Church Issues

5 Issues the church is too concerned about CULTURE VULTURE: The Environment. Sure we should be smart and not drop litter, we should do what we can to reduce our individual waste... but this is one of the latest examples of the church jumping on a cultural bandwagon rather than seeking to make a difference in peoples lives. Plus, if more people did their research, they might discover that there's not much we can do about global warming, it may even be part of God's design for the planet. Have you noticed how nature is always moving and shifting through various seasons? It's is only human beings who want to stay in place, prevent change and establish foundations. Not that, that is bad, but we should realise nature does not ask our permission before it changes. BIBLE BASHING: Gay Rights. Of course, as a Christian if I was to have sex with man, I would be committing a sin. However this would also be the case if I had sex with a prostitute. And being a married Christian, if I was to have sex with another woman other than my wife, I would also be committing a sin. Why does the church focus on one sexual sin when protesting moral decline? How many Christians are divorced and remarried? Aah but there's extenuating circumstances... violent spouses etc... we should be sensitive and understanding. Then likewise, we should be sensitive and understanding to homosexuals. It should also be noted that where God is concerned, it is only the church that should be subject to this kind of moral law. But the predominant question is this: Why shouldn't homosexuals be free from prejudice? BIBLE BASHING: Abortion. Another morally unacceptable choice, but again what right do we as Christians have to impose our view on the world. Why simply tell someone something is wrong without explaining why, and offering a better way? Explaining the importance of the sanctity of life to someone who doesn't even believe in accountability to God is going to be futile unless you find humanistic arguments to back-up your case. CULTURE VULTURE: Mass Marketing and Media. It tends to be mostly in charismatic circles but the church seems to be lately obsessed with multimedia and releasing the next worship CD. Worship CD's are cool, they give you something to sing along to in the car if you feel like it. Multimedia is a useful tool, but it should not form the whole basis of your evangelistic strategy! I know a friend who had decided to host a fun, musical and entertaining evening as part of an outreach to the local community. He was considering what would be a good venue that would most likely attract the crowds. I suggested a local popular pub or hall. He eventually went with the church building. Why? Because the equipment was better. But how many unchurched people are going to feel like spending their Saturday night in a church? Sure the building is modern and warm but they don't know that. Most peoples idea of a church is bingo-night with the over 70s not Saturday night live with Jools Holland. Also, why can't an outreach involve alcohol? Most people can be trusted to behave themselves and pubs are already adept at handling the odd drunk. CULTURE VULTURE: Customer Service. As evidenced by the growing mega-churches in not only the US, but Australia. It's not just about worship anymore, it's about entertainment value. Of course there's nothing wrong with offering a tea and coffee time after the service. Offering services to the local community such as a mums & tots, counseling or coffee shop is brilliant. Equally churches that hire and provide buses to the community for poorer people who do not have cars to bring them to church on Sunday is a great. When the bus idea devolves into a golf-cart for people walking from the car park on a Sunday morning (as I have witnessed in one church), it goes from being a service to the community to a service to middle class church goers. A sort of 'customer service' rather than meeting a need. Is there such a thing as going too far? Customer service coupled with mass marketing above are both products of consumerism and western business models (which are more concerned with turnover than lives), which I have touched on before. 5 issues the church should be concerned about INJUSTICE: Predatory and Exploitative Systems. There seems to be an unwritten law in the western hemisphere of the church that anyone who runs a company or business is successful and THEREFORE God has blessed that person and THEREFORE that person is a righteous person who is beyond sin and wrongdoing. Which is why anyone who dares to challenge companies or authorities for moral and legal reasons is treated with contempt. How much more would the church be respected in the world if it used its influence to challenge systems that are anti-human. People do not exist for the law, the law exists for people. INJUSTICE: Anti-immigration. Christians have an implicit moral duty to stand up for the immigrant, legal or illegal. In Britain today immigrants are blamed for much of the problems in society and vilified by the media. In respect to immigration, Christians should not feel obliged to comply with the law if it means immigrants being treated unfairly. CULTURE SHIFT: Technology and Publicity. How will the multi-million dollar Christian music industry fare against the culture shift to in P2P and Creative Commons? Will they be taking legal action against their neighbour, or is it time for a rethink on those 'rights'? Same goes for videos, books and Christian retail. Isn't it time the church went back to basics when spreading the word? Do we really need Celebrians? INEQUALITY: Institutionalised Greed. Many Christians make the mistake of associating capitalism with Christianity. Where that idea came from it's hard to tell, since the gospel has its roots in sharing (P2P anyone?). Capitalism makes individuals rich, but has many ill side-effects for the majority: Accommodation seekers, blue-collar workers and small businesses, for example. Prof. Prabhu Guptara has published a couple of thoughtful articles on the subject of sustainability and institutionalised greed which are worth a read if you have the time. INJUSTICE: Ubuntu. There is much injustice in the world today due to corrupt governments. Governments that desire authoritarian control over their people. As Christians we should pray for our leaders, but we should also hold them to account and make a stand against any policy that seeks to register human beings and make it illegal to exist without being registered. 5 innovative thing that the church should try Open Source and Creative Commons - Actually try sharing the gospel instead of marketing it. Stop spending money on expensive media projects and make a difference to ordinary people. Look for a need that is not being met in the community, rather than jumping on the latest trends. Protest against corporate irresponsibility and greed, rather than Jerry Springer: The Opera Open up a high street shop and simply offer free help... anything, anyone. Technorati Tags: injustice, culture, inequality, bible bashing, church issues, environment, gay rights, abortion, church marketing, mega church, consumerism, predatory systems, morals, immigration, God, Jesus, Christian celebrities, p2p, creative commons, copyright, institutionalised greed, government, church, Christianity, ubuntu DISCUSS THIS POST

