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In the spirit of the 'being an authentic Christian' discussions we've been having...


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Her posts are still there in quotes. I read all of them.

 

Bethany, I believe you mean well. I will have to say that, knowing where this person is coming from, I would have to disagree with some of the theology of his song. Yes, the centre is Christ, as Milovany stated, but for us that includes certain "rituals" as you would probably like to call them and as they are called in the song (and there are other parts of our faith that you and others would call "superstitious"). Due to this reasoning, I don't believe the lyrics are completely sound coming from where I'm at. However, it's a very nice song. I do like some music that I don't completely agree with and I do like a variety of music. Thank you for sharing, but please do not expect everyone to agree that it's the ultimate label of what an "authentic" Christian is or is not. We're all on this journey.

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Hi Bethany, just remember I'm the baby grand piano and it is playing BACH! Lovely, lovely BACH!

 

faith

 

I am an agnostic who enjoys religion. :D

 

I think what further confuses me is that one (or perhaps both?) of you used to have a DIFFERENT username on the forum.

 

Not that I expect you to post what that was here. But, yanno, if you wanted to pm me and help a confused lady out... :D

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Her posts are still there in quotes. I read all of them.

 

Bethany, I believe you mean well. I will have to say that, knowing where this person is coming from, I would have to disagree with some of the theology of his song. Yes, the centre is Christ, as Milovany stated, but for us that includes certain "rituals" as you would probably like to call them and as they are called in the song (and there are other parts of our faith that you and others would call "superstitious"). Due to this reasoning, I don't believe the lyrics are completely sound coming from where I'm at. However, it's a very nice song. I do like some music that I don't completely agree with and I do like a variety of music. Thank you for sharing, but please do not expect everyone to agree that it's the ultimate label of what an "authentic" Christian is or is not. We're all on this journey.

 

Thanks. I'm not quite sure how I stepped in it quite so thoroughly. :(

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Her posts are still there in quotes. I read all of them.

 

Bethany, I believe you mean well. I will have to say that, knowing where this person is coming from, I would have to disagree with some of the theology of his song. Yes, the centre is Christ, as Milovany stated, but for us that includes certain "rituals" as you would probably like to call them and as they are called in the song (and there are other parts of our faith that you and others would call "superstitious"). Due to this reasoning, I don't believe the lyrics are completely sound coming from where I'm at. However, it's a very nice song. I do like some music that I don't completely agree with and I do like a variety of music. Thank you for sharing, but please do not expect everyone to agree that it's the ultimate label of what an "authentic" Christian is or is not. We're all on this journey.

 

I was thinking as I read the lyrics that it's the "rituals" (sacraments are what I'm thinking of, namely confession, but also our prayers) that bring me to the true, inner repentance he seems to sing of. It's the "ritual" of the Eucharist that daily brings me to my knees -- I want to receive Christ when the Liturgy is again served, so I need to right now make sure I'm humbling myself and repenting of anything I need to repent of. So it doesn't have to be either/or (ritual or authentic faith). It can be both.

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I think what further confuses me is that one (or perhaps both?) of you used to have a DIFFERENT username on the forum.

 

Not that I expect you to post what that was here. But, yanno, if you wanted to pm me and help a confused lady out... :D

 

I have been LL for several years. In the old forums, I had a different name. I have been hsing 11 years.

 

I used to call myself an atheist, but in retrospect, I see it was ridiculous for me to think I know something I don't know.

Edited by LibraryLover
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I think what further confuses me is that one (or perhaps both?) of you used to have a DIFFERENT username on the forum.

 

Not that I expect you to post what that was here. But, yanno, if you wanted to pm me and help a confused lady out... :D

 

Hi Bethany,

 

I used to post on the OLLLLLLD Forum and then we bought this 100 year old church and renovated it and between living between two houses and not having internet here until the renovation was through stage one, I ended up being off the boards for a LONG time. I forgot what my user name was when I came back though I think it may have had the word "manor" in the title, but the password was definitely faaaar, far gone from my brain. So, I had to start a new account which is probably confusing for people who knew of me on the old board. It took me forever to figure out the new board because my affinity for technology and talent for it's use would not fill a thimble.

