Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash
- “I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me – they’re cramming for their final exam.” George Carlin
- “God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.” Martin Luther
- “The Bible tells us to love our neighbors and also to love our enemies, probably because generally they are the same people. ” Gilbert K. Chesterton
Today is Ash Wednesday. Today, in my Lutheran church, I will receive ashes on my forehead. It is called the imposition of ashes. Many Protestant liturgical churches, as well as Catholic and Orthodox, continue this practice. Until I joined this church, I had never practiced this tradition. I found a great explanation of the practice at Life Through Lutheran Lenses: ASHES TO ASHES AND DUST TO DUST: WHY LUTHERANS RECEIVE ASHES ON ASH WEDNESDAY:
There are three reasons why Lutherans go to church to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. First, the ashes remind people of their sinfulness. Second, the ashes remind people of their mortality. Third, the ashes remind people that they have been redeemed.
…In many Lutheran Ash Wednesday services, the Lord’s Supper immediately follows the receiving of ashes. We, who were once dead in our sins, we who deserve to die, come to the Lord’s Table literally wearing the cross of Christ. Here, at the Lord’s table, those who have humbled themselves before the Lord, who have admitted their sin, who know they deserve death, are instead given the new life that is only found through the body and blood of our loving Lord Jesus. Here, at the Lord’s table, those marked with the cross of Christ are raised up, strengthened through God’s mercy, love, and grace, and sent forth into the world to proclaim the good news!
Once, and only once, as a college student, I attended a Methodist church on Palm Sunday. I was given a palm. As I left the church, two older women approached me and told me I was holding my palm irreverently. My hand was down, and the palm was next to my leg. I had held it up during the service but set it down in the empty pew beside me. I was supposed to carry the palm above my shoulder, “just as they did in the time of Jesus.” This was nonsense and a made-up rule with no basis in history.
Having studied history a bit, I remember learning how the letters from the Apostles were treated with great excitement and thoughtfulness. Today, thankfully, we have the entire canon, which is easy to access by all. Many carry the entire Bible with them when they attend church. Others have Bible apps. Todd reminded me of how he was taught that the Bible must be on the top of a stack of books. Again, that was a made-up rule with no basis. However, there is no question that we should hold the Bible as a unique book filled with God’s message to us. Does that mean we can or should treat it like a football?
I heard about it on the KC O’Dea Show, which is broadcast in the Triangle and Triad area. I enjoy his show and learn all sorts of interesting details regarding general news. Many times, it is about strange things in the news. Yesterday, he said he left the Catholic Church, but he may not attend another church regularly. I can’t tell. He asked about megachurches on his show and wondered why folks participate in such churches instead of smaller churches where one could get to know people. He also asked about the practice of the faith in these churches. I knew he was leading up to something, and he was.
This is what one megachurch with what I perceive to be theologically lightweight leaders did. The Christian Post wrote that an Ohio megachurch pastor kicked the Bible off stage during the Super Bowl Sunday service.
Pastor: ‘We believe that church can and should be fun.’ According to CP:
Pastors with Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, a multi-site interdenominational church that boasts a weekly congregation of roughly 34,000, “punted” a copy of the Bible as part of its “Super Bowl of Preaching” series.
…The sermon was delivered on Feb. 11, just hours before the Kansas City Chiefs topped the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.
With play-by-play announcers, color commentary, a referee, and a stage covered in AstroTurf, the Crossroads pulpit resembled Allegiant Stadium more than any church on Sunday morning as Senior Pastor Brian Tome and Pastor Alli Patterson sported football jerseys as they took the stage for the “pregame” coin flip.
What bothered me about this is what the announcer said. They knew this would cause controversy and did it anyway.
“We’re gonna get some emails; here we go,” the announcer remarks.
Watch the video.
Crossroads considers itself an “interdenominational” church. The lead pastor is Brian Tome:
Brian is the founding and senior pastor of Crossroads Church. Crossroads started in 1995 when a group of 11 friends wanted a place for their friends who had given up on church but not on God. Under Brian’s leadership, Crossroads has since expanded to become one of the largest churches in America with locations in multiple states and a digital footprint that spans across the country. Brian has started a number of other non-profits. He is passionate about eradicating poverty in Cincinnati’s urban core, empowering entrepreneurs, supporting women rescued from sex slavery in India, and feeding and educating children in Nicaragua. He has authored four books, hosts The Aggressive Life, a nationally recognized podcast, and leads a movement called Man Camp.
