What Happened to Church?

[Taz]

That had nothing to do with forced abortions, people were choosing to have too many boys. So that makes you wrong. Gee, I'm almost shocked.

It has everything to do with forced abortions (aka the one child policy). If they could have more than one child they would not choose to abort the females. That's why there is a disproportionate number of males to females in China. Because if they can only have one child they want it to be a male.

They weren't forced to abort the females. You know nothing. As usual.

Okay, both of you. Putting a stop to the "forced abortion" tangent. Go start a thread for it, if that's what you want.

Just tell dingbat that he's wrong. You know he is.

You have obviously mistaken me for your waitress; I don't take orders.

But it could be god wanting you to wake dingbat up. You never know...

 

[hadit]

Me and you both, sister, on the compassionate side that is. I assume you're a sister by the username at any rate. I'm a decision-maker type, what is the right thing to do type. It has its finer points but I have to remind myself of compassion.

Glad you found a church! It's getting more and more difficult these days

Heard that.

I'm usually a member of the "swift kick in the reality" brigade. I have no idea what God wants with Taz or why now, but He is the greatest multi-tasker ever, and it's already obvious one of His goals here is to expand my horizons.

Most all of the Internet Atheist Brigade think our faith is very light and weak. They think if they make a few snide remarks or ask a few difficult questions, they can pierce it and eventually destroy it.

For some, because this is how it happened to them, this is how they assume it must happen for everyone. At the very least, this reveals a certain paucity of imagination. It also reveals that they didn't have much faith to begin with. And we both know I don't mean faith like 'blind belief', which is how THEY think we use it. Because that's all they think faith is.

Oh, it's not just people on the Internet. Look at virtually any cultural representation of Christians, be it movies, television, books . . . As far as they're concerned, Christians are falling away from God in droves over "crises of faith" that are mostly only crises to people observing Christianity from the outside.

And to bring it back around to my topic, this sort of thing is exactly why "drive-through Christianity" alarms and upsets me: because by trying to "modernize" itself to conform to the very last people in the world who should be setting standards, the Church is producing a generation of weak Christians who really are likely to fall down the first time things are rough.

When the Word is less important than the entertainment, the seed falls on rocky ground and quickly dries up and blows away. Entertainment can help carry the message, but it can also overwhelm and drown it out.

True, that.

Just the latest in a long line of distractions and misdirections. I've also been in churches that started swinging too far the other way, and making a point of pride out of being as unworldly as they could. I am pretty equally opposed to AG churches trying to be Amish Lite.

My grandfather left the Amish as a young man. I know about focus on the external at the expense of the internal. What you do in the outside doesn't help much when God sees the heart clearly.

 

[Taz]

So how did Noah get kangaroos from Australia and back again?

I don't know. If He is God, He could certainly do it.

I'm not very concerned about kangaroos. I'm more concerned about church and faith and God. Do you have questions like that, or just silly gotcha questions?

I'm trying to figure out if the bible is true.

I do not believe you.

You have decided that if you can "disprove" some aspect of the Bible, you don't have to accept any part of it and thus can live as selfishly and sinfully as you want with no guilt.

Didn't I tell you to stfu? You hard of reading?

Oh, you did? How's that working out for you? Throughout history, it has been a standard response from the world to silence Christians, because when Christians speak, conviction follows. Heck, it wasn't but a short time from Jesus' Ascension that they were trying to silence the believers by killing them. It never works, BTW.

No, it's just my standard response to silence idiots.

 

[Taz]

God is using me to test you. Now play nice.

I am certain that God wants many things from me. I'm equally certain that your skewed perceptions of "nice" and what Christians should be aren't even remotely part of it.

You just failed His first test. Want a do-over?

Did you miss the part where your opinions matter to no one?

They matter to god, don't they?

No. You do, but the garbage spewing from you does not.

Aww, I matter. So nice of you to say.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I can't decide if leftist religiophobes are just too stupid to understand the phrase "off-topic", or if they just think their calling to evangelize the world with the news that they hate God makes them above the rules.

I take that back. I can decide. Leftists are always too smugly sanctimonious to think that they're subject to the same restrictions as the peasantry.

Taz is a militant atheist. She condemns respect for people of faith and believes it is her mission to subordinate religion.

Taz is a bitter child who has spent her life acting out her rage at some disappointment she suffered in her past.

More insults, what a FUCKING SURPRISE!!!!!

Wasn't an insult, dear. Was a factual observation. Sorry if it touched a nerve.

I bet Jesus went around insulting people and then saying "sorry brah, it's the truth". Ya, somehow I can see that happening. Carry on.

Actually, Jesus as well as His apostles were rather well-known for making uncomfortable observations that people took offense at because they didn't like the truth.

If you're "insulted" by the simple statement that you are angry at God and acting that out, that's really not my problem.

 

[Taz]

My grandfather left the Amish as a young man. I know about focus on the external at the expense of the internal. What you do in the outside doesn't help much when God sees the heart clearly.

Does that apply to me as well?

 

[Taz]

Taz is a militant atheist. She condemns respect for people of faith and believes it is her mission to subordinate religion.

