Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No he won't, because he thinks that the fact that Romulus does not believe that it is God speaking in the Bible exonerates twin spin from having to defend the fact that neither he nor Christianity follows what it says. How's THAT for reasoning power?
As senseless as everything else he comes up with to defend bigotry is how.
A friend, Emily reminded me awhile back that I follow Christ, not other Christians. Which is true. But that faith cracks. I see other Christians being so divisive, polarizing and hateful, and I just wonder if it's worth it. Is it worth it to cling to a faith I, and other people like me are actively, and often forcefully being pushed out of? I don't know anymore. It's so crazy to me that a song like Disturbd's "Prayer" actually brings me comfort.
Quote:
Living just isn't hard enough
Burn me alive, inside
Living my life's not hard enough,
They take everything from you
Return to me, return to me, return to me, turn to me, leave me no one
Turn to me, return to me, return to me, turn to me, cast aside
Return to me, return to me, return to me, turn to me, leave me no one
Turn to me, return to me, return to me, you've made me turn away
A friend, Emily reminded me awhile back that I follow Christ, not other Christians. Which is true. But that faith cracks. I see other Christians being so divisive, polarizing and hateful, and I just wonder if it's worth it. Is it worth it to cling to a faith I, and other people like me are actively, and often forcefully being pushed out of? I don't know anymore. It's so crazy to me that a song like Disturbd's "Prayer" actually brings me comfort.
Not exactly a Christian song but I always thought that was a honest song in that it is sort of a window into Draimin's unbelief and his reasoning...Its hard to believe that was released over 10 years ago..
A friend, Emily reminded me awhile back that I follow Christ, not other Christians. Which is true. But that faith cracks. I see other Christians being so divisive, polarizing and hateful, and I just wonder if it's worth it. Is it worth it to cling to a faith I, and other people like me are actively, and often forcefully being pushed out of? I don't know anymore. It's so crazy to me that a song like Disturbd's "Prayer" actually brings me comfort.
Try to recall that it is just a small, extremely ugly sector of Christendom that does this, and that the shame they bring to the name of Christianity in the world is a testimony to their effeciveness.
Here is an example of the front lines in the discrimination against LGBTQ kids---
Read the proposal then read over just the first page of the comments. The proposal address harassment and other issues, and the only thing the adults want to focus on is who is in which bathroom?
Ephesians does a very fine job of emphasizing the need between married people to remain faithful to their vows.
And, I'm sure you aren't recommending that we treat our slaves with respect? Or am I wrong.
Slavery, like polygamy, was an accepted part of the Hebrew nation. They understood God in light of their own culture. But we have a different culture--completely different. Scripture cannot be lifted from a 2000+ year old middle eastern country and plopped down into 21st century America.
Let their culture be their culture. Ours is to accept without question serial monogamy. Christians have no problem with it. In all the many, many churches I preached in and visited as the development vice-president of my Southern Baptist connected college, I only met one church that had a restriction against divorced people--they could attend but not be members of that church.
God doesn't hate even prostitutes. Read Hosea. God commanded him to marry a prostitute that He knew would be unfaithful to Hosea. And when she did and ran off, He commanded Hosea to go fetch her and bring her back into his home, not condemn her as a harlot. In fact, Hosea had to PAY cash to get her back--illustrating that God pays a price to bring us back. It was God showing us His faithfulness despite our prostituting ourselves to this world--and to the rules in the OT which we like to attribute to God.
Who was Hosea? A young preacher who was a part of the religious community. He participated in the life of the synagogue. But he told the "church" people they were sinful in their understanding of God. Even after Gomer had deserted him, he continued to preach to his church family--only he did so in tears rather than self-righteousness.
God has never had a problem with sex--just lack of faithfulness. His summation in Hosea concerns Israel's continually delving into idolatry:Hosea 14:1
God loves LOVE. No one can explain the madness of love. Love exists apart from reason and has its own reasons. Love does not act according to logic. Love acts according to its own nature. That is why we see Jesus slow to condemn the worst of sinners EXCEPT--if they were bible believing Pharisees who used their bible to disenfranchise other people.
In that respect, modern fundamentalism is simply a chip off the block of their Jewish religious ancestors.
Warden, first I just want to say thanks. Thanks for a sincere, well written answer without the typical jive that I have come to expect. I appreciate it a ton.
To answer your question, no. I do not reject the inspiration of the OT. But it is historical in that it shows us how God dealt with His chosen people. The NT instructs us how to live, and I believe it to be divinely inspired to fit every generation, from the time it was written until the end of the age. That leads me to the answer on your question about slavery, or as it is sometimes called, being a bondservant. Obviously, I deplore and reject chattel slavery. That said, who were the CEOs of the big corporations during that time in history? That's right, there were none. The wealthy of that age had livestock and crops, and someone had to work the fields and tend the critters. Indentured servants were paramount in the operation of those wealthy families, from shepherding animals to thrashing wheat to fetching water to delivering babies and so on. That is the bondservant talked about in Ephesians, and also in Colossians 3. What I get from that Ephesians passage is an example of order. There is order in submission. Not the "Me man, you woman, me say, you do" type of submission, but by the example set by Christ. So there is order, wives to husbands, children to parents, and bondservants to masters, or in 21st century American culture, employee to employer. I think it is important to note the instructions given to husbands in that passage as well. I don't believe for a second that men are somehow superior to women, but I believe that God calls for, what we call in the nuclear industry, single point accountability. The husband is the head of the household, and he has a pretty daunting task as spiritual leader of the home. His example to follow? Christ and how he loved His bride, the church. Realizing that a marriage is to be a living drama portraying the Gospel gave me an entirely new outlook on the way and reasons that I treat my wife and crumbsnatchers. Order through submission.
One has to wonder, if in fact God is okay with the homosexual act, why is there emphasis on keeping the marriage bed pure? The wedding comes before the consummation, so why is there no mention of 'Husbands, submit to your own husband' or 'wives, submit to your own wife'? Could it be that marriage is a holy covenant between a man and a woman, designed by God and demonstrated by Christ?
My apologies for taking so long to respond. It's been one of those exciting days...
A friend, Emily reminded me awhile back that I follow Christ, not other Christians. Which is true. But that faith cracks. I see other Christians being so divisive, polarizing and hateful, and I just wonder if it's worth it. Is it worth it to cling to a faith I, and other people like me are actively, and often forcefully being pushed out of? I don't know anymore. It's so crazy to me that a song like Disturbd's "Prayer" actually brings me comfort.
Maybe don't focus on the churches that would push you away. Shake the dust from your feet, and look to the church communities that welcome you.
Not exactly a Christian song but I always thought that was a honest song in that it is sort of a window into Draimin's unbelief and his reasoning...Its hard to believe that was released over 10 years ago..
No, he's Jewish I think. It's been that long? I'm going to go cry now. Can we freeze time so I don't hae to get any older? lol It's a pretty painfully honest song, yes.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