You might find this link to Man Camp interesting.
I tried to find out the pastors’ theological training. Alas, all I read were various commentaries about the love of Bourbon, craft beer, and tight jeans. Given the above worship service, that sounds about right. I attempted to speak to someone about the Bible punt but only got a bot. I left a message anyway.
I’ll let you know if the “team contacts me.
Back to Lent, I am following an app known as Hallow. Yes, I know it is from a Catholic slant. However, I am impressed with the depth of the prayers. I started at Advent and plan to follow them each day during Lent. Has anyone seen anything like this format from the evangelical set? By the way, did you know there are evangelical Catholics? I bet many of you sing Matt Maher’s music in your worship services.
Two questions for you:
- Do you think Crossroad Church went too far on Sunday?
- How do you view or practice your faith during the time of Lent?
Yes, he went too far. Why would you kick God’s word? It is more than a football. I too was raised that the Bible could not be on the floor, must be on a stack of books or on a chair. I have been to many crowded Easter Sunday services where my Bible ended up under my chair. People having a seat is more important.
Also, Lutheran here and I get my ashes in the morning. It leads to many great conversations at work. I usually pray about what to give up, but I am joining a group of ladies at church who are giving up going out to eat. Instead we are taking our “out to eat money” and filling a church pantry in a low income neighborhood about 30 miles from us. I have a devotional book for during Lent.
I just can’t put my thoughts into words on Brian Tome, without going into an all a long, all caps rant….. so I read the CP article, than started googling. (I may – probably will – still come back and rant about Man Camp).
Found this from Mar. 2020: https://www.9marks.org/article/4-reflections-after-listening-to-18-hours-of-sermons-in-americas-biggest-churches
From the 9 Marx article:
“ At least two of the churches, North Point and Crossroads, had a sermon or sermons on the subject of “winning.” Brian Tome (Crossroads) defines winning this way: “to find God’s will for your life and accomplish it” (“Tenacity”, week 2). What’s Tome’s win for this year? 100,000 social media followers so that his “spiritual influence” can spread. Tome goes on to say in his sermon, “Target,” that “winning” is a biblical commandment.
“Uzzah reached out with his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen stumbled and nearly overturned it. And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.” (2 Samuel 6:1-7)
Christianity Lite, as displayed in this video, reeks with irreverence.
Crossroads Church megamania … if you build it, they will come … 34,000 week after week to see what “pastor” will do next.
“We believe that church can and should be fun.”
Jesus wept.
Whew! This is not the sort of spiritual influence we need spreading across America! We have enough aberrations of faith making the rounds already.
This is what happens when the people of God forget to pray and seek God … who substitute the authority of Jesus for the illegitimate authority of mere men … they end up with pastors who have a touch of charisma, a gift of gab, and a bag of gimmicks (such as punting Bibles on Super Bowl Sunday).
What happens when (not if) Tash kicks in your door?
INFLUENCER.
Next thing you know, he’ll be dressing as an Anime Waifu and going “GANG-GANG! GANG-GANG! GANG-GANG! YUM-YUM!” for views and Clout. Eventually winding up on an Atozy “How this Influencer Ruined His Life” video.
Four Words: CAN YOU TOP THIS?
Controversy = Views = Likes & Subscribes = CLOUT.
Max,
When I read the article, I immediately noticed that it said, ‘his “spiritual influence” can spread’ (lower case h)…. as opposed to ‘His “spiritual influence” can spread’ (upper case H).
But hey. Who needs Jesus when the target audience has a wide receiver that can’t catch a pigskin shaped like a rectangular prism!
Was that the three stooges on astro turf?
Small churches can be irreverent as well. Not sure what type, but this was seen on the sign for the Methodist church in our town:
Lent is coming
Get your ash in church
Afterburne,
I personally got a chuckle out of it. One of my sisters-in-law did NOT appreciate it AT ALL.
Dee: Do you think Crossroad Church went too far on Sunday?
I think they did.
I could understand using something similar this as a simple, short skit (with words, or a narrator) for a TEAMKids gathering in the gym or rec area (and with a nerf football, not a Bible) if it was to get the kids’ attention and could lead in to part of the night’s scheduled study……. (Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football sort of thing, maybe? I’m sure others could come up with better ideas.)
But to do this before a full congregation during worship services…… just for fun? Kicking a Bible???
And just an fyi…. this wasn’t a punt…. at least not in football.
