November 30, 2006

Affirming Celebration!

We did it, finally! Mill Woods United Church in Edmonton held a great celebratory service last Sunday morning to mark becoming an official Affirming Congregation. This is the first congregation to do so in 8 years in Alberta NorthWest Conference (including parts of BC and the territories), and only the second ever. Hopefully there will be more churches hoisting the rainbow banner over our steeples and store fronts. We have heard stories of teens whose lives were saved by seeing the rainbow sign on a church door. Suicide is the number one cause of death for young people who are struggling with their sexual identity, and after hearing the stories of what GLTB individuals have gone through, I know that there is no way they would have chosen to be so different and so shunned by society. It is like blaming lepers for their leprosy or hermaphrodites for being born with anatomical duplications. To hear these people talk about being ostrasized by their churches, condemned, alienated and hated, is to hear the voices of the outcasts and Samaritans that Jesus reached a hand of love to. We celebrated that they are a part of God's creation, that they are a part of our family, and that we together are in community to build a sanctuary for all. Our website is www.millwoodsunited.org if you are interested in hearing more.

November 20, 2006

Worship of Jesus vs God

Here, in a nutshell is a statement that explains to me what a fundamentalist believes:

Automan wrote in Worship of Jesus vs God on WonderCafe.ca


"Jesus Christ IS the Word of God. The Word of God IS God. The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. He was crucified and rose, and then sent HIS Spirit to DWELL WITHIN US.

If you do not have that, you have nothing.

We worship God through Jesus Christ the Son. Otherwise God hears nothing of us."

This translates to me

  1. The bible is the Word of God (true and indisputable, inspired by God, unchangeable and without fault)
  2. Jesus fulfills the word of God (Ten Commandments and other lists of rules are superseded by Jesus' Grace etc.)
  3. The Word of God IS God (Do what the Bible says and you are accountable to God).
  4. Jesus was the living Bible
  5. When risen, the Bible lives in spirit in us (Jesus, the word, God, all live in us in the Word, or the Bible).
  6. God cannot communicate with us because we are sinful. Therefore we must communicate with God through Jesus (or, I am guessing, by reading the Word of God?).

What this ALL boils down to is that if you believe the bible you are right with God. How do you interpret the Bible? Go ask your preacher. He will fill you in on what it means. It is far too important for you to decide what it means for yourself.

That certainly explains why they have so much trouble with our interpretation of the Bible and why they don't call us Christians.

November 16, 2006

Science and the bible

I found this link on Wondercafe today, a youtube video interview with Reverend Ted Haggart and Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and author of The Selfish Gene. The video is interesting and scary, but sad and funny in a way as well, since Ted's male friend recently revealed the Pastor's interest in same sex massages, etc. In the end, it will be the congregation members that suffer the most I think, for they felt that they had a personal relationship with him that bouyed up their faith. But in some ways it sounds much more like a cult than a church, with the focus around a charismatic leader, chanting in unison, emotional highs and intoxicating music. But I'm no expert on cults, nor should I judge fundamentalists. Although I have a good lightbulb joke...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkUi6dhwWx0

November 15, 2006

Sermon Starters

These are some of the sermon topics that EZed Squirrel garnered from WonderCafe members:


For all you preachers out there, here is a list worthy of your consideration:
The true meaning of life
How to find your purpose in the world
Multi-faith expressions around peace and militant non-violence
Who's view of religion is right and why that is so
Nativity story as just that: story
Easter story as just that: story
What "right" means
Greed
The damage done by Biblical literalism
The need for reflection and journey
The "good life".
What to look for in a mate
How to be better parents/neighbours
Whether ethical funds are truly a good short-term investment

monasksit Wed, Nov 15/0602:40 pm: Hi, EZ, can I pass these on to my minister? He's already done the Easter and Nativity stories, and led book studies on Borg and Spong.

EZed Wed, Nov 15/0603:45 pm: EZ Answer: Yes...just send a cheque made out to EZ...never mind...you're family, so there's no cost.


As a sidebar, I think EZ is a definate asset to WonderCafe - cute, cuddly, asks good questions, and has a sense of humor as well!

Study of Gems

Here is my first example of a Gem that I don't want to lose track of:

MostlyMike,

Thank you for sharing the study pdf. It has helped me put the commonly quoted sections of the Bible into the proper perspective. For reference, this document discusses:

"There are six Bible accounts that have been used in recent years in reference to homosexuality. These include:

Genesis 1-2 (Creation Account)
Genesis 19:1-9 (Sodom Account)
Leviticus 18:22, 20:13 (Holiness Code)
Romans 1:24-27 (Letter of Paul)
1 Corinthians 6:9 (Letter of Paul)
1 Timothy 1:10 (Letter of Paul)"

(taken from http://truthsetsfree.net/study.pdf)

I have heard Corinthians, Leviticus and Romans used.

It is a bit surprising that Jesus doesn't speak directly to this issue.

Leviticus

Leviticus - the OT book on rules and regulations.

I found this quoted on WonderCafe and loved it.

"(Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a US radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.
The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a US resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative):

"Dear Dr. Laura:
"Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.
"I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:
1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19-24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.
4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? -Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev.20:14)
"I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
Your devoted disciple and adoring fan,
Jack"

I (Mon the blogger) also added the following observation based on one part I stumbled upon when I read Leviticus. As I have a teen-age son, it really made me think. So much for the statement I have heard that murder is condemned in the Bible.

11. Why can't I get my teenage son stoned by the community when he defies my requests to obey me (ie. do his homework, take out the garbage and clean his room)? Why do I have to wait for his father to do this? And how come there's no rules about stoning disobedient teenage daughters?

Wonder Cafe

Hi and welcome to our discussion. Mo and I have been posting like crazy on WonderCafe.ca and we like the site a lot. There are lots of really good discussions happening and there are a few people who are interested in finding out what's behind the new advertising campaign sponsored by the United Church of Canada.

The site is very professional and I have yet to see it break down (except due to heavy traffic on the first day) in any way. The site does have some technical limitations though.

Mo and I thought we might chronicle our discussions on Wonder Cafe and rescue the gems we have found there for our future reference. Rather than do that in a word document, we thought we would share them with anyone who was interested.

Posting will likely be infrequent. We intend to invite other local people to our list of contributors. Comments will be available but moderated. This is our site after all. For full discussions, WonderCafe.ca is open to all.