Thursday, February 27, 2014

A Personal Account

  . . . but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 

 - 2 Peter

If the Gospel is all a big hoax, then these words by Simon Peter count as among the most foolish in world history.

He invests a little time into affirming, quite confidently, that it all is true, because he saw it with his own eyes, and heard it with his own ears. He was a witness, if you will, of the very coming of Christ (the Second Coming), by being a bystander at Christ's Transfiguration, and one that walked with the resurrected, eternal Christ.

These words were written almost contemporaneously with the life time of Christ. Peter penned them during the first generation after Christ's ascension. Even the skeptic must wonder, "What did Peter hear and see, after all?" And what made this different from the thousands of similar legends and myths told throughout history, of various and sundry holy men (some of whom even claimed to come back from the dead?)

I think that the difference is that this account sticks. And it is attended by countless testimonials throughout history, of the work of the Holy Spirit: healings, lives changed, the witness of Christ ultimately filling the entire earth.

It is a movement that is distinctly not racial, or cultural. It is for all nations. That was the point even before Christ came. It is a connecting point of all those other cultures; it even connects religious traditions across the board (another topic).

Peter boldly asserted that everything that was written about Christ, is true. And if you have never believed your friends, or anything else ever written or said about Jesus, maybe you will believe the words of this ordinary Galilean fisherman.




Tuesday, February 25, 2014

War, and Laughter, and Bill Maher

He whose throne is in heaven is laughing; the Lord has them in derision.

 - Psalm 2

The context is people, and nations, that try to rebel against The Lord. He watches, and laughs at their designs to make war, and to become "free" from Him.

War is a human thing. It's the most violent form of tantrum-throwing. To God, it's even cute, to a point. How vain, how narcissistic, how utterly devoid of grace, love, and even maturity, as a race. All bad things come from self-love. And self-love leads to war.

I have always been struck at this passage. At this point I hardly notice the others verses surrounding it. The idea that God sees our war-making, and laughs, shows what He thinks about all of our endeavors.

He has instructed us to care for widows. We make war.

We are to protect and support orphans. We make war.

We should welcome the alien. We make war.

We should live in purity. We make war.

War sells newspapers. It dominates our history books. It distracts us from the more important things.

And it's comical. 

I am reading about Bill Maher this morning. The poor guy was let down by religion once, and his resentment of that has dominated his life. He seems in search of a Christianity that actually does what it's supposed to do. If we did, perhaps Bill Maher would find a less offensive line of work. 

Monday, February 24, 2014

Wait. And Wait. And Wait.

The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there . . . "

- Exodus 24

The life of Christian faith is primarily one of waiting. When you consider that the Bible covers some 6,000 years, and all we have are these 66 very small books contained within it, you realize that an awful lot of the narrative has been left out. We know that Abraham had to wait decades, as did Moses, and others, for God to move.

Now place it all in the context of God making promises to His people. If we expected Him to follow through on His promises, instantly, then we would be constantly disappointed, and even begin to doubt whether we can trust Him at all!

But it's all about waiting.

A friend of mine had his faith shattered when he read ancient texts and concluded that the first generation church had every realistic expectation that Christ would return in their lifetime . . . that none of them would die before He came back to establish His kingdom on the earth.

But my friend is missing the point. From beginning to end, Scripture is one big waiting game. God speaks. He promises, and then we wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And sometimes the waiting feels like a joke God is playing on us.

But if you can't wait, then you can't have a faith that gets stronger.

Moses was instructed to go on top of the mountain, and wait. He waited seven days before God took the next step. 

And even now there might be people reading this, that can't even wait a few weeks for warmer weather to return in this severely cold season . . .

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Start With the Foundation

...like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it.

 - 1 Corinthians 3

We're such children.

We can't possibly do everything we want to in life. (I'm assuming that your most important aspiration is to serve others). Even if God has given you a clear objective - you are not going to be able to do it all, yourself.

