revelife's Revelife

Bad Questions, Part III: How Can the Bible Say Z?

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:09:00 GMT

Continued from Bad Questions, Part II: How Much of Y Can I Do Before It Becomes a Sin?, which examines bad questions that Christians ask.

How can the Bible say Z?

This is one I've run into a lot lately, but hadn't at all until recently. The straight answer: The Bible says everything it does with ink and a pre-constructed language system. That's how it does it. The fact that the Bible says incredibly paradoxical things, like "Take joy in grief," or, "Be perfect like God," does not mean the Bible is false.

What does it mean? What can we learn from these confusing passages? These are better questions. But asking "How can you believe any of the Bible when it contradicts itself by saying 'we are judged by works' and 'there is no need for the law'" is the start to a frustrating conversation with no end, no resolution, no closure, and no productivity. Asking why God would put that in there is like asking why recessive genes evolved or why the evolutionary processes didn't remove our appendices. It's searching for an answer that is completely and utterly unknowable and has no practical significance. So instead of asking, "how can God say that?" ask "What does that mean? What's the historical context? How does this apply to my life?"

My intent is not, as I hope I made clear in my intro, to say that questions are bad. Nor is my intent to bash anyone who's ever asked these questions, because I'd wager a bet that everyone (myself included) has asked all three types in various forms numerous times. My intent is to save some people some trouble and some hassle by encouraging them to ask good, productive questions that will help them along on their search for truth, rather than getting sidetracked by bad questions.

What's So Frightening About a Veiled Woman?

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:10:00 GMT

Nothing strikes fear in the Western psyche like a piece of cloth on a woman's head.

Is it hate? Fear? Why do some people hate me right away when they see me just because of cloth on my head?

Can Twittering Be a Form of Worship?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:44:00 GMT

"Nothing u do 4 the Lord is in vain."

"The more I press in to Him, the more He presses me out to be useful."

"Sometimes healing is painful."

These short but inspirational blurbs are "tweets" written by Christians who wish to communicate their faith via modern technology -- during their respective worship services. Yes, it's true -- twittering during Sunday church services is accepted, encouraged, and even considered a form of worship by many pastors, according to an article in Time Magazine.

Last year, John Voelz, a pastor at Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Mich., was tweeting at a conference outside Nashville about ways to make the church experience more creative, and as he says, to "make it it not suck." All of a sudden, the thought came to him -- Twitter!

He and his fellow pastor, David McDonald, spent two weeks giving their congregation Twitter lessons. Parishioners brought in their laptops, iPhones, and BlackBerrys, and the bandwidth in the auditorium was increased.

According to these pastors at Westwinds, Twitter serves one integral function of worship -- creating community. Twitter allows the congregants to ask questions about the sermon that the pastor will answer later, or they can tweet in real time and hope that another attendee can provide insight. Twitter can also be used as a note-taking tool in church. In other situations, the tweeting is pastor-directed: One pastor will preach while the other will tap out a question such as "In what way do you feel the spirit of God moving within you?" More Here...

Christians Don't Follow a Book. Christians Follow a Person.

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:02:00 GMT

by Brant Hansen

Here's an excerpt from A Jesus Manifesto, which is newly-written by authors Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet. Thought I'd post it, since it echoes so well some of the stuff we talk about on the show. Can't hurt to have someone else say it...

It is possible to confuse an academic knowledge or theology about Jesus with a personal knowledge of the living Christ himself. These two stand as far apart as do the hundred thousand million galaxies. The fullness of Christ can never be accessed through the frontal lobe alone. Christian faith claims to be rational, but also to reach out to touch ultimate mysteries. The cure for a big head is a big heart.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with CliffsNotes for a systematic theology. He leaves his disciples with breath and body.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with a coherent and clear belief system by which to love God and others. Jesus gives his disciples wounds to touch and hands to heal.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with intellectual belief or a “Christian worldview.” He leaves his disciples with a relational faith.
Christians don’t follow a book. Christians follow a person, and this library of divinely inspired books we call “The Holy Bible” best help us follow that person. The Written Word is a map that leads us to The Living Word. Or as Jesus himself put it, “All Scripture testifies of me.” The Bible is not the destination; it’s a compass that points to Christ, heaven’s North Star.
The Bible does not offer a plan or a blueprint for living. The “good news” was not a new set of laws, or a new set of ethical injunctions, or a new and better PLAN. The “good news” was the story of a person’s life, as reflected in The Apostle’s Creed. The Mystery of Faith proclaims this narrative: “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”
The meaning of Christianity does not come from allegiance to complex theological doctrines, but a passionate love for a way of living in the world that revolves around following Jesus, who taught that love is what makes life a success . . . not wealth or health or anything else: but love. And God is love.

