"The only truth I know," I would tell them, "is that if you're going to be great, then you're great now. And you know it. You know it right now. Only you can't believe it. You just need some prodding and you need some proof."
That's from Barry Manilow, speaking about his work among High School Music students back in the 1970's. From his book Sweet Life: Adventures on the Way to Paradise, p. 230
"In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." -Romans 4:18-22
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
A Post for September 11
It is like a curse- to be so good at consistently investing with meaning those things which may have no meaning except what we give to them.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Seen and the Unseen
I want to live out the spiritual realities captured in Romans 6.
We know deep inside that there is an ever-present transcendence to our lives; that our soul is reaching out always for something more. We do this in relationships- we dodge, jump back, counter, hoping to experience impact and significance. We are reaching out for more...
On the other hand, we have to take out the trash, wash the dishes, clean the...well, you know.
On Wednesday it may be hard to see oneself as an intersection of the seen and the unseen. No matter what day it is, the promise is true..."Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."
In seeing beyond the circumstances, we can realize that there is more at stake than just one's own fate. We see sanctification, and truthful relationships with impact and significance. "But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you (collective) derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Both the seen and the unseen call us to simply live with trust in God's provision for us all. There are no "simple answers to complex questions." That would be the seen denying the unseen. That would be enslavement to sin, as if nothing spiritually significant had ever happened in and through history.
We know deep inside that there is an ever-present transcendence to our lives; that our soul is reaching out always for something more. We do this in relationships- we dodge, jump back, counter, hoping to experience impact and significance. We are reaching out for more...
On the other hand, we have to take out the trash, wash the dishes, clean the...well, you know.
On Wednesday it may be hard to see oneself as an intersection of the seen and the unseen. No matter what day it is, the promise is true..."Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him."
In seeing beyond the circumstances, we can realize that there is more at stake than just one's own fate. We see sanctification, and truthful relationships with impact and significance. "But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you (collective) derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Both the seen and the unseen call us to simply live with trust in God's provision for us all. There are no "simple answers to complex questions." That would be the seen denying the unseen. That would be enslavement to sin, as if nothing spiritually significant had ever happened in and through history.
Monday, August 15, 2011
A Great Question
Does this "Vampire" question have any kind of good answer?
"But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love..." What is your answer?
"But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love..." What is your answer?
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
An Update on the Second Coming
From all the buzz going around today, it is apparent that Harold Camping may have been on the right track after all, people. For you real inspired Bible Scholars (oxymoron?!? I hope not!!) the prediction in Mark 13:14 may refer to the August 3rd (or August 2nd) deadline for U.S. Debt Ceiling relief. This would of course correspond to Amos 2:4 when read in light of Ezekiel 33:25--manifesting, of course, fulfillment of the complaint in Genesis 4:13! So there is NO WAY that Jesus won't be back on August 3rd (or August 2nd)! Oh, and don't forget to factor in Genesis 26:30-31 (in case things get solved without Jesus' return). Anyway, I hope all parties can go away understanding each other (Genesis 27:11) whether or not Jesus gets directly involved. So there.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Hurry Up and Wait?
The church has an open door! We are called to be a Kingdom of God community that operates in the public interest. It is vital, therefore, that we continually organize ourselves for mission at the same time that we carry out the mission. We have no desire to sit out the game while we think about how to play. Summer is moving on, opportunities are passing by. What are we waiting for? The next rapture?
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
I Know Exactly When Jesus Will Return
On this first glorious day after the Rapture of the Church, I'm sure some people, especially those who positioned themselves so certain of yesterday's Rapture, are re-evaluating their personal expectations. (I wonder if they are re-evaluating their interpretive framework.) Maybe they aren't. Maybe they are simply trying to figure out the next outrageous attention-getting scheme, carefully calculated to bring in donations from the naive. Naaaah...no one would do that.
I for one am still packin' up. I'm gettin ready to go. Swing low, sweet chariot!
Are you? Maybe you are one of those who believes, like I do, in the "blessed hope," that is, one day when God will make all things right that have been wrong. The 2002 Baptist Faith & Message says, "God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness..." This is more or less a pretty standard Protestant/Baptist/Evangelical statement of belief, also known as a confession of doctrine.
