tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post6972058099340912168..comments2024-03-29T06:03:45.545-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Centers of Being and Points of EntryGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-49963816535101903622007-05-22T11:46:00.000-07:002007-05-22T11:46:00.000-07:00Biker Lady-Your poem is heartening!Thank you for s...Biker Lady-<BR/>Your poem is heartening!<BR/>Thank you for sharing it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-69247371528862332522007-05-22T08:34:00.000-07:002007-05-22T08:34:00.000-07:00Riv,Synchronicity.I’ve stopped working on my RR si...Riv,<BR/>Synchronicity.<BR/><BR/>I’ve stopped working on my RR site for awhile now and lately just placing small things on my Listening Now site.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-37857324986340086352007-05-22T08:27:00.000-07:002007-05-22T08:27:00.000-07:00Sal said "Proud Mother Moment: asked the youngest ...Sal said "Proud Mother Moment: asked the youngest what was the main thing she'd learned at college this year.<BR/>"Never argue with a hippy" she said."<BR/><BR/>She can leave college now - Wisdom achieved!Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-84861025996079294052007-05-22T08:08:00.000-07:002007-05-22T08:08:00.000-07:00Nice. It is indeed a struggle (in different ways f...Nice. <BR/><BR/>It is indeed a struggle (in different ways for each of us) to give one's passion over to God. Very, very hard for me.<BR/><BR/>More, maybe, on that, at some point. Recently I've been confounded at any attempt to write anything but poetry or casual comments. It just comes out as foolish nonsense. <BR/><BR/>Gotta figure that one out too, I guess.Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-47257252862227939742007-05-22T07:45:00.000-07:002007-05-22T07:45:00.000-07:00The Christian's journey through life is in stages ...The Christian's journey through life is in stages and it's different for everyone. Bob's journey is presented here for our learning and encouragement.<BR/>Twenty years ago I was feeling hemmed and boxed in by all the do's and don'ts of a lifetime spent trying to follow Christ. <BR/>So I wrote this poem which clarified my thinking and direction for the rest of the journey. <BR/>Organized religion can be a blessing, a trial of faith for most of us who are sincere but the final outcome is a gift of grace. Here's the poem.<BR/><BR/>"Shepherds of Light"<BR/><BR/>Light and life were his words<BR/>Easily born was his yoke,<BR/>Restoring joy and princely might.<BR/>Mincing mystic's disguised as men<BR/>Trembled in terror, as he spoke.<BR/>With flattery, and stupidity, they<BR/>Constantly, tried to confound him<BR/>Then crept away, in astonishment.<BR/>The lazy liars that lingered<BR/>Companions to shades of intrigue,<BR/>Were pierced to the point<BR/>Of their slinking, sinful hearts;<BR/>Their ears burned so brazen<BR/>As they felt the fiery darts.<BR/>Ranting and raving, foolish fury,<BR/>Humorless Trio, broke all their rules.<BR/><BR/>Shepherd of the sheep, fighting all the foxes<BR/>Break the bonds of death and grief,<BR/>Wicked are the wall, of narrow down boxes.<BR/>Slowly, gathering in grace<BR/>Shepherd of the first, perfect light.<BR/>Transcending times of space.<BR/>By the purity of perfect verse, he started<BR/>Peace and grace, ours<BR/>Once again. <BR/> Joan E. PlanoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-55271744100610288202007-05-22T06:10:00.000-07:002007-05-22T06:10:00.000-07:00Van- prayers for your son, his friends and their f...Van- prayers for your son, his friends and their families<BR/><BR/>Even though brought up as a Christian from a child, I was deeply enriched by receiving in my early twenties the 'blueprint' of how it all hung together. The intellectual aspect, which I'd always had in appropriate child-sized measure, came into sharper focus. It was like hearing something that I already gnew spelled out more concretely.<BR/><BR/>My best analogy? Those wooden Chinese puzzles- if you take one piece out, it won't hold together.<BR/><BR/>Which was why Anglicanism fell apart for me intellectually - we'd stop short of the logical end of some doctrines. To avoid that last step that would tumble you into the Tiber.<BR/>And as I may have mentioned, the history was a joke, but who wants to hear how you were converted by that? Boring...<BR/><BR/>Proud Mother Moment: asked the youngest what was the main thing she'd learned at college this year.<BR/>"Never argue with a hippy" she said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-53268892425249708562007-05-22T05:20:00.000-07:002007-05-22T05:20:00.000-07:00Tell the truth (as I dimly perceive it), I think C...Tell the truth (as I dimly perceive it), I think Christianity has had all the advertising it needs, about 2000 years worth.