Probably all three!  LOL

Thanks bro! I think the same about you too!

If you want, give me a call sometime this week:-) I would like to chat.

Thanks Wolf Spirit Child. You are a blessing! But it has more to do with speaking what I feel like what God has laid on my heart than anything else.

I talk to a lot of young people at the university where I teach and their objections are the same that are in the article emntioned above. I am afraid if we don't reach them, we could see the same thing that took place in the book of Judges where one generation "knew not God." The salvation of people's souls hang in the balance.

Mar - You are so right! Its about knowing and having a relationship with Jesus. 

Voice, I agree with what you said. After all, I have spoken loudly and offensive once or twice and I am still a real Christian. What I meant, as you rightly pointed out, is the overall concept.

Megan - God bless you!

The book of Jude was written about 80 years after Our Savior was Crucified.
Jude 1:23
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

My husband rolled over in his chair last night when I told hm the name of your blog.  He knows what's been goin on around here...  I was stunned about the blog I wrote.

He's not a blogger, or reader, but He LOVED your blog, Cubbie!!!

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Legalism is a more dangerous disease than alcoholism because it doesn't look like one. Alcoholism makes men fail; legalism helps them succeed in the world. Alcoholism makes men depend on the bottle; legalism makes them self-sufficient, depending on no one. Alcoholism destroys moral resolve; legalism gives it strength. John Piper

First, I must say that the bog has been taken out of context. I never mentioned one name. I was primarily dealing with an issue that far extends beyond a few on MyChurch. If you read the article you would unbdertsand what I was saying.

What is interesting is no one would have known who I was talking about and not a few others brought it up. It wasn't exactly a public rebuke of an individual.

No... it wasn't a public rebuke of anyone.  There has a problem and you addressed it, Cubbie. 

I addressed it as well, in a different manner.   Meagan, the way people are treated is a big deal to me, to Cubbie....  but most of all, to God.   Read the blog again, with an open heart, and open eyes.

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A great division is coming, many will leave the church. A spirit of persecution stands at the door in this nation, waiting for the Lord to release it. The church has become a laughing stock to the world, the petty arguments and fights amongst the brethren are an indication to the world of the putrid mind set of many in the fellowships. His wrath will be poured out, but He will chastise and scourge His house first. He demands to have a clean bride, not the filthy pockmarked whore the church has become.

He called us to love, but instead many here and in the fellowships bite and tear at each other. 

Cubbie, I finally got around to reading the article you linked. (and BTW, thanks for the link, it helped!)

The article's into paragraph reveals the problem as the author sees it:

Evangelical Christians by definition consider Jesus’ charge to present the biblical gospel message to the world a mandate. Yet many of the very people who they reach out to are rejecting the messengers (that's us, people!). Researchers with the Barna Group found that a majority today believe evangelical and born-again Christians are sheltered from the real world, are judgmental, way too political, anti-homosexual (to the point of being gay-hating), and hypocritical.

Jesus was none of these things, and therefore I do not want to be perceived that way either!  And more bad news:

Yet, the stats are stark enough to be alarming: of those outside the church, fully half had a bad impression of evangelicals. Only three percent had a good impression! Are Christians so bent on moral persuasion that we’re alienating the lost with a lovelessness that really is unChristian?

Think "judging sin" is among the Christian's foremost callings? Look what that's gotten us:

One of the most troubling perceptions that a watching world has of “born agains” and “evangelicals”, especially among the under-thirty crowd, is that we are judgmental. The book unChristian cites findings that ninety percent of “outsiders” believe this. More than half of young churchgoers agree! 

BTW, the author defined judgmentalism like this:

• Judgmentalism doesn’t stop to ask why people do the things they do and why they are the way they are. That is, it just doesn’t care.

• Judgmental minds see everything in terms of rules kept or rules broken.

• A judgmental heart maintains the us-them dichotomy, keeping people at a distance from us. Holding people in contempt is easier when we lump them into categories.

• The core belief of a judgmental spirit is, “I’m right and I’m better.”

Cubbie, thanks for linking the article. Yet another wake up call for me.

As for me, I don't want to be lacking in love lest I be "a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." (I Cor. 13:1) I think this is what some Christians are to the world. Jesus warned against this type of judgmentalism when He warned how the Pharisees treated the woman caught in adultery. He said, "“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Thus, Jesus strongly condemned the self-righteous zeal of the Pharisees. 

What is interesting about her condemers though, is that they never bothered to ask why she was like this.

Ok, now let me get this straight -  those you don't agree with are supposed to kindly fade away so YOU can shine the light of Jesus???  What ever happened to iron sharpening iron, or come let us reason together, etc???   

It is amazing to me that people tend to run in "packs". 

For those of you who just left these messages for Cubbie, I'll repeat myself.   I disagree with what you're doing.  You're taking this blog out of context...  and spinning out of control.

Cubbie is simply attempting to curb it.  Perhaps this would a good time to think about things and stop.

It wasn't a public rebuke of anyone.  There has a problem and Cubbie addressed it.

I addressed it as well, in a different manner.   The way people are treated is a big deal to me, to Cubbie....  but most of all, to God.  

Read the blog again, with an open heart, and open eyes.

It appears the blog has been edited to further enhance the focus on the general issue raised rather than specific individuals. I hope that helps! :-)

I hadn't noticed that.  hmmm....

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Well, I am blessed to not know the details of why anyone is upset...

so let me just comment on the blog, in general.   First off, the title made me laugh.  

