Today we were asked to "remember the tragic events of September 11th, 2001." Every year I am reminded that the REACTION to this event was part of a turning point for me. I had, like a "good Evangelical Christian," voted for George Bush. I was raised to believe that Christians should vote Republicans because Republicans would behave like Christians. Then I heard Mr. Bush say we would "get them." My first thought was, "Wait. Did Jesus teach retribution and revenge?" I heard many of my fellow church family saying it was important to fight back against the "evil Muslim extremists." I penned and sent an open letter to George Bush, begging he reconsider lashing out at whoever we deemed was the obvious aggressor. In our own wisdom, we automatically assume that retaliation is best, for it shows strength. Retaliation shows more than strength. Retaliation shows that we our proud of our values. Retaliation proclaims that these values are
When God found Adam and Eve after eating the fruit... Did He say anything about sin? Did He say anything about hell? Did He say anything about needing to offer sacrifices as penance? Did He establish any system for "corrective action?" Nope. He just made sure to remove them from the garden before they ate from the tree of eternal life and lived forever in shame. Sin and punishment are not God's idea. They are man's.
I grew up listening to "Contemporary Christian" music as a kid, back when some of it was actually good music, and not just repetitive praise-and-mind-control music. Off-topic kind-of rant: I enjoy MAKING music. I'll happily play keyboards or drums in a "praise" band, but I'm fairly confident that the push for "better worship" is really a push for "mood control." When I listen to the lyrics of most "praise"music, it all sounds like this to me. My family has been in and out of churches; leaving whenever the push for "better worship" overpowers the intended focus of what this post is supposed to be about. I enjoy a band named "King's X." They wrote a song called " Mission " The lyrics include: Who are these people behind the stained glass windows Have they forgotten just what they came here for Was it salvation or "scared of hell" Or an assembly of a social get-together What's the mis
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