Category: Religion – Good And Bad

God’s Wisdom: That We Make the Invisible Church VISIBLE.

by Larry | Religion - Good And Bad, Spiritual Core of Activism, z, zRecentB

We can see “First Church”, standing on the corner. And we call it “a church” or “my...

It’s Not Foreigners, Atheists and Gays Who Must Turn! 2 Chronicles 7:14

by Larry | Bible Studies, Religious Right, z, zRecentB

In this Scripture it’s NOT the foreigners and unbelievers who have to “turn”! WHO ARE WE TALKING...

NO RELIGIOUS BULLIES. We Must “Lift Our VOICES” – While We Lay Down Our SWORDS.

by Larry | Isaiah & Micah, Non-Violence - Courtesy, Religious Right, Separation of Church & State, zRecentB

“Declare to my people … their sins.” Jesus, Isaiah, the prophets, the apostles...

7 Signs of a Healthy, Christ-Following Christian Faith

by Larry | Bible Studies, Religion - Good And Bad, Spiritual Practice, zFeatB, zRecentB

Unhealthy, dangerous forms of “Christianity” seem epidemic today. Are there healthy forms? Here,...

The Faith is Despised Because of You, Roy Moore (GOP Senate Candidate, AL)

by Larry | Politics, Religious Right

Here are short excerpts from articles from mainstream press sources shaming evangelicals for...

We Must Speak Up. “Lift your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their sins.”

by Larry | Fear - Courage, Isaiah & Micah, Religious Right, Spiritual Core of Activism

God requires it of the prophet. He MUST speak out about what he sees going on. Shout it aloud, do...

The “Sin Problem” in Gun Violence – Not Working Together to Reduce It!

by Larry | Guns, Religious Right

“It’s not a gun problem; it’s a sin problem.” Certain Christians respond...

Jesus Pushes Us to Judge Our OWN Lives – Not Other People’s

by Larry | Jesus Christ, Religious Right, zFeatC

Jesus was a highly respected teacher of morality and of the spiritual life. So, logically...

Christians & Churches Should Not Enforce the Bible on Us.

by Larry | Non-Violence - Courtesy, Religious Right, z, zFeatC

Here’s another example of the misunderstanding and misuse of Scripture by the...

Spiritual Tune-up: Don’t Ignore JESUS

by Larry | Jesus Christ, Religious Right, Spiritual Tune-up

There is absolutely nothing in what Jesus himself or his early followers taught that...

The Moral Priorities of Jesus – What Did Jesus Teach?

by Larry | Jesus Christ, Progressive Christians, Relationship with Christ, God, Spirit, Spiritual Core of Activism, zFeatB

He said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ but do not do what I say?” Maybe...

New American Bad Bible – Not What Jesus Wants (Pt-2)

by Larry | Bible Studies, Jesus Christ, Religious Right

These sayings may have a Biblical sound to them. But they are not Biblical. They set aside the...

New American Bad Bible – Not What Jesus Wants (Pt-1)

by Larry | Jesus Christ, Manipulation - Lies - Fraud - Fear, Religious Right

These sayings may have a Biblical sound to them. But they are not Biblical. Setting aside the...

Kingdom Manifesto – Sermon on the Mount Summarized

by Larry | Jesus Christ, Kingdom of God, Progressive Christians, Spiritual Practice

It might be a good project for each of us – to try to summarize the Sermon on the Mount...

War on Christmas? The Real Issue Is How CHRISTIANS Behave.

by Larry | Holidays, Religious Right, Separation of Church & State

It’s about Christ – so it’s really a holiday (holy day) for any who love Christ. How could we...

Two Types of Religion – Authority vs Love

by Larry | Religion - Good And Bad, Spiritual Practice, z, zFeatA

Seems to me there are obviously two primary modes for religious practice in this world. That...

Have We Been Actually Voting for Contempt and Hate? Are You On One of The Lists?

by Larry | Abortion, Justice, Machiavelli - Domination - Contempt, Politics, Religious Right

Sadly, our votes and elections are, whatever our motives, putting lots of people in positions of...

Turn the Other Cheek MEANS Resist Them Non-Violently

by Larry | Jesus Christ, Non-Violence - Courtesy, Progressive Christians, z, zFeatB

I. THE PROBLEM: Jesus says to turn the other cheek. [See a summary of this post.] Is it ever...

The Quiet Places in Our Lives Make Our Public Activity Safer

by Larry | Prayer & Meditation, Progressive Christians, Spiritual Core of Activism, zFeatC

Contemplation and Public Action The public good is most in danger when the voluntary visits to...

