Genesis 3:22-24 (English Standard Version)
“22Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" 23therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”
If you have walked in Christian circles for any length of time, no doubt you have heard about how Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Many of us know that God drove the man and woman from the garden. The part that I often had trouble with was this section.
After having eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God was concerned that Adam might have taken of the tree of life and have lived forever. It almost seemed mean that God wouldn’t allow the man and woman to eat of the tree of life.
For some time now, I’ve understood on an intellectual and theological level a few of the reasons why it would have been a bad thing for the man and woman to have eaten of the tree of life. It has only been the last while however that the reality has settled into my heart.
How do you feel about things like child poverty? How do you feel about things like sexual and emotional abuse? Do you like the bloodshed and starvation that you see in the world? What about human trafficking and the sex trade? Ever lose someone to drug abuse?
There are worse things than death. One of them is this –
A world forever cursed.
If Adam and Eve had eaten of the tree of life, that’s exactly what would have transpired. As horrible as the notion of dying might be, I believe that it is better to die once, than to live cursed for all eternity. (Not that I’m looking forward to that dark battle.)
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Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Why Bother?
We’ve Been Commanded
I suppose if you aren’t a follower of Jesus Christ, then this won’t apply to you. God doesn’t expect the children of the world to love each other with a selfless love. In fact, selfless love should not be in their nature. Those who belong to the world should lie to one another, take from one another, and cheat one another. They should talk behind each other’s back. They should have tribal factions and war with each other. They should think that they are better than one another and kill those who are opposed to them. The people of the world should, by their character, abuse the power they have obtained and lord it over the people who are subject to them. They should feel victimized and blame others for all of their life’s trials and troubles.
If however, you consider yourself to be a follower of Jesus Christ, this applies to you....
“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” John 15:12
These are some of the words that Jesus had for his disciples during His last supper with them. In a way, this might be a culmination of His work with them. Out of all of the things He has taught them, of all of the things He has shown them, this might just be the very core of what He was trying to convey. He wanted His people to love each other in the same way that He loved them.
Unfortunately, sometimes the church acts in every way, as if they are of the world. At times, her people bicker amongst themselves. At times, we have our own factions and power plays. From God’s perspective, I think there are very few things that disturb Him to that extent.
My wife and I have been blessed to have had 4 children. Our three youngest children just so happen to be boys. I don’t know if our experience with our 3 sons is typical, although I am led to believe that it is. I grew up with two sisters and no brothers, while my wife had only one sister. We never planned on having three sons, so we really had no idea of what to expect. There is this energy in our household, that neither my wife nor I endured in our own childhood experience. There is always someone jumping, always someone getting hurt, and always someone in a wrestling match.
Being severely outweighed, I had always assumed that my youngest would have to stay away from the traditional boyish tussle, but time has shown me the error of my assumption. Not only is he willing to join the fray at the drop of a hat, he is surprisingly capable of holding his own.
If my child is hurt by a friend of his, it doesn’t trouble me all that much. In that scenario, I merely need to feel the pain of my injured son. I do not have the groaning of a father whose son has been the aggressor. If my son hurts his friend, it bothers me more. It might sound odd, but as long as the injury is not severe, I prefer my son to have taken a hit rather than being the culprit. Most physical injuries will heal over time, but time itself has little power to change one’s sinister character.
As a parent, few things bother me quite so much as when my own children mistreat one another. It troubles me, because no matter who gets hurt, something inside of me hurts. Not only do I have to deal with the pain of the son who hurts, I also have to deal with the injustice committed by my other son. I hurt from both sides. I hurt because one of my sons has been unjust and I hurt because one of my sons has been wrongfully treated.
Without putting words in the mouth of Almighty God, that may very well be why Christ had given his disciples the command to love each other in the same way that He had loved them. God wants His children to love each other, and for this cause, He spent His earthly ministry demonstrating to them what it looks like to love each other. In those precious few hours together before He was arrested, there was an urgent undercurrent in what He was trying to communicate. It was like He was saying, ‘Guys. I want you to do for each other the same things that I have done for you. Have you been paying attention? Have you noticed the ways in which I have demonstrated My love to you? Love each other the same way. If you haven’t been paying attention, I’ll try and explain what it looks like.....’
