Zoom!
Amazing. How can someone who writes for a living read an article like this and so completely and totally miss the point?
Yes, out-of-the-mainstream, Strother. Believe it or not, the vast majority of the Christian World still follows the gospels and the writings of Paul. That means they believe homosexuality to be an abomination before God and its practitioners to be walking dead. They also believe Jesus was a man and that He meant for men (as in males) to lead the church. Since the nonsense in which the American Episcopalians and the Presbyterians are engaged is little more than a diabolically inspired attempt to redefine Christianity, it is, by definition, out of the mainstream.
So here is where you begin to demonstrate that you either didn't read the article or you utterly lacked comprehension. The article is annunciating the fact that the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches are disintegrating, both having lost over 1/3 of their membership. In any objective sense, that constitutes a meltdown. It contrasts that with actual growth in the Baptist and Catholic churches worldwide, both of which have chosen to adhere to scripture and mainstream doctrine. Your comment about their target demographic is just plain stupid. What is it evolving to? Zero membership? Are they adopting a doctrine of organizational suicide? Christianitiy's "target demographic" is you and me, Strother. But there's no "sales pitch" and if you think there is, you have a lot to learn.
And it's equally amusing to see all you leftists try to develop apologetics based on evasion. The Episcopalians and Presbyterians are leaving Christian, scriptural doctrine behind. They are abandoning the very most basic tenets of Christianity in an attempt to allow all their degenerate, liberal friends to feel good about calling themselves Christians without having to worry about all that messy sin and redemption stuff.
It's a long, long way from rock and rap services to ordaining practicing homosexuals, Strother. Your attempt to equate the two is as simple-minded as it is transparent. I'm not even going to say, "nice try." As well, any church involved in "marketing strategies" has already left the fold. Of course I don't buy that line at all. You're trying to apply a post-modern secular framework to evangelism in order to support your very weak argument. That dog won't hunt. It's almost like you're trying out ideas for a bad satire. The church doesn't work that way and the fact that you choose to characterize it as such demonstrates that you are operating outside its bounds and writing on a subject of which you know not. Your drivel about churches that are "best described as southern Baptist" is also silly. Either they are Southern Baptist or they are not.
Read it again, Strother, this time for comprehension. The author said, "The latter may be a good idea..." The point is that whether or not medical marijuana is legal is not a theological issue. "Render to Caesar..." Remember? A Baptist preacher thundering on (non-scripturally, I might add) about alcohol is a lot different than a Presbyterian bureaucrat becoming active in the secular political struggle over legalizing pot, and doing so in the name of the church. You (and the Presbyterians) have committed the error of the Pharisees when they tried to trap Jesus regarding the payment of taxes to Rome.
Sadly for you and the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians, Christ's Church is not a social club or a PAC. The point of the article is that mainstream Christians realize this and they are leaving those denominations who choose to treat it as such in droves. They will continue to do so for the foreseeable future as well. In South America and Africa, where the church is growing very quickly, the attraction is the basic spirituality and redemption offered by following the Son of Man. It's not social justice and it's not tolerance for evil. It is, in truth, the exact opposite of those things.
Europe has managed to almost completely do away with Christianity and the tail of that dog, the United States, seems to be poised to follow suit. But maybe not. This article actually made me hopeful that Americans will reject that particular fruit and find their way back to the truths that are found in that 2,000-year-old document. You know, the one you folks on the left try your best to obliterate, but somehow it just doesn't happen.
Yes, out-of-the-mainstream, Strother. Believe it or not, the vast majority of the Christian World still follows the gospels and the writings of Paul. That means they believe homosexuality to be an abomination before God and its practitioners to be walking dead. They also believe Jesus was a man and that He meant for men (as in males) to lead the church. Since the nonsense in which the American Episcopalians and the Presbyterians are engaged is little more than a diabolically inspired attempt to redefine Christianity, it is, by definition, out of the mainstream.
'Meltdown'? That's a bit dramatic. It's more like the Episcopal Church USA's target demographic has 'evolved,' much like the target demographic of many other Christian churches. People change. Churches change.
So here is where you begin to demonstrate that you either didn't read the article or you utterly lacked comprehension. The article is annunciating the fact that the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches are disintegrating, both having lost over 1/3 of their membership. In any objective sense, that constitutes a meltdown. It contrasts that with actual growth in the Baptist and Catholic churches worldwide, both of which have chosen to adhere to scripture and mainstream doctrine. Your comment about their target demographic is just plain stupid. What is it evolving to? Zero membership? Are they adopting a doctrine of organizational suicide? Christianitiy's "target demographic" is you and me, Strother. But there's no "sales pitch" and if you think there is, you have a lot to learn.
It's funny how everyone to the 'right' of a certain church they don't belong to finds such churches to 'blur doctrine' and 'soften moral precepts.'
And it's equally amusing to see all you leftists try to develop apologetics based on evasion. The Episcopalians and Presbyterians are leaving Christian, scriptural doctrine behind. They are abandoning the very most basic tenets of Christianity in an attempt to allow all their degenerate, liberal friends to feel good about calling themselves Christians without having to worry about all that messy sin and redemption stuff.
It's a long, long way from rock and rap services to ordaining practicing homosexuals, Strother. Your attempt to equate the two is as simple-minded as it is transparent. I'm not even going to say, "nice try." As well, any church involved in "marketing strategies" has already left the fold. Of course I don't buy that line at all. You're trying to apply a post-modern secular framework to evangelism in order to support your very weak argument. That dog won't hunt. It's almost like you're trying out ideas for a bad satire. The church doesn't work that way and the fact that you choose to characterize it as such demonstrates that you are operating outside its bounds and writing on a subject of which you know not. Your drivel about churches that are "best described as southern Baptist" is also silly. Either they are Southern Baptist or they are not.
If some Baptists regularly preach the evils of alcohol, then why can't another denomination take sides on a similarly demonized - but far less harmful (and, in some cases, helpful) - product of consumption?
Read it again, Strother, this time for comprehension. The author said, "The latter may be a good idea..." The point is that whether or not medical marijuana is legal is not a theological issue. "Render to Caesar..." Remember? A Baptist preacher thundering on (non-scripturally, I might add) about alcohol is a lot different than a Presbyterian bureaucrat becoming active in the secular political struggle over legalizing pot, and doing so in the name of the church. You (and the Presbyterians) have committed the error of the Pharisees when they tried to trap Jesus regarding the payment of taxes to Rome.
Sadly for you and the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians, Christ's Church is not a social club or a PAC. The point of the article is that mainstream Christians realize this and they are leaving those denominations who choose to treat it as such in droves. They will continue to do so for the foreseeable future as well. In South America and Africa, where the church is growing very quickly, the attraction is the basic spirituality and redemption offered by following the Son of Man. It's not social justice and it's not tolerance for evil. It is, in truth, the exact opposite of those things.
Europe has managed to almost completely do away with Christianity and the tail of that dog, the United States, seems to be poised to follow suit. But maybe not. This article actually made me hopeful that Americans will reject that particular fruit and find their way back to the truths that are found in that 2,000-year-old document. You know, the one you folks on the left try your best to obliterate, but somehow it just doesn't happen.
posted by Anonymous | 2:12 PM
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