Great food for thought Albert. I find myself continually frustrated by the horrible 'p.r.' job we do as Christians. The #1 reason for the slow growth (negative growth?) of Christianity worldwide has to be us Christians. For myself, one of the things I can do to help reverse the perception of hypocrisy would be to stop judging. I need to get out of God's way & let him do the judging while my charge is to love. God help me.
Awesome Mark! And so timely. My wife & I served in S.E.Asia for awhile & the families there kept any children that had special needs out of sight. There was a stigma there that was cultural & so sad to see. Great to see that back here in the States, denominations like the CRC are engaged in reaching out to this population rather than shunning them.
Interesting topic, thanks Sam. Good food for thought. I believe our church 'rents' space to AA where they hold their meetings in our basement while one day per week we let local homeschoolers hold their music lessons in our sanctuary. Not sure if the home schooling group pays us or not. Where would one draw some kind of line involving who pays and who doesn't? It could be argued that AA does as much to 'advance the kingdom' as some churches while the home schoolers are all predominately from Christian families.
No disrespect to Ed, but I'll defer to Greg's take on this subject. Greg ends his post with "What questions do you have...". Seems like Ed has his answers already, but as for me - lots of questions! I will register for the webinar now.
Karl, Thanks for putting your thoughts out there on a very important topic. Much harder said than done. To have our Deacons out there 'representing' us on these matters hardly seems feasable to me. Though as Christians we are encouraged to be "like minded", in the real world, it isn't happening. Are we to follow the CRC's lead on 'political' issues? Our Deacon's? Our own? We can spend all day (and night!) as an institution, church, etc... trying to reconcile all these topical issues with the Bible & never come into anything approaching complete agreement. Though the CRC's take as of late in my opinion has been more on the side of compassion when it comes to social justice issues, the environment, etc... I don't believe my deacons are in lock step with the CRC and my congregation certainly isn't (yet???). Never is it more evident than when a presidential election is in the offing. Not looking forward to 2015! God help us.
Your 2 sources of 'Truth' Ed are most interesting. I am sorry, but obviously there is no such person as Ami Ben-Chanan. I suppose it was a play on words from the Jewish musician, Chanan Benami. And to cite 'WildBillfor America', obviously he has an agenda that doesn't include truth as a priority. Just as I wouldn't seek truth about civil rights from a white supremist, we should be so very careful who we trust to guide us, our Pastor's included. In times such as there we can be so easily lead astray. I pray that your Christian faith doesn't preclude you from reaching out & trying to love our Muslim neighbors.
Even those of you who view all Muslims as evil or not to be trusted or worse, shouldn't have issue with someone trying to better understand where they are coming from. "Know they enemy" yes? Only a very small percentage of Christians that I've encountered have even a modicum of knowledge about their own faith and what our Bible teaches, so I am very distrustful when they claim to understand Muslims and the Quran. I whole heartedly endorse those Christians who have a mature faith & have spent plenty of time in God's Word to help us understand our Muslim bother & sisters. You go Greg!
And if we asked a U.S. IRS agent what the toughest part of his or her job was, it would be, Americans lying to my face every hour about their taxes. Some of these immigrants I'm sure are indeed lying about their status. And why is that? Are they trying to earn enough money to send home so their children don't starve to death? Is it because of the rampant drug related violence threatening their very lives? And us Americans lying on our tax returns? It's so we can clear an extra grand or two and pad our income while denying our government what we lawfully owe. These men & women file into my church every Sunday & saddle up next to me for service. And we are to consider denying the immigrant the same priviledge? I'd rather get out of God's way & let Him do the judging & welcome ALL sinners.
A timely post as our church is examining this very issue. What exactly does a 'missional' church look like? Is it the one with the bulletin board in the basement with a map of the world and some stick pins? It's great to support missionaries with prayer and a check, but does that make one missional? Our church, besides supporting some missionaries around the globe and recently sending a member, is looking to get more of our congregation 'involved'. Ours is a relatively small church (approx 100 members) and we are psyched to have a young woman from our pews serving long term in Columbia, but what of the other 99%? What if we could get 50% (and not just 1%) out there reaching the unchurched right here in our own backyard. Then maybe we could rightfully claim to be a missional church. And while we're at it, maybe we'll blow the dust off that bulletin board & bring it upstairs! .....Kevin
Posted in: Hypocrisy
Great food for thought Albert. I find myself continually frustrated by the horrible 'p.r.' job we do as Christians. The #1 reason for the slow growth (negative growth?) of Christianity worldwide has to be us Christians. For myself, one of the things I can do to help reverse the perception of hypocrisy would be to stop judging. I need to get out of God's way & let him do the judging while my charge is to love. God help me.
Posted in: How do we respond to groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram and al-Qaeda?