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s own life for one’s friend.” John 15:13
Over the course of His time with them, I don’t know if they ever really noticed the way in which He had loved them. Some of their time was spent looking at the modern architecture as if they were tourists (Matthew 24:1). They competed with each other for power and control in Christ’s kingdom (Mark 10:35-45). They argued amongst themselves about who would be the greatest. (Luke 22:24)
It is almost as if Jesus is pleading with them to get past themselves. The command to love each other wasn’t so much a new command as it was a summary of what He had been trying to teach them all along. ‘Give up trying to be better than each other. Stop pretending that you are more important than one another. Stop living life as if you are some kind of tourist. I’m going away and I’m leaving you behind to carry on the work of the Kingdom.’
I suppose if you aren’t a follower of Jesus Christ, then this won’t apply to you. God doesn’t expect the children of the world to love each other with a selfless love. In fact, selfless love should not be in their nature. Those who belong to the world should lie to one another, take from one another, and cheat one another. They should talk behind each other’s back. They should have tribal factions and war with each other. They should think that they are better than one another and kill those who are opposed to them. The people of the world should, by their character, abuse the power they have obtained and lord it over the people who are subject to them. They should feel victimized and blame others for all of their life’s trials and troubles.
If however, you consider yourself to be a follower of Jesus Christ, this applies to you....
“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” John 15:12
These are some of the words that Jesus had for his disciples during His last supper with them. In a way, this might be a culmination of His work with them. Out of all of the things He has taught them, of all of the things He has shown them, this might just be the very core of what He was trying to convey. He wanted His people to love each other in the same way that He loved them.
Unfortunately, sometimes the church acts in every way, as if they are of the world. At times, her people bicker amongst themselves. At times, we have our own factions and power plays. From God’s perspective, I think there are very few things that disturb Him to that extent.
My wife and I have been blessed to have had 4 children. Our three youngest children just so happen to be boys. I don’t know if our experience with our 3 sons is typical, although I am led to believe that it is. I grew up with two sisters and no brothers, while my wife had only one sister. We never planned on having three sons, so we really had no idea of what to expect. There is this energy in our household, that neither my wife nor I endured in our own childhood experience. There is always someone jumping, always someone getting hurt, and always someone in a wrestling match.
Being severely outweighed, I had always assumed that my youngest would have to stay away from the traditional boyish tussle, but time has shown me the error of my assumption. Not only is he willing to join the fray at the drop of a hat, he is surprisingly capable of holding his own.
If my child is hurt by a friend of his, it doesn’t trouble me all that much. In that scenario, I merely need to feel the pain of my injured son. I do not have the groaning of a father whose son has been the aggressor. If my son hurts his friend, it bothers me more. It might sound odd, but as long as the injury is not severe, I prefer my son to have taken a hit rather than being the culprit. Most physical injuries will heal over time, but time itself has little power to change one’s sinister character.
As a parent, few things bother me quite so much as when my own children mistreat one another. It troubles me, because no matter who gets hurt, something inside of me hurts. Not only do I have to deal with the pain of the son who hurts, I also have to deal with the injustice committed by my other son. I hurt from both sides. I hurt because one of my sons has been unjust and I hurt because one of my sons has been wrongfully treated.
Without putting words in the mouth of Almighty God, that may very well be why Christ had given his disciples the command to love each other in the same way that He had loved them. God wants His children to love each other, and for this cause, He spent His earthly ministry demonstrating to them what it looks like to love each other. In those precious few hours together before He was arrested, there was an urgent undercurrent in what He was trying to communicate. It was like He was saying, ‘Guys. I want you to do for each other the same things that I have done for you. Have you been paying attention? Have you noticed the ways in which I have demonstrated My love to you? Love each other the same way. If you haven’t been paying attention, I’ll try and explain what it looks like.....’
