Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’
God in Your Story
In my last post, The Truth of the Gospel, I shared my story of being saved from suicide and subsequently coming to faith. I also talked about how when I became a Christian, I realized that God was with me even in those horrible circumstances. I realize that many people share stories similar to my own, and many have stories of far worse things happening to them. It is very tempting to ask, either during or after, where God was in those times. While it may seem as though God abandoned you to be raped, beaten, neglected, depressed, empty, etc and chose to love others by blessing them with talent, good looks, money, opportunity, intelligence, friends etc, there is another question that my personal experience has lent me to ask:
Why wasn’t it worse?
Why wasn’t I molested?
Why wasn’t I cut on?
Left in a ditch for my parents to discover?
I said before that my still being alive is evidence of God’s work in my life, and it is, but all the evil things that didn’t happen to me are further evidence. Read more »
Mark Jenkins’ Jesus 2.0
I didnt really think that Jesus needed another make-over, not after the Buddy Jesus from Dogma. But Mark Jenkins in 2006 decided that he needed to create a new version that identified with people today. So logically, he outfitted two child-size blow up doll with alien antenna and hung it on a street lampposts. Obviously an artistic statement, what are your reactions? Is it funny? Offensive? Obscene? Or is it deeper than the surface might show? Any thoughts?
The State of Worship, Part 2: Purpose and Motivation
The first part of this post was (honestly) mostly a rant, but it outlined some of the problem from my perspective. I make no claims that it is THE perspective to view this debate from, only that it could be a common one. Having been a guitarist for six years, which is longer than I’ve been a Christian (and thus listening to Christian music), I bring a “less-churched,” if not an “un-churched,” perspective to the table.
Worship is ANYTHING that we do that fulfills God’s purpose for us and thus glorifies Him. This can be anything from working in your garden and rearing children with your spouse (Genesis 1:28) to writing and playing sweet guitar riffs (Psalm 33:3). If we do these things with God-given motivation and purpose, then we are worshipping Him indeed!
A fair number of Christians, particularly those in the American Evangelical Christian “sub-culture,” seem to have abandoned or compromised the very motivations and purposes that define worship, with respect to music. Read more »
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