I pretty much thought those very words when we were attending a homeschooling convention in Tulsa.  I had walked off to purchase some curriculum when Holly met some girls who had attended Dr. Sharp's Creation Science seminar.  They were all excitedly sharing when a woman stormed up to this group of teen girls (this was a few years back) and shoved tracts in their faces.  Those tracts were about dressing modestly.    Well, let me tell you....not ONE of the girls my daughter was talking to was showing cleavage or legs or wearing clingy attire -- and neither was my daughter.  They were all good girls who were talking about CREATION SCIENCE.  That woman treated those young ladies with contempt.  She did NOT take the time to say Hello or introduce herself.  She made an assumption without doing any investigating.  I walked up as she was leaving -- and saw the tears in the girls' eyes.  When they told me what happened, I was floored.  

Now I gotta tell ya, the momma bear rose up in me and I wanted to go ask Ms. Holier-Than-Thou what her problem was.   I also wanted to talk to her a bit about the "fruit" she was bearing -- coz it STUNK.  She looked on outward appearances (jeans & t-shirts for the most part) and judged.  She didn't bother to see what their hearts were like.  

I understand that she may want to view jeans as menswear (and I won't even go back in time to ask her about Jesus' attire) -- and I can respect that.  The thing is, she could have come up, introduced herself and said, "Ladies, have you ever wondered how you could glorify God even more in your life?" then she could have launched into her thoughts on modesty.  That would have been a BLESSING and a lovely way to build up a relationship.  

Her assumptions led to anger -- and her anger RUINED her witness.

Oh yeah... well, since her anger ruined her witness, I decided I'd better shut up or my anger would ruin MINE. :) :) :)   LOL!  Yep, yep, yep, I'm still growin' up.

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Amen!!

Here is my take on offence......

We as Christians can NOT take offence, because as a Christ follower, we have died to SELF.

Now to the world, we are told be ambassadors of Christ, to have a good witness, to not offend.

When we tell the GOOD NEWS, we should never offend. The good news is that ALL sins have been forgiven, all the person we are witnessing to has to do is accept this, turn their lives over to Christ.

If they don't want to except this, we move on... no matter how loud or persistent we are, they will never accept the truth, until the Lord has quicken their heart to accept this.

But hollering and yelling, telling someone they are going to hell does nothing but OFFEND! 

Sure it’s the truth, but that truth is not presented in love, and without love, it is just noise.

The world will always hate us, but let’s make sure they hate us because we are Christ followers, not because we have gotten in their face and made a bunch of noise.

Jude 1:21-23  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Amen, Preston.

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PLEASE READ MY THIRD COMMENT ON MY BLOG ABOUT MY CROSS COUNTRY TRIP TO KANSAS..... AND AS FORREST GUMP SAYS.... THAT IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT.......

Oh and Cubbie (& Michelle)... I have refrained from commenting on this GREAT blog for this reason. God had to test and try me in this very situation before I could comment on this blog because I had to experiance it, and then learn how to comment on a blog properly. Pray, ask the HS for discernment about the intent of the comment, and then write or speak my mind from the spirit.

COMMUNICATION VIA INTERNET BLOGGING CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT WHEN YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT RELIGION, OR YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS FOLKS!!!! PLEASE LET GOD LEAD YOUR WORDS AS YOU SPEAK OVER OTHERS AND REMEMBER THAT THE TONGUE IS THE HARDEST MUSCLE TO TRAIN, OR CURB.

PLEASE TRY TO MEET THEM WHERE THEY ARE, OR MAYBE TRY TO WALK A MILE IN THEIR SHOES BEFORE YOU SPEAK. IT COULD DO DAMAGE TO OTHERS OR THE SPIRIT IN MYCHURCH....

sorry GC new Daddy... I did not mean to get to vocal...even though I commented earlier... just speaking out of love here not anger... maybe I got carried away and need to delet this comment.

Please let me know if I was off base, or teach me of my wrongs. I value you as a Christian and a teacher of the word.

May God bless your new family always

XOXOXOO

• Judgmentalism doesn’t stop to ask why people do the things they do and why they are the way they are. That is, it just doesn’t care.

• Judgmental minds see everything in terms of rules kept or rules broken.

• A judgmental heart maintains the us-them dichotomy, keeping people at a distance from us. Holding people in contempt is easier when we lump them into categories.

• The core belief of a judgmental spirit is, “I’m right and I’m better.”

That is deep!

Are we judging too harshly the Christians who we feel are judging others too harshly?  I agree that some people in my experience have come on strongly, but when I get to know them, I find they are God's children also.  Maybe the world that feels Christians are "holier than thou" for judging them would feel differently if they knew us better as individuals?  Maybe the evangelical Christian we feel is judging us is trying to save our lives? Instead of listening to what the person is trying to tell us, maybe we need to listen to what God is trying to tell us?

The bible says there is a time to admonish one another. My initial to reaction to this blog was "Is he talking about me?"  Maybe we all need a dose of what this blog has to say. I once asked God if I should write a letter to a person I felt did not know Him.  The direct answer He gave me was "one of you will betray me".  My first horrifying thought was "is it me, Lord?"  Then I read on to see that the other 11 disciples had the same thought and I felt better.  The one who betrayed Him was the one who did not think he was betraying Him.

Christians and Jews have been persecuted through history for telling people to respect God.  There seems to be a fine line between standing up for Christ, which the bible tells us to do, and being humble, which the bible also tells us to do.  It seems that many "real" Christians fall on both sides of the line. But the bible says a "real" Christian is someone who believes Jesus is the Son of God who sent Him, so in that sense we are all "real" Christians if we truly believe, and are humbled by that belief, and are not ashamed to tell others what we believe.