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Post by Kevin Wright on Sept 22, 2017 9:06:43 GMT -5
| Name | I'm Nazarene, too.
| | Link | www.facebook.com/groups/1643301505904735/
| | Description | This group was born out of discussions about the diversity of ideas and people who call themselves Nazarene. Sometimes, events (many of which make the news) may lead us to think that there is little room in the Church of the Nazarene for dissent, and sometimes this leads to talk of "leaving." However, we are Nazarenes, too. We may be new to the church, we may be third- or fourth- generation preachers' kids. We may have never missed a Sunday or Wednesday night. We may have left the Church for a while. We may still only occasionally attend. We serve as pastors, students, professionals, farmers, writers, teachers, and in many other ways. We may believe in evolution. We may affirm 6-day creation. We may believe that our gay friends are as fully Christian as we are. We may believe that homosexual acts are sinful. We may enjoy a glass of wine. Or we may not. Our theology may not match precisely that of the powers that be. Or maybe it does. We may be silent. We may be a loud and critical voice. We may turn the tables. We may stir the pot. We may calm the waters. We may rock the boat. But the one thing we have in common is that we are part of the Nazarene Church, and we are not leaving--at least not yet. We may be criticized, we may someday be ostracized, but we will remain the radical and prophetic proclaimers of the Kingdom in which the Church of the Nazarene dwells.
This is a closed group, which means that anyone can join if they are approved by an admin, and all members can see posts (but nonmembers can't). Please keep discussions civil. Play nice. If you act like a jerk, you will be removed from the group.
And lastly, don't forget to use the hashtags #imnazarenetoo (there's no "a" before Nazarene) or #aINT. This group is NOT officially sanctioned by the Church of the Nazarene and does not necessarily represent their official views. | | Public/Closed | Closed | | Admins | - Melissa Smith Wass
- Evan Abla
- Steve Fountain
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Post by Kevin Wright on Sept 22, 2017 11:47:53 GMT -5
I have not joined this group to see the discussion. However, from the description and the few comments on other sites referring to it, I'm not interested. It sounds like an anything goes site that may not be very friendly. Correct me if I'm wrong.
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A. Lucas Finch
New Member
Posts: 55 
CotN Connection: Licensed Minister, Rocky Mountain District NYI President, NNU Student
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Post by A. Lucas Finch on Sept 22, 2017 13:15:59 GMT -5
I have not joined this group to see the discussion. However, from the description and the few comments on other sites referring to it, I'm not interested. It sounds like an anything goes site that may not be very friendly. Correct me if I'm wrong. It largely depends on the intent of a person in joining and what that person brings to the conversation, but it definitely isn't for the light of heart. The language is often coarse, and it certainly isn't friendly towards those with a fundamentalist agenda, or even those pushing "traditional Nazarene values" outside of fundamentalism. Over the last couple of months, though, I have enjoyed being a part of that group. Let me explain with an imperfect metaphor. I have been employed as a youth pastor for two separate churches. I was the youth pastor at Casper, WY First COTN for two years, from mid-2002 to mid-2004. I was the youth pastor at Bitterroot Valley COTN for just under eight years, from Nov. 2009 until this month. Between assignments, I worked at a Pizza Hut restaurant, starting as a fulltime driver and completing my certification as an assistant manager, which means that I was "store ready" (as in, able to manage my own store), right before taking my second youth pastor assignment. I absolutely love working for churches, but my five-year period in between was more fulfilling in some way. I wasn't surrounded by broken people that tried to present themselves in a certain, positive light. Rather, I was able to get a glimpse into the lives of real people. People who were authentic in who they were, who didn't try to hide behind a mask of religiosity. I say this is an imperfect metaphor because many (not all) of the people at NazToo retain a connection with the COTN, whereas most of my coworkers at Pizza Hut did not try to claim a faith tradition. So, in NazToo I see people who, for the most part, are people of faith but they don't try to hide their rough edges behind a religious facade. Now, a very valid point could be made that people who are being transformed by the Holy Spirit should be having their rough edges polished. I certainly agree with this . . . but I also believe that as we remain in a broken world, we are all going to have struggles of various kinds. I prefer to associate with people who are authentic in who they are than those who try to present themselves as flawless. |
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Post by Gina Stevenson on Sept 24, 2017 14:08:57 GMT -5
AMEN! to your last post, Lucas! Especially the last part. We like "real" people, too, & know some who aren't, or don't seem to be, anyway.