German Christians Sold Out to Power and Glory

by Larry | Civil Rights - Minorities - Racism, Fascism - Nazism, Religion - Good And Bad, Spiritual Core of Activism, zFeatB

[A Review of Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, by Charles Marsh, 2014] This book is...

Christ Asks Us to Choose His Way, Not Caesar’s.

by Larry | Kingdom of God, Religion - Good And Bad

. . . switch sides from Caesar’s way to Jesus’ way – before it is too late.* – Brian McLaren “Caesar’s way” stands for secular, temporal government or authority. The usage derives from Jesus’ saying, when asked about...

Freedom From Fear – Comes From Your Faith, Not Your Government

by Larry | Faith Is, Fear - Courage, Progressive Christians, Religious Right

[See also: What if We Are Persecuted?!] No government can ever guarantee that you or I will have...

Prophets MUST Improvise, In and For Our Cities – a review of “Resurrection City” by Peter Goodwin Heltzel

by Larry | Bookish Stuff, Religion - Good And Bad, zFeatA

The prophet’s task is to “reorder” and “refashion” the urban environment to be more just and...

Young People Changing the World: Activism and Prayer – “Occupy Spirituality” by Bucko & Fox

by Larry | Prayer & Meditation, Progressive Christians, Spiritual Core of Activism, Spiritual Practice

I am very pleased with this book (“Occupy Spirituality“). It is a conversation...

What If Christians Are Persecuted Here? Advice from the Bible.

by Larry | Bible Studies, Non-Violence - Courtesy, Persecution, Religious Right

Some American Christians worry that we are being persecuted and that our freedom of religion is...

People Who Take the Bible Seriously are America’s Problem & Blessing (with 2 Rules of Interpretation)

by Larry | Bible Studies, Religious Right

Frankie Schaeffer grew up in modern, politically radical, Americanized “Christianity”....

“Emergent Evangelical” – Can I Be Both?

by Larry | Bible Studies, Progressive Christians, Religion - Good And Bad, Spiritual Practice

A friend recently asked what it means that I use “emergent evangelical” as my religious affiliation on FaceBook. So here’s a look at what the phrase means to me. I. “Evangelicals” Today...

Abortion Numbers Trend Downward Under Universal Health Care

by Larry | Abortion, Religious Right

We can support policies that actually tend to reduce abortions in the short run. Or we can adopt a political strategy of taking over every branch of government with like-minded politicians so we can (try to) use the long arm of...

Healthcare, A Culture That Encourages Abortion, and Pro-Lifers Who Don’t Step Up to the Plate

by Larry | Abortion, Religious Right

Here’s my wife Connie’s response to a relative who thinks Obama loves to see babies die, and argues that almost all abortions are done for the convenience of the mother. We could rant about this for a long time, but I think...

Abortion and Social Justice – Douglas W Kmiec

by Larry | Abortion, Catholics, Religious Right

Douglas W. Kmiec is a prominent Republican and committed Roman Catholic. He was head of the Office of Legal Counsel for Presidents Reagan and the first Bush. He became notorious for coming out in support of then-Senator...

Obama at Ebenezer Baptist – Crucial Moral Values for America (as in: Love Your Neighbor)

by Larry | Politics, Religion - Good And Bad, Religious Right

In January of 2008 Barack Obama gave a powerful speech (sermon) on the meaning of Martin Luther King Jr. for America today. This was at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where King was raised and his father was the pastor....

John Paul II: Private Prayer and the Dangers of Public Life

by Larry | Catholics, Fascism - Nazism, Prayer & Meditation, Separation of Church & State, Spiritual Core of Activism, zFeatOld

For decades he resisted Nazi, then Communist oppression. How did he cope? Connie and I recently...

Obama’s Perspective on Faith in Christ is Biblical

by Larry | Politics, Religion - Good And Bad, Religious Right, Spiritual Practice

Here’s Obama on the significance of the Gospel: In an interview with Christianity Today magazine, Obama said this about his decision to accept Christ, What was intellectual and what was emotional joined, and the belief in...

Christians! Please Let’s Not Parrot Shallow and Insulting Hypocrites.

by Larry | Abortion, Politics, Religious Right

Did you see the recent comment from “Donna”? It stirred me up! Come on people! Christian integrity and humility should compel you to allow that those who voted for Obama are NOT thereby proven to be ignorant or...

