“Stump the Pastor” Sunday

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 4:09 pm by Christy Thomas

“Stump the Pastor” Sunday 2019-01-11T16:09:55-05:00 Christy Thomas

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stump the pastor Sunday

Sunday, June 30, we will set aside liturgy and normal order for a bit in favor of an open hymn sing and a “Stump the Pastor” morning. People can ask/text/write to me any questions they wish that are on their minds, dealing with the church, theology, Bible, belief or my hair.

Yes, hair, as in “What color IS your hair today?” and “Is that curl/frizz for real?”

But onto more serious things . . . I know I’ve said lots of times, “when I get to heaven, I’m going to ask . . . ” and then go off on whatever issue is bothering me that particular day.

Well, I’m a long way from being God–although, of course, I’d like to think I’m on the verge of godliness–and am interested in hearing the questions that seriously bug people about spiritual/religious/church/salvation/Bible stuff.

Will I have answers? Of course! Now, if you are going to ask, “Will she have the RIGHT answers?” the response may be a bit different.

The thing about “RIGHT” answers is that we tend to think the right answer is the one we already agree with. Since no one has ever accused me of being a particularly conventional thinker, the chances of my answers agreeing with lots of others is highly remote. Nonetheless, I’ve spent my life studying the Bible and reading theology, exploring eternal things and seeing how our hopes for freedom from brokenness and disease and war and just general nastiness ties in with the biblical witness.

So here are some of my questions:

Was it really necessary for Jesus to die?
Why are we humans so generally unkind to each other?
What is this thing called “the kingdom of heaven?”
Is the Bible (and therefore God) as sexist, racist and pro-slavery as it looks on a first read? If so, will heaven be sexist, racist, etc?
Can someone who was thoroughly rotten, evil, cruel and destructive in this life be admitted to heaven and perfect bliss by simply saying “the sinner’s prayer” on his or her deathbed?

OK, all that came out in one interconnected thought. Deep breath time.

Here are the questions the youth have already sent:

Why is it so hard to help others pull out of depression?
Why do we do mission work?
How can we forgive others?
Were angels people who died or were angels always angels?
Why do some people go to church and act like a Christian and go home and act completely different?
What will heaven be like?
Is there such a thing as anger? (not sure here what the questioner needs here. Is this about the possibility of righteous anger?)
Did Judas go to hell?
Can you choose rebirth?
How can the Holy Spirit be one with the Trinity and yet be individual?

Please add yours!

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