East from West
Submitted by Lonely J on November 25 2001 18:42:12
In reply to Oh the crass certainties of the pharisee submitted by Forgiven on November 25 2001 11:57:26
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Dear Forgiven, Thanks for the warm welcome. Once a month a church group would come to the prison and lead us in a worship service. One song always brought me to thankful tears, I do not recall the name of it but it is based on Psalm 103: Praise the LORD, O my soul; ..all my inmost being, praise his holy name. (v1) Praise the LORD, O my soul, ..and forget not all his benefits – (v2) who forgives all your sins ..and heals all your diseases, (v3) who redeems your life from the pit ..and crowns you with love and compassion, (v4) who satisfies your desires with good things ..so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (v5) The LORD works righteousness ..and justice for all the oppressed. (v6) The LORD is compassionate and gracious, ..slow to anger, abounding in love. (v8) He will not always accuse, ..nor will he harbor his anger forever; (v9) he does not treat us as our sins deserve ..or repay us according to our iniquities. (v10) For as high as the heavens are above the earth, ..so great is his love for those who fear him; (v11) as far as the east is from the west, ..so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (v12) As a father has compassion on his children, ..so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; (v13) for he knows how we are formed, ..he remembers that we are dust. (v14) ***** I have long since given up searching for a church that will live this truth out. If I may ask a question of you in regards to this issue: Why is it that I am always made to feel it is my responsibility to find a church instead of placing the responsibility onto the church (meaning other believers) to find me? As for your ‘disability model’ (if I may call it that), I adopted it for a short time and wound up rejecting it some time ago. I currently adopt what I guess could be called a ‘diversity model’ in which BL exists as a valid sexual orientation alongside that which is considered acceptable. Perhaps we could compare our models at some point in time in light of Scripture. Once again, thanks for the warm welcome. Take care and God bless, J |
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