Hip-Hop Prayer Book?

[Joseph_Botwinick]

Isn't being relevant to the audiance following the example set by Jesus? I always thought it was. When he spoke to fishermen he usually spoke about fishing, mending the nets etc... When he spoke to farmers he spoke about planting seeds, seperating wheat from tare etc... He knew those words would penetrate that audiance.

You wouldn't give a baby steak, but if you chew it up for them and place a small piece in the mouth you have given them something they can handle.

LeBuick,

You raised a very good question here. Certainly, Jesus spoke in a manner that some of the people could understand and accept. There were other times, however, when Jesus spoke in a manner that was counter-culture and offensive to the culture. Calling the Religious Leaders Snakes and applying the Words of Isaiah to them about them paying lip service to God was certainly not a seeker sensitive way of reaching out to them and being relevant to them. Neither did Jesus go on fact finding surveys to find out why the Lost had a hard time accepting the truth and then repackage the truth to suit them. It wasn't a matter of marketing to felt needs with him. It was a matter of addressing the actual needs for them. I imagine had Jesus taken a survey and tried to be relevant to the felt needs of the culture, he probably would have been putting together an earthly army that would have overthrown the Roman Empire, and certianly would not have spent so much time talking about Spiritual things. Even to the very end, Peter did not understand the concept that Jesus had come to die for his sins, not liberate him from the Roman Empire.

Joseph Botwinick

 

[tinytim]

Joseph, I see now where you were coming from... I used to be a calvinist growing up, and used to believe like you... I have come back toward arminism since then.

Let's not hi'jack this thread anymore.
So what do you think, Did God predestinate this prayer book to be written.. If so, He wants to use it .... If not, He has lost control... and therefore cannot be God.

 

[Joseph_Botwinick]

Joseph, I see now where you were coming from... I used to be a calvinist growing up, and used to believe like you... I have come back toward arminism since then.

Let's not hi'jack this thread anymore.
So what do you think, Did God predestinate this prayer book to be written.. If so, He wants to use it .... If not, He has lost control... and therefore cannot be God.

I believe that God has fore-ordained everything that has ever occured. That does not, however, mean that God has endorsed everything. It does, however, mean that God will use this bad thing to accomplish his will and bring glory to himself. A good example of this is the Holocaust. God permitted it to happen. It was evil. God brought some good from it. God, in the end, was glorified through the salvation of Nazi soldiers. IMO, that is the cheif end of everything, to glorify God.

BTW, I don't think this is hijacking the thread. What one believes in their doctrines will effect what they do and how they think about the whole "seeker" movement.

Now, tell me, is there a God who is sovereign over everything, or do we worship a myth who is only sovereign when we want him to be so that we can sooth our tortured souls, and not sovereign when we want to control our own destinies?

Joseph Botwinick

 

[webdog]

fore-ordained means "to appoint beforehand". What is your definition of "appoint"?

 

[webdog]

*crickets chirping*

 

[webdog]

I take it Joseph doesn't want to give us his definition of "appoint". I wonder why? :laugh: