Christians Without Jesus - It's a Thing

3/31 Update:  Full disclosure -- I'm not much of a believer; but my lovely wife and I have found a church that we like.  The message is positive and accepting, the sermons are thoughtful and thought-inspiring, I've gotten deeply involved in the music program, and I absolutely love the people there - as individuals and as a community.  For the first time in my life, I'm enthusiastic about going to church!

This mural is in the narthex, right by the front door.  This, in my not so humble opinion is doing Christianity the right way.

How all this happened is a story for another day. What I want to talk about now are walls.  They are the sermon theme for this Lenten season, and today's was about the walls we all build that separate us from each other.  Walls built around geography, race, politics, gender, gender identity, social status, and economic position.

What didn't get mentioned are the walls due to religion.  The ones between Christians and Muslims, Jews or non-believers are pretty obvious.  But there is also a high and thick wall within Christianity, separating the conservative [or as I think of it, regressive] and progressive approaches.  Roger Wolsey does a deep dive into this in his book Kissing Fish, which has informed a lot of my thinking.

Below is a thing that happened on Twitter on Friday evening.  John Pavlovitz, in case you don't know of him, is a progressive Christian writer who I follow and respect.  Both he and Wolsey get a lot of flack from regressives who accuse them of heresy, when they are simply relating the clear and obvious message of Jesus. The exchange below illustrates what the wall within Christianity looks like.

In retrospect, I probably could have been more charitable.  But, let's face it, I'm a smart ass, and that usually comes into play. 
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On Twitter John Pavlovitz posted this -

Here is the article linked in the above tweet.

First response I saw was from this guy -

Christian minister.  This was his response.

JK: You perverse filthy hypocrite: If you knew anything about the Scriptures you would Know that GOD does hold humanity in contempt: & that every leader on earth, whether Good or bad; is put in place By Him.

I don't know if there is some prior history between the two Johns, but the viciousness of this attack, right out of the box is nothing short of stunning. Intrigued by this, I responded.

Me: Please provide specific scriptural references indicating -
1) God's contempt for mankind;
2) God puts leaders in place on earth.

Really - this is fascinating.  I'll wait.

Then this -

Me: I'm especially interested in how you deal with --

"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them;"
and
"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." 

These lines are in Genesis, in case you need help finding them.

God bless you!

It gets better.

JK: Way too much work for an account with only 71 followers: Provide the Scriptures That challenge what I said; or do the work yourself: I don't owe you anything troll

Me: Your measure of worth - Twitter followers?
I provided those scriptures in my follow up comment. It's clear in Genesis. Read it.
You, sir, are exactly why people are leaving the faith. They are not inspired by your message of hate. 
You are the troll.
May God have mercy on you.

Me:  Translating John Keister: My hateful opinion is contrary to scripture. I can't defend so I'll hope that nobody notices.
Not a good look, John.
Translating me:
Sorry John - we are noticing.  Me and all 71 of my followers - 70 thoughtful people and one smart dog.
God's mercy on you.

Responses on Twitter get non-linear.  I'm piecing this together as best I can.

JK: The First Message Of Jesus Is: You're eternally damned to everlasting death: Confess & Repent Of your sins: Only then Shall you Be Saved  *

JK:  You like {Genesis 6: 5+11} Educate yourself & Keep your fake blessing

Me:  Fake?  On what do you base that?  Your prejudice?
You memorize verses but have no understanding.
Jesus teaches love and you spew hate.
I am educating myself, with hope and humility.
I don't think you can make that claim.
You're the fake. You know words, but you don't know Jesus.

Me: Sorry - I ran out of space to offer a blessing.

I hope God softens your heart, opens your mind, and frees your spirit so you can see that judging is God's business; and that love, inclusion and acceptance are your business. Sheep and goats, amigo.

May God have mercy on you.

