Comments on: Broken Dirt http://www.thephilfiles.com/2009/03/24/broken-dirt/ Musings & messages on everyday worship, Jesus, and the stuff of life. Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:53:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Susan Hudson http://www.thephilfiles.com/2009/03/24/broken-dirt/comment-page-1/#comment-4946 Susan Hudson Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:30:49 +0000 http://www.thephilfiles.com/?p=801#comment-4946 Thank you for this. Catch-phrases and buzzwords annoy me, and "post-modern" and "missional" have really bugged me because they seem to have little meaning. You, however, have put the post-modern stuff in "cornbread English" (as your other commenter put it) and cut it down to size. Wow! I just had failed to put it all together, but you are so right about what's been going on for the last few hundred years. It really is the whole of Western culture (and not just legalistic church folk) which has so surrounded us with the separation of flesh and spirit, of secular and spiritual that we have taken it in by osmosis without effort and without recognition of the need for thought and analytical reflection of it. Again - thank you. And let me take this opportunity to tell you how very much I appreciate Heartlight as a whole and your specific articles and daily verses and prayers. You are a blessing to many. Thank you for this. Catch-phrases and buzzwords annoy me, and “post-modern” and “missional” have really bugged me because they seem to have little meaning. You, however, have put the post-modern stuff in “cornbread English” (as your other commenter put it) and cut it down to size. Wow! I just had failed to put it all together, but you are so right about what’s been going on for the last few hundred years. It really is the whole of Western culture (and not just legalistic church folk) which has so surrounded us with the separation of flesh and spirit, of secular and spiritual that we have taken it in by osmosis without effort and without recognition of the need for thought and analytical reflection of it.
Again – thank you.

And let me take this opportunity to tell you how very much I appreciate Heartlight as a whole and your specific articles and daily verses and prayers. You are a blessing to many.

]]> By: Debby Mata http://www.thephilfiles.com/2009/03/24/broken-dirt/comment-page-1/#comment-4938 Debby Mata Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:08:52 +0000 http://www.thephilfiles.com/?p=801#comment-4938 Love this, Phil! We sure miss your whole family, but I still enjoy your cornbread English. :) debby mata Love this, Phil! We sure miss your whole family, but I still enjoy your cornbread English. :) debby mata

]]> By: Jerita http://www.thephilfiles.com/2009/03/24/broken-dirt/comment-page-1/#comment-4922 Jerita Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:24:23 +0000 http://www.thephilfiles.com/?p=801#comment-4922 Between the "Ouch!" and the "Wow!" between knowing that we as a culture have worked to demystify and discredit God and the spiritual world as real and denied the connection our physical world has with God, our creator, we have our neighbor who is often times in pain and lost without God and we wonder how to approach them. If we risk talking about their need for salvation we could push them away or lose the job or career our family depends on. How much more comfortable it is to successfully navigate the secular world without acknowledging that God exists. Maybe even within churches and the congregations of Christians it is easier to “go along” and keep everyone comfortable, rather than pointing out that we might need to turn around (repent) and get on the right road. I have to admit that you did inflict a bit of pain when you pointed out that those of us who are “educated” in modernist thought have too often been unduly influenced by the need to prove that God exists. I remember when one of the Russian Cosmonauts said something about how he had been to the Heavens and did not see God; I wanted to find the kind of proof that he exists that would convince all who do not believe. Of course the soldiers guarding the tomb, who sealed Jesus within and knew that the stone had been rolled away and that he had come back to life, took a bribe from the Chief Priest and caved in to pressure to tell a lie about Jesus’ resurrection so that they would not get into trouble. But the very worst thing is living without God’s love guiding our lives so that the people around us want to know why we are different. It seems easier for me to be defiant than to show love and care to all of those around me, especially by telling them they need to turn around. Phil, I appreciate the bravery you displayed in talking about the influence of modernist thought and the strong relationship God expects us to have with our neighbor. I appreciate it, but I might not like to hear that I need to not rely on “Scientific method” to prove the existence of our Lord and the Spiritual Realm. It might mean that I have to stop justifying living safe and comfortable and remember instead that I have an obligation to teach my neighbor. "Ouch!" and "Wow!" What will God say to me? Between the “Ouch!” and the “Wow!” between knowing that we as a culture have worked to demystify and discredit God and the spiritual world as real and denied the connection our physical world has with God, our creator, we have our neighbor who is often times in pain and lost without God and we wonder how to approach them. If we risk talking about their need for salvation we could push them away or lose the job or career our family depends on. How much more comfortable it is to successfully navigate the secular world without acknowledging that God exists.
Maybe even within churches and the congregations of Christians it is easier to “go along” and keep everyone comfortable, rather than pointing out that we might need to turn around (repent) and get on the right road. I have to admit that you did inflict a bit of pain when you pointed out that those of us who are “educated” in modernist thought have too often been unduly influenced by the need to prove that God exists.
I remember when one of the Russian Cosmonauts said something about how he had been to the Heavens and did not see God; I wanted to find the kind of proof that he exists that would convince all who do not believe. Of course the soldiers guarding the tomb, who sealed Jesus within and knew that the stone had been rolled away and that he had come back to life, took a bribe from the Chief Priest and caved in to pressure to tell a lie about Jesus’ resurrection so that they would not get into trouble.
But the very worst thing is living without God’s love guiding our lives so that the people around us want to know why we are different. It seems easier for me to be defiant than to show love and care to all of those around me, especially by telling them they need to turn around.
Phil, I appreciate the bravery you displayed in talking about the influence of modernist thought and the strong relationship God expects us to have with our neighbor. I appreciate it, but I might not like to hear that I need to not rely on “Scientific method” to prove the existence of our Lord and the Spiritual Realm. It might mean that I have to stop justifying living safe and comfortable and remember instead that I have an obligation to teach my neighbor. “Ouch!” and “Wow!” What will God say to me?

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