If I was ever asked my biggest problem with God, or confusion rather, I would say that I am often frustrated with the earnest followers I know seeking God from all different versions of religion. How can this be? Today is not the day I offer a view of predestination, baptism or even the necessary works to reach Heaven. I'm referring to major differences- such as Mormons, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims etc. I know people that earnestly seek God, much more so than I do to be honest. Yet, when I listen to them and all of their wise council, they often have things to say that cannot be totally right. Somewhere in their words the modified phrase "I've been praying and I really feel that God is telling me" or "This is God's will, I'm supposed to do this" etc. etc. You HAVE to have heard it. I say it all the time. [SIDENOTE: Do we use God as an excuse to justify our actions so that others support us- Mainly because we so desperately need others' approval to make ourselves feel better?] How can we not all hear the same Guide, the same right and wrong? How can someone earnestly seeking, someone open to hearing God's truth, not hear it?
I encountered some men from the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints the other day (Mormons). I really enjoy talking to people from all religions and so of course I invited them in. These questions I'm asking pain me once again because of these guys. They talked about how much they pray, how committed they must be in order to be a missionary, and the sacrifices they give for the church. It also makes me think about Muslims that pray, what is it, 5 times a day? Or what about the Christian who seeks God on a matter and feels she's been given a word that from a bystanders position could NOT be God's command. Ok, I'm trying to purposely exclude the non-genuine imposters that invade religion and claim to know God but do not humbly seek Him. I'm refering to the humble spirits who I genuinely believe are found in the pages of the Book of Life. I dare not widen the gates of Heaven by saying that we're ALL right in our current strivings and paths... so where's the hitch? Are we not earnestly seeking, are we just so human and tainted that we can't come to God genuinely and our world is so tangled in evil that God doesn't intervene and give us religious direction as much as He did Paul or Moses? Why is there no indication in our world as to the correct way, the way that true Christians follow?
"For who among false prophets has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear His word, or who has paid attention to His word and listened? Behold, the storm of the Lord!... But if they had stood in My council, then they would have proclaimed My words to My people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds." (Jeremiah 23:18-19a, 22).
So does this still hold? Does God promise that if we stand in His council we will hear truth? Ok yes to that question.. but let me ask a better: How do we genuinely stand in His council so that we can make good on this promise to hear truth? I consider myself to be decent at knowing the truly genuine seekers but are they? It's strange to think if so many very logical and intelligent people are so far off from God's ways then just how far off am I? Can I rely on this gut feeling I have to tell me right and wrong as 99% of us do? Here's the thing, my heart's inherantly evil, so no, I cannot rely on my emotions to tell me. Yes, the Spirit's voice can be there, but is that the voice you hear?
"Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord." (vs 23-24). I sometimes wish the "storm of the Lord" (v19) existed as publicly as it did then- it'd be scarier, but I'd have an answer- quick. It just drives me crazy recently to try to wrap my mind around such fantastic people that I know, people that seek God and read the Bible, people that try to be like Christ and yet have views that to me are so different from not only others' but also from the Bible. I know we're fallen, but how can this be?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Huck Finn
I just finished reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- great book actually. It's one of Mark Twain's crowning achievements how he is able to get away with so many outrageous happenings on account of it being Huck who is the narrator and so therefore they are "his" beliefs coming through in the tale. Anyway, I like the book because I love getting inside Huck's head and seeing how he sees things and feels about them. He isn't very smart or pure and yet seems to outsmart people and come around to do the right thing somehow.
My point: My favorite line of the adventure is this- "It's the little things that smoothes people's roads the most". He doesn't speak the best english, he doesn't always think before he does things and he messes up A LOT, but he realizes that a kindness goes a long way and he chooses to do things that will smooth the road of life for others. So there's your thought for the day!
