I'm confused again.
i was reading a blog the other day that was talking about the inerrancy of the Bible. He was talking about one passage that is mentioned several times in the Bible, about the events leading up to Jesus' death. It discusses the discrepancy's in the Bible description of the events, more specifically, the timing of the events. John's account of the event seems to say that the last supper that Jesus and his followers ate was not the passover meal, while the other accounts in the other Gospels says it was. How can both be right? Is there something i'm missing?
It's strange how many of us Christians can accept a "truth" about our religion, but never look into the matter or try to figure it out for ourselves. Anyone would tell you that that is stupid.
I don't know the answer to this question about the passover meal, but until i look into it, i cannot say that i know whether or not the Bible in inerrant because i haven't studied it all.
If we take our faith seriously, and i think a lot of us would say we do, then why don't we study it more? I see Christians get dominated in intellectual conversations all the time (there are some smart ones out there though...). A lot of us have no reasons why we believe what we believe, other than my parents passed it down or it "felt right". I'm sure Muslim's and Buddhist's have those same answers too. When are we going to start being different?
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
We stink
We have a lot of problems. To start off, here is a blog post i read from someone who is investigating this faith.
"Christianity looks very great to somebody who is apart of the group. From an insider’s perspective, God has given you all a bunch of great blessings to be thankful for. But to an outsider’s perspective it assumes an underlying idea of superiority to anyone else. I quoted the Bible verse of the night. Ephesians 1: 3-8 and rattled off about ten ideas up on the screen that the pastor had encouraged the congregation with.
Christians are, he said…
favored
handpicked
special
flawless
beloved
belonging
released
full of wisdom and understanding.
And if you are part of our club, then rock on and enjoy your blessings. But if you happen to be part of the majority of people on the planet who does not pray to Jesus and does not pray to Jehovah or take the collection of New Testament scrolls as sacred and god-breathed, well… you just don’t make the cut. You are not special, or belonging, or full of wisdom or understanding. Sorry. You picked the wrong book. Of course you are welcome to join, but if you aren’t interested, you are missing out."
I can totally see where he is coming from. I think our approach is wrong, however true those promises are, we have an air about us that stinks.
I read a book this summer called flickering pixels and it discussed a lot about our current understanding of Christianity. There was a chapter called "A Mirror Dimly", which he proceeds to tell a story of an elderly man in the church. After giving a message that seems to be built on years of spirituality and higher understanding, he ends the sermon saying, "But i could be wrong".
Wait, what?
Not only does this type of thinking encourage independent study and a belief that is truly personal and negate the tendency for the church to brainwash, it takes that oder that stinks and douses it with a good helping of fabreeze. I had never heard anything like that in the church before. It has always been quite the opposite actually.
Since i have heard that, i keep asking my question, "How can we be so selfish as to think our little minds can understand fully the workings of God?" My only conclusion is that we can't fully understand, so i'm not going to pretend like i do.
"Christianity looks very great to somebody who is apart of the group. From an insider’s perspective, God has given you all a bunch of great blessings to be thankful for. But to an outsider’s perspective it assumes an underlying idea of superiority to anyone else. I quoted the Bible verse of the night. Ephesians 1: 3-8 and rattled off about ten ideas up on the screen that the pastor had encouraged the congregation with.
Christians are, he said…
favored
handpicked
special
flawless
beloved
belonging
released
full of wisdom and understanding.
And if you are part of our club, then rock on and enjoy your blessings. But if you happen to be part of the majority of people on the planet who does not pray to Jesus and does not pray to Jehovah or take the collection of New Testament scrolls as sacred and god-breathed, well… you just don’t make the cut. You are not special, or belonging, or full of wisdom or understanding. Sorry. You picked the wrong book. Of course you are welcome to join, but if you aren’t interested, you are missing out."
I can totally see where he is coming from. I think our approach is wrong, however true those promises are, we have an air about us that stinks.
I read a book this summer called flickering pixels and it discussed a lot about our current understanding of Christianity. There was a chapter called "A Mirror Dimly", which he proceeds to tell a story of an elderly man in the church. After giving a message that seems to be built on years of spirituality and higher understanding, he ends the sermon saying, "But i could be wrong".
Wait, what?
Not only does this type of thinking encourage independent study and a belief that is truly personal and negate the tendency for the church to brainwash, it takes that oder that stinks and douses it with a good helping of fabreeze. I had never heard anything like that in the church before. It has always been quite the opposite actually.
Since i have heard that, i keep asking my question, "How can we be so selfish as to think our little minds can understand fully the workings of God?" My only conclusion is that we can't fully understand, so i'm not going to pretend like i do.
Friday, November 6, 2009
What would life be like if Adam and Eve had not sinned?
