U.S Episcopal Bishop Apologizes to Hindus worldwide

“There are far too many Christians in the world,” Episcopal priest declares.

The Bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles has issued an apology to Hindus worldwide for what he called "centuries-old acts of religious discrimination by Christians, including attempts to convert them" reports India Abroad. The apology was given in a statement read to over 100 Hindu spiritual leaders at a mass from Right Reverend J John Bruno.

The ceremony started with a Hindu priestess blowing a conch shell three times and included sacred chants.

This meeting was the result of a dialogue, started three years ago, between Hindu leaders and Rev. Karen MacQueen, who was deeply influenced by Hindu Vedanta philosophy and opposes cultivating conversions. "There are enough Christians in the world," she said. "What we need to see is more Christians leading an exemplary life and truly loving their fellow man."

However the apology has triggered considerable debate among pastors across the US.

Article source: India Abroad

Progressives

Audio version here ... or here

2 Thessalonians 1:8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (NIV)

This is one of those verses in the New Testament that progressive Christians hate. It draws a line between those who believe in Christ and those who don’t. It mentions a punishment for those who disobey Christ. The only way around this is to declare something like: “this was necessary for the first Christians; we are not bound by this scripture today.’

That’s why conservative Christians loathe liberals and pity progressives. They recognize the value and worth in Christ’s Church applying boundaries to our faith. There are things that we need to believe. They are lessons that come from God. There are limits as to how we should live our lives.

When this piece of scripture was written by Paul, the people believed that Christ’s return was imminent. Because this belief was so rampant amongst the Christian community, they lived faithfully. What they feared most was not persecution or death, arrest or imprisonment. The early Christian communities feared disappointing Jesus, especially when He returned to judge the whole earth.

These days, we have become so blasé about Christ’s Second Coming. It’s been two thousand years since He walked on the earth, so what makes us feel that He’s going to suddenly appear now? Some liberals and progressives actually believe that there is no Second Coming and God will be gracious to everybody who has ever lived on earth. Heaven will accommodate Satanists and Agnostics, Pagans and Heathens, Atheists and anti-Christian believers. Christ will be set aside, so that deities like Krishna and Kali, Loki and Thor, Zeus and Hera can take their rightful places beside God.

Do you understand how absurd all of that is? Do you realize now why Christ alone has the power, authority, and right to judge us? He is God’s Holy Son, who gave His life for all of us. If the whole earth became Christian overnight, this would be a wonderful planet to live on because everyone would be bound for glory and everybody would love one another.

We can’t pick and choose bits of the New Testament to suit ourselves, our life style choices, or our moral behavior. We all make mistakes and cannot live up to God’s expectations, but we can come to Jesus and seek His forgiveness, look for His love, and experience His blessing without demeaning His life, work, ministry, and teaching.

There’s only one way to be a progressive, liberal Christian…to progress onward and upward to God through the liberating grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there’s a whole world of people who need to hear the Gospel to liberate them from fear and anxiety, superstition and unbelief. Help us to do what we can to share the Good News and to express our solid beliefs in You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Only the Lonely

John 16: 32 "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. (NIV)

Loneliness is something that afflicts every one of us from time to time. There are moments in our lives when we feel vulnerable, isolated, and even alienated from our friends and families, as well as the people around us. Each person has to get through life as best as she or he can. Every one of us goes through this journey we call life uniquely and individually.

Sometimes our loneliness is caused by our actions. We paint ourselves into a corner through making the wrong choices. At other times, we are fiercely independent, not willing to look for help or support from our friends or families. And then there are those occasions when we stand out against the crowd, believing in things that others don’t, or struggling to be different from the rest of society.

No matter what causes our loneliness, how we cope with it reveals our strengths and weaknesses, our characteristics and personality traits. For Jesus, loneliness meant speaking out against injustice, going against traditions, and preaching an unpopular message. His loneliness was brought on by remaining true to His calling and obeying God. It’s something that Paul would later describe as being true to oneself.

