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Wow - please - "talk again, soon". No pressure - I just really identify right now (where I am in this whole "figure it out as I go along" thing) with what you are saying in this video.
Look forward to hearing more.

When you feel like it.

In the meantime, keep on trying to figure it out.
Josh

"Wow" is already taken, so I won't be redundant ... but it is such a pleasure to see and hear you speak, rlp. Yes, your comments are provocative and candid, but that is not new to us -- that's why we come here. Rather, the gift of this particular "entry" is being able to see you behind the gorgeous, elegant persona of words. I am honoured to glimpse the artist behind the art. To see you for the thought-filled, heart-filled, Spirit-filled regular guy you are. Thanks. It's the next best thing ... ;-)

respectfully,
Deb

Thank you.

Thank you for all you do, all you say, and all you are. I can't say it often enough nor emphatic enough, so I'll just say it and let you apply the necessary emphasis.

Nate

I like you, RLP. You are honestly seeking to follow God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, not just trying to feed us more religion. That is a great thing. Thank you and keep it up.

josh s blake
http://pointythoughts.blogspot.com/

I always wanted to be able to come and see you preach.. and these videos are about as close as I may ever get... so thank you.

Chad (Fish)

I needed that. Thanks, man.

Gordon,
That was beautifully said. I share your thoughts as I return to seminary to become ordained, often against my better judgment. But that little dream you shared, your vision of the church, and your wonderful thought toward the end, the radical idea that there is something that cares for us out there, are both what keep me keepin' on. Your vision of the church made me think of the Hebrew legend of the Lamed Vavniks, the 36 individuals in any given generation who are responsible for maintaining the goodness of humanity and reminding us of the presence of God in each of us. Even they do not know who they are, but we only see their presence after the fact of their entirely selfless action. Your idea of a God that cares reminded me of Philip K. Dick, whose vision of Christianity and God is so...bizarre and beautiful, especially in his book VALIS (which means Vast Active Living Intelligence System). Peace to you. Thank you for this. I cried at the end.
SD Jones

I wish - WISH! - that the church had your earnest desire to seek, as well as (perhaps even more so) your naked willingness to freely admit ignorance. I like the more interactive RLP even more than the essay guy who wrote like a mad-man through depression. I feel more more invited to share in the seeking.

You rock.

Great RLP,

It is wonderful to hear and see you speak. Almost Gordon in the flesh!

ScoG Blog

Gordon - I still can't post comments on the Serial killers part 2 post.

ScoG Blog

RLP: Where seldom is heard a discouraging word! In fact, quite the contrary.
Resonating,
Andy B.

Thanks so much for laying out so well the gnarly questions and quandries we face in choosing and trying to hold on to something good in religious faith.
Lauren

Nice video rlp. I have been thinking these thoughts recently, though only because I am reading N.T. Wright's "Simply Christian." (Forgive me, I'm Episcopalian) He uses something like these for a foundation of his apologetic.

Even your videos are thought provoking.

Peace
Hook

So glad to be able to listen to this. Would love to hear more about what keeps you in the church even though there is so much to be ashamed of. Blessings to you.

I would LOVE to watch you preach someday... Thank you for taking the time you do, for yourself and for us.

~ Mary Jo

Great,

Ever thought of uploading a sermon?

It would be great for us preachers out there who hate most sermons.

Bill

Gordon
Your grounds look as dry as it in Australia, the end of a long hot summer i guess.
Janet McK

Dear RLP:
Your words, thoughts and sharing are blessings that reach further than you know (but no pressure) :) May you be blessed as you continue to bless us. Thank you. Really.
Jen

Where to from here?
I'm living here. Now what?
The only thing I can think to do is to faith it. (faith should be a verb)
Choose to live as if it matters -- even if we can't know it does.
Horrible thing for a spiritual leader to say, eh?

rev mommy

Thank You.

Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.

