Culture
Topics
- Neediness is not considered a desirable trait in our culture of prosperity. The less
needy we are, the more we dispise it in others. We support charity, but, after a
while, if the person doesn't get it together, they look pathetic. To become open
(coming into the light) is to openly acknowledge our neediness. We value strength.
We follow pastors who seem to have the answers. But isn't the gospel simply
admitting our neediness? The Bible says that it is difficult for a rich man to be
saved (...eye of a needle). The Bible seems to be God expressing His vulnerability
from cover-to-cover even in the Old Testament where He shows His strength,
sometimes in rage. He pleads with Israel constantly. The walk of Jesus and
especially the Passion are all a very bold expression of vulnerability - God can be
hurt both emotionally and even physically. Love does that to us. I reject the dea of
under-shepherds. Could it be that we are to lead, not by being spititual gurus, but
by being children? Is it a distortion to assume that we are to become strong
enough (independent) to help someone else to be strong enough to help other and
so on? I always used the analogy of drowning people. Don't I have to get a
foothold in order to help others? But isn't God the one that saves? Maybe I am to
lead by being an example of vulnerability (the first shall be last and the last first).
Wouldn't this require the most courage and strength? Then God can love us through
each other. Is ths what is meant by lifting Him up? One of the most popular songs
right now is 'I need you now'. That vulnerability is intoxicating. That means that
most of the religious movement is going the wrong way. Dare we pray for
weakness? Does it need adversity to get us there? Could this be why blessings
(especially financial) seem to be so few? How many of us can maintain our
neediness in abundance? Life frightens me. I am especially fearful of financial
disaster which I seem on the edge of constantly lately. I need hugs as much as
possible. I need people to share vulnerability with. All of our issues are designed to
make us afraid of vulnerability. Therefore, focusing on being vulnerable exposes my
fears and therefore the cause of my issues.
- The prosperity of our culture has revealed something very ugly about human nature. We will only bond to other human beings when we absolutely have to apart from God.
- Our culture says, 'Nice guys finish last'. True love forces that perspective into submission.
- Oh Lord, help us to see the desire for independence in this American culture as the cruel evil that it is.
-Many christians crave to see Your power in the midst of our pain. 'Give us a sign.' We desire a word of prophesy or a healing. Help us Lord, to grasp the power of divine love. A power that is not to us but through us to others. Is this not the answer to our pain - what we have been craving?
- Lord, help me not to just break out of the American culture but the equally evil christian culture so that I can be a light.
- Our society is obsessed with sex because it is a spiritual act and our society is starved for spiritual contact.
- It is ironic that in our American culture and, unfortunately, in our American christian culture, that the often cruel value of independence has risen so high with the effect of a loss of the value of individualism because our identity is found in our service to our community through powers imparted to us from God in the form of spiritual gifts which shape our interests and actions. Matthew 10:37-39
- The American culture of individualization has permeated our religious culture. I suspect the culture of the apostles' time was not much different for in IJohn it says 'This is how they wll know that you are my disciples, that ye love one another'. It's not our gifts that will impress them, it is our heart. A confronting of our culture will make the greatest impact. Only then can the gifts be expressed effectively. I believe that it made an impact on the community to see 120 people meeting daily for 2 months. Their heart had to be in the right place to receive the 3000 people. Our individual culture is a direct result of the Evolution training in our schools. What good would it be for the gifts of tongues to come to the 120 on Pentecost if their hearts were not in the right place to have something to say?
- Americans have had more of their needs met by You than anyone else in the world so we are the most needy.
- Our generation has been so focused on connecting with family and others as men, which is good because the previous generations blew it, but we gave up focusing on God. p.32 Silence of Adam
- Our christian culture has taken on our culture of consumerism. Instead of everyone tending their own garden, we go to mass markets to collect from farmers. Unfortunately, the things we get there are generic and not customized to our own temperament. Hours of sermons and retreats will not substitute for a little intimate time, one on one, with God. p.220 Pathways
- Chaos is soon to come. Inevitably, the first reaction of the christian community is to lose faith, feeling that God is loosing grip on things. However, the oppostite is true. The Devil likes order. He hides behind God's blessings to lull christaians to sleep to the point that only 1/2 of 1 percent of tithers go to the missions and a million people a year die in Africa with hardly a tear from us. God is relaxing His protection over America and giving the Devil enough rope to hang himself with. When we are full of quail, we will long for Him and His ways again. We call Africa the dark continent, but chaos has brought revival. We are the dark continent.