 

At any rate, I am a Christian (Jesus Follower) though rather eclectic politically and religiously - sort of not protestant because I'm really comfortable with the United Methodist Church but feel some drawing to Orthodoxy, yet living in a rural "no man's land" and have so few church options that we attend an independent, Weslyan affiliated church in the heart of a large Amish and Mennonite community, and our bestest friends in the whole world are Jesus devoted Roman Catholic Christians who can worship with us just fine and whom we can worship with just fine and so labels just don't fit tooo well. :lol: On top of that, I don't like to force my beliefs on others because I went through a very, very bad time in my young adult life and had a lot of people brought judgmentality at me instead of compassion and mercy, it would have been a disaster. So, evangelical is really not a good term for me as well. As dh puts it, "We just don't fit!"

 

 

I admit that we breed confusion here! :biggrinjester:

 

Faith

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I was thinking as I read the lyrics that it's the "rituals" (sacraments are what I'm thinking of, namely confession, but also our prayers) that bring me to the true, inner repentance he seems to sing of. It's the "ritual" of the Eucharist that daily brings me to my knees -- I want to receive Christ when the Liturgy is again served, so I need to right now make sure I'm humbling myself and repenting of anything I need to repent of. So it doesn't have to be either/or (ritual or authentic faith). It can be both.

:iagree:Exactly, that is along the lines of what I was thinking (rather "feeling", but I could not express is words as you have so eloquently done here).

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Her posts are still there in quotes. I read all of them.

 

Bethany, I believe you mean well. I will have to say that, knowing where this person is coming from, I would have to disagree with some of the theology of his song. Yes, the centre is Christ, as Milovany stated, but for us that includes certain "rituals" as you would probably like to call them and as they are called in the song (and there are other parts of our faith that you and others would call "superstitious"). Due to this reasoning, I don't believe the lyrics are completely sound coming from where I'm at. However, it's a very nice song. I do like some music that I don't completely agree with and I do like a variety of music. Thank you for sharing, but please do not expect everyone to agree that it's the ultimate label of what an "authentic" Christian is or is not. We're all on this journey.

 

I was thinking as I read the lyrics that it's the "rituals" (sacraments are what I'm thinking of, namely confession, but also our prayers) that bring me to the true, inner repentance he seems to sing of. It's the "ritual" of the Eucharist that daily brings me to my knees -- I want to receive Christ when the Liturgy is again served, so I need to right now make sure I'm humbling myself and repenting of anything I need to repent of. So it doesn't have to be either/or (ritual or authentic faith). It can be both.

And here I was being all diplomatic. :lol:

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I was aware that some of the lyrics might not appeal to the EO or RC ladies on the board.

 

Thank you for not taking offense at them, ladies. :D Rational discussion of disagreement is always better than just being offended. Well, usually anyway. :tongue_smilie: I mean, Jesus DID overturn the tables in the temple. There ARE times to just 'get offended' and act. :)

Edited by bethanyniez
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:( I wonder how long it will be before we are no longer allowed to discuss religion along with politics. All the threads have just self-destructed lately.

 

I would be TERRIBLY sad if that happened, because I truly enjoy hearing other's beliefs and reasoning in a respectful environment. We (collective we) are taking everything so personally lately. Something in the water???

 

I'm glad this one got redirected a bit before totally imploding...kudos to you ladies!

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I was thinking as I read the lyrics that it's the "rituals" (sacraments are what I'm thinking of, namely confession, but also our prayers) that bring me to the true, inner repentance he seems to sing of.
:iagree:I had tears streaming down my face while the whole congregation said the words to the Psalms together and prayed together in the Liturgy. Prayers that have been written for me (such as the Psalms) have at times been all I knew to pray, and I received the comfort that comes only from praying to the one true God.

 

P.S. The Liturgy at the LUTHERAN church. ;)

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:iagree:I had tears streaming down my face while the whole congregation said the words to the Psalms together and prayed together in the Liturgy. Prayers that have been written for me (such as the Psalms) have at times been all I knew to pray, and I received the comfort that comes only from praying to the one true God.

 

P.S. The Liturgy at the LUTHERAN church. ;)

I am so very glad you found a home. :grouphug:

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:iagree:I had tears streaming down my face while the whole congregation said the words to the Psalms together and prayed together in the Liturgy. Prayers that have been written for me (such as the Psalms) have at times been all I knew to pray, and I received the comfort that comes only from praying to the one true God.

 

P.S. The Liturgy at the LUTHERAN church. ;)

 

I get chills from the Liturgy- knowing the words I am professing have been spoken in churches through the ages just wows me. I also love the Communion symbolism of how the rails are arranged- they extend into the walls to remind us that we commune with all the saints gone before us.

