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Oh Shush

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  • Oh Shush

    Sometimes I'm sick of hearing, listening, reading people talk about God. It honestly gets nauseating. You can go on social media and find links to sermons, new books, debates, etc. and I come across these quotes from all sorts of Christian leaders out there. Here's one from Tim Keller:

    "Prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge. It is also the main way we experience deep change—the reordering of our loves. Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things he has for us. Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life. We must learn to pray. We have to."

    As much as I can appreciate the work these brothers and sisters do and the pure heart that produces material such as the above, sometimes, I just want to say "Oh shush". Quotes like the above just seem almost annoying to me. At some point talk like this ceases to be insightful, cleaver, or even helpful. It's like a politician spewing out rhetoric to maintain and solidify himself as a leader in the minds of his followers. Please for the love of God, stop writing books on topics that amount to nothing more than idle Epicurean-like speculation. Write a book with the following content:

    "Go feed the homeless and stop being a glutton for borderline useless information. Read the Bible and spend time in prayer - it's really that simple guys".

    Does anyone else feel similar?

  • #2
    If you are saying that sermons should be more Bible-based and less rhetorical, then I agree,

    Comment


    • #3
      Your statement is vague. Could you go into a little more depth please?
      A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
      George Bernard Shaw

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Obsidian View Post
        If you are saying that sermons should be more Bible-based and less rhetorical, then I agree,
        God wants to transform our appetites into a hunger for him and true intimacy and freedom comes about when we single-mindedly focus our being and align our will with his. This will accomplish the purposes of God in our lives.

        See how easy it is to compose fluffy rhetoric? It felt like snake-oil as I was writing it.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
          Sometimes I'm sick of hearing, listening, reading people talk about God. It honestly gets nauseating. You can go on social media and find links to sermons, new books, debates, etc. and I come across these quotes from all sorts of Christian leaders out there. Here's one from Tim Keller:

          "Prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge. It is also the main way we experience deep change—the reordering of our loves. Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things he has for us. Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life. We must learn to pray. We have to."

          As much as I can appreciate the work these brothers and sisters do and the pure heart that produces material such as the above, sometimes, I just want to say "Oh shush". Quotes like the above just seem almost annoying to me. At some point talk like this ceases to be insightful, cleaver, or even helpful. It's like a politician spewing out rhetoric to maintain and solidify himself as a leader in the minds of his followers. Please for the love of God, stop writing books on topics that amount to nothing more than idle Epicurean-like speculation. Write a book with the following content:

          "Go feed the homeless and stop being a glutton for borderline useless information. Read the Bible and spend time in prayer - it's really that simple guys".

          Does anyone else feel similar?
          I'm a little confused --- you're tired of hearing, listening, reading people talk about God, so you write a post where you talk about THEM?
          The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
            I'm a little confused --- you're tired of hearing, listening, reading people talk about God, so you write a post where you talk about THEM?
            Yup because sometimes I feel I need to get things off my chest and express myself.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
              Yup because sometimes I feel I need to get things off my chest and express myself.
              Well, then, ya done fine!
              The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
                God wants to transform our appetites into a hunger for him and true intimacy and freedom comes about when we single-mindedly focus our being and align our will with his. This will accomplish the purposes of God in our lives.

                See how easy it is to compose fluffy rhetoric? It felt like snake-oil as I was writing it.
                So which bit made your stomach churn? It's somewhat incomplete, but it's not far off the mark AFAICS.
                Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

                Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
                sigpic
                I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

                Comment


                • #9
                  So, I'm curious.. I have often started threads on Tweb about things that happened in my Church, or to me or my family, and the insight I have gained, etc.... would those things merit a "shush"?
                  The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by One Bad Pig View Post
                    So which bit made your stomach churn? It's somewhat incomplete, but it's not far off the mark AFAICS.
                    Well it seems that this sort of talk results in more talk and never really exits the realm of ethereal chatter. That wasn't a quote, I made it up to demonstrate it's effect, which is essentially in one ear and out the other. Something one forgets within a matter of seconds.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                      So, I'm curious.. I have often started threads on Tweb about things that happened in my Church, or to me or my family, and the insight I have gained, etc.... would those things merit a "shush"?
                      It's hard to say without any example, but I am really starting to see what seems like a lot of Christian gibber-jabber about God, and hearing the word over and over and over again, yet when it actually comes to God's power manifesting in our lives, we seem to demonstrate little more than secular living.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Oh.....do you mean preachers are to fluffy clouds rainbows and unicorns?

                        If so, yup I get it. I just don't even pay attention anymore to them
                        A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
                        George Bernard Shaw

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Catholicity View Post
                          Oh.....do you mean preachers are to fluffy clouds rainbows and unicorns?

                          If so, yup I get it. I just don't even pay attention anymore to them
                          Yeah there is that as well, but I think I am reaching a point where I want more God and less humanness - and I don't want "more God" to manifest in mere talk about God. It seems our spiritual lives in the West are comprised of books and pithy quotes about God. When it actually comes down to God and us - one on one - what happens? 5 minutes in prayer and then we get bored? I thought God was so amazing, what happened? You see?
                          Last edited by Scrawly; 01-03-2015, 03:47 PM.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
                            It's hard to say without any example, but I am really starting to see what seems like a lot of Christian gibber-jabber about God, and hearing the word over and over and over again, yet when it actually comes to God's power manifesting in our lives, we seem to demonstrate little more than secular living.
                            Are you a discipler?
                            The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                              Are you a discipler?
                              No my erratic schedule and relatively poor health prevents me from forming any significant relationships with others. I often times have just enough strength and energy to do the basics.

                              Comment

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