rm95 -- i wish you and your girlfriend all the best in this search..it took me and my wife a while to find a church..she grew up southern baptist and i grew up in the episcopal church. with all due respect to achebe....a man asked my pastor once why it was necessary to go to church...he said, "can't i worship God on the golf course? is there any reason i HAVE to go to that building to worship??" the pastor said, "of course you CAN...but WILL you???" and there's something to be said about the fellowship of other people who come together to worship God. I encourage you to continue the search!! sharing a common faith with your girlfriend (one that's true and genuine) can be a great source of strength for a relationship. i'll say a prayer for you guys this morning, if that's alright with you...if it's not, i might just pray for you anyway and just not tell you about it later...
man...you really need to come visit my church if you come to houston...it has a really nice mix of liberals and conservatives...our pastor uses a great analogy (that he stole from someone else!!) that Christianity should be a birdbath, not a birdcage...it's not about being enclosed by laws, but rather seeking to be around because of the love of God. i don't know of any openly gay people in the congregation, but i doubt they would be made to feel uncomfortable given the makeup of this church. it's in west houston...i really think you'd like it, given the criteria you've mentioned.
Of course there's no reason to go to one just to say you do. It just seemed to me that you were looking for a place with uniform thinking down the line and I don't think such a place exists. That's why I predicted you'd never find it. Good luck in your search.
This is something I completely understand but just never applied to me. If a preacher asked that question to me, I would very likely respond, "I already do!" A conservative friend of mine had a conversation a couple of years ago on the phone. We were discussing religion in general and talking about the high school and grade schools we went to. We both went to Christian grade schools (different one's) and the same Lutheran High School. We both commented that, for all the religion classes, chapels and even church on Sunday, we couldn't name a single person that cracked the spine of their Bible outside of those instances. Even after I left Christianity, I continued to read the Bible and try to gain insight into Christianity and other religions. It seems to me that the majority of Christians in America (and I could be way off, but this is in my experience) use church as their way to excuse themselves from further spiritual exploration. I guess it always just meant more to me than that. I couldn't just ignore it at all times except for the few hours on Sunday.
Ring a bell? What is that supposed to mean? And that was only like within the past week... I probably shouldn't have come in this thread to begin with, seeing as it was kind of a personal one that RM95 started. Good for him, I'm glad. I'm not even religious, but just get tired of all the Christian-bashing that goes on here. Apparently I'm one of the only ones (guess no one cares to stick up for those incapable of thinking, right Mrs. JB?)....I'll shutup about it for now I guess. Sorry to ruin your thread, RM. Good luck in your search.
Freak, in case you hadn't noticed, the VAST majority of the country is still Christian. I think they're doing just fine without your help. But it is nice to know, we can always count on you to stick up for the big guy.
Let me get this straight... You don't vote but you always have a very vocal opinion about politics. You aren't religious, but you are quick to make your strong religious opinions known. Makes sense.
Does that bumper sticker say Jesus? If not how can you interpret that as an specific attack on Christians?
Glad you got that straight. As long as we're playing this game.... You're not an animal, yet you're concerned with animal rights. You're not homeless, yet you still have an opinion on those who are. Makes sense.
That's the wrong analogy. A better analogy would be saying that I'm concerned with animal rights while still eating meat and buying leather products. But, that isn't the case. I'm not saying you shouldn't have an opinion. I was just pointing out that you have a rather vociferous opinion despite the fact that you say don't really do anything about it other than posting on an internet bulletin board.
vociferous ? I've never heard that used in a sentance before in my life (half of my life has been spent in Louisiana....)
Since I've done that to so many threads over the past 4 years or so, I don't really have a problem with it. Where is all this Christian bashing, btw?
One has to be sure of their faith for themselves, true. But looking for a "faith that is compatible with his personal morality" is making God subject to his whims, not the other way around.
So in other words, you don't agree with me, so you want to try to discredit me. I see. Nice tactic. Why is it the wrong analogy? Apparently you're allowed to question others' motives for posting, but I'm not? I guess you're an admin and I'm not, so that's cool. Just making sure I know the rules for future reference.....can you list all the qualifications that need to be met before posting? Like if I post that I didn't like a certain movie, do I need to go picket at the movie theatre the next day to encourage others not to see it? Would I be "doing something about my opinion" then? Or if I post that I don't like a new item on the Wendy's 99 cent value menu, do I have to write a letter to the CEO of Wendy's and tell him how much it sucks? Would you accept my opinion more then? I suspect that all that is required for you not to question a post is for you to agree with it. Sorry again, RM95, for killing your thread...
That's right. You can only post about things that are ok with me. C'mon, man. It's called a "debate" for a reason. You know it. I know it. So, you may as well put aside the "oh, you're an admin and I'm just a poster" bit because we both know that has nothing to do with this discussion. You think I don't know that many of my views go contrary to the mainstream? Hell, I've been ripped up one side and down the other more times than I care to count despite having "Admin" below my name. So what! You post what you want and I'll post what I want. If we disagree, big deal. That's life on the BBS. Who said you couldn't post? You know very well that if I was in here hammering away at people who ate meat but I ate meat too, I'd get slammed every day and twice on Sundays. It's part of posting here. You post something I agree with and we'll find out. Until then, I'm not going to say I agree with you if I don't. Why in the world would I do that? You certainly wouldn't.
