I Have Company

I wondered what people would think about what I wrote last night. I’m not all that surprised to see positive comments. Blogs are funny; they reach out into the world like the tendrils of a climbing plant, finding like-minded people and putting them in touch with each other.

Let’s see what we have.

“Ever think about Eastern Orthodoxy? It is the Church of the apostles; pretty much the same now as it was then.”

Don’t know much about it. Aren’t some of the guys who look after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Eastern Orthodox? I can tell you this. I could never join a church that requires praying to saints. Not after reading the story of Saul and Samuel. I don’t know if the Eastern Orthodox Church fits that description. Another thing that bothers me about the older churches is that they seem very bound up in rules and internal politics, so you end up with a lot of worshipers who think they can be Tony Soprano all week and then get clean on Sunday. Or, worse, Easter and Christmas. I think faith, a personal relationship with God, and inner renewal via the Holy Spirit get cut out of the picture, so the result is worldliness. I believe that explains the gay “mafia” in the Catholic Church, as well as disturbing radical priests who want to be rock stars.

“Facinating reading this. It seems like there is a tremendous pull being exerted on some very smart, savvy people. I’ve watched you get pulled into the divine orbit over the last year or so. The same thing is happening with vanderleun. Interesting times.”

I don’t know who Vanderleun is, but the thought you express has occurred to me, too. It seems like God has a lot of “sleepers” out there. People who have been less active than they felt they should, who are now gaining strength and trying to shape up and accomplish more. And the curious thing about is that even if it has become more obvious recently, I can tell you that it didn’t take place over the last year or two. Not in my case, anyway. I have been working on this for a long time. The thing that has happened over the last year is an acceleration in the payoff. Maybe something is going on that has been in the works for quite some time.

In addition to spiritual awakenings, I have noticed that an awful lot of the same people seem to be shooting these days. Don’t know what to make of that. Is it my imagination?

Unfortunately if you want to be a Methodist pastor you must mash your brain flat to dull any sense of politically incorrect thought while passing your body through five or six years of the Emory educational experience.

So today finding their so- called “leaders” going with the flotsam lifted by the anti-Israel tide is not surprising to me, but it is the very reason I’m religious but don’t attend services with a congregation regularly

I didn’t know academics were involved. That explains everything. Teachers corrupt our kids. They make up a huge percentage of DNC operatives. They espouse socialism because they’re all union members who work seven hours a day, nine months a year, with near-total job security, plus benefits and pensions. And to top it off, they don’t teach us how to read any more.

Maybe the best reason for homeschooling is to put teachers out of business.

“I think that I’m on the same spiritual path that you’re describing, though I concede that you seem to be a bit further along than me.”

I would not count on that last part.

Paul C, a Catholic, has a different take on rules and ritual:

Interesting comment as to how “Christians” and I quote that on purpose will change doctrine and idealogy and scripture to effectively match a viewpoint they have. I don’t speak as an expert and this may sound arrogant however as a Catholic we have a lot of rules people don’t like as it interferes with all the things you have listed here. Our Church has had many centuries to evolve and reform and with good reason and good effect and I believe it is strong because of the moral authority it brings to faith for all Christians . . .

Our civilization is decadent and decaying, we have lost too much from a moral standpoint, morally bankrupt if you will. I would have hoped that people within my church would not leave the congregation each Sunday and resort back to decadence through out the week it has been a thorn in my side since my father pointed it out. We can sit in church for an hour hear and respond to a wonderful homily and then fight like mad to be the first out of the parking lot.

I think a church can have too few rules and be too loose. On the other hand, when a surfeit of man-made rules comes to supplant faith and supernatural renewal, the kind of behavior you describe is probably inevitable. I think the older churches have blown it by giving up on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is intended to change people from within and “write God’s law on their hearts,” making it easier for them to behave. I was a fairly good person, by modern standards, in my own right. But that isn’t saying much. There were persistent moral flaws I could not beat on my own, and they were not minor, and they frustrated me very badly, and I am positive I am only making progress on them now because God is working inside me.

Here is some good news before I post this. As is often the case, World Vision is having a sale. Sort of. Right now, if you donate money to provide anti-parasite medications to children in need, they’ll get matching funds multiplying your gift by fourteen. That’s a fantastic deal. If you were planning to make a charitable donation this week, I can’t think of a better choice.