Posted on 01/24/2008 11:14:00 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- Donald Miller still loves God and Jesus. Don't misunderstand him.
His problem is with Christianity, at least how it's often practiced.
"It's a dangerous term so I try to avoid it," said Miller, who considered giving up his career as a Christian writer and leaving the church in 2003 because he couldn't attend services without getting angry.
For him, the word conjured up conservative politics, suburban consumerism and an "insensitivity to people who aren't like us."
To quell his rage, he sat in his boxer shorts and banged out a memoir of his experiences with God, stripped of the trappings of religion.
"Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality" sold just enough to pay a few months rent. Then five years later, spurred by a grass-roots movement of 20-something Christians longing to connect to God without ties to the religious right, the book became a sudden hit.
Fans were buying caseloads and passing out copies to friends. It peaked at No. 18 on The New York Times list of best-sellers among paperback nonfiction in November. He was mobbed by fans after a recent Young Life conference in Orlando where he addressed a crowd of roughly 4,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Yeah, he has some ideas that are wierd at times, and I don’t agree with some of his conclusions, but I will be able to discuss some of his ideas at length with him in eternity because he is a believer. If you read where he ended up by the end of the book, you would see that his journey led him right back to Faith in Christ Jesus.
As far as I am concerned, anyone who professes the Faith as established in the Nicene Creed, and doesn’t profess anything that contradicts the Nicene Creed, is a Christian.
I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation
came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost
of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried;
and the third day he rose again
according to the Scriptures,
and ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
and he shall come again, with glory,
to judge both the quick and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life,
who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son];
who with the Father and the Son together
is worshipped and glorified;
who spake by the Prophets.
And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church;
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
and I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.
Yeah, he went to Reed College, and in his book
Wow! Am I asking a lot for someone to actually read it?!?
In his book, he talks about how he and a small group of Christians were constantly harrassed by the other students there because of their Christian faith.
He also is very open about living with the “hippies” and how they affected him.
His politics is completely screwed up in my mind, but if you read his book
Asking so much yet again!
If you read his book, he makes very clear arguments for choosing to have Jesus as the central point of your life.
So we aren't about posting articles and commenting on them? Golly, there are a lot of FReepers out there doing the wrong stuff then.
The Emergent Church Declares Unrepentant Sinners Christian
Emergent leader and “theologian” Tony Jones has already said in Relevant Magazine that Emergent has, among others, “lesbian mainline pastors in New England… We haven't yet found that there's anything that justifies us breaking fellowship with somebody else who loves and is trying to follow Jesus.” [2] Ingrid Schlueter and Rev. Wayne Sedlak point out in their article Campolo and Homosexuality (C&H), “Tony Campolo has tried to straddle the fence for years on the issue of homosexuality”
You indicated that I was a 'white washed sepulchur' for judging this young man. . .thus making yourself a 'white washed sepulchur' for judging me.
What you've done is often called hypocrisy.
Got it now?
Have a nice day.
I haven’t read, until today, that Miller had anything to do with that movement or Church. If he espouses those beliefs, then he is in error and is teaching a non-Christian form of the Gospel.
But nothing in his book alludes to that, and the book is what the discussion is about.
On a political level, me and Donald Miller do not see eye to eye.
His theology about Christianity, as described in his book, is in line with Scripture and makes a very compelling read.
If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to read the book, rather than just comments about the author.
Discussion is the purpose of this site, and part of discussion is revealing when there are inaccuracies or misleading content in press articles.
Emergent Evangelical Prophet Tony Campolo
One can only wonder what Tony Campolo means by some of his radical statements he has made and the positions he takes. Some call him a prophet, others call him a heretic. Campolo is no stranger to this controversy, yet he continues to expand it, not reduce it. He has made a career of tackling Americas problems and solving them with his own opinions.
Campolo is a graduate of Eastern University and earned a Ph.D. from Temple University. He previously served for ten years on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. Campolo is now professor emeritus of Sociology at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania.
He is the Founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE). He is educated man yet most see Campolo as a theological liberal and a radical political socialist whose teachings are far from a Christian distinctive, he can certainly be categorized by true evangelicals as aberrant.
After September 11, in a Wheaton College debate Campolo engaged with conservative activist Gary Bauer. Bauer responded, “I know this is hard for you to believe, but the enemy is not John Ashcroft, the enemy is Osama bin Laden.” “I’m not sure about that,” said Campolo,
Tony Campolo is a Change Agent whose vision is to change America’s churches, with radical new ideas that are not based from the Bible or its principles. Some things to know about Campolo associations: Campolo is on Renovaré’s “Board of Reference.” Renovaré is a New Age, ecumenical organization that practices the “meditative” and “contemplative” lifestyle “of early Christianity.
Campolo says, “I am saying that there is no salvation apart from Jesus, that’s my evangelical mindset. However, I’m not convinced that Jesus only lives in Christians.”
“Jesus, is waiting, mystically and wonderfully, in every person I meet. I find Jesus everywhere. The difference between a Christian and non-Christian is not that Jesus isn’t in the non-Christian—the difference is that the Jesus who is within him is a Jesus to whom he will not surrender his life.”
“The minute you start saying that God isn’t in some people, you’re on the verge of Fascism. Why? Erich Fromm saw that. The minute you can look at somebody and say God isn’t in him—he is only in Christians—that person is pure demon.”
Campolo spoke at the National Counsel of Churches (a group whose intent is to have interfaith unity) gathering in May of 1988; where his message conveyed, “ He said that Hindu pacifist Ghandi “was more Christian than most Christians.”
Tony Campolo says he could envision a scenario where God—tired of the mess human beings created in this world-—would send beings from another planet to help people learn to love one another (in the Calvary Contender, 1/1/98).
If it was something I cared about (i.e. Reagan's legacy versus a book written by some guy I don't really care about), I'd verify what the Freeper said. We have our fair share of nuts on FR, so I don't take what other FReepers say at face value.
Did you mean to post this to me or in response to post 144?
At a YOUNG LIFE conference? I thought Young Life was better than that.
Nope, didn't happen.
I merely asked if the term rang any bells for you ... after posting a passage of scripture that is prefaced with To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable
pro·jec·tion [pruh-jek-shuhn] the tendency to ascribe to another person feelings, thoughts, or attitudes present in oneself, or to regard external reality as embodying such feelings, thoughts, etc., in some way
Got it now?
Yes, He does, and He expects us to be walking in LOVE. Too often we enjoy judging others when God is saying to love one another as I have loved you. I don’t hate liberals (I certainly worked with enough of them) but I hate their mindset. I don’t hate homosexuals, I just hate their lifestyle choice. You can hate the sin but care for the sinner, right? I know how judgemental some churches can be and it’s not attractive to me at all. You can judge sin, but be careful judging the sinner. That’s God’s job. How can we win the lost to Christ when we’re berating them for their choices?
Why do you have your mom in a birdcage?
God told me to pray for them, too. I’ve been so busy judging them it’s hard to remember to pray for them, but I try to when I do remember. They need Jesus, too. And God loves them as much as he loves you and I.
I’ve read most of the Peretti books. My son gave me one for Christmas because he likes them. God used his first book to draw him back, so I can’t complain about them. He also read, as i did, all of the Left Behind series, which were okay but I believe in the pre-wrath rapture of the church so it didn’t seem as believable to me as it could have. Since I can’t remember most of what I read, I guess it’s OK (LOL). M
He is sooo wierd.
You’re right. We like to do that...
Ah, so toward whom was the 'white washed sepulchur' comment directed, or did you just post it just to post something for no reason? (I won't hold my breath waiting for an straight answer from you.)
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