A church has the motto 'Enjoying God, Blessing others'

Someone commented:

'A beautiful theme,

but it's dismaying the number of people who unconsciously reveal that they are without joy in their Christian experience...

My Response:

A brief comment on this paragraph:

Surely we can give permission to those whose life experiences have been so bad/hurtful/abusive that they are not enjoying God or life or themselves, to legitimately feel *less* than joyful sometimes?

Last Sunday I suggested to a 'charismatic' congregation that I'm still waiting for 'praise leaders' to allow people to feel their feelings, and be sad if that's how they feel today. The 50% of the Psalms which are imprecatory/sad/angry with God don't get into our praise-songs, because we have been seduced into believing that we ought always to be joyful, eh?

A Christian lady said to me this week, 'I'm still angry with my mother who's now dead... Is that O.K.?' My response, knowing the abuse her mother leveled at her children right through their lives: 'Yes, it's OK. If you were not in touch with your anger, you'd be in trouble.'

Shalom! Rowland Croucher