Tuesday 31 December 2019

Christianity doesn’t need saving; people do


A trend arose on social media recently where people began sharing photos and memories from 10 years ago side-by-side with photos and memories from the present as a way of talking about how much things have changed personally and societally over the last decade. At first blush, it was cute; but then not so much. The late aughts, for example, were tough on impoverished grad students with very little in the way of what experts call “fashion sense” or “a regular barber” or “a working iron.”

In the midst of countless callbacks to floppy bangs, bootcut jeans and quotes from “The Office”
(wait, am I talking about 2009 or 2019 – life is a closed-loop!), I noticed a few stories from my feed that mentioned a more personal or existential shift. A number of friends mentioned the loss or “death” of their Christian faith, or God even, over the last decade.

This loss was attributed generally to Christianity’s weaponization by political entities; or rejection at the hands of family, friends and faith communities due to issues of identity and human sexuality; or the ceaseless onslaught of crippling student loan debt, income inequality and the cancellation of civility, not to mention the ever-rising centigrade of our polar ice caps.

Despite great institutional effort to the contrary, it seems Christianity for many of my friends hasn’t managed to survive the decade. Instead of reporting an accompanying black hole of sadness, their religious postmortem seemed steeped in relief and almost gratification for finally mustering the courage to pull the plug on their ailing faith. I recognize this feeling because it resembles what it was like to watch my grandfather live through a decade with Alzheimers. I remember secretly (and guiltily) wishing every Christmas that he would die, knowing that “living” meant his body would keep beating and breathing despite his not remembering my name or how he taught me to play golf or to curse at a volume imperceptible to my grandmother.

“It’s only when we hold on to Christianity as if it were eternal that it ends up expiring like milk in our fridge during a vacation.”

Instead of talking to me about graduate school or my young marriage, he would eat candied orange slices silently in the corner of our family gatherings before sneaking to the back of the house to smoke and watch Westerns while tethered near an oxygen tank. In those days going home for me was mostly a darkly comic reminder that nothing feels so betraying as losing something you’re sitting across from but will never find again.

The longer I Iive, the more I realize that sometimes keeping things alive is actually a bastardization of life, of what these things stood for, of who they are and what made them saving and needed presence in our lives. Sometimes these things are the person who raised us and taught us to drive a golf cart through the woods at high speed and to gamble and leave an 8-iron pin high. Sometimes we really miss who they were for us when we needed them most; we miss the smells, the van rides and the ability to crack open a Diet Dr. Pepper in the kitchen without asking because it was already ours to begin with.

Sometimes these things we kept alive for too long introduced us to ideas of ourselves that gave us a bigger perspective on the world, a vocabulary of practice that grounded us in regular acts of generosity, joy, grace and peace and solidarity with the world we still remember years later. Sometimes going home is a darkly comic reminder that nothing feels so betraying as losing something you’re sitting in the midst of but can’t ever seem to find again.

A decade ago I had all my grandparents; a wobbly, yet still intact relationship with my biological father; and unshakeable confidence that I was called to be a pastor because I had something to say and do about what I perceived to be a crumbling of the Christian faith. Today, all my grandparents are deceased, my father and I haven’t spoken in almost five years and I no longer self-identify as a reverend unless I’m trying to make small talk with adolescents at the under-funded high school where I work as a psychotherapist.

And yet, I’ve never felt more connected to my neighbors, my city, my family and even my school that I graduated from 16 years ago and once rode a bike through with a friend on rollerblades tied to the back. Over the last decade, I have come to realize that Christianity hasn’t, doesn’t and won’t ever need saving. At its best, Christianity is a faith that dies again and again and again for the sake of other people.

Christianity is a faith that is totally okay with you laying it in a tomb if that’s what it takes for you to be free, to be loved and to be whole. Sometimes it’s a faith that expires before you’re ready, that leaves when things are just getting good, not because it wasn’t true, or worth it or meaningful, but because it has served its purpose – it saved you and introduced you to the world as it could be when you pay attention to what matters.