How much progress is never made, because we refuse to share our vision? We hesitate, because we're afraid that if we tell the details of our plans, someone else will do it, and take credit for it. 

Focus on one piece of the entire project. Take the part that you do well, and cultivate others that can help you. Get them on board, show them the goal, then let go, and let them do what they do well!

I have been working now, for fourteen years, on a life mission. If you go back to the seeds of the idea, if actually goes all the way back to about 1975, when my Uncle Joe and Aunt Claire came to visit, and they showed me their genealogy work.

Here's the goal: to create networks that are connected by family - but so extended of a family as to eliminate any trouble with nepotism. I think you go with the Fourth Cousins level. This network will take care of itself, while doing charitable deeds outside the family. Elders and youth will be cared for, protected, and supported. It is possible to live as though John D. Rockefeller were your great-great-great grandfather, if everyone pools their resources.

And so I have attempted to shepherd this project from inception to roll out, for sixteen distinct extended family groups, of which I am a member. But it's impossible. Years pass, and a few baby steps are made.

I need help. And so I will begin asking for the help. I will share the vision openly. Some will scoff. Someone might even take credit for it. But if it's done right, then even I will turn out all right in the end.

If you don't know what to do next, start working on the foundation.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Turn Away

Turn my eyes from watching what is worthless . . .

 - Psalm 119

Does it get any more relevant than this? I'll bet most people in the Western Hemisphere, have seen almost anything possible, if not anything, by the time they're about 12 years old.

Thanks to the Internet, and thanks even more, to adults that don't care, our youth are more than familiar with every variety of gore, and have also witnessed plenty of hardcore porn, by the time they are in their teens. How can they not?

The adults are another case entirely. We have made it so available to them, and hey, it's "adult" content, right? So let them watch whatever they want to! It's legal, and it's a free country!

Just the other day, I was tantalized by some still images of a movie featuring some young actresses that not long ago were "teen idols" playing wholesome kids on Cable TV. They "grow up", they "move on," but their fans remain, and these pre-teen fans too are tempted to see what their faves are up to now. And of course most parents will let them.

These still shots made me want to view some actual video excerpts from the movie, which featured violence, drug use, random (unprotected) sex, group sex, and plenty of "colorful metaphors."

So I watched, and found that I could not take my eyes away. Yes, I will admit that my primary response was one of disgust. But the images, once planted in your mind, stay there for a long time, maybe forever.

Is this what the "Tree of Knowledge" was all about? There are certain things about the Universe that we, as a race, are not able to process yet. It's that "knowledge without wisdom" paradigm.

The Internet has given us unlimited possibilities to do wonderful things; good things. But we haven't figured out how to tame it yet, and so many of society's ills can be traced back to that reality.

So we need to keep our eyes off of things better left alone. If we can refuse to see what's none of our business, and what's actually harmful for us, then our minds can be left uncluttered to focus on the good things.

And we probably do not have the willpower to turn away on our own. We need help.

So yes, turn my eyes away . . .

Monday, February 17, 2014

Family: The Need Is Right Before You

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin . . . 
 - Leviticus 19

People today love to bring up obscure and obviously ridiculous statements from the Old Testament, to taunt and mock Christians for not taking the entire Bible literally.

The argument can be made that God gave the people all the laws they wanted, and more . . . for people like laws, and in their natural state they love government. But God would not have had it that way. It was very clear that he did not wish for them to have a human king. But when they insisted, He gave in and gave them a monarchy; and they learned that having is not so desirable, after all, as wanting.

Leviticus is, admittedly, full of laws and ordinances that are impossible to follow, and in modern times, unrealistic and even harmful.

But the universal will, the permanent, will of God is very clear from Genesis to Revelation. He wants us loving one another, and He wants families caring for each other.

Out of all the good stuff in Leviticus 19, I chose this one about loving family.

In my work connecting families together, I am often struck by the response, "I don't know those people, and I don't care about them," when referring to someone as close as a first cousin. This is cold, heartless, and against God's will. God loves families. He set up His plan for the ages, through a family. Families that remain close, down through the generations, become like nations. In same cases, they are nations.