Taz is a bitter child who has spent her life acting out her rage at some disappointment she suffered in her past.

More insults, what a FUCKING SURPRISE!!!!!

Wasn't an insult, dear. Was a factual observation. Sorry if it touched a nerve.

I bet Jesus went around insulting people and then saying "sorry brah, it's the truth". Ya, somehow I can see that happening. Carry on.

Actually, Jesus as well as His apostles were rather well-known for making uncomfortable observations that people took offense at because they didn't like the truth.

If you're "insulted" by the simple statement that you are angry at God and acting that out, that's really not my problem.

Ya, Jesus and his gang sound like they were a snarky bunch. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[hadit]

I don't know. If He is God, He could certainly do it.

I'm not very concerned about kangaroos. I'm more concerned about church and faith and God. Do you have questions like that, or just silly gotcha questions?

I'm trying to figure out if the bible is true.

I do not believe you.

You have decided that if you can "disprove" some aspect of the Bible, you don't have to accept any part of it and thus can live as selfishly and sinfully as you want with no guilt.

Didn't I tell you to stfu? You hard of reading?

Oh, you did? How's that working out for you? Throughout history, it has been a standard response from the world to silence Christians, because when Christians speak, conviction follows. Heck, it wasn't but a short time from Jesus' Ascension that they were trying to silence the believers by killing them. It never works, BTW.

No, it's just my standard response to silence idiots.

I don't see anyone being silenced. Perhaps you should try something else. Petulance isn't working for you.

 

[hadit]

My grandfather left the Amish as a young man. I know about focus on the external at the expense of the internal. What you do in the outside doesn't help much when God sees the heart clearly.

Does that apply to me as well?

What do you think?

You have just stumbled into one of the answers too your trolling question. Congratulations. Now ignore it.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I can't decide if leftist religiophobes are just too stupid to understand the phrase "off-topic", or if they just think their calling to evangelize the world with the news that they hate God makes them above the rules.

I take that back. I can decide. Leftists are always too smugly sanctimonious to think that they're subject to the same restrictions as the peasantry.

Taz is a militant atheist. She condemns respect for people of faith and believes it is her mission to subordinate religion.

Taz is a bitter child who has spent her life acting out her rage at some disappointment she suffered in her past.

More insults, what a FUCKING SURPRISE!!!!!

Perhaps is you didn't ACT like a bitter child who has spent her life acting out her rage at some disappointment she suffered in her past, you wouldn't be called that.

Another so-called Christian coming to fling insults. Just like Jesus would, I suppose.

If you knew anything real about Jesus, you'd know He insulted people quite a bit.

However, I am not the Son of God. HE manages to love you; I'm still at the "If you say I must, Lord" stage. A more apt comparison might be the Apostle Paul, who was not a famously nice or tactful person at any point in his life.

 

[ding]

No, it's just my standard response to silence idiots.

^ dunning effect

 

[Cecilie1200]

Taz is a bitter child who has spent her life acting out her rage at some disappointment she suffered in her past.

More insults, what a FUCKING SURPRISE!!!!!

Your righteous indignation would carry more weight if your mission wasn't to condemn respect for people of faith. It seems that you can dish it out but are not very good at taking what you dish out.

I never said that I cared about the insults. I'm just pointing out the Christians who insult me non-stop, like you.

You're just dancing around, shrieking, "I think Christians should be THIS, and you're not living up to the standards I've decided that I get to set for something I don't believe in!"

Doesn't seem to be seeping into your brain at all that your pronouncements on the subject could not be less valued.

Then why are you responding to me if you don't value my opinion?

Because you're still trying to hijack my thread, and I'm still preventing it.

 

[ding]

More insults, what a FUCKING SURPRISE!!!!!

Your righteous indignation would carry more weight if your mission wasn't to condemn respect for people of faith. It seems that you can dish it out but are not very good at taking what you dish out.

I never said that I cared about the insults. I'm just pointing out the Christians who insult me non-stop, like you.

You're just dancing around, shrieking, "I think Christians should be THIS, and you're not living up to the standards I've decided that I get to set for something I don't believe in!"

Doesn't seem to be seeping into your brain at all that your pronouncements on the subject could not be less valued.

Then why are you responding to me if you don't value my opinion?

Because you're still trying to hijack my thread, and I'm still preventing it.

Actually, if you want her to stop you are going to have to summon a moderator.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Pork chops are off topic? Really?

The entire subject of giving is off topic precisely because you are attempting to use it to divert and distract. It has nothing to do with the OP.

Since you don't go to church, you're not even qualified to comment on the thread.

You go to church and are clearly not fit to comment on anything, period. Now stfu, I'm not even talking to you.

Tell us again what you think is the topic of this thread, then compare it to the topics you incessantly bring up and your lack of qualifications to talk about the changes in the modern church.

Speaking of "changes in the modern church", how much does one drop in the collection plate these days?

Speaking of things you've already been told to stop spamming the thread with . . .

 

[Cecilie1200]

So how did Noah get kangaroos from Australia and back again?

I don't know. If He is God, He could certainly do it.