<BR/><BR/>Intuition tells me that there's nobody on earth - or very very few, at any rate - that haven't received and understood the essential message: there is Spirit and life and there is darkness and death and we have a choice between the two. Obviously there are gradations of understanding this message, some with great insight, some with less, but I think by this time in the spiritual evolution of humankind, everybody understands the basics. <BR/><BR/>So we strive toward grace - which I would define as a governing, all-encompassing divine gnosis - but that does not guarantee that we will be granted grace. Not in this life, anyway. God bestows grace for His own reasons (if "reasons" can be said to be an apt term here) - we do not have the Mind of God, thus the bestowing of grace seems to us, for all intents and purposes, arbitrary. Now, in the fullness of time, we may come to learn that grace is not exactly arbitrary, not as we would strictly define it, but through the lens of our blinkered, finite existence, it certainly seems as if it is. <BR/><BR/>Really, the best we can do is to prepare ourselves, to be constantly ready for the entrance of grace, because, I believe, grace comes like a thief in the night. Grace may not come even if we are prepared, but it surely won't come if we are not prepared.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-66232204336408346552007-05-22T03:00:00.000-07:002007-05-22T03:00:00.000-07:00It disturbs me that people seem to think Christian...It disturbs me that people seem to think Christianity, like some kind of sci-fi movie, depends on the suspension of disbelief. It certainly depends on belief, but that's not the same thing. <BR/><BR/>Rather we move from believing in one thing to believing in another. It is not that we believe more: For each ounce we believe in God, we believe less in the temptations that arise from illusion.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-12441807091893470292007-05-21T22:27:00.000-07:002007-05-21T22:27:00.000-07:00Absolutely enjoyable. Hmm, love the Lord with all...Absolutely enjoyable. Hmm, love the Lord with all your heart mind and soul is a must because He is One God. Wouldn't do very well to be split up into parts, now would it? Mind one way, heart another...So then, the Lord Jesus must have a way to unify the heart, mind and soul, Yes? Makes sense? Feels right? So, what is a soul? Maybe a good analogy to help the mind understand and the heart to feel right about the explaination. Doesn't everyone's heart 'talk' to their soul and vice versa? Ahhhh, in the physical world sound doesn't travel in a vacum. Hmmm, the physical is a mirror of the spiritual. So, what is the medium through which heart and mind may 'speak' and be unified together? Soul? In my novels, first one soon to come out www.thefaithwalkerseries.com I have an analogy. The branches of a tree are the mind. The roots are the heart and the trunk is the soul that connects the two. I used to teach biology and the biological inner workings of such plants are phenomonally charged with ever more powerful analogy. The top growth senses when it overgrows the bottom growth and sends signals to the roots to grow more. Also vice versa. Does not the mind stimulate the heart and vice versa? Taken as a whole, there is no distinct sepration between the parts of a plant, tree, as they all meld together, share the same sap and the life of the whole depends upon the whole. What is heart without intellect. About as dangerous and fragile as intellect without heart. And if the soul is disfunctional, and the heart and mind are split from each other...not a happy camper, YES? Might this simple analogy be proof of the soul? Besides the fact that the atoms and molecules and innanimate forces comprising our brains DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY"RE DOING :) Thank you for the opportunity to read your wonderful writing.Darrylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07657866089736980571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-13668500125103201942007-05-21T21:57:00.000-07:002007-05-21T21:57:00.000-07:00JWM said "...Love God with all your heart... This ...JWM said "...Love God with all your heart... This is a biggie for me. How? This, commandment, seen through my most glaring spiritual blind spot reads much like an injunction to taste blue and savor it greatly. ..."<BR/><BR/>I hear you. Best I can do is to look, think, contemplate thIS. And when it sets that chord to thrumming, take in the resonance, as it is, while it is.<BR/><BR/>Will said "Devotion involves the emotions, of course, as well as the elevation of the *image* of holiness in various forms."<BR/><BR/>Aristotle thought that contemplation of objects, deeply, in some sense brought you in touch with God - not the term he used, but the sense of it. That any instance of perfection, brought into your mind and allowed to resonate, is going to, if only for a moment, elevate you into contact with perfection.