Stuff Apostolics Like

A little listening music:   College & Electric Youth - A Real Hero by College Although you weren’t asking, I would say the four most commonly used words I heard growing up, would be ‘bitter’, ‘rebellion’, ‘’reprobate’, and ‘backslide.’ The word I hear most often about myself (as in “out-of-church-Glen”) is ‘bitter’. I don’t think that’s a secret. Clearly I’m pretty jaded. My posts aren’t exactly filled with memories of puppy dogs and rainbows. Perhaps unexpectedly, I am 100% completely ok with this label. So why would someone like be ok with this label? Well for one, it’s accurate. But there’s also more to it than that. Let me explain: I had a very, very shallow outlook as a young’n. I saw people on the fringes of my church growing up that carried the ‘rebel’ label. I saw people come around occasionally that had long since left church, and they carried the ‘backslider’ label. But the word thrown around more freely than any...

( Edit: Since the initial posting, I have learned two things related to the post:  1) The Michigan District Resolution included below was in fact a passed resolution. The original post described it as a proposed resolution. 2) Michigan is not the only district with such a resolution. The Massachusetts/Rhode Island District has a very similar resolution as well as the great possibility that there could be others in other districts. If you know of a district that has such a resolution either proposed or passed, feel free to drop me a line via e-mail or twitter).  Warning: This post travels. Important non-SAL written, UPC produced document at the end. And since the post travels, why not a little travel music to accompany the journey? As illogical as it may seem, I still believe that the UPCI still has a chance to be an open, honest and just religious organization. I even wish dearly the UPCI would demonstrate the love and openness that I think is part of the...

If you grew up in the UPC, you know very well that there is no spectacle as intense or unchristian than that of the Sunday School Contest. It was pretty viscous. Sunday School Contests are not a thing of novelty. It's where human children are converted into classic Marxist commodity then and there for the UPC church. To the teachers, the guests represent potential converts (objects), bible verse memorization represents a means to brain-washing. To the student, guests represent points (victory). To the guests, I don't even know what they were thinking, but I can only imagine the fear in their eyes as all our Pentecostal eyes got real big the moment they walked into church as we all thought "fresh meat, fresh meat." And then we licked our lips...  When I was a kid I won things in these contests. I won a bike once. Semi-Cheap bike probably from Wal-Mart. Doesn't matter, because it was paid for by someone else. It was provided by my church, it's Sunda...