After thinking about this question, the one thing that i think would be drastically different would be that maybe God would directly interact with us. He used to walk in the garden with Adam and Eve, and i feel he would've continued doing that. That would be cool. Even that communicates that we would know God a lot more than we do right now.
this might looke like this
this might look like this
this might look like this
After thinking about this question, the one thing that i think would be drastically different would be that maybe God would directly interact with us. He used to walk in the garden with Adam and Eve, and i feel he would've continued doing that. That would be cool. Even that communicates that we would know God a lot more than we do right now.
this might looke like this
this might look like this
this might look like this
Monday, October 26, 2009
Divorce
I picked up my Bible and started reading what it says on the issue of divorce. I was a little shocked as to what i found.
Under the Mosaic law, It was alright to divorce your wife if you "find something that is displeasing about her" (Dt 24:1). All you needed to do was write a certificate and present it to her parents. Malachi 2:16 goes on to show God's heart though, ""I hate divorce," says the LORD God." Though i think this might be a metaphor for Israel, i think it still speaks of the act itself.
So, before Jesus came and changed a whole heck of a lot, God hated divorce, but it was not against the law.
Enter Jesus.
Jesus explains that at the beginning of creation, divorce was never meant to be. It is not natural. He explains that because the people of Israel's hearts were hard, he permitted them to do so. Now that the law is not in place, we are not permitted to divorce. The standards were raised but our salvation does not depend on the law, or what we do right or wrong, it depends on the grace of Jesus.We are now free to live the way God originally intended us to, even though the standards are too high for any of us. So if we divorce, we will not go to Hell, but it was never meant to be that way. A man and a woman become one. You cannot separate what is one.
In marriage, effort is the name of the game (i think...i have not been married yet). Divorce is a cop out. It's not living how God intended us. It does not bring life to the fullest. It sucks.
(Jesus Passages taken from Mark 10)
Under the Mosaic law, It was alright to divorce your wife if you "find something that is displeasing about her" (Dt 24:1). All you needed to do was write a certificate and present it to her parents. Malachi 2:16 goes on to show God's heart though, ""I hate divorce," says the LORD God." Though i think this might be a metaphor for Israel, i think it still speaks of the act itself.
So, before Jesus came and changed a whole heck of a lot, God hated divorce, but it was not against the law.
Enter Jesus.
Jesus explains that at the beginning of creation, divorce was never meant to be. It is not natural. He explains that because the people of Israel's hearts were hard, he permitted them to do so. Now that the law is not in place, we are not permitted to divorce. The standards were raised but our salvation does not depend on the law, or what we do right or wrong, it depends on the grace of Jesus.We are now free to live the way God originally intended us to, even though the standards are too high for any of us. So if we divorce, we will not go to Hell, but it was never meant to be that way. A man and a woman become one. You cannot separate what is one.
In marriage, effort is the name of the game (i think...i have not been married yet). Divorce is a cop out. It's not living how God intended us. It does not bring life to the fullest. It sucks.
(Jesus Passages taken from Mark 10)
Friday, October 16, 2009
According to our University's views, i am going to assume that almost all the class will say no to this question.
We have all heard those passages in James that say "Faith without works are dead", but we reconcile that by saying that James is basically saying works accompanies salvation.
Based on this though, if we don't earn it, then we have to do nothing. Then anyone would go to heaven. Jew, Satanist, Buddhists and the like. So, though all of us say you don't earn your faith, you need to do something at least. I suppose that something is believing Jesus is who he said he was, taking his message seriously, and setting your life up around what he says.
So once you do that, there is nothing else you can do to earn it i guess. You have to do something, but you don't need to do more than what the Bible says.
This phrase, "earn your faith" probably got it's roots when the Catholics were handing out salvation for money. So really, that phrase has no meaning anymore. We should change it to "work your way to heaven" maybe...or "do-more-than-what-the-bible-says to get to heaven." I mean, because really, the Bible requires us to do something to get the freedom Jesus offers, just nothing more than that.
We have all heard those passages in James that say "Faith without works are dead", but we reconcile that by saying that James is basically saying works accompanies salvation.
Based on this though, if we don't earn it, then we have to do nothing. Then anyone would go to heaven. Jew, Satanist, Buddhists and the like. So, though all of us say you don't earn your faith, you need to do something at least. I suppose that something is believing Jesus is who he said he was, taking his message seriously, and setting your life up around what he says.
So once you do that, there is nothing else you can do to earn it i guess. You have to do something, but you don't need to do more than what the Bible says.
This phrase, "earn your faith" probably got it's roots when the Catholics were handing out salvation for money. So really, that phrase has no meaning anymore. We should change it to "work your way to heaven" maybe...or "do-more-than-what-the-bible-says to get to heaven." I mean, because really, the Bible requires us to do something to get the freedom Jesus offers, just nothing more than that.
