tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post2682321576487183624..comments2024-03-10T10:40:32.319-07:00Comments on Pyromaniacs: Transparency: ...the bad and the downright ugly (Part 3 of 3)Phil Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00649092052031518426noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-5394395935571052322008-05-12T16:03:00.000-07:002008-05-12T16:03:00.000-07:00I want to second Reformedmommy's comment!!!Thank y...I want to second Reformedmommy's comment!!!<BR/><BR/>Thank you so much for this post, Dan. It was convicting, helpful and painfully true. The tongue really can set a fire, and needs to be watched not only for outright slander, but motives in the way we talk about ourselves and "keep it real".mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07786469453707749478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-76819779156998713082008-05-11T06:13:00.000-07:002008-05-11T06:13:00.000-07:00This cautionary note brought to you via the wisdo...This cautionary note brought to you via the wisdom of St. Don of Henley:<BR/><BR/>Kick 'em when they're up<BR/>Kick 'em when they're downBrendthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10887039889675340441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-86152001241570904522008-05-10T18:32:00.000-07:002008-05-10T18:32:00.000-07:00Dan:Thanks for the encouraging word. I tend to be ...Dan:<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the encouraging word. I tend to be a melancholic perfectionist. I am so familiar with the bouts of depression that Spurgeon dealt with, although not perhaps to the same degree. <BR/><BR/>How often I've had to remind myself of the same thing: My hope is in Christ and CHrist alone -- as the disciples would tell Jesus, "To WHom else shall we turn, You alone have the words of eternal life".<BR/><BR/>Transparency is a tricky thing. I think that in many ways the church is crippled to some extent because more people don't want to rip of the "I'm ok, why aren't you" mask. The result is that so many people battle these kinds of things "alone".Tim Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06771868540726222826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-19213576102842693092008-05-09T20:23:00.000-07:002008-05-09T20:23:00.000-07:00Dan, much thanks for an especially timely series o...Dan, much thanks for an especially timely series of posts. I thought last week's words on the atonement were among the best I've read in my 2+ years of lurking, but then you go and raise the bar with transparency. That was outstanding.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09124383420572382365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-91450904027813669532008-05-09T19:45:00.000-07:002008-05-09T19:45:00.000-07:00Good post Dan, I see many people in the church tod...Good post Dan, I see many people in the church today condemn others and condemn themselves if the get depressed or down as if somehow they have failed God in some way, yet even the apostles and disciples had times where they got so depressed that they "despaired even of life". And this even during missionary trips operating in the will and service of God.<BR/><BR/> For we would not, brethern, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we DESPAIRED EVEN OF LIFE: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: (2 Corinthians 1:8,9 KJV).<BR/><BR/>In light of scriptures like these, Mooma has a good point.<BR/><BR/>F WhittenburgF Whittenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01604292281555282318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-76266562777084274472008-05-09T14:56:00.000-07:002008-05-09T14:56:00.000-07:00Yes Dan, I second Al's comment! Very insightful an...Yes Dan, I second Al's comment! Very insightful and spot-on my friend! This series reminds me of several comments the pastor of a previous church we attended (before we left upon discovering its emergentosis) used to say, and which seemed so out of place and very odd. He seemed to boast about having made some rather candid, transparent comments to the congregation (well before we stareted attending, so I'm not sure what they were exactly) that apparently revealed his desire to be "authentic". He always included in this story a man who approached him and conveyed the fact that it seemed inappropriate to air such laundry. To that man he apparantly said something to the effect of: "this is what real Christianity looks like, and if YOU are not willing to accept it, then perhaps you need to examine yourself". Of course, to cap off the story, there was always a pseudo-comedic jab at that poor man's unprogressive worldview.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01930864320573865515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-46030782434606588102008-05-09T14:44:00.000-07:002008-05-09T14:44:00.000-07:00Whoa! Those in the "Christian counseling" industry...Whoa! Those in the "Christian counseling" industry would do well to pocket that entire quote by Spurgeon...and share it!<BR/>Great post!MooMahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14651551707063774547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-77027472986343130422008-05-09T11:30:00.000-07:002008-05-09T11:30:00.000-07:00"any public Christian"There ain't no other kind, a..."any public Christian"<BR/><BR/>There ain't no other kind, are there? Oh wait, I forgot politicians...Rachael Starkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10781158372237369417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-20529042046829891122008-05-09T11:00:00.000-07:002008-05-09T11:00:00.000-07:00Glad you applied it that way, Mommy. Though I spok...Glad you applied it that way, Mommy. Though I spoke to pastors, I hoped the application to every Christian — particularly any <I>public</I> Christian — would make itself apparent.DJPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16471042180904855578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-38730503180936686552008-05-09T10:58:00.000-07:002008-05-09T10:58:00.000-07:00"The best kind of transparency is the sort through..."The best kind of transparency is the sort through which people can look and see — not ourselves, but — the Lord." - that's going up on the fridge for sure.