Revdak

‘Christian’ is the greatest of all possible nouns and lamest of all possible adjectives.

...one generation's absolutism perverts a misremembered prior generation's considered relativism.

Even if you’re the only Christian eating popcorn with a homeless man while your fellow believers sing songs and socialize upstairs, if you invite them, there are Jews, Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, Jains, and Buddhists who will join you. And the funny thing is that authentic dialogue begins to happen in these sorts of situations – you build relationships and you share stories, simply because you all agree that no one should have to eat popcorn alone in the cold.

[O]ut of respect for the difference of one another’s faith . . . we do not pray together, but we gather to pray in one another’s presence, as respectful observers of one another’s spiritual heritage.

In a raid in the desert outside Jerusalem against Israel’s enemy the Amalekites, God had told Saul to fully destroy this enemy along with all their possessions. Instead, Saul spared King Agag and kept some of the choice sheep and oxen. He disobeyed God’s command. When the Prophet Samuel arrived and saw the evidence of Saul's clear disobedience, he pronounced God’s judgment. “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. ... Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:22–23, ESV). Think about it--partial obedience is really no obedience at all. Complete obedience is what the Lord desires. We must never back down from fully following Christ because we fear public opinion or the ridicule of others.