Late to Rant

The post that I am about to make is not a new one, in fact my friend Matt showed it to me a while ago. I found this church (a term I use loosely with these people) while I was doing a little research for my last post about people killing God. The church called Westboro Baptist church and is led by a Fred Phelps believe that the reason that we are at war and anything bad happens to America is because God is punishing us like Sodom and Gomorrah. These people profess to know the word and follow it but there actions speak otherwise, the head pastor has been arrested for contempt of court, assault , battery, etc. The group, which is made up of anywhere between 70 and 150 members all loosely related to one another, has started several offensive sites all starting with the phrase god hates (America, Mexico, Sweden. Yeah that's right the swedes, the people who give us Swiss clocks, Swiss chocolates, and Swiss army knives). This is not a group of people who are displaying the fruit of the Holy Spirit of which is Love, Kindness, and Self-control. For more on some of their less then sanctified acts watch this video.

War, what is it good for.

In today's world of Christian religion there is a lot of arguments over a lot of things, women in ministry, gay rights, Calvinism, what translation to use, Post-modernity (one that I focus on a little to much), etc. As the church fights over all of these stupid little things we forget that these wars aren't much eternal value, if we start to place a persons salvation on whether or not they marry a woman or not we start to miss the point of the gospel (which is to love one another John 13:34-35). In our church culture we can start to war over these issues and fight for what ever side we take, but in doing so we can forget that there is a world out there, that there are people fighting a real war not one of these fake ones that we in the church have made up to satisfy our own desires. We can come up with all the theology we want to, but if it doesn't work in the world when a bullet is flying past your head then it isn't worth having. The last post on Richard Dahlstrom's blog reminded me that all the backbitting that goes on in the church is not a real war, this is a real war, real people, real family's, this is reality at it's worst and what people have to live with everyday.
Today is not a day of prayer or remembrance, it is not a day that we have been called to take a moment of silence. I am not asking that anyone do that, I am not asking that people forget about all the church politics, but just that you think of what is happening, the real wars that are going on, the fight and love for the souls of every person on earth. Don't take a special moment for these things take every moment for them...

Two UK soldiers killed in Basra
US 'winding up' Iraq deaths probe
Dozens die in fresh Iraq bombings
Israeli strike kills Gaza gunmen
Israel in Lebanon border 'truce'
Hamas militia returns to streets
Sri Lanka rebels 'shoot dead 12'
Three dead in Waziristan attacks
Maldives protest at court hearing
Sri Lanka foes 'agree to talks'
Explosives seized in Karachi raid
Landmark meeting for gay Lebanese
Aid flow begins for Java victims
Japan approves US troop shake-up
DR Congo peacekeepers 'missing'