JK: Unlike you, I Know Every Scripture In The Bible & Understand most of them: & On Judgement Day you're not going to blame your sins on me hypocrite: #ForTheRecord I Speak for GOD, not you

Me:  Oh, blah, blah, blah. You know nothing abt me, let alone hypocrisy. Nice projection BTW. What you've shown here is that you are prideful, arrogant, hateful, judgmental, and deeply un-Christlike.
The message of Jesus is clear: love and forgiveness.
Go read it.
May God forgive you.

JK: {Luke 13: 1-9} This is the last you get from me: You're muted fool

Me: John really needs to apply Luke 13: 1-9 to himself.

He has the right wing trifecta in spades: projection, tone-deafness to irony, and a stunning lack of self awareness.

He might think he's won by muting me, but all he's done is run away and hide.

It's pitiful. I'm sad for him.

TiredSouthernLibtard interjects -
You might wanna bow out of this thread *Pastor Keister* - you're sorta kinda getting owned...

JK:  Pay attention: My GOD Has Owned everyone in this thread: You're nothing

TSL: And Christ be with you as well. I - like all of us - was created in God's image - so I claim FAR from nothing. ☺ Thank the Lord I was never exposed to a *minister* such as yourself. wow

JK: You pathetic hypocrite; you tweeted💩 @ me first: Beat it: You got schooled #Seeya

TSL:  (and maybe - as a *minister* - not post 💩 emojis... 😮)

Me: I guess the minister has forgotten his wonton attack on @johnpavlovitz at the top of this thread.  No self-awareness.

* Me, in a later response:
I really want to see this verse.  Too bad he's muted me.

What I didn't realize in real time is that this: {Genesis 6: 5+11} were the verses he meant. Here's Genesis 6.  God regrets having created us.  Once we were good and now we are nothing but evil. You'd think an all-knowing, all-powerful God would have had a clue. But that's the Bible for you - chose the passages that seem to support your point of view. This is in the Jewish part of the Bible, and I never hear Jews speak this way.  Haters gotta hate, though, and here is their scriptural support. It's conservative [and false] Christianity at its worst.

There's more between JK and TSL, and lots of other comments from other posters, but you get the idea.

It's kind of fun, in a perverse way, to jab the hornet's nest and find there's nothing in it but a slug. But this whole thing just made me sad.  What this minister [?!?] puts forth is such a hateful perversion of the message of Jesus, that reading his words leaves me in despair - not just for Christianity, but for the whole human race.

Here's Luke 13: 1-9.  It's kind of about repentance, but also kind of about fertilizing your fig tree, avoiding discouragement, and best of all - hope.  Where John Keister sees a negative message of despair and cruel judgement, I see a positive message of hope of and redemption.  What do you see?

4/03 Update:  Then today, this happened.  I just makes me sadder.

It just keeps getting worse.

Hospice

Here is a picture of my mother [standing] and her twin sister last month on their 94th birthday.

On the morning of June 2nd she suffered a stroke.  After a week in the hospital, where she declined severely, it became clear that there would be no recovery.  On the advice of several doctors, we moved her into a hospice facility for comfort care.

As of now, she is still there, totally unaware and unresponsive.   There are supposed to be 7 stages of grief, but I must have leapfrogged a few.  I got to acceptance very quickly.  But this is still sad and very painful.

This is a beautiful location, and that helps a little bit.

The last three pics are of a great blue heron.  I was very lucky to get him in flight.

This is Beyond Awesome

Sunday Music Blogging

My wife - she's a-love me!

Sunday Music Blogging

A truly outstanding performance of this show-stopper by a high school cast.

I played for this show my senior year in H.S. - 48 years ago.  I see now that you miss a lot from the orchestra pit.

Granddaughter Rebekka has a part in the play right now, and a nice little feature in this number.

There is no set choreography for pieces like this.  It's all up to the creativity and ability of the local talent.





"Show-stopper" is used advisedly.  When I linked the vid on Facebook, one of my friends commented, "This is one of those 'mandatory' song-and-dance numbers that adds nothing to the story line."  This is true.  But I feel that musical theater isn't just about story line - the stories tend to be on the weak side anyway.  It's about a balance among story, song, and dance - and in the case of the Music Man, lots of particularly snappy and clever dialog.

