Posted on May 3, 2010 at sometime around 2:01 pm
The following post is written by two people. The first, is my fiance. I love her a lot. The second is written by Aunt Susan. I love her a lot too.
Back at the start of this blog, I wrote a post called “Oh The Mega Church”. As I re-read this post less than a year and a half later, I am slightly embarrassed. I’ve wanted to remove it for quite some time, but the point of this blog is to journey together, and to see progress. This includes the places I’m right and the places I’m wrong. God has restored a lot of things in my life and part of that is my view of church, and even the mega church. Through frequently listening to mega church leaders like Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, Francis Chan, Tim Keller, Craig Groeschel, Bill Hybels, Pete Wilson, etc. and seeing a lot of positive change come from these mega churches, my views are much different. Most of my favorite thinkers and practioners in the church today…are at mega churches.
Is it the flavor of church for me? Nope. But that doesn’t mean I need to be a hater either.
Here is Sarah’s introduction to my aunt’s post: Read More »
Posted on June 22, 2009 at sometime around 10:57 pm
Christians vs. Homosexuals. Us vs. them. This seems to be the attitude of many conservative Christians and the homosexual community. In fact, 91% of young people outside the church (ages 16-29) believe that Christians are antihomosexual and 80% of churchgoers subscribe to the same perception. Further, 87% of people who do not call themselves Christians identify the word “judgmental” with present-day Christianity. Let’s start by admitting there is a problem here.
Before I share of my experience of attending a PRIDE event this past weekend, maybe we should get some background information. I have grown up in an open, but conservative Christian home and have never experienced any sort of gay. lesbian, or bi (GLB) gathering. Starbucks was giving out free coffee at the event, and since I work part time for them, I decided to go volunteer. When I put this up on my twitter/fb status, I received all kinds of messages. I had some in joking manners questioning my sexuality (I should add that I am straight), some praising me for being a “light on a hill”, and one who said, “Way to go Siggy! We all know ya love the women….besides who could look at a man’s hairy butt and…..???? well, you know….”. The problem is, I do know. I do know that I worked with someone at Starbucks who chose a homosexual lifestyle because his parents were so overly-religious it pushed him to rebel in that manner (still his choice, but the fact remains this was his driving force). I do know that other homosexuals I’ve talked to and have found out that I am a Christian immediately believe that I think they are going to hell. What??? When I first meet someone, the last thing I’m thinking about is whether or not they will be going to heaven or hell. I want to know what they do for a living, what they enjoy doing, what makes them live and breathe, how their weekend was, etc. It is unbelievable how many walls you have to break through when trying to have a simple conversation with someone about faith. Or how their day is going. Read More »
Posted on February 12, 2009 at sometime around 12:01 am
I got an email tonight about a promotion for a new social networking site for Christians called “FaithOut”. It said, “Users can upload all their favorite photos, tag their friends and family, share videos and music and find others around similar spiritual interests.” First off, I don’t really care to try and find people with similar “spiritual interests”. What does that mean? “Hey look! This person totally loves to speak in tongues! Let’s be friends!” lol. Trying to get Christians to go to a separate place for a phenomenon that breaks out “in the world” is nothing new, though. I’m sure you’ve heard of GodTube, which started as the Christian alternative to YouTube. Really? Why would us as Christians do this? Read More »
