(no subject)
i wrote 4 pages in a new church yesterday. i probably won't be going back to that one.
here's an excerpt:
"...Let God's truth's stand alone, they are capable of withstanding the scrutiny. Stop preaching in church-saturated religion-speak. stop yelling to be heard. God's trth is loud enough. Be entusiatic - don't feign some sort of false calm, be passionate, but remeber it's not your job to convince anyone of anything. Even if it were, your methods are mis-aimed and serve only to ease the consciences of the already church-going, bored "christians". Sincerity cannot be feigned to the benefit of anyone. God is not a God that coddles the existing herd. His love is integrity and we are not living up to it. We are sitting in pews, withstanding an hour of flowery language and christian cliche's so that we can justify the other six days a week that we live.
where is our sense of adventure? where has paul gone? where are the shipwrecked, the beaten, the left-for-dead? i call for the imprisoned, the miracle-working, the hated-for-their-boldness? where are the resolute, the excellent, the willing-to-die?
we are bored on padded pews, ears barraged by words with no fire, starved on the mounds of seasoning piled on scraps of month-old meat. we are uninspired, un-directed, and our pool of "living water" that we have horded to our fat selces is starting to stagnate, and the rancid smell is keeping the thirsting away.
....stop being satisfied to hear preaching and start being dangerous again! i would rather Christians have a bad reputation for inciting riots than for being boring and out-of-touch! i call for the activists and the criminals, leaving behind the wimps and the self-focused. give me the dangerous, the sincere, and the passionate. i have no need for the habitual, the fake, and the bored!"
here's an excerpt:
"...Let God's truth's stand alone, they are capable of withstanding the scrutiny. Stop preaching in church-saturated religion-speak. stop yelling to be heard. God's trth is loud enough. Be entusiatic - don't feign some sort of false calm, be passionate, but remeber it's not your job to convince anyone of anything. Even if it were, your methods are mis-aimed and serve only to ease the consciences of the already church-going, bored "christians". Sincerity cannot be feigned to the benefit of anyone. God is not a God that coddles the existing herd. His love is integrity and we are not living up to it. We are sitting in pews, withstanding an hour of flowery language and christian cliche's so that we can justify the other six days a week that we live.
where is our sense of adventure? where has paul gone? where are the shipwrecked, the beaten, the left-for-dead? i call for the imprisoned, the miracle-working, the hated-for-their-boldness? where are the resolute, the excellent, the willing-to-die?
we are bored on padded pews, ears barraged by words with no fire, starved on the mounds of seasoning piled on scraps of month-old meat. we are uninspired, un-directed, and our pool of "living water" that we have horded to our fat selces is starting to stagnate, and the rancid smell is keeping the thirsting away.
....stop being satisfied to hear preaching and start being dangerous again! i would rather Christians have a bad reputation for inciting riots than for being boring and out-of-touch! i call for the activists and the criminals, leaving behind the wimps and the self-focused. give me the dangerous, the sincere, and the passionate. i have no need for the habitual, the fake, and the bored!"