Banana Nightmare

Why as Christians (and I'm looking at you, youth leaders in particular) do we constantly feel the need to follow the latest cultural trends. Why is it every time a successful brand develops in the world, we can't resist going ahead and make our own Christianised brand version of it? A "Christian" version which more often than not is an appalling insult to the intelligence of people outside the church. Do we really expect our children to be real leaders and have an impact on the world by protecting them from groups and ideas that are not intrinsically Christian? Why can't the church be the alternative to the culture that people are looking for. Why can't the church stand for enduring principles rather than short-term cultural appeal? Don't we stand to win more people working within existing cultural and social frameworks, rather than creating our own ill-conceived ones? What is the purpose of Godtube for example? Sure there may be some great exegesis and apologetics out there- but doesn't that actually prove the point that Christians should be shooting it on Youtube? Doesn't it actually force you, as a Christian, to come up with something powerful, meaningful and coherent to say- rather than having a safe 'playground' to expose your crackpot theology without criticism? From Godtube: The Atheist I can't be the only one who had wrong images in my head when he was using that banana, and how would he explain a pinapple? But if Godtube is a dumb idea, Conservapedia is even dumberer. Set up, I kid you not, with Wikipedia's MediaWiki engine, because "...that the article on the Renaissance does not give any credit to Christianity, that many Wikipedia articles use non-American spellings even though most users are American, that the article on American activities in the Philippines has a distinctly anti-American bias, and that attempts to include pro-Christian or pro-American views are removed very quickly... Wikipedia is six times more liberal than the American public." (Wikipedia) So here is a random sample article from Conservapedia on Indie Rock: "Rock music made by independant bands. or people not involved with the record industry. Usually with a liberal bias." Conservapedia Entry: Indy Rock (sic) Just for comparrison, here is Wikipedia's entry on Indie Rock: "Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent underground music scene. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with underground music as a whole, though more specifically implicates that the music meets the criterion of being rock, as opposed to indie pop or other possible match-ups. These criteria vary from an emphasis on rock instrumentation (electric guitars, bass guitar, live drums, and vocals) to more abstract (and debatable) rockist constructions of authenticity. It is however not uncommon to see a variety of instruments that are rarely used in other rock genres, such as the violin. "Indie rock" is shorthand for "independent rock", for many of its artists are unsigned or signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels. It is not strictly a genre of music (although the term is often used to reference the sound of specific bands and the bands they have influenced), but is often used as an umbrella term covering a wide range of artists and styles, connected by some degree of allegiance to the values of underground culture, and (usually) describable as rock music. Genres or subgenres often associated with indie rock include lo-fi, post-rock, sadcore, C86, and math rock, to list but a few; other related (and sometimes overlapping) categories include shoegazing and indie pop. Indie rock artists place a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on independent record labels (sometimes their own) and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Some end up moving to major labels, often on favorable terms won by their prior independent success." Wikipedia Entry: Indie Rock Feeling that liberal bias yet? I have one request for the people behind GodTube, Conservapedia and other proponents of 'christian' subcultures. Please, please stop. Now.

