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.
Showing posts with label Body Piercing Saved My Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Body Piercing Saved My Life. Show all posts
Monday, December 25, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
"Body Piercing Saved My Life"
I'm working on reading this book, about Christian rock, and these are some quotes including some of my thoughts about them...
"Christian bookstores, reasonably, decided to take the path of least resistance--to sell music and artwork that couldn't possibly offend any of their customers--and the Christian music industry was relieved to give the bookstores what they wanted....Their pleasant music had lyrics that rarely strayed from safe themes like gratitude toward Jesus and was an ideal soundtrack for evangelical Christianity's new place in the culture--a refuge from a morally ambivalent world where doubt and relativity ruled." (29) So THAT'S why it can make the claim "safe for the whole family"--because it won't offend. But yet Jesus did not come to bring peace....this goes back to the issue of being in our "comfort zone". How are we supposed to grow if we have our own little cushy area? I admit to listening to mostly "Christian" music, which I mostly decided based on their record label, who they toured with, and if they were at the major Christian festivals. Lately though, I've been expanding my horizons--still watching what I listen to though, reading the lyrics and seeing what they're actually saying....testing them.
"Christan bands were making money, but, artistically, they were often a joke." (32) Uh yeah. Like all the female vocalists that sound the same, and following the trends of the mainstream instead of doing their own thing first. Or just being plain annoying.... "Van Pelt issued an impassioned call to Christian bands to try to surpass general-market bands, not just aim to be as good." (46)
"There's this whole subtle idea behind Christian music that you always have to be telling people about Jesus. It's ludicrous because no one who isn't a Christian would ever want to listen to that music." (34)
"We're Christian by faith, not by genre." (42, Tim Foreman of Switchfoot)
"A weakness of Christian music is that it's a subculture, and it's a smaller goldfish bowl, so mediocrity can be perceived as excellence." (50- Doug van Pelt)
"It's not right for me to judge a band by its religious beliefs, just as it's not right for those bands to beg me to find God." (65)
"I mean, missionaries in Europe are drinking, smoking cigarettes, sharing the Gospel; you know, they still don't die young because they're walking around, exercising, riding a bicycle. Meanwhile, big fat Christian pastors in the South are keeling over at forty-five from heart attacks." (68-Ebel) The thing is moderation, of course.
American exceptionalism--the "idea that our country was called by God to be a shining 'city on a hill'." (87)
"In fact, Mars Hill...was named for a place in Athens where the Apostle Paul used the words of contemporary poets and musicians in an attempt to convert non-Christians." (108). This is talking about the Mars Hill church in Seattle, not the one pastored by Rob Bell in Michigan. Basically, I don't think you can have a one-size-fits-all approach to telling others about Jesus. You can try, but it probably won't always work. Whether it's handing out random Bibles, or whatever, it may not work for everyone. There may be better ways of sharing Jesus's love with individuals.
(Driscoll again) "You ladies live your lives, but...expect your life to be completely interrupted when your husband comes along....Different place, different family, different friends, different." (111) This is a new perspective I've heard. Usually it's to find someone close to you, and to "match" yourself with them kind of a thing.
"Each of these men (Sufjan Stevens and Daniel Smith) has built a bigger audience outside the Christian subculture than within it, even while singing explicitly about faith." (116) I missed something. I guess that goes to show I haven't been picking up on the lyrics too much. Oh well.
"There's no harm in Christians engaging popular culture--in fact, it's 'probably blasphemous' to think there's such a thing as a 'secular molecule in the universe,' since everything is shaped by God" (118, talking about David Dark's lecture)
"Has forming Christian pop culture solved the problem? You're less safe when you think you're safe." (119, Ken Heffner)
"Christian bookstores, reasonably, decided to take the path of least resistance--to sell music and artwork that couldn't possibly offend any of their customers--and the Christian music industry was relieved to give the bookstores what they wanted....Their pleasant music had lyrics that rarely strayed from safe themes like gratitude toward Jesus and was an ideal soundtrack for evangelical Christianity's new place in the culture--a refuge from a morally ambivalent world where doubt and relativity ruled." (29) So THAT'S why it can make the claim "safe for the whole family"--because it won't offend. But yet Jesus did not come to bring peace....this goes back to the issue of being in our "comfort zone". How are we supposed to grow if we have our own little cushy area? I admit to listening to mostly "Christian" music, which I mostly decided based on their record label, who they toured with, and if they were at the major Christian festivals. Lately though, I've been expanding my horizons--still watching what I listen to though, reading the lyrics and seeing what they're actually saying....testing them.
"Christan bands were making money, but, artistically, they were often a joke." (32) Uh yeah. Like all the female vocalists that sound the same, and following the trends of the mainstream instead of doing their own thing first. Or just being plain annoying.... "Van Pelt issued an impassioned call to Christian bands to try to surpass general-market bands, not just aim to be as good." (46)
"There's this whole subtle idea behind Christian music that you always have to be telling people about Jesus. It's ludicrous because no one who isn't a Christian would ever want to listen to that music." (34)
"We're Christian by faith, not by genre." (42, Tim Foreman of Switchfoot)
"A weakness of Christian music is that it's a subculture, and it's a smaller goldfish bowl, so mediocrity can be perceived as excellence." (50- Doug van Pelt)
"It's not right for me to judge a band by its religious beliefs, just as it's not right for those bands to beg me to find God." (65)
"I mean, missionaries in Europe are drinking, smoking cigarettes, sharing the Gospel; you know, they still don't die young because they're walking around, exercising, riding a bicycle. Meanwhile, big fat Christian pastors in the South are keeling over at forty-five from heart attacks." (68-Ebel) The thing is moderation, of course.
American exceptionalism--the "idea that our country was called by God to be a shining 'city on a hill'." (87)
"In fact, Mars Hill...was named for a place in Athens where the Apostle Paul used the words of contemporary poets and musicians in an attempt to convert non-Christians." (108). This is talking about the Mars Hill church in Seattle, not the one pastored by Rob Bell in Michigan. Basically, I don't think you can have a one-size-fits-all approach to telling others about Jesus. You can try, but it probably won't always work. Whether it's handing out random Bibles, or whatever, it may not work for everyone. There may be better ways of sharing Jesus's love with individuals.
(Driscoll again) "You ladies live your lives, but...expect your life to be completely interrupted when your husband comes along....Different place, different family, different friends, different." (111) This is a new perspective I've heard. Usually it's to find someone close to you, and to "match" yourself with them kind of a thing.
"Each of these men (Sufjan Stevens and Daniel Smith) has built a bigger audience outside the Christian subculture than within it, even while singing explicitly about faith." (116) I missed something. I guess that goes to show I haven't been picking up on the lyrics too much. Oh well.
"There's no harm in Christians engaging popular culture--in fact, it's 'probably blasphemous' to think there's such a thing as a 'secular molecule in the universe,' since everything is shaped by God" (118, talking about David Dark's lecture)
"Has forming Christian pop culture solved the problem? You're less safe when you think you're safe." (119, Ken Heffner)
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