Amy D. Ritter-Schulze

“If you are really a product of a materialistic universe, how is it that you don’t feel at home there?”- CS Lewis

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

Seriously- this is one of the best things I’ve ever heard a pastor say. I have watched this exact thing destroy so many Christians/pastors. More transparency is needed in the church- but we also need to know that it is safe to be transparent. So many Christian are “curating the darkness” - God help us.

[Tullian Tchividjian @TullianT]

I was recently asked what I think about traditional “accountability” groups or the pressure to have an “accountability partner.” Here’s my no-nonsense answer.

I hate that stuff. Real accountability is something that emerges naturally inside a loving, trusted, unforced friendship—where you are known without having to perform, impress, or fear rejection. The manufactured versions—“accountability groups,” “accountability partners,” weekly sin check-ins—almost always collapse under the weight of their own artificiality. They create environments where the goal subtly becomes image management: how to confess just enough to look honest without being honest. You learn to hide better. You learn to curate your darkness so it sounds repentant rather than raw. And worst of all, they often replace the gospel with a kind of moral surveillance. True accountability is not someone policing your behavior; it’s someone holding your heart—someone who will remind you of grace when you forget, sit with you in the wreckage without trying to fix you, and love you without agenda. That kind of friendship doesn’t have to be scheduled, structured, or enforced. It’s given. It’s received. It’s grace.

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

@TullianT 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[Tullian Tchividjian @TullianT]

If you’re looking for sound bites and rage-driven rhetoric, this isn’t for you. But if you value nuance on these important matters, please read on…

Somewhere along the way, many of us absorbed the idea that the church exists to make the world a “more Christian” place. We’ve been taught to see the church as a kind of moral improvement society, a political lobby, or a culture-shaping machine whose primary task is to influence the world toward Christian values.

But biblically speaking, that’s never been the church’s mission. The church is not God’s tool for national renovation or cultural domination. It’s not the chaplain to Caesar, the PR department for a political party, or the engine of moral reform. The church is the community of the broken, gathered around the news of God’s grace for sinners in Christ.

Martin Luther insisted that the church exists not to enforce cultural morality but to deliver Christ’s saving grace through Word and Sacrament. In hostile cultures, this mission becomes even more urgent. In Temporal Authority (1523), he wrote:

“The Gospel must be preached and the sacraments administered, not according to men’s merits or in a pure world, but in this world as it is, full of sin and godlessness.”

The church, he argued, is a spiritual institution first—not a political or cultural force. For those who claim things were better in Luther’s day and that he would take a different approach today, history says otherwise: moral decay and hostility to God’s law are the norm, not the exception. Our times are no more hostile than any other; to think otherwise is ignorance of history.

Now, some will say, “But what about when culture celebrates what the Bible condemns? Isn’t it the church’s job to speak out?” The truth absolutely is confrontational—but not in the way we often think. The truth that confronts us is that, regardless of your moral or political views, we are all great sinners in desperate need of a great Savior.

Even Jesus, when standing before Pilate, made it clear: “My kingdom is not of this world.” If it were, his followers would have fought to establish earthly power. But his kingdom is altogether different—rooted in weakness, not strength; in grace, not law; in a cross, not a sword. And when Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” he wasn’t calling for a cultural or moral takeover. He was pointing to the way God’s kingdom comes—through the proclamation of the gospel, as sinners are rescued, forgiven, and made new in Christ.

And this is where we often get confused: culture warring and cultural engagement are not the same thing. Culture warring is about winning power; cultural engagement is about bearing witness. One seeks to control; the other seeks to confess.

Jesus didn’t send his disciples into the world to Christianize empires or legislate virtue. He sent them to announce forgiveness, to proclaim good news, to baptize sinners, to feed the hungry, to comfort the grieving, to bear one another’s burdens. The church is not a factory producing “better people”; it’s a recovery place announcing that, in Christ, the sick are healed, the guilty are pardoned, and the dead are raised.

When we confuse the church with a culture-war movement or a moral majority, we trade the scandal of grace for the seduction of power. And in doing so, we lose the very thing the world most desperately needs: a community that doesn’t point to its own goodness, but to Christ’s finished work for sinners like us.

The church doesn’t exist to make America more Christian. The church exists to make Christ known. That’s a far more beautiful—and far more liberating—calling.

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

@TullianT I love this. Thank you for speaking out.

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

@Verizon I just got a message from *live agent* Jeff. When I asked a question he said "I'm sorry, I haven't learned that command yet."

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

@Verizon I have been a loyal Verizon customer for over 10 years...and TBH your customer service has always kind of sucked...but it was a trade-off for good cell service. But this...!!!! It should not be this hard to get a simple task accomplished.

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

@Verizon this is ridiculous. I call and ask to speak to an agent...and your phone sends me to a digital ai chat...then it tells me that to speak to a live agent I need to call....

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

@Verizon your new digital assistant is TERRIBLE. I've called ten times and cannot get through to a live agent. Your AI bot has me caught in a loop no matter which way I turn. I shouldn't have to work this hard to give you my money!!!😡

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

Christians don’t tell lies… they sing them.

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

@CityofSantee
RIP Bob Schulze
June 23, 1966 — August 30, 2024

A celebration of Bob’s life will be held at Sonrise Community Church, 8805 N. Magnolia Ave, Santee, CA, on October 26, 2024, at 3:00 PM.

https://t.co/ekjiXCPeM1

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

Great day for a game! #timetoshine

[Tullian Tchividjian @TullianT]

I know it’s a little early for @TIME magazine to announce their person of the year, but I think they should go ahead right now and give it to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 🤟🏼

[Daniel Friedmann @DanielF1974]

Hey, @AskPayPal, I need help. My wife got a 2y late refund from TAP sent to a long cancelled credit card. Both @PayPal and @comdirect say they don't have our money. So, where is it? One of you has our €1699.44. We expect to get help. Please get in touch for details like ARN etc

[colin James @cjamob]

@AskPayPal I need resolution ...In using the PayPal App only, the £ symbol/function leads the user to only two other functions "Pay" or "Get Paid", if the user selects get paid. Instead of getting paid I paid a Non-Contact and they have not returned the payment.

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

@StableMoments @twohearts_horse

[Ale Borgobello @ArtofAleBorgo]

@askpaypal My account's been permanently limited - was never given a reason why. I run a legitimate business and lead a public figure through my work. The assets you froze were hard earned through honest work, meant to pay medical bills - I need this looked upon!

[Amy D. Ritter-Schulze @amyiscreating]

@TullianT So very true. Thank you for this.

[Nidheesh Chandran @chanhope]

@PayPal @AskPayPal I thought Google have the worst support system. After contacting Paypal support for the last few months (still unresolved) I have changed my mind.

[Caroline Leaf @DrCarolineLeaf]

Two things I’m thinking about:
1. When you heal yourself you will offend those who benefit from your brokenness
2. Manipulation is when they blame you for your reaction to their disrespect.