And when he dances, certainly boys, what else - the piper pays him! 
Yes, sir.  
Yes, sir. 
Yes, sir.

Sunday Music Blogging

Brandi Carlile and the twins at the Mt. Baker Theater, Bellingham, WA. March 19, 2010.



If you have come to expect anything from my Sunday Music offerings, it would certainly not be this.

I'll admit that I never heard of Brandi Carlile or this song until it was featured in this NPR All Things Considered spot.

Then, it became pretty special.




Enjoy.

Holy Coleoidea!

I had a beautiful cephalopodian Bumpa-grandduaghter moment on Christmas (aka Cephalo-Festivus*) eve.  Nine-year-old Samantha had requested a fish from Santa Claus.  Her mom was adamant that no such fish would be forth-coming.  (As an aside, it was revealed that Santa will only deliver animals of any kind with prior parental approval.)  Sam was equally adamant the she was going to get her fish, and went around singing "I Want A Fish For Christmas," providing her own original lyrics to this tune.

Big sister Amanda (age 14) piped in, saying, "How could Santa deliver a fish?"  Evidently, his sleigh is not properly equipped for transporting them. 

"Well", I suggested, "think about how Santa gets from Scotland to Nova Scotia."

"He crosses the sea," Amanda replied, warily.

It was then generally - albeit reluctantly - agreed that he could at any random moment just swoop down and scoop a fish out from the drink.  "Actually," I said, "I was thinking more of a squid."

The look of disdain on Samantha's face was worth the price of admission, all by itself.

Pressing on, I asked, "If you got a squid, what would you name it?"

After a moments thought, Sam replied, "Squidward."   I thought that was quite good; but her dad interjected, "What about Squidney?"

On that cue, I started riffing about the squid's long, flexible tentacles.  Middle sister Rebekka (age 11) was sitting next to me on the couch, and from the corner of my eye, I saw the light bulb go on over her head.  We looked at each other and said, in perfect unison: "Squid don't have any knees."  The infamous Bumba-Bekka mind meld was in full force.

Then we high-fived amidst the groans.   It was fabulous.

After all that quieted down, I told Sam to call me on Christmas morning (but not too early) and tell me if she got her fish.  (In my exalted position of bumpahood, I had some inside information.)

When the call came she was one excited little girl.  Santa brought her an aquarium, and all the required accessories, along with a gift card to a pet shop, where she could choose her own fish.

That Santa - what a guy!

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* Find the explanation in comments here.

What I'm Thankful For

First off for my family - my lovely wife, who is my greatest supporter, biggest fan, and the love of my life; for our offspring, who gave me an anchor and enriched my life in more ways than they can possibly know; for our 11 smart, talented and beautiful grandchildren, who have been bringing us joy for a decade and a half, and give me hope for our future; for my mom, always there for me in a time of need, and still going strong at 90, and my sister, who brings us both strength; for nephews, nieces, cousins, and in-laws, who I don't get to see as often as I would like.

I love and appreciate you all.

I'm thankful for free speech, and the opportunity to exercise it that this blog provides; and for anyone who stops by to read, especially if you leave a comment.

I am very fortunate to have grown up where and when I did, as part of the only generation for whom the American Dream was a realistic expectation.  I'm thankful for the New Deal, that made America great, and the Great Society, which greatly reduced poverty, and moved us in the direction of equality and opportunity for all. I'm thankful for the opportunities I had: affordable education, a robust economy so I could find employment in young adulthood that was more than just a job; for American industry that gave me a career and a pension, for Social Security that allows me to have a comfortable retirement.

In my youth, my father often tried to impress on me how lucky I was to have all of these dreams, opportunities and expectations.  I did not get it then, but I do now.  We bumped heads - a lot - and I can't say it was all my fault.  But he gave me perspectives I otherwise would not have known, a foundation in duty and responsibility, a passion for education, and a healthy skepticism.

Dad's been gone a long time.  Our relationship was never easy, but he did a lot for me.  Rest easy, dad.  I'm thankful for you, too.