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s own life for one’s friend.” John 15:13
Over the course of His time with them, I don’t know if they ever really noticed the way in which He had loved them. Some of their time was spent looking at the modern architecture as if they were tourists (Matthew 24:1). They competed with each other for power and control in Christ’s kingdom (Mark 10:35-45). They argued amongst themselves about who would be the greatest. (Luke 22:24)
It is almost as if Jesus is pleading with them to get past themselves. The command to love each other wasn’t so much a new command as it was a summary of what He had been trying to teach them all along. ‘Give up trying to be better than each other. Stop pretending that you are more important than one another. Stop living life as if you are some kind of tourist. I’m going away and I’m leaving you behind to carry on the work of the Kingdom.’
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Save the Planet
Well, I’m at it again. I have finished another go round through The Bible. This time through, I’m going to walk through the ESV.
Environmentalism is a word I think we all talk a lot about in our time. I don’t know if this sounds mean or not, but for all the talk of environmentalists, I don’t think I’ve ever met one. Have you ever asked anyone to give up some of their unnecessary luxuries? I won’t even try. I don’t want to be hated. The way I understand it, environmentalism is kind of like a religion, where no matter what you sacrifice, you’re never really good enough to qualify.
I’ve gotten rid of my incandescent bulbs, but I’m not in the club. This past winter, we kept our house at 15 degrees celcius to save on our natural gas. I’m still not in the club. This summer, my wife and I won’t be using our A/C in order to reduce our electrical consumption. Even if we do have the endurance, I doubt that this will even win a position with the club. I feel like I do most of what environmentalists advocate, but I never seem to fit in.
Being environmental has more to do with waving a banner, owning a Prius and burning a candle during earth hour than actually being good stewards of God’s creation.
Genesis 1:28 (English Standard Version)
28And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
You can keep your cell phone, even if you don’t need it. I really don’t care. As people, we were called to have dominion over the earth. Having dominion implies that we were to have both the authority over and responsibility for all living things on earth. If we envision the life that the first people lived, it really wouldn’t much resemble the life that you and I are living now would it? Where is the plane ride to the Dominican? Where are the consumer electronics? Where's the night life?
How many of us could be content in the life that Paul seems to be advocating when he’s talking to Timothy?
1 Timothy 6:7-9 (New Living Translation)
7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
If we have food and clothing, we should be content. I don’t know about you, but most of the time, I want at least a little bit more than that. I like to think that I live a fairly simple life, without having too much unecessarry consumption in it. I do like my laptop. I like my cell phone. I like playing my NES. Most of us like the things that this world has to offer more than we should. It isn’t the government’s fault. I’m not even advocating that we turn back the clock.
The debate in our time has very little to do with whether or not we should be good stewards of the earth. It has more to do with answering these two questions;
1 How do I do that?
2 How many pleasures can I keep without wrecking the place?
Environmentalism is a word I think we all talk a lot about in our time. I don’t know if this sounds mean or not, but for all the talk of environmentalists, I don’t think I’ve ever met one. Have you ever asked anyone to give up some of their unnecessary luxuries? I won’t even try. I don’t want to be hated. The way I understand it, environmentalism is kind of like a religion, where no matter what you sacrifice, you’re never really good enough to qualify.
I’ve gotten rid of my incandescent bulbs, but I’m not in the club. This past winter, we kept our house at 15 degrees celcius to save on our natural gas. I’m still not in the club. This summer, my wife and I won’t be using our A/C in order to reduce our electrical consumption. Even if we do have the endurance, I doubt that this will even win a position with the club. I feel like I do most of what environmentalists advocate, but I never seem to fit in.
Being environmental has more to do with waving a banner, owning a Prius and burning a candle during earth hour than actually being good stewards of God’s creation.