Tithing is hard for me. I've grown up tithing sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes.
I haven't been going to church anywhere in Upland this year or anywhere in general because i've been traveling on most weekends. One thing i have thought about is, do i need to tithe if i don't go to church? I then thought to myself, thats a stupid question.
I tithe because i want to help people, whether that is a church or individuals. So i don't go to church, but i can save some money out of my paycheck to help people. Hopefully, i don't even think about it. Hopefully my natural instinct is just to help.
Tithing is less an action, and more a mindset of "I want to help anytime i can." If you think like that, you don't ever have to worry about tithing.
I'm in Chicago a lot. There's a lot of people who need time and food. So i help.
My brother is short a few bucks for his school books. So i help.
Things like that.
Another interesting thing i have been thinking about also is a lot of tithing goes to help "churches" run right? Why don't we stop buying buildings and paying for things we don't need to be paying for? Why dont we meet in houses and stuff? Isn't that what the early church did? Then tithing would take on a whole new meaning and i think it would look more like some of the examples i was spouting off earlier. Buildings seem un-necessary to me. And i grew up at Willow Creek Community Church.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Creek_Community_Church Scroll down to "Worship center" If that last sentance or picture made no sense to you.
Tithing to me is money set aside to help. What im getting at is i don't want to "set aside" money, i want to be able to use it whenever i can to help instead.
I haven't been going to church anywhere in Upland this year or anywhere in general because i've been traveling on most weekends. One thing i have thought about is, do i need to tithe if i don't go to church? I then thought to myself, thats a stupid question.
I tithe because i want to help people, whether that is a church or individuals. So i don't go to church, but i can save some money out of my paycheck to help people. Hopefully, i don't even think about it. Hopefully my natural instinct is just to help.
Tithing is less an action, and more a mindset of "I want to help anytime i can." If you think like that, you don't ever have to worry about tithing.
I'm in Chicago a lot. There's a lot of people who need time and food. So i help.
My brother is short a few bucks for his school books. So i help.
Things like that.
Another interesting thing i have been thinking about also is a lot of tithing goes to help "churches" run right? Why don't we stop buying buildings and paying for things we don't need to be paying for? Why dont we meet in houses and stuff? Isn't that what the early church did? Then tithing would take on a whole new meaning and i think it would look more like some of the examples i was spouting off earlier. Buildings seem un-necessary to me. And i grew up at Willow Creek Community Church.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Creek_Community_Church Scroll down to "Worship center" If that last sentance or picture made no sense to you.
Tithing to me is money set aside to help. What im getting at is i don't want to "set aside" money, i want to be able to use it whenever i can to help instead.
Friday, October 2, 2009
(inter)race to marriage
I searched "interracial dating" on google and got some interesting results. I can say that America has come a long way since the Civil Rights Era, but judging from my google results, there is no way we are out of the woods yet.
There is a very hostile attitude towards interracial dating. I heard a quote from a white dude in a video saying that if he saw a black guy with a white woman, he felt like the black guy was stealing her from the white guys. Oh, and the white guy prefaced that statement by saying he's not a racist.
Interesting.
There are those who have taken equality to a different level though too. For some, interracial dating is no biggie and i applaud those. They think nothing of it which is where i feel we should be.
My family would be close to the latter view, though i don't think they would think absolutely nothing of it. I'm sure my brothers would make non-hostile joking remarks, because thats what brothers are for. My parents have told me, that they would be o.k. with me bringing anyone of any race home and i sincerely believe that.
It seems though, that you can be racist without being hostile. Watch.
Michael has good intentions, but he has quite a few pre-conceived notions. I don't know how i feel about that. Will we ever be able to break free from those pre-conceived notions? Is that how it's supposed to be?
There is a very hostile attitude towards interracial dating. I heard a quote from a white dude in a video saying that if he saw a black guy with a white woman, he felt like the black guy was stealing her from the white guys. Oh, and the white guy prefaced that statement by saying he's not a racist.
Interesting.
There are those who have taken equality to a different level though too. For some, interracial dating is no biggie and i applaud those. They think nothing of it which is where i feel we should be.
My family would be close to the latter view, though i don't think they would think absolutely nothing of it. I'm sure my brothers would make non-hostile joking remarks, because thats what brothers are for. My parents have told me, that they would be o.k. with me bringing anyone of any race home and i sincerely believe that.
It seems though, that you can be racist without being hostile. Watch.
Michael has good intentions, but he has quite a few pre-conceived notions. I don't know how i feel about that. Will we ever be able to break free from those pre-conceived notions? Is that how it's supposed to be?
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