Searching for Sunday, by Rachel Held Evans

This book is part memoir and part musings about the institutionalized, denominational church in the West, especially America. Her memoirs are weaved throughout every chapter, along with her reflections. Glennon Doyle Melton another author, has written the forward to this book. Evans writes her own prologue to her book. The book is arranged into sections for each ritual in church denominations. Part 1 is devoted to Baptism. Part 2 is devoted to Confession. Part 3 is dedicated to what is called Holy Orders. Part 4 is devoted to Communion. Part 5 is dedicated to Confirmation. Part 6 is devoted to what is called Anointing of the Sick. The final section is dedicated to Marriage. She wraps up this book with an Epilogue and provides acknowledgments of those who have been part of this book. The book has several pages of notes that cite sources that Evans has used in her research for this book.

I expected this book to focus on the author's own experiences and her lessons in her congregations. She includes these but her book is more about her musings of what she calls resurrection and what she thinks the church can be or should be. By "church" she is referring not to the universal body of Christian believers. She is referring to local Christian fellowships of various congregations, especially those she has been involved in. I found out early where she stands on GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) issues, as she makes it explicit that the answer to welcoming the GLBT community is to accept their alternate lifestyles as morally and spiritually acceptable. I liked all the parts of her book where she discusses the importance of being real in our church fellowships. In an age of compromise and lukewarmness in the modern Christian Western Church, I could not agree with her solution to the sad problem of the across-the-board lack of transparency and diversity in our local church fellowships, especially our denominational fellowships. One of her solutions is to give into the cultural pressures to re-define marriage as accessible to the GBLT community. This aspect of her book, and her condoning of GLBT lifestyles as morally acceptable, keeps me from embracing Evans as a like-minded sister in Jesus, as much as I want to. I understand why Evans and other like-minded Christians cave into the worldview of the culture, and call homosexuality and its cousins morally acceptable, even to Christians. They are acutely aware of the bullying, hate and mean-spiritedness that have been leveled against the GLBT community. They are aware that even some Christians have failed to show Jesus' love to members of the GLBT community. Evans, like like-minded Christians, fails to see that when Jesus said to the woman in adultery, "Neither do I condemn you," He told her, "Go and sin no more." He did not say, "Since I accept you, I accept your lifestyle. You deserve to be happy." No! Evans and like-minded Christians fail to realize that the grace that forgives us of our sins also is meant to enable us to do what we can to stop sinning. Also, in the book, Evans refers to God the Holy Spirit with the feminine pronoun. I understand that God indeed, sometimes, uses feminine images to describe His love, as He has done especially in the Old Testament. And she no doubt wants to stress that God affirms women. But taking liberties with how God has revealed Himself, as male, is not the way to go. I think Evans can make her point just as well without using a female pronoun for the Third Person of the Trinity. Evans has done a stellar job of diagnosing the problems of interpersonal relationships in the modern Christian Church, but I think she is taking an unBiblical approach in calling things God clearly calls sin, as good and acceptable. I know that Evans is popular and has a popular blog. But hasn't Jesus said, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you"?

I cannot feel comfortable recommending this book to any non-believer, as this book will just enable them to in their natural desire to make God in their image, and re-defining an institution He has set to operate in His way. For the same reason, I cannot comfortably recommend this book to new Christians who may be confused to read some things in this book that condradict Scripture. I do recommend this book to many Pastors and those in other Christian leadership positions in many churches that are losing members. This book will provide insight into why this is happening, though I do not think that Pastors should condone or embrace GLBT lifestyles in order to show Christ's love to the GLBT community, as she thinks should be done.

I have received this book free of charge through Booklook Bloggers, in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to give a positive review of this book.