Genesis 1:28 (English Standard Version)
28And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
You can keep your cell phone, even if you don’t need it. I really don’t care. As people, we were called to have dominion over the earth. Having dominion implies that we were to have both the authority over and responsibility for all living things on earth. If we envision the life that the first people lived, it really wouldn’t much resemble the life that you and I are living now would it? Where is the plane ride to the Dominican? Where are the consumer electronics? Where's the night life?
How many of us could be content in the life that Paul seems to be advocating when he’s talking to Timothy?
1 Timothy 6:7-9 (New Living Translation)
7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
If we have food and clothing, we should be content. I don’t know about you, but most of the time, I want at least a little bit more than that. I like to think that I live a fairly simple life, without having too much unecessarry consumption in it. I do like my laptop. I like my cell phone. I like playing my NES. Most of us like the things that this world has to offer more than we should. It isn’t the government’s fault. I’m not even advocating that we turn back the clock.
The debate in our time has very little to do with whether or not we should be good stewards of the earth. It has more to do with answering these two questions;
1 How do I do that?
2 How many pleasures can I keep without wrecking the place?
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Excerpt from Alien Love Chapter 3: Identifying Love
Love does not delight in evil
As you read this, I hope it doesn’t sound too elementary. I hope this, because I’ve been wrestling with these very basic principles, and I hate to think that you have firmly grasped onto the things which continue to evade me. Do I have to really love everyone? If so, do I have to be tender hearted and affectionate to everyone? Does God like everyone?
Love isn’t always soft and fuzzy. If fact, there are certain things that love hates. Loves doesn’t delight in evil. I might even go so far as to say that love hates evil. I think it works in reverse as well. Evil hates love. In several places throughout Scripture, we are told to hate evil; that which is morally bad, sinful or depraved. Here is one passage in particular:
Psalm 97:10
10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil,
for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
The concepts of good and evil remain prevalent throughout time. Even in a culture of moral relativists, there is a sense that there are things which are acceptable and unacceptable. The actual debate in our culture isn’t about whether morality is relative. The real debate in our world has to do with who decides what is right and wrong. Prove me wrong.
Most people who claim that morality is relative to the individual, make quite definite moral stands themselves. It’s impossible to remove morality from the public sphere, because social law always has to do with what it allows or denies its citizens. So we find moral relativists who have very strong opinions on abortion and same sex marriage. As I’ve said, the debate in our time, is over who decides.
If you’ve been reading along, you likely know who I believe decides what is right and what is wrong. If we really have been created, then the one who made us gets to do the choosing. That’s not abstract thinking. If I start up my own business, I’m the one who decides how that business is run. If God is the One who made this all, and if He’s the One who we answer to when we’re done, He’s the one who chooses. That’s why for many people, they have to believe that there is no God, because if there is a God, if this wasn’t an accident, the reckoning is going to be all too serious.
Love hates the things that God hates. Much of the time, part of the reason why it hates those things, is because they ruin lives. Have you ever met someone who said, “I’m so glad that my mom is an alcoholic.”? “I can’t wait for my dad to come home and abuse our family.”? “I’m so fortunate to have been sexually exploited when I was a child.”?
There are times in our relationships where we allow people to follow after their own evil desires. I suppose much of the time, we really don’t see their desires as being evil. In this instance, even if I knew of an example, I don’t know if I’d want to share it. After all, if it was about one of you, would you want to see your dirty laundry exposed in this arena? Instead, I’m going to look at a couple who lived a few thousand years ago.
Their names are Ahab and Jezebel. They were the king and queen of Israel around 860BC. It was a good life being the king. Ahab’s job brought home a decent pay check week after week, and he made enough money to put a decent roof over their heads. There weren’t any amusement parks back in the day, but if they wanted to go somewhere on summer vacation, they weren’t without the funds or the transportation.
It can be tough at the top though. No matter how much you acquire, there always seems to be something that you don’t have which belongs to someone else. Next to Ahab’s palace in Samaria, there was a vineyard belonging to a man named Naboth. It would be the perfect addition to the palace. Ahab already had plans to make it into a vegetable garden. The problem was that it belonged to Naboth and he refused to sell it.
