Rev. Calli

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Everything posted by Rev. Calli

  1. Greetings to you my brother, My dear brother really now, Macroevolution is about as robust a theory as one can find in science. To be a person of faith does not mean we have to deny the clear evidence of the magnificence of how our Creator carefully designed the natural order of the universe simply because we are trying to uphold a beautiful creation myth. It does God an injustice and does the bible an injustice (for in fact the Bible is not a book of Science). We learn the ultimate meaning of why from the Holy Scriptures. Science teaches us how God works in the Universe. Your brother in Christ, Rev. Calli
  2. Greetings to you my brother, Who knows, we may be their pizza. Or, a more frightening thought, we may be, in their view at least, so far beneath them on the evolutionary scale that we are unworthy of life. If some humans look down on others like that, perhaps it would only be fair play for beings from another world to view us the same way. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  3. Greetings to you my brother, As you mentioned earlier, we could be mighty tasty On a more pragmatic level, we don't know what resources we have on this planet that beings from other worlds might need. A few posts back, someone had mentioned the 1980's series V. Aside from wanting humans to breed for food and use as cannon fodder to fight their wars, they also wanted our water, which was running out on their homeworld. Or indeed an alien race could be driven by the desire to explore for the sake of knowledge itself. I would think that a race sufficently advanced to be able to travel in deep space would not have the desire to do so just to spread their religious views. Not to say that their faith system may not be important to them, but I would suspect that any society that had gotten their, ah, stuff together sufficiently to develop the technology necessary for interstellar flight would have grown out of the need to spread their faith by force or for it even to be driven by a primary desire to proselytize. Even in our own earthbound religions, that isn't always an important aspect of faith. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  4. Greetings to you all my sisters and brothers, It is an interesting topic. Depending on why our Aliens are exploring (are they just looking for a planet to strip the resources from or enslave) or are they really interested in learning of the different cultures, they could indeed find many concepts of interest in our different religious systems. They may not find them very useful depending on their own histories and contexts, but if anything how we express our different faiths and live them out will certainly tell them a great deal about us. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  5. It's too bad they don't clean the room too
  6. Greetings to you all my sisters and brothers, Well now, I've been away for about 7 months. After being out of the full-time ministry for some years, I had been asked by my church if I would serve as interim Pastor for the month of July while the search was on for a new pastor. Since my church is relatively small (only about 60 members) and since I had been preaching there once a month, I said sure.... I had forgotten over the years how time-consuming being the pastor of even a small church can be. I had neglected to take into account that even though we only have 60 members on the books, our free meal program (where we serve about 100 people each Saturday night) and our day center for the homeless which serves 15 - 20 people three times a week, would be a large drain on my time. And since I have a full-time job, I have been absolutely stretched to the breaking point. Which explains why I have been inactive here since June. But now we have a new Pastor. I have my pew back. And I look forward to being an active member of the forum again. In Solidarity Reverend Calli
  7. Greetings to you my sister, This is probably a question you are going to want to ask an attorney licensed in Texas to answer. Either that, or contact the Main Office in Modesto and see if they have any insight about this rule. Since each state has different rules, it's hard for someone like me for example in Wisconsin to know how a rule is interpreted and applied in Texas. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  8. Greetings to you my brother, Welcome to the forum. There are multiple sources getting information on doing weddings. I myself have a humble site here with info that you may find useful. https://wp.me/p9L6ow-2t As to chaplaincy, the courses offered here, while they may be useful, will probably not qualify you to do chaplaincy work at local hospitals. Most of those are going to require to take what is known as Clinical Pastoral Education. You can find out more about those programs here: https://www.acpe.edu/ In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  9. Greetings to you my brother, Welcome to the forum. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  10. Greetings to you all my brothers and sisters, First I must apologize for not being more active here on the board lately. With this being my busy season at work and my other interests, I haven't had as much time as I would like to monitor things that take place here. That being said, I think it needs to be said, somewhat forcefully, that everyone here is at very different places in their faith journeys, and in their ability to express themselves in a way that is respectful of other peoples beliefs. People here should be able to share their faith and/or their viewpoints with others, without feeling the need to beat each other up over these very personal and subjective issues. If you don't like what someone is saying here, you don't have to take it as a personal challenge or attempt to get others to come over to your way of thinking. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  11. Greetings to you my brother, A very good point. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  12. Greetings to you my brother, Be like Woody Allen, who once quipped "I don't believe in an afterlife, but I am taking a change of underware." In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  13. Greetings to you my brother, Actually, in my denomination, the leadership is pretty much 50/50. However, I think historically it was because even though women tended to be more religious than men, men as in most of society in general held the leadership posts in everything, not just in the churches. Sad, but it's a historical fact. It's really only been in our lifetimes that women in America at least have been able to insist on their God given rights to be equal in all things, including leadership positions in the church. In Solidarity, Rev. Calli
  14. Greetings to you my brother, Without question. There is no hard and fast rule. And your point is well taken regarding the women being more responsible. But in my experience, I do feel that women do crave relationship more then men do, and so that is why women typically find Christianity especially appealing because of the emphasis on relationship. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  15. Greetings to you my brother, I don't know. For most of the Christians I know, it is a mainstream viewpoint. We just don't shout as loud as some of my more fundamentalist brothers and sisters. In Solidarity, Rev. Calli
  16. Greetings to you my brother, Thou art indeed wise my dear friend. While I, of course, have no doubt that there is an afterlife, I have no clear idea of what it will actually be like, other than good. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  17. Greetings to you my brother, Woo...I was worried for a moment there. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  18. Greetings to you my brother, cough cough...ahem? Is this really what you think of me? In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  19. Greetings to you all my brothers and sisters, I hesitate to answer, since perhaps it will come across as sexist, but since we are a open group: I suspect the Pew Research report reflects one of the things that I believe is a difference in the way males and females think. Men have a tendency to think, I believe, in very concrete terms. They are more likely to make decisions based on objective facts. Since matters of faith are not easily provable in the same way the scientific knowledge is provable, men tend to be less open to religion. That doesn't mean men don't come to faith or belief, but it's typically not as important a part of a man's life as it is a women's. If you go to pretty much any church, it is the women who are usually the most active and do most of the work that keeps the church actually functioning. While women also rely primarily on facts, they also tend to place more of an emphasis on relationships then men do. In Christianity, relationship with God is a major emphasis. So it's natural I feel that women would be more attracted to the Christian faith. Living in relationship with God and each other is a very appealing to someone who finds the concept of being in relationship attractive. In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  20. Greetings to you my brother, Oh dear, I don't even believe in Adam and Eve, does that make me less of a Christian? In solidarity, Rev. Calli
  21. Greetings to you my brother, You're missing the obvious point that the Bible is a book of faith, not science. If you try to take it and come up with the age of the world, or history is we would understand it, you miss the point completely. The bible is a history of how the people of ancient Israel and early Christianity came to understand their relationship with God. Is it infallible? Not in the way my fundamentalist brothers and sisters would insist. It teaches us what God wants us to know about being a people of faith, and especially when we get into the New Testament, how we are to live in relationship with each other, as Christ taught. In solidarity, Rev. Calli