<BR/><BR/>"The next stage, I believe, is the transcending of the image, and in some sense, transcending devotion and whatever attendant emotionalism might be involved. By doing so, we began to fully manifest God. That is, God becomes less the "other" and image/object of devotion while becoming more manifest through us. Put another way, I suppose it could be said we are to become fully fledged co-creative *partners* with God."<BR/><BR/>There are moments when that moment seems everywhere - for a moment. And then there are moments when it seems as if it's all coming apart, as with today, teens, friends of my kids, out joyriding - excited at their upcoming graduation - gone. Crash, bang, poof. Life is confusing, and painful - and the opposite. From this end of the teleoscope. Perhaps those elevated moments give us a brief glimpse of the view from the other end.<BR/><BR/>As Cosa said "I love it when Bob uncorks a post like today's that blows off the fog so far up the hillside that even the blind like me can see the High Country surrounding us.<BR/><BR/>Amazing grace."<BR/><BR/>Indeed. Blow fog, blow.<BR/><BR/>To paraphrase what C.S. Lewis said of the Lion, "Life is Good. But it's not tame."Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76038384423243786982007-05-21T21:41:00.000-07:002007-05-21T21:41:00.000-07:00JulieC said "...I've been to many kinds of churche...JulieC said "...I've been to many kinds of churches, and what turned me off and set me adrift was the lack of depth I often encountered...", I agree, and would add to that the ones who put on the bodysnatcher smile and chortle about how everything is just rosy since they found Jesus(willies)" I just waited for them to offer some Soma. <BR/><BR/>Ugh. Sure made it easy for me to "come by this attitude". Got to watch out for those things that you come by easily.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-17509446767712564462007-05-21T21:38:00.000-07:002007-05-21T21:38:00.000-07:00And mp3 audio bibles too, walking and absorbing Ps...And mp3 audio bibles too, walking and absorbing Psalms or the book of John, quite different than having it come up through the eyes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-59281807686111630202007-05-21T21:20:00.000-07:002007-05-21T21:20:00.000-07:00Gagdad said "... which was first through the mind....Gagdad said "... which was first through the mind. The Bobway has probably become an exception in our day and age..."<BR/><BR/>Apparently less an exception than we imagine. It's certainly been my route, and apparently many others.<BR/><BR/>What do you suppose, 7,000? Maybe more? <BR/><BR/>And one very cool coonish way to get the Vitamin W into the mind, as as Johan (cosmic swede) pointed out... "I'm even reading the good Book - on my mobile phone! That is actually quite a cool feature that they have put it in a format that I can download to my cellular."<BR/><BR/>See? PocketPC's and SmartPhone's are more than cool, they are IcoonIsaihic accoutrements!Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-17319493357348632642007-05-21T20:31:00.000-07:002007-05-21T20:31:00.000-07:00Holy Cow.Love God with all your heart...This is a ...Holy Cow.<BR/><BR/>Love God with all your heart...<BR/>This is a biggie for me.<BR/><BR/>How? This, commandment, seen through my most glaring spiritual blind spot reads much like an injunction to taste blue and savor it greatly. I have been drawn to this faith, pulled in by this weird magnetic gravity, and linked into a vast web of coincidence (I do not mean accident). I chase the events backward and see what it took to bring me from where I once was to where I am now I feel a sort of awe. I feel gratitude, and no small measure of the shame you wrote about a few days ago. But love God? Truth to tell I don't like <I>me</I> very much a good part of the time. It's like looking at calculus, but my brain stops at algebra. I- No, that's about it. No more to add. Until I hit post, and think, "Damn, I shoulda' said..."<BR/><BR/>JWMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-46701168698463566332007-05-21T20:29:00.000-07:002007-05-21T20:29:00.000-07:00hey,Have you all heard that next season's terroris...hey,<BR/>Have you all heard that next season's terrorists on 24 are going to be Tongans?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-91293303404671911002007-05-21T18:05:00.000-07:002007-05-21T18:05:00.000-07:00Tim, well said!Snippets from the president's artic...Tim, well said!<BR/><BR/>Snippets from the president's article. He makes three propositions: "First, that sin corrodes reason; second, that holiness preserves reason; third, that the Holy Spirit perfects reason.