Unfortunately, Ahab wasn’t on my contact list. He didn’t purchase my last book, listen to me speak, or read any of my blog posts. He didn’t really hate the things that God hated. If he did, if he knew that God hated coveting, and if he had have chosen to agree with God, he would have left the vegetable garden dream in the closet of his mind. But Ahab longed for the things that belonged to other people. That, by definition, is coveting.
Love hates coveting because God hates coveting. If Ahab’s wife had been aware of God’s stand on coveting, and if she had truly loved her husband, Ahab’s plans for the vegetable garden should have ended there. Instead, Ahab allowed his jealousy to bother him to the point where his bride began to notice it in his appearance.
Once day she asked him, “What’s the matter?... What’s made you so upset that you’re not eating?”
“I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or trade it, but he refused!” Ahab told her.
“Are you the king of Israel or not?” Jezebel demanded. “Get up and eat something and don’t worry about it. I’ll get you Naboth’s vineyard.” 1 Kings 21:5-7
Ahab’s wife got the vineyard for him. She conspired in having Naboth murdered by the people of his town. The story of Ahab and Jezebel might sound a bit extreme. After all, when is the last time any of us had someone murdered? We’re not as bad as they are. Or are we? The sad thing about the relationship between Ahab and Jezebel isn’t the severity of their crimes. The dark reality at play here is this; if we are open and transparent about some of these themes, these elements have their way of showing up in some of our own relationships. Jezebel had something to profit in Ahab’s gain. She would also have her own use for the garden.
I knew of a couple where the husband had a business outside of his full time employment. Sometimes, he would accept cash payments and fail to report the earnings on his income tax. His wife was pleased to have a little extra spending money on weekends. After a few years, a very strange and unfortunate thing happened. The man and woman went through a very horrible divorce. That was the unfortunate part. The strange part was this. After the divorce, the woman reported her ex-husband to Revenue Canada for failing to claim all of his business income. Is that not wierd? Before the divorce, she was very approving of the practise. What changed?
Nothing changed. She didn’t love him before they were divorced and neither did she love him after the divorce. If she had truly loved him while they were married, she would not have approved of his business practices because love does not delight in what is wrong.
Have you ever been in a relationship where you could profit from your partner’s dishonesty? As I look back on my life, these same themes have come up in my own marriage. There have been times when my wife and I have coveted our neighbour’s property. Maybe your neighbour doesn’t have a vineyard. Does he have a shiny new car? How about a new deck? Coveting is like stealing. What if your spouse did something a little dishonest at work that brought home some extra money? Since it profits you in some way, would you let it slide? Love doesn’t do this. Would you make them make it right? Or would you take the money and use it to buy some fishing tackle or to get your hair done? Would you speak out against the evil or would you pretend that it wasn’t all that bad?
As you read this, I hope it doesn’t sound too elementary. I hope this, because I’ve been wrestling with these very basic principles, and I hate to think that you have firmly grasped onto the things which continue to evade me. Do I have to really love everyone? If so, do I have to be tender hearted and affectionate to everyone? Does God like everyone?
Love isn’t always soft and fuzzy. If fact, there are certain things that love hates. Loves doesn’t delight in evil. I might even go so far as to say that love hates evil. I think it works in reverse as well. Evil hates love. In several places throughout Scripture, we are told to hate evil; that which is morally bad, sinful or depraved. Here is one passage in particular:
Psalm 97:10
10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil,
for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
The concepts of good and evil remain prevalent throughout time. Even in a culture of moral relativists, there is a sense that there are things which are acceptable and unacceptable. The actual debate in our culture isn’t about whether morality is relative. The real debate in our world has to do with who decides what is right and wrong. Prove me wrong.
Most people who claim that morality is relative to the individual, make quite definite moral stands themselves. It’s impossible to remove morality from the public sphere, because social law always has to do with what it allows or denies its citizens. So we find moral relativists who have very strong opinions on abortion and same sex marriage. As I’ve said, the debate in our time, is over who decides.
