Christianity 103

Church of England says calling God ‘He’ or ‘Lord’ encourages wife-beating

Church of England leaders warned yesterday that calling God ‘He’ encourages men to beat their wives.

They told churchgoers they must think twice before they refer to God as ‘He’ or ‘Lord’ because of the dangers that it will lead to domestic abuse.

In new guidelines for bishops and priests on such abuse, they blamed “uncritical use of masculine imagery” for encouraging men to behave violently towards women.

They also warned that clergy must reconsider the language they use in sermons and check the hymns they sing to remove signs of male oppression.

The recommendation – fully endorsed by Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams – puts a question mark over huge swathes of Christian teaching and practice.

[…]

The guidelines also claim that abuse is common within marriage and says this is because marriage heightens a sense among husbands that they own their wives.

Attention, Mr. Williams & Company:

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.

(Ephesians 5:25-29)

Now, please, make your case from the Scriptures, Mr. Williams and Co.

Christianity 102

God wants His people to live by the Bible, not swear by it.

“But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” (Matthew 5:34,37).

So why should Christians be in an uproar about this next matter?

Minnesota lawmaker takes hits over Quran

Conservative bloggers were outraged when former Detroiter Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, announced he would use the Quran for his swearing-in ceremony photo, instead of the Bible.

It’s OK.

(And when a Christian in Turkey is forced to swear by the Koran, well . . . .)

Christianity 101

God loves Muslims.

So don’t be insulted or offended or mad because of the Tennessee governor’s Christmas card:

A Nashville pastor is questioning why Governor Bredesen chose to paint a picture of a teenage Muslim girl for his annual Christmas card.

Bredesen’s card shows a young Muslim girl that he met in Afghanistan last March.

Pastor Maury Davis of Cornerstone Church told W-K-R-N-T-V in Nashville that the governor’s message is convoluted and could be interpreted as an insult to Christianity.

On the back of the card, Bredesen wrote that it may seem odd to put a portrait of a Muslim on a Christmas card. But he said that the season should serve as a reminder that God loves his children most of all.

Bredesen also wished for peace and hope for the woman and her country.

Pastor Davis, it’s OK. Let it rest.

Money for Killer’s Family

Wow!

In what’s being called a stunning example of “the imitation of Christ,” the Amish community devastated by the cold-blooded murder of five of its schoolgirls is raising money for the killer’s family.

Amish residents of rural Lancaster County, Pa., have started a charity fund to help not only the victims’ families – but also the mass-murderer’s widow and children, reports the New York Times today. The killer, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, committed suicide at the end of Monday’s attack, in which he shot 10 girls. Five of them, aged 7 to 13, died.

More Time for Redemption?

I’m sure you’ve already read/heard:

September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui should spend his life in prison instead of being executed for his role in the hijacked airliner attacks, a U.S. jury decided on Wednesday.

I’m left amazed and wondering.

I wonder if his (potentially) longer life will result in his spiritual redemption.

I wonder if that was a jury of his peers (and if it wasn’t, will a mistrial be declared).

I wonder if this is how the war on terror(ism) is to be fought.

I wonder why I thought he should get the death penalty.

I wonder how his case was so much stronger than Timothy McVeigh’s.

I wonder if this means McVeigh got a bum rap (or if McVeigh’s jury would have “hung” Moussauoi).

I wonder how many Christians will (still?) pray for his salvation.

I wonder how many Christians will (still?) wish for his death.

I wonder what the just sentence would be.

I wonder how many people are genuinely happy with the verdict.

I wonder what kind of comments his Al-Qaeda pals will make.

I wonder what Moussaoui truly thinks.

I wonder what I’m supposed to think.

I wonder what you think.

I wonder what God thinks.

Not My Christians!


Christian youths burned the corpses of Muslims…

…on Thursday on the streets of Onitsha in southeastern Nigeria, the city worst hit by religious riots that have killed at least 138 people across the country in five days.

Christian mobs, seeking revenge for the killings of Christians in the north, attacked Muslims with cutlasses, destroyed their houses and torched mosques in two days of violence in Onitsha, where at least 85 people have died.

“The way of peace have they not known.”

And, “Ye are the light of the world.”

And, “Love, bless, and pray for those who treat you terribly.”

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Above all, love God!