<BR/><BR/>"...Christ's simple ones have one passion that is stronger than all their other passions: their love for Him. As a result, they receive, both from life and from on high, a wisdom beyond their self-conscious capacity. Those who love wisdom and learning above all else cannot drink from that stream, because the cup required for dipping in and drinking is called Humility. Not only so, but paradoxically, the supreme love of wisdom, unsubmitted to God, is chronically unstable. Those who try to love wisdom best cannot keep themselves from engaging in a distorted form of self-love: they begin by loving wisdom but end by loving their own possession of wisdom, andfinally by loving their own mental construction of that possession more than even the possession itself. For them the life of the mind comes at the cost of the soul. Reason doesn't always go wrong, but it usually does. And when it goes wrong, this is how it does so. My experience with intellectualized unbelievers leads me to conclude that, for most of them, intellectual activity masks a rebellion against God that is primarily visceral, rather than cerebral, in character.<BR/><BR/>...Now the world and all that is in it, visible and invisible, is naturally an object of human wonderment. The mind filled with wonder forgets itself and seeks to understand. But there is a perennial temptation to turn one's attention away from reality itself and instead toward one's own mental construction of reality. It is the temptation to prefer the contrivance of the mind to that which is. It is the temptation, at worst, to revel in the power of one's own intellect. I call this phenomenon intellectual backsliding--or more precisely, backsliding from being. One can hardly blame ordinary people for having a generally low opinion of intellectuals, since intellectuals of this type must end up either as eccentrics or tyrants.<BR/><BR/>...Obviously, postmodernism is a kind of intellectual solipsism, and, as such, it would seem to represent the end of the line for the intellectual life, the terminal development of what I have called the pathology of the intellect. If it is the terminus, then there may be reason for hope. In fact, I foresee the emergence of a new alliance between reavealed religion and scientific empiricism, against postmodern relativism and other reductive ideologies, including materialism, behavioralism and even rationalism. Those who believe in a God who is not of their own making have much common cause with those who believe in a world that is not of their own making. An Almighty God, who created everything out of nothing, is the greatest guarantor of the reality which the scientist seeks to know.<BR/><BR/>...But, as Augustine reminds us, 'man did not so fall away as to become absolutely nothing; but being turned towards himself his being become more contracted that it was when he clave to Him who supremely is.' In other words, human nature now exists in a contracted, or shrunken or shriveled condition. You might say he thinks of human nature as something like a sponge. It is the nature of a sponge to be permeated with something other than the sponge--with water.... So it is with man. We were created to be filled with the Spirit of God, but we can only receive the benefits of His presence to the degree that our love-gate is open, to the degree that we give ourselves to 'the love of God, even to the contempt of self.' Pride excludes His presence, for it is, as Augustine says, 'the love of self even to the contempt of God.'<BR/><BR/>...No, the constitutive struggle of the intellectual life is not between emotion and reason, nor between desire and self-extinction. It is between the love of righteousness and the love of sin, between the love of public truth and the love of private advantage, and ultimately between love for God and love of the deified self. We are not beings whose nature can be shorn of desire. Indeed the attempt to do so will distort even our reasoning processes. We will love, either one thing or another. We will be powered by desire, either deformative or ennobling. We cannot master desire in the sense of setting it aside. But, amazingly, we can choose which desire will master us, and reason can help us to choose rightly. It is not the goal of our nature to be autonomous, self-mastering individuals, but to be slaves in the service of Him whose service is perfect freedom, as the old Episcopal prayer book has it. Our natural goal is not to get beyond the grip of love, but to love Him who loves us with an everlasting love."Susannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16381272662339466736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77558199090459590552007-05-21T17:51:00.000-07:002007-05-21T17:51:00.000-07:00I quite like this radical interpretation of John 1...I quite like this radical interpretation of John 1-3 through 1-5.<BR/><BR/>The Divine Spirit-Breath is the sungle Light of the cosmos. The Divine Spirit-Breath is the eternal Truth that pervades and sustains all beings. The Divine Spirit-Breath is the Light, and Love, and Truth, and Way in which all beings and things arise and change and pass out of sight.<BR/><BR/>All things and beings come to exist through the Divine Agency of the Spirit-Breath of Light and Love. Therefore, whoever surrenders heart and mind and body into the Divine Light of Truth by means of the Spirit-Breath is truly alive, because everything and everyone is fully sustained only through complete surrender into the Spirit-Breath of Divine Light and Love.