Here's a cool ministry idea. Vampire horror fiction writer. Anne Rice underwent a spiritual conversion to Christianity a few years ago. She still has a lot of liberal ideas but I find her testimony and some of her alter ideas fascinating. I read in an article that she spends several hours a day answering telecommunicate. I wrote her a bring together of times and she answered me. Go to her website and answer some of her questions to Christians. I'll be interested to comprehend what you wrote and how she'll act to you. The following questions are in color and my answers are in black. ANNE’S QUESTIONSFrom Anne. May 31. 2007:Dear Ones,THESE QUESTIONS ARE PRINTED OUT AND DISPLAYED RIGHT BY MY DESK. YOU NEED ONLY have in mind THE be OF THE QUESTION IN YOUR SUBJECT LINE when you answer. I deeply appreciate your response and…LOOK FOR MORE QUESTIONS IN THE FUTURE.1 - Do you go to church and if so why?For many years. I open it difficult to find a perform I agreed with. I was formerly a member of a campus ministry that split up in the early '90s. I continued in the same vein of this ministry as a writer editor and publisher of Christian literature in Rusian. Spanish. Chinese etc. I have since change state a producer of teaching videos and DVDs. A few years ago a customer recommended that I be R. C. Sproul's perform here in the Orlando area -- St. Andrew's Chapel. The tradition of this perform is classical Calvinism and is different from what I am used to. However. I conclude I am being spirtually "fed" here in ways I haven't experienced elsewhere. I control over an hour to attend Sunday services and I don't make it every week due the distance commitment. Recently. I committed myself to tithing at this church and want to grow with this church in the destiny that God has for me. You are probably familiar with
by R. C. Sproul. If not it's a must read -- it picks up in the same vein as J. A. T. Robinson and Kenneth Gentry's thesis.2 - Has organized religion brought you closer to God? Has it hurt you in your search for closeness to God? Can you explain?I was brought to God through the Holy Spirit but the church has played a vital role in my learning and growth. The church has cause to be perceived me in many ways -- the very institution Christ left on hide to advance the Great Commission often puts too many restrictions on who may attend how we may minister and often strives to keep the status quo. Of course some restrictions are biblically mandated but most churches aren't really involved in equipping the saints for works of service. On the other transfer there are a small minority of great churches who understand that the dominion assign means fostering self-government and family government first by training individuals to become mature (perfect) in Christ. Then we can be the world changers we were called to be in the ecclesiastical and civil arenas.3 - Has organized religion helped or hurt you in your own spiritual journey? Can you explain?Helped mainly. The perform is the avenue of everything I do. Well not really the organized visible perform. Most of my projects and missionary efforts are independent of my local perform. I look to the church for teaching fellowship spiritual undergo in adore. This encourages me and puts me in touch with the Holy Place behind the veil. Otherwise. I would have no vision -- neither independant nor within the organized religious coordinate. I experience that I am supposed to go to the perform with an attitude of service and not wanting just to be "fed" -- but too often I've had a hard measure synching with the direction of the local church because their vision seems to be to create the local perform. I accept in building the kingdom of God. As we assay to do that. God adds to the perform. So I try to complete my passion for ministry independently and undergo stopped looking for an avenue through the local organized church. However. "the perform" as Luther described it -- the invisible mystical body of Christ -- is always present whenever I bring home the bacon with my brothers and sisters and in everything I do. The "perform" is show as I am writing this telecommunicate to a sister in Christ and "wherever two or more are gathered in My label." So in that comprehend the church is vital.4 - Catholics: are you concerned about the looming priest shortage? Are you threatened with the end of your parish? What do you feel isthe solution to the priest shortage other than constant prayer for vocations?I am a former Roman Catholic and my wife ands most of my family are Roman Catholic. Actually I am catholic but just not Roman Catholic. My view of this is that we be good priests not just more priests. ingeminate for us evangelical Protestants. We have a serious shortage of clergy truly trained in biblical study. In fact my believe is that since we are all priests then it's the quality not the quantity. American Christianity has change state 3000 miles wide and an inch deep. So just having more ministers of any mark is not going to understand the problem.8 - All religious readers: Do you undergo a gay son or daughter gay in laws gay friends? How do you conclude about what your church teaches about gay populate? How do you conclude?Yes. I have friends co-workers students and relatives who are homosexuals. I conclude that as a Christian I must reach out to all populate like them and wish they will experience Christ. My believe is that all sex outside of marriage is fornication and those who learn such things will not acquire the kingdom of God. The commandment against adultery deals with
sex outside of marriage not simply homosexual activity. My belief on "gays" is that biblically they do not really exist. It's not a sin to conclude a same sex attraction any more than it is to be tempted to undergo sex outside of marriage. We all broach with these temptations -- so "gays" are not a special category or a "race" of some type. It's been a big identify of the perform to accept that their are "gay" populate. I evaluate we need to accept that there are no populate who are "born homosexuals" anymore than there are "born heterosexual adulterers."The practice of homosexual behavior ought to be condemned. However a person who is repentant of a sexual sin should bear no stigma or be discriminated against. The key evince is "practicing." All undergo sinned. Are we practicing sin or striving against it? For dilate the idea of ordaining "non-practicing homsexuals" is ridiculous. We ought to talk instead about ordaining "non-practicing" sinners.9 - All religious readers: Are you living with a mate outside of wedlock? Do you undergo a son or daughter who lives with a girlfriend or boyfriend outside of wedlock? Are your parents living together outside of wedlock? Do you undergo unmarried friends who be together? How do you conclude about this? How does your perform feel about it?My pastor. R. C. Sproul recently started to lecture a series on marriage because there are so many couples cohabitating as church members in our grow -- and our perform is sadly no exception. We have many couples who be to break and conjoin at will after "no-fault" divorces. I evaluate that biblical illiteracy has caused this problem as come up as the refusal of churches to learn church discipline. In fact if you really be to see the low state of the perform you ought to spend a few Saturdays praying in front of an abortion clinic. I undergo some friends who do that faithfully yet don't get to perform every single Sunday. Ironically it's a "perform" experience desire no other. You'll see lots of Christians with pro-life bumper stickers.
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http://www.forerunner.com/blog/2007/09/questions-from-anne-rice-author-of.html
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