Well...since we've had yet another incident that received lots of lame reporting and occasioned lots of cheap laughs, I'm looking for something decent to come out of it.
Back in 1988, I recall being slightly upset that many of my friends were expecting the Rapture in September. Not that I was some intellectual superior who saw through the whole thing, but that I was inclined to expect it too. Expecting it on a specific day and in a specific way proved to be psychologically wrenching, I'd say even damaging. I was trying so hard, like I did quite a bit in those days, to virtually "wish" my expectations into existence. I didn't have the common sense to realize that "magical thinking" is not all that helpful for day to day spiritual living.
My response was to re-evaluate my personal expectations. It was around this time that I discovered that the Rapture was a pretty late development in Christian thought (like, 1200 months ago), and that the scenarios I'd been adopting wholesale were pretty recent schemes, too. Not that everything recent is bad, but I might have more respect for something with more historical and theological depth. When I realized all this, I began to be more open-minded to other end-time scenarios. (I realize here that I've lost lots of people, who don't believe at all in being open-minded, but only in being "absolutely correct" as quickly as possible.)
So, by few years later I was more widely read, a little more studied, and probably more relaxed. Eventually, I became completely sober on April 10, 2003. Today I'd be categorized as a "Classic Pre-Millinialist" who thinks that Biblical prophecy is Biblical preaching. I am well aware of both the overlapping of the ages and the now and the not yet. I am also aware of the delay of the second coming, and wish more people wondered about it. I also resist as best I can my quite natural (maybe sinful!) apocalyptic tendencies. This means that I don't let my dogma run over my karma.
So, my challenge is for you to re-evaluate your own personal expectations. Are you very certain of things about which the Bible is not? Or are you agnostic, knowing absolutely nothing about "last things" because you think it is too complex? What will you do next time someone makes a joke about Jesus' return? How does your belief, or lack of it, in judgment day effect what you do today for others?
Here's to the second day after the Rapture.
*However*
I for one am still packin' up. I'm gettin ready to go. Swing low, sweet chariot!
Are you? Maybe you are one of those who believes, like I do, in the "blessed hope," that is, one day when God will make all things right that have been wrong. The 2002 Baptist Faith & Message says, "God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness..." This is more or less a pretty standard Protestant/Baptist/Evangelical statement of belief, also known as a confession of doctrine.
Well...since we've had yet another incident that received lots of lame reporting and occasioned lots of cheap laughs, I'm looking for something decent to come out of it.
Back in 1988, I recall being slightly upset that many of my friends were expecting the Rapture in September. Not that I was some intellectual superior who saw through the whole thing, but that I was inclined to expect it too. Expecting it on a specific day and in a specific way proved to be psychologically wrenching, I'd say even damaging. I was trying so hard, like I did quite a bit in those days, to virtually "wish" my expectations into existence. I didn't have the common sense to realize that "magical thinking" is not all that helpful for day to day spiritual living.
My response was to re-evaluate my personal expectations. It was around this time that I discovered that the Rapture was a pretty late development in Christian thought (like, 1200 months ago), and that the scenarios I'd been adopting wholesale were pretty recent schemes, too. Not that everything recent is bad, but I might have more respect for something with more historical and theological depth. When I realized all this, I began to be more open-minded to other end-time scenarios. (I realize here that I've lost lots of people, who don't believe at all in being open-minded, but only in being "absolutely correct" as quickly as possible.)
So, by few years later I was more widely read, a little more studied, and probably more relaxed. Eventually, I became completely sober on April 10, 2003. Today I'd be categorized as a "Classic Pre-Millinialist" who thinks that Biblical prophecy is Biblical preaching. I am well aware of both the overlapping of the ages and the now and the not yet. I am also aware of the delay of the second coming, and wish more people wondered about it. I also resist as best I can my quite natural (maybe sinful!) apocalyptic tendencies. This means that I don't let my dogma run over my karma.
So, my challenge is for you to re-evaluate your own personal expectations. Are you very certain of things about which the Bible is not? Or are you agnostic, knowing absolutely nothing about "last things" because you think it is too complex? What will you do next time someone makes a joke about Jesus' return? How does your belief, or lack of it, in judgment day effect what you do today for others?
