This is a fascinating topic, Pilgrim, because one way or the other I'm convinced that several of the core issues involved here are precisely what I've been dealing with at the individual level and as I've told everyone here before I'm in my early 30's.

I'm not qualified to speak on this based on my amateur status w/ the Bible to date, Pilgrim, but I will say this-I think that any present day church sceme designed to cator to the youth generations, the mentality is horribly wrong. I think that if we're in a time and age when people my age feel entitled to walk into a church and tell the elders what type of music they're going to have and/or expect rewards from the church like Starbuck's coupons and/or gas cards for "Doing good things" that Jesus Himself demanded of us to come from the heart itself in loving obedience to Him, this is remarkably dangerous ground because Christian humility itself is at stake here.

I'm going to return in a few days to comment on this further but in the meantime here again I will say in 100% truth that I've deeply treasured this experience w/ the Calvinist theology because it helped me find the heart's place in the childhood scene itself whereby I had the distinct gift of having grown up in a very small farming community at a specific point in time when the majority of the city's residents were senior aged, the majority of whom would have experienced things like the Great Depression, etc, and thus the distinct truth I realize now is that the reason I loved these little people so much was because of that place of the heart's humility in Him.

What amazes me about the Bible, over and over again we can see that so much of this always boils down to selflessness and humility vs selfishness and pride. Faith and the response to His grace is the ultimate solution here of course, but yet I think it's very crucial the average seeker can understand specifically what that means.

Perhaps then what so much of this is about is not to question whether or not the overwhelming current Body would enjoy that hour long moment together watching a "Little House" rerun but whether or not today's youth understand in the least bit the life itself and what it took for Charles and Caroline and the kids to be the type of people they were.

If a person finds the humility of the Christian life itself existing at a stronger level in the one message/theme over portions of the ideology present here in today's world, I think one would be highly concerned about the current state of affairs.

If there has been a single truth to surface from this Bible experience personally, Pilgrim, it is the importance of adhering to His Word to the best of our ability even when the soul doesn't necessarily want to obey. Compromising on this simple truth, one can certainly argue, is what's led to all of the chaos before us.

Last edited by olpo25; Sun Sep 21, 2008 2:16 PM.