Hey, Kathy
First, I don't think anyone took your note to be defensive. I know I
didn't. You know your own heart but it didn't come across that way to me.
I think what matters is that we agree Believers can worship in different
ways to show their love to the LORD, as long as they have the core beliefs
in common. And the most important is that in loving Him we don't act
unloving towards each other for the way we worship Him. I didn't see you
acting unloving toward Brad or anyone else.
Now the questions for the Seder. There are actually four questions. At
least that's what they're called. The Mahashtana I think. But the irony is
there are really five. They're called the Four Questions, though, because
the first one is different and summarizes the other four. (This is only a
rough paraphrase of them):
Why is this night different from all other nights?
Every other night we eat all kinds of bread, so why do we only eat matzoh on
this night?
Every other night we eat all kinds of vegetables, so why do we eat only
bitter herbs on this night?
On other nights we don't dip one food into another, so why do we dip our
foot twice on this night?
Every other night we sit in chairs, so why do we lean on a pillow tonight?
Paul
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Du Bois" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 4:03 PM
Subject: Re: response to Brad about our church visit
> Well everybody,
> I admit that my response to Brad may have been a bit on the defensive and
> for that I do appologize. I feel so often that I have to defend the
> benefits of tradition that I'm probably a bit too sensitive on the
> subject. In reading Brad's second post, I believe that, in most part, we
> are on the same page. Sorry Brad if I sounded a bit harsh.
> When Julie mentioned that she attends a church that has both traditional
> and modern music, I had to smile because that's where we are right now
> too. IN fact, after all I've said about tradition, Greg and I are the
> ones that are trying to introduce new music into our church. I have to
> say that it is being pretty well received, but I think it helps that Greg
> and I have demonstrated to them again and again how much we also love the
> old hymns and are comfortable doing both. They know that we're not just
> condemning their music and trying to get rid of it. They know that we
> love it too and that has helped a lot in them trusting us to bring in the
> new.
> I wish that more churches did have a healthy respect for both. I remember
> reading an article by a pastor from our denomination who planted a church
> out in California. For that particular population, he had no choice but
> to use all modern music. Now, after thirty years, his people are starting
> to ask to go deeper and now he's starting to introduce the hymns and
> traditions of the church. It's sad that it just takes so long some times
> for people to develop that hunger.
> The population here where we are has a lot of dead liberal churches and
> Baptists and Pentecostal churchs on the conservative end. Since our
> expression is more in the middle of the road, I guess, we get it from
> both sides quite a bit which may be one of the reasons that we don't see
> much growth. Ah yes, the prejudice movement is alive and well in the
> Christian church. Anyway, we do respect the church calendar, you know,
> celebration of the Advent season, Lent, Pentecost, common time and all
> that. Unfortunately, our people don't know very much about the richness
> of their own tradition so Greg actually took some time last year to
> explain why we do what we do, when we do it and it was a real eye opener
> to many. It's easy to point the finger at our people and call them
> ignorant, but I think that they are more the norm than the exception.
> Traditions become dead when the understanding isn't passed along. This
> will eventually happen in the modern churches as well if they don't
> explain what they are doing to their children.
> That's why, in the Jewish Sadar, you have the youngest child ask, Why do
> we do this tonight? I'm sorry, I can't remember the three questions
> accurately. Paul, help me out here! But, that's a perfect example of
> passing on a tradition with its explanation and it is still a living,
> essential part of the Jewish faith today even though it was originally
> given about 3,000 years ago.
> Brad, it does sound like you've had some pretty bad experiences in your
> upbringing both at school and at church. I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry
> that people took the opportunity to show power instead of God's love, but
> I'm sure that you know that that can happen in a modern church as well. I
> suppose a drastic extreme might be Jim Baker's P.T.L. club, but it will
> happen anywhere people take their eyes off God and start noticing their
> own gain or privilege, giving themselves the glory instead of God. NO
> wonder God says that the only heart He can work with is a humble one.
> They're the only ones that remain flexible in His service.
> IN Him,
> Kathy
>
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