the god they wanted

photo credit:justgrimes, Creative Commons

 From the start I’ve found Trump to be fascinating. I would have never thought he could get anywhere or anyone would take him seriously, like most people I think. But watching him grow in popularity, watching the tension at his rallies being documented, hearing the things he says, it’s really something else.

The most intriguing part is the connection and support he continues to hold on huge groups of Christians. Receiving the backing of names like Jerry Falwell Jr and Franklin Graham. These are big names in Christian circles.

The phenomenon of Christian, it may need the qualifier evangelical Christians, support is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Why is the support there? What does it mean?

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keepers of the faith

photo credit: Peter Miller, Creative Commons

I play baseball every summer.

I’m being rather loose with the term baseball. It’s softball. And I’m using the term softball loosely here because we pitch to our own team.

I play three pitch softball that was undoubtedly designed for children but I love it.

are we blind to what we believe ?

(credit: Peter Castleton Creative Commons)

I like current events.

I like to keep up with what’s happening. I really like to know what’s going on in the Christian sphere as it were. I find it just fascinating to see what Christians are up to, though I’m often frustrated. We are a huge population, with wildly divergent ideas on almost everything. From liberal to conservative, progressive to fundamental, Catholic to Protestant to Anabaptist. We cover a lot of ground. So there is going to be good and bad.

hate, bigotry and the Christian struggle to love

(credit:Marina Montoya; Creative Commons)

Fear does some crazy things to people.

Good people. Honest, caring people trying to be as much like Jesus as they can.

At least I’m choosing to believe that they are good, honest, caring people trying to be as much like Jesus as they can. But in a lot of cases self-proclaimed Christians do things so decidedly un-Christ like, antichrist, I’m left spinning.

what’s in a name?

(Credit: Enokson, Flickr Creative Commons)

Name and language matter.

I think we all understand that. It matters deeply to us. Just continue to call someone by their wrong name you’ll see it.

You’re also kind of a jerk if you do, so maybe just trust me?

The point is that names matter. Titles matter.

the damning reality of the gospel

There are few things that Christians as a whole can agree on. We like to fight and argue, which is odd when we think about how we argue, but perhaps an idea for another day.

Put 20 Christians in a room and you’d be hard pressed to find many topics they all agree on.

One that I think everyone would agree on however is that the message of Jesus, the gospel, is good news.

I do however wonder if this good news is really good news for everyone.

the horror of certainty

One of the things I’ve grown to love about the Christian faith is the counter intuitive way it approaches life. As someone who loves to reflect and to push against ideas, there’s something viscerally affirming about a tradition built on pushing against the norm. One that sees the way of the world and questions it. One that calls you give up your life to find it. One that calls us to give up the things of this world and pursue the Kingdom.

It makes me feel far less broken in the way I see things.

freedom to fear

The choice of Christ followers to not live out the love they profess is the beginning of a hopeless world. At least I think so.

But what drives this? Why don’t people live out the love they are so willing to profess? The faith they so clearly claim as an identity?

While not the only answer I think a lot more than we’d expect is fear.

why you should never defend Jesus

This is the second part of a reflection on my shifting attitudes on being a passive Christian. You can find part one here.

photo credit: common grace

 

I first heard the phrase more like Jesus less like jerks following Jarrod Mckenna on Twitter talking about some of the projects he’s involved with. I loved it. It’s brilliant and catchy and poignant.

It also resonated in a way I wish it hadn’t.

It was almost to right, to on point. So much so I wished it wasn’t true. The idea that so often we seem more like jerks than Jesus is a depressing reality to consider.

It’s even worse to see, not just consider.

why I don’t always say Merry Christmas

I was once a rather quiet internet user.

I would check out Facebook from time to time. I have a twitter account, but it was for following not tweeting. It was a great way for me to keep up with writers I liked and have opinions I valued sent directly to me.

I was passively involved.

And now I’m not.