Here's to the second day after the Rapture.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Now That's Why We Have a Monarch!
It is easy to make the mistake of assuming that there are monarchs in the UK so the rest of us can enjoy big weddings every 30 years or so. Yesterday we saw another real good reason for the English to keep them around.
The English-Irish conflict goes back a while. It is hard to imagine the depths of the visceral hard feelings that entire generations of Irish and English have felt for each other. (By English, I use a common collective term, however inexact!) Countless thousands have died fighting for various versions of self-determination and tribal honor. Families on both sides of the Irish Sea have been disrupted throughout modern history because of this mighty struggle between neighbors. It is hard for us to realize the complexities of this negative relationship, which continued even after Irish Independence began in the 1920's.
A cool war continued until more recent times, when the world became smaller and settling scores from the middle ages seemed thankfully less important. So cooperation, management of those Northern Counties and their conflicts, economics and modernization brought the Isles closer together. But no Queen had come to visit.
Well, she arrived yesterday. In Emerald Green, her Royal Presence pierced the hearts, probably, even of the protesters. Without precedent, she reverently visited the Garden of Remembrance, and today will visit the site of Bloody Sunday. Twenty years ago I would have thought such a vision impossible, but it will become a reality today.
What we are seeing is reconciliation bearing fruit. Much work and sacrifice has created this opportunity for healing. There is no way to erase the past, but there is a way to shape a positive future in spite of the bloody past. We all have a great Queen, one of those rare persons who can carry her office and her duties in a way that is larger than life, and that makes life better- rewarding those who do the hard work with the final healing ointment of acknowledged final reconciliation.
It is beautiful to see, wonderful to appreciate, soul-stirring to imagine what these acts of a monarch might mean for the children of those British Isles, and in other places in our world that seem beyond hope of reconciliation.
"How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long, how long?
Tonight, we can be as one,
Tonight..." -U2: Sunday, Bloody Sunday
The English-Irish conflict goes back a while. It is hard to imagine the depths of the visceral hard feelings that entire generations of Irish and English have felt for each other. (By English, I use a common collective term, however inexact!) Countless thousands have died fighting for various versions of self-determination and tribal honor. Families on both sides of the Irish Sea have been disrupted throughout modern history because of this mighty struggle between neighbors. It is hard for us to realize the complexities of this negative relationship, which continued even after Irish Independence began in the 1920's.
A cool war continued until more recent times, when the world became smaller and settling scores from the middle ages seemed thankfully less important. So cooperation, management of those Northern Counties and their conflicts, economics and modernization brought the Isles closer together. But no Queen had come to visit.
Well, she arrived yesterday. In Emerald Green, her Royal Presence pierced the hearts, probably, even of the protesters. Without precedent, she reverently visited the Garden of Remembrance, and today will visit the site of Bloody Sunday. Twenty years ago I would have thought such a vision impossible, but it will become a reality today.
What we are seeing is reconciliation bearing fruit. Much work and sacrifice has created this opportunity for healing. There is no way to erase the past, but there is a way to shape a positive future in spite of the bloody past. We all have a great Queen, one of those rare persons who can carry her office and her duties in a way that is larger than life, and that makes life better- rewarding those who do the hard work with the final healing ointment of acknowledged final reconciliation.
It is beautiful to see, wonderful to appreciate, soul-stirring to imagine what these acts of a monarch might mean for the children of those British Isles, and in other places in our world that seem beyond hope of reconciliation.
"How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long, how long?
Tonight, we can be as one,
Tonight..." -U2: Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Thursday, May 5, 2011
What happens in a great worship service
in 2011?
- There is some keyboard based band, with live instruments
- There is a real loud organ
- There are music leaders, singers
- There are visual enticements and helps
- There is recitation of belief and focus
- There is strong congregational singing, reading, participation, praying, testimony
- There is a lot of prayer
- There is lots of Scripture, treated reverently
- There is a strong message, meaningful, intelligent and challenging
- There is a call to response and action and commitment
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Darkness
Any slow and plodding contemplation of Jesus first seeing the face of Judas Iscariot places a cold heaviness upon the hearts of all good people.
