what the yoga lady said
25Jun08
we’ve been hosting a yoga group here at the abbey. i’ve been itching to go, but John MacArthur persuaded me not to haven’t had much time to get into it. well, the group is moving on to a different site. but the super nice yoga lady was really warmed by the hospitality her group had been shown for letting them have a free space for yoga. for us it’s nothing. we host like a baker’s dozen recovery/12-step groups throughout the week, so there’s always something going on up here. but today as she was wrapping up her final session, she disclosed to Greg and I,
You know, a lot of us have noticed that there’s just, i don’t know…there’s just a really good energy here.
good energy. tru dat.
Filed under: ecclesia |
Tags: DF, yoga, energy
Energy from the depths, my misled friends. Not yoga or Yoda alone, but Christ alone, ye sinners…and I hope those are 12 steps to Christ.
thanks Johnny Mac. i would argue that it’s just a bit more complex than linking yoga to a different religion and then offering a textbook definition of that false religion. As for the 12 step groups, I believe your church could learn a few things from them…
a motivational poster
http://www.spurgeon.org/images/pyromaniac/TeamPyro/e-s_056.jpg
that’s a riot!
You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father.
You who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
random Scripture of the day feed?
Thanks, jomato. That’s what I’ve been screaming all these years.
I can’t wait for death or the return of the Lord. I yearn for the bloody head of mockery to fall at his feet. To see this beast cut to pieces before my eyes. Oh, sorry for the downer, I just always get the feeling for death when i read blogs. Maybe I should relax and lay in some hay!
later
or maybe i should stop watching jason play that video game God of War
not a random scripture feed, tyler. i just wanted to remind you to guard your heart. i find it odd that the comments of the yoga lady would carry more weight with you than the counsel of a godly pastor-teacher.
i know how much you *hate to see the spirit of division that has arisen in the midst of all of this* (your words) conversation, but boxing shadows and knocking down strawmen does nothing to keep the spirit of unity and the bond of peace that God desires.
in emergyspeak you say you want a “generative conversation”, but in reality it seems that you try to generate conflict. you also claim that it’s not about winning arguments or persuading anyone to be/do emergent. well if that is the case then why are you so troubled by the critics you claim to welcome?
Dear Marq,
Thanks for the reminder to guard my heart. Yet the burden is on you to show me where I am “boxing shadows,” “knocking down strawmen,” and “generating conflict.” and where is it that I am “so troubled by critics you claim to welcome?” Please show me within the post I wrote.
I think you’re reading into things and making some pretty big assumptions. It can get annoying when you feel someone is breathing down the neck of your blog looking for inconsistencies in print.
tyler, you’re not on trial. and i am certainly not breathing down the neck of your blog looking for inconsistencies. you are free to post what you want. after all, it is your blog. take digs and shots at godly men (like john macarthur) if that is what pleases you, but i think you are a better man than that.
anyway, if i have become your “enemy” by telling you a truth or two, then i apologize. not for telling you the truth—but for annoying you. that was never my intent.
“better is open rebuke than hidden love. faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”
con amor y amistad, adios.
Thanks Marq. I’ve got no qualms with your concern for my heart. I have nothing but appreciation for your pastoral words both now and through the years. but again Marq, you offer no substantial backing for the earlier claims you made.
Tyler,
It seems that certain “buzz phrases” work up some emotion in some…and really I am the same way. When some hear about Yoga, Emergent, or whatever they translate that in their mind to “New Age”, blasphemy, demonic, false doctrine, etc. It would be easy to sit in a position of authority or judgement and point and laugh at such fear and misunderstandings…except for I am equally guilty.
You see, when I hear words or phrases like Gospel Meeting, church of Christ, Gospel Advocate and the like I immediately translate it in my mind to legalistic, mean spirited, pharisees and the like. Because people attend a particular flavor of church doesn’t mean that they are pharisees or ignorant any more than someone talking to a Yoga instructor or admiring the redemptive work of a 12 step program or initiating conversations about faith is “liberal” or lead astray.
I have to admit that accussationsand assumptions, whether made in love or out of some altruistic concern for the welfare of others or whatever, smacks of judgementalism, legalism, “pharisee-ism” and pure ungodly motives and intentions.
Perhaps a more appropriate question for us all is how God may be working to stretch MY thoughts, MY patience, OUR untiy, MY endurance or MY understanding through His gift of diversity…maybe then I can worry about me and my walk with God rather than being concerned with the walk of others.
I like the words found in Titus 1 and perhaps they are fitting here:
“To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.”
may God search our hearts and expose our secret motives.
just to be clear: i was simply responding to what seemed to me to verge on unnecessary and disrespectful treatment of one of Christ’s under-shepherds. when i saw that you had linked to the infamous “showdown” between macarthur and pagitt, and when i read your comments to the faux johnny mac, i felt compelled to respond in some way. you see, i feared that you shared pagitt’s snarky attitude [towards non-emergent evangelicals] and i did not want you to share in the sins of others.
(by the way, my goal was not/is not to defend John MacArthur. disagree with him all you want. only let your conversation and criticism be seasoned with grace.)
as for other substance to support my claims: let’s just say i felt a bad vibe, negative energy, coming off that post.
the trouble with thinking you know people is that—for better or worse—you pick up on little things that others overlook. for example, i know what a fiery red-headed stranger you can be and you should know by now what a cranky pain in the arse i can be. alas, i admit that i do not know you now as i once knew you.
i apologize for making a mountain out of a mole hill. perhaps i have lost my sense of humor when it comes to matters related to the gospel, the church, and God’s servants.
these are difficult and dangerous times.
peace with you always.
thanks for the clarification Marq. It’s all good. will watch my fire and vibes.