Things I Think…
1. In the wake of another pastor going down in flames (Steve Lawson) his church did the right thing and disqualified him from ministry.
The wrong thing was to state again that the marks of a “true church” are Bible teaching, “ordinances”, and “church discipline’. Those are all well and good, but what happened to “they will know us by our love”? That’s what the basis of a “true church” is…
2. Everytime one of these guys gets caught with their pants down we hear how Satan is to blame...as if he made hotel arrangements and helped the pastor disrobe…I’ve never needed the devil’s help to do what I wanted to do that was contrary to what God wants me to do…I could handle all the sinning on my own…
3. Blaming personal sin on Satan is just a way to deflect personal accountability and make the perpetrator the victim…
4. Had a bunch of medical tests yesterday and as usual, I got the results in my email long before I’ll ever talk to a doctor…so I spent hours with Dr.Google figuring out how much time I have left…
This is very good…she is of the generation ushering in what evangelicalism will look like when American evangelicalism as we know it dies within a generation…poisoned to death by unrepentance and politics…
5. This is a brilliant retort to Christian Nationalism…“It is time for conservatives, including religious social conservatives, to rethink the connection between religion and partisanship. Whatever mutual benefit religious lobbies and the Republican Party once provided each other, the relationship may now be detrimental to both. Rather than push for Christian nationalism, which has no chance of success, it makes more long-term sense for religious leaders to retreat from aggressive partisan politics.”
6. This is a fascinating study that shows most people are basically on the same page on many issues,but practice self silencing...leaving the extremes in control of the the larger conversations…I think the key finding here is the abysmal lack of trust in our institutions…historically,this is the ground revolutions are grown in…
7. I do believe that evangelicalism as we know it is careening headfirst into the chasm of irrelevance…and this is what I believe will replace it and where the remnant will dwell…”Every assumption I had about small churches like this was wrong about Faith Lutheran. I’m finding my new church to be rich (though not in dollars), with the members fully engaged, bonded to each other, and focused. It’s a place where I feel safe, heard, seen, and connected. I have also found the Sunday service ministering to me on a very deep level.”
8. When someone tells me they are “deconstructing” what they usually means is that they aren’t believing the bs anymore because the lives of alleged Christians call the whole faith into question…
9. I think “deconstruction” should be a regular practice for all believers…we all have places where the Holy Spirit can bring correction…and freedom…
10. Because Jesus loves you and you have the Holy Spirit you’re free and safe to read and think outside the confines of your sect…and your own comfort zone…
Finally, there are a series of articles about this amazingly brash and corrupt pastor…the blame for his continued presence is solely on the people in the pews…the fact that any remain there is an indictment of the state of the church…
1. Most Americans are feeling social pressure. A majority of Americans (58%) believe most people
cannot share their honest opinions about sensitive topics in society today. And they are not wrong:
Not only do 61% of Americans admit to self-silencing, private opinion methods reveal that every
single demographic group is misrepresenting their true opinions on multiple sensitive issues.
2. College graduates and political independents are the least comfortable sharing their private
views in public. Across demographic groups, college graduates and political independents self-silence
the most often, with double-digit gaps between public and private opinion on 37 of 64 issues.
3. (Un)fair society. Even though a sizable minority of Americans (37%) publicly express a belief that
we live in a mostly fair society, only 7% privately agree — a 30-point difference between public and
private opinion. The difference is largest among Americans living in high income households (46%
public vs. 6% private) and Republicans (50% public vs. 11% private).
4. People privately agree on most issues. For two-thirds of the sensitive issues studied (43 of 64),
ranging from abortion rights and school choice to legal immigration and voter ID requirements, 90%
of demographic groups are privately on the same side of the issues.
5. Men and women have similar views. A majority of men and women are on the same side of 57 of
the 64 sensitive issues in this study.
6. Gen Z is surprisingly mainstream. Gen Z is notably similar to the rest of America when it comes
to their private views on sensitive topics: A majority of Gen Z are on the same side as the general
public on 57 out of the 64 sensitive issues in this study (differing only in the magnitude of their
support or opposition to a given issue). The issues where they diverge from the rest of the general
public are climate change and immigration.
7 There is private distrust of America’s institutions. Public opinion results suggest low public
confidence in the Supreme Court (36%) and a general distrust of the government (22%) and media
(24%). Private opinion reveals that trust is even lower than public opinion results would suggest (21%
confidence in the Supreme Court, 4% trust in government, and 7% trust in media).
8. Americans value diversity. In private, nearly two-thirds of Americans agree more diversity would
be good for the country, 64% believe legal immigrants do more to help the country than hurt it, and
58% continue to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
9. But Americans want meritocracy. The vast majority of Americans, including a majority of almost
every demographic group, privately believe that decisions about college admissions, as well as hiring
and promotion at work, should be based on the individual’s qualifications and performance rather
than other social considerations.
10. Americans who self-silence have less trust in other people. People who self-silence have a
social trust score that is 22-points lower than people who do not (30% and 52%, respectively).
I could easily swap the name of my church for the one in your #7. Very thankful!
#10 – After what Finch pulled the last 2 weeks, there should be nothing but empty chairs this coming Sunday. Even his wife should stay home.
“… I’ve never needed the devil’s help to do what I wanted to do that was contrary to what God wants me to do…I could handle all the sinning on my own…”
I resemble that remark.
CK,
Anyone who stays in that church is spiritually bankrupt…but they are reflecting what the con men taught them…
#5 This sums up what I have always felt about the historicity of the US and Christianity. We have been blessed to have religious freedom (which has also allowed to be great creator of cults), but belief in Christianity has never been all-encompassing. My family, historically, has attended church going back at least three generations, but only a few have been actual Christians. It shows dramatically in the amount of smug consumerism, addiction to all kinds of substances, number of marriages per family member (5 in a couple of incidents)…and I could go on. I was the first believer on my mom’s side of the family in a couple of generations, except for my great aunt and uncle who prayerfully guided me into the kingdom. I know of many families like mine, with very little trace of belief except for occasional church attendance.
In response to #8, I’ve been reading Nick Cave’s FAITH, HOPE AND CARNAGE. Anyone followed his story? I find him fascinating and inspiring. He does a better job talking about the value of suffering than most Christians I know.
I’m happy as a clam in a small Lutheran (ELCA version) church.
Just ancient Liturgy, tame sermon, and great people with coffee and donuts afterwards.
I wouldn’t go back to fundagelical nonsense for all the coffee in Costa Rica.
The Twittersphere is blowing up over this pastor…and details that have been released (and retracted).
As a man of integrity that REALLY believes in the local church, this makes me sooooo….”angry.” If that’s the word for it.
I wish some of these guys who castrate themselves instead of ruining the lives of sooooo many others….
WOULD castrate themselves instead
jtk,
I have met this fellow.
He was in Geneva when I was there for Calvin’s 500th…all the big shot Calvinists were there.
This guy must have went through six Chap Stix a day kissing celebrity butt and genuflecting to get attention.
It became a running joke for some of us to watch and see how far Mike Horton could walk without this guy chatting him up.
He was in every group picture taken even if he had to swim Lake Geneva to get in them.
He wanted to be somebody worse than any person I ever met…and I remember telling one of the other attendees that he would go down in flames…and he did.
Is Dread (Alan) not a member of this community anymore? I used to see his writings so frequently and always appreciate what he has to say.
Steve T,
Dread has not told me that he has left the site permanently.
I trust he would if he chose to do so.