It’s only when we hold on to Christianity as if it were eternal that it ends up expiring like milk in our fridge during a vacation. It sours and eventually turns on us.

“A number of friends mentioned the loss or ‘death’ of their Christian faith, or God even, over the last decade.”

This Christmas, let your faith do what it has wanted to do for years now, which is to die so that something brand new may enter your world. May it die so that something new might call you, teach you, ordain you and might even save you, again. And may that newness be just as unexpected, unnerving and exhaustingly redemptive as it was for me to lay my grandparents in the grave or to welcome my son to the world. Maybe that’s why God took on flesh and entered the world through the birth canal of an engaged teenager on the outskirts of the Roman Empire in the midst of religious and socio-political oppression. Maybe that’s why God was executed as a political criminal when he was 33, and maybe that’s why God emptied his tomb three days later.

Maybe it was so that we might be saved by the death of God and the newness that follows that death again and again.




By ERIC MINTON

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Tuesday 24 December 2019

Eight common Christmas Traditions

The Real Story Behind 8 Weird Christmas Traditions


Christmas is a beautiful time of year where Christians from around the world gather to celebrate the birth of our Savior. It’s also a time when otherwise sensible people drag gigantic trees into their living rooms, hang flammable decorative socks over fireplaces and try to convince themselves eggnog isn’t disgusting. Let’s face it: The Christmas story may be beautiful, but Christmas has gotten weird.

Here’s a look at the strange-but-true backstories of some of Christmas’ most popular traditions.

CHRISTMAS TREES

Though Christmas trees do have Christian origins with Martin Luther evidently being a big fan (he may have appropriated it from a pagan tradition), they used to be straight-up dangerous. Luther was the first one who apparently decorated a tree with actual lit candles, literally endangering the entire household.


STOCKINGS

Christmas Scholar Gerry Bowler (he wrote a book called Santa Claus: A Biography) theorized that nuns started the tradition in the 1100s. The nuns told kids to leave their shoes out in hopes of receiving gifts in them from a “night visitor” in exchange for good behavior. Stockings evolved from there. By the way, “night visitor” would be an awesome band name. Called it.


NATIVITY SCENE

These little decorative toy sets may look nice on the end table or when inexplicably comprised of Snoopy characters, but they aren’t exactly biblical. The wise men, Christmas star, gifts and visible angels are all part of a longer story spanning different locations over a longer period of time. Plus, scholars debate if there were a bunch of animals just hanging out.


MISTLETOE

Mistletoe has such creepy origins (evidently, the Druids used it to ward off evil spirits?), that some churches actually banned it. But thanks to the plant’s link to Norse mythology’s symbol for love, it’s also super creepy because real-talk, kissing someone without consent is not cool.


THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

The song dates all the way back to at least 1780 when it was used as a children’s memorization tool. Though it’s also connected with Advent and the buildup to Christmas, it makes almost no sense. Why would you celebrate the birth of our Savior by humble-bragging about getting a bunch of birds and musicians as gifts from a crush? And, side note: Who gives birds and musicians as gifts?


CHRISTMAS ELVES

We’ve got Sunday school partly to thank for the idea of tiny elves helping Santa. The 1876 book The House of Santa Claus, a Christmas Fairy Show for Sunday Schools helped popularize magical beings helping Santa. What a “Fairy Show” has to do with the nativity story remains unclear to this day, but we’re assuming it was a Veggie Tales-type of situation.


YULE GOAT

Decorative straw goats are popular in some parts of Europe, and you guessed it, have a crazy backstory. The goat symbol dates back to Nordic traditions, but in the 11th century it became popular for a St. Nick figure to lead one around at holiday ceremonies. Why? To symbolizes Jesus’ control over the devil. Seriously, how could this be more clear?


GINGERBREAD

One tradition has it that there was a fourth wise man who was bringing ginger as a present to Jesus, but he got sick along the way. A rabbi who was treating him said that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem (which can translate to “House of Bread”). All the bread talk made them hungry, and the next thing you know, they started carbing up on their new creation.



