The 'C' Word: Why I (and Other Christians) Resist the Label

by Mark Sandlin from huffingtonpost.com;

I have a confession. (That's rich, right? A minister confessing.) I have a hard time telling people I'm a minister. Yes, really. I actually tend to handle it this way:
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New Book by Proud Liberal Christian founder Dan Bimrose You CAN Go to Church on Sunday AND Vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday CLICK HERE
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Person: "So, what do you do for a living?"

Me: "I'm a minister ... (appropriate pause) ... but not the kind you just pictured in your head."

Sad. I know. Honestly though, it's worse than that. I'm even very resistant to calling myself a "Christian." And I'm not even close to the only Christian who feels that way! It's so bad that I have this very conversation with people all the time. There seems to be some kind of "Believer-like-me Radar" which tells people it's safe to talk to me about not liking the"C" word: Christianity.

You'd be amazed at how many people resist calling themselves Christian -- or maybe you wouldn't. Maybe you are one of us. The "C" word just isn't what it used to be.

read the entire article ==>> CLICK HERE

The 'C' Word: Why I (and Other Christians) Resist the Label

Gallup: American Confidence in Religion at All-Time Low

By Stoyan Zaimov from christianpost.com;

The Gallup Poll released data this week showing that Americans currently have the lowest confidence in organized religion than at any other time, with Protestants proving the most trusting group while distrust among Catholics is attributed to child sex abuse scandals.
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New Book by Proud Liberal Christian founder Dan Bimrose You CAN Go to Church on Sunday AND Vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday CLICK HERE
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In response to a question about their confidence in religion, statistics showed that only 44 percent of respondents had a great deal or a lot of confidence in religion. This number is lower than the 48 percent scored in 2011, and lower than the previous all-time low of 45 percent reported in 2002.

Protestants remained the most trusting group in America, with 56 percent of respondents claiming that they have a great deal or a lot of confidence in the church/organized religion. Catholics, which make up the second-largest Christian denomination in America, dropped to 46 percent. While Gallup was unable to analyze the other groups of respondents separately, it concluded that Americans that do not identify as Protestants or Catholics on average have 29 percent less faith in organized religion.

read the entire article ==>> CLICK HERE

Gallup: American Confidence in Religion at All-Time Low

Episcopalians set to be first big U.S. church to bless gay marriage

By David Dawson from reuters.com;

The U.S. Episcopal Church is poised to become the first major religious denomination in the United States to approve a rite for blessing gay marriages after its bishops overwhelmingly approved such a liturgy on Monday.
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New Book by Proud Liberal Christian founder Dan Bimrose You CAN Go to Church on Sunday AND Vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday CLICK HERE
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The proposed blessing was agreed by the church's Chamber of Bishops at a meeting in Indianapolis and is expected to receive final approval from its House of Deputies later this week, Ruth Meyers, a chair of the Episcopalians' Subcommittee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Church Music, told Reuters.

The decision would go into effect in December and make the Episcopal Church, an independent U.S.-based institution affiliated with global Anglicanism, the biggest U.S. church to allow a liturgy for same-sex marriages.

read the entire article ==>> CLICK HERE

Episcopalians set to be first big U.S. church to bless gay marriage

As churches get political, IRS stays quiet

By Nanette Byrnes from reuters.com;

(Reuters) - Pastor Jim Garlow will stand before congregants at his 2,000-seat Skyline Wesleyan Church in La Mesa, California, on Sunday, October 7, just weeks before the U.S. presidential and congressional elections, and urge his flock to vote for or against particular candidates.

He knows such pulpit pleading could endanger his church's tax-exempt status by violating IRS rules for a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. A charity can take a position on policy issues but cannot act "on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office." To cross that line puts the $7 million mega-church's tax break at risk.

Even so, Garlow not only intends to break the rules, he also plans to spend the next four months recruiting other pastors to do the same as part of Pulpit Freedom Sunday. On that day each year since 2008, ministers intentionally try to provoke the IRS. Some even send DVD recordings of their sermons to the agency.