May this sorrowful Savior on this immortal night of betrayal have mercy on us who share such feelings.
Colossians 3:3 "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
maunday Thursday
May this sorrowful Savior on this immortal night of betrayal have mercy on us who share such feelings.
Colossians 3:3 "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
maunday Thursday
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Pastor Ronnie Floyd: Winning Is Everything
Last night, on UNC-TV I watched Frontline's story "Football High" about high school football. During the program, a familiar face popped up on the screen. Someone in the room said, "He has a look like Kenneth Copeland!" The face was that of Fundamentalist Ronnie Floyd, an SBC elite superstar. Of course, my attention was riveted to learn what he might be doing on this program about High School Football! After a few shocking minutes, the show raised for me some critical moral questions about the way clergy should treat people's children.
Pastor Floyd, leader of several Arkansas megachurches and past SBC executive, and sponsor of the Great Commission Resurgence adopted last year, is portrayed by Frontline's video as the hands-on number one cheerleader for his Baptist megachurch school's team, the Christian Saints. I was surprised to learn that Floyd's own son was the best head coach available to this well-financed football factory. Reading between the lines, I saw a hyper-serious football program for children that is very heavily financed (more than your regular high school!) and exists for the gratification of alpha dog egos in a feedback loop closed society. Why does a team with a roster of 30 need with 6 full time coaches? Sanity please.
Let me just say that there are moral questions here about the exploitation of children by clergy. In our times (why more than others?) clergy need to be very careful about how they allow the children under their influence to be treated. We would expect clergy to have the highest concern, and to discourage coercion and manipulation of younger souls, and try and prevent abuses that cause long lasting harm. In high school football individual choice and parental consent play major roles, but even these are likely muted voices in the echo chamber of Church-School-Football-Fundamentalism that I observed in the program.
Are there not crucial moral questions here? I think Pastor Floyd needs to re-think (using self-criticism) his quest for some ultimate football prize. If he and others with his power and money want this kind of thrill, and pull out all the stops to get it, why say that it is a result of "God's favor?" (Yes, he said that.) Is it more likely that it is the result of God's people's money, combined with a moral deafness to the best interests of school children? Perhaps they should buy a grown up football team, like other grown ups do.
Shouldn't we expect higher moral standards from our Baptist leaders? With this type of influence and financing comes higher responsibility! Amen!
If childrens' football has the dangerous potential shown by Frontline, then a radical re-evaluation of the sport is in order. Of course this raises other moral questions about freedom and government control, etc. But, hey, even the NFL and NCAA have some rules! Apparently these types of renegade high school programs have freedoms they don't deserve, and children are paying the price.
Pastor Floyd, winning isn't everything. For parents, our children almost are everything! Football is a game!
Pastor Floyd, leader of several Arkansas megachurches and past SBC executive, and sponsor of the Great Commission Resurgence adopted last year, is portrayed by Frontline's video as the hands-on number one cheerleader for his Baptist megachurch school's team, the Christian Saints. I was surprised to learn that Floyd's own son was the best head coach available to this well-financed football factory. Reading between the lines, I saw a hyper-serious football program for children that is very heavily financed (more than your regular high school!) and exists for the gratification of alpha dog egos in a feedback loop closed society. Why does a team with a roster of 30 need with 6 full time coaches? Sanity please.
Let me just say that there are moral questions here about the exploitation of children by clergy. In our times (why more than others?) clergy need to be very careful about how they allow the children under their influence to be treated. We would expect clergy to have the highest concern, and to discourage coercion and manipulation of younger souls, and try and prevent abuses that cause long lasting harm. In high school football individual choice and parental consent play major roles, but even these are likely muted voices in the echo chamber of Church-School-Football-Fundamentalism that I observed in the program.
Are there not crucial moral questions here? I think Pastor Floyd needs to re-think (using self-criticism) his quest for some ultimate football prize. If he and others with his power and money want this kind of thrill, and pull out all the stops to get it, why say that it is a result of "God's favor?" (Yes, he said that.) Is it more likely that it is the result of God's people's money, combined with a moral deafness to the best interests of school children? Perhaps they should buy a grown up football team, like other grown ups do.
