I'm interested in truth & what it means for individuals & humanity. This re-vamped blog is dedicated to truth and honest questions about faith in Jesus Christ. It is an effort to engage in authentic dialogue among Christians, Atheists and all points in between. Posts that do not honor legitimate discussion may be removed at my discretion. That doesn't mean that you can't disagree, but it DOES mean that you can't be a jerk. Welcome to the discussion.
"Secularism itself is a religion, and it has caused more war-time deaths than all crusades, inquisitions and other so-called "holy" wars combined." -William Cavanaugh
Please remember this the next time someone tries to tell you that religions like Christianity are vile and disgusting.
And in case we have not figured it out yet: These so called "Christian" crusaders and inquisitors got the message of Christ totally wrong.
Does it make ANY sense to judge God by the actions of those who CLAIM to be his followers in name alone, and not in lifestyle?
If the world is sane, then Jesus is mad as a hatter and the Last Supper is the Mad Tea Party. The world says, Mind your own business, and Jesus says, There is no such thing as your own business. The world says, Follow the wisest course and be a success, and Jesus says, Follow me and be crucified. The world says, Drive carefully—the life you save may be your own, and Jesus says, Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The world says, Law and order, and Jesus says, Love. The world says, Get, and Jesus says, Give.
In terms of the world’s sanity, Jesus is crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks he can follow him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under the cross than under a delusion. “We are fools for Christ’s sake,” Paul says, faith says—the faith that ultimately the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men, the lunacy of Jesus saner than the grim sanity of the world.
"There is no Christian way to boil and egg." -C.S. Lewis
I'll try not to go too much into my admiration of Lewis.
I'm working in a Christian book store at the moment, and sometimes the way in which we have taken Christianity and made it into a sub-culture disturbs me. When the movement started it was counter-cultural, it changed people's perspectives by re-casting or correcting the assumed knowledge at the time. At Mars Hill, Paul quoted the Greek philosophers and explained how their words applied to Jesus, while at the same time rejecting those philosophies that contradicted Jesus. He met people where they were and challenged them at the same time. He subverted the culture by using the culture. Today, Christians tend to use the culture to affirm ourselves. We've developed an industry for our own music, books, and movies. It is by Christians and for Christians, and anyone who crosses over is an exception to the rule. As an artist there are times when I feel the need to subvert the Christian sub-culture. I've often toyed with whether or not I should start my writing career with the secular market or the Christian market. But if I became a "Christian writer", I would feel the need to push and stretch and challenge the Christian culture in our American society. Too often it seems that we have carved out our own little entertainment niche where we can water-down the teachings of Christ and tell them in ways that make us comfortable. No one can tell me that the parable of the good samaratin was comfortable for The Jews.
Well done, Chip and Steve. Thank you for contributing.
Let us be labeled as fools for Christ and at the same time, refuse to be content with what our culture sees as the status quo for Christians. Personally, I try to adopt a modus operandi that displays behaviors and attitudes that fly in the face of what secular culture thinks it knows about how Christians are supposed to act. It's a nice surprise for people when they expect you to be ignorant, judgmental and "preachy" when they hear you're a Christian, and then find out that you aren't once they actually talk to you. May we continue to shake things up a bit.
"God does not play dice with the universe; he plays an ineffable game of his own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won't tell you the rules and who smiles all the time." -Gaiman & Pratchett
"The stuff we own, ends up owning us. We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra, Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart is polishing the brass on the Titanic; it's all going down." -Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
"Have you ever wondered why the angel gave Jesus two different names? Jesus, the first name, means "savior." The second name, Immanuel, means "God with us." In his book Yearning, Craig Barnes describes the significance of these two names to a troubled and confused world:
'The pairing of these names signals a reversal in our typical understanding of salvation. We don't usually think of salvation as having God with us. We would rather think of it as our being with God, and as being saved from how wrecked the world is. We would rather think of the "victorious Christian life." But in Jesus Christ, God is revealed as the Savior Immanuel, which means that salvation is not our ascent out of the hard, pain-filled, compromised conditions of this world. Salvation is God's DESCENT down into the lost world that he loves. Becoming a Christian doesn't necessarily save us from anything on earth. Jesus doesn't save us from grief or heartache or injustice. But he does enter every one of these life threatening situations, that he might find us and hurt with us there.'"
