He's doing it again...
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| This time with feeling. |
Jesus is our focus, the proper pinnacle of our attention in the Church. He is the example of how to walk with God. All Christians agree on this basic foundation. Christ built His Church upon this rock, or maybe that rock was Cephas?
Christianity is not as monolithic as it appears to be, in spite of a powerful Roman or Orthodox top down Doctrine establishing what Christianity was and how it was to be practiced. Even the very basics of the Christian Faith like who is “in charge” of this relationship with God is a matter of dispute. We overcome this paradox by simply ignoring that it exists, at least that's what the Pope and Patriarch did for over a thousand years.
If they can't remember, “Blessed are the Peacemakers…” then they have no business being “in charge”, do they? If I am reading this Bible thingy right, it seems to me that Christ is in charge, and that's why He gets His Name in the title, Christian. He signs the front of the paycheck, the rest of us sign the back, and the Father cashes it for us. Pretty simple, really.
I'm not an educated man, but I do have an omniscient Father, and so do you. This is the Revolution Jesus lead in First Century Palestine. But like all Revolutions, the fervor of the Spirit fades when the Patriots give way to bureaucrats and apparatchiks who water down the idea into ideology. Pretty soon we're “reinterpreting”, “de-marbling”, and just plain making sh#t up as we go along. Down the road a piece, sacred cows aren't only a Hindu tradition, they graze in Churches every day.
- Intercessory prayer
- Meatless Fridays
- Hierarchical structures
- Excommunication
- Dietary restrictions
- Pilgrimages
- Rewarmed pagan holidays
- Gilded fictional facts are okay
- Fantastically wealthy/ regaled clergy over an financially/ Spirituality impoverished Faithful
- Compromise with\ by the Powers that be
Don't question the manure on the pew, that's why it's called a pew because something stinks around here. If the cow is sacred everything that comes out of it is sacred, too. Right?
Sacred cows slaughtered here daily, is part of my creed. Call it, “Bringing back the Ancient Ways”, thus says Yahweh. (Jeremiah 6:16)
God is not silent, but first you must step away from the crowd who believe that they speak for Him and listen to Him. Jesus Christ spoke to the people teaching them directly, this is His Way. The Helper was not a limited engagement only visited upon authority. All Authority was given to Him. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. Don't accept substitution, institution, or mitigation. Listen. God is not silent.
We have been listening to lies, not all lies, but how many are okay in the “Blessed Bovine” way? Today we're adding a dash of psychology to our theology, we're trying to harmonize the faith of Secularism (<- Stop and click that, it's worth it) which we live Monday thru Saturday with the “stuff” we are told on Sunday morning for a couple hours, before the game. If we're able to pay attention between the work pressures, the mortgage payment, the car repairs you never budgeted for, but have to cover. All the distractions that occupy our time and our mind...
“Please, God, can you cut me a check or at least a break?”
“Your sermon? Uhm… very good. Which part? The end? Gotta run, thanks for asking. God bless.”
What would happen if the pastor stepped away from behind the lectern and sat down on the step and asked, “What has the Spirit said to you?”
The Sacred Cows wouldn't be the only ones defecating in the Sanctuary. Pee you. Pew.
Most of the Faithful are stillborn “hopeful” to make it through the next seven days to sit in this same uncomfortable seat, watching the same liturgy with a ten minute action-packed message they can't recall, let alone apply in the morning.
Communion with the Almighty is embedded in the reminder of deficiency. When Jesus said, "Do this in memory of me", the Love Feast wasn't supposed to leave you feeling empty.
Communion with the Almighty is embedded in the reminder of deficiency. When Jesus said, "Do this in memory of me", the Love Feast wasn't supposed to leave you feeling empty.
This is what God intended? This is the best, or at least the “nominal” experience of His Glory? Even the cows are raising their eyebrows and mooing, “You're kidding me?” or maybe that was the goats.
Get it? Goats… Kidding.
Never mind. God's got a great sense of humor. I'm certain that He could tell a joke we would literally die laughing from hearing, but the good news is, He brought us something far better, He brought us Gospel. Good News, so why are so many in Christendom so miserable? Christ sent us out to spread the Good News, but it came off as conquests, crusades, coercion, and condemnation. That's not Christ-like, and neither is the message of “additional burden” we're spreading today. It's the new self-righteous Pharisaic standard just like the Jewish elites imposed. That was then and this is the same sh#t later. If it isn't Good and it isn't New, then there's something wrong. Maybe, Christ was just using dubious marketing tactic like false labeling or maybe we suck at keeping the Message, His Message (as opposed to the ”Party Line”) intact. Hmm?
Never mind. God's got a great sense of humor. I'm certain that He could tell a joke we would literally die laughing from hearing, but the good news is, He brought us something far better, He brought us Gospel. Good News, so why are so many in Christendom so miserable? Christ sent us out to spread the Good News, but it came off as conquests, crusades, coercion, and condemnation. That's not Christ-like, and neither is the message of “additional burden” we're spreading today. It's the new self-righteous Pharisaic standard just like the Jewish elites imposed. That was then and this is the same sh#t later. If it isn't Good and it isn't New, then there's something wrong. Maybe, Christ was just using dubious marketing tactic like false labeling or maybe we suck at keeping the Message, His Message (as opposed to the ”Party Line”) intact. Hmm?
I wonder how Caiaphas would have handled it?