Last year, 539 pastors participated. This year organizers expect far more. Participants want to force the matter to court as a freedom of speech and religion issue.

read the entire article ==>> CLICK HERE

As churches get political, IRS stays quiet

Why I Wrote the Book "You CAN Go to Church on Sunday AND Vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday"

(**NOTE** If you frequent this page the content of this book will likely appeal to you. I suspect though for many the true joy from this book will be in sharing it with your Conservative Christian friends.)

If I wanted to give the impression that Democrats are righteous I would have titled the book "If You Go to Church on Sunday you MUST Vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday."

This was not the intent of the book. Neither party is righteous.

At the beginning of 2008, I assumed I was going to vote for the Republican ticket as I was properly raised to do. By the end of 2008 I voted for Barack Obama.

In January of 2008 I was ignorant. By November of 2008 I had been enlightened both politically and spiritually.

There seems to be two Bibles out there. Weirdly enough they say the exact same thing. One group of people picks out things that they use to justify their own hate and judgment. It makes them feel better about themselves. It makes them feel better about their own insecurities and weaknesses.

Another group of people looks to the message of Christ and sees nothing but love.

I see love. Hate is exhausting to me.




From the Back of the Book;

"Author Dan Bimrose .... takes you down the winding path that led a Republican who spent his formative years with Ronald Reagan as both his hero and his President, to vote for Barack Obama.

It was only once he considered voting for a Democrat for President that he fully appreciated the coordinated efforts of the Christian Right and the Republican Party to label ANY Democratic Presidential candidate as unpatriotic and evil.

Dan found the attacks to be baseless, deceitful and extraordinarily vicious. These attacks are a remarkably effective tool used by the Republican Party as a method to persuade people to vote against their own best interest.

While Republicans use fear and lies to influence a base that votes with emotion and not intellect, the future of our country and the American dream is in peril.

This book makes every effort to demonstrate the absurdity of Republican claims of righteousness. Dan does this by citing scripture and discussing how it applies to the key policy issues important to both parties.

Ultimately Dan suggests that Republicans should save their righteous indignation for someone else if they are going to champion polices that will necessitate the hungry to stay hungry and the sick to stay sick.

Central to his argument is the declaration that we have a United States Christian population who has forsaken the teachings of Jesus Christ and who has instead expressed devotion to ideals found only in dogma and doctrine."

To buy the book from Amazon click the following link. Enjoy.
You CAN Go To Church on Sunday AND Vote For Barack Obama on Tuesday: Debunking the Republican Party's Claim of Righteousness

Carrie Underwood Speaks Out For Gay Marriage, Cites Christian Faith As Influencing Her Liberal Views

from huffingtonpost.com;

Add Carrie Underwood to the list of stars who've come out in support of marriage equality.

The country songstress, who was raised Baptist, spoke at length about the topic in an interview with The Independent, noting that her Christian upbringing is at the core of her attitude toward same-sex marriage.

"As a married person myself, I don’t know what it’s like to be told I can’t marry somebody I love, and want to marry," Underwood is quoted as saying. "I can’t imagine how that must feel. I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love."

read the entire article ==>> CLICK HERE

Carrie Underwood Speaks Out For Gay Marriage, Cites Christian Faith As Influencing Her Liberal Views

Pastor Charles Worley : North Carolina Protests Gay Hater Preacher's Comments

By Matt Comer from lgbtqnation.com;

NEWTON, N.C. — Over 1,000 people gathered in this small town about an hour outside Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday to protest what they called messages of hate by Maiden, N.C. Pastor Charles Worley, whose comments at Providence Road Baptist Church during a sermon on May 13 made headlines last week.

Worley said he had “figured a way out – a way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers.”

“Build a great big, large fence — 50 or a 100 miles long — and put all the lesbians in there,” Worley told his congregants.

“Fly over and drop some food. Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals — and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out. Feed ‘em. And you know in a few years, they’ll die out. You know why? They can’t reproduce.”

read the entire article ==>> CLICK HERE

Over 1,000 gather in North Carolina to protest anti-gay preacher’s comments