"Body Piercing..." final quotes

Here it is, guys, the final installment. Maybe. I might have to split it again.

"'Darwin has had as big an impact on the evangelical church, maybe even more so than Jesus. Darwinism has set the tone and focus of the evangelical church in a way that's ludicrous.' By insisting that the Bible is an authoritative text on science, history, and the cosmos, Bazan said, the evangelical church has forced Christians to cultivate a faith that will "flounder" if the Bible's authority is challenged successfully." (132) Lately I've been learning that the Bible is not to be a science textbook or a history textbook. You can interpret historical events in the Bible in light of your textbook, but it's not to be a replacement. I almost feel like I have two timelines in my head--one that was taught in school and one from the Bible. The Bible one is linear, so that the Psalms happen AFTER the material in 1/2 Kings (or one of those history sections), as opposed to around the same time.

"Christians often complain that the mainstream media ignores Christian music, film, and art, and there very existence of their subculture presumes a need to set up an alternate universe with its own celebrities. The world outside this subculture is often portrayed as treacherous and best left alone." (155-6)

"[Contemporary worship music] is self-centered in a way that reflects evangelicalism's near-obsession with having a personal relationship with Christ. It's me Jesus died for. I just gotta praise the Lord." (159)

"The Jesus of worship music is a mentor, a buddy, a friend whose message is easily distilled to a simple command: praise me. Not 'feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner.' Simply thank Him for His gift to you." (159)

"Now racism is viewed as much a personal failing, much like alcoholism, drug use, or any number of other moral shortcomings. That's been incredibly important in opening up the evangelicalchurch...allowing Christians to express disappointment at the moral blind spots of others while doing absolutely nothing further." (163) At my church at home, we have a few Japanese exchange students, little Michell (and occasionally her Nicaraguan mother and Puerto Rican dad), and that's about it. Very little diversity. I guess I can't say too much, cuz most of my friends from high school and church were white. Another thing I wonder at my church is the fact that within the past 8 years or so, we have had 3 couples get pregnant before they were married. What is lacking!?!? Where are we falling short as a church community? Just a side thought.

"[Casting Crowns'] lyrics challenge churches not to be so insular that they put off newcomers." (172)

"Christian people are taught to be ready to fight for their faith at a moment's notice. And to a certain degree, that is right. The Bible does say to be ready to defend the faith, but it's very clear that you're not supposed to sit around and nitpick at each other. It's one of the few clear things about the way you're supposed to treat your fellow brothers." (219-20)

"At the same time, I can't be worrying about every single little thing that's gonna offend somebody, because offending somebody and stumbling them are two totally different things." (222)

"College is the kind of place where, if you've grown up within the faith, you're gonna have to think through all this stuff and figure out what's yours and what was your folks' or the environment that you're coming from." (236-7, David Crowder) True story. I'm seeing that now...how my beliefs have shifted (honestly, to be a bit less conservative than I was before)...I'm seeing that morality and beliefs are not as clear-cut as I thought they once were.

"I think when Jesus was talking about the kingdom of heaven, he's speaking of the here and now, and we've got to make a difference in the way we treat people, the way we're responsible with the societies that we live within." (240--David Crowder)

"Somewhere in my heart is longing for something honest and eternal, and all I see is fads and corny T-shirts and young kids who were mostly raised and taught what they should think and haven't had a chance to question it." (263) This summer while I was home, I sat in on the teen Sunday school class, and it basically seemed that the teacher was teaching Creationism AT the class, with very little questioning.

"If I have two jackets, and this person doesn't have one jacket, I give them my extra one. That's just pure common sense. Our conscience tells us that, our Scripture tells us that, our reason tells us that. The only thing that doesn't tell us that is our greed, and the Devil, and the powers of this world who say, What's mine is mine." (263--Weiss) Lately (and not cuz it's Christmas), I'm trying to work through a lot of my stuff and try to live more minimally somehow. I'm not sure how it will ever work, since I'm a packrat. :)

"You know what Jesus called us to do is to come and die, suffer and sacrifice, lay down our lives for other people. Not try to live the most comfortable life we can or have a whole lot of fun or look a certain way." (264) Sometimes I feel like my youth group's activities are oriented around fun activities, meant to bring new people into the youth group. But yet the only discipleship things available are quizzing and Sunday school. Not a bad selection, but it just doesn't seem deep enough. I don't know.