@Max:
https://thewartburgwatch.com/2024/01/31/understanding-the-sbc-the-autonomy-thing-is-drying-up-dealing-well-with-abuse-is-unlikely-and-the-danvers-statement-reigns-supreme/#comment-486551
I never knew one of my grandfathers, because he died before I was born, and only met the other one once, because he lived on the other side of the iron curtain. I was a little kid then, and he was already an old man in very bad health. I’ll always regret not having the kind of relationship with my grandfathers that my kids have had with theirs.
I’m sure I would have loved to go fishing with you, and everything else.
Quick comments but after a prayer request:
Please pray for all involved in the KC Parade shooting. Especially pray for the children who were shot or who witnessed others shot.
Comments: yep, it is definitely not cool to kick the Bible off stage. Sort of thumbing your nose at the Almighty. Remind me not to stand near this guy come judgement day. I do not want to be collateral damage.
As to ashes: while I am Lutheran I follow more the practice of a Methodist church we were once part of: they also did the imposition of ashes, but in the evening. They cited Jesus instructing us when we fast to wash our face rather than show all day to the world that we were fasting. So these Methodists felt it best not to go around all day wearing the ash cross on their foreheads for the world to see. (They felt it was virtue signaling.) Instead they received them after supper and went home, not washing them off until morning.
Soul freedom there for however or whenever or even if you receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. I am content to let all follow their consciences on it.
But kicking a Bible off stage is a great visual of the current church: kick God and His word out of the way so you can focus on ME ME ME ME.
We would have made good fishing buddies, Gus. In the meantime, we will fight church devils in TWW articles together.
Yes, it was a “fool goal”
Apparently, irreverence is the new reverent.
Mission accomplished. The guy got everyone riled up. I would never have heard about this otherwise.
But playing the long game, stunts like this will not get people into church. For those of us who got off the roundabout, it confirms made the right, to a non Christian it looks nutty and to those who take their faith seriously it’s inflammatory…and nutty.
True story, I was cleaning off my bookshelf and found an old bible. Was going to toss it in the recycle bin but couldn’t do it. Didn’t feel right. My programming is pretty strong I guess but for what it’s worth I wouldn’t wilfully damage a Koran, book of Mormon, Talmud or any other scripture that has meaning to someone.
Now I did see a Dianetics book in the recycle bin behind Goodwill but didn’t feel bad about leaving it there. Guess I’m just too judgemental lol.
Fishing buddies of a different sort…
True story:
Eons ago, we were members of a rural church whose pastor was an alcoholic in his younger days before he became a Christian (even called the town drunk). One Sunday evening, a couple of his old drinking buddies entered the church at mid-service … one riding the other down the aisle like a horse, shouting and mocking God at the top of their lungs. The deacons escorted them out promptly. Both were killed in an auto crash later that same evening.
Well, they certainly weren’t Peter, James & John. Crossroads Church just gave a lost world looking in yet another reason to say “See, there’s nothing to it.”
Another shocking thing about that irreverent display of pulpit stupidity was the ensuing applause and laughter by the congregation. My God! We’ve lost our spiritual minds!!
Heard the same thing about Jim & Tammy when they were in the news with the whole PTL mess.
Or…
After having to come up with a clever church sign every few days (over and over and over), you either run out of ideas, get kinda punchy, or both.
Maybe they should punt the membership covenant, constitution and bylaws…
I don’t typically celebrate Lent from a liturgical standpoint but am encouraged to check out the Hallow app.
Max,
I’m afraid many go to this church, and churches like that, just for the entertainment, and nothing else.
…..Can’t list the books of the Pentateuch, don’t know what the Gospels are, never said a prayer in their lives (not a real one, anyway).
That may be a true story, but it sounds so much like all the weaponized “GOD’s Gonna Get Ya!” sermon illustrations or Jack Chick “Heathens in a Christiess Grave” tracts that were used to keep us pewpeons in line.
Almost all of these “true stories” turned out to be bogus, so much noise any genuine signal was completely buried.
And there were side effects in the psyches of those pewpeons who are now Nones and Dones.
What happens when you have to Top all the other Celerity Influencer Pastors?
Who are already trying to top each other for Clout?
Ziplines, Motorcycle Crashes, Seven Day Sex Challenges, how do you top that?
Doing a Super Bowl Kickoff with a Bible doesn’t seem that weird in comparison.