If you’ve been reading along, you likely know who I believe decides what is right and what is wrong. If we really have been created, then the one who made us gets to do the choosing. That’s not abstract thinking. If I start up my own business, I’m the one who decides how that business is run. If God is the One who made this all, and if He’s the One who we answer to when we’re done, He’s the one who chooses. That’s why for many people, they have to believe that there is no God, because if there is a God, if this wasn’t an accident, the reckoning is going to be all too serious.
Love hates the things that God hates. Much of the time, part of the reason why it hates those things, is because they ruin lives. Have you ever met someone who said, “I’m so glad that my mom is an alcoholic.”? “I can’t wait for my dad to come home and abuse our family.”? “I’m so fortunate to have been sexually exploited when I was a child.”?
There are times in our relationships where we allow people to follow after their own evil desires. I suppose much of the time, we really don’t see their desires as being evil. In this instance, even if I knew of an example, I don’t know if I’d want to share it. After all, if it was about one of you, would you want to see your dirty laundry exposed in this arena? Instead, I’m going to look at a couple who lived a few thousand years ago.
Their names are Ahab and Jezebel. They were the king and queen of Israel around 860BC. It was a good life being the king. Ahab’s job brought home a decent pay check week after week, and he made enough money to put a decent roof over their heads. There weren’t any amusement parks back in the day, but if they wanted to go somewhere on summer vacation, they weren’t without the funds or the transportation.
It can be tough at the top though. No matter how much you acquire, there always seems to be something that you don’t have which belongs to someone else. Next to Ahab’s palace in Samaria, there was a vineyard belonging to a man named Naboth. It would be the perfect addition to the palace. Ahab already had plans to make it into a vegetable garden. The problem was that it belonged to Naboth and he refused to sell it.
Unfortunately, Ahab wasn’t on my contact list. He didn’t purchase my last book, listen to me speak, or read any of my blog posts. He didn’t really hate the things that God hated. If he did, if he knew that God hated coveting, and if he had have chosen to agree with God, he would have left the vegetable garden dream in the closet of his mind. But Ahab longed for the things that belonged to other people. That, by definition, is coveting.
Love hates coveting because God hates coveting. If Ahab’s wife had been aware of God’s stand on coveting, and if she had truly loved her husband, Ahab’s plans for the vegetable garden should have ended there. Instead, Ahab allowed his jealousy to bother him to the point where his bride began to notice it in his appearance.
Once day she asked him, “What’s the matter?... What’s made you so upset that you’re not eating?”
“I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or trade it, but he refused!” Ahab told her.
“Are you the king of Israel or not?” Jezebel demanded. “Get up and eat something and don’t worry about it. I’ll get you Naboth’s vineyard.” 1 Kings 21:5-7
Ahab’s wife got the vineyard for him. She conspired in having Naboth murdered by the people of his town. The story of Ahab and Jezebel might sound a bit extreme. After all, when is the last time any of us had someone murdered? We’re not as bad as they are. Or are we? The sad thing about the relationship between Ahab and Jezebel isn’t the severity of their crimes. The dark reality at play here is this; if we are open and transparent about some of these themes, these elements have their way of showing up in some of our own relationships. Jezebel had something to profit in Ahab’s gain. She would also have her own use for the garden.
I knew of a couple where the husband had a business outside of his full time employment. Sometimes, he would accept cash payments and fail to report the earnings on his income tax. His wife was pleased to have a little extra spending money on weekends. After a few years, a very strange and unfortunate thing happened. The man and woman went through a very horrible divorce. That was the unfortunate part. The strange part was this. After the divorce, the woman reported her ex-husband to Revenue Canada for failing to claim all of his business income. Is that not wierd? Before the divorce, she was very approving of the practise. What changed?
