tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9037879128281967858.post5196305390105696206..comments2023-03-25T08:46:07.069-07:00Comments on Runaway Pastor: Struggling with a "Big Tent Christianity," and despairing over national division.davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05727663487337030803noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9037879128281967858.post-42376630238502277232010-08-24T07:28:43.195-07:002010-08-24T07:28:43.195-07:00Dave, I would suggest reading 'The Powers that...Dave, I would suggest reading 'The Powers that Be,' by Walter Wink. This particular book is a kind of condensed, all-encompassing, text that combines his Trilogy into a singular text. It is still a very good book- but for a man who only has a limited amount of time, it might be best to read just one instead of three. It is also easier to travel with.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17299530752878939337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9037879128281967858.post-24701875419871623962010-08-21T11:55:37.385-07:002010-08-21T11:55:37.385-07:00I give my thanks to David & Indybikehiker for ...I give my thanks to David & Indybikehiker for sharing your thoughts, as they express a lot of what I am feeling and experiencing lately, as well.<br /><br />I love the concept of inviting our aggressors to respond differently . . . inviting them just as Jesus invited us to the table, so that we would hopefully begin responding differently.Debbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9037879128281967858.post-34693158849857510352010-08-19T08:16:05.643-07:002010-08-19T08:16:05.643-07:00The whole triolgy: Naming the Powers, Unmasking th...The whole triolgy: Naming the Powers, Unmasking the Powers, and Engaging the Powers.Indybikehiker@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15563000617922396164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9037879128281967858.post-22339483796167937022010-08-19T08:12:02.242-07:002010-08-19T08:12:02.242-07:00I've put off reading Wink for too long. Sounds...I've put off reading Wink for too long. Sounds like he'd fit my sabbatical well. Which title(s)?Davidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9037879128281967858.post-51688888544450367672010-08-19T07:55:22.658-07:002010-08-19T07:55:22.658-07:00Praying for your wrestling with the Word re Sermon...Praying for your wrestling with the Word re Sermon the Mount (remember, E. Stanley Jones called it the most revolutionary document in the world).<br /><br />Big difference between pacifism and creative nonviolence. It seems to me the Walter Wink articulates more accurately what Jesus was pointing to than what we label as pacifism. Creative nonviolence is not defenseless, it turns the table on aggressors to show them the futility of their way, exposing its pathetic use of raw power and inviting them to respond differently. In the end, they may choose raw power, but they will have compromised their very fragile moral standing. In the end, if they say "no" to the offer of change, they morph into something less than human (my reference, not Wink's).Indybikehiker@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15563000617922396164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9037879128281967858.post-70495414724172376412010-08-19T07:18:53.320-07:002010-08-19T07:18:53.320-07:00Thanks Indybiker and friend. I'm finding this ...Thanks Indybiker and friend. I'm finding this week, in the Sermon on the Mt., such a deep challenge, that I'm not sure I have the courage to be a meek one, a heart-pure one, a peace-making one, etc. The vulnerability required is near to overwhelming. I'm sensing there is a "middle way," that while not being apathetic by any means to the political needs of a society, is however willing to be broken along by it, rather than to hate or divide within it. Not sure at all if I'm articulating this well. It's almost as if Jesus is so into his higher kingdom, that the stuff of Ceaser is an after thought. He'll live or die by any system, keeping his heart and agenda in the reign of God...? And perhaps, that reign will bring our crucifixion as it did his...with the promise of similar results. <br /><br />This brings to mind other issues, such as pacifism. I want to be there, but not sure how I'd do if someone mortally attacked a member of my human family and I had the ability to defend them with my varmint gun. :) However, pacifism is probably something I should practice at a different level, as indicated by the above CS Lewis quote. <br /><br />Any way I read this sermon--I have a long way to go. Does that qualify me as "poor in spirit?"Davidhttp://www.runawaypastor.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9037879128281967858.post-53886707061315688732010-08-19T07:09:12.341-07:002010-08-19T07:09:12.341-07:00Let me post here a quote from C.S. Lewis I came ac...Let me post here a quote from C.S. Lewis I came across today:<br />"The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronizing and spoiling sport and back-biting; the pleasures of power, of hatred."Davidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9037879128281967858.post-1218760437633076692010-08-18T18:13:25.569-07:002010-08-18T18:13:25.569-07:00Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, David. ...Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, David. They express a lot of what I'm feeling, too. Not just the despair of finding or being in a "Big Tent" nation or church, but also to the commitment to see and experience grace in the commonness and sacredness of each one. There is grace and hope.Indybikehiker@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15563000617922396164noreply@blogger.com