Crossroads Church just upped the ante to a whole new level.
And it worked for Views and resulting Clout – Everybody’s Talking About It.
I’d say it was three morons.
Cuz’ that’s exactly what they are.
Doing a Super Bowl Kickoff with a Bible doesn’t seem that weird in comparison.
Crossroads Church just upped the ante to a whole new level.
Headless Unicorn Guy,
HUG, you’re probably right.
A lot of modern “churches” are little more than non-traveling circuses making bank off suckers… in the name of God, of course.
That the pastor and others did this on “stage” says it all.
You know, the really sad part is they probably don’t feel stupid about it all this week. Christianity Lite does a lot of stupid things before the Lord and somehow get away with it (for now). On Judgment Day, a lot of these jokers will be on the ground clawing themselves away from the presence of God.
True story. We were members of that church. Jack Chick sounds like quite the character, sorry you experienced him during your time in country.
The Great God Entertainment sits on the throne in much of the American church. Our citizenry can’t live without amusement of some sort, so they will find a “pastor” who serves it up … and they are easy to locate in just about every community across the landscape. I’m old enough to remember when the church was counter-culture to the world … now it is a sub-culture of it. Millions of church folks will look at that video and not see a problem with it. It’s a sad day for the people of God. And we wonder why the “Done” segment of the church is growing … they are done with church as entertainment, but not done with Jesus.
I looked at those faces and reactions as the camera focused on the audience … they thoroughly enjoyed seeing the precious Word of God booted across the sanctuary. It’s easy to get in the pockets of such folks … they will pay to come back time and again to see what “pastor” will be up to next.
I googled Man Camp. Found out that Crossroads Church owns the property – 435 acres:
https://www.crossroads.net/getaway/1824/ (the address for the base camp is on this site…. Oh, and a “90 Day Tithe Test” in the main menu).
How much tithe money did it take to buy that?
Hmmmm, I wonder whose names are on the deeds?
And, go to the men on their Facebook and check out the photos and videos:
https://www.facebook.com/mancamp.us/
It’s an upscale, comfy, “Christian” version of Woodstock …. with generators for lights, water slides, swings, and fake “roughing it”.
I wonder what the women do?
I think they went too far. It’s one thing to not have to put the Bible at the top of a stack of books; it’s quite another to do what they did with it.
There’s a meme going around in some Christian circles, don’t know where it started:
“What you win them WITH is what you win them TO.”
Contemporary spectacles don’t produce faithful Christians, only more people who just want to have fun. It’s a very bad evangelistic tactic.
Small thing, Dee – Orthodox Christians don’t do imposition of ashes, except perhaps in some Western Rite parishes, which are very few and far between. Lent for us begins on Clean Monday, the day after Forgiveness Sunday vespers, when everyone in the service asks forgiveness of everyone else individually. It’s quite moving, and also a fitting start to Lent. This year is one of the years when the calendars are 5 weeks apart, though, so Forgiveness Sunday is St Patrick’s day and Pascha is 5 May. Oy!
D.
Sadly, that’s where we are in much of the American church. The Gospel (the real one) has been replaced by another gospel (which is not ‘the’ Gospel) which serves up a shallow entertainment spirit and not the Holy Spirit.
The following video perfectly describes a couple of “contemporary” churches down the road from me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giM04ESUiGw&t=67s
dainca,
Throw in a reductionist, feel good gospel, a so-called worship band, and great graphics. Then people go home thinking they worshipped God and are all set until next week. Most mega-pastors have no idea how all the people actually live.
About ten years ago my church had a pastor that did a sermon in mime, all 30 minutes of it. It was weird, and probably an action that might have been accommodated (maybe) in the youth or children’s ministry. Anyway, it began a rather hasty dismissal from the church (he was gone in a few weeks).
People do weird things to get attention, but they don’t always understand the after effects (shocks?). Having been in a cross-cultural ministry for many years, non-Christians from other countries (especially Muslims) think it’s shocking that Christians would punt their holy book across the front of their meeting space. Some groups find our lack of modesty appalling. This church may not be around in 20 years, but someone will remember kicking the Bible, just like people at my church still remember the “mime” sermon.
That Scripture passage is commonly used by us Catholics to support the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary, who was literally the Ark of the New Covenant, the Bearer of the Word Himself.:) BTW, did you know that all the magisterial Reformers — including Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli — believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity? I’m really not trying to get polemical here. I was just struck by the citation of that particular passage.