My point: My favorite line of the adventure is this- "It's the little things that smoothes people's roads the most". He doesn't speak the best english, he doesn't always think before he does things and he messes up A LOT, but he realizes that a kindness goes a long way and he chooses to do things that will smooth the road of life for others. So there's your thought for the day!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tribeless
I read part of a book today that's called The Scalpel and the Silver Bear. The book is about the Navajo people and one such girl's journey between the Navajo and American worlds. She herself was half and half yet in her heart she felt completely Navajo. The story follows her dividedness to college when she spoke of how outcast and ostracized she felt for her native roots. This is what she had to say about her college experience:
"Some years later, reflecting back on my college experiences, I realized something else. Much of the outside, non-Indian world is tribeless, full of wandering singular souls, seeking connection through societies, clubs, and other groups. White people know what it is to be a family, but to be a tribe is something of an altogether different sort. It provides a feeling of inclusion in something larger, of having a set place in the universe where one always belongs. It provides connectedness and a blueprint for how to live. At Darmouth the fraternities and sororities seemed to be attempts to claim or create tribes. Their activities often seemed to be unconscious re-creations of rituals and initiation ceremonies. But the fraternities emphasized exclusion as much as inclusion...I began to honor and cherish my tribal membership, and in the years that followed I came to understand that such membership is central to mental health, to spiritual health, to physical health. A tribe is a community of people connected by blood or heart, by geography and tradition, who help one another and share a belief system. Community and tribe not only reduce the alienation people feel but in doing so stave off illness. In a sense they are a form of preventative medicine. Most Americans have lost their tribal identities."
I think that's one of the big problems in our world. We lost our community, our central beliefs, our inclusion of others. a correctedness for the blueprint on how to live. I think most everyone feels lost in some regard at different points in life and the way to find ourselves is to build life together. The road less traveled is certainly the right path, but that doesn't mean it has to be traveled alone.
"Some years later, reflecting back on my college experiences, I realized something else. Much of the outside, non-Indian world is tribeless, full of wandering singular souls, seeking connection through societies, clubs, and other groups. White people know what it is to be a family, but to be a tribe is something of an altogether different sort. It provides a feeling of inclusion in something larger, of having a set place in the universe where one always belongs. It provides connectedness and a blueprint for how to live. At Darmouth the fraternities and sororities seemed to be attempts to claim or create tribes. Their activities often seemed to be unconscious re-creations of rituals and initiation ceremonies. But the fraternities emphasized exclusion as much as inclusion...I began to honor and cherish my tribal membership, and in the years that followed I came to understand that such membership is central to mental health, to spiritual health, to physical health. A tribe is a community of people connected by blood or heart, by geography and tradition, who help one another and share a belief system. Community and tribe not only reduce the alienation people feel but in doing so stave off illness. In a sense they are a form of preventative medicine. Most Americans have lost their tribal identities."
I think that's one of the big problems in our world. We lost our community, our central beliefs, our inclusion of others. a correctedness for the blueprint on how to live. I think most everyone feels lost in some regard at different points in life and the way to find ourselves is to build life together. The road less traveled is certainly the right path, but that doesn't mean it has to be traveled alone.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Fanaticism
I read a newspaper article last week about the Gaza Strip that Israel currently controls. Iran, Al Qaeda and a few other big names would like it back to say the least, or free usage of it at the very least "or else" they say. Al Qaeda issued a plea to "all Muslims everywhere" to do whatever is necessary by whatever means necessary to get access and control of it back. They said do it for your beliefs and for your people. Now I have been prown in this whole mess to think that the fanatical Muslims doing all of the suicide bombings were cruel and crazy people that were brainwashed and horrible. But you know I read something in psalms just now that has turned around my thinking somewhat. "For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the humble with salvation. Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgement written! This is honor for all His godly ones. Praise the Lord!" Psalm 149:4-9.
