People Leaving Christianity in Record Numbers

So my mentor passed this article my way, and it's one that should hit home with every single Christian, church leaders in particular.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/november/27.40.html

You really REALLY need to read that article. One portion I will highlight is this paragraph:

Another unsettling pattern emerged during my interviews. Almost to a person, the leavers with whom I spoke recalled that, before leaving the faith, they were regularly shut down when they expressed doubts. Some were ridiculed in front of peers for asking "insolent questions." Others reported receiving trite answers to vexing questions and being scolded for not accepting them.

This particularly hit home with, and frustrates, me. In fact I remember asking a question when I was in my teens and I had found what seemed to be a contradiction in the Bible. One of the elders in my church basically said "that's why we have to take it on faith". Another church leader gave a reply so hollow I hardly think he believed it himself. If I hadn't persisted in finding a satisfactory answer with my own studies I, but for the grace of God, could have ended up as one of the statistics mentioned in the article.

I hope you take the time to read the article entirely. And if you are a Christian leader, I hope you especially take it to heart. And amongst other things, we need to take peoples' doubts and questions seriously.

Theology of Secular Hard Rock

Okay, 5 min blog while I'm at work. I figure, I've had this blog set up for something crazy like a year without using it, so I should probably post something. So here's what I'm able to put out in the short time I have left of my break here at work.

This post is not about what our theological view should be regarding Christians listening to rock, but rather about the lyrics I pondered recently within a secular rock song. Here are the words:

Animal I have Become by 3 days grace
I can't escape this hell
So many times i've triedBut i'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal, this animal)
I can't escape myself(I can't escape myself)
So many times i've lied(So many times i've lied)
But there's still rage inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real
help me tame this animal
Somebody help me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
Somebody wake me from this nightmare
I can't escape this hell
(This animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal)
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal(This animal I have become)


Here's the song, if anyone actually wants to listen to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL-DpKbg3cM

Before anyone asks, no, 3 days grace is not a Christian band.
But what I find interesting in those lyrics is how much they capture how I've felt at times with the sins I've struggled with, and how well those lyrics represent the viewpoint of a non-Christian who realizes he/she needs someone to help them change, but doesn't realize/believe anyone really can. It's like they realize the power and control of sin, but can't see that there's a solution. We believers, of course, realize that it is only through salvation by Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit that we can really change.

Even with that, being a Christian, I still feel like those lyrics sometimes apply to me. I feel my old self welling up inside, feel sometimes that old temper of mine wanting to break free and explode, and I know it's only by the grace of God that I don't act on those impulses.

Not to mention, I seem to remember the book of James commenting on the tongue being like a wild animal.

Anyways, some very interesting lyrics considering the source.

Well, I'm outta here. Not bad for 5 minutes I think. Later.