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A Cacophony...

This site exists to question particular aspects of religious culture... And in a particular way. The "ENTRIES" are based on common Christian sayings and quotations, which are unpacked in an effort to bring them to light.

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A Cacophony...

Jesus had a way of drawing attention to common religious sayings

to both examine and challenge them. He would even do this with popular, quoted scriptures if he felt that the general usage of them robbed them of their true meaning, intent, or context. The device Jesus would use was a simple phrase, “You have heard it said…”

Jesus had a way of drawing attention to common religious sayings

We have oversimplified many complex issues,

and under-simplified many straightforward ones. By and large, we seem to have lost our way.

We have oversimplified many complex issues,

and under-simplified many straightforward ones. By and large, we seem to have lost our way.

Here - some 2000 years later -

it seems to me that it has become necessary, even essential, for us to revive this phase Jesus used... "You have heard it said..."

Here - some 2000 years later -

it seems to me that it has become necessary, even essential, for us to revive this phase Jesus used... "You have heard it said..."

I don’t say this to point a damning finger.

I do not consider myself above the things I have set out to criticize in this blog, in fact, I wouldn’t understand any of this the way I do if I had not once harbored in my own heart the same things I now find to be at odds with the person of Jesus.

I don’t say this to point a damning finger.

These words are not born

of pretense or an attempt to be clever. They are born of brokenness. This is not about gathering the cynical to relish in their cynicism. This is a plea to the cynical from a hopeful place - a place of the ideal: that we might reach higher, and bask in the brighter light.

These words are not born

John Cooper, and "What is Happening in Christianity"

Despite criticizing the motivations of others, John Cooper is the only one who stands to benefit from the things he’s communicating to the same target audience.

THE STORY OF "THE WOMAN AT THE WELL" NO ONE EVER TOLD YOU...

...Where could one such as her ever worship? She wants to know. Truly. Jesus is the only learned Jew she has ever felt safe to ask. And in response, Jesus treats her like a serious and worthy theologian. As he honors her capacity for understanding, he elevates her and all women along with her. He drops the most significant teaching on worship in all of scripture on her alone, there at the well. The entire, sweeping theme of the New Testament and covenant, and the implications of everything else he does and says, he lays out plainly for her. He doesn't shroud it in parable. He can see she's ready for the fullness of light to shine. He tells her that worship is ultimately without ritual or rite. That it is found in spirit and truth at the very core of a person. That, whether in Jerusalem or at Gerizim, such temples are already obsolete. This means that people are the very temple of God. And this suggests to her she has as much access to God as some self-important high priest who loathes her. And she always has.

WE ARE NOT WAITING ON REVIVAL. REVIVAL IS WAITING ON US.

People have been pleading with the ceiling for revival for decades. For as long as we've had this American culture of Christianity, they've been attempting to stoke this fire and make something happen. Something lasting and real. They've sung and prayed and wept for it. Hundreds and thousands and millions of them – at altars and in tents and stadiums, in conferences and crusades and every other kind of service imaginable, they've been crying out for revival. And it has never been enough. But they keep telling us to try again, try harder, pray more. And maybe this time our withholding God will answer. Maybe. (Judging by the past, though, probably not.)

Of Course You're "Worthy"

You hear a lot in Christian circles about how "unworthy" we are. You hear a lot of it in Christian music, too. And this idea of our unworthiness is one that's meant to champion God's goodness and grace... But it's misleading. It's misleading because, while God's love and goodness may not be something we have to earn or deserve, that doesn't mean we aren't "worthy" of it. Here's something important that we often forget when it comes to "worthiness": the one giving the gift is the one who decides whether the one receiving it is worthy.

One Wish: Solomon, David & Desire

The desire of David reflected in some beautiful things and progressed the discussion for the whole world. Where his son desired wisdom above all else and wrote proverbs, David desired to sense the nearness of God... and he wrote songs. A whole lot of them. It could be reasoned that David saw himself as an ambassador joined with the move of God, while Solomon saw himself as a diplomat working for God. These two ideas persist to this day. Many still beg God for wisdom and seem to labor as though they were going it alone, while many others simply live with God and focus on declaring God's faithfulness to sustain and beautify all things. Many see God in the compartments, and focus on making big shows and displays of faith and piety for God... But many others see God with them always and everywhere - even down in the muck, when they're at rock bottom and have nothing to give.

things i learned while sleeping

My subconscious mind was narrating something I already understood to be true. Over and over, it was weaving an image of what I needed to come to grips with in myself. The smallness of the System I had known to address the bigness of the world. The smallness of God as I had known God... The dream was an invitation to something bigger. It was a declaration of the position I was learning to take outside the world as I had known it. It was a manifestation of my growing heart to be accounted with outsiders and those on the margins. Mine was a nightmare which helped point me toward greater light and greater truth. And it didn't leave me alone until I was truly ready to wake up.