It's really easy to confuse right and wrong. I read these passages and had a large amount of cognitive dissonance because my Christian world has always taught me that I am to act kindly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. My Christian world has taught me to let God be their judge and to let Him lead me. And my Christian world is right. My point is not what these verses were actually written for and what they mean for us; my point is that it's really easy to confuse what we think what we read means and what our influences are telling us. It's also easy to confuse what's right with what people or your mind is telling you.
My other point it this: I find myself thinking amidst all of these tragic happenings and loses we have seen from Muslim fanatics and I can't help but slightly long for the passion they have. Not all of them obviously, but I watched a documentary the other day on a family of a suicide bomber and they were talking about how proud they were of him and what a great honor it was. He said the same thing and then you see him get into his car and drive away to complete his mission. What if Christians were that convicted and that pursuant of the prize? What if truth was so heavily fought for that people would settle for no less? What the suicide bombers do is certainly not the answer, but what if this world had the passion and conviction that they have to complete the task assigned to them? I believe as Christians we are on this earth with a mission: a mission to let this world know about Jesus, whether it's being Jesus or speaking Jesus. What if we didn't settle for any less from ourselves or those around us that have the same mission?
It's really easy to confuse right and wrong. I read these passages and had a large amount of cognitive dissonance because my Christian world has always taught me that I am to act kindly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. My Christian world has taught me to let God be their judge and to let Him lead me. And my Christian world is right. My point is not what these verses were actually written for and what they mean for us; my point is that it's really easy to confuse what we think what we read means and what our influences are telling us. It's also easy to confuse what's right with what people or your mind is telling you.
My other point it this: I find myself thinking amidst all of these tragic happenings and loses we have seen from Muslim fanatics and I can't help but slightly long for the passion they have. Not all of them obviously, but I watched a documentary the other day on a family of a suicide bomber and they were talking about how proud they were of him and what a great honor it was. He said the same thing and then you see him get into his car and drive away to complete his mission. What if Christians were that convicted and that pursuant of the prize? What if truth was so heavily fought for that people would settle for no less? What the suicide bombers do is certainly not the answer, but what if this world had the passion and conviction that they have to complete the task assigned to them? I believe as Christians we are on this earth with a mission: a mission to let this world know about Jesus, whether it's being Jesus or speaking Jesus. What if we didn't settle for any less from ourselves or those around us that have the same mission?
Sunday, June 01, 2008
the true self
Have you ever really admitted to God who you really were? Right then and there I bet you met Jesus- and experienced hope in a way you had never before imagined. God doesn't really start working in our lives until we trust Him with who we really are. That is perhaps the first taste of the true faced life. When we first become believers it's stunning. Incredible. It paints our world in colors we hardly knew existed. But, something happened to many of us in the intervening years. We lost confidence that His delight of us and new life in us would be a strong enough impetus for a growth that would glorify God and fix our junk. So, we gradually bought the slick sales pitch that told us we would need to find something more, something others seemed to have that we could never quite get our hands around. Something magical and mystical that we would receive if we tried hard enough and proved good enough, often enough. And so we began learning to prop things up. We went back to trying to impress God and others-- back to posturing, positioning, manipulating, trying to appear better than who we are. Our two-faced life has severely stunted our growth. And broken our hearts. And left us gasping. Although we may have accumulated titles, status, and accomplishments, we personally remain wounded and immature--long on "success", but short on dreams. We are jealous of the people who live in the true-faced life, but our loss of hope has forced us into desperately trying to discover safety from behind our masks. In a very real sense, we are all performers. Because of sin, we've lost confidence that we will always please our audience, and so we put on a mask. As an unintended result, no one, not even the people we love, ever get to see our true face. Once we put on a mask, we have a hard time taking it off.
We can never resolve our sin by working on it. Nor can our striving to sin less keep us from future sins. Oh, we may change behaviors for a while, but as we try to hide the sins we can't control, we are unwittingly inviting blame, shame, denial, fear and anger to become our constant companions. The key to our maturity and freedom lies in the dominant motive that governs our relationship with God. Pleasing God is actually a by-produce of trusting God. Pleasing is not a means to our personal godliness, it is the fruit of our godliness for it is the fruit of trust. We will never please God through our efforts to become godly. Rather, we will only please God-- and become godly--when we trust God. Not do, but be. Trust God with who you are and you will find a way to put down the mask.