Is America Uniquely Blessed by God?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:10:00 GMT

On a recent Revelife post entitled Do You Sing Patriotic Songs in Church?, LoBornlite@xanga commented:

America is the only nation in history that declared, in writing, that it is self-evident that certain unalienable rights are given to us by the Creator: the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And for that, America is unique, and uniquely blessed by God. America IS exceptional. America is the greatest nation in human history.

Do you agree? Do you think that America is uniquely blessed because our founding documents acknowledge that our rights and freedoms are granted to us by God?

Do We Act Like the Bridezilla of Christ?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:50:00 GMT

by Sharon Hodde of SheWorships

Ever since I got engaged I’ve gotten hooked on a show called Bridezillas. It’s one of those train-wreck type shows that you just can’t look away from, but I’ve also been watching it to keep my perspective on this whole wedding planning process in check. Whenever I find myself stressing over insignificant details like the color of the reception chairs or table card designs, I think of Bridezillas and it jolts me back to reality.

In case you’ve never seen the show, here’s a clip that will give you a good taste of what these bride are like. CRAzy!!!!!!!

(For the sake of the groom, I really hope that was staged….) More Here...

4 Problems with Spending Your Time with Only One Church

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:23:00 GMT

Revelife is a great place to chat about life with Christians, but how many of you meet or work together with Christians from other churches and denominations?

Possible problems with going to just one church and fellowshipping only with them (in no particular order):

Likely only one school of theology being taught leads to less spiritual muscles being exercised through the variety of interpretation, styles, etc. We need to be open to others and how God can speak to us through them.
Our generation is the most "single" Christian generation in history. When you don't meet new brothers and sisters in Christ because everyone in your church is not your type, then we are promoting the fact that we are one generation from dying and not being faithful to God's command of being fruitful.
Good testimony to all. If we can't fellowship and love, support, help, or encourage each other for our differences, then we are a bad testimony to the world and each other of Christ's Love which bonds us together! How are we going to preach a gospel of love when we can't even express love to those closest to us?
One body, many parts. We are to help each other because we all have strengths and weaknesses. Small churches especially need the most help where 10% of the people are doing 90% of the work. They are burned out and their walk with God suffers. Churches shouldn't be in a popularity contest with one another! That's not edifying.

I'm going to an inter-church retreat this Labor Day weekend, and I'm excited to meet all different people. I hope wherever you guys are, you have inter-church events as well!

What are other reasons to spend time with churches other than your own?

A Former Hindu: Am I Guaranteed Eternal Security?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:27:00 GMT

I believe in Christ. I have been a Christian since July 31, 2002 - almost seven years. But I've always wondered about my eternal security. If I were to die tomorrow, would I really end up in heaven or would I end up in hell? I'm not one to believe that it's possible to lose your salvation. I believe that once you have prayed the salvation prayer and mean it, you are saved.

My problem is this: I am a former self-proclaimed Hindu. Many years ago, at the age of nine, was my initial "acceptance" of Christ. As the years passed, it became more and more obvious that my early "conversion" hadn't been real. I eventually got into Hinduism, really getting into it in about 2000 or so.

Then in 2002, I went to a week-long Christian church camp. Even though I considered myself to be Hindu, I never went to the Hindu temple to make sacrifices or pray or anything like that. Instead, I still hung around the Christian church - even though I hated Christians. So either way, through attending Christian services, I ended up going to Bible camp for a week. More Here...

Worlds Collide – A Church Organ Tribute to Michael Jackson

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:09:00 GMT

by DZ of The Mockingbird Blog

Courtesy of Trinity Wall Street (ht to Jeff Dean):

Finally, a liturgical dancing opportunity I can get on board with - I'm picturing two guys in cassocks doing the "Beat It" knife fight.

RevelifeRocks Artist of the Week: The Myriad

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:07:00 GMT

The RevelifeRocks Artist of the Week is The Myriad from Seattle, Washington.

Chances are you’ve heard some of The Myriad’s stuff on MTV or maybe even when playing Rock Band. Although this band started small not so long ago they’ve quickly grown extremely popular, which isn’t hard to believe when you hear how talented these guys are. You don’t even have to take my word for it.

One very important turning point in this group’s career was MTV’s “Dew Circuit Breakout.” The Myriad was one of the 12 out of 4000 bands that were chosen to be finalists for this competition, already a great accomplishment. It didn’t stop there, though. Based solely on fan votes, The Myriad ultimately won the entire competition. With this victory came tons of publicity and great honor. Eventually their music video for the song “Clean Shot” (that is also featured on the video game Rock Band) became the most played video on MTV for May 2008. More Here...