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Her posts are still there in quotes. I read all of them.

 

Bethany, I believe you mean well. I will have to say that, knowing where this person is coming from, I would have to disagree with some of the theology of his song. Yes, the centre is Christ, as Milovany stated, but for us that includes certain "rituals" as you would probably like to call them and as they are called in the song (and there are other parts of our faith that you and others would call "superstitious"). Due to this reasoning, I don't believe the lyrics are completely sound coming from where I'm at. However, it's a very nice song. I do like some music that I don't completely agree with and I do like a variety of music. Thank you for sharing, but please do not expect everyone to agree that it's the ultimate label of what an "authentic" Christian is or is not. We're all on this journey.

 

:iagree: I don't care for it, but I certainly don't think divisiveness was intended here. :grouphug:

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So many people are so misinformed about other denominations. I will give you a couple of examples:

 

I was asked if going to a Baptist church meant that I believe that baptism saves you (Baptists believe and are adamant about quite the opposite).

 

My husband's Baptist friend was offended that I had visited a Lutheran church because they believe that baptism saves you. The Lutheran brochure says: ALL those who BELIEVE in Jesus as Savior will have eternal life. (Lutherans do say baptism saves you but when they say that they are quoting scripture. They also realize that there are apparent inconsistencies in scripture, rather than making a doctrine to make human sense of things, they let the paradox stand.)

 

Most disagreements are complete misunderstandings.

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It's threads like these that make me want to cry and mourn the state of our faith. Sorry, that's just how I feel. I need to hide back in my hole and continue to ignore all threads that deal with religion.

 

:confused:

 

I was just thinking this thread provided a nice picture of humanity, humility, repentence and love. You know -- the Christian story.

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Bethany, thank you for sharing this song and this artist. His music is blessing my family this morning.

 

Yay! We really like him here at our house. :001_smile: Such a blessing to us. I think my husband found his music on SermonIndex. Have you ever visited that site? They have a HOARD of great music and sermons.

 

:confused:

 

I was just thinking this thread provided a nice picture of humanity, humility, repentence and love. You know -- the Christian story.

 

Me too, Milovany. :)

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It's threads like these that make me want to cry and mourn the state of our faith. Sorry, that's just how I feel. I need to hide back in my hole and continue to ignore all threads that deal with religion.

 

:confused:

 

I was just thinking this thread provided a nice picture of humanity, humility, repentence and love. You know -- the Christian story.

:iagree: Sometimes misunderstandings happen and both sides can come off in a manner that was not intended. In this case, I don't believe either party meant any harm.

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:confused:

 

I was just thinking this thread provided a nice picture of humanity, humility, repentence and love. You know -- the Christian story.

 

Wow, I was annoyed in the beginning and then I came back and everyone was all I'm sorry no I'm sorry and it's ok I love you blah blah:001_wub:

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Wow, I was annoyed in the beginning and then I came back and everyone was all I'm sorry no I'm sorry and it's ok I love you blah blah

 

:001_wub:

 

Yes, sorry. I only read the first few pages before making the statement at the end. :o These threads never seem to end well, so I was expecting this one to end in a lock down.

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Yes, sorry. I only read the first few pages before making the statement at the end. :o

 

I had a brother share something once about marriage; can't remember who it was; but this is the jist of what he shared.

 

There *should* be competition in marriage. A competition of who can repent and apologize first. Always seek to be the first to apologize when harsh words are spoken between husband and wife. Seek to be quick to humble yourself both to the Lord, and to your Brother/Sister in Christ.

 

That can apply to other relationships as well. As you've seen here. :001_smile:

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:iagree:I had tears streaming down my face while the whole congregation said the words to the Psalms together and prayed together in the Liturgy. Prayers that have been written for me (such as the Psalms) have at times been all I knew to pray, and I received the comfort that comes only from praying to the one true God.

 

P.S. The Liturgy at the LUTHERAN church. ;)

 

I am so thankful for my prayer book. Like you, sometimes those prayers are all I have to say, yet I always feel renewed after praying them.

 

It's threads like these that make me want to cry and mourn the state of our faith. Sorry, that's just how I feel. I need to hide back in my hole and continue to ignore all threads that deal with religion.

