A review of the book BEWARE OF HYPOCRISY

I agreed to review a book for Mike Morrel at Speakeasy.com in exchange for receiving a free copy of the book.  Of course the TITLE of the BOOK in what intrigued me and the subtitle "Who is Teaching Us What?". Its a very small book (just under 60 pages and not full size) and I ready it fairly quickly.

I'm going to break it down for you concisely to save time and effort on your end.

PROS: He covers some important history of the church stuff and how doctrines were formulated.
He points out that the church has done some really stupid stuff as far as making stuff up to fill in the blanks where scripture doesn't really spell it out.  Mostly he used the Catholic Church as his target of criticism in such issues as infallibility of the pope, Christology, indulgences, etc. He talks about how some scriptures were added to text later in the life of the church. I agree with that skepticism.  He is intelligent and thinks things through.

CONS: the author is a little more fundamental that I am. Literal applications of certain scripture is difficult for me to swallow. He prefers the King James Version and its my least favorite.  He is pretty hardline on Marriage & Adultery sections, although he makes an argument based upon scripture and Jesus' message compared to old testament.  I think some issues need to be viewed in light of new information.

Overall its worth the read and I did learn something from it.  I just wouldn't say its a must read or paradigm shifting in nature.

~npp

I am still learning...

 I am trying to wrap up what life taught me in 2018. 

Here is my list of a few things I learned:

Do not let age be a factor in love and friendship.

Bifocals suck.

That laughter is possible, even though I usually employ a SST (Smile Suppression Technique).

 I really do not like my smile.

I really do enjoy music. I had, over the years, forgotten to let it speak to me, to my soul, and how it reflects my moods.

What a narcissist truly is and how it will be in a relationship no matter what.

That I don't have to set myself on fire just to keep you warm. I am learning that I am not responsible for holding everything together, even though it may be in my nature to try to do so.

That I can't fix everything, nor do I know how or have all of the answers. I do however have some life experiences, a good listening ear, and advice if asked.

I prefer local restaurants over chains.

That I am human, and I'm going to experience pain and loss and frustration. I will also experience the opposite.

That good people still exist on this planet, but so do evil ones. Its often hard to tell the difference until it is too late.

That when I was young, Time was an ally and stood by me.  Now that I am getting older it is more of a Foe. Our relationship is turning adversarial. I am acutely aware of my mortality.

There are things in our society that needs to be fixed. Healthcare. Veterans. Homelessness.  Justice Systems. Status quo on these things irregardless of political persuasion is not good.

People will use you. I already knew this. But good people will invest time and effort in you and your relationship. Do not take that for granted.

My thoughts on God and religion are ever present.

It is exhausting trying to be everything to everyone. Working around egos and feelings and expectations.  I'm going to do less of that next year...

Oh wait.... I guess my next blog entry will be about resolutions.  Hopefully I can remember to do it and remember my sign in.  ~npp (the original nonprofitprophet from 2007)

This is only a test...or is it?

Its been, what, two years since I've posted anything? Its hard to believe. I had to google search my blog because I lost the info once again.  Amazing how many nonprofitprophet 's there are listed now. Better late than never I guess.

So I'm writing this little thing as a test to see if I can still post. If you see this...then I can too and the answer is yes.  Oh the things that have changed in two years.

I will try to write something more frequently and with deep wisdom and insight, like I used to do.

~npp

A review of the new book The Atonement of God

A review of the new book The Atonement of God - Building your Theology on a crucifixion of God, by JD Myers.

I have always struggled with the Savior attributes assigned to Jesus. Not rejecting the mainline theology being taught or espoused in most major denominations as a child, or even as an adult now, but always questioning. Overall I have never felt that emotional response to Jesus many in the Southern Baptist traditions have had, or that "time and date" being saved thing.  I grew up knowing the story, grew up in the church, I did not have to "accept Jesus into my heart" as they say because I was always aware of Him/God. Like air, no reason to acknowledge the obvious or make a big deal out of it.

I have found on my journey that others also feel this way, and its moreso now than it was some years ago.  Many taboo topics in religion are now super popular to discuss and right books about. Its hard in the religious south to talk about such things before because, pick your response "God is Soveriegn", "Omnipotent", etc. Which means of course they don't have the answers to its the default response and do not question it.

