Ooh, an advert for CICCU on my journal. Full marks for chutzpah, I suppose.
im sure you'll be pleased to know that this year's CICCU mission is starting on Monday.
My dear boy (or girl), I am ecstatic. Ecstatic in a way that's appropriate for me, that is, that is, in a sort of dignified way involving swaying from side to side gently in time to the music, rather than waving my hands in the air or suddenly falling over, or any of that sort of stuff, which, as you know, the Lord finds faintly embarrassing.
Thing is, I could probably give those talks myself, were I to be qualified by my elevation to the position of Pastor-Teacher in A Church Where The Bible Is Taught Exactly Like It Is At StAG (such elevation seems unlikely at this point, I'll admit, but, you know, mysterious ways and all that). I know what they'll say, more or less. Some missions might concentrate on getting alongside your nonchristchunfrends' paradigms in a sort of Paul-in-the-Areopagus kind of way, whereas others may rely on mad Australians with amusing views about gay people, but the message will be the same: the Good News that a God you've previously never heard much from intends to horribly torture you. There's nothing you yourself can do to save yourself from this fate. But he loves you (I am not alone in finding this love/torture combination slightly kinky, by the way). So he won't torture you if you Accept Jesus As Your Personal Saviour, because he tortured Jesus instead of you (he couldn't just let you off, so torturing the wrong person was necessary to meet the demands of perfect justice). I think that's the central message, all else is window dressing. Did I miss anything?
While I'm always willing to talk to people who're reasonably polite, the CICCU mission talks are unlikely to be a productive use of my time (or, I'd argue, anyone else's).
Re: This year's CICCU Main Event - DIRECTION
im sure you'll be pleased to know that this year's CICCU mission is starting on Monday.
My dear boy (or girl), I am ecstatic. Ecstatic in a way that's appropriate for me, that is, that is, in a sort of dignified way involving swaying from side to side gently in time to the music, rather than waving my hands in the air or suddenly falling over, or any of that sort of stuff, which, as you know, the Lord finds faintly embarrassing.
Thing is, I could probably give those talks myself, were I to be qualified by my elevation to the position of Pastor-Teacher in A Church Where The Bible Is Taught Exactly Like It Is At StAG (such elevation seems unlikely at this point, I'll admit, but, you know, mysterious ways and all that). I know what they'll say, more or less. Some missions might concentrate on getting alongside your nonchristchunfrends' paradigms in a sort of Paul-in-the-Areopagus kind of way, whereas others may rely on mad Australians with amusing views about gay people, but the message will be the same: the Good News that a God you've previously never heard much from intends to horribly torture you. There's nothing you yourself can do to save yourself from this fate. But he loves you (I am not alone in finding this love/torture combination slightly kinky, by the way). So he won't torture you if you Accept Jesus As Your Personal Saviour, because he tortured Jesus instead of you (he couldn't just let you off, so torturing the wrong person was necessary to meet the demands of perfect justice). I think that's the central message, all else is window dressing. Did I miss anything?
While I'm always willing to talk to people who're reasonably polite, the CICCU mission talks are unlikely to be a productive use of my time (or, I'd argue, anyone else's).