-taken from TrueFaced by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and John Lynch
We can never resolve our sin by working on it. Nor can our striving to sin less keep us from future sins. Oh, we may change behaviors for a while, but as we try to hide the sins we can't control, we are unwittingly inviting blame, shame, denial, fear and anger to become our constant companions. The key to our maturity and freedom lies in the dominant motive that governs our relationship with God. Pleasing God is actually a by-produce of trusting God. Pleasing is not a means to our personal godliness, it is the fruit of our godliness for it is the fruit of trust. We will never please God through our efforts to become godly. Rather, we will only please God-- and become godly--when we trust God. Not do, but be. Trust God with who you are and you will find a way to put down the mask.
-taken from TrueFaced by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and John Lynch
Monday, May 26, 2008
Why do we stray?
I was reading the call of Jeremiah just now and its words jump off the page. What an honor it must have been to have the Creator of the universe say such powerful words spoken directly to you. But then I realized that if God said these things to Jeremiah then He's saying the same great things to you and I just in our own context of qualities He's equipped us with. "But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you" (Jeremiah 1:17-19). Such powerful words spoken to you and I. It says "Be ready for each day- make it count. Do what God says, stay true to the Bible. Don't be afraid of man because God is definitely greater" God's saying, "Hey, I'm making you solid, a person with great stability that can withstand ANYTHING. I'm making you someone trustworthy and refined. Someone prepared and fearless. Trust me." It's such a great promise that God makes here in the first chapter of Jeremiah.
The part that struck me just now and considering the promise we just talked about is this: "What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?...Has a nation changed its gods, even though there are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit (2:5,11). I realized that there in lies the problem: when we stray from God it's because we changed our god, we've exchanged our glory for something else. Our new god and glory could be wealth, getting what we want, temporary happiness in friends or being noticed, beauty, things, love, comfort or whatever else. We've changed our gods. It's not that God is far off, it's not even that something is wrong with our relationship with God; it's that something is wrong with our relationship with other things, other people that we are confusing to be our glory and our joy. If your life is unstable or unhappy- even if for a moment- make sure your priority, your God and your glory are set on Jesus. He's not going anywhere, only you are.
I see a lot of the people around me doing this and if you do too then here is Heaven's answer: "Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate" (2:12). Don't be ok with it, DON'T not saying anything. Don't get used to complacency, it's eating away at our culture. Don't be the one that feeds the virus. It's the small things in life that when let slide can hurt us worse than we know and before we realize it we've exchanged our glory and the people that love us have let us. Don't be ok with that.
The part that struck me just now and considering the promise we just talked about is this: "What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?...Has a nation changed its gods, even though there are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit (2:5,11). I realized that there in lies the problem: when we stray from God it's because we changed our god, we've exchanged our glory for something else. Our new god and glory could be wealth, getting what we want, temporary happiness in friends or being noticed, beauty, things, love, comfort or whatever else. We've changed our gods. It's not that God is far off, it's not even that something is wrong with our relationship with God; it's that something is wrong with our relationship with other things, other people that we are confusing to be our glory and our joy. If your life is unstable or unhappy- even if for a moment- make sure your priority, your God and your glory are set on Jesus. He's not going anywhere, only you are.
I see a lot of the people around me doing this and if you do too then here is Heaven's answer: "Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate" (2:12). Don't be ok with it, DON'T not saying anything. Don't get used to complacency, it's eating away at our culture. Don't be the one that feeds the virus. It's the small things in life that when let slide can hurt us worse than we know and before we realize it we've exchanged our glory and the people that love us have let us. Don't be ok with that.