In recent weeks, I’ve come across people who think, act and do things differently from what I believe, say, and do. In the past, I’ve often dismissed them as being sad, weird, and disillusioned people. I’ve not credited them with the courage to be different. I’ve not respected their wishes to walk a different path. I’ve not recognized that God makes each of us unique with a different set of characteristics, personalities, and ideas. One such person is Ngia who writes the Wayside Pulpit blog. She has written about the loneliness of being a Progressive Christian. It is a remarkable statement of personal faith.

Loneliness can be a feeling of being unloved, but it can also be a calling to explore the unexplainable, to walk the unattainable, and to believe the untraditional. In other words, there are lessons to be learned, acquired and experienced in the lonely heart that hunts for meaning, purpose, and truth.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, loneliness is a part of life. We belong to many groups, societies, and organizations, but we are still individuals who experience existence in different ways. When we feel isolated and vulnerable, give us the perseverance to endure. When we feel that we are out on a limb, alone and all by ourselves, grant us the courage to sustain our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and opinions. And when at last we walk through the valley of the shadow of death on our own, come near to us and take us by the hand. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Blogachute #6 - The Progressive Sphere

Thank Goodness it’s Friday! After a heavy week of doing VBS – Splash for Jesus – I need to get out of the spritual plane and blogachute somewhere in cyber-space.

This week, I’m heading out of my comfort zone and into the world of Progressive Christianity. This is not easy for me, for freefalling in this area of the blogosphere goes against everything I was trained for…ah, well here goes nothing!

Bultmanimo!

8000feet Shuck and Jive – this is Pastor John Shuck’s progressive Christianity blog. John is a pastor like me in East Tennessee. We have crossed theological swords from time to time, but without any real animosity. I think he is leading the flock under his care astray, but that’s just my opinion.

The site, however, is well written and John does a lot of progressive reading. He’s willing to debate issues of faith, and does so in a jocular manner. Currently, he’s in a theological discussion about evolution, creationism, and a whole bunch of other worthwhile topics. Be warned! – John gives as good as he gets.

7000feet Fides & Veritas – written by H.H. Patriarch Anthony, who’s in the process of raising money for an online church. I think Anthony originates from the orthodox church, so his blogs are very academic and intensely progressively theological. He suggests that his blog is like looking down the path to an unknown end. (I think that’s a pattern amongst progressive Christians – not sure of where they’re going).

Anthony has started a new job working at some building complex. His observations are startling, expecially about those who don’t look after their children.

Nice aesthetic looking site though, and the bookmarks are user friendly. Talking about bookmarks, you need to check out his current reads. Plenty of food for thought there.

6000feet The Wayside Pulpit – I liked the title of this because it reminded me of several churches who used an outside bulletin board to get their messages across to passers by. The anonymous blogger writes this about the site:

This wayside pulpit is not a space for traditional Christian beliefs and theologies, rather it is a place to press beyond these traditional views. This is a space of both play and radical exploration. It is a place to throw faith against the wall and see what sort of ink blot is left behind. You won't like all the twisted and strange shapes that emerge, neither will I, but together they'll form their own unique graffiti.

The blogger wears his/her heart on their sleeve. This week, there is a very insightful blog called “Why a god?” it seems to reflect a lot of the loneliness that Progressives encounter.

5000feet Left of Calvary – definitely not for the faint-hearted. This is the Al Franken site for progressives. A lot of anger is vented against conservatives. Presently, the blogger (Father David Jennings) is writing about the Christian protest of the Hindu chaplain praying in Senate. All I can say is “Holy Cow!”

Very thought provoking and clever thinking here.

4000feet Ponderings on a Faith Journey – Bob Cornwall is a Disciples of Christ pastor and a church historian. I like the current religious news angle of this blog. Some of the progressives I’ve read just seem to want to bash conservatives and George Bush all the time. Bob’s writings are less vitriolic and have more value because of his scholarly knowledge. This is a site that I will bookmark and visit often.

