aligned with my actions, I’d be a vegetarian…
9. When you’re having one of those really bad days when everything looks dark…thank God for something, anything, even the smallest thing…then you’ll realize there are no small things…and that little bit of gratitude will bring a little light…
10. Finally…and he will not be real happy about this…I want to thank Duane Arnold and his awesome wife Janet. It dawned on me about three o’clock this morning that a lot of the issues we face in the church is because pastors and priests have no bishop…or if you will, a father in the faith.
I am blessed beyond measure that I not only have a father in the faith, but a mother as well…and what they have poured in I have poured back into people who have no idea who helped me help them.
They have both given into my life and my faith with abundant generosity and grace…I can never repay them,so I will try to pay forward.
If only we could clone them…
Michael,
The Taylor Swift thing is amazing for the NFL. A whole new audience was reached because that girl genuinely likes him and football.
Phil,
I agree 100%
Why the hell can’t we just be happy for people who seem to be having a good time?
NFL numbers are always the best…but it’s going to a whole new level.
Thanks for having my back… 🙂
Michael,
People are just jealous because those two are what they likely aren’t.
Always Dude 🙂
#10 Spiritual “parents” are so important. I’ve been privileged to have several, all placed in my life at just the right time. And, I have the responsibility to pass that legacy on, and God has graced me with some spiritual children of my own. It’s wonderful how the family of God works when it is allowed to do so.
God bless Duane and Janet!
#5 I grew up in one of the progressive denominations, and although the building exists, the congregation does not. My parents sent me to Sunday School there because they both grew up in mainline churches, but it wasn’t the 1940s version they remembered. It was mostly about reinterpreting the Bible, applying that new interpretation to current events, and fights about finances (as the congregation shrank it was very difficult to keep the church going). When I really came to understand who Jesus was, it was time to find a church where people truly loved and served Him.
Linn,
I couldn’t sleep so I was praying about this…and realized that most of the clergy I know don’t even have close friends…let alone spiritual parents. which is one reason why so many clergy are going out the back door.
There are faithful Anglican and Methodist congregations…but not enough to stem the tide…
Michael,
I am one of those sick of seeing Taylor Swift.
Well, I WAS, until I saw this a few hours ago…
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/taylor-swift-targeted-conspiracies-chiefs-super-bowl-1234955940/
The Maga’s have jumped yet another shark.
I am now in the corner of Travis and Taylor!
PAYWALL alert!
Here is the free article:
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-privately-grouses-more-popular-183532100.html
Dan,
I have no reason to like or dislike her…but I do like seeing some joy in the world…and they seem to have it.
I know she has an immense fan base, though…if she can get them to vote, that will be something…
Swift hasn’t been my favorite but she’s more savvy about subdominant substitutions than the average (or even above-average) four-chord soul bro I’ve heard in the last ten years. I’ll take her songs over the existence of anything recorded by Jason Mraz, X Ambassadors, Vance Joy and others. At worst I can tune her out and at best she has written some solid pop songs. And anyone who can force Apple to blink in a PR game of chicken over royalty rates paid to less-famous musicians can’t be all bad in my book.
Taylor is just a woman with the self esteem and independence to despise a man who would brag about his ability to grab another woman by her private parts. Why would anyone attack her? What is more surprising is that any woman would defend, much less vote for, that creep.
it’s probably not a big guessing game who previously commented. 😉
#6 Yes. My late FIL (WW2 vet, worked for Patton) loved to say, “Growing
old is hell. But consider the alternative.” Don’t totally agree with the
theology, but I understand the sentiment!
#7 Totally agree.
#10 God bless Duane and Janet. I see the fruit, I believe, of this
relationship all through the blog. Lots and lots of wisdom and maturity
here. I’m one of the lucky recipients.
“ Unfortunately, America’s real favorite sport is bitching…” Truth. Unfortunately, the ones who supposedly love Jesus and the Bible seem to bitch the loudest.
especially, it seems, if they say they’re “optimillennialists” 😉
Taylor needs to get out of the luxury box and sit in the stands with the hoi polloi! That would endear her to the football faithful.
