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CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.
What are some things the American church doesn’t preach about enough?
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timothyu
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Realistically the whole human world runs on principles contrary to those of the Kingdom. Using God is not the same as following God. Also many Christians are more interested in 'what's in it for me' than being responsible for each other. Salvation without loving neighbour as self. Forgiveness without forgiving. Exceptions without making exceptions. Authourity without accepting God's actual authourity. ETC..
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timothyu
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God said so. I'm just paraphrasing Him. The concept of an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other has been lost to humanity, and no doubt cancelled from those old B*gs B*nny cartoons..
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As I said earlier, American clergy need to avoid partisan moralizing and instead focus on the Gospel: the Good News that God in the person of the Son and Word became man in order to save us from our sins, allowing us to inherit eternal life. Every sermon should in some respect relate to the Incarnation, that which God has revealed about Himself as the Holy Trinity - one God abiding in three persons, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Cross and what Christ our True God did on it for us, before His glorious resurrection and ascension.
Also the hyper-focus on the Pauline epistles at the expense of Christocentricity complained about by my friend @Shane R is an issue to complain about, although I would argue that churches preaching about St. Paul and subtle points of doctrine pertaining to justification excessively are less in error than those who mainly engage in moralistic sermons or those who politicize their homilies either in a conservative or liberal manner. I don’t want to hear what one thinks of the current President when I go to church, or any other world leader for that matter, indeed, even the fascinating person of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, who I greatly admire, I should prefer not to hear about while attending church.
Also the hyper-focus on the Pauline epistles at the expense of Christocentricity complained about by my friend @Shane R is an issue to complain about, although I would argue that churches preaching about St. Paul and subtle points of doctrine pertaining to justification excessively are less in error than those who mainly engage in moralistic sermons or those who politicize their homilies either in a conservative or liberal manner. I don’t want to hear what one thinks of the current President when I go to church, or any other world leader for that matter, indeed, even the fascinating person of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, who I greatly admire, I should prefer not to hear about while attending church.
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- Apr 25, 2016
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I may have said something like this already (not going back through the thread to check, now) but the difficulty with saying we should preach against politics, is that it ignores that the kingdom of God has political consequences for believers.
By all means avoid preaching about political figures or parties, but we can - and should - reflect on policies in the light of the reign of God.
By all means avoid preaching about political figures or parties, but we can - and should - reflect on policies in the light of the reign of God.
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Politicians shouldn't be leading the church at all. If we invest in politicians and their messaging, that is our sin, our misdirected attention.
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The kingdom of God commits Christians to care for the vulnerable, the poor, and so on. That has implications for what political policies we ought to find acceptable, or not (for a start).
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I profoundly disagree. It has massive impacts on the real lives of real people.
The church is made up of people who vote (or should). We can either vote for policies which harm the vulnerable, the poor, the marginalised (ie. vote for injustice), or we can vote for policies which care for the vulnerable, the poor, the marginalised (ie. vote for justice, for peace, for the flourishing of communities and individuals).
It is self-evident to me that Christians have an obligation to use what means they have - including their vote - to pursue the values of the kingdom of God.
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I'm not even primarily discussing tax policy. That is one subset of policy, for sure, and it's not outside the point I'm making, but there are plenty of policies which profoundly impact people's lives, which aren't first and foremost about tax.
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timothyu
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If you think back 1700 years the leaders of the institutionalizing church was more than willing to join forces with the empire. The problem with most (not all) human leaders is that they are drawn to power.
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