And now I’ll bow out quietly…. 😀
Most “Bible churches” on both sides of the pond kicked distinct Holy Spirit belief or any idea of the real “kingdom of God” decades ago.
mania and hypomania are mistaken for enthusiasm, for a long time – then the critical mass of lunacy (usually contributed to by melt-in-mouth elders or SLT as well) is so in our faces it tips the “balance”. Then we can begin the next round, more anodyne but equally vacuous.
For sure, I’ll never forget the church or its “pastor” … I was young and now am old; this sad display of doing church in America reaches a new low in my book.
Yep, they revert to spiritual childhood and wait anxiously for the next religious toy to amuse themselves with. In such churches, they never mature in God.
No sense of decorum.
Whatever they want to, so long as it’s within their proper Biblical roles.
Church as entertainment. Dopamine.
Entertainment, belonging, and love bombed. How to build a church and make sure people come back again and again.
For families, they do carnivals and clowns, Disney; for youth, extreme sports and the latest music. Recall the vids of the youth group dancing and grinding.
For adults, motivational speakers, recovery programs, and Bill Hybels Willow Creek Global Summits. A church has a wild game and hunting club for the guys.
Frankly, it’s hard to get the draw in all this, when a person is looking for Jesus and the Body of Christ.
None of this is found in the Gospels, in Acts, in the Early Church.
Max,
There should’ve been a warning with the link to this video. I thought it was going to be an actual clip from a real church. After I picked myself up off the floor from laughing so hard, I realized how spot-on this parody is.
Back in my church-going days, I’ve seen preachers stand on a bible with both feet to demonstrate how they’re “standing on the promises of God” and also to show how (in their opinion) there’s nothing sacred about the book itself; they said it was the word in your heart that mattered (not sure how much I agree with that). So, with that logic, sure, go ahead and punt it; why not burn it while you’re at it? That will create a controversy and drive even more traffic to your website, if that’s what you’re after.
It dawned on me recently that most church goers, in 2024, have never seen the church model that Jesus set up. Since we’ve always done it for generations with a stage and performers, we think that’s the right way; we’ve never seen it modeled any other way. I use to play in the “worship band.” I hated being on stage. I remember thinking that the band should be in the back of the church behind a curtain where we were heard but not seen (like the pipe organ in the choir loft in a Catholic church). The whole model is wrong. In one way, it’s not our fault, we were born into it and it’s the only way we know. If the authentic way was offered, with no paid positions and hierarchy, I think (I hope) many people wouldn’t be amused by Bible-punting.
The last church I was at (4 years ago), the Authoritarian Pastor and his Enabling Wife use to pray that “God would bring in workers” to their church. This “prayer” revealed what they really wanted: unpaid labor. They didn’t pray for God to bring in those who needed care, help, comfort, healing, but Jesus didn’t tell us to pray exclusively for volunteers to make “your” church more efficient. But that’s how the pastors (paid professional Christians) saw us, as robots just filling a vacancy. At the rate his abrasive adultery-pushing and women-hating sermons were driving people away, they were lucky to have anyone show up on Sunday morning, much less volunteers. But this is all we know now as a church model, so we think this is how God ordained it, we have seen nothing better to compare it to. I have yet to see Jesus’ church in action in my lifetime. In hindsight, maybe I’ve seen glimpses of it, in the care given between people of the congregation, but rarely from the “leaders.”
The 21st century model of doing church is so far off track from the 1st century ‘real’ church that I’m not sure we will ever witness the authentic again. It would do every believer good to sit down alone with their Bibles, shutting out the religious noise about them, and determine for themselves what church is and what church isn’t. Many “Dones” have already been through that exercise and exited counterfeit churches until they sense that Jesus alone is back on the throne. If and when that will happen, I’m not sure.
Ariel–mostly agree completely with your post. Of course, “leaders” in the wrong model of church are not going to be leading correctly. As Max says often, when you are deceived you don’t know you are deceived because you are, well, deceived. Loosely paraphrased and Max I apologize if I got it wrong.
I have been blessed to see real church often. Oilfield pickups and tailgate church. Women around a table with a cup of tea, a slice of banana bread, and truly ministering to each other. Sometimes obnoxiously assertive neighbor who self appointed himself in 2020 to use his “church attendance time” to make sure everyone on our county road had enough food for the upcoming week when our midwest supply chain faltered. Homeless folks in a McD who walked quite a distance to get to a store where they could spend the money the homeless had pooled to buy some simple toys for the children of stranded train passengers. Farmers who harvested Willie’s wheat when he fell off the combine in the middle of the night and almost died. Neighbors who kept a dying neighbor’s yard neat as a pin. And on it goes.
