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| The next two weeks, we are looking at minding gaps between addictions (any genre) and the social stigma in church. Currently we are looking for resources. Do you know any websites, organizations, programs designed to help addicts? Leave a link or a name in the comments. For those who contribute to this effort, click here for a special prize.
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| I was feeling pretty good about class today. There was something very authentic about it today. Not that it usually isn't authentic. . . its just that the "conversation" seemed fresh and stimulated some emotions in me. The panel was really great--honest, humble, colorful.
Beth Cox brought up a great point that's worth asking again: are Christians in African-American/Hispanic churches wanting this unity?
We need an extra bit of caution as we think about "integrating" churches. Diversity DOESN'T mean that everyone comes to the White church and worships in the same way as Whites. We have to find an appreciation for all styles of church.
Unity in diversity is not easy, but it is important as we all begin to understand each other.
One more question: (this one is a dangerous one, so have fun with it) Did the response to Katrina reveal a racism that runs deep in America's social structure? | | |
| "Spiritual, but not Religious."
Oprah & Jesus:VIDEO
Spirituality Poll in last month's Newsweek.
This week class made more sense to me. It spoke of the world that I live in. I rarely meet an angry atheist who thinks I'm an idiot for participating in "organized religion." But I meet people (daily?) that carry a mixed bag of spirituality. I have a high school reunion coming up in a few weeks, and many of the Bible-bangin' kids I went to school with, now find spirituality to be much broader than Jesus of Nazareth. They have turned in their cheap Christianity for a rich sense of God's presence in all religions. What am I supposed to say to the girl that led Wednesday morning prayer groups in our Biology classroom, as she is now a Buddhist who embraces her Christian roots? I found this list (part Robert Fuller/part Monte Cox) helpful:
Common spiritual themes of “convergent spirituality”:
1. There is an experiential core common in all religions.
2. That core is spiritual energy, described in personal terms by some (as God or Allah or Brahman) and impersonal terms by others (as “vital force” or “chi” or “animal magnetism” or “atman”).
3. Human beings have unlimited spiritual potential which must be actualized to achieve success in life.
4. Individuals have a duty to establish their own criteria for believing.
5. Experience, not truthfulness, is the proper test of any worldview.
6. Spirituality has more to do with a general “openness” to multiple spiritual realities than a commitment to a particular set of creeds.
7. Those who are “spiritual but not religious” are very suspicious about institutional religion.
8. A more holistic view of the universe repairs the rift between the physical and the metaphysical.
9. Jesus, if he is included at all, is seen as a highly evolved spiritual being who can aid us in our own spiritual evolution. He may be called master, guru, yogi, etc., but he makes no exclusive claims.
--Kabob | | |
| I was hungry and you formed a humanities club to discuss my hunger.
Thank you.
I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel to pray for my
release. Nice.
I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
What good did that do?
I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health. But I needed
you.
I was homeless and you preached to me of the shelter of the love of God.
I wish you had taken me home.
I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me. Why didn't you stay?
You seem so holy, so close to God; but I am still very hungry, lonely,
cold, and still in pain. Does it matter?
Anonymous
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November 9, 1989 marked a major event in human history--the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ronald Reagan said what many had been saying for years: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Sunday Monte showed our Cold War tendencies with church, demanding that we tear down our walls. "Unchurched" people in America have some HUGE walls to get over before they are ever going to think about Christianity.
imageWe Christians have a terrible image problem: making government all about homosexuality and abortion, making Christianity too boring, too irrelevant to the real world, etc.
cultureChristians are from a different world. How is the Christian culture supposed to interact with the rest of the world.
gospelToo many people claiming different messages as gospel. What is the gospel? Are we clear with our message?
commitmentThis isn't about a cool church with two Jesus paintings in the gym. It is about an authentic relationship with God and the community of believers.
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
(Colossians 4:2-6)
What does it look like to break down these walls?
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