And, of course, for music, the great natural anti-depressant; along with all my musical friends and fellow noise-makers.

Oh - can't forget all my friends at the Crossword Corner.

Peace, love and joy to all on this Thanksgiving day.

I Am So Proud . . .

. . . of my lovely wife.

Here is a message she sent to Harry Reid today.

I want Senator Bernie Sanders on that super committee that is being formed. I also do not want any "Blue-dog" Democrats on the committee.  It is vital that the Democrats you select are strong-willed and determined to protect the poor, the sick and the elderly among us from the Republicans, who care only for their rich benefactors.  

I am tired of the way things have been going and there must be a change.  It is time for the Democrats to stand up for the little guy.  That's what they have always done.

I am also sick of hearing the phrase, "ask the rich to do their part".  What's with the ASKING?  Nobody asked the rest of us.  It is time to TELL them to do their part.

Sincerely,

Mrs. JzB

She sent a similar message to Nancy Pelosi, with Dennis Kucinich as the prime recommendation.

Have you written your Senator?  Your Congressperson?  You should.

Today is also the LW's birthday.  Happy Birthday, baby.  You are the best.
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Posting Takes Back Seat

We just had a great weekend watching granddaughters perform in dance competition.

Tonight, I have a performance with a guest artist who flew in from L.A. for the occasion.  Hope he appreciates the snow.  (Yes, it SNOWED this morning.)

House full of granddaughters tomorrow, then I'm blogging the crossword puzzle, which will keep me up half the night.

Wednesday I'll probably be zombicated.

So if I post in the next few days, be on the alert for more than the usual level of babbling incoherence.

Here is something from tonight's program by way of compensation.

Haiku Wednesday - Disclosure (and More)

Sensational Haiku Wednesday is powered by Jenn.
This week's theme: Disclosure.

DISCLOSURE

Words that share something,

Revealing a deep truth, or

The thoughts of a child  .  .  . 

For Martin Luther King day, my 8-year-old grandson, Nate, had an assignment to write a poem on peace.

His poem took third place among the 3rd graders in his district.  Congrats, Nate!  You make a Bumpa proud.

Here it is.

          PEACE

       If we had Peace
        there would be
        no wars.

        If we had Peace
        no one would
        rob a store.

        If we're Peacefull
        We would not judge
        by color.

        If we had
        Peace we would
        not call people names.

        If we had Peace
        the World would
        be nice.

© 2011 by Nate

Reprinted with permission

All rights reserved.

Mellow Yellow Monday - 1/24

A granddaughter's hand

Print makes a bright flower for

My favorite mouse pad

Mellow Yellow Monday - 1/17

Trains and Tonka Trucks

Perfect gifts for a

Three-year-old grandson

Josh will be three on Wednesday.  Don't let him peek.
UPDATE:  My bad.  His birthday is Thursday.

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Sunday Music Blogging 1/09

For  Christina Taylor Green

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Shadow Shot Sunday - 1/09; Mellow Yellow Monday - 1/10

Samantha was born

With an intuition for

Knowing how to pose

Mellow Yellow Monday - SHARK BAIT!

Could this be shark bait,

A minnow strainer, or a

Mouthful of cousins?

August 9, 2010

Ripley's Aquarium of The Smokies

Gatlinburg, TN

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Shadow Shot Sunday - 1/02

On a treck through the

Hills, on a steep rock-strewn path,

You might find these boys 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

August 8, 2010


Photo by Amanda

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Six Word Saturday 12/25

Step son Tom is leaving Afghanistan!

Best Christmas present ever - for sure.

Trip home takes about a week.

Merry Christmas* to my electronic friends.

*Or Happy Holidays - you can chose. 

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Shadow Shot Sunday - 12/19

Play for me, Lauren,

In this cold, bleak midwinter,

A new song of joy

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Six Word Saturday

Today - Our oldest grandson's birthday party.

We've a cluster of December birthdays.

Happy birthdays to us, to us, too.