From what i understand, the early church didnt have a “salvation prayer” and you’re in! The “prayer” is only a hundred years old or so. In the early church it was a journey to understanding. It was a process to getting “saved” as it were. This cartoon to me is portraying the ridiculousness on a “magic prayer”.
I am clearly more liberal about these things than I used to be but this was one thing that even in my fundy days I thought was crazy. The sinple saying a prayer and mentally agreeing with a set of ideas and thou shalt be saved. Talk to a 5 points calvinist about this stuff and your head will really spin, its not us it’s Him doing it in us, but we need to have the faith but it is nothing we do but if we don’t have the faith then we are damned yet it is nothing we do…….DON’T YOU DARE THINK THAT ANY GOOD WORK WILL HELP YOUR CASE!!!!!!!
Then you have those who “accepted Jesus” at a young age, but now, 10, 15, 20 years later, can’t remember the moment, or how they felt, or if they really meant it…soooo…we have to do it again, just to make sure. That’s what I did.
Sadly once preached this message with a straight face. Used the “groom dying half way through the ceremony” story as well. Still praying for God to have mercy on me for those days.
brian…yeh…did it too…My friend Bill,a minister for50 yrs. calls it the magic bullet prayer…talk about preaching another Jesus…who is the Jesus of the sinners prayer?…the one that hears the magic words and saves us…the 12 step programs have it right…came to believe…and in that coming to believe there is then a time when in our exploration that we no longer believe, at least not what we believed last week. When we speak of God, we assume that we’re all talking about the same thing…and then if you ask the members of a group who/what God is you will find some very diverse images…especially if they still believe in the God of their childhood. One night in my Healing Place group, a young man said he wasn’t sure about Jesus or the bible…that the bible might just be a bunch of myths and Jesus a mythical character. Does it make a difference? Isn’t the message still the same whether Jesus was real or mythical? The metaphor works just as well.
Some of us Intuitive types only relate to metaphors – facts pass us by.
Thanks for that great statement of Calvinism, Jeff. I thought it was just me who couldn’t get her head round it. At least Catholics and Anglicans just admit it’s a mystery.
Thank you for your interest in Jack Chick Tracts. Although we can not offer publication, our editors feel that your cartoon has real promise, and we hope you won’t be discouraged and will continue in your efforts. –Sincerely, The Blue Haired Committee of Baptist Ladies known as “Jack Chick”.
David Hayward is an artist trapped in a pastor's body, stripping to the essential.
this is so mean…
From what i understand, the early church didnt have a “salvation prayer” and you’re in! The “prayer” is only a hundred years old or so. In the early church it was a journey to understanding. It was a process to getting “saved” as it were. This cartoon to me is portraying the ridiculousness on a “magic prayer”.
I am clearly more liberal about these things than I used to be but this was one thing that even in my fundy days I thought was crazy. The sinple saying a prayer and mentally agreeing with a set of ideas and thou shalt be saved. Talk to a 5 points calvinist about this stuff and your head will really spin, its not us it’s Him doing it in us, but we need to have the faith but it is nothing we do but if we don’t have the faith then we are damned yet it is nothing we do…….DON’T YOU DARE THINK THAT ANY GOOD WORK WILL HELP YOUR CASE!!!!!!!
Then you have those who “accepted Jesus” at a young age, but now, 10, 15, 20 years later, can’t remember the moment, or how they felt, or if they really meant it…soooo…we have to do it again, just to make sure. That’s what I did.
Sad that some people believe this is reality.
Sadly once preached this message with a straight face. Used the “groom dying half way through the ceremony” story as well. Still praying for God to have mercy on me for those days.
brian: hear ya.
That’s amazing! What a great comic! I pity those poor mute people who will never be saved because they can’t get the words out…
brian…yeh…did it too…My friend Bill,a minister for50 yrs. calls it the magic bullet prayer…talk about preaching another Jesus…who is the Jesus of the sinners prayer?…the one that hears the magic words and saves us…the 12 step programs have it right…came to believe…and in that coming to believe there is then a time when in our exploration that we no longer believe, at least not what we believed last week. When we speak of God, we assume that we’re all talking about the same thing…and then if you ask the members of a group who/what God is you will find some very diverse images…especially if they still believe in the God of their childhood. One night in my Healing Place group, a young man said he wasn’t sure about Jesus or the bible…that the bible might just be a bunch of myths and Jesus a mythical character. Does it make a difference? Isn’t the message still the same whether Jesus was real or mythical? The metaphor works just as well.
Some of us Intuitive types only relate to metaphors – facts pass us by.
Thanks for that great statement of Calvinism, Jeff. I thought it was just me who couldn’t get her head round it. At least Catholics and Anglicans just admit it’s a mystery.
Just like not giving a full tithe!
God will not fully bless you.
I can’t believe I used to preach “what do you want God to bless, your net or your gross income”?
Oh… did the thief on the cross get all the right words and phrases in?
I don’t think so.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
“what do you want God to bless, your net or your gross income”?
Er…..my redundancy pay?
Thank you for your interest in Jack Chick Tracts. Although we can not offer publication, our editors feel that your cartoon has real promise, and we hope you won’t be discouraged and will continue in your efforts. –Sincerely, The Blue Haired Committee of Baptist Ladies known as “Jack Chick”.