I leave this for the reader to consider. Learn about your family, and love them.

As you research them, you will find poor people, lazy people, criminals, dead-beats, cheaters, liars, drunks, drug addicts, multiple divorces and marriages. You'll find lonely children of single parents, aged shut-ins, some with severe disabilities, people whose minor children died from cancer. You will find other tragedies, coming from auto accidents, house fires, and even murder. You will find victims of crime. Unemployed people, talented people, rich people, famous people. But they connect to you through people that you knew and loved: your grandparents, who were first cousins to their grandparents, and played together as children.

Who to serve? Who to love? Who to help? Who to make no longer lonely? Who to give hope to? It's obvious when it's your own kids, or your parents or siblings. Start learning about your extended family and you'll find someone with whom you have a wonderful, even mystical bond, that needs your help, or your ear, or your time, now.


Friday, February 14, 2014

Who's the Fool?

But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, `You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire. 

 - Matthew 5

This one has always gotten to me. I can remember reading it for the first time, when I was about 11 years old, and thinking . . . "there's no way I am saved."

To me the big question is "Who is my brother or sister? Blood relatives? Members of the church? All humans?" I think the accurate, and safest, response is the third choice. 

On Facebook, I am always urging people not to insult others. What a vague concept. What is an insult, anyway? If I state facts accurately, and another person feels insulted by it, does that count? 

The first sentence sets it up, by developing the concept of anger. So that's it: if anger is what is driving you, chances are you are feeling, and saying, sinful things. You must deal with the anger first.

And then the final sentence clarifies it: Don't say "You fool." So that's what an insult is - name-calling, or dehumanizing of another. A statement of the facts is okay, and if it makes the other person angry, then that's their problem. And you don't get a pass by saying "It's a fact that he's a fool."

We have a lot of work to do . . . 

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Not Even Close

Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?

 - 1 Corinthians 3

So basically, the world (let alone the Church) is still not ready for the enriching meat of the Gospel. We still cannot handle the highest expression of God's plan, and Word, for us. We have never been ready.

Paul says that our jealousies and quarrels are what prevent us from being ready to hear the fullest measure of God's word. Jealousy, and quarreling, are present everywhere; especially in the Church.

When a pastor stands up in a pulpit, he is defending the ground of an exclusive system that by definition divides God's people, one from the other. He is advancing ideals that will hopefully keep his church in line with what the other churches are doing.

Any Christian active in a denominational church, is providing tacit aid and comfort to the denominational system, which itself means "divided," or, "not unified." People want to go to a church that is growing, and that has the outward trappings of growth: a full parking lot, a modern facility, parsonage, active youth group, large gifts to missions.

And we are always aware of how we are doing vis-a-vis the other churches in town.

I do not want to downplay the great sacrifices made by believers throughout the world, or the amazing, miraculous acts of kindness and charity done, usually by the large churches and denominations. It is not to say that we are wrong in some major way, or that we have lost our way.

I simply want to note, that we are not fully there yet, not by a long shot. The divided Church is a vulnerable Church. We have indeed been divided, while not conquered, by our foes. Not conquered, but weakened nevertheless. 

When we learn to fully love, when we can stand truly unified, completely motivated only to serve: to help widows, orphans, and aliens - - - and when we can do all of this in moral purity; then there is no telling what God has in store for us, when it comes to conveying His full love and Word towards us. 

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Road to Happiness

Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!

 - Psalm 119

Christ began his ministry with The Beatitudes, a listing of attitudes, beliefs, behaviors and practices, that will lead to happiness.

Happiness is what we all crave, right?

Here we have a recommendation from the writer of the Psalms (David, Ezra, or Daniel). It gives us the way to happiness; or at least, part of the way. If we can become blameless, we will be happy.

How to be blameless? Well, for starters, walk in the law of the Lord.