Shouldn't we expect higher moral standards from our Baptist leaders? With this type of influence and financing comes higher responsibility! Amen!
If childrens' football has the dangerous potential shown by Frontline, then a radical re-evaluation of the sport is in order. Of course this raises other moral questions about freedom and government control, etc. But, hey, even the NFL and NCAA have some rules! Apparently these types of renegade high school programs have freedoms they don't deserve, and children are paying the price.
Pastor Floyd, winning isn't everything. For parents, our children almost are everything! Football is a game!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Is the Bible Too Complicated for You?
I had a friend one time say, "Why can't I just believe it?" Perhaps they were saying they wanted to have faith in God through the Bible. I wish. What they were most likely saying was "Why do I have to understand what is in a particular passage and struggle to apply it in a valid way?"
We want to wear armbands and wave flags. The Bible is one of them. "I believe the Bible" has been a cover that enables unscrupulous people to shut down further inquiry from those who would make them accountable.
Christians have to be more responsible, more enlightened, and yes, less simplistic. Many a Pastor has been matched with an unsuitable church by smiling real big and saying, "I have Jesus in my heart." No further inquiry necessary.
I challenge people to remember that they aren't the first ones to read the Bible. They aren't the first human in history to ask any particular question of the Bible. And, they aren't the first one to answer the question arising from the reading. Humility is in order, and lots of it.
Below is a link to an article that may challenge your preconceived notions about interpreting Scripture.
3 Wrong Ways to Read the Bible
Read for inspiration and embrace Truth!
We want to wear armbands and wave flags. The Bible is one of them. "I believe the Bible" has been a cover that enables unscrupulous people to shut down further inquiry from those who would make them accountable.
Christians have to be more responsible, more enlightened, and yes, less simplistic. Many a Pastor has been matched with an unsuitable church by smiling real big and saying, "I have Jesus in my heart." No further inquiry necessary.
I challenge people to remember that they aren't the first ones to read the Bible. They aren't the first human in history to ask any particular question of the Bible. And, they aren't the first one to answer the question arising from the reading. Humility is in order, and lots of it.
Below is a link to an article that may challenge your preconceived notions about interpreting Scripture.
3 Wrong Ways to Read the Bible
Read for inspiration and embrace Truth!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Watch Your Language
So a sign outside a church says, "Mine Eyes are Forever Towards the Lord." For many people, under the age of 30, this might be a mystery. They might drive past and think to themselves, "What are mine eyes? Are these optical spheres which explode when stepped upon? Are these some weapon, that upon immediate observation appear to be eyeballs in the sand? And what of 'towards the Lord'? Does this mean that such devices are strewn about on the way to the Lord?" That doesn't seem like good news.
Such imaginative difficulties are not too far off from actual ones. Inquisitive people are put off quite often by this type of religious language. Why then would people use it?
I can only think it is proper to do so for historical reasons in contexts in which the historical could be appreciated. To do otherwise might serve only to create distance, profoundly unnecessary distance, between one person and another.
To whom does language belong? Is it only the author or speaker? Or is meaning shared by means of linguistic signs that are mutually understood? It seems to me that if we want to truly communicate, we might want to consider our language, our terminology, our Christianeze way of communicating that others may actually not understand.
Even if we say something nice, we might say it in a way that encourages others to stop listening. As the wise DJ says, "Be yourself so you don't have to be by yourself."
Such imaginative difficulties are not too far off from actual ones. Inquisitive people are put off quite often by this type of religious language. Why then would people use it?
I can only think it is proper to do so for historical reasons in contexts in which the historical could be appreciated. To do otherwise might serve only to create distance, profoundly unnecessary distance, between one person and another.
To whom does language belong? Is it only the author or speaker? Or is meaning shared by means of linguistic signs that are mutually understood? It seems to me that if we want to truly communicate, we might want to consider our language, our terminology, our Christianeze way of communicating that others may actually not understand.
