75 thoughts on “Strange Spiritual Exercises”

  2. Oh sweet! “More blacks in prison” isn’t indication of an injust system, but that white people are better than blacks, and seems to indicate whites are somehow more evolved (although avoids that word).

    2. The difference is that some people are born on third base and think they hit a triple while others don’t even own a bat. (Either one could apply to either race)

  5. “you’re gonna get this prayer thing going.” Forget spontaneously responding to God; now prayer is a religious exercise.

    1. Stuff Fundies like: Hating the term “spiritual disciplines” but demanding the same disciplined behavior from their own congregants.

  7. “Former heroin addict saved and “called to preach””

    Has SFL ever done a bit on that phrase? I used to say that a lot in Fundyland. And you could tell someone was “God-called” and not “Daddy and Mommy called” by what exactly??

    Does the Bible talk about any preacher/missionary “calling” or just the calling from God to believe the Gospel?

    What about when God doesn’t “call” you to preach, but “calls” you to be a christian service writer (y’know the guy that tries to talk you into a $300 transmission flush and throttle-body cleaning when you just wanted new brake pads?)

    Be the best “God-called” service writer you can be (even though you will always be second class because God didn’t “call you to preach”).

  8. I did agree with one thing – prayer does change you. However, the idea that we should all pray as loudly as possible makes me wonder if he thinks God needs a hearing aid? Or maybe he forgot that whole bit about going into a closet alone?

    And the racism! He actually came out and said that “we” are better now and that’s why there are more blacks than whites now in prison!!! javascript:grin(‘:shock:’)

    2. Hypnosis changes you. There are many parallels between prayer/hypnosis and church service/hypnosis.

  9. I’ve heard racism, diatribes against modern generations, and most of the other stuff but I’ve NEVER heard that Hussein was the dumbest man in the world because he never left his own country to study western culture. 😕

        1. Iraq, before Desert Storm, was probably the most technologically advanced country in the Middle East (except Israel), with the most educated population (except for Palestine). This guy knows less than nothing about– what’s that country? Iraq.

        2. Not to mention one of the few countries in the Arab world where Christians and Jews could practice their respective faiths openly without persecution…and the *only* country in the Arab world to acknowledge women’s rights.

    1. I was thinking the same thing. Several things about his demeanor and his inability to focus on a train of thought (at least, I don’t know what he was trying to talk about) demonstrate the kind of damage that drugs like heroin do to the brain, even after a person stops taking the drug. I also notice his excessive sensitivity to light (he’s wearing tinted glasses in a room that’s not brightly lit), typical of opiate abusers. Even his rather odd hairline is something I’ve seen on other heavy drug users. I don’t know how for how long this man is supposed to have been “clean,” but he still looks and acts like a junky in many ways.

  11. I like how the titles on the posts give us the strangest advertisements on the sidebar. The word “exercises” is giving me a lot of yoga stuff.

    1. I thought some of the “Ranger Up” t-shirts were pretty cool (of course, I’m not cool enough to wear them!)

  13. In my mind’s eye I see a whole auditorium of people uncomfortably shifting in their seats and not making eye contact with this guy. If he is a recovering heroin addict, then I feel for him and wish him well. (I know a guy who is also a recovering addict and I see some behavioral similarities.) But this is just awkward.

    2. Did he even mention Jesus Christ in that sermon? When He is not your focus, listmania sanctification is the inevitable result.

  15. Oh, the irony of a follower of Peter Ruckman calling the follower of an insane leader foolish.

    1. Too funny. I found a heavy dose of irony in the proud Ruckmanite going on a racist rant about white people being better than blacks, and shortly thereafter proclaiming how sophisticated his lack of an accent made him.

    2. Every time I hear about Ruckman, I think about mosquito-sized demons. You just can’t keep a straight face about this man’s crazy ideas. The good thing is that (IMO) this brand of Fundyism is waning.

      2. So, if demons aren’t the size of demons, how big are they?

        (I’m kidding. Let’s not get in an argument over THAT. Although, living as I do in Mosquito Central, I wouldn’t have much trouble believing that mosquitoes and demons are one and the same.)

        1. Dang it, George, you were supposed to write, “If demons aren’t the size of mosquitoes …”

  18. Matthew! “Former tax collector…called to PREACH!”
    Peter! “Former fisherman…called to PREACH!”
    Amos! “Former sheep hearder…called to PREACH”….

    Doesn’t sound quite as exciting, does it?

  19. In listening to the prison part, I don’t think that he was saying what some here are interpreting. His message was that white guys aren’t falling into crime as much so they can’t have God save them out of a truly fallen background like God saved him.

    I think the guy is a fruitcake…but not as overtly racist as some are saying.

