Hey everyone.

Things have been very busy here at the Raleigh Podquarters, thus, the lack of updates recently. But hey, the busy has been of the good variety, so I am not complaining. I have been blessed with the way things have been working out lately.

On to business.

I just found a book review that will be of interest to readers of Jesus Pirates. The review is at the site, “Challies.com,” and is about a book titled, “Christless Christianity.”

I myself am going to order this book as it documents a trend I have been following recently. The trend to lessen, or remove, Christ from the central position in the Christian Church.

That is disturbing, eh?

Since I have not yet read the book, I will let the review stand without too much comment. Three is one line of the review that I want to point out.

Amazingly, it is not theological liberalism that has drawn the church away from her creed, away from her biblical foundation. Instead, it is a kind of unbearable lightness–a faith that eschews biblical theology in favor of whatever happens to be the flavor of the day. Says Horton, “My argument in this book is not that evangelicalism is becoming theologically liberal but that it is becoming theologically vacuous. … We come to church, it seems, less to be transformed by the Good News than to celebrate our own transformation and to receive fresh marching orders for transforming ourselves and our world

The above sums things up pretty well. Go ahead and check out the review and then pick up your own copy.

Answering a Comment

Jesus Pirates received a comment recently from Violet on the post, “Don’t Argue the Faith, Just Believe.” Violet takes me to task over the post.

I have replied in part in the comments there, but I am going to post a larger rebuttal later today or tomorrow.

I do not in any way disagree with Violet’s comment. I know that may seem a bit odd as she disagreed with my points in the post, but I think it is just a case of using the right tactics with the right people.

My two main goals are creating a community of believers and fostering a site that can help to bring others to the faith. It is the second goal, bringing others to the faith that I was writing about in the post.

When I write about sharing faith with others not yet convinced or ready to accept Christ, I am writing about my own experiences and hardships on the path to accepting Christ. A lot of good meaning and devout believing Christians did more harm than good in trying to get me to come to Christ. It is my goal to point out some of the less effective, and sometimes downright outmoded or dangerous techniques used to share the faith. (a bit about my personal journey is in this post)

If I am in a situation where I am around other believers, or in a discussion with someone open to Christian ideas,  I will respond as Violet lays out in her comment. In these circumstances, it would be hard to categorize these conversations as arguments, though.

When dealing with atheists, non-believers, or the curious and not too sure types, I stick by what I wrote. In these exchanges, it is my main goal to show the love and power of a relationship with Christ. To show them, not tell them. It is my mission to be a conduit of Christs grace to help touch these individuals.

Arguing is the worst form of telling, and telling is so much more trivial than showing. Arguing with these types will only shore up their views and push them further from a possible relationship with Christ. I do not want to ever be the reason someone moves further from the LORD.

Not everyone will come to Christ, I know that. I want to remove as many hurdles as possible, not build new hurdles.

So, I stick to what I wrote. We are here to spread the word and to be swashbucklers for the LORD. Being right is not necessarily a part of doing that. I would rather be humble and help welcome another soul to Christ.

Be on the lookout for an audio post where I go into more detail on this and my own journey, troubles and all.

I do hope we hear from Violet again as she makes a great pirate for Christ! I have an open invitation to her to share and even pen a post. I also extend that invitation to all who are Jesus Pirate crew. Don’t be shy!

Argh,
Eban

Christ, arguing, book review, Christless Christianity, Challies, souls, Faith