 

I understand, but I react in a completely different way. These threads make me want to fight. Sometimes I want to scream "I want my kind, loving, awesome Jesus back!!!" I posted on the "evil" thread because I want my loving Jesus back. I posted on the spin-off because people need to know that hateful Jesus turns away so many people and does so much spiritual damage. I posted on the Halloween thread because that stuff irks the snot out of me. People need to own their own Jesus, not foist extra-Biblical, soul-damaging stuff onto others.

 

Bethany, the song was pretty. I can take little kernels of wisdom out of it. Theologically, not my cuppa.

 

Bethany, I know you have a heart of platinum, but it just never ends well when we poor, pathetic humans try to do God's job of defining who is/isn't a real Christian (not that I think you were necessarily trying to do that. You're way to smart for that).

 

And Mrs. Theretohere, you are about to have a baby. That excuses everything!:grouphug:

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:grouphug: thanks. I'm hoping this little one comes soon and that I can resume my levelheaded ways immediately!

Oh my! You're due this month! Honey, you only need peace and :grouphug: right now. Ignore anything that may even seem contentious! Soon you'll be holding the sweetest new person in the world and all this just doesn't compare to that.

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Ooo, a little off topic (but related to my earlier post on the Year of Faith), but how cool is this?

 

For this Year of Faith, Pope Benedict has encouraged you to study and reflect on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Well, here's an easy way to do it. Simply enter your email address and - starting October 11, 2012 - you'll start getting a little bit of the Catechism emailed to you every morning. Read that little bit every day and you'll read the whole catechism in a year.

 

http://www.flocknote.com/catechism

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:grouphug: Don't worry about that, I'm sorry for the confliction.

 

Thanks for that. It's not really anyone's fault, you are just clarifying your theological standpoint. But the frustration comes with our local Christian community. We've been searching (and praying) for a church community for over a year. Week after week crosses one off the list. The thing is, we *know* that there is no perfect community. We all come in with our issues, but... man, there is absolutely nothing out there. Just to clarify, I'm not looking for anyone to solve it or for recommendations. God has us in this place for a reason, I'm just getting impatient. :001_smile:

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Thanks for that. It's not really anyone's fault, you are just clarifying your theological standpoint. But the frustration comes with our local Christian community. We've been searching (and praying) for a church community for over a year. Week after week crosses one off the list. The thing is, we *know* that there is no perfect community. We all come in with our issues, but... man, there is absolutely nothing out there. Just to clarify, I'm not looking for anyone to solve it or for recommendations. God has us in this place for a reason, I'm just getting impatient. :001_smile:
:grouphug: I just want a church that sticks to the gospel. If Jesus didn't have to die on the cross for that sermon to be preached then don't. :) and Christian friends who focus on what we all have in common instead of theological differences. (like Arminiasm, Calvinism, water baptism saves or doesn't, celebrate holidays or don't, etc.)

 

I have just left a church/denomination and am still looking... and DH wants nothing to do with church. If you want to talk about it, let me know.

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Thanks for that. It's not really anyone's fault, you are just clarifying your theological standpoint. But the frustration comes with our local Christian community. We've been searching (and praying) for a church community for over a year. Week after week crosses one off the list. The thing is, we *know* that there is no perfect community. We all come in with our issues, but... man, there is absolutely nothing out there. Just to clarify, I'm not looking for anyone to solve it or for recommendations. God has us in this place for a reason, I'm just getting impatient. :001_smile:

I hope you find what you are looking for soon. I can only imagine the difficulty of sorting through churches.

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:grouphug: I just want a church that sticks to the gospel. If Jesus didn't have to die on the cross for that sermon to be preached then don't. :) and Christian friends who focus on what we all have in common instead of theological differences. (like Arminiasm, Calvinism, water baptism saves or doesn't, celebrate holidays or don't, etc.)

 

I have just left a church/denomination and am still looking... and DH wants nothing to do with church. If you want to talk about it, let me know.

 

LTD, I didn't realize your dh now wants nothing to do with church.

 

 

:grouphug:

 

Bless you sister. Keep following the Lord's leading.

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So to all of you Christians reading and thinking about being so utterly "Christian" in the verb form, I'll be your reminder of why *I* am no longer a Christian. Thank you parts of the thread for reminding me

 

:glare:

 

Wow. I am usually not snarky. Note to self. Never log on the internets before coffee.

 

 

Christianity is supposed to be about your experience with God and your relationship with God. If you end that because other people are annoying you ... well, it doesn't make any sense. It seems to me that you were being a Christian because other people were and not based on personal convictions.

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