<BR/><BR/>Amen to Al's comment - there are a lot of parallels between being in full time service in ministry and full time service as a mom, so this series has given me a lot of food for thought about how I handle my own (frequent) times of depression and how I talk about them with other women. Seriously good medecine - doesn't taste great going down, but seriously effective. Thanks.Rachael Starkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10781158372237369417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-29698122717886563522008-05-09T09:04:00.000-07:002008-05-09T09:04:00.000-07:00Thank you for such an edifying series of posts, Da...Thank you for such an edifying series of posts, Dan.<BR/><BR/>My life has been crazily busy the last couple of weeks, and my forays into TP have been few and far between. It's been hard to keep my mental focus on Christ (TP being one of the means to that), but coming back here was a dose of good medicine—rewarding and convicting as always.<BR/><BR/>(Hope that wasn't the wrong kind of transparency.)Stefan Ewinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05530690016594029847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-77889209799108660222008-05-09T07:52:00.000-07:002008-05-09T07:52:00.000-07:00You nailed it down pretty well. Good teachings. Go...You nailed it down pretty well. Good teachings. Good exhortation. Thank you.<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>BTW, my wife as a majorette back in high school performed a great routine to the theme song of the "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly".<BR/>I have been humming this song in my head, and I needed to vent.donsandshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03665794015011057098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-31089003626243834102008-05-09T06:41:00.000-07:002008-05-09T06:41:00.000-07:00Thanks again. Good words to read. This last one ca...Thanks again. Good words to read. This last one came across, in some ways, as a swift kick in the pants for the times I want to self-indulge in that manner. A little unpleasant, but needed for sure.Ryan Donovanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160840284515447816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-32826436253089668702008-05-09T06:40:00.000-07:002008-05-09T06:40:00.000-07:00DJP: "It isn't about pointing fellow-strugglers t...<B>DJP</B>: <I>"It isn't about pointing fellow-strugglers to the Christ of Scripture; it's about making themselves feel better about their own defection from Him.<BR/><BR/>And so, like Absalom, they gather about themselves disgruntled men and women who start as admirers and stay as enablers. Questions become doubts, doubts become mockery, mockery becomes open rebellion. Helping neither the "sharer" nor themselves, they perpetuate a cycle of straying. Their disclosures are no giving, serving acts of love. No, they are whining, boasting, grasping excesses of sheer self-gratification."</I><BR/><BR/>Gold. Pure Gold. A truly wonderful three-part series. Thanks for being transparent with your thoughts on transparency!Truth Unites... and Divideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08891402278361538353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-73330029880918962852008-05-09T06:31:00.000-07:002008-05-09T06:31:00.000-07:00"The best kind of transparency is the sort through..."The best kind of transparency is the sort through which people can look and see — not ourselves, but — the Lord."<BR/><BR/>Simple, yet powerful. I do believe that much preaching today is intended to make the preacher the "star" of the sermon--the cool one, the "not like your old church" guy. <BR/><BR/>The aim is not to get the listener to the foot of the cross, but to get him to come back next Sunday, to enjoy more of the show. <BR/><BR/>So the type of transparency that is used to truly communicate the gospel is a good thing. <BR/><BR/>But how much of it? If it is done too often, does a preacher risk tainting the authority he's been given?James Scott Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07641370124346172648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-79848100347240981112008-05-09T06:30:00.000-07:002008-05-09T06:30:00.000-07:00yes ~yes ~J♥Yce Burrowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14974221921014132431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-57616718220302688242008-05-09T05:58:00.000-07:002008-05-09T05:58:00.000-07:00Very good article!I appreciate the full citation f...Very good article!<BR/><BR/>I appreciate the full citation from Spurgeon on Depression.<BR/><BR/>It made me think of the words of Solomon - "in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrows." No wonder Jesus was a "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (or 'depression').<BR/><BR/>God bless<BR/><BR/>StephenStephen Garretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10866698322854892197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21212024.post-15637805474624455072008-05-09T05:42:00.000-07:002008-05-09T05:42:00.000-07:00Dan, I think I have enjoyed and learned more from ...Dan, I think I have enjoyed and learned more from this post than anything else I have read in a while. Thanks for putting it up.<BR/><BR/>al sendsAlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02659402617723892967noreply@blogger.com