  • Be honest
  • Be charitable
  • Assist widows
  • Care for orphans
  • Be kind to aliens
  • Live in purity (sorry, world, this word always refers to sexual purity)
  • Be smart financially
  • Observe the Ten Commandments
We can also point to an uncountable, and growing, total of people that have done all of this, and more, and can affirm that, yes, they are happy.

We can also find a multiple of that same count, of people that never did the above, or attempted to, unsuccessfully, that cannot claim to be "happy."

I know that I can verify that the ways of the Lord lead to happiness. Period. 

But I love that the whole point of the Gospel, of God's plan going back to the Old Testament, is that He wants us happy. And He has shown us how to do it.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Why Does A Loving Humanity Permit Evil To Happen?

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.

 - Deuteronomy 30

The same people that say "How can a loving God . . . ", would be the first to recoil in contempt and horror if the Lord ever came into our midst and said "Okay, have it your way. From now on you will not have free will. I will force everyone to act in a loving way to each other. You will involuntarily now live in purity. You will be compelled to share your wealth with those less fortunate. No drinking. No parties. No illicit sex. But you will all earn a living wage for the work that you do. But I will force you to work very hard. But you won't know you're working hard, because I will remove the strand of DNA that makes you resentful creatures. You will smile all the time, acquiesce all the time, serve all the time. Everybody will be fed. No one will get sick. There will be no wars. But there will also be no $500,000 homes that any of you live in, for that would be unfair. You will listen to the music that I make you listen to. Yet you won't care, for you will be content all the time. Everyone goes to church faithfully, but not just once a week: daily. Your Sabbath day will be just that - a day of rest. I will make you stay at home and rest. No football, no TV, no picnics, no yard work. There! Is that better?"

Yet this is exactly what happened. The people became quite demanding under Moses, complaining about this or that directive from the Lord. He said He would be their king, but they begged him for a king like the neighboring countries. So He gave them one. They must have started whining like modern people, about why the loving God permits evil to happen. They wanted to be controlled. They wanted a King! So God gave them all the laws and regulations, and commandments that they could handle, and more.

Just like today. We want a government to do everything for us. We want it to do what a "Loving God" would do: that is - make everybody else act the way I think they should.

Thank God, He gave us a choice. We will want to live. We would walk the Earth ten times if it meant we would live forever. But when it comes to the True God, we won't even take the simple step of accepting Him and letting Him love us. 

This is the choice - it isn't up to the "loving God" to make us treat each other with love and kindness. He made us capable of making that decision and acting on it. He made us capable of learning to control our passions so that we could in fact treat others with selflessness and charity. 

So it isn't, "Why would a loving God permit . . . ". Rather, it's, "Why aren't you doing anything to help?"

Friday, February 7, 2014

Do The Good

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

 - Matthew 5

In some ways, I "cut my eye teeth", in my Christian walk, in the St. James Episcopal Church in Dexter, Michigan. This verse, the words of Jesus, was read every week as part of the sermon. 

Where there is darkness, we are desperate for light. We need it to keep from going crazy. And in a world that is anything but sane, it is a small step to attribute it to us being in darkness. 

If the world is dark, and it is, and you hold the light of Christ in your hands . . . then why do you not hold it up so that it produces the most light, for the most people?

Christians are under attack these days, perhaps more than at any other time in my life, if not in modern history. Our response has been to argue back, to pass laws, to get involved in political scraps. We go on TV and appear angry and even hateful. Meanwhile, our marriages fail, we mistreat employees, we spend more money on ourselves, for stuff we do not need. We present a face to the world, of a culture that is hedonistic and narcissistic.

Shine the light of Christ to the world of darkness. Jesus says that this is something that is seen by others. The light shines through our deeds of love and service. And the more we share, the more we love, the more we give, the more we sacrifice, the louder is our testimony and more compelling our arguments. Then, people have nothing else to do but honor God who inspired us to such good works.

Drop the arguments. Do the good.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Great Oratory or The Spirit of God?

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.

 - 1 Corinthians 2

Of course, when a person writes a blog, he hopes to stir the reader through elegant and persuasive writing. 