The Church is alive and well. The sham mockery of church seems to be dying. That is ok. Entertainment church, church for extroverts only, and the church of “worship me” leadership needs to go away. Quickly.
… launched the seeker-friendly era of doing whatever-church in America. Hybels essentially stood before the people and asked them what they wanted in a church experience, then got out in front to lead them into whatever.
“So God gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul” (Psalm 106:15)
In a quest for the genuine Church of the Living Christ, one would probably have to leave America at this point to discover it in a remote corner of the earth … or ‘be’ the Church where you’re at rather than ‘go’ to church.
“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13)
At home with Bible in lap, while praying on a trout stream, during quiet meditation on a hiking trail, sharing the reality of God with children and grandchildren …
“Do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9)
(I gave my grandson a compass at Christmas with the above verse inscribed on it)
Catholic Gate-Crasher,
an interesting spin on that Scripture
“Specifically, the allegations included not giving proper notice to church members about the plan to amend the bylaws, failing to make complete disclosures by hiding the effect of the extent of the amendments, giving Jurkovich control of the church that’s supposed to be answerable to its members and engaging in other conduct that constituted a breach of fiduciary duties”
This is OT but involves a civil lawsuit against the pastor and others of First Bossier Baptist in Louisiana.
Barefoot, Pregnant, and putting out for CHRISTIAN hubby whenever he snaps his fingers?
Like TikTok and Instagram Challenges?
If it’s any consolation, this thing tends to burn out over time.
Hard to keep up that sort of zeal and energy and weirdness over a long run.
You should have seen some of the High Weirdness in my church back in the Sixties and Seventies, invoked by the magic words “Spirit of Vatican II”. Took a couple decades to work through and burn out.
This is one of those passages that reeks with God’s pettiness.
The lesson here is when the church needs help, keep your hands to yourself.
Uzzah could have had a stern talking to, a learning moment but is smitten from above instantly.
Adolf Hitler is allowed to proceed for decades culminating in a war that cost 60 million lives.
When we start tossing scripture around, especially old testament stuff, the more nonsensical it becomes.
God cares more about his magic box than us.
It bolsters the neo Calvinist worldview, and makes the rest of us ill
But the mega is packed!
Just like “I have a MILLION followers on Instagram!”
And when they find a bigger and better source for bigger and better dopamine hits, they’ll all bail out for that New venue. (So Megapastor Superapostle has to keep upping the ante, increasing the dosage to counter the classic Addiction/Tolerance Response.)
That’s what happens when you stay on the Julian Calendar, without the Gregorian Leap Day fine-tuning.
We’ll hey if we’re connecting dots
“For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken. No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.” (Leviticus 21:18-21)
Churches can save a mint by not having to install wheelchair ramps or elevators!
And this is proof that Jesus never loved me, I have a scar on my face.
As I have repeatedly said, you can make the bible into anything you need.
And this is where theology becomes important. You can go down some very dark roads.
In the words of the prophets Emerson, Lake & Palmer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc6ymS4NGxg
The immediate predecessor of the above up has even more application to the subject:
“Step inside! Hello!
We’ve a most amazing show!
You’ll enjoy it all we know!
Step inside! Step inside!
“We’ve got thrills and shocks!
Supersonic fighting cocks!
Leave your hammers at the box!
Come inside! Come inside!
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!
“Left behind the bars!
Rows of Bishops’ heads in jars!
And a bomb inside a car!
Spectacular! Spectacular!
“If you follow me!
There’s a speci-al-i-ty!
Some tears for you to see!
Misery! Misery!
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!
“Next upon the bill!
In our House of Vaudeville!
We’ve a stripper in a till!
What a thrill! What a thrill!
“And not content with that!
With our hands behind our backs!
We pull Jesus from a hat!
Get into that! Get into that!
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!”
— EL&P, “Karn Evil Nine, First Impression, Part I”, ending aria/transition to Part II
Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk
https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube+3+stooges+football&oq=youtube+3+stooges+football&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRhA0gEINjQyMWowajSoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:aa9e7215,vid:sU5napbfv_o,st:0
This.
