Category: Faith

The Kernal and the Seed

God is not found in religion but in personal encounter.

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Singing Hymns in Church

Most people in American grew up with some connection to “the church”  and to Christianity. Many, many people had just enough of a taste to reject it. I think that, when most people reject Christianity, they are rejecting the institution of the church.

People reject the principles they believe the church stands for and the hypocrisy they saw in the church. Indeed, I believe this because I was one of those people.

I have come to put that reality in perspective, however: the church, as most people perceive and know it, is a human institution. It is far from perfect. Every human frailty and weakness and shortcoming exists in the church – because people make up the church. That is the reality.

Further, the message that informs the church, the root and heart of it, the reason the church exists – the Gospel – is not always readily apparent in the church. Some churches are closer to the expression of it than others, but churches, generally fall short of the ideals of the Gospel.

I do not mean to point fingers at anyone or judge anyone. I think it is sufficient for purposes of what I am trying to say to assume that this is true to some degree or another in every church, even the best of them. I am going to say some things next that may make churchgoers upset, but bear with me.

Continue reading “The Kernal and the Seed” →

Monogamy is unnatural

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This is too good not to share.
Matt Walsh Blog

The Matt Walsh Blog's avatarThe Matt Walsh Blog

Monogamous marriages are unnatural. On this, I agree with the emailer below.

Now, behold these enlightening thoughts that I found in my inbox this morning:

Greetings Mr. Walsh,

I am a college professor, author, and researcher. It was obvious to me before you ever stated it that you are a man of little education and limited intelligence. Still, I commend your newfound fame and congratulate you on the enormous amounts of money you must be making.

[Five more sentences of insults and pretentious self-aggrandizement]

…You have become a hot topic in some of my classes and this very much worries me. It wasn’t until your name came up for a fifth time that I decided to investigate you. Your prose are rife with fallacies and Neanderthalic musings, so I could easily disembowel and discredit any part of it. But I’d like to concentrate on what seems to be your most common themes:…

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Why Switchfoot won’t sing Christian songs

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Switchfoot – Hello Hurricane Atlanta (55 of 231) by susanlloydphotography.com

The headline of this blog is misleading. Jon Forman is a believer. What he says is that the label of “Christian” music is confining and limiting. Music is not “Christian” just because it contains the right buzz words. It is not “unchristian” if it fails to contain the same buzz words.

I appreciate and like Switchfoot because I do hear the message in their music, and like their creativity in they way they lace their songs with meaning in a way that is approachable and accessible. They do not sound like “Christian music”. I hate to say it, but there is a distinct sound to “Christian music”, and people who hear can categorize it. I happen to like what is labeled “Christian music”, but there is a place for believers who do not have that sound; there is a place for music that is maybe more outward oriented, than inward oriented to the Church audience.

These are Forman’s words:

“None of these songs have been born again, and to that end there is no such thing as Christian music. No. Christ didn’t come and die for my songs, he came for me. Yes. My songs are a part of my life. But judging from scripture I can only conclude that our God is much more interested in how I treat the poor and the broken and the hungry than the personal pronouns I use when I sing. I am a believer…. Jesus didn’t die for any of my tunes. So there is no hierarchy of life or songs or occupation only obedience. We have a call to take up our cross and follow.”

Forman’s words echo the blog by Michael Gungor I reblogged a week ago.

Ryan's avatarctkblog

Lead singer Jon Foreman was asked if Switchfoot is a “Christian” band. His response is worth pondering.

“To be honest, this question grieves me because I feel that it represents a much bigger issue than simply a couple SF tunes. In true Socratic form, let me ask you a few questions: Does Lewis or Tolkien mention Christ in any of their fictional series? Are Bach’s sonata’s Christian? What is more Christ-like, feeding the poor, making furniture, cleaning bathrooms, or painting a sunset? There is a schism between the sacred and the secular in all of our modern minds. The view that a pastor is more ‘Christian’ than a girls volleyball coach is flawed and heretical. The stance that a worship

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A Message in a Manger

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“God put eternity into the hearts of men”, said the writer of Ecclesiastes, and Jesus is the answer to that longing that is built into us.

We live imperfect, flawed lives, and then we die. We came from dust and to dust we return, and “all is meaningless”, according to the writer of Ecclesiastes. When Jesus Christ was born, however, all of that changed.

The sins and wrongs of fathers and mothers pass down to their sons and daughters and have done so from the beginning. In Jesus, God introduced a new lineage and a new possibility. Born a man, but also born of God, through Jesus comes the answer to the finite frailty of humankind.

The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the core of the Gospel. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, all of our hope is in vain. If miracles are not real, then the atheists are right that we are to be despised. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, there is no escape from injustices, and they will never be righted in this life or by the oblivion to follow.

Continue reading “A Message in a Manger” →

MICHAEL GUNGOR On The Problem With The Christian Music Industry

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Some food for thought from a “creative Christian artist”. A bit of a rant, but I think he has a point. I, too, like authentic music. Sometimes happy and sappy is good. We need to be uplifted sometimes, but I definitely tend toward the art of music and like the creative element. As a point in fact, I like the Michael Gungor Band and encourage everyone to check them out.

Shewbread Clothing Co.'s avatarAWAKEN GENERATION

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT !!!!

READ MICHAEL GUNGOR’S FOLLOW UP BLOG TO HIS POST ‘THE PROBLEM WITH THE CHRISTIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY !!!

 

Date: Monday, December 9, 2013

Hey Everyone,

As promised earlier, after the incredible buzz around his blog post below in the past week (there have been more than 360,000 views of this blog post in the past 7 days) Michael Gungor expressed to me a desire to write a follow-up blog post to this original post he wrote almost 2 years ago.

I am excited to announce that Michael emailed me his follow-up blog post that he just finished two days ago, and you can read it immediately, by clicking on the link below.

Michael Gungor: A Follow-Up To My Blog Post On The Problem With The Christian Music Industry

 

Regards,

Hervict

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When you are in a touring band, there is a lot of time that is…

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