Please keep in mind that comments which do not honor the spirit of legitimate dialogue may be removed at any time and without notification. You are free to disagree passionately, but not inappropriately. -CL
"Secularism itself is a religion, and it has caused more war-time deaths than all crusades, inquisitions and other so-called "holy" wars combined."
ReplyDelete-William Cavanaugh
Please remember this the next time someone tries to tell you that religions like Christianity are vile and disgusting.
And in case we have not figured it out yet: These so called "Christian" crusaders and inquisitors got the message of Christ totally wrong.
Does it make ANY sense to judge God by the actions of those who CLAIM to be his followers in name alone, and not in lifestyle?
-CL
If the world is sane, then Jesus is mad as a hatter and the Last Supper is the Mad Tea Party. The world says, Mind your own business, and Jesus says, There is no such thing as your own business. The world says, Follow the wisest course and be a success, and Jesus says, Follow me and be crucified. The world says, Drive carefully—the life you save may be your own, and Jesus says, Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The world says, Law and order, and Jesus says, Love.
ReplyDeleteThe world says, Get, and Jesus says, Give.
In terms of the world’s sanity, Jesus is crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks he can follow him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under the cross than under a delusion. “We are fools for Christ’s sake,” Paul says, faith says—the faith that ultimately the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men, the lunacy of Jesus saner than the grim sanity of the world.
Frederick Buechner
"There is no Christian way to boil and egg."
ReplyDelete-C.S. Lewis
I'll try not to go too much into my admiration of Lewis.
I'm working in a Christian book store at the moment, and sometimes the way in which we have taken Christianity and made it into a sub-culture disturbs me. When the movement started it was counter-cultural, it changed people's perspectives by re-casting or correcting the assumed knowledge at the time. At Mars Hill, Paul quoted the Greek philosophers and explained how their words applied to Jesus, while at the same time rejecting those philosophies that contradicted Jesus. He met people where they were and challenged them at the same time. He subverted the culture by using the culture. Today, Christians tend to use the culture to affirm ourselves. We've developed an industry for our own music, books, and movies. It is by Christians and for Christians, and anyone who crosses over is an exception to the rule. As an artist there are times when I feel the need to subvert the Christian sub-culture. I've often toyed with whether or not I should start my writing career with the secular market or the Christian market. But if I became a "Christian writer", I would feel the need to push and stretch and challenge the Christian culture in our American society. Too often it seems that we have carved out our own little entertainment niche where we can water-down the teachings of Christ and tell them in ways that make us comfortable. No one can tell me that the parable of the good samaratin was comfortable for The Jews.
Well done, Chip and Steve. Thank you for contributing.
ReplyDeleteLet us be labeled as fools for Christ and at the same time, refuse to be content with what our culture sees as the status quo for Christians. Personally, I try to adopt a modus operandi that displays behaviors and attitudes that fly in the face of what secular culture thinks it knows about how Christians are supposed to act. It's a nice surprise for people when they expect you to be ignorant, judgmental and "preachy" when they hear you're a Christian, and then find out that you aren't once they actually talk to you. May we continue to shake things up a bit.
-CL
"God does not play dice with the universe; he plays an ineffable game of his own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won't tell you the rules and who smiles all the time."
ReplyDelete-Gaiman & Pratchett
"The stuff we own, ends up owning us. We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra, Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart is polishing the brass on the Titanic; it's all going down."
ReplyDelete-Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
"Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die."
ReplyDelete-Unknown
"Have you ever wondered why the angel gave Jesus two different names? Jesus, the first name, means "savior." The second name, Immanuel, means "God with us." In his book Yearning, Craig Barnes describes the significance of these two names to a troubled and confused world:
ReplyDelete'The pairing of these names signals a reversal in our typical understanding of salvation. We don't usually think of salvation as having God with us. We would rather think of it as our being with God, and as being saved from how wrecked the world is. We would rather think of the "victorious Christian life." But in Jesus Christ, God is revealed as the Savior Immanuel, which means that salvation is not our ascent out of the hard, pain-filled, compromised conditions of this world. Salvation is God's DESCENT down into the lost world that he loves. Becoming a Christian doesn't necessarily save us from anything on earth. Jesus doesn't save us from grief or heartache or injustice. But he does enter every one of these life threatening situations, that he might find us and hurt with us there.'"
from Emerging Hope by Jimmy Long 2004, p. 165
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”
ReplyDelete-G.K. Chesterton
What every artist must learn is that even the failed pieces are essential.
ReplyDeleteGod wastes nothing.