"God is my co-pilot" reads the bumpersticker. This implies God is in control with you. He's in the passenger seat next to you, holding the map, making suggestions. Rather ludicrous, don't you think? Our society has seen God "tamed." We want all of the God-niceties, none of the bad. A saccharine God-substitue. Santa Claus, not King; Protector, not Judge. I think this goes a long way to explain our society's fascination with angels -- they're a sort of tame god in a way, right? All fluffy a...
I am constantly surprised by how many people call Jesus Christ a “great moral teacher” and stop there. He is often called an enlightened philosopher, a worthy prophet, and many other praise-filled things whereupon the speaker abruptly stops. The speaker stops short of calling him God in the flesh, Savior, Messiah, or any of the other more miraculous titles he is given. I think this is simply absurd. For one, how can anyone contemplate Christ’s teachings or fully seek to study and unde...
"The Truth is never sexy," sings Derek Webb, the current artist in my CD player. I've thought about it and I have to agree with him. When is truth ever seductive? It's rarely even attractive for one. We describe truth as "hard to tell" at times. We easily slip into the seduction of a lie, though. Truth never makes polite conversation and small talk. It doesn't curtsey. It never apologizes. It speaks plainly, not with great sophistication, beauty, or seduction. What about the truth is so ...
A pregnant woman is thrown into a dungeon. The dungeon is circular, stretching upwards to the sky where only a small patch of sky is visible. A small slot allows food and water in. Her child is born in the dungeon and grows there. The woman is an artist and teaches her child everything she can using her sketch pad and pencils. She draws for him the outside world and educates him about the trees, rivers, valleys, sea, mountains, prairies, canyons, and all the natural wonders of the outside...
Do we really go to God for forgiveness? Or do we all too often bring him reasons why He should excuse us? An excuse is not the same thing as forgiveness; if there is an excuse, we don't need forgivenes. We say, "I know I did wrong, God, but you know I was late for work..." or "The kids were really grouchy..." or "that guy hates me though..." or "I didn't know this would happen...." These are excuses for behavior. I think we often have some good excuses. But more often, there is real...
Just a prayer philosophy as I was reading my pal, Lewis, recently. In one address (recorded in The Weight of Glory ) he mentions a problem Christians face as they mature in their faith. We pray for all sorts of stuff. We put all sorts of things before Him. We believe He wants to help us and He wants to talk to us. But then we get off our knees before He has the chance to speak to us. We stop the meditation just shy of His word. We don't read our scriptures long enough to hear His take on...
In summation, nature behaves a certain way and this is what we refer to as “the laws of nature.” These are not anything real, nothing more than actual facts we observe. Right and Wrong – Moral Law – is above actual fact. Besides fact, we have something else. We have a law we didn’t invent but know we should obey. What does this tell us about the universe in which we live? We know the two schools of thought. * There’s what Lewis calls “materialist” and there’s the religious. In the former...
So far, I’ve paraphrased the first three chapters of CS Lewis’s book Mere Christianity in hopes to make it more accessible – a kind of cliffs notes. Admittedly, I can spend quite a while digesting this book, extracting the meat out of every sentence. Lewis has brought us thus far to the acknowledgement of the Moral Law. This is the last page in chapter three. We can say a person ought to be unselfish. If we try to say why, we invariably come up with the reason: “because it is good for soc...
I was listening to a speaker recently who made a statement that forced me to think about who I am in relation to the world. Here's my question: Am I a microcosm of the world or a change agent in the world? I don't think I can do with the "so I don't have to think too deeply about this answer" that says, "I'm a little of both." Certainly, I do resemble the world in many ways -- my own world around me (environment) -- but which am I more likely to be classified as and why? What about you...
What is this Moral Law? It is not our herd instinct. Instinct is nurturing love, sexual instinct, or finding a food source ina strange place. It's a strong desire to act in a certain way. Sometimes helping someone is instinctual. But that is different from feeling you ought to help whether you want to or not. When you hear someone being attacked your instinct of self preservation says run, your herd instinct says "help," and something else says the instinct to help is RIGHT. The thi...
"How'd you like it if someone did that to you?" "I was there first." "But you promised!" Educated or ignorant, child or adult; anyone could have said any of these statements. The person wouldn't be saying, "your behavior makes me unhappy." The appeal is to a standard the other person already knows about. The other person never says, "to heck with your standard." Instead, they offer an excuse for why they broke the standard. The standard they are discussing is what allows human beings to argue...
Dharma, you read a lot of blogs I've noticed so I'm hoping you'll read this one. That thread (Jill's) was getting way to hairy for me to stay in it. I couldn't keep up with it with so many subjects at one time! I'm very curious about the particular idea of "enlightenment" as it's applied in Buddhism. I don't think it's right to not know what a term means and then argue or state an ill-informed opinion on it. I don't ever want to do that. I knew Buddha's name (at least his first) but I'm more ...
It's not conservative or liberal, however they're defined. It's not about interpretations or the judgements of the mind. It's the opposite of politics, power, and prestige. It's about a simple message, and whether we believe. We can water down theology; preach a word to suit our needs. We can justify sweet subtle lies that are wrapped in noble deeds. We can alter our convictions and adapt to social whims. But we cannot change the gospel or the truth contained within. It's still the cro...
Mr. Frog: By the way, I love your name. I collect frogs and think they’re smashing in every possible way. You asked, “I still have a question though...if Jesus was to be considered half man and half God, wouldn't he then have sin, since he was still partly man?” Great question. See, as I understand it, that’s where the Miracle of God comes in. I think you have to understand the Trinity first. (Not a misspelling of a very awesome blogger.) I’ll try to get to that because it will also answ...