 So when I saw this book being offered that talks about the theology being built around the crucifixion, I bit on it.

I'm not going to give away the arguments of the book for you. I think you have to discover these things for yourself.  But J.D. Myers covers Three Common Views of the Atonement, which tend to overlap some, Penal Substitution Theory, Ransom view, and Moral Influence. He touches on these briefly and kind of goes into the questions behind the logic, or lack thereof , of each one.

Myers uses the terminology The Non-Violent View of the Atonement (I know, a little lack luster there) to describe, discuss and put forth his view of what the crucifixion means/meant to both the early church and to us today.  I'm not going into it but he uses a majority of the book to discuss it. I'm not certain I agree with it all so much, but its a different take.  If you get the book and read it he goes into a bit, for me, a far fetched interpretation of the whole Cain & Able thing ... and how it relates. I think its a stretch, but its not my book!

Its conversational in tone. He isn't heady (which I was thinking it might be a bit more of), but he uses quite a bit of quotes up front from CS Lewis who is a mainstay in Christianity to Walter Wink who stands on the very edge of the left side of the field theologically speaking.

I would say its an interesting read for a discussion starter. ~npp 

I AM BACK! .... I think

I cannot believe HOW LONG ITS BEEN since I have posted anything.

I'm not sure anyone is still around to read these things.

the world of social media has rapidly changed in the past few years... Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc and I frankly don't have time to keep up with it.

Also new things like ISIS and Transgender dominate conversations.  It appears that the United States, and the world, has increasingly divided itself into more and groups.

I searched my old BlogSpot and couldn't remember password or username so it was some effort to get this done....

But I'm here... I think.

Some of you know of my severe and long lasting reaction to the antibiotic Cipro and its devastating effects.  My mind is still, four years later, not as clear as it once was.  Words do not flow freely from my brain to my hands to this page.  It takes more effort to make it through the day.  It could have been much worse.  Google Cipro Toxicity and you would see.

I'm going to try and post my thoughts on things here. You may or not care or agree with them. 

The bad thing about being a prophet is that you say things that people may or may not want to hear.  Historically in my blog I have called attention to things that we as general mainline Christians do or don't do that is harmful or stupid or personal or corporate.  And sometimes that falls in the lap of traditional religious structures.  But sometimes my words are for the left.  No side has the claim to getting it correct.

I find myself struggling.  First to not hurt people but also to remain honest to what I know to be true.

Political Correctness is the enemy of Truth.  For without Truth we cannot have honest discussions about Life.  And without honesty, we have no growth in understanding.  It is sad and not helpful.  It leads others astray, gives them false security and creates enemies. It distorts what is good for evil and what is evil for good. 

The prophet Isaiah already covered this a long time ago...  5:20 (NIV)

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter

 

My beloved denomination is facing this.  It will be harmful. Hurtful. And a division/split is coming. There is much politics behind the scene....  but Political Correctness is going to deal a death blow.

Saving Jesus redux.... a review and insights

I grew up in a traditional mainline denominational church and was  taught Sunday after Sunday the main message of the bible, the fall, the redemption/salvation story, and pretty much took it at face value as a child and young adult.  Although at times I had questions or some concerns about things that quite didn't add up, I didn't even realize you could ask the questions because I thought that would equate to disbelief and I would go directly to Hell....not collect $200.

In my early 30s I really began a spiritual quest and started asking the questions of others who would listen and be willing to dialogue.  In this heavily Baptist dominated region of the world, I have been met with resistance and challenges, and even a few names hurled my direction to dare even to question the "inerrancy of the bible" aka God's definitive word on everything.  But on this quest I have found others who share the same questions.  And its not folks trying to disprove the bible or God, but legitimate people who are trying to dig deeper into something that calls us to a deeper understanding .... and I like to think Jesus would approve.

