Interesting :-)

 

He was a top church official who criticized Trump. 

He says Christianity is in crisis

"Who is he? Russell Moore was one of the top officials in the Southern Baptist Convention."

"Moore also criticized the Southern Baptist Convention's response to a sexual abuse crisis, as well as what he viewed as an increased tolerance for white nationalism within the church."

(AMEN!)

"What's the big deal? According to Moore, Christianity is in crisis in the United States today."

"Moore believes part of the problem is that "almost every part of American life is tribalized and factionalized," and that has extended to the church."

"I think if we're going to get past the blood and soil sorts of nationalism or all of the other kinds of totalizing cultural identities, it's going to require rethinking what the church is," he told NPR.

(I reiterate, AMEN!)

"During his time in office, Trump embraced a Christian nationalist stance — the idea that the U.S. is a Christian country and should enforce those beliefs. In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, Republican candidates are again vying for the influential evangelical Christian vote, demonstrating its continued influence in politics."

"On why he thinks Christianity is in crisis:

It was the result of having multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — "turn the other cheek" — [and] to have someone come up after to say, "Where did you get those liberal talking points?" And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, "I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ," the response would not be, "I apologize." The response would be, "Yes, but that doesn't work anymore. That's weak." And when we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we're in a crisis."

"On how he begins to address the issues he sees:

I don't think we fix it by fighting a war for the soul of evangelicalism. I really don't think we can fix it at the movement level. And that's one of the reasons why, when I'm talking to Christians who are concerned about this, my counsel is always "small and local." I think we have to do something different and show a different way. And I see in history every time that something renewing and reviving has happened, it's happened that way. It's happened at a small level with people simply refusing to go with the stream of the church culture at the time."

Dear Russell Moore:

Written 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019

I

was sitting here the other day.

Just thinking bout all the things I don't like about fundamentalist Christianity.

Things that I've never liked,

about fundamentalist Christianity.

5 ways fundamentalists misinterpret the Bible

Thinking about how I've been preaching against it for close to 40 years now.

Thinking about how my dad used to say the Moral Majority was neither.

Thinking about when the conservatives were taking over the seminaries he warned me:

"Don't believe these people who tell you you have to think everything exactly like they do, it's just not true."

Thinking about how they have allowed themselves to be hijacked over a faulty theological position by evil greedy racist men.

Its why I like the fact that in The United Methodist Church we say the apostles creed.

Traditional Version

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried;*

the third day he rose from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic** church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

*Traditional use of this creed includes these words: 

"He descended into hell."

**universal

As long as your denomination can say this?

Then you're good with me.

It was the whole point of assembling it in the first place.

This whole notion that we as the body of  Christ can't have disagreements with each other is ridiculous.

That you have to vote for a certain political party, or your not a Christian, or not as much of a Christian. How much more self-righteous could you be?

Time to change the paradigm.

40+ years of this nonsense is enough.

 Fundamentalist Christianity been used and exploited for nefarious political purposes whose time is obviously about to run out.

I fully expect to make enemies.

Loose friends.

Have people disagree and argue with me.

Seems like I'm in good company if you ask me.

So anyway.

I'm thinking about all this.

I get up to head to the truck parked out by the corn field which after harvest time is now stubble.

And it's misting. Not hard, just slight drizzle.

And it's coming down at and angle and I'm walking into it, the wind, the drizzling mist, etc, to get to the truck to get home.

And out of nowhere the lyrics:

"Gonna be a twister to blow everything down

that aint got the faith

to stand its ground"

I thought,

don't worry about me.

You picked the right guy for this task.