<BR/><BR/>The Spirit-Breath is the Divine Power that sustains the body of the human being. That same Spirit-Breath of Divine Power is also the inner Light of Love, that can guide the heart along the Divine Way that leads beyond the darkness and spiritual blindness of the un-knowing world. That Divine Spiritual Light of Love is, now and forever, shining above the world. And the Spirit-Breath of Divine Love-Light may also descend into the body of any human being it chooses to Bless. And no darkness or dark power in the cosmic world can ever defeat or dstroy or steal away the Spiritual Love-Light that Breathes the world. And the Eternal Divine Love-Light shines on all beings from the Divine place of origin, above the body and mind of every Spirit-Breathing being in the world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35090715527003645982007-05-21T17:31:00.000-07:002007-05-21T17:31:00.000-07:00When I understood the Christian Way as a form of b...When I understood the Christian Way as a form of bhakti yoga, there was no appeal; and I considered religious philosophers from non-Christian traditions to be somehow "superior" in their understanding. Nowadays, I feel like that was 'me' in some other lifetime.<BR/><BR/>When I stumbled in here, I got pretty lucky. Bob writes in the right "mix" of theology, psychology, politics, humor, etc., that I guess would have to be described as "satisfying my mind." And like Johan the Cosmic Swede, when I read OCUG, I thought that a coherent, sensible Path was opening up. I'm sure most Coons would agree, that these sorts of things are difficult to describe, as they combine so many variables, and more than a little magic.<BR/><BR/>I'll quote Bob: "For more simple souls, it may simply be because scripture speaks to an intuitive place that is way beyond thought."<BR/><BR/>And I came across this from Bishop Ware, in The Orthodox Way:<BR/>"It is fundamental to my character as a human being that I search everywhere for meaningful explanations. <I>Faith in God enables me to make sense of things, to see them as a coherent whole, in a way that nothing else can do.</I> Faith enables me to make One out of the many."<BR/><BR/>Phrases like "making sense" and "coherent whole" speak volumes to my simple soul, and draw me on.walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-10485806358220557962007-05-21T17:03:00.000-07:002007-05-21T17:03:00.000-07:00I am the pastor of a small Christian church and ha...I am the pastor of a small Christian church and have often wondered in the past and even now I must admit about "marketing" the Christian faith. What is being left out of all this conversation is the work of the Holy Spirit. True biblical Christianity teachs that there are three persons in the Godhead, God is one, yet manifested as three, it is a deep mystery, but clearly taught as Jesus himself said on the eve of His return to Heaven and His Throne, I must go that the "Comforter" might come, and when He (a person, God indeed) is come, He<BR/>will bring you into rememberance of all that I have said unto you. As some of the posts said so well, we live our lives in the light of Grace freely given, seeking and giving diligence to be as Christ would have us to be. The spirit draws and brings the sheep (coons),<BR/>study Christian history (Shaff or many others) and you will see how God brought thousands during great revivals when His spirit moved mightily, through prayer and the word. We are witnesses and sheep beget sheep, coons beget coons and so on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-52146542664190228302007-05-21T16:50:00.000-07:002007-05-21T16:50:00.000-07:00When Christians Squabble...I think that's a huge t...When Christians Squabble...I think that's a huge turnoff to seekers. Having participated in Christian forums for years, I'm amazed at how many things Christians fight over...dumb stuff that really falls under Romans 14. Like, modest dress, dresses-only, head coverings, "quiver-full" (zero birth control), homeschool/public school...basically stuff that is none of our stinkin' business when it comes to others' convictions...areas where we are commanded to follow the "law" of love with regard to freedom/weak conscience. And that's without broaching theological debates.<BR/><BR/>Following Jesus' command to love one another as he has loved us would be enough right there to attract all but the most hardened to him. He said himself it was how others would know we are his followers. Genuine love is unmistakable; people know it when they see it and they are drawn to it because everyone is hungry for it. When you find it among believers, when you are really truly loved as you are, it makes you want to weep, it is such a rare and precious thing. Esp. when someone cares enough about you to graciously, gently correct you when you are going off the deep end--THAT is a miracle! The soul can easily differentiate pharasaical criticism from loving concern.