The Real Prayer of Jabez
Any one who knows me knows that I have a huge beef with the Prosperity Gospel. It sickens me to see the Word of God reduced to just another snake-oil self-help scam where you can get anything you want if you just “think positively.” One of the most popular examples of this is The Prayer of Jabez, which misuses a small anecdote found in 1 Chronicles 4:9-11: Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. Many people interpret this as, “If you ask God to...
To Snark Or Not To Snark
If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while you’ll know that I can be pretty snarky towards my fellow Christians. I love Jesus, and I try my best to live by the Word, but I don’t really like Christians that much. Especially Christians of the fundamentalist persuasion. A few days ago I got to talking with some one, and this person said that Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize is “getting ready for the Antichrist.” She then went on about the Rapture and the seven year Tribulation and all that jazz. Now I personally don’t think the President should have won the award, or at least not yet. But the more this person talked, the more I wish I had a pamphlet with me about amillenialism. I also should note that when I told her I...
Seasoned Words
I recently had the opportunity to do a guest blog for my friend Rachel Held Evans, and this is what I wrote: I never understood why many Christians enjoy conservative pundits like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Michelle Malkin. It’s not because they report things that contradict my socialist agenda or anything like that. I’m not against conservatism or conservative media in general; some of my favorite bloggers are conservatives. No, the reason why I don’t like them is because they are just so . . . nasty. Last July on “Fox and Friends,” Beck said that he believed that President Obama was a racist with a “deep-seated hatred for white people.” Despite several advertisers boycotting his show, his popularity keeps growing. But this isn’t the first...
What's Your Gospel?
Have you noticed that we have a lot of gospels? And I’m not talking about the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. For example, there is the “Prosperity Gospel.” According to this gospel, God is willing to give you everything you want and desire if you pray a special prayer, or think positive thoughts. It is closely related to the “Self-Help Gospel,” except that the Prosperity Gospel focuses more on material wealth, while the Self-Help Gospel is more about elevating one’s self-esteem. A lot of my friends are into the Social Gospel, which focuses on social and political activism. According to this gospel, the political and the spiritual are one; you cannot preach salvation to the sinners without feeding the poor. And...
Thanking the Giver
Hello, my name is Travis, and I am your new Fractured Saint. I also blog at The Boy with the Thorn in His Side and Disturbed Christians. I write about faith, politics, culture, music, current events, mental illness, and anything else I can think of. Years ago my fiancé and I saw a Native American demonstrate how the ancient tribes lived. He showed the audience the way his ancestors made fire, and how powerful their seemingly primitive weapons were. He picked out a nearby tree, but before he made the first chop, he placed a small tobacco offering at the base of the tree. “Before we take a life,” he explained, “we give an offering of thanks to the Great Earth Mother, who gives life to all.” God has a funny way of using people of...
What Happened to Billy Graham?
So I was reading this post on TheocentriBlog and watched this video from CNN. After reading and watching I really hoped the the comments by the Pope and Billy Graham were taken out of context. I was saddened when I found this site. Granted I never knew that much about Billy Graham nor his actual beleifs, but if these comments are actual reflections of his beliefs it makes me sad that such a great evangelist is so flexible in what the Bible...