I'm not very concerned about kangaroos. I'm more concerned about church and faith and God. Do you have questions like that, or just silly gotcha questions?

I'm trying to figure out if the bible is true.

I do not believe you.

You have decided that if you can "disprove" some aspect of the Bible, you don't have to accept any part of it and thus can live as selfishly and sinfully as you want with no guilt.

No, Taz has decided if she can ask inane questions about some aspect of the Bible enough, she can convince someone that that somehow disproves it.

I don't think it's about her wanting to live selfishly and sinfully, though. I think . . . she was hurt somehow, and decided to blame God for it. All of this is just her acting that out. The idea of other people believing in something she feels let her down enrages her. That's why she's psychologically incapable of ever letting people discuss believing in God in any way, shape, or form without having to disrupt it with her caperings and foolishness.

"caperings and foolishness"!!!!!

I DO have an influence on you!!!!

Because I can see you acting like a clown to try to evade the truth?

 

[Cecilie1200]

It has everything to do with forced abortions (aka the one child policy). If they could have more than one child they would not choose to abort the females. That's why there is a disproportionate number of males to females in China. Because if they can only have one child they want it to be a male.

They weren't forced to abort the females. You know nothing. As usual.

Okay, both of you. Putting a stop to the "forced abortion" tangent. Go start a thread for it, if that's what you want.

Just tell dingbat that he's wrong. You know he is.

You have obviously mistaken me for your waitress; I don't take orders.

But it could be god wanting you to wake dingbat up. You never know...

If God has something to say to me, He'll say it. Just because He once communicated through the jawbone of an ass doesn't mean it's standard.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Heard that.

I'm usually a member of the "swift kick in the reality" brigade. I have no idea what God wants with Taz or why now, but He is the greatest multi-tasker ever, and it's already obvious one of His goals here is to expand my horizons.

Most all of the Internet Atheist Brigade think our faith is very light and weak. They think if they make a few snide remarks or ask a few difficult questions, they can pierce it and eventually destroy it.

For some, because this is how it happened to them, this is how they assume it must happen for everyone. At the very least, this reveals a certain paucity of imagination. It also reveals that they didn't have much faith to begin with. And we both know I don't mean faith like 'blind belief', which is how THEY think we use it. Because that's all they think faith is.

Oh, it's not just people on the Internet. Look at virtually any cultural representation of Christians, be it movies, television, books . . . As far as they're concerned, Christians are falling away from God in droves over "crises of faith" that are mostly only crises to people observing Christianity from the outside.

And to bring it back around to my topic, this sort of thing is exactly why "drive-through Christianity" alarms and upsets me: because by trying to "modernize" itself to conform to the very last people in the world who should be setting standards, the Church is producing a generation of weak Christians who really are likely to fall down the first time things are rough.

When the Word is less important than the entertainment, the seed falls on rocky ground and quickly dries up and blows away. Entertainment can help carry the message, but it can also overwhelm and drown it out.

True, that.

Just the latest in a long line of distractions and misdirections. I've also been in churches that started swinging too far the other way, and making a point of pride out of being as unworldly as they could. I am pretty equally opposed to AG churches trying to be Amish Lite.

My grandfather left the Amish as a young man. I know about focus on the external at the expense of the internal. What you do in the outside doesn't help much when God sees the heart clearly.

Doesn't bother me when the ACTUAL Amish do it. They have real and serious doctrinal beliefs at stake. But mainstream Protestants trying to ape their behavior? That's just showing off and playing at "looking holy". Irks the snot out of me.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I am certain that God wants many things from me. I'm equally certain that your skewed perceptions of "nice" and what Christians should be aren't even remotely part of it.

You just failed His first test. Want a do-over?

Did you miss the part where your opinions matter to no one?

They matter to god, don't they?

No. You do, but the garbage spewing from you does not.

Aww, I matter. So nice of you to say.

Everyone matters to God. In some cases, it takes God to look deeply enough to see the value.

 

[Cecilie1200]

My grandfather left the Amish as a young man. I know about focus on the external at the expense of the internal. What you do in the outside doesn't help much when God sees the heart clearly.

Does that apply to me as well?

Are you actually looking for reassurance that the God you make a hobby out of mocking still loves you despite your buffoonery?

 

[Cecilie1200]

Taz is a bitter child who has spent her life acting out her rage at some disappointment she suffered in her past.

More insults, what a FUCKING SURPRISE!!!!!

Wasn't an insult, dear. Was a factual observation. Sorry if it touched a nerve.

I bet Jesus went around insulting people and then saying "sorry brah, it's the truth". Ya, somehow I can see that happening. Carry on.

Actually, Jesus as well as His apostles were rather well-known for making uncomfortable observations that people took offense at because they didn't like the truth.

If you're "insulted" by the simple statement that you are angry at God and acting that out, that's really not my problem.

Ya, Jesus and his gang sound like they were a snarky bunch. Thanks for clearing that up.

The truth doesn't have to be nice. It just has to be true.

And despite what non-Christians think, "niceness" is not the focus or purpose of Christianity. It is, at best, an ancillary effect in some people.