Autism, God & the Bible

Much has been going on these past months and I have not posted about autism or autism-related issues. That is certainly not because these are no longer important, or important to me. With all that has been going on with the threat of ISIS, worldwide terrorism, and the ever-increasing loss of a moral compass in the US, I have not focused on autism or aut ism-related issues. But I have remained fully aware of the raging, heated debate in the vaccine controversy, the alarmingly high rate of missing autistic person cases related to wandering, and the hostility to certain organizations for what is seen as their patronizing attitude toward the autism community. Now there is an massive tragedy of historic significance in the country of Nepal that claims an ever-rising death toll of an estimated 4,000. With things like this, it makes what we may face here in the West, especially in the US, minor. I'm talking about objectively speaking, as everyone's own problems feels like the worst problems in the world. I'm not one who likes to throw around the platitude, "People have worse problems than you; count your blessings." Everyone's own life journey is unique.

Is Autism Man-Made?

The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with its variants (Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Development Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Nonverbal Autism, and so on) have only been in existence for several decades. Where were people on any end of the autism spectrum at before the diagnosis of ASD was created? They had to be around somewhere; it can't be that all of these people suddenly popped up out of nowhere with the official diagnosis. Back in the 1930's the diagnosis of severe, nonverbal autism did exist but autism was not yet seen as a broad spectrum and those so diagnosed were seen as facing bleak futures. They were sometimes called "changelings" and the condition was called "early infantile autism." There who see autism as a "disease" that only appeared on the scene due to vaccine injuries, see autism as something that has been with us only since the diagnosis of ASD was created. Then there are others of us who see autism not as an alien "disease" but as a neuro-biological condition that has always been with which has only recently been recognized for what it is. Can both sides actually be right or is only one of the sides right? While I know that the vaccine controversy is a very emotional, hot-button issue, studies are indicating that vaccines do not "cause autism." It used to be believed that this was so, but now the cause of autism remains unknown. In that case, then maybe autistic people have always been with us and have just been called other things. In fact, most of them either existed in restrictive settings like institutions or were sent to "special classes" and tightly controlled at home, believing their primary need was physical protection. In my own experience, my own daughter, now 15 and finishing up 9th grade in high school, was originally diagnosed as having "Pervasive Development Disorder" and her diagnosis was switched to "autism spectrum disorder." She is doing very well in school, making good grades and her teachers love her. In my case, when I was growing up, I was labeled many things, and my problems were considered either psychiatric or behavioral in origin. After decades of having no idea "what was wrong with me," I was never able to access as formal diagnosis as an adult until two years ago. The diagnosis came too late to do me any practical good. It only gives an explanation for many of my issues that were blamed on "emotional problems."

Is Autism in the Bible?

I don't know if you read the Bible or not or count yourself a follower of Jesus or not. It is true that there is absolutely nothing in the Bible about autism. But then, the Bible was set in another time and in another culture. It does not contain a word about many other things that we consider important today, because many scientific discoveries had not been made yet. For that matter, cancer was not a diagnosis. The closest I can get is in the New Testament when Jesus healed many people, including those who were considered demon-possessed. While I believe that demon possession is real and probably exists today, I wonder if any of those people counted as "demon-possessed," could have had unknown and undiagnosed conditions like autism, epilepsy, or certain mental illnesses. Though the Bible says nothing about many things we deal with today, including scientific discoveries, it is still relevant to these matters if you believe that God is the Creator of all and the ultimate Author Who inspired men to write the Bible. Of course, if you do not believe these things, there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise. But it makes little sense to me that autism just showed up on the scene a few decades ago and soon will be "cured" when the cause of this "disease" is found. While I sympathize fully with those who have had negative, painful experiences with being autistic or loving someone who is autistic, I think this "cure" position is a mistaken one.

