tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post7193603601597306021..comments2024-01-12T12:39:47.241-08:00Comments on The Christian Monist: Blatant Meaning from Obscure Verses – An Oxymoron Possibly?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-84371363705605090112009-05-25T11:42:01.327-07:002009-05-25T11:42:01.327-07:00HUG, I'm looking forward to seeing some of that cr...HUG, I'm looking forward to seeing some of that creative writing someday. <br /><br />My problem, if I write in a sleep deprived state (for example at 3 AM when I have insomnia) I have a tendency to be far too honest about things, which usually gets me in trouble, which then leads to more nights of insomnia.MJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09240462070445948163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-80846313035022332112009-05-24T15:51:12.980-07:002009-05-24T15:51:12.980-07:001) I find I do my best writing when I'm suffering...1) I find I do my best writing when I'm suffering from sleep deprivation. Messes up my mundane life, but really gets the creative juices flowing. (As long as I'm not too sleepy to actually write.)<br /><br />2) Every time I hear the tag line "God said it, I believe it, That settles it", I want to add the line "AL'LAH'U AKBAR!" Think of it as truth in advertising; that sort of attitude is what I associate with flying a jacked airliner into the WTC in the name of Al'lah. Or browbeating a subordinate over an imitation bamboo table in Cairo. The wall in the mind slams down, and from then on there is only "It Is Written! It Is Written! It Is Written! Scripture! Scripture! Scripture! Scripture!"<br /><br />Headless Unicorn GuyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-69103025451907403542009-05-23T19:33:34.612-07:002009-05-23T19:33:34.612-07:00Trevor, yeah, there are horror stories out there w...Trevor, yeah, there are horror stories out there within the church. Anonymous (above) and I have a friend who was a youth pastor at a big church in Houghton, MI. His experience was one of the most bizarre I've ever heard.<br /><br />Good night sleep last night . . . thanks for asking.MJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09240462070445948163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-74232917971204501312009-05-23T19:30:15.037-07:002009-05-23T19:30:15.037-07:00Anonymous AKA SS, yes, it is the same church. The ...Anonymous AKA SS, yes, it is the same church. The pastor's wife is one of my wife's best friends. When I came here, I really thought the pastor would be my best friend. <br /><br />That's the problem . . . on a social level, I really like the people at my church . . . even Chuck. It is the thinking part that drives me crazy.<br /><br />It's too bad about the "human element." The best we've ever had was in Marquette . . . where you and I met. But that group was mostly centered around the Air Force base. Something about military people that gives them the ability to make friends quickly.MJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09240462070445948163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-64933876731323950802009-05-23T19:02:35.956-07:002009-05-23T19:02:35.956-07:00Wow. I never cease to be amazed at the out and ou...Wow. I never cease to be amazed at the out and out weirdness of the American church. I honestly don't know how you take it.<br /><br />Thanks for your recent thoughts on youth ministry - it seems like they'll be more of that in my future, so I've appreciated your discussion.<br /><br />Hope you manage to get some sleep soon!Trevor Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02583257795864285412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-41745889809027859202009-05-23T12:56:54.293-07:002009-05-23T12:56:54.293-07:00Is this the same church you were attending when I ...Is this the same church you were attending when I visited you a few Labor Days ago? I'm just amazed...after reading your stories, I would not want to attend there...but then, it took me several years before I found a church I felt I could "trust" here in Boston; while I've been an official member for a few years now, I'm still not really integrated (for several reasons: its size and bureaucracy and the ease with which one may remain anonymous, the famous New England social coolness, its mid-urban location and attendant parking difficulties/expense (particularly for non-Sunday functions) the dissolution of my first small group, and last but not least, my own poor attendance, particularly at Sunday School...swing dancing Saturday nights doesn't help...when I finally turn off the light at 4am). What I do find missing for me here (perhaps mostly my own fault, but I am just not a gregarious friend-maker) is the small-town warm welcome I encountered from your pastor, his wife & others when I visited. But then, I had an introduction from you (before you had made your reputation). While I am quite impressed with the level of scholarship & teaching we get here, I'm missing the human element, which really is a huge part of "church." I can understand your wife's sentiments. If I were to move to another part of the country, I would not hold out a lot of hope for finding a church whose teaching I could trust, and would probably gravitate towards a place not too stern or loopy, but where I could make friends...if a (still) single guy in his 50s (yikes!) can do that. (Incidentally--regardless of age--it gets extra hard to even think of finding a potential mate within the church for the very reasons you blog about--the available "church women" tend to have rather conventional ideas, and if a man expresses doubts about such, he appears spiritually immature/irresponsible/undesirable).<br /><br />S. in Boston (well, Newton now)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-62501128039722502692009-05-22T18:29:42.142-07:002009-05-22T18:29:42.142-07:00Choices in real life are never easy. So do I find ...Choices in real life are never easy. So do I find a church were I fit in better but create tension in my marriage in exchange? Is it worth it? Those are real questions in the real world without easy answers.MJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09240462070445948163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-81513651414795133652009-05-22T16:37:30.550-07:002009-05-22T16:37:30.550-07:00You need to get out of there. Such teaching is to...You need to get out of there. Such teaching is toxic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com