Muslims more numerous than Catholics: Vatican | Top News | Reuters

Muslims more numerous than Catholics: Vatican | Top News | Reuters: "Muslims more numerous than Catholics: Vatican"

Has the 'notion of sin' been lost? - USATODAY.com

Has the 'notion of sin' been lost? - USATODAY.com

Babies and Bathwater: Unwarranted Critiques of Modern Churches

by JM

There has been a growing trend in evangelical circles which charges the “institutional church” with the demise of Christianity in American Culture. Certainly, this is not without merit. There is irrefutable evidence that the typical church has failed to impact her culture. The question then becomes, “what is it about the typical evangelical church that renders it ineffective in infecting her communities with the transformative power of the gospel?” In the attempt to purify the church, unfortuantely some have thrown the baby out with the bath water. Among the elements of Western church that are labeled as deliterious to the church, there are these:

1. Sermons - Monological talks (i.e. sermons) that last longer than 30 minuites: "They" say that the Word of God should be shared in a discussional format. One person laboring over a passage promotes passivity, disengagement, and at the worst, is an expression of dominance.

2. The Suppression of Music/ Arts: "They" say that music and emotional expression should constitute the bulk of our time, not one man talking about the bible. To the extent that a church fashions their worship around the exposition of God's word, that church isn't worshipping.

3. Large gatherings: A church should be no bigger than who you can relationally connect to. The house church movement is the most appropriate form of church.

4. Sunday Morning Gatherings. Some say that Sunday mornings have become esteemed higher than they should. They proceed to argue that these day-specific gatherings actually have pagan roots.

5. Litergy - most "formalized" expression of worship (that aren't monastic or eastern orthodox) is a suppression of the Spirit's movement.

In light of this criticism, listen to the description of the early church in 140 AD by Justin Martyr.

‘On the day called the day of the Sun a gathering takes place of all who live in the towns or in the country in one place. The Memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits. Then the reader stops, and the leader by word of mouth impresses and urges to the imitation of these good things. Then we all stand together and send forth prayers’ (Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon).”

Notice, we read that they

1. Met on Sundays
2. Met corporately in large gatherings
3. Spent most of their time having one guy talk at them
4. No Worship Band.
5. Proto-litergy.

It's facinating to note that the church grew from 25,000 in 100 A.D. to 20,000,000 by 300 A.D. Apparently, these components did not impede the progress of the early church

May I counsel our well-intended brothers: emerge gently, thoughtfully, and graciously.

Moses on Drugs???

Oh, what passes as "research."

"High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.
Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

"The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon," he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see music."

He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil's Amazon forest in 1991. "I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations," Shanon said.

He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible."

Source