(or are "afraid" to be?)
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2017 1:30:40 GMT -5
I have not joined this group to see the discussion. However, from the description and the few comments on other sites referring to it, I'm not interested. It sounds like an anything goes site that may not be very friendly. Correct me if I'm wrong. Kevin, Lucas already gave a very good answer. I've been part of I'm A Nazarene Too for quite a while now. Found it after I could no longer be a part of the old NazNet. Let's put it this way, I feel at home among the misfits. Unpolished and sometimes misfits for good reason. I don't always understand what they say or why they say it that way. Myself, I don't like rough language for instance. But I feel way more comfortable among them than among the generic Nazarene crowd. I'm just no generic American Evangelical, not at all. These people actually tend to scare me. A friend explained it this way the other day: Okay, I was born in America, in its reddest backwater, and am 100% European, 75% Western European. The first of our clan arrived immediately after the 30 Years War, in the mid-1600s. Thus "we've" been "here" for more than a century longer than constitutional America has. I was raised to be a patriot. Long after I had I had become something very different, my father still described me as one (because he thought I was a good person and he couldn't imagine a good person who wasn't a patriot). I'm pretty doggone sure that I'd still be a patriot if I hadn't fallen under the spell of the gospel—from which I learned that the trajectory of one who sets out to follow Jesus is the same as Jesus's trajectory. And so, all that America claims to promote, in its official texts (and other propaganda), I found to be in the spirit of anti-Christ: the pursuit of life, liberty, (property,) and happiness; individual freedom from _______; self-reliance; getting even; desire satisfaction; blood-kin loyalty; majority rule; white supremacy; the hope of wealth acquisition; ideological and territorial expansion; self-defense; violence; and more. America was the god I found I must put aside. I've been working consciously on that since 1968. I still have a long way to go, but it does my heart good to see even the beneficiaries of American wealth and power performing symbolic acts of defiance against this new Rome.That's why I am a Nazarene too. |
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Post by Gina Stevenson on Sept 26, 2017 4:39:04 GMT -5
With Hans, I don't much appreciate rough language, either.
However, there have been some things I found on I'm Nazarene, Too, that seem more "real" than some things seen in other places.
That I certainly can appreciate, so I still drop in there now & then since recently finding it.
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Post by Susan Unger on Sept 27, 2017 21:45:25 GMT -5
I tried it for a while but found the language was too course for me as well. Finally, I think I dropped out because I just don't have time for it [and a lot of other things on FB].
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Post by Emiko Cothran on Oct 2, 2017 14:15:11 GMT -5
I like it. The language is harsh but the people and the intent is (usually) at least as nice as any other Christian/Nazarene group I have been a part of.
For example one group may say, "anyone who loves their gay neighbors as themselves are supporting sin and deserve to burn in hell along with the evil they turn a blind eye to!"
Then Naztoo may say, "I F***ing love this recepie!" (Referring to really tastey cookies)
I mean really the intent and spirit of the first is worse then the second. But people will be more insulted by the second (for some reason).
That is how I feel about the swearing in Naztoo. Some times it seems excessive, but I think of it like a repressed child finally allowed to break the rules and they go a little crazy.
All and on a good group of honest, well meaning Christians who care about social issues.