Following Jesus, the Church & Autism

What are the ramifications for autism and the Christian community? Can autistic people be found in local church fellowships? How do they see God and their place in the Christian community? In my experience, the few autistic people who have been reached and are part of local church fellowships, are those with more severe, nonverbal autism. Many families with autistic loved ones, like many people with other disabilities, simply do not feel welcome in our church fellowships. Usually this is not because of malice but because Pastors and church leaderships do not know how to set up their fellowships to welcome disabled individuals, much less assimilate them into the life of their congregations. I have seldom seen it happen; there are very few books on the Christian market about autism or other disabilities. The rare ones that exist are never written directly to disabled individuals, but to church fellowships or to parents. I know that this is not the fault of Christian retailers but it shows how the Christian community has neglected those with autism and other related disabilities. I know that Joni Earackson Tada, totally paralyzed and an outstanding Christian leader in the field of disabilities, has done much to bring awareness to severe and physical disabilities. She has touched countless lives in that community. But much still needs to be done to reach and welcome those with autism and other, related, invisible disabilities. What does all this tell those of us who love people with autism or related disabilities, or who live with these ourselves? Nothing good. I see very few autistic teens or adults in the Christian community. They do not feel welcome. They are aware that the Church values non-autistic behaviors like eye contact and social interaction and know that these are considered very important in the lives that the Church and in the teachings of Jesus. And so the autism community is largely unreached and even those who love and follow Jesus do not want to do so within the context of local church fellowships. If you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, you find no verses that command us to "go to church." It is true that followers of Jesus are to meet with each other, worship together and serve God together. This does not mean that we always need building to meet, for meeting can be done anywhere. In any case, autistic people seem to generally feel like outcasts and outsiders to the Church and often sympathize with the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,Transgender) community. I have often seen this. It is unfortunate. If you read your Bible, you read in the Goepels that Jesus hang around with misfits and outcasts, not just to welcome them but to call them to repentance and to lives of blessedness. If you are a member of the autism or larger disability community, I encourage you to get a Bible and start with the Gospel of Luke, to see how Jesus dealt with people.

Please sign my autism petition at Change.org.