Thank you for your thoughts on God and the church. I also 'get' that comment about the church as a whore-there is no perfect church, but so many people get ticked off and decide to leave and find some perfect church somewhere. I figure I'll stay in one church for the long haul and try to live my life as best I know how. I have been wrestling with God for a long time now and it is encouraging to hear from other people that have the same struggle. Mostly I feel like the majority of people at church don't have this problem and blissfully go on with life not giving a crap and fussing over the latest sunday school curriculum. Thank you Real Live Preacher for sharing with us.
Bjorn

Greetings RLP (Gordon):

I am new to your site. I came here by way of Keith's blog, to read your essays on evil. I really enjoyed them as they've inspired some thoughts which I'm not quite ready to speak or write about yet.

Your video was inspiring. I think you touched on questions that plague everyone from time to time. To me, God has always been about faith, which is why he doesn't display easy ways to prove his existence. If he did, there would be no need for faith.

Did you happen to watch the movie "Oh, God" back in the late 70's? Although it was just a movie, it contained, I think, some very basic truths. What did you think?

Thanks for this. I hope you post another live sermon soon.

Best,
JTS
http://www.journalscape.com/jtschramm

Great, as always, thank you.

I hope its OK to make one comment - I wonder if sometimes we need to love others not more than ourselves, but to love ourselves first, knowing that God loves us. Jesus said that we must love our neigbours as ourselves, which is surely an affirmation of the fact that we need to be immersed in God's love and know ourselves fully loved in him in order that we can truly love others...

I get this vibe from all of your postings (ie that you revel in God's love for us), I just have a thing about people putting others first to their own detriment as a beloved child of God in Christ! I feel the need to make that explicit more than the Church often does...

Thanks again, and this is great - another 'if only' moment for all of us in the Church (if only we heard this more often, if only we did have this vision etc etc)

oops - anoymous user immediately above should be al mccollum http://fracme.blogspot.com

Nice porch and great setting. Sure can't blame you for wanting to hang out there in the peacefulness. I think Bill (the 16th commentor) had a great idea about uploading a sermon. Whaddya think?? Thanks for those 6 minutes.

BTW, just happened to watch the movie "Contact" last night. Just noble gases and carbon compounds?....that does seem "like an awful waste of space". lol
Happy trails,
Mich

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm in the middle of a stewardship emphasis, and your comments at the end really struck me. What do we have to offer except ourselves? It feels woefully inadequate at times yet remains our best and purest offering.

peacepastor

rlp,
Well it seems like you've touched a lot of people with your message. You can count me in. Powerful stuff man. Thanks for being a breath of fresh air in a sometimes stagnant spiritual experience.

Later,
Jeremy
www.theobservationist.com

Hope for Change, brother.
Martin Luther was right about the Roman Catholic church -- and every other Christian denomination that branched from it. They all used the same paradigm....
Francis MacNutt, an ex-priest, wrote "The Almost Perfect Crime". It shows how the Christian faith was hijacked by the Roman government in the third century. It stamped out the early Christian church format of small groups. It almost entirely stamped out the signs and wonders. It almost stamped out the Bible it had helped create. It created a government heirarchy of agents called 'priests' and 'bishops' to control the Christians and baptized pagans. By so doing, they stopped the Christians from winning the world for Christ centuries ago.

The protestants changed the title of their priests to 'pastors'. The "communion" bread is still doled out by this priest/pastor. The riffraff still come to the big building on Sunday morning to be preached at. Fruit of the Holy Spirit is hard to come by there.

The pollster, George Barna, has detected a change in western Christianity. There is a large growth of Christian small groups that are independent of denominations and church buildings.

Christianity flourishes under persecution because it is forced back to clandesden small groups, the original church structure. The Christian church in China only survives in small groups. They grow in the faith, hope, love and zeal. John Wesley's "class meetings" are similar to small groups and had the same effect -- explosive growth and zeal.

My wife used to say, "But these small groups need structure over them so they don't wander off into error!" That was before we left the Episcopal denomination because of error at the top.

Please 'google' each of the above and see if these things are true.

--Tim Temple
christheals.org