Islampic Bid

I was sent this by a friend the other day: Dear All Take a second to cast your vote in the Evening Standard online poll to determine public opinion about whether a mega mosque should be build for the Olympics. The vote so far is 62 % in favour. It looks like the Muslim community is casting its vote in droves, and as usual the Christians are burying their head in the sand. After voting, forward this to as many people as you can (using the BCC field to avoid spam). Here's the link: <http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/poll/poll-18791-details/ques-18669-id/%C2%A31 00m+mosque%3A+Vote+now/poll.do> http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/poll/poll-18791-details/ques-18669-id/%C2%A310 0m+mosque%3A+Vote+now/poll.do I can't really understand why there are still some people out there that will forward these kinds of things on. Personally if there was any choice I'd prefer to see the whole Olympics ditched. Sorry, Londonland does not deserve the Olympics much less a mega-mosque. In fact, I'm probably the only person who'd prefer to see a mega-mosque than an Olympic park to be honest.

What's Sexual Orientation Got To Do With It?

Churches and Christian organisations all over our nation are panicking about the new Sexual Orientation Regulations. SOR are due to be introduced by our splendid government in April 2007, after a parliamentary vote scheduled for February 2007 at the latest. What's the problem? Whilst the regulations will not affect churches directly, there is a possibility that Christian organisations or individuals who operate commercially, could be prosecuted for withdrawing or failing to offer services to someone on the grounds of them being of a homosexual orientation. But wait, let's consider this in detail. The regulations are not against preaching, teaching or practicing the Christian faith. They are about treating homosexuals equally. In my mind, no church should have a problem with this. The only 'service' a church should be offering is the service of directing people to salvation. Therefore if a homosexual man walked into a church and inquired as to how he might obtain salvation, anyone he meets there should be only too eager to point him in the direction. It appears that the regulations will affect the 'Christian' organisations and individual 'Christian' commercial operators (self-employed/business owners). Now, it's conceivable that some Christian-owned businesses or organisations would refuse to offer services to homosexuals, but the question we should be asking is, what is the purpose of these businesses and organisations? If you are a Christian individual offering services on a commercial basis, the only reason I can see for turning away a person of known homosexuality is reasons of bigotry and ignorance. For a start, you are not loving your neighbour, therefore not operating your business for the glory of God, and are ultimately giving up any right you had to class your business as a 'Christian' business. If you are a Christian organisation, like the church, you would probably find no difficulty in complying with these unnecessary regulations, unless however, your Christian organisation is actually run for profit. There is the snag, you are refusing custom from a homosexual and are once again not reaching out with the love of Jesus. You are a resounding clang, a money-changer in the temple courts. As for me, I don't really care what regulation the government brings in, I will practice my faith and continue to worship God, and not bow to any regulations that would threaten to contradict this. Of course, I don't operate a business or Pastor a church, so I have far less to lose.