Friday, May 02, 2008
What should matter
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever;
to Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever;
to Him who by understanding made the heavens, for His steadfast love endures forever.....
to Him who divided the Red Sea in two, for His steadfast love endures forever...
to Him who led His people through the wilderness, for His steadfast love endures forever...
It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever;
and rescued us from our foes, for His steadfast love endures forever;
He who gives food to all flesh, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136
Read the whole psalm at your next chance and let its words seep into you. Do you hear it? the repetitive nature of the psalm. When I read it yesterday morning I was originally irritated about having to repeat "for his steadfast love endures forever". I lost all context and relevance in the story line with saying that over and over. I couldn't concentrate. When I finished reading I decided that I would go back through and read only the first lines of each verse which is a story about the attributes of God, the great things He did, the trials Israel went through and how thoughout all of it God rescued them and was faithful. Ok, so I got about half way through reading the first lines when I realized that God wrote scripture perfectly. He planned it out, He made not only the books in perfect order but the chapters, verses and words. Each are there for a reason in that spot. I'm not meant to pick and choose. I'm meant to read it all. So because of this thought I started over at the beginning.
I read it aloud and focused on each word, regardless of repetition or not. I couldn't concentrate again on the story line and I realized something. His love endures forever took over the story. It took over the whole passage because it was in each verse. What if that line His love endures forever took over my life story line? I could no longer concentrate on each individual aspect of life- all my hurts, my desires, my frustrations, my likes and joys, my things that fire me up whether good or bad. I couldn't focus on any of that stuff because after every phrase, after every move, after every thought, after every action, after every glance came for His love endures forever. My story would blur, my focus would change, my attitude would be different and my eyes would be solely focused on Jesus because they would have to be. The only way I knew what the story was about in the psalm was by reading the lines without reading the key part. Without the key, without Gods love our story will be the focus and our lives and God's interaction will be the focus. But that shouldn't be. The focus is His love enduring forever. If I focus there, only that which is important will matter.
Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever;
to Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever;
to Him who by understanding made the heavens, for His steadfast love endures forever.....
to Him who divided the Red Sea in two, for His steadfast love endures forever...
to Him who led His people through the wilderness, for His steadfast love endures forever...
It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever;
and rescued us from our foes, for His steadfast love endures forever;
He who gives food to all flesh, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136
Read the whole psalm at your next chance and let its words seep into you. Do you hear it? the repetitive nature of the psalm. When I read it yesterday morning I was originally irritated about having to repeat "for his steadfast love endures forever". I lost all context and relevance in the story line with saying that over and over. I couldn't concentrate. When I finished reading I decided that I would go back through and read only the first lines of each verse which is a story about the attributes of God, the great things He did, the trials Israel went through and how thoughout all of it God rescued them and was faithful. Ok, so I got about half way through reading the first lines when I realized that God wrote scripture perfectly. He planned it out, He made not only the books in perfect order but the chapters, verses and words. Each are there for a reason in that spot. I'm not meant to pick and choose. I'm meant to read it all. So because of this thought I started over at the beginning.
I read it aloud and focused on each word, regardless of repetition or not. I couldn't concentrate again on the story line and I realized something. His love endures forever took over the story. It took over the whole passage because it was in each verse. What if that line His love endures forever took over my life story line? I could no longer concentrate on each individual aspect of life- all my hurts, my desires, my frustrations, my likes and joys, my things that fire me up whether good or bad. I couldn't focus on any of that stuff because after every phrase, after every move, after every thought, after every action, after every glance came for His love endures forever. My story would blur, my focus would change, my attitude would be different and my eyes would be solely focused on Jesus because they would have to be. The only way I knew what the story was about in the psalm was by reading the lines without reading the key part. Without the key, without Gods love our story will be the focus and our lives and God's interaction will be the focus. But that shouldn't be. The focus is His love enduring forever. If I focus there, only that which is important will matter.
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