Scott Kleeb on Abortion: “The ideal number … is zero.”

by Larry | Abortion, Local, Religious Right

The ideal number for me as a Catholic is zero … and there are plenty of people I’d be willing to work with if they want to get down to … that ideal number which is zero. Just below there’s a video clip (2...

Damaged by False Prophets? Let’s Do It Better From Here On.

by Larry | Religious Right

I. Young Adult Attitudes Toward American Christianity In the aftermath of the Religious Right’s ascendancy, it is not an accident that “antihomosexual” is the number one perception of Christians in America, followed closely by...

Email – She Is Eager to Scare Us All!

by Larry | Government Going Bad, Politics, Prayer & Meditation, Religious Right, Spiritual Practice

Scary Email I received an anonymous forwarded email the other day that combined a bit of good spiritual advice with a lot of classic Republico-Christian fear-mongering. Actually, it wasn’t totally anonymous. It was signed...

Unbelievers’ View of Christians – A Big Problem With Fruit

by Larry | Religious Right

How does “the world” see us? Recently I wrote about David Kinnaman’s treatment of that in his book, unChristian, based on an extensive research project by The Barna Group. Remember, Kinnaman is writing from...

They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Self-Infatuation?!

by Larry | Religious Right

The Barna Group exists to provide statistical information to Christian churches and ministries, to be a catalyst in moral and spiritual transformation in the United States. We accomplish these outcomes by providing vision,...

Obama and Abortion

by Larry | Abortion, Politics, Religious Right

The Matthew 25 Network has a very helpful page for Christians who want to know the truth about Senator Barack Obama as against the flood of lies we have all experienced. As promised, here’s a lengthy excerpt from that...

Don’t Forward Lying Emails About Public Figures – It’s UnChristian

by Larry | Religious Right, Spiritual Practice

I. Waves of Slander I don’t have statistics, but we all know there’s a lot of falsehood circulating freely online. An email arrives with frightening accusations or innuendos and the reader gets frightened (as was...

American Repentance – Will the Church be “Left Behind?”

by Larry | Religious Right, Repentance, Unbelievers Say & Do the Good

If America “repents” – if America is repenting right now – is the Bush-devoted wing of American Christianity going to be “left behind”? “Repent”, you know, means to re-evaluate,...

Simplistic, Useless Sermons – Why Does It Happen?

by Larry | Religion - Good And Bad, Religious Right

Drew Smith, ordained Baptist minister, wrote recently about shallow sermonizing (at his blog , Wilderness Preacher, and at EthicsDaily.com.) It’s dangerous for me to complain about useless sermons, since I deliver a...

False Prophets: Two Key Signs

by Larry | Religious Right

Obery Hendricks, in The Politics of Jesus, Doubleday, 2006, also comes down to two basic criteria, but I think they are much more on target than my old standards. And, come to think of it, they are more ethically based.

Religion in Government 20 Years Ago

by Larry | Bible Studies, Religion - Good And Bad

When I spend 10 minutes stretching my back on my inversion table I often read poetry or old cartoon books. This is from Tom Toles’ Mr. Gazoo: A Cartoon History of the Reagan Era, 1987. Ronald Reagan (runninng up the steps...

American Baptist Bill of Rights

by Larry | Religion - Good And Bad

Here is the key part of “The American Baptist Bill of Rights,” unanimously approved at the 1939 annual sessions of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Northern Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention....

Sen. Mark Christensen – a Christian Outlook

by Larry | Local, Politics, Religious Right

Well, maybe. At least a somewhat religious outlook. These are quotes from our new state Senator (NE LD 44), Mark Christensen, elected from Imperial – from an article in the Lincoln Journal Star. “I’m quite at...

The Cross Has Practical Meaning

by Larry | Religion - Good And Bad

John Howard Yoder’s The Politics of Jesus is a very serious book of Bible study. Here’s a major point of the book in one of its reiterations (p 125). The “cross” of Jesus was a political punishment; and...

Is That Us? – a Navajo Critique of Christianity – “part-time religion”

by Larry | Beyond Christianity, Global Crises, zFeatOld

These are the thoughts of Raymond Friday Locke, from his The Book of the Navajo, Mankind Pub Co, 2001 edition, p5. His take on Navajo culture and perspectives is widely respected. The Navajos for the most part have long resisted...

The Powerlessness of American Christian Prayers

by Larry | Religion - Good And Bad

An excerpt from an earlier post. If this kind of Christianity (“Christianism”?) really had a “God who is there”, a God who responds to prayer of integrity, surely the prayer going on in churches all over...