Lady A, now you gotta love me, but hate my sin...

Same as Howard.

Equally detestable as that may be.

If the Holy Spirit can work its way into the hearts of KORN guitarists, then there is hope for Shock Jocks too.

And Bloggers.

Can I get an Amen?

We live in a time where "Christians" and churches stive to be "inclusive" and "tolerant". whatever happened to preaching the word with boldness. hopefully there will be a generational revival

well, well, well...like i said, i shelved the term 'Christian' in reference to me a long while back...when you allow others to define who you are that presents a problem...Jesus didn't start a new religion, but i digress...i do have a problem with those that identify themselves as part of the 'set' of Jesus and apparently have no intention of living a HOLY life...as for that seperation of church and state thing, i will be glad when there is finally some HONESTY on that issue...God allows us to have different personalties so we may not all look at everything the same way, but there HAS to be some unity of spirit in the household of faith and it is hard to see where Jeff Jarvis is coming from as it relates to living a 'Christian' life and expousing those ideals, acoording to his comments...anyway, if you go, DO enjoy the conference...

There are a lot of people who call themselves Christians but are really not Christians. That is what gives Christians a bad name. I think a lot of people will call themselves a Christian for simply "sort of believing in God" or for going to church for Easter and possibly Christmas services. That is not what I believe a Christian is. I believe that to be a Christian, you need to have evidence of it in the way you live. Your beliefs and your life need to indicate that you value Jesus and His gift of Salvation over anything else... and that you realize that this world is not a place to make yourself comfortable. Christianity has been given a bad name by people like Jarvis who claim to be part of the family of God but then go about worshipping the ways of this world. That is where the problem lies. All Christians (and every other person alive at this very moment) are sinners... but to set yourself apart from the rest... your faith needs to be evident in everything you do and say. I am very frustrated too by those like Jarvis who will profess to be a part of God's Kingdom and then go on worshipping evil... that is blasphemous.

Gadzooks, I read the comments on the Jeff Jarvis post. I avoid people who hate Christians - as much as I like to share my faith, if they're going to hate me when I do it, it's counterproductive.

By the way, I am a Christian. If the people in Acts can be called Christians, then I'm in good company. I'm a Rush-Limbaugh-loving, gay-marriage-ignores-God's-law-proclaimer, prolife-to-support-those-too-young-to-protect-themselves, Bush-voting, no-establishing-religion-but-not-prohibiting-christianity-either, occasional-merlot-or-chianti-sipping Christian.

Ambra,

I do hope you will come to the Godblog convention as I would love to meet you.

Michael: Agreed

"christianity" gets into trouble when it tries to impose itself by law.

Because a person can't be FORCED to be a Christian. It's a choice. And no law can make everyone a Christian. (No matter how much we might hope that to be so) Just the person's free faith and trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus, son of God, for their own sins.

And no one (not even government's "law") can force that. All it does is water things down and Make Christianity meaningless.

Wonder if that means that I can bill myself as a Bible-reading, gun-buying, faith-based charity-giving, low-tax lovin', pro-democracy-supporting, pro-life pushing, home-schooling, military-reservist black Democrat?.

Now THERE'S an idea!

Janna, I am probably going to be crucified for saying this, but you made a MAJOR (although I am sure it wasn't intentionally evil) theological error in your post. You stated that "All Christians (and every other person alive at this very moment) are sinners..." Wow. I mean how can you be holy (as COMMANDED) and be a sinner too? While none of us are (yet) perfect, once we accept the atoning sacrifice of Jesus things CHANGE. One can certainly screw up, miss the mark, however you want to phrase it, but there is a difference between living a lifestyle of sin and occasionally failing to be perfect. Sinners will not occupy Heaven. Jesus' sacrifice abrogated the law of sin and death, ergo, the 'Christian' is exempt from the same judgement that one who NEVER accepts Jesus is subject to. Saying (religious) things like "I'm just a sinner, saved by Grace" is a COP OUT. Why? Glad you asked--by declaring yourself a sinner, you have just made yourself an excuse for your next caper/screw-up/fall. You then become your own enabler in extending your sinful career. I have a suggestion. See yourself as God sees you: REDEEMED. Then and only then will you be able to say "I WAS a sinner, but now I am saved by Grace"--MAJOR difference in the two statements. The blessed fact is we can live without sin. Jesus did it. If we endeavor to be lead by the Spirit we can too, one day (shoot, one hour if need be) at a time. If you are interested, I'll provide scriptural back up (by email). Peace.

For Rafael Daniel:

I think you may have misunderstood Janna'a post. As I read her post, it appears she definitely understands that salvation begins the process of sanctification. She also appears to understand that justification is complete when one trusts in Christ.

You said, "One can certainly screw up, miss the mark, however you want to phrase it, but there is a difference between living a lifestyle of sin and occasionally failing to be perfect", and I agree with you -- there is a difference. However, the fact that one who follows Christ still misses the mark confirms that he or she is still a sinner.

It doesn't matter if you break the "window" of the law with a marble or a basketball. Either way, when we miss the mark, we break the window. For the believer, though, there is a ready way back -- through repentance, confession, and cleansing. And yes, in an abstract sort of way, I suppose it's possible for a disciple not to sin, but that abstract concept doesn't hold up in real life, nor is it scriptural. In I John 1:8, John said, "if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."

I appreciate your comments laserlawyer, but I want to be clear about one thing: it isn't consistent with scripture to be a servant of sin AND a servant of righteousness. Paul spells out the issue in Romans 6, 7 & 8 beautifully, but folks get stuck in chapter 7 and NEVER grow. I believe that if someone never knows what is expected of them or what they are capable of, they will never acheive it. The Gospel is full of POWER. I encourage folks I minister to to learn to live outside of the (religious) box and crave relationship with God through Jesus' sacrifice. I have been accused of being radical, but I believe that Gospel IS radical. I mean shouldn't having God (in the person of the Holy Spirit) living in you help you to be truly set apart? You mentioned 1st John and that is excellent. I say read on into chapter 2 and beyond. It can get confusing to the natural mind, but we are called BEYOND what we can comprehend/apprehend in our natural mind. 2 Corinthians 5:17 we all know, but the 1st clause of verse 18 is uber-instructive: 'And all things are of God'. THAT is earth-shattering stuff. Man I am about to preach up in here, so I'll stop. Feel free to drop me an email so we can discuss this further. Peace.

Come Christians and join the "Just say 'NO' to God" campaign. The next time some moralizer purporting to speak for God implies that bloody wars are God's will, doubts notwithstanding, think about this:

After the catastrophic plagues, infestations and deaths of first born Egyptians, could God's Commandment 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' have been a change of heart? Had God found murder and genocide too repulsive to permit?

If the Commandments are the bottom line measurement of God's will, why then did God, forty years later, offer the wandering Israelites all the land of their historic roots, if they would kill its every inhabitant?

The "Just Say 'NO' to God" campaign suggests God wanted the Israelites to say "NO". A father teaches his children right from wrong and tests to see if the lesson was learned. Was the order to kill a test that Israel failed? Is the State of Israel a failure in God's sight, then and now?

All have fallen and come short. We are all sons and daughters of perdition.

Does the Commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Take God's Name in Vain" mean the profane utterance 'God Damn it' is a mortal sin? Or does to "Take in Vain" mean to "claim to be a believer" and then willfully (in vain) disobey the Commandments?

The self-righteousness of the Fundamentalist sect is an abomination, a stink in God's nostrils, a blasphemy. They distort the Word of God.