Ulterior Verse of the Day - Christian Airways

My congratulations go out to Nadia Eweida on her 'win' against her employer, BA over wearing her jewelery at work. Well done for showing them that being a Christian isn't about a life devoted to Christ, or being forgiven and set free from religion. No, instead, it's about making sure we wear a piece of jewelery to symbolise every religious thing we stand for. Now before anyone decides to leave a comment and kindly inform me this has been already been covered and is 'old news', I haven't had an Internet connection for a while and I have something to say about the matter from a born-again Christian perspective, so siddown! This is my piece- Nadia, you've sold Jesus short, you've sold us all short! You used the logic that because other religions are allowed to wear their religious articles, that you are entitled to wear your religious article! The whole point of being a Christian is being free from religion, being free from religious and sacrificial requirements! Those other religions are not free, they're in bondage because it is a requirement they wear certain articles of clothing to keep themselves pure/faithful and sinless. We are free from this bondage and so no Christian has to wear stupid jewelery or clothes! Why not take a leaf out of St. Peters book and wear an upside down cross? Peter was crucified upside down, why? No it wasn't because it had anything to do with Satanists, that's another group of dumb asses who don't know reality. It was because he requested this, he felt he was not worthy of being crucified the right way up like Christ. So question your conscience, question your worthiness. Perhaps you should be putting more effort into your character to show those around you that you are a Christian, rather than relying on a piece of jewelery. If you have to wear a piece of jewelery so people know you are a Christian, something has to be missing. Today's Ulterior Verse is dedicated just to you: "Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be happy with you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you will. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law and religious expression, you have been made one with Christ! You are fully in God’s grace. We who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by religious expression the righteousness God has promised us. For when we express our religion, there is benefit in being circumcised. What is important is expressing faith through circumcision." - Galatians 5:2-6 NLT

Read My Niqab

I'm considering wearing a bucket on my head when I have to speak to people outside my church. If they can't understand what I'm saying due to the reverberations of my voice in the bucket, or get conflicting messages because they can't read my expressions, I will then accuse them of failing to understand my beliefs, being racist, anti-Christian and creating a divide between me and them. After I live in a democratic country where I am free to express my beliefs and opinions and it's an expression of my religious freedom to wear a bucket on my head. I can communicate my ideas quite clearly with a bucket on my head, and if people refuse to understand then they are obviously fascists. Tags: Dark Side of the Light Christian Satire Bucket Head Niqab Muslim Veil Religious Expression Jack Straw Add to del.icio.us

Kill Them All In The Name of Allah

OK that's not quite what he said, but it's close enough... Tags: Dark Side of the Light Christian Satire Jerry Falwell Religious Extremists Kill The Infidels Christian God Allah Jesus Lord Add to del.icio.us

Holy Socks!

I just have time to update you on the latest sub-cultural Pentecostal movement occurring at church. The future Mrs. Fear is visiting this week, so I am consigned to blogging late at night, as attempts during the day or evening are met with disapproval and frowning. I noticed all the signs of the trend emerging. At a prayer meeting this week, the leader used inspiration from Moses and the burning bush to whip up the spiritual atmosphere. This morning we sang "We are standing on Holy ground", and were informed of the meeting later this evening where we they would be asking people to take off their shoes. It seems as though the latest Christian vogue is already taking hold. I predict we will start to see people removing their shoes in the Sunday morning service. Our level of holiness will soon equate with long we worship without our shoes on. Some of the more spiritual folk won't even bother putting on their shoes on a Sunday even when doing their weekly shop at Tescos after the service. Newcomers and visitors will be bemused and puzzled, and met with those kind of silent "not one of us" eerie smile-stares. Those visitors will then take the movement to other churches around the nation. Soon, it will be considered a faux passe to visit church whilst wearing shoes. Those who do, just haven't go the revelation yet. Then I predict that 6 months later, someone will preach "you know, you don't have to take off your shoes to worship!" There will be a ripple of chuckles and sighs of realisation throughout the congregation. Pretty soon, the smart cards in our cell groups will say things like "you know, we don't always have to take off our shoes. In fact I was visiting a church in America the other day and they keep their shoes on the whole time." Everyone will soon begin affirming each other in the shoe-wearing way. Quicker than you can say "turn to the person next to you..." The culture will have shifted and everyone will be wearing shoes again. We will then re-affirm our self-realised title of a 'pioneer church' because we don't wear shoes and we're big (by our towns standards). Tags: Dark Side of the Light Christian Satire Holy Socks Holy Ground Christian Sub-Culture Christian Culture Christian Vogue Church Movement Shoes Revelation Add to del.icio.us

