“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”

Perhaps Governor Perry is unclear about the meaning of “equality” and “discrimination.” Letting gays serve openly in the military means that every American now has the right to defend the country. And the possibility to die trying. As for letting kids openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school, perhaps Perry should brush up on his 1st Amendment knowledge.

You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when people like this run for president and actually get listened to. Governor Perry may not be ashamed to admit he’s a Christian, but I’d wager Jesus might have a differing opinion.

The post Ashamed first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

Anyway, for all those people who get their undies in a knot over “HH” vs. “MC,” please read this great post from Jennifer McGrail’s “The Path Less Taken:”

The only one who can take your Christ out of your Christmas is you.

How do you take Christ out of Christmas?  You take Christ out of Christmas every time you:

Don’t take the high road.

Are less than loving, and patient, and kind.

Gossip, complain about, and judge others.

Are slow to listen and quick to anger.

And yes…. grump and moan and cry about everyone taking Christ out of Christmas, instead of simply showing the people kindness and goodwill and grace, and letting them see through your actions that Christ cannot be taken out of your Christmas because Christ is living in you.  No one can take that away from you, no matter what they believe or what they celebrate or WHY they celebrate.

The post is terrific from start to finish, so please read the whole thing.

The post Is “Happy Holidays” a Dirty Word (or two)? first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

“Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” — Mark 10:14

Which brings me to another related story. Namely, the beating of children in the name of God. There are books about that people have read, taken to heart, and put to use.

There is a brutal movement in America that legitimizes child abuse in the name of God. Two stories recently converged to make us pay attention. Last week, a video went viral of a Texas judge brutally whipping his disabled daughter. And on Monday, the New York Times published a story about child deaths in homes that have embraced the teachings of To Train Up a Child, a book by Christian preacher Michael Pearl that advocates using a switch on children as young as six months old.

What many people may not realize is that in the evangelical alternative universe of the home school movement, tightly knit church communities and the following of a number of big-time leaders and authors, physical punishment of children has been glorified for years.

The post Children first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

They had limited success in their attempts to convert Icelanders. Allegedly, they were ridiculed and eventually forced to flee the country. The king [of Norway] was of course not pleased to hear that, so he sent his bishop Thangbrandur to Iceland to spread the word of the Lord.

Thangbrandur boasted some success in baptizing a few chieftains but like his predecessors he was also met with opposition and got into trouble because he killed a few Icelandic skalds who composed lampooning poetry about him.

Eventually, King Ólafur learned that conversion by violence and murder was not working and instead pushed preaching. Iceland’s conversion to Christianity became the most peaceful switch in history.

The post Kristnitakan first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

Predictably, the mighty have fallen. The Crystal Cathedral has filed for bankruptcy and the Schullers, recipients of big salaries and a 10-million loan from the endowment fund, still have their hands out:

“They’ve completely depleted the church’s funds,” one member, Bob Canfield, told the Orange County Register. “But they have shown that they have absolutely no remorse for what they’ve done. They’re still being chauffeured around in limos. We, the congregants, have nothing.”

An email sent recently by Crystal Cathedral administrators said that Schuller and his wife, Arvella, “would appreciate meals over the next three to four weeks.” It added: “They are to be sent to the church in order to be transported to Arvella. The limo drivers could pick up the dinners or meet in the Tower Lobby around 4:30 p.m.”

You can read the whole story here.

The post Shattered Crystal first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

If Vatican cardinals have yet to join the Occupy Wall Street protesters, a document released by the Holy See calling for a “world authority” to crack down on capitalism suggests some are considering it. Written by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and released on Monday, Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority, suggests a beefed-up United Nations could police the financial markets and inject a dose of ethics to replace rampant profiteering and reduce inequality.

The post Occupy Vatican? first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

The alternative is to return to the subversive teachings of Christ. Jesus showed little patience with religious institutions. He was mostly concerned with people outside them. One of the central events of his life was a famous piece of direct action in the Jerusalem Temple, where he “overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves”.

The above block was pulled from a story about the Occupy London movement and how St. Paul’s cathedral fears the protest is keeping the tourists away.

The post Jesus’ Take on the “Occupy” Protests? first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

Christianity Today published an interesting analysis of the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey which asked a whole range of folks about their Bible reading and views on a variety of topics. The survey found that people who read the Bible the most tend to be more conservative, BUT BUT BUT the more these same folks read it, especially on their own, the more liberal their views become. That pesky Jesus!

Why does this happen? One possible explanation is that readers tend to have expectations of a text prior to reading it. Given the Bible’s prominence in our society, it’s little wonder that many people think they know what’s in it before they open it up. But once they start reading it on their own, they are bound to be surprised by something, and this surprising new content is then integrated and grafted on to the familiar. Beliefs do change with the addition of new information.

The post That Ole’ Lefty Bible first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

The post Ten Things Everyone Should Learn first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

A new survey from LifeWay Research seems to confirm our approach. They asked 2,000 people who read the Bible by themselves (outside of church) or as part of a family activity a number of questions about the Bible.

When asked whether they prefer “word-for-word translations, where the original words are translated as exactly as possible” or “thought-for-thought translations, where the translators attempt to reproduce the intent of the original thought rather than translating the exact words,” 61 percent chose word-for-word.

Other findings:

• 68 percent want language to be simpler to understand while 7 percent want it to be more difficult to understand.
• 81 percent say it should be more enjoyable to read while 4 percent prefer it to be more of a chore to read.
• 27 percent favor contemporary language while 46 percent want traditional language.
• 36 percent want more modern language while 37 percent favor more old-fashioned language.
• 19 percent feel understanding the language should require a higher level of education while 49 percent say it should not require a higher level of education.
• 63 percent believe it should be simple for anyone to understand while 14 percent say the language should be meant more for people who have a lot of experience with the Bible.
• 40 percent prefer more formal language while 26 percent say should be more informal.
• 22 percent want language more for casual reading while 44 percent say it should be designed more for in-depth study.

Easy to read and word-for-word accurate: What He Said.

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