Marriage Equality and Religious Liberty

          Without a doubt this will be the most controversial topic I have ever blogged about to date but this ought to be talked about because it is one of the topics that many of our politicians are debating about it. It strikes at the core of the values of the two opposing sides of the debate, the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender (GLBT) community and their advocates/allies, and the Religious Liberty community, which includes people of all faith and worldviews who do not endorse GLBT marriage. The GLBT side values equality, tolerance, privacy and the acceptance of all people. The Religious Liberty community values principle, truth, morality, and the traditional family. But both sides value one thing: free speech.
          Currently, marriage equality has dominated the national headlines. If you follow the news, you no doubt have seen footage of many people marching at Washington, D.C., holding banners declaring their rights to legal and equal traditional marriage, with all the legal protections that have traditionally be given to husbands and wives, including in the even of divorce or death. The other side, those who support traditional marriage between husbands and wives only, also had their opportunity to protest the proposed marriage equality based on the belief that God established marriage to be between a man and a woman. Currently, during my time on Facebook, I have seen one person after another change their profile pictures to a red banner that may be solid red or have stripes or other inner images. Since I originally wrote this blog, over a year ago, I have learned of one heartbreaking story after another of displays of hate toward people based on their sexual orientation. I have learned of more stories of LGBT bullying that has driven even more victims to end their lives. It seems that the majority of those in my network that take a position on this heated issue, usually sympathize or even are hard-core advocates for marriage equality, regardless of sexual orientation. Most in my network remain silent on this issue and only a few oppose marriage equality, always on the grounds that it is against God's plan for marriage to take place between husbands and wives.
          Now I know full well that at any time, anyone reading this can be an advocate/ally of GLBT marriage or may even be GLBT yourself. And so I must say: On behalf of those on the Religious Liberty side who have or do not understand the grace (underserved favor) and forgiveness of God, you deserve apologies and restitution for the horrific and inexcusable things and "hate crimes" which have been done to many of you throughout the ages, but especially in these days when you have "come out of the closet" or may not be GLBT but just not fit the male or female stereotype. All of the "hate cimes," the "anti-gay" protests and counter-protests at "gay pride" rallies and even at military funerals, and the GLBT bullying, are all anti-God, anti-Bible and anti-Christ. These things go against God's image of perfect love and Jesus' compassion that was modelled in the Gospels. The anti-gay sites on the Internet and on social networks are plain wrong. It's shocking, sickening and heartbreaking how GLBT bullying has become such an epidemic and how so many victims have been driven to bullycide through it. My guess is that one big reason that this targeted GLBT bullying has grown so bad today is that even in schools, students are "coming out of the closet" and living as openly GLBT. In my growing up years and before that, there was a definite code of silence about GLBT issues, just as there was about so many other things that we talk about today. So such bullying was not known and if it happened, there was no awareness about it.
          We have definitely come a long way from the time when society frowned on homosexuality and on homosexuals. Today, they and anyone with sexual orientation differences are a protected minority group. I will boldly say that today it is less of a stigma to "come out of the closet" about being GLBT than it is to "come out of the closet" about invisible disabilities like many mental illnesses, autism, epilepsy and about other misunderstood medical or neurological conditions. I'm sure that this is because GLBT groups and individuals have tirelessly lobbied those in power, gaining influence; many celebrities have also added their voices to the effort. Today, it is "homophobia" that society frowns on but I fear that this word as well as the term "hate speech" are used to crush any civil and rational debate on this topic.
          We can blame many of our problems encouraging gay marriage as an alternative, to the failure of so many heterosexual marriages and families, along with a high divorce rate, domestic violence, child abuse and rebellious children. But heterosexual unions aren't to blame for these social evils; growing up without learning empathy and self-control are. Abuses of a good thing does not mean it is bad, or has become bad. Just because heterosexual unions have been widely abused does not make traditional marriage bad. The Religious Liberty side views all of this with grief and dismay and finds it easy to overreact and to view GLBT marriage as the threat to religious freedom. And GLBT people likewise see the other side as a threat to their cause. This means war!
          The media have a lot of power in shaping our opinions. And so much of the media tell os half-truths or give us the news as based on their biases. So we hear much about what the GLBT community suffer at the hands of those who are identified with the Religious Liberty community. And let me make one things clear: There are many, many people who do not identify themselves either with GLBT people are with Religious Liberty people, so the majority of people are largely silent on this matter; it is not their priority either way. And there are many denominations which do openly support or tolerate GLBT lifestyles. This is my observation.
          Today it's politically correct to cry foul whenever anyone dares to challenge alternate acts or lifestyles, whether they are GLBT, co-habitation (living together without being married), premarital sex, abortions or anything else that has become accepted in society but which goes against the core values of those in the Religious Liberty community. It's usually the unstable, emotionally immature but also stable, mature but opinionated people, who let discussions on controversial topics deteriorate into name-calling, shouting matches, bullying, personal attacks and even worse. Such individuals, who often make the headlines, give many in the religious Liberty community, who truly care about people, a bad name. Worse, they hurt God's Cause on earth. Sad.
