Categotry Archives: food for thought

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Sunday Meditations: The Watching-and-Waiting Season

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Categories: food for thought, Sunday meditations

Starting today, and at least every other Sunday for awhile, I’m going to do something I haven’t really done on this blog: a feature. For lack of a better term, we’ll call this feature “Sunday Meditations”. This biweekly post (or weekly, if I can get some momentum) will be more devotional in nature–no rants, no theological arguments, just some thoughts and observations about God and the Christian life, and maybe a Scripture or two to ponder. If this goes over well, we’ll launch a podcast and start a major marketing campaign and conference tour be glad it’s helping someone.

This is a preview of Sunday Meditations: The Watching-and-Waiting Season. Read the full post (760 words, 1 image, estimated 3:02 mins reading time)

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Thought for the Day–Or Maybe for a Couple of Days

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Categories: food for thought, What the heck was THAT?

Here is Nugget #84 from the Official Collection of Proverbs and Random Thoughts from Jeff the Twisted, Slightly Off-Center Philosopher:

“Today, we determine whether someone is part of the church by what they believe…yet when the church began, the determining factor for who was part of the church was Whom they believed in.”

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Permanent link to this post (55 words, 2 images, estimated 13 secs reading time)

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What We’re Looking For–from Communitas

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Categories: food for thought

An excerpt from my post today on Communitas:

A number of years ago–longer ago than I (or they) probably care to admit–U2 hit the airwaves with a breakout hit, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Evangelicals who had tentatively embraced the Irish band for their Christian-themed songs were aghast at the lyrics, penned by lead singer Bono.

Just in case anyone has unexplainable gaps in their knowledge of pop culture, here are the lyrics that raised such a ruckus:

This is a preview of What We’re Looking For–from Communitas. Read the full post (132 words, 1 image, estimated 32 secs reading time)

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A Woman’s Voice

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Categories: food for thought, healing wounds, music, women's issues

Pam’s post on Communitas today reminded me of this song by Patty Griffin, which I recently heard and which captivated me immediately. It’s not a Christmas song, not even a “Christian” song–but the very human depiction of Mary in this song speaks volumes to me about the struggles and sacrifices of so many women, and does so in ways that words alone cannot.

“Mary” by Patty Griffin

Mary, you’re covered in roses
You’re covered in ashes, you’re covered in rain
You’re covered in babies, covered in slashes
Covered in wilderness, covered in stains

This is a preview of A Woman’s Voice. Read the full post (279 words, 1 image, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

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Life Outside the Bubble (part 3–Perils, Pitfalls, and Following)

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

Part 1
Part 2

I think when I see people inside the Christian culture-bubble respond to those who are outside it, the number one emotion I see is not resentment, or even judgment (though those are certainly factors). Rather, the number one emotion, I think, is fear.

This is a preview of Life Outside the Bubble (part 3–Perils, Pitfalls, and Following). Read the full post (1001 words, 1 image, estimated 4:00 mins reading time)

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Life Outside the Bubble (part 2–The Difference)

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought

In my previous post, I talked about how I used to live deep within the bubble which is the church subculture, and how God burst those bubbles in my life, and how I am now outside the bubble without losing my faith.

So if I’m still a Christian after all this…what’s the difference that leaving the bubble has made in my life?

As I reflect on where I am now, and what kind of person this process has shaped me into–especially as I grow more settled in a new palatte for my faith–here are some of the things I see that are different about my life and discipleship:

This is a preview of Life Outside the Bubble (part 2–The Difference). Read the full post (684 words, 1 image, estimated 2:44 mins reading time)

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Zombie Christians

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Categories: food for thought, Rantings

I suppose this post would have been more timely last weekend…. 🙂

Have you ever noticed, those of you with a church background (particularly of the more charismatic type), that there is often a vibe in church that our minds are an obstacle to receiving from God? Most of the time it’s subtle; other times, not so subtle. But the underlying premise is that we receive from God by the Spirit in ways that our natural minds cannot understand, and that if we try to discern with our minds, it will become a stumbling block to us. You can pick up this vibe in the way things are worded–when we are encouraged in some way to “bypass our minds” when God is manifesting His presence in some way, or when we are trying to get hold of some revelation, or when we are praying in tongues (again, for you charismatic folk).

This is a preview of Zombie Christians. Read the full post (693 words, 2 images, estimated 2:46 mins reading time)

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Re-thinking the Foundations of Faith (part 2)

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, theological questions

In my previous post I began looking at the huge amount of importance we believers tend to put on our theological views–our beliefs about God–to the point that we treat them as foundational to our faith. And I said that I was re-thinking this concept, that I was pondering a faith that was deeper than “correct” belief, based more on relationship than on specific beliefs or a theological creed.

I’m not saying theology isn’t important; rather, it’s a matter of prioritizing. I’m just saying our theology is maybe not as critical to our faith as we’ve made it out to be, and perhaps other things are more important. Consider the following points:

This is a preview of Re-thinking the Foundations of Faith (part 2). Read the full post (1001 words, 1 image, estimated 4:00 mins reading time)

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Re-thinking the Foundations of Faith (part 1)

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, theological questions

I have a feeling that this post title is going to rattle the religious.

Good. 🙂

What I’m about to say, I’ve been pondering for awhile. This past nearly two years interacting in the blogosphere has been the first time in ages that I’ve had contact with people who think differently than I do, on a lot of different issues. I come from a culture that pretty much insists that you hang with those who believe the way you do, because anyone outside that framework can potentially corrupt you. It’s a fear thing, really.

This is a preview of Re-thinking the Foundations of Faith (part 1). Read the full post (758 words, 1 image, estimated 3:02 mins reading time)
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