These are the eight common Christmas traditions—that are actually pretty weird—explained.
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Saturday 21 December 2019

Trump Should Be Removed from Office


It’s time to say what we said 20 years ago when a president’s character was revealed for what it was.

In our founding documents, Billy Graham explains that Christianity Today will help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith. The impeachment of Donald Trump is a significant event in the story of our republic. It requires comment.

The typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible. We want CT to be a place that welcomes Christians from across the political spectrum, and reminds everyone that politics is not the end and purpose of our being. We take pride in the fact, for instance, that politics does not dominate our homepage.

That said, we do feel it necessary from time to time to make our own opinions on political matters clear—always, as Graham encouraged us, doing so with both conviction and love. We love and pray for our president, as we love and pray for leaders (as well as ordinary citizens) on both sides of the political aisle.

Let’s grant this to the president: The Democrats have had it out for him from day one, and therefore nearly everything they do is under a cloud of partisan suspicion. This has led many to suspect not only motives but facts in these recent impeachment hearings. And, no, Mr. Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story in the House hearings on impeachment.

But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.

The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near-perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.

Trump’s evangelical supporters have pointed to his Supreme Court nominees, his defense of religious liberty, and his stewardship of the economy, among other things, as achievements that justify their support of the president. We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not, that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency damages the reputation of our country and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.

This concern for the character of our national leader is not new in CT. In 1998, we wrote this:

The President's failure to tell the truth—even when cornered—rips at the fabric of the nation. This is not a private affair. For above all, social intercourse is built on a presumption of trust: trust that the milk your grocer sells you is wholesome and pure; trust that the money you put in your bank can be taken out of the bank; trust that your babysitter, firefighters, clergy, and ambulance drivers will all do their best. And while politicians are notorious for breaking campaign promises, while in office they have a fundamental obligation to uphold our trust in them and to live by the law.

And this:

Unsavory dealings and immoral acts by the President and those close to him have rendered this administration morally unable to lead.

Unfortunately, the words that we applied to Mr. Clinton 20 years ago apply almost perfectly to our current president. Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the Senate or by popular vote next election—that is a matter of prudential judgment. That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.

To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?

We have reserved judgment on Mr. Trump for years now. Some have criticized us for our reserve. But when it comes to condemning the behavior of another, patient charity must come first. So we have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due, to try to understand their point of view, to see the prudential nature of so many political decisions they have made regarding Mr. Trump. To use an old cliché, it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence. And just when we think it’s time to push all our chips to the center of the table, that’s when the whole game will come crashing down. It will crash down on the reputation of evangelical religion and on the world’s understanding of the gospel. And it will come crashing down on a nation of men and women whose welfare is also our concern.


Mark Galli is editor in chief of Christianity Today.

Source Link: Christianity Today

Saturday 14 December 2019

Should Christmas Trees Be Decorated With the Star of David?

A Norwegian church is under fire for using the Jewish symbol, but some are coming to its defense


A church in Norway is under fire by local authorities for using the Star of David as part of its public Christmas decorations, which raises the question, why use Jewish symbols in association with a Christian holiday?

Despite the fact that it is apparently common in Northern Europe to associate the Star of David (in Hebrew the Magen David) with Christmas, Irene Heng Lauvsnes, mayor of the Norwegian town of Strand, asked the same question of the Klippen Pentecostal Church, which uses the Jewish symbol prominently in its annual Christmas celebration held in a municipal park.

Lauvsnes insisted that the Star of David is a symbol of the Jews and of the State of Israel, and therefore has no place in a Christmas celebration.

Vebjorn Selbekk, editor-in-chief of the Norwegian daily Dagen and Israel Today’s partner in Norway, was bewildered by how grossly Lauvsnes, and modern liberal society as a whole could mix up historical facts.

In an editorial appearing in his own newspaper, Selbekk sought to remind everyone that Christmas is a celebration of “a Jewish boy born to a Jewish mother in a Jewish stable in a Jewish city in a Jewish country.”

As such, Jewish symbolism is very much fitting with the true reason for the season.

Only in an ultra-secular society determined to water down religious commemorations to the point that they become mere cultural phenomena could the Jewish connection to Christmas be missed.



