Comments on: Good Friday MMVII http://jeffrags.com/2007/04/07/good-friday-mmvii/ All-things Jeff Ragsdale! Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:05:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Harold D. Thomas http://jeffrags.com/2007/04/07/good-friday-mmvii/#comment-282 Harold D. Thomas Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:59:56 +0000 http://jeffrags.com/2007/04/07/good-friday-mmvii/#comment-282 "I also expect that for most people, Christianity is just a bunch of religious ceremonies and a litany of do’s, don’ts, and TV preachers taking money from old ladies. I’m here to tell you that it is not. We must not confuse God’s message of unconditional love with the human messengers that have messed things up so much. God is love, and his love is waiting for you. He will not give you a bowl of cherries (why, I cannot say), but he will give you the bowl." This is the burden for those of us who are "liberal" Christians -- not only to proclaim the gospel of <i>love</i> (which we generally do not do actively enough), but to prove that Christianity is <i>not</i> what the Pharisees of our day would have us believe it is. In so doing, we recognize that the Bible is the book that guides and directs us in the art of living in harmony with God. It is not a lawbook or a tool for social control. With this post, Jeff, you showed that, as much as you say Holy Week flew by you this year; you were still able to capture its essence. Harold “I also expect that for most people, Christianity is just a bunch of religious ceremonies and a litany of do’s, don’ts, and TV preachers taking money from old ladies. I’m here to tell you that it is not. We must not confuse God’s message of unconditional love with the human messengers that have messed things up so much. God is love, and his love is waiting for you. He will not give you a bowl of cherries (why, I cannot say), but he will give you the bowl.”

This is the burden for those of us who are “liberal” Christians — not only to proclaim the gospel of love (which we generally do not do actively enough), but to prove that Christianity is not what the Pharisees of our day would have us believe it is. In so doing, we recognize that the Bible is the book that guides and directs us in the art of living in harmony with God. It is not a lawbook or a tool for social control.

With this post, Jeff, you showed that, as much as you say Holy Week flew by you this year; you were still able to capture its essence.

Harold

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