  20. “I’m kind of uh, logical person. I believe you follow this step and that step you do exactly what he tells you to do, you are going to come out with the right result.”

    Let me introduce you to the book of Ecclesiastes.

    You can’t shepherd the wind.

    1. Your Pastor hates Ruckman right?

      Anyway, just because it was done, doesn’t mean it’s a “biblical practice” and we should all do it. Especially shouting as loud as we can to God as though we are wretched sinners (which, if we are in Christ, we are not anymore, but have been translated into His Kingdom of light, and walk in light, and have fellowship with Him, and if we sin, He is our advocate, not our pleas of mercy – God has already shown mercy). I don’t think you’ll find them in Acts 1 praying for mercy and shouting, but rather, waiting for the Holy Spirit as Jesus told them to do.

      1. Not a fan of Ruckman, but I am a fan of Acts 1 praying… I will take this Bible example over your opinion ..thank you.

        2. I never said prayer did nothing. Also, a righteous man is anyone in Christ. I’m not sure what the point of quoting that verse was… of course prayer avails much. But shouting at God?

        3. @Trex, The speaker’s mistakes are multiple and obvious, however one thing that I did take away from his “sermon” was about how speaking out loud prayer “focuses” our prayers, I tend to believe that. Sometimes if I’m praying silently I lose my train of thought, when I’m praying out loud it doesn’t seem to happen as much.

      2. Hmmmmm so culture and feelings trump biblical examples?

        Not agreeing or disagreeing, just wondering.

        1. I never mentioned culture or feelings. A lot of stuff done in acts is not stuff that you would practice today, so why pick one example, especially from Acts 1, when you believe the church began in Acts 2??

    2. upper room praying in unison is certainly biblical

      Really? for it to be in unison then everyone would have to be quoting the same prayer. I will agree that corporate prayer is also effective but not the Babel caterwauling practiced in the IFB prayer contests.

    1. I noticed the same thing. Why does he keep telling people to “axe God.” What does he have against God?

    2. I’m not sure if you’re joking or not?

      His “axe” means ask. I’ve lived in the WV/VA/MD area most of my life and most people around here drop consonants like crazy. It makes for some interesting sounding words.

      1. “Axe” for “ask” is one that has never made sense to me though, because they’re not dropping a consonant. They’re just rearranging the order, it’s pronounced as though it were spelled “aks.”

        1. Ooh ooh I know this one! I actually get to use my Intro to Linguistics class that I took mumblety years ago!

          When African slaves arrived in the South, people from widely separated linguistic groups were thrown together. To communicate at all, they had to learn English. However, their different languages had a few common rules, one of which was that /s/ never comes before /k/. Hence, “ask” -> “ax.” This rule carried over to lower-caste white dialect in the area.

          . . . The more you know. *star*

      2. Yeah, I knew that “axe” is a dialect form of “ask” in some places. I was just being a wiseacre. But since “axe” is a Standard English word, both as a noun and as a verb, it sounds strange when someone tells another person to “axe” someone (or God). Especially since during the same talk, he was bragging about not using lower-class dialect.

  24. I pray out loud when I am in private. Early in the morning it does help me to concentrate better.

    The IFB church my sister used to attend had a prayer time between Sunday School and the morning service where the men of the church would gather and all pray for God to bless in the morning service. When I heard of it I thought the idea was great. When I got in there, however, I discovered that they were all praying out loud, and doing their best to be louder than the next guy. 😯 Somehow I don’t think God was listening to much of what was said. 🙁

  25. “Good evening, Sir. My name is Steve. I come from a rough area. I used to be addicted to crack but now I am off it and trying to stay clean. That is why I am selling magazine subscriptions.”

    4. Yeeeaaahhhhh, I’m going to need you to come in this weekend, mmmmkay? That would be great.

  27. It’s NOT about getting answers to prayer. It is about being able to concentrate with 24 other people yelling at the top of their lungs.

    Good grief…

  28. I seem to remember somebody saying something about entering a closet and praying in secret??

    I feel the same way about group prayer that I do about group sex. I would rather no be involved.

      2. So what does Acts 1:13-14 say?
        It does not say that they were in continual audible group prayer. It says they were together waiting in the room, they were in accord with one another and they were praying. One has to make a fundy leap and project the fundy form of Babel praying onto that group in order to come up with the upper room prayer meeting being a cacophony of Apostolic mayhem as practiced by the IFB.
        In fact the verses mentioned neither affirm nor deny individual praying or group praying. So what you have here is another fundy dogma chisled in stone where the Scripture is not so absolute.

        2. John, that’s the point… noone is against group prayer, but this weird shouting at God thing that this guy is teaching is not a biblical practice.

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