Nothing changed. She didn’t love him before they were divorced and neither did she love him after the divorce. If she had truly loved him while they were married, she would not have approved of his business practices because love does not delight in what is wrong.
Have you ever been in a relationship where you could profit from your partner’s dishonesty? As I look back on my life, these same themes have come up in my own marriage. There have been times when my wife and I have coveted our neighbour’s property. Maybe your neighbour doesn’t have a vineyard. Does he have a shiny new car? How about a new deck? Coveting is like stealing. What if your spouse did something a little dishonest at work that brought home some extra money? Since it profits you in some way, would you let it slide? Love doesn’t do this. Would you make them make it right? Or would you take the money and use it to buy some fishing tackle or to get your hair done? Would you speak out against the evil or would you pretend that it wasn’t all that bad?
Friday, February 25, 2011
Gadhafi is Better than God.
I’m not trying to become an apologist, but I just can’t seem to shake this.
The kind of conversations and discussions between believers and the non-believing world haven’t changed a bit since 33 AD. Truthfully, the dialogue began well before Jesus even walked on the face of the earth. I encourage you to consider these words from one of the greatest minds in antiquity.
I encourage you to consider exactly what he is advocating about God. Here is the phrase that I think best describes the thought-
Forced subjection.
The last time I surveyed humanity, tyranny tends to have a foul smell associated with it. If God were to impose His will on humanity, would you call that good? Do we admire the way Gadhafi is trying to impose his rule upon the people of Libya?
As I said last time, I still don’t care what you believe. Just sayin’ is all.
The kind of conversations and discussions between believers and the non-believing world haven’t changed a bit since 33 AD. Truthfully, the dialogue began well before Jesus even walked on the face of the earth. I encourage you to consider these words from one of the greatest minds in antiquity.
I encourage you to consider exactly what he is advocating about God. Here is the phrase that I think best describes the thought-
Forced subjection.
The last time I surveyed humanity, tyranny tends to have a foul smell associated with it. If God were to impose His will on humanity, would you call that good? Do we admire the way Gadhafi is trying to impose his rule upon the people of Libya?
As I said last time, I still don’t care what you believe. Just sayin’ is all.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Some Conversations Never Get Old
I’m sure if you were to get to know me, it wouldn’t take long before you caught on to some inconsistencies in my life. Actually, I’ll save you the trouble. I don’t like watching Harry Potter because the hero of the story is an unrepentant sorcerer. I also happen to like the Narnia series, not because it’s written by a Christian, but the witch is bad ok? And I could likely handle the LOTR series if Gandalf wasn’t a wizard. Some of my friends are quite happy to see those hypocrisies in my life, so I thought I should just get it out of the way.
For some reason, it’s just so much easier to notice hypocrisy in other people. One of my personal favorites was brought to mind today. I was having a conversation with a man who does not believe that Jesus Christ is THE guy. I don’t know if you would label him as an atheist or an agnostic. I’d vote atheist, because he seems to think that he knows all that he needs to know.
Unfortunately, in the realm of spiritual debate, nothing is ever new. Is it? You have heard the same objections time and again. The one that keeps coming to mind is this one….
“We can’t really trust the Bible. I mean, it’s not like they had the internet or printing presses back then. It all had to be hand written. Since it was preserved that way, it must have been changed.”
There is some truth there. I can accept these as being plausible objections. What I find rather strange is that the same objections rarely seem to be raised with regards to other ancient writings. The fellow in question made it quite clear that there were other Jesus’ who did miracles and fit the bill for the Messiah. Strange isn’t it? How was this information passed down to him? I guess these other Jesus’ must have had access to their own printing presses. That is apparently the Achilles Heel of The Bible, so there is no way that this guy would believe in these Jesus’ if they didn’t have printing presses of their own.
The earliest manuscript of Plato is thought to have been written about 1000 years after his death. Do we question his writings in the same way that The Bible is questioned?
The truth is, I couldn’t care less what you believe. To be honest, I didn’t say much to this fellow. He seemed to have life pretty much figured out.