Source Link: Israel Today

Wednesday 11 December 2019

When Evangelicals Make Jesus Look Scary to Jews

This can’t be what Paul meant when he told Gentiles to provoke the Jews to jealousy


Popular Evangelical pastor and broadcaster Rick Wiles recently alleged on an airing of his “TruNews” program that the impeachment efforts against President Donald Trump are an attempt by Jews to “take over America.”

These kinds of antisemitic conspiracies are not new for the well-known Evangelical broadcaster, but in his most recent spew, he has outdone even his nasty self.

The title of the broadcast is a dead giveaway: “Jew Coup: Seditious Jews Orchestrating Trump Impeachment Lynching.” In the hour-long tirade of crap that comes out of the mouth of this pastor, he explains to his vulnerable listeners: “That’s the way the Jews work, they are deceivers, they plot, they lie, they do whatever they have to do to accomplish their political agenda.”

Wiles (better “Wily”) goes on to warn his large Christian following that “People are going to be forced, possibly by this Christmas, to take a stand because of this Jew coup in the United States. This is a coup led by Jews to overthrow the constitutionally elected president of the United States and it’s beyond removing Donald Trump, it’s removing you and me (US Christians). That’s what’s at the heart of it.”

I hesitate to go on, but we need to be aware of the kind of hatred being promoted by these Evangelical leaders. “You have been taken over by a Jewish cabal,” he warns. “The church of Jesus Christ, you’re next. Get it through your head! They’re coming for you. There will be a purge. That’s the next thing that happens when Jews take over a country, they kill millions of Christians.”

I won’t continue. You get the idea. If you think this is an exaggeration, you can see for yourself below.

Every Christian and Jew should be concerned by these dangerous and vicious attacks on the Jewish people which gain a lot of traction in the world of lies, scandals, and hatred promoted over the Internet.

All of this, of course, reflects on Jesus, and you can only imagine what the Jewish people think when an Evangelical regurgitates such venom. O wait, no need to imagine, here is a response from The Yeshiva World, the “most widely read Ultra-Orthodox” Jewish website. Half-way down the page, you can watch a 2-minute summary of the Wiles rant, but I warn you, coat your stomach with Maalox before you do.


Source Link: First published by Israel Today


A way to make memories last forever

Memorial Cards- A way to make memories last forever
Memorial Cards

It is hard to lose a loved one but it has to be accepted that no one stays forever. Only memories can last forever and through memories, we can keep a connection with our past loved ones. When someone passes, It can be hard to let go of the person and the grief as well. The best way to heal and remember them can be through a memorial.

A memorial gives a measure of comfort and it is a way for all the loved ones to cherish the memory of the deceased. In order to make it more special, memorial cards can be a great idea. People will always remember the one who is gone every time they look at the card.
How important are these memorial cards?

Memorial cards are also known as funeral cards and prayer cards. You can customize them any way you wish. They are available in plastic, paper, wood, steel, etc. They usually contain a photo of the deceased with the name, date of birth as well as death and any poem, quote or a few lines which the deceased liked.

Here are a few reasons which will make you think as to why you should choose a memorial card:-

1. As you want the card to reflect the personality of the deceased, you can get it designed in the way which will remind the attendees of the deceased for a lifetime. After all, this is the purpose of the cards.

2. Everyone at a point of time in their lives may want that one who is gone to guide them or help them. A few inspiring words by the deceased printed on the memorial card may act as a guiding path for the close ones in the time of need. You never know what magic a few words can do.

3. The fast life around is squeezing the life out of everyone. The importance of life is forgotten in order to keep up with the pace of society. A memorial card can work as a reminder for everyone that no one is going to live forever. It is the present which demands to be enjoyed. A memorial card can motivate the close ones to create memories that will remain in this world after them, the good they can do to the society which will make them immortal in the form of memories.


   Life is a journey towards death, as they say. In this journey, it is important to create memories and to keep the memories of those who are gone. A little effort on your part, of handing over the memorial card, will keep your loved one alive in the form of memories.

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