What was heard in your church today?

self | 9-16-2001 | self

[Dubya_gal]

My church was packed today. Hard to find a space to park or sit. There was a certain electricity in the air--all were very passionate in their singing and emotional in their prayers. This tragedy has had an impact on everyone.

Main message was (1) we should pray for the families hurt and also our leaders (2) we should not let ourselves be overcome by "bloodlust". Seeking justice and punishing evildoers is good and necessary, but being overcome with hate, wishing the destruction of all muslims or all arabs or innocent people (e.g., citizens of afganastan who have not hurt us) is not Christian. (3) A reminder that we must not base our lives on things that are not eternal. We never know when our buildings may crumble or our loved ones may be taken from us. God will never leave us: "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness....On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand."

[ConsistentLibertarian]

That's a really detailed link -- very helpful, thank you. It looks like there are a lot of conditions: There has to be an actual declaration of wark, one has to try diplomacy and negotiation first, and a "state may not resort to war if it can foresee that doing so will have no measurable impact on the situation. The aim here is to block mass violence which is going to be futile." Then there's the rule that you can only target those actually "engaged in harm". There's a lot there to discuss. How did you fit it all in?

[NeoCaveman]

I'm sorry you got that at your church. Do not blame Catholicism, blame the individual preist. Get the bishop on his @ss if he is spreading pacifistic crap.

My preist mentioned praaying not only for the victims but also the souls of the terrorists. I cannot do it yet. I have been praying for the ability to do it, but I'm not there yet.
Even when I get there, I will say "may God have mercy on their souls, because their a##es belong to Uncle Sam.

[crystalk]

You might do well, if you are Protestant, to consider churches that are a part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), not the left-wing PCUSA, also most Southern Baptist Churches, also the many independent Baptist churches that are affiliated (loosely) with Jerry Falwell's Liberty University and other orgs HQ at Lynchburg, Va.

A call to the HQ or visit to the website of Falwell and the PCA alone could probably improve what you say you have now...

[Shaka]

Get ready for a war we did not seek but, we will win. Pray for all those who are going to protect the right to pray and seek God. This is the freedom we enjoy but, we must be prepared to fight for it. Text out of Deutoronomy 7.....great reading. Joe Scaroborough was in church today...man is he pissed! I think he would be a great President one day. He not only believes in God...he said if we don't pray and trust God, our country will be lost!

[CobraJet]

Yes! I attend Bellevue Baptist in Memphis. Dr. Adrian Rogers is a true evangelist. Check out Bellevue.org or Loveworthfinding.org.

[Alberta's Child]

We got a very sobering, but compelling sermon this morning at the Latin Mass here in Calgary.

The priest began his homily by stating that he "had no words of comfort or wisdom to offer with regard to the horrors of last Tuesday," then went into a careful, outstanding sermon in which he attempted to answer one of the questions that are most commonly heard in times like this:

How can someone be so evil that they would commit an act like this?

Christians, he said, have no business asking this kind of question because it implies that "other people" are more evil than "we" are. "Anyone who believes that he is incapable of committing such a horrific act," he said, "does not know the state of their own souls. It is only by the grace of God that I have never done something like this myself. And it will only be by the grace of God that I never do something like this in the future."

[Antoninus]

Our processional hymn was "Let there be peace on earth" ... rather inappropriate considering the circumstances. How can there be peace when your enemies are crashing your own jet liners into your own skyscrapers?

"To everything, there is a season...a time of war, a time of peace." Sadly, as much as we desire peace, this is a time of war.

[jays911]

the vatican made the designation.

[ASTM366]

At Kingwood First Baptist Church in northeast Houston, our Pastor preached from Psalms 139 and Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 Verses 8:

Verse 8 - "a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace".

Our Pastor reassured us from Psalm 139 and instructed us from Ecc. Chapter 3.

He told us to prepare for war.

He told us to pray for our President, his advisors, members of the Armed Forces.

