(Untitled)

[mahf]

Nothing original here, just an annotated audiography. Two really good things to listen to. I know they're long, but you have mp3 players, you have ipods, you drive places, you sit at computers for hours at a time. Check them out!

MP3 Link #1: "Women, Gifts, and the Body of Christ" by Mike Cope

This guy Mike Cope preaches at Highland Church of Christ

Comments

Re: Jesus would spit Don Miller out of his mouth in a heartbeat

[mahf]

Yeah, I can see what you mean. I suppose I am less averse to the sort of friendly tone he takes because I grew up hearing much less friendly sermons. Old school sermons where they didn't gloss over hell or anything like that.

I too have found a lot of problems with american chrisitianity's understanding of sin, grace, hell, etc. I think our western minds want to divide things out in an analytical way, and our consumer culture wants to hash out exactly what it is we're selling at what price. But a 1st century Jew never could have understood things that way. That isn't what they would have read in those texts.

Christianity that amounts to what you said, just try not to sin and try to feel sorry about it when you do, isn't worth anybody's time. I think, on the other hand, that the Bible offers a really rich way of understanding all of the emotions we experience. I get the sense from the Psalms that it is entirely appropriate to feel the whole range of emotions and that repression is not at all the way to handle them. I get the sense from the Prophets and from Jesus that going to church on Sunday is worse than meaningless if it doesn't support you towards serving in the community the rest of the week.

And I get the impression that this is the kind of Christianity Don Miller is for, despite his anxiety about the Bible and need to be liked. I think the questions he asks are his honest questions, even if he has to say it in a way that will make people like him.

Anyway, the reason I posted Don Miller was because of a specific interaction and few specific things he said. So hopefully that gets me a little repreive. I'll post something else that'll give you another example of that "thoughtful reading" stuff that doesn't allow for the ridiculous mess that is american upper middle class suburban mc'christianity.

Once again, thanks for your comments.