tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284390162227754178.post3371059186422037488..comments2023-08-08T08:46:00.434-04:00Comments on designing for Philistines...: the mind of the skeptic…Perky Gramma Teacheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819400478284621215noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284390162227754178.post-25350425653334907232008-10-23T19:45:00.000-04:002008-10-23T19:45:00.000-04:00You got it, girl. It's all about the relationship...You got it, girl. It's all about the relationship.<BR/><BR/>Years of doing my best to live the Good Evangelical Republican lifestyle left me dry, cynical and with very few real friends. This 'love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself' idea really works.<BR/><BR/>We're a church of stumbling, broken people. Our leadership sets the example for just loving people as they are, refusing to set up an us/them paradigm and welcoming all. Like prophets and popstars says, our Sunday mornings consist of nothing more than letting people see us celebrating the fact that God loves us all. We leave it up to Him to do the conversion thing.<BR/><BR/>I love your blog, love the example of your life, and really, really, REALLY want to drive up to DC and have coffee with you!Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03119943581970095780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284390162227754178.post-21958715922204724102008-10-10T17:54:00.000-04:002008-10-10T17:54:00.000-04:00@AnitaAbsolutely.Now that you mentioned it, it's n...@Anita<BR/>Absolutely.<BR/>Now that you mentioned it, it's not the cursing per say, but the way they are treating another person.<BR/>What the skeptics observe, is perceived as hypocritical and simply reaffirms the stereotype they have in their mind.<BR/>And then of course the mask of kindness is just as limp. <BR/>Taking the time to develop a real relationship with skeptics-helps them see past that stereotypical Christian idea they have in their mind.Perky Gramma Teacheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10819400478284621215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284390162227754178.post-34737227879952559422008-10-10T10:48:00.000-04:002008-10-10T10:48:00.000-04:00There's nothing like a real, down-to-earth friends...There's nothing like a real, down-to-earth friendship with a skeptic to open the eyes of the evangelistic is there?<BR/><BR/>Sometimes it isn't cursing Christians that turns them off, but the ones who coo over them like they are a baby in a carriage.<BR/><BR/>I think skeptics appreciate honesty over a mask of kindness, don't you?Anita J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13937990318873239017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284390162227754178.post-73146327316293477862008-10-10T09:40:00.000-04:002008-10-10T09:40:00.000-04:00Thanks Chris,Your comment have prompted another po...Thanks Chris,<BR/>Your comment have prompted another post...Perky Gramma Teacheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10819400478284621215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284390162227754178.post-7652324679188783432008-10-09T22:04:00.000-04:002008-10-09T22:04:00.000-04:00Hey Vicar, before you described yourself, I though...Hey Vicar, before you described yourself, I thought of you as "God shaped." I will continue to do so.<BR/><BR/>I think all Christians should work at Starbucks for a variety of reasons. I'm contemplating it, myself, as seminary is about to end. My jaw dropped as I read about your baristas' experience. Perhaps it's just that we are more caffeine deprived and therefore addicts and jonesers?<BR/><BR/>I taught a room full of elders last night and discovered that they all were skeptics. We're Presbyterians and they had never learned about predestination, its traps, danger and ugly sides. It was an amazing conversation: difficult question with few answers. <BR/><BR/>The thing is...it's hard to guess what's relevant anymore. Working along side skeptics is genuine. Planning a worship service around them? I don't know. It seems more and more that we ought to ask, "if a skeptic wandered into our worship of God, how would we like for them to see us celebrating the fact that God loves us all?" "If a skeptic happened to be in our celebration, how might the devotion of our hearts communicate our commitment to God?"<BR/><BR/>Every time I check your blog, you just rock more and more!!!prophetsandpopstarshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12243784410863812973noreply@blogger.com