Even if we say something nice, we might say it in a way that encourages others to stop listening. As the wise DJ says, "Be yourself so you don't have to be by yourself."
Sunday, March 27, 2011
KFC: The Best of Sunday
The new KFC commercial jumped out at me during the games. It goes something like this: They saved the best for Sundays: the best games, the best sleeping late, the best shopping, the best food. So, KFC fits in perfectly for your Sunday menu.
So, aside from being a transparent attempt to cash in on Chic-Fil-A being closed on Sundays, the commercial has a glaring omission: The best Christian worship!Or, the Best Family time in Church! Or, the most spiritual day for Christians! Or anything like that could have been included and been true for a vast number of practicing Christians (who are also steroid chicken munchers watching the NCAA Men's B-Ball Tourney).
I noticed that there were no scenes depicting anyone entering or exiting a church building of any type. At least they could have shown a family happily exiting, shaking off their captivity, and diving full speed for KFC! (Believe me, I have experience seeing this type of thing.)
The really odd thing is the punchline in the ad: TGIS- as in, you got it, thank God it's Sunday! So, after leaving God out of Sunday, we all just thank God for it?
As I said today during the message, worship is something for which we were built. I think we are longing to worship in spirit and truth from some place deep within. It is just sad that this natural impulse hasn't translated very much into what people experience in church. Again the classic clash between religion and spirituality. Or is it just laziness? *sigh*
Another consideration for advertisers might be what is the best of Friday- would a Muslim be ill if Friday prayers were not mentioned? Or how about the best of Saturday- does this sort of leave out the Jewish Sabbath? I mean, if you're gonna leave something out...
I guess Sundays are nice, and some of the "best" is saved for Sunday. But I have different reasons for this sentiment than KFC (the junk food formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken).
So, aside from being a transparent attempt to cash in on Chic-Fil-A being closed on Sundays, the commercial has a glaring omission: The best Christian worship!Or, the Best Family time in Church! Or, the most spiritual day for Christians! Or anything like that could have been included and been true for a vast number of practicing Christians (who are also steroid chicken munchers watching the NCAA Men's B-Ball Tourney).
I noticed that there were no scenes depicting anyone entering or exiting a church building of any type. At least they could have shown a family happily exiting, shaking off their captivity, and diving full speed for KFC! (Believe me, I have experience seeing this type of thing.)
The really odd thing is the punchline in the ad: TGIS- as in, you got it, thank God it's Sunday! So, after leaving God out of Sunday, we all just thank God for it?
As I said today during the message, worship is something for which we were built. I think we are longing to worship in spirit and truth from some place deep within. It is just sad that this natural impulse hasn't translated very much into what people experience in church. Again the classic clash between religion and spirituality. Or is it just laziness? *sigh*
Another consideration for advertisers might be what is the best of Friday- would a Muslim be ill if Friday prayers were not mentioned? Or how about the best of Saturday- does this sort of leave out the Jewish Sabbath? I mean, if you're gonna leave something out...
I guess Sundays are nice, and some of the "best" is saved for Sunday. But I have different reasons for this sentiment than KFC (the junk food formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken).
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Ash Wednesday and Lent: A Reality Check
Happy Lent! I hope your Tuesday was as "Phat" as mine! Those West Market Street UMC sausages were well done, just like I like 'em.
Upon us again is Ash Wednesday, a perfect occasion to call on folks to take stock of repentance. Of course, this is a concept in Christianity that requires humility and sobriety, so it may be out of fashion. Today we are used to regret and guilt, shame and anger & etc. I wonder sometimes if we can still repent.
Even worse, can a whole group of people, like a church, repent? Can they set aside the hubris and odd politics that "disables" many of them? Can they put aside their most preciously held beliefs and preconceived ideas and truly take stock? None of this is easy, but it is worth it.
Though difficult, I think Ash Wednesday, and Lent, should be at least an annual "reality check" for a congregation. Are we for real? Or are we Memorex? Or are we phonograph? Or telegraph? Or smoke signal?
Some good questions a thoughtful congregation (no matter how large or small) may ask are:
1- Are we reaching anyone with the good news, and how are we or why aren't we?