I have Kate Bowler’s other books and I highly recommend them.
The religious left is a thing. It exists mostly in NPR, Vox, and exvangelical podcasts, but it is a thing. That said, I don’t take much joy in seeing far-left mainline churches close and fall apart. The rest of us probably are just as fragile.
Thanking God for small things usually leads to a long time of prayer as I remember everything from amazing parents to furnaces that turn on with little effort. I don’t see this as a self-help mechanism, I see it as a way to remember all good comes from Our Lord.
I genuinely hope Taylor Swift has fun at the Bowl. That is all.
Sure, prog evangelicals have been around since the early 1970s. Here’s a recent book.
https://www.amazon.com/Other-Evangelicals-Progressive-Feminist-Christians_and/dp/0802881750/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+other+evangelicals&qid=1706681424&sr=8-1
I’ve also started reading “The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover.” The evangelical establishment, and specifically CT’s founders, cozied up to him and
his white Xn philosophy for years. Parts of it are kinda nauseating. Makes me long for a remnant church that doesn’t capitulate to the world’s agenda. Easier said than done!
https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Edgar-Hoover-Christian-Nationalism/dp/069117511X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QFR6MSNQ4L0A&keywords=the+gospel+of+j+edgar+hoover&qid=1706681962&sprefix=the+gospel+of+j+edgar+ho%2Caps%2C913&sr=8-1
I am so glad for you mentioning Duane and Janet. They are extraordinary individuals and they bless so many.
3, 4, & 5 are spot on.
I feel the need to become “that” YouTuber begging people to just leave Swift alone. If football is so catastrophically obliterated by a pop star’s infatuation with a player that it continues to be the subject of every camera angle when the ball is not in play, screw football and the Karens watching it. Seriously. I am astounded this is actually a thing.
Michael,
Thank you!
Janet and I are truly blessed to have you as a part of our lives. Indeed, we are blessed to be a part of this community…
One caveat, cloning is a really bad idea…😁
I need a liberal / progressive / left-leaning church to exist soon. I want to land somewhere, and can’t imagine that it will be a conservative place.
Michael,
I just wanted to weigh in on #1. I am fearful by nature, maybe because of all my early hospitalizations as a toddler. “This won’t hurt a bit” and waaah!!!
Anyway telling me not to be fearful (and I’ve come a long way on the trust scale) always makes me more anxious. What DOES help me is looking at the characteristics of God in Scripture and focusing on who he is. When my thinking takes that path, I trust my fear to him, think through what he does, and get through whatever the situation happens to be. And, as an outcome, I’m a lot braver than I used to be.
“Personally, I think we should put both on a raft and sink it just off the coast of someplace that could handle the pollution…”
“If there is a more impotent group in the country it can only be the flat earth lobbyists…”
Thanks Michael, for making me laugh out loud in a dark, difficult week!
Josh, I was raised in mainline churches and still pretty familiar with
most of them.
Some possible ideas:
ELCA
United Presbyterian
Episcopal Church
United Methodists
United Church of Christ
#8 – When my wife freaks out over a “large” spider in the house, I always trap it and let it go outside. I’ve rescued endless critters from my swimming pool, including Jerusalem Crickets which creep me out. Mice, lizards, bees. In the moment I feel the need to preserve each one of them. On the other hand I eat chickens, cows, pigs and salmon without feeling one bit of remorse.
#2 – This morning I saw Drudge as the same ad issue that this site had, only they haven’t fixed it. Good job dealing with it.
A church shouldn’t lean any direction but toward the kingdom of God.
The church debases itself when it reflects American political sesibilities.
The religious left has little impact politically… even if it’s representatives have an occasional slot on NPR…
Terrie R. Beede,
You’re welcome!
Reuben,
People now have my dander up over Taylor Swift.
The longest total time she’s been on camera during a game is less than 30 seconds.
You know who the biggest complainers are?
Guys who know neither football nor the ways of a woman and have little hope of knowing more about either….so they put on their MAGA hats , play another video game and hate what real people do.
I had to clean that up a lot…
Linn,
People have different ways of coping…my whole point is that it is not helpful to continually harp on people who are simply being human.