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Post by Susan Unger on Oct 3, 2017 10:59:11 GMT -5
That is how I feel about the swearing in Naztoo. Some times it seems excessive, but I think of it like a repressed child finally allowed to break the rules and they go a little crazy. That's the impression that I got. |
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Post by Kevin Wright on Oct 3, 2017 11:16:59 GMT -5
That is how I feel about the swearing in Naztoo. Some times it seems excessive, but I think of it like a repressed child finally allowed to break the rules and they go a little crazy. That's the impression that I got. Doesn't sound like something a holiness people would be a part of. I'm sorry but we are called to be different from the world. I understand that everyone is in a different place in their faith journey but let's seek to be better than this. |
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Post by Benjamin Hobbs on Oct 6, 2017 7:20:28 GMT -5
That's the impression that I got. Doesn't sound like something a holiness people would be a part of. I'm sorry but we are called to be different from the world. I understand that everyone is in a different place in their faith journey but let's seek to be better than this. I disagree. I think a community that embraces the misfits, the cast offs, the hurt and fellowships well with different opinions is exactly who Holiness people should be. If "course language" is the thing that turns Nazarenes away then it's no wonder why we aren't ministering to those who were reached in our early years. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2017 7:25:58 GMT -5
That's the impression that I got. Doesn't sound like something a holiness people would be a part of. I'm sorry but we are called to be different from the world. I understand that everyone is in a different place in their faith journey but let's seek to be better than this. And their answer would be the entire discussion on swearing is pretty much choking on an ant while swallowing a camel. Now my personal opinion is that we should not swallow either of them, but I understand what they are saying. I've seen way too many "decent" holiness people do stuff that is far worse without swearing, making their lives a curse. So I'm sorry, Kevin, this is pretty much a non-issue. If later on the Lord will appear to care more than anything else about this issue, I'll gladly stand corrected. To quote pastor Brian Zahnd, it think there are far more serious issues at hand. |
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Post by Kevin Wright on Oct 6, 2017 8:35:08 GMT -5
Doesn't sound like something a holiness people would be a part of. I'm sorry but we are called to be different from the world. I understand that everyone is in a different place in their faith journey but let's seek to be better than this. I disagree. I think a community that embraces the misfits, the cast offs, the hurt and fellowships well with different opinions is exactly who Holiness people should be. If "course language" is the thing that turns Nazarenes away then it's no wonder why we aren't ministering to those who were reached in our early years. I get that, and if you see it as an opportunity to witness to the misfits, the cast offs and the hurt, then I think that is great. My question, is that happening in this group? Maybe I should join to see what it's like. |
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Jim Bentley
New Member
Posts: 37
CotN Connection: Elder / Senior Pastor
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Post by Jim Bentley on Oct 6, 2017 12:10:46 GMT -5
Doesn't sound like something a holiness people would be a part of. I'm sorry but we are called to be different from the world. I understand that everyone is in a different place in their faith journey but let's seek to be better than this. I disagree. I think a community that embraces the misfits, the cast offs, the hurt and fellowships well with different opinions is exactly who Holiness people should be. If "course language" is the thing that turns Nazarenes away then it's no wonder why we aren't ministering to those who were reached in our early years. But Benjamin, if I understand correctly, we are not talking about misfits and cast offs. We are talking about those who claim to follow Christ and I think this is the point that Kevin is trying to make. I know that "harsh language" is seemingly a non issue, or at least minor issue, to you (and I see Hans' response as well). But isn't this harsh language just a outward expression of a deeper heart issue? Christ was pretty clear about what comes out of our mouth is what is also in our heart. I personally believe that vulgar language that looks and sounds like the lost world around us fits into that category as well. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2017 13:04:13 GMT -5
I disagree. I think a community that embraces the misfits, the cast offs, the hurt and fellowships well with different opinions is exactly who Holiness people should be. If "course language" is the thing that turns Nazarenes away then it's no wonder why we aren't ministering to those who were reached in our early years. I get that, and if you see it as an opportunity to witness to the misfits, the cast offs and the hurt, then I think that is great. My question, is that happening in this group? Maybe I should join to see what it's like. Kevin, I'm really serious here: yes. Yes, quite frequently we see posts of people who felt alone, rejected, cast out, and generally out of place in their churches, who do find some healing here. Not as if it were some kind of subversive group, trying to change the church. The other day a guy asked us that, almost literally. "What's plan to get more influence?", he asked. And the answer was, there is no plan. My own answer was, "the plan is to survive". And to do so, we obviously need each other. Myself, I'm not out to change the church. I'm just seeking room to be me. To follow Christ on the way of holiness. To carry my cross and be united with Him in death in order to attain resurrection. A couple of minutes ago a guy asked for poetry and I wrote down the following: Trying to write in rhyming phrases On NazToo, of all places. Feeble attempt with words to paint, Not for the gutless nor the faint. Expressing one's innermost soul to bear open what isn't yet whole, it all requires some form of bravery, a touch of near insanity. For we are told not to be weak, to hide that innermost vulnerable streak. Yet only when we seemingly lose all there is a future after we fall. The paradox God does give: Only who dies, will truly live. |
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