He told us pray for the loved ones of the dead in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.

He reminded us that life is unsure. We can be here today and gone tommorrow. We must have a close walk with God.

[tx4guns]

Lutheran member here. Pastor preached about responsibility: 1) Being a citizen of God's kingdom in Christ 2) Being a citizen of the USA. He quoted a verse from Paul that said the all leaders are put there by God's will, and we should support our leaders. The verse says that if we go against our God-given leaders, we go against God. He said that the USA is truly blessed and truly a special place. He said that our beliefs of freedom and Christian faith should be taken into the world like a big beacon, and we have a new special opportunity to spread the word of Christ. In conclusion, he said that God takes all evil and turns it into a good thing. The recent terrorist acts have already brought our country closer together, and he said that he hopes and prays that this will turn America back to God. From all this, my take is that our faith keeps us strong. We can either give in to the terrorists' wishes and be afraid, or we can trust in God. With faith, there is nothing to fear because we know God will be with us, no matter what happnes.

[kosta50]

Spoken like a "true" Christian. Jesus never taught revenge, but forgivness and love even for your enemies. But that was Jesus. Humans are less perfect. Perhaps that's why any professing Christian may be a practicing hypocrite.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a pacifist. But then I am also not religious.

[ConsistentLibertarian]

But wouldn't the Catholics in many countries want Mary to be their country's patron saint? Does it undermine some sort of special bond if you make her the patron saint of more than one country -- I mean what if she's the patron saint of two countries and they go to war? (Speaking of which -- does Afganistan have a patron saint?)

[skeeter]

My Rev preached from Luke & Ecclesiastes - basically, no to hate but outrage & desire for justice OK. Pretty standard stuff but what I needed to hear.

The 8 o'clock service here in the goofy Bay Area was SRO.

[ConsistentLibertarian]

I'm rereading the link you gave -- thanks again. It says no war is just unless "the decision has been made by the appropriate authorities, according to the proper process, and made public, notably to its own citizens and to the enemy state(s)." Does that mean that until or unless Congress issues a declaration of war on Afghantistan, and mentions that state by name, that any de facto war would be immoral according to the Christian doctrine of a "just war"?

[jae471]

God ordained government (Genesis, Exodus, and Romans 13)
The government is to fight evil and terror(Romans 13)
God will have vengance(Lam. 3:66-68)
And, of course, God bless America.

To sum up: As Christians we are to forgive, as Americans we use the tool of God (government) to seek vengance, as a State, not individuals.

[IncPen]

I was concerned that my church would be having a handwringing service; it wasn't, and I'm going to try to get a copy of the sermon to post here.

It was a moving and complex sermon that hit on many things. But the jist of it was this:

God does not 'allow' evil. Evil exists of it's own accord and man must choose. God shows us right and wrong and no one is coerced to love or serve him. His love is perfect because it is freely given.

The second point was this:

We may choose to accept what is dealt to us and turn the other cheek; that is a valid expression of Christianity.

But we may also protect ourselves, and as man is the sovereign of Earth, man metes out justice with God's blessing.

I don't have the specifics, but that's the jist of it.

We too sang "America the Beautiful" and at the very end, a capella, "God Bless America"

As for you, ConsistentLibertarian, my mother used to say, 'faith is a gift'. It is the intellectual ability to believe without seeing.

And for those willing to accept it, it is a powerful, powerful thing.

You'd best not mock it.

[quienyo]

Faith Baptist is where I attend. I used to go to Bellevue, but it's just too big for me. Howver, it is a wonderful Church, and I loved to hear Dr. Roger's preach. My pastor, Dr. Danny Sinquefield, is a pretty good country preacher himself, and isn't afraid to preach God's word, no matter who it might inconvienence.

[keta]

2 Chronicles 7:14

[jays911]

come to Nebraska. you won't find any more conservatice dioceses than lincoln and omaha. those two lead the nation in producing priests.