Monday, May 31, 2010

wahabi

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/wahhabi.htm

'This branch of Islam is often referred to as "Wahhabi," a term that many adherents to this tradition do not use. Members of this form of Islam call themselves Muwahhidun ("Unitarians", or "unifiers of Islamic practice"). They use the Salafi Da'wa or Ahlul Sunna wal Jama'a. The teachings of the reformer Abd Al-Wahhab are more often referred to by adherents as Salafi, that is, "following the forefathers of Islam."'

&^*!ing Unitarians...

mars hill theology

http://marshill.org/believe/

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Narrative Theology

We believe God inspired the authors of Scripture by his Spirit to speak to all generations of believers, including us today. God calls us to immerse ourselves in this authoritative narrative communally and individually to faithfully interpret and live out that story today as we are led by the Spirit of God.

In the beginning God created all things good. He was and always will be in a communal relationship with himself-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created us to be relational as well and marked us with an identity as his image bearers and a missional calling to serve, care for, and cultivate the earth. God created humans in his image to live in fellowship with him, one another, our inner self, and creation. The enemy tempted the first humans, and darkness and evil entered the story through human sin and are now a part of the world. This devastating event resulted in our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and creation being fractured and in desperate need of redeeming.

We believe God did not abandon his creation to destruction and decay; rather he promised to restore this broken world. As part of this purpose, God chose a people, Abraham and his descendants, to represent him in the world. God promised to bless them as a nation so that through them all nations would be blessed. In time they became enslaved in Egypt and cried out to God because of their oppression. God heard their cry, liberated them from their oppressor, and brought them to Sinai where he gave them an identity and a mission as his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy people. Throughout the story of Israel, God refused to give up on his people despite their frequent acts of unfaithfulness to him.

God brought his people into the Promised Land. Their state of blessing from God was intimately bound to their calling to embody the living God to other nations. They made movement toward this missional calling, yet they disobeyed and allowed foreign gods into the land, overlooked the poor, and mistreated the foreigner. The prophetic voices that emerge from the Scriptures held the calling of Israel to the mirror of how they treated the oppressed and marginalized. Through the prophets, God’s heart for the poor was made known, and we believe that God cares deeply for the marginalized and oppressed among us today.

In Israel’s disobedience, they became indifferent and in turn irrelevant to the purposes to which God had called them. For a time, they were sent into exile; yet a hopeful remnant was always looking ahead with longing and hope to a renewed reign of God, where peace and justice would prevail.

We believe these longings found their fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, mysteriously God having become flesh. Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted and set captives free, proclaiming a new arrival of the kingdom of God, bringing about a new exodus, and restoring our fractured world. He and his message were rejected by many as he confronted the oppressive nature of the religious elite and the empire of Rome. Yet his path of suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection has brought hope to all creation. Jesus is our only hope for bringing peace and reconciliation between God and humans. Through Jesus we have been forgiven and brought into right relationship with God. God is now reconciling us to each other, ourselves, and creation. The Spirit of God affirms as children of God all those who trust Jesus. The Spirit empowers us with gifts, convicts, guides, comforts, counsels, and leads us into truth through a communal life of worship and a missional expression of our faith. The church is rooted and grounded in Christ, practicing spiritual disciplines and celebrating baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The church is a global and local expression of living out the way of Jesus through love, peace, sacrifice, and healing as we embody the resurrected Christ, who lives in and through us, to a broken and hurting world.

We believe the day is coming when Jesus will return to judge the world, bringing an end to injustice and restoring all things to God’s original intent. God will reclaim this world and rule forever. The earth’s groaning will cease and God will dwell with us here in a restored creation. On that day we will beat swords into tools for cultivating the earth, the wolf will lie down with the lamb, there will be no more death, and God will wipe away all our tears. Our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and creation will be whole. All will flourish as God intends. This is what we long for. This is what we hope for. And we are giving our lives to living out that future reality now.

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osteen

http://www.daveburchett.com/archive/2005/12/21/270.aspx

Some Osteen dish.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

news roundup

Some fresh links:

Huston Smith; Dalai Lama; "...we can hope that it will bring about a unity between adherents of the world's faiths leading to a sort of birth of a new world free from war and discord with all harmoniously joined in peace and prosperity."

Oh sure, we can hope. &^%$# hippies... it's engineering that saves people, not wishing & dreaming.

New York Community Board Supports Ground Zero Mosque
Voice of America
"Critics of the plan say it is disrespectful to the victims of the attack to build a Muslimreligious space so close to a site destroyed by Islamist[s]..."

But then again Islam is the religion of 'submission' and 'peace', no?

Female Religious Righter Caught in Affair?
ScienceBlogs (blog)
"Haley, currently a state rep in South Carolina, is a religious right, family values conservative all the way. Sarah Palin has endorsed her candidacy..."

Do as I say, not as I do, again again again.

US Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Arizona School Choice Suit
Catholic Online
"They stress that Arizonans are free to choose other school tuition organizations that fund non-religious private schools..."

Tax credits for 'donations' to educational non-profits (private tuition).. a step closer to school vouchers, methinks.

Spartanburg Herald Journal
"...For instance, Spartanburg Mayor Junie White has issued a proclamation on behalf of the city of Spartanburg, declaring June 19 to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Day.The debate over sexual issues is fundamentally a moral and therefore religious one. Some people follow the Jewish and Christian Scriptures and see that authority as prohibiting homosexuality. Others adhere to a different moral authority that allows homosexuality.."

More sex news from South Carolina... sorta.