Repost: Don't Sh*t On Mecca

I was sent this link to BBC News this morning: "Facilities in a prison are being built so Muslim inmates do not have to face Mecca while sitting on the toilet... "...Faith leaders had told prison bosses it was unacceptable for Muslim inmates to face Mecca while using the toilet... ...The refurbishment has been carried out with due consideration for all faiths", a Home Office spokeswoman said..." If you ask me this is just a waste of your "freedom of religious expression". If it was me I'd be milking it for all I could get- "Sorry, these bars are facing the wrong way to my spiritual homeland, please move them" "My faith calls for me to do everything wearing no clothes for at least 5 hours a day" "Allah gets offended if I don't eat enough Ben & Jerry's" "My faith requires me to attend a cinema to pray at least twice a week" Still, we have to give them credit for toilets, I don't think anyone could top that idea! So is this asymmetrical warfare against plumbers or what? There's too many jokes in this and I've gone for the obvious, can you do any better? Leave a comment, that goes for all you lurkers... Tags: Dark Side of the Light Christian Satire BBC News Islam Mecca Prison Toilets Muslim Asymmetrical WarfareFaith Leaders Prisoners Home Office Add to del.icio.us

Repost: Gay Police Offend Religious Offenders

I've been trying to work out what it is that offends me about this advertisement that appeared in The Independent on 29th June 2006. The ad was placed by the Gay Police Association (GPA) in advance of Europride in London. Something about this ad was really getting on my nerves but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. After studying it hard for a long time, I found out what was irritating me so much: "in the name of the father" - They hadn't referenced their leading bible quote properly! I just hate it when people quote scripture and don't give you the address of where to find it! Oh well, I found a scripture that's equally useful: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Now before I'm accused of being a hater, I purposely left in verse 11 for the holier amongst us. I have no problem with the lifestyle choices of non-believers. (update: sorry if that bothers any Gay cops reading this, who are looking for more Christians to persecute). But I have to ask, why do the police need a GPA? I mean, what does your sexual preference have to do with your ability to do your job? When I was 15 I wanted to join the police, unfortunately I felt discriminated against as they didn't have an SLPA (Self-Love Police Association). Tags: Dark Side of the Light Christian Satire Gay Police Association Europride In The Name of the Father Gay Police Advert Bible Quote Religious Hate Police Complaints Self Love OffenceHate Crime Homophobia Add to del.icio.us

Repost: Coulter Attacks Jesus Over Liberal Agenda!

Americas new Witchfinder General, Ann Coulter, has lambasted Jesus Christ in her latest book "Haters Get More Publicity". In the book she compares Jesus to the Godless liberals in America who love sinners and prostitutes, stand against the death penalty, war and earthly empire. "This self-appointed Messiah is a liar and a blasphemer" says Coulter of the Lord. On his stand against the death penalty for the woman caught in adultery, she calls him an "enemy of family values". She goes on to question Jesus's reputation, linking him to sinners and prostitutes. "All his respectable colleagues have deserted him." she claims. "He is also know for being soft on crime." Coulter has even attacked his war record. "When Jesus came to this earth, he promised a new Kingdom, he was pro-war and pro-empire, now we are expected to believe when he says 'My Kingdom is not of this world'?" Finally, she accuses Jesus of treason, and being un-American when it comes to his views on how to treat our enemies. She cites Jesus as saying, "But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." Luke 6:27-28 She ends with "The evidence speaks for itself, Jesus is not a patriot". We asked Jesus what he had to say in his defense: "Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens skip like a lamb, if you like! For even though they don't like it, I do . . . and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this." Luke 6:22-23 Tags: Dark Side of the Light Christian Satire Ann Coulter Religious Right Liberal Jesus GodGodless Liberals Church of Liberalism politics War Against Terror Forgiveness Enemies Family Values Sinners Blasphemer Prostitutes Crime Witchfinder General Add to del.icio.us

