Comments for Eclectic Christian

Comment on About Eclectic Christian by Julie Collins

Julie Collins — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 04:49:12 +0000

How encouraging to find your Website, and that of iMonk! You see, this last Thursday, at a Book Discussion Group at an Antiochian Orthodox Church, we were asked to introduce ourselves and give a brief statement of identity (Orthodox, Catechumate, Baptist, etc, e.g.. One fellow said he was an “Orthodox-Catholic-Baptist”). I found myself saying, “Eclectic” for the 1st time, not knowing there were others who had observed this of themselves. It was so much easier than going through the list of all the denominations to which I either had belonged, or visited over 50 some years of being in love with Jesus. Then, I looked it up to see if I’d used the word correctly…. Besides the “picking and choosing among many” idea I’d had in mind, I found that part of its definition is this delightful phrase: ” drawing from many sources.” Then I found your site today (Sat.). I, too, try to focus on fellowshiping with all I meet that love Jesus, and on the points we have in common, versus on the differences. To me, that seems to fit with Jesus’ own behavior better than bickering. Thanks for the site, and the sense of community it fosters!

Comment on Tew’s Falls by Christopher Kerr

Christopher Kerr — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:42:35 +0000

Great pictures. I’m looking forward to hearing about your upcoming book.

Comment on What’s up at Eclectic Christian by bryan

bryan — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:22:59 +0000

Thank you for the note that you’re still active. I just found you’r site a few weeks ago and I guess I’ve become addicted to it.

I hope by the time I reach the latest entry you’ll have started up again.

Thank you for the work you have done.

Bryan

Comment on About Eclectic Christian by Bruce

Bruce — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 19:42:05 +0000

Where is Mike Bell now? I haven’t seen any recent posts.

Comment on Alternatives to Division – #1: The Christian and Missionary Alliance and the Role of Women as Elders by Keith

Keith — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:50:05 +0000

The gradual wearing down of weak leadership by the feminist movement. We are being more informed by culture than Scripture. It is 2012 and female ordination is next. In the next 20 years the move toward gender neutrality will be expanded. It already includes the re-writing of Scripture (2011 NIV – a repackaging of the discontinued TNIV). At least one country already issues gender neutral passports. How will we distinquish between the people who identify themselves as men or women with those who do not identify with either?

Comment on Reflections on the Deity of Christ – The Image of God by Kris

Kris — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:09:21 +0000

Just to share, I believe that many do seek God. As children, many were taught that we were created to know, love and serve God. We cannot know something, without seeking to know and even to try to understand IT. It wasn’t until I openly, without fear, asked God, “What is this all about?”, that I started really being able to receive the answer.

I believe that God communicates with anyone that seeks Him, in a way in which we are prepared to receive the information. God has always come to us in a way in which we could understand, as individuals, and as human beings. It is the fact that God is truly in us, that we seek to understand the love that is within us.

Consider how at Pentecost, everyone understood the Holy Spirit in their own language. Even now, each person understands things in a different way, according to their own personal abilities, as well as intelligence and maturity. It has always been a wonder at how different we each are, and yet, we are all joined in a way that we can exist and work together as a team, in so many ways. We often miss how much of life is truly a miracle in itself. We are conditioned to accept things so matter-of-a-factly. That is amazing in itself. ;o)

Comment on Reflections on the Deity of Christ – The Image of God by Kris

Kris — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:52:22 +0000

There is a reason why no one has “seen the Father”. The One True God is an Infinite, Perfect, Supreme “BEING” which means He can only be “experienced” in Spirit. God is indescribable in human terms, but we try and try, but how can true perfection be explained finite terms. It can’t. However, Christ is our connection to this Perfection of Supreme Being. As humans, we can never be perfect in being; so it is in Christ’s unconditional love that he connects all of us; even those that do not know Him, to that which is Perfection. This has been communicated, over time, to me, in ways that would be difficult to share. I understand that can be said of all of us, for even those that we may not think have any kind of connection according to our beliefs, we must assume that they could not exist unless they do so through the Will of God, and therefore must be accepted as such.

This is why I believe that to be truly Christian, we can never destroy anything that God has made with any type of negative feeling. When we decide that we must stop the life of anyone or any creature that God created, we must do so with some degree of sorrow that it had to be done for the good of the majority.

Comment on Are Liberals and Atheists Smarter? by Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:33:31 +0000

I’m not so sure that they can “peacefully” coexist. If a scientist is trained to question and prove everything then there is no bounds to be set in this respect. Therefore, I see the Christian perspective as a dangerous one because you are taught to take concepts and notions on faith. If one is not careful, then this blind faith aspect will overflow into one’s career which drastically impedes productive output.

There is yet another psychological term for all of this and that is “cognitive dissonance.” This term is used to desribe the effect on the mind of two opposite and competing ideas. Faith and science do not mix, are opposites, and certainly do compete. Now, the effects may be small, but they can also lead to more restrictive routes in which people go to extremes in ruining their lives, commiting suicide, or simply becoming logically incoherent.

I think what you are refering to at not being at odds would rather be the minimization of the relative negative outcome. But just like anything else there are possibility spectra and outlyers. I hope that you and your family can break the mold.

Comment on Are Liberals and Atheists Smarter? by Eclectic Christian

Eclectic Christian — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:23:35 +0000

My son is looking at taking Engineering Physics at University. We have always encouraged him in the to investigate, and challenge. But we do not believe that reason and faith have to be at odds, rather that faith in God is a "reasonable" conclusion to draw from the evidence that exists in the world. Having said that, I think that taking a look at the BioLogos.org website would be helpful to anyone trying to understand how Science and Faith can peacefully co-exist. Here is one article written directly about that subject.

Comment on Are Liberals and Atheists Smarter? by Brandon

Brandon — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 03:57:18 +0000

Tradition needs to be broken at some point and religion should be left behind entirely or taken in context of a means to instill discipline and right/wrong. There is nothing more important than reasoning skills though and sadly religion never addresses this. The whole creation of christianity and many others stemmed from astrology and the study of the stars. Afterwards, it was twisted into many myth-ridden forms that serve only to control the masses while the elite manipulate to their old ends.

My advise is to help your friend see the light. Philosopher Spinoza once said, “reason is the natural light of the mind.” Only science and mathematics/philosophy can lead one to a true understanding of nature. Religion is a 10k yr old attempt at this that fails more often then not. Would you use a 10k yr old version of transportation to travel from the US to Europe??? I think not