Posted on 04/05/2007 5:05:09 AM PDT by Daffynition
If you're a Tibetan Buddhist or you're leaning that way, you may not know it, but you need Jesus.
That's the thinking behind a series of Christian evangelical workshops -- including one later this month in Wheaton -- that will coincide with the Dalai Lama's trip to Chicago and other American cities this spring.
Interserve USA is putting on the workshops to teach Christians how to talk to Buddhists and, perhaps, to win converts.
"We welcome the Dalai Lama here, but we also want to have a chance to reach Tibetan Buddhists with the gospel," said Doug Van Bronkhorst, executive director of Interserve, an international missionary group based just outside of Philadelphia.
The online announcement for the upcoming workshop offers this enticing hook: "Tibetan Buddhism. It's ancient. It's complex. It's trendy. And its leader, the Dalai Lama, is visiting your city this spring."
But Van Bronkhorst said in a telephone interview Tuesday, "We are interested in people, not notches on a belt."
That's not quite how it sounds to the head of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago, which includes bishops and leaders from most of the largest Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups in the area.
"I'm speaking without knowing anything about this group," said the Rev. Stan Davis, acting director of the council. "But my sense is that their goal is to try to convert to Christianity. Our goal would be to enter into a dialogue with them, to find out about their faith in a two-way conversation."
'He's a very thoughtful man' So does Van Bronkhorst think Christians can learn something from the Dalai Lama and his teachings?
"Oh, sure," Van Bronkhorst said. "He's a very thoughtful man. He has a lot of good things to say about peace in the world, and he's quite knowledgeable about other faiths, including the Christian faith."
Van Bronkhorst says his organization has no plans to send Christian evangelicals to greet the Dalai Lama during his American tour. "Of course that's up to [individuals] if they want to do that," Van Bronkhorst said.
The Rev. Patti Nakai, a part-time minister at Buddhist Temple of Chicago in Uptown, says Buddhists in general may not disagree with the Bible, just the evangelical spin.
"Most Buddhists would not have a problem with what is written in the gospel," said Nakai, who does not follow the particular practices of the Dalai Lama's sect. "It's what evangelical Christians say -- the idea that you have to be saved in a certain way or you're doomed to eternal damnation, that's what we have a problem with."
The Dalai Lama is due to travel to Chicago in early May, making his first public appearance in the city since 1999.
The spiritual leader is expected to stay on the 24th floor of the Palmer House Hilton in the presidential suite, where amenities include three bathrooms.
Spoken like a true non-believer.
Twisting in the wind is no way to live.
I'm with you. Whenever these clowns show up at my door, uninvited, I run them off with such vigor that I'll bet that half of them fill their pants before they get to their car. How dare anybody try to tell me that their belief is the only true one and whatever I believe is crap. Meddling ignorant fools.
Theism.........Nontheism.......Atheism.....Nihilism
Ghenghis is right when he says that Islam is "the same" as Islam, it is a Theistic Religion, monotheistic. But I have trouble putting Shinto on that continuum, they have many "gods" but hardly seem theistic, rather more animistic with a god thing thrown in.
Some Theists tend to want to denigrate and/or destroy other religions, which is quite evident on this thread.
I am surprised a Ghenghis's knowledge on the subject, and have always read his postings on other topics with interest.
As to the DL, I think he made a mistake in not fighting the Chi Coms in 1947. When Buddhas cut and run, the opposition takes their nation away. Thats been happening for oh so long.Only Buthan, Sikkim, and Thailand seem to have survived, and Thailand is on the forefront of a battle repeated many times over the last 1000 years or so.
Thanks for the *.gif. It will cause considerable humor on several venues.
You assume wind twistage......this is not part of my life experience. I am quite secure in my dis-belief.
Right! The Buddhists are harmless. Go after the Muhammad worshippers. They need the saving a lot more
“Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.” And he says, “Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.” So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.
This is true in theory. But there is too much pacifism in Buddhism. Thailand comes to mind where the Muslims are making mincemeat of the Buddhists and driving them out of villages in the South. There has been minimal retaliation against the Jihadist filth
I find it quite distasteful....especially when they go door to door....I have absolutley no patients for that.
Especially when they intimate that if you don't 'buy' exactly what they're 'selling', you'll burn in fire forever. And they say it so nicely, of course.
from the article: "It's what evangelical Christians say -- the idea that you have to be saved in a certain way or you're doomed to eternal damnation, that's what we have a problem with."
Go back and reread his post. The poster didn't assert it was his way that was the only one to heaven, rather there is only one way to heaven and that is provided by God Himself, not by any other man, including Christian believers who are communicating the Gospel. That is simply a communication of the Gospel. Those who consider the issue between themselves and God through faith in Christ also have salvation. Those who reject it, simply will have to have more power than God Himself when they stand before Him and are judged if they want to control their eternal destiny.
When you see how religions get sermonized as spirituality and used by self-righteous fanatics of all stripes, one might wish that someone could speak beyond the framework of a worldview that brought us so much strife and sufferings.
After muddling through Rand and the Objectivists, I think I have found such a teacher; Eckhart Tolle. ‘He thinks many of our religions are poor copies of their original messages. The 'enlightenment' is lost in 'translation.' As Tolle observes, not everyone has to be “dragged, kicking and screaming” into “the Kingdom of heaven” (i.e., mindful presence in day to day life).
Those who commit themselves to cultivating greater presence and mindfulness very often see dividends in terms of greater peace, equanimity, and effectiveness in coping with the stresses of day-to-day life.
Tolle has much to teach. At the same time, there is a new-age-guru feeling to the reception he has gotten in the United States, which can be a turn-off, especially to hard-headed realists. Yet the Rand admirers whom I personally know to be the most committed to their own spiritual growth—by which I mean, are constantly striving to understand their relationship to the rest of the universe, and their role in it, and how to improve it—have been moved deeply upon listening to the first CD of The Power of Now. Tolle’s latest offering: A NEW EARTH: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose is IMHO a life-altering book/CD.’ It sure put it all together for me.
In the case of Stan Davis, the "REV." affix to his name must stand for "revolting". It is the goal of all true Christians to convert the nonbeliever to Christianity.
It would be the height of sadism to have the knowledge of the true Way to heaven (through faith in Jesus Christ), and allow an errant seeker to go along without knowing the truth.
Well, there way is wrong. I would rather we suffer hell on earth than for those who die without Christ to suffer hell for eternity.
I proposed a while back the theorem that the veracity of a spiritual truth is inversely proportional to the number of paragraphs needed to relate it. Tolle can express such truths in a single clear sentence, as opposed to the 5,000 word Calvinist rants about various "heresies" we see posted here all the time. The difference is telling.
I have always loved Buddhist ideology. I has the most sound logic IMO.
Who's handling the biblical mandate to take the Gospel to dogs and cats?
well dont worry, the Holy Spirit will decend upon all non believers in the form of tongues of fire and give them the truth......
Sadism? how smug of you.
Kettle, meet pot.
What would you think of a title like, “Jesus hopes to ‘reach’ Jews and Gentiles”? How arrogant of Him, hm?
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