Headless Unicorn Guy,
HUG, if I could snap my fingers and have something change, the calendar would be the thing. If the point is to have Pascha on the exact same days it originally happened, we’re not even doing that, astronomically speaking. Even if the calendar were brought up to date, though, I’m pretty sure we would still be a week behind everyone else, because Holy Week isn’t counted as part of Lent; we have the 40 days of Lent and THEN Holy Week. Which I kind of like, actually, because Holy Week is so focused and intense – makes the joy of Pascha all that more joyful. But that’s me.
Are you well? Did you move away from Orange Co.?
D.
At my age, I don’t remember much … but I believe you got it right!
As long as the pew desires to “worship me” instead of worship Jesus, counterfeit church ain’t goin’ anywhere anytime soon.
Jesus has scars on His hands because He loves you.
Thank you, Max. You’re one of the good guys.
But my point is that if you approach the bible like a set IKEA instructions what you assemble will not be what you think you purchased.
What does the story of Uzzah really mean? Don’t ask what’s in the box? Perpetual virginity? Only you can prevent forest fires?
Who knows? It’s up to you and you alone.
Jack,
That’s the thing about Scripture. It speaks to you differently during different times and situations. The Holy Spirit teaches us through life experiences, a small still voice within our soul, even through a sermon … God is always speaking. The essence of Christianity has a living Word at its core.
For the record, my comment was intended as hyperbole, NOT as an agreement with complementarian dogma which insists on gender roles determined solely by plumbing received at birth, and given a ‘Biblical’ coat of paint.
The guiding is not the bible, it’s the person reading it and assessing it against their own “theology”. If you seek love, you will find lots to support, if you seek to hate, you will find lots of support.
When we read the Bible, we must seek the Holy Spirit to teach us, not a particular theological system. If we filter Scripture through a theological grid, we will always read it wrong.
Max,
Absolutely spot on. Apostasy dressed as entertainment.
I attend Crossroads in Florence kentucky. I was unable to be at that service but found out about it thanks to a video sent to me. Their actions deeply trouble and upset me, so far to the point that I’m looking for a new church. It was the final nail in the coffin for me, the teachings never really mention heaven or hell, and how to get to one and avoid the other. In the years I’ve been going there never have I heard them preach about the book of Revelations either.
IMO, we are currently living in the age of apostasy … a great falling away of the institutional church from genuine faith.
Without a clear presentation of the Gospel (the real one), you are right to be looking for another church. I wish you the best in your search.
The Bible is a great and wonderful thing, for sure.
For me the question comes down to, how much of that stuff do I wanna’ extrapolate out of that when and where, and make it apply in this here and now?
Only those parts that the Holy Spirit convicts you are for you in the here and now. I’ve certainly felt checks in my spirit on occasion as I read the Word and knew He was talking to me.
Considering the miserable condition of much of the American pulpit, it would do us all well to personally read the words in red over and over … and not rely on pulpit messages for our spiritual life. Jesus said “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). The institutional church sure needs an infusion of spirit and life, rather than this death in the camp we have now! In the meantime, I’ll retreat to a red-letter edition of the Bible, read the red, and pray for spirit and life to flow through me and mine.
The most important opinion is God’s. Anybody get an okay from Him?
If you aren’t grieved by the state of the American church I question if you know the Holy Spirit at all. Actually I don’t question… Judgement begins in the house of God and I don’t believe we are far off from that. Lots, I ask that you close the doors of any church who mocks your Word and makes a spectacle of it. May these people come back to their first love before your righteous hand of judgment reaches them.
Orthodox Christians don’t have any equivalent to Ash Wednesday. The closest thing that might compare is to mark a cross on doorposts with ash, or using oil or myrrh to anoint people’s foreheads with a cross, but that happens throughout the year. The beginning of Lent is marked by a service where you ask each person for forgiveness. No ashes though.
AP,
I didn’t know that. Thank you.
I cannot believe that nobody made a reference to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsWg0bt9kp4
(You guys should have listened to Dr Demento in the Seventies…)
Don’t forget the Petting Zoo and Pony Rides.
(I am not making that up; my writing partner told me a Mega in his area was rustling sheep that way. Sounded like it had an in-house amusement park; no need to risk your salvation by going out to the Heathen theme parks, Heathen petting zoos, or Heathen pony rides.)
Dont forget Second Amendment Sundays —
“FOR ZARDOZ YOUR GOD GAVE YOU THE GIFT OF THE GUN!”
And when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.