- I have become convinced that the world (my culture specifically) is incapable of recognizing love when it comes their way, let alone being able to receive it or give it. They are not capable of seeing past their own needs as they confuse love with need. Therefore, they do not value it but treat it like a buffet that they pick from based on what is needed that day. It has no inherent value of it's own. It is only a means to an end to get our needs met. Do they not see that this is the need? So it gets trampled under foot. Some even see it as weakness. Only lonely old widows and babies see the value of it. Our pets are miles ahead of us. Does love have any intrinsic value in our society? I thought that reflecting God's light would open their hearts but they are blind and it has no effect. They automatically assume it is some pathetic way of getting affection. I have no one to share these thoughts with. They will just consider me jaded. Guide me, Lord, how to open their eyes. Help me, Lord, to understand love as I can understand You. It has become acceptable in the christian community to rate people we come in contact with based on 'what we have in common'. Ths is a perspective based on 'what's in it for me' rather than a giving attitude. What do we have in common with the homeless man on the streeet, the aids victim in the hospice or the little bald girl in cancer treatment? People are not to be picked over like a buffet. We do not chose people that fit our purpose, people define the purpose. What purpose we have is irrelevant. God may give certain people a general purpose but the people He puts into our life fleshes it out. It is not for us to decide which people to accept or reject. Also, if we have a selfish purpose based viewpoint, we are likely not going to give God the opportunity to put the people in our life that will change us rather than support our hangups.
- Lord, help me not to lose sight of the present work You have for me to do by determining what to do based on how it fits into my vision of personal destiny. Also, help me not to get so overwhelmed with the limitations of my spirit to receive and give that I fail to see opportunities to serve You.
- Lashing out with anger at juvenile delinquency only fuels their already out of control anger.
- Our culture's longing for the desires that can only be filled by God Himself has sent us searching for more exciting, stimulating experiences. As the song says, 'God is at the bottom of life'. We have been desensitized to life's wonder that we knew as a child. Drama has been replaced with special effects (Maltese Falcon with Terminator III), love replaced with sex, nature replaced by amusement parks, fellowship with entertainmnent. For those that are willing to face the pain of the unfulfilled longings or have simply been overun with it, we are plunged into a confusing darkness, or decompression chamber, so that we can hear the 'still, small, voice'. Ironically, the noise of our culture has lulled us to sleep. Help me Lord to be awake.
- 'Our personal worth and value, our capacity to love and be loved, and our ultimate care and protection are all things that have been given to us by God as our birthrights. When we feel bound to extract these qualities from other people, something is wrong. Everyone in our culture seeks some kind of security within the realms of possessions, power, and relationships.' p33-34 Addiction & Grace
- 'Freedom and security have always been uneasy together.' p32 Additcion & Grace In our culture, we consider freedom the result of security.
- Our culture worships comfort and avoids pain. Passion means to suffer. 'Passion of Christ'. This is why there is so little passion in our culture. We watch a DVD about passion then put it back on the shelf. That is enough for most.
- As a Westerner, I want to thoroughly understand things in order to be in control. On the road to knowing God, this creates two ditches. One ditch is to understand the infinity of my complex corruption. The other ditch is to understand the infinity of God. Both distract me from the path and so must be abandoned.
- Consumerism and hedonism that make up our culture kill passion for Christ.
- The prosperity of our culture has revealed something very ugly about human nature. We will only bond to other human beings when we absolutely have to apart from God.
- Our culture says, 'Nice guys finish last'. True love forces that perspective into submission.
- Oh Lord, help us to see the desire for independence in this American culture as the cruel evil that it is.
-Many christians crave to see Your power in the midst of our pain. 'Give us a sign.' We desire a word of prophesy or a healing. Help us Lord, to grasp the power of divine love. A power that is not to us but through us to others. Is this not the answer to our pain - what we have been craving?
- Lord, help me not to just break out of the American culture but the equally evil christian culture so that I can be a light.
- Our society is obsessed with sex because it is a spiritual act and our society is starved for spiritual contact.
- It is ironic that in our American culture and, unfortunately, in our American christian culture, that the often cruel value of independence has risen so high with the effect of a loss of the value of individualism because our identity is found in our service to our community through powers imparted to us from God in the form of spiritual gifts which shape our interests and actions. Matthew 10:37-39
- The American culture of individualization has permeated our religious culture. I suspect the culture of the apostles' time was not much different for in IJohn it says 'This is how they wll know that you are my disciples, that ye love one another'. It's not our gifts that will impress them, it is our heart. A confronting of our culture will make the greatest impact. Only then can the gifts be expressed effectively. I believe that it made an impact on the community to see 120 people meeting daily for 2 months. Their heart had to be in the right place to receive the 3000 people. Our individual culture is a direct result of the Evolution training in our schools. What good would it be for the gifts of tongues to come to the 120 on Pentecost if their hearts were not in the right place to have something to say?