          The Religious Liberty community hold the Bible to be God's inspired Word to us. In it God says that He made us male and female so He instituted marriage so we can reflect His image. This is at the core of the Religious Libery's side of this debate. Yes, it's true that lots of evils have come out of male/female marriage but this isn't the fault of such marriages but of the people's failure to learn empathy or self-control. Yes, I know that this may not be a good enough reason for those who value other matters but this is God's reason. Those who oppose marriage equality out of deeply-held religious convictions are not narrow-minded, intolerant or hateful. If they understand God's grace and forgiveness and love, they love and accept all people, do not force their beliefs on anyone, and welcome anyone, including GLBT individuals, and love them as valuable creations of God.
          It is not that God and the Religious Liberty people who understand God's love and grace, don't value tolerance, acceptance, privacy or equality. It's just that this community values truth and morality as most loving and in the best interests of all. And in all the talk about acceptance and tolerance, there is often no tolerance for or acceptance of Religious Liberty people who "come out of the closet" in both a loving and truthful way, about their beliefs. They are vilified as "homophobes" and "hatemongers" and worse. Tolerance and acceptance should be extended to both sides. And what is "homophobia"? It is the fear of anything GLBT. Talking about GLBT issues or challenging them as a lifestyle are not homphobia if this is done in a caring and loving way.
          In both the Old and New Testament, God is silent on sexual orientation itself and on homosexual thoughts or feelings. He only grows vocal about acting on these just as He condemns hating or not accepting any peple, which includes GLBT people. God's words against GLBT lifestyles doesn't mean that God is homophobic or encourages homophobia. It's only through male/female unions that we can naturally procreate future generations and keep the human race going. This has been God's plan from the beginning and this has not changed. In gay marriage, unnatual forms of reproduction must be done to procreate.
          What about the matter of whether GLBT people are "born that way" or at one point in time, made a conscious choice to adopt same-sex orientation as a lifestyle? This is not an easy topic to sort through, as sexual orientation is very complex. It seems, according to testimonies of so many GLBT people, that they struggled with their thought and feelings even as young children, many as long as they can remember. So it is not a simple matter of making a conscious choice of adopting a lifestyle. I see no easy answers to this one and I can understand why so many GLBT people decide to embrace their sexual orientation as a difference, just like having a different skin color or having disabilities. The only trouble with that is, in both the Old AND New Testaments, God does not view GLBT lifestyles as "just another difference." I have provided the verses below; these are the words of a much Higher Authority than I.
          Be assured that God, in the Bible, does NOT single out homosexuality as the only misuse of sexuality. He comes out against many other misuses of sexuality, including prostitution, incest, rape, premarital sex, adultery, bestiality, and more. And He comes out against divorce in male/female marriages over and over and as often about adultery. But what would be His position on legalized gay marriage? I think that He realizes that GLBT issues are an established fact in this culture that while it is NOT His ideal, that He has other priorities, such as our coming to know and love Him and to love others. It seems to me that He would tolerate legalized gay marriage more than He would much of the other social ills of this day. What about homosexuals adopting children? I think it is much better to grow up in a loving, stable home of a GLBT couple than with cold, unloving, abusive heterosexual parents. But God's ideal is for children to grow up in a loving, stable male/female union.
          Are GLBT relations the business of society? I agree that it is NOT our business what our neighbors do in the privacy of their bedrooms and that as long as the people involved are not hurting or bothering us, we should leave them alone. But God also made GLBT people (and all of us) and what they (and we) do is His business. So no one can tell Him, "What I do in the privacy of my bedroom or anywhere else is any of Your business."
          What about those who are sick and tired of the GLBT lifestyle, are trying to escape it and what about those who are trying to help and assist them in this most difficult process? Again, if we want to see tolerance and acceptance toward those in the GLBT community, we should have tolerance and acceptance toward this community, also a minority. What we need is tolerance and acceptance toward all people. When controversial topics spawn hate and intolerance toward opposing sides we do not have this.

Scriptural verses that are uses in the GLBT/Religious Liberty debate:

Genesis 1:27--The purpose of marriage-Image of God in us as male and female as shown in marriage.
Genesis 2: 18-25--  " "

Genesis 1: 28 God's plan for natual procreation in marriage

Leviticus 18:22 God's words about homosexuality as a lifestyle (NOT a sexual orentation)

Matthew 19: 4 Jesus' words about God's plan for us as reflecting HIs image as male and famale in marriage
Mark 10: 16  " "

Romans 1: 26-27 God's words about homosexuality as a lifestyle (NOT a sexual orentation)
1 Corinthians 6: 9-11 " "

http://christiansnswers.net/
This is a website that is run by a pastor who lived a formerly homosexual lifestyle and found his way out of it. This site contains stories by men and women who lived formerly GLBT lifestyles and have found their way out. This pastor answers questions with faithfulness to Scripture and truth but also with sensitivity and compassion, as one who has been there.

http://courageerc.net/
This is a social networking site of members who are or have lived GLBT lifestyles and who want to escape. The site is run by Catholics who provide articles and posts which are marked by compassion and love as well as being true to Scriptural principles.