<BR/><BR/>Furthermore, I think the Church would attract more people if we simply repented of our own junk and sought God's power with regard to holier living. It's clear throughout scripture that judgment begins with the house of God and that it's up to us to **humble** ourselves and pray. As important as I believe political action to be (I grew up with a politically involved dad, it's pounded into me), the real battles are not won simply by promoting good policies and opposing bad.<BR/><BR/>As for head/heart, I was talking this over with DH and he reminisced how it was heart first with him, but would not have "stuck" without a renewed mind. He quoted our college president, who has said that the mind is the gatekeeper of the soul. He has written an interesting article titled "The Pathology of the Intellect." Wish I could share it in full here.Susannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16381272662339466736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-51167737347733753902007-05-21T16:49:00.000-07:002007-05-21T16:49:00.000-07:00Ahh, cool, I'm in the coonland again.Thanks you ag...Ahh, cool, I'm in the coonland again.<BR/>Thanks you again, Mr. Bob, its always<BR/>uplifting to read your posts and since I am a Christian, I'm always<BR/>especially interested in your take on<BR/>that. I've been writing a book on my<BR/>own personal journey through darkness, trying to find the light. A 60's background led me down some many insane paths, it's hard to recount. As scripture states, God will give wisdom to his children, liberally, if<BR/>they ask. All things do become illuminated and as you've said so many times, the horizontal becomes <BR/>beautiful and understanable in the light of an all wise God. Anyway I've had a bunch of comments that didn't get posted, but basically just to say thanks. So thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71120768870641513842007-05-21T16:46:00.000-07:002007-05-21T16:46:00.000-07:00Some people call you..... Tim??Some people call you..... Tim??juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-66888699467590135342007-05-21T16:43:00.000-07:002007-05-21T16:43:00.000-07:00I'm hoping I can post a comment. I used to be able...I'm hoping I can post a comment. I used to be able to, but lately it just rejects me, no matter what I try. Here we go.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-85007317082523761772007-05-21T16:33:00.000-07:002007-05-21T16:33:00.000-07:00I think that's a good and important question. In B...<I>I think that's a good and important question. In Bob's case, it wasn't personal experience that fostered that idea, but I think for a lot of people there is a direct experience of Christianity and churches that, perhaps in the hopes of gaining more followers and being accessible to all, aims for the lowest common denominator.</I><BR/><BR/>It's interesting to note that the churches that have the most pronounced tendencies toward lowering the bar are losing members, while those that are raising it are growing.<BR/><BR/><I>I've been to many kinds of churches, and what turned me off and set me adrift was the lack of depth I often encountered ... people whose faith drove them to a stupid, sheepish fear of the world</I>...<BR/><BR/>I think it's not <I>faith</I> which is the driver, but rather fear itself. Fear of unicorns, and the like sounds like a bit of displacement.<BR/><BR/>What most fed my secularist doubts was that I really couldn't see much evidence of the work of the Paraclete in those who called themselves "mature" Christians.<BR/><BR/>As I've become better educated, though, I apprehend that the failures are with the clay, not the potter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32213151233404965742007-05-21T16:25:00.000-07:002007-05-21T16:25:00.000-07:00Welcome Johan!- I think your experience is more of...Welcome Johan!- I think your experience is more of what I see around me in terms of what people (especially men) need in an approach to Christianity.<BR/><BR/>Yours is an excellent answer to the question raised of how to better market Christianity and ties in to the concept of religion being an irrational way of looking at the world (as opposed to its a-rational approaches).<BR/><BR/>Frankly, because of Christianity's focus on the bhakti path, most men don't see being religious as manly at all - and Christianity is seen as a thing for women.<BR/><BR/>If you can show the average person that (a) they have a religion even if it isn't called that, (b) their religion is irrational, self-contradictory, and leads to death, and (c) Christianity (at least as expounded here and among the other lights of Christian teachers) is rational, reasonable, and bears great fruit - the game is over. It may take them a while but as the seed is set and they won't see the world the same way anymore. <BR/><BR/>imnsho, anyway.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com