Repost: Titles You'll Never See In A Christian Bookshop

I always judge good books by their titles: The Uncertain Life Look Great, Not Feeling Great How God Wiped Out Almost All Of Creation In His Anger Closer To Hell What a Messed-Up World Living Paycheck To Paycheck Running With Midgets Developing The Follower Within You Greed Is OK The Life You Never Wanted Some Titles I would like to see: No, I'm Not 'Alright' Issues That Can't Be Solved By a 3-5 Point Sermon How To Stick With People When They Are Experiencing Prolonged Difficulty Respect Works Both Ways We Can't All Get Rich Without Someone Being Poor/Ripped Off Tags: Dark Side of the Light Christian Satire Christian Books Christian Titles Add to del.icio.us

Filler Words, Buzz-Words and Emotional Appeals

Lake Superior State University have posted a list of suggested words of 2005 to banish. Mostly referring to American politics, however, I would like to add some of my own. Something about buzzwords is more annoying to me than scraping fingernails down a chalk-board. My church, always eager to keep up with the corporate world always manages to come up with new ones. It makes me shudder every time I hear a new buzzword, often repeatedly used in the same service. Take for example one word which they discovered and began implementing a few months ago- "connect". Used in such cases as, "If you're a new visitor here, we'd love to 'connect' with you" and "We're just gonna take 2 minutes here, why don't you get up out of your seat and go and 'connect' with someone you don't know". Urrrgh. My skin crawls. What's wrong with the words meet, or greet? 'Connect' gives me a picture in my mind of people walking around with a large USB wire sticking out of them, plugging into each other. Another favourite used by one of our small group leaders is "Download". As in "I can see you're having some trouble trying to 'download' that" meaning "I can see your having trouble trying to understand that".. It's like a new version buzzword replacing the older version buzzword - 'process' which wasn't half as bad. An online resource of buzzwords can be found here. The only thing that irritates me half as much is the proliferate use of filler words, easier to forgive but just as irritating. I don't mind filler words if the speaker is genuine, it's those who are imitators in their preaching styles, they are trying to sound like some well-known preacher who genuinely uses the same fillers. I wish I was making this up but I'm not. Take for example "I just wanna". The amount of times you will hear "I just wanna", especially during an evening preaching to the youth group would make you 'just wanna' rip off your ears! It's usually used in a condescending fashion "...And I just wanna say...", "...I just wanna tell you..." and can be combined to form "...And I just wanna say that what I just wanna tell you is...". Just bloody tell us then. One thing that I now really find patronizing, is those musically enhanced emotional appeals at the end of services. At one stage it was every bloody week, no matter what the sermon was about, even if they weren't giving an appeal at all. It was choreographed perfectly. The preacher will be reaching the end, a gentle nod to the lead musician. As they continue speaking, suddenly slow piano or guitar music will begin to play, the speaker gives his well timed and emotionally charged appeal. It was different and pleasant when they first started doing it years ago. But now it's just really annoying and absolutely devoid and empty of any real feeling. If people need to respond, they'll respond, we don't need the assistance of a few notes from "Relaxing Moods CD Volume 2" to make our life-changing decision. Lately it seems that the church has decided ditch this part of the appeal, in the last couple of months I've noticed speakers giving there appeal or finishing off their sermon without any musical accompaniment. It's much better and much more respectful of people's intelligence. I hope I'm not speaking too soon. Tags: Dark Side of the Light Christian Satire