I’m glad you have found ways to overcome the real trauma you have experienced…and it’s a good method indeed.
Terry,
I’m a raging hypocrite.
I watch all these videos that show how all animals have a huge capacity for relationship…and then I eat their kin.
I love meat, but I’m not sure how long my conscience will allow this…
“I’m a raging hypocrite.”
For my next article on hypocrisy, I will post a picture of you watching cat videos with Liam on your lap, while stuffing your mouth with a big juicy burger.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Regarding “fear” upon wakening this morning I at once thought about quickly my body is tearing down but was immediately reminded how much more quickly I will be in my Savior’s presence.
Endless clumping of guilt by association. Endless political bias masquerading as love for the church. Y’all remind me of the dad beating his kid because it’s good for him.
No matter where it starts — Taylor Swift rage in this case — it always ends with the evil evangelicals. Not sure who you’re convincing or exiling at this point. The folk you’re aiming at are gone already. Except a few lurkers and the few who dare to post — moi.
Anyway let’s have fun with this. The charismatics are twitter-pated over the Chiefs and some old Bob Jones prophesies about new apostles and full stadiums. Now we have the putative leader of pop culture and her chief fellow as the tool to draw the attention of the nation to the Chiefs and the team on their unlikeliest run to the Lombardi.
Underneath is the Mike Bickle IHOPKC drama of one more exposed Jesus freak.
Who knows our circular firing squad (we do all confess Jesus in some way or other) may just be the beginning of revival. All of us rendered irrelevant and Jesus starting again with some unlikely redeemed chiefs.
His ways are definitely not ours.
Dread Rising Again
Dread,
You are basically accusing me of lying about my intentions and motivations.
That is a very serious allegation to make…one that probably should have been broached personally before taking it public.
Friendship isn’t what it used to be…
Yes, lots of people have left…lots.
Many of them claimed to be friends as well and this has been incredibly painful.
Now the pain is duller…because I’ve come to expect it now…the basis of communion is political and unless you partake of the body and blood of my candidate you have no place at the table.
It is an odd thing now that love of the church would supersede political considerations…I must be lying.
This is good I guess…it makes me check myself and allow the Lord to check me as well…helluva a way to start the morning…
No I I’ve read your disclaimer about politics and I believe your intent, I do.
Note what I wrote — “Y’all” There is a whole conversation here which I read and am responding to. I could have posted this response Monday. It was the same stuff.
Your motivations didn’t need my approval or Amen. The conversation always ends the same way.
I believe you love the church – some of it. I do. Yes my masquerading comment was harsh and probably would have been better edited out. It sounds too direct – I’ll own it because I do believe you.
What I really believe is that Christ will indeed shock us with his response. I ended with musing about just that.
I wonder what the reaction will be if, as expected, the 49’ers beat the red right out of the Chiefs.
Will people repent of their false prophesies, lies, and stupidity?
This morning I have read that the NFL is rigged, that Taylor is a psy op (whatever the hell that is) and that her and Travis will endorse Biden at half time.
There will be no repentance, there never is.
Nope…they’ll just go onto the next thing, in Jesus name of course.
All the words I want to use are stronger than I allow on the site,…so I shall go converse with my cat.
I sure have been pining for simpler times lately. The age of unending internet information/misinformation and advances in technology is starting to make me feel we’re all part of a Twilight Zone episode. Being closed in because of winter doesn’t help. Spring, come quickly so I can hike, fish, kayak, etc.
Piney, I feel that. I don’t think our brains and bodies are made to withstand the constant onslaught of information, whether true or false.
CK, I even notice it with our appliances. They’re all programed to tell us what we should do. My refrigerator barks at me to change the water filter (which I probably don’t need). Our new washing machine tells us we have to run a cleaning cycle with a certain brand of cleaner. I feel so nagged!
Bottom line, I’m an analog man living in a digital world.
Pineapple Head:
I ditched a “smart” alarm clock that used Alexi. Why do I need to set up a username/pswd/etc for a simple alarm clock? I’m with you. I am not anti-technology, but I miss the “plug and play” world from a few decades ago.