February 17, 2008 at 8:51 pm (Uncategorized)
Here are some random thoughts, that I’d meant to post on here…I’ve actually emailed a pastor these thoughts to get his thoughts on these:
As many know (or can guess from previous posts) I’m heavily questioning the existence of God, and my own personal beliefs. For the premise of this discussion though, we will ignore my doubts/questions about the actual existence of God and just discuss the “Christian” god.
What I have to wonder, if God is all knowing, all powerful, and all loving, and knowing what I know with respect to how God views the church in Christianity…HOW could He have let it get so incredibly far away from what He intended.
It’s written in the Bible about how critical of a role the church plays in Christianity (the bride of Christ), and how in many ways it is to be a spiritual authority/teacher/guide. But to look at history and to see just how wrong the church has gotten it for hundreds of years, how has God not put a stop to this? I realize there are elements of free will, but considering the importance that the bible puts on the church body, I don’t get how God can stand aside and let the church commit atrocities in the name of God?
Also, I don’t necessarily buy the answer of “Free Will”. That more often than not seems like the easy “cop out” answer. It seems like too many Christians hide behind that easy answer. And in many situations, I think it’s a fairly insensitive answer. It’s way too convenient of an answer.
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February 14, 2008 at 9:07 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: church, jaded
I’ve continued to go to the church I mentioned previously in this post. I committed to going throughout the series the pastor had told me about with respect to the church and what he thinks the church SHOULD be.
The majority of what he referenced has been from Luke 14, and apparently a study done by the Barna Group and resultant book called “UnChristian”. I have to say that I was fairly impressed with what he had to say, his compassion, his genuineness, passion and love for others. This also seemed to be displayed in many others throughout the church. The church seems to be well balanced in helping those in need within their church, and with trying to help others in far off places. He seems to get it in my honest opinion. That was actually very refreshing.
Anyway, while I’ve still only met one person there other than Brad, that’s been by design as I don’t want to get into a situation there that would be fairly disrespectful. Lately, I’ve had massively difficulty keeping my mouth under control. Mostly because I just don’t want to. The filters are there, but I’ve actively turned them off and just don’t care what I say to someone for the most part 
The one person I’ve met, so far appears to be very genuine…and doesn’t seem to be looking to try “save” me, or get another notch in his belt.
Being real, genuine and honest are things that go a LONG way with me. I can’t respect people who aren’t honest/real/genuine with themselves. If you don’t respect yourself enough to be that way with yourself, why would I respect you? Why should I take you seriously? But…I digress.
I have to admit that I’ve begun questioning more and more what I believe, which has just thrown me for an absolutely loop. I am the type of person who doesn’t do well with not really knowing what she believes, or why. So, I find myself doing a lot of reading, for both sides.
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