How was church today?

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Wow. What a speaker. Now to address all those who aren't growing up with any God, unless it is a word used in profanity. It also makes me think about how careful and truthful we must be if we choose to teach young children...to teach in an inspiring way, but a way that will be able to transition into a mature understanding. I don't want to be the one who could be the answer to the question: Who told you that? Especially if the telling is somehow false or misleading.
 
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Nancy said:
Wow. What a speaker. Now to address all those who aren't growing up with any God, unless it is a word used in profanity. It also makes me think about how careful and truthful we must be if we choose to teach young children...to teach in an inspiring way, but a way that will be able to transition into a mature understanding. I don't want to be the one who could be the answer to the question: Who told you that? Especially if the telling is somehow false or misleading.
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It's a bit like the Santa Claus problem, except worse.
 
At 3:10, I'm trying to figure out why atheism leads to despair. What a massive non-sequitur.
 
chansen said:
At 3:10, I'm trying to figure out why atheism leads to despair. What a massive non-sequitur.
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Oh God (no pun intended), not that old saw again:rolleyes:. You don't need God to have meaning and purpose in your life. You really don't.
 
chansen said:
At 3:10, I'm trying to figure out why atheism leads to despair. What a massive non-sequitur.
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I was thinking, if you listened to the whole sermon, that he is appealing more to the "nones" or agnostics. Those not quite ready to go to the extremes of atheism (in their minds) but have also rejected the God that they have been taught through a particular church or religion . Perhaps this particular point didn't resonate with you, but maybe someone else? Just my thoughts. Did you find the whole sermon offensive or were there some valuable insights IYO?
 
Waterfall said:
Last Sundays service was part 2 of a 5 part series called "Who Needs God?". Part 2 was called "Gods of the No Testament" which referred to the Gods we were raised with which really can't be found in the New Testament. The minister went on to speak of 5 Gods that are often referred to and thought of as biblical and often lead many away from the church.

The question was asked, "what if the God you're walking away from, never existed to begin with?"

Sermon was strongly based on this series by Andy Stanley part 2:

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How "strongly based?"
 
Jae said:
How "strongly based?"
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The minister gave a lot of credit to this series for his sermon. Many of these points were followed. I would say very strong. This is a church with a lot of young people and young adults. (120 children in Sunday school each week) that many were more likely "nones" to begin with. My own daughter and family comes on Sunday from out of town when she can.....her comment was....Mom, I have never been more interested in church and learning about God until I came here.
 
Waterfall said:
The minister gave a lot of credit to this series for his sermon. Many of these points were followed. I would say very strong. This is a church with a lot of young people and young adults. (120 children in Sunday school each week) that many were more likely "nones" to begin with. My own daughter and family comes on Sunday from out of town when she can.....her comment was....Mom, I have never been more interested in church and learning about God until I came here.
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Sounds like the kind of church mainstream Christianity needs more of.
 
Waterfall said:
I was thinking, if you listened to the whole sermon, that he is appealing more to the "nones" or agnostics. Those not quite ready to go to the extremes of atheism (in their minds) but have also rejected the God that they have been taught through a particular church or religion . Perhaps this particular point didn't resonate with you, but maybe someone else? Just my thoughts. Did you find the whole sermon offensive or were there some valuable insights IYO?
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I hit that, laughed, and stopped the video. Someone who tells me my rejecting his imaginary friend leads me to despair isn't worth the investment of my time.
 
chansen said:
I hit that, laughed, and stopped the video. Someone who tells me my rejecting his imaginary friend leads me to despair isn't worth the investment of my time.
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Give it a try, he tends to agree with Dawkins, Hitchens etc.... on occasion. I'd be interested in your thoughts if you would stick it out. I totally understand why you stopped where you did, but I don't think he's out to put atheists down.
 
Listening further, now he's on about Karen Armstrong and the different versions of God that don't exist.

The whole thing just smacks of desperation. People are moving away from belief, and so this guy is waving his hand at them in the rear view mirror and shouting, "But I don't believe in that God either!" He lists all these different Gods he says don't exist, which are really just atheistic arguments, and admits to all of them. He waves the white flag at all the simple, obvious anti-God arguments. Yes, he even quotes and agrees with Richard Dawkins. You might expect I'd be happy with that, but he's taking us down a rabbit hole where I can expect a more mature and amazing God will be waiting for us all.

It's pure desperation. It's meant to appeal to the nones who walked away. He is desperate to connect with them in this early going of what is apparently a 10 part sermon. He needs them to say, "Yeah! That's the God I rejected! Tell me more!"

It's a Hail Mary pass in sermon form.
 
chansen said:
Listening further, now he's on about Karen Armstrong and the different versions of God that don't exist.

The whole thing just smacks of desperation. People are moving away from belief, and so this guy is waving his hand at them in the rear view mirror and shouting, "But I don't believe in that God either!" He lists all these different Gods he says don't exist, which are really just atheistic arguments, and admits to all of them. He waves the white flag at all the simple, obvious anti-God arguments. Yes, he even quotes and agrees with Richard Dawkins. You might expect I'd be happy with that, but he's taking us down a rabbit hole where I can expect a more mature and amazing God will be waiting for us all.

It's pure desperation. It's meant to appeal to the nones who walked away. He is desperate to connect with them in this early going of what is apparently a 10 part sermon. He needs them to say, "Yeah! That's the God I rejected! Tell me more!"

It's a Hail Mary pass in sermon form.
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I was thinking it appealed to those who wanted their adult questions answered rather than given the answers that were sufficient when they were young. I suspect even those answers will one day have to be unpacked and revisited as one matures in faith.
I do appreciate your input.
 
How is it that people can think, by now, that the reason people have rejected Christianity is they just haven't had their questions answered? If there are explainable answers to the obvious problems with Christianity, why do we need a 10 part sermon to get there?

This is Berserk all over again. This is someone looking to suspend disbelief through connecting with people by being so gosh-darn likable and relatable. Okay, so maybe Berserk with a personality transplant, but you get my point. This is a setup. Admit to all the obvious failings of common Christian arguments for faith, get people on his side, then come out with a new one in some complex form.
 
chansen said:
How is it that people can think, by now, that the reason people have rejected Christianity is they just haven't had their questions answered? If there are explainable answers to the obvious problems with Christianity, why do we need a 10 part sermon to get there?
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Not everyone does need it, some have just got tired of being told the same old answers that never really answered their questions in the first place or maybe even some think that atheism is too harsh or disrespectful of their spirituality? Or they've been told that it's either science or religion, but not both, by a fundamentalists church. Could be anything....heck I still wonder about the trinity.....

 
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Maybe the problem is people trying to convince other people to believe, or not believe, the way that they do. Maybe we can share ideas without the desire to convert. I like options, and this guy gives me options that fit with my belief system, background, values. But chanson makes good points --- for him---just not for me.
 
I keep spelling chansen as chanson. Sorry. I am related to Hansons, so that comes to my typing fingers first.
 
Considering what some people here have done to.my name in hilarious attempts to insult me, the common misspelling is nothing. Been dealing withe that my whole life.
 
chansen said:
Considering what some people here have done to.my name in hilarious attempts to insult me, the common misspelling is nothing. Been dealing withe that my whole life.
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Whine on it stirs the Edon brewing in the sculling place ... imaginary to many ... they can't see it if their eyes are open ... and yet that falling into sensation ... like a collapse or fall a' sea of dreams into nightmares? One source tells me Edon is an Asian soup not to seem too disoriented ...
 
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