bloved

I think that organized or institutionalized religion is obsessed with controlling who gets in and who stays out. It often sets up standards by which control is administered and those standards vary from church to church and religion to religion. For the Galatians, who got in was determined by whether one was circumcised or not. The modern churches all have their own criteria by which they judge who is fit to enter the kingdom -- gender, sexual preference, education, talent, power, etc. I think that our churches would do better as signposts rather than as doors. It's better to point to the kingdom rather than to set ourselves up as bouncers at the door. My 2c. wayfarer

Yea, it is written, "It taketh one to eateth one." And yet again, "Come out from among them and touch not the unclean thing." Fruitcake...blecccch!

Anyone here seen the new movie "Serenity"? If so, what did you think of the religious/social aspects of the movie? The overtones of cleansing the universe of sin? bloved

For me, it's been a process. The bottom line was that I didn't like who I'd become and the way I treated others. I didn't see much resemblance between Jesus as portrayed in the gospels and myself, and I knew that the goal of Christianity was to be more like God and Christ. A big part of my journey was allowing the questions and doubts that had for years haunted my soul to come to the surface, to admit that they were there. Questioning was not encouraged in my religious tradition, it was blind adherence to a doctrinal statement that mattered. I came to realize that fundamentalism did not provide the 100% absolute answers that it promised and that my need for such a paradigm was self-deception on my part. We live by faith, not by unassailable answers. I also did alot of reading of material by those who are on a similar journey or whose faith came from a more liberal or progressive slant. This helped me to realize that fundamentalism was not the only way to see God, Christ, myself, or others. But again, this is a process for me. I don't know how far along I am in this part of my journey. I just know that, for the first time in many years, I am beginning to experience the peace and joy of being in a wild, unpredictable roller coast with God and just knowing that his love for me is all the security that I need. From what I've heard, Fuller would probably be a good choice. I'm sure there are others on this board who know more about this than I. I went to a Holiness Pentecostal Bible school for one year but dropped out. bloved

Now I've got myself singing the Eagles' song...there's a new kid in town... Hi all. I recently found this forum through some links and look forward to making some new friends here. Briefly, my religious background is conservative, evangelical, fundamental Christianity but, over the past couple of years, I have been moving more and more towards a progressive/emergent paradigm. I've read a number of books by Borg, a few by Spong, a few about the pains and joys of leaving fundamentalism, and quite a number about rediscovering God's grace. I hope to make some new friends here and to continue growing in my faith as I further explore what is called "progressive Christianity." Glad to be here! bloved

Welcome to TCPC forum, Marie! Hope you enjoy the interactions here! bloved

I love "the Message." Reading from this paraphrase, at least for me, really does seem to put a new light and breath new life into the Bible. I mainly use it for devotional reading and for writing my own devotionals. When it come to "serious" Bible study, though, I go with my trusty NRSV. Much more literal for word studies. I'd love to see a comparative Bible with the NRSV in one column and "the Message" in the other. Grace to all. bloved