2- Are we holding our elected leaders, clergy, and church staff members accountable for the duties for which they've signed up? How do we start doing this or do this better?
3- Are we accountable to those who support the church financially? Or do we just spend the tithe and expect more?
4- What steps do we take to present ourselves to God as a spiritual church? Are we really sanctified?
5- In what ways have we lifted other priorities above unity in Christ? Are we only protecting those with visibly sensitive feelings? Or are we finishing the race?
At MSBC, we have to be realistic about what is being talked about for this spring. A lot of effort is going to be needed from everyone as we fulfill the vision for Magnolia Street Baptist Church. LUBIS is our acronym that helps us think of Loving God, Understanding Jesus, Belonging, Integrity, and Service. But if it is just an acronym, and just memory, then it is like "clanging brass, noisy crashing cymbal." I hope our crashing symbol is not the cross! "May God forbid!"
If we would put actions to most of our words, then we will have something even more attractive and transcendentally helpful to the community as 2011 progresses!
Ash Wednesday and Lent: a reality check? Let me know.
Happy b/c of Jesus,
Pastor James
Upon us again is Ash Wednesday, a perfect occasion to call on folks to take stock of repentance. Of course, this is a concept in Christianity that requires humility and sobriety, so it may be out of fashion. Today we are used to regret and guilt, shame and anger & etc. I wonder sometimes if we can still repent.
Even worse, can a whole group of people, like a church, repent? Can they set aside the hubris and odd politics that "disables" many of them? Can they put aside their most preciously held beliefs and preconceived ideas and truly take stock? None of this is easy, but it is worth it.
Though difficult, I think Ash Wednesday, and Lent, should be at least an annual "reality check" for a congregation. Are we for real? Or are we Memorex? Or are we phonograph? Or telegraph? Or smoke signal?
Some good questions a thoughtful congregation (no matter how large or small) may ask are:
1- Are we reaching anyone with the good news, and how are we or why aren't we?
2- Are we holding our elected leaders, clergy, and church staff members accountable for the duties for which they've signed up? How do we start doing this or do this better?
3- Are we accountable to those who support the church financially? Or do we just spend the tithe and expect more?
4- What steps do we take to present ourselves to God as a spiritual church? Are we really sanctified?
5- In what ways have we lifted other priorities above unity in Christ? Are we only protecting those with visibly sensitive feelings? Or are we finishing the race?
At MSBC, we have to be realistic about what is being talked about for this spring. A lot of effort is going to be needed from everyone as we fulfill the vision for Magnolia Street Baptist Church. LUBIS is our acronym that helps us think of Loving God, Understanding Jesus, Belonging, Integrity, and Service. But if it is just an acronym, and just memory, then it is like "clanging brass, noisy crashing cymbal." I hope our crashing symbol is not the cross! "May God forbid!"
If we would put actions to most of our words, then we will have something even more attractive and transcendentally helpful to the community as 2011 progresses!
Ash Wednesday and Lent: a reality check? Let me know.
Happy b/c of Jesus,
Pastor James
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Heaven is for Real, but is this story?
Lots of people are talking about the book Heaven is for Real, because it another "amazing and true account" of a visit to heaven by someone who has been there and back. Such books are always popular among people who long for more information specifically about the Christian Hope, and those who care about the afterlife in general. Notice this covers quite a few people (a huge audience, or do I mean "market")!
I watched the video from Fox News for "Heaven is for Real" http://video.foxnews.com/v/4419243/heaven-is-for-real. I did not read the book and I never will. I want to be blunt about this: I don't believe the story (and I don't believe stories like this). This one in particular is too contrived, predictable, and rehearsed. Daddy jumps in way too much. In fact, Daddy is in charge. The entire interview lacks credibility, and really makes me kind of weak. I feel almost as if I'm being insulted.
Furthermore, doesn't sound like Revelation 4, but instead comes across as an amazingly human-focused fairy tale designed for comfort. The goal is reassurance. I'm not listening to it, and I recommend others don't either.
But what about little Colton's sister he never knew about? Let me be polite and say there are other explanations that are much more likely. Do you think that things that are vague are sometimes filled in with details to make them sound better?