Amen!
Posted in: The Power of Connection
Awesome Mark! And so timely. My wife & I served in S.E.Asia for awhile & the families there kept any children that had special needs out of sight. There was a stigma there that was cultural & so sad to see. Great to see that back here in the States, denominations like the CRC are engaged in reaching out to this population rather than shunning them.
Posted in: Why We Don't Want To Rent Space
Interesting topic, thanks Sam. Good food for thought. I believe our church 'rents' space to AA where they hold their meetings in our basement while one day per week we let local homeschoolers hold their music lessons in our sanctuary. Not sure if the home schooling group pays us or not. Where would one draw some kind of line involving who pays and who doesn't? It could be argued that AA does as much to 'advance the kingdom' as some churches while the home schoolers are all predominately from Christian families.
Posted in: Understanding Islam, Loving Muslims
No disrespect to Ed, but I'll defer to Greg's take on this subject. Greg ends his post with "What questions do you have...". Seems like Ed has his answers already, but as for me - lots of questions! I will register for the webinar now.
Posted in: The Church and the Exercise of Non-Ecclesiastical Power
Karl, Thanks for putting your thoughts out there on a very important topic. Much harder said than done. To have our Deacons out there 'representing' us on these matters hardly seems feasable to me. Though as Christians we are encouraged to be "like minded", in the real world, it isn't happening. Are we to follow the CRC's lead on 'political' issues? Our Deacon's? Our own? We can spend all day (and night!) as an institution, church, etc... trying to reconcile all these topical issues with the Bible & never come into anything approaching complete agreement. Though the CRC's take as of late in my opinion has been more on the side of compassion when it comes to social justice issues, the environment, etc... I don't believe my deacons are in lock step with the CRC and my congregation certainly isn't (yet???). Never is it more evident than when a presidential election is in the offing. Not looking forward to 2015! God help us.
Posted in: Understanding Islam, Loving Muslims
Your 2 sources of 'Truth' Ed are most interesting. I am sorry, but obviously there is no such person as Ami Ben-Chanan. I suppose it was a play on words from the Jewish musician, Chanan Benami. And to cite 'WildBillfor America', obviously he has an agenda that doesn't include truth as a priority. Just as I wouldn't seek truth about civil rights from a white supremist, we should be so very careful who we trust to guide us, our Pastor's included. In times such as there we can be so easily lead astray. I pray that your Christian faith doesn't preclude you from reaching out & trying to love our Muslim neighbors.
Posted in: The Quran and the Mission of the Church
Even those of you who view all Muslims as evil or not to be trusted or worse, shouldn't have issue with someone trying to better understand where they are coming from. "Know they enemy" yes? Only a very small percentage of Christians that I've encountered have even a modicum of knowledge about their own faith and what our Bible teaches, so I am very distrustful when they claim to understand Muslims and the Quran. I whole heartedly endorse those Christians who have a mature faith & have spent plenty of time in God's Word to help us understand our Muslim bother & sisters. You go Greg!
Posted in: The Story of the Briefcase
Thanks for sharing Peter. May God continue to use you & bless you.
Posted in: Why Does the CRC Encourage Congregations to Speak Up on Behalf of Undocumented Immigrants?
I am fairly new to the CRC, but SO appreciate the effort being made by the church to reconcile these types of issues with the bible.
Posted in: Why Does the CRC Encourage Congregations to Speak Up on Behalf of Undocumented Immigrants?
And if we asked a U.S. IRS agent what the toughest part of his or her job was, it would be, Americans lying to my face every hour about their taxes. Some of these immigrants I'm sure are indeed lying about their status. And why is that? Are they trying to earn enough money to send home so their children don't starve to death? Is it because of the rampant drug related violence threatening their very lives? And us Americans lying on our tax returns? It's so we can clear an extra grand or two and pad our income while denying our government what we lawfully owe. These men & women file into my church every Sunday & saddle up next to me for service. And we are to consider denying the immigrant the same priviledge? I'd rather get out of God's way & let Him do the judging & welcome ALL sinners.
Posted in: The Missional Church and International Missions
A timely post as our church is examining this very issue. What exactly does a 'missional' church look like? Is it the one with the bulletin board in the basement with a map of the world and some stick pins? It's great to support missionaries with prayer and a check, but does that make one missional? Our church, besides supporting some missionaries around the globe and recently sending a member, is looking to get more of our congregation 'involved'. Ours is a relatively small church (approx 100 members) and we are psyched to have a young woman from our pews serving long term in Columbia, but what of the other 99%? What if we could get 50% (and not just 1%) out there reaching the unchurched right here in our own backyard. Then maybe we could rightfully claim to be a missional church. And while we're at it, maybe we'll blow the dust off that bulletin board & bring it upstairs! .....Kevin