- Americans have had more of their needs met by You than anyone else in the world so we are the most needy.
- Our generation has been so focused on connecting with family and others as men, which is good because the previous generations blew it, but we gave up focusing on God. p.32 Silence of Adam
- Our christian culture has taken on our culture of consumerism. Instead of everyone tending their own garden, we go to mass markets to collect from farmers. Unfortunately, the things we get there are generic and not customized to our own temperament. Hours of sermons and retreats will not substitute for a little intimate time, one on one, with God. p.220 Pathways
- Chaos is soon to come. Inevitably, the first reaction of the christian community is to lose faith, feeling that God is loosing grip on things. However, the oppostite is true. The Devil likes order. He hides behind God's blessings to lull christaians to sleep to the point that only 1/2 of 1 percent of tithers go to the missions and a million people a year die in Africa with hardly a tear from us. God is relaxing His protection over America and giving the Devil enough rope to hang himself with. When we are full of quail, we will long for Him and His ways again. We call Africa the dark continent, but chaos has brought revival. We are the dark continent.
- I have become convinced that the world (my culture specifically) is incapable of recognizing love when it comes their way, let alone being able to receive it or give it. They are not capable of seeing past their own needs as they confuse love with need. Therefore, they do not value it but treat it like a buffet that they pick from based on what is needed that day. It has no inherent value of it's own. It is only a means to an end to get our needs met. Do they not see that this is the need? So it gets trampled under foot. Some even see it as weakness. Only lonely old widows and babies see the value of it. Our pets are miles ahead of us. Does love have any intrinsic value in our society? I thought that reflecting God's light would open their hearts but they are blind and it has no effect. They automatically assume it is some pathetic way of getting affection. I have no one to share these thoughts with. They will just consider me jaded. Guide me, Lord, how to open their eyes. Help me, Lord, to understand love as I can understand You. It has become acceptable in the christian community to rate people we come in contact with based on 'what we have in common'. Ths is a perspective based on 'what's in it for me' rather than a giving attitude. What do we have in common with the homeless man on the streeet, the aids victim in the hospice or the little bald girl in cancer treatment? People are not to be picked over like a buffet. We do not chose people that fit our purpose, people define the purpose. What purpose we have is irrelevant. God may give certain people a general purpose but the people He puts into our life fleshes it out. It is not for us to decide which people to accept or reject. Also, if we have a selfish purpose based viewpoint, we are likely not going to give God the opportunity to put the people in our life that will change us rather than support our hangups.
- Lord, help me not to lose sight of the present work You have for me to do by determining what to do based on how it fits into my vision of personal destiny. Also, help me not to get so overwhelmed with the limitations of my spirit to receive and give that I fail to see opportunities to serve You.
- Lashing out with anger at juvenile delinquency only fuels their already out of control anger.
- Our culture's longing for the desires that can only be filled by God Himself has sent us searching for more exciting, stimulating experiences. As the song says, 'God is at the bottom of life'. We have been desensitized to life's wonder that we knew as a child. Drama has been replaced with special effects (Maltese Falcon with Terminator III), love replaced with sex, nature replaced by amusement parks, fellowship with entertainmnent. For those that are willing to face the pain of the unfulfilled longings or have simply been overun with it, we are plunged into a confusing darkness, or decompression chamber, so that we can hear the 'still, small, voice'. Ironically, the noise of our culture has lulled us to sleep. Help me Lord to be awake.
- 'Our personal worth and value, our capacity to love and be loved, and our ultimate care and protection are all things that have been given to us by God as our birthrights. When we feel bound to extract these qualities from other people, something is wrong. Everyone in our culture seeks some kind of security within the realms of possessions, power, and relationships.' p33-34 Addiction & Grace
- 'Freedom and security have always been uneasy together.' p32 Additcion & Grace In our culture, we consider freedom the result of security.
- Our culture worships comfort and avoids pain. Passion means to suffer. 'Passion of Christ'. This is why there is so little passion in our culture. We watch a DVD about passion then put it back on the shelf. That is enough for most.
- As a Westerner, I want to thoroughly understand things in order to be in control. On the road to knowing God, this creates two ditches. One ditch is to understand the infinity of my complex corruption. The other ditch is to understand the infinity of God. Both distract me from the path and so must be abandoned.
- Consumerism and hedonism that make up our culture kill passion for Christ.