For some reason, it’s just so much easier to notice hypocrisy in other people. One of my personal favorites was brought to mind today. I was having a conversation with a man who does not believe that Jesus Christ is THE guy. I don’t know if you would label him as an atheist or an agnostic. I’d vote atheist, because he seems to think that he knows all that he needs to know.
Unfortunately, in the realm of spiritual debate, nothing is ever new. Is it? You have heard the same objections time and again. The one that keeps coming to mind is this one….
“We can’t really trust the Bible. I mean, it’s not like they had the internet or printing presses back then. It all had to be hand written. Since it was preserved that way, it must have been changed.”
There is some truth there. I can accept these as being plausible objections. What I find rather strange is that the same objections rarely seem to be raised with regards to other ancient writings. The fellow in question made it quite clear that there were other Jesus’ who did miracles and fit the bill for the Messiah. Strange isn’t it? How was this information passed down to him? I guess these other Jesus’ must have had access to their own printing presses. That is apparently the Achilles Heel of The Bible, so there is no way that this guy would believe in these Jesus’ if they didn’t have printing presses of their own.
The earliest manuscript of Plato is thought to have been written about 1000 years after his death. Do we question his writings in the same way that The Bible is questioned?
The truth is, I couldn’t care less what you believe. To be honest, I didn’t say much to this fellow. He seemed to have life pretty much figured out.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Atheists Burn in Hell
I’ve spent way too much of my evening reading celebrity news feeds. Is it me, or do most comment sections eventually turn into a discussion about God? They take on many forms. If a natural disaster is at hand, someone might say that it’s God’s judgment. If there is some freaky asteroid, someone will pipe up saying that the end is near.
This evening, I found myself wrapped up in my personal favorite…..
1. Some guy takes a small shot against born again Christians. (even using the ‘f’ as a descriptor)
2. Christians respond saying that the guy in question is going to hell.
(Always a witty comeback)
3. Non-believers respond complaining that Christians are always threatening everybody with hell.
As a believer, I don’t mind being hated. It’s not that I like it, but if the world rejected Jesus, if I belong to Him, they shouldn’t really fall in love with me. Should they? I don’t personally tell people they are going to hell very often.
What I do often find odd, is when nonbelievers get offended about being warned about hell. I mean, if someone really doesn’t believe in all of this God stuff, then it really shouldn’t be a sore point. It doesn’t matter to me if a Muslim thinks that I am an infidel. It doesn’t bother me because I am secure in my standing with Jesus. In the very core of my soul, I know that they are wrong in writing me off.
If you don’t believe in Jesus, but still get offended at the talk of hell, maybe it’s time to do some serious soul searching. I know it’s not a nice thing, but if it really is completely a thing born of myth and fiction, there is absolutely no reason to be upset. Perhaps you really don’t believe what you think you believe.
This evening, I found myself wrapped up in my personal favorite…..
1. Some guy takes a small shot against born again Christians. (even using the ‘f’ as a descriptor)
2. Christians respond saying that the guy in question is going to hell.
(Always a witty comeback)
3. Non-believers respond complaining that Christians are always threatening everybody with hell.
As a believer, I don’t mind being hated. It’s not that I like it, but if the world rejected Jesus, if I belong to Him, they shouldn’t really fall in love with me. Should they? I don’t personally tell people they are going to hell very often.
What I do often find odd, is when nonbelievers get offended about being warned about hell. I mean, if someone really doesn’t believe in all of this God stuff, then it really shouldn’t be a sore point. It doesn’t matter to me if a Muslim thinks that I am an infidel. It doesn’t bother me because I am secure in my standing with Jesus. In the very core of my soul, I know that they are wrong in writing me off.
If you don’t believe in Jesus, but still get offended at the talk of hell, maybe it’s time to do some serious soul searching. I know it’s not a nice thing, but if it really is completely a thing born of myth and fiction, there is absolutely no reason to be upset. Perhaps you really don’t believe what you think you believe.
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