3000feet Faith in Public Life – a resource center for justice and the common good. This is a social justice site founded, as it states, by America’s diverse faith leaders to strengthen faith movements sharing a call to pursue justice and the common good.

This is Progressive Christianity at its best – a resource providing lots of information about events, issues, and ministries that seek to better society and change our world. It’s an advocacy group which seeks to bring controversial issues to the attention of Joe Public and Roger Right Wing.

Torture is the current issue, especially the continued incarceration of foreign prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The site contains breaking news and blog links, a calendar of protest events, as well as promotions for new Progressive books. Quite an interesting site and well presented.

2000feet Street Prophets – another site not for the faint-hearted. This is a bunch of blunt Progressives who have partnered together to produce a radical blog full of articulate, opinionated left wingers. If the Right really wants to know what the left thinks theologically, then this would be a key site to read, digest, and ponder.

These guys (and gals?) base their theology on the call of the prophet Amos, who troubled the establishment and authorities in Israel. They’re busy writing about the Hindu Chaplain and advocating on his behalf, some even going as far to say that we’re all the same….but how does a person who worships God and one who worships animal deities be classified as the same?

1000feet Religious Right Watch – this site is the equivalent of jihad watch and may be considered as the theological ‘moveon.org’ site. I get the feeling that they really don’t like RWs here…the blog proudly declares that they do what they do in order to secure the blessings of liberty.

The site contains many contributions from different bloggers and a whole host of facts and figures about why the Religious Right is ruining America, especially its reputation abroad. There are the usual writings from agnostics who are unsure about God and comments on the homosexual ordination issues. It’s a clever site, but nothing really original. Maybe I’ve been in the Progressive blogosphere too long today.


Zero feet - Down to earth, with a few bumps on the way! Whew, I’m sure glad this is over. Now I can get back to ruining America by sticking to my Christian beliefs….

Parting of the Way

Scottish audio version here

Psalm 33:11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

John 7: 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. (NIV)

Today, there will be a sad parting in our Presbytery of East Tennessee. Our biggest church, Signal Mountain of Chattanooga, is leaving the denomination. Throughout the last fifteen years, they have tried to remain with the PC(USA) but after last year’s faith fiasco at the General Assembly, they are now pulling out.

The Progressives and Pluralists in our denomination are causing untold damage across the church. Their insistence in changing the faith of the church to accommodate cultural ways is more about defiance and rebellion. They are not growing the church; they are wrecking it and tearing down the walls.

But the purposes of God’s heart can never be thwarted and what is emerging is a neo-orthodoxy, where people are longing and clinging to the Gospel because they know within their hearts that the truth about life exists in Christ’s words and ways. The pseudo-progressives are actually regressing into pagan, heretical, and heathen ways – the real progressives are those who are walking onward and upward in the Kingdom of God.

So, today will be a sad time for our presbytery, but it will also be a triumphant time for God’s Kingdom. The old ways still remain – the Trinitarian values, qualities and titles that we ascribe to God will still be revered. Our people may be divided, but it’s because there are some who are still devoted to Jesus – not the Historical or Hysterical Jesus – not the Buddhist or New Age Jesus – but the One, True and Living Christ who is accurately revealed to us in the New Testament.

In the end, it’s all about faith and not our preferences. We kneel to no one but Christ. We call no one else Savior and Lord. The Progressives and Pluralists are creating another god, a different Christ, a more culturally acceptable Jesus. They are not reading the Gospel – Jesus was an anti-cultural radical and the true Church has been fighting the good fight against society since it was first established on the Day of Pentecost. And, long after the Progressives and Pluralists are dead and gone, Jesus Christ of the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John will still be worshiped, glorified, and exalted.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, our church is divided because of You. Some of us have taken sides with the world and the devil in order to be more acceptable to society. Others of us have remained loyal to Your ways and words, as we read and hear them in the New Testament. Let Your Holy Spirit fall upon our churches and our people. Let Your true ways be proclaimed and Your Gospel be truly taught. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.