So, enter Living The Questions.  Its a dialogue about the questions many of us have regarding faith, spirituality, the bible, nature of God, historical Jesus versus church made Jesus the Christ, and on and on.  This current DVD "SAVING JESUS" is VERY GOOD in that it starts from a standpoint presenting Jesus in the light of history, culture, stories about Jesus, assumptions, the church Jesus, etc.  It is Living The Questions.  Doesn't mean it has all the answers but the dialogue is good. It is 2 DVDs in one box, each containing six 20 minute something sections from various theologians and people of faith.  Decidedly, they are on the liberal side of theology or postmodern as many refer to themselves (John Shelby Sponge, Robin Meyers, Diana Butler Bass, Brian , Marcus Borg who I swear looks is actually Obie Wan Kanobi Jedi Knight from Star Wars, etc). 

I enjoyed the first DVD 6 sections more so than the 2nd DVD as it was more intellectual dialogue about Jesus historically, culturally, teaching styles, and overall presentation.  The 2nd DVD was still good but some of the politics of the left starting seeping in.  That has always bothered me when, as in the days of the Moral Majority the religious right assumed they had the corner market on the Bible/proper theology/God and threw darts at the left, I often see similar efforts from certain areas of the postmodern left toward traditional/fundamental folks, which I don't find particularly helpful in the journey.  We are all somewhere in the journey and we should be respectful of that.

So I would highly recommend this series if you are genuinely wanting to ask, seek, and learn.  You don't have to agree with everything (I certainly had some "let me think about that statement" moments), but the conversation is worth having.  ~npp

To Live or Die? A Faith Families Struggle

My little church I attend is going through a process of change.  Over the decade they have lost membership as so many churches have experienced for whatever reasons and they have decided to try and do something about it.  The older folks have noticed that they are getting older and that there are fewer and fewer younger folks to carry on what they have invested so much of their time and money and heart into.  So this past year they joined a movement called Healthy Church Initiative to explore ways to revitalize the church in an effort to slow the decline and hopefully turn the numbers around.

I, for one, have never been impressed with "programs" or church consultants that are designed to "save" a church from whatever.  I've seen them come and go and nothing changed. Just a lot of "doing something" without getting something done.  So I set this one out, partially due to my health issues this past year and partly because I really did not believe in it and didn't want to be a negative if folks wanted to give it a try.

So they've been working on it. Having meetings. Reading books. Going to this and that.  The consultants gave their prescription on how to turn this thing around.... and that's where the fun started.  It seems the things I have been saying for, oh about a decade and better, are almost exactly what the consultants told them. Its always better hearing it from someone who gets paid good money than someone from Nazareth anyway.  It seems we are a bit inwardly focused.  It seems we have some turf issues within the church.  It appears we need to get out of our comfort zones and do things differently.  It appears its NOT ALL ABOUT US.

Now, I really don't care about all of the above.  That's a universal thing for most organizations. Loosing focus of who and what they are to be and how to go about it.  The machine takes over and we end up feeding the thing itself just to keep it alive - when in all reality maybe its time for it to die.  Its done its thing and is no longer useful. Businesses, churches, governments, organizations, the list is long.  But its nice to see that these folks are recognizing that yeah, maybe we do have some issues and need to address them.  And they are in the early painful stages of doing this.  At least its a step - hopefully in the right direction to discern what we are about and what we want to do. They aren't giving up. It appears they are at least willing to listen. 

I am staying in the background. Observing. Offering whatever when necessary or asked.  I am watching these folks struggle with who they were, are, and may become. Its uncomfortable for them. It will be nasty at times. People will have to get over themselves. People will have to reach, extend, get all twisted and bruised.  But anything worth it, is going to take some dirt.

So they aren't on hospice quite yet. They are facing their mortality and realizing that they want to pass something on. Something worth having. A legacy if you will.  I am not convinced that they know what that thing is yet. Is it just driving up the membership for sheer numbers so it looks better? Is it, as they call it, reaching people for Jesus Christ (whatever all that means).  Is it because they got something they love and they want to share it with others? I do not know what their answers and neither do they. They haven't gotten there yet.

But I'm glad to be a part of a faith community where at least they are aware, are asking questions, and are open to the possibilities. It may or may not work standing still is definitely a death sentence.  To Live or Die is what they are facing.  In the words of Ten Bears from Outlaw Josey Wales, "It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life."

We shall see. ~npp