I scored in the 99th percentile of the GRE Analytical writing exam, a few years ago. So I expect my writing to be pretty good. Every now and then, someone affirms that, which motivates me to keep improving my writing.

It's the same with our preachers. We want them, first, to be good public speakers. But I've often wondered if we've confused the ability to impress audiences through oratory, with the gift of preaching? 

A good rock band can mesmerize masses of people. Great orators in history were able to sway events, regardless of how virtuous, or wise, they were. Americans traditionally are taught to hold in suspicion anyone that can sway the population through their platform eloquence.

The Apostle Paul, here, in the epistle that is famous for stressing love above all other virtues, downplays the importance of eloquence. He leaned on the Spirit of God to get the message out.

On Facebook, I am involved in some on-going discussions with doubters that seem ensnared with their need to understand every dot and tittle of the Gospel message. They can point out errors, inconsistencies, and logical fallacies. They have allowed one or two unanswered questions to draw down an entire simple belief in the Cross.

Paul will have none of that. In fact, he skips the idea of logically working out the Gospel plan, entirely. 

We need to get away from silver-tongued oratory, and just let the Spirit of God build His Kingdom. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Giving Freely

They have given freely to the poor, and their righteousness stands fast for ever; they will hold up their head with honor.

- Psalm 112

This passage, which praises those that fear the Lord, goes into some detail about the specifics of how Christians actually behave. What are their acts? What are these good deeds that yield such blessings upon them and their families?

Well, one stands out. God narrows down his mission for us, into just a few items:

  • Care for widows
  • Protect and provide for orphans
  • Welcome aliens
  • Live morally and in purity
This particular verse says that the God-fearing person gives "freely to the poor."

Wow. "Giving freely" doesn't even allude much, to having a well-disciplined budget. 

I have to share something that popped into my mind recently. It's just a little phrase that entered into my thinking, and it has to do with this verse. But it goes like this, and if anybody is actually reading this it may have the same effect as "smoking them out."

People that visit Disney World (or the equivalent) more than once a decade are not helping the poor enough.

So there it is. I mean, where's your faith? Don't you believe that the Kingdom of God, in eternity, is way more enjoyable, way more important, than expensive vacations in this life?

Most of the world is poor. Most people in our own communities may never get to Disney World. But when we go, we make sure everyone knows it.

If we give freely to the poor, it should limit, somewhat, the kinds of nice things we can do for ourselves.

The person that gives, freely, is the same person that can hold his or her head up high, with honor.



Tuesday, February 4, 2014

O Foolish Conservatives

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? . . . Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt . . . .

 - Isaiah 58

Once the narrative switches from the presentation of Christ in the Temple, to His early adulthood, it doesn't take long for Scripture to re-establish the inescapable themes of "Feed the hungry, help the widows and orphans, welcome the aliens, stay morally pure.

If only the followers of Christ actually did this. Oh I know - they give millions of dollars to the poor worldwide. We set up schools and shelters. We donate to hospitals, and to food banks. We establish after school programs for troubled teens.

But we always pay someone else to do it.

But our public face is that of dividers. We are always pointing the finger at "the other."

The Isaiah passage talks about our fasting, or our religious service. We undergo these sacrifices, but all it does is draw attention to ourselves and our own "holiness." God seems to be saying that really, we fast so that some of our increase, our food, our wealth, can go to those that really need it. And God always places the truly helpless in that list of the needy. If we really helped children, we would ensure the next generation of faith. If we truly helped the aged, we would be securing our own future well-being. If we assisted the alien, any accusation of us as "haters" would not stick.

And if we ourselves truly lived moral lives, the rest of the world could see the whole point of it.

And the ultimate slam (in my view): Our choices make us so ashamed that we hide, even, from our own families. (That's another topic. People that avoid connection to family never do so for good reasons.)

The Religious Right. The Conservative. They have it within their power to end the debate and increase the Kingdom. But they keep shooting themselves in their own feet!