Thursday, January 11, 2007

The Religious Type

Posted by Mandy at 8:33 PM
So.... I don't mean this post to offend or be mean... but after a phone conversation with a friend this afternoon.. I just had to say this. She typically drives me batty, yet I love her dearly as she honestly is the ONLY friend I still speak to from high school. Actually we've been friends since Kindergarten. Having said that, she constantly leaves me rolling my eyes. (and no, she'll never read this.. unless someone snitches on me) She and I have had several "religious" debates. She, I would classify, as a 'religious type.' Someone that takes the Bible to be completely literal even if it makes no sense that way... and someone that believes anything and everything her preacher says b/c.. well.. he's the preacher. He MUST know. Many of the interpretations she's told me of certain Bible passages leave me scratching my head, reading the Word, calling my reliable Christian buds, and asking them if I've been misled all of my life or if she really is insane. (she's insane...) Today she told me about this book. Her exact words, "Oh my gosh, Mandy, you have GOT to read this book... it is incredible.. and it REALLY happened!" (I, immediately, start the eye rolling) I say, "Cool, what is it?" Her: "It's called 90 Minutes in Heaven, written by 'someone's name I cannot remember' and it's about this guy that got killed in a car accident, like 4 ppl checked his pulse and he was DEAD, but he came back to life after 90 minutes and tells the story about going to heaven and what it was like! You HAVE GOT to read it!" Ummm.. no thanks. Now, before those who might have read it jump the gun... seriously... this story is far fetched to me. I don't know this fantastic so called Christian author that wrote it... and she doesn't either.. he could be a big fat liar! Maybe I lack faith... but I don't believe many books like that. I believe that God absolutely has the ability to make something like that happen.. I mean.. come on.. he's God! But I just can't bring myself to trust ppl I don't even know that tell stories like these. And, to be honest, people that do believe these kinds of books I typically see as gullible. As grasping for a real life sign of God's awesomeness because just being alive each day isn't proof enough of what he can do. Why do you always want that BIG story about a HUGE miracle? I find the fact that I'm an American a miracle.. thanks be to God! That i have 2.. and hopefully 3, perfect and healthy children... that the sun is there every single day, and the moon there each and every night.. and that gravity actually works and we, as a planet, stay in orbit like we're supposed to. What great works are those, right?! This post might make no sense... I apologize if so. I suffer from pregnancy induced insomnia each time i'm pg... I'm on week 2 of no sleep. But these things can get to me. I hate to see 'religious' people get a bad rep because we fall for anything that says it is written by a Christian or it's based on the Bible. I'm a Christian.. but I sure don't think I should become an author, write religious words, and try to lead others in the way of the Lord just because I own a Bible. Hopefully many writers that are out there truly are led by God.. I know several that I stay true to because I've never seen them go "astray"... but so many people out there are bad! We, as Christians, can't be made fools of! We have to keep things in perspective... and use that brain God gave us.

9 comments:

Rosie on Friday, 12 January, 2007 said...

Umm..I may be wrong, and on this subject I don't think that I am, but I'm pretty sure that "90 minutes in heaven" was written by the same man who wrote "Tuesdays with Morrie", and it was written as a fiction novel, not to be taken literally! I'm not 100% sure about that, but you should really check into it and tell your friend that. I know she probobly has good intentions, but maybe God puts people like you in her life to encourage her not to take everything so literally. That's exactly why "The DaVinci Code" caused such a big scandal, because people took it literally, when it was written as fiction. Seriously though, this girl sounds really misled, good thing she has you to keep her grounded! :)

Mandy on Friday, 12 January, 2007 said...

Thanks Rosie!! I'm going to Google the book title and read about it.. do ya see why I can NEVER take what she says seriously? lol

Mandy on Friday, 12 January, 2007 said...

I googled it.. it's by Don Piper (don't know him) and a lot of places describe it as "A true story of life and death..." Are they for real?

K.T. is Mommatude on Friday, 12 January, 2007 said...

I try not to have the religious discussion with friends unless we are on the same page....it never ends well.I can see the benefits of talking about things like that,though and getting someone else's perspective.......I think I have heard of the book 90 minutes in heaven but I am not a fiction reader so...

Rosie on Tuesday, 16 January, 2007 said...

Looks like I was wrong, i just googled it too, and it looks like he's a for real thing, (or thinks he is!) But I am always a little leary of people who claim things like that you know? You never know who you can trust or not.

Mandy on Tuesday, 16 January, 2007 said...

Amen sistah! ;) that's what I try to tell my friend.. she just needs to believe in things like this though lol

Anonymous said...

she needs to believe in things like this most likely because she doesn't have a true relationship. i know that makes me judgemental and sound a little more than a zealot, but we should pray for her wisdom and her eyes to be opened. when we're on the cusp of knowing Him we become more aware of the hole we have and the need we have of Him and we grasp at things that people (and our culture) tells us are "spiritual" and "religious". try not to argue with her (i know it's hard!) but get just as excited and suggest books that are solid (like The Case For Christ - Lee Strobel, Epic - John Eldridge, Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller, Captivating - John Eldridge, and i'm sure i have more in my arsenal, those are just the ones that come immediately to mind). and pray that she'll read them and be open. i'd worry about sounding preachy, but you know me!

btw, rosie, where are you?! and why do i see evidence of you on mandy and lee's sites, but you never grace my presence?! huh? huh? i'm callin' you out, sucka!

-suzanne (i couldn't log in for some reason)

Mandy on Wednesday, 17 January, 2007 said...

Good point, Suzy. I made the mistake of telling her about a fantastic Joyce Meyer book I had read and her comment was, "I'd never read anything by her, women SHOULD NOT be preachers.." which opened up an entirely different debate! lol Some ppl, i've discovered, you just have to nod your head and smile at.

Mark W. on Saturday, 20 January, 2007 said...

Wow! Way to jump out there with a courageous term like "religious type." This is a great post about something I am SO in agreement about...I also know people like your friend. I'm just sorry I got in on this one late, you really racked up the comments!

As for crackpot books, The Davinci Code raised a lot of feathers because Dan Brown went on record saying that he believed the theory he used in the novel to actually be true. Perhaps he just said that to sell more books.

This Piper guy could be doing the same thing. Really, who in their right mind (even if he DID experience what he says) would seriously think that rational people would believe him? The only reason he wrote a book about it was to capitalize on the millions of gullible new age enthusiasts who, like Fox Mulder, want so badly to believe that they'll latch onto anything.

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