IntenseDebate - jeffsdeepthoughts

11 years ago @ WordPress blog at stev... - Grief Knocks You on Yo... · 1 reply · +1 points

Great words Steve. Those word from Lamentations, like some of the psalms, are so wonderful because they avoid the temptation to minimize peoples pain and suffering.

12 years ago @ WordPress blog at stev... - Believing God Can · 2 replies · +1 points

I'm starting to recognize the importance of not only focusing on what people say, but also what don't they say. It's possible that a person might say nothing but sentences I 100% agree with... and yet if that person is only potraying one side of the truth, I might find that somebody else, who I disagree with half the time, is the better person to listen to, because he's not cherry picking the truths he's choosing to share. As you discussed that paster (At first I was thinking it was a pastor whose name rhymes with Gob Nell but then I realized it was probably a pastor whose name rhymes with Mole Bowlstien.)

12 years ago @ WordPress blog at stev... - Can't vs. Don't Want To · 2 replies · +1 points

These insights are profound... and kind-of hard to face. I was immediately intruiged by your title. This is an issue I wrestle with a lot, particular in my career as a special education teacher. In dealing with kids with emotional disabalities, it's become really clear to me that the question, "What can they do? What do they simply not want to do?" Is the most difficult and important question I can ask.
The distinction between "can't" and "don't want to", much like (as you point out) the distinction between "need" and "want" is an important one... But it only works clear and easy on paper. In reality these distinctions are so very messy... partially because there are so many things that we can't do because we believe we can't; there are so many things that we theoretically shouldn't be able to do and yet we pull them off when we're truly comitted, and we serve a God who is quite capeable of doing the impossible through us.
Thanks for the great thoughts. Lots to chew on here.

12 years ago @ WordPress blog at stev... - Should Pastors Get Str... · 0 replies · +1 points

There is so much really excellent stuff here.
One of the things I'd like to observe is the stuff about how uncomfortable it would be, hearing a confession from a pastor...
I think you're right. It would be. But it shouldn't be. If we take seriously the idea that we are a priesthood of believers, and that the temple is now the body of believers themselves, we wouldn't be so quick to set up these double standards between lay people and clergy.
Satan loves this double standard. You allude to the sin of pride, which is there. And you imply the isolation this creates, which is community-destroying, just what our enemy wants.
But there is also sin on the side of we who sit in the pews. (O.k. so FC doesn't have pews, but you get my point.) Because we want to not take our calling so seriously; we want you to be the professional Christians so that we can be the amateur Christians.

13 years ago @ WordPress blog at stev... - Passion or Power · 0 replies · +1 points

He certainly had power (in the world's sense of the word) at this time; but he didn't exercise this power as he was beaten, mocked, and ultimately crucified.
I think we sometimes have the best of intentions, and we might have a Christ-like goal in mind, but we try and achieve this goal by wielding power in the way of the world. For example, we coerce and manipulate others into signing on for a Godly ministry. This would be like Jesus turning Pilot into a toad after he was flogged, or Jesus shutting down his pain receptors as they drove the nails into his hands. He certainly could have done these things. But exercising his power would have undercut the reason for his passion.
Other times, people simply expect that we'll wield power in this manner because that's what they expect and that's what they are used to. As you say, the character of the leader seems key.

13 years ago @ WordPress blog at stev... - Passion or Power · 0 replies · +1 points

I've been reflecting a lot on a related topic lately. It's how backwards Jesus' use of power is, when compared with the world. Jesus didn't seek power over, he paradoxically became more powerful by giving up his power.
Even your phrasing highlights a fascinating distinction. As you know, and as that (terrible) movie alluded to, the time and events leading up to the crucifixion are often called "The Passion of Christ."

13 years ago @ Stuff Christians Like ... - Feeling bad that you d... · 1 reply · +4 points

Amazing point. But the 3rd and forth die hard movie was like somebody coming in and adding to scripture, ignoring all of Revelations' warnings. I think maybe those movies are abonimations.
I'm not sure if the second Die Hard is pleasing to God. I think we need to convene a council to figure that out.

13 years ago @ Stuff Christians Like ... - Feeling bad that you d... · 5 replies · +7 points

Matt T.... I think there are some PG-13 and R rated movies which are pleasing to God. And many which aren't. I'd go so far as to say that it's a much better stewardship of our time to watch "Hotel Rwanda" than it is to watch something overtly Christian like "Letters to God." but that's beside the point.
The point that's worth making is that we live in a world full of evil that is worth getting upset about. I think when we complain that people celebrate Halloween but don't appear to care about these real evils, we are most definitely not pleasing God.
More concretely: I'll grant that there are scriptural passages which tell us that we ought to try not to offend people and that we should observe sociel niceties, not provide stumbling blocks, etc. But there are many more which much more clearly and unequivocally demand that we care for the widow and the orphan and the lost and the imprisoned. In short, I can't say for sure that watching most movies is pleasing to God. But I can say with out hesitation that loving people is pleasing to God; I can be sure that alienating people unnecessarily is not pleasing to Him.

13 years ago @ Stuff Christians Like ... - Feeling bad that you d... · 6 replies · +5 points

nameless, I think if it wasn't for my own typo, my meaning would have been clearer. I meant to write, "I understand NOW (not know) that it's more complex than this." And I think you're exactly right. Holiness is what it's about. I think we need to consider the ramifications of how we present ourselves to non-believers, though. And often we come across as so absurdly prissy. This prissiness comes across when we do more than just stand for what we will or won't do-- when we start to lecture others about what they should when they don't buy into the truths we know, for example, it ends up looking like we view God as a gentle great-aunt who needs to be protected from our boisterous friends.

13 years ago @ Stuff Christians Like ... - Feeling bad that you d... · 10 replies · +34 points

I appreciate the idea of not trivializing the devil. But there's comes a point in this where we end up trivializing Christ's goodness and power. Before I was a Christian, and it seemed like a lot of people were always worried about protecting God. It seemed like this guy they claimed to worship must have the most delicate, old-lady sensibilities ever or he must not be able to hold his own against the forces supposedly against him. It was kind-of like "Seriously, that Jesus guy would be bothered by pg-13 language?" and "Really? He created the whole universe and yet a series of young adult novels is going to threaten him."
I understand know that it's more complex than this. But I also realize that their are ramifications for the ways we act, and I stand by the idea that some times some people do treat the author of creation as if He's some wilted little flower that needs our protection.

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