In summary, always, be extremely skeptical of outlandish religious claims or interpretations. Always think critically for a more plausible option. Do not miss the forest for the trees.
Just because you identify yourself as a Christian, or a believer in God or a better afterlife, are not obliged to accept automatically what is presented to you. I don't.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Paradise and Church Beliefs
In the Revelation Bible Study on Sunday nights, we've had the subject of the afterlife come up. (Go figure.) One church member has said in effect that they believe people don't go to heaven when they die, they go to Paradise. Paradise is a "holding place." When the "great white throne judgment" occurs, then they can go to heaven, but only after they are judged at the end of time along with everyone else. Proof for this is Jesus' language to the penitent thief on the cross, "today you will be with me in paradise."
I might add also 2 Corinthians 12:4, where Paul claims to "know a person" who was "caught up into paradise."
People think of paradise, then, as a place between life and death, where the souls of the saved go as they await the resurrection and final judgments- then they go into heaven. Paradise does not equal heaven.
On Jesus' statement to the penitent thief, what if Jesus was actually saying, "Today (right now) I tell you that you will be with me in paradise (sometime in the future)." After all, this would fit the idea expressed in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus "descended to hell." No mention of a detour to paradise.
The importance of this division between heaven and paradise was exaggerated by Ireneus and Origin, two dead guys from a long time ago. Actually, they are in paradise, still arguing with someone I'm sure.
This idea just sounds too much like limbo to me. Let's start telling people, "when you die you go to limbo." Then we might add, "and its a happy place, so you play bingo." Limbo bingo.
In thinking about the afterlife, one important passage in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 5. I like it because it is comprehensive and doesn't get lost in the speculative details we Americans (and clergy) just love. Paul seems like he is expressing faith in the future with God rather than giving a class on dogmatics. To me, this passage comes close to the normal wish we hear at times of death: "She is in a better place." This is where we get the idea, "absent from the body, present with the Lord." Personally, I wouldn't care if Jesus were in paradise, heaven, or Mebane if I were with him. The important thing is being in the presence of the Lord.
I tend to think that references to heaven, paradise, hell, Sheol, etc. are no real basis for constructing elaborate cosmologies of afterlife geography. But some folks do have fun drawing maps though, like F. J. Dake. More things to be correct about, more things for others to be wrong about.
Even the Baptist Faith and Message isn't overly specific, and doesn't lay claims to some confirmed inerrant grand scenario. Maybe I won't either.
I might add also 2 Corinthians 12:4, where Paul claims to "know a person" who was "caught up into paradise."
People think of paradise, then, as a place between life and death, where the souls of the saved go as they await the resurrection and final judgments- then they go into heaven. Paradise does not equal heaven.
On Jesus' statement to the penitent thief, what if Jesus was actually saying, "Today (right now) I tell you that you will be with me in paradise (sometime in the future)." After all, this would fit the idea expressed in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus "descended to hell." No mention of a detour to paradise.
The importance of this division between heaven and paradise was exaggerated by Ireneus and Origin, two dead guys from a long time ago. Actually, they are in paradise, still arguing with someone I'm sure.
This idea just sounds too much like limbo to me. Let's start telling people, "when you die you go to limbo." Then we might add, "and its a happy place, so you play bingo." Limbo bingo.
In thinking about the afterlife, one important passage in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 5. I like it because it is comprehensive and doesn't get lost in the speculative details we Americans (and clergy) just love. Paul seems like he is expressing faith in the future with God rather than giving a class on dogmatics. To me, this passage comes close to the normal wish we hear at times of death: "She is in a better place." This is where we get the idea, "absent from the body, present with the Lord." Personally, I wouldn't care if Jesus were in paradise, heaven, or Mebane if I were with him. The important thing is being in the presence of the Lord.
I tend to think that references to heaven, paradise, hell, Sheol, etc. are no real basis for constructing elaborate cosmologies of afterlife geography. But some folks do have fun drawing maps though, like F. J. Dake. More things to be correct about, more things for others to be wrong about.
Even the Baptist Faith and Message isn't overly specific, and doesn't lay claims to some confirmed inerrant grand scenario. Maybe I won't either.
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